KOF 2017 - Act 2: Mission 27 - Rememberance
[Toggle Names]Description: It began at noon. When the nuclear pillar erupted over Mt. Fuji, Sol Badguy could stop and see the future of Japan unfold. The depravity of the United Nations. Lies, betrayals, and finally, the lust for power. There are few able to stop the madness from escalating. Sol Badguy is one of those few, his past mired with Justice's own. He had one goal: to stop a monster from being unleashed on the world. To stop a weapon from being unleashed. And finally, to try and find any spark of humanity, any memory to drag her back. He knows. He remembers.
[JUSTICE]
The base was still in chaos.
The United Nations base in China was a staging point for the invasion force; a barracks and base designed for hangars and soldiers. But neither were required for Armstrong's war. It just needed the warrens, the kennels lined up with the alien creatures. These were the soldiers for Armstrong's war. And yet, they would not attack without the command of their general, Justice. And when the time came... Justice chose to fight by herself, rather than send her armies to the slaughter. With the one-man assault from Igniz had absolutely obliterated the defenses. The footsoldiers were almost completely wiped out, and the administration had to be put on hold. Nothing was left but a few commanders, some anti-air weapons.
And, of course, the Gears.
Justice's recovery was relatively slow for her power. Her encounter with Igniz nearly destroyed them both. The red-haired gear was overseeing the reconstruction and refortification of the base. Her armor components were not fully replaced. The entire place was being sterilized and decontaminated. But her Gears were happy to work and serve as labourers; pulling together the barricades, scrubbing the radiation, and working together to rebuild and wipe away the stain. Justice should be pleased that her brethren were coming together to help her masters so willingly. And yet, a melancholy comes over the towering figure.
Because those guns are still ready to train on her.
She didn't look at the recording from Igniz. She didn't destroy it. She simply hid it, keeping it. She didn't know what she would believe. Would they train the guns on them? On her, and her kin? Were they as afraid of her as the people of Japan? Of the world? Fear was... was so common now. She felt alone, as the nuclear arsenal of this war. As the commander of a loathsome army. And yet, it could just all be in her head. Placed there. She could trust the humans, couldn't she?
Wouldn't she.
[SOL BADGUY]
Trust.
A simple word. A simple concept. And yet, when abused, it has the capacity to change history and redefine the world.
The sound of crunching rocks floats through the early morning air as a lone figures wanders into view, his heavy boots grinding the bits of scattered debris left in the aftermath of the recent battle. He seems to appear almost as if out of nowhere, marching casually through the shattered landscape as if it belonged him to, showing no signs of fear or trepidation to be among the nightmarish creations known as Gears. The man's gaze sweeps slowly across the scenery before him taking note of the devastation, his expression a mask of stony disapproval as if the frown he bears is carved permanently into his features.
Whatever happened here had been quite deadly, the scars of conflict still seared into the base and the surrounding land. He can still sense the magic lingering in the air, tasting the over-saturated power that comes from the unleashing of the sorts of terrible energies that he himself wields. That incredible outpouring of energy is what had tipped him off to the location of this base and, just like he hoped, the object of his frantic search in the wake of the U.N.'s open descent into madness was waiting here for him.
Sol strides across the open ground with a purpose, his hard gaze locked onto the towering armored figure in the distance. Justice. What a terrible irony to name such an abomination and threat to freedom as such. It is the sort of joke that 'they' would make, no doubt about that - sick, twisted, and dark - just like her shadowy masters. A weapon of nigh unequalled power, crafted painstakingly from the technology that he himself had helped to create.
Sol had trusted people once, a long time ago. He had trusted that mankind were not the monsters that history would have liked to paint them to be. He had trusted that his government would use the fruits of his labors, the awesome power he had unlocked in the discovery of magic particle physics, in a manner that might uplift society. He had trusted that his work would be used responsibly.
He had trusted That Man - and he had been betrayed.
That the creature standing before him existed at all was a testament to the sheer naivety that had once gripped Sol's foolish heart, a physical manifestation of all his hopes and dreams crushed to dust and molded into something evil and nightmarish. He had spent the last eighty years trying to stop the secret organization who pulled the strings of power from behind a shadowy curtain from creating Justice or something like her, devoted his every waking moment to rooting them out and ending their mad schemes, and he had failed at every turn.
The sound of creaking leather joined the steady scuff of his boots on the asphalt, his gloved fist tightening around the grip of Fireseal, the sole remaining piece of the counter-measure he'd spent decades crafting to stop something like this. That too had been a failure, the Outrage too powerful for him to control safely, its pieces stolen from him by the very people he fought. Where they had ended up, he does not know. That problem was just one of many on a list he'd long since stopped keeping track of.
Today would be different.
Picking up his pace, the old mercenary's stride quickens to a brisk walk, and then a job, until he finally breaks out into a full on charge. His scowl turns into a dark glare, teeth clenching together as righteous fury flows through his body becoming the fuel for his magical power. Searing red flames spark to life about his his empty fist and it becomes a miniature comet, a trail of glowing fire streaking through the air behind as he winds up to deliver a powerful blow. The final gap between the man and the machine is closed with a great leap, Sol bellowing a wordless cry of challenge as he falls upon Justice, driving a furious punch down at the armored helmet and it's pompous red plume.
There isn't any need to talk. He's never been much for words anyways - pointless gasps of air that are often meaningless lies. Only action matters. Only one resolution will satisfy him here.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy has started a fight here.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Justice has joined the fight here.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Justice
COMBATSYS: Justice blocks Sol Badguy's Bandit Bringer.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Justice
[JUSTICE]
She could hear the crunch.
Footsteps. Human footsteps. She catalogues it, as she observes the diligent work of her gears. Continuing. Step by step. That doesn't draw her gaze, no. BUt when the fire comes, the Fireseal blazing to life, that causes her helmeted head to tilt. The scarlet hair spreads, as she uncrosses her arms. AS the fire comes, she turns, almost too slowly, to the full force of the burning blade, bringing pure power as she forces her arm up to deflect it. The blow actually knocks her stumbling back, the towering gear's armor actually being cleaved deep. Staring at the still burning bracer, her reaction almost sounds impressed.
"Another challenger."
"We haven't even had time to rebuild." Justice says with a chill, her eyes turning from yellow to a deep red glow. "He was right, you are all coming to stop us. The world is full of them." She says. She didn't know who this man was, but if he was powerful... she suddenly looks to the gears, who stop working. And then, the armory, the missile batteries and mobile SAMS turning around to face them. She makes a quick calculation. "Hold that thought, stranger." She says with a staccato hiss.
"Lets take this outside."
And she moves.
Tail spiraling behind her, the jets on her back flare to life, fueled by her own inner energy. Blazing, she moves smoothly forward, full force of her body bearing upon Sol Badguy. She dips low, attempting to scoop up the intruder with her shoulder, a full body check. That in itself was not impressive.
But when the sonic boom finally comes, it would have meaning.
Should she connect with Sol? She would rip him along at crack-neck speeds, to carrying him across the base, to outside the base, to smash through barricades and forest, before coming to a dead rest a half a kilometer from the perimeter. And if she missed?
WEll, she would just have to come back around again, wouldn't she?
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy blocks Justice's Saperia Trance.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
Another?
Sol says nothing but his gaze shifts to the side to eye the damaged base once again. Apparently, someone else had beaten him to the punch. Unfortunately, it looks like they failed to do the job. Perhaps that is for the best. He wouldn't have felt right letting someone else clean up his mess, not after all the damage that has been done. Though the creature before him is a perversion of the future that he strove for his lofty goals are no excuse for failing to see the writing on the wall. Every death at Justice's hands would be his fault, every life ruined by the rise of those who would use her power laid at his feet.
Finding himself suddenly very popular among deadly warmachines, the mercenary's frown deepens slightly. Under normal circumstances he would have no difficulties handling this riffraff. Dangerous as these Gears are, he is worse. Justice, however, is another story entirely. With the command Gear here to direct their actions, this mob of unruly monsters would become an elite fighting force that might well be beyond his capability to handle. He could always remove the limiter, the bulky headband resting on his brow concealing perhaps the most important creation he's ever made, but to do so would be to unleash devastation even beyond that which Justice could muster. It isn't an option.
To his surprise, the armored warrior fails to unleash her army upon him, instead opting to kindly escort him out of the facility where they might talk in private. His eyes going wide for a moment, Sol throws the hefty bulk of Fireseal up infront of him, bracing the blade with both hands against the sudden rocket-propelled charge. Justice slams into him like a freight train and he finds himself playing the role of a warhead on a kinetic missile as the Gear tears through the sky at incredible speed.
The crack of breaking branches and shattering concrete fills his ears and smashes at his body as Justice uses his study backside for a bulldozer, plowing a solid line from the center of the base into the forest itself. Sol grunts, gritting his teeth against the onslaught, but the damage caused by this indignity is more of an annoyance than a real threat to his safety. The walls shatters, the trees break, but he remains whole.
When they finally come to a stop, Sol is ready for the sudden disengagement. Flung away by his momentum, the merc whirls about in midair and turns his feet towards the first tree that gets in his way, crashing into it heavily but safely. He crouches as his weight hits the hard surface and uses that action to spring-load his joints, repeling back the other direction with a sudden hard push that sends him zipping back at Justice almost as fast as he had been rocketed away, leg extended in a simple but effective flaming kick.
COMBATSYS: Justice dodges Sol Badguy's Riot Stomp.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Justice
[JUSTICE]
To be fair, Justice had enough to be popular with.
Carrying Sol Badguy outside the base, she isn't bringing enough to break the unbreakable. For the pure speed and power she was pouring into Sol, he was meeting back with equal valor. Already, she can't help but give a deep, heaving laughter. She was excited, as her tails writhes. As the jets stop hard, the momentum reversing, she is starting to speak. "Ah, better-" But she barely has a moment before Sol Badguy is tearing back at her. Such passion, such wrath! The titanic woman could move incredibly quickly in singular dimensions; but as the swordsman brings his fiery assault back at her, her ability to maneuver in three dimensions proves to be much more mortal. She is forced to sidestep, the kick unleashing a glancing blow straight into her upper thigh, deflecting it aside with pure armor, rather than skill. Tail twists, and hair tossed, she stares down at Sol Badguy, her eyes burning red still. And yet, there was no contempt now.
Only curiosity.
Deftly, she eases off, backing away. "Ah. Better." She states curtly with that mechanized filter. "They can work better without our interruptions. And I do not have to worry about... retaliation." From who? A commander should be willing to win at any cost. And yet, Justice once again protects them, give them shelter against the wrath of a man like Sol Badguy. She cocks her head, tensing her clawed hands. "But why have you come?" She pries with curiosity. "Revenge? Have I killed a loved one, or injured them? Have you come to test your strength against me?"
There is a crack.
She lunges in, moving in a flicker of an eye, before suddenly flipping backwards, reversing momentum suddenly. Her long, writhing tail lashes back, attempting to rip up along the whole of Sol's body. All with a light, mechanized twisting.
"Maybe you are one of those, who seek to stop nuclear devastation."
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy fails to interrupt Strike Back Tail from Justice with Sidewinder.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
Sol's answer comes in the form of a flaming punch.
Her deft side-step deflects his kick, forcing him to dig the hard heels of his boots into the ground in order to bleed off the unwanted speed. The man recovers from his failure almost immediately, though there is little grace in the action as he whirls around to charge at her again, his fist already cocked back as he prepares to drive it into the robot's chest.
But, just as she draws within range, Justice hits the reverse and instead of her armored breastplate, Sol finds himself diving head-first into a world of pain. The serrated segements of the tail lash at him, tearing into flesh with casual ease. Blood sprays as the metal blade flicks sideways and the force of the sudden blow sends the man sprawling away in an untidy roll.
Sol catches himself a moment later, driving his blade into the soft earth, arresting his momentum. He glances down at the ragged gash in his side with a grunt but rises back to his feet, apparently suffering no immediately life-threatening consequences from an attack that should have cleaved a normal man in two.
"Any one of those would be good enough reasons to put you down. You're a mistake. One I intend to correct."
[JUSTICE]
Incredible.
As Justice unleashes the cleaving blow, she once again sees another individual worthy of her. His endurance, his fire, his strength, all are nearly on par with her own. She wasn't toying, but approaching with the care of a weapon of war. She was artillery, after all. And as she was rudely reminded, artillery was insufficient at close ranges. As Sol catches his breath, she was almost ready to let him rest. But a word cuts deeper than any blade of the swordsman.
"A mistake?"
Justice tightens her clawed hand into a fist, a rage flashing in her. She remembers the weapons aimed at her. The warning from Igniz. The idea that her own superiors would betray her so easily. "You think it's a mistake to be born? I was created for a greater good, to protect the world, to defend it. But I have quickly learned of people like you who fear me, and my kin. You think I am an abomination? You think I am an affront to creation?"
And she begins to build in power.
Vents erupt all over her, as the fission reactions within begin to detonate. Pure nuclear power fuels her, as she begins to glow white hot in the cracks and joints of her armor. She lunges in, unleashing a staggering smash of her limbs, attempting to slice through the impossible hide in a cross-chop with energy flared.
"What authority do you have to even begin to pass judgement?!"
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy instinctively blocks Justice's Fierce Punch.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
As the war machine lunges, Sol moves as well, his blade rising up to meet the furious outburst in a clash of brilliant sparks. Metal grinds upon metal, nuclear-fueled rage held at bay by power that few in this world could understand even if he felt inclined to explains it properties. No matter how strong Justice might be, no matter what terrible destruction she is capable of, he is the original and she but a pale imitation of his potential. Even now, with the vast majority of his power sealed away, her mighty blow is not enough to overcome his strength and with a single hard push he flings the towering monstrosity backwards.
"I know the danger you represent. Probably better than you do yourself."
Glaring daggers, the mercenary tightens his grip on the sword, feeling its magic flow into him once again. His hatred of this creature is a furnace within his soul and it threatens to consume him from within. That they would unleash this thing, give it a voice and maybe even a soul, while damning it to live as little more than tool of murder... unforgivable. It isn't her fault, but she'll still be the one who has to pay the price for the sin of her existence.
Leaping forward in a sudden lunge, Sol draws his empty fist back yet again, magical flames gathering about it in a conflagration of intense energy. His strike is direct and unrefined, a simple haymaker punch driving squarely at Justice's helmeted dome, but the power behind it is incredible.
COMBATSYS: Justice counters Fafnir from Sol Badguy with Valkyrie Arc.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Justice
[JUSTICE]
Wonderful power.
First Igniz, and then Sol. Two incredible humans, of unsatiable, undefinable power. She was forbidden to engage Heihachi, but already, she was consuming challengers like a goddess of war. And yet, the wound was too fresh, too great. A mistake. How dare he.
HOW DARE HE.
Recoiling from her savage slash, she meets that deathly stare with a piercing glower of her own. She could feel the white-hot hate pouring into her... but why? Why is she hated? This was a personal hatred, wasn't it? What has she done? She had a soul, a mind, an existence. And yet, why this man would step forward to destroy her? He lunges in, bringing all that incredible power into the burning haymaker. Subtly, her tail twists smoothly and deftly over her shoulder, moving to... block the blow?
And she intercepts Sol Badguy with her tail.
Pivoting, she lifts him up high, arms crossed. Turning, the arc comes hard as she -slams- the swordsman with the force to crater into the very soil, shuddering the trees to their very roots. Staring down at him, the energy around her continues to build, as her tail unwinds, hair blowing behind her. "Then tell me the danger I am. Show me why you hate me so purely! Teach me. Let me learn!" A twinge of hungry curiousity comes with the fury, as she uncrosses her arms, reaching for Sol.
"Tell me what you think I am, human!"
[SOL BADGUY]
Sol once more finds himself at the mercy of that damnable tail, its speed and flexibility proving troublesome for him to deal with. Whipped into the air by his wrist, the merc crashes hard into the ground, his eyes and jaw clenching tightly against the explosion of pain as the very earth itself splits asunder from the force of his body smashing down. Okay, that one kind of hurt.
But Sol and pain are old bedfellows. Within moments of being downed, he recovers, rolling to the side and pushing to his feet in a single motion. The suffering of his injury is clearly etched into his hard features but it isn't enough to slow him down, not with so much on the line. Justice's anger doesn't mean anything to him. She's just puppet, a deadly marionette dancing on strings that she can't even see, lashing out against the fate that she's helpless to escape. Tragic but inevitable.
%tWhen she calls him human, however, he pauses, faint traces of emotion washing over his face in that brief moment. He isn't really a human, not any more. That Man saw to that. Perhaps that is the thing that annoys him the most about Justice. It isn't just that she is everything that he has fought against for nearly a century now. She is a reflection of what he might have become had his enemies succeeded.
"A monster," he replies. "Just like me."
Sol strikes again, finally bringing the heavy steel of Fireseal's blocky blade to bear on his opponent. Its magic remains dormant, however, as he conserves his strength and gathers power for a more telling blow. The attack is broad and comes at an odd angle, the man whipping his arm up as if to backhand her, swinging the blade from his side upwards across her armored form in a swift and sudden cut.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy successfully hits Justice with Random Strike.
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Sol Badguy 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Justice
[JUSTICE]
She was expecting different answers.
She didn't see herself in this man. She couldn't see herself in... anything. Not even her kin. She felt alone, at the peak of evolution. And yet, looking over, she realized all too soon that there were others at the tops of their own peaks. The masters of the world, where she was another. Alone, and equal. A terrible place. But when the man recovers, he... gives an answer that gives her pause.
"A monster like you?"
That couldn't be. She already called the other gears to her. The rogue gears, the lost children. What was this, one of the Darkstalkers she was tasked to destroy? No, he wasn't any different from- the calculations come at a breakneck pace, as she steps back. She looks into his face, and saw those glimmers of emotions. Something was pulling at her. She hesitates.
He exploits.
Unable to evade this time, the ponderous gear finally takes another blow, a severing strike. As the blade rips along her body, superheated steam rushes out, as beta radiation pummels the surrounding landscape. Blue fluid erupt from the wound, the strike cutting through the armor. She brings her claws to her torso, touching on the fluid. "Maybe you're more human you think you are." She tightens her hand into a fist. Turning back towards Sol, she rockets towards him, jetting at breakneck speeds, to pounce on him. Should she make the pounce, she would pin him down, and start to grab him by the head, and just -squeeze- with impossible strength. "More mortal than you think you are! Who are you?!"
"What are you?!"
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy blocks Justice's Strong Throw.
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Sol Badguy 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
Sol stands his ground as the large machine rushes him, her hand lancing out to seek purchase upon his head. Those long claw-like fingers dig into his flesh and he feels the powerful crush of their deadly strength closing down upon his skull. Gritting his teeth, the man reaches up and wraps his own mitt around Justice's slender wrist, squeezing the joint tightly as he forces that terrible grip away from him once more. The sharp edges of her fingers scratch and score his scalp sending fresh rivulets of blood dripping down his cheeks but again he ignores the pain and inch by inch forces her arm back.
"You talk too much," he growls. "Shut up and fight."
The magic that Sol had gathered up over the last few seconds suddenly flares to life around him, shimmering waves of heat wafting off his body as he draws it out. Giving a final sharp push against her arm, the merc takes a step back to create a bit of distance between them as the fires spark to life around the focus of his blade.
"Tyrant..."
Sol braces himself, spreading his stance wide so as to better compensate for the recoil of the blast his is about to unleash. The roiling inferno of elemental energy reaches its peak and as it does so he swings Fireseal around in powerful upwards slash, gripping the handle with both hands, both to steady its aim and to ensure that the backlash doesn't blast the weapon away from him.
"Rave!"
The red haze of the mystical flames blossoms into a roaring fireball as it leaves the tip of Sol's sword. The space that Justice currently occupies becomes a hellstorm of twisting crimson power, a roaring explosion of force and flame. The blast spirals forward only a short distance, voraciously consuming all of the energy resposible for its creation in a matter of moments, but not before adding a new crater to the local collection.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy successfully hits Justice with Tyrant Rave ver.Alpha.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Justice
[JUSTICE]
Why was she talking.
Why did she need to talk. Why did she need to know, to understand, to dissect, to pull apart. It was like with Igniz, in a way. She was hungry to know and understand a world that she was supposed to stay high above. Staring down, from high above. But Sol was different. He- something was different. Those eyes. Those impossible eyes.
She is on him.
Caught in close quarters, she traps him in the clinch, bringing the full force of her strength into him. To crush him like a grape. And yet, as the magic force builds up, she was too close, much too close. "Damn!" She spits out, as she tries to breakaway. When he pushes, she gets that distance, but only enough to cross her arms, preparing to block. The full Tyrant Rave is unleashed, the blast spiraling forward, consuming all.
And she takes the impact.
Guarding against it, the blazing, blistering hellstorm consumes around her. It was hot, unbearably hot, but she could take the heat. She could take the heat that was smashing over her, the thousand suns. She looks into his eyes, as sees the pure hate, the pure force, the pure power. The heat overwhelms her as the image of Sol burns into her mind, the image of Sol burning, burning in the haze. Burning. Burning Burning BurninWX/X}XYYi YZZVZZ[E[[\5\\]']x]^^l^__a_``W`` aOaabIbbcCcd@d"de=e 'ef=f'fg=g"gh?hhiCiijHjjkOkklWlm`mnnkno oxop+ppq:qqrKrss]sttptu(u...uv>vvwVwxxnxy*yyzFz{{c{|!| |}A}~~b~G
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"Take a look at this, Fredrick!"
The red-haired woman calls out brightly, as she looks up from the microscope. She was garbed in a black, sleeveless lab coat, bearing a small red tie. She peers up with blue eyes across the weathered labortory. Two other scientists were working in the same area, though the area seemed... hazy. Unformed. "Hurry! I'm getting a reaction! I'm finally getting a reaction."
She takes a pause.
"You're not smoking again, are you Fredrick?"
[SOL BADGUY]
A man walks up beside her dressed in his own labcoat of a more traditional design, the buttons left unfastened and the two halves hanging open loosely around his torso. He lifts a hand, running it through messy hair streaked with sweat and grease. A aura of unpleasant stench seems to follow him as he approaches, a faint haze of cigarette smoke both adding to and masking his failure to bathe for the third time this week.
Fredrick was a true scientist in that regard, often working himself to the point of exhaustion in his efforts to advance the research that had become his life's work. The discovery of Magical Particle Theory had shot his career to heights he'd never expected in the blink of an eye. It made him important, got him privelages and prestige, and the chance to work with a budget that frankly still boggled his mind.
And yet none of that had changed him. The fame was fleeting and unwanted but when the government approached him with an offer to expand upon his research, he'd been delighted and accepted immediately. Which is what had led to his meeting with her.
Aria.
He offers a smile to the beautiful woman in apology but doesn't remove the half-used smoke from his mouth. A bad habit, he knows, but one that helps calm his nerves. Instead, he leans forward and peers over her shoulder at the microscope with a curious glance.
"Oh yeah?"
[JUSTICE]
"You won't live very long if you keep smoking!"
Rria smiles, her eyes bright at Fredrick, even as she tut tut tuts at him. She, alongside Fredrick, were part of the team that has done the breakthrough on Magical particle Theory. The fame was mostly to others, Fredrick, and that other man. She was just happy to be with her two friends, and work together for making the world changing discoveries.
It was the least should could do with what time she had left.
"Look at the cells. They're immune to the electrocysis! And look carefully, at how they are interacting with the other cells." She moves aside slightly, to let Fredrick take his place over the microscope. "I've tried a different ionizer, instead of artificial sources, I used bioelectric synthesizers. You know, like electric eels. On the expected physical calculations, there shouldn't be any differences, right?"
"But look at them."
They've been infused; not only are they immune to the background electrical current, but look at the frequencies; they are putting their -own- current into it. They've been mutated to not only resist the electrical current, but have catalyzed the electricity. And-" And she gives a strong sniff. "-And you forgot to bathe again, Fredrick! I swear, I feel like I am becoming more of a mother to you than a fellow scientist." She touches on Fredrick's hand, lightly. So carefully.
That you could barely even notice the tremors in her hands again.
[SOL BADGUY]
Fredrick gives her a manly dismissive grunt at the scolding, leaning foward to peer into the microscope to what the fuss is all about. He watches as the cells play out their tiny lives on the petri dish with only mild interest having seen similar experiments play out so many times by now that he's starting to see celluar division in his sleep.
At first, this one appears to be no different. That is, until he spies the tiny sparks of bio-electricity arcing among some of the little circles. The faint lines of the miniature lightning spreads from one cell to another creating a brief but obvious chain reaction before the pulse loses energy. It's not much, but it's more than they had before. Every big leap in science starts with a tiny step.
Feeling the touch on his hand, he pulls away from the lens to smile broadly at Aria, squeezing her fingers tightly in his own to muffle the minute shaking. The gesture conveys with it far more words than he'd ever say at once.
"You really did it."
[JUSTICE]
It was getting harder to stifle the tremors.
It wasn't important to Aria. It was just a distraction. The real work, the real important work was these little discoveries, these little steps. Aria could sacrifice that, and she knew that Fredrick could too. It would all be worth it, when they all had their names in the science books. It would be Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and of course, Fredrick and Aria.
Aria smiles back at. "No, Fredrick. We did it, Fredrick. We did it together...
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Justice screams.
A feral scream, gripping her helmet, her hair flying around her as she fixes her footing. The images fading from her head, the pictures. What was it. Why was it. What was happening. For a moment, she is still stunned, the invasion of illusions flooding her mind, her senses. Something was forcing its way inside her head, her mind, dominating her senses. She flails, armor still white hot from the flaming assault, still cooking on the inside. It was inhuman, what sounds she made. Like an animal, tortured and pierced with nails and beaten with hammers. Could Sol have hurt her that much?
And she looks at his damnable eyes once again.
COMBATSYS: Justice takes no action.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
The terrible primal scream that erupts from the fireball as it consumes Justice whole is quite unexpected. Still bracing himself against the backlash of the blast, Sol takes a step backwards, unsure of what to expect from the creature. While he himself is infact a Gear, his design was of a prototype form, monsterously powerful but incredibly unstable. These modern adaptations are different, their capabilities a mystery to him. Justice has already proven capable of great destruction and his brief skirmish with her thus far has shown that he cannot take her lightly.
With no clear option available to him, Sol opts to stand back and wait for a more obvious opening to exploit. Either his magical blast was a great deal more effective than he'd expected or Justice is suffering from some sort of unknown condition, clearly struggling with some sort of mental issue. Just how stable was this thing anyways? The very idea of a Command Gear had been daunting when they'd first put it on the design table. A being capable of networking that much information, of directing hundreds if not thousands of entities, experiencing a direct connection to their minds. It seemed almost impossible at the time and yet they had finally succeeded even without his help... or had they?
Sol's eyes narrow in response as Justice meets his gaze, his body tensing up, muscles flexing in preparation. He continues to wait and watch, biding his time by taking those precious few moments to focus on regaining a bit of his strength. He can take a serious beating, even with the limiter active, but Justice hasn't been pulling her punches.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Sol Badguy 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Justice
[JUSTICE]
Illusions.
Illusions and noise.
Justice did not exist for distractions, for images, for betrayals, for insidious thoughts that tried to pull her away from her goal. She eases on her feet, digging her clawed toes into the soil. She did not know what she was facing was a gear, or at least, a prototype of one. She did not even suspect it. She was a savior of the world. She was a tool for a better future.
And this man was poisoning her mind.
She lost her hunger for curiosity, her thirst for knowledge. The images were too haunting. But this man, this figure, this loathsome shape of fire and fear. "Whatever you are, man or monster, you are in my way. You are in the path of the future, of a better, safer mankind. The future holds no place for you."
"And it's my duty to enforce it."
She brings her hands together. Compressing the full force of nuclear energy, her body catalyzes the fission reactions. Body turning bright white, her heat builds, the blue fluid continue to leak. Overheating, she vents the hot blasts of gamma radiation, as she pulls a hand away, curled tightly into a fist. She lunges at Sol, rushing at him- no past him, the jets behind her flaring.
And she releases it.
Nuclear and magical particle theory unifies together, into an bioengineering conundrum. In execution, theory is abandoned to bring about the impossible, as a cloistered fission reaction, in stasis, is neatly dropped at Sol's feet. There is a split-second before the explosion, a nuclear blast, merely the strength of a tactical nuke, a fat man. She was no longer relying on pure technique now.
She was turning the pure nuclear arsenal into Sol.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy endures Justice's Nuclear Blast.
# Disabling hit! #
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
Sol widens his stance as his opponent lunges, bringing his blade up in a defensive posture to ward off the strike that he knows it coming. Justice rushes him, her armored body flying at him wreathed in a corona of white-hot energy as she draws upon the terrible power of the nuclear engine within her body. The speed that she possesses is difficult for him to adjust to, the twin jets on her back granting her sudden bursts of thrust that even his enhanced reflexes struggle to counter. He sees the attack coming, but at the same time, realizes there is little he can do to stop her.
Gritting his teeth, the mercenary discards the idea of defense and instead relies on his natural toughness to see him through whatever it is that the machine has in store for him. He turns as she passes him by, watching the brilliant fusion of science and magic drop at his feet. The world turns bright and hot in an instant, his body engulfed in her nuclear bomb just as she had been consumed by his fireball only a short while ago.
" Tyrant...!"
Sol's deep booming voice erupts from within the hellish blast almost the instant that it detonates. Just as quickly as it had blossomed to life, a contained ball of blazing death, the nuclear blast suddenly begins to implode. Sol stands tall within the haze as the obscuring flames begin to clear away, deadly nuclear fire clinging to his body in places, searing at clothes and flesh and hair. He feels the onset of a faint bout of nausea as the radiation sinks into him but just as quickly it starts to fade, his potent magi-tech biology purging the poison at a ludicrous rate.
he man, if he can even be called that, holds a hand up in the air and the vaccuum-reversal of Justice's assault centers within his grasp as the magic flows into Sol's palm. His fist begins to glow a bright scarlet red, erupting into fresh flames fueled by the stolen power. A grin splits his face, the mercenary's seemingly permanent dourness falling away for an instant as he revels in the moment that comes just before unleashing his strength on a worthy opponent.
"Rave!"
Sol comes at Justice as boldly as ever, lunging towards the metal monstrosity as he draws the emblazoned fist back to deliver a powerful straight punch at her torso. It's an attack she has seen before, direct and simple, but this time he does not stop at just that. The magic within his fist erupts in a miniature nuke of his own but even as those fires expel themself into the command Gear, Fireseal flares to life with even greater zeal. The entirity of the weapon, his fist, his arm - all of them become a single entity of living flame, a hammer of destruction that comes crashing forward into her with the ferocity of a falling star.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy successfully hits Justice with Tyrant Rave ver.Beta.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Sol Badguy 0/-------/------=|=======\====---\1 Justice
[JUSTICE]
Another Tyrant Rave.
This time, Justice was better prepared, coming around, adjusting her position. While the repeated assaults of pure heat and pressure was taking it's toll, she wouldn't allow another crippling head injury to daze her again. The fact he was enduring the overwhelming radiation poisoning was impressive. Or at least, would be impressive, if she wasn't so enraged.
Here it comes.
The secondary blast comes, the second lunge forcing in. Nuclear fire into nuclear fire, the pure hammer of impact smashing into her. Her armor deflects, and shatters, splinters falling away at the second eruption. She lets out another shriek, more feral than the last, and more empowered. The fires clear, as she stands fast, the armor growing warped and thinner by every minute. Blue fluid hiss as it leaks from the cracks of the armor.
And she dives again.
Rushing at Sol Badguy, she pull short again, stopping cold before him. But the true attack would be whipping around. She attempts to wrap her tail around his neck, moving swiftly like a snake. That damnable tail would be the death of him. Should she get the grip, she would pivot, whipping him up and around, before -slamming- him on the ground, to pin him down.
All while the nuclear energy was building within.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy barely endures Justice's Medium Throw.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
By now, Sol is starting to expect the tail. He's also getting pretty damn tired of it.
Utilizing his typical approach to dealing with things that annoy him, the mercenary stands his ground yet again, making little effort to try and intercept the whip-like appendage when his chances of catching it in motion are so slim. Justice wields the segmented whip with deadly precision and it snakes about his throat, coiling tightly closed.
Preparing for the pain that is about to come, Sol grits his teeth and flexes his muscles, turning his body into a hardened bunker of raw defiance even as the powerful limb yanks him off his feet and sends him crashing back down to the ground. The impact is as brutal as ever, dirt and grass flying into the air as his heavy form hits the earth like a nail being hammered in. He feels his bones creak a little and the sharp pang of something important jostling around inside his ribcage.
Before Justice has the chance to withdraw that damnable tail, however, the man reaches outh with his free hand and wraps his fingers about it, holding it fast. He might not be able to catch it in motion but since she was so kind as to tangle it up around him now is the perfect opportunity to try and take it out of the equation. Blood pours down over the razor sharp edges of the killer robot's weapon as he tightens his grip and with a great heave Sol brings the heavy bulk of Fireseal's edge down upon the center of the tail, aiming to cleave it from her body in one fel stroke.
COMBATSYS: Justice blocks Sol Badguy's Power Strike.
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Justice
[JUSTICE]
She doesn't realize immediately what he was doing, as she pins him down.
She watched him writh and squirm, and Justice almost enjoyed. To humble and degrade such a strong man, maybe. Or maybe it was funny to her. Why was it funny? Why could it be funny. Strange flickers in the back of her mind flare up. Why would it be funny to see him flailing like a child? What was he grabbing. The bemusement fades as she realized that he was holding something in place.
That cleaving blade was coming for her tail.
She snatches the blade as it comes, catching it in her claw. It cuts deep in her hand, as she stops it cold, tearing deep and painfully. Her blue fluid leaks out, not even hissing as it pours over the flames. She narrows her eyes in pain, as she does the hissing herself. She flails herself, releasing Sol, forcing away, agony and shame gripping her. She hated this, she felt offended. And then, bemused.
And then, excited.
Justice waggles a claw at Sol Badguy, tsking him. "You would cut off a lady's tail? You are as rude as you are powerful. It's not too late to surrender, to join my army, you know. You are worthy, you are powerful. I can even put aside my hatred... if you can put aside yours." She cocks her head, tail switching like a cat. It almost seemed innocent... except for the building nuclear reaction becoming strong and strong. Beta radiation was turning into gamma waves as the energy pours out.
A foreshadowing of what was soon to come.
"At least tell what your name is." Justice says, as her body begins to hum. "Tell me what is, so if you choose poorly... at least you will be remembered." Her shoulders begin to glow bright red, as the gamma radiation begins to stockpile within. Neurons bombard the surrounding environment, as the cataclysmic energy begins to reach the maximum extremes. She uncrosses her arms, them locking from the pure power that was rushing through her, barely contained by both suit and force of body.
"You do not have much time left."
"Choose."
COMBATSYS: Justice charges Justice's next attack!
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Sol Badguy 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
Sol's arm bulges with muscle as he fights against the powerful grip of the machine, attempting to force her back as Justice catches his heavy slash in her bare palm. It bites into her armored gauntlet but the damage is superficial and, more annoyingly, the tail escapes unscathed as he is tossed away.
The mercenary lands on his back but tucks into a quick roll, skidding to a halt on one knee. Turning his head, he spits a wad of phlegm and blood onto the grass, the only outwards sign that the battle is having any real effect on him. Every bloody cut, every smashing blow that sends him reeling hardly seems to keep the man down for more than second or two. This time is no different, Sol rising to his feet with nary an obvious amount of effort despite the small crater in the ground that still demarks his most recent exchange with the command Gear.
His response to her praise, offer, and question is but a single wordless grunt, a deep gutteral cough of amusement. He rolls his arm at the shoulder, twisting his neck back and forth in a quick stretch, clearly unphased by the giant buttload of energy that is quickly gathering within Justice's frame. It is impressive to be sure, maybe even enough to be a real threat to him, but backing down or showing fear in the face of danger simply isn't in this man's playbook.
Besides, he still has a trick up his sleeve.
"Heh."
Sol throws his head back as his body tenses up, his arms flexing at his sides. A surge of intense and focused magic wells up from within the mercenary, a shockwaves of intense heat and power radiating out around him in a spherical burst that annhilates every scrap of grass and foliage around him for nearly a dozen feet, leaving a burnt and charred black layer atop the earth as it shakes and trembles beneath him. His form is wreathed in an aura of terrible flames that quickly seeps into the mercenary, his body absorbing the massive burst of energy all at once.
"Here's my choice! Grand..."
Sol explodes into motion, his speed nearly doubled from what he had displayed before as he rushes in low to the ground. His fist swings back and fresh fire erupts from his gloved hand, flames billowing out around him with such size and intensity that his entire body is nearly wreathed in the blazing assault. He tears a deep trench through the earth as he comes, a living ball of fire that streaks towards Justice, plowing into her with terrible force, attempting to bowl her over and consume her with the flame as he dashes forward, finishing the assault with a devastating uppercut.
"Viper!"
COMBATSYS: Justice interrupts Grand Viper from Sol Badguy with Empowered Michael Blade.
*KNOCKED AWAY*
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Sol Badguy 1/------=/=======|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Justice
[JUSTICE]
"So disappointing."
That is Justice's response as she stares down the swordsman that has plied her senses and mind so eagerly. All over the misguided belief that she was an abomination. That was the difference. So as he prepares himself for war?
She heartily accepts.
Sol Badguy hurls himself as her, as the nuclear recharge reaches the end. As he explodes into flames? Long, red laser beams extend, blades powered by pure nuclear power, from the base of her claws. She stands fast, as she tracks Sol's movement, as he unleashes the riot directly into her.
And she cleaves through.
The blades of pure nuclear energy slice like lasers, intercepting the rampaging Sol Badguy by -slamming- into him shoulder first. Checking against the charge, she has little time to follow up. Crossing her arms, the blades cleave deep and forward, ready to bisect a lesser being. Passing over and around Sol instead across, however, it blasts him back, momentum reversing hard as Justice staggers backwards. Gripping her now shattered pauldron, she growls softly.
"You should have chosen wisely..."
Fredrick.
She brings the same clawed hand to the side of her head. Fredrick. Why was she thinking of that name. It was just illusion. It was just illusion. Distracted a moment, she seems to be no longer focusing on Fredric- Sol. On that man.
That man would only poison her ambitions.
[SOL BADGUY]
Once more he throws himself against the abomination and once more he is repelled, even the mighty flames at his command unable to fully penetrate the defenses that have been granted to Justice. He might feel a bit of pride at that were it not for the terrible purpose to which this perversion of his technology has been set to fulfill. She is a weapon, singular in purpose and design, made mighty by the insanity of those who would go to any lengths to ensure their own power.
Sol tumbles away from the away from the exchange, ragdolling across the ground as he bounces like a tumbleweed. The fury of his assault had saved him from being struck cleanly by that energy blade, forcing Justice to alter its path in order to protect herself, but it had bitten deep enough that even his legendary pain tolerance was hitting its limits. He would survive this blow but it would take time to recover completely.
Staggering to his feet, too stubborn to know when to quit, Sol glares at his foe with a dark scowl and grit teeth. His shoulder is a mess beneath the shredded leath of his red vest but a quick test of his arm proves that it is still functional enough to use which is all he needs right now. His body will heal in time. The people who will suffer if he lets this monster get away from him don't have that luxury.
Flexing his body once again, Sol draws upon a small fraction of the sealed away power within his prototype core, his muscles bulging with magical power. He runs at Justice, yelling his defiance at the very idea that he might be willing to let something like her roam free.
"It's the same choice I'll make every time!"
Fireseal comes crashing down at the wounded Gear becoming a streak of red and fire as he wails upon her metal hide, slashing back and forth, driving at her with punches and kicks, unleashing a hailstorm of fury and magical flame that blurs together into a whirlwind of motion.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy prepares to take his last stand against Justice!
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Sol Badguy 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Justice
COMBATSYS: Justice dodges Sol Badguy's Dragon Install.
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Sol Badguy 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Justice
[JUSTICE]
Impossible.
She almost doesn't realize the flames coming. He couldn't have survived that. Not even Igniz could barely handle her blades. And yet, he was staggering to his feet. Dimly, she realizes the man that was the obsession in her brain was driving in deeper. Turning her head slightly towards the fire overwhelming him, she sees the spark. That spark of the gears. That spark of creation.
A too familiar spark.
"Damn you!" Justice shrieks, launching into the air into a jet-boosted leap. The fireseal grazes her armor, dealing another chip. But she was taking to the air, taking to the kiting, as the flames lick all around her. Seared, and singed. BUt the indomitable spirit. "Why won't you stand down! Why won't you fall! Why do you endure this useless determination!" Justice felt strange inside. A bad strange. The longer she met this man, the longer she stared into herself.
She descends.
Diving down swiftly, she adjusts her position, moving one leg in front of the other. It was almost coy, for what it was. A flying drop kick, moving in a blink of an eye. The pressure comes before she connects."I will snuff that admirable spirit!" She shrieks, cold and execution.
And she would, with a stifling, stomping kick, straight into Sol's chest.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy blocks Justice's Strong Kick.
[ \\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Sol Badguy 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Justice
[SOL BADGUY]
Not fast enough.
This thought burns in Sol's mind as his all-out assault fails to connect, Justice proving remarkably slippery thanks to her ability to take to the air. He had hoped to catch her off-guard by simply throwing himself at her again and again, refusing to stay down while she arrogantly thought to cast him aside, but in the end he hasn't been able to strike a telling blow.
His limits quickly approaching, Sol whirls around and throws his arm up to ward off the jet-assisted dive kick. The metal boot smashes into his forearm, crushing it to his chest and driving him backwards. He skids away on his heels, only barely remaining standing thanks to the ocean of raw magic flowing through his body, keeping him energized for just a few seconds longer. It wouldn't be enough, he can see that clearly. Without unleashing his true strength, his chances of overcoming this monster on his own are slim. Much as he hates to admit it, he's going to need help.
Which means he needs to survive long enough to get the hell out of here. That Justice possesses the power to finish him off in his current state he has no doubts and his very presence seemed to enrage her. Time to make a hasty exit. Sol grits his teeth again in gruff annoyance but unlike some he's not blinded by suicidal pride. Sometimes the best answer is to come back with a bigger gun and he's already got a few ideas for some long overdue upgrades.
"This isn't over," the merc says with a growl. "So long as your kind exists, I'll be back to hunt you down."
Moving with the last ounce of his gathered magic, Sol whips Fireseal up in a quick underhand slash sending a massive blast of rolling fire into the ground at Justice's feet. If she fails to get out of the way, that's just a bonus, but the real goal is the explosion that it creates upon impact sending up a cloud of dirt and debris to hide his brief moment of weakness as the power leaves him. Staggering away, he makes for the trees.
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Justice 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sol Badguy successfully hits Justice with Gun Flame.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Justice 1/-------/=======|
[JUSTICE]
Speed eventually wears down the stone rock.
The final kick sends Sol staggering backwards. In the fight between two defensive opponents, she had eventually overcome Sol's own unstoppable will and endurance. And yet, after the strike, he rises again. "Give. UP!" She hisses, striding forward as she pursues. And yet, the blast of magic finally stops her cold. Blazing back at her, the Gear halts, the blast of debris and flame driving her back, blinding her. Stunned, she eventually gets her bearings, transfixing her gaze on the back of the man.
Your kind?
"Our kind..." Justice says softly. She shakes her head. Your kind. Fredrick said your kind. Our kind. Justice builds in nuclear rage, before releasing it with a hiss. She wanted to rip him apart, and draw out his knowledge, his essence, his -thing- to stop him from smoking. She could chase him down.
And yet she holds.
She does not pursue, despite the threat. She does not chase, despite the danger. He would come back. She knew this. And next time, he would learn. And he would find her weakness. And he would destroy. Or worse, attack her gears. Already, one of her armies were being destroyed, she could sense it. Already, the whole world was descending. And yet, she would not pursue. She had won her fight. Let there be peace.
This does not leave the attention of the commanding officer at the base.
Huddled within the bunker, watching the feeds spark in and out, he watches for a second time, the so called perfect weapon once again let her prey escape. Once gain, take the fighting outside the base, once again, refuse to use the gear army. He was disappointed, and frightened of the weapon he saw. And he was concerned that the whole project was on the cusp of a failure."Reach out to those eggheads." He growls to his subordinate. "And tell them to put the reserves online."
"I want to see if they are all as defective as this one."
COMBATSYS: Justice has ended the fight here.
Log created on 17:23:30 10/10/2017 by Sol Badguy, and last modified on 21:56:43 10/26/2017.