Description: Is engineering a situation where a man gets to be a hero for the day all someone needs to make their problems go away...?
It's another afternoon at Pacific High's Athletics Field. Well, it ought to be, considering it's a bit warmer today than it usually is, the weather is clear. It's perfect time to be having a game or two or three. There should be practice squads out. Roy Bromwell, one of the greatest young football players out there today, is nowhere to be seen on what is rightfully his turf as the king of the jocks, the straight A prodigy.
There is none of that to be had.
Howard Rust, shop teacher, is standing out in the middle of a football field alongside a man whose features are, in spite of being in plain sight on a bright and sunny day, vague and hard to make out aside from the red suit and being unmistakably male.
"Howard, don't you look away from me!" says the powerful voice of an aged man, an aged man whom carries much power.
"'m not," Howard says while scratching his head with his left hand, looking a bit off to the side.
"Just because we're bug bombing my office does not mean we're delaying this conversation any further, do you understand me?" The older of the two continues.
"Y-Yeah, I, I understand," Howard turns his head back. His voice is tired, his posture is slumping, and is looking the part of a tired child being scolded by their parent.
"Do you realize what you did?" The man continues. "You took how many days off these last few months?"
"Uhh," the teacher thinks as one of his elbows creak, "I... I lost coun--"
"More than anyone is entitled to! And don't think that the whole 'second job' business is going to cover it," the man continues, "we're terminating that immediately and docking your pay for those leftover paid leave days you were /not/ entitled to!"
Mr. Rust's throat swallows a lump, but can do nothing but nod. "Y-Yes, sir, I... I understand."
"No, I'm afraid you don't understand, we had the Immigration Bureau speak with us about how you were on payroll for /paid work outside of your status/," the man continues, "and the people above me had to apologize to them and ensure this same mistake would never happen again - it's a wonder they haven't revoked your right to stay in this country!"
The shop teacher's eyes widen, shaking his head, "Look, alright, I, I already got grilled pretty... y'know, pretty hard by those guys--"
"It's /not/ /all/ /right/, Howard," the other man leans in, "this year, on the whole the Southtown chapter's scored the lowest across Pacific's worldwide branches. /The lowest/, Howard."
"That's... that's, that's not good," Mr. Rust concedes.
"And care to guess whose homeroom scored the lowest in exams?"
The shop teacher's eyes start to drift away, a loud exhale as he starts to hold up his left hand.
This other man won't have it. "You're a /teacher/, Howard, it's your /job/ to /educate/ these kids, not just go run all around the world getting in fights!"
"I... I kno--"
"Do you?" The man says as he leans in a bit closer. "You had better, Howard, because this is your last. Chance."
"My... last chance?" Howard actually takes a step back here.
"I don't want /any/ more interruptions. I want you to have your ass /stay/ in the classroom and raise those kids' scores. Honestly, Howard, if it weren't for all the work you've done around town, you'd have been gone the moment you left for Africa."
"I, uh... appreciate the... faith, sir--"
"I have /no/ faith left to spare, Howard," the man continues, "it's time you acted your age and did your /job/. Otherwise, I know some promising folks who have far more credentials than /you/ did who would love to have your job."
"...Yeah, I'm, I'm aware." Howard slumps a bit more.
The other man puts a hand on Howard's shoulder. "You'd better. No more chances, Howard. No more mistakes, no more undue absences... you got it?"
"I, I got it." Mr. Rust clears his throat. "I got it!"
"I'm not going to accept an 'I got it,' Howard," he says, "I'm only going to accept results. Finals are coming up, and I want to see that you've actually been /teaching/ these kids."
"Yes, Mr. Principal," Mr. Rust says in defeat.
No further words are said, as the man of vague features in the red suit walks along off the field.
Some time ago...
A booted foot steps over the prone form of a beaten up thug in a Southtown drinking pit, to crunch upon the broken shards left behind by a smashed glass - a glass which ended up jammed into the face of one of the local brawlers in true British fighting style. The tavern, frequented by Japanese and foreign toughs, down by the waterside, is just the sort of the place to find such brawlers, and the owner of the booted foot knows all about the cesspools of the world. After all, she works in them.
Not everybody in the tavern has been trashed, though - for example, the guy lying on the floor having slipped on some spilled beer, who is hauled to his feet by a red gloved hand. "I have something I want you to do.", the Killer Bee tells him. "If you do it, I will pay you. If you don't...". The glass held in her spare hand is rapped smartly against the bar top, so it shatters meaningfully. She can be very, very persuasive, and she knows how to deal with thug scum, living in a base filled with them.
Back to the present! Somewhere across from where Rust stands, having been read the riot act by his boss, comes someone who clearly isn't a run of the mill student, but someone using the playing field as a shortcut as so often happens - a woman of the Muslim faith presumably, covered as she is entirely by a hijab, aside from the eyes of course, burdened by a heavy bag.
Unfortunately for her, across the playing field, come trotting a couple of people who look extremely out of place on a school playing field - in fact they look rather like bikers, all leather jacketed, and the sort of people who might be described as of 'ill character'. One of them looks American and is rather tall, the other Japanese and rather small, at least in comparison, and despite looking slightly wary in this unfamiliar place in a dangerous town, they also look determined.
It's not a good time to be Howard Rust. It's arguable as to /when/ it is, but now definitely isn't it, as one of his knees pop loudly while walking along. It's not that he wants to lose his job! For all the things he's done in the last month or two, he knows it's more or less all over if he does lose his job. He's never going to get a job that pays as well as this ever again - to say nothing about the disappointment of his father and almost certainly some of his friends at home. His team defeated in the first round, and fractured between everyone's various problems... well, it is probably time he just accepts it, he had his chance, his day is done. He's a grown-up, he has grown-up things to do. Maybe Marisol and her friends will get where he couldn't.
Mr. Rust sees a whole bunch of people pass through the fields, so for the most part nothing seems particularly out of place for the time being - that said, he ought to be heading back in the direction she is, and that bag looks heavy. Eh, might as well, he thinks, maybe just to have one less person be upset with him.
"Hey," he says as he ambles along towards the woman in Muslim dress, not really heeding those guys in biker gear. It's not like the first time he's seen those kinds of people just drift by. This is Southtown, after all. "Where you headed? Uh, do y'need help carrying that, that... that looks kinda heavy."
Cammy's patience is pretty much exhausted with Quon, with Rust, in fact with pretty much everybody except Ibuki, these days. But there is one loose end that needs to be tied up, one black mark in the karma book which needs to be addressed.
The black hijabbed woman turns somewhat awkwardly to face Rust when addressed, blue eyes peering at him - and she nods, with a very faint, almost inaudibly whispered "Thank you, sir, but no, I can manage." as she shifts the bag around to better rest it's weight against one shoulder.
Rust's presence does agitate the two toughs even more though. They hang back, watching, trying to be subtle, as the see the rather harmless looking Rust standing next to the black cloaked woman. No sense shivving the teacher as well, right. But there's money to be had here, and glassings to avoid, and it does look rather simple.
One would think the blue eyes would be very, very telling, especially to the perceptive who have dealt with said eyes several times over already. To think that locking eyes would be a dead giveaway to what lies underneath.
Howrd doesn't suspect a thing.
"Well... all right, but, but be careful," he continues, "I've heard of some... some weird people just, goin' around... doing weird things." It's Southtown. Southtown's full of crime, but the trends have taken a turn towards the bizarre lately, if the recent headlines are any indication.
To say nothing of that Cammy girl, but, there's no point in burdening her with talk about terrorists coming back to Southtown to finish whatever they started back in 2009, right? Leaving the black hijabbed woman to her devices, he turns around as if his bench senses were tingling. That someone, or something just recently left a broken bench, just for him to fix... again.
Nope, no broken benches! The older man sighs out loud at this brief relief, although he can't help but see two shoes on the ground just a ways ahead, looking up to see two... well, 'gentlemen' might be pushing it, considering how they're dressed.
"Uhh, hey," the older man clears his throat, "y'need somethin'? I mean, you could probably just... just go up to the front desk, around, around the other end of the, y'know, school if you needed someone."
Little Miss Muslim nods at Rust, with a whispered "Thank you, sir...", all very humble. And shuffles off with her bag, glancing over one shoulder to look at Rust and the other two roughs as she strives to make her way hastily out of here, but there's only so fast she can go, with that bag.
Sato, the Japanese "gentleman", is the brains of the bunch. He glances over at his companion, gives him a nudge, before stepping over towards Rust, to talk - in Japanese. Maybe Rust's Japanese is, for want of a better word, a little rusty? Probably not given the school pupils but who knows. "We seem to have got a little lost." he says quickly. "If you could just point us towards the Duck Pond, that would be so helpful, sir.". He even addresses Rust as sensei, how polite, as he slowly, casually walks around him, so that if Rust wants to talk to him, his back is to his companion, who advances upon the slowly receding black cloak, a knife surreptitiously being drawn out of one pocket.
Being able to read, write, understand, and speak Japanese was a requirement for employment at Pacific High. Being able to read, write, understand, and speak Japanese at a level that would come off as completely fluent and naturalized and not the sort of stiff, overly-polite way most people are taught, however...
<< "Ah, Duck Pond, yes," >> the teacher clears his throat as he returns his answer in Japanese to match, unaware of what the other companion is getting to, << "you are quite close by, it's a few streets down from the front of this school... from the gates you want to go straight down the road, take the third right, then the first left... you should see it towards the end of that street." >>
These guys must not be from another part of Japan, he thinks. The guy's being awful polite for a guy dressed up as a thug, but, maybe it's just a fashion thing from whatever other part of Japan he's from.
If only Rust knew the truth.
It's fortunate that the woman in the hijab is more on the ball than Howard Rust, or she'd probably have got a switchblade in the back, as Sato's accomplish Jason (no relation to the masked guy) trots past as easy as pie and goes for a quick shivving. Which would be mission complete, then, and with Rust being as dozy as he apparently is, he probably could have immediately fled the field without anybody knowing, Sato's ruse having been entirely successful.
Fortunately though the cloaked woman twists aside, dropping her bag with a loud thump. And then she starts yelling, in a rather odd and unplaceable accent, a sort of fake American accent if anything. "Help, help!!!". And trying to back away.
"Thank you, sensei..." Sato manages to get off before all hell breaks loose behind Rust. He sighs as things don't quite go according to plan after all, and then waits patiently for Rust to turn around, as he probably will, so he can promptly administer a rabbit punch. He may be a thug, but he has a certain low cunning.
COMBATSYS: Rust has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Rust 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Sato has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sato
COMBATSYS: Jason has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sato
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Sato's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Sato
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/-------|
<< "That is quite all right. You would think such an establishment would be easier to--" >>
And then, there's the sudden screams for help in a weird accent the man can't quite place, foolishly turning his back (and, well, head) to that treacherous Sato with his right hand atop the makeshift hilt of Ol' Rusty by his left hip. Okay, maybe these guys really were as they appeared after all.
"Hey, hey," he goes back to English. No warnings, no polite requests to stop. He's not zero to sixty in record time, but Ol' Rusty does get drawn out of its ripped toolbelt pocket (as opposed to, say, a proper sheath or scabbard or some such, seriously, that was a perfectly fine toolbelt pocket that didn't need that) with minimal fuss. That punch to the back of his head barely registers, aside from the pressure. He steps forward, one heel digging into the turf as he takes the rusted length of pipe in both hands and reaches out towards Jason's belt with the tip.
If all goes well, he intends to lift up and hurl Jason by his belt via the pipe and just swing him back away with a bit of heft. If he knew he were going to be witness to some mugging, he would've gotten some stretching in first!
No dice, one supposes.
COMBATSYS: Jason blocks Rust's Wrecking Ball Swing.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/------=|
Heroic intervention prevents Jason from assaulting any further, as Rust hooks his belt with Ol' Rusty and sends him flying into the grass. He does, however, land well, on his hands, and though the swift grounding does knock the wind out of him, he's soon getting up.
The black cloaked lass meanwhile retreats to a safe distance, where she can watch the proceedings, still, though she occasionally wrings her hands and "Help, helps!" some more for dramatic effect, at least a bit more, while Jason is still nearby.
"Old guy like you should be careful, getting into trouble like this..." Jason grunts out as he draws himself up to his full height. "This isn't your fight.". And he snaps out a couple of punches, quick, fast. Sneaky Sato meanwhile is cruising up behind Rust, not attacking just yet, biding his time, and drawing a chain out from some concealed pouch of his coat, like something out of Clockwork Orange gone wrong.
COMBATSYS: Sato focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Jason's 1-2 Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/------=|
At his full height, Rust is probably a bit shorter than Jason there, but he's a man of muscle. A stout man who worked hard physical labor much of his young adult life, to say nothing of the various things he's picked up in his time coming to Southtown. To the display of height, he is completely unintimidated.
He also doesn't notice where Sato is going.
Jason adds a few punches to his threats. One, two, probably more, all met by his left forearm. To Jason, it'd almost be like punching stone. This is not a soft man to break through sheer physical force.
Mr. Rust pauses for a moment - a fatal moment as it might be, what with Sato drawing a chain out behind him - his mouth open a bit. "Did you, did you actually hit me?" He asks, as if in disbelief.
"You can't hit for /shit/," he spits out as he tries to take his hand around Jason's neck and shove him down to the ground, just for the right angle to bring the butt of Ol' Rusty to the back of his head as he appears blissfully unaware of what grisly fate may soon be befalling him.
COMBATSYS: Jason blocks Rust's Armed Combo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Rust 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/----===|
Jason lifts up his own hands, and while Rusts hand clamps down powerfully upon his neck, causing him to stagger, he manages to push back enough for Rust to lose his grip so he doesn't drag him all the way back down onto the grass. But Jason's eyes narrow. "Oh yeah?" he asks, now amused, as he can look over Rust's shoulder and see what is about to transpire.
Sato then lashes out with his chain, trying to wrap it around Rust's neck, and strangle him with it! And while Sato is doing that, Jason is working on him, trying to punch him in the stomach, slam, slam. There's not much fairness in this fight.
COMBATSYS: Sato successfully hits Rust with Chain Strangle.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Jason's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/----===|
"Yeah, I think I'd, y'know, know a few things 'bout--"
Does he know things about being strangled? Based on how easily Sato gets it around his neck, probably not, his upper body jerking back with a wince as he brings his left hand around the chain and squeezes tight. So very tight, his knuckles all pop in unison while Ol' Rusty hangs free, down and low - more than free to smack Jason in front of him if it weren't for the fact that...
Well, he's being strangled.
"/Christ/," Rust sneers, knowing full well to keep his neck muscles tight, to not give way while his body does what it tends to do - stiffen up. Joints pop with just about every subtle movement as he's being wrestled, and Jason's not slowing down either.
This time, he has to make half-hearted parrying attempts with the pipe in spite of his body's unwillingness to move. For the most part, he does keep those blows at bay with Ol' Rusty, but that is when one of his physical weaknesses come to play.
The last slam knocks the pipe out of his right hand and into the ground, his weaker grip post-Southtown invasion working against him. Would this be the deciding factor that sees Rust out of the fight so soon against these two lowlives?
Struggling to move between his shortening breath and how his joints like to lock up so soon after bracing himself so, he leans back in a clear attempt to throw the attacker behind him off balance before he wordlessly bows forward, trying to toss Sato over himself and into the ground in front of Jason via the very chain he's in the middle of being strangled by.
COMBATSYS: Sato dodges Rust's Strong Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/----===|
Sato is actually pretty damn good. Cunning, craft, guile. Chain. And apparently mad wrasslin' skills, as he promptly lets of Rust to back away as he feels those hands reaching out for him, trying to haul him over into the grass.
Jason, for his part, is laughing, oh what fun this is. Rust can take it all right, but Jason can just keep on giving it, and a thug like him, thats about the sweetest thing in life, pounding someone into a paste. Admittedly Rust isn't paste just yet, but that just means Jason can exercise his arm muscles that much more.
While he's doing that, Sato swings his chain, trying to lash Rust with it. Ooer.
COMBATSYS: Sato successfully hits Rust with Chain Swipe.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Jason's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 0/-------/----===|
Kazuki Kirigana had been bored with the Gedo High rooftop, and decided to take a walk and listen to the flow of the city of Southtown. Something about it... had been /off/, almost /wrong/ somehow since the start of the King of Fighters. Perhaps he should see what was ruining the normally interesting and familiar music.
His sojourn brought Kazuki to Pacific High School when he heard the sound of what he took to be a spar between fighters. Kirigana shakes that thought off, no, there's something more hostile to it really. He pulls his headphones back, allowing the sounds of the planet reach his ears. Three people, he thinks to himself. One of them is having a rough time of it.
The Aikido prodigy makes his way to the sporting field to see one Howard Rust taking on a pair of street toughs, and judging from the sounds of it, having a hard time. "Excuse me, sensei?" he asks. He's seen Howard Rust a few times, and has heard of the shop teacher. "Do you... need some help?" He seems genuinely concerned about this, but perhaps willing to listen if the Rustmaster waves him off. Kazuki Kirigana is an odd fit for a Gedo High student.
The older man coughs a few times when Sato lets go - the chain largely just bounces off his back, for what is an undeniable clean hit. It should be worrying to pretty much /anyone/ when a lash from one of the nastiest street-level weapons one can wield, by itself, just doesn't seem to measure up to all that much - but perhaps that's why thugs like to travel in groups.
Bent over and wheezing a bit, that's just prime time for another punch to come to his head. It's perfectly lined up with Jason's swing, really uncannily. The older man's shoulder pops loudly as he thrusts a hand up to catch that strong punch, and shakes his head.
"I, I ain't laughin'," the shop teacher says as he fights with his stiff body to swing a leg down towards Jason's shin and - through the noisy crackles of a knee - suddenly lashes out down low with a series of repetitive kicks, each one shredding a bit of the athletic field turf to a sound almost akin to a jackhammer.
A technique further honed with Kyokugen training, no less.
"Can it wait?!" The older man says to the young student that just comes by for his attention, "I'm in the middle of," he doesn't finish his sentence, too busy kicking.
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits Jason with Jackhammer Kick.
>> Decisive Hit!! <<
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Rust 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 1/-------/=======|
"Ahhhh, <censored>!" screams Jason as his shin is pounded, no longer laughing himself as he drops like a sack of rocks and finds himself rolling around in agony on the turf, clutching his leg. Goddammit that /hurt/.
The Woman in the Black Hijab who Rust heroically prevented from being shivved, still watching off to one side, blinks as this new guy shows up, blue eyes widening a bit. Who the hell is this guy? What the hell is he doing here?
Sato meanwhile figures this better end fast, as it looks like Rust-sensei has backup nearby. Proving remarkably difficult to drop, he lifts up one foot to jam a powerful roundhouse into Rust's side with all the strength he can muster. Jason meanwhile is still rolling in the dirt, it's all he can do to try and grab Rust's legs and upend him, a distracting attack if nothing else.
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Jason's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Sato's Roundhouse Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Rust 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Sato
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Jason 1/-------/=======|
Jason may not know how to /hit/ for shit but he proves in the heat of the moment he has a pretty good idea of when to pull things like trying to upend a guy. Choosing to go for the legs when he's still pulling the one he attacked with back? It's a good idea.
"Gkhgh," a very weird vocalization escapes Mr. Rust's throat as he falls to a crouch, the attempt largely only partially successful thanks to his ability to know how to go with a fall like that. That said, he does go onto one knee fairly hard - to say nothing as to how numb his left arm is getting.
Ol' Rusty is just off to the side, he needs to reach out and get it. He tries, struggling to reach out and get it...
Sato just swings a meaty roundhouse kick into the side. It's a convincing hit, it should hit where he's soft, it's enough to actually /move/ the man for once.
Enough to get Ol' Rusty back into arm's reach, which he takes handily as he realizes he's working from an incredibly awkward position on the ground. The only answer he can really have for Jason, being on his side, is to thrust one of his legs up into his face from the ground to further provide incentive for him to back off.
Kazuki finally notices the woman. Odd, Kaz didn't hear her presence. Not a fighter, perhaps? That must be it. Something to ask his teacher about later. He sees Rust get pummeled some more, quickly coming to a conclusion regarding the situation. "I think that is enough," he says quietly. "You should probably go some place to get some rest," he says to Sato as he takes a pair of quick steps to get in close. Kazuki extends two fingers, reaching for a spot just below Sato's ribcage as he sheathes the fingers in a pale green glow of chi energy.
Should the strike connect Sato will have a very difficult time catching his breath, both from the iron-like pressure from the fingertip strike and the disruptive chi that Kazuki allows to flow into the chain-wielding punk.
COMBATSYS: Kazuki has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Kazuki 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Sato 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Jason
COMBATSYS: Jason blocks Rust's Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Kazuki 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sato 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Jason
COMBATSYS: Kazuki successfully hits Sato with Disruptive Strike.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Kazuki 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Sato 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Jason
The Woman in the Black Hijab has been there all along, and she was even shouting and screaming at one point, though now she is curiously still and silent, just watching the fight, her heavy bag still resting on the ground by her side, with groceries in it, by the look of it. Being clad in a hijab there isn't really much more than can be seen!
Meanwhile, back in the action, Sato turns, trying to just brace for impact as fingers smash into him, but the energy rips through him and knocks him backwards despite his preparation. He responds immediately though, jabbing up into Kazuki's face with a clenched fist in a straightforward, but vicious, attack. Not the face!
Jason meanwhile is roaring like a bestial animal of some sort. "AAAAARRGGGGHHHHH! Lets see you take THIS!" he yells out, winding up with both arms to just batter at Rust with all his power and strength.
COMBATSYS: Kazuki fails to counter Aggressive Strike from Sato with Counter Toss.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Kazuki 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Sato 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Jason
COMBATSYS: Jason successfully hits Rust with Double Fisted Fury.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kazuki 0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Sato 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Jason
Kazuki rocks back as the fist strikes him cleanly in the face. He had barely seen the punk move, let alone have enough time to intercept the strike and throw his opponent. Kaz lets out a grunt of pain as blood trickles from his nose. The Aikido fighter shuffles back a couple of feet before taking up something more closely resembling a fighting stance. Kirigana keeps his center balances, and his arms loose and free at his sides while keeping his center line aimed away from Sato. The young man's brown eyes, however, seem to be staring /through/ Sato's torso.
It may be time for the teacher to realize that maybe, just maybe, he couldn't have taken both of these guys by himself. Just one of them, they'd be breakfast - he catches Kazuki's involvement out the corner of his eye as he's trying to rise up. H'ed like to say 'hey, be careful' or what have you but, there's a problem.
Jason's just rushing him down. He's coming in so fast that it is nigh impossible for the shop teacher to mount a proper defense while he himself is trying to /get up/. It's one of those inescapable truths of youth versus age. The young just get up faster, move quicker.
"C'mon," the teacher grunts as he clenches his left hand again half-risen. This is kind of a bad idea, considering how much his body locks up entirely every time he does it, finding himself in a compromise that is little better than a compromised position.
His left forearm might catch, oh, one or two blows, but the rest just manage to get past through sheer bloody single-mindedness, striking him in places already beginning to get a little tender. The man realizes... you know, these guys really aren't gonna back down. They just aren't.
"Kid," Rust says to Jason. Jason may be taller, but Rust knows for a fact he's the senior of the two, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna tell ya this. I just had, a, a very, very bad day," he clears his throat, "no, a, a very, very bad month."
Clencing his teeth, he draws back Ol' Rusty behind him, "and, and I got, I got, y'know, no qualms sendin' you to, to the hospital if you don't," he growls as he struggles to steady himself, which is hard because this guy is /wailing/ on him - but he manages, somehow, an unsteady stand on the grass even as his body does not really want to move much, "back..."
With the loud snap of his shoulder and elbow, Ol' Rusty is thrust forward - carrying Howard Rust himself across the turf in a simple charging motion that may be more akin to the infamous samurai 'dash and slash' maneuver. If that pipe makes contact with Jason's breadbasket, though...
Well, the sound akin to a wrecking ball demolishing a building should be a good indicator of what that man's ribs are going to look like.
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits Jason with Condemned.
>> Decisive Hit!! <<
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Kazuki 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Sato 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Jason
BAM. There's the sickening sound of Godzilla mashing a skyscraper made out of flesh into rubble, and then jumping up and down on its meaty, fleshy remnants until whatever supporting bones and gristle has been turned into mince. It's ugly. There's blood spray, faces turning all over the sports field, a tall and quite muscular American collapsing into a pathetic heap on the ground. Before too long there's probably going to be paramedics and a stretcher, if he's lucky. A bucket, if he's not.
On the plus side, at least his jacket means whatever Awful Damage has been inflicted, MK style, is safely hidden from impressionable eyes.
A silence descends briefly - broken only by the sound of Sato's feet, as he hightails it rapidly out of there. He's a sharp one, and discretion is the better part of valour.
A few heartbeats pass, and then the woman springs into life, leaving her bag behind to head over to Rust. Kazuki is ignored. Volume back to a faint whisper again, she still has that bizarre American accent, as she says, "Oh, thank you sir, if not for the good fortune of a skilled fighter happening to be at hand then I surely would have been stabbed!". Her blue eyes fixed on Rust throughout. Maybe she's in shock after this traumatic episode.
COMBATSYS: Jason takes no action.
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Kazuki 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sato 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Jason can no longer fight.
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Kazuki 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sato 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sato takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Kazuki 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sato 0/-------/-======|
Fighters are, typically speaking, tough people. They'll survive... usually. Jason will certainly be in traction for a good while, no doubt about that.
Mr. Rust, as if to go with the usual style of the maneuver in question, sticks Ol' Rusty back through the toolbelt pocket with his back turned. Without Jason's swearing or making any footsteps, it's relatively safe to assume that yeah, the guy is down.
Turning his head over to the side, he gives Sato (and by unintentional inclusion, /Kazuki/) the stink-eye that probably doesn't have, in itself, immediate prompting in Sato's decision to run and flee as the Muslim woman runs back up to thank him by coming from where he's not looking - actually she kind of startles him, which may be a funny effect for some to see after how he just took care of that larger American thug.
"Whoa," the older man says as he raises a hand defensively, as if thinking for a moment he's about to be jumped /again/... but slowly relaxes. "It's, it's... it's okay, but, uh... you gotta be careful, don't, don't travel too heavy. It, it makes you a target."
He signals with his free hand back over to Kazuki to come to him.
Kazuki /is/ wearing a Gedo High uniform, so maybe that stink-eye is warranted?
Kazuki lets Sato run; the punk has clearly lost the will to fight which marks the end of the confrontation. He regards the woman with uninterested eyes but all-too-keen ears. He is still trying to puzzle out why he could not hear her at first. His confusion quickly fades, however. Perhaps, mixed in with the two toughs and a fighter of Rust's caliber, her song was lost in the confusion.
Rust signals for the young man in the Gedo longcoat. Being a fairly non-confrontational youth, Kazuki approaches Howard Rust.
The woman nods her head enthusiastically at Rust's reply. "I will bear your advice in mind when next I travel through this dangerous town." she replies. "It requires great talent and dedication to fight off not just one but two thugs like that, which not everybody has access to, unfortunately.".
She could go on - and she does think about it, pausing briefly, mouth open, but even dolls know it's possible to lay it on too thick. So she turns and scurries back to her bag, making great show of how heavy it is. (It does look pretty heavy). "Thank you again, sir! I heard that these schools were the home of great warriors, but I did not quite believe it at first!".
And then she turns to go. She's just about the worst actor on the planet, and she's strained her meagre abilities to the limit and beyond already as it is.
"Uhh... maybe, but," the older man has trouble following how quickly that lady is just jabbering and jabbering - it kind of makes him wonder if she knew she was being trailed by these guys and just tried to lure them to the schools in hopes a student would take care of them, or something.
The older man leans over a bit, rubbing his side every so often. Okay, maybe Jason /could/ hit worth shit after all, that one shot he landed on his side was fairly solid, by... his definitions of it, anyway. His neck is still a bit sore after that intended choke on his part. For the most part he just lowers his head and raises a hand once in a wave to see her off, not much else other than that.
"I... I dunno what she's talking 'bout when she said I, I fought off... two of 'em," he asides to Kazuki, "they... they were really, ah, workin' me over." He grunts once as he rolls one of his shoulders to get some of the kinks out. "What I did, that was... that was sloppy, needed to... to get my back to somethin', they kept getting all kinds of, all kinds of shots where I couldn't see 'em."
It was a lot of multi-opponent no-no's he committed, that's for sure, but today's not been one of his best days.
"Anyway, ah... thanks, but, but you didn't just... just come out of nowhere to stop a mugger, did you?"
Kazuki smiles softly as Rust admits his failures. To admit your mistakes is to overcome them, after all. "I simply followed the sound of the fight, Sensei," Kazuki replies quietly as he watches the woman leave. A slight frown crosses his face. "This whole town has sounded wierd for the past few months," he explains. "I felt that I should find out why when I found you here. You did pretty well considering the odds."
Kazuki turns an ear towards Rust, trying to get a feel for the sound the older fighter's chi makes.
Cammy thinks it all went perfectly! Up until her performance at the end, anyway. She isn't sure she really did enough there to set Rust's mind on the right track, but she knows her limits. Any more hanging around and talking would undoubtably cause alarm bells to ring in Rust's mind, so she settles for what she has already achieved. Unfortunately she doesn't have Lord Vega coercive brainfrying powers or anything. And while she does know actors, she suspected the wusses concerned would not go along with her little scheme.
The Doll is fairly proud regardless though, and smirks beneath the covering on her head, the smirk of a job well done. Maybe that will provide the encouragement needed, at least in part. The smirk then slowly fades away, as she considers what next - she's about ready to wash her hands of all these pains in the ass, and now she considers herself pretty much debt cleared, overzealous kickings made up for.
"Mission complete." she mutters quietly to herself, as she turns a corner, looking for somewhere to get out of this ridiculous getup, and back into a nice red version which is so much nicer.
It sounds like a snap, a crackle, and a pop.
Wait, no, that was just Howard flexing his knee out, never mind.
"Uhh... has it? I mean... the... the excitement over King of Fighters, yeah, maybe," the forty-year-old man mentally shrugs while Cammy, well in the distance, considers her little mission complete for whatever it accomplished.
The teacher will probably never know.
"I'm sorry, but, ah... I don't think, I don't think I'd be the person to ask," Howard says as he starts meandering along towards a bench to sit down at. It's kind of nice, far as he can tell none of these benches are broken or anything, for once. He'll never understand why. These are top dollar designs, made by the best.
And yet he finds himself having to /fix them/ so very often.
Either way, it's hard to make out much of a sound or feeling out of Rust's chi. It's there, it's just... tightly compacted, perhaps? Not a huge concentration, by any means, just... what's there seems solid, relatively unmoving.
"No," Kazuki says quitely. "The city sounds /wrong/, somehow." He frowns as he looks in the direction of Cammy's swift retreat. "Not like her, though," he says after a moment. He shakes it off; the idea of investigating sounds a lot like work to him. He turns to face Rust again, bowing slightly at the waist.
"I'm being rude. Please forgive me, Sensei. I am Kazuki Kirigana, of the Kirigana Aikido Center."
As the older man sits down on a bench, he turns his head about the city 'sounding' wrong, but he can't for the life of himself make out what Kazuki is trying to mean by that. He idly rubs at his neck. That guy's chain didn't really dig into him all that much, which is good.
"Oh, nah, it's, it's okay," the older man clears his throat, "goin' by, uh, eastern name order... I'm Rust Howard, I, I teach shop here at Pacific High."
If Takuma were waiting in the distance, he'd be pissed at hearing how he chooses to introduce himself!!
"And, and Kyokugen Karate student," he adds as he suddenly thinks about how Takuma would be pissed if he were waiting in the distance and heard that he introduced himself as a Kyokugen Karate user second to being a teacher, but it's much too late to take it back if he is!!
He nods his head at least, in replacement of a proper bow since he's, well, kind of banged up and had a bad day, he needs a moment to sit and rest a bit.
COMBATSYS: Rust drops his guard to recover.
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Kazuki 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sato 0/-------/-======|
"I thought I recognized something from that last kick," Kazuki replies with a bit of interest. "I say you in that match against Zangief," he continues not realizing that Rust's ill-fated King of Fighters match might be a sore point. "That took some guts," he finally says.
Then he sighs. "It sounds like...," Kazuki fumbles for words for a moment. "...like the planet is getting lost in some kind of rage." He frowns deeply. "It's getting harder to block out."
"...Yeah," the older of the two says as he mentions Zangief. It is a very sore spot, a very sad spot - the thought that maybe, after so many years, he would've finally stood a chance to make a mark in the biggest tournament name there is.
A dream died that day, to say nothing of everything else that happened along the trip through Africa.
"Like the... uh... what," the older man scratches the side of his head again, and thinks... maybe he should ask Takuma if he knows what the hell that means, given his talk about the planet back when he himself made it to yellow belt at last. "I... I'm sorry, I, I guess I don't... really follow you."
Kazuki studies Rust a bit intently. "No," he finally says quietly. "I suppose you don't." He heaves a sigh as he slides his headphones back on. "You seem like a man of integrity, Rust-sensei," he says as he turns to walk away. "It'd suck if the world's noise drowned yours out."
He waves over his shoulder before shoving his hands in his pockets.
Even though both are speaking English, Howard can't help but feel if there's some kind of... language barrier between them that he just can't quite put a finger on. Something. Something or another. He largely shrugs again, taking a deep breath... yeah, he's sure he can go the rest of the day just fine, just needs that little breather.
"Well, uh... I gotta get to work, so, 's, 's nice meetin' you b-but," he doesn't finish that sentence, popping out one of his knees one last time before heading back further inward to the building.
At this point, an ambulance team has arrived along with a police officer to take Jason away. Maybe if Howard is lucky he'll be able to slip back to work and not get called out to answer some questions until the end of the day.
Log created on 14:05:56 03/09/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 18:55:07 03/09/2011.