Description: A massive convention center. Thousands of fans...of chocolate. The Festival of Chocolate event is on, and people have come from miles around to satisfy their craving for exotic and expensive cocoa confections. The main hall is lined with chocolate fountains and an endless line of fondue accessories. What could possibly get people more fired up than an insulin-shocking sugar rush? Why, adrenaline! If these two fighting celebrities think they've had loud crowds before, they've never had to beat face in front of a couple of thousand hyperactive men, women, and children. The winner gets to bring home their weight in fudge. ** SPECIAL GUEST: Kyo's boyfriend ** (WINNER: Terry)
Right. The chocolate convention. Weird place for a fight. Smells good, though. Terry Bogard, no stranger to America, wanders through the convention center, getting offered all -sorts- of sweets... and some chocolate, too. "Hell of a place," he mutters, to himself, then grins as he wanders into the main hallway, where the fight's going to be staged.
The floor is cleared, of course--and everything is done up in shades of, yes, chocolate brown--from the layered, spring-boxed mats to the ringposts and the 'ropes'. Figures. The Hungry Wolf saunters into the arena, then takes a step and leaps high, dropping his cuffel bag so it drops right by the ring as he lands inside it, knees flexing as he lands with a resounding *thump*!
"Alright, I'm here. Where's Kusanagi?"
Showing up first isn't Kyo Kusanagi's style. He always prefers to be fashionably late.
Or to be lazy and oversleep in his hotel room, or get distracted by a particularly good sandwich, or just decide to be a contrary ass and turn up not a moment sooner than he absolutely has to. The point is: He is very rarely on time places.
It's a good three or four minutes after Terry climbs into the ring and wonders where his opponent is that Kusanagi actually turns up, lazily slipping between the ropes and adjusting his jacket once he's inside. "Oh my gosh, have you seen some of the stuff they've got here?" the reigning World Warrior champion wonders, and it's difficult to tell how much of his exuberance is legitimate and how much is facetious. Actually paying attention to Terry now, the younger fighter shakes his head, with a sort of amused ruefulness. "And here I thought you retired, Bogard."
Considering for a moment, Kyo tilts his head slightly, a smirk playing across his features. "I figure since the prize is the winner's weight in fudge, they're banking on me coming out on top, huh?"
"Retired? Nah. Thought I'd let you taste the limelight for once, Kusanagi," rejoins the Wolf. The banter is light, of course, because even though Terry is still young, he's still the elder stateman, so to speak. He's hardly surprised that Kusanagi's late... he knew that the kid was lazy. Such a shame. Only Terry's done it before, and it's not like he's got pressing engagements to get to.
"Yeah, they got a lot of sweet stuff here. Guess I'll have to figure out what I'm gonna get after this fight," he grins, reaching up and tightening his fighting gloves on his hands. Hell, the patter is fun, but he knows Kyo's actually ... sort of serious about fighting... and damn good at it. His blood's starting to pump now, the song of battle calling to him.
"Just control those flames of yours, Kusanagi. Don't need these fine people's work getting all melted 'cause of you."
"Heh," chuckles Kyo, checking his own gloves quickly; nice and securely tight. Snapping the fingers of his right hand, the Kusanagi heir calls up a brief spark of sacred flame, snuffing it out quickly as he settles into his casual Kusanagi-ryuu Kobojutsu stance, feet roughly shoulder-width apart, fists loosely raised to shoulder height, weight constantly shifting. Does he actually take any of it seriously? It's difficult to say, with him; the perpetual highschooler projects a relaxed attitude almost all the time as it is, making him tough to read.
"Tell you what, old timer," Kyo says, his tone suggesting he's being completely reasonable and friendly, which is probably a warning sign (because he is a jerk) - ultimately finishing with: "Let's see what you've still got in the tank, come at me."
Kyo smiles widely, beckoning Terry on with his left hand.
COMBATSYS: Kyo has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kyo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Terry has wandered into the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Terry
Those wacky SNF people. They have the cutest sense of humor.
SOME TIME AGO
Iori Yagami is slouching his way along the street, about to snap into -- of all things -- a damn Slim Jim. His mouth opens, showing those delightfully fangy teeth, and he bites down, and then swears, loudly. "FUH OVA BIH-- what in the hell?"
Wrapped around that Slim Jim was a golden piece of paper, inviting him to come watch the main event of this week's SNF on the house! Kyo Kusanagi vs. Terry Bogard! Live in Palm Beach! Scribbled on the bottom in handwritten script: 'WE THOUGHT YOU'D BE INTERESTED'
NOW
Iori is walking by a security guard who is now flat on his back on the floor, said golden ticket wrapped around his face in the shape of Iori's outstretched palm as the Yagami scion walks casually past the entrance and into... a world of chocolate. Look at all these smiling, happy people. Here to eat chocolate. Chocolate in fountains. Chocolate truffles. Chocolate in bars. Chocolate shaped like various famous fighting figures. Look! A Ryu with white chocolate hachimaki. A chocolate Mai Shiranui with fondant boobies.
And a fat German kid eating a (dark, obviously) chocolate iori with purple frosting sugar flames. In leiderhosen because that's how the Germans roll.
One bewilderedly empty-handed Hans later, Iori is stomping toward the VIP seating. "If I see one of those little orange-skinned motherfuckers," he snarls, "everyone here is going to DIE."
"Heh," replies Terry, in turn, as Kyo takes his fighting stance. Terry's is similar, if a little wider in the foot placement, his arms up at roughly the same angle, his own body weight shifting back and forth. "Old-timer, is it? I'd tell ya to have respect for your elders, but I know that's not likely." Terry -does- respect his elders... or at least, the ones worthy of it.
Invited to 'come at me, bro', so to speak, Terry starts circling the edge of the ring, his steps light, deliberate, his blue eyes focused on Kyo. He doesn't really register what's happening re: Iori Yagami on a conscious level, though he's certainly aware subconsciously that something is happening--a man of Iori's presence doesn't hide easily. He's got another thing to worry about, so to speak. He moves around for nearly a quarter-circle--a good seven seconds--before pushing off and leaping, cocking his right fist back as he does--and hammering it down for Kyo's chest, timed to strike just as he lands, and then after that, another punch, a left jab, and a third punch--a simple right cross. "Alright, Kusanagi," he yells, just as he pushes off, "Let's GO!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo fails to counter Strong Punch from Terry with Nue Tsumi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Kyo 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Terry
Naturally, Kyo's expression in response to the assertion that he might respect his elders is rather dubious. When has Kyo Kusanagi ever shown any overt respect to /anybody/, of any age? Never, that's when.
And indeed, Iori's presence is... Hard to ignore, especially for fighters of Kyo or Terry's caliber; you can't just easily pretend that someone like that isn't right there, watching you with beady little eyes full of murder and hatred, directed specifically at you for the very crime of existing, a hatred that will never fade so long as both of you still exist in this world...
But Kyo is actually pretty good at pretending!
Focusing instead on Terry, since he's the one in the ring at the moment, Kyo steps /towards/ the older fighter as he springs, reaching to catch that fist as it extends towards him and--
--there is instead a brief slap of contact before Terry's punch powers through, and Kyo has exactly long enough to say:
"Ah, shit."
Then Terry's weight and fist slam into Kyo's chest, staggering him and leaving him open for the jab and then the cross, knocking the Kusanagi heir back and leaving him rubbing his face with the back of his hand, watching Terry carefully. "Hey, I guess you haven't been letting yourself get chubby and slow after all, Bogard," Kyo offers by way of a compliment(?). "I was worried this would be /too/ easy."
Terry gives just a moment's pause after landing the combination, coming up from a semi-crouch to regard his opponent for a moment. He sympathizes--he'd probably be pretty distracted if Geese were just in the crowd, watching. Not that it's an excuse, or anything. As Kyo staggers back, Terry matches him step for step, not willing to let the kid off quite that easily.
"Hey, just 'cause you're dad's lazin' it on the beach--he says hi, by th' way--doesn't mean you get to slack off -all- the time, kid," he replies. Feinting a quick low kick, he barely raises his left leg up before he snaps his hands out for Kyo's right shoulder--intending to grab the Kusanagi Scion by that shoulder, twist, heave, and lift--and hurl him into the chocolate-colored flooring. Truly, he's starting to enjoy the battle; just like with Ryu, he's fighting an equal, and there's always a lot of fun to be had in that.
"Now c'mon and show me some -moves-, kid!" The Hungry Wolf is definitely enjoying himself. And, hell. They've got a show to put on for their fans, after all!
COMBATSYS: Kyo just-defends Terry's Buster Throw!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Terry
"I knew I was forgetting something," Kyo retorts, at the mention of his (extraordinarily neglectful) father. "We /are/ in Florida after all."
The younger man moves slightly when the feint comes, and then he seems to be caught by surprise when Terry actually catches him by the shoulder, briefly lifting him in the air before aiming to hurl Kyo's wonderful self roughly against the chocolate-coloured floor, but things aren't always as simple as they first appear. Twisting, Kyo manages to reorient himself with surprising speed, landing lightly on his feet quite contrary to Terry's expectations. "Whoops," says the Kusanagi heir, twisting around quickly from his landed position, throwing his right fist around in a hooking punch, a guttering trail of flames lingering in the air behind the motion of his hand, presaging an explosion of Kusanagi fire at the planned point of punch impact. "No more freebies, Bogard!"
After the first strike, of course, Kyo keeps right on coming, lashing out a second time with his left fist in a fiery punch that mirrors the first. "Let's see how weak your defense is!" Kyo shouts, before stepping in again to deliver a /third/ strike, this a short uppercut with a larger explosion of flame following.
COMBATSYS: Kyo knocks away Terry with Aragami.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Terry
Terry's lips curl into a little grin. "Don't want your freebies, -Kusanagi-. I want a challenge!" And he's about to get it, really, because Kyo is lazy, arrogant--but also powerful and skilled, and he demonstrates it superbly with that three punch combination--the uppercut actually takes Terry off his feet, though he flips halfway through and lands on his feet.
"Not bad, not bad at all, Kusanagi... guess your dad wasn't entirely right about you," he says--doffing his hat, and dusting it off against his right knee. Then, he puts it back on and straightens the bill. One good turn deserves another, right? So, from that distance--not quite melee range, not quite far enough to be considered 'long' range... Terry throws his hands up and back and then, he's lunging forward with his right fist extended in a chi-enhanced attack of his own, an orange-yellow aura flaring around his gloved fist.
"BURN KNUCKLE!!!"
COMBATSYS: Terry successfully hits Kyo with Burn Knuckle.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Terry
There is, at the remark about his father, a faint snort of derision from the Kusanagi heir. "The old man is pretty rarely right about anything," Kyo notes. "You shouldn't listen to him, it's not nice to enable mental patients' delusions." As Terry adjusts his hat, though, the younger man has to wonder: "So what's the preoccupation with my dad, anyway? Is this an... Orphan thing?" He sounds genuinely curious, which means there's an at least fifty percent chance that he said it expressly to be a dick.
Terry's sudden charge gets Kyo's attention, though, and the younger man puts up his forearms to intercept the Burn Knuckle, which proves to be...
...Exactly the wrong thing to do, as Terry ploughs through Kyo's not quite complete guard, the energised fist smashing into him and driving him back against the ropes, hard... Hard enough that they nearly snap at the turnbuckles, in fact, before Kyo is able to recover himself. "Looks like you can still hit hard when you try, old guy! Keep it up and maybe I'll actually feel the next one," the Kusanagi heir taunts, because talking smack is one of the core arts of Kusanagi-ryuu Kobojutsu, and then he lunges at Terry.
Juking the right and then quickly switching to the left, Kyo aims to grab the Hungry Wolf by his ancient jacket - it's probably older than Kyo himself - and then to slam his shoulder into the older man, hard... He picks up an alarming amount of momentum for the shoulder block despite the short distance traveled, certainly enough to blast Terry to the other side of the ring if everything goes as planned.
"Hua-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Terry with Hatsugane.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Terry
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Simple physics. Kyo's taken that momentum and used it quite well--Terry doesn't want to test his defenses against the Rocket Lazy Boy, but Kyo's moving fast enough to catch him out of his attempt to evade. The shoulder block does, in fact, hurl Terry backwards against the ropes--it would almost be comical, the way they're rubber-banding back and forth, if it weren't accompanied by punches, kicks, and flames.
Terry is actually stumbling when he's moving forward, initially, but he catches himself after the first couple steps and actually takes the run forward smoothly, before leaping into an aerial attack--a knee, this time, powered by Terry's forward run, his right knee hammering out for Kyo's forehead. Most of the momentum is actually given up, though, in getting there--Terry's using the knee to get in, rather than as a source of major damage.
"Sorry, kid. Heard all the tired jokes about my dad already, just like you have. Seriously, just saw him on the beach and had a couple words, is all!" says the Wolf, his expression forged into a fierce grin. Just another way for the Wolf to bare his fangs.
It's a world of laughter, a world of joy, a world of high dental bills and adult-onset type 2 diabetes. It's a candy-colored world where Charlie the Unicorn is likely to lose his kidney. It's a world where children laugh and play, and adults feel the whimsical pull of their youth dragging them back to days of yore, when something as simple as a Hershey bar could make or break one's day.
As far as Iori Yagami is concerned this is probably what Hell is like.
It's not just Terry and Kyo who can sense the intense, unnerving aura of the red-haired fighter. While he's not exactly at Freeman level, Iori presents the sort of quiet malice that just puts even normal people on edge. There's at least a 5' Absolute Terror Zone surrounding him on the benches. One young girl makes the mistake of turning and pointing at him, which earns Iori's return shot: he turns and stares back, front forelock of blood-red hair hiding just one of his dark crimson eyes.
That girl is still in therapy 5 years from now.
As for Iori himself, he's just... watching the match go on with increasing annoyance. It's a standard Kyo Kusanagi fight, where he attempts to verbally exploit whatever self-esteem weakness he perceives his opponent to have while throwing out any of a variety of 1.) punches and 2.) flames with occasional 3.) flame punches. Terry Bogard is... well.
Iori's perfectly audible yet surprisingly non-shouted commentary tells you everything you need to know about THAT topic.
"Oi, boy scout," the redhead says to Terry with a grim expression. "He doesn't want to go out with you. Stop flirting and try actual punches."
COMBATSYS: Terry successfully hits Kyo with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Kyo 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Terry
It's totally ckay though, because when Terry comes in with that knee driving for Kyo's forehead, the younger man gets his hands in the way and--
--Gets kneed in the forehead, which staggers him for a moment, although his expression is less one of shocked surprise than it is of mild annoyance, possibly self-directed. "Well," Kyo says, rubbing his forehead. "I just thought that it would help you if you got it off your chest, you know, really /shared/ with somebody, and then--" Naturally, Iori has to go and ruin a perfectly good (elaborate) taunt, causing the World Warrior champion to snort quietly.
"Yagami, I never thought you were the jealous type!" Kyo calls back. "Settle down, I'm sure Bogard won't use up all the embarassing failure today." Strangely, the King of Fighters tournament did /not/ make things less tense between Kusanagi and Yagami, even though they were teammates and everything!
No doubt Chizuru is knitting her disappointment away right now.
"Sorry, homeslice," Kyo says to Terry, with startlingly facetious camaraderie. "You know how those murderous psychotics get, huh?"
Taking a sudden step back - /onto/ the ropes/ - Kyo quickly ascends and then vaults off of the top in a short aerial maneuver, tucking in one leg and extending the other perpendicular to his body, twisting over sideways to trace a perfect arc in the air with his extended foot.
The intended /end/ of the arc is, of course, the top of Terry's head.
"Game on!"
COMBATSYS: Terry blocks Kyo's RED Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kyo 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Terry
Terry glances over at Iori for a moment. He does not look amuesd. Well, okay, he looks a little amused. "Sorry, I forgot that you called dibs, Yagami. Don't worry, I'm only borrowing your girlfriend." And then to Kyo, "Yeah, I'm comfortable with it now, thanks," he says, dryly. Really, all the verbal gamesmanship is so secondary... but so entertaining. He can't help but chuckle, a bit. But that kick isn't a joking matter.
Terry throws his right forearm up, and that foot slams into tensed, corded muscle--toughened flesh that absorbs the impact with far less of a devastating result than intended. In almost the same moment Bogard slides backwards a step, and, as Kyo is landing, Terry is crouching--and punching the mat, chi surging around his fist as he shouts, his voice carrying over the sound of life energy discharged into the flooring to take up a tangible, physical form, as a wavefront that's rushing for the flame heir's knees. "Try this one out--POWER WAVE!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Terry's Power Wave.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Kyo 1/-----==/=======|=======\=====--\1 Terry
Rebounding off of Terry's blocking forearm, Kyo twists himself around in midair and ends up landing on his feet, in something /approaching/ a ready position to deal with whatever the other fighter has up his sleeve next. It ends up being a pretty close thing, the power of Terry Bogard's chi spent not /quite/ harmlessly as Kyo crouches low and basically turtles it. It still hurts, certainly, and it sends a spreading numbness along the Kusanagi heir's limbs, but it's not enough to put Kyo down.
Who knows what nefarious plan might be forming in Terry's head to ensure that he does hit the mat, though?!
"Ehh, I've seen better," Kyo informs his opponent, rising quickly out of his crouch and turning on one heel to swing his /other/ foot at the side of Terry's head. It's not as smooth and artful as he'd like, after that Power Wave, but eh... Sometimes smooth and artful is the last thing you need.
COMBATSYS: Terry blocks Kyo's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kyo 1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1 Terry
C'mon now. Kyo couldn't possibly have thought that Terry would just -leave himself open like that-, as if he had to spend time stuck with his hand on the ground before he could recover the ability to move, did he? The kicks smacks right into one of Terry's clenched fists, and that saves him from a ringing headache, as he rises, shaking his hand out to get some of the feeling back into it. Now, what to do... oh, right. The kid's right in front of him.
Terry suddenly lunges forward with his own three-punch combination--bowing to the wisdom of Iori's taunt, or perhaps just wanting to mirror Kyo a little, the Hungry Wolf drives forward on his legs, twisting his body to his left and then back around, firing a left body blow, followed by a right body blow--and then a driving, leg-powered shoulder tackle.
Like Kyo's kick, it isn't exactly elegant, though the techniques flow together well, but Terry's fighting style has never been about 'elegant'... that's what styles like Wushu are for. Ahhh, all this is irrelevant, he realizes--gotta focus on the fight.
COMBATSYS: Kyo fails to interrupt Power Charge EX from Terry with 182 Shiki EX.
>> Decisive Hit!! <<
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/---====|=======\=======\1 Terry
Rebounding slightly more than expected off of the kick, Kyo puts an extra step between himself and Terry, but as any fighter of any actual skill knows, one step can make all the difference in the world. In this case, it gives Kyo time enough to twist himself into an odd 'raring up' position in the moments it takes Terry to close the distance between them, the younger fighter's energy manifesting visibly - but not, as it usually does, as fire.
A circle of air kicks up around Kyo, a visible line demarcated where the dust on the floor is lifted and pushed outwards, his chi converting into rotational energy as the excess, pouring out of him like water overflowing a container, stirs his clothes and hair in a breeze only he can feel, and...
...When Terry is close enough, Kyo EXPLODES out of his peculiar crouch, rotational energy converting into linear energy, and every last newton of it behind his right fist, alight with fiery chi that...
...Misses?!
The potentially devastating punch never finds its mark, as Kyo is instead caught by Terry's combination, each strike knocking him further back, further off balance, and things are looking pretty dire for Kyo Kusanagi in this match over a whole lot of fudge... So one might wonder why he's grinning like that. "Not bad at all, Bogard. I forgot what it was like to fight somebody who isn't all show and no go, like that chump Masters."
"I wouldn't necessarily underestimate him," remarks Terry, after he finishes slamming fists and shoulder into Kyo. So nice to have.. a conversation? Well, not really. Kyo's still insulting people, just not his opponent. So, business as usual for him. Hell, Ken Masters is a good fighter, though he does love his flashy, dramatic moments, and that's probably a thing that could lose him a fight or two.
"Well, Kyo, looks like we're about ready for the finish, huh? I know you'd hate for me to go easy on ya, right, so, I won't." A coruscating energy sheets up from around his feet, cutting a rough circle--but that's only for show, really, as he's already got all the power he needs.
Kyo can feel it, too, he's sure, and Kyo probably knows what's coming even as Terry throws his left hand up, energy flaring around it as the Hungry Wolf goes to the deck one more time, slamming the fist into the ground--and unleashing that energy in a... geyser, an explosion of pure chi intended to erupt right up through where Kyo is standing.
Terry's shout is just one word, rather than the whole phrase. Gotta self-announce sometimes, and it's just part of the routine, ingrained into memory and habit. "GEYSER!!"
COMBATSYS: Kyo blocks Terry's Power Geyser.
[ \\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Kyo 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Terry
"Well, no, you wouldn't," Kyo agrees, on the subject of Terry's advice regarding Ken and the underestimation thereof. "You're like... The Mister Rogers of professional fighting."
Still, it's a fact that sometimes - just sometimes - Kyo Kusanagi can be a tiny bit overconfident, and that it's been known to backfire on him now and again. When Terry makes the astute observation that Kyo would dislike it if Terry went easy on him, the younger man's expression pretty much says: 'Yeah, obviously, don't be dumb,' and then there is a geyser... Of power.
The energy blasts into Kyo, who hastily moves to defend himself, and while it's enough to mitigate the power of the blast... Kyo knows he can barely keep going. He figures he's got enough in the tank for one last shot, so he'd better make sure it counts. "Time to make you earn it, Bogard," he says, off-balance as he lunges forward at Terry, ducking low... And then springing up out of his crouch, both fists extended.
His intent, of course, is to /catch/ Terry with this twisting, rising punch, orange-crimson Kusanagi flames trailing from either fist, tracing a double helix in the air as he whirls upwards, in what is not exactly the smoothest, most perfect execution of this particular ancient technique he's ever managed.
And when it's done, well, Kyo is going to hit the ground, unable to keep fighting any further, but...!!
COMBATSYS: Kyo can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Terry 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Terry blocks Kyo's Oniyaki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Terry 0/-------/=======|
Terry doesn't seem offended at the concept that he'd have to 'earn' anything... he's been doing it all his life. Never rested on his laurels, never thought that 'good enough' was good enough... and above all, he respects the kind of man who just won't give up. Unless his name happens to be Geese.
Since Kyo's name isn't Geese, he's safe there.
The rising, spinning, fiery punch slams into Terry's guard--twice, accounting for both fists--and the fire flares over his forearms and biceps. It stings more than a little--but he's able to withstand, and after Kyo's assault is over, well... there's only one thing to do. Terry turns away from Kyo and towards the crowd and whisks his cap off and throws into the air. "YEAH!!!!"
... hey, it's a trademark now.
Turning back to Kyo, Terry offers a more sincere smile. "Thanks for the fight, Kusanagi. Forgot how tough you were... for such a skinny kid." And he offers the man a hand up.
COMBATSYS: Terry wanders on to find the next challenge.
Only borrowing your girlfriend, huh...
The lanky, red-haired bearer of amethyst flame rises from his seat and walks to near ringside as the fight starts to edge to a close. The SNF staff around the ring get nervous, because 1.) Iori and 2.) they expect that Yagami's suddenly going to interfere with the match, which they'd prefer not to happen, but have no idea how to STOP if that's what Iori actually plans on doing. But he appears content only to watch, one eye hidden by that hair like a splash of dark blood, and when Terry's sudden burst of power knocks Kyo to his knees after one last gasp from the Kusanagi scion, the Orochi-tainted fighter's deadpan breaks into the tightest, faintest of smiles. It doesn't last. He wants to find some joy in his rival being beaten senseless, and he really can't.
Especially since it wasn't him doing it.
"Well, well. Rode him hard, put him away wet," Iori says to Terry blandly, giving the blond a flat look. It's not that Iori has anything against Terry specifically... not any more than he seems to have against anybody, for that matter, but that's sort of the point. From Iori's point of view, pretty much everyone's a useless moron who exists only to vex him. "Really glad I came all the way here to see it. What a fucking waste of time."
"Ugh," mutters Kyo, pushing himself up without taking the offered hand, because he is entirely too cool and self-reliant to accept another person's assistance. "Skinny? Maybe compared to you, tubby," he offers as a gentlemanly counterpoint, although there's no real venom behind it. It's almost like he can't relate to other people any other way.
Luckily, Iori can always be counted on to make him seem pleasant by comparison! If they could get K' in the same space (without it turning into a horrible fire apocalypse) he might suddenly seem positively saintly.
Kyo regards his ETERNAL RIVAL for a moment, his expression dubious, before he shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, if that's how you feel about it, I'm glad I lost." Would Kyo /actually/ be glad he lost a fight just because of the satisfaction of being a petty annoyance to someone he doesn't like?
...
... ...
You know, it's possible.
"Anyway, enjoy your fudge, Bogard. Don't eat it all in one sitting."
Terry gives the redheaded man another look, but doesn't say anything to him, if only because Iori isn't really -his- problem... and well, he expected Kyo to ignore the hand, so it's withdrawn smoothly. No harm done, no offense taken. "I think your boy might want to have a few words," he says, not entirely without levity, but not said to needle, either. Turning away, he walks to where his hat fell and picks it up.
"Hell, you can have half of it. Get some meat on those bones," he jokes, as he ducks through the ropes to hop down off the raised platform, so he can grab his duffel bag. Lifting his left hand in a wave, the heir to the Hakyokusaken style wanders off, the 'prize' already forgotten.
Words?
There might be a few.
"Screw off." Those are a few words for Terry, for example. And then Iori's looking at Kyo. How long ago was it that they set aside their differences because there was a great cosmic threat looming over everyone that only the Three Sacred Treasures could do anything about? Something so great and terrible that Iori actually put aside his bloodthirsty need to rip Kyo's damn smug face clean orf his body and worked with not just THAT arrogant douchebag but the obnoxious example of copy failure that NESTS had cooked up? Yeah, it must have been awful.
Right up until Orochi appeared and then said, to paraphrase, "lawl peace out homies, see you next apocalypse."
Now everything's back to normal.
So yeah, Iori has... words.
"Keep practicing, princess," Iori says calmly, with only the slightest narrowing of the eyes. "The honeymoon's over."
With Terry gone, it's perilously possible that this situation could devolve pretty quickly... But Kyo can probably count on Iori's unwillingness to try to murder him when he's not in fighting form, right? Or, wait, was it only K' who wanted to definitively show him up in front of the whole world? He can't keep track of this stuff sometimes, you know? And in all likelihood, he'll just keep tempting fate anyway.
Kyo's brow furrows at Iori's calm words, and he shakes his head a little bit, raising his hands in a gesture of confusion. "Is... Is this gay chicken?" the Kusanagi heir wonders, apparently actually bewildered by this. "Are we supposed to lean in to kiss, to see which one of us is going to back off first? Because I've gotta tell you, my mom warned me about guys like you."
"Gay chicken is over, fuckwit. I expect Nikaido won a long time ago."
Why is he even here? It's not like Kyo's attempts at riling him are working. If they did, the entire tenor of this relationship would probably be a hell of a lot different, wouldn't it? But even if Kyo can't get him mad with words, he probably doesn't need to. Just being in the presence of his rival is enough to start a familiar heat building up in his blood. Sitting there with his smug face even after getting hobeat by a homeless pizza delivery boy. And maybe it could be because he had to suppress it for an awful long time during the King of Fighters tournament, but for a moment violet tainted flame blooms around Iori's right hand before he clenches his shut into a fist, the fire bursting into heat and air just as quickly as it came.
Maybe just to spite Kyo's joke, Iori leans his face toward the ring too, though not like... gay marriage close.
"Someone wanted me to see you get your ass kicked so hard they sent me a special invite. Maybe Masters? Maybe some other jerkfuck. Not sure I care. Just here to remind you, you witless sack of shit, that whatever... thing it was Kagura negotiated? We're done. It's done. Back to normal operations."
There is a derisive snort from Kyo, which would hardly be surprising, because it's Kyo. "Are you kidding me? The only person Benimaru plays gay chicken with is his mirror, and he always wins." Come to think of it, he's sort of sad that the magazine interview he did dispelling Benimaru's whole 'BENiSEXUAL' thing never did get published. He put a lot of effort into browbeating that poor reporter, in an attempt to prank his friend in front of the entire world.
It's honestly kind of amazing he has any friends at all.
But then Iori leans in close, and delivers a baleful reminder that Team Superfriends is no more, which is clearly a deep disappointment to the Kusanagi heir. "I'll throw out my friendship bracelet then. And by the way, you should order less onions next time," Kyo comments, screwing up his face a little and waving a hand in front of it. Whew. "Anyway, I'm out, Yagami. Try not to traumatise any more kids, huh?"
Kyo delivers a complete wink-with-clicking-sound-and-finger-gun combo before he turns around and leaves, having apparently filled his jerk quota for the day.
He's always got to get the last word, doesn't he?
"...prick," is all Iori can think of to say aloud. He's thinking a few more things, but they're difficult to verbalize in one word. A few are really quite imaginiative from a Spanish Inquisition torturer point of view.
The redhead turns and leaves, and the SNF crew exhales a collective breath they didn't know they were holding.
Log created on 20:43:46 11/18/2011 by Kyo, and last modified on 23:57:38 11/19/2011.