Description: Whippersnapper versus Bitter Old Man. (Winner: Ryu)
Every once in a while, somebody gets it in their head to try and fix this old shrine. It's in an out of the way place, to be sure, but there are still people who live nearby who occasionally stumble across it, or children who come here to play, and the slick rocks, rotting wood, and overall dangerously dilapidated setup of the ex-shrine sometimes convince parents that something should be done about it. But there's no practical reason to refurbish it, and nobody has the heart (or guts, perhaps) to tear it down, and no one's ever been hurt playing here -- and though the place is no longer so sacrosanct that children cannot feel safe running around and filling the air with laughter, there is a holy feel to the place that, on occasion, overwhelms those sensitive to that sort of thing. Still, it is the general opinion of those who have any opinion at all on this, that the place ought to be fixed up.
Saishu Kusanagi thinks these people are missing the point.
Close to the steps leading up to the shrine is a wide, flat boulder, covered in moss and fungi, shaded by the tall trees and half engulfed in the overgrown underbrush. The sound of quietly trickling water can be heard by those who still their breathing; perhaps a tiny pool has gathered beneath the boulder during the last rainfall, and now the water is dribbling away across the pebbles to finally sink into the earth. A elder man is seated upon this boulder, legs crossed, eyes closed, face serious but calm and relaxed. With his dark green kimono matching the moss around him, a first look might not even register him -- but once one spotted him, it would be hard to tear one's eyes off of him, for there is something about him that seems... unusual. He's unobtrusive enough, though he appears to be smiling slightly even as he meditates, but it is not *him* that catches the mind's eye so much as the unusual things happening around him. With every rise and fall of his chest, though there is no sound, the underbrush ripples away from him ever so slightly, and then is drawn ever so slightly close when he inhales. The air around him seems to shimmer occasionally. To those who can vividly see auras--
--scintillating colors streaming about him in joyous loops, the mental sound of laughter, all kinds of laughter all fused together, the booming laughter of a happy man and the pure laughter of a happy child somehow as one. Seeing it would just fill one with a warm rosy glow; its mere existence a reassurance that there is good and beauty in this world. Truly, whoever this man is, he must be a Living Buddha, for--
Saishu suddenly opens his eyes.
For a moment, they are calm, placid, as never before.
Then his smile flickers and grows, and he stretches up as he reaches around with his right hand to begin scratching his left armpit vigorously, before wincing slightly, half-squinting one eye even as his smile grows into a grin.
"Ha ha! Back cramp! Ow!"
Some places in the world just don't need fresh paint to be good, right? At least, that's Ryu's opinion on the matter, and the entire reason he tends to seek out the quiet places, the uncivilized places of the world. Granted, there aren't that many of them around Southtown, but the Shrine is certainly a nice choice. It always seems to be a magnet for strange meetings, as well. But then... Saishu is wrong about one thing. People do get hurt here, on a semi-regular basis, even. Of course when it's part of the game, maybe it's not so bad? The afternoon wears on as the earliersundown looms on the western horizon when Ryu makes his way out of the bordering woods and across the clearing that houses the dilapidated shrine. It's all part of the hike home from the beach, for those days when bus fare just doesn't cut it. As if Ryu would ever choose the bus over the woods. Then he'd miss out on the mid-trek meditation spot that the shrine serves so well as.
Today, though, it looks like someone beat him to it. Not that the elder Kusanagi is an unwelcome sight... Ryu's been wanting to run into Gouken's acquaintance and sparring partner again for awhile now. Why? Well, part of it certainly has to do with the rather notable chi thrown up around the reflecting Kusanagi. Then there's the answers Saishu might give him, even if the World Warrior is a bit sparse on specific questions just this moment. And then there's the glimmering medal pinned to the nomad's black belt, which likely matches one on Saishu's person! Nonetheless, Ryu waits for the elder fighter to finish his meditations before advancing further, smiling slightly at the older man's momentary pain. Cruel, huh? "They should put a warning label on that thing." He observes, with a nod to the rock.
The Kusanagi elder starts to massage his own lower back gingerly, still squinting with one eye shut and still grinning, as Ryu emerges from the forest. Naturally, Saishu looks completely unsurprised by the fact that Ryu is here, in his typical old master fashion. It's as though he could sense Ryu's approach...
...except he can't, of course. He obviously has an extremely well-tuned sense of danger, and occasionally sense it when people come at him with 'killing intent', but neither of those are the reason why Saishu isn't surprised. Surprise is something that happens when something you expect doesn't happen or something you didn't expect happens. Thus, if one could, theoretically, live perpetually in some sort of hybrid state of 'non-expectation', which is to say, follow that old adage, "Expect nothing and anticipate anything", with practice, one might achieve an unsurprisable mindset. Or perhaps instead a mindset that is surprised by *everything*, but equally surprised, so that all the same, one is never caught off guard...
But of course, these are Saishu's trade secrets.
Still, they do explain how Saishu is able to easily respond with, "Not like I'd've read it anyway!" before easily hopping off the rock, as though his back had never been hurting to begin with, and talking as though he and Ryu had planned to meet here. Crinkly lines appear around his eyes as his grin widens, and his eyes sparkle merrily. "Nice to see you again, Ryu. I enjoyed our last meeting."
Even mentioning it makes Saishu nostalgic. Ah, Gouken...
But the Kusanagi elder sure doesn't show it, because he just continues by crossing his arms and laughing. "Ha ha! Have you been fighting recently!? You hear I temporarily came out of retirement to do this, er, Southtown Medal Tournament thing? I smacked around some kids but good! Even better than scaring them out of the bushes!" He nods, grin turning into a smirk. "Heh, that'll teach 'em to go around bein' young."
Ryu can't help but chuckle at Saishu's words... he glances back towards the forest, then looks towards the elder Kusanagi once more, almost contemplative. That sort of mindset is sort of how Ryu lives his life. It's really the only way of coping with megalomaniacs showing up on your doorstep out of the blue, and the like. Some crazies don't send initialed invitations, after all. Ryu may not be half as /big/ as Gouken, but he's certainly adapted the master's powerful arts well in tribute nonetheless. The World Warrior hasn't put as much spin on Gouken's Ansatsuken as Ken, maybe... but that just makes him a more accurate legacy, right? Something like that.
"Some of those kids will be kicking us around down the road." Ryu does postulate, not feeling quite as blustery as Saishu, it seems, "But I signed up for the medal tournament too. Just a matter of tracking down the right opponents." Maybe the nomad doesn't exactly feel like tracking down the schoolchildren, even if they never leave him alone! Damn kids, "Feel up to defending one of yours, or is the back trouble just too much?" Ryu inquires, tone dead serious, though he does mimic a bad back, his hand to the small of his back as he tries to give it an imaginary, and uncomfortable looking pop. Yea, he's goading Saishu, just a little bit... but it's good natured, and he was just talking about obstinant youth...
"What! What! What!"
Mission Goad Saishu: Success.
The elder Kusanagi glowers at Ryu, waggling his eyebrows in mock (?) fury. "I'll have you know I'm in my prime, kid. The last forty years of my life were *warm-ups*!" In a quick strength, he seems to flex his entire body all at once, stiffening up, and slowly rolls his shoulders and draws his arms back and forward again before relaxing, now much looser. "Huh! Back trouble indeed. Did I ever tell you about the time I got lost paddling around in the Pacific Ocean and ended up coming across a sinking ocean liner, and leapt into the water to fight the sharks so that the people could escape? One of them ate me, and I punched my way out!! You don't know the *meaning* of back trouble! This's nothing!"
Saishu, grinning hugely even throughout his entire narration, settles back into his squat stance, and then, closing his eyes, draws his bare hands together, concentrates for a moment, and with a calm exhalation, draws them apart and manifests a glowing, spinning ball of flame between his hands, before slamming the palms together and extinguishing it without even a puff of smoke. Eyes narrowed, he straightens. "Well, then, yes! I think I'm in the mood to honor you with a--"
*crick*
Saishu manages not to wince, but only by a powerful and noticable flexing of his neck tendons.
"--duel for a medal." Pause, as he more fully recovers, and then grins. "Clearly you need to learn some respect for your elders!"
COMBATSYS: Saishu has started a fight here.
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Saishu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ryu has joined the fight here.
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Saishu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ryu
Uhoh. More fish stories. They just keep getting bigger and badder every time he hears one, but maybe that's because Saishu really is just becoming more and more awesome as the years pass! Nonetheless, Ryu looks more pleased than anything at Kusanagi's acceptance of the challenge, dropping into a ready stance himself, "Getting lost without a boat in the ocean can be a hassle." The nomad agrees, still calmly serious, by the sound of things, "But the seagulls know directions, if you ask. They may even carry you a little ways." The /real/ circumstance of the nomad's own dip in the briny deep is something best not related in light company, anyway. But it proves he DOES know the meaning of back trouble! .... for what that's worth.
Fists tightening into his practiced guard, Ryu's dark eyes fix intently on the elder fighter, patient but intense in that attentive consideration, "Well, if you're ready, then..." He invites steadily, "Age before beauty, after all."
COMBATSYS: Ryu takes no action.
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Saishu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ryu
"Age before--"
Oh, that tears it!
"You really know how to get my goat, kid!" roars Saishu, eyes blazing, and... hands blazing too. The older man slams his foot on the ground and sweeps his arms around, and a torrent of flame suddenly shoots up around him and trailing off his shoulders -- a flashy and wasteful display for anyone else, but for him, a way to trigger even greater effort and power. Now wreathed entirely in flame, Saishu, mighty and furious god among men, glares at Ryu, looking seriously pissed.
"Let's see how pretty you are after Kusanagi-ryuu has its way with you!"
...then he winks.
COMBATSYS: Saishu gathers his will.
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Ryu
"As long as I don't have to take your goatee with it!" Ryu shoots back, playing right into the faux animosity, even if he doesn't look nearly as pissed off about it as Saishu. Doesn't stop a few taunts, right? There's a ghost of a grin to Saishu's wink, and while not as fiery, the upsurge of Ryu's own chi is certainly notable, a whirling wind cutting in around him from all about the clearing, the currents shimmering with tangible chi. The nomad's dark hair rustles, headband fluttering behind him, as he focuses his own energy, and a dramatic shockwave of wind blasts outwards in all directions, flattening grass and swaying branches as the World Warrior's own inner power is channeled to match Kusanagi's, his ready stance merely held, waiting for the elder fighter to up the ante again.
COMBATSYS: Ryu gathers his will.
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Ryu
Saishu shows no overt response to Ryu's own release of power, just raising his own flaming fist into the air--
~ Dang. The kid really *has* surpassed his master... ~
***
The young man opens his eyes, squinting and blinking, vision refocusing to see, for the fifth straight time, that man standing above him, looking calm and thoughtful, lips pursing, clearly preparing for another lecture. Inwardly, the youth sighs. It just doesn't make sense. How can a guy that chubby be that fast?
The chubbier fighter reaches a hand down to the young fighter lying flat on his back. The younger fighter looks to be around 19 or 20 to the standing man's 22 or 23, but the younger one is decidedly better looking, his goatee finely clipped in a rather vain way -- though amusingly, just about everything else about him is carelessly grubby. Looking miffed, the younger fighter seems to seriously consider refusing the help, ego obviously bruised, but finally just sighs, grins lopsidedly, and accepts the lift.
"Saishu," says the hefty older fighter, "you overextend yourself."
"It's the drama, man!" responds the younger one. "I don't get you. I don't get how you can fight at all, so reserved. It doesn't make any sense." He jabs a finger at the one who beat him; that one seems to not spend any time on his appearance at all, yet even so, he radiates an odd sense of the cleanliness that the other lacks. "Where's your momentum?"
Gouken smiles slightly.
"It is within..."
***
Lips curling up into a slight smile, the patriarch of the Kusanagi family, slashes out with his raised fist, and unleashes a wavelike torrent of flame at the younger fighter before him.
COMBATSYS: Ryu blocks Saishu's Yami Barai.
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Saishu 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Ryu
The wave of flame is met with a minor adjustment of his left fist, forearm brought to bear on the center of the blast, the nomad's own centered chi opposing the flaming burst and dissipating it outwards, the searing chi singing Ryu's arm as it's deflected. The power in the blast is evident, but the defense isn't shabby either, leaving Ryu just about where he was standing before, not looking much worse for the wear. Where is his momentum? Lucky for Saishu, he already has the answer to that, because the nomad isn't telling.
Instead, Ryu paces a flanking step around Saishu, maintaining an identical distance to what they started with, his dark eyes watching, his own potential energy stabilized within him. Precision was a mainstay of Gouken's arts, and Ryu is patient in its application, if unrelenting, "You seem as sharp as ever." The nomad observes, letting the prodding facade drop in favor of authentic respect.
COMBATSYS: Ryu focuses on his next action.
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Saishu 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Ryu
Saishu can't help but smile in response, and his eyes actually look affectionate for a moment. "And you seem to only be improving," he says approvingly, before his grin returns and those eyes revert to their bright, merry, joke's-on-you sparkling. Refusing to play the circling game, the Kusanagi elder suddenly lunges, and his grin growing only huger, his arms igniting, he spins and unleashes a close-range wave of flame, much larger than the last one, directly from his sweeping arm. "Hou--!" With the bursting sound of explosive release the attack comes, but even before it has fully washed toward Ryu, the older fighter is twisting again, and sweeping out with his *other* arm, unleashing a second and equally powerful wave of flame.
"--HYA!"
COMBATSYS: Saishu successfully hits Ryu with Homura Gasane.
- Power hit! -
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Saishu 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Ryu
Seems like Saishu's a pro at picking the right moment, too, because the sudden assault on Ryu catches him solidly in a gout of flame mid-weave, instants before his own intended motion. The result is a face full of fire, twice over, and the World Warrior reeling backwards under the force, dropped to his back in a tumble. He plants a hand and vaults back to his feet quickly enough, but there's no doubt that one stung. He nods once to Saishu as he pushes upright, and then the nomad seeks to add some of his own flames to the party, shoving his hands forward and pushing a tremendous surge of brightly lit chi-flames forth, the massive conflaguration building as the heels of his hands meet, and all but rocketing forth from his palms with a surging intensity, the mass orbitted by its own flaming tendrils, searing the ground on its careening course for Saishu, "Hadooooouken!!!"
COMBATSYS: Saishu blocks Ryu's Shakunetsu Hadouken.
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Saishu 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Ryu
Ohh, that's fast. But Saishu remembers fast.
It's time for Saishu Tactics.
Crossing his arms across his face, his grin wild, almost manic, but offset with the genuinely joyful quality to it, the elder fighter runs right through the chi fireball and continues, still trailing the energy from Ryu's attack as he lunges once again, fearlessly. "Haaa!" Battle shout resounding through the shrine, Saishu aims a series of fierce punches at the World Warrior, keeping up the pressure.
'Saishu! Running into enemy's attacks is not a strategy!'
'Heh! That's what *you* think, man!'
COMBATSYS: Ryu interrupts Medium Punch from Saishu with Shin Shoryuken.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Saishu 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 Ryu
Ryu's eyes merely narrow on Saishu as he charges /through/ the focused Hadouken. The nomad stands still, stalwart... perhaps /too/ still. The first punch clips off the nomad's jaw, as he dances aside, and the second grazes painfully across his right shoulder, but all it seems to do is add momentum to the sudden left fist that plants itself into Saishu's ribcage, a massive amount of the nomad's centered chi suddenly released into that singular, deceptively simple impact that will steal breath from the most resilient warriors... even if it is only a prelude to the rest, as the nomad drops low, bringing himself in against Saishu's momentum...
... Then skyrockets upwards, led by a ferocious rising right uppercut that carries his entire weight behind it, a bluish blur trailing his form as he hurtles up, aligning the legendary strike with Kusanagi's chest and chin, and rather effectively reversing that charge with a whole hell of a lot of inner momentum, transformed, "Shoooooryuuuuuuuken!!!!!"
This isn't just *familiar*.
It's *worse* than he remembered.
It's a picture-perfect execution; the rising punch catches Saishu Kusanagi and explodes him right up into the air. For a moment his body just spirals up, turns quietly, and spirals back down -- he seems limp, and does not move. But halfway to the ground, his head snaps up to look at Ryu, and he's just grinning even more than before. There may even be a hint of pride in his eyes, but it's hard to tell with the heat waves rising off of him.
He draws out his right hand, previously curled up and limp, and reveals that the longest finger is glowing white hot, so much so that the air around it crackles.
Once, slowly, he winks.
Then he... points.
A huge rolling torrent of flame explodes forth, taking the shape of a dragon just for an instant as it rears back and screams a battle cry to the heavens, before the image desolves back into the fearsome and merciless destructive torrent that is the Orochinagi.
COMBATSYS: Ryu blocks Saishu's Orochinagi'.
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Saishu 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Ryu
One of the strong points of what Ryu learned from Gouken is adaptation... turning an opponent's tricks against them, making style work for him instead of his opponent even partway through a match. So he takes a page from the elder fighter's book now, and all but barrels through the Orochinagi. It's not exactly smooth sailing, after all... that is a LOT of fire... but Ryu weathers it, arms crossed, flaring blue chi opposing as much of the flame as he can. It's still a painful process, and his forward momentum all but stops under the worst of the blast, but he comes through it nonetheless as it fades, flames licking at the tattered edges of his gi. What does he do coming through that wall of fire? Why, he steals another of Saishu's tricks, though Ryu's is simplified... he tries to bean Kusanagi squarely in the face with a potent straight left, "Haaaah!!!"
COMBATSYS: Saishu endures Ryu's Medium Punch.
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Saishu 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Ryu
Oh, you think you know Saishu Tactics now, do you!? You don't know who you're dealing with, kid! With a single raised eyebrow, the Kusanagi elder witnesses Ryu emerge from the flames, having weathered the attack remarkably well, and aim a punch at him. There's only one thing to do: demonstrate Saishu tactics once again.
Unflinchingly, unmoving, Saishu just takes the punch right in the face--
--and as his head snaps back, he uses the momentum to rotate into his own rising flaming uppercut, aiming to blast Ryu right under the chin. Well... that's a different take on how to deal with interrupting a punch with an uppercut.
"Hiiyaaaahhhh!"
Needless to say, despite the punch, Saishu's grinning.
COMBATSYS: Saishu successfully hits Ryu with Oniyaki.
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Saishu 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Ryu
WhAM! Ryu gets it right in the kisser in reprisal for his hit, and rather painfully too. The hit crashes in under his chin, and sends the nomad staggering backwards, teeth gritted. He manages, somehow, to hold his footing, however... probably because he leaves the ground entirely, hurling himself up and in on the elder Kusanagi, his right foot snapping out and around, leading in a potent thrust for that same spot in the middle of Saishu's skull, the nomad's weight coming right behind it along with a fierce kiai. The old guy's as powerful as Ryu remembers... but the World Warrior isn't down yet. His own expression is serious, though, despite the fervor in his eyes that belies his true enjoyment of the battle.
COMBATSYS: Saishu blocks Ryu's Medium Kick.
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Saishu 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Ryu
Saishu parries the kick aggressively, eyes flashing, and seems to adopt the pose for a moment, dramatically freezing for a split-second as inner energies shift and power is channel, and then, with a loud "HAAAA!", a shout that nearly shakes the trees in its fierce enthusiasm, the elder warrior responds by punching out once, powerfully, the sort of channeled punch that can split boulders and explode doors from their hinges, aiming right for Ryu's stomach in what might theoretically be a stunning blow.
COMBATSYS: Saishu successfully hits Ryu with Fierce Punch.
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Saishu 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Ryu
There's an audible cracking of ribs as Saishu lands what should, by all rights, put the nomad down for the count. It doubles him over a moment, yes, and he coughs an airless hack, "Not..." gasp, "... bad." he congratulates in a somewhat garbled murmur, before suddenly lurching forward himself, left fist snapping up for Saishu's gut in an answering shot. Again, there's a tremendous surge of energy, and again... it's not going to stop there. Saishu would know what would follow, here, but it may not be enough to stop Ryu as he drops low, and surges upwards, right fist leading the rocketing uppercut as his entire body is carried behind it, all his strength focused into the path of the suped-up Rising Dragon, "Shooooryuuuuuuken!!!!!"
COMBATSYS: Saishu fails to interrupt Shin Shoryuken from Ryu with Jab Punch.
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Ryu 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Saishu can no longer fight.
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Ryu 0/-------/------=|
There's something about this kid...
Saishu sees his only chance -- a single opening, right there, as Ryu readies himself to unleash his fierce attack. Only a fighter of Saishu's calibur could take advantage of it, but there it is, and he's going to go for it. Rushing forward heedlessly, the elder fighter laughs resoundingly as he lashes out, fist a blur, right for a critical point on Ryu's neck that should send him down for good.
Then he sees Ryu's face.
Those eyes... that determination...
...how did Gouken impart these into his student? Will Saishu be as successful in teaching Kyo the true meaning of the Kusanagi way? Or did Gouken impart them directly at all? Did he just set an example, and Ryu, of his own will, saw their validity? Or was Ryu just like this all along?
Saishu blinks once, his lips parting, and his eyes soften.
His focus slips...
***
"Your greatest flaw, Saishu, is that you're too sentimental."
The two of them are walking along a dirt road, canvas bags slung over their shoulders, one of them standing straight and tall, the other slouching lazily in a familiar way.
The slouching one snorts a half-chuckle.
"Speak for yourself, man."
***
The uppercut hits the Kusanagi elder, and sends him spiralling away and into the underbrush, where he lands heavily, unmoving. After ten seconds or so, though, he stirs, grunts slightly, and manages to lift his head, recovering from unconsciousness long enough to manage a grin at the younger fighter. The grin, despite how battered Saishu looks, is just as strong as ever.
"Well done, Ryu."
Log created by Ryu, and last modified on 18:45:26 11/15/2005.