Description: Wang, Makari, and Denji meet at the shady, dirty, horrible warehouse team coach SAKURA KASUGANO secured for them! After 'sharing' breakfast, it's down to training! The training is unexpectedly dramatic!
"Oh, man..."
A long-haired youth stretches, his hair unbound and falling about his bare shoulders, his robe shrugged off and sashed around his waist. Motes of dust float through the air, catching the light of the risen sun, sparkling through the dirty windows. He turns, brushing the dark locks from his eyes, his skinny chest pale as the moon to regard from whence he came.
"That was... wonderful."
The sleeping back is unzipped and in complete disarray. The mountain boy's eyes warm with satisfaction as he smiles softly, tilting his neck back and forth to ease up and prepare muscles rarely so relaxed.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan!"
The sleeping back is, of course... completely empty.
And Denji Akiyama is speaking to one who is not present, referring to what she has sketchily arranged for them, this empty warehouse in the middle of the harbor which might serve as their Secret Headquarters for Training and Passionate Pugilism. Being a homeless slob, Denji promptly began to wheedle her for an opportunity to crash here, rather than in his favorite motel, The Bench in the Park. She even gave him a sleeping bag. He pats down the inner pocket of his robe in satisfaction as he shrugs it back up onto his shoulder, and sighs in pleasure.
Nobody even stole his money.
He glances around to survey the darkened interior of the warehouse; even the sunlight can not reach its farther corners. Was somebody supposed to clean up here or something? He can't remember. Well, it'll just be like temple chores.
Unsure if anyone will show up to see the place today, he begins trudging about to explore the various corners of the warehouse, hopefully seeking out a mop and bucket to begin beautifying his new home.
"Always be prepared--!"
Something whips at Denji at high speed, spiralling perfectly through the air. The throw is a marvel of physics - from origin to destination, it is a perfectly straight line, moving too quickly for gravity to exert any effort. It is sailing directly for the back of Denji's head, and will either explode against him or be caught easily.
A single baked potato, otherwise unadorned, wrapped in foil.
"...for breakfast!" Behind. Up, up, up. There's Makari, roosting in a high place as always, reclined up in one of the warehouse's steel support beams fully in his armor, cloak slung to one side so it hangs down in the air. He has a baked potato of his own, half-eaten - he apparently has not added any butter, salt, pepper, or anything. There is another plastic bag in front of him... a sandwich? Hard to tell from down here.
Did he sleep up there? More importantly, did he sleep up there /in armor?/
EARLIER THIS MORNING, 3 AM
Wang tiredly stares at his computer, putting the last touches on his latest slander-laden blog post (titled 'why wing is the worst: a retrospective'), when his cell phone rings. A girlish yet somehow manly voice erupts from it the moment he answers. "Get ready for TRAINING!"
Wang stares into space for a second, then responds, "Who...are you? How did you get this number? And why are you calling me this late?"
"I couldn't sleep, but nevermind! Get a pen, I have an address for you!"
NOW
Wang hesitantly pushes open the door, having spent all night trying to find the warehouse in anticipation of the greatest of rewards; meeting with a SECRET ADMIRER.
Instead, he gets Denji with potato. "Oh, it's /you/." He doesn't look up; why would he? "Well, hurry up and get out of here, I've got a d...an important meeting." He scans the dirty warehouse. "Even if it is in kind of a weird place.
He also gets his own potato, at the same speed, the moment the door opens enough to admit one. Always be prepared.
"I found it!"
Denji emerges triumphant from his corner, wielding an empty bucket, lifting it in front of his face -- whereupon a foil-wrapped potate lands thumpingly inside of it. "Aaahh!" Shocked, he drops the bucket, and it tumbles to the ground noisily, rolling askew along the concrete floor as he blinks up at Makari, squinting. "O-Oh, it's just Makari-chan," he says to himself, having already adapted fully to apparently being stalked by a giant yeti in armor. But though he is still shedding the fog of sleep, his mind grinds away at the warrior's words (and not, for example, what he is doing up in the rafters, or what he /was/ doing while Denji was snuggling away in his sleeping bag).
"You're right," he mutters, fist clenching. He hasn't seen Farah-chan recently, and he still needs to report to her about their team-forming success. He remains thoroughly concerned about her, but helpless as always in such moral dilemmas, all he knows how to do is try to strive for the ideals of hers which he only vaguely understands. He will become strong, and thereby be of interest to her, offer that gratification which she seems to find in combat. It's on a level that Denji cannot yet empathize with, if he ever will. But, almost like a child, he simply wants to offer it to her as a gift.
His strength -- and his determination.
When Wang walks in, Denji, deep in thought, does not react. When Wang speaks, Denji, fist clenched, remains silent. But in the moment before Makari's second potato is let fly, he looks up with eyes blazing. With these fellow heroes, he can push it to the limit. Together, they will all grow tremendously strong.
"ALWAYS BE PREPARED!"
And, digging his half-mushed potato out of his bucket, he promptly hurls it directly at Wang, a second or two after Makari's has begun its trajectory.
MANY YEARS AGO
Makari punches a dog in the face for a beef sandwich, while his father looks on proudly, stroking his goatee.
TODAY
Makari sighs after finishing off the last of his potato, having already returned to rest after spiking another potato at Wang. He has two more, in case the others show up. "Just doesn't have that same taste without earning it in combat.
FEWER YEARS AGO
Makari, 15, hesitantly steps up to the lunch counter at the high school Krauser experimentally enrolled him in. When the lunchlady attempts to pass over his hot roast beef sandwich, Makari punches her in the face.
Krauser decides to school him in Strolheim.
NOW AGAIN
"Ha ha, good! But, did you already eat? It is important to feed the body, especially before training!" Makari drops from the rafter, plummeting several feet before landing heavily on a stack of pallets - with all his weight, he crashes right through two of them, buried up to his knees in wood. Dramatic entrances have so many /variables/ to consider. Makari acts like he meant to do it, grinning hugely and planting his fists on his hips. "So, it is nearly time for the tournament! What kind of combat will we be facing? Did they issue the first rounds yet?"
In the coming days, looking back, Wang will be glad of one thing; neither Denji nor Makari have cell phones, so the internet will never laugh at a video of a small Chinese boy getting nailed in the face mid-sentence with not one, but two potatos.
He was not prepared.
And so Wang topples, knocked onto his butt less by the force of two potatos exploding all over him in a messy shower of delicious chunks, but in sheer disbelief. Slowly, he wipes potato out of his eyes, only to see Makari fall literally THROUGH the floor.
"Wh...what is wrong with you people!? You're...you're psychopaths!"
"You failed!"
Denji shouts with unprecedented intensity, pointing with eyes still blazing at Wang's potato-splattered visage. "You'll have to do better than that, Wang, if we're going to win King of Fighters!" At least catch one of the potatos. "And we /will/ win!"
Who ever thought Denji'd be the cheerleader?
"Listen! We beat that crazy old guy, right!? And he was strong, really strong!" Of course, Akiyama has no clue that Takuma was holding back in any way whatsoever, but the two of them truly did outdo themselves. Okay, Denji outdid himself, and Wang stood around like a douche. But they both got naked, and that's what counts in the eyes of God. "We can do this! We can show the world the power of the New Generation. B, because Farah-chan is..."
Hesitantly, he glances in Makari's general direction. Abruptly, confused, he realizes he's not entirely sure what he's even saying; he recklessly plunged into this speech without knowing what he's actually talking about. "Th, the point is, uh..." He also doesn't really want to completely admit around Makari that he /still/ has /no/ idea what's actually the matter with Farah, and is too embarrassed to ask. "The tournament is going to start in a couple weeks, and we need to be training non-stop! It's the big time, you guys! We're fighting on the world stage!"
Honestly, he hasn't been thinking about it himself at all, but now that he /says/ it, it seems obvious. Obvious why Sakura-chan-sensei is so thrilled, obvious why she seeks out this adventure again. This is it, what fighters dream up. This is where they can explore the heights of their potential. He can strive to master this hereditary power that makes his life more than just dreamlike dust on the wind. His ambitions and hopes remain as vague and effervescent as dew, but in this moment, it doesn't seem to matter at all. It's not a passion Denji can replicate, but he feels it now.
"S, so let's do it! Let's do it right now!"
If Makari noticed Denji's hesitation, it's hard to say. He's difficult to read in the best of times, and with that huge white grin on his face, blue eyes so alight they practically glow, it's all over. He's glad. Happy, in a way he hasn't been before. Out, freed from walls, freed from oversight, in the company of at least one person who wants what he wants as much as he does.
Well, maybe not as much. Makari can tell that Denji's limits have yet to be tested to their fullest. His eyes flick over toward Denji, talking about training. At some point, his cloak was pulled forward, over his body. "Good thinking! Perhaps..."
From a dead stand, he leaps up, tearing his legs out of the three pallets he's crashed through. Splinters and chunks of wood spray out around him as he plants one leg on the stack and jumps forward, fur flapping around him. "...we should get to it! Daylight only lasts until the sun goes down!"
Be careful, Denji, Makari likes you. The net effect of that is he isn't holding back at all, heavy boots scissor kicking right for both sides of his face. The front... and the back.
(back of the face means it's going through the skull fyi)
COMBATSYS: Makari has started a fight here.
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Makari 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Denji has joined the fight here.
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Denji 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Makari
This can't be real. Wang's dreaming. He's dreaming and EVEN IN HIS DREAMS Denji is making fun of him and Makari is proving that what he has in muscles he more than lacks in brains. But at least he is in bed, sleeping, and nowhere near them in real life. That's what he tries to tell himself.
He fails because the sensation of potato cooling on your face is unique and almost wholly unpleasant and he doesn't think it is something he could imagine on his own.
So he's here and he's stuck. Wiping his face off as best he can, Wang climbs to his feet and listens to Denji for maybe a second before he decides anew that he's never seen someone act like an idiot as well as Denji does. Also Wang ignores what he's saying because it's stupid.
Then Makari goes on the attack, kicking at Denji which is pleasing until Wang remembers that he's supposed to have a MYSTERY DATE probably.
"H-hey! I said clear out! A girl is supposed to meet me here and I don't need you two screwing everything up!" Rushing forward without waiting for an answer (because he is certain neither of them will listen to reason), Wang rushes forward and flings himself at Makari, laughably trying to tackle the big man to the ground before he can really get things started.
(it is already too late, abandon all hope)
COMBATSYS: Wang has joined the fight here.
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Denji 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Makari successfully hits Denji with Strong Kick.
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Denji 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Wang
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Makari 0/-------/-------|
"Makari-chan is right!"
Denji is shaking his fist at Wang, still addressing his bewildered and potato-splattered compatriot. "We should rise with the sun and train with the hrughghhr--"
Having paid absolutely no attention to the large and terrifying man now approaching him, resulting in being cut-off mid-sentence, even as Wang proceeds to ignore what he is saying because it is stupid, by two mighty boots. Any normal man would have his head squished like garlic in a garlic press. But Denji is-- well, okay, Denji is pretty normal.
"...brghphh..."
So it hurts pretty bad.
He stirs from his prostrate position upon the ground, his nose bleeding slightly and his eyes unfocused, as he sees a blurring shape leap upon a giant, hulking one. "Aha!" he half-shouts, half-coughs, as he scrambles to his feet. His brain is still rebooting, and the mountain monk is operating on a fairly primal level. He sees movement.
He attacks.
Following suit, he leaps upon the Wang who is leaping upon Makari, seeking to tear him /off/ with a burst of verdant green chi and force, and spiral away before crashing headlong into a pile of empty crates several meters away in the corner. Like a /man/.
COMBATSYS: Makari dodges Wang's Quick Throw.
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Denji 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/-------|
Makari looks disappointed as Denji's head is encapsulated in his big'n'tall boots. After all that talk about always being prepared a moment ago! He lands, shaking his head and clucking his tounge, and then Wang vanishes into Makari's cloak. If you've ever thrown a baseball into very heavy, voluminous stage curtains, it's exactly like that. There's no real impact, the curtains as a whole are unaffected, you just hear a faint rustle and you can no longer see the baseball bat.
It takes Makari five seconds to even realize he has some more weight on him, and he pats his arms around, withdrawing Wang by the scruff of his neck. Like a kitten. His eyes light up. "Wang! Good! It is good to see you have that spirit. I don't know about meeting a girl here, but chicks dig fighting, yes? She will walk in and see you engaged with strong men, and think, 'Now there is a man! So strong and fearless! I will let him between my thighs tonight, but not if he talks to me about swords at any point, because I am uncultured and do not understand the finer points of European blacksmithery!'" His eyes are unfocused by the time he's done, his grin no longer reaching them. Still staring off into the distance of bad memories, he sees Denji leaping, and fades back, flinging Wang at him head-first as he moves.
COMBATSYS: Denji successfully hits Wang with Yokoburi.
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Denji 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/-------|
Wang falls into Makari's cloak, hands scrabbling for a handhold, or something. All he finds is cloak. Cloak forever. An endless hell of cloak, punishment for his misdeeds in the mortal realm. FOREVER WILL HE BE DAMNED TO oh nevermind Makari's got it handled. Evidently he IS good for something after all, even if it's only helping with problems he caused in the first place.
"I...uh...uh-huh...y-yeah..." Wang does nothing but nod and give soft agreements because he is being held and it has a somewhat muting influence on his normal attitude. Then his eyes refocus at the end of the tale. "Wait, whaaaaaaaaaah!"
He is screaming because even as Makari is throwing him at Denji, Denji is throwing himself at Wang, who by now has no idea what's actually happening except that it hurts and flailing is the answer.
He does so, and one of his legs just happens to lash out toward Denji. In...in passing.
COMBATSYS: Denji endures Makari's Thrown Weapon!
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Denji 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Denji interrupts Strong Kick from Wang with Shinrou.
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Denji 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/------=|
Let's not try to understand what just happened.
Denji totally gets ahold of Wang, which is super great. The reason he gets ahold of Wang is because Makari threw him directly /into/ Denji, which is not so great. Then both of them just plow headfirst into a big pile of crates in the corner, which is painful for everyone involved, but Wang is still fighting and trying to kick him, so Denji flips out and they roll around for a little bit hidden under the splintered wood until Denji gets on top or something and brings his palms together and unleashes a huge wave of chi directly into Wang's chest, which splinters the concrete beneath him.
As a result, Denji is the first to stagger free of the wreckage, but he already looks like he's completely had the crap kicked out of him, and his eyes are wild. Not only is his nose bleeding freely, but it looks like one of his eyes is swelling.
A wavering smile remains on his features.
"F-Farah-chan, are you watching?"
Naturally, he says something stupid.
In response to all of this, Makari throws his head back and laughs, and laughs. "Ahh, combat! Where the unexpected holds true sway!" He runs a hand through his short hair, stretches his neck with a series of pops, and spreads out his arms, leaving his armor to gleam in the dusty light. "But you're taking all the fun to yourselves! Perhaps you think you are the only ones who need improvement? Stop playing the game of men's hugging and come at me!"
Makari slaps his breastplate with a gongggg, and plants his legs, one hand on a knee, the other held straight out. The fingers curl once, twice. Oh damnnn he just beckoned everyone's ass.
COMBATSYS: Makari focuses on his next action.
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Denji 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/------=|
Struggling up from the pile of wooden debris that he has found himself in, Wang finally frees himself from the wreckage with a clatter, a few moments after Denji is up and blissfully wandering off and being stupid like he always is.
Struggling to see after getting his ass kicked so incredibly hard that it's difficult to even see straight, Wang reaches carefully down, feeling for the end of one of the big wood bits that just so recently were basically stabbing the shit out of him.
And he stares at Makari, in his general direction, certain that the big man is making fun of him. He's pretty sure, at least. Less sure than he is of Denji, but still pretty sure. And in no mood to hear it. "Oh, shut it. Ape."
And with a dull woosh, a chunk of wood goes flying through the air toward the big Strolheimian.
Is that /beckoning/ he sees.
Denji's vision becomes sufficient unblurry to detect that motion that Makari is making, and at once, without any particular shift in emotional expression, he wheels an about-face and begins to dash haphazardly toward his armored adversary/ally, scrambling across the concrete as green chi begins to pool naturally about his hands. Instinctively it gathers, pulsing in time with the shrine-keeper's own accelerated heartbeat, as he pursues his well-prepared quarry. He senses the wood flying at another angle, and without conscious thought shifts his trajectory, coming at Makari from the side, seeking to split his attention.
Even to such random variables, Denji feels able to react.
"Huuaahh!"
Moving with the sort of headlong swiftness that Makari himself demonstrates at times, the mountain monk drives forward and aims to unleash a powerful surge of that green chi directly against the Strolheim swordsman, almost engulfing his broad chest in a wide, searing orb of earthly energy.
COMBATSYS: Makari blocks Denji's Hadou Ranki.
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Denji 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Makari blocks Wang's Large Thrown Object.
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Denji 0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/----===|
Makari spins as both of his teammates come at him - just as he wanted! "Toh!" The grey fur billows out as Makari shifts it behind his shoulders, and when he re-emerges from behind it, he has the zweihander out, braced against his forearm. The heavy wood bangs into it at the same time as Denji impacts, the last Maksimillian holding himself at a bizarre angle to parry both attacks, one foot on the ground, the other braced against a disused, broken-down forklift. His knees shake. It's difficult. Makari looks thrilled. "Hur-r-r-ah!" With an effort, he shoves both of them away from him.
Immediately, Makari moves into the attack, bringing the sword all the way around, flowing toward Wang. "Now, hoh, this is something we are going to have to work on! Denji and I, we want to become stronger, yes? But I do not feel it from you!" He grips the sword low on the blade, body low, tip skidding against the ground.
"Forget about girls, think only of men! Of us!" uh "Show me that you are convicted in this, or we will fall apart!" He stands up, pommel-first, sparks leaping from the concrete floor as the blade drags along it. He's going right for Wang's chin.
COMBATSYS: Makari successfully hits Wang with Atop the Mountain.
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Denji 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/--=====|
Vision clearing enough to see both his and Denji's attacks shatter against the mountain that is Makari, Wang feels a moment of despair. Then he feels crushing, soul-numbing despair because oh my god he's talking too and what did Wang ever do to deserve being on a team with these morons there are doing everything wrong and he's going to be the one to pay the price and now the big one is hitting on him and arrrrrrgh
And then the big one is /actually/ hitting him. "Why are you even here? How did you GET here?" Wang wails piteously, overcome by his poor fortune. "And stop--"
Makari does not.
Wang soars, his diminuitive body sailing upward as though shot violently out of a cannon. Ears ringing, tongue bleeding (he bit it on accident), Wang manages to get it together enough in midair to reorient himself, gather his energies, and send a curving yellow blast soaring back down toward Makari.
A moment later he lands in another pile of wood with a muffled cry.
Denji's chi dissipates around his palm as he is thrust back, the much lighter-weight fighter unintentionally emitting a wail of surprise and dismay as Makari casts him aside. He stumbles and looks as though he might simply collapse to the ground again, but with an alacrity his hazy eyes do not demonstrate he catches his twisting body on one palm and turns it all, somehow, into a kind of cartwheel, landing on his feet again in a half-crouch. He winces as he witnesses Makari's strike hammer home upon Wang's hapless body, but when he sees that the other boy is in desperation unleashing a counter-attack, the shrine-keeper's son is driven to join forces once again.
IF only because now Wang is totally out of range.
"Yeah!!"
That's right. Denji wants that, right now, more than anything.
"Want to become stronger!"
He plunges in from the side, seeking out an exposed portion where the armor plates must be sown together, and drives out a chi-wreathed hand to slam it home against a less defensible area while Makari may be preoccupied.
"Think only of-- what?"
Only afterward does he falter slightly.
"Uhh... I was only thinking about Farah-chan."
COMBATSYS: Makari endures Wang's The Bullet You Pretend to Forget to Remember!
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Denji 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Makari interrupts Medium Punch from Denji with Isaak's Step.
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Denji 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Wang
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Makari 0/-------/=======|
Makari lets the zweihander fly into the air, its upsettingly-large bulk spinning high as he cups gauntleted-and-bare hands together, yelling after Wang, "Sakura told me to come here!" 'Told', not 'called.' Makari has been sleeping on her roof for the past week because everyone else just calls the police when he does it, and that's always awkward.
Cut to a shot of fifteen police officers unwilling to approach Makari. Makari impassively eats a corned beef sandwich on the rooftop of one Isao Sukimotoken and wonders what the big deal is.
The greatsword smacks back into Makari's hand just in time. He turns away, letting the chi blast into the back of his head, briefly wreathing his head in yellow light. Though his vision burns, he's already seen what he wants to do, and he pitches forward, as though dropping senselessly. At the last moment, he catches Denji's fist with his shoulder, the zweihander suddenly up, twisting the monk's arm awkwardly. His eyes snap open. "Isaak Steps Through the Warriors!"
With a flex of well-built legs and a levering downward pull, Makari vaults over Denji, dragging his arm with him the entire time in a painful wrench. He lands easily, and releases the hold with an easy twist. "Speaking of, she is not here. Disappointing. Perhaps her problem runs deeper than I could see."
The pile of shattered wood rustles, and Wang drags himself out of it just in time to contribute to the conversation, which he has been following as well as he can despite being launched. "Wait, Farah, what? Did something happen to her?"
Wang thinks about it for a moment as he recovers, as his teammates continue pounding the bejesus out of each other, and realizes that there couldn't possibly be anything wrong with Farah because she is perfect. So that means...
"You two chuckleheads!" Wang knows exactly where to place the blame. "You drove her off by being retarded or something, didn't you? Or maybe..." His eyes swing hatefully toward Denji. "You tried to force yourself on her, didn't you!?" How /dare/ he, when he knows that Wang is the only man for Farah! Clearly it is time for Wang-flavored JUSTICE.
Dashing forward into the fray, Wang lunges for Denji, both palms thrusting for his VILE teammate's chest, a bright flare of yellow chi adding emphasis to the strike. "Just die!"
COMBATSYS: Wang successfully hits Denji with Very Poorly Concealed Secret Attack.
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Denji 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Wang
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Makari 0/-------/=======|
Denji has something important to contribute to this discussion.
"Aaaahh!"
Unfortunately, we will never know what it is. Because Makari promptly grabs him and hurls him away as soon as his lips part to speak, and what emerges is instead a terrified cry. He twists to summon up an orb of chi to hurl in a desperate counter-attack in Makari's general direction, unintentionally mimicing Wang's own recent manuever, and for his troubles--
"Gughh!"
--gets slammed right in the back by Wang's furious lunges.
Seeing stars, now wailing piteously, unable even to protest his innocence, Denji hurtles right by Makari, that orb of chi still thrumming about his hands, and in spiralling past half-accidentally aims to slam what he's gathered against the sword-wielding warrior before it dissipates entirely. Then, his whole mind a daze, dancing Farahs circling about him, he crashes into what remains of the crates scattered about the room, and lies still.
"...Ow."
He doesn't appear to be unconscious, but--
"My... head."
Denji thinks he may just take a little rest.
COMBATSYS: Denji has left the fight here.
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Wang 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Makari
COMBATSYS: Denji successfully hits Makari with Ranki Rengeki.
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Wang 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Makari
Oh, so /that/ is why Wang is on the team. Makari's relaxed calm demeanor shifts. His jaw tightens. His lips curl down into the slightest of frowns. Denji ricochets off him ahhh this isn't part of Makari getting annoyed! He teeters over, one foot coming up, hopping to the side on the other one a few times, wisps of chi still swirling around his shoulder and chest.
Makari rights himself with a growl, shaking his head and locking his too-bright gaze on Wang. "So, you do not even know. From my perspective, of all of us, she is the one in most danger of having her potential hampered." He slips the zweihander into the harness across his back, cloak falling forward as he plants himself.
"But then, I am not sure if you have the mind necessary to comprehend the things that might limit a fighter's potential! You do all of this to try and impress her? That is no motivation! You cannot become strong if you are constantly looking for her approval!"
Makari cracks his knuckles beneath his cloak. "But her problem has nothing to do with us. Get your, what is the expression? Head right."
COMBATSYS: Makari gains composure.
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Wang 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1 Makari
It's with a certain amount of grim satisfaction that Wang watches Denji go staggering around, finally crashing into Makari before collapsing. /Perfect/. Not only has he defeated Denji, but the very act of doing so managed to weaken his remaining opponent, TOTALLY ON PURPOSE GUYS.
If only it had taken Makari out, too, so that he would just stop talking. The man is not making any sense, if you can even call him a man and refrain from implying he is a sasquatch or maybe a bear. Wang sure can't.
"W-what do you know!?" Well, quite a bit probably, but the boy refuses to admit that. "I don't need some /woman's/ approval...DAD." He's laying the sarcasm on awful thick, but it doesn't stop him.
"And who's to say I'm not plenty strong already?" To prove it, Wang advances fast, coming it low to one side and striking out with precision at Makari's ribs, a flurry of quick punches that relentlessly seek out a vulnerability in the big man's armor.
COMBATSYS: Makari blocks Wang's Strong Punch.
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Wang 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Makari
There's a scrape of steel, and Makari's arm flicks out and back a few times, Maksimilian blurring through the air to intercept nearly every strike. A few come through, driving him back one step, and then another. ...at least until Makari steps forward, shoving Wang back with his body. "Because /I/ am not strong."
Makari suddenly jumps forward, the damascus steel of the saber catching the light and leaving a bright white arc as Makari tries to blitz Wang with the blunt end. Suddenly, straps of Makari's armor from where Wang was hitting it burst, the breatplate and cloak falling away. "If I am not strong, and our strength is equal, how can you then claim to be strong? We all have a way to go!"
COMBATSYS: Makari successfully hits Wang with Maksimilian Edge.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Wang 1/-======/=======|=======\==-----\1 Makari
Wang is driven back himself as Makari bigs at him, stifling his angry offense. At least there are other ways to attack. "Well, I didn't say it, even though it's true. But me? I'm plenty strong enough to deal with anybody! This is nothing!"
But then he's forced to shut up for a moment as he attempts to deal with Makari's attack, stepping into the arc of the wide sword swipe in an effort to prove his point. It is a mistake. He gets caught solidly and knocked back off his feet, the sheer strength of Makari driving him to the ground.
Despite this, Wang rises up and continues to attack, ducking and twisting in past the sword and springing up in a ball, trying to deliver his head into firm contact with Makari's chin before tumbling back down to the dusty floor.
"Don't even lump me in with you!"
COMBATSYS: Makari blocks Wang's The Goat Stiffens.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Wang 1/=======/=======|=======\===----\1 Makari
Without the cloak, Wang gets to watch Makari's arms flick through space as he sheathes Maksimilian again, shoves his right hand in the gauntlet at his belt, brings his left to his zweihander, and faster than makes sense has it down so that Wang headbutts it instead of his chin, still driven back a step. Finally, Makari is driven to anger. All his life, there's been one thread of commonality between him and nearly anyone else he's known - they've been fighters. They've all identified themselves as fighters. No matter what else, they are dedicated to combat above nearly all else, and will always feel like equals in some way because of that.
Wang makes no sense to him. Don't lump in? "But we are both fighters!" he snaps, boot snapping up, trying to catch the falling Wang and just /boot/ him back to his feet. "Why are you so damn adversarial? Do you want to be trapped at this level forever? You think you are good? There are men in Strolheim that could lift this forklift behind me! There are others who could with one-hand! There are some that can run along this wall so fast you cannot even see them! Men that could stand in a collapsing mine tunnel and dig their way out afterward in time for dinner! You, I, Denji, Farah, we are nothing until we make ourselves something!"
"If you feel you cannot progress further, you /will not/ progress further! You will be trapped! You will never know the true heights a man can reach!" His chest heaves, a red flush rising in his cheeks. He realizes he's gripped the zweihander's blade hard enough to nick through the fabric-and-chain of the palm of his gauntlet - a single trickle of blood runs down the sword.
COMBATSYS: Wang blocks Makari's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Wang 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1 Makari
Wang sadly doesn't get that great a view of Makari's magical hands, on account of how the majority of his vision is taken up by the most manly of chests. Also sad is how he only smashes into a sword; it stings a bit, but then the boy is toppling away into a curled up ball, receiving a boot that does little but to send him rolling a few paces away, whereupon he uncurls and gets onto his feet.
Whereupon he scoffs. "Men lifting forklifts?" The disbelief is evident in his voice. "And if the men are running so fast you can't see them, how can you tell?" This little bit of logic makes him smile as his sense of superiority warmly floods his little heart.
"I keep telling you, I am something! Maybe you didn't notice, but I'm great at this..." To prove it, Wang darts forward again, using his smaller size to his advantage in an attempt to leap onto Makari, shuffle onto his back, and then proceed to work the big man's kidneys with his knees.
Until, for the coup de grace, he reaches down and attempts to use one of Makari's own daggers against him, smashing a blunted tip in a sensitive spot before kicking off and flipping a few paces away, confidently landing with his back turned.
"...and you're not."
COMBATSYS: Makari fails to interrupt The Tribulations of Wang Long from Wang with Alexei's Sweep to Makari's Glide.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Wang 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Makari
The moment Wang steps forward, so too does Makari, his vision focusing to a point. He shifts his grip, crouches down, and pokes the tip of the zweihander between Wang's ankles. Even as he pulls to the side, he's already shifting both hands for the hilt, ready to launch into the followup he designed. As he ducks, Wang jumps, which is pretty much the perfect counter for this. Off-balance, it's a simple matter for Wang to get ahold of him, making it look easy.
Luckily, when you grow up in a noble house of mercenaries and then come of age in Strolheim, you're used to peeing blood now and again. He weathers the blows, and the dagger slips easily from his belt and into his armpit - possibly a little too easily in the second part. Makari is still bad at making daggers, and managed to make a blunt one with a real tip. He growls in pain, staggering forward, reaching up to yank it back out and fling it across the warehouse. Blood runs freely, and the zweihander drops from his hand.
...but he's grinning as he turns back to face Wang, left hand over his wound. "I admit, my perspective is different. It must be an interesting experience, not coming from a place where every man and woman around you is powerful. Here, with these people, perhaps you would think yourself great, but you are deluding yourself by seeing mastery in the place of potential!" Makari shifts the harness of his zweihander, tearing leather, working quickly. In a few moments he has a makeshift bandage over the stab, blood dripping slowly through the parts in the leather. He shifts his massive shoulders, and plants his legs.
Makari holds his hands loosely near his weapons, fingers limbered, and he takes a single great breath. "Come, then. Let us see if you truly overmatch me as I am now."
It's a bit more than Wang was expecting, honestly. More and less. The dagger actually biting into flesh? Not expected. He figured it would just hurt like a bitch, all the more so because it's Makari's own weapon.
But less because despite what should've been a humiliating blow, the weaponmaster(weaponadvancedstudent?) is still annoyingly positive. Doesn't he know he's outmatched? Doesn't he know that continuing the fight is pointless because he's just going to lose?
Frowning, Wang half turns to look at Makari, studying the man as he bandages himself, as he continues his babbling. "Or maybe it's because you really are that weak. Is that why you're so carefree? Because you've got nowhere to go but up?" He shakes his head, folding his arms as he turns away again.
"Give up."
And then an army rushes out from his exposed backside, countless glowing yellow copies rushing forward, each one delivering a single strike before fading away in a procession of violence so thick, so steady, that it appears to be little more than a solid stream.
COMBATSYS: Makari blocks Wang's Final Boss.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Wang 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Makari
Without another word, Makari draws Viktor and Nikita from behind his back, and starts marching forward. His axes rise and fall, slamming into each copy as it comes for him, each cut carrying with him his own will to weather the storm. To strike back. To refuse to lose without having given everything he can. Stray chi beats into him again and again, bits of his shirt flaking away until he's bare-chested save for the torn-up harness, and far sooner than Wang might like, Makari is right behind him.
Makari crosses his arms together, eyes bright. "We are men of potential, with no ceiling. Takuma Sakizaki, the old man Gen, even the legend Ryu! They do not diminish, even they may not have reached the pinnacle of their power! For us, there is nowhere to go but up because it is impossible for us to fall down!"
Makari brings both axes down and across for Wang's shoulderblades, calling, "Don't you see how incredible it is? We may all conquer the world someday! There is nothing beyond us once you realize that this is only the beginning!"
COMBATSYS: Makari successfully hits Wang with Biting Steel.
[ \\\\ < > //// ]
Wang 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Makari
Something is wrong here. Wang senses it early, but such is his baseless pride that he convinces himself nothing is wrong. This is his ultimate attack, his strongest technique. Makari is on his last legs. There's no way, just no way.
And yet, somehow, the big man has made it. He's here. Right behind Wang. The boy closes his eyes, as though he can simply will Makari away, as he continues to expand upon his theory of strength, his lofty ideals for the future.
So stubborn is Wang that he doesn't turn around, not even when the axes swing, striking him down to the floor in a small, limp pile.
"This...is..." Wang struggles to speak, struggles to move, and then seems to collapse. "Got...lucky."
And then he's out.
COMBATSYS: Wang takes no action.
[ \\\\ <
Makari 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Wang can no longer fight.
[ \\\\ <
Makari 0/-------/---====|
Makari flips his axes around, slowly returning them to their harnesses. "Heh! Wang, you'll figure it out sooner or later." He takes a breath, and winces, putting a hand over his wound again, and turns to approach his armor.
He gets three steps before his eyes roll back, and he, too, pitches forward. He's not quite out, though - he has enough presence of mind to go 'oof' when he lands.
COMBATSYS: Makari has ended the fight here.
Log created on 15:18:11 01/06/2011 by Makari, and last modified on 22:03:52 01/06/2011.