Description: The long-awaited match between Kain and Alma! (Winner: Kain)
A man lies collapsed in a hall of mirrors. His hair, an odd pinkish-white, and his clothes, a highly ornate outfit complete with cape and boots, are rumpled and smouldering, and he appears to be in a state of Swoon, if his @_@ expression is any judge. A sword lies by his side. It is bent at a right angle. Three people stand behind him: one is an old man, two are children. One stands before him, looking in a state of shock. This would be Alma Towazu.
COMBATSYS: Tellah has successfully hit Alma with Ugly Stick.
CSYS: Your hair has taken 2 points of damage.
The handsome youth, still looking befuddled, manages to gather himself enough to wince politely, pretending to cower under the slow series of whomps the sage deals him with his crookedy staff. "You damn kids and your rock and roll music!" the wielder of Meteo is saying. "You've messed everything up! He was supposed to fight himself and triumph over the darkness! Why'd *you* have to come out of the mirror?"
"I-I'm very sorry!" Alma manages, still looking totally confused, and now looking a bit ashamed of himself. "I'm just... he came at me with that sword, and I... I just... I've had a bad experience with people coming at me with swords at all, and I didn't... didn't think..." He shakes his head again. "I *really* didn't think I'd deal 983 damage to him with that attack! Usually, I only do, like, 15!"
"Ayup, switching game worlds can be an adjustment," drawls the young male black mage, glancing sidelong to his female counterpart, who is huddled over the fallen one, wringling her hands frantically and saying 'oh dear, oh dear, is he dead?' "Just cast Life on him and be done with it!" he snaps finally, rolling his eyes.
"You *bent* the Sword of Light!" Tellah barks, *still* beating on Alma with the staff, who at this point just isn't really noticing it anymore. "Now we'll never be able to defeat Golbez! Not to mention we won't be able to rescue Rosa from Kain!"
The silence is palpable. Alma looks up with eyes of fire, and the three suddenly step back.
"Did you say... Kain?"
The three wizards nod.
Picking up the Sword of Light, Alma bends it straight with his bare hands without even a sign of effort. This would be surprising if the fact that his whole body is now surrounded by a corona of soul-fire wasn't *more* surprising. "I must go," he says darkly, and tilts his head, unconsciously giving his bishonen look and accidentally reducing the white mage to a little puddle on the ground as his gaze sweeps past her. And then... he goes.
He hits the ground running. Random encounters of undead are torn apart by his holy flames as he books it down Mount Ordeals, the burning in his eyes revealing that he won't stop for anything. He just runs... and runs... and runs... reaches the World Map... and runs... and... runs... gets a chocobo... and chocobos... then gets off... and runs... until he reaches.....
>> Player Two, Select Stage!
Oh, and did I mention that the entire time he's running, he shouts:
"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNN"
Meanwhile, at the Tower of Zot...
Kain taps his spear on the floor in an irritated manner, prying slightly at his green armor as he tries to adjust the fit. "That guy had better get back soon. I don't know why the hell I agreed to do this. And these people are all freaks." On the floor behind Kain is a smoking and slightly melted suit of black armor, one of the horns on the helmet snapped clean off. From the smell it seems like there's probably somebody inside it, but it's unlikely that he'll be moving anytime soon.
Rosa, at least, apparently knows what's good for her, since she's busy cowering in the corner. Kain twirls the spear a few times out of boredom, looking over the weapon for a moment. "Doesn't seem like a very appropriate piece for close combat. Wonder what the heck he was thinking?"
Somewhere along the line, Alma hopefully got an airship, because Kain doesn't feel like waiting here all that much longer. He'd heard something about elemental fiends in the travel brochure... Maybe they might make for a good challenge? In the meantime, he's stuck. Luckily this is the Japanese version of the game, so he's at least managed to find a 'magazine' to read while he waits for somebody to show up.
Pose! "We're the three sisters of--"
Bishonen Look. "Let me through."
Blush. *shuffleshuffle*
"Thank you, ladies."
Alma runs up to the door, leaving the Magi Sisters whispering and giggling amongst themselves, takes a deep breath... and runs inside, screaming "KAAAAIIII--" Whereupon he trips on the top stair, rolls all the way down, getting his cape all dirty (how'd he get a cape too? don't ask him, he only just noticed it himself), rolls to the bottom, keeps rolling, rises right out of the roll, and continues his run, looking only slightly battered. "--IIIIINN!"
Chest heaving from the ridiculous amount of running he's had to go through, Alma points the Sword of Light at Kain with burrowed brow. "This is the end for you!" he shouts. "With the power of the Sword of Light, I'll finally be able to rescue Ji--" He turns then, and looks at the woman cowering in the corner. Squints for a moment. Looks satisfied. "Yes, I'll be able to rescue Jir--" Pauses again. Does a double-take. Squints again. Squints a bit more. Then, looks shocked. "What the-- that *isn't* Jiro! Wait, then... what am I *doing*?"
Suddenly bewildered again, Alma looks back to Kain, but the Sword of Light gives him renewed purpose, and coherent rational thought basically ends. "FOR JUSTICE!" He raises the sword and fires a beam of light into the air, tearing a hole in the ceiling and causing rubble to rain down on him, but even when a huge chunk of rock hits him on the head and shatters, Alma's gaze never falters from Kain's eyes. Even his hair doesn't seem to take any damage.
COMBATSYS: Alma has started a fight here.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|
Kain just stares at Alma for a few moments, then sighs. "Yes, sure, justice, right. Look, I'm only hear because I'm doing a favor for this guy, so, y'know... If you could just kind of walk awa-" And then everything starts to get pixellated, and the boss battle music begins to play. "...Damn it."
And then everything fades back in. Kain is standing on one side of the room, looking tall, impressive, and very bishonen. The little box underneath him reads: Kain?. On the other side of the screen stands Alma. Roughly one fifth the size of Kain, and drawn in an SD fashion. (At least until he decides this isn't covered by his contract, anyway.) Underneath him? Cec... Alma? HP: 10- No. To hell with this! I quit!
Kain mutters something to himself, then pulls out a little box with a sticker on it reading 'GameShark'. He fiddles it with for a moment, and then things go back to 'normal'. The boss music is still playing, though. And per the rules binding him as a boss, Kain isn't allowed to move first. I bet you never thought about how much it sucks to be an RPG boss, huh? Sure, you've got massive HP, but your hits are usually weak compared to the good guys... And how often does a boss get to make a surprise attack? It's discrimination!
COMBATSYS: Kain has joined the fight here.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kain
Well, boss disadvantages or no, if Kain gets the magazine found only in the Japanese version, Alma gets the special ability found only in the Japanese version: the Dark Wave. Except carried over to the Paladin. Because Alma isn't a Dark Knight. Well, okay, so I know that doesn't happen. But there's no one to Cover! Well, I-- look, there doesn't need to be a reason! He uses Sacred Wave!
Except what he actually does is point the Sword of Light at Kain, inexplicably shout "By the Power of Greyskull!", and fire another beam of energy, this time not at the ceiling. Kablammo!
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Alma's Sacred Wave.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kain
Kain lashes out with the spear, knocking away most of the blast from Alma, although some of the energy still gets through to ding up his borrowed armor a little bit. And then Kain leaps up into the air with impossible speed. So fast, in fact, that he's apparently disappeared, despite their being a roof overhead.
Time passes.
Finally, Kain comes falling down out of the sky, attempting to slam a flaming kick into the top of Alma's head. The spear is really just for show, honestly.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alma with Schwarzer Stob.
- Power hit! -
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Alma 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Kain
And Kain then spends a few moments tap-dancing on Alma's head, apparently.
Mimiru has disconnected.
Alma stares upward, aghast.
"Nooooooooooooo--"
Time passes.
"--oooooooooo!"
He ends just in time to get totally owned in the face, and hits the ground, but then rolls some more and gets up. "You'll never get away with that," he growls, ignoring the many bootprints on his face. "Your days of lighting little boys on fire are finished!"
He then proceeds to strike a sort of magical girlish pose, twirls the Rainbow Sw-- that is, the Sword of Light, around like a baton, and leaps forward, spinning, and stardust travelling with him as he slashes hard with the glowing blade, which, while it can make Alma attack Kain, can't stop him from turning it into something really girly.
COMBATSYS: Kain fails to interrupt Engeki Shooter from Alma with Strong Kick.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kain
And now Kain tries to do something stupid. He lashes out with the spear, attempting to impale Alma as the model/paladin comes rush toward him. Unfortunately, the other Kain only left him with the prop spear. It crumples as Alma crashes into it, and then Kain gets slashed up with the unfortunately real Sword of Light, cutting some deep gouges into the armor. Not that Kain cares. That dragoon bastard deserves to have his armor messed up. He could have left behind Gungnir or something, but nooooo....
Kain has reconnected.
Kain has dropped a connection.
"Ha ha! Now, I'll finish you!"
With this entirely premature announcement, Alma points the Sword of Light at Kain, his eyes burning with righteous fury, and causes the weapon to gleam with power once again. "This," he exclaims, "is my boomstick!" And he steps forward, preparing to unleash another wave of pain--
--and trips over his cloak.
The Sword swings up, fires (it does, indeed, go 'boom'), hits the ceiling, and Alma falls over, having missed entirely. But! He did successfully hit the ceiling! And the ceiling is obliging him again, by sending a huge chunk of rubble down again, but at Kain's head, this time...
COMBATSYS: Kain overcomes Large Thrown Object from Alma with Schwarze Flame.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kain
Oh no! It looks like Kain is doomed to be crushed by falling masonry! But... wait... That's not Kain! It's some other blond guy. Or at least, a guy with something yellow on his head. Oh, Namingway, you devil! What trouble will you get into next?
Being crushed into a fine paste by a falling block of stone, apparently.
But back to Kain! What's he doing? Well, somehow he's moved around behind Alma, for an appropriately dramatic point-blank fireball to the back of the head. Boom.
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Kain's Schwarze Flame.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kain
Alma, totally pissed off at his cloak right now, tears it off as he rises and throws it behind him, where it promptly smothers the flame that Kain just threw at him. The 'pffft' sound alerts the young paladin, and his eyes widening, he turns, and grips his sword menacingly, for a given value of menace. "There you are! You sneaky!" The sword glows with the youth's eyes, and he twirls the blade as his lunges, looking very pretty as he does so.
Then he twists and strikes with a leaping windmill motion, twists halfway around, and windmills up into the air again on the other side. "MOULIN ROUGE!" he cries, because, well, his old attack names don't really apply...
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Alma's Shien Cycle.
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Alma 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
Kain can appreciate his armor to some extent, when it does things like causing the sword to glance off of metal rather than, you know, gouging horribly into his flesh. Then Kain slips the director a fifty, and- scene wipe!
We're back in the room, but somehow Alma has been strapped down to a table, arms and legs pulled out uncomfortably far. And yet, in a show of overconfidence he's been allowed to hang onto his sword. At the base of the of the table is a large laser, which begins humming as it powers up, and then begins slowly cutting through the table up toward Alma, while the restraints grow ever tighter. Off to the side, Kain stands in his normal suit. "I don't expect you to talk, Mr. Towazu... I expect you to die. And then switching to a different movie entirely, Kain wanders off, petting a white cat.
...Uh oh. Sounds like people are coming back. Better change back to the game, quick. Hurry up and get cut in half, Alma, so Kain can claim he stole your sword and cut you in half with that, in a supremely ironic death that will earn him some face in the Evil Villains' Association.
Offscreen, Kain is busy struggling back into his armor. "Damn it, how do people wear this stuff every day!?"
COMBATSYS: Alma dodges Kain's Strong Throw.
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Alma 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
Well, he'd try to cut himself free with the sword, but he'd really need his hands to do that. Narrowing his eyes, looking totally bishonen right now, Alma thinks fast, and lets the sword drop. As it falls, it shears through one of the bindings that holds his hand, and he pulls his right hand free. He tries to pull himself free, desperately, but the laser is still coming! Without a moment to spare, out of ideas now, Alma slips his hand into his pocket... and finds a penny. He smirks, and flips the penny in the path of the laser.
The spinning motion of the penny causes the laser to be deflected in a wide circular arc, shearing through all of Alma's bindings without harming him, and then, as the penny is finally vaporized, sending the last spurt of laser right at Kain's cat, immolating it.
Rolling aside, enraged at how he was totally powerposed onto a table omg, Alma grits his teeth and glares. "Face me! KAAAAAAAIIIIIIIN!" He shouts so much he powers up, and he powers up so much his hair turns blonde!
Wait, false alarm, he was always blonde. Carry on.
COMBATSYS: Alma gathers his will.
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Alma 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
Kain's back in his armor, somehow, although the helmet is on backwards, at first. He takes a moment to twist it around, then looks at Alma. Okay, he's glowing with energy, and his hair just turned yellow. Kain's seen enough to know that this isn't a good thing. Rushing in at somebody like that is just /asking/ to get your ass kicked.
Also, Kain's totally busy with being eaten by a grue at the moment. Since he's kind of distracted, he just throws the flaming corpse of the cat at Alma, to buy himself some time.
COMBATSYS: Alma overcomes Thrown Object from Kain with Two Heavens Harmony.
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Alma 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Kain
If Ultima were in this game, Alma would've totally just cast it right now.
"Don't patronize me!!" the prettyboy roars, eyeing the flaming cat corpse with fierce disdain. "I'll tear you to pieces! AAAAAGH! KAAAAAAIN!" Cupping his hands together, he draws upon all his gathered strength, combines it with the power of the Sword of Light, and unleashes a huge ray of nova. Needless the say, the cat isn't even recognizable as dust at this point.
The Shinkuu Sacred Wave streaks onward...
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Kain with Two Heavens Harmony.
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Alma 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Kain
Kain's helmet is oblitered by the blast, leaving his hair flowing dramatically behind him as the scene fades to white, leaving him as a fading black after-image. Is this it? Has Alma vaporized Kain completely?
No... No, he hasn't. Kain is smoking slightly, but still seems to be remarkably in one piece after getting hit with the giant energy blast. He starts stalking toward Alma, drawing back a hand that's glowing with blue energy, and then he attempts to punch Alma square in the nose.
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Kain's Flame Fist.
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Alma 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Kain
Alma just glares, chest heaving, unable to summon up any more Holy energy for now. As Kain approaches, the youth spits on the ground in derision, sheathes his sword and just trudges over, still panting for breath. He stands there until Kain punches. He parries the punch.
He thinks for a moment.
And then draws back his hand as far as he can, and swings it out. He attempts to pimpslap Kain. Hard.
COMBATSYS: Kain interrupts Strong Punch from Alma with Himmlische Seele.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kain
Kain gets pimpslapped. Just because what he's about to do is so much cooler if Alma gets to do that first. He doesn't move, though, despite the way the sound of the slap echoes through the nearly empty chamber. The camera pans out, and a dramatic wind blows, ruffling the hair of the two men, and sending some dust blowing across the floor.
Then Kain slaps Alma back, only when he does it, his hand explodes in a huge fireball, engulfing Alma and probably sending him crashing through a wall or something.
Alma is totally owned by Hyper Pimpslap EX, and is, indeed, sent flying back so hard he hits the wall, which does, indeed, shatter around him and collapse, leaving only a giant pile of rubble. We won't ask behind the wall, because we don't care. What we do care about is that the rubble isn't moving. There is only silence.
...
Another wind blows, ruffling Kain's hair, to more silence.
o/~ Da Da Da Dum Da Dum Da Da Dum o/~
...
o/~ Da Da Da Dum Da Dum Da Da Dum o/~
With a burst of holy fire, a single fist punches through the pile of rubble, and, dirty and battered, Alma tosses away the remnants of the rock with a single wave of his hand, reaches into his pocket, and whips out a trendy cellphone. "Moshi mosh?" He raises his hand to Kain, his pointer finger up for 'just one second, sorry', as he listens. "I'm sorry, Imouto-san, but I can't come over tonight. I'm fighting. What? Yeah, course I'm winning, sillybuns. Mm? Whoa, ha ha, hey, don't say that too loud, if your brother finds out, he-- yes-- I know-- no, it's not like-- no, of course I enjoy it-- no, no, you're great-- the best, absolutely-- it's just, I don't want him to cry, you know? Right. Okay, Mimiru, I'll see *you* later. Ha ha! Yeah, you know it. 'Night, babe." Flipping the cellphone closed, he slips it back into his pocket, and then eyes Kain. "Now where were we. Oh yes. I was about to show you why paladins are awesome."
He raises a fist into the air.
"Cure 2!"
Doodoodoodoodoo, weeoooweeooweoo. A green number appears above his head, but I can't tell you what it says, because I don't know yet.
Aww... Man. Cure? Cure /2/, even? We can't have that! Kain makes a few mystical gestures with one hand, doing those crazy things that we don't really know what they look like, because they were being performed by tiny sprites, so he just sort of ad-libs it. "Meteo!"
Kain's not content to just let the flaming rocks of doom sail down and hit Alma, though. He tries to run over and grab him, then use that dragoon jumping bit to drag him up into the air and slam him head first into the impending Armageddon. Indeed, he's hoping to make a Deep Impact, with this attack.
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Alma with Faith Healing EX.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alma with Medium Throw.
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Alma 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Kain
"Aaargh!"
Alma is thrown headlong into a meteor and blows entirely through to the other side. Shaking pieces of rock off his scratched and battered face with a grimace, not feeling nearly as pretty as he did at the beginning of this fight, Alma flips in midair and hits a second meteor facing the opposite direction. He coils up on it, landing neatly as it streaks toward the ground, and the kicks off, and shoots out at Kain with a speedy flying kick, hopefully to knock the villain right off his feet.
"YOUR BODY IS WIDE OPEN!"
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Alma's Light Kick.
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Alma 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Kain
Kain quickly raises an arm, letting Alma bounce off of that as the kick comes flying in. "Oh, the hell with this! You want him!? Here, you can have him!" And then Kain marches off and vanishes for a moment.
[OOC] Kain grabs Jiro. "C'mere."
Kain pops back into existence, dragging Jiro, then hurls him at Alma. "How do you like that, huh!?"
COMBATSYS: Alma dodges Kain's Large Thrown Object.
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Alma 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Kain
Jiro, grabbed and thrown at Alma, shouts, "WRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" All the way through the air.
Instinctively, Alma ducks, and Jiro goes sailing over his head, and into the void behind the fallen wall, which is a vacuum. Jiro implodes, in a burst of gore. FATALITY.
"Noooooo!"
Alma looks over and glares at Kain. "Damn you! You killed him! You killed him! KAAAAAAIIIIIN!"
With this roar of anguished rage, he rushes forward and leaps, and attempts to tackle Kain to the ground, pulling at his hair furiously.
COMBATSYS: Kain interrupts Strong Throw from Alma with Fierce Punch.
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Alma 1/=======/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kain
Kain gets tackled to the ground by Alma, who's now tugging and pulling at his hair. Oomph! And ow! And other exclamations of pain! There's one thing to bear in mind, though. While Alma is taller and heavier than Kain, and is fighting with the furious rage inspired by his lost love- or, um, whatever... Kain is perfectly okay with fighting dirty.
So, while Alma is pulling on his hair, Kain knees him in the groin, then hits him with an exploding headbutt. Purple flame to the face ftw.
Oh, that just tears it. Well, the knee does suspiciously little damage -- I mean that he's wearing a cup! jeez! -- but the exploding headbutt is harsh. The world goes white as Alma flies backward, feeling himself slip into unconsciousness...
~ No... I can't... I can't lose... but I'm... too weak... ~
"What a terrible fighter!"
~ What!? What... who said that!? ~
"Don't give it up!"
~ Really? You mean it? ~
"Triumph, or die!"
~ You're right... you're right! This is too important! I have triumph! ~
Alma opens his eyes, and, in the midst of flying back, grabs onto Kain's collar, and glares, as the strange guardian angel's final words echo in the young man's ears: "GO FOR BROKE!"
He does exactly that.
It involves lighting his hands on fire and scratch at Kain's face and clothes a lot while wailing. His hands are a blur with fury. "KAAAAA*sob*AAAAA*sob*IIIIII*sob*--"
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Kain with Sacred Rekka Revelation.
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Alma 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Kain
And... Kain goes down like a little wuss after Alma claws at his face. And the victory fanfare sounds. "Alma gains 15,679 experience! Alma gains a level! You find 48,000 GP! You get Evil Leisure Suit!"
And now, cut scene.
Kain raises one hand weakly, looking to Alma. "You... you've won. But..." Cough. "...There's something you need to know. Alma... I... am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate..." And then Kain slumps over backwards.
Alma doesn't have long to dwell on that, though. Since the boss has been beaten, this entire area is by law required to self-destruct. In T Minus 10, 9, 87654321, 0!"
And then comes the Earth-shattering kaboom.
COMBATSYS: Kain can no longer fight.
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Alma 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alma with Himmlische Macht.
[ <
Alma 1/---====/=======|
Bad End.
********************************************
Darkness. Enshrouding darkness. The darkness that's a comfort, a blessing of peace and stillness cast over the land -- for darkness holds no fear. It is the petty mind of man that holds fear, fear of the unknown, fear that the scraps of experience one calls a self might at any moment be crushed by an onrushing wave of truth hitherto unknown. But man shields himself from darkness with light, and convinces himself that someday, he will be able to shine light throughout the entire universe. He is only able to crave life, to have desire, to fool himself into believing that he will be able to fulfill himself through his actions, through the light of hope. It is those lights above -- those stars that split the night -- that fragment this enshrouding darkness here, that ruin what would otherwise be a perfect dark. Those stars are what give man hope... and lead him to failure, death, and despair.
"How I've tired of you," the young man whispers as he turns away.
Skin that would gleam brilliantly in the light is somehow made equally beautiful, if not more so, by the obscuring darkness of the mountain night sky. Hazel eyes that once burned with a light that could warm the heart of anyone still burn, yet with a fire that exudes no radiance. That high-cheekboned face, that straight jaw, those full lips, all retain the softness they've always had, but the mildness they used to represent -- that sweet-hearted serenity that made him look as though he would be able to accept anything, even death -- seems to mean something more, now. More than an acceptance: a certain understanding. He is a more distant angel, now; but in those eyes there is a will to shed his wings...
One hand lazily pushes a blonde red-tinged bang to the side, a habit that he could never drop. This is, of course, the problem. There is no self -- just the illusions man creates from the shadows cast by his light -- and yet merely because he lives, he cannot fully erase its vestiges, and leave this mortal prison for good...
How, how can he achieve nirvana?
Black dress shoes clicking on the marble floor as he moves across this, the highest level of his mountain observatory, Alma Towazu moves towards the center of the great and complex crest that has been carved deep into the rock. He bows his head once, looking down at the ground, before returning his gaze back to the stars.
And for a moment, that mild gaze is filled with the deepest of hatred and loathing.
"It all ends tonight!"
Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows everywhere... o/`
Kain was a bit worried that he wouldn't make it here in time for the fight, but his charity work at the orphanage took precedence. He couldn't disappoint the little kids. Especially not when he was giving them all puppies that he had personally rescued from the streets and nursed back to health! Humming cheerfully to himself, Kain brushes a few specks of dust from his clean white suit, walking with a spring in his step as he makes his way easily up the mountainside toward the location of the fight. He's perfectly content to fight on Alma's home ground. It'd be rude to suggest that his opponent might be up to anything sinister!
"Hellooooo? Towazu-kun? I'm here for our match! Are you ready?" As Kain walks into the lair, he's unfortunately required to destroy a fair bit of the security system... Surely it must have been left on by accident! Well, no matter. Kain will pay for replacements, and be sure to give an extensive apology.
Alma raises his hands in the air, breathing the night air deeply.
"Yes... once the ritual is complete, I will--"
Slowly, quietly, Alma lowers his hands. "..." he says, before turning around, one big villanous sweatdrop appearing on the side of his head, and just /glaring/ at the newcomer. Like, shooting venom glaring. "/You/," he murmurs, with a polite tone unsuited for the impolite manner of address. "Kain Heinlein. Of course you would come..." There is a pause. A long pause. ...and then he smiles, ever so slightly. And steps forward. And nods his head, once.
"Yes. Enjoy this battle, Heinlein-kun..."
And suddenly Alma raises his arms, a huge blast of wind surging through the area as the glyphs beneath both his and Kain's feet begin to glow with an eerie, ethereal light.
"...FOR IT WILL BE YOUR LAST!"
Dramatic orchestral music suddenly plays loudly as the night sky explodes into crackles of blood-red lightning, the light level flickering madly as the energy travels from star to star. And every star it touches, vanishes...
COMBATSYS: Alma has started a fight here.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kain has joined the fight here.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kain
Kain looks around, shaking his head. "You really ought to turn up the lights in here. Staying in the dark too long causes eye strain, you know?" With that, Kain snaps his fingers and both of his hands burst into flame. Bright, cheery, white flames which do a very good job of illuminating the room. "There, isn't that better? In fact, here..." Thrusting his hands up into the air, Kain sends up a shower of sparks into the sky which then hang there, doing a passable job of replacing the vanished starlight.
"Anyway... Shall we begin? Get ready!" Kain dashes across the floor toward Alma, leaping up and twisting himself in mid-air so that he's sailing toward his opponent with a flaming kick, aimed to strike him square in the chest. Hey, just because he's not /evil/ doesn't mean he's gotten bad at fighting.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alma with Schwarzer Stob.
- Power hit! -
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Alma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Kain
"Fool!" shouts Alma sharply, eyes narrowing and appearing quite impatient. "You understand nothing of what shall transpire here! I will transcend reality itself! Drawing upon all dark energy, I will reverse the Big Bang, and cause the universe to turn itself to nothingness!" He turns away, and spreads his hands to the sky. "Only through this can I save the souls of all humanity!" Slowly, he begins to turn back, his eyes glinting in Kain's fire. "Only with this power will I BWARGH--"
Alma goes flying back in a heap, coughing loudly as he staggers to his feet. Looking up, he just glares again -- though the serenity of his features remains uncompromised by the hatred in his gaze. "Mere luck!" he snaps spitefully, and rises to his full height, drawing his hand back. "I'll show you... TRUE POWER!"
Tilting his head back, Alma roars in fury, and the lightning in the night sky bursts from three stars, consuming them completely... and shooting all the way down from the sky to earth itself in Alma's hand, before he projects it out at Kain in a twisting, writhing mass of slain starlight. "HAAAAAAHHH!"
COMBATSYS: Kain overcomes Divine Intervention from Alma with Schwarze Flame.
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Alma 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kain
"Hey! Stop doing that to those poor stars!" As the twisted beam of starlight comes shooting toward Kain, he sticks his hand right into it... Stopping it dead in its tracks. The corrupted light swirls around his fist for a moment, before suddenly shining with a much brighter, purer light. It then suddenly reverses direction and zooms back toward Alma, apparently intending to use him as a conduit to get back up into the sky where it belongs.
COMBATSYS: Alma overcomes Schwarze Flame from Kain with Large Thrown Object.
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Alma 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kain
"Tsk...!"
Impossible. Kain couldn't reverse his own power against him. Not... without weakening it! With a grunt of fury, Alma /slams/ his foot on the ground, and the sheer gathered force of his will causes blocks of marble to tear themselves from the floor and hurl themselves at Kain's energy, blasting it aside and leaving some of the stones to continue their dangerous path...
COMBATSYS: Kain negates Large Thrown Object from Alma with Large Thrown Object.
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Alma 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kain
Hmm... A bunch of rocks flying at Kain? What should he do!? Does he have anything that he can use to knock them out of the air? Yes! More rocks! Kain slams his foot into the ground, glowing with chi, and brings up a big chunk of rock of his own. "I'll pay for the damages, really!" And then he hurls the massive chunk of stone at Alma. It's a bit too heavy to make it all the way there, but it /is/ large enough to completely block all the rocks flying toward Kain.
"Hmhmhm..."
All the rocks are destroyed by the opposing forces, leaving nothing but dust and debris -- and Alma suddenly lunging through the cloud, emerging with right hand ablaze with black flame and eyes glittering with malice, turning his slight smile to a smug smirk.
"Hmhmhmahahahaha!"
Accompanied by his low, good-natured, and patronizing laughter, the youth lashes out point-blank at 'Heinlein-kun', and unleashes a series of powerful explosions only a few feet from the man's face.
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Kain with Self Expression.
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Alma 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Kain
Kain throws up his hands in an attempt to block out the explosions, but it doesn't really do a whole lot of good, especially once the first one manages to blast through his guard. Kain staggers forward as the explosions clear, moving unsteadily as he approaches Alma. It's not a ploy, he really is off balance... but it does put him in a good position to launch a flaming uppercut for Alma's jaw. "I'm not going to let you get away with this, you know!"
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alma with Fierce Punch.
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Alma 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
"Nnnrgh!"
The uppercut connects, sending Alma sailing up a few feet into the air as his head snaps back -- but suddenly recovering, he rears back in midair and aims to plant a powerful brick-breaking thrust kick right onto Kain's face, applied psychic power causing the wind to rush around his leg.
"And how can you!?" he snaps, irritated. "You haven't the power!"
~ Wh... where... where am I? I hear--Kain? ~
Hotaru's eyes suddenly snap open as she comes to full consciousness, the harsh sounds of battle jarring her awake. She barely remembers the past events... just Alma's evil smile, his hand glowing with that evil energy, and blackness... but she knew that Kain would come for her, even as she lost consciousness. And now here he is. She's got a wonderful seat for the fight, and a good thing; she's tied up so she can't move... a spot to see her hero's triumph, or... or his demise. She shouldn't call about, shouldn't distract him, but she can't help it--when she sees him, one word bursts from her lips.
"KAIN!!!!" It is a sound filled with joy, relief--and worry for the blond.
COMBATSYS: Kain interrupts Heavy Kick from Alma with Schwarze Lanze.
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Alma 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Kain
"I don't have the power? That's where you're wrong! I've got the strength of all the people who depend on me, all the people who care about me, and all the people that you'd hurt if you succeeded in your evil plot!" All of this said while Alma is still in mid-air. The power of dramatic exposition. "I'll stop you, and I'll save Hotaru! Schwarze Lanze!"
And with that shout, Kain drives his foot up to meet the falling Alma. There's a blinding flare of white light, which clears to reveal Alma's foot slammed against Kain's shoulder... but Kain's foot driving in for a clean hit on Alma.
A blinding flare of white light...
...which clears to reveal Alma collapsed on one knee, left hand holding his chest as he grimaces, head bowed. "Im...impossible," he hisses, wiping his lips with the back of his other hand. "I won't allow it... I won't!" Slowly he rises again, staring at Kain with fury in his eyes. "All of you, you understand nothing! Even you, Hotaru..." He turns his head to look at her, and for a moment his eyes, so filled with loathing for Kain, change for a moment. But the moment is fleeting, and he turns back to his opponent, eyes set. "I do this for your sakes. I end this world to put you out of your miseries!"
"Your ignorance cannot defeat my knowledge!" Alma begins to shout, wind rushing around him again as the foundations of the stone building start to creak and crack, the lights in the sky flashing eeriely as the stars continue to be devoured by the chain reaction Alma has set off. "I will not be beaten here! I will find peace--!"
And he reaches up to his temples, and roars as the floor cracks behind him.
"HAAAAAAAAAAHH!!"
COMBATSYS: Alma gathers his will.
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Alma 1/=======/=======|======-\-------\0 Kain
"Destruction is never the answer! That way lies only ruin and despair, and I won't let you force innocent people down that path, no matter what the cost to myself!" As Alma gathers up his energy, Kain quickly looks around for something he can do to stop him. "You'd even sacrifice Hotaru! What would Jiro say if he could see you right now!?"
Kain has attacked Alma: 1. Guilt - Emotion - Projectile.
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Kain's Large Thrown Object.
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Alma 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kain
[OOC] Frei says, "Probably 'I hate you both e.e'."
And Hotaru will only add her own fuel to these flames.
"Alma... please!! We used to all be friends... don't you remember? What--what happened? Why have you changed so much--" She can't help it, she starts sobbing, tears running down her cheeks, closing her eyes and looking away from the battle.
"I want my friend Alma back...!"
"Jiro..."
Alma's gaze flickers, his concentration temporarily slighted as he looks as though he's about to take a step back. For a moment, the power around him fades, ever so slightly -- but then Hotaru speaks, and his face tightening him, Alma narrows his eyes and lets the flames of his hatred toward the universe play around his hands and forearms, leaping gleefully toward the night sky.
"There never was an Alma," he murmurs darkly, expression calm again, though he looks only at Kain, his opponent. "And friendship is empty. And soon-- all will be empty!"
COMBATSYS: Alma focuses on his next action.
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Alma 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kain
"Open your eyes Alma! Can't you see what you've become!?" Kain strides over to Alma, heedless of the dangerous energy that his built up around him, ignoring the danger of his position. "I won't let you end it the way you want, Alma! Come to your senses!" And then Kain follows up his words with a quite literal attempt to knock some sense into Alma, as he reaches out with a glowing backhand aimed at Alma's face. Clever tactic, or incredibly stupid dramatic action? Only time will tell!
COMBATSYS: Alma endures Kain's Jab Punch.
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Alma 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0 Kain
*smack*
Alma's head snaps back slightly. For a moment, it seems like he might just fall, right there.
Instead, he smiles.
And turns, hand beginning to glow white with gathering power, to deliver a fierce backhand of his own...
...wait, didn't we do this before?
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Kain with Absolution.
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Alma 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Kain
The backhand, fuelled by the dying breaths of the stars themselves, results in a cataclysmic series of explosions that send marble pillars toppling to the ground.
The planet itself cries out at the atrocity, the ground beginning to heaven and groan as more and more stars are snuffed out...
And there is Alma, now floating in midair with his dark clothes ruffling around him, eyes blazing with the dark light of crazed hatred, so emphasized by his deadly calm expression.
"Your fate is death," he intones softly. "Time to accept it."
Staggering up from the heap in which he landed, Kain begins to glow with a soft white light. "I will never give up! Never!" The light begins to grow in intensity, bathing the area around Heinlein in a brilliant radiance. "You can never win while there are people out there who are willing to fight you!"
Kain thrusts his hands up into the sky, the white light shooting off from him and vanishing into the heavens... and then all the stars that went out previously flare back into existence, shining with a brilliant twinkling. There's a shimmer in the sky, and then light begins to shoot down from all of the stars, the beams racing to converge on Alma...
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alma with Himmlischer Atem.
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Alma 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
"...what!?"
Alma's head snaps up in surprise as he feels the power of the stars return -- and then he screams out in pain and disbelief as he is engulfed by Kain's attack, dropping to the ground and collapsing to his knees, clutching his ears and shaking his head wildly. "Urgh... hhn... no... I can't... lose... heh... heh heh..." Slowly, Alma manages to raise his head, and despite his battered appearance, his eyes gleam with a mocking light. "...it's... too late, Kain. The ritual has been set into action. Beating me... changes nothing! Your power... means nothing! Urrraaaahhh--!"
With a howl of fury, Alma focuses his will, and a sudden geyser of power explodes under Kain's feet, the floor cracking and the stone falling away, so much that it seems the entire building is distintegrating -- no, not just the building, the whole world...
...and Alma collapses on his palms and, wheezing and gasping, begins to laugh again.
COMBATSYS: Alma can no longer fight.
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Kain 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Kain with Full Confession.
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Kain 1/------=/=======|
*** BAD END ***
COMBATSYS: Kain has ended the fight here.
Log created by Alma, and last modified on 02:57:20 02/01/2006.