Description: With his forces spread thin throughout the city, Geese's ability to budget and position his manpower is being put to the test. But has he kept in mind the towering symbol of his power right in the heart of Southtown? The masterminds behind this invasion are tracking the whereabouts of his strongest minions by the minute. It's just a matter of waiting for each and every one of them to step away from Geese Tower before 'R''s Cody Travers and NESTS excitable project, K9999, are set loose upon the tower itself. The goal of the incursion is to make a mess in Geese Howard's house. While the King of Southtown himself isn't the target of the attack, an opportunity to catch him off guard should certainly not be passed up on. Of course, cornering the man in his own fortress might just make him all the more dangerous...
'R' has kept its distance from the war in Southtown; they have little involvement, and by all appearances this is the way they prefer it. But it is almost never wise to ignore a target of opportunity. The fighting has left the headquarters of the Southtown Syndicate lightly defended, and a stroke of luck ('luck') has trapped 'R' operative Cody Travers within the borders of Southtown.
All these facts considered, it was not hard for 'R' to decide on a best course of action.
FIVE MINUTES AGO
Cody Travers sits in an alleyway a few blocks from Geese Tower, fists covered in blood that isn't his. In his lap is an open parcel containing a large syringe of luminescent green liquid - Glow - and a note. The note reads, "Take this and then go stand in front of Geese Tower. ~ <3" Frowning, Cody picks up the syringe and rolls it back and forth in one hand thoughtfully.
"At least she ain't makin' me wear a skirt this time." The blonde sighs, and plunges the syringe into his thigh.
THE HELL RIGHT NOW
The front doors of Geese Tower explode off of their hinges, flying into the lobby as a rain of twisted metal and broken glass. Through the opening stomps Cody; he's ripped off his shirt, and his eyes glow the same green as the substance injected into him just minutes before. He's managed to cover himself with yet more blood; none of the new blood is his, eithers.
"COME ON, MOTHERFUCKERS!" he roars. His voice is oddly modulated, given a strange reverb by a completely scientifically sound side-effect of the Glow, and in stark contrast to his almost berserk appearance, his tone is practically jovial. Perhaps he is contemplating how much K9999 sucks?
There was supposed to be someone else here. Not a partner like that other bitch was supposed to be, K9999 hadn't even bothered to remember name after that particular mission had been over with. This time it'd just be a couple people that happened to have a similar goal in mind, and no need to truely seek the other's wellbeing. The cloned experiment wasn't one of the best examples of a team-player, and it could be considered a positive outcome if he didn't happen to get enraged enough to include an ally in the backlash. One might wonder how two people could be enough to get the job done set out in of all places, the fortress of Geese, but these weren't exactly ordinary joes...
The roar of the engine dimmed to a wicker, there were dents along parts of the motorcycle's chassis-- from either running over people or from avoiding attacks with weapons. The streets of Southtown was a battlefield, even for an agent of the chaos. There was also noway that this bike was one of his own, those precious were stored nice and safe back at the base. This he'd stolen from some guy at some underground parking lot. It wasn't a bad machine, but he fully intended to scrap it in a dramatic entrance into the 'weakened' doors of the Geese Tower!
...Except.
Except.
Some fucker had gotten there first?!!
Ripping off the black helmet, K9999 gaped, then scowled up at the smoke-riddled blasted entrance. Shattered glass lay scattered reflecting the light like fragments of gliterring stars...beautiful in its own right if one leaned that way. "Tch." Managing to cram all of his rising irritation at the ruination of his plans, he revved the engine and blasted off with a screech of tires right on up anyways. If Cody wasn't still in the way, K9999 might not get tire-treads on him.
How nice for Geese it would be if the both of them started duking it out before they even got to work.
War comes calling, and no one is safe. Yet, Geese Tower, standing tall and mighty amongst the city, has remained largely unperturbed even amidst the havoc. Why? It could simply be the invading forces simply don't care. It could be that they simply haven't gotten to this particular target yet. Or maybe, just maybe...
... they know better.
Regardless, Geese Tower's moment of peace ends now with the sound of metal being wrent asunder. For whatever reason, the enemy forces choose /now/ to strike. Not with an armada, but with one man. One man with bloody fists, glowing eyes, and riding on the high train to crazyville.
And really, that might as well be an armada.
But he's not alone. Soon coming behind the one-man army is another one-man army (a two one-man army?) in the form of the approaching motorcycle beyond. Yet, given K9999's distance, he might not see what lies beyond: the faintest glimmer of cerulean sparking in the far back of the lobby.
"REPPUKEN!"
The roaring word is delivered only mere seconds after Cody's bold, crazed declaration as a large plume of blue fire suddenly EXPLODES across the ground, cutting a path /straight/ for the hopped-up berserker to crash into him with explosive, burning force. As the blossom of chi is unleashed, a single hand lowers, crackling with excess energy.
"'Come on, motherfuckers'? Really? You're coming here, and saying that? Have you burnt out -all- those precious few braincells of yours by now, Cody, or just most?"
Geese Howard, King of Southtown, stands tall in his castle, bedecked in a simple, black business suit as he strides forward, left hand tucked neatly in his pocket. He looks at Cody with a condescending air, and frowns. Distantly, his gaze flits towards the approaching motorcycle.
"You know, originally I was about to just try to beat a precious lesson into that drug-addled brain of yours, but now, since I'm tired of idiots like you..." Geese's right hand clenches into a tight fist.
"I think I'm just going to kill you."
COMBATSYS: Geese has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Geese 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: K9999 has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Geese 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K9999
COMBATSYS: Cody has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Geese 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 K9999
> //////////////////////////////]
|=------\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Geese successfully hits Cody with Reppuken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Geese 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 K9999
> //////////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Cody
It is only by the grace of God that Cody evades K9999's dynamic motorcycular entrance, because he doesn't so much get out of the way as be blown clear. Geese's Reppuken crashes into the blonde's legs, knocking them out from under him with an explosion of chi, and he sprawls forward onto his stomach, sliding backwards through the broken glass littering the floor.
Snarling, Travers pulls himself back to his feet. Now some of the blood /is/ his; glass is stuck into his chest in several places, and the wounds bleed freely. It's little more than an irritation, especially as drug-addled as he is... and besides, it's nothing compared to his shins, which look like they just came out of a refreshing day in a health spa on the surface of the sun.
"I got more braincells left than you got..." Cody begins, as he straightens up again. His retort is cut short when he reels suddenly to the side, one hand clutching at his head. "U-ugh..." Grimacing, the American gives his head a vigorous shake to clear it. Oh, hey - a guy on a motorcycle!
"Need this," Travers grunts tersely. He closes the distance to K9999 and his motorcycle in a few quick steps, raising his hands; one latches onto the perfectly normal Japanese teenager's shoulder and tears him off his fancy toy, and the other grabs ahold of the vehicle, fingers gouging into the metal. With a wordless roar, he whips the bike around and hurls it right into the Goddamn air, arcing through the lobby on a collision course for Geese Howard.
It will probably explode wherever it may land, because things that explode are totally radical.
This was certainly turning out to be a peachy start. One might count their blessings that they had just missed being caught in the blast of energy that wiped Cody right out of the way! On the other hand, the clone was just confused when he charged right on in...braking to see--a guy in a suit looking like he owned the place. Oh wait, that /was/ the guy who owned the place. Geese's face swam into recognition from the multitude of files and well, who didn't really know Geese. Truth be told, he was a man even K9999 might have respected. Setting one foot on the ground as he leaned foward on the bike, the clone pointed his blue-encased finger at the 'King', opening his mouth to proclaim the near future--
"YO-AAAUGH!!" Before he could even get one fully formed word out, he was rudely interrupted. K9999 just got a glance at Cody before he was wrested off like some ragdoll from /his/ honestly stolen bike! Left to crach hard on his tailbone on the debris littered floor, and intime to watch said machine go sailing gracefully through the air at Geese. "YOU--! FUCK!" Yelling from the floor, he surged to his feet, fists clenched. It was difficult to tell if he was going to launch himself right for Cody as retribution, but he wasn't so far gone as to forget why he was here in the first place. "When I'm done with him, I'm gonna deal with you!" Yeah, dealing with Geese will take just a second right?
Making no attempt to calm himself, he let his /burning/ ire fuel his body, filling every bit of his being as he stalked on towards Geese pending the results. It might have been easier to just leave Cody to the other man, and just...trash the place physically. Oh well.
COMBATSYS: K9999 gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Geese 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 K9999
> //////////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Geese fails to slow Huge Thrown Object from Cody with Huge Thrown Object.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Geese 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 K9999
> //////////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Cody
'I got more braincells than you got'?
"What a witty comeback. Just what you'd expect from someone so hopped up on drugs he probably doesn't even remember his own name."
Geese looks contemptuous as he loosens his tie, leveling narrowed eyes on both Cody and K9999. "This is almost insulting. A loser and a freak. Is this what they sent after me?" He frowns, deeply.
"Pathetic--"
And that's when Cody hurls a motorcycle at him.
It's enough to take even Geese by surprise; by the time he has a plan half-formulated in his head, the heavy machine is /already/ crushing into his chest with more than enough force to launch Geese Howard straight off his feet. He goes flying, /smashing/ into a nearby pillar. The thunderclap of impact reverborates through the empty lobby with an almost eerie linger; spiderweb cracks form along the marble of the column as Geese seems almost /impaled/ by the bike. There is silence...
And then, with one hand, the King of Southtown grips up that bike, holds it high, and /hurls/ it to the side as if it were little more than a child's tricycle, the vehicle /crashing/ into the ground with the horrible screech of metal as Howard pushes himself into a full stand. His lips curl. Energy crackles at his fingertips. He does not look happy.
"... Next?"
It takes Cody a moment to regain his balance after throwing a motorcycle. Beyond just being heavy, they are unwieldy; for some reason auto companies have yet to design their products with 'being hurled through the air as makeshift weapons' in mind. He acknowledges K9999's indignant fury with a baleful stare, turning his head to watch the teenager approach Howard.
"Hope you're more fun than you look," he replies after several seconds. That, apparently, is that, as he turns his attention to the motorcycle-tossing Mr. Howard. The request for more elicits a short, sharp laugh, and without warning the blonde charges, arms pumping at his sides. Twenty feet from Geese, he drops into a crouch and flings himself into the air.
As Cody hits the apex of his jump, his right leg snaps upwards, the American proving himself surprisingly limber. As he drops towards the Japanese 'businessman,' the leg slams downwards heel first at Geese's shoulder. It isn't fancy, but sometimes, you just gotta axe kick a guy.
K9999 was too busy being flung to the ground to notice Geese insulting his delicate nature, he however didn't miss Cody doing so! How dare he imply that he was lacking in skill! Halting long enough to sear the other with an understated unfriendly glare. He'd show him exactly what he had to look foward too provided Cody managed to survive knocking Geese down to a humility-ridden level. Quick on the uptake, the 'R' agent was pushing back to the forefront, leaving K9999 looking like the slacker in the mix. A role he didn't particularly feel enamoured too, he muttered something rude beneath his breath as he charged right on in behind the man's flying kick.
Time for Geese to show off his mad skills, "HUURRRYYYAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" because should he be hit by the spear-morphed hand K9999 was aiming to introduce him too, that might put a crimp in his styles.
COMBATSYS: K9999 successfully hits Geese with Shut up!.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Geese 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 K9999
> //////////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Geese counters Heavy Kick from Cody with Chuudan Atemi Nage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Geese 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 K9999
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\===----\1 Cody
"Hmph," grunts out Geese as he rubs his right shoulder. He looks idly towards K9999, before his gaze shifts towards Cody. A cold smile drifts across his features, the expression one that someone might don when dealing with a mentally disabled child. Because really -- how else would Geese Howard view Cody Travers?
The berserking Glow-addict attacks first, suddenly leaping through the air with surprising speed and agility. Yet -- all such things are entirely relative. Geese hardly even moves as Cody descends rapidly towards him, buffing his nails idly against his jacket, staring at them listlessly. The young man swings leg down towards vulnerable shoulder--
--and finds a hand gripping his ankle in a stone-shattering grip instead.
"You've gotten sloppy."
In a remarkable, confusing blur of speed, Howard suddenly /yanks/ that leg, and subsequently Cody, downwards like a whip-crack. The King of Southtown surges forward with his left hand, /burying/ it into Cody's midsection before he releases one monumental burst of pure, searing chi, cold blue flames sprouting outward in an explosive sphere meant to rocket the 'R' agent straight through the window pain of the lobby entrance.
"But it's not as if you really stood a chan--"
Geese is cut off as he suddenly finds something /stabbing/ into his shoulder. Eyes widening a moment, he's forced /backwards/ from the blow, feet skidding across the ground as he looks down... to find a spear driven into his shoulder. A spear attached to an arm, attached to K9999. Blood slowly trickles from the wound, as he frounds.
"... Let me guess," Howard begins. "NESTS?"
A second later, he'll simply seek to push /off/ from K9999 to gain his distance, leaping backwards to land only a few feet away, gripping that wound in almost a casual gesture, hiding his pain behind an arrogant visage.
"Were they low on the budget when they decided to spit you out then, or are you their idea of a practical joke?"
Cody crashes into the ground with enough force to crack the floor, the blonde letting out a strained 'oof' as the air is expelled from his lungs by the impact.
Cody crashes into the ground with enough force to crack the floor, the blonde letting out a strained 'oof' as the air is expelled from his lungs by the impact. An attempt to snarl a reply is cut short by Geese's unprecedented charity with his chi, and the forceof the blast does in fact propel Cody through the air, through an enormous plate of glass at the front of the lobby, and out into the street.
It only takes a few seconds for the American to climb to his feet and stomp back into the lobby, glowing green blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. He seems in no particular hurry to get back to the fight; he needs a moment to catch his breath, even driven as he is by the ridiculous amounts of adrenaline-enhancing drugs pumping through his veins.
Even addled as he is, however, some part of him remembers the basic tenets of fighting alongside a friend. He might not know him, and he might be fully intending to beat him to death as soon as Geese is out of the picture, but Cody can't quite bring himself to leave K9999 to deal with Howard entirely on his own.
As he walks, Cody casually withdraws a small black handle from the back pocket of his jeans; a quick flick of the wrist, and a blade pops out of it. He shifts his grip on the switchblade to hold it more like a dart than a throwing knife, hauls back his right arm, and throws. The weapon cuts through the air towards Geese, little more than a flashing metallic blur.
COMBATSYS: K9999 has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Geese 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Cody
COMBATSYS: K9999 has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Geese 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\===----\1 Cody
K9999 barely had a concept about working as a team when it came to other NESTs agents, people like Cody? Practically none. So long as they happened to be targetting the same thing, that was as far as it went, but the clone wouldn't bother holding back any punches of the glow-worm Cody got in the way. Either he get the fuck out of dodge, or get fucked up, simple. Naturally if Cody had been a top-heavy Mexican chica with white hair, dare we say K9999 would have been far more accomodating. Not even green was working for the R-agent. Provided the great King Howard was neatly /shuffled/ away, their tenuous /alliance/ would finish in a mighty second battle. That would demolish the rest of Geese's nifty lower floors.
But back to real time, the easily worked up blue-haired boy had flushed red in the face. His eyes widened then narrowed with a deep hatred as Geese hit home cruely...as if the target wasn't astronomically difficult to miss anyways. No matter how many times someone pushed that button, it did its job. You'd think he'd learn to grow a little tough skin, all it did was send him into a spiralling rage. A risky tactic when it came to the literally explosive clone. "Laugh while you can, you'll regret every single word of it when I proceed to rip you to shreds! I'm going to leave pieces of you all over your fancy building, hope you paid a lot for that suit!" Because he was totally going to get blood stains and like tear it and yeah!!
He was hunched over his hands clawed as if he would try to start with his bare hands, blood, Geeses' already slicked the fused glove. "You sit here in your castle thinking you're untouchable...so much better than everyone else," Energy spiked, and rose in a sudden forceful gust of wind, "WELL YOU'RE NOT!" Whipping his hand out in a wide arc, the gale swept towards Geese picking up debris to hit anything in its path with daunting force. K9999 would show him just how wrong he was!
COMBATSYS: Geese dodges Cody's Knife Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Geese 1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
COMBATSYS: Geese blocks K9999's Get out of my sight!.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Geese 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
"The suit?
"I can't imagine it costs anything more than the money they wasted on making a genetic mishap like you."
One hand shoved deep into his pocket again, Geese Howard strides with a single-mindedly purpose once more, not towards Travers... but K9999. It seems his attention has been refocused, for the moment. "Do you know why they sent you here? Alone, with a drug addict who can barely remember who /he/ is, let alone that he's supposed to be helping you out? You want me to tell you?"
The attacks come; a knife whistles through the air, slicing a path towards Geese's face. With a deft movement, the mob bosses' head ducks to the side, the tip of that blade whistling harmlessly past and shearing off scant excesses of hair. He continues on unabated, rolling his shoulders in an idle gesture. Those winds blow in--
--and suddenly, that walk becomes a full-on /sprint/ as Geese Howard barrels forward, intercepting that gale and debris hand first. With one powerful movement of that chi-infused arm, he /smashes/ that gale aside, stinging up the length of his appendage before he comes to a squealing stop against the marble floor, thrusting out a single hand to grip K9999 by the face.
"It's because they think you're expendable enough to send on a suicide mission. Doesn't speak much for your intelligence that you went along with it, eh?"
And, if the grip is secured? Howard will /swing/ the boy around, and simply /smash/ the back of his head into one of the nearby columns.
If there's one thing Cody Travers hates, it's being ignored in a fight.
His knife is nimbly evaded, but the blonde doesn't seem to mind; all he sees is that others are fighting, and he isn't. But he has yet to completely give in to his lust for violence; some shred of tactical thinking still remains, and it manages to outscream the rest of his brain. Rushing headlong at Geese obviously isn't going to work... and so this calls for another strategy, as boring as it may be.
Cody doesn't increase his pace, remaining at a casual stroll, and he walks right past Geese and K9999, heading for K9999's stolen motorcycle. By now, it is certainly unusable as a vehicle... but to someone inventive enough, it still has so much left to give. "Distract him," he asides to K9999 as he passes. It might not be that valuable as strategic advice, seeing as how the target in question is 'right there,' and could 'hear it.'
These facts don't deter the American, likely because they're unrealized. As he reaches the discarded motorcycle, he leans down, digging his fingers into the metal again and attempting to haul it upwards off the ground. It doesn't work at first, and, growling, the man redoubles his efforts, adding his other hand to the mix. This time he gets the grip he needs, and he hoists the motorcycle upwards, resting it on his shoulders.
Grinning, Cody turns back to face Geese and K9999. He tightens his grip on his new toy, and, like a bad guy in a kung fu movie, waits for the perfect moment to strike. Hopefully, unlike a bad guy in a kung fu movie, that moment will not be 'after K9999 has been defeated.'
COMBATSYS: Cody focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Geese 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
COMBATSYS: K9999 Toughs Out Geese's Medium Throw!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Geese 1/--=====/=======|======-\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
K9999 didn't want to hear it. Each word that Geese uttered piled itself up one atop the other in a looming wall that threatened to collapse in a bundle of hurtful truths. He could recognise the olderman preparing to hit him with it, stalking towards him unbowed from any of their brutal earlier attacks. It would take more to break Geese Howard, he knew this, and yet, he couldn't find it within himself to slink away like some scolded child. Instead, it had the opposite effect. The clone set his jaw muleishly, coming out of the follow-through to find his balance again...only to see the man literally barrel in, dashing aside the risen storm of chi and rock like if it were nothing more than a gnat.
Suprise etched itself deeply on his marked face, as time seemed to slow with Geese entering into a graceful sliding stop...time hurtling back into pace with the snapping grip that latched onto his face. Red eyes widened around the man's thick fingers, that earlier looming wall topling down upon him with the dismissive assertion of his worth to the organisation that gave birth to him.
//SMASH//
K9999 was crushed into the column, easily handled once swept off of his feet. The boy wasn't a heavyweight, to the contrary. Blood splashed the stone as his knees buckled, body limp as he hung there with a glazed look to his eyes. What he was however, was tough, far tougher than his light build would suggest, and rather than have his skull smashed by such a powerful blow...The teenager, rallied. Maybe, he didn't have the same kind of brains like the leaders of the different organisations like NESTs and R, maybe they really did think he was expendable. "You're wrong." barely heard, muffled about the other's grip. Even if all of that was true, K9999 didn't have to necessarily fail! He'd prove all those bastards how wrong they were, and he'd start with the smug fuck infront of him now!
Anger fueled and sparked the roiling well of raw pent up energy within him, and he reached up to try and grab the man's hand in a fierce grip. A laugh bubbled up deep within his chest as he found the ground once more beneath his feet, and he surged foward, "GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!" In a globe about the teenager, swirling red and white chi blossomed and struck outwards with daunting force, blasting away and cracking the tiles. Anything caught within the maelstrom would feel his hurt, and rage.
COMBATSYS: Geese overcomes Moon... from K9999 with Raging Storm+.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Geese 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Cody
The second that Geese grips onto K9999's face, he knows; there's not enough resistance, there's not enough of a fight. Howard's eyes narrow; he frowns, in a look that suggests only disgust.
"If you think I'm as stupid as you are, you're sorely mistaken."
Before K9999 even speaks again, dark blue chi is already rising up all around Geese to terrible degrees, lifting into the air like whisps of heat with no actual warmth to them. Stray crackles of blue fire, surrounded by violet coronas, stretch around his hands. He feels the power coming up around K9999. He knows Cody is planning something.
But he'd like to teach this one a lesson in manners, first.
The very second that K9999 grips that hand and unleashes all that red and white energy, Geese suddenly /snaps/ downward, /smashing/ his free hand into the cold, smooth floor.
"What do you think you're laughing about? RAGING--"
Miliseconds before that chi can catch up with Geese, whispers of blue can be seen in the contrasting red before massive CLAWS of deep navy blue fire RIP through the blossoming white and red dome of fire, rending it into pieces as they flail and twist around Geese Howard like a cage. Those massive tendrils whip about like a proverbial storm unto themselves, and, unabated by the force of K9999's attack, continue onward... to rip into the poor Kyo clone with a merciless amount of power.
"STORM!"
The light of Geese Howard's Raging Storm would reflect in Cody's eyes dramatically, but they're currently solid, luminescent green. Try again later.
As the storm nears its end, Cody's legs tense; he crouches slightly, swinging the motorcycle off his shoulders to crash back into the ground in front of him. It sends a wave of broken glass and dust rolling across the floor of the increasingly damaged lobby. With a deep breath, the man digs both of his hands into the side of the vehicle as deeply as he can.
Green light, the same color as his eyes and the blood he's spilled, flashes around Cody's feet, lingering for a millisecond that feels much, much longer. More of the same flashes from his body. Also, there are action lines fuckin' everywhere. Just... all over the place.
With a wordless roar, the American leaps into the air towards Geese, carrying the motorcycle with him. He doesn't move particularly fast, but he trails hazy, translucent green afterimages none the less. As he reaches the arc of his jump, he lifts the motorcycle above his head...
... and, just as Geese's Storm fades, Cody descends, swinging the motorcycle straight downwards like the enormous club that it is. It's not fancy, and it doesn't involve harnessing his chi or utilizing the secrets of an ancient martial art.
But it's still a fucking motorcycle.
COMBATSYS: K9999 Toughs Out Geese's Raging Storm+!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Geese 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Cody
Somehow this has degenerated into a struggle between the mustered strengths of chi between the two...and it would appear at a glance, that the clone is about to be haplessly and irrefutably outdone.
...Or was he.
It was both a crutch and a boon to K9999, he fought not based on lengthy strategy or years of experience to guide his actions, he fought purely on raw instincts, his genetics playing out in a myriad of ways to aid him...or fuck him in the ass. More animal than human, it was a sense of how things were to unfurl that he reacted. The pair were at the center of a raging torrent of intermingling blue and red chi, one slicing apart the other only to find that instead of being blown apart like initially expected, Geese may find that the resistance was far more formidable than earlier calculated. More likened to a wounded trapped creature, instead of snuffing out completly it snapped back into invigorated life. One too many brutal jabs to K9999's delicate psyche and he fought. Some of the tendrils managed to break through, but the impact as they sliced through his clothing and flesh was far more negligable than it should have been...
Teeth bared and gritted, K9999 would prove he was stubborn and utterly incapable of being taught /any/ kind of manners. Shortly when the energies thinned into their dwindling whisps, he roared with an eruption of fire to followsuit as he threw aside the man's hand and assaulted him this time with another manifestation. His body was able to channel torrents of energy, but for such a flash-bang even he felt the aftereffects, stumbling as he tried to catch himself, feeling hollow once all the power ebbed.
In the quiet calm of a setting outside of the harshness of battle, were K9999 to think deeply and write a report on how he'd managed, it was likely only an irritated shrug be the answer. Maybe Geese would come to rethink his initial expectations of the clone? Maybe.
COMBATSYS: Geese dodges K9999's Split!.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Geese 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Cody successfully hits Geese with Random Weapon!.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Geese 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Cody
"You both still don't get it, do you?"
The question comes pointedly after the storm of furious chi that whirls endlessly around Geese Howard abates; the Southsynd boss looks endlessly smug as he comes to a stand, even so outnumbered, with fighters clearly skilled -- if not simply berserk enough to make up for the lack of it. Yet still, Geese looks self-assured in his victory. Is it arrogance? Is it blind pride? Is it stupidity?
Geese Howard didn't get as far as he has by being stupid.
"I can understand from the Glow-in-the-dark burnout over here, but you'd think even a supersoldier who's only good for kamikaze missions would have at least even a -bit- of common sense." Tugging at his necktie, those icy blue eyes fall to K9999 as the young man once again attacks with that distinctive crimson fire of the Kusanagi. Geese leaps /directly/ out of the way in a calm manner, feet tapping against the solid floor as he moves with almost preternatural speed. "This isn't just a suicide mission because you were dumb enough to accept a job to try and take /me/ down--"
And then that motorcycle swings down with more might than should normally be possible, /crashing/ into Geese's frame bodily with a sudden -=CRACK=- of bone as the man goes flying like a ragdoll through the air. Blood spills from his lips; he feels ribs fracture. He SMASHES into a nearby wall with more than enough force to cave in the stone and plaster. Rubble falls down all around him, blood spills over his vest.
But he still looks so very self-assured.
"--it's... because you losers... came into /my tower/... my /bastion/...
"... and expected you'd just be taking me on by myself."
And Geese smiles a wide, bloody, condescending smile.
"Idiots."
COMBATSYS: Geese gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Geese 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 K9999
> ///////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Cody
From the proverbial shadows, a second set of eyes has been watching. Waiting. Biding its time carefully.
And now, its time has come.
Howard is struck, a bloody mess made and bone's crushing beneath corded muscle. It's impressive force, enough to send him flying into the nearest wall and making a horrible mess of the lobby. Those unseen eyes widen briefly. Then, a look of contempt crosses the figure's unseen face, red eyes growing redder.
He isn't alone, and such becomes obvious as a blur of movement suddenly appears from the farthest shadows, a silent figure in black whose steps are marked only by a sharp click of heels on marble. It moves with purpose, a long black coat--like the mane of black atop its head--trailing behind it, whipping about as it moves hurriedly toward the two invaders.
As it gets rapidly closer, it's obviously female.
And obviously angry.
She says nothing; instead, the woman plants her heel and slides right at Cody, intent on driving her palm into the man's stomach. But contact is light, fleeting at best; instead, the real source of pain comes from the sudden and abrupt swell of vermillion-red energies that explode from her palm's heel, intent on driving Cody back.
COMBATSYS: Shihong has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Geese 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cody
COMBATSYS: Shihong successfully hits Cody with Swallow's Wings.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Geese 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Cody
Geese goes flying, and Cody's motorcycle club... shatters. It's not entirely destroyed, but what was a heap of twisted metal is now just sort of a ball of scrap, and the blonde straightens up, dropping the destroyed vehicle onto the ground at his feet. "You talk real big," he calls to Geese, dusting his hands off. "But you're still just an old man."
Not alone, huh? Cody's eyes narrow and he turns slowly to survey the lobby. The blur that is Shihong flits in front of the camera as he searches. It is all very suspenseful... and, as is to be expected, Cody totally fails to notice the woman. Glow doesn't do good things for your situational awareness.
"I don't see nobo-" he begins smugly, turning back to Geese. Shihong is there to meet him when he does, palm-first, and the explosion of chi sends the American flying backwards, arms and legs splayed out. He crashes into a pillar, crushing a human-sized portion of it into rubble that falls to the ground with him.
As Cody rises back to his feet, bright green blood is trickling from the corners of his mouth. "An old lady, too, huh?" he muses aloud. This is bad, though... there's two of them, and only one of him. The blonde looks from Shihong to Geese a few times, vision passing over K9999 multiple times. It takes him several seconds to parse the NESTS 'member' as part of the fight.
"Distract him," the blonde tells K9999 for the second time. And then he springs into action, charging back towards Shihong. A few years ago, Cody was averse to hitting girls. It's amazing how time (and drugs) can change a man (and drugs.)
Still six feet away from the woman, Cody twists to the side and snaps his leg out at chest height, foot smashing into thin air several feet away from Shihong. Rather than follow through, however, he keeps his leg extended, and the force of the kick is so great that it drags him across the floor, his foot crashing in at the Chinese woman's chest like a battering ram.
Ok. So he didn't /do/ it...but the flare of ire from having Geese so deftly side-step his last forray was partially mollified by having the snot smacked out of him by the now thoroughly /wrecked/ motorcycle. In passing, he reflected that it was once more, a great idea that he'd used a stolen bike, else it'd have been all kinds of crazy up in here had that been /his/...smoking heap of flamin' scrapmetal. Too bad it didn't shut up him. Bloodied, K9999 braced a hand on his thigh, leaning over with laboured breathing. He'd been pushing himself from word go, though he showed no signs of wanting to relent. Even when Geese pointed out the obvious. There was one thing missing from the moment they'd set foot in there, yes. Backup. Cody found that for him too, how kind of him.
The bitch was taken in at a glance, and he hissed in annoyance. Much like how he was given an 'order' to distract Geese. Distract? Who the hell did the guy think he was?! He'd do what he wanted! Infact, his earlier 'distraction' had been utterly unintentional. The emptiness he'd felt began to fill once more, the man's words fueling the return with alarming intensity. "Bring one, bring all..." Rasping out, he straightened slowly, "the difference is, no matter the odds we're still going to WRECK YOUR PLACE!" And your face. Or something equally quippy. Look K9999 was good at one thing exceedingly well...and it was safe to say it /wasnt/ verabal dialouge.
...Yeah. About that 'distraction'...
COMBATSYS: K9999 gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Geese 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Cody
Lifting easily, almost casually, onto his feet, Geese wipes blood free from his mouth and -- physical damage aside -- seems far less worse for wear than he did before. A ruse? Or maybe Shihong simply bought him the time necessary to recuperate.
Regardless, Howard stands, staring at the blood smeared across his hand almost distastefully. "To think it was the addict who'd actually manage to get a good hit on me. It seems you aren't even good for kamikaze missions." Geese's gaze falls pointedly on K9999 as he speaks this, his smile almost insulting in its pitiable nature. Distantly, the King of Southtown looks back towards Shihong, his smile only growing all the more self-assured.
"Be sure to clean up the mess, Shihong," he says calmly as he strides towards K9999.
"I don't want his gaudy blood decorating my marble floors."
Rolling up his sleeves to the elbows, Geese nonchalantly rolls his neck with a brief series of cracks. He looks squarely towards K9999, considering for a long, silent moment. "So they sent you here to die," he states, calmly. "What do you think about that? Do you care? Did they program you to be able to care that they don't think of you as anything more than fodder?" As K9999 gathers energy to himself and roars, Geese /swings/ one arm forward, seeking to grasp onto K49's right wrist. If he does? He'll /swing/ that arm around to lock it /painfully/ behind K9999's back, exerting enough pressure to threaten to break bones.
"Don't you think you deserve a better future than that?"
The last question carries a certain weight of consideration before, if the grip succeeds, Geese will reverse that lock and seek to simply /slam/ K9999 straight into the ground, without a second's hesitation. "HMPH!"
\
COMBATSYS: Shihong blocks Cody's Ruffian Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Geese 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Cody
A burst of psychic energy erupts between the woman in black and the drug-addled Cody, the strength and emotion behind her power enough to wipe him off his feet and slamming into the nearest pillar. Briefly, red eyes flicker brightly, thin red lips easing into the faintest hint of a sneer. But, swiftly enough, it vanishes completely, as Cody climbs back onto his feet.
Bleeding green blood..?
His words earn him no response from the woman; rather than lash out in kind, Shihong merely eases into a neutral stance, red eyes fixed entirely on Cody. Only when Howard speaks does the woman's gaze shift aside, regarding her employer with an assured glance before, vaguely, her lips curl.
"Understood," she replies. "Mind your wounds, sir."
When red eyes slide back onto Travers, the man is lashing out with a fierce kick, his body carried across several feet of marble. Instantly the woman braces her body, legs parting shoulder's width as her arms rise up, intercepting the blow to her chest with her forearms. Impact results in a loud THWUP, flesh and cloth meeting his foot and sending her sliding back a few inches. Behind red lips, the woman's teeth lightly clench in response.
"The nerve," she lightly comments, her words lightly tinged with venom. "How DARE you."
Shoving forward with her arms, Shihong seeks to disrupt Cody's balance before she lightly bends her knees. Seconds later she hops up, springing into the air as her body twists, a leg whipping around to kick the Glow-addled man in the side of his head with outer blade of her foot.
COMBATSYS: Shihong successfully hits Cody with Spin Kick.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Geese 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Cody
Cody frowns when he ends his maneuver with his leg lifted and pressed into Shihong's chest. This is almost never a good position to be in; even he can recognize that. Before he can wrench his leg away, however, Shihong pushes him, and in such a vulnerable state it's enough to send him staggering backwards, flailing to regain his balance.
The attempt to stay upright stops mattering, however, when the Chinese woman follows through by kicking him in the Goddamn head. The American catches the blow full-on and spins to the side, flipping entirely upside down and spilling onto the floor in a heap, landing heavily on his neck. For a moment he just lies there, groaning. That one hurt.
Suddenly he lifts one of his hands and slams it back down into the ground in fury; where he strikes, the marble cracks. Growling, the blonde hauls himself to his feet, turning to Shihong once again. "You think that was bad?" he snarls, cracking his knuckles noisily. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."
Cody lunges, sliding into a kneel as he rushes for Shihong. The moment he's on his knee he's rising again, fist lashing upwards towards the woman's stomach; as it swings inwards, Cody twists it suddenly to the right. The effects of that aren't readily apparent, as he continues through with the punch like usual...
And then, once his arm is fully extended, an eight foot tall whirlwind, laced with streaks of green chi, erupts into being in front of him, threatening to wholly consume Shihong, batter her about, and toss her across the lobby like a rag doll.
COMBATSYS: Geese successfully hits K9999 with Crushing Throw.
# Disabling hit! #
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/----===|=======\=======\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Geese 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Cody
Inspite of K9999's rediculous power for one so young and inexperienced, anyone with a guaging eye could tell that there was a massive difference in skill between the two. K9999 inherantly knew it, but refused to allow that to bog him down or turn him from battling it out. Even now with the addition of Shihong things were looking steeply against their favour, it didn't help that Geese continued to tear into the clone with poignant emotional jabs. Each one more precise than the last, preying on his innermost doubts and fears. K9999 never really tried to hide his emotions, his face an open book of everything he was feeling-- except those two, those were buried beneath an overabundance of frustration culminating in hatred and fury. And so by default...
K9999 watched without backing away the confident approach of the older man, if stares could kill, Geese would be dead intinately times over. Not good for even kamikaze missions?! It would be a mistake, ever letting the man get close enough to grasp at him. It wouldn't be the first one he's made today. And possibly his last. K9999 howled and fought to break the other's vice like grip, ignoring the pain it would bring, crying out mostly because he'd been too slow to divert the other's swinging lunge. Trapt, muscles coiled like taunt wire beneath his clothing he was unable to do much more than listen to the other's slowly implaing words-- ironically embedded with a gem of advice. Doesn't he deserve better?
Any immeadiate reply was stolen beneath the crushing rumble of being slammed without further preamble into those 'precious' marble tiles, cracking and splintering several as he was smashed into them. Bones cracked and fractured, breath smothered as lungs were filled with the resulting hemmorhaging from the rupture of vessels, agony. All along his body it flared like a constricting blanket all in an intense drive of a couple seconds. K9999 may have actually blacked out in that timeframe as his brain fought to deal with the deluge of injury. But this was what he was built for, this beating, this pain, and for all the time he lay there in the near-crater...his body wouldn't allow him just yet to rest, he stirred. His body and desire for retribution.
"People like you...you think its so easy."A wheezing gurgling whisper, K9999 coughed then spat blood out on the ground, his face awash with red on one side, as was his arm and shoulder where the crimson cloak he constantly wore had finally been shaken from its bundled state. It fell about him like a banner of premonition, puddling about his legs as he fought to rise. "Think you can judge where you stand, looking down on others." Did he care? Ofcourse he did. Did he think he deserved better? Hell yes! But it wasn't like if he could simply do like K'. Just pick himself up and abandon NESTs...Some would argue he could, some would argue he just needed to get the willpower. Maybe they were right, and he knew it, hating himself all the more for being unable to do it. Having someone like Geese state what he already knew-- reminding him of ever failing.
It was just too much.
"I hate you, I hate you all." He clutched his right arm, features twisting in a horrific expression. The air had picked up a decided heaviness even as the arm beneath the cloak began to shift-- another spear perhaps? Another weapon? Not exactly this time, bowing his head. "AND I WISH YOU'D ALL JUST DIE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Blasting out with the speed of a freight train, his arm formed nothing discernable beneath his rage-filled shout, but a mass of squirming flesh and metal. K9999 lost control, and blindly sought to end the source of his torment.
COMBATSYS: Geese counters Power... losing control!... YAH! from K9999 with Gedan Atemi Nage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Geese 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Cody
People like him? Think it's easy to judge?
"Only when I'm dealing with simpering little weaklings I can read like a book."
Released from that hold violently, Howard stands tall above K9999 like a disapproving parent, wiping his hands free with ease. "I see you use flames just like that one brat, K'. You're just like him. No finesse, no control -- no idea about the world beyond you beyond some ignorant rage." Shoving his hands into his pockets, Geese takes a single step backwards, his smile simple as he asks an easy, thoughtful question:
"So I wonder what NESTS has done for you other than ruin any chance at normalcy you could ever hope to have?"
Blood both from him and K9999 spattered across his nice clothes, Geese Howard cants his head to the side, even as K9999 struggles to recover himself. "Before you answer, let me guess what you're going to say: 'they gave me power!' But you're wrong. They didn't give you power. You have a lot of energy and strength, but that's not power. Do you know what happens when a kid holds a loaded gun? They shoot themselves because they're too dumb to know any better. You're a loaded gun. It's clear they never bothered to teach you how to fight," K9999 stands, growing angrier, "or how to deal with psychological warfare," he clutches his arm, expression terrible, "or even how to function as a human being. You know what you are to them?
"A mindless bomb they can just throw at incompetents without fear of consequences or loss. In business terms:
"An expendable resource."
That mutated, horrible quivering mass of an arm sprouts outwards in fleshy tendrils and metal portrusions and Geese Howard's eyes widen... before he suddenly ducks UNDER the impressive mass of genetically unstable power and raw fury. Lifting up shoulder first, he uses the arms own momentum to shove it to the side as he spins in... and aims to plant a single elbow straight into K9999's throat.
"Just imagine what you could do with that power if you actually were taught how to use it instead of just thrown at enemies to kill and be killed."
COMBATSYS: Shihong blocks Cody's Criminal Upper.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Geese 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Cody
Landing with a light click of her heels, Shihong glares down at the painfully-felled Cody with sharply-hooded red eyes. His presence here, the very nerve he had taking on the most powerful man in Southtown, is an eye-sore. He disgusts her. He makes her angry. And to think, he believes he's strong enough to stop her--and in this state?
If she weren't so angry, she'd probably laugh at him.
Again, despite his poor and painful landing, he gets back onto his feet. She disregards him, but only briefly; eyes shift, glancing over a shoulder. Howard seems to have a handle on the angry NESTS tool, she surmises. He doesn't appear to be in any worse shape than before. As K9999's arm explodes in an odd, tumor-like display, Shihong's expression falters briefly. What the hell..?
But she cannot witness the outcome--not yet. Cody speaks, drawing red eyes immediately back onto him. "You should have stayed down on the floor, right where you belong," she offers coldly. While her face may lack any real, tell-tale emotion, her eyes are furious, red depths tinted with an odd, almost ethereal red glow.
"I'll just have to put you down like the filthy dog you are."
He moves, his speed impressive, all wounds considered. Rushing the woman, she's forced to take a defensive stance, feet again sliding outwards, supporting the weight of her body. Even as he drops low she keeps an eye on him, letting her arms again draw together, forearms serving as a shield of meat and bone. It seems harmless...until the energy cyclone shoots up.
Her arms are briefly caught, the sleeve of her black coat shredded by the force of the gale, arms cut and legs nicked. The pain from the energy causes her to let out a muted cry, lips immediately pursing tightly as, behind them, her teeth clench. But she's not down--not yet.
"My turn," she eventually states, pushing off her heels and lunging forward. Closing the gap, she intends on snaring Cody by the wrist and wrenching it painfully, locking the arm and rending it momentarily useless...
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Shihong's Savage Tiger EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Geese 1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1 Cody
Arm secured, Shihong wastes no time taking advantage of the moment.
Using her forward momentum, the woman lets her body leave the marble floor, slamming both heels of her stiletto Pradas into his midsection. But it doesn't stop with one fierce 'stab;' instead, she moves, using Cody's body like the floor itself, stomping along his chest as she ascends his front, still holding fast to his locked arm. And once she reaches his shoulders, she pushes off him, letting her body hover above--
Before she pulls back on his arm hard, forcing him to angle sharply forward as she comes down with her heels into his backside. The result? She forces him straight into the floor, face-first, where, upon impact, a second burst will erupt, giving her the needed momentum to leap off of his prone body.
Cody rises as his tornado fades, drawing his fist back and preparing for another attack. That's aborted when Shihong grabs ahold of his wrist and twists it. The joint is just shy of an angle human wrists are not actually designed to go, and the blonde doesn't even bat an eye. His entire body tenses, his legs lock, and he just... stands there.
This doesn't change as Shihong continues her assault, slamming her feet into his chest and scaling him like the rock climbing wall at a high school gym. Shihong leaps off him and he remains positively statuesque. Not even his head moves... he stares straight ahead, into the middle distance.
The Chinese woman finally gets a reaction when she lands on him again, though certainly not as drastic as she'd like. The force of having an adult woman land on him drives Cody to one knee, and the blast of energy causes him to sway forward, the skin on his bare back sizzling horribly as a side effect of the release of totally sweet psycho power.
Unlike before, he rises again almost immediately, lifting smoothly to his feet as Shihong leaps off of him and turning to face her. Halfway through his turn, there is once again a flash of green light and bitchin' action lines all over the place.
As usual, they persist for a millisecond that manages to take almost a full big boy second, and the blonde leaps towards Shihong, trailing afterimages once again. His leg snaps upwards almost seventy degrees and then slams downwards, aiming to catch the woman in the midsection, pull her straight out of the air, and slam her into the ground, crushing her torso in between the marble and Cody's foot.
"Not your turn yet," the American corrects Shihong briskly. He opens his mouth to continue, but stops, suddenly swaying dangerously. The light in his eyes flickers, and for a moment red blood trickles from his wounds instead of neon green. "D-damn... wearing... off...?" the blonde groans, the modulation in his voice drifting in and out. It makes it sound warbly and creepy.
Apparently, his guess wasn't too far off the mark, as he slowly topples backwards and falls flat on his back, arms splaying out to his sides. Looks like he's down for the count.
OR IS HE?!
COMBATSYS: Cody can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 1/----===/=======|
Yeah he totally is.
...And, nothing. No end, no retribution, just pure failure.
"HHRRCKK" K9999 choked, then gagged from the blunted impact to his throat, trachea near-crumpling beneath the force. Fingers spasmed then clutched his neck as he bowed over, his right arm still useless as it writhed and twisted in an attempt to revert to its dormant state. A nightmarish mass that hung to the floor beneath the cover of the red cloak about his shoulders. His eyes were bugged out as he struggled to breathe, falling back to his knees. Hacked and coughing up more blood, he finally drew in air with a gurgling agonizing rasp. Could he even speak after that?
"Y...you thiink I don't know?" An expendible resource. Barely audible, it sounded nothing like K9999 now that Geese had ruined his throat. Each attempt burned, it would be better to just say nothing at all and attack. The sickening crack of bone signified the last return of his arm into a proper semibalance of a functional limb, and he braced himself on the floor for a moment to catch himself. A low grating hiss issed from his bloodied lips, a mockery of a bitter laugh. "Sounds like, and offer..." to hire? "you would do better?" Than NESTs, would Geese be a far better teacher, one who would truely bring out the wasted potential in K9999 and make him truely a devestating well-rounded weapon.
"All of you are the same! NESTs, Shadaloo, Syndicate... Even if what you say is true, it's all about using whatever's available till uneeded. Tools, thats what we are." What remained of his voice grew stronger as he continued, pushing himself up. "None of you really care! AND I AM NOTHING LIKE K'!!!" Spitting red with that last, he lurched foward trembling with the fury of his words and the intense emotion he felt about his beliefs. The only person he would remotely think cared a little about him, was Angel, and Geese didn't even come close. It would be the same, orders, do this, do that, if not-- punishment!
COMBATSYS: K9999 gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Shihong 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 1/----===/=======|
"An offer?"
Geese comes to a stand as K9999 is knocked backwards from him, shaking his arm in mild irritation. He observes the man, and lifts a brow.
"I don't offer anything to people who can't even fend or think for themselves."
Geese's tone isn't even apologetic or remotely kind as he lifts one hand into the air, crackling with that ominous, deep blue chi. "A freak like you that they scrambled together like some sort of half-assed hodgepodge isn't anything I'd be interested in. I'm not going to take in another one of their genetic disasters. But you should ask yourself this: when this is over, and if I decide to be generous enough not to just squash your head like a melon underneath my foot once I'm done mopping the floor with you, what do you think is going to happen when you fail them again? Your a resource that's steadily losing value. Property that's showing itself to not be worth the investment. If you were in their shoes, what would you do?" Geese's expression is grave, the very epitome of intimidating as that blue flame condenses into a tiny, volatile sphere of dark blue in his palm.
"Recycle you."
K9999 continues to gather power to himself, even as Geese's chi diffuses across the entire lobby with an almost suffocating presence of oppression. Pure, raw power that does not yield, that exudes no weakness, that exerts itself as if K9999 were little more than an ant beneath it. "So, I wonder if you'll be dumb enough to go back to them, knowing that you're rapidly losing any semblence of usefulness? Of course you are.
"You're not that smart.
"DOUBLE!"
Howard's right arm flings upwards, and instantly all that chi surges upward and around him, unleashed across the ground in a blossom of cold navy fire. Geese's left arm swings up after that, broiling flames adding to the mass before him until it is simply a massive WAVE as large as K9999 is tall. The mass of terrible energy rips forward, aiming to engulf the young boy... and then just blow him STRAIGHT out of the lobby proper.
"REPPUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Cody successfully hits Shihong with Dead End Irony.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Shihong 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 1/---====/=======|
She sails, the explosion having given Shihong just enough momentum to allow her lithe form to twist gracefully before she'll presumably land a few feet from the juiced up Cody. Her features are still stern and entirely cold all the while, red eyes still aglow in the dim lighting of the Tower's lobby. She's still angry and spiteful. If that didn't knock him out, well...
But just as she flips her body and readies to land a few feet from Cody--
He's suddenly up and in her face.
There's little time for Shihong to properly respond; struck, she lets out a grunt as his foot lodges itself into her stomach. He does not hesitate to take full advantage, swinging her while she's impaled upon his foot and slamming her back into the ground. Beneath her, marble cracks and shatters, red eyes going wide--and briefly dim--before they pinch shut.
Something is, however, amiss. A single eye opens, glaring harshly up at the former convict...before a brow lightly arches. It doesn't take much to realize what's happening and, the moment he lets up his pressure upon her torso, Shihong squirms, grasping at his leg and shoving it off before she rolls aside. Pushing off her arms, she springs to her feet, staggering a bit before she manages to regain balance.
"It's your turn now," she coldly remarks, glaring down at the felled man before she turns her eyes back toward her employer and his 'mess.' Unlike before, things have gone in his favor. The NESTS mess is clearly on his last proverbial leg, and now Howard clearly has the upper hand. But Shihong knows her place--and that is not directly interfering with Howard unless ordered to.
"Sir," she calls out. "'R's juiced-up little pet is out. Orders?"
COMBATSYS: Shihong takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Shihong 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: K9999 fails to slow Double Reppuken from Geese with Get out of my sight!.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ]
Shihong 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 K9999
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 1/-======/=======|
COMBATSYS: K9999 can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shihong 1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 1/-======/=======|
It was a no win situation for K9999. Ofcourse he'd thought about leaving, and the lengths they'd go to keep him under their heel. Then there were the failures...more now recently than not. Everything Geese said had a ring of truth to it, a kind of unforgiving verity that spared nothing. He's tasted punishment before, he wouldn't be suprised if they simply throw his life away-- but the alternatives were equally miserable. Atleast that is what he believed. It was responsible for his mercurial attitude, and not giving a shit about doing a great job either. A more mature mind may have been able to parse a solution between the two...But again, Geese was right. He wasn't that smart.
Not yet.
K9999's mustered attempt at an offensive defense was simply ripped to shreads by the stronger manifestation of chi, being at his limits...It was a fitting literal translation of a boot to the ass out of his building. K9999 stood there for a slow second, the wall of blue stuttered in that duration, then it mowed him on down like a tidal wave. Anything else caught in its flow was smashed on outside aswell, and the boy was unable to add anything else but a wretched howl of frustration, that was silenced with vicious efficiency.
NESTs and R down for the count, but Geese Howard would have one nuisance of a repair bill.
"Like I said before:
"Idiots."
Crackling excesses of deep blue chi whisp upwards like ghostly tendrils around Geese Howard's arms as he turns his gaze towards Cody Travers' fallen form. Even as Shihong poses her question, there isn't an immediate response; instead, Geese looks towards the 'R' lackey, then towards the trail of intermingling glowing green and red blood, then towards the shattered portions of floor.
"Festive bleeding all over my floors. How cute."
Walking over to the downed Cody, Geese will roughly shove the man onto his back with a single, soled foot to stare directly at his face. Frowning, the King of Southtown shoves his right hand into his pocket, and then speaks once more -- staring straight down at Cody as he does.
"Deliver him to the Southtown Penitentiary. I'm sure he'll feel right at home, back in prison. Won't you, Cody?"
And then, pushing off the fallen man with a single foot, Howard will turn and stride calmly towards the tower elevators, lifting one hand in the process.
"And get someone to clean this mess up. If they were here to try and put a meager dent in my wallet to fix up the holes I've made in my lobby thanks to them, well.
"Their mission was a smashing success."
COMBATSYS: Geese takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shihong 1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Geese 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
COMBATSYS: Geese has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Shihong 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Shihong has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:43:23 03/17/2009 by Geese, and last modified on 02:39:05 03/31/2009.