Description: Concerned about Psycho Power and, more importantly, Vega, Grant decides to track down a name vaguely associated with him to get some answers. When Rose is less than forthcoming, Grant has his own methods of getting the information he needs. Of course, their effectiveness is up for debate...
As a native of Italy (so to speak), the winters in Japan are turning out to be a little much for Rose. Mind, the Italian Alps are not necessarily a tropical clime, but in her former home of Genoa, situated on the shores of the Mediterranea Sea, the weather is either balmy or brisk the whole year through. With her plate 'clean', so to speak, the fortuneteller decided to take a short vacation before the beginning of Rugal's 'tournament', and thus flew herself back to Italy for a short rest.
It is the tournament that's occupying her thoughts, though; Rose is restless, troubled. Sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe overlooking the harbor, she is indulging one of her few vices -- wine -- by sipping lightly from a crystal goblet filled with dark red, the hazy orange of the afternoon sunset flickering across the sea and melting across the landscape in hues of pale gold and orange. The streets are mostly empty; it's a Sunday evening in Italy, after all, and though the weather is refreshing compared to Southtown's brisk winter chill, it's hardly conducive to evening strolls.
Rose extends a pale, delicate hand to an object in front of her: the tarot. Something makes her hestiate, fingers curled in apprehension. However, she forces herself past that doubt and flips over the top card, laying it on the table. A crowded man, riding a palanquin pulled by sphinxes: the Chariot. Reversed. A frown creases the sharp-featured face. "...something is amiss."
For a different reason, Grant is quite interested in this tournament as well. But his reasoning is slightly different then most; It was Rugal's more personal invitation that spurned such activity. And the desire to overcome that epitome of fighting impurity is more then enough inclination for a more public display. But mayhaps surprisingly, he is not here due to such. It is another -- Vega, whom might be the most evil and corrupted man in existance. The depths of his ability Grant had seen in a manner suitably uncomfortable, and there is little information to find. He has never resolutedly linked Sagat to Shadaloo. It took almost every source he had just to see a relation between the psycho-powered girl known as Rose and her other half.
And Grant intends to figure out what exactly might be known. Although for all of his refinement and etiquette knowledge, diplomacy is generally not a preference...
Having thoroughly concealed his chi, Grant observes Rose from a distance. And more peculiar for her might be that there's no hint of malice or emotion in the air. Nothing in the slightest. But he does reveal himself somewhat abruptly, the massive man standing before Rose. People continue to wander around, only lifting gazes to look with distant curiosity at the figure. His deep brown cloak is pulled over his body, completely obscuring him; A simple pin to the right shoulder keeps the fluttering fabric in check. The four pronged red mask almost entirely hides his face, and nothing can be seen in his solemn eyes.
"What do you know of the man called Vega?" is asked, quite casually and with a culture behind the voice that might be surprising for the... Primal appearance.
Interestingly, Rose does not look up. She does set down her wineglass, mostly empty as it is, but other than that there's no true indication that the psychic has so much as noticed Grant's arrival at all. Could it be he masked his presence too well? Or simply that she is ignoring the large man's rather direct question? In either event, long moments pass... quiet moments... as Rose intently stares at the card, the Chariot, in front of her. Yet Grant's senses must be finely tuned to be a fighter at his level of skill. And he may feel, during this intense silence, that something is... amiss. A nagging feeling in the back of his mind, perhaps.
Eventually, however, she speaks. Initially, Rose does not look up. "I know many things about many people, 'Martyr of Might'," she says in a quiet, plain tone. Fingers drift to the tarot deck in front of her. She pulls over another card, setting it down in front of her. A man... a priestly-looking man... upon a throne, inverted. The reversed Hierophant. Her frown deepends, and then she looks to Grant.
Her eyes are... different than Vega's. His are pure white, inscrutable, a trackless expanse. Hers are dark violet, a bottomless depth. Both abnormal. "But why particularly do you feel the need to ask me about Vega? Certainly you have methods of your own to obtain such information."
Of many minds that Rose might be familiar with, Grant is almost impossible to read. He is the only man in the world who Kain cannot ascertain. A veil of nothing, wrapped in muscle, wrapped in a cape. Yet such is purposeful obscurity, a well-trained mind as opposed to anything supernatural. How effective it might be against psycho power? Mayhaps such can be found out in this little encounter. The tarot deck is observed lazily, but without much interest. Grant's not a surprisingly patient man, either from his ailment or just his preference for more direct approaches. Both massive arms slither free from his cape, grasping the edges of the table before the man leans forward. The sound of breath is audible, two juts upon his cheek likely getting closer then Rose might like. A mild grin tint is seen in the darkness of those sockets, but little else. "I know nothing of his operations. I cannot find Charlie and his vigilantes to question him. There is no information available upon my resources. Shadaloo is almost a verbal myth. But much like Sagat, I have heard your name once in passing. I know how to coax out information from the seven layers of meaning. I think you might know much about Vega that we would like to know..."
The psychic seems to consider that for a moment, then sighs and turns back to glancing at the deck in front of her, sounding, if not dismissive, then at least disinterested, or at least bored. "Perhaps I do," she admits, flipping over a third card: the Wheel of Fortune. She seems especially taken by this triad of symbols, but it doesn't last particularly long. Turning back to Grant, her expression remains even, unruffled. "But I am disinclined to share what I know. Vega is a concern for others, those whose motives may be less suspect. Issues of 'layers of meaning' are not particularly valid in this case."
There's a distant knowledge of Tarot, but at the moment Grant does not particularly care. His cape is opened with a flick of his right hand, revealing his unclad torso as the deep brown fabric instead pools behind him. In a simple gesture, the entire table is attempted to be hurled aside as if it were made of cardboard, Grant's right hand then striking out to grasp Rose and then in a flick of motion slam her into the door behind. It's a suitably violent gesture, but such could of probably been expected or even predicted. Then again, why disapppoint? The leylines of fate are concerns for others. If the maneuver succeeds, even mildly, it will probably heavily crack the thick glass of the hapless diner. "What do you know of Vega?" is demanded a second time, with an undertone now of more... insistance. Shadaloo is a bigger threat then Rugal by far -- Kain and him could probably break his back physically if need really be. But Vega? Not nearly! From what he's heard, that's even been done before...
COMBATSYS: Grant has started a fight here.
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Grant 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here.
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Grant 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rose
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Grant's Quick Throw.
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Grant 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rose
Sadly, Grant's attempt at a whizbang smash interrogation opener is not meant to be; as he reaches out to snag the psychic, she barely even turns; instead, the gold shawl sitting around her shoulders suddenly flares to life, moving on its own to turn Grant's hand away. As it snakes back into place, Rose... disappears, reappearing to Grant's side in a flash of green-gold Soul Power, settling onto the ground as if she had been floating. "Your methods are direct, but sadly crude, and not at all convincing," the fortuneteller says lazily, sliding across the distance between herself and Grant, and extending a hand toward his chest. She doesn't need to touch, simply get near him; if she can, Rose then simply hurls Grant away with a Soul Power-enhanced throw.
COMBATSYS: Grant endures Rose's Soul Fade.
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Grant 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Rose
Turning his head towards Rose, Grant seems to be somehow amused at the reaction. Psycho Power is an incredible gift; One that is not fully understood, other then the fact that such tends to be exceptionally painful. He doesn't seem to react much to the sudden flash of chi; He is blown backwards, impacting the street and then rolling into a car. Denting the car and blowing out a window, Grant manages to rise rather swiftly, cracking his neck. "Would you speak were I polite and diplomatic?" Grant asks, turning and then crouching before leaping high in the air. He then rears back his leg before it bursts into deep purple chi, flashing down like a comet trailed by his deep brown cape. If it hits, the detonation is probably going to be spectacular... Shattering the windows if nothing else. "HAAAAAA!!"
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Messhou Hisetsu from Grant with Soul Reflect.
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Grant 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Rose
Grant's response is a little faster than Rose had anticipated, perhaps, but not wholly unexpected. As the Martyr comes in for his aerial dive she doesn't appear to move. Instead, the shawl once again leaps to life, slicing a crescent through the air and attempting to intercept that attack. However, the haze of chi makes judging the angle of actual impact rather difficult, and Grant's kick connects rather spectacularly with the psychic's frame in a burst of that purple chi... but when the proverbial smoke clears, Rose isn't there, instead now having appeared on some other angle, waiting for Grant's next move. "Immediately? No, I would not. Now, however, my help is beyond any cost you could ever pay."
"I suppose not..." Grant offers, almost as if disappointed. Raising from the ground, brushing off glass from his cape, he seems to not be unimpressed. He probably took a hit just as powerful in exchange for such, even if her gambit still failed. "Mayhaps I was hasty." Grant then flows back into his stance, lowering the front of his mask as if the prongs of a bull preparing to charge. "My interest in Vega is simple. You know my name, then you likely know my goals. He is the manifestation of every wicked human trait, dwelling on the deep corruption and letting it consume him for raw power. I wish to find what I can about his organization... In case the time comes where we must kill him!" Grant then rushes forward, leaning down in an attempt to check Rose with his shoulder, to knock her towards the ground once more. "That might not be as noble a cause as you are used to leading. But what harm can come of sicking dogs upon one another?"
COMBATSYS: Grant successfully hits Rose with Gou Dangai.
- Power hit! -
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Grant 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
Rose is not necessarily used to the whole physical fighting thing. She usually lets her power speak for itself. She doesn't have the toughened defenses to deal with repeated physical hits that other fighters do; she has to rely on her Soul-empowered speed, typically, to prevent disaster. Grant, however, is rather quicker than she had anticipated; the shoulder check connects rather more solidly on her side rather than her stomach as she attempts to twist out of the way, and rather than driving her to the ground sends her sailing across the cobblestone street, impacting solidly with a table at the cafe where she had been eating. However, prodigious as it was, the attack was not enough to floor her... at least, not yet.
"He is beyond your power to destroy," the woman says simply, boring her gaze into Grant's mask with a slightly dulled look, cold and dispassionate. A do-gooder she may be, but her methods... slightly different than her peers. Rose loosens the gold shawl about her shoulders idly. "You would match his power with hate; that is foolish and misguided. It would end inevitably in failure. Consider this the only thing about him I shall offer you." And with a flick of the wrist, the psychic sends her shawl out toward Grant, an unassuming sphere of violet energy trailing gold light lancing out at the Martyr of Might with impressive speed. Of course, the true damage is invisible... a shockwave of sheer psychic power trailing behind the projectile like a jackhammer, looking to batter Grant's very mind into the ground harder than any fist could. "Soul Spark!"
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Grant with Aura Soul Spark.
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Grant 1/---====/=======|-------\-------\0 Rose
And there's luckily no underestimation of what exactly Rose is capable of. He attempts to skip backwards and raise his arms, a flare of deep purple chi clouting over him. Surprisingly it does offer a large amount of defense, even if not enough to cease the actual blast. Trying to block the shawl? Stupid. Grant is sent reeling, grasping his head and snarling in pain before running straight into a lamppost with an almost comical manner, landing upon the ground and rolling back and forth a moment. Ah... Pain. However, this is something he's familiar with, moreso in the past few years then he ever thought he would. Breathing deeply he manages to slowly rise, unsteady and obviously badly staggered. "So he is transient of the physical realm?" Grant asks, seemingly not arguing the idea that he might be unable to be destroyed. "He feeds off one's emotions like a leech? I believe he tried against me... But I am apparently not a good meal..." He then begins to crackle and flow with chi, slipping back into a combat stance and focusing himself as best he can for further less then painless damage.
COMBATSYS: Grant gathers his will.
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Grant 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Rose
"I've said my peace," Rose replies in an indifferent tone, setting her feet apart and glancing at Grant warily. She did not expect that attack to floor him, but she is not in the greatest shape herself, while she can sense that the Martyr of Might's fighting spirit is at its peak. Victory is not necessarily on her mind at the moment; indeed, she really has no stake in such temporal things, nor any desire to prove herself to Grant. Thus, she takes a deep breath and stands her ground, similarly gathering herself, flickering motes of gold Soul Power dancing in the air about her as she does so. However, there is no resonant feeling of chi being gathered. Whatever she is doing, it is a power altogether different. "You said yourself you knew how to pierce the veil of obscure wording, did you not?"
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Grant 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Rose
"Well. That is all I need to know for now." Grant mulls out, before seeming to ponder something private for a few moments. "I apologize for the brutal treatment. But I am personally more curious about the combative potential of Psycho Power then Vega himself. It seems, however, that surpassing him is not that simple. It is food for thought." Grant then stretches back his right leg, crackling with energy and then suddenly snapping forward. "Yet this fight is not concluded. You should not object to seeing the depths of my might, as I wish to see yours...!" He then unleashes a devestating upwards kick, attempting to strike Rose in the stomach and then send her flying into the sky upon a gout of deep purple chi, swirling in a pillar dozens of feet high before cracking off. "MAJIN HATEN-DAN!!"
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Grant's Majin Haten-Dan.
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Grant 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Rose
Epic.
At least, an outside observer would probably reflect as such on the attacks going down on the streets of Genoa tonight. Grant's blast of energy is fast, moreso than Rose had imagined... but at the same time, she was steeling herself both spiritually and physically for such an assault. When the blast of energy comes knocking, the psychic curls her shawl in front of her, strengthened to the hardness of steel with raw willpower. Purple chi and purple-gold Soul Power clash in a very impressive lightshow, both fighters' power spilling off to the sides, until the worst passes and Rose gets her shawl back on her shoulders, breathing heavily. That took no small effort... and she looks as if she's had better days afterwards, as well.
"There is a familiar cast to your voice," the fortuneteller murmurs quietly, observing Grant. "Both spoken, and... otherwise. Curious." However, if he wants a demonstration of Rose's might, she is more than happy to provide. Moving in closely, she suddenly attempts to leap up and forward once she gets close to Grant; if she can grab him along for the ride, both fighters go up into the air, before at the apex of the jump Rose turns and hurtles Grant back at the ground, pouring a dose of Soul Power into the Martyr of Might for good measure, the power manifesting as a phantom blue flame. "Soul Throw!"
COMBATSYS: Grant interrupts Soul Throw from Rose with Ma-Heki.
- Power hit! -
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Grant 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Rose
Rushing forward, Grant seems intent to meet Rose once more; A battle of the titans most assuredly, ergo one is physical and one is something significantly more transient. Grasped in the shoulder, the hapless psycho mistress is impacted still with tremendous force, although not before managing to send Grant hurtling away while trailed with deep azure power. He hits a car once more, sending it skidding backwards before lurching forward, trembling while attempting to rise without the greatest amount of success. His head has never hurt this badly, even in the midst of his worst -- attacks, for lack of a better word of what his disease continues to do. "A shame you won't tell me of his business. Answer me one question, then. Only one. Does Sagat continue to work for Shadaloo...?" That at least can open many more possibilities that Rose might not be inclined to answer.
Well, that... hurt, and Rose was already on the brink; as she lands from a midair clash with Grant, the psychic grips her shoulder in pain, wincing. Even given Rose's lack of physical resilience, Grant has an almost otherworldly strength; it's clearly taking all of Rose's effort to stay standing, and keep her calm face... especially since the Martyr of Might has asked such a fascinating question. "Sagat... I do not know if he is necessarily working for Shadaloo." A rueful smile, a rare sight, crosses Rose's face. "That is something I have hoped to discern for myself, and soon. But there is... darkness around him. The cards have shown it to me. That darkness is not, however, Vega's darkness. It's something else." She pauses, glancing at Grant levelly. "Though you, too, have a 'darkness'. I think I know who is the Hierophant to your Chariot, now." A pause. "How curious."
And then, with absolutely no warning, Rose simply... vanishes. However, in the blink of an eye, she reappears... everywhere. Roses attack from every angle, with every conceivable strike available to her, attacking and vanishing, continuously from essentially every angle. The assault is slowed by the psychic's fatigue, but the challenge still lies on Grant to determine what is real and what is merely illusion.
However, whether the attack is successful or not, once the final phantom Rose fades away, she is gone without a trace.
COMBATSYS: Rose can no longer fight.
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Grant 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Grant with Soul Illusion.
- Power hit! -
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Grant 1/=======/=======|
Interesting. If Rose has taken interest in who exactly Sagat works for, it should give Grant the ammunition to better... Pry the details out. Now he has the ammunition for a bluff; Before such was too uncertain to risk, but answers might be prudently asked. At the mention of darkness however, Grant merely rubs a scar upon his chest, grimacing unseen beneath the placid exterior of his mask. That comment might make Grant inclined to respond, but instead she vanishes. And then he is surrounded; Oh, Grant tried to defend, but it's too much and too quick for his own state. He is struck five times for every one diverted, and in the end he is left upon the ground in a neatly crumpled heap, deep brown cape almost completely obscuring him. Trembling he manages to push himself up to a kneel, breath coming deep and ragged. Ah. That was different. Grant saw no darkness this time. Unlike Vega... But the familiarity? Who knows. His one true question for Rose was at least partially answered. He has food for thought. But in a less climatic and epic manner, Grant settles back on the ground until his head stops spinning. He'll just have to get started at by gawking onlookers until he's capable of getting up again, damnit.
Log created by Rose, and last modified on 11:09:33 02/15/2006.