Description: There are some scores to be settled between Rugal Bernstein and Shadaloo. One daring assassin decides to collect on the 'R' tyrant's blood with a bold attack aboard the Black Noah itself.
The Black Noah may be a floating fortress, but that doesn't mean that it is impervious to intrusion. While in the past, the halls were full of 'R' employees anxiously engaged in some kind of business or other, the ship is mostly empty now days. Oh, sure, there's still scientists, minions, and other ne'erdowells, but the place isn't teaming with security either. It's not like people have been trying to get ABOARD the carrier for ages. Besides, it's difficult to track down the ship. One might require contacts, connections, or just a lucky break to even find it.
Rugal is hardly worried about security as he stands at the window of his luxurous parlor high atop the command and control superstructure, gazing out over the deck and to the ocean beyond, his eyes on a prize in the distance that only he can see.
Outside the Black Noah, a dark shape bursts out of the water, shaking its head back and forth. It's Balrog, Shadaloo assassin extraordinaire. The ninja grips the outside of the ship's metal hull, and creeps up, until he finds the fighter loading ramp. He slips inside under the platform, technicians and soldiers above him going about their business. Silently, he slips through the innards of the Black Noah, heading towards Rugal's quarters. His mission: kill Rugal Bernstein.
It's no surprise that he would want to take down the man who owns this ship. Vega learned of Rugal's treachory in Thailand before the end of the war. 'R' helped arm the resistance, aiding in Shadaloo's defeat. Though the warlord has gone into hiding with the collapse of his battle he no doubt left instructions for his top ranking subordinates before taking refuge.
And Bernstein has expected such retaliation for such time. It wasn't a matter of if but simply when and how. His right hand swirls a chalice of red wine in one hand while his left hand folds behind his suit coat covered back.
The room Rugal broods in presently is in one of the upper floors of the control tower, allowing him a great view of the deck and the ocean in the distance. But such a position will do nothing to alert of him of the impending attack. Only a nagging feeling that there's something not quite right about tonight...
The doors to the parlor suddenly seal themselves shut, seconds before the control panels themselves burn out, leaving Rugal trapped in the parlor. There's a scant minute to evaluate what has gone wrong, before the floor bursts open, Balrog erupting from it. He lands on the floor in a combat stance, staring down Rugal wordlessly from behind his mask. It is time to fight.
COMBATSYS: Balrog has started a fight here.
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Balrog 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rugal has joined the fight here.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Balrog
The spark of something going haywire, electronics manipulated by the man of many talents that has invaded his ship, causes Rugal to turn away from the window, a single human eye fixating on the control panel that fizzles then just shorts out all together. He could just assuming it's faulty wiring. Some rusted circuit finally giving out due to neglect. But he knows better. His instincts know better.
When Balrog bursts into the room, he has the suited tyrant's attention immediately. Of course Rugal knows exactly who he is. "Ah... so it has come at last." the man replies, his tone calm, his body relaxed on the outside even as his mind picks up the speed. "I see he cared enough to send his very best. How thoughtful..."
And with that, Rugal raises his left hand forward, palm upward, fingers gesturing a 'Let's see' signal toward the assassin who seeks his blood.
COMBATSYS: Rugal focuses on his next action.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog's muscles flex as he prepares for the battle, before he rushes forward. He does a quick one-handed cartwheel to close the distance, before stopping right in front of him. Smoke explodes around the pair as Balrog leaps into the air, aiming a kick directly at Rugal's chest. He drops to the ground after the strike, his golden ponytail flying around him like a serpent in the thick smoke.
COMBATSYS: Rugal blocks Balrog's Cosmic Smart.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Balrog
The ninja-like fighter comes at Rugal with a combination of speed, strength, and tricks rarely used by combtants to conceal the incoming attack on the fly in a way that few would be able to react to. Which perhaps explains why Rugal choses the conservative option, his arm coming up expertly to intersect the kicking leg in the nick of time, rebuffing the attack with a flex of muscles and will.
"Not bad," he appraises, "But you're out of your league... I'll teach you of the power you hope to defeat and send you back as a message to your master," Bernstein states calmly, lunging forward then, switching from defensive to offensive with blinding speed, his arms outstretched out at his sides. It may seem he intends to just collide bodily with Balrog, but he shops just short, swinging out with his right arm toward the man's chest and his left hand coming in with an open palm toward his stomach. "HAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Balrog with Medium Punch.
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Rugal 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog gets struck by both blows, sent flying back into the air and through the smoke. He lands on his back and rolls backwards to his feet with a smooth motion, back in a standing position in a split second. He rolls diagonally towards Rugal, before springing to his feet. He lifts his mask and spits a black mist that burns the eye, right at Rugal's face.
COMBATSYS: Balrog successfully hits Rugal with Thrown Object.
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Rugal 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Balrog
Rugal steps through the smoke, pursuing Balrog, clearly intent on not giving the other man a single break in his relentless assault. But as he steps out of the smoke screen he walks right into the black mist with its acidic burning. The attack earns a growl from Bernstein, his teeth gritting tightly as he slows to wipe his sleeve covered arm across his face briefly, the liquid searing the cloth a little.
"Tricks like that won't get you through this," he growls as he kicks out, his left foot swinging low as a feint before his right leg comes crashing down in a brutal axe-kick toward Balrog's shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Balrog endures Rugal's Light Kick.
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Rugal 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog gets struck in the shoulder, his body snapping back as he lowers his mask. He then breaks out in an ear-piercing yodel as he leaps over Rugal, placing his hands on his shoulders and using the grip to twist around to face his back. He then attempts to leap straight through the ceiling with Rugal in tow, up onto the deck, before crashing back down into the ground with his prey.
COMBATSYS: Rugal counters Izuna Drop from Balrog with Scorpion Blow.
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Rugal 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Balrog
The attempt to get over Rugal is successful as the man just seems to stand there and take it... That is, however, until Balrog tries to grab hold of him from behind. It seems the parlor's roof goes unscathed for right now as Bernstein snaps out with a preemptive grip on Balrog, taking hold of him by the neck, pulling his masked face in close to his in order to glare into the eyes behind the mask, "Know that you play a dangerous game here, my would be killer..."
And with that, his left hand crashes forward, driving into the other man's chest in order to send him flying while his right hand releases his grip on Balrog. And even then, he doesn't stop, walking slowly still, approaching with slow, deliberate motions, like a stalker from a horror movie that just refuses to be slowed...
Balrog is sent into the wall of the Black Noah's parlor, his legs and arms spread. He drops down and lands on his feet, shaking his head back and forth. A low, animal growl comes from his throat as he drops down into a fighting stance. Time to ice this bastard. "No more games, Bernstein," Balrog hisses. "Now you die."
The Spanish Ninja suddenly darts forward, attempting to spear Rugal in his ribcage with the ninja's claw. If it connects, he then flips Rugal up like a flapjack, before spearing him through the back on his claw, and dumping him on the ground.
COMBATSYS: Balrog successfully hits Rugal with Red Impact.
- Power hit! -
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Rugal 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Balrog
Rugal's advance is brought to a painful halt, it would seem, as the foreign ninja strikes with blinding speed, stabbing his infamous claw into the man's chest before flipping him up into the air, colliding with the roof of the room, then stabbing him in the back as he descends then is dropped to the floor with a grunt.
While the tyrant doesn't cry out in pain, he definitely felt that one, his blood soaking through the rended shirt and coat, his teeth gritted tightly as a hand plants against the floor to push him back up to his feet. The look in his eyes is not fear now, but anger, which leads him plow forward, lashing out with force he has yet to draw upon, his right leg swinging in tight, aiming to deliver a crushing knee attack, before lowering to the foor. Only to have his left leg swing out far and wide, in an arc that might be difficult to avoid. "RAAH!"
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Balrog with Medium Kick.
Glancing Blow
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Rugal 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Balrog
The assault lances across Balrog's chest, producing a thump as he jukes backwards. "Tsk tsk tsk," he clicks his tongue, "Control your anger, or your anger will control you!" He suddenly jabs forward with his claw, aiming at Rugal's right bicep, attempting to take that arm out of the fight completely.
COMBATSYS: Rugal fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Balrog with Genocide Cutter EX.
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Rugal 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Balrog
"You think to lecture me!?" Rugal growls back, anger clearly getting the better of him as this ninja plays with him now that the tide seems to have turned a little. And when Balrog comes in to stab at him, the man seems intent on teaching him a lesson for his intolerable presence. His foot lashes out with crushing force, red, piercing chi trailing behind it... but he doesn't hit his mark, Balrog's stab tearing into his arm as intended while Bernstein's deadly attack misses the agile fighter all together.
His left arm comes up, clamping a tight grip over the wound as he literally takes a step backward then, "Che."
Balrog dances left and right, toying with his powerful victim, as he taunts, "All this power and you can't stay safe." He suddenly rolls backwards, and plants a foot in the ground as he comes back to his feet, pointing with his claw. "Today, you die." Another ear-piercing yodel shrieks its way from Balrog's lungs as he leaps forward, this time aiming at the left shoulder as he attempts to gouge the tendon with his slashing claw.
COMBATSYS: Rugal blocks Balrog's Flying Barcelona Attack.
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Rugal 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Balrog
Battling the Spanish ninja in such confined quarters is certainly a challenge, as he is able to use the walls and ceilings to his great advantage, springing around the place in a manner that can be difficult to follow. But as he comes in for the man now, Rugal raises his left hand to intersect that piercing attack, angling his forearm in just such a way as to intersect Balrog's fist without getting struck by the claw itself.
Using that blocking arm to try and push the man back just a little, his foot swings out as a follow up, aiming to finish driving him away with a crushing strike to his chest.
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Balrog with Light Kick.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Balrog
Balrog gets struck in the chest, popping up off the ground and away. He lands on his feet, wheezing briefy as his left hand clutches his hurting chest. His hand slowly drifts away from his chest as it rises and falls, the ninja a big winded in this battle. "You...Can't survive..." He suddenly dashes forward and then drops down, aiming to catch Rugal by the ankles with a leg-lock, then turning to the side to bring Rugal to the ground on his hurting arm.
COMBATSYS: Rugal interrupts Medium Throw from Balrog with Reppuken.
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Rugal 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Balrog
And Bernstein can see that his attacks have added up... though Balrog has tested him more than many a recent foe, being very precise in his attempts to debilitate the man's ability to attack, strike by strike, the tyrant of 'R' is a resilient beast. He hasn't lasted as long as he has in his position by sheer accident, but rather brute strength, determination, iron will, and a life time of intense, gruelling training. This it is that he manages to keep going, in spite the gradual weakening he feels within him by the ninja's persistent, accurate strikes.
"Not today, my masked friend, not today," he growls. His left arm, thus far spared a critical injury, rolls back behind him, his fist charging with a flare of brilliant, white, deadly chi... and then he rolls it forward into Balrog's attack, sliding the infamous Reppuken along the ground in order to intercept the ninja's trajectory.
The collision of momentum may be enough to slow Balrog, but his charge into Rugal was still enough to stagger the man backward a couple of steps.
Balrog is blasted backwards by the Reppuken, huffing in and out as he climbs back to his feet. He shakes his head to the side, golden ponytail whipping to the left behind him, before he leaps forward and twists, inverting. He runs several steps along the ceiling, before turning into a ball and spinning right at Rugal. And after that, right out a window, into the teaming sea below.
COMBATSYS: Balrog can no longer fight.
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Rugal 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rugal counters Hari Tsuki Rolling Barcelona from Balrog with Jab Punch.
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Rugal 1/-----==/=======|
This attempt on his life is over. It hasn't been the first. It most definitely won't be the last. But for tonight, it seems, the contagion that is Rugal Bernstein will continue to plague the earth.
When Balrog comes at him for one last desperate assault, the man raises his left arm, the limb still quite strong even though his right has been disabled, and intersects the roll with incredible timing, allowing Balrog to roll off of him and on his way, unable to stop the insanely fast ninja's escape.
Standing up straight, his left arm reaching over to clamp down over the dastardly wound in his right bicep, Rugal growls, shaking his head as he stares out the shattered glass. "Hm... I could use more people like him," he finally ponders with a shake of his head as he slowly slips the ruined suit coat from off his shoulders and slings it over his shoulder. Time to go get cleaned up.
COMBATSYS: Rugal has ended the fight here.
Log created on 13:52:00 08/31/2007 by Rugal, and last modified on 15:30:27 08/31/2007.