Description: Yet more twists and turns, as Frei continues to seek answers. Through the power of the Internet, he manages to find a lead to continue his quest... and in the process, he finds a raging, escapee Tran on the loose. The relationship between these two men, and the forces they represent -- harmonious balance and power unfettered -- has always been rocky, but never as bad as this. Tran's newfound, uncontrollable power seems ready to steamroll everything in its path... is Frei prepared to pay the necessary price to bring that raging force to heel?
For once, Frei didn't have to rely on lucky breaks in his quest for more knowledge about the horrible things potentially about to befall the world. Sure, he needed Kula's guidance and a bit of luck to find Ash Crimson, and he practically had to fall into Kyo Kusanagi's lap to find that guy, but this time he had an ace in the hole. True, as the YFCC instructor left his meeting with the Scion of Flame, he didn't have a lot of hope for meeting this Reiji Oogami fellow either. Probably yet another mysterious figure with inexplicable magical powers, wrapped up in the deepest mysteries of Japan's mythical past. How the hell do you find a guy like th--
And then he got back to his apartment, and remembered that Kyo had said Oogami was his 'teammate.'
Sitting down at his desk, as the afternoon wore on, Frei remembered a moment from his own past. A phone call from a blogger, or maybe a magazine writer... one of the two. They hadn't talked long, but the topic had been a short biography of him to be included in Fights Illustrated's breakdown of the King of Fighters teams. Of course in the published materials, the REALLY big name people took up most of the space, and even among the rest of the Einherjar team, his blurb was comparatively brief, but it had given the basics: native of Kyoto, expert with chi, and his place of 'employment': the YFCC. A little Googling and a credit card through the paywall later, and Frei was looking at the digital copy of the story.
The 'Hero Team' was a surprising mix. Kyo and K' being the people Frei knew personally, and Iori by reputation, but the other two were mysteries. A Taiyo student named Moe, and an employee of Kagura Enterprises named... Reiji Oogami.
Then to Google Maps. And then to the Southtown public transit website.
By the time Frei steps off the bus in the business district, heading toward the Kagura building, the sun is already starting to set. The location is familiar to him, now that he sees it; this is where he fought a giant, ninja-built, chi-powered robot panda... in fact, the building said panda punched Frei straight through is still under repairs. The construction work means there's not many pedestrians here, especially now that the workday is nearly over. The redhead is left standing in front of the building, gazing up at it. Would Oogami be here, even? Frei would assume the teams would be abroad preparing for round two, but both Frei himself and Kyo Kusanagi are in Southtown, so he might get lucky.
"Either way," he says aloud, breathing out with a sigh. "time's of the essence. Hopefully I'll run into *somebody* who can help me."
SOME TIME AGO
Dr. Richard Tran blows up a tub of popcorn and sedative, the latest in his magical adventures inside a Yata secret base buried beneath the earth.
NOW
Dr. Richard Tran is running down the street, barefoot and shirtless but still thankfully with pants and a labcoat. The nametag says Dr. Turd in very serious letters, with an official logo next to it and a color bar and everything. He is not allowing anybody to get in his way, tearing down the sidewalk, shoving people aside roughly. There are people shouting, injuries, property damage. It is a /commotion./
Of course, from afar, it just looks like an extremely localized, extremely quick-moving cloud of fog. On this clear, sunny afternoon. Definitely heading in Frei's direction.
As people start to learn enough to just get out of the way, the doctor is revealed, chest heaving as he dashes, steam pouring off of him like he's being microwaved. He's also 'mumbling' under his breath, which actually comes out pretty loudly with how hard he's breathing.
"Gotta...gotta find...find what? What!?"
It's cool. He's probably just being eccentric.
The thing about getting beaten up by a robot panda and surviving is that you actually have some memories to reflect on. It's not something you do everyday, mind you. Plus, well... there's something on Frei's mind, come to that. This is why instead of paying attention to his surroundings, he's looking between very specific locations -- the building under repair and the Kagura Enterprises front door -- and bringing a hand up to his chin in a gesture of thoughtful contemplation. He fought a panda that was rampaging here, and which couldn't have been the work of anyone BUT Seishirou Ryouhara. And after the fact came the knowledge that Alma had been waylaid not far from here by a very complex chi-powered seal. Never mind that while Frei had sat in France, meeting with Ash Crimson, a little chi-imbued paper origami crane was watching him the whole time.
It's... suspicious.
H's sitting there puzzling that out as Tran is approaching. Pursuing that line of thought means tracking down Seishirou and trying to get answers out of him, and deep inside Frei doesn't have any interest in doing so. Trying to get information out of Ash was hard enough... out of someone like Seishirou? Waste of time. On the other hand, letting his personal feelings get in the way of a promising le--
A blink. "What the heck is tha--"
He felt a disturbance in the Force(*), and then he turned to see what it was.
(* chi, probably)
What 'it' was, is Hurricane Tran, more or less about to run right into the red-haired fighter basically at that very moment.
"Find..." Tran keeps mumble-shouting to himself, which doesn't really elicit extra stares from people nearby since, more importantly, he is still running through them like a bullet train.
To prove the point, a hapless fellow who was too slow to get out of the way goes spiralling away through the air, landing on a nearby smoothie cart, sending delicious fruit flying everywhere. The waste of flavor is /tragic/.
Ignoring the horrific chaos caused in his wake, Tran barrels forward and finally spots something familiar. The sight of the happy-go-lucky monk stops him in his tracks, bringing him skidding to a halt.
"...Frei?" The doctor almost sounds reasonable, for a time.
"Rrrrgh, no, god damn it, WRONG!" It lasts a predictably short time. Tran immediately begins to vent his frustration in the two ways he does best: haymakers and explosions.
"WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!"
COMBATSYS: Tran has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tran 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tran has awoken to his Rage.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tran [E] 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Frei has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Tran
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Tran's Strong Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Tran
WERE THIS a tactical situation, Tran would have made a fatal error by announcing his presence to Frei before attacking. It's a bit like a ninja assassin dropping off the ceiling and announcing his presence with a loud "BANZAI!" before trying to slice you in half. Thus Frei has warning, and a split second to turn and see what's coming, which gives him a very critical extra second to lunge his entire body backward, Tran's first blow clearly scything the air between them by mere inches, and the redhead being forced to give up a lot of ground to avoid the second. This is no happy accident... it was perhaps the stars aligning just so to push Frei over the razor's edge past 'disaster.'
Picking himself off the ground from where he basically hit the deck to avoid Tran's attack, he takes in the sight before him, ready to throw out some quick one-liner to deal with Tran's typical nonsense. When he sees the sight before him, however, Frei stops dead. It's clear to anyone who knows how to look that something is Very Wrong here... even more Wrong than Tran's default ground state, which is pretty damn Wrong to begin with.
"What am... hey, I should be asking you the same thing. What are YOU doing here? And without a shirt, I might add!" Frei demands, getting into a fighting stance. He'd rather not duke it out with an unstable Tran on the street, but the problem in those situations is that you don't always get to pick. Usually, the unstable person picks for you... so you might as well make yourself ready.
He came to find Reiji Oogami, with information about the Orochi. He finds an unstable, mental patient-looking Tran. What does it all MEAN?
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Tran
What it MEANS is that if Dr. Tran were a lawyer, he would call himself Mr. Tran but he would make up for it by wearing fancy suits and eating all of his meals off of naked hookers.
Or maybe there is a CONNECTION, not that the doctor is in much of a mindset for polite conversation. But it happens! Sometimes. Like, once? Maybe?
Regardless, in this case Tran whiffs big time, steam hissing out from his arm all the more powerfully now that Frei has inexplicably riled him up. The monk doesn't seem to be making any sudden moves, at least, taking a calmer, more cautious approach...which really doesn't help at all. One piece of Tran's scattered mind takes offense to this; how /dare/ Frei act so calm, probably just to spite him!
"Shut up! I don't have to answer your..." He trails off, trying to concentrate. It fails. "SHUT UP!" Tran lunges forward, looking to grab Frei by the neck and slam him into the ground amidst another blast of steam. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Tran's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 [E] Tran
You just have to develop a tolerance for this sort of thing when you have a long-term association with Tran. In that respect, Frei is actually well off here, because it means he's prepared for the sort of random violence that comes his way. Thus when the Not-so-Good Doctor makes a grab for his throat, Frei is ready for it, bringing up his hands and grappling briefly with Tran's attempt to grapple him... which doesn't go so well. For one, Tran actually has a good deal more physical power than Frei does squeezed into that dense little package. For two, that steam chi is apparently set to 'tremendous,' such that even the notoriously chi-resilient Frei is all but overwhelmed by it, the burst cascading in a scalding wave over him even if the attempt to throw him to the ground.
"Ngh..." the redhead mutters, rubbing a hand around his neckline for a moment and grimacing at the feeling of slightly chilly spring afternoon air on his now slightly burned forearms and throat. That really hurt. And some alarm bell is going off in his head that this scenario is all wrong, but the problem with When Trans Attack! is that you aren't given a lot of time to think about the situation. "What is it with you?" Frei demands, getting back into a fighting stance. "Why does it _always turn out this way_?"
He reaches behind him for the hilt of his bokken... and finds that he left it at home. Well that's just great. "Alright, we do it the old fashioned way. Here's a tip, Tran," Frei says, gritting his teeth and cocking one arm back. "USE YOUR WORDS."
Then he just lets a field of invisible force form around his fist before attempting to deck Tran right in the damn mouth, because it appears to be the only way to get him to stop and LISTEN for five seconds.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Tran with Fierce Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 [E] Tran
It's not like Tran /always/ acts like a violent psychopath. It's just an easier way to say hello, is all. Why, there are plenty of times where he's just run into an old friend and had a pleasant conversation.
Or maybe he just remembers it that way because of massive repeated trauma. Either way, that was then and this is now and Frei isn't backing down like a jerk. Tran lets out a low, almost feral growl, taking a step forward to follow up after his half-failed attempt to bury Frei alive without using a shovel.
"Why, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?" His face would surely show frustration if it weren't rapidly being obscured by his own out of control aura. Said aura does not prevent Frei from punching him right in the face. The doctor staggers backward, the back of his hand to his now bloody lip, teeth audibly grinding.
"You stop your words, and just...!" Tran chokes on it, then lunges forward again with a shout, to return Frei's punch in kind. "LET ME GO!"
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Tran's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 [E] Tran
"You atta... whoa!" Like an idiot, Frei is trying his usual tactic of logic or, if not logic, then at least discussion, with a rampaging Tran. The punch wasn't really meant to hurt him, just to get his freakin' attention. It's a bit like throwing cold water on him, for the most part. Sadly, all it really appears to have done is made him even angrier, and more to the point, more aggressive. When that punch comes sailing in, Frei has a few brief seconds to block it, arms coming up... and when the blow lands home it's actually shoved Frei away a few feet, despite being deflected. "Ah-tah-tah... that really hurt!" This is not necessarily a lie, especially since Frei is able to extrapolate upwards to how that would have felt is Tran had fully connected, the answer being 'not good.'
"Look," Frei says, dropping the arm he blocked with to his side for a moment, because it's frankly too tingly-numb to be of much use NOW. "I know you seem to have this thing where people being nice to you infuriates you, but this is kind of stretching it even by your standards." It's a decidedly blunt and honest statement, but not necessarily meant with rancor; in Frei's eyes, it's just Tran's nature. "Anyway, you ran into me! I'm not stopping you from going anywhere!"
This is when he suddenly thrusts an arm forward, palm out, hand glowing blue-white. "So why don't you chill out and explain what the hell is going on!" He means 'chill out' literally, too: he's trying to flash-freeze some of that steamy air around Tran, turn it into a biting, frigid, ice-filled wind that will hopefully take the wind out of Tran's proverbial sails... though when Frei's attempt to manipulate that energy comes in contact with the swirling miasma of chi power surrounding Tran, the redhead's eyes widen in shock.
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Frei's Hatsuyuki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0 [E] Tran
Has Frei always been this chatty? Tran feels like he can't have been, since logic dictates that if he were, they never would have become anything resembling friends in the first place. The thought that it's his own tolerance dramatically shifting never occurs to him; introspection is a bit beyond him, at this point.
Plus, the monk continues to put up a spirited, effective defense; nevermind his reasons for doing whatever it is that he's doing, Dr. Tran hates it when when other people actively prevent his success. Which is clearly Frei's entire goal in this encounter.
"/You/ look!" Tran hesitates in his comeback, because even he can tell that's sort of lame, but then all it does is serve to piss him off more. It is yet another rung in an infinite looping ladder of anger.
And then Frei is working his chi sage magic, the air turning frigid and cold. Dr. Tran responds in the simplest way: by shooting out more steam. The insidious wave of ice creeps in toward him, frosting his skin...and then melting away entirely in short order. And still there are more questions, which Tran makes to answer not out of any desire to be helpful, but more because they're annoying him.
"I need to find...find..." He trails off, looking down as he struggles to keep his brain in order. His head snaps back up and he leaps forward at Frei, fist lancing out for the forehead like an iron (exploding) snake.
"THE ZOO!" he proclaims triumphantly.
COMBATSYS: Frei fails to interrupt Jab Punch from Tran with Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 [E] Tran
"Seriously, just s--"
Frei is in the process of reaching up to grab Tran's arm, hoping to perhaps apply some sort of submission hold, or Vulcan Nerve Pinch, or SOMETHING... just anything to get Tran to stop talking for five seconds so Frei can figure out what's wrong. Tran's little punch might be snakebite-quick, but presumably it can't hit all that hard, so he should be totally safe.
This thought quickly leaves Frei in the fractions of a second it takes for him to fly through the air and land against a nearby newspaper vending box so hard it's damaged beyond repair, the free Southtown weekly fountaining up behind him in fluttering wings of newsprint.
From... that little love tap.
Grimacing as he rolls out of the wreckage to stand up again, Frei glances at Tran with a somewhat blurry gaze for a moment, before his equilibrium settles. "What the hell was that..." the chi sage murmurs, studying his friend carefully. Tran's not weak -- he never has been -- but to Frei's recollection, Tran's never been quite THAT strong. His jaw is still sore from the crushing force of that punch. "Tran, what happened to you...?
Dr. Tran, of course, is never surprised when the smallest of his attacks sends a grown man who has previously withstood a small nuclear explosion flying backward like he was just hit by a truck. That's just par for the course, right?
And one would think that, with Frei momentarily taken out of the picture, the doctor would be free to do what he likes, scampering off to see the animals or whatever he's got it in his mixed up head to do next.
But he's a bit beyond that point; on some level, he'd like to. But with Frei here, he can't stop. He can't control himself. That knowledge, buried deep inside, just drives him even more crazy.
Dashing toward Frei and leaping high into the air, Tran does a flip, his bare ankle trailing a streamer of chi as he lightly arcs through the air. His answer is a succinct one, one that rips right out of him.
"I DON'T KNOW!" And then he comes crashing down at Frei, axe kicking with such absurd force that the very ground itself splinters and cracks, regardless of whether or not he actually connects.
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Tran's Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 [E] Tran
Tran descends from the sky like some sort of furious comet... and this time, Frei takes no chances whatsoever. Summoning all his strength to force himself out of the grogginess from that last hit, he vaults backwards away from the point of impact just in time for Tran to hit the concrete like the wrath of God, pavement splintering in spiderweb-like cracks around him in a surprisingly large circle... a circle where Frei kneels just at its perimeter, one hand to the ground, staring at this spectacle and having no way at all to interpre--
Wait a minute.
'...gave him some kinda extra power, supercharged the ol' copycat flames. Made him angrier than an old guy in a room full of unprogrammed VCRs...' says Kyo Kusanagi's voice in his head, as Frei's memory of the conversation just a few hours old at this point kicks in. He still doesn't know who the 'Blondie' Kyo meant was, but this is certainly a supercharged Tran he's facing. What does it mean? Are they even connected? It's not like Tran has the 'scent' of whatever darkness there was lying in wait in Sunshine City...
"It's too early..." Frei says, mostly to himself, but probably audible to Tran... a decision he'd regret if Frei were thinking more clearly. "I don't know enough to help you yet..." If only he knew the truth of how Tran came to be here, and just why this encounter is taking place where it is.
As it stands, however, the chi sage appears to have come to the conclusion that there is one valid route to ending this: knocking Tran thoroughly unconscious before he seriously injures someone, Frei included. "You've always got to be so _difficult_!" the redhead shouts, rushing forward to snatch out a grip on Tran's arm. If he can get it, the Doctor makes a full 360 degree pass in the air before being flung straight up, Frei assisting the upward velocity with a shockwave of chi that bursts out from his palms.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Tran with Shindou.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1 [E] Tran
Standing in a steaming crater, Tran is still for a moment, panting. Slowly his head turns toward Frei, eyes-- well, not blazing, because that would suggest fire, but damn near pure white with steam that slowly trails upward. The cloud is, in general, becoming more dense without increasing in size as power continues to grow. And then Frei keeps talking.
Now, under normal circumstances, which maybe still aren't technically the best circumstances, this would invoke mixed feelings in the doctor. It's always nice to know someone cares, but...well, the warm fuzzy bits aren't working right now.
"Good!" Tran shouts, just before Frei grabs him. He attempts to break free, actually hurting himself further with his struggles before the monk finishes the attack by shooting the doctor up like a chi-rocket. He's leaving a contrail and everything. And then, like every good rocket, he explodes.
The chi blossoms, spreading out in every direction, acting more like fog now; thankfully it's spread thinly enough that it's not harmful, just vision-impeding. From within the mists, Dr. Tran's voice echoes; it's hard to pinpoint where, exactly, although educated guesses would suggest 'still up'.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" God knows what he's /actually/ up to, but it doesn't take a chi sensitive like Frei to realize that energy is swelling and approaching at a rate most people would consider 'alarming'.
COMBATSYS: Frei endures Tran's American Hero Cutter.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Frei 1/-----==/=======|???????\???????\0 [E] Tran
It comes from nowhere. Frei has almost no time to react; normally he could suss out fluxuations in chi, read the path of an attack, react to it... now? It's like trying to use sonar in a room with a white noise generator. Whatever's happened to Tran, it's seriously destabilized the Doctor's equilibrium... and since Tran's control over his considerable natural talent is dubious even at the best of times, amped up to this point, the side effect is considerably worse. Frei turns, notices, JUST in time the blade of energy heading his way... one of Tran's favorites, if his memory serves. Spiralling through the air, the steam-forged boomerang cutter bears down and Frei does the only thing he can think of:
He walks right into it.
He's got to know. He's got to experience the range of Tran's chi abilities, feel the pain that goes into it, feel the... harmonics of it. Something. He needs to READ it, and the way to do that isn't just to let it hit him, but to brace himself, to prepare to be hit by it. The blade slams into his shoulder, slicing through his shirt, embedding itself in Frei's skin for a moment before the attenuating force of Tran's will leaves it, the energy dissipating back into the steam that it was. "Ngh..." It's all he has just to stay upright, to not be bowled over. But it does... work. To an extent.
The energy he felt underneath Sunshine City was a hunger, a dark devourer. But laced inside Tran's bizarre twist on water and fire combined, is... a howl. Not a devourer, but a destroyer. Perfectly positioned to take advantage of Tran's instability. But how to fight that? "You... probably need someone else's help," Frei says to Tran, gritting his teeth and closing the opposite hand around his shoulder. "But mine's what you ha... ve..."
He feels something, trying to hold that wound closed, and suddenly he has his answer. It's crazy. It's truly, stupidly crazy. But it might work.
And if it fails, then Frei is in big, big trouble.
"Alright, Tran..." he says carefully, getting into a defensive stance, preparing to weather the Doctor's fury for one last moment. "Time to help you like you tried to help me..."
COMBATSYS: Frei gathers his will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Frei 1/-======/=======|=======\=======\1 [E] Tran
One might suppose that the entire area being temporarily blanketed in chi doesn't help Frei keep his sixth sense in order, either. Tran's tried and true projectile does its work just as it's supposed to, ripping into the monk. Moments later, the doctor lands, and the fog begins to dissipate, making vision possible once more.
This helps Tran, as he slowly walks toward Frei again, sort of appear to materialize out of thin air. Like a demon. Clasically, a monk is just what you need for an exorcism; time will tell if Frei is /monk enough/.
"Shut up." And that time is fast approaching, as Tran begins to pick up speed again. He goes into a jog, the cloud of steam in his wake gradually thinning itself until it vanishes into nothing. Or more, accurately, until it vanishes into one of the two balls that have formed around his fists, twin spheres that almost seem to /pulsate/ with power.
And then Tran is running again. Then he's drawing a fist back, raising it high above his head as the distance between himself and Frei shortens. He can't really remember what Frei's talking about. Memories are stirred, but not brought to the fore; all he gets is a hollow sense, that it's something he should know but doesn't, a feeling with which Tran has recently become all too familiar.
Dr. Tran screams. He doesn't have any words left; only rage for what he's lost, rage at the people around him, rage at the rage itself. Two punches. The force is above and beyond anything Tran's previously produced in his entire life. Both are aimed directly at Frei.
A short distance away, a fire hydrant seems to explode for no reason, water spraying in the air. Dogs begin barking. And the force alone of Dr. Tran's attack, regardless of what it may or may not do to Frei, sends him flying backward and tumbling on hard concrete.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Tran's Here Comes Dr. Tran!.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Frei 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 [E] Tran
It takes everything Frei has not to crumple on the spot.
The force of each punch as it slams into Frei's crossed arms cracks the pavement Frei's standing on. The first one he can keep his footing, but the second, the redhead has no such luck. Tran's too far gone, and his borrowed power augmenting that natural ability is too much to handle. Frei's pushed back a nice long distance, the power of the blow forcing furroughs into the street. There's a loud, wet cough as Frei finally stops moving, his whole body heaving forward as he coughs blood onto the ground, those two mighty blows having rearranged some internal mechanics rather nastily, it would seem.
It's not enough to break him, however, though... not just yet. His hand comes away from his shoulder, also sticky with the dark red of his blood. The coppery scent of it fills his senses, but for the moment, he's got to ignore it... even if that very blood was the inspiration for this plan in the first place.
In his mind, Frei is back to the only place he's done this before: the park, alongside Alma and Jiro, facing down the clones of himself that powered the Artemis Engine. Devoid of his ability to feel and sense (and thus use) chi, Frei resorted to getting it from the one source he knew he still could: himself. Not the ambient chi around him, the 'safe' kind that most people use, but his very own life force... a precious, and more importantly LIMITED resource, but for its rarity, all the more potent. Fighters subconsciously control it to give them their nearly-superhuman feats of physical prowess, after all.
Frei's hand closes, palm down, over his sternum, and he closes his eyes for as long as he dares, grateful that the blowback from Tran's furious assault keeps him momentarily distracted. He reaches, deep within, literally pulling the stuff of life from his own body. The sound he makes is almost inhuman, as the pain is particularly nasty; rather than one prolonged scream, it's a series of choked sounds, some piercing, others low and barely audible.
But it pays off. Sitting in his hand is a small sphere of white light, warm to the touch, that illuminates Frei's face as he turns toward Tran, expression hardening with his resolve. It's now or never.
He charges. It's ragged, maybe a little slow from fatigue and pain, but all Frei really needs to do is get close enough to basically thrust his hand forward and shove that ball of light into Tran's chest. But it may be that, in his rage, Tran won't even allow that much to happen...
COMBATSYS: Tran fails to reflect Shinra Banshou from Frei with Dr. Tran Doles Out the Harshness.
[ \\\\\\\ < > / ]
Frei 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 [E] Tran
COMBATSYS: Tran can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\ <
Frei 0/-------/---====|
It's not easy. Forcing something past someone's aura is always difficult... it's a bit like pushing your hand into increasingly resistant molasses. But Frei somehow, somehow manages it. But that's just the start.
He's not an 'engineer' like Seishirou Ryouhara. There's very little indication Frei believes in things like a chi 'matrix' or binding power to physical items. On the other hand, he has a good natural feel for flow. And what that sliver of Frei's own power gives him is a view into the flow inside Tran... and, however briefly, a chance to obstruct it, redirect it... toy with it. Not in the long term. But just enough. Hand still extended, Frei lets out an inarticulate scream... and releases a wave of chi inside Tran, the feedback of it manifesting like a burst of silent force that, much like Tran's punches did, separates the two forcefully. Frei, for his part, goes flying across the street and lands face-down on the pavement, groaning in pain.
But it might be enough to buy Tran a few moments of clarity, before the natural order of his system reasserts itself.
In truth, the concept of a person's inner chi is one that Dr. Tran is familiar with. He's no stranger to using it, in fact, siphoning off of it when he would otherwise be exhausted, ignoring the effects that he knows it has on the human body.
Of course, he's never drawn from it quite as hard as Frei has. It's enough to give even him, in his beserker rage, pause. He's no sage, not like Frei, but when you work with chi enough, you can't help but pick up on a few things.
Naturally, his instant reaction upon realizing just what's happening is to get even angrier, as is almost inevitable at this point.
But it's too late to do any good; chi gathers about him once more, but Frei's already past his defenses. /All/ of his defenses. The chi blasts through him, playing havoc with his internal flow, causing him to fall helplessly to his knees.
Until he's blasted away by the wave of force, at least, whereupon he lands in a crumpled heap. And lays there, inert. And lays there. And lays there for a while long. And then begins to retch lightly, before pushing himself up so that he's not lying in a puddle of his own fluids. At least he's been on an IV for the past few days.
"You stupid asshole." Tran's voice is raspy and weak, but the exceptional constitution of a fighter, even weakened, is nothing to scoff. CLEARLY, he's already feeling better, in more ways than one.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid. What the fuck were you even thinking?" For the moment, he seems content to recover after that thrashing and berate Frei, but he knows (he knows something, with his mind!) that this is only a reprieve, nothing more.
"I hope you're not expecting me to thank you." He pauses a beat. "Moron."
After that tirade, there really is just silence from Frei, who doesn't appear to respond at all, even physically. Did he pay the ultimate price for Tran's moment of clarity? Was it worth it, in the end? And then Tran, who cannot be anyone but himself, makes it clear that he would never thank Frei for what he just did.
Which is when the redhead rolls over onto his back, and -- staring glassy-eyed at the sky -- laughs in spite of himself.
"Wasn't for you," he says, hoarse-voiced, trying a bit of Tran's logic right back at him. He grimaces, because even talking seemed to hurt a bit for a moment there, but then he coughs and gets things more or less under control, even if his voice still carries the gravelly hint of hoarseness to it. "You were just... a convenient test dummy..." There. Now you don't even have to thank him, and there's even plenty of reason to be furious at him later, for his callous lack of generosity. Whether Frei really means that Tran was a target of convenience, or is merely saying it to conform to the Doctor's worldview, is a question that will never really be fully answered.
After a pause, however, the young chi sage does give Tran a clue as to his real intentions, muttering a warning: "Doubt it'll... last long. So... don't waste it."
Tran doesn't talk for a moment, staring at Frei. He squints briefly, then shakes his head. He's never been all that good at this part, anyway, this is clearly a losing battle, so it's time to retreat.
The doctor hauls himself up to his feet, despite the protests of his body and how he still wants to hurl and feels like he's got the worst hangover in the history of binge drinking. He sways unsteadily, as his feet don't quite seem to be one-hundred percent behind the concept of supporting him, but he doesn't really give a shit because he's in charge again, if only briefly.
"Yeah, I know." He breathes in, breathes out, and shakes his head in a futile effort to clear it further. Mostly it just hurts. "I've got a plan. I'll be fine, I'll try not to let anything escape but no promises. You might wanna keep an eye out for lions."
And with that enigmatic comment, Tran turns around and starts running again, this time with one hundred percent less steam and one thousand percent more panting and cursing.
Log created on 20:10:12 03/30/2011 by Frei, and last modified on 22:21:03 04/08/2011.