Description: Those who represented the Mountain Lions in their round one loss are all recovering from their injuries best they can, in the face of having to deal with an imminent Takuma-related disaster. Disappointment, frustration, and anger abounds among the three of them, knowing full well that the worst isn't quite behind them yet... but for at least one, they think there will never be any better.
Takuma Sakazaki, confirmed force of nature and maybe a step or two below an outright Act of God, is assuredly coming in this direction if The Plan(tm) - which involves, at least at the first step, Ryo shouting his name to the heavens to attract his attention and minimize the amount of destruction he leaves in his path in getting to where Yuri is - actually has any measurable chance of success in the least. (It's a greater chance than one may give credit for, considering... oh, everything.)
Mr. Rust has spent time resting up his tired, battered body after the ill-fated King of Fighters match after a vigorous chewing out by nurses and doctors alike after making sure everyone's stuff was together. He's just waiting for the signal from Ryo, really, much of /anything/, to the point what rest he's had is not, in the big picture, a whole lot.
Howard's not sure how much time has passed. He keeps the curtains closed and isn't staring at the clock so much as he is the TV, going over coverage of other King of Fighters events - and, true to form, the endless reruns of his own match. He's not sure how many hours have been spent watching TV. Some of his nurse-brought meals are off to the side and uneaten. He should be starving, but he's been a hundred percent engrossed in this while waiting for any sort of signal or call from Ryo about Takuma's approach.
Lying down is a complete pain in the ass. He can't find a way to lay down without a part of him still aching, and yet they don't want him getting up and moving around so much again.
Perhaps predictably, Zach enters before too long and notes the food uneaten. He scowls at that; Glen still recalls his foray into dumpster diving during that time right after his first... explosion. It was as close as he'd allow himself to get to civilization while he was trying to figure out just what the hell was going on with his body.
"You should eat some of that," Zach says pointedly, "Even if it /does/ taste like recycled ass. Wasting food ought to be criminal." He slowly moves towards an empty chair before easing himself into a chair. He stares at the television screen for a bit. "Figured you'd be watching this," he says after a moment.
"'m not... hungry," the older man grunts at Zach's sudden entrance. "Just... y'know." Zach should damn well know, he thinks, what this whole thing /means/ to him, watching him be constantly falling into Zangief's clutches - sure, he got a really good, clean hit on him but that was only one. The way he just gets taken almost completely apart, otherwise...
"What 'bout your, uh, your stitches," he mumbles out a question as he turns down the volume with the remote.
Zach picks up a plate of steak and potatoes and sets it directly in front of him. Something in Zach's body language is not going to accept an arguement on this one. "Eat anyway. If you want it reheated, I'll get that done." he says. "You need food to recover." He sits back down, staring at the screen again.
"I figure they'll be out tomorrow. Got those ones that your body can break down as it heals," he finally answers. "Otherwise they'd be in too long, and then you'd have to worry about infection." He is silent for another moment. It's not that Zach doesn't know, so much as he is trying to figure out how to get Rust past this, or even if he should try.
"Nah, it's... it's, it's all right, I'll... I'll just eat when I feel like it," Mr. Rust dismisses, wincing as he turns his body around to find /some/ kind of way to lay down without so much pressure on himself. Getting up, driving to the lodge, packing things up, and driving /back/ did him no favors whatsoever.
"'s good to know," he mumbles. "I mean... guy almost, almost ate you."
Zach gives a breathy chuckle at that. "Hurt like /hell/, let me tell you," Zach says as he watches the replay. "You got him pretty good, right there," he says as the television shows Rust trying to drive Old Rusty right through Zangief's chest at the end of the first round. "Helped me bring him down. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have been able to handle him fresh."
He takes one of Rust's untouched plates and grabs a fork. If Howard won't eat the food, then Zach most certainly will take his own advice.
The sound of someone walking with a slight limp can be heard... and then it's revealed to be Yuri. She has one arm in a sling, and she uses a crutch to walk for her right leg. In addition, her headband is covered by some bandaging that's covering her forehead. Other than that, she still looks about the same. Her gi is replaced with a generic white t-shirt, her leggings are still on, and she's wearing a pair of simple slippers.
As soon as she gets inside, her eyes go wide and tears fill her eyes. "Oh, Mr. Rust," Yuri says. "I... I'm sorry, I failed us big time!"
"Couldn't, couldn't imagine how many... how many shots that took either." Human bites are not to be taken lightly. People can - and have - lost entire limbs from infections originating by them. At least Zach should be A-OK with this hospital care. It's not the best place, but, it'll do. It'll have to, anyway.
His face is kind of blank at mention about getting Zangief good in the chest, although to /him/ it didn't feel like enough. There's really no describing what it's like to be /held/ by Zangief. It's among one of the truly scarier experiences he's had on the fighting circuit.
He has no real opinion about Zach eating food meant for him when Yuri comes in, crying about failing. Inwardly, he's too depressed himself to care about the fact that two of his teammates decided to barge in without knocking as he sighs loudly, raising his right hand in Yuri's direction and then lowering it down slightly.
"Well... well, you got your shot," he adds in a tone that should be consoling, but the fatigue in his voice is well-evident, "'n you're young. You'll... you'll get more 'n one."
"I remember the first three," Zach says non-commitally. "Anything after he tried to belt me across the arena, well..." Rust doubtlessly knows about fighting while not-quite-conscious. "Musta been at least one more of those big explosions," he says. "I was still pretty tired when I woke up."
"I know I'm young and there'll be more..." Yuri collapses into a nearby chair and sighs. "But I let the team down!" She attempts to punch something, but the sling on her arm keeps her from doing that. "It's not fair! I ruined it all!"
"It was, uh... yeah." Howard nods his head. He's... let's say, familiar with some of Zach's expressions of power, just, the way it... hits. Even being near it, it just makes one of his knees twinge out. That's how powerful it is - though, perhaps they should be fortunate that Yuri /didn't/ have to fight Zangief. He's not sure what he'd have to say to Takuma if she looked any more hurt than she does /now/.
"You didn't, you didn't... ruin it all," he grouses, "we were... we just didn't, measure up." Though, based on the way he lowers his head, he seems to think more that he himself did not measure up in the least, just... the way after so much of his time was put towards this end, and in the end... it didn't measure up.
"Team event," Zach says around a mouthful of food. He refuses to let this stuff go to waste. "We win as one or lose that way," he says as he stands up. "You guys want something to drink?" he asks.
"Uh, I'd like some grape soda if you can get me some?" Yuri says. "I'm sick of ginger ale!" She then looks to Rust and says, "I guess you're right. But this should serve useful for me... to get my studies done." Yuri stretches her arm over her head.
There's not really much more to be done. Rest up, get up, and go home losers... although, now that he thinks about it, his eyes widen when he realizes he's been meaning to talk to them about something. "Whoa. Whoa, wait. Wait. Wait, Zach," he holds up a hand, assuming Zach is already going on his way out to get grape soda.
"Ryo's, Ryo's here too... ahh, I gotta talk with ya two 'bout what's, what's gonna go down."
Zach was actually waiting patiently for Rust's request. He perks up a bit when he hears Ryo is here. "Oh?" Zach says with interest. "I fought him once, you know. Early in my Neo League run." He frowns, keeping his eyes off of Yuri for the moment. "Take it he's here about Takuma, then?"
"Ryo's here?" Yuri asks, going wide-eyed. "No way! That means my dad must be here too!" Tears well up in her eyes. "No, they can't take me back!" She jabs her crutch into the floor. "I'm not letting them take me away!"
That slow, very measured, somewhat frightened nod might be all Rust needs to tell Zach about that particular front - and on Yuri's front, the way she cries and jabs that crutch tells him all he needs to hear about what /she/ thinks of it.
"I /told/ you," he grouses, "right at the, at the house, if they came and said you had to, you had to go home, then... then that's it!"
He grouses loudly again as he strains to sit up, as if making this gesture implies significant importance. "Earlier I, I swung back where we were stayin', got... got everyone's stuff together. Ryo, he broke down the door and said... said that Takuma was comin'." He winces as he tries to shift his weight just so there's so much less sting on his side. He kind of regrets doing what he did now! (The 'going back to get everyone's stuff packed up' bit.)
"Anyway... anyway, Ryo's, he's outside now tryin' to call for Takuma." Yuri may or may not have heard his voice in passing. "I'm... I'm hopin' when he comes by he's... he's not gonna be in a murderous rampage."
"Look, if I gotta go home, I'll do it... But I ain't going back with them." Yuri smiles evilly. "I'm gonna go home on my own! I'll get a one-way ticket back home, and spoil dad's fun!" She giggles. "Crafty, ain't I?"
With this, Zach calmly walks up behind Yuri. He eyes Rust for a moment before simply Gibbs-slapping her upside the head.
"No. No." The older man coughs once at the second of that. "No." He tries to speak up again at Zach going for the slap - they're all friggin' recovering, he doesn't want a fight breaking out, let alone in his own hospital room!
Zach does not deliver the head slap of legend, lowering his arm. He leans in close to Yuri. "Are you really that interested in getting two of the three of us killed by your old man?"
Forgetting Rust, Yuri turns to face Zach, now glaring daggers at him. "I'm not trying to get you guys killed! I'm just trying to take the fun out of dad bringing me home... but he'd seriously try to murder you two?!" Her teeth start to show. "I'd like to see him show his face!"
"Guys. Guys." Rust's voice is probably a little too soft to be heard over Yuri's yells and boasts, ineffectually raising and lowering one of his hands.
Zach's voice, on the other hand, remains level and almost polite. Emotional control is something he has had a great deal of practice at over the last few years. It's practically a survival skill. "This is not about your fun or his fun," Zach says evenly. "In point of fact, your fun is what has landed us in this cluster**** in the first place. So perhaps you could take what is coming with a bit of grace." Zach pulls himself upright, pinning Yuri with his glare. "I'd wager that it would go further towards what you actually /want/ than any stunt you think you want to pull."
Yuri does see what Rust is saying, and wants to calm down, but Zach insists on continuing to rile her up. "With a bit of grace? He's gonna kill me if I stay here! And then he'll kill you two!" Yuri folds her arms as best as she can. "There's no way out of this! The only thing we can do is wait for him... and hopefully if we're recovered enough, we can team up to stop him?"
The shop teacher grouses and turns to his side with a quick wince of pain and a barely audible curse word as he reaches down towards the side of the bed further from the two of them, rummaging around for... something or another.
Zach rolls his eyes. "He's not going to kill you," Zach says, barely keeping the 'you idiot' out of his spoken words but not his voice. "The two of us," he says pointing towards himself and Rust, "Are still on the chopping block." Zach folds his arms across his chest and leans back on his heels in a surprisingly ready stance.
"Or," he says fairly gently, "You could apologize to your dad when he shows up, and there's a chance that will deflate him." Zach considers for a moment. "Hell. There's even a good chance, I'd wager. Plus, it'd go towards showing him that you are mature enough to handle the consquences of your choices. Which would, in turn, maybe make him more likely to let you enter other tournaments at a later date."
Let it not be said that Zach cannot be reasonable even when he is irritated.
Yuri is about to reply when she sees Rust reaching over for something. "OK, OK! I'll apologize if that happens!" Yuri says, now pleading instead of angry. "Please, Mr. Rust, calm down! I'll apologize and take what's coming to me! Anything to keep you guys from getting hurt!" Whatever Rust is planning, Yuri doesn't wanna knowl
Considering the windows are closed, there's no glint of light to show what it is that man is reaching for - but the two of them can probably hear it scrape against the side of the bed loudly enough. If not, they'll hear it when they may likely see it by the corner of their eyes, a rusted blur as it impacts solidly against one of the bedposts in a loud ring that might actually garner a legitimate noise complaint.
"I've, I've already gone through one of the... one of the /worst/ experiences of my, of my life, Yuri. Zach." He grumbles as he relaxes himself, another wince as he settles painfully. God damn, I keep straining myself like this, he thinks to himself, his face sour.
"Look. Look - I, I should've just, I should've just, gone to your rooms 'n told you what was goin' on, but... I spent... spent no less than a few hours... on my feet, broken ribs... packin' stuff up, drivin'... 'cause I didn't want, want our stuff left unguarded where we were staying, and... and I'm in a really, really foul mood."
Zach holds up one finger to forestall Yuri. "Okay," Zach says. "I get it. You're bummed. But you do know that this is hardly the end for you right?" Zach looks at Rust like Rust might look at a slow but earnest student. "You /do/ know I can name at least five guys who are about your age and still kicking a lot of ass, right?"
Zach is still using the pause gesture with Yuri as he turns to face Rust a bit more squarely. "There's only one real difference between you and those guys, Rust. They've got a head start on you." He tilts his head to one side. "But what I've seen, what I /know/ about you would normally tell me that that's only a minor setback as far as you're concerned."
Zach reaches into a pocket and pulls out some change to place it on the table in front of Yuri. It'll buy a can of pop. "You'll grouse about it, chew it over, and then you may even decide that I might be right on that. Lemme know when you do."
With that, Zach heads for the door unless someone makes a point to stop him.
Taking the change, Yuri nods to Zach, before looking apologetically to Rust. "Mr. Rust... I... I'm sorry... I guess I really went overboard... If it makes dad happy, I'll go home..." A pause, as she scowls a little. "But I won't let him hurt you or Zach! That's the only exception!"
"Yeah, yeah, I've, I've heard it all." He growls back towards Zach, finding some sort of second wind inside the depths of his desperation and depression. "But ya don't get... this is probably gonna be /it/ for me, I probably won't, I probably won't... ever, ever get a second chance at somethin' as, as big as King of Fighters!" Everything he did in the months leading up to this... getting sneaky and working a second job on campus for twice the paid leave days, the endless amounts of spilled blood, tears, and sweat at the Kyokugen Dojo, all of it is very much likely gone to pot.
"Ahh, just, just get out," he shouts to Zach, not feeling the mood to recite his life story and everything. A head start, sure, but he's forty now - that's the age most people retire, if they haven't already. The number of people who keep at it after their physical prime is very small in number, indeed, and at this rate Howard Rust is not likely to be one of them!
He lets the pipe drop to the floor as Yuri starts giving him her apologies about the whole ordeal, one hand buried in his face.
"Yuri." He grumbles. "Yuri, listen... okay. Listen. Ryo's gonna, gonna try and flag him here, 'cause... 'cause we don't want him blowin' up the entire... entire countryside over, over tryin' to find you. Once he's found him, he'll... your brother, he'll gimme a call and... and we just, head downstairs, and we meet with him, and... and we just get this over with."
Laying back down on the bed, he reaches for the remote to turn back up the volume, flexing one of his knees with a pop as he relieves at least a little physical tension that way. "Either way... either way, we lost, Yuri, all in all... we, we're goin' home."
"I know we're going home, Mr. Rust," Yuri says. "I'm no longer worried about going home... I'm worried about my dad hurting you two!" She looks at Rust with tears in her eyes. "Please, Mr. Rust, trust me on this that I'll leave peacefully. It's just I'd rather have my brother here to take me home, not my dad! He'll kill everyone!"
Zach simply walks out. He is not about to stick around for Rust's self-doubt attack. His thoughts are more towards what is going to happen when Takuma shows up. He's not about to let Takuma go all rampage on his teammates. But he is also not about to let Ryo fight that particular battle in their steads, either.
However, Zach also knows that Takuma would reduce Zach to a smear of grease. However, the psychic may just have something to help even the odds a little bit...
Zach heads back to his room with a bit of purpose. He'll need to step up his recovery a little bit, however. That means sleep and food.
"Well, it's too late, too late for that now. Ryo told me he's, he's en route." The man speaks up as he tries to settle back down into his hospital bed for what little amount of rest he's going to get. "OK, Yuri? Your... your dad's just a worried man, and, and in his shoes, I, would, be, too." He puts emphasis on this. "He's... he's not gonna be killin' everyone. Just... with your brother, you, 'n I together, I think... I think we could show him it's already fine."
Looks like they're done doing reruns of that fight at the falls. Now they want to show the one that happened at Metro City, but, his taste for watching these things is more or less empty as he flips about the channel to some baseball game.
"You... you oughtta go rest up," he suggests - something he really should've taken his own advice to, "and, and if you ever see Antoine... I dunno where the hell he's been lately, just, just let him know we're all here, okay?"
"OK, Mr. Rust, I'll do that." Yuri stands up and walks out of the room. "Take it easy, OK?" Yuri then walks back to her room, stopping only to get some grape soda before relaxing in her room.
Log created on 19:53:28 02/17/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 22:19:24 02/17/2011.