Description: Shoma's lost in Thailand, Rose comes to warn him about Vega. FANCY COINCIDENCE TIME!
The Mekong River, Thailand.
The river itself is one of the ten largest rivers in the world. It is a border point, a demarcation for Thailand and its next-door neighbor, Laos. The word means 'Mother of all rivers', and when looked at from one of its shores, it surely must look to be such. Almost a kilometer wide, it can flood to four times the width, swamping the jungle that edges along its shores.
As the sun starts to fall from its high point in the sky, afternoon comes on, and with it, an oppressive heat. Sticky humid air clings to people's bodies, and the buzzing of bugs and general undebrush sounds echo out and about.
Shoma tromps through the underbrush, muttering as he uses his bat to help push his way through. It's no substitute for a machete, of course, but it's what he has. He reaches the riverbank, and looks around as he pulls his cap off to wipe the sweat from his brow.
"Damn. I /really/ got lost. Where the heck is Roberto, anyway?" Shoma gripes. He should have known being late for this field trip was not a good way to start things off; now he's seperated from his friends...
"Not here," someone says from above Shoma.
Rose, were she more of a ninja, would have been standing on a tall tree limb, looking into the sun as it reflected off the river. Rose is not much of a ninja, and so she is seated in the crook of a tree that was split by lightning, but not killed, several decades ago. She is wearing a somewhat lighter version of her usual dress, as well as a sunhat, and has her hands folded in her lap.
She rocks the pump that dangles slightly from her left foot up and down. "When you say Roberto," she continues, "do you mean Mr. Miura?"
Shoma gives a slight start, and looks up to see...a tall lady in a tree. Shoma blushes a bit as he blinks twice. He holds a hand over his head, clearing the spikey hair poking through his ball cap.
"Yeah. Soccer playing dude, about this tall? Wears a blue visor all the time? You seen him or that black-haired amazon Natsu?"
"I do not know the other one," Rose says, sliding out of the tree to land - daintily - atop a rock. The slightly muddy ground doesn't seem to bother her, and she straightens up, one hand going on her hip as she smiles at the young man. "But Mr. Miura is a friend of mine. He is resting with several others, some distance away..."
The warmth in her expression turns to concern. "But - how did you come here? This area is dangerous, for now. I hope you have not been lost in the wilderness... Mr. Miura was, for some time." Rose has it on good authorities he hunted with his soccer balls.
Shoma blinks, and tenses up as she lands; she's not your average person apparently. But she speaks fondly of Roberto, which sets him at ease. He scratches behind one ear as he looks a bit confused.
"It was /supposed/ to be a field trip, but practice made me late." A field trip...of JUSTICE! "Y'mean Roberto's okay? I got worried when I heard gunshots over that way," Shoma says as he waves off in the direction he just came from, "Definitely not Taiyo Stadium, lady. What's your name?"
And eventually, well - all interesting conversations must come to an end. This one will probably be changed towards another direction by a buzzing sound - an incessant sort of drone that starts far down the river, slowly growing in volume. As it does, a speck can be seen in the air - a plane which will rapidly grow larger as it closes in on the area where the pair talk. On it's nose is a relatively well-known symbol in Thailand - that of a death's head with wings. The plane, one of Shadaloo's own is slowly circling the area, as if seeking ... something.
Or someone.
"My name is," Rose begins - before her ears seem to prick up. It isn't literal, though, just as it's not LITERAL that her hair stands on end - but it comes close. She looks up towards the air... the air and what's up above it.
Her lips purse, and then thin. "My name is Rose," she tells Shoma, taking a step back, carefully. "We must not stay here..." The only real path, Rose thinks, is that track around the riverside - is that where they saw us? Damn! She looks to Shoma: "Were you followed?"
Shoma's eyes shoot toward the sound of the plane. His eyes narrow as he looks at Rose, and shrugs. He has no idea if he was followed or not, but given the way Rose found him, it would not have been difficult to track the high-school student. He's not versed in much of anything that isn't baseball or baseball-style combat technique.
"Name's Shoma. Shoma Sawamura. We better tag up before we're picked off, I think," he comments as he hefts his baseball bat.
It takes a moment for the plane to move on - the lazy circle it makes is seemingly a random sort of thing. Of course, Rose is a psychic, so she can probably tell that this isn't just a simple trip for exploring. Oh no, no, there is something very big and very dark in the plane - familiar, for certain.
It almost gets to the horizon - and then starts to turn again, the wings tilting to lead it back towards where the two talk, the plane dropping altitude as it flies just over the river's wash.
Rose's teeth slide slightly out and bite her lower lip as she watches the plane move down. "I - do not think we can run," she says, as she slides the scarf out from around her neck. This is likely not an encouraging gesture, unless Shoma has watched her occasional appearances on SNF.
She looks at the young man. "I do not know who it is," she tells him. "If it is a single man, you are in great danger." The Dolls, she estimates, are bad - but not THAT bad.
Shoma raises an eyebrow. He can, on certain level, handle people throwing chi blasts from their hands. He went to school with Sakura and Hinata and Batsu and...well, it's a long list. He knows Roberto can pull of some pretty amazing (try impossible) catches when he's on game. Heck. Shoma can even channel chi through his bat for amazing effect now and then.
Flying people? No way. Shoma sets into a batting stance, "Can't be worse than Imawano or Kirishima, right?"
Luckily, the plane speeds up as it zooms past where Rose and Shoma are attempting to move inland. The wake it leaves behind is a wide arc of water that only settles slowly, edges of the bank swelling just a bit as it does. It pulls back its nose, and then the plane is gone up into the sky, headed back to where it would have come from - though that certainly does not mean an end to the danger.
Above the wake is a man - and not just /any/ man. No, sadly today is the day that Rose and her erstwhile compatriot are bound to meet the Lord of Shadaloo, Vega himself. He floats above the river, carrying himself to the bank in an impressive display of psychic energy, the dark blue and purple aura that surrounds him buoying his travel towards the edge, and towards the hiding people. His voice doesn't raise as he calls out to them - no, he simply speaks into their minds - it is, after all, much easier.
<<Welcome to Thailand, Rose.. and your young friend. Are you stealing children now..? I always thought that is what people blamed me for doing..>>
COMBATSYS: Vega has started a fight here.
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Vega 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Vega takes no action.
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Vega 0/-------/-------|
Rose's head turns slightly to look at Shoma out of the corner of her eye. "Yes," she tells him. "It can."
Whoever they are.
Rose tenses at the sight of the floating man's arrival - his wasteful command of the Psycho Power. It's a neat trick, she knows. Perhaps she's jealous, she thinks to herself, somewhere. No: the true way to use the mind to pick up a stone, is to tell the arm to lift it for you.
Her fingers tighten around her scarf as she takes one step forwards. Damn, she thinks inwardly, although Vega may be able to detect it; but then, hiding someone so nearby is a forlorn hope. Her attention returns to Vega, and she speaks aloud in reply.
"So quick to accuse," she says, lifting her head up slightly. She breathes in deeply, then out, light flickering around her for a fraction of a moment, swelling out and then glistening and sinking into her body. The display is muted by the sun's rays, light casting a long shadow as the sky seems to deepen in shade, blue turning slowly towards purple. "Is there something that weighs upon your conscience?"
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here.
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vega
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Rose 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Vega
Shoma looks concerned at Rose's comment, blinks once or twice at Vega's entrance. Huh. Flying man. What do you know? He drops his bat when Vega starts talking in /IN HIS BRAIN/. That...that is not right. It.../really/ should not work like that. The bat wavers a moment.
Then he remembers. Hyo was pretty scary when he was power-tripping at Justice High School, and so is Kurow...and Shoma stood up to /them/. Granted, he had friends with him both times but Rose knows Roberto, so it might be good enough. Shoma bends over to pick up his bat, and levels it at Vega once more before setting it over his shoulder. He tries to be ready for anything...
...'tries' being the operative word, here.
COMBATSYS: Shoma has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Shoma 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Rose
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Vega 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Shoma focuses on his next action.
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Shoma 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Rose
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Vega 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Shoma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/---====|
As he lands, Vega looks almost... dissapointed. He knows he was well open, and instead of attacking, all these two did were prepare. He's certain that Rose knows how dangerous he is, but he expected so much more from the youth, what with the fires of young age burning in his chest. Still, it isn't /all/ a wash - he has firm ground beneath his feet now, and a captive audience. He barks out a laugh, then looks at Rose, speaking to her and ignoring her partner for the moment.
"You should know better, better half. I have no conscience - and as such, all you are is worry over every decision you will ever make. 'What do I do, how do I solve problems..'" His voice trails off, his grin going feral as he holds up a hand - psychopower erupting in it, a giant ball the size of his head in black and purple held there before he hurls it at the boy.
"'How do I save innocents..?'"
COMBATSYS: Shoma reflects Psycho Shot from Vega with Return Swing.
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Shoma 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/---====|
Shoma's eyes go wide at the conversation. They go wider still as Vega hurls the sphere o' death right at him.
It's all reflex at this point.
Shoma's pupils narrow to points as he reacts, bringing the signature bat around, connecting with the Pyscho Shot. He strains for a moment, trying to bring the 'ball' under control, before finishing the swing with an empowering shout of "TAIYOOOOOOOO!"
Vega and Rose might be surprised. The projectile is sent back Vega's way!
Rose's eyes widen in shock - and then she sees the power of youth in action. The twisting bat sends the shot back towards Vega? Her head turns to look towards the looming man, fingers wrapping around the scarf as she regards him once more.
"Tsk," she says, aloud. "Do you mean that you cannot doubt, or question yourself?" This may sound brassy to Shoma; Vega is likely able to see the anxiety, however controlled, as well as the determination beneath Rose's apparent surface. She takes a step forwards along the river bed, drawing closer to the man - but remains out of arm's reach. This would present a problem...
If the scarf itself didn't blossom with bright light! Is it brighter, now, as the yellow fabric conveys that strike out towards Vega? Or is it because the sky's deepening from violet to red as the sun fades into the delta water?
COMBATSYS: Vega endures Shoma's Reflected Psycho Shot.
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Shoma 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Vega just-defends Rose's Aura Scarf!
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Shoma 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/---====|
"... Fascinating!"
Vega may not be easily surprised - but... but.. the kid /hit/ his Psycho Shot right back at him. Most people attacked by Vega's might are simply subsumed by purple and black psychopower, never to be heard from again. That he was able to redirect it with a simple /bat/... Now that, that was something to pique his interest.
As the ball of energy flies back at Vega, he braces for it, allowing it to wash over his body and simply re-absorbes it. The impact on his features seems minimal, his hair barely mussed after the end. In the chaos, he almost does not move to react to Rose, but at the last second, he does.
"Never, my soul-self. You should know better. After all.." he starts as she moves, throwing the scarf at him in a display of her own power.. He reaches out, and simply catches the tail edge of the scarf, and snuffs out her own aura at its end with an overwhelming blast of psychic power. ".. I have seen this happen. I know how this ends."
He may be saying this for show - but he pulls on the scarf, trying to use it as a way to draw Rose close - and if he can, he's going to pull her right onto his foot, aimed at her stomach with brutal ferocity. Time to show her just how much stronger he is than before, now...
Shoma rubs a finger under his nose, looking a bit perplexed. That, he would have though, would have been loads more effective. He growls a bit as he draws down on Rose, and scoops up a rock. He tosses the baseball-sized object lightly before smacking the make-shift ball at Vega, aiming for for the breadbasket.
"Leave Rose alone!"
COMBATSYS: Vega successfully hits Rose with Strong Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Shoma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 1/----===/=======|
Rose is already twisting, trying to undulate out of the way when she's yanked forwards. The soul power in the scarf may burn in a trivial and painful way but Rose is not sure. The power is disrupted when the kick hits her and her eyes go wide. Her mouth opens, and she makes a strange, strangled sound - a spasming of the arm makes her yank the scarf back as she tries to breathe back in.
She tries to gasp something out to Shoma. She can't, as she takes a step back from Vega, tottering even as light glitters around her again. She manages, with force, to override the enormous pain and crushing pressure on her solar plexus, diaphragm dragging air into her lungs.
She IS able to think, however. <<RUN,>> she tells Shoma, although the tone may lack a certain degree of command. At the same time, the scarf writhes around her arm again as she lunges forwards, turning her instability and tottering into something resembling a lunge towards the towering figure! Perhaps she is stalling for time as she forces Soul Power back into the cloth, the shape like a wide drill, the light fluourescing in curious colors as the sun shines between the gaps.
Fio heads back to the Thailand main area.
Fio arrives from sub-stage 1.
Guile heads back to the Thailand main area.
Guile arrives from sub-stage 1.
COMBATSYS: Vega dodges Rose's Soul Spiral.
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Shoma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Vega dodges Shoma's Thrown Object.
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Shoma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 1/----===/=======|
It's a near thing. Vega is suddenly assaulted from both sides, the impact of his boot against Rose's side allowing him a bit of a turning point. He needs it, as it allows him to go to the air. Poor Rose, he uses her as a springboard point to avoid the thrown rock, body moving in a blur that belies his bulk - psychopower making him all the stronger, all the faster, more than any normal human in existance. In the falling daylight, he seems to hover in air, then lands before Rose, sliding his hand around that drill-like scarf, evading her masterful technique. It wears on him, but still - it is done with skill and aplomb, and he manages to look mostly unruffled.
"That's right, boy - Run. Run, or your fate is hers!" He fully intends to punish both for daring to intrude in Thailand, but Rose... well, Rose is personal. Very, very personal. Bringing back his hand that slid through the incoming Soul Spiral, he attempts to take her wrist - if he can, well.. He'll try to simply crush it in his grip. Squashing the hand that holds the scarf means she's powerless. Right? Right?!
Shoma blinks again. He seems to be doing that a lot. Two things occur to him: The first being that he should run. This is reinforced by Rose's mental urging. The second is that y'know? Maybe she was right! Vega's WAY more frightening than Hyo and Kurow...put together!
He watches with mute horror as Vega grabs for Rose. Rose was going to help him. Help him find Roberto and his friends. And she is trying to keep Vega off of him.
He can't walk away from that. He yells "I SAID," as he leaps...strangely high for 'just a boy.' He seems to hover over Vega for a moment as golden light sweeps and swirls around his legs "LEAVE HER..." and then he plummets for the High Commander of Shadaloo cleated feet first. "ALONE!"
COMBATSYS: Rose reflects Medium Punch from Vega with Soul Reflect.
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Shoma 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 1/---====/=======|
Powerless?
Rose may not have the battle-hardened visage of /pure evil,/ but she is not weak. Weaker than Vega - weaker than men who have put their life in the service of war - but there are places where she does not falter. She breathes in...
The scarf around her arm slides back as Vega reaches for her hand, the psycho power in him radiating out against her relatively frail body. The scarf doesn't try to wrap around protectively; instead, it forms a momentary shape, almost like a ribbon or a radiator fin.
Then comes the light. This is undeniable brightness, radiating out from her hand and upper arm like a small explosion, if a soundless one. "/NO,/" Rose says, aloud, before turning quickly and stepping back from Vega. She concludes the odd, almost twirling motion facing him, eyes narrowing; her breathing is still labored, but it's coming.
COMBATSYS: Vega fails to interrupt Base Stomp from Shoma with Psycho Wave.
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Shoma 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Vega
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 1/---====/=======|
Light.
Vega hates that light. He hates that power that Rose uses, that she warps and twists and pretends to 'help' people with. No, no, he really, really hates it - and he hates it even more when she actually uses it effectively against him. The blast of her power knocks him back a step - one critical step, to be sure.
Right into the path of Shoma's attack. The cleated feet gash Vega's cheek and knock him to his knees, into the mud and gunk of the river's edge. The hate and fury on his face are /easy/ to see now, and focused entirely on the pair. Oh yes, there shall be some stomping soon to come their way. For now, he just growls incorherently as he tries to recover his balance!
An opening!
Granted, Shoma's starting to breath a bit hard. His lungs are starting to feel that burn, but a chance like this /can't/ be passed up! Shoma charges in, planting both feet firmly in the river bank as he reshoulders the baseball bat.
"The Three-Two pitch to Sawamura! He SWINGS!" Shoma attempts to use Vega as a ball, and send the Big Jawed Despot for the proverbial bleachers...
Rose can't speak clearly even now, and so her voice echoes in Shoma's head. <<There is a hope,>> she tells him. <<But before I can explain our plan - there is one thing I must do -->>
Shoma seems to be attempting to knock Vega back. Good, Rose thinks, if he can do it; in either case, she snaps the scarf to the side like a whip, the Soul Power still hot and vigorous in her. It feels good, she thinks, like basking in a warm summer sun. She twists her body, light blossoming from the back of her shoulder as she traces a faint arc in the air with the end of the scarf...
The soul spark does not come slowly this time. It practically erupts from her, sliding down the long fabric and out through the arc of shimmering light as a momentary rainbow, shifted towards the red end of the spectrum, blossoms. The Soul Energy flies out, then, curving slightly to strike at Vega's - legs, it seems.
Why the legs, in specific? Perhaps Rose is scheming, somehow...
COMBATSYS: Vega blocks Rose's Aura Soul Spark.
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Shoma 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Vega dodges Shoma's Grand Slam Smash.
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Shoma 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
"You're burning out, boy. Soon you won't be able to even lift that bat of yours."
Vega taunts - it's what he does. He seeks weakness, exploits it, and tries to build up to when his opponents overcommit, making tactical errors. This does, of course, mean he needs to not do the same himself - and overconfidence has always been something he's had trouble with.
As the baseball bat comes in, Vega moves just enough to let the smash swing harmlessly by his hair, the hat he wears briefly moving with the motion. As he does so, he senses Rose's attack, and simply braces for it by extending his own field of Psychopower, to envelop and dissipate hers. It still pushes him forwards, away from her - but he is pleased by this. Very, very pleased.
'Why?', some may ask! The answer is simple, though. This brings him so much closer to the baseball-bat wielding man that it's silly. He lashes out with a backhand, trying to knock Shoma for a loop - a fist might normally be easily laughed off, but with Vega's psychic fury powering it, it should be a force to be reckoned with!
COMBATSYS: Vega successfully hits Shoma with Medium Punch.
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Shoma 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Vega
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
Shoma is sent flying, courtesy of Air Vega. He slams into a tree, purple Psycho flame lucking across his Taiyo Baseball uniform. He slumps to the ground, and simply stays there...
...Slugger needs to catch his breath a bit.
COMBATSYS: Shoma gains composure.
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Shoma 1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0 Vega
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 0/-------/-------|
The brutal strike against the boy agonizes Rose for a moment. It's only a moment, though; she can tell he's still alive. Hurt, yes, but not down. He's breathing steadily, even acting rationally. Perhaps, she thinks, Vega is weakening as well?
Probably not, she thinks further, bleakly, as she advances towards the man, one leg drawing back. Shoma will likely fight again, viciously, in order to try and fight and protect me, because I seem like a helpless woman...
As her leg arcs towards the side of Vega's pillar-like leg, aiming to kick his knee out from under him, she tries to weigh all these things together in her head. This may not bode well for her accuracy, but at the same time, perhaps Vega will ALSO be confused by transmitted inner doubt?
We can only hope.
COMBATSYS: Vega fails to interrupt Strong Kick from Rose with Head Press.
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Shoma 1/=======/=======|===----\-------\0 Vega
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 0/-------/------=|
Let the boy fall. He isn't, wasn't ever the planned target of the day. And his focus is simply on Rose. Rose, his sweet little soul-self, all concerned and worried about what she plans to do now, what her skills are capable of, and how will she ever manage to slow and stop the Shadaloo warrior.
Again, overconfidence on his part has cost Vega dearly. Instead of pressing the attack and rendering Shoma unable to fight, he tries to rise up in the air, to catch Rose with those giant boots of his - however, he moves slowly, seemingly weakened the longer he fights, as if he did not truly control his Psycho Power - perhaps more a slave to it's raging needs. The impact of Rose's kick knocks him down again - and this time, he takes longer, far longer, to return to standing. Something about his head ringing like the bells at St. Mary's.
Rose breathes in, then out, as Vega staggers - she steps back. She still can't croak out words well, so she thinks at Shoma.
<<Shoma,>> she says - so familiar! - <<you see his legs?>>
A pause, as she takes another step back from Vega, as she continues, <<Forgive me. I am obtuse. He is disruptive to fight - but we must also...>>
She turns, then, heading towards the jungle itself. Her heels trail hints of glittering light as she leaps forwards. <<Run! Now!>> Towards the /jungle/? Well, Vega IS more burly than them.
Run, she says. This makes SOOOOO much sense; Vega's one scary Ess-Oh-Bee. He's insanely powerful, and the odds of coming out on top of this are slim and none.
Just one problem with all of this: Shoma recalls what happened to Sakura. What this big-jawed bastich /did/ to her.
Run? Shoma /can't/ at this point. Brainwashing is a touchy subject for /any/ Taiyo student. He pulls himself to his feet, a sudden gust of wind sweeping down the riverbank.
"I remember you now...I know what you did to Sakura," Shoma pulls a baseball out of a pouch, and sets. "AND I WON'T LET YOU GO, YOU BASTARD!" Shoma kicks one leg high, "TAKE THIS! ILLUSION PITCH!"
Shoma hurls the ball at Vega, and the one ball becomes about fifty as they sweep for the Shadoloo Commander...
COMBATSYS: Rose takes no action.
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Shoma 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Vega
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Vega endures Shoma's Illusion Ball.
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Shoma 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Vega
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rose 0/-------/------=|
See, here's the bad thing.
Vega /lives/ for negative energy, for negative emotions. Anger, rage, what have you - they're his bread and butter. Or more like steak and lobster - tasty tidbits that make him all the stronger. All the more powerful - it's like riding a perfect wave. And sometimes, well - sometimes that wave ends, and then the riptide comes. It subsumes you, pulls you under..
Drowns you in raw emotion.
Vega wasn't ready for the burning heat of Shoma's angry heart, that pure rage that the boy feels about what Vega has done to his classmate. And when it hits him, it's like cocaine, like someone has just plugged his heart straight into 220V and every nerve is /alive/. He roars out his amusement, and then just lets the impacts slam into him over and over, baseball after baseball pelting and bruising his body, but the fire from Shoma's anger just inflames his already eager will and spirit. This is no ending, no. This is just the beginning.
"You should have listened to Rose, fool. LET ME HELP YOU RUN!" With those words, the dark of the evening is complete and total as Vega takes all that emotion and just lets it fester, grow and build into a shroud all around the arena. It coalesces on him, turning into a bright halo of purple-blue, which forces him into the air and then propels him forwards. Like a rocket, oh yes - like a freight train. Like pure blunt force trauma, aimed at Shoma - and then, aimed at going right /through/ him to Rose. "TONIGHT, YOU BOTH FEEL MY WRATH, SHADALOO'S HATE AND MINE.. FINAL... PSYCHO.. CRUSHAAAA!!!"
COMBATSYS: Shoma fails to reflect Final Psycho Crusher' from Vega with Return Swing.
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Rose 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Vega
COMBATSYS: Shoma can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Rose 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Vega
Shoma stares as the Illusion Pitch seems to do next to nothing. He regains himself quickly; here comes Vega like a freight train. He tries to lift the bat one more time. It's just like one of Shuu's fastballs. That's all it is.
He shoulders the bat, and sets his stance. He twists like a coil. He waits for that vital second, that moment of clarity when he remembers...
...he never /could/ hit Shuuichi's fastball.
The Final Psycho Crusher slams into Shoma, sending the Taiyo youth through two trees before he slams into a rock. The Slugger does not rise again, does not play dead. He's simply down.
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Final Psycho Crusher' from Vega with Soul Reflect.
[ \\\\ <
Vega 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Rose can no longer fight.
[ \\\\ <
Vega 0/-------/---====|
This power, Rose thinks even as she gathers her Soul Power within her. It's grown. It's not just a flush of good health or the boisterous feeling of success - it's gotten MORE POWERFUL. She twists around, the energy flowing through her arm -
Too late! There's a wet snap as the impact hits her; she lets out a cry as she flies back, heading into the thick brush of the jungle. She lands, arm twisted unhealthily to the side, laying partway in the crook of a tree. It's a familiar tree, she thinks as she slides into the void of unconsciousness. I was here just a moment before...
There is one final burst of thought from her, but it fades quickly. Perhaps she was sending a message, in case Vega presses his success.
Landing a few feet away, Vega brushes the dirt off his shoes, the smoking steam and whisps of psychic energy starting to drift away already. He's weak, tired - almost human. But he is still standing. And without Shoma's anger to buoy him, he needs to depart. There's something to do still, something he needs to say to his 'better' half. And so, before hs signals the VTOL to come to him, he leans down by her. His voice is ragged, and he doesn't take the effort to whisper into her mind.
"I am so much more than I have ever been. The world hates and fears me now, Rose - and that gives me so much strength. They'll ask you to help stop me.. but you know the truth, now. You know I cannot be stopped. Goodbye, my other self. I no longer need you."
And with that, he rises, and vanishes in a burst of psychopower. To Shadaloo.
To Victory.
COMBATSYS: Vega takes no action.
[ \\\\ <
Vega 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Vega has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:59:59 06/22/2007 by Vega, and last modified on 01:20:44 06/23/2007.