Description: Step 1: Incriminating photographs. Step 2: Street brawl with delusional schoolgirl. Step 3: Avoid taking blame for accidental jailbreak and narrowly avoid being crushed by massive Russian wrestler. So far, so good.
TIME -- 4:36am
PLACE -- Southtown Precinct 27 Holding Facility
So, to recap. Frei met Shermie, who wanted a job, and Angel, who wanted Shermie's job. In the process of mediating this battle of the breasts, a cunning photographer managed to snap a photo of Frei on his back on the YFCC floor, with Shermie lying on top of him, Angel straddling his head and basically dipping her boobs onto his face. This, among other things, got printed in a little free city weekly that nobody reads and thus wasn't much of a big deal...
...except this one lady who lives on a certain street does read it, and thought something Very Bad was happening. Thus when Frei ran into Sakura, an old friend he hadn't seen in some time, outside the Hibiki Dojo, this woman screamed from the street that he was a pervert, causing Sakura to accidentally try to beat up Frei thinking he was on drugs, and the resulting carnage was not received well by the police, meaning that Frei is now sitting in said lockup, staring at the ceiling.
Now here's the problem. Frei's a cute little thing. Just look at him. And think about the sort of people that would end up in prison, even a temporary lockup. Yeah. Of course, the first one to try anything funny found himself hurtling through a concrete wall into the adjoining cell in an impromptu and involuntary Kool-Aid Man impression. Once the police patched up the wall and gave Frei a stern warning, they also realized that the only thing keeping Frei in that cell is Frei himself, which bizarrely enough spoke in his favor.
(The prisoners also gave him a wide berth.)
Now it is early morning. MOST people are trying to sleep. Frei is sitting there meditating, which is pretty impressive all things considered. It's totally ruined when an armored car suddenly drives through the back wall of the cell in a crash of brick and mortar. Stereotypical Ganger #6 pops out of it, waving a hand at one of the crims inside, a big burly biker-looking guy in leather. "Hey, Killer! We came just like you said, let's go!"
Once upon a time, there was a huge terrifying Russian wrestler called Zangief. Said wrestler was a proud and noble man, who hardly ever terrorized the bears of Siberia, and almost never beat up little girls on flimsy pretexts. This man found himself compelled to try and stop the chaos that had ravaged Southtown many, many months ago now. His journey took him far and wide, and he got his face beat in on a variety of occasions.
One particularly humiliating defeat was at the hands of a ne'erdowell called Yamazaki. Zangief had only succeeded in making the blonde weirdo more and more loudmouthed and agitated! Something which culminated in the gangster actually defecating over the soil of beloved Mother Russia. It has taken Zangief some time to get over the events, some more time to reestablish himself as the force he is in the wrestling rings of the world, and even longer to come back here. To Southtown.
But some things will not stand.
He couldn't remember which prison it was, exactly. Having your head repeatedly slammed into concrete will do that to a guy. But he could remember it was in the area somewhere. When Zangief spies a car hurtling towards the back wall, it is like he is reliving that terrible moment. The jailbreak. The fighting.
Poison, hitting on him.
Which is why, just after Stereotypical Ganger #6 pops out of the back of the car, a huge, looming shadow appears behind him. Towering over the armored vehicle, seeming to fill up all the night with the scent of sweat and bear, and the promise of ... violence.
"... Killer ..." Zangief rumbles, his eyes glinting in the moonlight like twin coals burning with a fiery thirst for JUSTICE.
"The Red Cyclone is not going to let you escape A SECOND TIME!"
... wait a second, Frei doesn't even *look* like Yamazaki, does he?! He's got a totally different hair color and...!!!
One green eye opens from Frei's lotus position seat on the bench/bed thing inside the cell, and it surveys the situation. Somebody just drove a truck into the cell. Okay. Now they're beckoning to 'Killer'. Okay. And now somebody let a bear loose in Southtown that apparently knows how to talk. This last bit is unusual, certainly, but as far as Frei is concerned talking bears don't amount to the level of 'major concern' right now. Yes, a jailbreak is terrible, but if he just SITS HERE and does NOTHING, perhaps the police will get the right idea and understand he has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time a few too many moments lately.
This is when Killer, realizing that Zangief has 1.) misprocessed his henchman's pointing, thinking that Frei is 'Killer' and 2.) this is his only chance to get out of here alive, dives for the armored car, jabbing an accusatory finger at him the whole time. "YEAH, brah!" he shouts at Zangief. "That guy's nuts! He rammed Burt through a wall just 'cause he asked what was so funny!"
TWO DAYS AGO:
Burt, a large man with a large number of tattoos of various Chinese characters, cracks his knuckles, advances on a helplessly giggling Frei. When he speaks, it's like the low rumble of a diesel engine. "What's so funny, short stuff?"
Between gasps for air, Frei answers: "Did you know... your tattoos say 'sweet milk drink', 'young man', and 'grassy field'?"
NOW:
As the armored car peels out, Killer's voice dopplers back, "HE'S A MANIAC, BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaah..."
Zangief is not the brightest spark in the cutlery drawer, it must be said. But the little thugs are of no consequence. He could pick them up some other time. Track them down and beat them up, because isn't that what you are meant to do with criminals? But this man sitting there in the lotus position! Last time he'd been here, he had been so angry and furious! Was he making fun of him this time, by sitting there being all, calm at him?
Stomping forward, Zangief reaches out with one hand to try and pick Frei up by the hair. "Do you think throwing people is funny?!" He roars, "Well then! I'll show you how to throw!"
This might not be the best plan for him. After all, he isn't actually a bad guy. But as he is going to try and throw Frei through a wall, into the adjoining cell, the chances are Zangief really is just going to make a bad situation even worse. He's going to feel so bad about this when someone can take the time to explain to him what he's done.
COMBATSYS: Zangief has started a fight here.
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Zangief 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Frei has joined the fight here.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
COMBATSYS: Frei auto-guards Zangief's Medium Throw!
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
Alright. By this time, Frei's OTHER eye has opened, and he turns just in time to see Zangief coming at him with all preparation to chuck him into the adjoining cell, through the wall where different colors of plaster make it immediately evident where Burt made his impromptu exit a few days ago. Part of him is saying: that guy is huge, do not let him throw you. The other part is saying: oh god do not get in any more trouble or this is going to end in a really bad place. Abort abort abort!
"Hey!" Frei says, rolling backwards off the bench thing and landing on his feet, Zangief's grab for him shearing past by mere inches as the sage reaches up and, with his new and better position, gently pushes Zangief's arm to the side. "For one, I happen to be meditating and you are harshing my mellow. Two, what the hell are you doing here, and three, STOP THAT."
He doesn't attack. Not yet, anyway. There might be hope that reason will prevail and Zangief can be talked down(*).
(* No such chance exists.)
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief looks momentarily surprised. It isn't often that his attack is turned aside. But then, this guy had beaten him pretty soundly last time. Maybe that is it? The Red Cyclone has forgotten how to fight against people who aren't wrestlers! He'd have to give it his all if he was going to win. What really gets him, is that now this guy is talking about, meditation and stuff? This was clearly some kind of challenge to him. He wasn't being taken seriously! He obviously didn't know who he was dealing with.
So Zangief decides to inform him.
"I am the RED CYCLONE!" He bellows, stamping his feet into the ground with enough force to actually shake the block, and send some of the freshly laid plaster crumbling.
"For the glory of MOTHER RUSSIA! Which you DEFILED, YAMAZAKI! I AM going to CRUSH you! I will GRIND you into paste and then PASTE that PASTE over the hole you made!"
He slaps his knees, and then raises his hands in the traditional wrestling stance, ready to lunge forward and grab, or block and defend at a moments notice.
Flecks of spittle coat his beard as he concludes, even louder than before, "Because nothing. NOTHING. STOPS. THE RED. CYCLOOOOONE!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief gathers his will.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Zangief
Yamawhat now? Frei gives Zangief an appraising look when he calls him Yamazaki. He seems about to turn and call for the guards when he hears, to his deep chagrin, gunfire. Are they in a SHOOTOUT up there? Is that why nobody's come to save him or at the very least make sure he hasn't escaped which he hasn't even though he bloody well could? Who the hell is Yamazaki? And doesn't the name 'Zangief' sound familiar? Isn't he that Russian guy? What am I asking you for?
Slowly, Frei turns back around to face Zangief. This is going to take delicate handling. He's got to convince this guy that he's not Yamazaki, that he's never BEEN to Russia let alone defiled it, and do it all without making the situation any worse so the cops will understand exactly what went on here when they're done... shooting people apparently.
"Right," Frei says, turning to the explosively declamatory Zangief, before reaching forward with one hand to hopefully shove him off balance, before a burst of wind explodes outward from his open palm to hopefully send Zangief back out the hole he came in from. Frei, for his part, eloquently adds: "GO AWAY."
COMBATSYS: Zangief fails to interrupt Strong Throw from Frei with Kamitsuki.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief had been hoping Frei would come at him! Whilst he might look like he is unprepared, the Red Cyclone is far from it. He's actually grinning as Frei's hand comes forwards, and his own arms come out, aiming to wrap around the younger man. No doubt he would have been successful, too, as he opens his mouth wide...
Oh God, is Zangief actually going to EAT Frei!?
No! Because he hadn't been expecting the blast of energy at all! The Red Cyclone's eyes go wide, almost bugging out of his skull as he finds himself lifted off his feet, and slamming into the back wall with an audible *crunch*. Lesser men would probably be put off by this. Or at least pause to consider that the fighting style is completely different to the one that he remembered. Zangief is not such a lesser man.
He does hit the floor hard, though. On his knees, and shakes his head. Grunting.
"Nnngh. Fancy new tricks! I HATE FANCY NEW TRICKS!" It seems that some things, though they may not stop the Red Cyclone, might at least piss him off.
Was he seriously going to bite him. What is going on. Frei pulls his hand back, slowly, once he sees Zangief go flying into the last remnants of the back wall, then nods in satisfaction and goes back to the bench to sit down and resume his meditation. There's a certain amount of officious brushing of plaster dust off the bench, and slowly turning around, and sitting down, and noticing that ZANGIEF IS STILL HERE, WHAT THE [eff!]ING HELL.
Frei slowly turns his head to the Russian as he suggests that these are fancy new tricks, which just makes this even more confusing, because that whole windburst thing isn't new tricks. "What? That's an old trick. That's the oldest of tricks. I have clothes newers than those tricks! Who the hell do you think I AM anyway?!"
There's a cough, and Frei realizes this situation has started to deteriorate already because he's starting to lose his mind. "Look. Just... just go, okay? Or bug someone in the other sells. Just don't make this any worse, or try to beat me up in the street to stop me hallucinating, and PLEASE GOD keep your upper torso away from my face." Okay, now he's just not making any sense.
COMBATSYS: Frei takes no action.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Zangief
"You... you are making FUN of me?!"
Zangief actually sounds incredulous. He is not used to the response to his trying to maim someone be them, mocking his chest hair. He's the best wrestler in the world! He deserves some respect, damnit! Even if some dim neurons in the back of Zangief's brain are starting to crackle and protest that this probably isn't the person he thinks it is, he's still not treating him with the respect that he thinks he deserves. Really, there's only one possible response.
Zangief hauls himself to his feet, and shakes the brick work off his shoulders. He cracks his neck, and then, he comes hurtling forward again. Like a veritable man-mountain made of flesh and hair, there's nothing he can do but try to do exactly what it is Frei doesn't want him to do!
Okay so maybe he could have taken the hint and gone away, but that'd mean admitting fault.
If Frei were a squealing fangirl, she'd know exactly what is coming next! One hand goes for the shoulder, the other goes for Frei's leg. If they are successfully grasped, he'll spin Frei upside down, and crush him, bodily, into his chest hair. And his face between his legs, for that most famous of moves.
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
That's right! Screw Piledriver (translated from the original bear)
It could almost be relaxing, spinning through the air, if it wasn't being crushed between a sweaty man's thighs, and if it didn't end with ones head being forcefully crammed into the concrete floor of the cell. But nothing is perfect.
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Zangief's Screw Piledriver.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Zangief
Let's consider this.
1.) Zangief IS keeping his upper torso away from Frei.
2.) As the bear approaches, Frei seems to have a dim memory of a move like this.
3.) How does that go? Right, the leg goes here... the head goes...
4.) ... D:
The agility that Frei shows in avoiding what comes next he will probably never, ever, ever in his life show a second time. He quite literally leaps straight up and backwards, vaulting away from Zangief, slams into the bars on the building side of the cell, rebounds off them, and lands in a crouch on the opposite side of the room. He slowly, slowly unfolds to a standing position, taking deep breaths. "My... my life flashed before my eyes..." he mutters, staring into the middle distance with a blank expression, putting a hand to his chest. "It was like a Cho Aniki game gone horribly wrong..."
Turning to Zangief, he narrows his eyes, then just charges forward, looking to kick him right in the chest as hard as possible, an arc of blazing fire screaming in the path of the blow. "WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE."
COMBATSYS: Zangief blocks Frei's Roundhouse Kick.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief brings one meaty arm up to block the blow. It still sends a shock through him, but he is just starting to get pissed now. He couldn't touch this guy! Last time, couldn't he touch him a lot (not like that perv) but do nothing? What is it with people not being who he thinks they are? THIS MAKES HAPPY FUN ZANGIEF ANGRY!
"I'm here to PAY YOU BACK, KILLER!" Zangief shouts, suddenly lunging forwards again, this time, there's nowhere near as much subtly in his motions. He's just trying to get a hold so he can snare the smaller fighter around the throat.
"You and your WORDS! You think you can confuse the RED CYCLONE?! You broke out of here once, and I couldn't stop you! This time, I'm STOPPING YOU FOR GOOD!"
It's got to be said, if Zangief has got his hands wrapped around Frei's throat, Frei's words are unlikely to be much more of an immediate impediment, as Zangief is doing his very best to squeeze the life out of the guy. Nobody has ever accused him of being a very restrained fighter in the past, and Zangief's rage is building higher and higher.
But all things considered, an angry Zangief, in this situation, is actually better than a happy one. Isn't that a frightening thought?
COMBATSYS: Frei interrupts Choke Hold from Zangief with Shihaku.
- Power hit! -
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Frei 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Zangief
There is a degree of hilarity involved in this. Zangief is, if nothing else, completely relentless. It's a quality that in any other situation Frei might actually appreciate, for the elegant simplicity of it. Regardless of what actually happens, Zangief just... keeps coming. Over and over and over again.
"Tell the truth," Frei says, watching Zangief warily. "If I scratch off some of that skin, you're going to be like, Terminator metal under there, aren't you."
And then the bear is reaching for him. This actually induces a sort of late-stage panic in poor Frei, who is used to people, after a certian number of retaliatory beatings, to you know... BACK OFF instead of just wading back in. This means Zangief gets his grip on the sage's throat in a really entertaining, Homer and Bart Simpson sort of way.
Slowly, making choking sounds, Frei reaches one hand up and attempts to get it around *Zangief's* neck. Which... is pretty damn entertaining since Frei is like a fifth of his size and Zangief even HAVING a neck is a little debateable, but the redhead gets something approaching a handhold, if not a grip, and then there's a sudden bone-chilling, cold burst of chi of a purple-black color, pure life-sapping yin energy. Which perhaps might get Zangief to let go. Hopefully.
Zangief stumbles back a couple of steps, choking and hacking. Energy. He'd never liked energy. It is so, unsportsmanlike. Using flashy things to burn people when you don't have the muscle mass to beat someone down yourself. It also hurts. Which Zangief, for all he is a relentless and terrifying opponent, doesn't actually like.
Pain is an old foe for the Red Cyclone, though. Just look at him. He's more scar tissue than man. It spurs him on to greater heights. Especially when someone actually finds one of his weak spots, and Zangief does not yet have a windpipe scar. Though after that blow, that might have changed. It HURTS.
"Grrrrr! JUST LIKE YOU, YAMAZAKI!" He howls, "Take! Me! SERIOUSLY! ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Yes, Zangief responds poorly to mockery, and the comment about metal? How could he possibly react in another way?! He's furious, and he reacts with all the fury he has been bottling up inside. This is a relatively small cell, compared to Zangief. Lets see the little man dodge this!
Both arms extended, Zangief just /spins/ on his axis, aiming to fill the entire area with another signature move. And his gigantic fists. Mostly filling the area with his fists. ORAAAA!
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Zangief's Double Lariat.
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Frei 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Zangief
Well you just can't get away from that. Zangief almost fills the room, full stop. Tack on suddenly pinwheeling arms and really, there just isn't any way to get away from it. Frei, for his credit, doesn't actually try. Instead he hunkers down and crosses his arms in front of his face. There's a really entertaining series of *WHUMP!* noises, rhythmically, as Zangief's spinning lariat bounces off Frei again and again, like the sage had put himself in the way of an extremely steak-like ceiling fan.
"I AM TAKING YOU SERIOUSLY," he bellows at Zangief, trying to make sense of this entire process. "THE PROBLEM IS YOU DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE."
At this point, Frei just turns his head somewhat, extends both hands palm-out, and fills the cell in his own way: with exploding balls of light. "WHY WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?!" he shouts.
And then, after a beat, some deeply latent memory appears to surface, since he adds: "I TRUSTED YOU, KUMAGORO!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief fails to interrupt Seiya from Frei with Banishing Flat.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Zangief
Energy? Energy!? ENERGY?! IN MY PRISON FIGHT?!
It's more likely than you think!
Zangief's eyes actually go wide when the blasts of energy appear. He has no idea who Kumagoro is. (Is it him? His name isn't Kumagoro is it? No, no it isn't. He's pretty sure. At least fifty per cent positive.)
He responds on pure instinct, bright green energy of his own flares up around his fist, and he punches it square--
Six inches above where Frei's head is. Wait a second, isn't that Yamazaki guy taller?
The next thing he knows, he is being pounded by those energy balls. The spheres take him all the way back across the prison cell, back into that Zangief-shaped dent. This time, he is notably less swift to gather his thoughts.
"Ggguuuuuuuuhngk...nothing....CYCLONE!" He bellows, shaking more brick out of his mohawk. Grargh. If something like a little painful energy beating could slow him down, it'd be time to hand in his bright red shorts!
In fairness, after Frei just gives in and starts exploding energy in Zangief's face -- and frankly, blinding himself in the process since that attack is light-based and not intended to be used at point-blank range -- he is seen when the proverbial dust settles leaning forward, both hands on his knees, taking big breaths. None of this makes any sense anymore, to him; the past four days have been beyond such things as fragile human logic and comprehension.
Case in point: he puts a hand over his face and mutters, between his fingers, "It's like a damn Quentin Tarantino movie."
Slowly, he stands up and rubs his face with both hands, now, staring at Zangief. "Okay. I don't know what's going on here. But I am not a criminal, I am very likely not any of the people you THINK I am. Furthermore, I'm going to wait right here until the cops figure out what's going on."
Another beat. "Also, you're not Kumagoro, and Mother can't make me fight bears ever again."
What the hell did Isis Tsukitomi DO to this boy?
COMBATSYS: Frei takes no action.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Zangief
There were very few things that Frei could have said to calm Zangief down just now. But, most likely entirely by chance, he stumbled onto one of them. The large man extricates himself from the wall, and looms large over him. Cracking his knuckles and taking a few long, slow breaths. Every inch of him is burning, just like the last fight he had in a prison! Maybe all the really strong fighters are locked up. That would make sense. Except for the part where they can punch their way through walls and guards and pretty much everything else.
He spits to the side, and grunts, working some of the massive quantities of pain out of his limbs. He has to hand it to the quiet fighter he had randomly assaulted, he had really given him a workout!
"YOU fought bears?" He asks, seeming more than a little unbelieving on that front. "HAH! You do not have the scars! You are lying again, to make me stop from pounding you into dirt! If you think that you can stop the Red Cyclone...!"
He leans forwards just a little bit more, then, and peers into Frei's eyes.
"... Hmph. MAYBE you are not Yamazaki the bloodthirsty killer. But. I am still going to finish this!" He declares, loudly. "You are good! You say you fight bears? SHOW ME! Show me what you have learned fighting them! All you have shown me so far is stupid tricks and pointless flashy lights!"
COMBATSYS: Zangief gains composure.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Zangief
"It was just one bear!" Frei fires back, now kind of annoyed. That's a very traumatic memory! In fact the redhead even seems to present a defiant body language at that, leaning forward a little bit, eyes flashing. It doesn't last long, since he quick slips back into 'Nam-like flashbacks. The woods of Japan. Bamboo groves. Sunlight. Oh right, and a roaring bear. There's a cough, and then Frei pinches the bridge of his nose before opening his eyes again and looking at Zangief.
Kumagoro, I'll never forget you.
The fact that Zangief appears to understand that Frei isn't Yamazaki is a good thing! Progress is being made! Sighing in something approaching exasperation, he stares down the Russian Cyclone and flexes his fingers. "Okay. Okay. Look. If I give you a decent fight, will you go away afterward and not compound my problems?" he asks, deciding this is the easiest way to get out of this. Plus if he loses, he'll be thoroughly unconscious when the police arrive and won't be forced to cry at his bad luck. "Agreed? Agreed. Wonderful."
Then he just tries to right cross Zangief in the muzzle. Err, face. It is accompanied by a burst of crackling lightning, because this IS Frei, but if the shiny lights are so easy let's see you do it. :|
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Zangief with Fierce Punch.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief opens his mouth to reply. Then he gets punched right across it. For a moment, the large man's eyes actually seem to cross. Then he shakes his head, and his lips curl up into a definite growl.
You can really go off some people. Especially when they've only wrestled /one/ bear. Zangief was so hoping for a fellow brother of the bear-wrestling ways. But no! Pretty boy with pretty hair and painful energy and punching him in the face it is!
Still, Zangief isn't a man to cry over spilt teeth. Instead, he throws himself into it without another word. But instead with a snarling growl of utter fury. He hadn't been ready! Frei is definitely cheating here, and Zangief doesn't like cheaters!
He throws his own punch, aiming for Frei's jaw, but this is, in fact, a diversionary tactic. The actual meat of the attack comes from what will happen after. He aims to sweep Frei's legs out from under him, and as he topples backwards, scoop him up, and *hurl* him against the bars of the cell. Okay. So maybe he's being a little sneaky himself, now. But it is totally different when he does it.
COMBATSYS: Frei endures Zangief's Combo Throw.
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Frei 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Zangief
Right. Well. Frei is mostly pretty lights and shiny energy blasts when it comes to fighting style. But there is one other MINOR thing that Zangief may be surprised to find out: he is inhumanly tough, at least, compared to his level of fighting experience and his physical build. Zangief comes to punch him and Frei just... takes it. And gets his feet swung out from under him, and then slammed into the bars. His head lolls forward, his red bangs falling into his eyes, as Zangief briefly holds his opponent against the bars of his cage.
Then he smiles. Considering his eyes aren't visible, the effect is very creepy, because he doesn't have massive breasts like Shermie to soften the psychological blow.
Then there is the physical blow; that is to say, Frei suddenly swings his leg up, sheathed in a burst of concussive force, to knock Zangief back, and if the Red Cyclone doesn't get out of the way, then Frei just keeps right on unloading, one force-empowered kick or punch after another. "I HAVE A LOT OF AGGRESSION TO WORK OUT RIGHT NOW," he screams at Zangief. "NOTHING PERSONAL."
COMBATSYS: Zangief Toughs Out Frei's Ashura Ressenjin!
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Frei 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Zangief
The Red Cyclone is beaten and battered. He's hammered and pounded. Each blow is like a hammer being struck against his body, but what is most terrifying is that now, at the height of his anger, Zangief does not budge one inch backwards. He's hurt, certainly. He's not trying to dodge. He's just waiting for the opportune moment, and his body bears the scars of Frei's aggression. Each smashing blow pounds hard into the rock-hard abs of the might Soviet hero.
"HRRRRRMMMMMN!!!!"
This grunt signifies that it is time for Zangief to begin his counterattack. Seizing his moment, both hands whip out lightning fast, aiming to snare Frei around the waist.
If this hits, he will raise the man up above his head. "HAHAH! NOW I HAVE YOU! DODGE THIS ONE, LITTLE ONE BEAR FIGHT MAN!"
He's sailing through the air, and then he's bringing Frei down on the slab which passes for his bed.
"FINAL!"
He bends over backwards, bringing Frei with him to crash into what used to be Frei's toilet.
"ATOMIC!"
And then he's spiralling up through the air, taking Frei /outside/, in a sudden, driving down force, head crammed between thighs, and head about to be buried in the soft dirt.
%t "BUUUUUSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEETER!"
If that has all gone according to plan, the ground where Frei's head impacts will explode upwards in a shower of mushroom-cloud shaped turf. Just to make everything in the area even more dirty.
COMBATSYS: Zangief successfully hits Frei with Final Atomic Buster.
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Frei 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Zangief
Despite his best, sudden attempts to get out of the way, Frei does indeed find Zangief's hands around his waist. After a brief moment of considering this, he simply utters one word: "...damnit."
The rest, as they say, is history.
Really, this jail cell did not need any more punishment. At this point it's barely even a room anymore. The armored car took out the back wall. Zangief and Frei both have knocked the Burt-sized hole out of the side wall, through which the prisoners trapped next door are watching with horrified D: expressions. That last attack of Zangief's just bent the bars severely. And now the floor is cracking in a decidedly Indiana Jones-like manner.
And obviously, NOW as Frei rolls to his feet, looking dazed, wiping a little bit of blood from his mouth, slumped foward, NOW is when the police FINALLY manage to get down here and train guns on everyone, shouting "FREEZE!"
Frei, however, holds out a hand and half-turns toward them. There's a little bit of blood running down one side of his face and he seriously looks like something straight out of a horror movie. He says, in a scratchy, Kathleen Turner-esque voice, "Give us a second."
Now the police are making the D: faces.
Frei turns back to Zangief, advancing toward him, a ball of swirling wind gathering between his outstretched hands. "Okay," he says to Zangief, nodding slowly. "Okay. That's my ride. It's been real. Uh..."
Then he just tries to get close and STOPS compressing the wind-sphere, which then explodes outwards and looks to Team Rocket Zangief right off this city block. "...right, cheers, thanks a lot," he says at last, at a loss.
COMBATSYS: Zangief fails to interrupt Reiki from Frei with Banishing Flat.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > // ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Zangief
There are times when men are men. When true warriors put it all on the line in order to defend their ideals. Truth, Justice, Communism. Whatever they might be, these men are driven to extraordinary heights in the pursuit of their goals. Goals which can never truly be met, but which a man must always strive towards.
Other times, a guy can be a jackass, completely misidentify someone, and proceed to cause ungodly amounts of property damage in the name of mass confusion. This, is one of those times.
Zangief is, at this point, fighting because it is easier to fight to the brink than it is to /not/. He's staggered that Frei is even still standing, but, then, so is he, and Frei has sunk far worse punishment into his body over the course of this fight. Nevertheless, when the young man starts to gather energy, there's only one thing Zangief can think to do.
The ball of energy is unleashed too swiftly for him to punch Frei in the face /before/ it is tearing towards him, though. Zangief has never let common sense stop him before, so he brings his own, messy, energy around in a punching motion...
And takes the ball straight to the gut.
The resultant explosion sends him hurtling back, but at a low trajectory. He skids across the ground, building up a small hill of dirt and grass behind him, until he finally comes to a stop. He is visibly beaten and battered, bleeding from dozens of small cuts and old, reopened wounds. Not to mention all the charring.
Horribly, however, he's STILL not done.
Raising to his feet, wobbly but defiant, he stamps the ground twice more, digging in.
"HAHAHAHAHAH! YOU THINK... YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THE RED CYCLONE!?! DO YOU!?"
Oh, for the love of...
The cops don't know how to handle this. In their eyes, Frei is actually the most dangerous person they have in lockup and of the entire contents of his particular cell, and he's the only one LEFT after the breakout. On the other hand, he's fighting a guy who THEY know as the famous Red Cyclone, who is a straight-arrow guy and, furthermore, is not someone they would screw with. So was Frei trying to break out and only Zangief had the might to stop him?!
You can actually see their guns swing back and forth between Frei and Zangief in confusion, though over his shoulder, Frei can't help but make one popculture ref: "Don't shoot him. You'll just make him mad."
He very slooowly approaches Zangief, and then squints, before reaching up and just trying to slap him. No chi, but enough speed to maybe bring him back to his senses. "Snap out of it!"
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Zangief with Quick Punch EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > / ]
Frei 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Zangief
Zangief doesn't even seem to realize he's been hit at first. He was swaying, in time to Frei's movements, and then, suddenly, he's slapped square across the cheek. The large man's eyes focus again, and he reaches out one hand, as though to steady himself on Frei's shoulder...
COMBATSYS: Zangief can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Frei 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Zangief successfully hits Frei with Kamitsuki.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Frei 0/-------/-----==|
Asked later about why he does what he does, Zangief would no doubt claim innocence.
However, either way, what the large man actually -does-, is attempt to crush Frei right to him. And start gnawing at his neck as he lapses out of consciousness, like some horrendous automatic-biting-machine.
His jaw is working on autopilot for the last few blessed seconds, and it seems likely, all things considered, that the Red Cyclone is going to wake up with at least a little grass between his teeth.
nom nom nom nom nom.
So to recap, Zangief grabs Frei, hugs him inappropriately, and then bounces off him on his way to unconsciousness on the ground. This means that when the smoke clears, Frei is standing looking out on the hole in the cell wall, Zangief masticating drowsily in his sleep. Masonry crumbles slowly in the background. For a while, nothing happens. Frei just looks off into the distance like he's contemplating just walking out the door. The cops continue to keep weapons trained on a situation they know nothing about, really.
He turns toward them, eyes glazed. If this were a horror movie, things would start whipping around telekinetically and that 'AH! AH! AH! AH!' music from 'The Exorcist' would start.
As it is, Frei walks back over to the bench, dusts it off, and resumes sitting on it in a full lotus.
Log created on 14:32:22 10/17/2010 by Frei, and last modified on 01:15:23 10/18/2010.