Description: A fine example of underdog vs. top dog; even the most powerful aren't immune to an upset of muscular proportions. (Winner: Alex)
Ah, Paris. City of romance. City that may well have had someone in Kain's ancestral tree walking through it with jackboots. Kain's presence here is a bit more benign, although his business tentacles have reached into this corner of the world as well. Heinlein is multi-lingual and can be /very/ persuasive. Today, though, he's here for pleasure rather than business.
Even Kain is still human, and he actually spends the morning taking in some of the sights, seeing some of the art, and sampling some of the food. And now he's standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe, the area surrounding which has been cordoned off for this round of the World Warrior fights. He's not especially familiar with his opponent, but he knows that he's on the team that managed to win the last King of Fighters tournament, which speaks well for his skills. Kain would never hold back against a weaker opponent, but this does mean that he might get a good workout from this. Both of his fights thus far in this tournament have been learning experiences in their own way, and most of the weaker fighters should be weeded out by this point.
A chair and a small table have been provided for Kain while he waits for the match to begin, and that's where he sits. A bottle of expensive red wine sits on the table, and Kain sips it from a nearby glass as he gazes out over the audience. Most of them are inconsequential, but he's already been made well aware that there are at least a few people of power that are interested in this tournament.
Alex didn't hurry on his way here. He didn't dress up nicely. He isn't going to have any tea. None of these things are particularly his style, and not when he's about to run up against an opponent like Kain. Alex arrives on foot, his hands stuffed into a beat up old bomber jacket that he wears as he approaches the television cameras and waiting crew. Most people don't notice him until he shoulders his way through the crowd, bigger and tougher-looking than most people.
"Out of the way, pal," he mumbles, stepping over the barrier and into the ring, immediately picking Kain out of the crowd. Partially because he's sitting down and drinking. And also because he's wearing a leisure suit. Great. Alex looks like he's already a little sweaty. He's spent the morning preparing. "Hey!" he calls out, spreading his arms and pulling off his jacket in one motion. He tosses it onto the street at the edge of the ring, not much concerned with its well-being. "You come here to fight, or should I come back after yer brunch?"
There's something to be said for psychological warfare. There are many ways to injure your opponent, and they don't all involve pummeling with fists and feet. Kain rises from his seat, but he neglects to put down his glass of wine. He holds it in his right hand, left hand slipped into his pocket as he walks several paces away from the table and chair to face Alex. "Oh, no. I'm quite ready."
Heinlein pauses to take another sip from his glass, which still contains a fair amount of wine. "And I do believe that the officials are ready as well." Kain glances toward the side of the fighting area and just then a man's voice calls out on the loudspeakers, while another voice can be heard repeating his words in French in the background. "Okay, folks! Both of our fighters are here, so we're ready to begin this match of round 2 of the World Warrior tournament? Ready fighters? Go!"
Kain looks back to Alex, holding his wine glass up as if in a toast. "Well now. Shall we begin?" He makes no movement to put down his wine glass. Confident bastard, isn't he?
COMBATSYS: Kain has started a fight here.
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Kain 0/-------/-------|
"Yeah," Alex says, grabbing his t-shirt with one gloved hand. "Let's get started." For a second, Alex considered mocking Kain's shalls and shall-nots. He decided against it. This is a serious business. Fighting is a serious business. Yelling with fury and intensity, Alex just /tears/ that shirt off, releasing it to the wind just as the announcer yells 'GO!'
Before the shirt hits the ground, Alex is on top of Kain. For so much bulk, for so much muscle... he's got speed. Or, at the very least, he's got velocity to put himself so directly into his opponent's face. He's seen what Kain can do from a distance, and Alex is going to do everything he can to prevent that. Alex comes in towards Kain knee-first, directing it right into his opponent's face with enough force to lift Kain up off the ground for a follow-up attack.
COMBATSYS: Alex has joined the fight here.
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Kain 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alex
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Alex's Air Knee Smash.
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Kain 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Alex
Now, of course, you don't put on a show like Kain just did without having something to back it up. Unless you really like to bluff. Kain rarely bluffs. His left hand slips out of his pocket as Alex's knee comes up, and the younger man's leg crashes into Kain's braced forearm. The wine in his glass sloshes around slightly, but none of it escapes the rim of the glass.
And Kain continues to hold onto it as he draws his right foot back slightly. There's a flare up of purple fire around his foot, and then his leg sweeps forward and up in a sharply angled kick which snaps up toward Alex's chest. The flames trail behind Kain's leg in a wave, racing forward to explode upon impact.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alex with Schwarze Lanze.
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Kain 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Alex
"--Jeez!" Forget that. Alex gets launched out of the neighborhood and across the arena. He's practically on fire by the time he hits the ground, and when he does, he hits the ground and stays there, motionless. He's done, right? Over and done with. That was the kind of hit that makes elderly people explode and children cry.
Not yet. Alex... gets up, clawing his way back onto his feet and taking a moment to catch his breath. "Huff. Figures," he grunts, before taking off for Kain one more time. Mercy's for suckers, and so's retreat. Alex isn't interested in either of those things as he picks up speed. Desperation breeds violence, and Alex is throwing out all the stops, reaching out to grab Kain with both hands. "You burn-- but it's not always the best fighter that wins! Sometimes--" If he can make contact, Kain goes up... and Kain comes straight down like an anvil. "--Sometimes it's the toughest!"
COMBATSYS: Kain interrupts Powerbomb from Alex with Schwarze Kreuz.
- Power hit! -
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Kain 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Alex
Kain watches calmly as Alex comes charging toward him. He can certainly appreciate the sentiment, of course. And Alex /does/ have a point. Skill alone is not always enough to win, especially when one thinks in terms of wars rather than just battles. But in a one on one contest, skill is very important. Skill, and the willingness to do what it takes to win.
Kain waits until Alex is almost right on top of him before making a sweeping motion with his right arm. The wine flies from his glass, splashing across Alex's face. At least Kain let the glass tumble off to the side to shatter on the ground. The wine itself is unlikely to do any more than sting Alex's eyes a bit, of course, but a distraction is all Kain needs. Because once Alex's hands close on him, Kain's entire body bursts into flames. It's not quite fast enough for Kain to avoid feeling Alex's grip squeezing down on him, but the explosion in his opponent's face is enough for Kain to break free and come down at his own pace, rather than being slammed into the ground.
"Hrn--" Alex goes up and gets brought right back down by the steam train that is Kain. He hits the ground and rolls a few meters before stopping. All motion ceases. There are tanks that couldn't survive the kind of punishment that Kain just caused. Alex isn't a tank. He's a fighter. It's different.
When everything's said and done, the street is cracked and battered from the sheer impact of Alex's impact. The referee raises a hand to declare the fight over--and then there's a sound. A sound of movement shifting broken shards of concrete. And Alex starts getting up. Blood and burns pour from most of his body, and it's less than a minute into the fight. "You're not it--" he says, sounding more like an animal than anything else. "--guys like you... you're nothing like warriors." Alex wipes some of the blood from his forehead. He also wipes some of the wine, not so much faulting his opponent for the trick. Forget it. That doesn't so much matter. In the midsts of talking tough, Alex staggers to a knee, gasping for energy. He doesn't seem to have any. Tensing every muscle against the broken street, Alex bends his legs, and launches himself -- like a rocket -- at Kain. Stubborn enough not to admit defeat? Brave enough to face the impossible? Stupid enough? All this and more.
COMBATSYS: Alex successfully hits Kain with Hyper Bomb.
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Kain 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Alex
"Lemme show you how a warrior fights, pal... and when we're through, you'll remember one thing, no matter what!" Alex's right arm snaps out to grab Kain by the face, his massive fingers wrapping around the German aristocrat's smaller head and picking him straight up and twisting him around upside down. "Doesn't matter how much pride you've got--" Alex leaps straight up, finally yanking Kain around and /down/ into the ground, his machine-like muscles snapping on the way. "--all that matters--" There's an explosion. That's Alex driving Kain into the ground, leaving only broken cobblestones and a scattering crowd. "--is tenacity!" Alex isn't discouraged, no matter how much of an underdog he is.
"You think this is over?!?" Alex says, standing momentarily above the crater that's been left behind. He grabs at Kain again, by the shirt, pulling until it may well rip. "HYPER BOMB!" he roars, and leaps straight up and straight down /again/, rattling windows along the block and pummeling the cobblestones into dust. And again, this time raising the much lighter Kain over his head and drilling him into what is now dirt.
There's probably going to be some people angry about this... But hey, they're French. Besides, there's been no damage done thus far to the actual monument, so it's all fair game, right? At any rate, Kain certainly feels /this/. It's pretty hard not to notice when you're being slammed into the ground hard enough to drive you right through the surface of the street. And yet, despite the dirt and rubble on his suit, Kain still seems to be in fairly good shape when he rises back to his feet.
"And what," he says as he shakes off some bits of shattered cobblestone, "do you think you know about tenacity?" Kain appreciates those who don't give up on a fight, no matter how bad it looks. In a fight to the death, yes, it may be best to run away and regroup. But when death isn't on the line, only a coward doesn't give it their all. "You've done well, but you still have a long way to go." Anyone who learned to fight from /Grant/ has a very good understanding of the concept of tenacity.
They would also have a good understanding of methods of fighting that don't necessarily just involve throwing blasts of flame around. Kain quickly steps in toward Alex, a blue glow surround his fist as he lashes out in an attempt to smash a punch right into the center of the younger man's face.
COMBATSYS: Alex Toughs Out Kain's Fierce Punch!
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Kain 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Alex
"What do I know about tenacity?!"
Kain swings and Alex catches his fist. Not in one hand; that would suggest he's looking cool. Being tough. Alex stops it with both hands, and it shakes him like an earthquake, dropping the much larger fighter to a knee from the agony and force behind the blood. Alex's knee hits battered, bruised cobblestone, but he's holding onto that fist with both hands, gasping onto it as though there was nothing else in the world. "That's the difference between you and me--" Alex rasps, before forcing Kain's fist straight backwards and climbing to his feet.
In a fight to the death, sometimes it is best to run. When death isn't on the line, it's cowardice to give anything less than your all. And then there are people who approach every fight as though everything were on the line. That's how Alex is still standing. Just because there are cameras doesn't dilute a fight. To Alex, the crowd, and the cameras, don't exist. There's only Kain, and there's only the fight.
"--when'd you decide that you didn't?!" Have a long way to go, that is. The mountain never stops getting taller, no matter how good you are. "--the only limit... is how much you can take! So, pal?!" Alex squeezes that fist, lifting Kain up into the air and down to the dirt again. It's as though Alex uses the planet as a blunt instrument. "How tough are you?!"
He fights like an animal. An animal backed into a corner.
COMBATSYS: Alex successfully hits Kain with Powerbomb.
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Kain 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 Alex
Tch. It's so hard to be Kain. Everybody with an axe to grind seems so intent on misinterpreting his words. Of course there's always room for improvement! And maybe Alex is a bit closer to Kain's level than he thought, judging by the force with which Heinlein finds himself slammed into the ground. He gets the wind knocked out of him, though he's still quick to scramble around to get back to his feet. Really, this is more like what he was expecting from someone on the same team as Ryu. "You're tougher than I gave you credit for. Guess you just needed to get warmed up." Apparently he doesn't feel a need to respond to Alex's question.
Blue flames suddenly engulf both of Kain's arms up to the shoulders as he points his palms in Alex's direction. The flames begin pouring out into the air in front of him, swirling around in a circular pattern until they condense to a churning blue orb. A moment later the sphere shoots forth toward Alex while Kain hops back from the point of impact.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alex with Himmlische Seele.
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Kain 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Alex
"Huh?" Alex finds himself completely dwarved by blue flame. He disappears into what should be a tremendous, mind-numbing explosion. The young fighter entirely disappears into the fog of destruction, and the referee raises his arms and half of the audience flinches away from the ugly mess that Alex is going to be when the EMTs finally cart him off from this crippling defeat.
And then Alex explodes from out the /back/ end of the gargantuan sphere that is the Himmlische Seele, both arms extended outwards, a cry of animalistic fury raised from his lungs as he sails towards Kain like a meteorite. Not only is he still going, at least for this second... but he's a beast. A monster. And he's coming right for Kain, and if he can so much as lay a hand on him in the midsts of his rage, his plan of attack is plain: Plant Kain's face into the rock again, and again, and again, until he stops moving.
COMBATSYS: Alex has reached second wind!
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Kain 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Alex
COMBATSYS: Alex successfully hits Kain with Hyper Bomb.
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Kain 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Alex
Kain's plan is really quite simple. Alex is lumbering toward him through a haze of flame, so he should just be able to hop out of the way and let him collapse into the dirt. Except... Where did that sudden upsurge of power come from? Kain is caught momentarily by surprise, and that's just enough for Alex's fingers to close on the edge of his sleeve. That's not much, but from there it's easy to switch the grip to something more substantial.
And so Kain finds himself smashed repeatedly face-first into the ground, and before long he's bleeding, but not /quite/ broken. He's not going to let himself go down like this! Alex isn't the only tenacious one here. Kain's clothing flutters for a moment, and then wisps of blue energy begin to rise from his body. That's the only warning before an explosion of raw chi rips out of him, shredding the ground in a radius of several feet from the spot where Kain is kneeling. Along with anything caught inside that radius.
COMBATSYS: Kain can no longer fight.
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Alex 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Alex dodges Kain's Himmlische Seele.
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Alex 0/-------/------=|
Kain's a monster. He can barely be called a human being with the sheer power that courses through his body and soul. Alex grabs his opponent by the hair, slamming him face-first into the asphalt again and again, his teeth gritted and his mouth and eyes full of blood. And when he's destroyed Kain's face and left the aristocrat battered and beaten, there's one thing Alex forgot.
One does not topple gods without facing the consequences.
Throwing Kain to the ground and stepping away, Alex's eyes -- blurry with blood and the bile in his mouth -- widen and squint away from the tremendous light and heat that burns from his foe. So bright -- the cameras flare white, and the crowd squints away or flees from the blast, and for some time nothing is left.
The street? Destroyed. The crowd? Scattered to the winds. Kain? Down in the dirt.
And Alex, sitting on a slightly taller pile of dirt, as though having just climbed to his feet and fell over to catch his breath, desperately. Or that he's fallen. And then the impossible happens.
Alex, slowly, inch by inch, stands up. "Maybe I should have told you... first... before we started this," he says, staggering not towards Kain, but towards his table, which has miraculously survived. Alex grabs at the bottle of his white wine and pours it straight down his broken gullet.
"I've met World Warriors. I've faced them. And you, pal? You're a monster... but you're no World Warrior. If it wasn't me, it would be somebody else." Having finished the bottle, Alex drops it to the ground and starts walking towards his jacket. Well, limping. "And second?" he adds, before turning around with a start. One hand tears off his bandanna, gripping it in hand. "I /don't/ lose."
Alex begins to turn, as though he might walk away. And then he falls over, facefirst, into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Alex has ended the fight here.
Log created on 21:13:32 03/23/2007 by Alex, and last modified on 19:46:32 06/14/2007.