Description: Chizuru finds Vega near a base in Thailand. There is a fight, and also conversation.
He does this every day.
At least, now. Every day, he steps away from the base he is at, to walk to clearings set well outside range of the base. He knows the world can find him through its sattelites and spies, knows that they watch for 'where he is' so they can prepare and plan, make calls to tell ambushes and death squads to come for him. He doesn't mind - in fact, he relishes it. It is a simple challenge. He offers them his body, every day - an implicit acquiesence, an understanding. Attack me if you dare, and I will rise above you.
It's what he's always wanted, after all. People are coming to find him, to challenge him, to /stop/ him because he /must/ be stopped. For the sake of the world he must be put down and stilled. But each time they try, he finishes them without apparent effort, sending ambush after ambush away to the jungle, to die or to be recovered by their support teams.
He knows they will try again, or someone will come. After all, he's a psychic - one of the strongest in the world, now. And in his mind, there is no destiny other than the coming challenge - though he refuses to look and see /who/. He knows, in the end - whoever it is, whatever they attempt - he will overcome.
He is, after all.. Lord Vega.
Chizuru is, as usual, careful and precise.
She did not rush ahead of the group; she looked at the plan and where people were going and simply volunteered to go a different direction than many of them. When she got there, she again did not attack immediately; she listened and waited. Chizuru may not be psychic, but she gets hunches sometimes too, and she isn't called the Watcher for nothing. She watched.
Watching pays off.
Chizuru hears Vega entering the clearing she is near before she sees him. She smiles, just a little, not because she is looking forward to this - she's not - but because it means that, once again, patience is doing its job. She moves backwards, quietly, further away...to watch, just a little more. The opportunity won't last forever. She has to find the best one.
Listening and waiting for Vega is a fun experience. He uses these jaunts to escape the 'noise' of dealing with his minions as much as offering himself up for those that can find him. His voice is deep, dark as he mulls over the things happening in Shadaloo. Chizuru may even hear about how he's lost one Akira Kazama, something that is vexing him to no end. After all, losing a skilled brainwashed assassin is definitely something to be annoyed about - losing them in a way that means little to no chance of recovering them, even more so.
Eventually, though - that little tingle at the back of his neck picks up, Vega starting to clue in. Noone's stepped out, noone has challenged him yet. Have they all given up, and passed on the concept of fighting him in groups? Will they simply attempt to bomb his location next? Perhaps, perhaps not. He throws his head back, his voice echoing out as he searches and seeks mentally. "If you choose to fight, do so /now/! Lord Vega does not suffer fools kindly!"
COMBATSYS: Vega has started a fight here.
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Vega 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Vega takes no action.
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Vega 0/-------/-------|
Perhaps the best opportunity is lost, but Chizuru knows something she didn't before; although fractured as it was because of her distance, she heard some of what he said.
Unfortunately, she was also spotted, or at least sensed. She should have expected that. Chizuru /did/ expect the anger; many people focus their rage into power and she would not put it past Vega to do exactly that. Focusing herself, she tenses before leaping into action.
Chizuru comes flying out of the bushes where she was hiding, a leap that turns into a straight run with a forward palm strike at the end of it. The most interesting part is that she flickers and vanishes a moment after, as the striking illusion of Chizuru fades away after its attack.
She herself has moved slightly around, and is stepping out of the bushes from a slightly different direction. Hopefully he doesn't see it and attacks where she was, not where she is.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru has joined the fight here.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vega
COMBATSYS: Vega blocks Chizuru's Shinsoku no Norito.
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Chizuru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Vega
The rustle gives her away. Vega was not actually sure where she would come from, or even that it was a she. But as he sees the blurred movement out of the corner of his eye, he spins to face the Yata woman, his face growing gleeful. He's fought her before, her threats to 'seal his evil' making him amused and intent at the same time. "You have come again, then? This time, you fight me with ferocity that you did not have before?" he says, his arm coming up to deflect the arm-strike. The vanishing is a trick that he hadn't seen from her before, but really - he's not too surprised. She's not the only one with skills in that fashion!
"This time will be no different, woman. Your challenge is accepted, and your fate.. is sealed!" With that simply said, Vega turns towards where the illusion had vanished to, and charges straight towards that area. At the last second, though - he seemingly generates an afterimage of pure dark psychopower, fading out in much the same way that she does - only to reappear /far/ too close to where she now stands, bringing both arms up and around in a giant hammerfist, aimed to knock her into the clearing!
COMBATSYS: Chizuru dodges Vega's Psycho Vanish.
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Chizuru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Vega
Chizuru is already moving by the time Vega reappears. She actually ducks and rolls; for all her fancy clothes, she is not afraid of a grass stain from dodging along the ground or somersaulting out of reach.
She comes up at Vega's side, hand raised in her usual combat stance. "I have and I do," Chizuru says, calmly. Vega may be angry; she'll counter that by remaining calm no matter what. It is, at least so far, trivial. "I am surprised only that you did not expect it, after you have done such things."
While she speaks, Chizuru dips her hand down and left, arcs it back up, then down and right; it looks like an abbreviated form maneuver, harmless except for the way it helps her focus her chi. She does not use said chi, though; instead she ducks low, attempts to grip Vega by the waist, and throw him down with the aid of a tripping leg. The motion is performed with as much grace as always, half combat and half a dance.
COMBATSYS: Vega interrupts Strong Throw from Chizuru with Psycho Fall.
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Chizuru 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Vega
Fast! Too fast!
Or is Vega simply too slow! His hands sliding through air, the purple psychopower arcing behind his grasping grip, a failure on his part, a chance he's taken that is far, far too blatant. He chastises himself internally - this is not for show, this is an actual threat, as opposed to so many others.
"Everything I do, history will acknowledge was simple destiny. This defeat you will experience has already happened, to me - all that matters is the 'how'." His voice is a feral growl as she starts to raise her arm. He's prepared this time, and has her number for this dance.
As he's wrapped up, he moves with her - fluidly for his bulk and size, oddly skillful. The spin of the throw is intercepted, duplicated, and then sped up with the intense power only his psychic aura can offer. As he spins away, he imparts all the extra speed towards her own throw, to attempt to knock her off balance..
And to give himself some breathing room.
It works.
Chizuru arcs through the air for quite some distance before impacting a tree; not as hard as she could have, as she knows how to roll with the impact, but enough that it is still painful. It also gives Vega the breathing room he craves, for a few moments at least; Chizuru recovers quickly, regaining her footing and turning to face Vega.
This time she says nothing at first. She focuses, for a moment, seeking to see how he uses his Psycho Power; she has fought him before, and seen him fight, which helps. Then, all of a sudden, Chizuru rushes forward, reaching forward with her left hand as she channels her chi in a mighty surge, visible as an almost electric crackle over her body in the instant that she begins to move.
When she actually gets close to Vega, the orb shimmers gold with the power of her Seal; although temporary, Chizuru is praying that it is enough to at least disrupt his power momentarily. She says something under her breath, quite rapidly, in Japanese; she doesn't seem to realize she's said it.
COMBATSYS: Vega blocks Chizuru's Reigi no Ishizue.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Vega
Breathing room is /always/ appreciated.
Vega needs it, the effort of hurling Chizuru away having stolen a momentary sense of victory away from him, and the simple grounding that he gains from watching her recover and prepare is good enough to allow him the ability to summon forth the intense power of will that he prides himself on, the wellspring of his psychic aura.
His hand comes out again, this time wreathed in Psychopower, the dark purple seemingly shifting colors as it impacts the gold orb that she attempts to seal his power with. He /laughs/ at her as the impact pushes him back on his heels, but otherwise seems to do nothing - the awesome power that he controls does not signifigantly lessen, nor does his wide grin as he finds himself up-close and personal with her again.
"You failed that last time as well - let me show you just how little your effects and trinkets bother my might!" He roars out a challenge, his leg coming back, then spinning in a vicious kick towards her stomach, intent on driving straight through to her spine if he can.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru fails to reflect Strong Kick from Vega with Tamayura no Shitsune.
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Chizuru 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Vega
The sight of her orb fizzling against Vega's hand makes Chizuru's eyes widen. It's very slight, almost imperceptible, but it's the first sign of surprise or startlement she's shown all night and significant for that reason alone. She thought she'd changed the flow, slightly, but enough to make it work properly with his power...
The surprise may be why she is a little slow at bringing her other hand around. It is already glowing a faint orange, but Chizuru fails to put it in the way quite fast enough, and the boot strikes her solidly in the stomach. To her credit, she does not make any noise when this happens.
She does, however, fly back perhaps ten yards, through a small tree and into the brush; she rolls, unable to really check her movement for some time, until she finally comes to a rest. All Chizuru can manage to do at first is get to her knees; she is not beaten, but perhaps she is close.
"You're still strong."
Vega is a talker, if people hadn't known - partially because he wants /others/ to talk back, but also because by talking, by /feeling/, he gains the ability to see their emotions, to touch them and siphon strength from them. He is more than willing to drag this out as long as he needs to, the Shadaloo Leader well-aware of her still lingering strength - but trying to goad her, by giving her opportunities to speak.
"As of yet, I have not killed any fighter who has challenged me in single combat. Is today the day that I should change that policy?" He holds one fist up, the dark aura sparking fitfully around his fingers, then blazing up in purple-blue waves. It's a shameless display of his power, but he doesn't care. In the end, she'll have to deal with it one way or another, and it's just possible she'll give him an answer. "... Or perhaps you'd join Shadaloo. We're going to remake the world, to change it - no more petty wars, no more murder as man fights man for supremacy. Once I rule, all those emotions will be drawn out, drained from the lesser mortals.. And then there will be peace. Wouldn't that be an end to the 'evil' you seek?" He reaches out, and simply swipes his hand at her head - all the better to knock her to the side. He's curious - what will she say, or will she be able to answer at all?
COMBATSYS: Vega successfully hits Chizuru with Jab Punch.
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Chizuru 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Vega
Chizuru says nothing as she rises. She remains as carefully impassive as she can, after being hit so hard that she cannot straighten all the way and is no longer moving the smoothly or apparently carelessly as she once was; everything is labored, now, and carefully chosen.
The first catches her in the side of the head. Chizuru weaves, dangerously close to falling over, but does not. Instead she finally opens her mouth again. "Whatever I said to you, you would not hear. If I begged for you to spare my life, it would not matter; you will do it, or not, as you choose."
She acts. Where there was one Chizuru, now there are two; for all that she is nearly defeated, and in significant pain, she can still force herself to move one last time. The two Chizurus launch into a flurry of attacks, some high and some low, and Chizuru somehow finds breath to speak while she does this. "But I can reject you. I will not join Shadaloo. I reject you, and everything you stand for, and everything you offer me. I will not join you. If that means I will die, then I will die."
The illusion and Chizuru's breath run out at almost the same time. She slowly steps backward, forcing herself to stand as straight as she can.
COMBATSYS: Vega interrupts Sanrai no Fujin from Chizuru with Psycho Wave.
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Chizuru 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Vega
And in the end - she's correct. What he does, he does because he can, not because others beg or plead or exhort him to do so - he is will personafied, the intent of a madman to carve his mark out of the world with blood and sweat - be it his own, or countless others that have fallen beneath his nightmare grip.
His grin grows sullen, the determination of Chizuru before him making Lord Vega growl almost animalistically. He's tired of this, tired of fighter after fighter refusing him. They all decry him as insane, ignore his power, and walk away unless he simply controls them - and in the end, he is forced to crush them to prove something that he can see, that he /knows/, and /noone/ will accept. That he is Vega.
That he should Rule.
As she splits into two images, he makes his choice, his decision in a split second before the moment of impact - he watches the dualistic nature of her attempt, and simply summons power upon power, darkness falling early in this small area as his aura simply explodes into a sphere about and around him, then blast towards and /through/ the two images. Through the noise and the chaos, he speaks - not with words, no - with his mind. Cold and crystal-clear.
<<You reject me - but in the end, you will still fall. I do not need this fight, any longer. You have proven you are not strong. In the end, I will have my way, My Will... Be Done.>>
And in the end - he turns, and begins to walk away, back completely open to her, knowing that in the end, it doesn't matter. He's seen this before - he knows how it ends.
Victory - Shadaloo.
Chizuru refuses everyone with a similar offer. She wouldn't be the Guardian of the Seal if she was easy to tempt; she would have let Orochi out for easy power. No Guardian has ever done that. None will in the future, if she has her way.
The explosions are enough to blast CHizuru away - upwards, in fact. It takes her a good ten seconds to land, some distance away from Vega. For one moment, she considers using the last of her power to take him in an attack that he can't see coming, at the expensive of her health and possibly her life.
She does not. That would be foolish. Better to retreat, even if it's a little galling, and try again another day - another way. And it's time to talk to Rose once again. Chizuru drags herself at first, then crawls away from Vega, ignoring the insult he's given her by ignoring her and turning his back.
COMBATSYS: Chizuru takes no action.
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Vega 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Chizuru can no longer fight.
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Vega 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Vega has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:20:03 06/21/2007 by Chizuru, and last modified on 20:30:48 06/23/2007.