Match of the Millennium

Description: "Fascinating that such a soul would find itself upon the grounds of mortal kombat. Of course, to think that I've let things progress to this point is an unenviable presumption, to be corrected at the earliest juncture. Unfortunately, my hands are tied. I am here merely to discharge the obligations of my station. The elder gods have called for blood, and there is an unsatiable desire in each of you. LORD VEGA, is it? You will face AKUMA, in the portal chambers near the top of my towers. There will be blood."

[AKUMA]
He breathes calmly.

The man-made-demon is astonishingly patient for someone so rumored to be quick to violence. The sage sits in half lotus on the ground, some ways away from the entrance, and from the comings and goings of the warriors who pick their way amongst the featureless and seemingly endless platforms of stone.

The creature's eyes are closed, and hands weathered and scarred from decades of fighting things that should not be fought seem implausibly calm, linked together over the core of his body. From this position, one could very easily say that the so-called master of the fist seems finally at peace. It would be a falsehood.

To better understand the nature of a thing, one must examine it in all its aspects, in all of its chaotic incongruity. To do any less would be to disrespect the nature of that thing. The thing he seeks revels in battle. But a blade never honed is one that breaks. And the warriors he fights in this tournament...

They will do as stepping stones to this other realm's champions.

In that, Akuma breathes once more, stoking the inferno deep in his spirit.

[VEGA]
Few would deny that this island has an oppressive nature, gifted with an otherworldly landscape that seems to have been dredged up from the nightmares. An island with trees that seem to whisper from uncanny faces, pits filled with blood-caked spikes, and a wasteland that seems to suggest some ancient devestation that tooks untold lives.

Even on an island like this, there is a strange heaviness that seems to grow as the dictator's feet carry him up the strange tower that stands as a monument to death.

To the unobservant soul, it starts as little more than the sensation of dread one gets when walking alone down seemingly empty streets at night, to the attuned it is the clawing sensation of the purest form of humanity's darker nature.

And now he strides up onto the strange level that seems to defy reality, his body clad in the bright red military uniform that tosses aside any form of deception about his true nature.

This is Lord Vega, the man who will become this world's champion, because this world is his by right.

He simply must deal with all the trash that's been piled in his path first.

"A waste of my time... but consider it a gift that you've been graced with the opportunity to add to my growing strength before I demolish the champion of this tournament."

[AKUMA]
He slowly becomes aware of a creeping evil sinuously winding its way through the world as it approaches. Truthfully, to a thing such as he, the sensation is not new--it is no great thing for men at their level to be able to count each tongue in the flames of a great conflagration. Since he's been here, Akuma has spent much time meditating on the strongest here. And so far, this island has not proven a disappointment.

But he wants more.

"Shut your mouth," rasps the violent sage, breaking his trance like a dragon shaking off centuries of stone. His words are like great boulders tumbling down the mountain. He stands slow, tension firing his body like the forge. Muscles corded like steel cable shift, restoring range of motion and limbering. When his eyes open, they open to a thick, energetic blood red, bleaching out any semblance of humanity. Knife-sharp teeth glare in the light as the sage daggers the ground with the ball of his foot, the force enough to cause even the most perceptible tremor in space around the curving physics around them.

"Your blood will be graced with the opportunity to coat my fist."

In this, Akuma stretches out, assuming a martial posture as the hemp tying his hands tightens, singing faintly in the dead silence. A faint glow of red and black crawls from his body, combing the shreds of his gi. He glares, a barely restrained anger beginning to thread its way into every core of his being. It reaches its apex, but Akuma appears little interested in trading words.

Wordlessly, he begins to approach Vega.
Defend yourself.

COMBATSYS: Akuma has started a fight here.

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Akuma            0/-------/-------|

[VEGA]
In the time it has taken him to build up his empire of the underworld, Lord Vega has fought all manner of opponents from all manner of fighting styles. He has defeated nearly every opponent to stand before him, and snuffed out lives that were not worth the annoyance that their continued existance would offer. And only a few have ever truly earned a place of merit in the warlord's memories.

As Akuma draws up into his fighting stance, there is a clear flash of recognition on Vega's face, thoughts flickering back to a moment of pure unbridled rage, tainted with weakness and pain.

Memories of the body that should have been his, that perhaps could have withstood the intensity of his soul to become the perfect veseel.

And the snarling lips fade for a moment as rage is subsumed by avarice. A memorable flicker at the core of his new opponent's soul.

"Perhaps I was too hasty... the so-called Elder Gods must be smiling on me to grant me a second opportunity. Time to see if you are worthy."

And with that, the skull-shaped gem on his belt suddenly begins to glow a bright crimson as a faint aura in blood red begins to flow about his body like a thick autumn mist. His mouth twists into an maddened smile as the warlord suddenly lunges forward, his right fist kept low as it's thrust forward with an explosion of violet energy on a collision course with Akuma's gut.

COMBATSYS: Vega has joined the fight here.

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Vega             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega equips a shining Crimson Soul Shard.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Akuma

COMBATSYS: Akuma equips a lustrous Magenta Soul Shard.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega knocks away Akuma with Medium Punch.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[AKUMA]
Akuma knows when his style has been recognized.
"Against the Dark Hadou, there are no elder gods."

Akuma leaps across the expanse between the two, only to be smashed in the gut by the warlord's fist, energy crackling through his body as he is driven back, his waraji grinding against the rough stone by the sheer force. Vega's power illuminates his body, snapping and popping across his form. His hand snaps shut, crawling lightning trailing arcs between his fingers. He does not seem impressed.

But then again, he never does.

An energy like the dead taekwondoka's. An energy to rival the strength of the dark Hadou. Good... good. Energy, livid, begins to crawl about him, overtaking the lightning with lurid force, threads and bands of murderous intention crawling from him. Truthfully, there is not much interstitial space between Vega's punch and Akuma's response, the fighter transitioning smoothly into an attack posture, closing ground in a pouncing leap, energy whirling around him.

The dark hadou matches the insidious vermillion of the warlord's with scything, cutting black. Akuma cuts down the space between them instantly and without delay, whirling in the air. Scything kicks fill that space, inside of a whirling fortress of bladed energy. If Vega even stops for one breath, Akuma will cut him open, slamming into and through him with the blade of his foot no less than three times in an instant, ending with one chaotic blow to the skull to break

If Vega is familiar with the style, he will know Tatsumaki when he sees it. But Akuma's is different than most. There is no hesitation, no trepidation or winnowing. Purity of form marks everything he does. He is attacked, and Akuma returns in kind, with full force and authority. If Vega is anything less than who he claims he is, Akuma will simply cut him in half and kick him through the pillars that make up this chaotic space, with no more concern for Vega's wellbeing than a stampeding horse minds an autumn leaf on the road.

COMBATSYS: Vega blocks Akuma's Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku EX.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[VEGA]
The instant his fist finds its mark, Vega pulls back with a self-satisfied smirk. This new opportunity to prove his superiority over the style that had nearly torn his body to pieces was just another sign that it was not a mark of true strength.

No, the warlord had made the mistake of underestimating Ryu. The martial artist had tapped into some reservoir that he'd failed to recognize, and had taken advantage of a moment of misguised mercy.

This time, Lord Vega would make no such mistake. This new body would be tested and measured, and if it proved to be lacking, it would be dispatched without hesitation. One way or another, Vega would gain new power from this encounter.

But this wasn't the time to think too far ahead, no mistakes could be made this time.

As Akuma throws himself back into the fight, Vega shifts back, drawing his fighting stance closer as his arms raise before him, expertly moving to absorb the force of the whirlwind kicks, clenching his teeth as the sensation of that potent chi seems to cling to his forearms.

It was so close to that of the wandering martial artist whose body and soul had been left broken atop that shattered mountain peak, but somehow there was a difference.

"And your Dark Hadou has no place to stand in the face of my pure Psycho Power!"

In a surge of motion, Vega draws back both arms to his side and then draws them forward in a mirrored sweep that comes together into a singular ball of psychic energy, launching toward Akuma and then suddenly erupting in all directions just before it reaches him.

COMBATSYS: Akuma dodges Vega's Psycho Field.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[AKUMA]
There is a marked difference between this master of the fist and those who would have wielded the Hadou in the past. With the force levied into and against Vega, crashing against him like a hailstorm of razors, against any other it may have been regarded as a hidden reserve of power, a wellspring to draw upon. Against Akuma and the ferocity of that darkness, it is easy to believe it a direct connection to the source.

With punishing blows defended nigh effortlessly by the warlord, Akuma drops away, planting his feet as he lands. There is no thought meandering in his mind, no idea to chase as his stance twists, nothing imaginary on his mind as his hands raise in combat readiness. When Vega sweeps a bursting force of psychic energy towards him, spreading into a wall of power, the sage's eyes narrow dangerously.

All he sees is Vega's jugular vein.
"Let those be your last words," Akuma snarls, flanking Vega.

It is nigh impossible to have seen beyond the wave of force to what transpired in the second previous, the entrance of a stance, and a speed beyond words. The only impression Akuma has moved at all is the shifting of the great pressure surrounding him, the cruel shifting of a great godly hammer laid on the chest. But in that moment, before Vega even has a moment to catch breath, Akuma flanks him. Then, gathering a great and black power in his hands, attempts to take Vega's head off with a blast nearly the size of the warlord himself, murderous energy building between hands like swords, and thrown with abandon at Vega's side. It is nothing short of a spear conjured from will itself.

Urge and desire well deep in the fighter, along with a depth of incomprehensible rage enough to sink entire ships. That blast itself is suffocating, shearing, and without any sense of mercy in the slightest.

COMBATSYS: Akuma channels the veins of the burning blood.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega channels the spread of the lightning nerves.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Akuma successfully hits Vega with Messatsu Gou Hadou.
Grazing Hit

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Vega [E]         0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[VEGA]
This power truly is different.

So much strength, and with a desire to kill right from the start. The other one had struggled, held himself back. And now it's quite clear that this was a complete mistake. The inability to strike meant that Ryu was crushed by the potency of Vega's rage.

The swelling energy before him was proof that Akuma held no such error.

With as much of a threat as this power had posed him in its unrefined state, the warlord would not make the mistake to be standing before a threat like this, drawing his arms back, the world around him begins to distort, twisting into a purple void that begins to absorb the dictator as the dark hadou is launched at him.

Moving remarkably fast.

In an instant, there's no hope of avoiding the blow, no way even Vega's attempts to manipulate reality can stand against it, and this could well be it as he is over taken... but then the shard on his belt glows bright and as the energy fades, there is no sign of the dictator in its wake.

"Most impressive... but I'm not so foolish as to underestimate that power twice."

Vega's words come from behind as reality is ripped once more asunder, the dictator floating back to the ground with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"If you thought that would be enough to end me, allow me to show you just how mistaken you really are!"

In a sudden surge of motion, Vega lunges forward, opening with a quick strike aimed for Akuma's jaw while his other hand is held back, suddenly erupting with Psycho Power as it's thrust forward in a knife edge chop for his opponent's throat.

COMBATSYS: Akuma instinctively blocks Vega's Hell Attack.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[AKUMA]
"Hrmph...!!"

Just before the pressure of the Messatsu overtakes and crushes the supreme warlord, Akuma can tell it's gone wrong. He can't taste the blood on the wind, the ablated shriek of the overtaken, nothing. Instead, the desecrator slips into a fold in space and disappears. The flame-haired killer snarls viciously, his spear-headed teeth grinding edge-to-edge, the faint squeal of enamel betraying the master's dismay at the overall lack of blood.

But he is far from unawares.

The creature he fought was someone without spirit, without the verve of fighting of those killed previous. There was a dimension lacking, something ragged and torn. It made the warlord bigger than any other he'd faced prior. But it also made him sicker, more repulsive to someone who has cast every morality aside for purity of purpose and intent. But the results of it are undeniable. Were he any other, Vega would not so easily find Akuma's back, and Akuma would have devastated them for the imposition.

But against this thing, it is only purity of purpose that keeps Akuma hale.

One arm raises. In the end, it takes just one. One arm slams into Vega's as the violent sage explodes into motion, reacting before even looking. To run headlong into Akuma's guard is like hitting a brick wall, and then his hand flips, breaking Vega's offensive chop and burning away the Psycho Power against corded muscle. Akuma turns, stepping into the blow as his raised arm slips over, attempting to catch Vega's chopping arm in a viselike grip before he can escape.

"If that isn't enough," Akuma reasons, eyes glowing fiercely, "Then be torn limb from limb."

There is no part of Akuma that glows like that warlord's belt. If Vega doesn't retreat, doesn't break away from Akuma, doesn't find a way to break him... he will find himself caught in a morass of killing intent. It is a tangible, pliable thing. And caught in that vise-like pressure, Akuma may gain purchase on his arm. And if he does, Akuma will simply pull him off him like a rag doll. Using that grip to twist, he will open an iron hand, raise it, and attempt to simply cut Vega's arm off at the shoulder with one brutal chop.

There is no hesitation. If Vega is any less the man he claims, he will find himself simply missing an arm. If he is, he will find himself pinned to the ground by the shoulder, the stone cracking underneath the weight of Akuma's blow, threatening to shatter from pure penetrative might.

There is no room for farce or pretense amongst titans such as they.

COMBATSYS: Vega endures Akuma's Shurettou but gets knocked away!

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Vega [E]         0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[VEGA]
As Akuma lunges for Vega's wrist, it's clear there's little room to maneuver with these close confines. The fool's windpipe should have been crushed, with him choking for breath as the dictator stood triumphant over his broken body. Instead there is simply no room to maneuver after having throwing himself so fully into that assault.

So instead he holds steady, sensing no sudden flare of that unpleasant chi, he must simply endure the brutality of physical force.

As the chop comes down on his shoulder, he winces painfully, feeling the stresses in his bones building to an awful point. A lesser man would have been destroyed, but this body had been built to be nearly perfect. This was the body that housed Vega's soul. This body was infused with the purest, most potent power imaginable.

Rather than putting the warlord to the ground, the crimson clad warrior jolts back with the force, allowing himself to rip free of the grip with the additon of the force and slide back along the ground.

"You can try all you want to destroy this body, but you'll be helpless against my Psycho Power! But don't worry, I'll leave you in good enough condition to take your's after I rip your soul free!"

The speech is hardly a delay, the entire time his strength as been building, Psycho Power flickering through every piece of his body. Ryu would have been the perfect vessel, but this other one was so close and hand. Akuma made use of that same killing intent, and had mastered it to perfection, surely he would be an even better host.

With victory so close at hand, Vega begins to ignore the limits of his own body, unleashing sheer destruction as he attunes himself with his soul shard, his hand glowing a violent purple now tainted crimson as he lunges forward, sheathing himself in the power as he flies back toward Akuma, blazing past him as his Psycho Power seems drawn to the other man like a wick.

It's a power that burns at the body, but it's the very soul that feels as if it would ben consumed.

COMBATSYS: Vega channels the strength of the killing fist.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/---<<<<|=======\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Akuma channels the fortress of the steel will.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega knocks away Akuma with Psycho Crusher EX.

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Vega [E]         1/-----<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[AKUMA]
What depth of power. Akuma feels the crush of force against his dusky skin long before the train ever hits him. With his leading hand locked into a fierce claw, Akuma is only mildly disappointed to find that he isn't holding Vega's limp arm in his free hand. It was very few who could withstand his blows and remain intact. Even someone like the master of the fist should have the ability to appreciate a masterwork of art, right?

"Hold nothing back, or be scattered across the realms."

No. There is nothing appreciative about the way Akuma glares after Vega, welling that bounteous fore deep in his breast, ripping free from Akuma's grip before the sage ideates a way to rip him apart. No, even as he tracks the warlord, there is nothing in Akuma that appreciates the work that Vega has done. There is nothing in him that knows the beauty of what Vega has sacrificed. In the warlord, the sage only sees a statue not yet toppled by his might.

Akuma, mysteriously, does not cut Vega off as he builds up his power, instead moving into a defensive position as he waits for the warlord to attack. And when that geyser of power erupts, Akuma's eyes narrow, both arms raising in slow measure as the whirl of force converges into a single killing point on Akuma. Through sheer determination alone, the stone begins to shudder beneath his feet. As if a great eye awakening, a single wood bead begins to burn at his neck.

A harsh bark of effort erupts from the sage as he tries to catch the warlord in the head-on collision. Against his own will, the sage of fists is thrown bodily from his perch by the wave of power, coruscating death trailing from his body as he slams through one of the fine pilings holding up reality here, his body tumbling in mid-air as he floats high up and away from Vega's position, trailing force, blood and smoke as he tumbles end over end. Stone turns to dust behind his body with the impact against the pillar. It is difficult, but Akuma flips in that chaotic whirl, righting himself and correcting his trajectory. Blood and power mount to twin coronas in his hands. Already, he prepares the next assault.

"Attack me with abandon!!! FEEL THE TIDE OF DESTRUCTION!! MESSATSU....!"

With that great force, a hundred souls of soldiers long dead on the battlefield lend their strength. The compressing force around Akuma is blotted out, broken by sheer force of will. Black might is built in his hands, and with powerful long-handed thrusts, he casts them out into the air, one after the other. But as his bloodied form drifts in the air, he begins to build on the assault, focusing countless more blasts into the center of his palms. Chi as black as night leaves horrific trails of crackling demonic ionization as they streak across the space between warlord and sage, blasts of the dark and the cold descending on Vega, like a rain of the purest blood.

Each blast in itself may not be expertly aimed, but the sheer amount and number of these that slam through the space between them account for it, each trying to trace Vega's path. Some will miss. Some will atomize platforms and pillars. Others yet still crash catastrophically into the nothing-space separating the realm between them, causing the world to shudder around them.

It seems clear that Akuma will tear down this entire realm, if allowed.

COMBATSYS: Akuma channels the glare of the vicious eye.

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Vega [E]         1/-----<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega channels the spread of the lightning nerves.

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Vega [E]         1/-----<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega dodges Akuma's Tenma Gou Zankuu.

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Vega [E]         1/-----<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[VEGA]
When his Psycho Power connects, there is no denying its success to Lord Vega. The warlord can feel the way that the corruption of his perfect soul tears at one more mortal than itself. No matter how strong the body, how trained the mind, there are none capable of standing against the true might of Vega's Psycho Power.

Even this body begins to fail, the unrivalled potency of his soul being unleashed is enough that there would be no hope if allowed it to remain unchained for much longer; the flames of might burn even their wielder.

But this body is a temporary thing, a measure to last until the dictator's scientists could put together a new host capable of truly surving a soul purged of all weakness.

And if he were to defeat Akuma now, he could find that new body. It possesses that very same power that he'd found in Ryu. A power that seemed to forge a stronger vessel.

"Worthless effort."

Vega retorts as he watches his opponent's power build, arms folding across his chest as his lips twist into an awful grin. As Akuma's power surges, reality itself begins to tear around the warlord's body, a whispy haze turning bright red as the soul shard resonates with him. And as that first burst of energy it sent flying to him, Vega vanishes, reappearing just out of its path. With each adjustment, the Psycho Master again and again simply vanishes, reapparing in some new position until finally each black flame of Dark Hadou has passed, leaving Vega completely unscathed.

"You've overestimated yourself. Perhaps now, standing here before your better, you will realize that your entire life has been nothing more than a prelude. The only purpose of your existance was to prepare a new body for the greatness of my Psycho Power."

The warlord's hands draw back as his Psycho Power begins to congeal around his extended fingers.

"In your final moments, appreciate the great honor I am bestowing upon you!"

With that, his hands thrust forward, launching a quartet of Psycho Power orbs all around Akuma, none seeming intent on striking at him directly, instead blossoming outward into massive explosions of power that seem to feel the room from floor to ceiling all around the dark sage.

COMBATSYS: Vega channels the glare of the vicious eye.

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Vega [E]         1/-----<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Vega channels the strength of the killing fist.

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Vega [E]         1/-----<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Akuma channels the veins of the burning blood.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/------<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Akuma channels the fortress of the steel will.

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Vega [E]         0/-------/------<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2        [E] Akuma

COMBATSYS: Akuma interrupts Psycho Explosion EX from Vega with #Shun Goku Satsu#.
*KNOCKED AWAY*

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Vega [E]         1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0        [E] Akuma

[AKUMA]
Blasts careen through the contested space. The bald might of the energy levied from a single hand is enough to reduce stone to dust in an instant, rolling forces grinding away matter as they cut past the warlord. Each time the blasts arc to cut down the tyrant, the flicker of soul-imbued power laces around that man, pulling him from the brink of destruction once and again.

His anger expended for the moment, Akuma slams onto a platform, his hand gaining grip on the smooth stone through sheer force. He breathes slowly, focusing. Against the artificial god, he has not been able to gain more than cursory glancing blows, a fact the warlord makes clear in taunting, emphatic glee. But for all of the blood that freely slicks the master's body, a sage eye can see where his hand has come close enough to touching Vega. Soulless red eyes narrow dangerously as Vega prepares his final word.

It is enough.

As Vega speaks the words that would--or should--have ended any other being, Akuma silently rises, entering a stance, slowly rotating his wrists. Both hands open. Muscles worn and cut from the minutes of battle previous and the decades of war that came before loosen, shifting his weight to one leg. As that quadruple blast of doom-steeped fate blooms in front of him, a dark force begins to build in the demon standing before the warlord. Flashes of dark crawl from him, livid like smoke. The energy begins to sear at his flesh, scalding heatlessly.

"Enough," he repeats aloud.
And then, Vega will know in an instant what death looks like.

The lightning-cracked haze of chaos briefly suffuses everything in the twisted space, leaving no safe space. But the technique he uses does not obey the laws of space. Akuma blurs into existence in front of Vega in the midst of his revelry. There is no guile to his motion, no attempt to trick or outmaneuver the warlord. It is because merely claiming the right to see the pinnacles of Satsui no Hadou is enough.

"Taste the limits of true power."
For a brief instant, everything is transcended by the attack.

Space and time warp around the fist as Akuma moves not next to, but through Vega. Realistically, Akuma appears to hit only once. But in that blow is folded sixteen. And in those sixteen is folded thirty two. In that thirty two is folded sixty four. And so on. Hitting a man through the depths of reality itself mean that for one second alone, time has no meaning, and even a perfect body will fall to the sins of its owner. In the depths of the technique instinctively known as 'Shun Goku Satsu,' there is no space, no time, only battle. But there is a reason that Akuma does not use it. There is no earthly counter to being ripped free of the realm's moorings and thrown into the black and bottomless depths of Hell itself. The technique is reserved for those whom Akuma is done fighting.

Because for each sin, each doubt and weakness in the target's heart, the Satsui no Hadou through Shun Goku Satsu will subject the victim to a lifetime of battle with its user. A hundred, a thousand lifetimes, it doesn't matter. Each time will end the same way. He will kill you. A thousand deaths, one for each sin. The attack that stretches on into eternity, and yet passes away life in an instant. That is what is known as 'Shun Goku Satsu.'

No earth-made body can withstand it.
There is only one chance to survive it.

[VEGA]
Impossible!

That explosion of Psycho Power should have been enough to annihilate whatever fight remained within the dark sage. For him to still be standing, let alone still talking and fighting back is inconceivable! As rage begins to flare inside of the warlord, the Psycho Power is stoked to even greater limits, seeming ready to tear his body to pieces on its own.

Potential for a perfect body or not, Lord Vega would bring untold suffering down upon this worthless insect for his impudence!

"True power? Nothing can stand against my Psycho Po-"

Before his words can complete, it all comes down on the warlord. For a moment it simply appears as though something has happened with all the portals lining this unusual floor of the tower, but then it all begins to hit him. It's a pain beyond reason, beyond comprehension. Certainly his body had begun to suffer from the sheer might of his Psycho Power being unleashed, but this was something completely different.

In Vega's lifetime he has committed all manner of sins. The process of expunging every bit of good that existed within his own soul had made him in many ways a man built of nothing more than sin. There is no defense against this technique.

...Not without risking everything he has left.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

%A cry of pure rage erupts from Vega's lungs as every ounce of Psycho Power within him is suddenly let lose at once. Purlpe flames of vile energy fill the entirety of the floor as they lash out with abandon in the hope of catching Akuma in their blast, blowing back whatever force this is before the ritual can complete.

Or else he's as good as dead.

COMBATSYS: Vega can no longer fight.

[                          \\\\  <
Akuma [E]        0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Akuma dodges Vega's #Final Psycho Crusher+#.

[                          \\\\  <
Akuma [E]        0/-------/-------|

[AKUMA]
"You came far."

The energy blooms. A fierce corona of Psycho Power flares from the warlord, eradicating the thready stone holding up the roof. Even in the endless space where a column can appear to extend up for miles with no apparent termination point, chunks of concrete and mortar tumble from the black above, free of the support moorings holding them up. The welled power soars, threatening to force Akuma back. "...."

One rope-bound hand snaps out to grip not just Vega, but the energy itself by the throat.
It is far too late.

"But against 'Satsui no Hadou,'" Akuma growls, "there will be no equal."
His rage-soaked voice is one that echoes in every corner of every soul.

"There is no so-called god that can stand against true killing intent. The meaningless of your drivel will choke you into submission. Over a thousand lifetimes, realize your helplessness, and succumb to the purity of agony and mayhem."

In the killing space, there are no more portals, there is no more stone. There is only the incomprehensible black, and the countless hundreds of eyes matching Akuma's own. Demons, each eager for a piece of the soul unceremoniously drug through the gates by a blood-soaked sage. They are each in themselves a mote of violence, each in themselves a droplet of chaos. They wait.

"There are no champions and no heroes... only the dead, and the yet to die!!!!"
They descend.

What follows is the worst commission of violence perpetrated on a man's soul in history. Were it slower, more meaningful, it may have been regarded as torment. It isn't. There's no reason to what follows. There is no respite, no grand question to be answered nor goal to be achieved. Only a growing pool of blood, and a ritual so harsh, that even the title of 'Earthrealm's Champion' ceases to exist. It will die with the warlord.

An orgy of violence so fierce that the barriers between reality delineated by the portals shudder. They are baptized in palpable horror, as nothing could understand the spirit of the thing itself. In the end, the winds from Hell's Gate opening carve the inhuman 'TEN' kanji on the hide of the swirling otherworlds itself, which will take days to fade. The mark matches the symbol on Akuma's back, burning bright. The sage wipes a bit of blood from his lip, his body ragged and worn from the rigors of battle. But he stands.

He stands for nothing at all.

COMBATSYS: Akuma has ended the fight here.

Log created on 21:11:19 11/02/2016 by Vega, and last modified on 23:27:25 11/03/2016.