Description: Oro has one more encounter before disappearing.
A mile or two away from Strolheim, a leathery old man trods along a wide, hard-packed dirt road. He doesn't appear to be in much rush; his stride is more aimless and ambling than purposeful. At this time of day, there's nobody else traveling the road, and so Oro doesn't bother to conceal himself, easily picked out against the greenery lining the road.
Cody, having recovered from the aggressively terrible food poisoning he got from the 5-Second Rule betraying him during dinner the night of his fight against Team Sagat, wanders the same dirt road as Oro, and at least today this is not a coincidence.
You see, Cody was incapacitated or simply not present when Oro went, as the kids say, to town on Krauser, and has only heard 'that old guy who was around is totally sweet.' This, at least for him, is hard to believe, and so he has set out in search of Oro. And, it seems, the search has gone well!
"Hey! Hey, gramps!" Cody cries suddenly, as he rounds a slight bend and the old man comes into view, quickly accelerating to catch up with him. "Wait up!"
As Cody turns the bend, he finds Oro leaning against a tree, eyes locking straight onto Cody. And doesn't appear at all surprised. Oro reaches up with his single hand, rubbing a finger along the underside of his beaked nose. He studies Cody for a long moment before replying, "I never married."
This statement takes Cody _entirely_ by surprise, so much so that he almost trips as he finishes approaching the old man. All he can do for several seconds is open and close his mouth, baffled, before finally coming up with an answer that's actually just a blurted-out, "'kay."
After a few more moments of silence, he recollects himself and asks, "Okay, uh... you're Oro, right? The one who was in the Strolheim Tournament?"
Oro smirks at Cody's reaction, reaching back to scratch at an annoying spot on the back of his leg. He waggles his head from side to side. "I suppose I was. Wouldn't say I was really -in- the tournament, more like just visiting. What do you want, kid?" He looks Cody up and down, his expression suggesting that Cody was beginning to waste Oro's time. You...don't want to waste Oro's time.
"Yeah, uh, sorry if I'm holding you up," Cody shrugs, taking note of Oro's impatience. "This'll just take a second. -- But you are him, though. Okay, good!" The brawler takes a moment to plant his feet, roll his shoulders and neck, and then slap his chest a few times.
"I hear you're really strong, right? Like, _super_ strong. But, no offense, it's kinda hard to believe. I mean, you're... really old, dude. Sure you beat up that guy who runs the whole Strolheim thingy, but being totally rad wasn't a requisite for being important last I check. I mean, I don't think accountants are all ninjas."
"But, uh, I'll just get straight to the point: I want you to hit me. Hard as you can. It'll just take a second."
COMBATSYS: Cody has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Cody 0/-------/-------|
Oro digs a finger into his ear, hunting for the elusive wax beasts living among the hair forest. "Hmm?" Oro looks at Cody curiously when he presents his request. He *pops* his finger out of his ear, flicking the excavation away absentmindedly. "Hit you as hard as I can?" he repeats, sounding a little puzzled. "If you're suicidal, you should seek a doctor's help."
Cody snorts, as derisively as he can bring himself to at an old man. "Come on, gramps, don't worry about it. I can take whatever you can dish out, and if you're really that strong I want you to prove it to me. Besides, you've only got one arm. I'm pretty sure that means you can't, y'know, hit as effectively. Come on, just once, right in the chest. Hard as you can. And then you can be on your way!"
Oro tch, looking a bit peeved. "Okay, I see you won't just go away. Well...this -might- not kill you..." Oro rolls his arm once before taking a step away. He reaches out with his one arm to the tree he was leaning against. He places his hand flat against the tree...and with the cracking and snapping of wood, his fingers dig into the bark as deep as they'll go.
The wiry muscles in Oro's arm tense, and suddenly the tree starts rumbling. The ground underneath begins to split and crumble, the roots popping up out of the dirt. Oro holds the tree aloft one-handed, arm cocked back. "You ready?" Without waiting for an answer, Oro twists his body around, swinging the tree around in a wide circle, the makeshift bat aimed directly for Cody's torso.
COMBATSYS: Oro has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cody 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Oro
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Oro's Random Weapon!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Cody 0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Oro
[OOC] Oro says, "Aww, so close to a Super."
Cody's pupils get very, very small when Oro tears the tree out of the ground. "That's... that's not entirely what I mea-" he begins to stammer, and then he gets impacted by the BIGASS TREE and goes flying backwards, across the road, to crash into a tree on the other side and come to an abrupt halt, the combination of his speed and Beef causing the bark of the plant to shatter, leaving a small crater in the wood.
He simply sticks there for a moment before sliding off and dropping heavily onto the grass below, lying still for four or five seconds before beginning to climb to his feet. "Okay, first of all, that was pretty good. And second of all?" The brawler announces, lifting his hand to point it at Oro. "You just crossed a line, gramps." His other hand, at this point, snaps out, lancing a roughly spherical rock at Oro's forehead.
COMBATSYS: Oro blocks Cody's Bad Stone.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Oro
Oro shakes his head, tossing the tree aside. The large trunk rolls along the ground, coming up to rest against others. "Well, you're not weak, I can give you that much. Too bad you're stupid, too." The barest hint of a stone in Cody's hand can be seen before it takes flight, the rock whistling through the air at high speed and unable to be seen by the naked eye.
...And just before it smacks into Oro, his hand flips up as if to brush away a fly. With a *thud*, the rock richochets off the back of his hand to embed itself in a tree. "I told you, I never married. I'm not a grandfather. Pray that you live to become one yourself." Oro whips his hand forward, palm outstretched. A flattened sphere of brilliant yellow, like the sun squished down, emerges from his hand, rocketing straight toward Cody.
COMBATSYS: Oro successfully hits Cody with Nichirin Sho.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Oro
Cody, unfortunately for him, does not have extensive practice with fighting against chi projectiles, and also he's super pissed, so when Oro's tiny sun comes at him, he just roars and punches it.
This, of course, causes an explosion, because explosions are totally awesome, and the inside of the resulting dust cloud is still for only a moment before Cody bursts out of it going very forward and very up, his shirt in tatters and parts of it in flame. He draws his fist back at the peak of his jump, which isn't a bad height I might add, and descends towards Oro, attempting to land on the old man fist-first.
COMBATSYS: Oro blocks Cody's Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/--=====/=======|====---\-------\0 Oro
Oro languidly watches Cody try to fight the odds, scratching his chest. His red eyes track the younger man rushing, jumping, and coming down. "I don't know why you young people do this to yourself," he complains, while reaching up. Cody's fist impacts solidly in the calloused hand, which shifts backward just a little toward Oro's face. "You've got a long life to live for, why do you want so badly to screw it up?" His fingers move to clamp down on Cody's wrist, and if he can get a hold he'll simply swing Cody around much like he did the tree trunk, letting go at the right time to send Cody flying into another tree.
COMBATSYS: Cody blocks Oro's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Cody 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Oro
Cody grins, despite his current asskick'd state and even as he's thrown aside like a ragdoll at a nearby tree. At least in midair he manages to twist about so that rather than simply flying at the tree he's landing on it, his feet crashing into the bark and leaving large dents in it, the brawler compressing into a falling position.
And, before gravity kicks in and drops him to the ground, he lets himself down, running down the tree and back onto the ground, not even bothering to halt as he rushes at the old man again. "Screw it up my ass. This is great! I never thought I'd fight someone so strong!"
With another roar, Cody lunges forwards, blue energy exploding around his fist and time slowing, briefly, to a crawl, the brawler simply hanging in mid-punch...
And then time snaps back into motion and Cody's moving even faster than he was, blue afterimages trailing behind him as the enthused man snaps out a good three dozen jabs at Oro's head and shoulders in the space of about two seconds.
COMBATSYS: Oro blocks Cody's Final Destruction.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Cody 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Oro
Oro rolls his eyes. Kids were intolerable. But he had to put up with them, didn't he? He stretches his back, groaning grumpily as Cody comes after him again. Time comes to a standstill for a brief second, and nothing could be more of a signal.
When Cody launches into his flurried attack...Oro's hand is there to meet his. Punch after punch get slapped away, each punch never getting farther than Oro's palm. At least, not until about the 28th attack or so. Oro gripes something about it getting 'boring', and lets his hand drop. The remaining hits do strike Oro solidly about the head and shoulders...but when the flurry is finished, Oro stands there just as easily as before. "Very good, kid. I think I felt that one. But I think I'm done with this game." Oro bunches himself up into a crouch for a split second, then with a cry like a crow's caw, he leaps straight up into the air, his thin arm outstretched in a powerful uppercut. The familiar standby of the oldest arts.
COMBATSYS: Oro successfully hits Cody with Oniyama.
[ \\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Oro
Cody takes off like a Goddamn rocket, launching into the air in a slow spiral from the solid contact of the uppercut. He soars up about 30 or 40 feet, in fact, before hitting the peak, hanging briefly, and descending back towards the ground.
The landing is almost as rough as the punch itself, Cody crashing violently into the dirt and, at least for now, merely lying there, a bloody heap of man.
COMBATSYS: Cody takes no action.
[ \\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Oro
COMBATSYS: Cody has reached second wind!
[ \\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Oro
"DAMN!" he blurts, suddenly, untwisting himself and jerking up into a sitting position. "Better than coffee, y'know?" he informs the older man, before beginning to climb slowly to his feet. "Just gimme a second to get up, here, and we can keep going."
Oro had already turned his back before Cody even hit the ground, ready to continue his journey. Sympathy for the broken man on the ground? Nah. Someone'll find him, and Oro doesn't exactly tolerate stupidity enough for him to help out himself.
Oro does, however, pause as Cody springs back up. He turns around, his expression mildly surprised. "Huh," is all he says, and he has the grace enough to give Cody some time to breathe before getting back up.
COMBATSYS: Oro takes no action.
[ \\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Oro
Cody takes the offered opportunity to stretch and catch his breath before tearing off the burnt and ripped remains of his shirt and tossing them aside. "Okay," he announces, "I'm good to go."
And, after a moment to let Oro get ready again, he lunges forward once more, ducking as he nears the old man and becoming once more wreathed in that flash of blue light and slowdown of time.
It's to a noticably dimmer and briefer extent this time, however, and as it ends and Cody explodes upwards, the blue afterimages trailing him are fainter. Regardless, however, he lays this time into Oro's midsection with a barrage of snapkicks, and the momentum and force of them are such that if they connect solidly there's a fair chance the fighting duo will be carried airborne by the force of the blows.
COMBATSYS: Oro dodges Cody's Dead End Irony.
[ \\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Cody 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Oro
Oro rubs at the back of his neck as he waits for Cody to get up. He's stopped his complaining; he's in the fight, he may as well finish it out before going. His trained eye watches Cody like a hawk, and when the attack comes...Oro leaps into the air, easily avoiding the first couple of kicks. Atthe peak of his jump, though, instead of coming back down...he stretches his body out, and his foot appears to find purchase on thin air, allowing him to jump even higher, safely above Cody's attack.
As that ends, Oro begins to fall back to earth, and he shifts his weight to aim directly for Cody's head. When he gets close enough, Oro lashes out in two quick downward stomps, using the second one as a boost to leap off Cody's head and land on the ground behind him.
COMBATSYS: Oro successfully hits Cody with Jinchu Nobori.
[ < > /////////////////////// ]
Cody 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Oro
Cody mutters a curse as Oro simply bounds over his assault, and he drops out of it as soon as he can, afterimages fading as he turns to face the next assault the old man makes. It happens to be in headstomps, and though they connect solidly, snapping Cody's head backwards twice in quick succession, as Oro attempts to bound away Cody snaps his hand out, trying to grab ahold of the old man's ankle, swing him wildly around while spinning like a top, and then throw him at a nearby tree before collapsing to the ground, panting.
COMBATSYS: Cody can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oro 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Cody successfully hits Oro with Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oro 1/-----==/=======|
"Huh? HEY! Leggo!" The old man curses Cody out as the boy actually manages to grab his leg; now that Cody has a grip on Oro, he's light enough to be swung around like that. The moment Cody lets go, however, Oro flips around in the air, slamming feet-and-hand-first into the targeted tree. He drops to the ground lightly, letting out a "Hrrrmph. Looks like you've finally had enough. I hope that satisfied your yearning for a death wish. I'm outta here." Oro turns in the direction he was heading in the first place, but pauses for a second. "And those accountants? You'd be surprised." He turns back to his task, but rather than ambling away, he leaps up into the trees along the side of the road, disappearing with a rustle of leaves.
COMBATSYS: Oro has ended the fight here.
Maybe a minute after Oro makes his ninja-like exit, Cody grunts and climbs to his feet. "Never knew there were people _around_ that strong," he mumbles, and then shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets, wandering off down the road back towards Strolheim. "Oh well. Hope Guy's fight isn't over by the time I get there," he adds, before devolving into whistling.
Log created by Oro, and last modified on 19:22:35 01/13/2005.