Description: In the very place where Rugal Bernstein once ambushed him, K' finds himself accosted by Billy Kane. At first he believes it to be mere petty vengeance for a recent SNF gone bad, but soon enough it becomes clear Geese Howard has taken some interest of his own in the 'backup Kusanagi.'
If K' were a more superstitious individual-- or, for that matter, just KINDER to himself as a general rule-- he would not ever return to this particular area. This is where Rugal Bernstein once accosted him... where the tyrant of 'R' thrashed him within an inch of his life, and would have taken him away as a fascinating curiosity had it not been for Maxima's intervention.
He's sure some of his blood might still be moldering somewhere around here, dried along with all the detritus of past violence that's doubtless transpired in this locale. The thought pulls a brief flicker of amusement from the dour set of his mouth. No, definitely not a place that holds any sort of fond recollection in K''s mind... but then again, K' is the sort who always finds himself morbidly picking at old scabs.
Still, he isn't intending to linger long. For all his recklessness, he is rarely willfully stupid. He's passing through, rather quickly, his dark-clothed form a subtle shadow wending its way through the quiet area and cutting across to some less gloomy part of the city. He may not be so superstitious as to believe certain areas are just bad luck for him... but this is still not a place he wants to linger around in long. It'll soon be dark, and that is when the river starts seeing most of its regular visitors.
Apparently, superstition might have been warranted, as if Billy has his way history will very likely repeat itself. He has been scouring the surrounding town for some time, in one of his rare instances utilizing the full power of the Southtown Syndicate. His word, although used sparsely, has incredible weight. People want to make him happy, and he's an easy man to make happy; his tendency to share the wealth for even the tiniest boon makes him popular, and he can thank that for the stream of informants spreading the net. K' is distinctive for a man on the run, and that played to his hand. If he can find him with relative ease, he can only fathom how his other enemies fail to...
Billy had been tailing the other man from a far distance for an hour, waiting for a good time. This, out of the way of any interlopers, suffices nicely. Not so much for fear of reprisal, but simple image. He's a bad boy, but how bad he'd prefer not to be known. There's no attempt to disguise the quick footsteps, rapidly overtaking K' as he nears the water. Which bursts into a run; and a vicious swipe of his long crimson staff, attempting to preferably catch the man right upon the face were he to turn around and regale the new arrival. He'd do this regardless of any remarks done, although given his body language it'd be hard to say there'd be no warning.
"Hey hey hey! Thought I'd drop in and see you. Thinkin' you were such hot stuff on TV; Well, still think you are?!" Raw vengeance. Maybe the sunglassed figure can appreciate it, on some level. Not everything is complicated.
COMBATSYS: Billy has started a fight here.
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Billy 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: K' has joined the fight here.
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Billy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Billy's Medium Strike.
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Billy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
It's relatively easy to find K', if you know what to look for; the boy stands out just on looks alone. The problem usually comes when one tries to deal with him. 'Uncooperative' is putting it mildly when it comes to the ex-agent of NESTS.
Billy has been tailing him an hour. K' has been subconsciously aware of it for half an hour, feeling it as a sense of disquiet... and in the past ten minutes, becoming fully aware of the fact that he was being followed. He doesn't know who it is that's tailing him-- but soon enough, Billy is so kind as to reveal himself to the boy. At first K''s back remains turned, a clear and unresponsive target; but presently his silver head lifts, his steps draw to a stop, and his hands coil in their pockets.
K' hears the abrupt approach, the sudden snap of wood cutting air, and whirls in the last instants before impact. A heavily-gloved hand catches and deflects the blow, letting it strike heavily along the wrist and forearm rather than impacting the face. K' frowns sharply at Billy across the distance between the two, his hand lowering as his lean frame tenses. Yeah, he remembers the other... and he knows what this is about. Or at least, he thinks he does.
"...So what? You gonna prove to me you're hot stuff in some back alley, once you get done putting words in my mouth?" K' huffs an unimpressed breath, leaning back slightly and letting his hands slacken at his hips. He almost looks at rest-- up until his right arm snaps up in a sudden rake, a burst of fire sent straight towards Billy in a spurning attack. "Fine. Not my problem if you didn't have the balls to try it where anybody might see, I guess."
COMBATSYS: Billy dodges K''s Eins Trigger.
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Billy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K'
"There something wrong with feeling better after kicking the shit out of you?" Billy comments wryly, sustaining the pressure of his staff upon the interposed forearm; enough that the bowed wood creaks audibly, arms tense enough to shake lightly from his own coiled muscles. "Don't even try to say you're not the same...!!" Retracting it once K' does, his eyes widen at the sheer speed of the scorching flame; yet the instant it begins, his staff hits the ground. Launching himself high into the air, it's so close that it whiffs the base of his jeans, yet he is suddenly a good twenty feet airborne; an eclipse before the dying sun, sadistic grin haloed by the dark crimson. His descent is violent, swinging the staff as he snarls out, "DIE!!" The intent is a blow to the shoulder, from directly above. And regardless of success, hopefully kicking himself backwards as well. "I've got an image to maintain. Beating up lesser fighters... might tarnish that, huh?!" A spit is given towards K's trendy shoes. Such astounding etiquette!
COMBATSYS: Billy successfully hits K' with Flying Assault Cane.
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Billy 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 K'
Hissing a long sigh as his fire gutters in the air, K' rolls his eyes and flicks his gaze upwards to Kane's airborne reprisal. He might have tried to sidestep, his form starting to blur a little as if he were about to blink aside, but his movements are so reluctantly drawn out he even come close to getting clear before that staff crushes into his left shoulder with such force it dislocates.
K''s expression flickers for those few instants, a spasm of involuntary pain let past that mask; then, he's circling to one side of the other, straightening up and popping his shoulder back in place in one harsh movement. He straightens up briefly, narrowing his eyes on Billy, a bored look miring in his yellow gaze. It's not that he isn't entirely different from Billy. He does like his vengeance. But this is so inane as to be completely, pathetically hilarious, in his estimation.
"Held up just cause some washed-up fighter needed to skulk around assaulting people to feel good about himself." K' slaps his ungloved hand over his face, rubbing at his temples, his entire attitude one of sheer disinterest. He's not taking this fight seriously, judging by the look of him; and more likely than not, that's just his way of flipping off Billy's entire purpose here. "What a fucking waste of time. You gonna -piss off- if I humor you, or what? I haven't got all evening to waste on your precious bruised ego..." K' says, quite graciously, nearly simultaneous with his attempt to plant a sudden lunging snapkick in Kane's face.
COMBATSYS: Billy fails to counter Minutes Spike from K' with Fire Dragon Pursuit Cane.
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Billy 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 K'
Well, one could make the very incorrect assumption that Billy cares about the other person fighting back. That would imply he'd get pleasure out of the act of winning a fight. Really, he's not that complicated. It's the sackbeating, you see. Any assistance in this is entirely appreciated! "You know, there's a bit more to it then that..." is offered, hefting up his staff; but too late, the foot an inch past the polished wood and slamming into Billy's solar plexus. His expression is a solid grimace as he skids backwards, doubling forward slightly but managing to remain on his feet, unsteady. "I'm a petty man, but you hit pretty hard. And you've got some moves. I wanna see just how far from Kyo you really are..." But he simply twirls his staff, neck cracking either way. "Don't get the wrong idea. I don't particularly care if you wanna give it your all. But there's a few people interested in you... maybe more then they oughta be..." There's only one man linked to Billy it could be -- Geese Howard.
Pushing off his impact with Billy's chest with a rough shove and landing in a backwards skid on the ground, K' rocks back on his heels slightly as he slakes off his momentum. He shoves his hands in his pockets, yellow eyes considering Kane, the look in them still that bland shade of indifference. He's hardly able to read Kane's mind on these matters, and even if he could he probably wouldn't alter his behavior too much at the revelation. He doesn't give a shit if Billy gets his rocks off beating on people regardless of how much they struggle or... well, don't; he just doesn't feel like gracing Billy with 'his all.' Not now.
That might change, however, depending what Billy says next.
At the intimation somebody's got some interest in him-- said in practically the same breath as 'Kyo Kusanagi,' K''s expression immediately darkens into something that wars between anger and suspicion. He barely manages to control himself at the mention of Kyo, biting back his reflexive anger-- the urge to spit and snarl at the insinuation of his far removal from Kyo-- as best he can. This could be more trouble than if Billy were merely out to trash his ass for some throwaway official fight. He has to keep himself from losing it. Visibly, his shoulders pull in defensively and he circles a few restless paces, watching the other carefully, the sudden spike in interest sadly obvious in his demeanor.
"...What do you want," he eventually retorts shortly and warily, fire coiling along his arms and shoulders like hackles rising. "--more accurately. What do THEY want?"
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
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Billy 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 K'
That vulnerability is seen, and Billy attempts to not go for the throat. It's rather hard, as every nuance of his being is attracted to weakness at the moment. Cooly observing that unstable nature, instilled only by a word. Merely standing there for some moments, Billy shrugs off the last vestiges of that heavy impact, drawing a tongue across pursed lips. Finally, "You wanna beat the shit out of Kusanagi, don't you?" Another few moments pause. "Might be ways... to help with the process... And it wouldn't be no backstabbing. Genuine thing." Of course, immediately thereafter he surges forward in a splash of stagnate water, bringing up his staff in a two-point strike, trying to slam one end into K's stomach and then raise the other in an uppercut motion, going for beneath the chin. "But show me what you really got!! I only saw a peek in that worthless army masquerade!!"
COMBATSYS: K' interrupts Fierce Strike from Billy with Heaven Drive.
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Billy 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 K'
If Billy wanted to get under K''s skin, he managed it just by saying that one simple syllable. The name 'Kyo' was enough to break K' out of his enforced indifference and controlled nonchalance. Seething quietly, his pacing intensifies. He stalks back and forth like a caged cat, watching Billy levelly all the while, slowly trying to get his restlessness back under control... or at the least, to seize and use it to actually -sharpen- his focus. Still, the reaction is a lot more subdued than if Kyo were standing right in front of him. K' is far from losing his wits just yet.
And so, when Billy makes that sudden surprising offer-- contingent, of course, on the condition he be a little more exciting-- K' abruptly stops and slams straight towards the blow rather than trying to avoid it. The first strike plows home, the end of the staff scoring painfully along K''s torso as he grits his teeth and forces past it; but in the midst of the second, K' twists suddenly to avoid the swipe of the staff.
His spin segues instantly into a harsh uppercut laced with fire, the Kusanagi fire within him bursting to life as he lands and lunges immediately into a far more sweeping version of his previous hit, hard enough to take both combatants into the air. At the apex of that ascent, K' twists his lean frame a last time, whipping a sharp, fire-sheathed kick around to drive Billy back towards the ground.
A genuine way to help him along in his desire to overcome Kyo. K' has only one thing to say to that, but he waits until he's touched ground again to say it. Straightening back up with a subtle grimace as the motion irritates his aching injuries, he narrows yellow eyes on Billy and gets breath back enough to talk. "...How?"
Ah; That's much better. It's satisfying after all, beyond halfhearted exchanges. He's swept up with a grunt, a meager defense shattered, staff scarcely held in a white knuckled grip. Yet he doesn't cry out, even as he doubles over the fiery foot and slams into the ground, hard enough to create a muddy furrow. Rolling over once the kinetic force finally dissipates, he hefts up his staff and uses it to begin and heft himself upwards, one unsteady cough and contorted features belaying the cracked rib. "Hah... not bad! Not bad at all." He then spits blood into a puddle of water, rolling his shoulders and breathing deeply. It seems he's a King of Fighter indeed -- devastating as the blow was, it's not near putting him down. "You've stolen his power, didn't you? And you wanna prove you can use it better. ...But you need more then rage and hate. You need that finesse... that skill... he brazenly swings around with such undeserved leisure." He rubs his chin, smirking. "Maybe... maybe you're worth talking to the big man. He could show you how to focus those flames into a laser... But I'll be the judge of that!!" He then twirls around his staff in a rather remarkable display of acrobatics, sliding into a low stance while gesturing with his free hand.
COMBATSYS: Billy gains composure.
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Billy 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
K' hisses a harsh breath out between his teeth in a noise almost derisive, regarding Billy coldly in the wake of that assessment. He just watches as Kane takes a moment to catch his breath, seemingly unconcerned about his own rather battered state. He makes no move to try and nurse his injuries, or even to check how bad they are. He just stands there, breathing evenly, considering all Billy has to say-- and admitting to himself he is tempted by the implications.
It's not like Billy isn't talking some measure of sense, after all.
"Wouldn't say I 'stole' it," he eventually replies guardedly. "-Somebody- stole it-- it wasn't me. What you're looking at is just a product. But as for the rest..." K' doesn't really have to finish. It's glaringly obvious he wants to prove he can use that fire just as well as Kyo. What's not so obvious is the REASON for that drive... but then, anybody with half a brain can take a reasonable guess as to the whys. The little brother failure wants to measure up to what he was expected to be... but knows he won't get far trying to go it alone on the power of mere hatred.
He knows he needs more, even if he doesn't admit as much outright. And that's what spurs his next-- perhaps damning-- words. "...if he would teach me, I would come learn." No question as to who 'he' is. There is only one person it could be, considering it's Billy Kane who stands here now. K''s hand tenses, flames crawling between his clawed fingers, before he swipes that mass of flame forwards again, bursting it in a ring. The actual fires fall far short of Kane, but that is where the sudden snapkick comes in: sending the fires streaming towards the other in a long bolt.
He knows there's probably a catch to all this. There's always a catch. But he's pretty close to just not caring about it.
COMBATSYS: Billy overcomes Second Shoot from K' with Blazing Cane Thrust.
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Billy 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 K'
Indeed, Billy can care about how badly he's hurt once he's defeated or defeats, as worrying about it will only inhibit effectiveness worst case, with no small part of that liable to be psychological. Pain, burning like acid through his veins, is oddly vitalizing to the veteran street fighter, hissing through grit teeth before forming a warped smile from it. "Yeah, yeah. Like you got given a purse someone else snagged." No, that doesn't correlate in any meaningful sense. But eyebrows rise in muted surprise, tsk tsking. "Didn't think it'd be that easy. But I got taught a fair amount by Geese. You take what you want; all he expects is results." The swathe of fire gives plenty of time to prepare, twisting around his staff before snarling while lashing it forward; as his bo disconnects into three pieces it connects the burning stream, dissipating it in a waft of heat before continuing on, trying to plow right into K's stomach -- and upon withdrawing, it would ignite into fire as well, accompanied by a smug cackle as it returns to a single piece.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Billy's Blazing Cane Thrust.
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Billy 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 K'
"Thought I would argue more?" K' straightens slowly with a shrug. He doesn't finish the thought, letting his rationales drift off: unspoken. His eyes remain on Billy, but his thoughts are elsewhere. Courtesy of his time with NESTS, he is among the few who is aware of Geese's true nature, influence, and power, and he is already considering the benefits and drawbacks of trying to shoot for that rarest of chances: an arrangement with the King of Southtown himself. The benefits? The chance to try and wrest tutelage from one of the best fighters walking the face of the earth... protection, after a fashion, from the other powerful forces of the world that would love nothing better to put him on a slab and rip him apart. That is, as long as he keeps himself worth more to Geese than anything the likes of Rugal Bernstein could offer the Southtown tyrant. But most important is the instruction. That edge that could get him what he wants: where he needs to be. And he is desperate enough to take it from someone as dangerous as Howard.
But of course, before one can think high thoughts, one has to deal with the mundane here and now. Like the staff crashing a course straight for him. He remembers this move-- he remembers being struck by it, -hard-, the last time it came at him. And this time he learns. K' catches the incoming sectioned staff, his armored right hand striking it wide of its intended target; K' slips to one side and circles closer, the sting of the effort a sharp pain in his hand.
Finally, he finishes his earlier thought. "You got -my- answer already," he eventually says, his steps drawing to a halt. The implication is clear-- the decision is now in Howard's court. He says nothing further after that, the hiss of the fire lingering about his wrists substituting for words.
COMBATSYS: K' focuses on his next action.
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Billy 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 K'
"Thought you were too independent to accept help from anybody." Billy clarifies with a grin that is not even the slightest bit friendly. Deflecting the assault isn't met with any surprise. If he was any less, he'd be worth nothing to Geese and far less to Billy. This man is a thorn in Kyo's side... many might not take the time to fully realize what that entails, in terms of fighting capability. "Yeah. I do. But you don't have mine yet. This is all a hypothetical, you see. You want in the door with Geese..." One thumb jerks to Billy, grinning even broader. "...I'm the man who'll open it for you. Like I said..." He advances forward, slamming his staff into the ground and then hurling himself with it as a boost, raising his heel in an attempt to plow it into K's chest. "YOU GOTTA IMPRESS ME, FIRST!!"
COMBATSYS: K' interrupts Strong Kick from Billy with Crow Bite.
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Billy 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 K'
"There's independent," K' explains laconically, his tone equally devoid of warmth, his yellow eyes narrowing infinitesimally, "and then there's being practical." K' knows what he wants, and he knows what he needs in order to get it. Using others to further those ends is something K' has never had the slightest problem with. Flexing his stinging hand open and shut a couple times, he listens in silence to the rest of what Billy has to say, failing to argue with any of the points Kane makes. He doesn't disagree with the man, after all; he knows already that it's not a sure bet in the least. Knows that to get Geese to give him even a second glance would be achievement enough.
Besides, it's simply not IN him to be presumptuous, or to expect anything to just drop in his lap without effort and pain. Unlike some-- unlike KYO-- he wasn't raised a coddled child with a charmed life, two parents, a comfortable life and the world at his fingertips. No, he had to fight past feeling like failed trash every day of his short life. Just another of the reasons he resents Kyo. And one of the reasons he's watching Kane quite so carefully now, his intent focus pinned to the other near-unblinkingly. He's just been charged to prove himself against a man who was King of Fighters when he was still learning the alphabet.
And in an instant, he sees the barest opening left in Billy's sudden assault. The fact he was already nursing a handful of fire helps him in being prompt at attacking it. K' bolts clear into the blow, taking it hard along his collarbone and gritting his teeth as it rakes down his chest; and in the next moment he whipcracks sharply around, slamming that clawful of searing fire into Billy in a whirling uppercut that mirrors Kyo's more than he'd like.
Landing and cutting his fire, K' backs up a few steps, frowning articulately as the subsiding fire sears in his veins. He says nothing, but his silence sends his message clear enough: He'll let Billy be the judge of -that-.
For the second time, Billy is cut down; tearing open a jagged wound, even if it's not very deep; in a rather comical manner, he lost his capability to recover from his kick, and lands upon his back in a puddle of stagnant water, splashing almost anticlimatic for the sheer agony creasing his face. Hefting up one arm and widening his eyes at the mud, anger blossoms quickly. Pushing himself up, sliding a moment, his staff is raised once more. "Hah... Twice, you've been able to put your all into hitting me. And you still don't look like you got the best trade. Tch... All right. Here's the deal. I'm gonna try to kill you now. You survive, you're in. Two... two hits. You get past that, you're in. Doesn't even matter if you beat me." Billy begins to swirl around his staff, and both ends ignite in a flash of fire, coalescing into a pinwheel. Water boils away in hisses of steam, stone blackens, as he weaves his chi into a sudden massive fireball, shooting across the short distance with K' the hopeful reciever. "GO TO HELL!!"
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Billy's Blazing Whirlwind Cane.
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Billy 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 K'
Breath coming deeply-- but still controlled, still even, for all its slightly-strained quality-- K' regards Billy almost malignantly, eyes slitted, teeth slightly bared as he catches his breath. His own temper is starting to flare the more Billy talks, the inevitable result of two such personalities being forced to spend quite so long in one another's company, but incredibly he still says nothing: none of his usual acerbicness forthcoming. Perhaps it's because he's abruptly been forced to focus pretty damn hard by the ultimatum Billy finally levels.
It's not too far a stretch of the imagination to think that Billy -would- simply kill him, after all. Howard and Kane alike have little conception of letting things exist if they have no personal use for them.
The burst of chi abruptly fires towards him, blasted from that pinwheeling staff, and K' forces himself to stand straight and react. A flare of Kusanagi fire snarls to life before him in an unorthodox defense, the surge of sacred flames clashing with the incoming chi and diffusing the brunt of the attack's force. Skidding back a couple feet in the wake of the impact, K' hisses a sharp breath and dismisses the majority of his fire, the energy required to maintain that amount of it a bit beyond him at this juncture.
The remnant of the flames accompany him in his sudden lunge forwards, his interpretation of 'survive' doubtless involving viciously fighting like a cornered beast until the last of his strength is spent. Fire laces his attempt to cut a sharp, burning kick at Kane, the boy still going with a grim fortitude despite the undeniable fact he is-- by now-- heavily taxed and strained.
COMBATSYS: Billy interrupts Second Shell from K' with Red Lotus Requiem.
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Billy 0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1 K'
As K' rushes forth through the wake of the churned river's edge, Billy's smug arrogance is completely undeterred. "...Here's number two." he suddenly mulls, arcing back one arm and beginning to rapidly spin the staff. The blow impacts his side, twisting away with a hiss of pain. Yet every nuance of his body flows into what comes next, tensing his arm before almost recklessly swinging his churning staff upwards. It connects cleanly with the faux Kyo, roaring as he heaves him skywards, kicking from the ground to continue the horrific juggle of savage, hyperfast strikes. And at the apex, the staff suddenly erupts into flames, the sky gaining a temporarily second sun with the explosion intending to send him flying away, shattered and defeated. He lands in a crouch, stumbling just a moment before resting the bo staff upon his shoulder, trail of fading sparks and smoke left behind. "So... you still alive?"
Caught in the midst of his attack when he's at his most precariously-balanced, K''s frame is stopped and savaged easily for all its lightness. It doesn't take much to knock the lean boy clear into the air, and once he's there he's already too stunned to essay any means of defense against the vicious followup. The last searing strike sends K' plowing straight into the ground shoulder-first, something or multiple somethings definitely breaking upon impact, and the erstwhile experiment skids limply the rest of the distance it takes for his momentum to bleed off, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Barely. That's what K' would reply, wryly, if he had the breath to; or, for that matter, a throat not choked by sudden blood. And for a while, it'd LOOK to Kane almost like the answer is 'no,' so still that form is. But eventually, the genetically-altered fighter stirs. One hand nails painfully to the pavement, then the other, and K' pries himself up; an agonized tenacity written into every line of his movements. A wet cough wracks him in confirming reply to Billy's nonchalant query, and eventually K' gets up enough spark to smirk faintly-- the grin lined luridly in red-- and spit a mouthful of blood somewhere in the vague direction of Kane.
The more concrete answer to that simple question comes a few moments afterwards. Somehow, K' still manages to tap his stolen fire despite his battered state-- and somehow he manages to aim himself in the right direction. From there, it's but an instant before he abruptly defies his appearance and attacks Billy -again- in a show of foolhardy tenacity, his sudden aggressive lunge really all the answer he needs to give. He aims to impact Billy somehow with that gathered flame and a headlong strike of his heavily-armored hand, and regardless of the ultimate result he wills himself to end things halfway standing. Even if he has to prop himself up against something to do so.
COMBATSYS: K' can no longer fight.
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Billy 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Billy counters Heat Drive from K' with Water Dragon Pursuit Cane.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Billy 0/-------/---====|
For a few long moments, breathing lightly, Billy watches K' upon the ground. And then he smiles, wiping some blood from his lip. "Thought so." As if that somehow brought the dead to life, K' begins to rouse, yet his genuine surprise fades quickly. "Well, ain't that a bitch. And I hit you as hard as I could, too." The shooting rush of the second Kyo was indeed quicker then he anticipated, barely bringing up his staff and catching it, hefting it aside. ... Were K' not nigh mortally wounded, that would of hit. Snarling to himself, he then brings down his staff, seeing the weakness, and taking horrific advantage of it. His shaft hits K' right in the unprotected throat, at a vital area with every ounce of his languid strength. Yet such does not pause there; it breaks into three segments for a light juggle, assembling it with a final twirl to slam K' face-first into the water. One booted foot lifts, to press heavily and force him submerged in a manner not helpful to breathing air without gills. "Damn... You muddied up my clothing good." He takes the time to brush himself off, before kicking K' upon his back. His ribs and a lot of force make this easier, see. "Fine. Geese'll break you twice as bad. I'm only gonna let you since watching him twist you into a pretzel's more fun then letting you drown in a river...!!" Another kick, to the stomach. "Just go to the tower whenever. They'll expect a drowned rat." Spitting in his direction as well, a splash of muddy water is aimed at K's face, before Billy saunters off, his staff resting on a shoulder. Tch... Tenacious ant, indeed.
COMBATSYS: Billy has ended the fight here.
No childhood? No worries! Billy Kane can impart a full high school education's worth of bullying in the space of about half a minute.
Half-strangled to death just from the first solid hit, K' is left in no condition to protest his subsequent treatment... though the good thing about being hit in the throat is he can't even breathe enough to drown appreciably when Kane forces him halfway into the water. Even so, he's practically three-quarters drowned before Billy finally feels like letting him up, his light frame easily and rather satisfyingly knocked about by the ill-tempered, successive kicks and abuse. He ends up skidding away a short distance on his side, one arm arched and a hand clawed into the pavement.
For a couple minutes afterwards, he just focuses on breathing and blinking past the pain. Water streams out of his white hair, his yellow eyes fixed on Billy's through his sopping bangs with a mute malignance. Eventually, snarling instinct ebbs far enough for the battered backup-Kusanagi to actually register speech... though K' still makes no response to those grudging instructions. That hit he took... he won't be talking above a whisper the rest of the day.
It's not until Billy's completely gone that K' lets himself sag onto his back, considering just -what- got said to him. Even considering Geese's purported interest in him, he knows the hard part is yet to come-- Howard himself. Long minutes pass, K' eventually abandoning any semblance of careful thought to the agony that strings through his body, and with time he eventually rasps terribly, largely to himself, "...that was... three hits... you son of a bitch." A largely humorless laugh strangles off its the first stages of its life.
Now, with any luck, Rugal won't choose this particular evening to revisit this area.
Log created on 18:13:55 03/21/2008 by K', and last modified on 19:03:41 03/25/2008.