Description: Marz has a goal in mind, and a plan to reach it. Pure misfortune that this plan requires the aid of one Juri Han. Still, standing her ground against the insane Korean woman seems a shockingly effective way of dealing with her. Too bad a hands-on analysis of her fighting style requires a brutal beating, however. In the end though it appears like everyone gets what they desire.
Marz has had an interesting few days. Angel was proving most difficult to locate, but then, that was to be expected. It's hard to find people at the best of times, and the intelligence operations of Shadaloo were being directed in a dozen different directions these days.
However, quite aside from her many, many other commitments, Marz has been interested in the developments of SIN for quite some time. Ever since their project indirectly resulted in her most catastrophic failure, really. So she has taken some time out this Sunday to request that Juri meet her at one of the training rooms in Point 48106.
The Doll has been impressed, and a little unnerved, by what information she has been able to unearth in the Shadaloo files. But that information is rarely as good as meeting someone face to face to try and get an idea of what they were like, and what they are capable of.
As a precaution, the vast majority of the unnecessary staff have been moved into other rooms, and an emergency medical team has been prepared. The padding has been reinforced too. Not that Marz is nervous or anything. No, not at all, honest.
--
All of these things are standard protocol when Juri comes to the Training Room. After all, the girl does not know how to pull her punches. And when your punches, or rather, your /kicks/ can punch through reinforced steel there is sure to be collateral damage. So the lack of random, unimportant people littering the corridors to the training area barely gets a second glance at the malevolent Taekwondoka. It just is.
But why is she even here? Juri isn't the type that responds well to orders in general. Well: SHE WAS BORED and she's hoping whoever called her has a damn good reason, or a damn strong constitution.
With these kinds of thoughts rolling across the surface of her mind, Juri arrives: The sliding door to the Training Center sliding open to reveal the diminuitive Korean woman standing quietly with her head cocked to one side. She was expecting many things when she came in.
A DOLL wasn't one of them.
At first Juri's expression sours considerably. Then it softens before hardening into a predatory grin. Those violet eyes of hers shining with dangerous, sadistic energy in the light of the room, "Wow. I didn't expect one of you to call me out. Just curious what happened to Cammy, sweetie? Or perhaps you have a bit of a... schoolgirl crush." Lustful words, but dark and tangled with malice. As she steps in the door slides closed: There's no way out for Marz now, save through Juri.
--
Marz is unfazed by the words. Largely because she doesn't believe them. Information about Cammy's beating had been restricted, and she didn't believe that Juri, as strong as reports held her to be, could actually beat Killer Bee. The favored Doll of Lord Vega was second only to Vega himself in her eyes. But she knew Juri liked to talk, and the second statement confirms her suspicions. She's trying to get a rise out of her.
She'd need to try harder. Marz's expression is blank and neutral, and she gives a shake of her head. "No, on both counts." She states, holding up a clipboard instead. "I have a target I would like you to engage. However, given what I have heard about you, I thought that this would be the most logical place to arrange a meeting."
The girl isn't fearless, not by any stretch of the imagination. But she does believe that even Juri wouldn't be stupid enough to actually kill her, at least not in the middle of the base, where it couldn't be hidden. She has taken powerful beatings before. So the training room made the most logical place to meet in order to ensure her own safety, and a minimum of resource expenditure on the part of Shadaloo.
"I apologize if this has somehow offended you, but I am not 'calling you out'. Preliminary battle data suggests that I am not yet capable of matching you in even combat."
--
It's true, Juri is many things: Psychotic, completely unhinged, immoral, excessively violent and brutally sadistic. She is not, despite what many may or may not believe, stupid. Though as she stalks forward, the loose-fitting cloth on her legs brushing gently atop the padded surface is the only motion making a sound.
"Oh? It's Marz isn't it." Juri states simply. "Doing your job like a good little worker bee." How does she know this information? Because Juri never forgets details, no matter how small or unimportant they may see at the time. A slipped word here, a misplaced document there and it's amazing what you can learn. She comes to a stop just a meter and a half away from Marz, right hand placed on cocked hip while the other is allowed to dangle freely by her side.
Juri can't help but grin broadly at Marz's battle assessment, "Smart girl. Clever girl. You're right of course. Though you didn't call me /here/ if you were expecting me to be peaceful. And since you're the only one I see here..." A pink tongue trailing across pale lips, soon turned into a ghastly grin, "Perhaps though I can listen for a moment. What is this 'target' you want me to engage? If I like what I hear, I may just forgive the rest."
--
Marz allows herself a small smile. "I would hardly expect anything else if I were smart or clever." She states, calmly. The doll reaches out to offer Juri the clipboard, which has a file on Frei attached to it. Medical data collected during his brief stay with SIN, mostly, though she has annotated a few notes regarding his evolving fighting style, too.
"Frei Tsukitomi-Renard. He is a relatively young man who has displayed an extraordinary capability with chi techniques, and no small amount of talent with conventional fighting methods either. He was one of the fighters Seth brainwashed during the Southtown operations some months ago, and despite all assurances to the contrary, he broke his programming almost immediately."
The doll, whether Juri has taken the clipboard or not, lets her arms fall to her side. The very picture of relaxation. "I do not presume to give you orders. You are, to put it bluntly, a strange element in my estimation. I know Frei's capacities. I do not know yours. It would assist me in making future judgments if you would do this thing for me. But you are a wild card. An unknown variable. I fully understand if you would rather turn down this mission. But if you do, I still am able to make more of a judgment on you than I could before, you see?"
In truth, she's lying. She wants Frei beaten up because she doesn't like Frei and she can't do it herself. But she would have a hard time explaining *why* she wants him beaten anyway. The rest, well, that's mostly because, if she's judged Juri right at all, being referred to as a variable and casually explaining her reasoning would likely tip her over the edge. Nothing beats first hand knowledge to judge beatdowns. Even if she is sure that it would hurt, she's still banking on the fear of Vega to save her life. Which is something she's been doing far too often, really.
--
To be truthful, Marz's small smile and calm speech seem to be ... uncomfortable for Juri. And the fading and final disappearance of her sadistic grin shows it. She is offered a clipboard with notes attached to it, and the Taekwondoka swiftly removes it from Marz's hands. Her eyes glance across the notes on the sheets rapidly. So quickly that it's not entirely clear that she is reading them.
"Frei." She mutters, darkly, "I've heard that name a few times before. Juri flips through the rest of the pages with the same rapid movements of her eyes. When she is done she tosses it away, like garbage, over her shoulder.
As the clipboard clatters and slides across the floor, Juri's gaze returns to Marz and she crosses her arms under her chest. Truth be told she has never met Frei directly. When he was ... taken, by S.I.N. she was still being kept in her cage. Taizhou was one of her first test runs, and during that time she never met Frei either. Juri comments coolly, "He shouldn't be too difficult. Chi techniques cause me a bit of trouble, but in the end, everyone has a weakness. Everyone can be broken."
Her left eye flashes with purple light, and suddenly Juri is standing just a few scant millimeters apart from Marz! Did she teleport? No, there was a gust of wind and a blur of movement associated with an extremely fast moving technique: So fast it hard for the human eye to pick up and decode into perception. What isn't hard to pick up though is Juri's delightful grin, "Though if you want to know my abilities... why don't the two of us play a little bit?"
--
Marz notes the shift in body language, the fading smile, the discomfort. The flippant way in which the notes were discarded only /after/ they had been at least glanced over, which suggests either a photographic memory, extremely high reading speed, or casual disdain. Hard to tell precisely. Probably the last, but Marz doesn't believe in discounting options, no matter how strange they might seem.
When she finds Juri suddenly being in front of her, the young girl steps backwards. She feels a cold trickle of sweat running down her forehead, and she doesn't even let herself blink. Instead, she says, as calmly as she can possibly manage.
"I did not expect you to give me the courtesy of asking. Thank you. I am ready whenever you are."
--
Thus far, Marz's reactions to Juri have not been satisfying in the least. A cold, analytical girl: Just like everything she heard suggested. Regardless it seems she had hoped to get even a little bit of rise out of the other girl. She had managed to do so with Cammy, and that was fun. But instead Juri can find her smile fading once more. The cold malice in her eyes dimming to a sort of passive boredom.
In fact, when Marz steps back to assume a fighting posture, Juri herself just sorta stands there watching her. "Whatever" She mutters, using her right index finger to scratch the outside of her nose.
And so Juri assumes her own fighting posture. It's rather simple, if somewhat strange looking: One leg firmly on the ground, the other lifted into the air in front of her. The same arm as the lifted leg is held out in front of her, while the opposite arm is held back next to her face with the palm held flat in respect to the ground. And still Juri's expression is bored, her motions slightly sluggish. There's no enthusiasm from her at this moment: Which means she's open for a first strike.
COMBATSYS: Juri has started a fight here.
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Juri 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Marz has joined the fight here.
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Marz 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Juri
Marz seems a little surprised, herself. What she had been able to learn about Juri had suggested that she would be the sort spoiling for a fight. But it seems that there was a far more sophisticated kind of monster in the woman. Which strikes Marz as a good thing, really. There were people in Shadaloo who she really doesn't like. People with loud mouths and little else. But the girl has been pleasantly surprised by Juri, despite some initial uncertainty.
Let it never be said that Marz is one to ignore an opportunity when it is given to her, though. She's still nervous of the woman, and her gut tells her that she should be careful. Cautious in her approach.
So she tries to be. The girl goes from standing perfectly still, standing at rest, to suddenly lashing out with one small, balled up fist, aiming for Juri's mid-section. The blow is her usual opener, a measure she knew better than any other, but immediately after it is delivered, she shifts her footing to the side. Presenting as small a target for a return as she can, and preparing to shift her arm into place to block as quickly as she can. She suspects that Juri might get more into it if she manages to actually cause some pain to the SIN operative.
COMBATSYS: Marz successfully hits Juri with Calculated Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Marz 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Juri
A 'sophisticated' monster may not entirely be accurate. More like a type of animal that has a very specific diet. Those that indicate they are prey, or a threat, or beaten and attacked with remorseless savagery. Those that indicate they are neither are either ignored or shown casual disdain. Marz might be pleasantly surprised right now.
But all of it will change once she finally manages to hit her.
In truth, up until that point Juri simply didn't care. She wasn't having fun trying to tease Marz, and Marz gave her no indication that this sort of fight would be something the brutal psychopath would enjoy. All of that changed when Marz actually manages to run in and hit Juri in the stomach with surprising force! Juri's muscular stomach still protects her from most of the harm, but still she doubles over backwards and has to stumble a couple of times before she recovers her balance. When she is done she is still hunched over, holding her stomach and breathing heavily.
A cruel, delighted grin has spread over Juri's face when her gaze rises to meet Marz's. "Oh..." She purrs, "... oh. I was /worried/ that this would be /boring/." She chuckles cruelly, "But with a hit like that, even someone like /you/ could break me! Let's see if it was a fluke, or genuine /skill/."
And with that Juri rushes forward with impressive speed. She'll try to grab Marz by the throat, squeeze it tight... and then FLING the Doll against the far wall with incredible force!
COMBATSYS: Marz blocks Juri's Strong Throw.
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Marz 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Juri
Marz can't stop Juri from grabbing her throat, and though she rolls with the hit against the back wall, she doesn't manage to prevent all of the pain. She bounces, and rolls back up as quickly as she can, but in truth she's a bit rattled. She wasn't as badly hurt as she could have been, but it was still more than enough to give her some indication of Juri's potential. Not to mention the fact that she'd hit the woman as hard as she could, in the most advantageous spot, and although she'd been hurt... it hadn't broken her stride very much.
Marz exhales slowly, and stands up, no recognizable stance as she drops her hands to the side. "I believe it was primarily luck combined with your preconceptions about my strength." She says, helpfully. "I am gifted with a fragment of Lord Vega's strength. If you underestimate me, I will punish you for it. That is his will."
There's no immediate pressing of the attack, though. Her eyes are focused on the woman, and she's updating her strategy. She needs to try and deliver five or six hits at the same level of precision and strength to win the fight. Three of them or their equivalent not to embarrass herself. She could do this. She was certain.
COMBATSYS: Marz calculates her next move.
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Marz 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Juri
'A fragment of Lord Vega's strength'. That is what Marz said. And as soon as it was said, Juri's entire body begins to quiver, then shake uproarously with maniacal laughter!!! When she is finished she shakes her head, "Man. Is that it then? You're just a toy, a tool in 'Lord' Vega's shed? A pretty little jar to keep a piece of himself in. I wonder what you are. A clipped toenail? A bit of belly button lint? A plucked nosehair?!" Juri's laughter continues afterward, and soon she is holding the sore spot on her stomach in slight pain. After all, laughing hurts after you've endured a haymaker like that.
When she is done though she gives Marz a warm smile. Her left eye glowing dimly: Almost below perception in this well-lit room. "Good girl. Watch me carefully, try to figure out where I'm coming from." She purrs softly, "It might just save your life." Suddenly her right hand comes alight with swirling, nebulous psycho energy as she holds it out toward Marz. "Though if you want real strength ... perhaps I should give you some of my own?"
Another blur of movement, as Juri ducks down and basically slides across the floor to close the gap between her and Marz! When she is finished she raises her /left/ hand, not her right, and delivers a sudden explosion of chaotic psycho power directly to Marz's face!
Should it hit Marz she will find it... similar to that of her Lord Vega's. Though instead of pure dominance and malice, Juri's is more akin to pure torment and hatred. Instead of being consumed it feels like you are being torn apart from the inside. Perhaps, in the end, the only similarity is the level of power.
COMBATSYS: Juri successfully hits Marz with Kasatushi.
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Marz 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Juri
Marz doesn't share the laughter. Her eyes are cold as Juri mocks her. She opens her mouth to reply, but she closes it again quickly as Juri comes at her. The swirling power is a warning, and the Doll does her best to get the hell out of the way. She can sense how much this is going to hurt before it happens.
She is not disappointed. Unable to put herself out of harm's way, the girl is blown backwards across the room, and this time, she doesn't get up immediately. She had heard about Juri's strength, yes. The data checked out. But experiencing it is completely different to reading about it. Raw numbers, as much as Marz adored them, could not capture the emotion of it. How could they? There is more to human feeling than numbers.
Marz doesn't get up immediately. But she does get back up. Bleeding from the corner of her mouth, the girl's eyes focus on Juri. "You are strong." She admits. "But Lord Vega is fuelled by a need to control. He is the greatest leader the world has ever known. I am honored to receive even the smallest part of him. I am nothing without him. I accept, I am his tool. His toy. I am whatever he deigns to designate me as. That is my burden."
Now, she stretches out her hand, and flexes her fingers. Good. She was still running within operational parameters. Dark purple energy plays over her palm. "Now. Compare. Contrast."
And she sweeps her hand out. A little slower than normal, perhaps, given how much her body is rebelling the action. A small ball, about the size of a tennis ball, is flung out at Juri. It ricochets twice, bouncing off the floor, and then shooting wide to bounce off the left wall, before finally aiming to impact Juri in the side of the head.
It's no more than a tap in Psycho Power terms. But Marz is using the ball to get her point across, and she's trying to prepare for the inevitable counterattack. Starting moving, circling around to distract her.
COMBATSYS: Juri dodges Marz's Psiball.
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Marz 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Juri
In truth, Juri is a bit disappointed. After that first strike she had expected so much more from Marz. And it's not as fun to her if she isn't being beaten up as well. She may even lose interest and become less involved in the fight before her. Oh. Oh but that's the thing about Dolls. When you get them started talking about Vega they don't shut up. They don't shut up and remind you of their devotion to him. Their adoration of him. So after waiting patiently for Marz to get up with an almost passive expression on her face, Juri's savagery is swiftly rekindled by Marz's words!
Her irises and pupils contract, her lips tighten backwards realing two rows of bright white teeth. Her hands tighten into the shape of feral-looking claws, and the muscles of her stomach quiver and shake with hideous, mocking laughter! "The greatest leader in the world ... WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT THAT?!"
Juri is quiet a moment to let those words sink in, before she continues, "I don't care about leading. I don't care about him. I don't care about you. You're all just passing amusements to me." Her left eye suddenly begins to glow brightly: A high pitched hum can be heard throughout the room as fresh psycho power runs through Juri's body. And she purrs: "I intend to have as much fun as I can, until you break. And then I'll find something else. The same with Cammy. The same with 'Lord' Vega."
Juri gives Marz an eyebrow quirk as she produces a psi projectile. Even more of a grin as it bounces around the room like some kind of strange pinball! Though anyone else may be confused by its path, Juri uses her Feng Shui Engine to calculate its trajectory, and moves her head just enough so that the ball goes grazing by her head. It knocks loose the her left hair bun, allowing half of her midnight black hair to fly freely in the wind as she rushes toward Marz with incredible speed!
The attack will begin with a tackle, with Juri's body (of similar height and build to Marz's, interestingly enough) attempting to bum rush the other girl's body into the padded wall behind her! But that is only the beginning ...
COMBATSYS: Juri successfully hits Marz with Feng Shui Engine.
- Power hit! -
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~
[ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Marz 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Juri
And so, Juri rams into Marz's body and the two of them travel backwards against the wall with such incredible force that the reinforced concrete can be heard /cracking/. Worse the padding actually comes loose from the wall, and thus it's only Juri's body pressing against Marz's own that allows it to stay standing. And Juri remains, for a few moments, pressed firmly against Marz. No doubt the other girl's body is almost numb and unable to feel.
But Juri makes her feel. She'll cup the other girls chin with her hand and deliver a sensual kiss. Her lips working feverishly against poor Marz's, her tongue forcing its way past her defenses and thrilling in delight at any coughed up blood she should find there. When the kiss is finished Juri leans back, licking her lips spreading the blood over them like some sort of grim lipstick. She coos delightfully, "Thank you for that... cute little Marz."
Is she done yet though? No. She steps away from Marz's body and begins to deliver brutal punch after punch to Marz's torso! It is finished in the end with her grabbing Marz by the shoulders and driving her straight /down/ onto her knee before releasing her. And finally the Feng Shui Engine is done with Juri standing before Marz. Her voice a delightfully seductive purr, "... but, it's always sad when they do break."
--
"It is because you do not care that you are inferior." Marz states, calmly. "Your power is nothing without direction. If you had direction, Lord Vega might feel threatened by you. As it is, I believe you amuse him."
Are these Marz's famous last words?! It certainly might be. Marz finds herself staring down the full fury of Juri's power. Oh wait, no, there's some more words, though they aren't quite as dramatic.
"Probability of success, sixty three point four per cent." She murmurs, and, even as she says it, she tries to dodge to the side...
There's no time, though. Thirty six point six per cent chance to perfectly evade the assault turns out to be perfectly accurate; Marz's calculations are so rarely off. In one third of universes, Marz manages to evade it. In one eighteenth of them, she manages to perfectly evade and deliver a crushing counterattack from the momentum. In the majority, however, this happens.
Marz feels her ribs crack and break, and from that point on, Marz is no longer really running the show. The pain is too much, and her programming kicks in instead. Thankfully, despite popular opinion, Vega has not programmed Marz for an appropriate kissing reaction.
The blows shatter her ribs entirely, but pain can be temporarily delayed.
When Juri pulls back, the girl falls down the couple of inches the blows had actually raised her from the floor. Her eyes are glazed over, numb and gone. You have to hand it to Vega; he does his programming very thoroughly, if nothing else. Even with the conscious mind incapable of registering, the meat body can target and strike back one last time.
The damage is too severe for the kind of psycho-power fuelled assault that would deliver optimum damage. Instead, however, the girl sets off into one preprogrammed attack stream. Her hands go from hanging limply at her sides to delivering a stream of attack kata. Thirty kicks and punches in total, thrown in mechanical, precise motions. Each one having the same amount of force behind them.
After which, Marz just, stops. There's no more witty comment, no words at all, in fact. She just hits the padded floor, and does not move any more.
Thankfully, the emergency medical team are already rushing to her aid.
COMBATSYS: Marz can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Juri 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Juri endures Marz's Sudden Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Juri 0/-------/------=|
By the time that Marz has stood up again, prepared to deliver a final assault, Juri has already turned her back on the Doll. Even though she can hear the girl's movements, can precisely predict where they're coming up so that in six out of ten universes she could interrupt the katas to deliver a stingingly brutal counter-attack! But perhaps she doesn't care. Or perhaps she is really concerned over how Vega would react should she /actually/ kill one of his Dolls. It's a mystery to everyone but Juri herself.
So instead of counter-attacking, instead of dodging or blocking she just ... stands there. Stands there with her back to Marz as she mechanically delivers punch after kick to the Taekwondoka's muscular back. And when the girl is finished, when she falls to the ground, Juri is still standing there. Her back stung from the repeated strikes but in the end it would not be her who delivers the final blow: It would be the padding knocked loose from the wall falling over atop of Marz's downed form that does it for her.
The emergency medical team rush in and come face to face with a still fresh Juri wearing Marz's blood like some kind of twisted lipstick. They know well enough to stand back until Juri indicates that she is done fighting. So it is, with a slight sneer and twist to her head, that Juri signals for them to get to work. Meanwhile the Spider of S.I.N. herself will walk over to the clipboard on the floor.
With a deft, practiced motion she manages to flip it into the air and catch it with her hand. She speaks calmly, "Let Vega think that then. He knows, though, as I know. The moment he weakens, the moment he cannot stand over me any longer I'll rip him down!" a sigh, "As far as your friend here." She waves the clipboard over her head, "I'll pay him a visit. Sounds like fun after all."
And just like that, Juri steps out of the room. No doubt noting the shocked expressions on everyone around her due to the comments she made on Vega. Juri is scary, everyone knows it, but the lack of fear toward one of the most powerful and most dangerous individuals in history?
That is beyond what most people would expect...
COMBATSYS: Juri has ended the fight here.
Log created on 10:34:48 10/24/2010 by Juri, and last modified on 13:43:37 10/24/2010.