Description: War allows for many opportunities. Through conflict comes the chance to settle old scores, or carry out vendettas that have been nursed for years into a festering, undeniable urge for vengeance. Rock Howard wants revenge, and if he has to tear down every bit of Geese Howard's empire to do it, then maybe that is the best -- the only -- way to go about it. In the turmoil of conflict, Rock has found guidance and direction in the hand of an old ally, in the form of a target: Southsynd's Third in Command, the Chrome Dome Don, Mr. Big. But when Rock finds he has bitten off more than he can chew, is there anyone who can spare him from his predicament...? (PS I STOLE THE DESC PSS SS WINS)
Rock Howard hates Geese Howard. The motherf'ing piece of shit killed his mother. He knows that for a fact. He knows that as much as he knows that Terry Bogard shares the same sense of vengeance and outrage. He knows that as much as he knows that Terry Bogard is the king of karate in this planet and will teach him what it takes to finally get that revenge. But -- Terry Bogard is not here. And Southtown is burning. Despite his disdain for his father, this is his home. These are his people.
A riptide of emotions sits in Rock Howard's chest as he reemerges from self-imposed exile on the streets of Southtown. The war that rages through his city speaks to him of opportunity -- both for revenge and to save a city he never knew he loved. He is a famous face, a familiar form, as he arrives via Speedboat into the Harbor of the beleaguered city. He knows where he is going and he doesn't let anyone stop him from getting there. Rumor spreads like wildfire through the streets -- the son of Geese -- the kid in red -- as he marches up the streets fron the harbor district into the core of the city.
Mister Big's Balls and Bitches finds its front door kicked down a few minutes later. The fat bouncer comes whistling through the broken doorway soon after that; slamming into a table and sending $12 cocktails everywhere. Stomping through the silhouette, Rock Howard looks towards the stage. "Did you see that? I just threw the biggest guy in this room through a wall. So who's going to tell me where's that fat fuck Mr. Big and the rest of his croonies are hiding?"
If there's one thing that Mister Big really loves, it's his strip club; and why wouldn't he? There are breasts all over the joint, people pay out the nose just for the cover charge -- let alone for their private dances -- and with a suffering economy, men are still turning to this vice instead of to a heavenly virtue. After all, prayers aren't bringing their money back.
Naturally though, it isn't everyday that Southtown itself is found to be under attack. And it certainly isn't everyday that the finest establishment for gentlemanly entertainment -- indeed, Mister Big's Balls and Bitches -- has the bouncer thrown about and a young punk stomping through.
Word travels very fast across to the VIP section. The girls on stage, they keep dancing though, gyrating despite the impending sense of danger. They know where the real danger lies in this establishment, and it's the man sitting in the VIP room with a fine lady on each arm. With a cigar between his lips, he puffs for a time after the news is delivered.
"The kid, huh? Hey, man," he speaks to one of the few allowed into the cordoned off area, "go tell the kid hi like you did to that one guy on tv a few weeks back and escort his sorry ass back here. Let's see what he wants." Back here of course being behind the velvet rope. Oooh, velvet~
Off in the private, cordoned off area, there is an ominous rumble. A sheet of women tumbles and falls away, shrieking in fear at the disturbance. The earth shakes, the heavens tremble, and Raiden stands up, resplendant in his electric blue unitard (does he ever take it off?).
And boy, does he have plenty to be pissed about. This was supposed to be his /pleasure time/, his well-deserved break from the ongoing chaos. And now...and now this? This little snot of a kid barges in here, the world's most annoying interruption, and personally insults Raiden most definately on purpose I don't care what you say?
"I will show him who is biggest!" The wrestler begins to lumber over to Rock, beard positively bristling with anger. This is an /outrage/, a personal attack on the Aussie's character. He stops just shy of Rock and begins to crack his knuckles in that special way that makes innocent shopkeepers the city over wet themselves in fear. "I don't care whose kid you are, Raiden is gonna show you that you're nothing but a small fry!"
COMBATSYS: Rock has started a fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Raiden has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Raiden
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Raiden
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|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
Rock stands in the 'lobby' of the Strip Club for those few awkward seconds until Raiden stomps out. He's fought the goon a few times in the past, the last being on live television when he lost his SNF Title Belt. He doesn't like the poison breath'd behemoth very much. He works for Geese, he's a gigantic lump of flesh, and he's a bit of a son of a bitch, too. "Raiden," Rock says, greeting him with a cocky tilt of his blond head. "I figured you'd be here." He tightens his black leather, fingerless gloves. "I knew the economy was in the toilet, but I never thought you'd have to become a male stripper just to get by. Sad, really."
"But," Rock rolls his neck. He knows how this sort of thing goes. He's busted in on Southtown Syndicate thugs enough times to know that you have to fight the big, stupid, tough guy to get to the person who you're really after. Mister Big is a jabroni so he's probably gooning it up in the back room. Raiden is an obstacle. He'll blow him up like the Hindenburg. "I don't have time for your crap. You, or someone smarter than you, is going to tell me where to find Geese Howard!!"
Roaring with evil blood, Rock Howard breaks into a run straight forward. His boots smash on spilled champagne flutes and cocktail glasses with blind ignorance, jumping into the air and to try and literally kick Raiden's masked head right the hell off. He's not here to make friends or earn trash talk points.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Raiden with Medium Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Rock 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Raiden
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
Raidern says, "@emit
"Ha ha! All of the ladies cannot get enough of Raiden!" He spreads his arms, letting all get a good look at the prime piece of meat that he is. He pauses a moment, a look of contemplation briefly crossing his face. "And some of the men, too."
"But enough of that! It's time for Raiden to" get kicked in the face and not finish whatever he was saying. The behemoth's face distorts visibly from the force in SLOW MOTION, before he goes skidding backwards a good five feet in NORMAL MOTION. It is very cinematic. Raiden reaches up and rubs his aching jaw, then slowly processes that the fightin' just started.
"I'm gonna throw you out like yesterday's garbage!" He bellows this warning and then comes charging back at Rock, arms spread out wide like a net to catch the young Howard in his vise-like grip. If he gets a hold, he'll leap upward in defiance of gravity's natural laws, and then chuck Rock back down at the ground. Like yesterday's garbage."
"I do like the way he handles himself," Mister Big rumbles as he watches Raiden amble off to deal with Rock. It gives the Syndicate's Steersman time to enjoy the company of his lady friends, and he most certainly is proving that their surgeries were well worth it. "I tell you what, if he comes back in one piece, I want you to get Providence to give him a tug, alright?" he tells one of them, as they coo and chatter.
For all his talk and wandering hands though, the Sultan of Southtown is watching the son of Howard from behind those shaded rims. "I bet he just kicks him," he comments, and sure enough, Rock doesn't disappoint.
"I also bet he's not here to help his dear old dad out," he further rumbles in that deep voice, a slight shake of his head. He can tell already that this isn't going to end well for the most important thing of all, his precious club. So without further adieu he stands, bringing the two ladies with him as he himself ambles over towards Howard since a ruckus is starting.
"Kid, kid, you're looking well," he lets that deep voice boom out, despite the tussle that's now underway between the two combatants. Giving the ladies a pat on the backside, they amble off to the background, since there's a lot of ambling going on. "So are you here to help the city from going under, or you here to put your hard-earned money to good use in revitalizing the economy?"
COMBATSYS: Raiden successfully hits Rock with Thunder Crush Bomb.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Raiden
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|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
K' has been tailing Rock for the last ten minutes. The kid wasn't hard to find, after all... rumors started blossoming mere moments after the young Howard touched city ground. The reason K''s following Rock is simple. Rock's massive grudge against his father isn't exactly a secret, and K' knows that the first place Rock will beeline is anywhere that might give him information on where to find his father: a man with whom K' himself has some very personal grievances.
The young experiment isn't surprised when the two of them eventually end up at a strip club. Still keeping to himself, K' watches Rock go in, and tilts his head at just the right time to catch the sound of the expected uproar.
A sigh flutters at K''s bangs. Well, whatever his better instincts are telling him, he's not gonna learn shit if he just sits around out here. Silently, the young man hops down from the roof across the street, and-- with characteristic recklessness-- goes straight in after Howard, cutting a sharp left after he ducks inside to avoid immediately attracting attention. The dark and the confusion of panicked bodies helps with the whole clandestine thing.
K' only needs a few seconds to size up what's going on. Thankfully, nobody of any import's here except Big and Raiden... but nonetheless, the two of them aren't exactly to be underestimated. Especially since Raiden just bounced Rock off the ground. Hissing out an annoyed breath, K' starts forwards on a crash course straight for the brewing conflict. Not exactly in the mood to talk-- not that this is a situation for talking anyway, not at the immediate moment-- K' lets the sudden aerial snapkick he tries to crush into Raiden's chest, attempting to knock him back and away from Rock, do most of the talking for him.
OK, well, he'll say one thing. "It's your ass if this goes to shit, /Howard/!" He'll explain why exactly he's here and helping out later.
COMBATSYS: K' has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
Rock Howard gets picked up by Raiden and dunked on his head. His back craters against the unforgiving Strip Club foor, causing the strippers to scream at the ferocity of the carnage. Fat Truckers in the corner booths even get up, concerned that they might be in the crossfire of Raiden's next power slam. "Nhgh," he groans, mostly because of Mister Big's dialogue more than the shooting pain in his spine. He rolls onto his stomache and pushes himself to a knee.
"Look, Big, this doesn't have to be so difficult. You like the easy way out, so I'm offering you the chance to just spill some info and save yourself from another trip to the emergency --" K' arrives and Rock is cut off mid-sentence.
Recoiling back to his feet, Howard squints over at the white-haired dude. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demands, even while raising his hands to anticipate some sort of counter attack from Big or Raiden. They aren't going to stand for two uppity fighters crashing around in the Strip Club. That much Rock Howard is certain of. "I don't need help from /you/, of all people. It's just Big and Raiden. They're like the Rosie O'Donnel and Star Jones of the Syndicate."
COMBATSYS: Rock focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
COMBATSYS: Raiden blocks K''s Minutes Spike.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
Landing with a thump that literally causes the earth around him to shake, Raiden grins at his success. "This is the might of Raiden! You cannot win!" While he could no doubt go on all day in the fashion of true pro wrestlers everywhere, the hefty Australian abruptly dealing with a little girly kick from someone who is prepared to call a little girl.
One meaty arm comes up to soak the impact of K's attack, the gigantic man not even budging a little bit. "Ho ho, who is this? Some little child who is lost and cannot find her mommy?" Raiden lunges forward abruptly, delivering both of his fists toward K''s chest in quick succession, before following up with an attempted grab, hugging the young man close to his bosom with more force than is strictly neccesary. "Do not worry! Rosie will make it all better!"
A moment, and then Raiden pauses again, lost in thought, as something he cannot put his finger on seems to have gone terribly wrong. "Wait."
And just when Mister Big thought his club may escape destruction, the kid who uses flames comes out of absolute nowhere to attack Raiden. A soft grunt escapes the throat of the Sultan of Southtown, and he cautiously lifts a hand to remove his cigar. Flicking ash over a nearby table and right into a tray, he answers the somewhat rhetorical question from the wrestler.
"It's just more trash, and you know what to do with the trash," his deep voice rumbles, the glib remark from Howard simply earning the boy a glance over those shaded rims. The offer, however... "If you hadn't brought the runt along, kid, I'd have considered your offer. At least your old man has the balls to handle his business by himself."
His hands delve into the pockets of his stylish coat, withdrawing twin black fighting sticks. Placing his hands through the leather loops, he gives a slight shake of his head, deciding that he will indeed do his own dirty work. Rushing forward, he does the sensible thing, closing the distance on Rock in order to lash out with his firm, unyielding rod, aiming to strike the boy right on one of those upturned dainty wrists.
COMBATSYS: Raiden successfully hits K' with Combination Bodyblow.
- Power hit! -
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Mr.Big
"I'm not here to help you, asshole," K' declares loudly, simultaneous with his shove away from Raiden's block, his right arm already snarling with fire as he lands a few feet back in a skid. "I'm here cause I hate your father." His eyes cut over to Big, his gaze narrow and sharp. "And because I haven't forgotten what /you/--"
Whatever Big did soon becomes a fact lost to the ages, though the grudge is obvious, because it's in that moment Raiden retaliates. The experiment blurs slightly around the edges, as if debating whether to avoid or soak the attack, and that moment of hesitation gets him Raiden's fists slammed into his chest with drastic force. Winded, he's caught up with bone-creaking force in the followup, and the flames about his wrist noticeably intensify.
"Fuck off, 'Rosie,'" K' sneers, before he breaks out and skids back a few distance-opening feet. The fire about his wrist flares abruptly into a flash of flames before him, and K' slams a sharp kick into the conflagration to send it bolting straight at Raiden.
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Medium Strike from Mr.Big with Gedan Crack Counter.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Mr.Big
"That's great, Kaykay," Rock says through a cracked jaw, staring at Mister Big as the guy pompously goes about the process of pulling his hard, steel-strong, stick from his pocket. "I'm glad you hate the same thing I do. But you just cost me -- Shit!"
Rock knows how Mister Big's hard, unyeilding rod feels against his smooth skin very well. They have gone down this homoerotic fantasy road many times over the years of his quest for vengeance. Feeling the surge in energy from Big, he knows where the big meat package is going to try and ram his rod. Bracing his toe against the ground, Rock waits until Big brings the fighting stick downward to bust into a forward leap. Flipping over Big's swinging arm, Howard slams his steel-toed boot into the back of Big's head after the somesault, using his brain as a vault to come down in a crouch on the other side of the Sultan.
Rock straights his back, adjusting the lay of his red coat on his shoulders. "God, you still suck at this, Big. Just tell me where he is, I don't have time for your bullshit. You're losing money and with what my dad pays, I'm sure you can't afford it."
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Raiden with Second Shoot.
! VENGEANCE !
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Mr.Big
"I do!" Raiden gets ready to deal with K' in a more permanent fashion, a task which is only made more difficult by the oncoming wave of fire that is between them. Raiden, being a man and not a wussy little small child, does not even think twice about taking it, charging into the mass with a bellow.
"More trash means more taking out, and believe me!" Slamming a fist down at the bar next to him, he grabs a drink, it doesn't matter what, and pours it into his gullet. He probably didn't even taste it on the way down.
"NOBODY TAKES OUT THE TRASH LIKE RAIDEN! YEEEEEEAH!" He raises a fat finger upward, victorious in his knowledge that he is a domestic superstar.
COMBATSYS: Raiden gains composure.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Mr.Big
And just like so many times before, the nimble Rock Howard negates the intended strike, sending Mister Big stumbling forward thanks to that bump to the noggin. Bracing himself against a table, the Sultan spends a moment to rub the back of his head where that high heel of Rock's dug in. "You tried calling him, kid? I'm sure he'd appreciate a call from his little bastard," he notes, casting a glare in young Howard's direction.
But with Raiden pausing to take a drink, Mister Big can't afford to let both fighters run around and destroy his club. Dimly, somewhere amid the first inch of Rock's heel pressing against his brain tissue, he remembers K' indicating a reason for being here other than Geese Howard.
"What beef have you got with me, runt?" he demands of K', following said demand up with a sudden leap forward, sticks first. Spiraling through the air, coat billowing to all sides, the Sultan seeks to spear the young clone with a diving twist, burying his sticks in an attempt to force the upstart away from Raiden.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Mr.Big's Cross Diving.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
K' doesn't pay any more attention to Rock. The both of them are a little too busy for words right now. Raiden momentarily out of the way, the white-haired boy turns his attention next to Mister Big as the man punctuates his attack with that question. Ignoring the insult, K' braces to catch the sticks in both hands, softening an attack that would have otherwise pierced into him with winding force.
"It's enough I got one," the young man grates around the stinging pain, shoving back in order to clear some space and-- hopefully-- to unbalance the other man. There must be some reason for his sudden reticence to discuss the nature of his issue with Big, but he's not about to divulge it. Instead, he just retreats a couple paces, his eyes narrowing on the wider scene watchfully.
COMBATSYS: K' focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
Rock is left alone to his own devices for a minute. That's fine by him. Mister Big is dealing with the fact that he's go two spunky, similarly minded, punks punching holes in his flesh in here. That's hard to deal with on a good day -- let alone a day where half of Southtown, and half of the empire Mister Big hopes to inherit -- might be in jeopardy. There's word of NESTs chumps and Shadaloo gimps running ramrod through town, torching anything they think might belong to the Syndicate. Rock is sure the last thing Big and Raiden really want to deal with his the erstwhile Howard scion --
"Hey, you fat fuck!" Rock yells, realizing that Raiden getting his wits about him is like refueling an Oil Tanker. Howard takes two strong steps forward from the area in the club behind Big before kicking one of the tables straight up. It flips into the air as Howard spins on his heel and delivers a kick right to the flat side of the table, sending it sailing towards Raiden at the bar. It'll probably just break on his gigantic gut, but at least it keeps him from getting close enough to have to actually smell Raiden.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Raiden with Random Weapon.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
When Rock kicks the table at Raiden, the big man seems unimpressed. To continue the oil tanker metaphor, he's not even leaking on miles of coastline, endangering the native coastal fauna. Indeed, he just charges right into it. It's an ancient tale told again and again, a collision of man and table.
Today, Raiden is willing to let it go at a draw. The force takes him somewhat off-guard, causing him to stagger back a step, but the table pretty much breaks in half over his bulk. "I am not fat, you skinny little twig!" This is basically a fib, but it doesn't matter because it is Raiden time.
"Big boned!" Picking up half of the ruined table by a leg, he rushes forward, swinging it like a hook to bring Rock in close to him, so that he can use it to deliver a bizzarre sleeper hold. "Raiden is big boned!"
Kept just short by K's outstretched hands and subsequently forced back, Mister Big spends a moment simply brushing his coat back into position. Lifting one of the sticks, he points it squarely at the upstart. "If you won't speak up, then you should get the fuck out. You know you're not welcome in this town anymore, runt."
Letting the other fighting stick dangle at his wrist, he withdraws the cigar he was smoking earlier from an inside pocket, and it's still lit for some odd reason. He takes several puffs, blowing the smoke out in a series of quick rings. His head twists, regarding the other opponent in this fatal four way. "And you, Howard, need to smarten up and realize the ramifications of us losing control of Southtown. You gonna go down as helping topple your daddy dearest -- only to hand it over to the guys who fucked up Thailand a couple years back?!"
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big gathers his will.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Mr.Big
Standing his ground, his yellow eyes completing their assessment to return and fix on Mister Big, K' looks calmly around the stick being pointed into his face. He isn't paying Rock or Raiden any mind by now, his attention rerouted instantly back to the stick-fighter by the words he says. "I'll be welcome again once Howard is dead or thrown out," he replies coolly. "Which is how it's looking to turn out."
If there's any further negotiation to be done here, Rock's going to have to be the one doing it. K' doesn't look particularly interested in further talking, preferring instead to kill off some major supporters of Geese and take whatever information might come out along the way. Nor does he seem interested in thinking too hard about the ramifications implied by Mister Big. The most he's got to say about -that- is a terse, "Who says it's got to be handed over?"
His right arm snaps up on the tail of those words, trailing fire: a ring of the intense flames snaps outwards a moment later, cutting a blazing path towards Mister Big across the scant space separating them.
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Raiden's Improvised Grapple.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Mr.Big
Rock freezes for a second in space, his spine straightening and his head snapping to stare at Mister Big. The same people as Thailand? Like a hot flash, he's sent back to that miserable little country. He fought Sagat in a cage. He battled Alex on a mountain. He punched a tank with Grant. And he got captured, drugged, manipulated by NESTS. If his boys Terry and Roy hadn't risked it all, who knows where the he'd be today. "You mean -- you mean this is all /their/ fault?!"
WHAM.
Rock's neck snaps forward as a half-chunk of solid oak table slams into the back of his body. He goes wide-eyed, swallowed into the creepy embrace of Raiden, looking like a dude about to be tongue-kissed by Roseanne. With a terrible burst of fear-powered strength, Rock lashes both his forearms out to break free before Raiden can do whatever creepy crap he was going to do. Diving out of his armspan, Howard hits the ground with his shoulder and rolls until he's coming out on one knee.
He locks eyes on Mr. Big. "NESTs is really behind this?" he demands, voice piqueing over the sound of K's inhuman fire. Jaw hardening, Rock breaks his gaze to stare at Raiden, staring to rise from his knee. "You're big, all right. Big and dumb. Eat --!"
Rock cuts his right arm forward, exploding from his core to channel a sudden explosion of his own chi. A burning blue mass of energy slices from his arm, barreling across the Strip Club floor. "Reppuken!" he cuts his other arm, sending a second rolling cutter hissing towards the immovable object.
COMBATSYS: Raiden overcomes Double Reppuken from Rock with Flame Breath.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Mr.Big
Not even paying a little bit of attention to K' and Big over there doing their respective 'thangs', Raiden just grins, his mood steadily improving even through Rock's neverending stream of verbal abuse. He doesn't even mind when the lad breaks free and decides to try to chop him in half with chi.
"I've already eaten, but maybe you'd like a taste? You're too skinny, you need to put on some pounds, little boy!" Gathering his full bulk, the wrestler prepares himself. "Try a taste of this, if it's not too spicy for you!"
Raiden sucks in a deep breath, an act that only serves to make him seem even huger. He holds it for just a moment, and then exhales forcefully, the motion almost doubling him over. A gout of flame pours out of his mouth, a stream of fire that engulfs the oncoming reppukens and continues onward.
Raiden would gloat, but his mouth is sadly otherwise occupied. The gleeful expression on his face will have to suffice.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Mr.Big with Eins Trigger.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
The slightest of smirks crosses the face of the Sultan of Southtown as he hears the typical response from K'. "Fuckin' self-centered as always, aren't ya, runt?" that deep voice rumbles, a head shake following it. The flames come as anticipated, and Mister Big takes a step forward, fully intent on interfering with the strike -- of getting to K' before the distance gets too great. But then he hesitates, and that's what costs him.
Realizing he won't make it, a last minute attempt to instead defend against the flames goes awry. Knocked into the air from the impact of the potent flames, the Chrome Dome Don slams down through a table, rolling quickly back to a crouch. He looks singed.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, that smirk returns as he straightens his sunglasses. He spares a glance at what's rapidly approaching Howard, but speaks on anyway; "Yeah, amongst others, kid. You think they're doin' it alone? But if you want to know more about who's attackin' the city, you should ask your partner here. He knows a thing or two about the Cartel."
Sowing seeds of division, or facts already spilt between would-be comrades? Either way, Mister Big enjoys flapping his gums, almost as much as he enjoys hitting people with his sticks.
Putting out an errant flame on the cuff of his coat, he moves to do just that, hit K' with his sticks. He dashes forward, closing the distance between himself and the outcast, only to draw just short -- his sticks strike one another, a spark flying, and with an upwards swing he unleashes a gout of blue flames at the NESTS project.
COMBATSYS: K' blocks Mr.Big's Ground Blaster.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Raiden
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K' 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
K''s attention routes around instantly when Rock mentions that name. His yellow eyes fix on Rock, remembering the other's own grudge against NESTS. "I could have told you that," K' snaps, his yellow eyes narrowing on the other young man, before he's forced to pay attention to Mister Big again as the other man lunges back onto the attack with sharp words.
Many of them are actually true. Not least among them the accusation of being self-centered. The NESTS experiment has always looked out, first and foremost, for himself... and in that vein, bringing Rock up to speed takes second seat to making sure he isn't hit by Big's attack. Gritting his teeth, he braces and catches Mister Big's chi on a fire-sheathed arm, defending himself from the energy with his own Kusanagi flames.
"Of course it's not just NESTS," he grates at Rock, even as the flames start to spread and consume more than just his forearm. With an effort of will and a deep concentration, K' painstakingly stokes the grafted fire within him: the process now slightly slower without the help of that red glove. "But they're the ones I really want here. I might hate your father, but I hate them more; whatever grudge you got with them can wait in line behind mine."
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
K' 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
COMBATSYS: Rock overcomes Flame Breath from Raiden with Raging Storm+.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
K' 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
Rock stares at the Reppukens as they travel into a wall of flame. Shit. That wasn't part of the plan. Raiden's a big loaf; a pile of meat. He's meant to be pounded and tossed aside by Rock Howard -- he shouldn't be putting up this much of a fight. Anger spiking, Howard takes a pair of steps back in the face of the encroaching fire tornado. The firenado. He only has a tenth of a second to really react. But it is enough!
NESTS and Geese Howard. They are two things Rock Howard does not like. He is the mirror opposite side of the anger-train from his 'partner', K'. One would do anything he could to take NESTS down; Rock would do anything he could to get revenge on Geese. NESTS made K' into the fighter he is today; Rock was cursed with his evil blood from the day he was born. And, of course, Rock's got blond hair and wears normal clothing. K' is a leather fetishist.
"Damn you, Geese --!" Rock says, stepping straight into the approaching column of fire. It starts to swallow him, the red coated teenager briefly disappearing in the storm. But from the center, with a sudden burst, a light spills outward. Another half step of the glowing Rock Howard and he slams his arms towards the ground, a shockwave of pure chi energy exploding from all directions around him. The Strip Club shakes as its foundation is rattled, the expensive lighting equipment above the nearest stage pouring open in a shower of shattering glass.
COMBATSYS: Raiden just-defends Rock's Raging Storm+!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
K' 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
The roar of the flames he is spewing out is temporarily deafening to Raiden, which is probably just as well because otherwise he would be very confused because how could Rock, or anybody else for that matter, ever confuse him with Geese Howard.
It might have also been a convenient warning, because suddenly Rock is there in the middle of Raiden's inferno (dante don't got shit on this) and chi is exploding /everywhere./
Raiden panics. His mouth opens even wider, freakishly wide, in shock. It is pretty clear hat he is about to be mowed down like a cow gets mowed down by an industrial beef grinder. The flame ceases entirely, and Raiden sucks his breath in, in /fear/.
GULP.
Most of the chi coming at him ends up sucked in, too, drawn into the invulnerable gauntlet that is Raiden's gullet. He chokes a little, then hiccups. He hesistates, wondering what exactly just happened there, and then comes to a decision.
"YEEEEEEEAH, RAIDEN'S NUMBER ONE!" Not content to merely bask in the heady rush of his own amazing ability, Raiden takes a step forward and brings his meaty hands to bear on Rock, looking to wrap them around the smaller man's torso, lift him high, and then huck him across the room.
With the sudden release of energy from Rock -- and the subsequent damage being done to the club -- Mister Big forestalls any additional attack on K', instead backing away from the former NESTS agent. That slight smirk paints the Sultan's face, but inwardly he's concerned for his club. Despite the showering glass, the girls continue to dance until finally the owner of the club gives the signal. Then the girls, breasts and all, make for backstage and the safety of another castle. "Ladies, you better go too, get the car ready," he notes to his typical accompaniment. The girls leave to do just as directed.
Rounding on those present, he spreads his arms to each side, sticks dangling loosely from wrists. After witnessing Raiden's feat of strength, he begins. "Are you two happy now? You want to fight NESTS, you want to fight Geese, but instead what do you do? You come in here. You step on my turf, you knock my club apart, and you know what the best part of it all is?"
Snatching the sunglasses from his face, Mister Big crushes them, the volume of his voice finally rising. "YOU FORGET WHO YOU'RE FUCKIN' DEALIN' WITH! I'M MISTER BIG, YOU LITTLE SHITS! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU BOTH ARE?!"
Clearly, he's angry. Throwing his ruined glasses aside, his coat soon follows, and a rather tall, rather well-groomed Mister Big emerges. Chest heaving, he straightens his waistcoat as his beady stare centers right in on K'. With a soft chuckle, he beckons the upstart on. "Come on then, you little runt. I'll fuck you up just like I fucked that whore you tried to rescue. How'd that go, by the way? Yamazaki told me how delicious you tasted. She tasted much better." His left hand lifts, drawing close to his mouth, almost as if he were about to lick his own fingers.
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
K' 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
For a few long, drawn-out seconds, K' doesn't even respond. He just stands there, his yellow eyes fixed on Mister Big's revealed own, the only sign he heard what the man said to him the way his fire loses control. It consumes K' swiftly, loosed from whatever restraints its owner had placed upon it, searing his arms and trailing off his shoulders in erratic, lashing arcs of heat and enraged, clawing flame.
His hands open and shut audibly. But at first, K' makes no response to Mister Big's indignance, his outrage, or his demands as to who he and Rock think they are. He just chambers visibly like a round in a gun, his stance opening, his head lowering, his eyes slitting like a jet fighter's HUD locking on. His expression cracks into a killing snarl, the look devoid of all reason, tactics, or thought of personal safety.
When he finally talks, his voice is startlingly clear and unhampered. It cuts like surgical steel. "You're lying. You miserable fuck. But I guess it doesn't matter. Even if you are lying... I'm going to kill you for so much as -looking- at her."
K' /throws/ himself at Mister Big. There is no rationality or logic to his movement: only desperate speed, force, and crazed fury. Lunging forwards with reckless rage, fire streaming from his right arm, K' makes a very sincere, very straightforward effort to tear Mister Big open from throat to hip with his bare, blazing hand: crushing forwards with enough force to slam Mister Big back against the far wall.
COMBATSYS: Rock effortlessly blocks Raiden's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
Rock gets to bear witness to Raiden motherfreakin' swallowing a Raging Storm. It's probably one of the top five most humiliating things he's ever born witness to. There he is, whipping out one of the best techniques he's ever been able to master. Something only he and his father, the man he hates, have ever been able to do. And just woof, the guy eats it like it's a Double Whopper with Cheese. "How the hell did you --"
Stop. Pause.
"Dude, seriously?" Rock stops, turns to look at K' and Mr. Big a second after 'how delicious you tasted' and stares. But the tension there between these two dudes is enough that he doesn't push it further. Plus, Raiden.
Howard spins just in time to feel Raiden grab onto his shoulder. "No chance!" he yells, girly squirming his arm free. Before the other huge gorilla paw of the wrestler can grab hold of his other arm, Rock's head ducks and he pivots into a spin on his heel to orbit around Raiden's rotund waist and end up off his back left side.
Rock allows himself a moment to swallow a gulp of air before he maps his path of attack. Raiden has absorbed every form of punishment he's been able to throw at him. He's an unstoppable freight train here. And the best way to stop a freight trail is to derail it. So, from directly behind Raiden, Rock slams his foot into the ground and launches his elbow right for the kidneys of Raiden. Chi blossoms around the elbow as Howard barrels it straight for the lovehandles, a second step giving him added momentum as he tries to straighten his arm into a hammering fist across the gorilla's ribcage. "Fall down, you fat fuck!"
COMBATSYS: Raiden Toughs Out Rock's Hard Edge!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Mr.Big
So the little runt squirmed free again, huh? Raiden remains unconcerned; Rock may be packing a portion of his dad's heat, but it's jack diddly compared to the wrestler's mighty might.
"You think that's enough?" Raiden rumbles as Rock rams into him. The elbow sinks into his mass, penetrating a good distance. The massive body shudders from the force, but once again doesn't budge. That's the problem with trying to derail a freight train; trains are /big and heavy./
"I will show you how it is done!" Without giving another moment for Rock to recover, Raiden spins about and bends over in one motion. He immediately charges forward like a locomotive, practically skimming over the ground, and also very possibly through and/or over Rock. This much fat should not ever be allowed to move this suddenly or this fast.
COMBATSYS: K' successfully hits Mr.Big with Heat Drive.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Mr.Big
The response from the former NESTS agent isn't as gratifying for Mister Big as he had hoped; he'd hoped for a little more screaming, a little more madness. But what does happen is still somewhat gratifying, and a sadistic looking smile spreads across the face of the Sultan as he watches flames dance across K's body. And the verbal response only broadens that smile. Is he really lying? The light in his beady eyes seems to suggest he isn't, the way he simply watches the upstart without so much as batting an eyelid.
It's necessary, because the sudden inferno that is a rushing K' proves to be quite fast, quite accurate. Mister Big summons his defenses, innate moving in such a fashion as to mitigate the damage to his body. His knee lifts, and he leaps backwards slightly, cushioning a blow that could potentially have taken his head from his shoulders, or at least ripped his clothes apart. The impact happens, and it stings.
Knocked well back, the Sultan performs a quick mid-air roll, landing in a three-point stance as he slides backwards. One stick clatters to the ground, but he swiftly lifts it back up to his waiting fingers. "Oooh, I think I hit a nerve," he notes, as he pats at the flaming waistcoat, which is in dire need of replacement now. A hint of blood shows. "Is that who you're hanging with now, the Ikari? I don't think they'd accept you. Nobody will but us, K', and you've gone and burnt that bridge. You call ME a miserable fuck?
"Take a look in the goddamn motherfucking mirror."
His comfortable and singed loafers find grip as Mister Big dashes forward with a reckless rush of speed, the gap between himself and K' closing in a heartbeat. With one of his fighting sticks hanging low, he swings it upwards, fully intent on cleaning K's clock with the wooden weapon -- and uppercutting the clone high into the air for a follow-up, really wailing into the boy with those potent Philippine prods!
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big knocks away K' with California Romance!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
It doesn't seem to matter to K' whether Mister Big is lying or not anymore. It doesn't matter what's happening to Rock, doesn't matter if the considerably more level-headed Mister Big now has the advantage of rational thought over him, doesn't matter what else might be going on around him. Anger infects K''s blood in a way it has not in months, that deep-seated, everpresent rage in him flaring to life like a gas-doused fire.
By now, the boy has gouged lines of blood out of his own palms from how violently his hands have clawed shut. The pain is miniscule and forgettable compared with his desire to take Mister Big apart piece by piece.
Wound taut with fury, K' looks enraged enough not even to be capable of human speech. He certainly doesn't seem to respond appreciably when Big nettles him, his expression merely peeling into the bared-teeth rage of an animal. He doesn't even move when Mister Big attacks, even starting -forwards-: his intention clearly to brute force his way through the assault to get his hands around the man's throat. But reason-backed skill wins out over strength, however viciously fueled it might be; struck repeatedly, he is ultimately knocked back violently by the assault. Only last-minute instinct allows K' to twist in the air and slam into the far wall on all fours, clutching on with such force he's momentarily suspended.
Eventually sliding down, K' slowly regains his feet. Spitting blood to one side, he soon demonstrates he heard well enough what the man said to him when his teeth pry apart long enough to let a reply snarl past. "I don't need or want acceptance. I want your fucking life." And he's clearly ruminating on all the ways in which he wants to take it.
COMBATSYS: K' gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
COMBATSYS: Raiden successfully hits Rock with Giant Bomb.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
Rock Howard is completely transfixed by the swaying flabs of fat on Raiden's gut as the big idiot fuck (BIF) barrels at him. He doesn't know how the Hard Edge didn't work. He doesn't know how a guy that could have a second life as an oil tanker can move so fast. He just doesn't get any of it. Maybe he's young. Maybe he's naive. But what he is --
Is flattened to the ground. Howard gets bowled over by Raiden, knocked into the air, and slammed back into the rough, broken, strip club floor. He groans in pain, clutching at his ribs, his red eyes feeling like they are going to break out of his skull from the throbbing pain in his body. But that's good. It's just fuel, right? Rock slaps a palm into the ground, then the other. He spits a wad of blood onto the floor, just to tweak Mr. Big some, and pushes himself back to his feet.
"Hey, BIF," Big Idiot Fuck, "I've still got my head and most of my dignity. Why don't we play a game called, I kick you and you fall down?!" Yeah, awesome dialogue.
With a burst of speed, Rock somehow endures through the burning in his joints. He streaks for Raiden, hoping to catch him before the BIF can fully turn back around. Planting a foot, he leaps into the air and tries to drive his right heel right into Raiden's head.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Raiden with Fierce Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
"You cannot stop me! Raiden is unstoppable!" Raiden turns about after running Rock's ass over, and the first thing he does is start taunting. "No wonder your daddy thinks you are so weak, if this is all you can do!" He lets out a laugh, his mirth not subsiding even after Rock stealth-insults him (it is stealthy because Raiden does not understand it.)
Then the big blond bear gets kicked in the head, the impact comically distorting his entire face for a moment. He staggers back a couple of steps, a trickle of blood running out of the corner of his mouth now. He laughs again. "We could try this little game of yours all day long, and Raiden still would not fall!"
With a quick step forward, Raiden lashes out with his foot at Rock's ankle, a light little thing meant more to destabilize Rock more than anything else. "Can you say the same!?"
Almost as if feeling that his club is being soiled by Howard's young blood, Mister Big's teeth grind together for a moment before he simply smiles up at K' as the renegade fighter poses against the wall up there. He felt the contact of the strike, felt how smoothly it went. There's no real denying that it hurt. The inevitable comes, though, those words.
And the beady eyes of the Sultan of Southtown never leave K', not even to glance over at the way that Raiden is handling Rock. He has faith that the Australian will succeed. After all, Australians are the best around, aren't they just?
"If you want my fucking life, you know where it is, runt," Mister Big remarks.
His expression twists, the amusement in those eyes disappearing as that smile becomes smirk. He doesn't need to say anything more; his expression does the talking for him. There's outright contempt on that face, as if he utterly and completely believed that this upstart kid has no chance of winning against the Biggest Man of Them All, now that he's taking this seriously. And for the moment, he has eyes for nobody but K'.
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
K' doesn't talk any further. He's said what he wanted to say, Mister Big has made his response, and now there's only the fight between them left to consider. By this point, Rock and Raiden might as well not exist: a decision that, perhaps, would have been unwise had Raiden and Rock themselves been paying much of any attention to the particular ire that seems to have arisen between the so-called Sultan and the upstart facing him down.
The contempt doesn't visibly touch K'. He's seen that expression directed at him for so long it's almost mundane in its familiarity. The sort of shit he's had to take from day one. The only relevance it bears now is as extra motivation to kill the shit out of Mister Big for even -implying- he laid hands on Whip, and it's towards that end that K' tenses: fire swarming to life around his right arm.
It's not immediately clear how the flames will be used. Not until the instant K' slings them abruptly forwards into the shape of a whirling ring. For a few confusing instants, it's not immediately clear whether that mass of fire will arc forwards to strike... and then K' solves the question by twisting swiftly in place, smacking a kick into the fire instead, sending it arrowing forward far faster than it could have moved on its own.
COMBATSYS: Rock dodges Raiden's Quick Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
Rock no-sells Raiden, the King of Kings. He takes two steps back, the big bruiser's trip kick sliding through the air infront of him. Howard laughs, letting a little of the Geese inside of him escape in a cocky little noise and a matching crooked smirk. It's a face you want to knock the living hell out of and he knows it. It'll keep Raiden on his toes.
The /ire/ radiating from across the Strip Club does catch Rock's brief regard. Whatever, K' can kick the crap out of Mr. Big all night for all Rock cares. He wants data on Geese; he wants access and information to where that guy is hiding out. And most of all, he wants to send Southtown a message. A message that he's back in town and kicking ass, taking names, and slaying dames.
"Bif, what am I going to do with you?" Rock wonders out loud. "Your so big and dumb and slow. Just being here, you foul up this classy little joint Big's put together. I should --? No." Rock shakes his head. "No, I shouldn't. Or should --? I must."
Suddenly, Rock springboards right at Raiden. He tries to use all his limited bulk to shoulder-tackle the guy and drive him towards the glass doors at the front of the club. He's gotta take out the trash, da-naaa.
COMBATSYS: Raiden endures Rock's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|=======\=======\1 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Mr.Big
Raiden's face twists into a frown. That look on Rock's face is surprisingly infuriating. It's not so bad when it comes from Geese; he's smug, but he deserves to be smug, the man is the real King around these parts. But Rock? Rock is just some punk kid.
No longer paying any attention to the strip club, Raiden takes a menacing step forward, raising his arms. But Rock just keeps talking. "I am the biggest, the strongest, and still you think you can talk down to me? Raiden is gonna show you just what a mistake you are making, little boy!"
When Rock throws himself into Raiden, the big man is driven back, the force of it causing him to skid across the floor. He breaks through the glass doors, sending bits of shattered glass and a ruined, twisted frame flying. But the huge man is still standing. His arms are still raised, and he is not happy.
"Take this!" His arms come crashing inward toward Rock, Raiden's meaty hands that are larger than most people's heads grasping for a hold. If he manages to get it, the first thing he does is yell. "DESTRUCTION!" Then he'll pick the young Howard up, flip him upside down, and then slam him into the ground not once, but three times.
And then Raiden takes flight, leaping up high into the air, bringing Rock with him. Maneuvering Rock between his meaty thighs, the meaty wrestler /flies/ forward in flagrant defiance of physics, arcing downward to eventually crash into the ground. "DROOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big overcomes Second Shoot from K' with Blaster Wave.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
The little fireworks display across the room from K' is simply watched. Mister Big is clearly waiting, silently urging the youth to go ahead and launch the fire, or even rush in and attack; with a game plan firmly in mind, the Sultan of Southtown has no intention of backpedalling from whatever the renegade NESTS agent will strike with.
Even as Rock and Raiden mix it up, the standoff between K' and Big continues, almost as if it were something from the wild, wild west. And like a true desperado, a rough rider, Mister Big makes it clear for K' that he don't want nada, none of this, six gun in this, as his hands -- clenched tight about his big black sticks -- abruptly thrust forward, right as K' kicks the fire his way.
While the fire moves fast, in that moment Mister Big moves faster. As each hand thrusts, energy lances down his arms, balls of lightning emerging from the tip of each stick -- and then they shoot forward, violently at that, the heavy smell of ozone filling their section of the club. Electricity meets fire, and the fire simply doesn't win, cast aside by the potent charge and rushing onward for K'--!!
COMBATSYS: Mr.Big successfully hits K' with Blaster Wave.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
His flames overcome, K' has only seconds to prepare for the chi coming right back at him. He doesn't have -time- enough to get up a real guard, a proper defense, but nonetheless he does have enough time to shift his own chi to try and dampen the blow. It works after a fashion, meaning K''s only knocked stumbling back rather than blasted again... but it still means he loses ground. And right now, he cannot afford to be losing much more ground.
Silently, the boy grits his teeth, unwilling to let the setback deter him. He'll kill Mister Big for whatever trespass he's committed against his sister, even if he cannot do it this particular night. But that certainly doesn't mean he'll stop trying to do it right -now-. Despite the punishment he's already taken, that fire is already rekindling from his arm, snaking around his wrist and flaring with angry light.
The young man starts, inch by inch, to regain his lost ground: his arm by now wholly consumed in that stolen holy fire. "Was that all..." His expression coils, even despite his circumstances, into a smirk: the taunt as much a tactic as it is an honest nettling. "That barely even stung..."
COMBATSYS: K' gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Rock 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
COMBATSYS: Rock fails to counter Destruction Drop from Raiden with Joudan Crack Counter.
[ \\\\ < > //////// ]
Rock 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Raiden
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
K' 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
COMBATSYS: Rock can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
K' 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Raiden
> //////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
Raiden makes pancakes out of Rock Howard's body. The kid gets groped, mangled, power bombed x3, and then slammed into the ground by the BIF in the greatest body slam ever delivered in the modern age. They're on the street now, out infront of Mister Big's Balls and Bitches, so the thunderous crack could be mistaken for thunder --
But it is just Rock Howard's broken spinal cord breaking through the sidewalk. A ruptured water mane, severed from the impact, erupts like Old Faithful from the cracks around Rock's body, shooting a spray of ominous hydro into the night sky. Rock wanted to send a message, so here it is:
Don't fuck with Dad's Dudes.
"Hnng," he groans, rolling off the water mane. At least the flowing water cleans up the blood.
Lifting one muscular arm, thick as a log, over his head, Raiden points a finger to the sky. As the water rains down around him, he pronounces triumphantly, "Number one!"
He holds the pose for a moment, and then looks around to make sure nobody's watching. Then Raiden groans and visibly slumps, his gut becoming more and more large and big as he relaxes. "Whew...that took a lot out of me. I hope Mr. Big is finished already, I need a snack and lap dance and a nap." Maybe not in that order.
Ambling back inside the club, Raiden cups a hand to his mouth and shouts. "MR. BIG! I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR DOOR, ARE YOU FINISHED YET? I AM TIRED SO I'M GOING TO GO LIE DOWN WITH SOME PRETZELS, OK?"
COMBATSYS: Raiden gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
K' 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Raiden
> //////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Mr.Big
It seems that Mister Big is entirely content with the outcome, even if it was just forcing K' back for the moment. He can tell that the kid's gotten stronger since the last time they met each other -- after all, a man as seasoned as the Sultan is going to know these things. So he simply watches as K' remains on his laurels, and they're busy trading smirks at this point. "So you come down here to take my life, and you spend most of your time sittin' back doin' nothin'?" he questions in that low rumble, before he outright starts laughing.
It coincides well with Rock's abrupt fall outside. Tilting his head to look in that direction, the Biggest Eyebrows of Them All lift. "Still gonna be so fuckin' cocky, runt?" he's all questions today, all low and barbed.
And in that moment, if K' looks in Rock's direction -- or is even distracted by the sudden bellowing of the triumphant Raiden -- then he's going to look back to see an unpleasant surprise. Mister Big, literally spinning across the tiled floor like a top, with his sticks linked together into a staff across his shoulders. It's a swift strike, aiming to catch the youth across the mouth and face several times with that potent black rod of his! He'll have to answer Raiden in a moment, he's busy spinning.
COMBATSYS: K' interrupts Spinning Lancer from Mr.Big with Heat Drive.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
K' 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Raiden
> ///////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Mr.Big
K''s eyes narrow as Mister Big mocks him. His right arm, still rife with blazing flames, lifts slightly. A hand long since freed of its limiter glove-- and not by any help of Geese Howard-- claws around the flames, palm up, ready at a moment's notice. "I know now," is all he says in reply, though his voice is strained-- serrated with the rage Mister Big's words trigger, rife with the urge to kill that is only barely being suppressed, "how to wait for the shit I want."
Raiden's yelling, momentarily, does distract K'. The flames falter slightly in his grasp as he chances a glance out the wrecked front of the club over to where Rock is making friends with the pavement. K' gets only a few moments to think, and he does so swiftly. He's now been left alone, flanked by two enforcers who-- while injured-- are more than capable of bringing him down together.
K''s drive to enact vengeance is very powerful, it's true... and in no situation is it more powerful than in this, where his sister has been maligned. But his drive to survive is equally strong... if only because continued life is a necessary prerequisite to taking revenge. Besides, now that he knows who it is has to die, he can plan for it. Can make it happen a lot more painfully than this...
Reality hits K' again, snapping him out of thoughts of just how he'd like to kill Mister Big, and it does so literally. K' looks back at Mister Big just in time to take that first staff-strike full in the face. But rather than being stunned, the ex-experiment just seems to enrage: with an audible snarl and a resurgence of fire, K' retaliates viciously in the milliseconds of time he gets before that staff spins back around to hit him again.
The young man snaps forward like a springcoil, with blurring speed and crushing force. His right arm, and all the accumulated fire therein, slams straight into Big's chest in the most straightforward of punches ever. Hopefully, he's put enough power behind the blow to send Mister Big flying back... because he'll need the space and time to do what he does next. Which is turn and leap right out the ruined club, landing in a skid in the street beside Rock's unconscious form.
"You fucking owe me for this, you cock," K' tells Rock charitably, casting a glance over his shoulder even as he snatches Howard's son securely by the scruff. "And this is NOT over," Whip's brother warns Mister Big, his voice raising so it'll carry back into the club, before he flickers into indistinct blackness: whisking away faster than most can perceive, and taking Rock (perhaps reluctantly) along with him.
Raiden half-watches Big and K' continue to fight as he rummages around behind a bar for snacks. Mr. Big's doing pretty well oh no he just got punched hella hard. Well, huh. Raiden stuffs a handful of peanuts in his mouth, not even bothering to deal with the shells, and then shouts out, "YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT YOU RUN!"
And indeed, Mister Big is knocked back by the sudden strike, floundering for a moment in mid-air as he ensures he's not being lit on fire. Landing, only to slide back, there's little he can do as K' simply leaps out of ruined storefront and off to rescue Howard's kid. He heaves a breath of annoyance, before his lips spread.
"Heh-heh," a soft chuckle flogs the departure, as a rather weary Sultan of Southtown taps his shoulders with the black rods he favors. "For a kid who wanted my head on a platter, he sure doesn't act like it," he adds, ambling over to Raiden. He claps the big man on the shoulder, before grimacing at the sweat. "Good work, man," he compliments with a nod, before turning to regard his battered, broken store.
Mister Big's Balls and Bitches is going to be shut down for some time. "They're gonna fuckin' pay for ruinin' my club," he growls, before shaking his head. "Come on, let's go find Howard, Kane and Yamazaki."
Maybe it's time for the Southtown Syndicate to show just why they're in charge of this town.
Log created on 21:01:33 03/16/2009 by Mr.Big, and last modified on 23:59:08 03/24/2009.