Description: Adon shows what an awful idea it is to decline an invitation from Lord Vega, thus rounding out Shadaloo's team for the upcoming King of Fighters tournament whether he likes it or not.
"FOOL! OAF! THE ROPE! Unhitch the ROPE!"
The emperor clutched the rafters of his large, personal motorboat, still dressed in his silk, gold-threaded evening robe. Swinging a rhetorical fist at the faceless servent who struggles with the rope tied to his motorboat, the emperor screams in frustration. "NNNNAAARGH! JUST CUT IT THEN!" The distant pinging of the alarms still fill the jungle air as Adon gazes towards his personal manor, thinking of what has just happened...
********
Adon chortles as he clutches the third wench, dressed in a red wig and sunglasses. "And you! Viper! You will ALSO fall to my Muay Thai might! Just like Sagat and Chun-Li! GAHAHAHHAHA!" Groping the woman brutally, he hardly notices as one of his many tired butlers entire the room. "Emperor..." The man quietly begins, holding a small envelop. Adon spits out quickly as he forces a kiss on 'Viper.' "Not now! I am busy with my... Muay Thai." Adon chuckles darkly. The butler stalwartly continues. "But sir..." The emperor snarls, flinging the three girls off of his body to the pillowed grounds. Rising up, he glares at the intruder of his... business. "WHAT!? If it is so IMPORTANT!?!" The butler quietly hands the envelope to Adon, and says very softly...
"From Shadaloo, sir."
********
The last hour was hectic. The letter was very polite, but professional. Vega had a proprosition for Adon. He was coming in person to offer it, and it seemed that Adon might have a choice in the matter. The butler and his three wenches were immediately fired, and was informed that if he told anyone about the high-pitched squeal of terror the Emperor had made, Adon would personally kill them and their families with his bare hands. The entire manor was mobilized, the emperor having all his guards prepare for an assault. He did not tell them it was Vega. He knew that if he did, they would desert him sooner. The emperor meanwhile collected money and personal belongings, grabbed his most loyal student, and booked it towards the river.
And it looked like he was going to make it home free.
As the mook cuts the rope, Adon sighs, and bangs his hand on the rail. His most loyal student begins to start the motor, and the boat begins to drift down the river to a safe house miles away. Adon moves to the canopied rear, where at least 2 dozen men could sit in peace. Eyeing the large table in the center, he began to chuckle, then cackle loudly as the boat began to pull away.
There was no way he could find him now.
Just like clockwork, the sleek, expensive-looking black sedan comes rolling up toward the Emperor's mansion. The poor thing is tilted upward slightly, as if bearing a particularly cumbersome load in its back seat and the shocks are straining to handle the load. Indeed, the back seat, all rich with fine leather, is not home to only the great underworld lord coming to grace Adon with his presence...but also the excessively-muscled Bison as well! Having little to speak of in the way of mental fortitude, the great Lord's patience is wearing exceedingly thin. "When are we gonna get there, boss?" "How loaded did you say this guy is?" On, and on, and on! Vega's hand, before long, crushes an imprint of his fingers into the door handle, trying so very hard to keep from destroying the new transport by exacting pure, unbridled Violence upon his lieutenant.
Thankfully, the wonderfully underarmed guards that greet the most esteemed visitor is more than willing to spare both Bison a brutal beating and the car's having to bear its burden. The nicks of gunfire pinging through thin metal brings a squealing of tires as the driver tries to turn around! It only takes a lucky string of bullets approaching the vehicle's gas tank for it to blow. From the river, it should be easy to see the plume of fire rising up over the line of foliage.
The wreckage smoulders and sparks, silent and still for a moment. All of a sudden, the metal roof bulges outward once, twice, three times before the top just /flies/ off, landing on the concrete with a screeching clatter. Bison, obviously too stupid to die, but having the decency to have his sweaty attire torn and marked with ash and bits of blood, digs his way out. "Which'a you punks did that?! You're fuckin' dead, ya hear me??"
Not rising, but floating out of the car mere moments later is the similarly-marred crime lord. Lifting himself up into the air, over a few feet, and back down, he removes his hat to brush off the specks of ash that had settled upon it. Great. Not only are the two targets alive, but /fine/, for the most part...and more importantly, pissed off. Bison is a simple creature; he simply goes into a murderous rage, punching every man, woman, and basically whatever else he can find, bringing the delightful screams of murder and chaos to the lively estate.
But Vega? He's nowhere to be seen. Not from the site of the explosion. Not from the riverbanks, not from the harbor. No; this rebuffed leader is suddenly just screaming down from the sky, arms folded and his legs together, aiming to slam himself onto Adon's deck...and right /through/ it.
Adon doesn't cease his cackling when the gunfire starts. However, when hears the explosion by the manor, he immediately stops laughing. He walks over to the railing of the boat, squinting beneath the canopy at his manor. The sound of gunfire rises up again, but the Emperor began to... tremble as he notices a vague, purple flame begin to head towards his position. Adon turns his head and screams at the boat's pilot. "INCREASE SPEED! HE FOUND US! FASTER! FASTER!" Adon looks back over to the MUCH closer flame, and he brings his knuckles to his mouth, gnawing them in fear. Adon realizes the terrible, terrible truth.
He will not be getting away this time.
The emperor leaps over the edge of the railing slams right through the deck of the boat. As Adon hits the water, he struggles as he swims for his life, trying hard NOT to sink beneath the water as the boat falls under. Lazy crocdiles sitting on the banks of the river slip into the river, sensing the new prey. Adon struggles, swimming swiftly through the water. He felt something grabbing his leg. Instinctively kicking it, the grabber surfaces, revealing his loyal boat pilot. "Sir! It's only me! It's only-" Adon cuts him short with a raking tear at his face. Wounding him, he swiftly smashes a limb across his head, knocking him out cold.
The crocodiles should be well distracted by this piece of dead meat.
Adon makes it to the bank easily, the crocodiles claiming his loyal servent as a meal instead of the more dangerous emperor. Adon climbs up, walking through the mud as he looks upon the water. His arms were crossed, and he was doing all he could to look regal. To hide his complete and utter fear. He stands erect, staring at the water. Before... he loses his nerve. "WELL VEGA!? I am HERE! Come out, then, and FACE ME LIKE A MAN! I am READY!"
Adon tilts his head back, and cackles wildly. "GAHHAHAHHAHA!"
The charcoal-cloaked bunker buster left quite a gaping hole in that little boat! At first, the vessel had been sent rocking, but the deluge of water seeping up the new puncture wound has marked the end of this little journey, and again, is all that's seen of Vega for a short while! The waters are relatively still and quiet, save for the occasional remnants of weaponry and collapsing architecture back at the mansion. By now, Bison's in a full blood-hazed rage for certain, destroying, pillaging, or even raping whatever gets in his way. It's hard to tell exactly what that one will do.
From the nearer riverbank, as though bidden by the challenge, that all-too-familiar hat slips out from under the surface. Rivulets of filthy water and muck run down Vega's face, but little can hide the severity of his frown, of the white eyes that shine with brilliant, violet edges. Much like Jason rising from the depths of Crystal Lake, the dark Lord's presence brings a great chill to all but the most hardened man. His usual aura of dread is compounded ever further by the heat of anger at being treated like this. It's almost difficult to ignore the fact that, out of the river, he carried a crocodile like a bit of luggage: his fingers sunk in through the living leather, curled around spine and between ribs, holding the still-living, tortured beast that lets out breathy snarls of impotence amidst useless lashings of tail and snapping of elongated jaw.
"I /believe/ that we had an appointment, /Emperor/." The title is said with such disdain, such mockery. His boots slurp with mud as he steps onto the bank, marching toward Adon with measured, slow steps, each one marked with the clink of his metal shinguards.
Adon's manor was going to be in ruins. Adon could accept that. Bison would find that the manor holds much to plunder for all sorts of tastes. Money. Food. Women. The Emperor could accept those loses. He could afford them. He could afford a lot of things right now.
But hopefully, he would have enough for his life.
As Vega rises from the depths of the water, a squirming crocodile in his bare hands, the Emperor realizes just how soft he was. The leer and cackle was gone now, a look of terror slowly coming over the Emperor's face. As Vega closed in, Adon withdrew backwards, stumbling to the ground as he trips over a log. Falling into the mud, and crawls back, eyes wide in horror. His body trembling, Adon loses his nerve. Finally, he stops crawling, and turns around to his knees, bringing his hands together in prayer as he throws himself at Vega.
"Please, don't kill me! Don't kill me Vega!"
Why, he didn't even need his new pet at all! Vega's raiment is sopping and sticking to him, streaked and looking extremely undignified. He hasn't forgotten who to thank for that, for the insults he's had to suffer in merely the last couple of minutes. Oh, the wrinkling of his chin that comes with that terrible frown! The bobbing, behind him, of corpses both human and animal upon the river's surface as though intricately timed for immaculate effect!
And yet he stops short of lifting Adon up, denies him the joy of a quick, merciful release. His index finger extends and strokes the bare organs within his pet's chest, bringing an awful thrashing and writhing that only serves to heighten the strain upon its spine as the Shadaloo leader maintains his grip upon it. Indeed, the smaller man before him has bought himself time with grovelling and ego-stroking! Vega's frown fades, then gives way to a wide grin, lips spread to reveal the wet sheen of white, clenched teeth.
"That...is more like it." The bulging man reaches with his free hand, curling his fingers around the croc's snout. With a sharp tug and sickening wet snap of vertebrae separating, the dumb beast falls limp, head and tail sagging onto the ground. With a careless toss, the carcass is flung back into the river to join its kin.
"I have a task for you," he says simply. A task is good. It implies usefulness, staves off threat of abuse and a fate like that of the poor crocodile. As he speaks, Vega now starts to brush himself down, wiping off smeared mud, lifting his cap to slick his hair back again, et cetera. He's the very vision of comfort, the safety of having nothing to fear of the man kowtowing before him.
Adon defers his eyes. Oh, the hatred boiling out from Adon right now. The utter loathing the emperor had for Vega couldn't be hidden. And yet, Adon tried. He hated Vega almost as much as he hated Sagat, but like both, he knew that he could only get the sweet satisfaction of indulging on those feelings... when they were weak.
Adon gritted his teeth, gnashing them with fury. With shame. He knew he was being a dog. He hated it. But he was so afraid for his own life... he was willing to do anything. And once again, Vega knew this. And once again, he was forced to be Vega's servent. Adon twisted his jaw into a forced smile, and looks back up at the leader of Shadaloo.
"WHAT. What can I, Adon, the Emperor of Muay Thai do to help the cause of Shadaloo? Ignore another attack on Thailand soil? Assist with funneling arms? Or perhaps you wish to throw me against Sagat again?" Adon tried not to sound sarcastic, or at least, conceal his nasty, caustic cynicism towards Vega. At least Vega wasn't psychic.
Wait.
Thoughts of taking advantage of moments of weakness are incredibly common, however! People bow and scrape, hiding behind facades while silently cursing the very ground he walks on...and that's fine. Vega doesn't need people to like him. He just needs them to fear and obey him. The fact that Adon is now doing both only makes his wicked smile grow all the more.
"About Sagat," he starts, tucking both of his hands behind his back. One grips the other's wrist while his chest puffs out. Slow steps take him to and fro, but never far. "He's forgotten, it seems, just what it means to work for Shadaloo. He's grown soft during his time away." Both feet come to a stop next to each other, the man still facing away as he continues to speak. "But as you know, he's far too valuable to simply let go."
After a few seconds of silence, he turns and starts the trek toward Adon once more. "You've seen him, of course. Compassionate. Forgiving. Weak." He stops before the man, looks down at him whether he's still bowing and scraping or not, and continues past. "But not you, am I right? There's a reason that you hold the crown of the Muay Thai world."
Adon's loathing began to fall away to the easiest of tricks: Flattery. Adon relaxes a margin as Vega speaks of Sagat's weaknesses. "Of course he has grown soft... You could say he now lacks... vision." Adon cackles darkly at his pun. "I hold the crown for true power! Sagat lost it because he was weak, and I was strong enough to DESTROY HIM."
Adon rises up, standing from his prostate position. "He will CONTINUE to be forgotten! Only ADON will be on the lips of the world! ADON! The TRUE EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! And Sagat will FOREVER remain soft..."
But then, gazes nervously at Vega. "... But you want me to defeat him again, don't you."
At the very insinuated question, Vega stops. He turns his upper body a bit, just enough to look at Adon out of the corner of his eye. He looks...neutral. Not angry, not delighted. No, it's like Adon had asked him whether or not he was feeling evil, whether he wanted to own the world or not. It IS the expected task, that much is certain. It just makes sense to assume that that's what he wants!
"No, not this time." His attention returns to the space before him. Through the trees, he can only scarcely see the mansion, bits of it between the bark. By now, Bison has likely expended his rage and started to partake of decadence. Adon's wines, his food, his servants, left to the whims of a truly insane sadist. "I think you'll be a good role model for him, to remind him exactly how things work in the real world."
Seemingly tired of feeling his way through the weak thoughts of distant, simple-minded fools, the ruler turns on his heel. He stands immaculately straight, the arm that juts forward stiff and commanding as it points directly at the man that, until just a moment ago, was begging for his life. "Of course, you will be allowed certain...freedoms that you could not enjoy otherwise, and well-rewarded." Because, really, that's all it takes to get most people to submit. Money, pleasure... Things that were in no small supply before, but with Shadaloo's extensive network...
Adon always frightened by Vega, and seduced in his web. It was like a dangerous woman, except instead of breasts and golddigging, Vega had untold power and would KILL HIM FOREVER. But Adon was worried; wary about what direction Vega was taking him. As Vega turns, the Emperor suddenly recoils into the defensive stance of Muay Thai, flinching as if he was about to be struck.
But no attack was unleashed.
Adon slowly drops down as Vega promises rewards. Freedom. As if he wanted Adon... to join Shadaloo? The Emperor eyes Vega... and smiles that wide, twisted grin. "Vega, please. You aren't asking me to join Shadaloo, are you? You and I both know that would do little for our own goals. We both need to at least put up the facade of being independent of one another. But do go on. I am very interested about where you take this."
Adon winks at Vega, that leering, cock-sure smile on his lips.
That line, between appeasing Vega with one's ability and confidence...and pissing him off with arrogance against him?
That was the line that Adon just crossed.
It's a subtle thing at first. The air feels cold, despite there being no wind. The din of nature quiets and ceases altogether. And Vega himself? There's a trick of the eyes, surely, that makes him look a bit bigger than he had just a moment ago. Light doesn't seem to touch his features quite as easily as it did. His eyes, they threaten with a more pronounced purple tint at the edges, a haze that gives birth to short-lived wisps of flame that dissipate immediately.
Despite these small nuances, Vega...contains himself. He steels his jaw, puffs his chest with a deep breath. His eyes close, momentarily snuffing out the visible flames of rage. Indeed, it's a very difficult thing to do, holding back! And yet, Sagat doesn't have enough bonds with people for him to slaughter them indiscriminately. "I am not asking you to join my organization, you simpering half-wit. I'm offering you an alternative to utter destruction and a hundred years of tinkering with your soul at my leisure!" His voice rises near the end, but again, he squashes down the rage that comes so naturally to him.
Adon feels that chill.
With the reflexes of a man who just realized that that wasn't a hamburger he was eating, but a baby bear, and that wasn't a waiter, that was the momma bear, Adon's smug grin is gone. He begins to withdraw, preparing for the smite stupid. He was swiftly going from swagger to cringe, whatever it took to keep his ego and the shell it lies in alive.
Adon stammers. "Y-y-yes, of course. I... I would be proud to assist you V- Lord Vega, I mean." Adon bows. "Please, let me do whatever I can... to ensure I do not entertain you for 100 years." Adon forces another fake smile.
So much hatred was in his heart.
The mere act of submission is enough to quell part of that smouldering ire. Most of the illusory effects dissipate at Adon's appeasement, leaving the great Lord of Shadaloo before him looking as normal as he ever will, which indeed is not saying much.
Still, he is not the happiest dictator ever. The fact that Adon is finally playing along /properly/ is seemingly what he had expected to begin with. There's no reason to smile or grin; he's simply getting his way, and that is nothing out of the ordinary, nothing worth celebrating. One of his arms pulls back and tucks beneath his damp cloak. With a smooth motion, one performed hundreds of times and as natural as one would breathe, he whips the charcoal-colored overgarment around him. Only through the rare tears and burnt-out holes can his uniform be seen beneath it. "I'll have somebody contact you, and soon." Even as his form starts to waver and shimmer away into a transluscent violet outline, he adds, "And I would suggest that you treat them /far/ more kindly than you did me."
And then, he's gone, and him with, the chilly effects on the environment.
And then Adon is alone.
Adon's smile turns into a biting, seething ball of rage. He hisses. He screams. The Emperor begins tearing into the jungle trees, trying to envision them being Vega. It wasn't fair. He was the emperor. He was the king. He wasn't a servent or a slave.
But Vega made him one.
Adon transfixes his anger on a single tree. Slamming his limbs against, he imagined that chin being broken. Those teeth being broken. He could feel Vega cowering beneath him. Just like Sagat. Just like Alma. Just like Viper. Just like Chun-Li. Just like every man and woman who had scorned him. Defeated him. Everyone would be weaker than Adon.
And he would make sure this 'contact' would bow down to Adon.
Log created on 14:44:21 10/16/2010 by Vega, and last modified on 10:48:25 10/17/2010.