Description: In an attempt to steal Ultratech's new technology for himself, Vega makes another appearance as Kamon at the Ultratech Red Expo only to find that his Psycho Power has destabilized one of their devices. As time and space begin to crack around him, Thunder Hawk and Howard Rust Jr step forward to try to put a stop to this chaos.
Chaos
The Ultratech Red Expo has begin to fall into pandemonium following an attack on the supposedly holographic represenation of one of Ultratech's more complicated devices that bridges the eons. It had been a fun experiment, like a trip to the museum, for those who believed it really was little more than a complicated projection. Some of the views had been incredible: futuristic cities and prehistoric dinosaurs alike, created in such a way that it was almost possible to believe one was merely looking through a window.
Then one of the expo's visitor's seemed to be warped and torn as space and time distorted around him. The scream had been blood-chilling the way it felt as though it was being heard by the brain before it reached the ears. What was left of the body was unrecognizable as human, instead it looked like the remains at a meat packaging plant in a polo shirt and cargo shorts with its visitor badge still hanging around what must have been a neck.
How did all of this happen? What could have sent a device that the hosts had claimed to be benign into a state like this?
It all began to go wrong when the very fabric of space seemed to be twisted and pulled apart by a malevolent energy, out of which stepped the mysterious fighter known only as Kamon, clad in his usual black gi hemmed with red. For a moment the aura that surrounds the man merely began to weigh heavy on the soul, as sensations of hopelessness and dread accompanied his mere presence.
Then one of the exhibition service droids exploded in a sudden clash of energy that seemed to make even the brutal fighter take on an expression of surprise. From there it built outward, drawn to every electronic device. Lightning crackled over cameras and phones, removing fingers from those not quick enough to drop their precious electronics.
Even before the announcement came in over the PA system, people began to flee for their lives. The entire exhibition hall began to empty like a sieve raised up from a pool. No sane person would choose to stand around while reality itself began to destabilize.
Trapped in the middle of it, clutching his head as he's overwhelmed by the unusual power flowing back against his Pyscho Energy, Vega is left alone struggling to regain control of this situation. He'd come here to take for his own any technology that was worthy of his empire and humiliate Ultratech, not to be defeated by some foolish machine!
No sane person, indeed, would choose to stand around while reality itself began to destabilize. What's one to say about someone who doesn't just stand around, but-- actually, we'll get to that in a moment...
So far as one of the goers of the expo is concerned, getting a pass was one of the best expenditures of a not small amount of saved up cash he could get! Lots of freaky but interesting stuff being pushed forth in so many fields at once!
The demonstration fights, too! His favorite was the one with some people fighting in some interesting circumstances. It's a shame he couldn't get signed up in an exhibition fight, that would've saved him quite a bit of cash... but hey, the experience is its own reward, as is a complete failure to understand some of the ramifications of the more, shall we say, interesting things put forth. He's like a kid in a candy shop, that guy.
Who... is that guy just described in the last few paragraphs, anyway?
Howard Rust, Jr., that kind of weird overweight middle-aged man with a beehive hairdo, dressed like a guy who can't decide if he's an automobile mechanic or if he's going out to the beach, with a toolbelt that doesn't look like it should've passed expo security and a length of pipe thrust through a torn toolbelt pocket.
"Huh, things sure got exciting right quick with!" He babbles on to himself in the wake of a recent bout near this very display, having somehow not got the note that his smartphone shorting out and exploding is probably a sign that he should be walking... towards the exit.
He takes a few shifty looks around the all but deserted show floor. With a mischievous little grin, he clasps his hands together closely, a few fingers pressed against one another in symmetry that doesn't appear communicative of much of anything.
"Guess I get to take a really close gander at--"
The overwhelming sense of dread that fills the air seems content to put some punctuation to that sentence, or some heavy revision in red ink. It's... crushing. Uncomfortable. Choking! It's so overpowering to the senses that he can barely even make out anyone at all, beyond, say, Kamon, a good ways away. He casts such a presence that even more highly visible things like... explosions, or horrible electrical surges... just don't register.
Of /all the possible signals to pick up/ from body language in the wake of every reason to not even stand around, the strange man misinterprets, above all else, the sight of the mysterious Kamon holding his head against the power feedback.
Braving a certain... uneven quality to the air around him, this man makes probably one of the dumbest approaches, one of the most idiotic questions, and overall worst judgment calls this side of any sort of topical political decisions one might use for comparison.
"Hey! Hey there," he dares call out to Kamon, somehow finding it in himself to navigate the ruptures of time and space to draw himself closer, "you all right?" He jogs forth as he bats a hand at a collapsing overhead support. "What with all the stuff looking like it's blowing up around, and all of it, really a nasty looking time to deal with--"
T. Hawk, perhaps on a whim, agreed to partake in Ultratech's Expo. The talk of new technology for combat sports didn't interest him at first - he never had a head for hard science. But the tech talks and exhibits slowly got him to come around to the things featured here, and he had to admit, Ultratech seemed to know how to make a presentation. He even got a swag bag full of random crap he can take home to the village and give to the kids or the tech-heads in the tribe. He had a neighbor in particular who was all about electronics.
Unfortunately, things take a turn for the dark. Hawk was just in the middle of testing the forcefields designed by the company for safe fight spectating when he felt an overwhelming sense of dread and fear wash over him. This wasn't normal; for one this feeling hit him in the chest like a sledgehammer, turning his heart to ice. The big man had to grip a table to keep from falling to his knee. Then an alarm went out. Things got confused. He turned in the direction of the main building where the expo floor was. He could hear screaming, and in the midst of this he remembered feeling this particular aura before. It can't be. Not here.
So now Hawk walks into floor as reality seems to be coming apart. He could feel a slight headache coming on. He grits his teeth as he looks towards the focus of the disturbance. That man...was it really him? He ran, his footsteps making heaby stomps across the pristine tiled floor. He sees someone else here too. "STOP!" he yells. "Get away from him!" He was a mountain in motion.
All of this power... it seems to pull in around Vega like a vice. Once all of the local electronics have detonated, the Lord of Shadaloo becomes like a lightning rod in all of this. It tears at his body, attempting to drag him... somewhere. It's all he can do to keep himself centered on the here and now.
Perhaps if he can destroy the here and now he may be able to find a way out of this.
And then he's not alone.
The voices come to him first, calling out from the swirling haze of the universe being forcefully rearranged. It takes time before his eyes can adjust. The two blank, white orbs turn hesitantly at first before settling in on the motion that seems far more natural.
People.
Another man might call out for assistance, beg for any manner of help that might free him from the suffering he is enduring. A moment of humility in exchange for an opportunity to live.
Vega is not another man.
These insignificant whelps dare to look upon a god in a moment of pain. No one will ever claim that Lord Vega has been kowed! No one will ever be able to mock Lord Vega for being weak!
As soon as the strangely pompadored man is within reach, Pyscho Power begins to coalesece around Vega's hand, marred with crackling energy as the surrounding energy reacts more strongly with a power that seems utterly at odds with whatever source powers the device. WIth no concern for his own strength burning at him, the dictator of Shadaloo lashes out, his fist swinging to catch the younger Rust in the gut.
"KNOW YOUR PLACE! A PAWN BOWS BEFORE A GOD!"
COMBATSYS: Vega has started a fight here on the top side.
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Vega 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Vega 0|-------|-------
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Rust 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: T. Hawk has joined the fight here.
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Vega 0|-------|-------
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
COMBATSYS: Rust auto-guards Vega's Medium Punch.
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Vega 0|-------|-------
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
Some people are so great, so much... more, than mot can imagine, that even in the heat of a truly exciting moment it can be difficult to believe that one person involved is, in fact, someone of such transcendent power and infamy is right next to oneself.
Someone whose very presence shuts out the out-of-control malfunctions of state-of-the-art, kinda-sorta tested technology that when one comes up to them, more often than not, their very core state of being overwhelms just about everything.
"It's all right, her--" Rust's already got his arms out to help catch a man he assumes is about to stumble over. By either coincidence, or some underlying fighting instinct a man that looks as he does probably shouldn't have, the energy-wreathed arm is caught in a gentle, supportive, well-meaning and polite grasp, the man of the strange hair moving with it in such a fashion as though helping stop a man from falling to his feet.
This does not stop the flow of pure hatred given form and appearance that courses through his very being. Time hiccups in such a way that this agonizing moment of contact extends beyond a mere fraction of a second, but several. Cognizant (if only just so) of this sensation that runs through him, the middle aged man's features contort to some indescribable, overwhelming emotion.
Thunder Hawk's words of warning travel through distorted, almost unrecognizable... the intent to keep this man from making a mistake that may well have cost his life lost to the wrinkles of time and space.
Time resumes properly for as long as it's going to until its next bump in the road. Though he may have - unwittingly or otherwise - expertly overcome a single maneuver honed from sheer hatred and might alike, the resonance of the colors of negative emotion leave their stunning mark as this striking arm is released but mere moments after the fact.
Rust stumbles backwards, eyes wide, and falls onto his bum wordlessly. Overwhelmed by what he just touched - and this may be an understatement - he seems frozen in his seated position as though time itself stopped around him, unaware how to process what exactly just went through himself...
...Or what this man before him just might be, if he is even capable of dwelling on the whos or whats.
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
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Vega 0|-------|-------
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
T. Hawk finally approaches, but too late to save the other guy from getting punched. The distortions make it hard for him to determine what exactly is up with Rust's get up - was that a pompadour and a jacket? Was an Elvis impersonator here? No wait...beehive. Hawk rubs his eyes, then turns his attention to the bellowing man radiating all that hatred and evil. No mistaking it. This was...
"Vega."
He clenches his fists as anger wells up from within him. The man that devastated his tribe and drove them off their homeland, that killed his father, was HERE, NOW? He couldn't make sense of it, but...there he was. He was sure of it. Perhaps this was a sign from the spirits. A more cynical thought occurs to him, suddenly: perhaps this was just the roll of the cosmic die, and he will die here. He isn't sure where that came from, that stray thought. But he had been getting them more often lately.
He turned back to Rust and edged closer, his expression grim. "Listen to me very carefully. This man is...maybe 'pure evil' isn't the right term, but damned if it isn't close enough. I suggest you start running and never look back. I don't know why he's here, or how, but I guess it doesn't matter." He speaks in a careful, measured yet firm tone, trying to make it clear even with the distortions going around.
The giant raises his arms with his palms flat and pointed forward, elbows bent. The traditional Thunderfoot martial arts stance. Without any further words than a glower to Vega, he throws an arm out to chop the man in the gi across the chest.
COMBATSYS: T. Hawk successfully hit Vega with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Vega 0|-------|------=
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
There is a flashing moment where a great deal happens, then ceases to happen, then ultimately happens again in an different order.
Somehow Vega's power is causing reality to rearrange itself while in the presence of this device that was supposedly to merely show representations of a window to look through time. Could it be that the very nature of his power, of the strangely powerful purity of his soul pulls at threads of time?
Does it reach out for all of the darkness and suffering from every moment in time at once and attempt summon them forth?
All of these questions are greatly problematic in the grand scheme of things, but in the here in now it's simply enough that this confusion leaves Vega uncertain and open as he's recognized.
The assault is sudden, and the dictator attempts in a flash to duck out of the way, but instead finds his actions reverted around him. One moment he is out of reach, the next he's back where he was and a vengeful chop catches him in the chest and sends him flying back into one of the supports of the holographic display, bending with the force of his collision.
There is one thing that is very important to Vega that overrides the good sense to retreat in a moment of desperation. Insects swarm around him, and those that dare to prick at his flesh will be swatted down.
The Dictator of Shadaloo rises back up, summoning his Psycho Power to lift him from the ground even as the reactions crackle around him. Flashes of visions swarm everywhere. The iconic red military uniform marked with the skulls of his empire seems to flicker between existance and imagination around him. Visions swarm the entire field of his attrocities. Villages burned to the ground, bodies left lifeless at his hands. Directly behind the man it all hones in on the pain and anger directed from Thunder Hawk. Trapped in a loop, his father dies again and again at the hands of this monster.
"Insignificant worms! You will learn that before me you are nothing!"
Vega flies through the air toward T.Hawk, hands crackling with pure Psycho Power as he clears the distance in mere moments, both hands fly out in quick chops as he gets within arms reach, scissoring together in what seems to be an effort to take the giant man's head clean off.
COMBATSYS: Vega knocks away T. Hawk with Somersault Skull Diver.
! VENGEANCE !
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Vega 0|-------|---====
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Rust 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 T. Hawk
The gigantic Thunder Hawk's words may or may not completely reach the more rotund man's ears, for what emotions flash through him just from being in contact with the Psycho Power of the one, the only Vega. He doesn't even quite manage to immediately put Vega's sneer into any sort of acknowledgement, even though he was just told it's him, and that what just happened - and is happening - can really only be him. How Vega looks from afar, from still captured images and video, does not match how he looks in person.
He does not appear like a man, but a man-shaped purple hole in space, and it is something common people really cannot comprehend.
The semi-petrified man is found at something of an impasse, between willingness to get up and move when there is an all-encompassing feeling of dread and futility. Yet, something gnaws at the back of his mind. Something beyond the slowly accruing acknowledgement that he is facing an absolute force of nature, something beyond the fact he's staring at a man who is responsible for so much suffering - especially for a certain someone he calls son.
He remembers how much his dad really did not like that purple-colored statuette of a man he got him as a gift some many years back. He's not sure why. It was, uncannily, the same purple color he just had wash over his entire psyche.
Something about that seems to keep himself acknowledging he is alive and can (and should) move. Even with Thunder Hawk's warnings, is there really any single man that could stand up to Vega? Can he really leave him to likely meet a bloody end? Can one of his own children live with the fact he might've lost another someone close to him to--
Headlight. Just up there, a stage light.
Favoring decisive action over rationalizing much of anything - which is probably one of the reasons he gets into so much trouble! - the stunned man on the ground draws a screwdriver from his belt. His grip is shaky. His breathing is uneven. He closes his eyes...
Without calling to Thunder Hawk or much of anyone for that matter, his arm is a blur as a shine of steel flies through the air, going way, way above the now flying and descending Vega...
It cuts through what support still keeps that overhead lighting connected, sending a busted, box-shaped light down on a crash course for Vega himself while Rust still struggles to think about using his legs to stand back up or... do much of anything.
Hawk is overwhelmed by the time loops. He is assaulted by visions of the past - his own memories of the death of his father are hazy save for vivid, painful moments that have stuck with him growing up. Now? Now he could see the event clearly, over and over. There are many scenes around the world of Shadaloo's actions, flowing in and out view like old television sets in a window shop set to different channels. But the scenes of Thunderfoots exchanging gunfire with old Shadaloo troops, and his father getting a hole blasted through his chest with Psycho Power...those hit him hard.
It also opens him up to Bison's attack. For the first time he FEELS the true power of the dicator as the man's hands slam into both sides of his neck. His eyes widen, and his breath ceases. Further chops are met with his arms, and immense pain rips through them, almost breaking the bones. A final set of chops flings him away, where he smashes into the ground hard enough to rattle display cases. His big body shudders as pain screams through him. God, he really was a devil. It was just as they say...and yet, his rage drives him through the pain and causes him to stand up, shaking. The visions only amplify this feelings. He will KILL this man today! Even if it means his own death. He can't stop himself from thinking this. Rust is just as hazy to him as he is to Rust, though he is aware the other is joining the fight. Maybe they had a chance.
Hawk screams, a resounding war cry from the top of his lungs. He thrusts his arms out as he flies forward towards Vega, leaping and bringing his hands together in a double chop upon Vega's head as hard as he can. After the chop, he flies upwards to drive his knee into Vega's stomach, carrying him up as he rapidly and repeatedly forces his knee into the dictator's body. At the apex of the jump he comes back down to Earth in a crouch.
COMBATSYS: Vega dodges Rust's Large Thrown Object.
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Vega 0|-------|---====
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
COMBATSYS: Vega blocks T. Hawk's Canyon Splitter EX.
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Vega 0|-------|--=====
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
If time itself wishes to twist and bend, then it will have only one option: It will bend to Vega's will!
It's clear to Vega that he has brutalized his opponent. All he must do now is simply walk over to his foe and remind him that there is no hope against the power of Lord Vega or Shadaloo. The giant will not have his life ended, but he will be broken until all of the resistance that remains in his body has been lost. His size will mean nothing when he won't even be able to walk again.
And then everything falls apart around him as the lighting comes crashing down from above, trapping him in place. He's left helpless, unable to move out of the way as Thunder Hawk's screams shake him, each chop knocking strength from his bones.
NO!
If time can be bent, then it will bend to the Vega!
The world surges back into place as it was moments ago. He can see the man attempting to bring the lighting down on him and walks out of the way. As T. Hawk flies at him, Vega simply raises his arms, warding off each blow, absorbing most of it on his forearms rather than being brought to bear.
This is the way the world should be!
Certainly this might be a chance to finish the job and leave the vengeful opponent with nothing left in his body, but another needs to be punished.
"If you had been smart enough to flee when you had the chance, you would have been a coward... but a coward spared can be spared true suffering. Embrace the punishment for your bravery!"
Again the dictator begins to summon his Psycho Power, ignoring the crackling pain that runs through his arm as he does. It forms a ball of pure hatred in his hand before it is thrust forward, crossing open space with incredible speed as Vega seem to will reality to his side.
COMBATSYS: Vega knocks away Rust with Psycho Shot EX.
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Vega 0|-------|-======
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Rust 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
It is where Vega shows that he is not just a master of physical might, but of the space around him. When his will is made clear, it is difficult not to, on some level, kneel to it. Without true awareness of what exactly dares to dampen his strength, or any ability to discern any sort of difference between Vega at his best or to some subtle handicap incapable of truly being witnessed or acknowledged, all there is is Psycho Power.
It comes too fast. A few fractal patterns form from its sheer speed, as friction happens between the will of Vega and how space and time currently flow. It actually feels like it strikes Rust a good quarter of a second before it visually does, and in its wake there is nothing left where he stands--
Because now he's half-embedded a short ways away into the walkway of some other display where an exciting battle broke out, of course there'd be nothing left of him standing where he originally was. Almost no one alive could withstand that and keep their footing!
So he lost his footing. Withstand? Uh... well...
"So," he speaks, muffled, as he struggles to pull himself out of the wreckage that his entire right side is embedded in, "uh, I'd say we got off on the wrong foot," pushed so deeply into terror that he seems to come around the other end of the scale even as his body screams and otherwise says 'stay down play dead stay down play dead' as he shakily removes himself from his half-grave.
"I'm Howard Rust, Jr.," he introduces himself, "Iiii, uh.... oh, and I'm Howard Rust, Jr.," he waves a hand in the air as if shaking an invisible hand, "nice to meet you," he faces down and looks away, "also, before I forget to say it, I'm... Howard Rust, uhhh... Jr."
...He's not quite all there, as he staggers back foolishly into the haze of absolute negative emotion.
"I... I used ta do a lot of fighting, you might've heard about me out there as," he stumbles along as he pulls a pipe out of the toolbelt pocket with his left hand with hardly any real coordination. He looks like he should be dropping it, "you want to look at my pipe? It's a beaut. Heere, check it out, I could tell you all 'bout what I look for in these things, also--"
He says this as he draws nearer, accidentally(?) swinging it in a wide arc as he draws nearer, "sorry, I just got... you wouldn't believe this, but first, uh, lemme introduce mys--"
He probably needs another good smack to remind him what exactly he just got hit by, why it is terrifying. He doesn't need another smack to be told that this is up there for one of the dumbest things he's ever thought to do, his free hand lazily waving at T. Hawk as if to say 'hello.'
Hawk pants, sweat dripping from his brow as his body slowly starts to heal. He sees Rust waving and waves back...wait, was that now, or a few seconds ago? His sense of time is starting to slip. He sees himself running up and yelling "STOP! Get away from him!" before dissapearing. He sees himself asking a clerk about a small device that barely fits in his gigantic hands. He sees Rust sitting back after Vega flees and rubbing his head while he walks up to talk to the man...did they win? No wait. He's still here. Focus!
He moves around Vega, still wrapped up in his hatred. At least the visions are gone, for now. He moved to grab Vega by the neck and lift him up, staring at him before he turns and tosses the dicator forward into something - a wall, a display case, crystallized time...whatever, he doesn't care.
COMBATSYS: Vega endures Rust's Weakened Random Strike.
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Vega 0|-------|=======
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Rust 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
COMBATSYS: Vega fails to interrupt Mexican Throw from T. Hawk with Hell Attack.
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Vega 1|-----==|=======
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Rust 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 T. Hawk
Ignoring the fact that it is intent on tearing every part of his body asunder into separate moments in time, there is only one major problem with the way that the world being manipulated by the combination of this Ultratech device and Vega's Psycho Power: It's impossible to tell whether or not the force of the Lord of Shadaloo's blow has knocked all sense from Howard Rust Jr. or whether it is time skipping and repeating in unusual ways.
The fact that the man is attempting to introduce himself to Vega of all people in a moment like this would suggest that the man didn't come into this abnormality with his mind functioning properly. Certainly there have been those who are broken before Vega, but nothing quite like this.
A sneer of derision spreads across his face as Vega turns to look at his other opponent. The tears of reality have done enough that he knows why the giant native is attempting to combat him. There is no willingness to allow this broken fool and his tool provide any distraction from an opponent that may truly do him harm.
As the wrench comes swinging in that aimless faux attack toward Vega, he simply stands still, drawing forth a sudden wave of power that burst out from him, then leaping into the air just as the tool comes in, allowing it to propel him toward Thunder Hawk as he aims to catch the tribesman in the face with a furiously fast pair of strikes.
Reality doesn't approve of his attempts.
Space surges around the dictator. There are more Hawks now than he expected. Flowing at the same path at different times. Through sheer force of will, Vega begins to cast aside the times that fail to intersect his own until one is remaining.
The one that is right on top of him.
Vega is sent flying, crashing through a sign describing the "amazing holographic effects that simulate a real window in time and space."
There really is no telling what sort of life this man lived that has skewed his understanding of when something is dangerous enough to warrant leaving, or dangerous enough to be fun to push forth and do what one came to do (like make the most use out of his really expensive expo pass). At this point, the universe shrugs it shoulders.
With that sudden influx of power, just from being /that close/ to him his mind gets another jolt anew and the pipe-wielding man of uncommon sense (or common nonsense?) jerks strangely as though his mind were catching up to what was going on while his limbs were still on vague pleasant friendly autopilot.
His head bows like something struck him from the back of his head. There is a flash of an oh-so-slightly taller man of some even stranger head (...or hair?) shape. Murmurs of consonants can be heard as a whisper. His free hand goes to rub the back of it gingerly, all too casually as a cosmic near-miss occurs with the thunderous, loud crash of Thunder Hawk's impact to an even louder, cacophonous collision of the would-be dictator's body through the sign.
He blinks a few times in the wake of Thunder Hawk's righteous ejection of the dictator.
Vega never leaves peace and calm in his wake. The hatred, tragedy, and horror all linger to forever burn themselves into peoples' memories...
"Well, that was... exciting," Rust comments as he steps forth to put a hand up against Thunder Hawk's shoulder, only now faintly aware of the fact he himself has been bleeding out his right shoulder and calf from being flung into the stage earlier. "Never thought I'd ever see him in person just as...!"
It's impossible to tell if he's in disbelief or is looking back upon it like it were some sort of amazing roller coaster attraction.
"Thanks for the help, there, I--"
Something tugs at him deep inside. He can't quite explain it. Someone familiar sounds like they're talking? His eyes squint, as he starts to track.
He points outwards in the vague direction of where Vega flew, the length of pipe outstretched. "Hold on, he's... he's still here?" It's like he's responding to someone saying so rather than advising Thunder Hawk, whatever that means. With his free hand, he tries to tap the larger man's shoulder and direct his gaze... somewhere?
COMBATSYS: Rust assists T. Hawk.
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Vega 1|-----==|=======
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Rust 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 T. Hawk
Hawk stands tall, his usual frown present on his face as he watches the dictator fly into an exhibit. That felt good. But he wanted more. His singular focus was only broken by Rust touching his shoulder. He looks down at the peculiar man with a neutral expression on his face. "I'm Thunder Hawk. T. Hawk for short," he replies. "...thanks." Since Rust expressed thanks, it was only right he do the same. Even if his his tone was aloof, and gruff. "Hopefully this is the only time you see him," he adds, softer.
His eyes sharpen like his namesake's, frown deepening as he follows to where Rust is pointing. He motions for Rust to stand back. Yes, the devil was still here. He was not about to let up the assault until Vega laid limp at his feet. He crosses his arms and crouches slightly, then thrusts them out, propelling himself off his feet as he doesn't just jump, but GLIDES across the floor, with a momentum no ordinary men can have. Perhaps, in the distortions of reality, he even turns into a giant bird of prey to observer's eyes.
He wants nothing less than to body slam the leader of Shadaloo once he gets within sight.
COMBATSYS: Vega blocks T. Hawk's Condor Spire.
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Vega 1|----===|=======
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Rust 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 T. Hawk
This is an outrage that will not be allowed to stand!
Lord Vega will not be tossed aside like some piece of trash! He will not allow his inferiors claim victory over him no matter what!
As the flying native come crashing down at Vega, he rises up from his position on the ground and catches hold of him with his arms, warding off the attempting killing blow with an outraged fury flowing through him.
If it were not for the power of this strange rift in the universe, he would simply do away with these fools in a flash. If he wanted to unleash his true power, then Thunder Hawk would be given the honor of rejoining his father... and this pompadour atop this Howard Rust Jr.'s head would be shredded.
"You think that simply because you outnumber me you have any chance to withstand the power of Lord Vega? Consider yourselves honored that it will be by my hand that you are utterly broken!"
In a flash the Shadaloo dictator is surrounded by Pyscho Power. What remains of the expo is suddenly overwhelmed by the sensation of his power enveloping everything and in response the air is filled with the deafening noise of the universe attempting to tear itself to shreds as its tugged both by the power of Ultratech's device and pure Pyscho Power.
A spec of this power swirls around Thunder Hawk, gripping at him like a vice around the neck, aimed to stop the heart and freeze the blood.
This is the feeling of death.
In a sudden flash, the power sheathing Vega's body bursts outward and the dictator once more attempts to kow reality with sheer force of will. Like a spinning rocket, he blazes across the showfloor, the destroyed remains of exhibits bursting, melting, vanishing all around him as a visible aura of Psycho Power large enough to fill a small room lashes out at Thunder Hawk as Vega flies past him with such speed that it seems reality must have snapped completely.
COMBATSYS: T. Hawk endures Vega's Super Psycho Crusher but gets knocked away!
[ ||||||||||||| ]
Vega 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 T. Hawk
"WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOHOHOHOOOAAAAA!!" He's not anywhere near that gathering power, but the smaller (well, compared to Thunder Hawk) of the two here yells as though he's caught in a maelstrom. One couldn't ever lose true sight of Vega if he dared to make himself known - and known he is, known further he shall be. Never mind that it feels that air that has truly gone still is now suddenly in motion.
He seems to think, in spite of everything, to step forth and help pull Thunder Hawk out from there. How, he's not sure, he doesn't think that far ahead even as the Psycho Power imparts upon the psyche of any who look upon him that it's a bad idea. His mind, in this respect, obeys even when the rest of him might have an inkling of a thought of resistance.
He halts as the might of Vega grows to a tremendous level, as destruction leaves molten ruin in their wake.
He may have found the absolute limit of his stupidity - and quite a generous limit it is! - as he's rooted where he stands, cringing and looking to the side to turn away from the blinding blight of Vega and the quickly disappearing shadow of Thunder Hawk as it stands to envelop him...
...
Incidentally, standing where he does, he's in a great position to intercept anything suddenly... being knocked into him, like he were to break someone's fall.
COMBATSYS: Rust assists T. Hawk.
[ ||||||||||||| ]
Vega 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 T. Hawk
"I fight with the strength of my tribe and my land behind me!" Hawk roars. "I'll pay you back what you did to us tenfold!" His headband is gone somewhere, perhaps floating in a bubble of ruptured spacetime. His hair floats wild as he stares with the dictator face to face. He realizes he is hopelessly outmatched in this fight, but he doesn't care. Revenge trumps logical reasoning.
The flash of power from Vega knocks him away a few feet. He stares as Vega's aura hits him like a truck this time. He freezes like a statue as his heart seems to slow, his spirit fading. He felt weakened, powerless in the face of this man. This was real terror, and Hawk knew he had climbed too high today. All he wanted to do was attend an expo, not fight the man he swore to destroy. Stupid, he was stupid!
Then the Psycho Crusher hits. Nearly blinded by the light, he bears the full brunt of the fearsome technique and is knocked off his feet. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" he screams, though it's hardly audible now. He feels himself slam into something - something small. Another display case? The energy of the Psycho Power fades, and Hawk...still stands, despite everything. He's in front of Rust, but it's clear the giant is on his last legs. His breathing is ragged, sweat dripping off his face, mixed with blood from his nose and mouth. His exposed chest is a massive red and purple welt from where Bison impacted, scratch marks and bruises dotting the landscape of his flesh.
He turns his head, eyes cast in shadow, to regard Rust. He says nothing, turning back to Vega. He takes a deep breath, and with another cry, grabs for him. If he connects, Hawk will jump up and move his arm like a windmill while clutching Vega, jumping up almost to cieling height. He comes back down, slamming Vega headfirst into the floor. Spiderweb cracks form from impact, tile is shattered. There's a resounding boom and Hawk jumps back...before he collapses.
"...Father," he whispers, face down on the floor, broken and bleeding.
COMBATSYS: T. Hawk can no longer fight.
[ ||||||||||||| ]
Vega 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rust 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Vega dodges T. Hawk's Mexican Typhoon.
[ ||||||||||||| ]
Vega 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rust 0/-------/-======|
Who do these weaklings think they are?
Both already seem to know who the shadowy dictator is already, a rare feat when even those hunting down Shadaloo have mere shadowy threads that lead to its lowest levels. Those who have been blessed to know of the true might behind it all should also be wise enough to know that there is no power greater than his in this world.
The dictator's only flaw is that he has not yet obtained a body that is capable of withstanding the full extent of his perfection!
As Vega's feet land back on the ground, he completely ignores the ripples of his power. So much of it unleashed at once gives birth to further cracks in space, travelling outward from him in all directions, blasting apart still more abandoned exhibits all through the expo hall.
"You and your tribe are insignificant. Do you think yourself special because you have suffered at my hands? Your vengeance means nothing to me... but the fact that I deigned to allow your people to live means you should feel grateful at my generosity." As he speaks, the air around him still crackles and his lips pull back into the smile of a carnivorous beast looking upon its prey.
He seems completely unconcerned as Thunder Hawk barrels down on him, simply crossing his arms and vanishing into a surge of purple energy. As the tribesman passes through now empty air, he's greeted by one last picture of his father's death on the other side, one final cruelty shaped by Vega's dark soul in this anomaly.
The dictator reappears in a similar surge of crackling Psycho Power directly in front of the junior Rust. "For your part in all of this, I gift you the opportunity to be broken at the hands of a god! You shall be the last to inherit your father's name."
Doing away with complexity, he draws forth a simple aura of Psycho Power around his foot, twisting upward into a classic, if simple kick aimed to take the handyman ninja in the side of the head.
COMBATSYS: Rust narrowly escapes Vega's Strong Kick!
[ |||||||||||| ]
Vega 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rust 0/-------/-======|
For one moment, prior to Thunder Hawk's desperate attack, Rust gets bludgeoned by flying giant Mexican man. Everything goes dark for a moment that really doesn't feel like much of one, the way time ebbs and flows, and the way space makes some things feel... more uneven? Incorrect? The ground doesn't feel like it belongs in three-dimensional space when he hits it, with a really nasty pinching sensation in his lower back the way he lies down.
The middle-aged man blinks a couple times as he uses the pipe to pull himself back along up, largely in time to watch his ally fall on his face... oh, and there's Vega there. (To notice Vega second in any circumstance, in relation to ANYTHING, is something so rare as to be a once-in-a-lifetime happening.)
He seems dumbstruck, like a deer in front of just about any motor vehicle imaginable. Not quite all there - who could? It's Vega, who decides to take time out of his busy schedule to come forth and utterly destroy you. His free hand raises up as if to say 'hello,' and to say something. Nothing quite leaves his mouth as he takes a step back when Vega just teleports right in front of him.
It all happens in a blur. His ring and pinky fingers curl inward, his thumb moving atop. Two fingers, straight and held together, form a familiar hand signal as his lips press together tightly.
Somehow, through the purple haze of Vega's evil, someone or something seems like it's beckoning for him to come over here.
The very moment Vega's leg blurs forth, there is a burst of speed that does not seem fitting of this man's body type, character, or seeming level of awareness as he takes to the air. He twists and turns his body in such a delicate, precise motion around the contours of the arc of Vega's foot... only to be washed by the tail end of the colours of Vega's emotions and self given physical form, another refreshing burst of the exact opposite of refreshing emotion and feeling as he continues to sail over the dictator...
He doesn't quite stick the landing, tumbling a ways down to the fallen Mexican Typhoon himself.
"H-Hey," he finally has it in him to speak, "sorry about the misunderstanding!" It's a bit too late to apologize? "Can't say I'm really with you about it all," he says. He knows what that gesture was that he thought he saw, through the hatred that envelops all sight, sound, and sense, "that was a catchy one-liner," this is more a genuine attempt to be polite, as it isn't the first he's heard it. Whatever sort of life does this guy lead?
He takes in another breath as he rummages through the toolbelt for something. A bag? What could it be in there...?
"It was a fun show, this expo! Worth... every loonie! Thanks for the thrills," his composure starts to deteriorate as what wind he caught in that timely movement begins to leave him as he holds the bag on high. His arm shakes...
"We're off!" He says as he throws the bag onto the floor with what force an injured arm can muster, and it spills out everywhere. It?
Sawdust.
It is no ordinary amount of sawdust. It is the sawdust of months, if not years, of woodworking projects all tightly compacted, ready to burst forth and permeate every nook and cranny of the expo's remains. The grains would get themselves caked over what ruptures and breaks in space and time they may, as it obscures the strange-haired man - and the far larger Mexican man - from view.
...A makeshift ninja smoke bomb to cover a feeble escape from the inevitability of death...?
COMBATSYS: Rust has left the fight here.
[ |||||||||||| ]
Vega 0|-------|-------
And just like that his foot goes through nothing.
The dictator is left in a moment of confusion as he attempts to parse the current situation before the continued jabbering of the unusually quick man draws his attention once more. Another insult among so many, and it's one that Vega intends to repay.
Not that fate seems to be on his side in that particular regard.
The air fills with sawdust and Vega is forces to cover his eyes to avoid being blinded, teeth gritted in rage as yet another indignity is stacked upon him by this unworthy man. A man with a silly hair cut and a ridiculous stammer!
When it all clears, the Lord of Shadaloo is left completely alone within the halls, surrounded by flickers at time and space, with no real meaning among the whole of it. However mixed within are sparks, flickers more of the atrocities commited by Vega. Brief images of a younger Rust in his fighting days. A memory of a young Thunder Hawk forced to mourn not only the loss of his father, but of his home.
...Images, however, brief, of another world whose ending brought about a new day.
None of it really matters.
Alone once more, seemingly oblivious to the way the world tears at him, Vega walks once more toward the center of all of this. Reality jolting around him as if a television with poor reception, after-images of the iconic uniform that has overseen the destruction of oh so many insiginificant people hovering over his gi.
"Finally I am left to take might rightful control over this new strength. All of time and space will be made to bend knee before my Psycho Power!"
---Outside the Expo Hall---
There is a sudden flash of energy, a wave of energy explodes outward overtaking the terrified crowd watching the chaos unfold before them in a blinding light.
Seconds that feel like eons pass and when the watching people are finally able to recover their senses, all has returned to normal. The hall is in shambles, windows burst out, small fires marking the location of expensive technological masterpieces, but reality has stabilized once more.
Owing to Thunder Hawk's greater size, it's not quite as clean an escape as the middle-aged man of the absolutely ridiculous hair might be going for. He has to go with 'just good enough,' making it out just ahead of the great flash of energy that goes on behind him. He doesn't think to look back - what reason is there to? As far as he cared, he parted on about as amicable terms as anyone could with someone like that.
He waves a pipe around - owing to his free hand holding Thunder Hawk - no doubt to call forth help to see to his new friend taken care of.
"Don't you worry, Jao!" He says to no one in particular. Aside from this Jao, whoever or whatever it is! He says this even as he catches his breath from pure terror, adrenaline, and a really sore and overtaxed right arm that not only got itself some nasty gashes, he did just manage to pull someone heavier than him. That's not easy! That... really hurts.
He shakes his arm out.
"Don't need to see you lose someone else to something like that," his tone goes increasingly somber as he sits down next to the much more seriously injured Thunder Hawk while he waits for the inevitable swarm of ambulances and police cars. He looks along over his shoulder down to the giant Mexican man known as Thunder Hawk.
"Not to downplay who you got waiting for you," he reassures, "but y'know, when you think you see one of your sons want you to come to him - and that's pretty strange because I know the family didn't want to come with - even when you got something like that staring you in the face... ah, don't worry about it..."
Vega's beyond the both of them. He's not sure that even his dad could've taken him, and he's seen some tough cookies in his time. Some things you just can't control. Being able to go home? That's its own reward. He rubs at his own hair gingerly, as though suddenly preoccupied with whether or not it's been undone.
"Looks like we got out of that one okay, and that's really all anybody can ask of..."
Log created on 18:36:10 03/14/2015 by Vega, and last modified on 00:53:01 03/15/2015.