Description: Determined to become a thorn in the Syndicate's side, Chun-Li crashes in unexpectedly on a deal. However, before she can get to the core of the criminal goings-on, she must first get through Geese's hired help. Unfortunately, it's all easier said than done.
The harbor's always buzzing with some kind of activity, but this corner of it is a little out of the way even where the busy port is concerned: the locale hidden discreetly in a quieter corner of the maze. A haphazard cul-de-sac crafted of buildings, piles of cargo forklifts, and other large machinery terminates in a dilapidated, flat-roofed warehouse, the building sitting miserably in the night with the looming, melancholic air of something people had long since stopped caring about.
Southsynd is closing a deal tonight in that forgotten building, establishing the terms of a drug trade with a decently well-established South American cartel. It's not a pivotal connection for Southsynd to make-- more like just another tendril through which Howard can hook his influence a little more tightly into the world-- but it's still important in the sense that Geese does not enjoy expending time and energy on things just to have them fall through.
That's part of why he "asked" his new little protege to lend his presence to the transaction. K' had known that Geese would eventually give him tasks to carry out, prices exacted in return for the training given. He'd known that whatever it was would likely be reminiscent of what NESTS had asked him to do in the past. But what he hadn't expected was the sensation of nostalgia it all brought, those years of forced servitude brought back as vividly as if nearly a year hadn't passed since his last mission from the Cartel.
His lean form hidden away in the deep shadows between the building and the one adjacent, balanced in absolute stillness upon a derelict, broken-off crane arm, K' works the unlit cigarette in his mouth to the corner of his lips, trying to ignore the dull urge to smoke as keen senses idly pick up on the distant conversation of the men within. His yellow eyes, half-lid slightly, dimming their slight firelit gleam. He's ruminating, largely without emotion, on how much this reminds him of what he had to do in NESTS. When he wasn't sent to fight for prize money, when he wasn't dispatched to murder, he was usually just sent to babysit operations or do recon.
The acute boredom of waiting and watching, he finds, hasn't changed since he left the work.
In this secretive corner of the world, out of the public eye, the less savory sorts of Southtown conduct business in the silvery glow of a full moon. As per usual, Southsynd conducts business with one of its many foreign associates, a generic drug deal with one of many South American cartels. It's by no means anything exceptionally important, but it does involve Howard's money. If only the public knew what sort of man he really was...
Perched in the cover of darkness on the rooftop of a nondescript building, a silent figure watches the building scattered among stationary machinery and old, dilapidated warehouses. At its center, outside the building on which a pair of narrowed brown eyes glare, is none other than the rouge NESTS experiment himself, K'.
If you put your ear to the ground in Southtown, you're bound to uncover some shady business deals or two. And when you're the vigilant sort, the kind of person who wants to do some good in an otherwise corrupt town run by some mysterious organization, it's a priceless and most-essential tool. Corruption in Southtown is rampant with so few people willing to put a stop to it.
That's why she needs to send a message to the Syndicate.
A blur of motion erupts suddenly from that shrouded rooftop, moving just overhead of K' as it leaps from its perch and through the air. It remains silent as it flitters about, save for the rustle of fabric on the breeze as it sails toward the cracked asphalt ground paving the dockyard. And then, with a thud, that lean figure lands in a deep crouch, just several feet from the broken crane arm K' has designated as his haunt for the time being. And, slowly, the feminine figure rises from its crouch.
Beneath the silvery moonlight the woman stands to full height, clad in little more than an oriental silk blouse and a pair of jeans with odd, nasty-looking spiked bracelets on her wrists. A soft-faced Chinese woman, she hardly looks the part of 'stern vigilante' as doe-brown eyes gaze intently at the tanned youth before her. Whoever she is, she doesn't seem happy, and her dislike is only further cemented as she thrusts a finger at the young man's face.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of this," she warns with a stern tone of voice. "I'm going to put an end to these shady deals here tonight. If you value your health, you will stay out of my way. But if you insist on stopping me, you'll leave me no choice but to harm you."
Turning on her sneakered heels, the odd Asian woman paces briskly toward the warehouse...
At Chun-Li's first movement, K''s head lifts with the alert wariness of an animal. It sways slightly, as if picking up the scent, and then-- detection complete and trajectory calculated-- it halts: zeroing its gaze on the projected landing spot. The woman that touches down there gets a quick, practiced onceover, K' chewing his unlit cigarette in some thought and narrowing his yellow eyes. Seen before he saw her. This isn't a good sign.
What's even less of a good sign is when K' recognizes the woman. It's not hard to put the face to the name when the face is this famous, and the name that flicks up to the forefront of his memory immediately lets K' know just what's dropped in on him: a potentially very bad situation. He saw the recent match between Kyo and Chun-Li, and the fact the woman fought Kusanagi to a standstill...
K''s eyes narrow, the sentiment behind that vicious look largely unrelated to Chun-Li. Or Geese, for that matter, though it's Howard who put him here in the first place.
He coughs a quiet, but far from polite, laugh around his cigarette when she addresses him, mouthing it to one side so he can talk. Slowly, he straightens out of his lazy perch, working stiff joints back to a state of readiness, cracking his neck with a sigh: looking, for a disorienting moment, like a precise machine tuning and oiling up for work. "Yeah, sure... normally I'd stay out of it, cause this isn't gonna be good for me any way you cut it. But sadly, what's good for me and what I've been told to do don't really match up... so here I am..."
Really... 'make sure the deal closes and the scene's cleaned before anybody gets in there' is, no matter how you look at it, rarely a fun experience.
He watches her about-face, walking quickly towards the warehouse. Her determined step pretty much decides things for him, and with a tired, grumbling groan he pulls himself out of his ensconcing shadows. He picks his way deftly to the end of the crane, balancing on the edge of the rickety metal, and in complete and utter silence he launches abruptly at Chun-Li's back like a cat leaping from a ledge: slinging a sharp kick clear at the back of her neck.
COMBATSYS: K' has started a fight here.
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K' 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
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K' 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Chun-Li
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Chun-Li with Minutes Spike.
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K' 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Chun-Li
Distantly, Chun-Li swears she knows his face. It's hard to forget a guy with white hair and dusky skin who has a penchant for leathers, but damned if she can truly place his face. Likely, it's due in part to his involvement with Southsynd currently. But placing his face is the last thing on her mind at the moment, evident by how she brazenly turns her back to the cigarette-smoking for-hire muscle.
She figures he'll do the right thing.
When he speaks up, however, the woman's sneakers slow to a standstill, brown eyes widening slightly before they slowly narrow, glaring icy daggers at the warehouse door that faces her. He isn't going to stay out of this, then? Here he is, says the rouge experiment.
A light smirk edges over her thin lips, the gesture half-hearted at best. Slowly she begins to turn...
And the sight that greets her is a kick aimed at her throat.
Struck and startled, the woman lets out a strangled gasp, her body forced to stumble and stagger back from the blow. Swiftly her brown eyes flicker up, glaring at the man that dared to strike her as a hand reaches up and gingerly rubs her bruising neck. So he won't stand down?
"V-very well," the woman offers hoarsely. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Sucking in a deep breath despite the soreness of her throat, Chun-Li focuses inwardly...before she suddenly throws herself forward with an arm stretched behind her. Dashing at K', the Tai Chi Mistress attempts to plant a foot wide, her body swinging forward as she draws a fist far from behind to forward, a tightly-clenched fist swinging right for the young man's sternum as she offers a sharp cry.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Chun-Li's Medium Punch.
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K' 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Chun-Li
It'd probably be easier to place his face if he weren't currently here facilitating Southsynd activity, true... because his public persona, at first glance, doesn't seem at all connected with the Syndicate or Howard at all, outside of some media sightings of him coming and going from Geese Tower a few times. K' himself would have loathed the idea of once again being the kind of tool he was when he was with NESTS, if it weren't for the fact that he knew he rightfully owed Geese something for the effort Geese was expending on him.
Effort. Among other things. K''s convinced one of the fringe benefits of their training sessions, for Geese, is that he can take out all the spite and stress that must build up while dealing with his empire.
And so, it's with no particular pleasure but all businesslike precision that he aims that strike at Chun-Li's neck, catching her throat instead and looking entirely unrepentant about having hit a more vulnerable target. Pushing away and landing lightly in a backwards skid, K' catches the subsequent punch thrown in an unusual, metal-sheathed hand, letting the force transfer down his arm and sliding back an additional few paces in its wake.
"Don't bother," K' laughs in that peculiar, self-deprecating way he has, dipping his head to one side a little, lifting a hand-- and sparking a distinct, familiar crimson flame from his fingertips. A flame she might remember. He lights his cigarette, finally relieved from the need for secrecy, and takes the first inhale with an accompanying, smoke-laden sigh. "I already warned myself long before I got here."
His hand swings back down-- and that innocuous little flame bursts, snarling into a full-fledged arc of fire that throws a sharp and wavering light down the walls surrounding them. A sharp twist, and K' slams a kick into the gathered flames, sending a bolt of them streaming straight at Chun-Li.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Chun-Li with Second Shoot.
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K' 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
Unrepentant. That's precisely what the woman expects.
Regardless of how the young man feels, Chun-Li throws herself into the fray, making her move against the young man, a fist swinging fiercely toward the fire-wielding man's sternum. But just as that powerful fist can make contact, the young man moves swiftly. Her punch...is intercepted by his odd hand.
"Is that so?" the woman asks, tilting her head lightly as she comes to rise full height once more. Her eyes only drift from his yellow gaze when a hand sparks his cigarette, those odd crimson flames that feel distantly familiar to her igniting its tip. Odd.
"Well, at least you know what you've gotten yourself into. It makes this a lot easier," the Chinese woman explains, sporting a lopsided grin in response. "You don't seem to be very into this. The guarding and protecting whoever is in there--" A hand absently gestures toward the warehouse behind her. "--I mean."
Just as the though slips past her glossy lips, K' sweeps a hand down, leaving a trail of flames in his wake. Legs tense, brown eyes widening as he swings a leg up and kicks them toward her. Frowning sharply, the woman begins to twist her body as the fire screams at her, but it's far too little, too late.
Struck once again, the woman lets a sharp cry escape her lips, her body sailing back through the air as it impacts. But halfway her body twists sharply, a hand reaching downwards as she sails, followed by the other. Oddly enough, rather than fall flat on her back, the woman catches herself in a handstand.
Clearly Chun-Li underestimates the men Southsynd hire to keep watch on their deals.
Kicking her legs back, the Tai Chi Mistress stands upright once more, a leg sliding forward as she lifts her hands into stance. "That's two lucky hits now," she offers with a light smirk. "Shame on me. I'll be sure not to let you fool me three times."
Those deep brown eyes narrow sharply as the Chinese woman keeps close watch on the man.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li focuses on her next action.
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K' 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
At least you know what you got yourself into, the woman offers. And in response, K' just lifts a shoulder in a shrug, huffing another breath of smoke, watching the trails snake up past his eyes. He looks pretty calm, as if he were just along for the ride; but at the same time, it's quite clear that nonchalance isn't extending to his fighting. "People in there don't mean shit to me. This deal closing doesn't mean shit. Not on a personal level. I'm here cause I was told to babysit," K' elaborates generously. "Call it an obligation."
Noticeably, he's never once intimated he's even getting paid for it, or that it's anything so impersonal as a mere job; casting even more of a mystery on just who he is and why he's even here in the first place.
He watches the graceful way she catches herself after his attack, dispassionate eyes following the sweep of her legs as she flicks them back to ground. He holds his ground even as she surveys him and offers those smirking words, the lingering flames about his wrist spreading, intensifying: flaring along his arms and past his shoulders and flickering around his lean frame. Smoke curls thickly into the sky.
Is she getting serious, now? Through all that fire and smoke, K''s eyes narrow. "...I saw you fight Kusanagi," he says, almost -spitting- the name-- though that doesn't seem intentional so much as it seems something so ingrained it's almost instinct. Like rejecting a bad-tasting pill. "I want to see what you can do." More importantly... he wants to see what -he- can do against her, if she's Kyo's peer. If he's going to run Geese's errands, he wants to see if Geese's training is paying off.
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
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K' 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
His lackluster response and casual nature earn him a smirk from the woman as she stands by idly, observing the young man as he explains himself and his motives. So he's just hired help, nothing more than another pair of eyes while the big boys inside do their deeds? Soft brown eyes draw to a close as she exhales a sharp breath.
She should have guessed.
"Obligation or no, you're still in my way, and you know it," she replies, eyes slowly opening as she turns her gaze onto the young man. "It's a pity, really. You've been quite a hassle so far, but you being here is merely a waste." Likely, K' knows as much. She begins to speak once more...
But he suddenly erupts into flames, his gaze narrowed as he speaks. He saw her fight with the Kusanagi kid? It doesn't take much to realize his like for the other man, and only serves to further pique her interest in this odd for-hire 'mercenary' of sorts filling in for Southsynd. His being here really does seem like a waste for his talent.
"You want to see...what I can do?" the Tai Chi Mistress replies, sounding almost uncertain as she parrots his words carefully. Thin brows slowly loft as the woman's eyes fix intently on the man amidst his self-made flames. Is he serious, she wonders, an odd silence lingering between the two fighters.
...until she offers a light laugh.
"Okay. You asked for it." A breath draws past her lips.
Despite the flames that lash up dangerously around him, the woman makes her move once more with a sharp guttural cry. When near enough a leg suddenly plants as her body's torso twists, the rest of her body following in kind with one leg chambered at her hip. And just as her body makes that complete twist that chambered leg fires out from her hip...repeatedly, each kick delivered high, medium and low before reversing, the barrage of machinegun fire kicks seemingly endless.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Chun-Li's Hyakuretsu Kyaku.
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K' 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
It is a waste. There's little disagreement in his indifferent eyes. He could be doing any number of other things with his time, but because he made a pact with Geese Howard, here he is, paying his end of the deal by watching over some transaction he doesn't care about-- not even on a moral level-- and fighting a battle that, to him, has little point other than whatever meaning he can ascribe to it himself. And so far, the only one he's got is that it's got to be educational to fight somebody of Chun-Li's calibre.
Well, that and the fact that he can already feel the chilling, calming, controlling effect Geese's instruction has had on his fighting. A couple months ago he'd have leapt headlong at Chun-Li, driven by nothing but will and rage, taking whatever she threw just off the wild chance she'd get hit with whatever he threw back. Now, he's almost shocked at how deliberate he feels. He's not /unengaged/-- it's taking all his attention to keep up with Chun-Li-- but emotionally... flatlined. Compartmentalized, almost.
And it's that weird new disconnect between the anger that still lives under his skin and his perceptions of the world around him that save him from her sudden, blurring attack. He braces instantly at her words, protecting himself from the machinegunned kicks with his arms, feeling each blow beat into him until his bones feel just about liquefied. Skidding back a few defensive paces, he straightens slowly, trying to shake off the jarred feeling resonating through his body, the fire dying out around him as his distraction lets the flames go.
He glances over his shoulder, briefly, at the warehouse now behind him. Though he can't see inside, he seems to have some sense of how far along things are. Perhaps they're on a strict timetable in there. "I'd just tell you someplace else to try your luck, just to get you off my back," he remarks suddenly, sardonically, yellow eyes narrowing back on Chun-Li intently, "if I didn't know it'd get back to him one way or another." And K' knows better than to cross Geese Howard.
COMBATSYS: K' focuses on his next action.
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K' 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
Whatever his obligations to Howard, they remain a mystery to Chun-Li. As far as the Chinese woman is aware, he's hired help for the Syndicate, simply making a quick and easy buck for whatever reasons necessary. He's just a hindrance for the woman trying to send a ripple through the ranks of the Syndicate. She has bigger fish to fry.
Lashing out with a series of brutal kicks, the woman's attacks are staved off with impressive skill on behalf of the well-trained K'. It's a bit daunting to be so easily shrugged off, but it isn't the end. They've only really begun to fight here, as she sees it. There's still marginal room to turn the tables and come out on top. She hopes, anyway.
The glance noted, Chun-Li's eyes narrow as she takes a few cautious steps back from the former NESTS assassin. "Owe who?" she asks, tilting her head slightly, gaze briefly darting toward the warehouse before sliding back onto K'. "Your boss? Why not be kind and tell me who the big guy is, and we'll both be on our way? I'm only doing this to get under his skin, whoever he is."
With a sudden sprint the woman covers ground swiftly, only to leap into the air and land in a handstand. The motion doesn't last long, however; crooking her arms, the woman pushes off again and throws herself at K', a leg shooting forward to catch him painfully across the jaw with the heel of her sneaker. "YAH!"
COMBATSYS: K' interrupts Medium Kick from Chun-Li with Heaven Drive.
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K' 0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1 Chun-Li
K' wishes he was making money off this. Getting a stack of cash for his time would make it a little more satisfying to do. But as things stand, he doesn't really have much of a choice. He agreed to Howard's unspoken conditions when he accepted the man's training. K''s word is one of the few things he has to give that's of any worth, and though Geese probably isn't deserving of it... Howard has it.
An attack dog meant to tangle with anybody who'd try to interfere with Howard's business. A hindrance is what he's been told to be, tonight.
A light snort escapes K', his cigarette bobbing as he chews on it thoughtfully. "He's not my boss. More like a teacher. And this is the fee I gotta pay him for his lessons. I don't do what he says--" his expression twitches, like the thought of having to answer somebody's beck and call really rankles him on some fundamental level, "--I tell you who he is, I lose the deal. Not interested in that happening."
Chun-Li darts forward then, and K' braces as the woman comes vaulting in. Her heel cracks along the line of his jaw, -hard-, eliciting a quiet grunt as his head sways to one side and he takes one opening, stabilizing backstep in the direction of her blow. Then his entire lean form virtually cocks back like the hammer of a gun, twisting back to load a blow; he sets firmly for the space of a moment, fire sparking to life about his right hand, and then rips back in a rising, clawing uppercut into her airborne form that twists him a full 360 in a lash of flames. He lands only long enough to push off into a repeat of the motion, harder and higher this time, and closes with an agile twist in the air: shooting off a last fire-laced kick to slam Chun-Li back and away from him. The force of it pushes him backwards in the air, and he lands in a skid.
Momentary silence, as K' straightens back up and gets his breath back. A free hand comes up briefly to rub at his complaining jaw, that momentary hit having hit as hard as some lesser fighters' -serious- blows do. Whatever sneaking wonderment he'd started to have as to how this woman went head-to-head with Kyo has effectively been dashed by -that-. "...He'll hear about you from me tonight, however this comes out," he eventually finishes, back to barring her path to the warehouse, scuffing a heel moodily along the rough ground. The restless motion is eerily childlike: a reflection, perhaps, of his mental and emotional state. "You're gonna 'get under his skin' regardless. I'd be ready for when he decides to do something about it..."
"A teacher?" Color the Chinese woman stunned. Doe-brown eyes widen the slightest bit before they softly narrow, thin lips pulling into a thoughtful line over her smooth face as she observes the leashed fighter before her. He is not only the pupil of someone worthwhile in the Syndicate, but he's also their lapdog?
Tipping her head forward, the woman shakes her head gently, a faint sigh escapes past her lips as she softly smirks. "An odd relationship you keep with your employer and teacher, I'd say. But really--" Looking up, those brown eyes narrow, fixing on the odd yellow gaze of K'. "What kind of teacher places his student in such a position? You shouldn't be obligated to do something like this."
But, she figures, it's no use to try and convince him otherwise. Instead she offers a tiny grin.
"Well, it's a pity. It just seems like you could be doing something better with your time."
With a frightening display of grace and agility, Chun-Li throws herself into action once more, leaping at him with a heel aimed for his jaw. But just as that sneakered foot impacts K''s face, the young man utilizes their close proximity; coiling back, he unleashes himself into her with flames roaring, a nasty and quite vicious uppercut delivered. It knocks her senseless, her body twisting sharply to one side. She's only juggled further as he leaps up again, repeating the violent, flame-ridden process again, knocking her just as high before she's kicked harshly and sent flying.
She only stops when her body crashes nastily into the broken crane arm he'd abandoned.
Groaning lightly, the Tai Chi Mistress shakes her head lightly, a hand reaching up to brush across her singed side. It takes effort to stand on her two feet, her body swaying a bit and disoriented from the former NESTS assassin's assault. It's an oddly familiar sensation, those flames.
"Th-then I've accomplished s-something, I think," Chun-Li replies, offering a light smile to the dark-skinned man. "I'm tired of this corruption plaguing Southtown...and the world. If I can stop it here, then I've accomplished something." It's babysteps. She needs to get stronger. She needs to stop Vega one day.
And she can't possibly do it if she's this weak.
Breathing in deeply, the Chinese woman focuses. She can't let herself be so easily trounced by a mere for-hire Southsynd lackey. She needs to focus. She needs to collect her wits. She needs to show him she's not the pushover he likely perceives her as.
Brown eyes open wide, lips parting as she lets out a loud, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Like a bullet from a gun the woman blurs forward, her nimble body twisting as she covers the ground between them. Pivoting midair, a leg swings up, attempting to sock K' with a NASTY blow right across the face...
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits K' with Houyoku Sen EX.
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K' 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Chun-Li
With a solid CRACK of sneakered heel against face, Chun-Li finds her mark.
It's but prelude to a series of painful strikes--seemingly hundreds of them. Like her staved off machinegun kicks from before, the Tai Chi Mistress unleashes far, far more than that. Instead, she delivers kick after kick after kick of varying and seemingly random heights across his torso and face, every strike as painful as the last. She relents, that offending leg dropping to the side, planting firmly on the ground for support.
It's just a switch up.
Her other leg comes in like the last and just as painfully precise, another rapid series of varying strikes delivered with her opposite leg as she volleys the dark-skinned man like before. And much like before, she relents after a time, her leg dropping down for support as the opposite leg swings up...
And delivers a high side kick to his jaw, to send K' flying high.
"A teacher who knows what his student's good for." Yellow eyes narrow on Chun-Li, K' replying immediately in that odd, self-mocking tone. "And this is about it. Not like there's much else I know how to do." A shrug, accompanied by another sudden coil of smoke as he exhales a long breath. "You're right. I could be doing something a lot fuckin better with this time. But this is what I chose."
Lapsing into wordless stillness, looking totally unengaged by the entire affair, K' crosses his arms and leans back a little as Chun-Li smiles at him-- why does she keep doing that?-- and talks about stopping corruption, making a difference, etc. etc. blah blah blah. His eyes half-lid partway through, arms unlacing as he slouches negligently back into his customary ready stance. "Glad to know," is his only reply, "some people've got so few of their own problems they can think about everybody else's."
And for that matter, he'd like to think he's a little more than a mere lackey.
Lackey or not, though, there are very few people who can even perceive what's coming next: much less defend against it. The woman puts on sudden speed, moving faster than she's done the entire fight, arcing a sharp blow sure to stun him should it connect. And he has no intention of letting it connect. Intention and action, however, are two entirely different things, and K' soon finds his attempt to deflect her circumvented and smashed clear through.
The subsequent hail of attacks brutalizes him, railing endlessly into his unprotected form and crushing the breath out of him. Struck soundly, stunned by the assault, he doesn't have time to even try to avoid the last kick in that little space of time where she switches up. It slams him up into the air, his light frame offering little resistance, and when he lands again it's on his left shoulder. Painfully. The cigarette, unfortunately, seems to have been lost in transit.
Stirring eventually with a long, wet sigh, K' pushes himself up slowly. Shaking his head dazedly, the motion ruffling his prematurely white hair, he eventually focuses back on Chun-Li. "...Yeah, I see it now," he remarks raspily, and without bothering to explain that cryptic observation he lifts his right hand. Fire sparks in the cage of his fingers as it turns palm-up, the energy crackling avidly, and abruptly K' slams forward with blurring speed, forcing that handful of fire forward: and letting it uncoil into a roaring, twisting blaze as he goes. A long line of fire spools out in his wake, burning sustainedly on the ground.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks K''s Heat Drive.
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K' 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Chun-Li
"Somehow I don't believe that," the woman replies, narrowing her eyes as K''s yellow gaze fixes on her. The self-mocking tone is noted, but the woman honestly doesn't believe a word. Shaking her head softly, despite the pain that swells in her side and courses through her body, she honestly cannot believe he doesn't know how to do more than just play guard dog for a bunch of crooks.
That damned smile returns as her head stops shaking.
"I'm really sorry it's come to this," she offers, her words genuine as her smile falters. And then, pain.
The final blow sends poor K' flying high, his body sailing before he hits the broken asphalt with a meaty thud. The Chinese woman, meanwhile, holds her leg high, her leg tense and painfully tight for a fraction of a second. Only when she exhales a sharp breath over her lips does her long leg relax, her leg crooking before she sets it down and pivots gracefully on her heel.
His observations earn him a tiny, almost coy smile, brown eyes hooding softly as she regards the odd man. She's not quite sure, but she'll take it as a compliment of sorts. Besides, K' doesn't SEEM like all that bad a guy anyway. Likely, Chun-Li would enjoy his company on other terms. But this is truly a situation of 'wrong place, wrong time' for the former NESTS assassin.
She says nothing as he summons his manufactured flames; instead, those doe-brown eyes widen once more, keen on observing the frighteningly passionless man as he holds his ground. And then--suddenly--he blurs forward, his movements almost unreadable. Arms reach up, crossing over her body and face as she shields herself from the blow as best she can; her body is forced back, however, sneakers squealing loudly against the ground.
Only after weathering the painful brunt of his blow does she relax as best she can, a heavy sigh slipping past her lips. She's barely keeping toe to toe with this guy. Those flames of his are no joke, like the Kusanagi kid's. How much longer can she really go before the hired gun puts her out of commission?
Without a word the woman drops low, her body stretching out across the asphalt. It's an odd maneuver that leaves her lying on her side with one leg crooked and angled upwards. The blow doesn't come from her powerful legs however; instead, Chun-Li lashes out with a blow aimed to slam right into the man's shin and possibly take his leg out from under him.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Chun-Li's Medium Punch.
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K' 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Chun-Li
K' holds his silence. What Chun-Li does or doesn't believe about his capabilities is irrelevant to him. He knows-- or thinks he knows-- the limits of what he can and cannot do, and the fact remains that that list mostly includes that which is inherently dangerous or somehow criminal. His disposition and record, the fact he's hunted by a dangerous organization, and the fact he remembers clearly only three years of his life all condemn him to this sort of work until he has no pursuers left to worry about.
And that time may well never come.
"Don't bother being sorry," K' growls, spitting blood to one side in one angry movement. "It's business. You'd know already if I decided to hold a grudge about anything." Lucky he doesn't, really; if he did, Chun-Li would find that K''s ability to stew in resentment is nigh-unparalleled. Staring with a distrustful malevolence at that continued smile, he lapses back into silence and opts to catch his breath instead. That last took a lot out of him. He's really starting to feel the figh tnow, and while he doesn't THINK she'd kill him if she got the upper hand...
She lunges forwards and he reacts, crossing his untargeted leg over and catching the strike on the edge of his boot. It's an odd, improvisational measure that seems to denote some skill, as anybody who messed up that kind of block would end up with a broken ankle in short order. As it is he's jarred back a step, the sting resonating up his leg; he throws his opposite leg back, letting his weight fall briefly on it, before making his next move.
Another surge of that strange fire sparks about his right arm, all but dripping from his wrist in licks of gleaming heat. K' throws a sharp kick into the dropping fire, aiming straight at Chun-Li, and the instant he contacts the flame it somehow bursts and expands: snarling fire unspooling widely from that point and following the arc of his kick.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges K''s Second Shell.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
K' 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Chun-Li
"My apologies, then," the woman replies, bowing her head slightly to the dark-skinned man before her. "While I realize the fine line between business and otherwise, I still don't believe that circumstances and situations such as this are necessarily fair or just. It's as I said before--this doesn't seem to be of any enjoyment to you, and for that I'm a little relieved." Lifting her head a touch, the woman's thin lips ease into a tiny, sympathetic smile.
"With that being said, yes. It's just business, and I hope our paths don't cross like this again." Truth be told, the young man before her doesn't really SEEM like a terrible person. He's certainly no Ryuuji Yamazaki or some vice-dealer like 'Mister Big.' He's really just some guy caught in the middle through some curious and likely complicated obligations to some higher power.
It's really a pity. But there's still some fight in him, and some fight in her. She can't be too kind here.
Especially if he's playing for keeps.
Dropping low and to the earth, Chun-Li's fist shoots out for his leg. Fortunately K' is swifter than she'd figured then and avoids a broken ankle or shin, instead catching the bulk of her punch with his boot. That raise leg serves its purpose the moment that leg opposite the assaulted boot makes its move; kicking it back, the woman swings her body around, rising from the ground into a crouch. When the fires spark about his arm and lance through the air, Chun-Li whips her body swiftly aside, rolling across the asphalt and avoiding the burst of angry flames that arc from the tip of his boot.
Her body continues to roll, hands planting harshly to stop her only briefly; a split-second later the woman shoves off, throwing her body into the air obscenely far, her body twisting and turning, arcing high overhead K'. And once she's descended from the apex do her long, powerful legs shoot out with bone-jarring force, to send both feet crashing painfully into the young man's skull with a sharp, guttural kiai.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Chun-Li's Tenshin Shuu Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
K' 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Chun-Li
Nonplussed. That's the best way to describe K''s expression when Chun-Li actually apologizes, and inclines her head. The boy is almost taken aback at the mild response to all his bristling, physically leaning back a little and letting his eyes narrow just a little bit more. The defensive, suspicious way he pulls back in the face of her moderation suggests pretty clearly that few have ever been kind or understanding to him: much less any kind of deferential.
"They're not fair," he starts eventually, quite slowly, "but they're what I've always had to deal with. And there's no shortcut to getting out of them." He leaves it at that.
Another glance shoots over his shoulder. At this rate, the proceedings should be close to wrapping, the cleaners moving in to start the work of purging all evidence people have been there. He has to try to hold her a least a little longer. Groaning under his breath-- he's already tired and aching, and just /wants to go home and sleep/-- his attention snaps back forwards instantly when Chun-Li moves. He catches her attack in a jarring block, arms lifting to defend himself against that crashing double kick.
Hissing a sharp breath out-- that stung-- he considers his options. Things are so close to done, and he's so close to needing to make a discreet retreat himself, it's simply down to a matter of stalling a little bit more for time. In that vein, he simply shoves back against Chun-Li, freeing his arms, and pulls his tensed left hand back with as much force as if he were drawing a bowstring. All that potential energy fires forwards into kinetic in the next instant, K''s hand rushing towards the woman with his entire arm thrown behind it, whipcracking forwards with exacting force. It fists in the last moments, knuckles driving forwards towards Chun-Li's sternum.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges K''s Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
K' 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Chun-Li
Again, Chun-Li grins. It's almost annoying.
"Well, hopefully things will change for you at some point," the older woman offers, tipping her head slightly forward. "...and as I also said, I hope our paths will cross on far better terms in the future. You're very skilled." He's given her one hell of a fight, and her body is begging her to stop at this point. She's not sure just how much more she can give.
But she gives what she can anyway. Leaping over, both legs shoot out in an attempt to catch K' in the skull and end the fight then and there. The men in the warehouse are otherwise forgotten, and have been for some time since she engaged with the former NESTS assassin--he's that much of a threat to her.
Like before, he surprises her by catching her blow in his hands. Immediately those sneakered heels push off against his hands as he shoves her backwards; the result of which gives her just enough air to narrowly miss the incoming blow aimed for her prone sternum. She delivers a swift prayer as her body sails out of harm's way.
Just after the woman twists, her legs kicking up and swinging her body around. Legs face the ground as she sails, her head upright as she flies away from the man. When she lands it's on the perch he'd long-since abandoned, one hand slapping flat and firm on the expanse of cold steel. And on her lips...an almost playful grin between pants for breath.
"It has been...quite a chore...going against you. You did your job well. I'm sure your boss will be pleased. Hopefully, though, I got my message across, however...unsuccessful my endeavors have been." He was an unforeseen anomaly in this equation. It's quite a bother.
Legs tense, her hand pressing hard against the broken crane's surface. An instant later the woman leaps up with impressive height, clearing the rooftop as her body sails backwards. A moment after she lands with a thud on the roof with that same grin on her face.
"I'm sure I'll be seeing you around in some form or fashion. Hopefully it won't be like this." Intently, brown eyes narrow, peering at the yellow-eyed youth as her smile broadens. "Besides, I'd like to fight you again sometime on far less...unsavory terms." Rolling her shoulders, the woman offers a light sigh before she turns away, her words grave.
"Until then, tell your boss I refuse to let him continue to get away with this. He may have the city in the palm of his hands, but he doesn't have everyone bought."
Crouching lightly, she prepares for another leap.
"Good-bye for now."
And then, with one powerful jump, the woman's form vanishes over the roof's distant edge.
One of K''s brows twitches. His jaw winds shut tautly.
That's about all the immediate response he can muster to the unexpected words of this woman. Confused, wary, and finding what she's saying... a lot more pleasant to hear than he strictly should, he tenses as if expecting them all to be some kind of trap, put out there just to mollify him and put him off guard for the attack. He straightens slowly, backing a pace away after her deft avoidance of his attack, watching her carefully: strong shoulders sloped like a hooded snake.
She says she'd like to fight him again. That's something a little more easily responded than the assertions he was skilled, the implication he had been worthwhile-- something NESTS had always made sure to tell him he had never and would never be-- and his short reply eventually drifts up to her: "...Same." It's curt, but then he looks pretty uncertain as to how to take her praise. He's used to having to do it all himself-- to put on cocky airs, to bluster, to puff up and act out just to cover his real doubts and concerns. Having it all laid out so plainly just kind of takes the wind out of his sails.
And now the adrenaline's starting to fade and the buzz of the fight is receding from his mind, he's remembering: this is Chun-Li. She could go up against Kyo. That he could do well against a person in Kyo's 'weight class'... surely, that means all his striving-- his training with Geese-- has to at least be going -somewhere-, right?
A little afraid to let himself dwell on that dangerous optimism too long-- already thinking up too many other reasons this could have gone the way it did-- he carefully shelves it in the back of his mind, attempting to cool his attitude again by drawing out that familiar mask of indifference.
"...I'll tell him," K' eventually replies her, just before she leaves. Dispassionately, he watches her go. Oh, Geese will definitely hear about this. It'd be stupid not to mention to Howard that he'd drawn the aggro of Chun-Li, after all; to forget would be a punishable oversight... and Geese's punishment isn't light.
Log created on 22:43:17 05/22/2008 by Chun-Li, and last modified on 23:29:28 06/18/2008.