Description: Rugal Bernstein has held a stranglehold on Southtown's harbor for months since the beginning of the invasion. Throughout the conflicts, this grip has held; the Black Noah remains as a symbol of oppression and the heavy concentration of 'R' operatives lingering at the docks of the harbor. But there are those who would refuse to allow such tyrannical constrictions to continue -- and those who would have vengeance for the precious lives they treasured that Rugal had brutally tore away from them. Heidern of the Ikari comes in full-force with his mercenary warriors against the forces of the Black Noah to make a final play against the despicable tyrant-to-be Rugal Bernstein -- but with the odds so stacked against his favor, is there anyone who can turn the tide from desolation to hope...?
The siege on Southtown had, thus far, been one of the most organized, well directed acts of absolute chaos in modern history. A threadbare alliance of bickering tyrants each with their own petty goals and hidden objectives somehow managed to hold things together this long in their singular focus of taking down the King of Southtown and his powerful Syndicate. And, against all expectations, the tenuously organized front had held thus far.
'R' had been the on the outskirts of the entire operation from the beginning. Clearly on board with the goal, the criminal cartel couldn't bring the raw manpower, armored vehicles, and amoral weaponized advanced tech and cloning power that Shadaloo and NESTS were able to bring to bear. But there was one thing Rugal was able to deliver with absolute certainty: control over the port and surrounding seas. With the Leviathan of the ocean, the Black Noah, anchored just off the harbor of Southtown, the waterways were not safe for anyone but the invasion force. It served to hold the portal open for goods to be shipped in from elsewhere around the world, keeping the supply train open to the more inland fortifications.
The carrier is as it has been for years. Run down yet somehow no less menacing for it. The jets are still in a state of disrepair, but a section of the deck has been cleared off to make room for a small fleet of advanced assault helicopters which proved to be all around quite useful in the war proper. Serving as vehicles for getting to the other bases quickly, striking valuable targets, or keeping other ships at bay, the 'R' squadron of aircraft were just one of the many vehicles of war that helped make the siege possible.
It is one of these choppers that has just come in for a landing on the deck of the Black Noah. It was rare that the Tyrant of 'R' left the ship ever since the incident at the news station. But a few formalities needed to be completed in person as the final stage of the siege was about to begin. Returning at last to the gigantic carrier, the man steps out of the war-copter, adjusting his signiture crimson suit jacket as he does so.
Preparations had gone well. NESTS and Shadaloo would be launching the final offensive soon. All he had to do was continue to maintain the blockade a little while longer. Of course... there was another part he was to play. All part of bringing the ultimate plan to fruition. A severe look is cast over the busy deck of the ship as 'R' infantry get ready to pile into the helicopters and head off to reinforce the other strongholds in Southtown. It won't be long now, he muses to himself, before this ultimate gamble will have to be played out in full. He had thought he had covered every angle before but the betrayal of his son as a critical moment had shaken his certainty. Now, more than ever, the man begin to wonder if this final chapter would go as planned or if other unforseen complications would arise.
Most of the deck. There's still a little section over there with a horrible melted scar in the shape of a Japanese character that I forgot where Alan was pretty brutally attacked by Seishirou. More oddly, he hasn't been wearing his sunglasses since - occasionally he even lets an opportunity for sasstalk slide.
The boxer is waiting on the deck for Rugal, leaning up against some important machinery that shouldn't be leaned on, legs crossed at the ankles, vest hanging open and blown about by the wind. He gives a little smirk and says something as the helicopter lands, and nobody can hear it, which is probably a really good thing (for Alan).
He remembers to show at least a little respect once Rugal steps out, pushing off of the important machinery and stuffing one hand into his pants pockets. The other pulls a cigarette case out of his vest and snaps it open, getting one black cigarette out, lighting it with a touch of his electric-crackling pinky.
tAlan is not alone. Cody Travers stands on the deck of the Black Noah some ten feet from the man, leaning heavily on the railing and staring down at the water. Every once in awhile, he scratches at one of the track marks on his left forearm... but other than that he barely moves, even when his thoughts are disturbed by such disruptive things as 'a Goddamn helicopter.' Apparently he has something on his mind.
Unlike Alan, however, Cody is not nearly so quick to show respect to Rugal upon his boss's emergence from the helicopter. He swivels his head towards the aircraft as the man emerges, stares for a moment, and then looks back out at the ocean, frowning. After several seconds, at least, he does turn around and face the other two men on the deck, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning against the railing now behind him.
Since the 'war' descended upon Southtown, Commander Heidern of the Ikari Warriors has been oddly lacking in presence. Even with the presence of "R" and its infamous leader, the cruel Rugal Bernstein, Heidern has not made himself any sort of obvious enemy to the one-eyed crimelord. No, even after Rugal was all but to blame for making Leona Heidern go batshit Orochi crazy in the middle of her mission, Heidern has been...well.
He hasn't been around.
In certain circles, this, of course, started rumors. The Ikari Commander was dead, or simply sick and unable to fight any more. Sure, the Ikari have been present in the form of Leona, Whip and even Clark, but no sign of the man in CHARGE of them has been seen. Even on the base in South America, the men and women under his employ have been concerned.
Where IS Commander Heidern?
Answer? Biding his time very, VERY carefully.
Weeks have been spent carefully monitoring Rugal Bernstein from afar, watching and all but stalking the man. Despite the times when his throat all but filled with bile at the sight of Rugal, and though the urge to all but outright assault him had crossed his mind and drawn the old Ikari to a point of actually shivering in barely-contained rage, somehow he managed to keep himself in check. If he planned things carefully, he could catch the crimelord--
And finally kill him.
From afar, Heidern observes with his one, good eye through a pair of binoculars. Watching the descent of a helicopter, he surveys the deck. Among the present figures, there are two unaccounted for: Alan and the familiar mug of Cody Travers. They met once in a SNF, he mildly muses. "Dog," he all but spits in a harsh whisper.
When the man in charge finally exits the helicopter on deck, Heidern's gloved hands curl painfully, leather creaking quietly. Anger swells, but like before, the Ikari manages to suppress his rage just long enough. He has to be careful now. This was it.
He was going to make this their last encounter.
From his vantage point the Ikari leaps off a rooftop, landing in a quiet crouch. Skulking through the darkness, the man is clad entirely in black from head to toe, his Ikari fatigues traded in for turtleneck and black pants, a cap plastered atop his head. Armed with a pistol and a large knife strapped to his boot and a heavy black belt with pouches, the old soldier hurries along unnoticed by most, if not everyone, within the vicinity. Years upon years of training have made him a force to be reckoned with among lesser men and women.
He leaps, landing into a small patrol boat and immediately disposing of its one man crew, tossing the man overboard. Firing the engine, Heidern brings the vessel close before he pulls a small gun-like object out. A split-second later it fires, latching onto an overhanging lip. A few tugs and the man calls the line back up, his body pulled atop the edge of the deck, where he promptly crouches. His one, good eye narrows. Bernstein...
Before anyone is possibly aware, a sudden blur of black RUSHES past Cody and Alan before it leaps. A figure of a broad-shouldered man can be seen then, as it lashes out with one gloved hand, attempting to seize Rugal by his throat while the other forms a knifehand--
That promptly attempts to lodge itself wrist-deep into Rugal's abdomen.
"I /owe/ you, Bernstein."
COMBATSYS: Heidern has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Heidern
COMBATSYS: Rugal has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Heidern
Heidern's stealthy entrance is likely made easier by the fact that Kain uses no stealth at all in his. Another helicopter approaches the carrier, and although this one bears the markings of one of R's fleet, it's coming in far too quickly to make a landing. And there's no response on the radio when the pilot is questioned. Of course, this means that the proper course of action is to blow the vehicle out of the sky, but that was counted on. The fact that it's an R helicopter at all was just to be able to get close enough before that happens.
The first shot from the Black Noah misses as the helicopter veers wildly to one side, coming in at an unsustainable angle. The second shot doesn't miss, and the entire thing erupts in a fireball. But just a moment before the explosion a figure dressed in white leaps out, propelled by the explosion toward the carrier. He flips around in the air, smoke trailing behind him as he hits the deck of the carrier in a crouch, skidding across the metal surface before finally coming to a stop. And then, taking a deep breath, Kain R. Heinlein stands up straight. If one is going to play a hero, one needs to do it with style, right? "Now, with Geese's true nature exposed, there's just a few things that need to be taken care of and then everything will be set right. I think I'll start by getting this trash out of the harbor."
COMBATSYS: Kain has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Heidern
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Kain focuses on his next action.
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Heidern
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Alan has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Heidern
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Rugal 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Heidern successfully hits Rugal with Combo Grapple.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Heidern
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Rugal 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kain
From the moment his feet hit the deck, he knows something is amiss. Maybe it's the way Alan begrudgingly stands up, pushing off from the shielded sensor array compartment with 'Electrical Hazard!' stamped all over it. Just a bit too slow, as if his mind was elsewhere when it shouldn't be. No... there's something going on there, but that isn't what's bothering him.
A cursory glance is cast Cody's way. He doesn't expect much from the ruined man. Travers has been used as little more than dumb muscle or the means to spread destruction wherever he was planted from the beginning with little regard for his probability to survive. His general disregard isn't unexpected. He's only strung along for access to that drug he needs so bad anyway with nothing else keeping him around beyond the not so veiled threats Bernstein made about a certain someone back in Metro should he decide to not to be copacetic.
It's something else, he muses, glancing to the side. Another chopper is visible in the horizon. Not unusual. Traffic is coming and going from the deck all the time and the crimelord is oblivious to the unanwered hails from the control structure. He reaches to his neck, adjusting his collar slightly, fixes his coat sleeves so that they rest just right at his wrists, and turns to look further along the deck, only then noticing the missile array adjusting to lock onto the incoming aircraft. "Hrn."
It's then that the other man leaps up onto the deck and bolts toward Bernstein, under the cover of whirling chopper blades and the rush of rockets bursting forth from their rack. Distracted, his attention pulled in too many directions at once, the 'R' dictator is slow to turn in time to respond to the Ikari's brazen charge. His throat caught, the man doesn't even manage a grunt before that knife hand spears into his abdomen, tearing through cloth and flesh at once, staining his white shirt red a moment later.
"Hrgh," Rugal growls, only vaguely aware of Kain landing off to the side. "Deal with Heinlein!" comes the roaring command as he immediately retaliates against Heidern.
His right hand reaches forward, seeking a vice-like grip on the old soldier's gripping arm before stepping backward and attempting to rip Heidern up off the ground and hurl him up and overhead in order to slam his back against the steel deck of the carrier. "Took you long enough," comes the softer remark as he'll follow up a successful slam with a follow up chop to the throat with his other hand, "Hope you enjoyed the present I gave your precious Leona, old man."
Alan frowns at Cody. Now, he's all for the drugs and guns, but not using them, and he recognizes when someone's hitting the needle way too hard. And that Glow stuff... it does things.
He gets sidetracked by the helicopter. "Hey, that ain't right," he says, just before the missiles start firing at it. "That ain't a problem, either." He slips his cigarette case back into his pocket and prepares to slouch and watch the helicopter explode - but that helicopter has a delivery to make. An extremely pretty delivery. "Jesus!" Alan darts back a few feet, slipping his hands to his belt to slide fingers through his iron rings.
Then LOL HEIDERN happens, and Alan nearly falls the hell down. "Ahhh double Jesus! What the fuck is this! He just landed, you assholes, let the man have a glass of wine before you start this assassination bullshit!" The boxer takes a moment to put himself back together, buttoning up his vest, sweeping a hand back through his hair, and then... he blurs.
He was hoping to catch Rugal and talk to him after he landed, but now he just doesn't have that kind of time. A trail of electricity - easy to follow, no doubt, for someone on Kain's level - jumps across the deck, and Alan becomes clearly visible again behind and to his left, first already up. "Cut your hair!" he commands, before driving a fist at the back of Kain's jaw, electricity crackling behind it.
Cody doesn't so much stare at Rugal as stare in his direction, focused somewhere in the middle distance. When the other two men on deck turn their attention towards the incoming helicopter, Cody... keeps staring into the middle distance. Only when the catapult finally explodes does he finally react, slowly turning his head to look up at the fireball in the sky. He does not, however, so much as flinch... even when a few chunks of flaming metal crash into the deck next to him.
If ever there was a good reason to avoid drug overuse, this is a good one.
The thing that finally gets him into gear is the arrival of Heidern; as the black flash that is the Ikari Warrior passes Cody on its way to Rugal, the blonde snaps his head around to follow the movement. He leans forwards off the railing and reaches behind him, grabbing ahold of a length of metal and ripping it cleanly away from the rest of the construction. It's so easy to get metal rods on boats; it should probably be illegal.
He's already two steps towards Rugal and Heidern before he receives his instructions. Looking unenthused, the blonde changes course, turning and following after Alan. Whereas his colleague is in quite the hurry to get all up in Kain's grill, however, Cody doesn't seem in much of a rush at all, strolling leisurely across the deck towards Kain and giving his pipe a few experimental swings.
"Warm him up for me," he calls after Alan, as he ambles after him. He sounds as out of it as he looks.
COMBATSYS: Cody has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kain
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Rugal 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Cody focuses on his next action.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kain
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Rugal 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Heidern interrupts Power Throw from Rugal with Moon Slasher.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kain
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Rugal 0/-------/---====|
Lodging his hand deeply into Rugal's midsection, the Ikari does not hesitate to immediately CURL his claw-like spindly fingers inward, making the intrusion into the crimelord's abdomen a rather discomforting experience. Already, Heidern can feel the familiar oozing warmth of blood daring to penetrate past the leather confines of his glove...
But that is a cursory thought; there is something far, far greater on Heidern's mind.
Revenge.
So Hell bent on it is the Ikari now that the explosion and arrival of Kain goes relatively unnoticed. He maintains his grip on Rugal's innards, one good, blue eye peering up with intense hatred at the blonde German within his grasp. Around his throat, Heidern's leather glove tightens a little more. Heinlein, the "R" leader shouts. Him? Here..?
He doesn't dare turn and address the situation unfurling behind him.
Rugal moves, however, tightly gripping the man's arm and pulling it out before pulling him upwards. He moves with the fierce gesture, summarily SLAMMED into the deck of the carrier; but he doesn't stay down. In fact, the Ikari hits and immediately pushes off before that chop can be delivered, rolling right back toward Rugal before he springs up like a coil unwinding. At the same time his bloodied glove moves in a wide, circular motion, a vicious swath of furious blue-white chi cutting through the air--and into Rugal's prone chest.
Back on his feet, Heidern's arm jerks sharply aside, the faint pitter-patter of thick, coppery blood splashing on the deck by the man's booted foot. "My family wasn't enough, was it?" he coldly spits. "You just HAD to drag Leona into this shit too? You really ARE a coward, Bernstein."
Curling his long, deadly fingers, the weathered features of the Ikari harden.
"I'm going to enjoy gutting you and stringing your entrails all over the deck of your ship."
COMBATSYS: Kain effortlessly dodges Alan's Light Punch.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/---====|
It looks like Rugal is a bit too busy at the moment to pay much attention to Kain, but that's just fine by Heinlein. He had several plans in mind upon his arrival, and with a few quick modifications it doesn't really matter too much to him who wins in the fight between Rugal and Heidern. However, he will have to deal with both Cody and Alan in order to properly execute those plans. Judging by how calm he looks, he does not consider this to be a major problem.
Kain's head doesn't move when Alan suddenly becomes a blur of motion, and he doesn't turn around when the electric boxer comes to a stop behind him. He does move when a punch comes flying toward his jaw, leaning to the side with the minimum motion necessary to keep the fist from actually connecting with him. This could be a bad position if Alan were to follow up on the attack immediately, but Kain is the first one to move.
Without turning around he lifts his left arm up, then suddenly snaps it out and back, aiming to snag Alan by the throat and lift him up off his feet, black flame erupting from his hand and engulfing the boxer's face. "I think you should learn your place." Kain then moves his arm forward slightly before slinging Alan backwards to send him sailing toward the edge of the ship. He doesn't take the time to make sure that Alan goes in the drink, though, since Cody is approaching. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
The advantage of ambush goes to Heidern. Rugal would be glad to lecture on the virtues of always being prepared for an altercation at a moment's notice, but there's a few shades of grey difference between being warmed up to battle a man of Heidern's caliber and just having gotten out of a brisk flight across the city thinking to be returning home to the safety of the aging leviathan and the battle he finds himself here and now.
Eager to drive Heidern to the ground and buy himself time to finally recalibrate himself to fighting at his best, the plan never has a chance to come to fruition as a sudden slash of vorpal edged chi cuts through the narrow space between him and the old soldier. A second cut tears through his flesh - this time a slash of chi wielded by the knife-handed killer. It forces him back a couple of steps, his left hand coming up to rest at the angled slash across his chest. The grimace of pain is slight and brief, his mouth curling into smirk of eager amusement a second later.
"I thought it might work; I suspected that gift of mine would bring out the worst in you, Heidern." This is the worst time for it - to lose himself to the thrill of facing a man fueled with so much anger and drive for revenge against him. It's the worst time to be distracted with affairs other than the war, especially with Heinlein on deck and clearly with a hostile disposition. It doesn't matter. "This is the killer I wish to fight. The man I eagerly look forward to metting out my own vengeance against..."
Rugal growls, hands tightening, his coat tousled by the wind that rushes over the deck. For the chance to end this rivalry, he would take any risk and suffer any loss if it means seeing Heidern dead. The air around Bernstein ripples, the man drawing on power kept deep within his black heart and corrupted soul, only to be tapped into and bent to his will when pushed hard enough to bring his ire to the forefront.
"To be able to crush your delusions of revenge will be the most generous gift you could ever give me, Heidern." He can feel it - that strength brought about by refined control over his tainted spirit. The wounds inflicted to his torso thus far are already beginning to seal, his strength gathering where he stands, the threat he represents growing by the moment!
COMBATSYS: Rugal reigns in his forbidden power.
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Alan 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Kain
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Rugal 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Alan blocks Kain's Schwarze Schleife.
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Alan 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/-======|
Alan's fist slides past Kain's head and probably sets his beautiful, thick blonde hair waving. He is, in fact, moving to follow up - he's moving forward, starting to bend his elbow to pull it into Kain's face - like the man on the ratio six fighter is going to hold the door for the guy who can't fight that much total in a week, come on! Alan is promptly gripped on the throat. His electricity intensifies around the black flame, and he says, "Ghhkld," while still managing to sound disrespectful. He kicks his feet weakly before he's flung, twisting through the air.
Alan manages to spin around and brace himself before he slams into the high railing of the Black Noah. He cruelly twists over it, nearly flying out into the ocean, but catches the edge with one hand. Grimacing, he levers himself over. "Sumbitch!" He blurs again, running at his top speed back at Kain, stopping just as he passes and running in a circle around him.
As he runs, it gets hard to see him as the chi on his skin leaves awesome after-images. He also starts to swing his fists, body blow, jab, straight, everything, a rapid combo of boxing punches coming from everwhere at once. Then he's past, still leaving afterimages as he bounces away. It takes only a few seconds.
When Kain tosses Alan across the deck of the Black Noah like an extremely sassy rag doll, Cody's lack of enthusiasm all but vanishes. He stops in his tracks, and turns lazily to look back at Alan, now on the other side of the ship. Before his 'partner' can collect himself, Cody turns back to Kain and lifts the metal rod in his right hand, smacking it firmly into his left palm.
"Definitely," he answers Kain, grinning broadly.
And there goes Alan again, charging back into danger. Cody's grin falters as the younger man unleashes his flurry of blows on Heinlein; he'll be quite cross if Alan persists on getting in his way... especially because, with Rugal right there, it would be very awkward to 'accidentally' do something to solve the problem.
Thankfully for the both of them, Alan bounds away when he finishes his assault. On cue, Cody springs into motion, closing the last few feet to Kain in a few quick strides. Gripping his railing pipe in both hands, he draws the weapon back and swings it viciously in at the side of Kain's chest like a baseball bat.
With an arm stretched out behind him, Heidern holds his ground, watching with his one--and only, no thanks to Rugal--good eye left. It narrows sharply, blue depths as frigid as rime, as he watches the man he's sworn to kill bleed out before him. Just barely beneath the surface of that eerie calm hatred boils, fueled by disgust and an insatiable thirst for vengeance. He took his wife and daughter. And he /dared/ to try and make Leona go mad.
The lines in the sand, if there were any to begin with, are long since gone.
"This fight was never between my wife or my daughter--or even the likes of Leona," the Ikari CO replies calmly, his words just barely tinted with rage. His one, good eye narrows just a fraction more.
"But you knew that already. You exploited it. Why?" The man pauses briefly. The fight behind him is unnoticed; right now, all Heidern can see and think of is this man, and how many millions of ways he wants to make Rugal Bernstein suffer. His "R" goons, Heinlein; they don't exist. Right now, it's just Rugal and Heidern.
"Because it's simple, Bernstein. You are, and always will be a spineless coward that hides behind his empire of filth and dirt, strength that isn't necessarily his own. How can you look at yourself? Live with yourself?
"Don't worry," A tired smirk draws over Heidern's lips. "You won't deal with it for much longer. You're right; I'm a killer. I accept that, and I am not afraid of it." His fingers curl slightly at his side, a reflexive, subconscious gesture as Heidern's back hunches slightly, assuming a far more predatory stance, even as Rugal growls, and that odd, ill power ripples and pools around him.
"Do you really think," he begins, taking a step forward. "That is going to /save/ you?
"I refuse to be crushed by the likes of YOU, Bernstein. My wife, my child...you took that away from me long ago. You stole what little happiness my blood-stained hands could afford. You ripped the light out of my life--"
His steps turn into a sudden bolt of motion, Heidern's booted heels hurriedly carrying him RIGHT for the Orochi-tainted "R" mastermind before he suddenly leaps up and flips his lanky form through the air, flipping head over heels--before he snaps a leg savagely downward, attempting to check the heavy, thick sole of his combat boot into the center of the man's skull with force that would kill a lesser man.
"And I am going to rip, shred and DESTROY your empire, starting with you."
COMBATSYS: Kain dodges Alan's Storm Front.
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Alan 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Kain effortlessly blocks Cody's Random Weapon.
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Alan 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/-======|
Kain keeps his eyes on Cody right up until the last moment, relying on his ears to let him know when Alan gets within range. And then the blond suddenly moves, twisting to the side to avoid the opening body blow and then smoothly weaving about the following punches. And although Alan's punches are fast and Kain's movements are even faster, it's still enough time for Cody to close the remaining distance and bring his length of railing into position. There's the wind up and the swing... but then as Kain is leaning to the side to avoid a jab to the face from Alan he sweeps out one arm, smacking into the railing at an angle following its current movement. He lets the makeshift weapon slide up over his arm as he continues the swing, keeping it from hitting any other part of his body.
There's a squeak of his shoes against the deck as Kain's movement suddenly stops, with Alan moving past him and Cody finishing up his swing. "Well, I did give you a choice." Heinlein suddenly kicks off the floor, lunging in toward Cody in an attempt to get inside the other man's guard before he can recover from his previous attack. His right arm is already swinging back, allowing him to prepare for a full bodied straight blow aimed at the center of Cody's face, with an aura of blue energy surrounding Kain's fist as it shoots forth.
COMBATSYS: Rugal interrupts Medium Kick from Heidern with Genocide Heaven.
- Power hit! -
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Alan 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Heidern
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Cody 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Kain
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Rugal 0/-------/----===|
As Heidern speaks, Rugal laughs. With the energy of the sealed demon rippling through him, he can't possibly fail. He's worlds ahead of this man who thinks to kill him and while the fued has proven entertaining in the past, it's time to end it now that he's provoked the Ikari warrior into the open to attack him. "Heidern... Heidern..." the crimelord chuckles as he speaks of his family being pulled into the mix of things to their ultimate demise. "Is not a king entitled to manipulate the pawns of playing field? Is not a god above such pitiful, artificial limitations such as morals and man made concepts like honor?"
He turns his left shoulder forward, his stance shifting just slightly as that power wells up within him. It's draining to contain it so. It wants to be released, wants to be used in a relentless, bloody rampage that would never stop until its thirst for carnage had been sated with genocide. But he has worked hard to master it; to be able to control the ebb and flow of that small portion of a cursed deity's essence within him.
"Fool... Destroy my empire? The organization I have spent decades building will not even notice your passing!" The last of Heidern's family takes to the air with a surprising display of dexterity. Mechanical, precise, and brutal is the nature of his kick; a staggering contrast with the monster of 'R''s retaliation. With a roar, the aging fighter springs into the air with a surge of force and a sudden spike in chi made manifest. Black, ebony blades of chi trail along first his right, then his left, as he slashes into Heidern's airborn body with one leg then the other.
The incoming kick is met with a timely raise of Rugal's right arm, the boot cracking back off the powerful forearm just before Bernstein forces himself into a second pair of equally savage kicks. The vorpal edged chi lacing each kick is not unlike Heidern's own slashing chi utilized earlier or the infamous signiture technique of Bernstein himself. Another pair of arching kicks lash into the father's body followed by a solid heel intent on driving him backward across the deck with devastating force.
Rugal lands seconds later, left palm hitting the deck of the massive carrier, legs bent into a low crouch as he slowly begins to push himself back up to standing.
Raising his face to the sky, the suited monster extends his arms partially to his sides, "The light you claim I stole from your bitter life... pales in comparison to that which you cost me so long ago... If the magnitude of your heinous act were truly known, the heavens would weep in mourning." Lowering his face back toward Heidern, the man gathers himself, arms at the ready once again, "You already grieved me beyond any threat or pain or suffering you can possibly dream up in your muderous mind today, Heidern. Know that, and understand the futility of your revenge!!"
Dodged again? Each of Alan's swings goes wide, which is pretty irritating. Storm Front usually gets some results. Alan slides back, plants one boot on a protruding pole that has some purpose, and comes running back in, fists in tight. "Poncy fancy little son of a bitch..."
He darts left, and to the right, both feints, coming right at Kain in the original direction, arm wheeling up and around. He takes advantage of the fact that he's behind Kain, making two quick jabs at the closest kidney with his off-hand. Electricity builds around the wheeling right hand in a big impressive wave. "Hey, if you dodge this one, it means your mother's a whore!" Damn, he berates himself, I'm stuck on the lame burns with this guy.
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Kain's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/----===|
Cody grimaces as Kain half-deflects his improvised weapon without even paying attention; he follows through on the swing, staggering a step to the side from the unspent force behind the blow. As the German quips, Cody just growls, releasing the metal rod, which tumbles noisily to the deck. When his opponent lunges, so does Cody, charging right into the oncoming blo. How bad could it possibl-
*CRACK*
Kain's fist, wreathed in blue energy, slams into Cody's face like a fastball thrown by Odin the Goddamn All-father. The American's nose erupts into a spray of blood, and he reels backwards. After a few steps, he collapses heavily to one knee, hunching forwards as blood pours from his face onto the deck of the Black Noah.
After about two seconds, he starts to laugh, energy - and other things - flooding into his body as his physiology declares it 'go time' and brings on the adrenaline. Cody lifts his head, grins broadly, and informs Kain, "Just what I needed."
Cody lunges again, rising smoothly off the floor as he breaks into a full run. His arm disappears behind his back halfway to Kain, and it comes back out holding a black-handled butterfly knife, which he flicks open in a flash of steel. He closes the last six feet to Kain in two long strides and swipes the knife horizontally at the man's face before reversing his grip on the weapon and plunging it towards his shoulder in a vicious stab.
And as Rugal laughs, Heidern's jaw seizes tight--painfully tight, so much so he begins to feel his nerves go numb, a dull glow of white haunting his peripherals. Discreetly he shakes, shoulders shuddering lightly beneath the material of his black turtleneck. All he can feel is anger and hatred. Normally, he is a calm and exceedingly composed man.
Rugal, however, makes him quite the opposite.
"Do NOT patronize me--!" the soldier commands as he rushes forward, taking to the air with a surprisingly graceful leap and flip. His leg descends like a hammer--but the moment it impacts, Heidern can feel the spike and swell of chi. It's far too late for him to retreat, however.
Struck quite suddenly by one leg, followed by the second, and then the former once more, the entire execution marked by black, corrupted energy, the Ikari CO is left feeling nothing but agonizing pain, the cutting chi leaving a nasty gash through the front of his turtleneck sweater. The final, spiking effort of Rugal's heel sends Heidern flying back and down, the man's form hitting the cold deck with a wet thud, his body bouncing once before he ceases to move.
But...he laughs.
"You...really think so?" he wonders aloud from the ground, his one good eye staring at the dark sky.
"Oh, you really ARE the fool I imagined you to be."
Pulling his body off the ground, Heidern rolls onto his side, a sickening splatter of blood hitting the deck as he shakily pulls himself back onto his feet. Once back on them he half turns, offering Kain a level gaze, his one eye narrowing slightly before he offers a silent nod of appreciation for his gesture and handling Rugal's men. He hadn't anticipated help, but...
"Don't GIVE me your story, Bernstein!" the man snarls, his head snapping back to face the man with a wide eye. "Your petty, selfish ambitions mean nothing! The heavens weep?" A barking, scathing laugh escapes his dry lips. "The only place that welcomes you is Hell. And I will GLADLY send you there. Grieved you? Thank God for that; you deserve nothing but torturous misery, you bastard!"
He rushes forth just as the insult leaves his lips, seeking to snag the crimelord by the lapels of his red coat and sweep a leg out from beneath him and viciously guide him to the ground. He'll drop the man then, lifting a long, gloved hand high above his head--before he SLAMS it downwards, attempting to cleave it straight into the "R" leader's stomach with a guttural cry.
COMBATSYS: Alan successfully hits Kain with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Cody's Tokushu Koudou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/----===|
Just because you're facing somebody immensely more powerful than yourself doesn't mean you can't get some good hits in, as Alan proceeds to demonstrate. Kain may be tough, and quite able to resist the electric chi that Alan zaps into his body, but it's still damn painful to get punched in the kidneys. Kain's eyes widen as Alan manages to slip in while he's preoccupied with Cody, driving home two swift punches and managing to elicit a grunt of pain from Heinlein. The air temperature actually seems to drop as Kain starts to whip around. If Kain was a normal person you might see murder in his eyes, but Kain is good at remaining calm and letting little show. But that aura of danger is there... until Kain is suddenly reminded that Cody is still here.
With a length of steel flashing toward his eyes Kain swiftly brings an arm up, blocking Cody's strike at the wrist. It's quick, but not an ideal stop as it still allows Cody to shifting his grip and bring the blade stabbing down toward Kain's shoulder. Heinlein swings his own arm down, attempting to knock Cody's aim off, but it's only enough to bring the blade slicing down across his arm rather than plunging into his shoulder. Blood quickly starts to well up, staining the white cloth of Kain's coat. And it looks like Alan just got a brief reprieve.
Ignoring the wound to his arm, Kain attempts to continue his blocking motion to grab Cody by the wrist, yanking down hard on his arm to throw the convict off balance. And if he succeeds in making that opening, Kain's revenge is swift. He steps back into Cody, thrusting up with his shoulder toward the other man's jaw, then slamming back an elbow into his sternum with a burst of black fire. He then slips around behind Cody, reaching up to grab him by the hair and then swiftly drop down to slam Cody's face into the deck of the Black Noah, accompanied by a towering pillar of dark flame.
COMBATSYS: Heidern successfully hits Rugal with Lead Belcher.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/=======|
No glance is spared Heinlein. In better circumstances, he might have focused more on the other German, but right now it's hard to compete with the attention Heidern demands. His combat style renown for its lethality, his body not having gotten any weaker in the years since they first crossed paths decades ago. "Heh heh." the crimelord chuckles, his right hand lifting to rest lightly over and to the side of his human eye, his arched fingers pressed against his forehead.
"My story would be impossible for you to understand. Napoleon never had to explain his war plans to the common earthworm nor would I ever stoop to trying to explain myself to you!" The war-honed soldier is upon him in an instant, hefting the tyrant of 'R' off his feet by his grip on his coat and driving him harshly against the deck of his own boat. As if reading the intended follow up, Rugal attempts to get a firm grip on his plunging knife-hand but fails to slow its descent into his abdomen enough to dull the crushing pain. A grunt escapes his lips, drown out by the echoes of Heidern's shout across the wide open flight deck.
The pain is stiffling, cutting his retort short and forcing him to roll into a retreat before any further punishment can be dished out by the killing machine. It's a short-lived escape, however, as the large fighter slides into a crouch, feet slipping a bit before finding their grip. "Enough!!" the Lord of War roars, pushing back into a direct charge toward Heidern. Propelling his body forward with an almost inhuman level of speed, his momentum is more than that born simply by muscle power but by the force that trembles as he draws upon it as well.
"We will finish this!!" He aims to collide with Heidern, seeking to smash into the soldier with crushing force and literally heft him along. A blur of crimson is the only warning Heidern will get before the moment of impact. And should he be seized by the onrushing train that is Bernstein, he'll find himself hefted back several yards until the two collide directly into the base of the control structure with enough force to possibly take them right through the thick steel wall!
Alan lands his hit, and of course, immediately starts getting cocky. "There we go!" Kain starts spinning toward him, and Alan slides back on one leg, tensed. He blows smoke from his cigarette - how'd he keep that after that huge throw? - out of his nose when he decides to stick to pounding Cody.
He pulls his hand back, by his hip, and shouts a 'helpful' "Get 'im, boss!" to Rugal as his hand relaxes. Electricity swirls into a small orb, which he takes up, whipping his hand across to the left and snapping his fingers. "Strike!" A bolt of lightning leaps out into some sensitive electrical equipment, bouncing back to strike at Kain from an angle that Cody is not at. Alan whips his hand to the right, snaps again, and "Twice!" The whole thing is repeated with a second bolt and a different metallic outcropping.
If Cody manages to survive that, he's probably going to be... tweaking out, which is not enough of a word. Instinctively, Alan backs away a little more after the last bolt.
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Kain's Fierce Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/=======/=======|=======\=------\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/------=|
Kain wrenches Cody's arm downwards and his hand spasms open, sending the butterfly knife flying to the ground; it skitters away across the deck. Cody barks out a snarl of pain, which is cut off when he eats the German's shoulder to the face and his jaw snaps shut with a loud *clack*. A heartbeat later, Kain's fiery elbow slams into the American's sternum, explosively propelling all of the air in his lungs out of them.
Before Cody can even suck in another breath, Kain grabs a fistful of hair and forces the man downwards. Despite being so battered and off-balance, however, Cody manages to plant his feet; rather than going down face-first, Kain only manages to shove the man down onto his knees, albeit with such force that the deck dents downwards underneath them. The column of flame is much more of a concern; although Cody doesn't cry out, it's obviously an unpleasant experience, and parts of his white t-shirt and orange prison jacket disentigrate before Kain's fiery wrath.
When the flame fades, Cody remains unmoving, slumping forwards out of Kain's grip as he collapses forwards, barely catching himself with his arms. Head still hung, face obscured from view, the American sucks in a deep, shuddering breath. A single droplet of blood drips off of his chin, freeing itself from the fluid smeared all over his face splattering against the deck. After a second, a second one falls.
Another second, and a third one falls. The third, however, isn't red; it's neon green.
With a bestial roar, Cody erupts to his feet in a blur of motion, turning on Kain as he does. His fist rises as he does, swinging violently upwards at the German's chin; a few milliseconds before the intended impact, Cody twists his arm violently to the right. A few milliseconds /after/ impact, an eight-foot tall whirlwind erupts in front of the American, laced with thin lines of blue energy, that threatens to engulf Kain and fling him across the deck.
Interestingly enough, flecks of green are appearing all throughout the manifested energy; even in the second and a half the whirlwind exists, the streaks of energy throughout it go from being mostly blue to mostly green, the new color spreading through the tornado like some sort of crazy wind plague.
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Heidern with God Press EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/---====|
"I don't /care/ about your story," the Ikari CO is swift to retort. "So I'm rather GLAD you aren't going to waste my time, Bernstein. Tell it to the devil when you see him in Hell."
He's been biding his time carefully. He's spent so many restless hours all but stalking after the likes of Rugal, plotting against him, working for the inevitable--for this. He's come so far, and he won't stand down. He can't--vengeance must be his. He will kill this man and sate the burning desire for revenge, as he has sworn for countless years. In eager anticipation, Heidern's glove curls into a fist.
And then he moves, seizing the Lord of War and dropping him into the deck before stabbing him with his bare hand. The stink of blood fills his nostrils, the familiar warm and sticky feeling encompassing his leather glove offering some distant sense of morbid satisfaction. To make himself feel a little better he twists his glove sharp within the blonde's abdomen before ripping it outward, letting the German roll backwards for retreat.
Again his hand moves sharply, spilling more of Rugal's blood on the deck of his precious ship.
Without a word he meets the gaze of Rugal evenly with his one eye, narrowing it sharply as the man approaches. He's fast--too fast; grabbed painfully tight, he's forced backwards with blinding speed, the momentum powerful enough to leave an incredible crater-like dent in thick steel. Impact draws a loud gasp from the Ikari's lips, blood spitting past his dry lips before he momentarily sags against Rugal's grasp.
No, he tells himself. He can still fight--he can't let himself fall here. For his family, for Leona, for the Ikari--
With a loud, almost uncharacteristic guttural yell from Heidern's mouth the man snaps his hands out and attempts to shove Rugal back and away, to get him off of the Ikari CO. And once he's freed of the crimelord's vise-like grip Heidern ALSO blurs, a flicker of black and red as the man attempts to charge RIGHT for Rugal and stab into--and possibly through him--with his hand once more..!a
COMBATSYS: Heidern successfully hits Rugal with Final Bringer.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 1/--=====/=======|
As Heidern lunges forward, the only thing he sees is red--figuratively and literally.
Bathed in an odd, eerie glow of deep crimson chi, the Ikari CO thrusts his long, lanky arm forward, his gloved hand once again intent on remorselessly skewering through the crimelord. Impact is wet and sticky, a disgusting crush of flesh ripping and muscle tearing and blood all but spraying outward, staining his torn black turtleneck and hitting the soldier's booted feet. The stink of blood is familiar to him.
But he grips tightly within, sure to move razor-like fingers within muscle and make it the most god-awful excruciating experience for Rugal--matters made even more unbearable by the odd, hazy aura that bleeds like some grim mist around the lanky figure meeting Rugal's gaze. For one, brief moment, Heidern looks less like a man and more a vengeful monster.
"This is for my men," he murmurs, his hand twisting sharply to the right.
"This is for their families." Another savage twist to the left.
"This is for my Ikari." He stabs his hand a bit deeper in before curling his fingers.
"This...is for Leona." His fingers bite savagely into what muscle and lord knows what else he can manage to get his gloved hands on.
"And this would be for my wife and daughter--"
The chi around Heidern swells nastily, the glow of crimson intensifying before he twists sharply to one side and rips his hand out, all but threatening to disembowel the might RIGHT there before he twists the opposite direction and slams an open palm into Rugal's shoulder, to send him staggering away.
"But they nor I can rest until I see you lying dead at my feet, Bernstein!!"
COMBATSYS: Alan successfully hits Kain with Lightning Strikes Twice.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Cody's Criminal Upper.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Alan 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-======/=======|=======\==-----\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 1/--=====/=======|
A bolt of lightning shoots out from some now probably scrapped equipment to zap Kain, followed by another from a different direction. Sparks travel over Kain's body as all his muscles briefly lock up and smoke wafts from the points of impact. But it doesn't seem to slow him down for long, because even as the sparks are fading away he's able to move in anticipation of Cody's assault. He didn't manage to actually floor Cody, so it's not hard to tell that it'll be coming.
Kain swings an arm down as Cody comes rising toward him, deflecting the fist from its intended path. Of course, that's not entirely a problem for Cody, as he's still able to unleash the whirlwind. The blast causes Kain's hair and clothing to flutter out behind him, but with arms crossed he's able to resist the force and keep from being sent flying away. Even so, his eyes widen momentarily as the green energy spreads through the chi like a cancer. "Now isn't /that/ interesting..."
Heinlein takes a step back from Cody. Then another. Could he be... scared? No, apparently not, as he then suddenly swings around, glowing blue fist coming about in a wide hook aimed for the side of Alan's head. Kain doesn't need to be distracted right now, and he's also not interested in finding out what potential opening Alan might target next.
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alan with Fierce Punch.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Cody 1/-======/=======|=======\====---\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 1/--=====/=======|
Alan has the briefest of seconds to do something about the incoming attack. Unfortunately, Alan is spending that moment watching Cody and being sure he doesn't get himself punched in the face.
Well, uh.
Kain's fist resounds on Alan's skull with an unhealthy crack, blasting right into the heavily gelled lightning bolt in his hair, completely splintering it. His head whips hard to the side, the remainder of the cigarette in his mouth flying out into the darkness. Debris whirls around his feet as the kinetic energy from the fist starts to transfer around, a dustcloud forming... and exploding, as the boxer's body finally acknowledges everything. Alan is off like a shot, possibly breaking the sound barrier, trailing a wide comet's tail of electricity as he twists off into the distance. He flies right off of the Black Noah, soaring over the waters, and finally impacting a bouy with a loud crack and a splash.
Alan pulls himself back together out there, having broken the bouy right in half, stretched out over what remains. Blood pumps from a nasty-looking wound right there in the side of his head, and he can't really see out of his left eye now. "Fffff," he says, climbing up to his feet on top of it, bobbing in the ocean. He works his jaw - no teeth missing, but why was he worried when he got punched in the temple - and blinks his eyes several times. Nope, still can't see. He wipes at his face, eyeballing the blood, and shakes his head.
He doesn't need this. He has enough on his mind without everything else going to pot. Alan R. B. looks out over the distance which should be impassible, and his arms hang loose. Electricity starts to whirl around him.
From the Black Noah, it's a curious sight. The electric light builds out there on the bouy, and then starts to move across the water, making a series of little splashes. Lattices of voltage discharge out across the water as Alan /runs across it/, focusing on moving forward despite how ridiculous this all is. He leaps as soon as he can, levering himself up way higher than he could without this much chi coursing through him, and flips over the railing.
Snarling, Alan charges directly at Kain, hands clasped at his side, electricity crackling down into them, concentrating, lighting the whole deck up.
Then, he steps past Cody.
And that is, in fact, a mistake.
While Alan was busy being punched in the head so hard he flew into the ocean, Cody has been throwing the drug-crazed adult equivalent of a temper tantrum. Or, if you'd prefer, a psychotic episode. As Kain performs the aforementioned head-punching, Cody staggers backwards away from the German, sucking in rapid, gasping breaths. His eyes flash with green light, and he collapses heavily to his knees, slumping forward onto all fours.
Watching the Glow set in is an experience very few people have been treated to, and that is, probably, for the best. It seems at first like Cody is either having a panic attack or fucking dying; he seems unsatisfied with any amount of air he manages to get into his lungs, and occasionally heaves like he's about to vomit.
Suddenly, he lifts one hand into the air and slams it back down into the deck of the Black Noah, denting the metal inwards. He repeats this several more times and then roars, voice warbling oddly as the drugs really dig their claws into him, carried through his body by the adrenaline of battle.
Cody's orange prison jacket, and the white t-shirt underneath it, suddenly rip as his muscles swell; not enough to stay on, but enough to make him look like a grunge musician. Apparently, Cody hates grunge. He roars again, the warble in his scream changing subtly over the few seconds of noise, and he rips his own clothing apart, reducing the jacket and shirt to colorful scraps in a few furious tears.
Finally, he seems to get his shit together. He stops thrashing around and tearing his own belongings apart, and settles his eyes on Kain again. This is a little alarming, because they've become solid, lumiescent neon green; so has the blood streaming down his face. It makes him look like an extremely dedicated sports fan. Cody is just rising to his feet when Alan returns from his magical ocean adventure and makes the dire mistake of passing him; this happens at about the same time Cody reaches for a weapon.
Cody's hand tightens around Alan's calf as the other American passes him, lit up like a tesla coil. Electricity surges into his hand, but he doesn't much seem to mind; he roars again and lunges, rising off the deck as he charges towards Kain, carrying Alan by the leg like a sack of electric potatoes.
As the two near Kain, Cody draws back his arm and swings Alan over his head to slam him down at the German; after the strike he lifts him back up and repeats the motion, battering at Kain again and again with his electrically charged 'colleague.'
Alan was already wheeling back his arms, the electricity compressing into his fists. "MJOL--" he starts, thunder beginning to roll.
He cuts off when Cody's hand wraps around his leg. "Oh fff-"
The attack still happens, however. With each swing from Cody, Alan flies through the air more-or-less fists first, a wave of thunder and lightning accompanying the first three or four smashes until the power of Mjolnir runs out. Cody, however, probably doesn't stop right then.
"--UUUuuuUUUuuuUUUuuuUUUCK!"
The groan of strained steel heralds the crushing impact with which Rugal drives Heidern into the tower wall with inhuman momentum. He lingers, his right hand planted against Heidern's chest, perhaps savoring the moment or maybe still recovering from the ferocious amount of energy he drew upon to propel himself so. He's just getting started. With the Ikari warrior braced against the wall, he prepares to take a step back and tear into him with yet another punishing technique then perhaps another after that, then another even still. He'll grind his bones with force until he's been crushed clean through the steel wall all together and when that's finished, he'll figure out something else to unleash on his old enemy.
He's fighting on raw, savage instinct, eschewing tactical skill in favor of almost animalistic fervor. This battle aboard the deck of the Black Noah is but the culmination of weeks worth of trouble that began the moment his own son turned against him, a moment that he still struggles to understand was even real. In a moment, Heidern would become victim to an outlet of frustration expressed in the form of lethal violence. This, and so many other thoughts flash through the crimelord's mind as he keeps his wouldbe killer in place.
Underestimated, however, was Heidern's resolve. He saw him crumple under his might and thought that to be the end of it. The bloody yell uttered by his enemy literally startles Bernstein to the point that the attempt to shove him back and gain a bit turns out to be perhaps unexpectedly easy. Stumbling, the tyrant of 'R' is a sitting target going no where fast, vulnerable beyond belief to one of the world's most brutal killing techniques.
More of the mighty German's blood is stolen from him by the plunging, flesh rending stab of Heidern's hand. The blinding pain is excruciating and the first rip of the assassin's hand through bloodied viscera would be enough to render most people unconscious by the sheer magnitude of shock assaulting their body all at once. Even the eye of the monster to be slain begins to glaze over as blood coughed up from his mouth sprays over the torso of his sworn enemy.
Each twist of Heidern's hand brings a whole new world of undescribable agony. For the man who had fought the titans of the world and experienced technique after technique from the best they had to offer, nothing compares to the experience Heidern puts him through. Muscles spasm even as they are shreaded and every nerve in his body is on fire with the nausiating sense of being torn inside out by the twisting, clawing hand of the Ikari commander.
Names are listed off, their significance bordering on an undecipherable roar in his ears. Families, Ikari soldiers, Leona, the man's daughter Bernstein managed to turn into a demon with the corrupted blood of Yamazaki... Yes, perhaps he does deserve to die. He understands the power of vengeance and the lengths it will take a man to. The price Heidern has paid in lost years of his own life in preparing for this very moment. Perhaps he's paid enough already.
The final gut-rending tear of Heidern's hand provokes a silent gasp of pain from the man who's brain can't even keep up with the sheer amount of damage caused. The shove to his shoulder sends him staggering backward before he drops to one knee, leaning forward, his right palm pressing against the solid deck as his complexion takes on a certain ashen grey. His eye closes as he struggles for breath.
His son has betrayed him, taking with him his daughter Rain to start some vigilante effort against men like Rugal around the world, leaving him without family the same as the man turned monster in front of him. All his plans for the future derailed by the decision of a single other person - the mistake of trusting another, even his own kin, to help carry forth his vision and ambition. Perhaps it is a good day to die, for vengeance to be metted out. What does he even fight for anymore?
The pain is debilitating, leaving him almost unable to move "Heh." he grunts, his voice weak. He's never been taken to this point before and the sheer pathetic sense of being so deplorably weak only sickens him even further. "Just fin-" End it. Get it over with. Stop the agony, put an end to the anguish of a tortured, twisted life. The utterance is cut short, however, as another presence takes over. A fel thing that had drunk heavily of Rugal's suffering over the decades and had gleefully destroyed his life in the very act of giving him that power he so hungrily sought. An entity that isn't about to let this one go, isn't finished with him yet. A devil that knows the spirit of vengeance and rejoices in its execution.
A deep reverberation emanates out from the kneeling man like an invisible shockwave coursing through the solid steel deck. Heidern would sense it immediately the change, would see the way Bernstein's spilt blood begins to boil as the man that should have reached the limits of mortality slowly pushes himself back up to standing.
Ebony energy courses around him - a localized maelstrom of miasmic chi corrupted by mere proximity to the slightest fragment of a sealed god imbedded in the Lord of War as he reaches his full height once again. Hands clenched, crimson chi of the most caustic nature pouring between his closed fingers and melting the deck where it drops. Muscles tremble, teeth grit, and his torn and tatered suit jacket ripples around his form, driven by the same obsidian black energy coursing over him.
"No... To deny the satisfaction of your vengeance," Rugal speaks, his voice darker, weaker yet twisted so that the very sound of it is as if he speaks from beyond death itself, "To watch you continue to pine away your years after an impossible goal... will be one of my greatest victories!!"
In one fel combination of man, demon, and a horrific level of chi, Rugal surges forward back for Heidern, acid-bleeding clawed fingers seeking purchase around the old soldier's neck as he seeks to secure him long enough to unleash a devestating, relentless combination of strikes, each one empowered by chi of different elements - lightning, wind, acid, fire, and an element that seems to be the stuff hell itself may be made of. Rugal strikes without concern for even the limits of his own body, tearing his own muscles by forcing each limb to strike harder and more violently than man was meant to move. And all of that is brought to bear on Heidern in an attempt to deny the Ikari soldier of that which he seeks most: Revenge.
COMBATSYS: Rugal successfully hits Heidern with Omega Destruction.
! VENGEANCE !
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Alan 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Cody 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/------=|
It would be a lie to say there was no intense joy or delight in rending Rugal apart from within.
Because there is. There is nothing more satisfying, nothing as delightful as seeing the man who ruthlessly slaughtered his wife and daughter suffering by HIS hand--literally. Arm deep, he can feel blood oozing into his glove, the feeling of intense heat and feel every last muscle twitch and writhe--and rip apart as dangerous fingers jerk, twist and claw.
He wants Rugal to suffer dearly--because there is certainly no way he could understand the suffering Heidern has endured emotionally. This pain and agony, this suffering is the only language a killer like Bernstein could understand.
It is also a language that Heidern is quite fluent in.
With one, final RIPPING yank, the haggard Ikari CO releases Rugal with a shove, forcing the greatly wounded Lord of War to a knee. For the first time in what has felt like decades upon decades, Heidern feels some sense of peace within him. Finally...finally he has put this frighteningly powerful figure to his knees.
At Heidern's side his blood-drenched hand twitches, long, spiderlike fingers dripping with deep red. Vengeance has come, the man privately muses. Now, Rugal will die here on the deck of his precious Noah. His blood spilt will be the penance he owes his family--and his colleagues. Leona; everyone he has wronged.
However twisted it may be, it is justice in the eye of Heidern.
"I will not hesitate to slaughter you," the Ikari offers with surprising calm. He lifts his bloodied hand--
But he stops. Something...pressure? The one remaining eye of Heidern's narrows slowly before snapping to the deck, before turning to his hand. His blood is boiling..?
When Heidern looks back up, Rugal is on his feet, looking entirely not like the beaten, broken and shredded man he'd put to his knees. That one blue eye widens discreetly, the Ikari's body seizing a bit in response to the palpable pressure that bears down upon him from the German. What the hell IS this? Perhaps uncharacteristically of the Ikari, the man shouts.
"You WILL NOT--!!"
But the words never finish.
He moves too fast for the Ikari to track. Grabbed by the throat without a shred of mercy, the man's vision very nearly blacks out from the intense pressure of his iron-like vise grip. And just as Heidern manages to rebound from toying dangerously at unconsciousness, Rugal unleashes a series of attacks that are unlike anything he's ever /seen/. A master of chi and manipulating its elements--powered by that unnatural force within him--Heidern is otherwise at Bernstein's mercy. A few times, the man's vision fails him, consciousness fleeting as his body is cut and slashed, his shirt all but left in shreds and what flesh exposed burnt and cut deeply, blood drooling down his body. The execution seems endless.
Until, finally, the Lord of War relents.
Heidern flies back several feet, only stopping when his bare flesh slides painfully across the steel deck of the Black Noah. The old soldier doesn't move; instead, he lays prone, his blood-splattered face staring up at the cloudy skies above with his one eye open and vacant.
'Is this it?' he wonders. 'The end? All my hard work...and I can't even avenge my family..?'
A wet, bloody cough rattles his lungs, lips splitting as blood oozes out of the corners.
'No.'
A hand at his side twitches.
'It ISN'T over.'
Rising slowly to his feet, the Ikari SOMEHOW manages to push his body back up, however decimated it may be within and without. Around him an odd, hazy red aura glows once more, his one blue eye intensely focused on Rugal as he attempts to stabilize and balance his weight through the intense burning pain and agony.
"Th-this time...I will...finally have it..." he mutters, a foot easing back as he drops his stance a bit.
"I WILL have my REVENGE!!"
With one vicious swipe the Ikari's arm glows an intense shade of red as it cuts violently through the dark air. It's an odd maneuver, considering the feet between himself and the German. But such is not the Ikari's intent; instead, it's the afterwards, as the ground erupts in pillars of intense blue and white chi several feet high--all of which cascade right at Rugal with the intent of consuming him entirely.
"DIE, BERNSTEIN! DIE!"
COMBATSYS: Kain blocks Cody and Alan's Random Weapon - Hammer of the Gods.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Alan 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Cody 0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/------=|
With a scream Alan being swung at him, Kain is forced to fully bring his guard up, trying to ward off the repeated electrified bodyslams. Alan's shouting undergoes a doppler a shift as Cody continues to swing him back and forth, smashing him repeatedly into Kain's arms and shoulders with flurries of electric sparks. Alan's not a particularly heavy guy, but is strong, and even stronger under the influence of Glow. And it looks like he's not planning on stopping until somebody is dead. (Alan probably doesn't count here, as he'd still be an effective blunt object even then.) Kain doesn't plan to wait around and get worn down, though.
Spotting an opening, Kain reaches out and grabs Alan by the face, stopping him in mid-swing. And then it's a contest of strength between Kain and Cody as Kain attempts to keep Cody from resuming his pummeling. The outcome of this is cut short, however, as Kain clenches his free hand and golden light begins to leak out between his fingers. On the deck below Cody and Alan there's a rapidly increasing pulse of light, but with the deck in the way it can't be noticed until the ship begins to rumble. And then a moment later a streaming pillar of blue energy blasts through the deck beneath Cody and Alan, with Kain's intention being to send them both flying off to where they won't interfere. It looks like things between Heidern and Rugal are drawing to their conclusion, which means Kain should be ready to act...
COMBATSYS: Kain successfully hits Alan with Himmlischer Atem.
- Power hit! -
~ Cruel hit! ~
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/------=|
Alan hates this.
After the first few swings, he manages to roll with this as best as he can, swinging his own arms in times with the swings. His right leg hurts a lot. The first four swings again come with huge waves of thunder and lightning that light up the sky, and after that, he's just pounding his fists down as hard as he can - which is pretty hard. GO DOWN, he sort of screams with his mind. GO DOWN, DOWN, DOWN--
He stops when Kain grabs his goddamn face, one finger unpleasantly in the punch wound, and he gets tugged around. "Aaaaaaghhhh!!" He kicks with his free leg. He doesn't need this nonsense. Why is it always him that gets trapped between two monsters? He swings his free leg up, curls his arms, and then makes an amazing twist. With a crackle as his chi surges back into his body, Alan dramatically twists out of /both/ of their grasps, flying spinning up into the air. "Ha HA! Fuck you, psycho druggie, and fuck you, you ponce! I won't be you-"
Himmlischer Atem.
When the light fades, Alan is just... gone. There's a burned smell in the air, and not much else.
A charred cigarette case falls from above, clattering open, scattering black and gold cigarretes on the deck.
COMBATSYS: Cody endures Kain's Himmlischer Atem.
~ Cruel hit! ~
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/------=|
Screaming like an alien bear who is also a meth addict, Cody slams Alan down at Kain again and again. If he even realizes that his 'weapon' is a living being, he certainly doesn't care. His screaming pauses briefly when Kain catches his man-club by the face, and then resumes even louder as he angrily attempts to wrest Alan out of the German's grip. Which, for Alan, is probably not a very fun time.
Eventually, Alan goes spinning out of both men's grasp, and Cody lifts his gaze to follow the man's spinning, fully intent on recapturing his disarmed weapo-
Himmlischer Atem.
When the smoke clears, Alan may be gone... but Cody isn't. His skin is red, cracked, and bleeding - he looks very much like he just spent a couple minutes in a microwave - but he still stands, rivulets of neon green blood pouring off of his body from innumerable places.
Suddenly, the man drops to his knees again, hunching forward and slamming his hands into the ground. He snarls, and his fingers dig into the metal of the deck, gouging right through it like it was paper. For a few heartbeats, it looks as if Kain's blast may have had a great effect than initially thought. He certainly doesn't seem to be getting back up, at le-
With a tremendous roar, Cody rises to his feet. He does not remove his fingers from the deck first. A long strip of metal, about four feet across, rips itself up from the deck as Cody stands, complete with horrible metallic shrieking and enormous jets of sparks. The path of the tear stretches right under Kain's feet - it would be a good idea to move - and extends a good ten feet past the German before the already strained laws of physics rip the end of the metal strip right off of the rest of the deck.
The entire sheet lifts upwards as Cody raises his arms above his head, waving like a horrible black metal ribbon. Cody lifts the metal up, up, up, and then swings it back down like he's trying to spank the Black Noah with a belt. A belt that happens to be made of its own flesh. His intended course for his newest ridiculous form of improvised weaponry brings it down right on top of Kain, but the blow is extremely, in layman's terms, 'telegraphed.'
Regardless of whether Kain is under it when it lands or not, the strip crashes into the deck of the Black Noah with a tremendous *BOOM*. The recoil proves to be a bitch, and once again Cody staggers backwards a pace before dropping to his knees. Once he's actually down, he finds it suddenly extremely hard to rise again. Maybe it's related to all the blood pouring out of his body from his /everywhere./
COMBATSYS: Cody has reached second wind!
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
[ \\\\\\\ <
Rugal 0/-------/------=|
But not /that/ hard. It takes him a few seconds, but eventually Cody throws his head back and screams to the heavens, pounding his fists into the deck underneath him yet again. With surprising speed, the blonde hauls himself to his feet, using a nearby railing for support. The railing does not survive the task, crumpling into a tangle of metal.
Even more surprising than his speed is when he speaks. "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT, YOU NAZI FAGGOT?!" the American screams, his voice distorting more and more by the second, like someone with nothing better to do was just constantly applying sound filters to it. With another roar, Cody pounds his fists against his chest. Sure, he might have skin cancer now, but he's not gonna lose to some prettyboy German. "COME ON, MOTHERFUCKER! COME AND SEE!!"
COMBATSYS: Heidern successfully hits Rugal with Caliburn.
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
[ \\ <
Rugal 1/-------/=======|
Rugal only stops when the mortal limits of his body have been not just surpassed, but long since passed up. For all his talk of god-like power, he is still a man and while the demon within pushes him to the brink of death, he eventually must relent and leave Heidern to land some yards away against the unforgiving steel of the deck. Bernstein slows, arms at his sides, hands bleeding, the flesh of his arms cracked from untold stresses that they went through. The ebony chi continues to weave about his body, sustaining him where his own potential would have met its final limits.
Around him chaos and destruction reigns. Kain Heinlein, ruthless and cold, unleashes an attack against the two Rugal ordered to deal with him. In its passing, Alan is no where to be seen and Cody is a nuked mess. Were the crimelord in full control over his mental faculties, he might be upset by that. He isn't though and in truth, he doesn't even notice the nuclear devastation wrought by Heinlein's power.
His singular focus is Heidern himself. The man isn't dead yet and as Bernstein stands, bleeding, gasping for breath, he wrestles with his own pscyhe to regain control over the monster enjoying its time in the sun. What's left of his reasoning mind says to slay Heidern completely. End this, eliminate the risk he represents. But theres the other side - the side more in control now - that wants nothing more than to prolong the old soldier's misery. Denying him that sweet satisfaction of a life's vendettais almost more tormant than could be executed via any other means.
He struggles for control, hands clenched, body heaving with each breath, somehow trying to go on living in spite the catastrophic harm committed to his internals. Raw, uncontrolled power may be the only thing keeping him alive still. Heidern begins to move, pushing himself up after the revenge driven assault comes to an end. "It isn't over," he growls, blood seeping from between his teeth as his organs rebel against the harm suffered, "Because it NEVER WILL BE!!"
The pillers of sudden energy slash through the space between Rugal and Heidern forming a literal wall of furious chi. Were at Heidern at his full strength, it may very well have served to sever the aura-damaged man in half and end his reign of death, terror, and blackmail forever. As it stands, the damage is still more than enough to send the defenseless Bernstein sliding back with no ability to keep himself from colliding with the wall behind him as the swath of chi washes over him, wrecking additional havoc on his compromised aura.
The impact has a meaty sound to it, as if the man was merely a broken thing to be battered around rather than the mighty Rugal Bernstein Heidern had come to slay. His human eye closes, as if for the last time, leaving only that pit of circuits and technology staring back at Heidern from Rugal's dead eye socket, a glimmer of red reflecting that it is still very much active even though his arms hang dead at his sides.
"Heh... heh... heh..." he chuckles, the sound wet and choked with blood as he stumbles forward away from the wall a few steps. Energy crackles over his arms as he moves seemingly on autopilot. "Come, Heidern... join me in hell... It just wouldn't be the same without being able to enjoy your misery even longer..."
Ebony flames ripple at his feet building up around the man as if he stood in an inferno of hellfire. His arms draw back, muscles straining to move, energy coursing through him. There was some kind of plan before this all came together. Something about Kain and setting himself up for the post-war world. Something about a cleanup of the harbor. Rugal can't remember any of it right now. All he can think about is mutually assured destruction and it is to that end that he acts.
His arms slam forward, unleashing a giant wave the likes of which originated in the House of Strolheim. A giagantic wave of brilliantly bright chi explodes across the deck toward Heidern. Rugal reaches back again, charging a second attack and sending a black sphere of black power hurtling through the distance. Again he charges, sending another sphere of crackling why energy with a core of fire. Again and again, Rugal launches projectiles of concentrated, malevolent energy about the deck. Some of the charges crash into the deck itself, ripping huge craters into the surface. Some fly for the jets, choppers, and other hardware on the deck, obliterating them upon impact or causing them to suck into themselves as if consumed by some kind of vacuum.
Many more of the wild shots are directed for Heidern though, that single inhuman eye fixed on the old soldier with a look of murderous determination, even for a dead thing.
The deck of the ship is aflame, wreckage and shrapnel flying everywhere as Bernstein continues to rage out of control.
"DIIIIIIIEEEEE!!"
COMBATSYS: Rugal can no longer fight.
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Kain dodges Cody's Huge Random Weapon.
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Kain
COMBATSYS: Kain dodges Rugal's Kaiser Phoenix.
[ < > /////// ]
Alan 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Kain
Now, an event like this is a bit too chaotic to be scripted. Especially when you're dealing with the fairly... strong personalities possessed by many at the top of the fighting world. Kain isn't entirely certain that Rugal won't actually do something suicidal at this point, and he'd really rather not lose a useful ally. And Heidern... well, ally is perhaps too strong a word, but he's also useful. So it's about time to put a stop to this.
When the massive strip of metal comes smashing down Kain is already running, leaving the shouting Cody behind. The drugged out con is probably still itching for a fight, but Kain doesn't have time to blow him up against just at the moment. Perhaps Rugal will take care of it. As flames shoot about the deck Kain closes in on Heidern, and then just before the Ikari leader takes a direct blast from Rugal's assault Kain slams into him... and keeps going. Both men fly to the side and right off the edge of the Black Noah. There's a long moment as they fall, then a splash as they hit the water and relative safety.
After that somewhat anticlimactic end, the clouds overhead crack with thunder and flash with lightning, the sound rolling out across Southtown. A bolt of static energy connects two clouds, and something falls from it.
Alan R. B. didn't die - he was just thrown. Clothes hanging in tatters, shirt almost completely cashed out, pants cinematically charred only at his legs, he drops from the heavens, both fists out, power streaming down as he's managed to get his body to pull even more power in. Why is he driven to keep going? Usually, Alan gives up once he sees that it's hopeless, out of sheer apathy. Did something change? Is he /developing?/
The force of the Mjolnir wraps around Alan entirely as he falls, sparks trailing behind him like a lightning bolt. For a moment, it looks like a truly prodigious showcase of chi power, like an act of one of the greats in this world. He impacts the Black Noah with a crash of thunder, a shockwave of lightning rolling out, causing blackouts inside the ship for a few moments, actually rocking the hulk in the water.
He's landed on nothing, and as he tries to get up, he glances around him blearily and half-blind. "Wh... where'd they even go?" He sags down onto the deck. "B...bullshit... that was too fuckin' rad... for an anticlimax."
COMBATSYS: Alan can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Cody 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0 Heidern
> /////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kain
While the likes of Rugal runs on the demonic force pulsing through his veins, that unholy energy keeping the Tyrant on his feet despite the grievous injuries he has sustained in this encounter, Heidern is anything but. Worn out, battered, aching, bleeding and God knows what else, the man is all but forcing his body to cooperate at this point, making unreal demands of it to keep him on his feet. The blood in his veins feels like molten slag, his muscles screaming with untold pain.
But, somehow, be it pure, unbridled hatred of the thirst for vengeance, Heidern manages.
And it is precisely that which guides his hand, a hand which cuts a nasty swath through the air, followed by the roaring, fiercely blue-white cutting pillars of pure energy that collide with the German. While his power by no means rivals the control of Heinlein--whose conflict remains essentially unnoticed by the intensely-focused Ikari--it's still enough to do the job.
"Yes it is, Bernstein!" the Ikari uncharacteristically shouts, blood and spittle flying from his busted lips. "It ends here, and it fucking ends NOW!" His protests will not dissuade the old, cycloptic commander. He is determined to have Bernstein's head on a silver platter now. He wants him dead. He wants to let the ghosts of his past finally have peace. He wants his SOUL to find solace and comfort after these long, torturous years.
He flies, the Lord of War driven back by the energy at Heidern's disposal. After the assault the Ikari leans to one side, favoring his left leg over the right before he bends and coughs blood. Yet he keeps an eye on the man, watching that odd, mechanical and cold stare glaring at him even after the chi disperses and leaves him there, half-plastered to the wall. His body wants to fail him.
But...he's so close now. He has this man on the ropes. He...he's going to finally have his revenge?
"S-shut your...goddamned MOUTH!" the Ikari bellows as Rugal stumbles forward. He's going to attack--he can feel the build up of energy even before it's thrown at him. He knows what's coming...but his body doesn't want to move anymore. He's failing rapidly.
'Not now...not now...' he begs of himself. 'I need my revenge god/damn/ you..!'
"G...go to hell...alone B-Bernstein!!"
His feet begin to move, shuffling awkwardly as he readies what could be considered a half-ass defensive posture. The blood loss he's had thus far, coupled with internal bleeding, broken bones and who the hell knows what else, is making him look green and feeble. But he is DETERMINED to come out of this the victor.
The massive amounts of energy built up are then released. Fortunately, Heidern won't have to react.
Before he's even aware the other German--Heinlein--is colliding into his body, the momentum sending both men overboard. For a moment there's a look of surprise on his face. But surprise immediately gives way to panic as he watches Bernstein's ghastly image become a quickly fading vision as both fall toward the ocean.
"N-No--!!" the Ikari manages.
"Goddamn it--NO! I was there! RIGHT THERE! I HAD HIM! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! YOU SON OF--"
His angry curses are cut short when the two men hit the surface of the ocean below the Noah.
COMBATSYS: Heidern has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Cody 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Kain
Log created on 22:27:34 05/18/2009 by Heidern, and last modified on 19:28:48 05/26/2009.