Description: Rugal tracks down his former operative Cody after the man made a miracle recovery from being shot in the head. Rugal decides to have a loud discussion with him (read: kicks the crap out of him) and eventually, they come to an arrangement of sorts.
"Hi, Mr. Howard. Uh, if you remember, I had a job here a couple months back, and I stopped coming in all of a sudden, and became unreachable. Uh, see, the thing is... I got shot in my brain. And then I was in a coma for awhile, apparently. But I'm better now! So I'd like my job back."
Cody stares intently at the alley wall he's speaking to, grimacing at the fact that the truth sounds so unlikely to be believed. With a sigh, he heaves his weight forward and raps his forehead lightly against the outer wall of the Duck Pond.
"This blows," he announces, to his neighbors in alleyhood; a garbage can, and a mangy-looking cat.
Mature has arrived.
It is remarkably easy to find someone, when you are looking. It becomes even easier, when you have an information network the likes of which "R" possesses. The moment that the comatose man known as Cody's "body disappeared"? It was only a matter of time before he was found. And in such an obvious location, either Cody can't remember his former obligations... or he is simply a fool. Regardless, though.
"Ah, Mr. Cody. And here I thought some miserable people stole your body. Fancy that, hm...?" The voice comes from the right of Cody. A man, wearing a heavy black overcoat and a nice crimson outfit stands a fair distance from him... an amused grin on his lips. A cybernetic eye glows crimson in the darkness.
"Perhaps you'd be so kind as to spare a moment of your time? We have a few things to discuss."
Cody makes a face at the wall. It goes like this: :|
Still maintaining that expression, he turns slowly to face Rugal, struggling for words for a few moments before choking out, "Hi. What, uh... what do you want, exactly? I'm pretty sure we don't have anything to talk about. I mean, last I checked, you know, we were pretty much square."
"Is that new?" he blurts out, furrowing his brow and squinting at the eye. "Did you have that last time we saw each other? Because I don't remember it."
Square?
"I don't recall you leaving and beating on my secretaries as us being 'square,' Mr. Cody. You'll have to forgive me." The eye? He's had this for a long, long time. But he doesn't answer that particular question. It's not important. Instead...
"Like I said before. This should only take a moment of your time."
Rugal slips a single hand into his coat pocket. A single leg tenses...
And then lances out, intent on striking Cody directly in the side. They still have a few more things to talk about.
COMBATSYS: Rugal has started a fight here.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Cody has joined the fight here.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Cody blocks Rugal's Light Kick.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cody
"They crossed a line," Cody snaps, much more quickly than his first response. "Just 'cuz you busted me out of prison doesn't mean your lackeys get to mess with my girlfriend. You broke me out, I did some grunt work for you. We're _square._" Even clearly upset and frightened as he is, he notices the kick coming, and his left leg snaps sideways, crashing into the bottom corner of the nearby metal trashcan and launching it upwards. He lashes out his hands and snatches it out of the air, whipping it to intercept Rugal's incoming kick.
The blow folds the trash receptacle like an improperly-crushed soda can, resulting in this weird arched doodad, where the middle is flattened but the ends are still wholly cylindrical. The new design of the thing doesn't matter, though. What does matter is that as Rugal recovers from the kick, Cody shifts his grip and swings the half-crushed thing like a baseball bat at the side of Rugal's head.
Specifically, the side without the robot eye.
COMBATSYS: Rugal blocks Cody's Random Weapon.
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Rugal 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cody
Aah, there we are. There's the excitement Rugal was looking for. After all, it would be no fun if Cody didn't fight back. This, this is much better. The metal of the garbage can denting and crushing beneath the force of the man's blow, his eyes narrow as he cants his head to the side. "Apparantly you don't understand the obligation you make when you come to work for 'R', boy. You don't do grunt work until you are 'even'... you work for me until you die. And since you've STOPPED working for me, clearly... one of these conditions needs to be met."
The trash can comes swinging, and Rugal simply lifts a hand. He stops the thing flat, not moving in the slightest, as that dual gaze narrows. "You're going to have to hit harder than that. That's not all the strength you /have/, is it?" And then, he swings a single fist forward to slam it into Cody's stomach, before following up with an open-palm strike to the man's face.
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Rugal's Medium Punch!
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Rugal 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Cody
"If you think that..." Cody snarls, barely bothering to brace his stomach as Rugal's fist crashes into it, but seeming largely apathetic to the pain and small amount of internal bleeding the blow causes, "You're dumber'n I thought!" He actually headbutts the palm strike to deter it, rocking backwards from the force of the blow, and as he does, he drops downwards into a crouch and spins in a quick, 380-degree circle, leaving the spin by launching himself upwards, fist aimed for the bottom of Rugal's jaw.
His arm reaches its' full extension, jaw connection or not, and after a split second a large whirlwind, interlaced with thin streaks of blue chi, erupts into being in front of the American, threatening to engulf the "R" head honcho.
COMBATSYS: Rugal endures Cody's Criminal Upper!
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Rugal 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Cody
So, he just accepted Rugal's attack? Well then, what goes around comes around. If Cody will stand there and take /his/ attack... Rugal will do the same for Cody. Even as that uppercut strikes Rugal's jaw, he only takes a single step back. "Regardless--" Cut off by that explosive blue chi that manifests soon after the punch, Rugal takes another step back... but otherwise, keeps his ground. By this time, his feet planted firmly into the ground. "--You are still going to be in a lot of pain tonight, boy."
A single hand juts forward, to grab Cody by the head. If successful, Rugal lifts him... before channeling an immense amount of chi into his body, outputting so much that eventually, it simply /explodes/ violently, to send the former prisoner flying backwards.
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Cody with Scorpion Deathlock.
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Rugal 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Cody
Cody does, in fact, go *explode*, and he sails off, slightly on fire. He lands on his back, bounces once, and then skids to a halt near the mouth of the alley, the chi-induced flames on his body quickly dying out and leaving the man merely charred and bleeding slightly from the nose.
He's not down yet, though. After a few moments, he rocks backwards onto his shoulders and kips up, rolling his neck around (eliciting a few loud pops) and stepping quickly forward.
Rather than any charge, however, nor some insult or cry, he merely reaches around behind him and, in one fluid motion, withdraws, open, and hurls a switchblade, the weapon spinning lengthwise, and horizontally, like a frisbee, beelining towards Rugal's chest. It's not fancy, but it is sharp!
COMBATSYS: Rugal overcomes Knife Throw from Cody with Large Thrown Object.
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Rugal 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Cody
... Knives? He's assaulting Rugal with /knives/? This isn't going to do at all.
The fact is, even as Cody goes flying, Rugal casually bends at the waist, his gloved fingers curling around that crumpled garbage can. "Get up. You can't possibly be dead yet." It would be highly disappointing if he /was/. But soon enough, Cody hops back onto his feet, and it elicits a smile from Bernstein. "Good. We have a little bit more time to spare."
It's about when Cody releases that knife that Rugal flings the remains of the garbage can with phenomenal strength. The switchblade is knocked aside with surprising easy as the crumpled malformation of metal continues to flip along the path towards Cody -- aimed right for his head.
COMBATSYS: Cody overcomes Large Thrown Object from Rugal with Knife Throw.
We're gonna need a bigger knife. Luckily, Cody is hardly monoknific - which is not actually a word, folks at home - and as Rugal shoves aside his first knife with a trashcan, he returns his hand to his back pockets and withdraws a larger, fixed-blade knife, undoubtedly ganked off of some thug at some point.
With a sneer, he gives it a quick toss end-over-end, so as to adjust his grip on it, and then throws it like a dart at the incoming trash can, and, therefore, Rugal. This larger, stronger knife pierces through the flattened metal of the bin, actually tearing the thing in half messily - somehow - and continuing on its' merry way towards Rugal's torso, even if slowed by the obstacle the trash bin presented.
COMBATSYS: Rugal dodges Cody's Knife Throw.
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Rugal 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Cody
Of course... the larger they are, the more easily dodged. Even as that knife tears the garbage can in half, Rugal hardly looks displeased. In fact, the man grins widely. "A good attempt." That's about the only compliment that Cody will received, however, as the man neatly sidesteps, letting the knife fly past him harmlessly. "Not quite enough, though. What a pity."
From that point, Rugal ducks in low. He speeds towards Cody, low to the ground, and when he is close enough... he swiftly rises in an uppercut. If Cody is caught in the attack, he'll be launched into the air, just in time for the leader of 'R' to slam a single, powerful fist into his chest, to send him flying with titanic force. This time, Rugal doesn't go so far as to restrain himself; he puts a good deal of his might into it.
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Rugal's Fierce Punch.
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Rugal 0/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 Cody
Cody braces for the uppercut, clearly not too worried about the blow despite the obvious force behind it. He's not even too concerned when the connections unexpectedly launches him upwards. He _is_ a bit put off by suddenly being rocketed out of the alleyway.
It's all good, though. In midair, the blonde rights himself by curling up and then unfolding, pointing his legs at the wall across the street that he's currently headed for at a high speed. He impacts, and though it hurts, due to his maneuvering he ends up merely crouched on the wall while gravity shoves popcorn into it's mouth and whispers, 'That was awesome!' as it always does before it remembers to take effect in situations like this.
Before it can, however, Cody springs off the wall and flips himself to land both on his feet and already in a run back towards Rugal. One or two cars, making use of the Downtown street at the time, honk and swerve, and a bicyclist is actually driven off the road by the commotion.
But we don't care about them. What we do care about is that as he breaks the mouth of the alleyway, his fists erupt in blue light, and he descends upon Rugal, a flurry of fists and the punches they carry, targeted bodyparts and the details of blows meaningless before the barrage of attacks, the blows and Cody's body as a whole trailing translucent blue afterimages.
COMBATSYS: Cody successfully hits Rugal with Final Destruction.
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Rugal 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Cody
"Oh my."
The tone seems hardly concerned as Cody so deftly maneuvers himself. Rugal runs fingers through blonde locks of hair, offering a most casual smile. Cody begins to run. Traffics swerves, cars crash; metal is remarkably pliant at high speeds.
"It looks like you're planning something rather impressive, doesn't it--"
Cody's blow falls on Rugal, but the truth is... he doesn't even move. Strike after strike impacts the crimelords massive body, but even for all Cody's speed, the effect might be similar to attempting to punch holes in solid granite. Bernstein stumbles, but only a little, and for all the impressive nature of Cody's attack... Rugal /laughs/ through the entire ordeal, hardly looking nearly as phased as others might. Does it hurt?
Only a little.
"I hope that's not all your power, Mr. Cody..."
Rugal's leg flies forward, his polished shoe intent on striking Cody over, and over, and over again, right in the man's gut.
"... because it's not nearly impressive enough."
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Cody with Medium Kick.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Cody
The first kick jolts Cody briefly into the air, but he stands firm; the second causes him to waver, and he continues doing so until around kick six he drops to his knees. "You're strong," he growls, clearly in pain at this point. He's running out of steam, and it's obvious.
Not too fatigued, however, to, in another blur of movement that Cody is so prone to perform, withdraw a third knife from his back pockets - another switchblade - and attempt to, without finesse or subtlety, drive it into Rugal's outer thigh. "But you'll still bleed, like everyone else!" Or, well... he hopes.
COMBATSYS: Rugal counters Tokushu Koudou from Cody with Scorpion Blow.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Cody
He'll still bleed?
"No one as weak as as you will ever make the likes of me bleed, runt."
It's at this point, Cody may notice... the fact that his arm is being stopped. By one of Rugal's feet.
"Allow me to show you why."
Cody is given no time to react. A single hand snaps forward, to grab the man by his head. And if the grip is successful, he'll be lifted up and into the air... where a single fist awaits, /shoving/ itself into Cody's stomach with no small amount of force. At this point, the young man is released, to slam into the wall... even as Rugal begins to dust himself off.
"Get up. You can't be dead yet... so get up and fight."
Cody does, in fact, impact the wall, and he crumples to the ground, lying still for a few long moments before he rises, shakily, onto all fours, and tries to catch his breath. While he does so, he delays Rugal with talklng! Or at least tries to.
"There's something you should know, before you get any bright ideas," the blonde rasps, "You should know that I'm workin' for G-Geese Howard right now. He'd probably be upset if you just rolled up and killed somebody who's doin' shit for him, you know?" Is it a lie? Sorta. While he may not be employed per se, he _is_ technically on a 'quest' from him!
COMBATSYS: Cody takes a breather.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Cody
Slowly, Rugal closes his eyes. He walks past Cody, shaking his head. "Working for Mr. Howard, eh...? Ah, that is rather dangerous then, to be toying around with you like this. Please accept my apologies, Mr. Cody." He continues to walk, even as Cody seems to be taking a little break. There is a moment of silence, and then?
"... But I can't quite leave you yet."
There is the audible sound of metal being crushed, and if Cody looks over... he might see Rugal picking up an entire car. "Please stand still for a moment." And then, he just /swings/ the thing right for Cody, intent on just smashing the man under the weight of it like an exceptionally large cockroach.
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Rugal's Random Weapon.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Cody
Cody's attempt at countering the car-hit ranks pretty high on the retardometer. As the car comes down, he rises to his feet and draws both his fists back, the both of them once again erupting with flares of blue light. He slams them upwards, crashing them into the undercarriage of the vehicle and - ideally - forcing Rugal to lift it up over his head to keep his balance and the car intact.
Should the plan go smoothly up to this point, he draws his right hand back again, this time horizontally rather than vertically, and crashes it violently into the inside of his opponent's elbow. Here's hoping that this all works, and that being crushed by a car is enough to stop Rugal!
COMBATSYS: Cody can no longer fight.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|
Addendum: Cody promptly takes two steps backwards and then collapses, having lost the energy to fight, regardless of the success of his crazy maneuver.
COMBATSYS: Cody successfully hits Rugal with Final Destruction.
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Rugal 1/---====/=======|
Well, it seems that Cody's maneuver was /just/ fast enough to succeed. Bernstein is preparing to leap out of the way -- with a car in his hands, no less -- when the former prisoner strikes his elbow solidly. The crimelord's hold on his impromptu weapon is loosened enough so that the car crashes, right on his head. Except... metal bends around his skull, before being toppled backwards into the ground beside him. And Rugal...
Still stands.
He frowns a little. A small line of blood runs down his lip, but it is quickly wiped off as he takes a single step forward to peer at Cody. "A stupid maneuver, but I suppose I should give you credit for a mild amount of ingenuity. Now, Mr. cody, you have two options; either you rejoin my organization, or you can be killed. I think that simplifies things vastly, don't you think?" His hands find purchase in his pockets, even as he leans back, eyes gazing upward. "But let it not be said I'm not a giving man. I am hosting a tournament, at the beginning of February. You have until then to give me your answer. For now... if you are even still /conscious/, I'm sure you could use some rest, hm?"
At that point, Bernstein turns sharply on his heel, intent to simply walk away.
COMBATSYS: Rugal takes no action.
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Rugal 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rugal has ended the fight here.
"I've got... an... look, here's an idea," grunts Cody, struggling to prop himself up on one arm. "Let me fight in your... tournament thing. If I win it, you let me go, and we call ourselves square. If I don't, I'll work for you again, no complaints, and I'll stay loyal."
He doesn't make much action other than that; he's struggling to even stay up on his elbow.
Slowly, Rugal stops his walk from the fallen man. He turns to look at him with a single, arched brow, frowning slightly. "Mm. Very well then. If you win my tournament, I'll let you go. Train hard, Mr. Cody... the rest of your life depends on it, after all." And after that, Rugal walks once more, carefully maneuvering around the cars wrecked by the other man's daring attempts.
This should be /fun/.
Log created by Rugal, and last modified on 22:51:10 01/24/2006.