Description: As Southtown's Chinatown celebrates the Lunar New Year, Keith Walker settles down to enjoy a festival snack, unaware that two pairs of eyes have settled upon him. When a girl from his forgotten past emerges with a thirst for vengeance and a masked would-be hero descends from above to assist him -- maybe? -- it may be he'll have to play along with their violent antics in the hope of hearing a hint about the man he was.
Paper lamps hang up in Chinatown. The people who live in the town are more busy than ever. The loud call of men and women selling their wares are more active. The afternoon is spent watching the shopkeepers having their aide sweep the ground around the shops, trying to make the area ready. Their drapery are filled with red drapes and clothes hanging over their stands. A few Chinese calligraphy hang about as the shopkeepers get ready for the approaching Lunar New Year. Among the items being sold, firecrackers are popular.
One person has been spending time in Chinatown. It serves as a good observation point and for overall enjoying the food. A tall, burly black man is sitting down along one of the benches, holding a lotus leaf covered rice in his hand. He watches people pass by, opening the leaf up and biting into the gelatinous rice. "Heh..."
It is good to enjoy the sights of jubilee.
Amidst the festivities, one figure's sour expression stands out. Despite her diminuitive size, the young Chinese woman's confident posture and hostile glare seems designed to make her loom larger, though whether that succeeds is in the eye of the beholder. What one necessarily beholds is her loose and vivid-colored urbanwear, which at the moment she seems to wear with some slight discomfort, the movements of her head and gaze particularly tense.
Someone is not in a festival mood.
"It's all the same shit."
Wing mutters this under her breath, expressing more than she realizes herself. She came to Japan recently hoping for a fresh start, free from the influence of her tyrannical grandfather, and here she is in Chinatown, where they're celebrating the same old New Year. Here, in this new country and in these new schools, she'd hoped to start making a name for herself. But there's some weird stuff going on and she transferred in too late to join this school tournament. She tried to argue her way into being admitted, but when she burst into the Justice High principal's office, he was having a meeting with the principal of Kuma High, and she's not sure which one was the bear.
Naturally, she decided it was all dumb crap anyway, but recently she can't help but feel listless. To be acknowledged, someone has to be there to acknowledge her. It feels like there's no one even looking at her long enough for her to show off, and somehow she's not even mad enough to do what she typically does in that scenario, which is pick a random fight. With even rage, her antidote for everything, unavailable to her, Wing hasn't been sure where to begin.
It's like nothing has changed since she was a kid.
Her thin lips twist into a grimace, mood souring further, and her eyes scan the crowd as if searching for something to distract her from own downward spiral. It is then that her gaze alights on a most noticeable figure, a man who towers over people even as he is sitting down. Wing looks at him curiously for a few moments, unrecognizing-- and then suddenly freezes, her jaw slowly dropping. She pales, her small body beginning to tremble; she looks down at her own hands, staring uncomprehending at her own quavering.
"... You."
But soon her pale cheeks flush red.
"YOU!"
And, her hands balling into tiny fists, she begins marching toward Keith, her ringing shout summoning the stares of passerby as she stops before him. Her girlish features have twisted into a mask of demonic fury as her hand slowly rises into an accusatory point.
"I'M GONNA /KILL/ YOU!"
Tiger Mask is sitting up on top of one of the higher buildings, arms crossed, chin leaning on them, the top of her mask peeking down at the street.
She's actually bored - no evil or crime has happened all night, at least nothing she's seen. If she was Black Tiger Mask, she wouldn't be bored like this. That's another point for Evil. And then...
"I'M GONNA /KILL/ YOU!"
Those words, so heartfelt, cause Tiger Mask to sit up. Finally, someone to save from a murderer! She stretches, stands up, and jumps from roof to roof, until she's overlooking the scene of a tiny girl confronting a huge man.
She may have to save this huge man! For Justice!
...but just in case, she'll wait and watch a few seconds longer.
It is a simple bit of relaxing. Keith was only minding his own business. This area is rather peaceful, given that no one had intentions of hunting him down or stand in his way. It's why Keith enjoyed hanging around the area. He is quietly eating the lo mai gai, letting a bit of rice hang over his mouth. He cannot help but give a thoughtful muse over a certain girl that he had act as his adopted daughter.
"Pity. I kinda liked that kid, too."
He shrugs, then he stretches both arms into the air. "Ahhh, let's see what I can do for the rest of the---"
~ Huh? ~
Keith felt it. It felt like a sharp stab into his mind. There is a sickening feeling that seems to bubble. It's like a couldron with bubbling liquid, ready to release the fumes of putrid, noxious gas.
A hand rests against his forehead, face tightening in a wince as his eyes quickly snap open. "Hm?"
He sees the expression of the girl pointing at him with blind fury on her face. He casually looks at her, eating the gelatinous riceball.
Blink.
"Do I know you, kid?"
If Wing weren't already suffused with rage, she would feel a headache herself, an insistent thrumming in the back of her mind that stokes the flames of violence within her, not that any assistance is required. She /knows/ this man is her enemy. The certainty is in her bones. Her memory is sharp and clear. Yes, she remembers.
"DON'T YOU PLAY WITH ME!"
Even if he claims not to.
Wing's face is mottled now, looking like she might blow a gasket and keel over from an aneurysm at any moment. "Five years ago! Los Angeles! I remember the day, the time! I remember the shape of the clouds in the sky! And I remember--" She leans in, hissing now. "--your god damn face."
Distantly, her instincts alert her to some other presence, whispering that she is being watched. But of course she's being watched. Everyone on the street is staring at them. She ignores it, not just because of her anger but because /being/ angry, after the last few weeks, is somehow a relief.
"You never knew my name," she exclaims, shouting again, "but you're never gonna forget it! I'm Wing Xiaoping, the Queen of these Streets!" Everyone looks at each other like, who? "And I'm gonna kick--"
She spins.
"--YOUR--"
Her hip raises as though she is about to kick high, until she drops, her leg instead smashing into the bench below Keith, shattering it to bits and threatening to throw him off balance from the very beginning.
"--ASS!!"
Whereupon she uses her own momentum to flip her little frame upside down, transitioning into a rolling sobat and aiming a furious kick at Keith's midsection with a power that belies her size.
COMBATSYS: Wing has started a fight here.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Keith has joined the fight here.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Keith
Attacking a confused civilian? That's all the proof of evil Tiger Mask needs! Under her mask, she smiles, her lips pulling back from her fangs.
A voice speaks out from up high. A heroic voice, a stylized voice, a voice that sounds like it came out of early Tokusatsu.
"Attacking hapless citizens over an event that happened five years ago? Is that any way for a Queen to behave?"
A barefoot girl wearing a white karate uniform and a white tiger mask plummets to the ground, landing to one side of Wing in a crouch, one hand on the ground. She slowly straightens up to her full height - which is about as tall as Wing. She points a finger at the girl.
"I'm not going to let you terrorize these streets like Mad Gear does, and become the boss of these streets, Wing Xiaoping! I'll never acknowledge you as Queen, even if the rest of this city bows down to you!" She smacks her hand into her chest.
"Don't fight this helpless man. Instead, if you want an opponent today, fight Justice!"
She pauses, her right hand raised in the air, fingers splayed. She snaps them dramatically together, into a fist.
"...Justice, in this instance, being me, Tiger Mask!"
She rushes towards Wing, and at the last moment, jumps a little into the air, aiming a punch at Wing's shoulder.
"Tiiiger PUNCH!"
COMBATSYS: Miki has joined the fight here.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Keith
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Miki 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Keith blocks Wing's Crane Kickin' It Old Skool.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Keith
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 0/-------/-======|
"Five years ago...?"
Keith's expression starts to falter slightly. What was his generally cool, face value demeanor is something that goes away to a genuine look of surprise. "...Five years ago?" In a way, this may be a good chance for Keith to figure out what happened. Five years ago at Los Angeles... Keith was around for something. Keith wants to know what this fragmented piece. How to pry information from her? It looks like she may tell him things that she knows in her rage. In fact, Keith has a good starting point for this investigation that he can begin....
... Assuming he can lose this girl who wants to kill him.
When she moves for a spinning high kick, Keith watches her movements carefully until she finally drops down. With her leg moving, Keith is already tensing up. Tossing the rest of the lo mai gai into a trash can near by, he shifts his feet up to stand completely.
As she turns herself upside down and into a furious kick, Keith lifts his arms up to guard against the foot. Both hands remain raised as he tightens his stance. The foot impacts against the meaty arms, taking in the worst of the blows.
"Now then... your highness, perhaps you can kindly tell m---"
Here Comes a New Challenger!
"... Heh."
Keith did not expect for assistance to arrive. Even less, he did not expect for a girl wearing a white tiger mask to show up in the midst of it all. He actually cannot help but look rather amused at his situation. One person wants to kill him, and the other person is saving him as a helpess citizen. Keith does not mind this at all. However, there is important information that Keith requires.
"...Ahh... the White Tiger Hero."
Pause.
"What if.. I am the villain?" He gives a thoughtful look, "...What if I am the one biding my time to terrorize the place?" Then, he glances back to Wing. "Your highness, I'm afraid I do not recall everything, could you tell me what street that this happened in?"
Pause.
"What was your name again?" ...And Keith is goading with Wing at this point.
COMBATSYS: Keith focuses on his next action.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Keith
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Miki 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Wing blocks Miki's Medium Punch.
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Wing 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Keith
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Miki 0/-------/-======|
Like a cheetah of wrath, Wing has been worked up into a froth in about six seconds flat. Keith having the audacity to block her sudden assault does not improve her mood. She spins back, seething at her inability to seize the initiative, when a heroic (?) voice rings out.
"What the f--"
The self-declared queen's expression twists into a sort of perfect storm of indignation and revulsion. As Tiger Mask's tirade continues, Wing looks progressively more queasy, staring down the masked girl eye to eye nevertheless. Uncharacteristically speechless, the wouldbe gangster shifts between disdain, disgust, and twisted amusement before finally settling on dismissal by the time the barefoot hero attacks. Sneering viciously, Wing's hand blurs out and slaps Miki's fist aside, redirecting the girl's momentum aside so that Wing can slip closer to Keith.
"Tsk, so there's still one in this city who defies me," the Queen of the Streets snarls. No, she's the only one who has acknowledged you. "But you don't know a damn thing! If it weren't for this guy, my family would still be--" She cuts herself off, rounding on Keith with rage renewed, refusing to reveal any more. "I've been training for this!" she howls. "I'm gonna crush you, right here, right now!"
She doesn't need any more goading.
"Until you stop pretending--"
But it doesn't help.
"--THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ME!!"
She lunges in toward Keith again, arms whirling in preparation, onto to abruptly step in close and, aiming to have lured Keith's guard down low with her movements, instead leap upward in a furious headbutt, targeting his face with her wider-than-average forehead.
Tiger Mask blinks as Keith throws his food away even before he defends himself, rather than littering. What a model citizen! Even... foolishly model citizen. But he seems to not be too badly hurt.
At the questions of how she doesn't know he's not evil, however, she falters momentarily in the series of pointless but impressive looking gestures she's doing. The only sort of person who would question how she knows they are not evil is a villain... or a philosopher?
"...What did he do to your family?"
A pause.
"Are you... both evil?"
She's really not sure how to handle this whole situation as a 'good person', so she takes a step back, and watches the two of them simultaneously, waiting until she has some better sign on what's going on here.
COMBATSYS: Miki focuses on her next action.
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Wing 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Keith
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Miki 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Keith fails to interrupt Taiga Style from Wing with Ground n' Pound.
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Wing 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Keith
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Miki 0/-------/-======|
Keith is amused. On one hand, Keith feels a bit terrible for turning a person against him. However, Keith finds amusement. He doesn't think that Wing is a villain. However, Keith is not certain about himself. He doesn't know what his life was.
"...I'm afraid that I don't, kiddo."
If not for him...
Her family would be alive?
... What -DID- he do?
Those questions are mulling over Keith's head as he tries to sort himself out. Something happened within those years. He needs to find out where. Otherwise, it will be a very long search through a city where he has no clues to go off of.
"...News flash, I don't."
Keith springs himself forward, now taking the aggression to counter aganst Wing's attempts to headbutt him. Unfortunately, Keith did not get the timing right. He was perhaps a second off in his brave effort. His face earns a cave-in as her head smacks against his nose. His head tilts back and he stumbles backwards. He places a hand aainst his face.
"... I don't remember what I did these five years ago." He narrows his eyes, "...Afraid everything before the last month is a blur."
Wing staggers back from the impact of her own headbutt, but her unfocused eyes are part for the course; all she can see is red in any case. The urge to just smash everything around her is intoxicating. All she needed was the barest excuse, and meeting /this/ man was the best excuse of all.
"Shut your mouth."
Her response to Keith is harsh and grating, but more careless than earlier words, delivered in momentary ecstasy. In reality, she doesn't know his name, and right now she doesn't even care. It's not that she doesn't believe him when he says he's forgotten; she's just not interested in his perspective either way. He wasn't the only one at fault, and he surely wasn't the ringleader. She just happened to fixate on his face. But pulverizing that face offers a visceral satisfaction that she cannot deny, the sadist in her -- that being most of her -- singing out in glee.
Thus it is that Tiger Mask can see, as Wing turns to face her, that the pint-sized brawler's lips have twisted, for all the rage in her gaze, into a savage smile.
"Are /you/--"
At least, for the split-second before Wing springs at her like a frenzied housecat.
"--AN IDIOT!?"
Consumed by the thrill of violence, ignoring the dumbstruck residents of and visitors to the neighborhood, Wing pounces upon Tiger Mask with the intent to tackle the girl to the ground, aiming three furious punches at her gi-clad midsection before trying to wrest the mask right off the would-be hero's face.
"Why don't you show your dumb face, huh!?"
COMBATSYS: Miki counters Combo Grapple from Wing with Savage Grace.
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Wing 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 1/-------/=======|
As Wing pounces, Tiger Mask grabs onto spins to one side slightly, redirecting that force so Wing is harmlessly on the other side of her.
However, simultaneously, a giant pink energy tiger head emerges from her stomach and bites into Wing's stomach, then retreats back inside her. What the fuck?
The Imitation-Tokusatsu Heroine(?) pulls Wing in a little closer, leaning in close with that mask, so close that her eyes are visible through the holes. Her eyes aren't angry, or full of justice. They're just... curious. Her tone is a little more serious, but there's still that slightly theatrical note to it, as she's still playing the hero.
"I'm confused, Wing Xiaoping. You're someone claiming that someone... harmed your family somehow, from context, although it hasn't been explicitly stated. If that's really the case, why are you attacking someone for being an idiot when the person who brought you so much grief is right before you? Wouldn't you be attacking the one who harmed your family? For Justice? Or even Vengeance? Not some idiot for JUSTICE with a mask who wasn't getting in your way at the moment?"
"You do, however, seem sincere. That's the part that confuses me."
"I think you want someone to hurt, someone to blame, even if they have nothing to do with what happened at that time. But by attacking indiscriminately, you're getting in the way of that."
"Tiger Mask has friends and allies in various circles, and Justice has friends and allies and lovers everywhere. If you truly want Justice for your family, why don't we work together? There's no need to ignite yourself with the flames of Anger and letting it consume yourself and everything around you - when you do that, you're only hurting yourself, and everyone around you."
"As for why I wear this mask... I don't want my friends or family to get hurt by what I do. Even if I make mistakes." She releases Wing's hands.
Keith is taking the time to recover. All considering that Keith had gotten a lovely headbutt by the young girl, Keith is trying to take in the fact that he got a bit too careless. Perhaps the trace of his memories held in front of him is killing off that normally amused mood. There is something that Keith had promised himself. It is to get what was lost to him. No, it is to get back what was taken from him: His memories. No matter what the price is, Keith will gladly pay it to remember what was once taken from him.
This girl, who seeks his head, is his only chance for a lead. He has to get a more defining area.
A glance is given towards the Tiger Mask, "...A solid reason to wear a mask. Know, however, there will be people who'll seek to remove that mask." He gives a thoughtful look, "Are you prepared for that?"
He will give the girl some attention in a moment. First, however, it is dealing with Wing, who deserves a present. Keith is moving towards the young girl with both arms up. In his burly form, he springs in and then he draws himself forward to close the distance.
Closing in, Keith releases a left jab; the leading fist striking towards Wing's forehead, then he retracts back for a right hook. However...
The real impact comes in with the incoming punch aimed to take her stomach. It's a nice gut punch.
COMBATSYS: Keith successfully hits Wing with Body Blow.
- Power hit! -
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Wing 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 1/-------/=======|
Wing's smile freezes on her face.
"What--"
There is a pink tiger.
"--the--"
Biting her stomach.
"--ffffff--"
So it is that the Queen of the Streets simply gawks as Tiger Mask pulls her intimately close and begins to whisper sweet nothings. Actually, what Tiger Mask is saying might as well be sweet nothings. As the wannabe sentai heroine chatters on, Wing, apparently still paralyzed by what just happened to her, crosses her eyes as they slowly glaze over. On and on this girl monologues. Words enter Wing's ear and bounce around inside her skull before exiting through the other.
"Uh--"
Eventually, though, Tiger Mask stops talking.
"Y-- Yes?"
There was a question in there, right? Wing hazards this answer. She vaguely has the impression that if she says this, mask girl, who is apparently pink-tiger-level serious about not having her mask torn off, will help Wing out with this big dude. Oh, that's right, the Queen remembers as her hands are released, eyes still unfocused. That big--
"Gaaagghhhh!"
Wing's head snaps to the side as Keith, swift and stealthy for her size, connects with his jab, spinning the girl around so that his follow-up right hook connects with her side, opening her up for the final straight right. The last blow hurls her across the street into the opposing storefront, crashing through the glass and into a box of cheap electric toys. The impact seems to activate all of them at once, and a cacophony of blips and beeps and hoots resounds.
"You son of a--"
Shaking a feathery toy chick from her hair as it clucks obnoxiously and brushing shattered glass off her sleeves, Wing aims a murderous look at her fated foe. Anyone would have the wind taken out of them by such a blow, but the girl seems to have rallied almost immediately, fury suppressing her fatigue. "Hey, Tiger Ass!" Wing shouts, spreading her arms broadly as her eyes snap wide. "Let's get this piece of--"
Wind gathers about her feet, whipping toys into the air.
"--SHIIIIIIIIIII--"
Soon she is the eye of a storm of souvenirs, chunks of glass joining the terrifying dance about her and then, soon, bits of rubble as well, the remainder of the wall before her and pieces of the floor combining into a horrible array that circles in a blur.
"--IIYYAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Forgetting that she was even trying to say a word, Wing thrusts her arms forward, and the whole heavy barrage explodes onto the street, a torrent of random crap aimed to slam into, tear at, and humiliate Keith.
Tiger Mask nods emphatically at Wing's answer of 'yes'. It's just as well she was talking about Justice instead of sweet nothings.
But then, right when she was getting her on the side of Justice, Keith attacks the girl.
"There's always a risk in fighting for Justice! But since you're attacking while I'm trying to talk to this girl, I can't take your methods in good faith anymore! Prepare yourself-" She points a finger up at Keith's face, then realizes she doesn't really know what his name is.
"...for JUSTICE!"
She dashes in towards him low at a right angle to where Wing's storm of souveneirs has gathered, and attempts to step on his foot, while the front half of the giant energy tiger(with darker pink stripes) emerges from her side and lashes out with it's claw towards his side, then slashes repeatedly at his leg. She'll attempt to continue this by vaulting up off his foot and aiming a barrage of punches up at his face, if she gets this chance.
COMBATSYS: Keith just-defends Wing's Dragonforce!
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Wing 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Keith endures Miki's Mahogany Rush.
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Wing 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 1/-----==/=======|
"Eh, she would had forgotten your statement and attacked me again. I figure I'd cut the script in half. Nothing value lost." The older man gives a shrug, "However... why don't we make this interesting, huh?" His eyes drift towards the young girl, "I'll play the bad guy in this game..." He shakes his head, drifting his hand into his pocket. As he procures a coin, he glances over to see Wing's flight into the electrical toys.
"...Let's make this entertaining."
A flip of a coin is made as he tosses it into the air. Keith draws his attention to Wing, who is now gathering her own energy. As she creates a storm that surrounds her, Keith watches her releae a torrent of debris and toys flying towards him.
....That is when the toys make an impact.
An explosion clears...
Keith reveals to be unscathed. In front of him is a single hand that acts as a wall. Surrounding him is a field of Psycho Power that resonates with some sort of powerful energy. This time, his eyes glow with a cyan hue. The cyan aura of the forcefield slowly disappears as he tilts his neck side to side.
"Show me your justice."
The older man finally reaches to his side to procure a device. It looks like a miniature gun with a needle. He places it towards his neck.
TSCH!
...A well of energy manifests around the older man. The wall of energy gives off a chaotic force before it clears.
The cyan glow in his eyes focus towards the White Tiger of Justice. As she tries to step on his foot, Keith takes in the impact and take in the energy slashing at his side. As she attempts to vault up for a series of punches. Keith extends a hand to release a burst of energy towards her form.
The White Tiger may be engulfed with the cyan 'flames' that seek to consume her.
All the meanwhile... the coin comes down and he catches it with his other hand.
Wing stumbles through the hole in the wall she has mostly created, ignoring the horrified stare of the shopkeeper behind her as she blearily looks up, hoping to see the destruction she has wreaked upon her foe. But her face soon falls in shock as she sees that her adversary has revealing a talent she never could have imagined. Her jaw works wordlessly as Keith injects some sort of serum into his neck and appears to surge with the power he has used to deflect her massive assault.
"Gghh--!"
As his energies gather, Wing flinches back, reaching up to clutch at her head again. Images from the past war with the present, causing her vision to swim. She gulps down air, and for a moment it looks as though she may need to take a breather, already swaying on her feet from her prior exertion.
"Ffffffff--"
Until she is running.
"--uuuuuuuuu--"
Or falling, maybe. Sort of falling forward one step at a time, culminating in a head-on rush for Keith as he launches flame-wreathed punches at Justice Girl over there. Wing doesn't even see Tiger Mask, really. All she sees is her enemy, highlighted by a sort of haze, as she is driven forward half by rage and half by an insistent pounding in her skull.
"--uuccckkk thaaaaaat!"
Throwing herself forward, she aims to tackle Keith's legs, slamming her shoulder into the back of his knees to trip him up. If she succeeds, she may or may not start biting his ankles.
COMBATSYS: Miki interrupts Ignition from Keith with Saber Tiger.
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Wing 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 0/-------/-----==|
"Ah ha! Someone who uses drugs and attacks people from behind, is almost certainly evil!"
Tiger Mask's eyes shine pink from behind that mask. Her lips pull back from her teeth to reveal her fangs - or they would, if there wasn't a mask in the way.
"...so you want to see JUSTICE?" Her heroic tones are lost a bit under her desire to revel in fighting, in strength.
The entire energy tiger erupts from her, headbutting Keith in the face, pushing him back, seemingly more solid and real than the previous times, a predatory look visible in it's blazing eyes as it stares into his. The force of this dissipates most of the energy away from Tiger Mask, although some of it lashes along her sleeve, turning it to dust in seconds and causing a blackened scorching mark along the small bit of flesh it touches.
The energy tiger continues forwards, stabbing one energy claw /through/ Keith's side, and bites down hard on his neck, connected by Miki only by it's tail now. After a moment, it pulls out of him, falls back, withdrawing into Tiger Mask's body. She points a single finger at Keith dramatically, her hand shaking a bit, since it's held up by the arm that just got burnt by that odd energy.
"What exactly are you risking over getting into fights like this? Even if you don't have a mask, there's still things you could lose. Why not live a peaceful life, or turn your heart towards Justice?"
Her eyes lower to see what Wing's attempting there, and her pointing falters a bit. She tilts her head to one side.
"...Um?"
COMBATSYS: Keith endures Wing's Quick Throw.
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Wing 1/------=/=======|=======\=====--\1 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 0/-------/-----==|
The explosion of Psycho Power was interrupted. While the flame manifested, it did not make the complete intention that it desired to do. No. Instead, Keith receives the energy headbutting him into the face. He staggers back from the impact. It sends him stumbling backwards, grimacing before he slams against the wall. "...Heh..."
That energy tiger sears through his side and it bites hard against its neck. He grimaces, then he starts to laugh. In the midst of the pain, Keith can feel the rush.
"Hahahahahahaaa.... What am I risking in this fight? Ahh, that'd be telling! However, I am feeling the rush! This is a great feeling! .... There is no peaceful life for me! Not until I--..."
CHOMP!
Oh hey, there is a little ankle biter. Keith is not certain how to take this. He is in them midst of 'going live', which is something that he wants to avoid. Too many people here. If he sticks around, this girl may finish him off.
What does he do?
Act as the villain defeated.
"ARRGGHHH!" Keith clutches against his foot, finally kicking his leg off to get Wing to let go of his ankle! "Nggghh, you win this time, but I'll be back.. wandering..... back to Los Angeles, where it all started."
Keith is limping pretty fast. He got what he needed. A lead.
If anything, Wing will lead him to the familiar area, after tossing the clue out.
Wing, more or less flopped on the ground at this point and missing most of the lightshow that rages around her, glares up at Keith with her jaw clenched around his ankle as though daring him to hit her. But instead he shakes her off, appearing as though he has been driven back. The Queen of the Streets has the vague feeling as though she is being made fun of, but she feels that way more or less all the time, so she nevertheless swells up with pride. "Yeah, take that!" she shouts, spitting lint out as she does. "Next time I'll eat your toes! That's a delicacy where I'm from!"
Today we learned something about the cuisine in Hell.
"Hey-- don't you-- just run away--" Growling gutturally, Wing, still somewhat dazed, begins forcing herself to her feet, slower than her limping nemesis. "This isn't over! I'm not finished with you yet! I'll find you! I'll hunt you down!" Strangely, even for her, Wing is unnaturally confident about this. Now that she's met this man again and has the training to face him with her own strength, she won't lose sight of him again. And though her fury has not yet been sated, she is experiencing a kind of profound satisfaction, one that has been missing since her stay in Japan began. Only now, surrounded by devastation, does she feel as though she has fully arrived.
Her swagger has returned.
"WHAT!?"
As is evidenced by the way she stomps over to her erstwhile ally, Tiger Mask, who has clearly been giving her the sideeye ever since Wing went full Chihuahua.
"DON'T YOU--"
Whereupon, with little warning, Wing pounces again, this time aiming to land on Tiger Mask's shoulders and clench her slender legs about the girl's throat before flipping forward and smashing her body upon the concrete, shattering the pavement for meters in every direction.
"--JUDGE ME!!!!"
Uhhhh, has she already forgotten about Keith?
COMBATSYS: Miki blocks Wing's K.R.E.A.M..
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Wing 0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 0/-------/----===|
Tiger Mask watches the retreating Keith, but doesn't give chase for the moment. She looks over to Wing as she gets up. "Calm down. We'll be able to find him. I have a friend in-"
She blinks as Wing lands on her shoulders, and her throat is clutched. She's hurled to the ground, but rolls to the side she hits it, somewhat blunting the blow, although not really preventing the cement from shattering.
She slowly crawls back up onto her feet, and gets back up into a crouch, slams a palm against her shoulder a couple of times to get it back into place. She points a finger at the girl.
"Your technique is impeccable! But you lack self control, Wing Xiaoping!" A short pause.
"You could be a great ally to good, or do whatever you wanted with your power. But instead you let your power, your urge to fight at the slightest slight, control you!"
"It's a tragedy! And... it's why I judge you."
She leaps up into the air, towards Wing, but far over her head, then kicks off the Sleeping Dragon's sign, sending her back in another angle, spinning towards the girl, aiming her heel at the girl's jaw.
"Tiiiger KICK!"
COMBATSYS: Miki successfully hits Wing with Heavy Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Wing 0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1 Keith
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Miki 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Keith takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Wing 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Miki
COMBATSYS: Keith can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Wing 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Miki
Wing is snarling like an angry little dog as she rises back to her feet, teetering dangerously back and forth. As Tiger Mask begins soliloquizing once again, the thugette's eyes roll up so far into the back of her head you can hardly see her pupils any more.
"Ohhhhhh my gaaaaa--"
Cutting herself off, her gaze snaps forward again, fueled entirely by a brimming rage she has not yet fully expressed.
"SHUT UP ALREADY!!"
I mean, when /has/ she fully expressed it?
Wing lunges forward, practically frothing at the mouth, only to find that the agile Tiger Mask has already disappeared somewhere. For the briefest moment the dazed brawler imagines that her adversary has simply fled, until too late her instincts alert her to the shadow descending upon her. She turns with a scowl only to get a face full of Tiger Boot which spins her around full circle--
"GRRAAAAHHH!!"
--and which becomes almost a kind of wind-up for her. Once again it's not quite clear whether Wing is falling forward or attacking, but perhaps this too is part of Wing's technique. Okay, maybe that's overly generous. But the girl moves explosively despite her obvious fatigue, rallying with a relentless fervor as she takes on a still-fresh opponent without hesitation. Her rotation carries her into a stunning body blow of her own, a palm strike that she aims for Tiger Mask's midsection.
"HOW DO YOU JUDGE /THIS/!?"
And if she can immobilize her opponent even for a moment, both of Wing's arms will blur in a blinding flurry of strikes, a veritable rain of fists against the masked hero that may drive her against the wall of the Sleeping Dragon and pin her there to be battered endlessly. The flabbergasted spectators might count almost a hundred strikes, honest to goodness -- if their eyes are quick enough to see them.
Time to make an example of all who would defy the Queen!
COMBATSYS: Wing successfully hits Miki with Wing Dynasty.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Wing 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Miki
Tiger Mask starts to move back as she sees Wing move through her, but too late - she's slammed back against the wall of the Sleeping Dragon, and she's repeatedly pummeled there, completely defenseless, some of the bricks in the wall cracking behind her. As Wing's furious frenzy finally finishes, she slumps to the ground on her side, her vague attempts to move looking pitiful at best.
Her eyes glow pink once again behind that mask, and a low growl comes out of her throat. The heroic facade she usually keeps up has more or less dropped, for while she might lecture Wing on fighting people without reason, she herself is all too eager to fight.
She slowly pushes herself up with shaking arms, until she's up onto all fours. Her blazing eyes stare at Wing beneath that mask, like a predator considering how to devour her prey.
...And then she collapses back onto her stomach. Despite all her willpower, it's really hard for her to move her body right now.
Her spirit, however, is another matter. The giant pink energy tiger bursts out of her back, emerging from Tiger Mask except for it's backpaws and the end of it's tail, and aims a flurry of claws at Wing's legs, aiming to disable her ability to run for a moment.
Because at her heart, Miki - or at least the tiger inside her - is a predator. And she doesn't want Wing to escape before she's done with her.
COMBATSYS: Miki successfully hits Wing with Handsome Beast.
[ \\ < > //////// ]
Wing 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Miki
Wing's petite body heaves with each shuddering breath as she stands in the wake of the wreckage she has wrought. Her fated foe has vanished for now, though not, she is certain, for long. Around her remains the horrified -- and in a few cases, awestruck -- gazes of their transfixed audience. And before her lies Tiger Mask, who has finally, /finally/--
"Ha ha ha!"
--shut up for a second!
"Bow down before your Queen!"
Wing cackles with delight as Tiger Mask falls onto her stomach, placing her hands upon her hips as she descends into exhausted hysterics. A murmur passes through the crowd at this. Sure, the damage to the neighborhood is pretty bad, but all in all, this has been a decent Lunar New Year show. Is this really the conclusion? Some ways away, a little boy tugs on his mother's sleeve. 'Mom, Tiger Mask is gonna get up, right? She's not finished, right?' His mother promptly stuffs a Sleeping Dragon brand meatbun in his mouth to silence him while she closely watches the thrilling conclusion to the battle.
"Haaaaa ha haagrghh--"
Not that Wing is ever going to learn her lesson or anything, but sometimes gloating really isn't worth it. The ravenous pink tiger -- seriously, it's just /embarrassing/ to be hit by this stuff -- tears at Wing's legs, sending jolts of agony through her as her limbs nearly fail her. The wouldbe gangster chokes and stumbles, nearly toppling, before taking a step forward, motivated almost purely by vengeful fury.
"I'll--"
Half-flailing, she lashes out with a stomp kick.
"--never--"
That kick becomes a blur of stomps, five or six more aiming to crush into Tiger Mask's vulnerable fallen body in quick succession, slowed though Wing may be by injury and fatigue. But as the last kick swings out, Wing sways and falters--
COMBATSYS: Wing can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Miki 1/-------/=======|
"--l--"
--and keels over, falling face-first on either Miki or the street.
COMBATSYS: Miki interrupts Phoenix Flurry from Wing with Iron Claw.
[ \\\\\ <
Miki 1/------=/=======|
Tiger Mask's body just moves slightly at Wing's first stomp, as a body will when you kick it. But as Wing stomps down on her again and again, a single tiger arm lashes out once again, and slices a nasty cut up along her leg, making the rest of the kicks somewhat weaker. Wing falls down onto the pavement, and a few moments pass.
Slowly, Tiger Mask reaches out a hand, wraps it around Wing's wrist to check her pulse. Confirming that there is one, she slowly pushes herself back up, flops back against the wall in a sort of sitting position.
She takes a deep breath, and raises a trembling fist.
"Don't worry, citizens... justice will always win...!"
That's about all the heroics she has energy for, though. She's not about to kill Wing Xiaoping, for a variety of reasons, or take her to a hospital or jail - oh god what if she took insult at somebody, it'd be a bloodbath - but she isn't going to leave her unconcious in the middle of town, either. And she /definitely/ doesn't want to be around when she wakes up.
She waits for her body to repair itself a little, and then picks up Wing, throws her over her shoulder, drags her to some remote alley. And leaves her there, on some relatively clean cardboard boxes, watching over her from a rooftop until it seems like she's starting to wake up. And then she gets the hell out of there.
Wing is like a... natural disaster of some kind, and she's not sure how to deal with her yet.
Log created on 20:35:11 01/23/2015 by Wing, and last modified on 03:25:59 01/24/2015.