Description: Antoine travels back to the Longhua Shrine to reflect back on his travels and what he learned about the world. Destiny unites the two Chongquan fighters and they have a bout to show what they've learned upon their time apart.
The weather is pretty calm this winter. The snow falls upon the land of China, coating the floor with the pure white snow. What descends are flakes carried by the gentle wind. As they whisk along the air, they pass by to coat the ground.
Sweep. Sweep.
The temple, although no longer with a master, is still kept tended to by the students that wish to remain in the temple. It is their home after all. They are keeping Lau's wishes preserved.
A young traveler is passing through, carrying a duffelbag over his shoulder. After meeting and greeting the students...
He travels further into the temple itself.
The temple itself is an expansive field. The floor is covered with a bright red carpet with the Chinese characters. Torches lit to the side help give warmth from the heat. To the front is a large rock that represents the earth.
Antoine is standing at the center, taking a step forward with a hand moving across the side while he lets his mind loose.
...Now, he can reflect of the people that he met, the countries he visited, the cultures he got to learn, and the styles that he witnessed.
After awhile, there's a late arrival. A Chinese teenager wearing a brown jacket and a backpack on one shoulder. As he makes his approach, the sound of snow being stepped upon by hiking boots can be heard as he moves closer and closer.
He doesn't speak up at first but eventually he breaks the silence.
"Hey, Antoine. Long time no see! Hope I wasn't disturbing you."
He moves towards that large rock and lean on it. His lips curling into a bit of a grin.
Fighters from all over the world have taught Antoine something. Many have been benevolent.
~ The reflection of Pullum having Antoine in her arms in the desert while offering him water. ~
Others have been malevolent.
~ There is the dark gleam in the little boy, Chris's eyes as he moves toards Antoine. ~
The King of Fighters tournament will be opening soon. Fighters will have to round up together and meet before they fight the others. Antoine had pondered... Is he ready? Then, there was a strange relic that he found before he made it back to China. Wrapped around his arm bracelet is a strange band. Antoine looked over the relic, wearing it while using it to practice.
His hands extend forth, releasing a burst of chi before he twist his hip to shift stance.
As the Chinese Warrior speaks up, Antoine's concentration falls after delivering a final burst of chi through the air with an explosive palm strike. The earth rattles before the atmosphere clears.
A smile crosses his features. "It has been a long time, Quon. I hope things have been treating you fine.." Quon will be able to see something different on Antoine. At least, the fact that Antoine is rubbing his hand around it helps. It is a strange silver wrist bangle with four jewels in brown, red, blue, and aqua.
"I hope things have been better for you."
Quon's eyebrow rises slightly for two reasons. First of all, was that a new technique that Antoine displayed? He doesn't remember seeing that from Antoine, nor has he ever seen that technique from his sifu.
Secondly, Quon never saw Antoine wearing that bangle before and in the time that Quon had known him, Antoine had never been one for wearing jewelry. The total effect is the fact the Asian Chongquan fighter is somewhat floored.
"Well... I'm out of jail. The college board is still deciding my fate and I have to do community service." He sighs mostly at the uncertainty of his situation but then he changes the subject to something a bit more comfortable. He still does plan on keeping his word on explaining the situation but he'd like to wait a bit at the very least. "It looks like you've picked up some things since we last met."
Antoine had been examining that piece of jewelry for some time. "...This thing.." Antoine notes. "I picked it up when I was in a ship towards Africa. I was coming back home and I somehow fell asleep." He frowns, "I woke up and found myself in the middle of a war of the police fighting a band of pirates. ...I ended up fighting one of the pirates." He notes.
Antoine looks like he's examining, it, but after a moment... shakes his head, removing it.
"This relic is something special." Then, he shakes his head, "However... not something I will use. This isn't part of Chongquan." He offers a faint smile, approaching Quon for a moment before he reaches out to hand it over to him.
"...Perhaps you maybe able to do something with it. ...Give it to a girlfriend or something." He offers the bangle out towards the fighter.
Quon looks at the bangle for a moment before taking it into his hand then takes a closer look at it. "Well... That could be possible." Is this something he should give to Cammy? Is it something that he would even be comfortable giving to her. Probably not. He then closes his hand around it, regarding it as a curiosity before looking back up at his friend.
"While that was one of the things you seem to have picked up, there was another thing that wasn't there when we last met. Like that technique. And based on your previous response, that probably /is/ Chongquan."
With the bangle offered out, Antoine offers his best friend a smile, allowing him to tke a look at it. While he is examining it, Antoine offers a shrug, "...If nothing else, think of it as a present of us meeting again." He offers his best friend a smile. "The first 'buried' treasure I actually found." He laughs. "Even if it almost sank into the sea." He looks over towards Quon, then he shuts his eyes. "...Ah... Yes."
"...I found an old scroll upon one of the floors in the temple." He smiles faintly, approaching the side of the temple to reach for a sheet of paper wrapped along a stick before approaching Quon.
"The guardians of the temple are used to protect the temple from outside invaders. Their roar was powerful that it could shake the will of the invaders from trying against them."
"The technique itself is called Roaring Guardian."
Quon pockets the relic before reaching out to simply touch the sheet of paper as he takes a look at the scroll. "May I hold on to this for a bit?" He doesn't think he would have time to look at the scroll long enough to learn the technique in just looking at it. As quick a learner as he is, he doesn't think he could learn it with just one reading of the scroll.
"Whoa. I thought we would end up having to find our own paths when Sifu Lau had passed away." A thoughtful expression appears on his face. "Do you suppose that he meant for us to find that?"
"Yeah." Antoine smiles at Quon, offering the scroll to him. "...Why don't you stay here for a while as well? We can practice the technique together." He notes, "After all, there is no sense in just learning by just reading it."
As for coming across the techniques... "I remember that sifu once gave us a riddle. I didn't think of it much at first. However, the riddle was over to the location of the scroll." He smiles a bit, "...I thought so as well myself. I will admit, it would had been strange not being able to preserve the tradition that the style stood for." His expression becomes serious, "It makes me wonder how many of the scrolls are there. Though, the back of that scroll has a riddle in the back. It's likely where to find the next one."
He smiles faintly, "But... I suppose we can worry about that another time."
"To be honest, I can't stay for very long. I just have enough time to stop by before I have to head back to Southtown to do my community service." His lips slowly go down into a frown. "I only came here mainly because, I'm not allowed to take classes while the school board is deciding my fate. Of course that's the type of thing that happens when you commit a crime... Even if your intent is to prevent yourself from committing a bigger, more horrible crime."
He glances down the path away from the temple and then turns back to his friend. "I suppose my flight back to Japan doesn't depart today."
A frown is given towards Quon. "... I hope that you are able to continue class." If nothing else, Antoine can possibly try to figure out how to ensure that his best friend can continue his education. After all, Quon needs to be a college student and get his grades going.
He needs to graduate to be something. Quon has an independent life, just like Antoine does. He feels that the path that Quon has going for him is the best and the obstacles should not get in his way.
"...You'll climb through, Quon."
Then, Antoine starts to approach the side of the ring.
"...Let us catch up." As he makes his way towards the other side, he brings his hands over; the left palm opens as the right fist slams into the palm. Then, he gives out a bow.
Quon nods as he puts down the backpack and slowly walks towards the ring before he stretches. After a few moments, he smiles as he returns the gesture of placing palm in fist before bowing. As he rises from his bow, that thoughtful expression returns to his face.
"I wonder," the Chinese fighter begins. "Was there a third thing you picked up here in the form of a King of Fighters invite. It would make sense for it to be here since this was the last location you stayed for an extended amount of time."
"...Yeah." Antoine concludes, giving a very sheepish laugh. "...I suppose you were right when you mentioned that my nomadic lifestyle makes me difficult to get a hold of." He muses once more, then he tightens his fists. As the arms lift up enough for him to ball the fists together.
He starts to finally take the moment to concentrate. After letting his mind fall into place of the flow of time passing through, Antoine finally opens his eyes while stepping the right leg forward.
"Let's get ready to show King of Fighters what we're made of."
COMBATSYS: Antoine has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Antoine 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Quon has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Antoine 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Quon
Quon's lips curl into a grin which then slowly morphs into a smile and then quickly gives way into laughter as he shifts into an almost identical stance to Antoine's. The slight difference comes from how loose and relaxed Quon's own stance is.
When Quon finally stops laughing, he still wears an amused smile on his face. "Well that's one less thing for Mr. Rust to worry about."
After that, Quon is on the move just a moment. Just long enough for him to get within striking range and then he leads with a kick to Antoine's shin before swiftly following it with a pair palms thrusting outwards and into Antoine's abdomen punctuating it with an explosive burst of fiery chi.
COMBATSYS: Antoine dodges Quon's Immovable Mountain.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Quon
When the fight started..
Antoine saw that Quon was coming forth with a strike, ready to press it out towards the ebony traveler. The traditional Chongquan student sweeps his right foot over to the sie to angle himself away from the upcoming chi-forced strike. Both hands are shoved out to the side to help direct Quon's arms over to fall off-balance.
Instead, Antoine lunges forward to slam his right foot against the quick fighter's stomach.
COMBATSYS: Quon effortlessly blocks Antoine's Light Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Quon
The more unorthodox of the Chongquan fighters has his arms redirected and his body through a combination of skill and intuition goes into movement the moment he sees that his strikes aren't going to hit his opponent. He side steps with an elegant ease as he deflects the kick away from his body, putting himself in prime position for retaliation.
With a flip forward, he brings a foot sheathed in golden flame downward in an attempt to drive his heel down upon Antoine's head in a modification of a technique that their master had once taught them.
COMBATSYS: Quon successfully hits Antoine with Crossing the Bridge.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Quon
Antoine sought to continue upon the strength, the distance close putting neither at an advantage of another. At least, until Quon finally makes the note of deflecting the impact of the foot towards his gut. This gives the young man leverage in moving out and catching him across the head with the heel wrapped in golden flames. His eye widen as the searing pain of the flames and the strike of the foot sends his head reeling back.
He winces over to himself, now twisting over before his right leg joins back with the left. Bouncing back, he shoots himself forward to catch Quon towards the chest with the palm as both arms spread out like wings in the dash.
"SEIYA!"
COMBATSYS: Quon just-defends Antoine's Moving the Mountain!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Antoine 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Quon
The Chinese fighter continues to move with ease, recovering from an overextension more quickness than anyone has any right to. He slides backwards as Antoine dashes in with a palm and he side steps pressing his palm into Antoine's shoulder taking the strike off its path.
He then moves away from Antoine as he takes to the air. Once at the highest point of the jump, he darts back in with a foot extended as he attempts to kick Antoine and then launching himself away from Antoine again.
COMBATSYS: Antoine fails to interrupt Eagle Catches Mouse from Quon with Sundering Heaven.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Quon
In this battle, it looks like Quon is getting the upper hand. The movements of the other fighter had improved. Antoine feels like he laxed a bit too much over the time. Nevertheless, the fighter is ready to greet his friend with open arms in this match.
Quon sought to attack from the air and Antoine had to respond in kind. His intentions were to knock him out of the air with the flying technique of Sundering Heaven. As Quon comes down with the leg, Antoine springs up with the knee guiding him forward. Then, he launches his right foot out to slam against Quon.
However, he is instead caught with the foot and the impact sends him crashing down towards the ground, giving Quon the leverage of bouncing off of him to the ground. Antoine rolls along the ground, using his hand to catch himself as he gets up to his feet.
Upon landing his kick, he launches himself backwards in a flip before landing on the ground with the sound of of snow being crunched under his booted feet. He takes a deep breath as he waits for Antoine to get back to his feet.
It's in this moment that one of the things that Quon picked up in his time jail becomes apparent if one takes a look in his eyes. While his face is cheerful, and joyful, it doesn't quite match his eyes which show grit and determination rather than the joy of fighting his friend that he had in his eyes the last time they fought. The addition drive while it isn't a bad thing is something different from before.
He comes in at Antoine leading with two quick punches to the face before throwing a heavy palm strike to the abdomen.
COMBATSYS: Antoine dodges Quon's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Quon
There is a strange drive in Quon. Antoine can sense it. However, Antoine had let it go by without an actual hitch. Antoine had decided to start rushing into the battle, gritting his teeth while he makes his way towards Quon.
While Quon attempted to bring out two punches, Antoine moves to the side while sweeping a hand like a windmill, then the other arm sweeps over as he sways to the side. With the palm coming out, Antoine steps in, up close and personal.
Reaching for the collar, Antoine now seeks to pull Quon back into a roll two times to throw the fighter off-balance. Should the roll become successful, he will follow up by launching his foot against the man's stomach, and then fling him back.
COMBATSYS: Quon interrupts Spinning the Loom from Antoine with Combo Attack.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Quon
Quon has been the recipient of this particular move numerous times. It's one of those moves that can be extremely disorienting and as a result Quon usually tried to get away from that move. This tactic has varying levels of success. Quon however decides to do something completely different. He goes along for a ride.
The two roll and roll and when Antoine goes to launch him away, Quon grabs onto the America born Chongquan fighter's leg and twists his own body to land on his own feet. He then then shifts around and pulls Antoine to a standing position (on one foot) and then he delivers a series of punches to his chest before spinning low to deliver an elbow to Antoine's standing leg.
As Quon goes along for the ride, Antoine is prepared to send the man out for a nice sail with the foot launching out to knock him off. Unfortunately, while Antoine is rolling along, his leg is caught as Quon lands on his feet. This surprises Antoine who is now shifted up and is brought to a standing position on that single foot. As he faces a series of punches, he grits his teeth before he is caught with the elbow towards his legs.
The sweep sends Antoine falling flat on his face. A grunt falls out of his breath as he grimaces, trying to stagger back to his feet. "Damn..." He stares over towards Quon, now deciding to go for a more devastating blow.
He shifts his stance over, now shooting his body forward.
The right palm strikes towards the solarplex. With a twist of the hips, he finally shoots forward while bringing his fist out wile spinning off of the ground. The motion of that fist is a bone-crunching punch that is coming along the chin and seeks to bring Quon off of the ground with him as he launches high in the air.
"SHAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Quon effortlessly dodges Antoine's Heaven Descends to Earth.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Quon
Sagat had once noted that Quon had shown a lot of promise. Up to this point, in this particular fight, Quon has showcased the fighter he could be if his skill was nurtured. The type of fighter he could be if given the time to grow. Normally Quon needs an audience before he could display this type of talent. Here, Quon just has drive granted by his refusal to remain a bullying victim of Shadaloo. While Antoine is not one of their number, Quon is regarding this match as a step in that direction.
Quon continues to display this promise as he watches Antoine shoot forward with a palm to the body he shifts his body out of harm's way with poise just before he leans to the side of the punch to the chin a millimeter from his face, which instead catches his wild hair.
His only response is to then snatch that punching hand when Antoine returns to the ground and yank him towards him before grabbing him by the waist and bodily throwing him backwards.
COMBATSYS: Quon successfully hits Antoine with Fool Goes Flying.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Quon
Antoine pondered over the past fights that he had. He found himself contemplating over the matter and those who he dealt with. He even considered....
However, the fact of the matter is this. Antoine has to continue to give it his all. Anything less is a pure insult. Quon easily shifts his body out of the way of the raging fist. Then, that punch is caught as he lands and he is yanked out with the waist and is thrown backwards.
The body slams against the ground quite hard, elicting a grunt and a hiss. "Ngggh.." Getting back up to his feet, Antoine grits his teeth and then he steps forward. Both hands shoot forward as he lances out his palms towards Quon.
A foot stomps against the ground, keeping him firmly planted to the earth. "KAIA!"
COMBATSYS: Quon parries Antoine's Immovable Mountain!
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Quon
Antoine performs a move that Quon had used earlier in the fight. The difference is that Quon's leads in with a kick to the leg to disrupt his opponent's foundation and Quon's also has burst of fiery chi delivered via paired palm strike. It's a move that Quon is intimately familiar with and so he doesn't try to move the mountain like he did before.
No. Quon decides to slip to the side as he deflects the palms to the side, and then he decides to take a jack hammer to the mountain by delivering a series of rapid fire kicks to the torso and leg of Antoine with kicks that move so quickly it appears as if he's kick 5 places all at the same time.
COMBATSYS: Quon successfully hits Antoine with Seven Dragon Tails EX.
[ \\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Antoine 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Quon
Antoine is caught by surprise as Quon has gotten quite serious in this fight. He isn't the usual playful self. That is a good thing. However, Antoine knows that the victor of this battle is likely Quon. From the way how it all started, Quon has shown great tenacity.
He furrows his eyebrows when he starts launching out the rapid kicks. Maintaining the stance, he attempts to guard against the rapid strikes of the foot. However, his defenses fall as the kicks break through his defenses and strikes him dead on. The man falls onto his knee, laughing a bit..
"...You improved... Quon." He concedes.
COMBATSYS: Antoine takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Quon 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Antoine can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Quon 1/-------/=======|
Quon holds his stance while Antoine falls to one knee. His breathing is even. His body is not that bruised or battered. But in his heart, Quon knows it easily could've gone the other way. "Perhaps. But I don't think I improved that much and I don't think I'd be able to duplicate a performance like that."
Deep in the young warrior's mind is the fact that as much as he may have improved, it probably isn't enough. A performance like that wouldn't deter Cammy from ending his life if things were to go south nor would it prevent someone like Vega from picking him apart mentally, emotionally, and physically if the whim struck him.
COMBATSYS: Quon has ended the fight here.
"..I'm sure you will." He looks over towards Quon while he slowlystands back towards his feet. He looks over towards Quon, approaching him before resting a hand over to his shoulder.
"A lot of things has happened to the both of us. ...You moreso." He furrows his eyebrow, "About this blond British girl... You told me to avoid her." He waits for Quon to explain. While doing so, Antoine moves to the center of the ring again, now taking a seat.
"I haven't fought her directly but due to some televised fight archives I've seen, I know she's an incredibly skilled fighter. Her name is Cammy and she's associated with a dangerous group. A group not only responsible for a war in Thailand, but also the Siege in Southtown."
He takes a moment to pause to figure out what he wants to say, how he wants to say it so it can be said in a way that won't get Antoine in trouble. "Before I met her, I ran afoul of the group because I couldn't stand watching their soldiers fire upon someone who needed medical attention when I went to check on the injured person's status. Someone who was physically incapable of defending themselves. I fought their soldiers and they decided to dogpile on top of me to get me to hold still long enough to someone to try and turn me to swiss cheese with all the bullets they put in me."
He takes a deep breath knowing that he has told Antoine a lot right there. "Then life goes on and just before my fighting debut on live TV, and Sagat, the big scarred fighter with an eye patch and actually a famous fighter, he informs me that in that moment I attracted some dangerous enemies and that he was the one who saved my life by pulling me from under the pile and that I should probably lay low. I figured as long as I kept off their radar by staying away from anything that looked like their business I should be ok. Then I met Cammy at an arcade. She took an interest in me. Her interest in me put me under a lot more scrutiny than I would've been because of that previous incident. This scrutiny led to having the leader of the organization show up in my car, having me drive to a specific location, grilled about my intentions with Cammy, and given some crates to deliver to a location."
Quon's eyes close in deep concentration as he remembers the events before he takes a deep breath and continues. "I didn't know what was in the crate or what would happen to me upon delivery. It could've been some illegal substance, it could've been a bomb. For all I know, they could've tried to kill me once I got there. None of this seem like a good situation so I set myself up to get arrested. I made it look like I was drunk driving so I could get myself arrested, always careful to make sure my vehicular swaying didn't harm anyone."
And he situation is now unfolding.
"I did a bit of research based on the letter you gave me. ...I also fought Sagt once. He is quite strong." He offer a faint smile, then he shakes his head. So, this Cammy girl who took an interest to him is connected to an organization. It's almost like messing with the daughter of a mob or something.
Antoine furrows his eyebrows, "So, this is how you got in the situation you're in." His eyes narrow a bit. This Shadaloo business displeases Antoine. It takes Antoine a few moments to think about something....
"I will be coming to Southtown soon, actually." He notes, "....I figure I should put the journey to rest since I got a chance to familiarize myself with the other cultures and surroundings." He smiles faintly.
"Besides, won't let you deal with this alone."
"Yeah. And in spite of the leader's dislike of her interest in me, he stated that I'm still to associate with her under the condition that if I hurt her or do anything untoward, I'm going to wish that Sagat had left me bleeding and dying under that pile of bodies. My only way out is to either get strong enough to be able to resist them, she loses interest in me on her own, she realizes on her own that her being in my life doing more harm than good, or I somehow die. It's a shame too because while I've had fun with her around, I still realize her organization is tearing my life apart."
Quon's lips turn downward into a deep drown as he shakes his head.
As Quon further explains the matter that he's dealing with, Antoine lowers his head before he approaches his friend. He furrows his eyebrows, just staying by his friend's side.
"...We'll get through this somehow. We have to. You have to. You have a lot of potential. We won't let an organization ruin your life just because they think that they can." The eyes narrow, then the fists tighten.
He then turns towards Quon, "Let's go, we'll pay a visit out to the pond."
Log created on 20:23:14 01/02/2011 by Antoine, and last modified on 21:21:41 01/03/2011.