Match of the Millennium

Description: He is the only man to discard the title of Emperor only to vie for God. Sagat is not a man overly concerned with the affairs of Shadaloo, but he is not so solitary that he wouldn't be aware Shadaloo's deadly spider has gone rogue at about the same time that psychic emanations ripple all over the globe. Whether or not he cares is another matter entirely. The Dead or Alive World Combat Championship offers a chance to test his skills on the world stage against every manner of opponent. And among those is the Legendary Wolf, Terry Bogard. In the Aqua Palace, a reinforced underwater aquarium off the coat of Australia, two fighters meet in utter seclusion.

[TERRY]
Even for an endless roamer like Terry Bogard, reaching this setting for a battle was quite the hike. Despite an offer for a helicopter to take him directly to the staging area, he landed a good few dozen miles out from the gigantic stone formation within the national park, and spent a leisurely week hiking the remainder. Although he oft prefers more urban ventures; having to bring his own food was a mild chore, but it was worth it for the nights beneath the stars.

Fully rejuvenated in body and mind when the appointed hour comes, he's in the middle of the temporary ring near the edge of the formidable Ayers Rock. The slabs of stone settled into perhaps a ten by ten meter square of dense foundation, with no protective boundary from the two meter drop on the edges. A ring out is no disqualification, but it might be a painful endeavor all the same.

Electronics and generators are set up, tall lights shining forth despite the high sun, and countless cameras and attendant folk milling around. Raised scaffolds and even some modest bleachers allow the diehard fans willing to make the trip who fill every seat, with Sagat lacking little in followers for the man who once nearly conquered the world.

The Lone Wolf punches the air repeatedly, mild sheen of sweat from his warm-up, expression one of unusual seriousness. He's never fought the Thai legend himself, but knows him to be one of the few who may be his better, especially if anywhere near his prime. In the midst of a slump himself after his battle with Geese some months back, he has every intention for this to be the catalyst to him rekindling his view of the top of the world within this tournament...!

[SAGAT]
Sagat is not the man who once nearly conquered the world anymore, in ways both tragic and terrible.

These days, maybe the most pronounced - and least prominent - aspect of his metamorphosis from Emperor to Heavenly King is the way he's come to let himself sink into the soporific cage of hedonism, diving head-first into a whole world of temptations he'd spent his entire life denying in his pursuit of perfection. Shadaloo has many tendrils, /many/ means to exercise control within and without; some are just softer than others.

However:

"Aaahh..."

"/Finally/."

The man he is today is still one with the sheer force of will to shed every external distraction in the name of doing what he /must/, which is why Sagat sits with his back turned to Terry, having lingered with an arm casually draped over his upturned knee in utter silence throughout the warm-up, the arrival, the long hike to Ayer's Rock, the first moments after construction...

It's why the man who's been an erratic bundle of wild, screaming impulse for the last several years is an island of absolute, dormant calm as he sneers through greeting his deeply tardy opponent:

Detox and withdrawal ain't /shit/ to a man who lives every moment in vibrating anticipation of his next brush with the sun... and for all DOATEC's myriad mysteries, pouring his all into a tournament of such a high profile has a potential to pay off /greatly/.

"I was beginning to wonder whether you'd lost your way or not~."

[TERRY]
Sagat is not entirely alone in that regard. Terry Bogard is no longer the man who fought on par with Geese, who conquered and threw the target for his lifelong rancor from the roof of his own monument to decadence. Realizing in that moment he was no murderer, the sharp cut of regret to find his vengeance turn to ash in his mouth, he has spent years on the decline while his rival merely grew and grew. That feat is not one he feels confident yet in repeating... even if his own shaken resolve was not quite so indulgent. Wanderlust, a lack of focus, and his own training greatly relaxed... still being one of the strongest in the world, but no longer able to make a bid for the top.

Slowly he throws out one last punch as Sagat finally speaks, curling his fist closed and relaxing the fingers outwards. "I'm not a man in a rush anymore..." He grasps the brim of his hat and twists it left and right to settle it on his head. "I needed some time to clear my head... but the outback turned out to be a bigger opponent than I expected!"

He twists then to face the monolithic cyclops, flicking the collar of his jacket and shifting his weight aggressively. His fangs are bared, his engine revved up, as the glint of the true sort of fighter he used to be shines force.

"But it's duly noted, nonetheless... I think there's few people quite so knowledgeable about losing their way than you in this world. Me...? I still intend to /find/ my path. What about you, fallen Emperor?" Not many people would dare try to incite Sagat no matter his state of physique or mind... but there's no man that the Legendary Wolf fears, and growing up in an endless series of near-suicidal street fights in the worst streets of the world, some trash talk is definitely to be expected!

[SAGAT]
"What about me?"

Every last, steel-corded and titanium-plated inch of Sagat unfurls with the graceful deliberation of a cat. An inconceivably dense network designed to deliver maximum power with maximum efficiency rolls with each motion until Terry is finally faced with the vast, rippling plain of Sagat's bare back. Gradually, taped hands become hammers hanging at his sides.

"I don't answer to gutter trash. You call yourself the Legendary Wolf...?"

Clad in nothing but tape, muay thai shorts, and a snow-white drape wrapped around his back and shoulders, Sagat bunches billowing material in one hand only to /hurl/ it clear of Ayers Rock as he trails.

"What's a /Wolf/ to a King of Heaven, boy?!"

Bare feet kick a cloud of stone dust into the air when Sagat snaps towards his foe like a bullwhip, baring not only a bemused arch and sneering grin, but little tongues of fire already creeping along the remnant of his greatest shame.

"Come -- let's see what happens when a legend /dies/!"

COMBATSYS: Sagat has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sagat            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Terry has wandered into the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Terry            0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Sagat

[TERRY]
Terry Bogard is not a small man; his shoulders and arms dwarf the majority of fighters in the world, and his build and physique have not suffered in the wake of his fall. Only his technique and drive; he's still a ridiculously durable man, with no small amount of strength in his weight class. But he seems an insect to Sagat, watching him rise up with a tilt to his head that he rarely affords another opponent, unable to help a bit of a frown. He may fear no man, but he respects the body that is every bit still a world-class weapon standing opposite in no small measure.

"Others call me that, yeah. Me, I've never much cared about fame and renown so much." One shoulder slowly rolls in a seismic ripple of muscle, bulging out briefly as he squares up and exhales, flowing into a light, aggressive stance opposite the massive Muay Thai god. "But you've certainly developed the aura and tongue of a heel...! But let's speak with our fists!"

There's finally the DING that initiates the fight, and in a split second, Terry rushes forward. No hesitation at all in shooting within the crushing range of arm and leg that Sagat possesses; orange energy curls between a clenching fist, as he slides to a stop opposite the other man.

"POWER..." he hisses out, muscles briefly bulging as hakkyokuseiken amplifies his physical attributes significantly for the duration of a twisting drive. Normally, he'd leverage this at an opponent's face. For Sagat, a blow to the vulnerable ribs will have to do; the air warbling with the force thrown behind, even if a serious punch might still be like a gnat to the massive warrior!

"DRIVE!!"

COMBATSYS: Terry successfully hits Sagat with Power Drive.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Terry            0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0            Sagat

[SAGAT]
There is a moment - easily missed by cameramen and viewers at home, yet endless for those at its center - where Terry hangs suspended in mid-air, held by nothing more than sheer, stubborn determination to drill his fist through a mountainside.

"... hm."

And when it ends, the mountain is left with a bright red mark marring his ribs and little else.

"If you didn't /care/, boy... you wouldn't /answer/ to it."

That broad, scarred chest swells--

"Would you?"

Rather than a bellow, the question is punctuated with nothing more than a /ripple/ as he slings right knee his right knee towards the descending Wolf with enough speed and sheer intensity to render that enormous limb a bronze blur for a split-second.

"You would be the 'Humble Wolf'; the 'The Gutter Wolf', perhaps. And yet: /'Legendary'/ it is."

COMBATSYS: Terry blocks Sagat's Tiger Edge.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Terry            0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0            Sagat

[TERRY]
Ah, that was a hell of a report. Terry's honestly not sure if he's ever punched a figure so resilient; it was hardly his best shot, but definitely middle of the road all the same. And his expression was one of steel resolve and determination throughout, even if he scarcely marks the dark frame before him. Certainly a long way from adding to the bevy of scars.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Terry says with almost a laugh. He catches the tension building up to the attack -- responding to it in transit is probably beyond most any fighter. Forearms cross, and his arms seem to bulge as the knee drives into the cross, sending him skidding backwards nearly a meter. Two bright red marks of his own are now sported on his aching arms, grimacing with a hiss as he twists his expression once more into a grin.

"Were you the first one to call yourself the Emperor of Muay Thai? Maybe you were!" He then stamps down his foot, rearing back his arms as a surge of energy causes the ground beneath to mildly crack. He better kick it up a notch, if he wants to actually HURT this behemoth. One of his signature moves, and like many, a core precept of his penultimate attack. "BURN..."

He shoots forward then, twisting out to try and slam his fist this time right into Sagat's chin. It glows even brighter, launching him like a coiled viper to throw not only his considerable punching prowess, but all his body weight and the dash behind into /another/ attempt to power into the gargantuan figure. "KNUCKLE!!" Despite the increase in force, he's clearly not sacrificing finesse and speed just yet... still feeling out the steel-muscled warrior, and proving himself on the short list of those able to repel at least a mild blow from the massive man!

COMBATSYS: Terry successfully hits Sagat with Burn Knuckle ES.
- POWAH HIT! -

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Terry            0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Sagat

[SAGAT]
A long strand of saliva flies from Sagat's mouth.

A chin carved from solid stone violently twists along the arc of a burning fist.

One wrapped foot slips backwards, kicking up yet more debris; a shiver of tension through his body stops his momentum cold after that.

Slowly, Sagat exhales and it's cut with deep, throaty rumbling.

"No."

The world practically /ripples/ around his one remaining eye once he snaps his searing gaze back to Terry.

"Once I crushed my predecessor, it was a /formality/."

Other than the fire rolling up and down that scar, he has yet to release an ounce of the potent chi he wields almost as readily as the anvils and flails he calls limbs. It is instead reserved for turning fluidity into an /explosion/ of motion as the Broken Tiger finally leans into joining this battle in /full/ rather than leering imperiously from its edges. Like a runaway train, he charges after the Legendary Wolf until he practically just -- /appears/ before the other man, looming for a split-second before his whole body twists into an axe-like elbow to the crown of Terry's head.

COMBATSYS: Terry fails to interrupt Heavy Tiger Elbow from Sagat with Rising Tackle.
! VENGEANCE !

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Terry            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Sagat

[TERRY]
Ah; he could feel a proper blow impacting Sagat, capitalizing on his nonchalance in the face of hakkyokuseiken. Were he to be merely dealing with the brawn of Terry Bogard himself, he likely has every right to ignore even his bulky frame, but the ability to multiply his force in a heartbeat might be bringing to bear why he's considered a difficult opponent for most in the world. Still, his arm feels to be tingling and numb in the aftermath of just *punching* Sagat. But he's poised in a good position to try and intercept; twisting, both hands slam down on the ground, corkscrewing upwards suddenly with his heels aimed towards Sagat's chin. "RISING...!"

But Sagat is no fool. It's not impossible to weave backwards, and then /drive/ that elbow right into Terry's frame as desired; sending him shooting away like a missile, hitting the ground on his shoulder before rolling almost to the edge of the raised stone ring, coughing up a brief spatter of blood. "Oof... felt that one." he hisses out, shifting to brace his knee and then unsteadily get back to his feet. "Well, same for me. When I single-handedly conquered an entire town... that's when the first person called me a wolf. Like you said... formality. I'm not fighting for fame, though. Or money... or even the perks."

He brings his fists back up, despite the trail of blood down the corner of his smirking mouth. "It's /this./ A chance to fight at my all again... you've taken two blows that would drop most people, and returned it casually. That's exactly what I'm searching for!! Don't worry, though. I'm far from down and out myself just yet!"

[SAGAT]
"/Are/ you...?" Sagat purrs with a heavy, arching brow and a smirk.

"Like me?"

The bravado isn't all that interesting - it's /normal/, especially as he's slipped farther and farther into the shadowed haze of brutalizing honorable men and women to satisfy... ... ... /whatever/ ends meting out such violence must lead towards in the chaotic mind of a mad Dictator.

It's the suggestion that the god of the streets who conquered an entire city without a care for renown has /anything/ in common with a man who sought to conquer the /world/ just to remind it of who its master was.

"What do /you/, who greets the prospect of being made legend with the diffidence of an anxious and ill-mannered child, have in common with /me/, boy?"

He doesn't even wait for Terry to finish righting himself before bursting forward, aiming to catch the Legendary street fighter with a sweeping kick aimed squarely across his ribcage as he tries to rise and steady.

COMBATSYS: Sagat successfully hits Terry with Medium Kick.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Terry            1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1            Sagat

[TERRY]
"Like you...? Heh! I'm not quite that cocky. You were born different. I could tell it the moment I landed my fist into you...!" This should be a trivial defense; but Sagat gave him no quarter, and he can't properly brace himself on one knee. Throw in the strength of a sledgehammer behind so casual a strike, and it cleaves through his budding deflection to drive into his ribs, knocking him once more on his back with a pained exhale of blood. Shit; his strong start is piddling away right before his eyes. But on the plus side, he lacks little in tenacity...

"What... do I... have in common?" he says with a slow exhale. Rising back to his feet, licking blood from his lips and cracking his neck with a slow twist. He then activates the forbidden techniques of his master's half-copied style; bulging out his muscles, beginning to almost simmer as his body heat increases and magnifies. An exhale of steamy breath follows, lifting up his forearms and shifting forward, ignoring the throb of his broken ribs.

"We both fell from grace in a single fight. Only... in my fight... I /won./"

He then kicks forward, shooting low and trying to come in from almost waist level on Sagat. Only to leap upwards, trying to slam his shoulder and elbow into the giant's torso and knock him off balance. Hefting up his right arm, he concentrates all his power into his right fist, growling out as it descends like an orange, scorching meteor to try and slam square into Sagat's face for a second time... hoping to bring him, at the very least, down to his knees in the wake of one of his fiercest attacks.

"Max... DUNK!!"

In the midst of the blow, his fist seems to sheen with a bright blue; shards of glass ripple in a vortex around it, hit or miss making to add a sudden, slicing detonation of energy at the height of his attempted hit!!

COMBATSYS: Sagat fails to interrupt Max Dunk from Terry with Tiger Uppercut.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Terry            1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1            Sagat

[SAGAT]
Terry's blow fails to bring the mountain to his knees.

The moments before it comes, Sagat barks out a cackle at Terry's jab, even as fire visibly billows in his eye for a split-second.

"And as I understand it, boy... you CONTINUE to fall! Even /my/ amusement has its limits--"

The fallen God hunches low, knees bent to the utmost as seven feet of power become three and a half of terrifying potential.

Just as he /explodes/ from his crouch, however, a roar is intercepted by Terry's spirited yell-- and /much/ more importantly, Terry's radiant blue, glass-wreathed fist connecting with his jaw!

The Legendary Wolf doesn't bring the Heavenly King to his knees; he drops him /straight/ to his belly, driving the air from his massive lungs. A moment after the crash, one palm, then the other hit the arena hard enough to send tremors through nearby tiles while the air around him /boils/, the bonfire in his breast growing too bright to be contained by mere flesh and spirit.

[TERRY]
Finally; even a mountain can fall, against the repeated blows of the wind or water. Such is one of the more powerful moves in his entire repertoire, and even that only staggers the titanic figure before him! But there's no intension in the slightest of holding back, of doing anything but pressing forward. He finally regained his leverage, and he's not going to stop a second time when he's crawled back within sight of actually pulling ahead once more.

"...here's the big one...!" he growls out, before bringing back his right arm. The crowd, for the most part quiet thus far, suddenly begins to gasp and whoop, at least those in Terry's camp. This stance is almost globally recognized; the shining jewel, the apex of his personal style and what he put together of his father's. His right arm expands in mass significantly, fists beginning to glow orange as his eyes narrow.

"BUSTER--"

And then he launches forward in the blink of an eye, trailing orange fire behind. He doesn't aim for Sagat's face a third time. Instead, he tries to plow that fierce, enhanced fist right into Sagat's scar -- dead center on his torso. Honor and mercy might be grandiose things, but Terry is a street fighter through and through; he's got no compunctions about hitting someone where they are weak.

"WOLF!!"

A moment later, there's a great eruption of energy, orange force and chi blowing out for dozens of meters past, the Legendary Wolf grasping his forearm to brace himself as much as anything as he tries to let loose that massive cannon of raw power as best he can, teeth grit and clothes billowing in the point-blank onslaught, cracking and shuddering the very foundation of the ring beneath the pair of world warriors!

COMBATSYS: Terry successfully hits Sagat with Buster Wolf ES+.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Terry            0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1            Sagat

[SAGAT]
Tiles built to withstand the terrible power of fighters unleashed shudder, buckle, then collapse around both men. Unsurprisingly though, it's Sagat who winds up at the bottom of a deep, widely carved crater when the smoke and dust clear: before he could even /stand/, Terry plunged his fist into the memory of Sagat's first, worst embarrassment and inundated it with destructive chi. He's just shy of what would technically constitute a ring out by bare inches of flat white tile beneath him, and even when the smoke /clears/... a dozen curling wisps still waft from his body, as if something /inside/ of him's sputtering and flaming out.

As if one good blast was all that was needed to trigger a cascade failure in the delicate network of chugging machinery that is Sagat.

As if--

"... /Hm/!"

As if--

"/Finally/," bellows from the depths of the crater, a rumbling bass so infernally, thunderously deep that it resonates through fighters and onlookers alike. A man with a spirit forged and purified in the crucible of Hakkyokuseiken is more than capable of bearing it with little more than an unmistakable sense of /fury/ unfurling from its battered cage.

For anyone else - for normal human beings rational enough to simply WATCH, rather than participate in World Warrioring - the effect is a little more pronounced--

It's as if a monster imported directly from the depths of Middle Earth rather than Spain lurches forth from the pit Terry's made, hauling its inconceivable weight towards freedom one massive, tile-cracking grasp at a time. It's as if a thing less alive than it is /ablaze/ - a roaring patchwork of flesh and hellfire - has found a hole big enough to climb through, and now the world /must/ suffer whatever tribulation follows. It's as if the amber energies raging in its eye and mouth might burst free at any moment and incinerate every living soul on Uluru.

But again: that's more of a crowd problem.

/Terry's/ problem is that seven feet of wounded pride now towers above him, chest seething with wild, crackling chi across every inch of that scar.

Terry's problem is that all the way near its peak, there's a smile wider than any really should be, tinged with crimson and /leaking/ sparks of chi.

Terry's problem is that a cruel, baleful eye alight with power is fixed unerringly upon him.

"/There/ you are~."

Terry's problem is that he has earned the fully and devoted attention of a man who's forgotten the meaning of honor because revenge took too much mental real estate.

(It doesn't help that the Broken Tiger is apparently capable of purring with raw, wrathful menace.)

"Another like THAT... and perhaps the Gutter Wolf will finally deem himself /worthy/ of his accolades," boils sardonically.

"... do you /have/ another like that, Terry Bogard~?"

As soon as the lowly voiced query leaves his lips, every inch of Sagat lunges forward without /moving/ forward: his right foot stomps a quake through the arena when it plants, while his arms simultaneously bend backwards. The moment his foundation is established, those great, twitching limbs radiant with rushing bands of energy THRUST towards Terry, sending an incandescent tidal wave of destructive, tile-shredding chi rocketing towards him.

"TIGER CANNON!"

COMBATSYS: Terry just-defends Sagat's Tiger Cannon!

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Terry            0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0            Sagat

[TERRY]
Slowly and steadily, Terry pants and exhales, standing still in the final pose of the Buster Wolf. Legs spread, smoking fist extended outwards, grasping his leading wrist to brace it as a great, scouring impact rends the stone into smoking rubble nearly to the precipice of his outright victory. He does recoil at the sudden aura of Sagat, a man freshly awakened. Or has he? Terry has not fallen so far that merely relying on raw physique and the shadows of old training can so easily cast him down...!

"What's this, now...?" Terry calls out, and if anything there's a mild ghost of disappointment. "Your energy's a lot less stable, Fallen Emperor. You think letting your chi run rampant's strength, huh? Maybe it is... against MOST people..." He can feel it, quaking in his bones. Making them rattle and grind, as teeth settle. Were this a situation where he had to handle something like this properly condensed, sharpened into the blade it once was, he'd likely end up just like Ryu did facing this opponent. But perhaps now, seeing the path and avenue to power that Sagat's chosen, he's aware of just how far from his throne the huge figure has fallen.

"...you were a lot more threatening at the start to me. Yeah... I got one move that's better. But I doubt you'll stay standing long enough to see it, at this rate...!" He reaches up, snatching and yanking around his hat once more to get it back into skew. Big talk, from the wolf. But he is seeing the haze of opportunity here; and behind it all, he is a master of raw energy control from one of the foremost masters of it alive. Geese may have refined it to the utmost, but he has taken it instinctually to similar heights, even if neither never graduated to learning Tung Fu Rue's manifestation techniques.

A slow exhale leaves Terry, extending his palms and whirling them around in a manner that seems far more martial arts than anything he's displayed thus far. Orange fire ripples along, centering and mastering the core of his own energy in contrast to the raging inferno prepared and launched directly towards him. It's like the Muay Thai reached up to pluck the sun, and then hurled it!!

But he waits, building up his power until both hands suddenly flow into cerulean identical to Geese instead of the smoldering orange, the pure essence of hakkyokuseiken in it's proper form. Only to thrust both hands out with a roar, and slam them into the cannonball hurled his way. Initially, he is driven back... a meter, two, then three, feet trying to dig in for purchase as he amplifies the strength in his arms, causing them to bulge even further. Thighs expand, partly splitting the seams of his jeans, before finally arresting the momentum.

"Hnn... HNNGH!!" Finally he conquers the core of Sagat's own fireball, twisting upwards and launching it skyward like a volleyball; the ground surges in the wake of the deflection, cracking and denting the stone tiles for a couple meters round him as the smell of singed clothing wafts out. High above, it detonates with a great, cataclysmic roar, but Terry himself is unharmed. In fact, the power he summoned to repel it seeps back into him, greatly restoring his reserves of stamina as he exhales slowly.

"Don't wanna try doing THAT again... now. Let's finish this!!" His own potent fighting spirit roars out, impacting the awakened, furious malice of Sagat and seeming to make the air almost crackle between. Wolf and Tiger; most would know at a glance which should win in a fight, but his fangs have proven able to reach the Emperor just fine.

He then digs in his feet, crouching forward and launching into a run. Sliding the remaining distance, both hands surge out to catch the other fighter by the forearm and chest, trying to twist him around by the arm and then tilt the monolithic giant upon his back. "BUSTER... THROW!!" With a snarl, he makes to launch Sagat clean overhead, trying to slam him back-first down upon the ground opposite him with no small amount of force!!

COMBATSYS: Sagat barely endures Terry's Buster Throw.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Terry            0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0            Sagat

[SAGAT]
"Yes."

"LET us FINISH. THIS."

Terry launched the other man clean overhead, overcoming an enormous size advantage with apparent ease.

He slammed him back first into the ground, creating another deep divot in the tilework.

He even gave it enough /snap/ for Sagat's head to bounce back against the hard surface right after that rough landing.

He /did/. All of those things happened.

... it's just that the Fallen Emperor has decided that none of them MATTER, right now.

"Perhaps you'll even find a spare moment to /show me/ what lies beyond that blow, Scavenging Wolf-- maybe the man who built his legacy on bullying common thugs while I set about conquering the fighters of the WORLD has something more to show."

Because he isn't just /standing/, he's /still smiling/.

For that matter-- he isn't just standing, and he isn't just smiling--

He's also /charging/, going low at the last moment for a crushing, down-angled blow intended to not just strike Terry's knees, but strike /through/ them until his fist collides with the ground and leaves another, stone-spraying mark.

COMBATSYS: Terry fails to interrupt Fierce Punch from Sagat with Power Charge ES.
- Power fail! -

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Terry            1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Sagat

[TERRY]
"...!" That blow should have done more. It felt strange, to say the least. Flowing through in the aftermath, he slips backwards and then grimaces, feeling his own energy start to cascade out of control after the massive whorl he summoned from his core. What IS this strange disharmony? It's ill-timed to say the least, but he still tries to tap into the proper tenets of hakkyokuseiken regardless. Empowering himself head to toe, for a split second he seems far larger; crouching down, he prepares to launch himself back-first towards the mountainous warrior, but a sharp spasm of pain rips through him. Glass shreds the back of his jacket, and he staggers in place instead. A moment later, that fist hits him with zero guard, zero preparation, straight in the back instead of his precious knees.

It leaves Terry in a less than dignified heap within a newfound crater, trying to roll away as his manifested glass breaks off and bloodily falls around him with a hiss, bracing hand starting to push him back to his feet. "Son of a..." Well, this is ill-timed a vulnerability for the Legendary Wolf, on the cusp of a potential victory. What a good thing Sagat will be so mercifully understanding about him having some kind of entropic breakdown of his energies at a pivotal moment in the fight!

[SAGAT]
"Throw one capitalist from a window..."

Sagat's hunched beside the crater, low enough to whisper just for Terry.

"... and a boy begins to think he's a /man/~."

There's a tension creeping into his voice-- the unmistakable strain of a man fighting to deny the reality that his body is beginning to betray him as seconds tick by.

"Take heart, Terry Bogard:" follows, lower still.

"Legend or no... you /are/ a worthy foe," he offers, voice warmed by acknowledgment and roiling fury.

"It's a fine place to /start/."

And just to show that there are no hard feelings, Sagat reaches into the crater, intent on pulling the other man out of it.

With a vise-grip on the back of his neck.

... which won't abate in the slightest when he hoists Terry over seven feet in the air...

... ... and SLAMS him right back into the ground.

Repeatedly, until something gives.

COMBATSYS: Terry just-defends Sagat's Tiger Rage!

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Terry            1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Sagat

[TERRY]
"...you're spending... way too long talking to me, Sagat... and not enough time putting me *down.*" is hissed through clenched teeth when the huge figure stoops over to mock him, a final exhale causing his trembling, uncontrolled energy to stabilize just prior to that reaching hand grasping him by the scruff. As he begins to lift out, he shrugs violently, twisting around and striking the offending limb in the wrist. Dropping down, Sagat is just left holding his burnt jacket, as Terry exhales and rears back his right arm.

"POWER..." he calls out, before twisting down and slamming his fist right into the ground in front of the huge man, trying to suddenly slough off and infuse the great cloud of orange energy laced with glass right into Sagat's sizeable frame.

"GEYSER...!! C'mon, c'mon, Fallen Emperor... you keep letting a wolf get back up, my fangs'll find your THROAT next!!"

Certainly the worse for wear now if anyone were to compare damage levels, he still hops from foot to foot in just his torn, bloodied wifebeater, one of few in the world who can stand in the aura of the maleficent tiger within such proximity without bowing, breaking, or showing any edge of fear. That very resolve being the only reason he's still in this fight!

COMBATSYS: Sagat just-defends Terry's Power Geyser!

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Terry            0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0            Sagat

[SAGAT]
"Very well."

Sagat doesn't even /move/, this time, save for throwing another punch directly into the ground at just the right moment--

-- to SCATTER the orange eruption exploding beneath him. Terry might catch the tell-tale flare of Sagat's own brand of amber chi which roars with the barely-kept rage of his namesake wreathing his fist just before impact; /certainly/, the radiant shell which briefly spreads around it before /bursting/ through the core of the Legendary Geyser rapidly swelling underfoot, reducing it to a shower of radiant sparkles before it's able to reach its full, unstoppable intensity and blow him away.

Nothing further's said after those two small, laden words pierce the energetic haze left in the Geyser's wake-- not unless snapping directly into a pivot-step forward and attempting to practically decapitate Terry with a sweeping roundhouse kick counts as communication, anyway.

COMBATSYS: Sagat successfully hits Terry with Tiger Roundhouse.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Terry            0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1            Sagat

[TERRY]
"...!" Damnit. Terry's flagging. He's been using too much of his reserves powering through these assaults, overwhelming and flinging away that huge beast of a projectile, and trying desperately to remain ahead of the sheer difference in physique. Dancing that line has come to an untimely end, however... as for the first time, Sagat bothers to /kick./ The blow hits him right in the head, and spirals him around once like some kind of human throwing star. "...!!" He hits the ground in a near-broken heap, blood pouring from most every orifice he holds dear above the neck, but where most would pass out, his closed fists slam down into the ground.

He draws up hakkyokuseiken once more, invigorating his entire body in an orange glow. Amplification letting him still move, instead of empowering him beyond his limits. "P... POWER..." he calls out...

Before leaping into the air, twisting around once and then roaring, rearing back his right hand and sheathing it in orange fire. Trying to strike it down right into the center of Sagat's chest once more, right where that flaring scar continues to pulse and seethe. "DUNK!!"

But will his tenuous hold on things flump out here, or will he potentially land on his feet in the aftermath...?! "THAT ALL YOU GOT, FALLEN EMPEROR?! Hit me like you MEAN it... if you... wanna... k-keep me DOWN!!"

COMBATSYS: Terry issues a challenge!!

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Terry            0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1            Sagat

COMBATSYS: Terry can no longer fight.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Sagat            1/------=/=======|

COMBATSYS: Sagat fails to interrupt Power Dunk from Terry with Tiger Genocide.
- POWAH FAIL! -


COMBATSYS: Sagat can no longer fight.


[SAGAT]
Terry leaps into the air, wielding the legacy handed down to him in a seething mass--

"Tiger..."

-- and Sagat launches skywards to meet him, knee jutting forward like a train's cow catch, poised to intercept the soaring Wolf in mid-air in order to drag him brutally back to Earth.

Amidst the blinding flare of Hakkyokuseiken and whatever lies beyond the pinnacle of Muay Thai, all that's certain is that a blow terrible enough to send a crack of thunder rippling through the air has been struck.

... it's not 'til raw, dazzling power begins to recede that the result is clear:

*T H O O O O O O M ! ! ! !*

An Emperor falling just a little bit farther until there's nothing but cold, unforgiving stone to cushion the impact, leaving him sprawled in a crater. Breathing -- snarling -- /thrashing/, weakly -- but /down/, all the same.

[TERRY]
Terry's fangs reach Sagat once more, and the pair collapse to the ground. He lands on his broken ribs, and there's a flash of orange light as his technique dissipates. Damnit... he begins to roll upon his knees, before coughing up another spurt of blood and thumping down into the broken, churned stone anew, no longer able to rise. "FIGHTER SAGAT... CAN YOU STAND? OTHERWISE, THIS FIGHT WILL BE A MUTUAL KO! YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS!" Terry can barely hear this, but despite some twitches, the Legendary Wolf is not going to manage within that time frame...!

[SAGAT]
Sagat hears this.

And he hears each second ticking by, meshing drunkenly with the piercing siren ringing between his ears.

And despite this level of focus -- despite the glowing embers of energy still writhing across his frame in the wake of his spiritual explosion -- it still takes him 'til "NINE!" to finish the long, agonizing journey of dragging himself from his belly, to his knees, to /one/ knee, to --

FINALLY

-- standing, hunched and exhausted-- visibly unsteady on his feet in the first moments after retaking them, but barely managing to remain upright all the same.

"... WINNER: SAGAT!"

Log created on 19:46:54 02/22/2022 by Sagat, and last modified on 23:29:02 03/09/2022.