Description: The punny title aside, the heroic (or at least rather enthusiastic) May Lee takes heed the warning about odd items influencing the behaviors of people in worrying ways. Then there happens to be a man of an... interesting "hairstyle" attempting to run late day lessons at the Kyokugen Dojo. Is she on the right track for liberating the afflicted of these dangerous items?!
Welcome to what 'another day in the life of Howard Rust' means in the modern day. It's a pretty chilly day out there in the constantly re-smoothed two acre concrete lot and the house in front of it, cold on the bare feet with a decent chance of snow later in the evening. It is after school hours, the time when the dojo tends to be busiest with the youngest students being taught by the second-oldest man whom practices Kyokugen.
"All right," comes Howard's clearing throat as he rolls his shoulder to get out some of the kinks, his breath visible in the cold air. There's always that telling slight stutter of fatigue in there, but he's a man who is built tough at a capacity that exceeds the phrase 'Ford tough.' These sorts of temperatures never really bothered him in his youth.
"All those laps... they, they should've warmed you up real nice." That's what he'd like to think, but there are a few students that still seem pretty cold. Those kids he's always kind of worried about - the dojo is not a daycare center. Still, they throw real punches here. That's the Kyokugen way. "Loosened you up a li'l... yeah, but, uh, we don't have any extra wood today to work with, so... so I'm gonna assign you guys to some sparring."
At least two have wide, fear-filled eyes at this concept.
"Two at a time, all right, n-not all at once," Howard waves a hand in clarification, "so, so I'm gonna need the rest of you to assume the, the proper sitting positi-- yes, yes, on the concrete," he clarifies, knowing full well one of them's about to complain how cold it is, "I don't want to hear complaints 'bout how... how cold it all is, I friggin' worked in cold rain for, for years and this ain't anywhere near as... as, as bad, okay?"
Clapping his hands once, he starts redirecting those who aren't the first two students to spar to come sit in a kneel and observe the proper dojo etiquette, and so forth. So far, it's been a largely normal day relatively free of incident aside from Marco's bear running off with one of the heaters.
May Lee has been burning the candle at both ends the past few days. She's been running around trying to get this 'super team against evil' together, and really... well, she can't keep that up forever. She's come back to Southtown, which is really home away from home, and she's taking it a little more easy than she has been recently. Not in school any more, she'd spent most of the day relaxing, rewatching some old Kamen Rider DVDs, and then she'd gone scarf shopping.
She hasn't bought any, she just likes to see what's out there.
Now her meandering has brought her to the Kyokugen Dojo. May Lee is aware of Kyokugen Karate, of course. You'd have to have your head in the ground not to be aware of the style and its practicioners. Being a Tae Kwon Do girl herself, she'd not really paid it much attention before, but when she sees the kids being taught by Howard Rust, her curiosity gets the better of her.
The teenager wanders over to the group, hands tucked firmly in her pockets. This kind of weather always makes her glad that her signature item is a scarf and gloves. Summer is another matter.
May Lee blows out a large bubble of gum... which snaps, before she brings it back between her lips. "Hey." She says, smiling her brightest smile. "You guys don't mind if I watch, do you? We Champions of Justice have got to stick together, after all."
Her good cheer almost makes up for how danged relaxed she is. May Lee wouldn't know dojo etiquette if it kicked her in the face (which, when she's training with Kim, it sometimes does!) but she clearly means well.
It might be a little telling when the older man doesn't even realize the brightly-colored, highly-spirited girl (okay, show of hands - what girls around Southtown /aren't/ brightly -colored or highly-spirited) is even out and about until the bubble pops loudly enough to startle just about everyone else involved.
"H-Hey, whoa, whoa." Starts one Mr. Rust as he shakes a finger at this sudden entry. "We're, were in the middle of instruction here, but, uh..."
He scratches the side of his head with his right hand. The dark purple hair on his head... no, it's not hair. Whatever it is, it is something that does not belong on the human scalp - something that even makes berets permissible in comparison. The way it moves when his fingers touch it does not realistically represent hair by any means. It is clearly not human hair.
It must be abomination.
"Haven't I, uh... seen you on, on TV?" He hasn't had much of a chance to sit down and watch League fights much, even though the TV in the Sakazaki household seems to perpetually be left on to that. There's some murmuring among students who are more immediately familiar with who they're seeing.
One of the two to-be sparring types still looks afraid of the idea of having punches tossed at him, and seems to almost be pleading that the proceedings be interrupted for the sake of not getting his face shattered by a notably larger child. Said larger child does not come off as being particularly mean or even of any sort of opinion of what's going on to begin with, but...
"If, ah, if you just wanna sit down 'n watch, sure, but... but I'll have to ask you to behave." You'd think that after years of being in Southtown, one Mr. Rust here would know the chances of this are very slim as he claps his hands together again for attention. "All right. Count of three..."
Sweat visibly forms on the smaller child's brow. Help, he seems to say in quiet, I'm too young to be punched horribly in the face!
May Lee's eyes narrow as Rust speaks. Not because what Rust is saying is particularly bad, you understand. In fact, he seems to be pretty reasonable. But what words are coming out of his mouth are completely and totally overshadowed by the *thing* on his head. May Lee isn't insane; she knows the difference between fantasy and reality. But she also knows that there are items out there which seem to be causing people to act strangely.
It all starts to fall into place. The mild mannered appearance. The fact he's making two small children fight. The horrible *thing* on his head.
Howard Rust is possessed.
Rather than jump right in, May Lee instead nods her head. "Oh, I'll behave." She says, settling down cross-legged, and waiting for Rust to turn away and try to restore order to his lesson. There's no way she can let this travesty of justice go unopposed. Not just for Rust, but for the little kid who clearly does not want to be there!
"JUSTICEEEEEE! LEAAAAAAPU!"
This helpful declaration is shouted as May Lee suddenly ~springs~ from her seated position. She's way too good at jumping from that point. Like some kind of manic frog, she sails overhead, and, if all goes according to plan, she'll pluck the horrendous toupee from Rust's head, and hold it up like a dead rat, whilst shouting;
"It's OKAY, kids! I've saved your teacher and I've saved you all! Nobody needs to be afraid, any more!"
Someone's complying with the request to behave! Wow, this is actually going to be a reasonably fine day, the ex-shop teacher thinks to himself. Reasonably, in so much that he really wanted to get them on woodwork instead, but, when one of the main people the Sakazakis buy lumber from are kind of bent out of shape over am outhouse and something between Takuma and that... other guy, what was his name? Maybe who it was wasn't really important in the matter of the dispute.
"Proper bows, proper bows, then one... two..."
May Lee's heroic leap goes without a hitch, and the dark purple... /thing/ is plucked free, revealing a horrid, unconvincing combover of a brownish-blonde color that, somehow, seems to be an improvement in comparison to whatever it was before.
Not that anyone other than Howard Rust himself believes that the dark purple mass is hair to begin with, but it sinks into him slowly when he pauses to rub a hand atop his clearly balding scalp, followed by the sudden bow of his head that is equal parts shock as it is a significant blow to the fragile aging man ego over matters of self-confidence in one's own youth and virility. With a slow turn to May Lee, his face goes from passively shocked to outright angry.
"H-Hey! Give that back. Now!" One of his knees pop loudly as he takes a couple steps over in May Lee's direction, as a few kids risk ire through laughter because, seriously, they're too young to truly understand the plight of an older man and hair loss - one day it will probably be them, after all!
May Lee isn't cruel... she's *not*, but she really believes she's doing Rust a favor here. She's seen enough TV to know that hair is more than capable of possessing the unwary, and the horrible mass in her hand definitely feels evil. It practically feels alive! She'd have to wash this hand /so much/ when she got home.
She shakes her head sadly as Rust steps towards her. That popping knee didn't sound good! "Calm down, Sir." She says, showing at least some vague recognition of the fact that Rust is over twice her age, and therefore worthy of some respect. "Its going to be okay. This thing can't hurt you any more!"
She brandishes the toupee like it is some sort of weapon. She hadn't thought this far ahead; she'd expected that when freed from the nefarious grip of El Toupecabre, Rust would be incredibly grateful to her. Maybe even commend her on her perceptive talents and offer to take her out for ice cream.
But clearly the grip of the evil toupee is far too strong. "Stay back, kids!" She says, seriously. "Your instructor isn't thinking clearly! We need to find some way to snap him out of it."
Her eyes turn to the thing in her hand.
She's not hard to read. Even the kids can practically see the thought form, slowly, in her eyes.
~Maybe if we destroy the source of its power~
Whatever May Lee holds in her hands there, it is certainly not pleasant to look at - possibly even highly uncomfortable to the touch, even through her gloves. Who the hell would want something like that atop their head, anyway? Perhaps there is indeed virtue of freeing a man from this item that, if not evil, is clearly humiliating for a grown man of his stature to even pretend to be hair.
Nonetheless, the forty-year-old man is drawn by equal parts desperation and anger to reclaim it, putting a sudden halt to the sparring session that almost occurs. The smaller child is ever grateful for this distraction, while the others still seated know to behave - even as the laughs continue at the expense of the junior Kyokugen instructor.
"What the, what the hell do you mean that I'm not thinkin'... thinkin' clearly?!" He's all but shouting as he draws ever closer while May Lee puts together all the pieces of the puzzle from her innumerable studies in the way of heroism and how to best combat evil such as... whatever the hell that thing is in her hand.
She's going to have to act fast on her feet to avoid having her wrist firmly grabbed with his left hand (and, given the seeming panic, possibly accidentally squeezed a bit too tight) so that this item of questionable relevance to the grand evil plot said to be floating around can fall back into his, at the moment, morally ambiguous clutches.
COMBATSYS: Rust has started a fight here.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rust has another bad hair day.
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Rust [E] 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: MayLee has joined the fight here.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Rust
COMBATSYS: MayLee fails to counter Quick Throw from Rust with Blazing Intercept.
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MayLee 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 [E] Rust
May Lee finds herself being grabbed around the wrist, and that seems to bring her out of her reverie. Whatever plan she had in mind to counteract the evil of this dark force, she's not got the time to put it into action right away. Instead, as Rust twists her hand, the girl twists upwards!
This is rather confusing to watch for the kids, as it looks for all the world like Rust is spinning the korean teenager around /by her own arm/. In reality, her intent was to try and kick Rust in the head and force him to let go... but it turns out to be pretty tough to aim like that when your momentum is being thrown off by the squeezing grab.
"Waaaaaaaaaaa-hooo!"
Although she's been forced to relinquish the toupee, May Lee manages to control her sudden, nonsensical spinning flight to land with her right leg extended to the side, both arms following it up, and her scarf fluttering out behind her. She's a little dizzy, but she's not going to let something like that stop her from the pursuit of JUSTICE!
"Give it up!" She declares, genuine passion injected into her words. "That thing is controlling your thoughts, Mister! Why else would you let something like that live on your head? And just look at how you're treating the kids! Half of them look ready to cry!"
She's exaggerating a little bit. But she does her best to cheer up the student she's mentally marked as 'Kid Afraid To Get Punched', by winking brightly at him, in the fashion heroes everywhere use to say 'its going to be okay!' despite all evidence to the contrary.
Truth be told, he's not sure what's with the way she twists herself about in his grasp other than to file it as some sort of acrobatic maneuver that doesn't seem to go quite as planned on her end as the retrieved toupee(?) is briefly swung down once as if to air it out.
"Cripes," he murmurs, "'s always... always girls her age." He grouses as the children think that maybe it's time to settle down before Mr. Rust there gets really mad. There's that sudden wave of fear and panic in that Kid Afraid To Get Punched.
Just in time for May Lee to make her heroic speech, but her advice - seemingly well-informed based on circumstantial evidence and the recent broadcasts made - appears to fall on one Howard Rust's ears too late, as he hastily slaps the thing back on his scalp. The scalp that May Lee worked so hard to save from the... thing... he's putting on his head.
Seriously, even if it wasn't a conduit for great evil, /why is he willingly putting that thing on his head?/
"Ma'am, I, I don't even know what you're goin' on about," Howard says as he turns to face her with enough pause and delay to unintentionally give a sinister air. It's too late, it would appear, for its power on this man is great and absolute. There does seem to be a subtle change in the man's demeanor, for better or for ill, where the panic of a truth already known by the world at large has been safely tucked under the rug of... uh... that thing. If it were a rug in the house of The Dude, the people looking to collect on a ransom wouldn't soil it. There would be nothing they could do to make it look worse than it already does.
It really ties the whole air of danger together.
"This, this isn't a day care thing," Howard grumbles out, "it's a god damn dojo!" Well, his inability to watch his mouth in the heat of the moment is at least fully on him. "If you're, if you're just gonna cause a whole lotta, y'know, mischief, I'm gonna have to ask you to... to leave, right now."
Is she willing to let the thing on that man's head stay there, as its unwitting (...or willing?) host delivers one last stern warning as he leans forward, right hand atop the makeshift hilt of something that doesn't seem like it should be a part of a typical martial arts dojo. After all, none of the kids have one of those rusted lengths of pipe.
COMBATSYS: Rust unequips Classic Combover.
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MayLee 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
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MayLee 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Rust
May Lee never knows when to back down. It might just be her biggest flaw. Well, one of them anyway.
"Swearing in front of the children, now?!"
Truly, sass-mouth is the clearest indicator of a nefarious villain.
"I don't think you're a bad man! You just aren't yourself right now! But its okay. I'm not giving up! You'll thank me when you're feeling better!"
May Lee, Champion of Justice that she is, just can't comprehend this through any other lens than that of the poor, duped instructor forced to inflict evil on his students. What kind of person would she be if she didn't do everything in her power to stop it? And although he might be less inclined to beat her around the head and call her crazy than most other instructors she's come across over the years, that just means she's more inclined than ever to try and help him!
May Lee's goggles flash dramatically as she runs towards Rust. Her scarf streams out behind her, and her arms are flung out behind her in a fashion which, if TV can be believed, makes one run at least ten times faster than you would ordinarily for some reason.
Working with what seems like the most sensible option to her, then, she aims to ram her head *right into Rust's stomach*. This is a little known facet of Tae Kwon Do, taught by absolutely no sane Tae Kwon Do instructor out there. But what can you do when a girl watches too much TV? At least those goggles are pretty sturdy!
If the headbutt connects, the hope is that Rust will double over. That tends to be the general reaction when a crazy person knocks the wind out of you. If he does, he'll be met by an uppercut and a cry of;
"PUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!"
Which May Lee hopes will be, quite literally, hair raising.
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks MayLee's Combo Attack.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Rust
Being called on the swearing thing brings a moment of quietness and a slightly open mouth as if to say 'uh, yeah, that one's my bad' but he's just drowned out by the volume and intensity of May Lee's heroic speeches and declarations - and the nonplussed reaction thereof on his end.
On the other hand, this is an extremely good opportunity for him to capitalize upon for sake of something closely approximating proper instruction, even if he'd... really... rather prefer a calmer, more composed, perhaps (in the eyes of someone like himself) /more coherent/ sparring partner.
Her heroic charging headbutt is a little awkward for him to deal with in his current posture that seems to draw more from a sudden sword draw rather than the typical ready stance of most unarmed martial artist types, but he makes due as he turns his body and lowers his left hand in a palming motion to catch her head, which takes a little more effort than it appears on the onset given that the headbutt alone seems to push him back a quarter of an inch on impact.
"D-Don't do that," he tries to instruct all the while as the sudden follow-up uppercut actually does manage to glance off the side of his face in a last-second movement of his head. A part of the toupee flaps in the wake of her heroic uppercut. The followup prevents him from instructing on the fly as to why, in fact, he thinks what she's doing is a bad idea until that punch has passed.
"That's, that's risky," he says, "lowering your head like that, coulda... kneed you, done some... some real harm." Probably should've, but there is a noted difference in the man's composure between when she took that monstrosity off his head and now.
The fact of the matter is, she's too close and in his face for him to really complete a proper draw of Ol' Rusty, so he settles for trying to grab one of her arms with his left hand - again - and whip her behind him for space as the cold afternoon daylight tries to shine down upon those gathered.
The toupee, notably, does not seem to really shine in this righteous sunlight.
COMBATSYS: MayLee dodges Rust's Medium Throw.
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MayLee 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Rust
May Lee practically bounces off of Rust. Coherent, careful, measured, calm... these are all qualities that May Lee lacks. She's enthusiastic for sure, and there can be something endearing about that. It is probably hard to see it that way when she's desperately trying to free you from the horror of your own poor fashion decisions, though.
Her head smacks into his palm, and she comes up for the punch... when that fails, she just keeps going. She twists out of the way of the grab, and almost rolls herself around through the air to land, spritely, behind the older man. If there's one thing that remains consistent in May Lee's style it is movement. Its never easy to tell where she's going to be coming from next!
"JUSTICE doesn't worry about what MIGHT happen!" She declares, providing the worst possible example for kids everywhere. "Justice always finds a way to triumph, no matter the odds! OR how many times you get kneed in the face!"
And for May Lee, getting kneed in the face does happen to be something she has a lot of experience with.
Jumping up again, much like how she had snatched that toupee to begin with, this time, the frog-like champion of all that is good and true aims to latch her hands onto Rust's shoulders.
If she can manage that, she'll keep going with her momentum, and simply hurl him as hard as she can across the courtyard.
Well... she's pretty sure a tough guy like Rust can take it! Her main concern is making sure she doesn't actually throw Rust on top of a bunch of little kids. That would be really awkward.
COMBATSYS: MayLee successfully hits Rust with Medium Throw.
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MayLee 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Rust
She proves slippery and hard to catch - comparing this to the strong and stalwart he fought not too long ago, she's just slick and agile as all get out, and it's a bit hard for him to keep up in terms of raw agility. He's not exactly young any more. If anything, he looks a bit exasperated at the idea that she seems to like being kneed in the face. She doesn't seem built like the sort of person who might enjoy being kneed in the face.
"N-Now look he--" When she's jumping up for him, he actually gets the rare bright idea that crouching will throw off whatever it is she's attempting to do next, the idea that maybe she'll just soar over him and maybe catch her in a crouch or something, show her what's u--
Well, this idea holds water up until he feels that light touch of her hands on his shoulders, as though perhaps maybe the whole leap accounts for that line of thinking, and finds himself hurled across the pavement where he tumbles down to a stop in front of the sitting kids who all seem to exchange glances while the forty-plus man grumbles.
Even in these hard times, sure, maybe there is to be a whole lot of value in youthful complete optimism and the like. But holy crap, he thinks as he pulls himself up, what is wrong with this girl? He pats the top of his head as if to make sure the evil(?) toupee is still there as he rises up. At least the kids are still seated and aren't running off to do whatever it is they do when they go into hiding occasionally.
"All right, look, just, just stop messin' 'round," this may be the last plea of a man whose soul is being sucked away by that thing on his head, clearly a cry for help and not at all a reasonable request for something like this to come to a stop as the rusted length of pipe is drawn free, pointed at her with all the clarity of a well-worn man who has seen plenty of trouble - rebellious teenager or otherwise - something that may almost be mistaken for a heroic pose.
"Here, here, we throw real punches," he states with clarity after clearing up his throat, "you wanted some kinda... demonstration, shoulda said from the get-go," he states matter-of-factly as Ol' Rusty is pointed down low and behind as he leans forward. This particular stance isn't the one he's been teaching - Takuma likely still doesn't approve - but there's no funny business behind the stance that seems all too ready for her to keep jumping at him.
COMBATSYS: Rust focuses on his next action.
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MayLee 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Rust
May Lee digs her sneakers into the ground. There's actually a protesting squeal of rubber as she does this. Clenching her fists at her sides, her scarf flows out behind her, fluttering in a breeze which, by all rights, shouldn't be there at all!
"I'm not playing around!" She insists. May Lee is very open, too; for all that she might be faintly ridiculous, she never gives the impression she's having a joke at someone else's expense. She's taking this just as seriously as everything else, even if she is smiling and chipper about it.
"That thing on your head might seem like a harmless fashion accessory, but it isn't! No matter how dapper you think it makes you look, it is evil! Vile! And it is the duty of all good-thinking people to stand up and say."
Her foot rises, and comes down in front of her in what would be an earth-shaking smash if she didn't weigh about as much as a sofa cushion.
"NO!"
Her dramatic speech given, some of the students actually clap. Which, probably isn't going to do too much more for poor Rust's self esteem.
COMBATSYS: MayLee enters a meditative state.
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MayLee 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Rust
"'s my hair, for..." Yeah, keep believing it, Howard. Keep believing it. Really, that statement alone kind of casts significant doubt about which one has the looser grip on reality between the two of them when it comes to it - all this over what is and isn't hair.
His heart sinks a little at mention of the evils of the hairpiece, and somewhere it seems the man is punched deeply in the soul, his posture slumping just a bit at these well-intentioned, fully-endorsed words as the students nearby clap at this heroic speech of righteousness.
Howard Rust's heart sank a little further that day.
Shaking his head once (fighting for control?!), he lets the hurt feelings fall to the wayside given these kids aren't even really paying attention to anything beyond theatrics, and that sure as hell isn't what their families are paying for... in theory.
Really, perhaps the strongest retort that can be said is in the way he steps forth, a few little circular swings of the wrist as though Ol' Rusty were being wound up for something before the pipe scrapes up against concrete hard enough to produce (largely dramatic) sparks as he swings it upwards towards May Lee's chin in an advancing uppercut swing with clenched teeth.
After all, she's insulted his hair! The weak point of almost any aging man with hair loss!!
COMBATSYS: MayLee blocks Rust's Cement Upper.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Rust
Rust's dramatic swing is caught by both May Lee's gloved hands. It seems to have brought her back to reality at least, as the heavy pipe bruises the inside of her palms. Ouch! That, really hurt!
Doubtless, May Lee would be horrified if she knew what she was doing to Rust's poor and fragile ego. The problem is, she doesn't know. She genuinely thinks she's helping the man, and if she has to inflict her help at the end of a justice-fuelled kick, then that's just what she's willing to do!
Skidding backwards, May Lee seems a little more focused now, a little more 'in the game'. She's fighting a guy with a big old hefty pipe. If she doesn't watch herself, she's going to be going home with far worse bruises than that.
The kick that she goes for is textbook Tae Kwon Do. Leaping into the air, her whole body pivots around, and her leg comes with it. Heavy, and delivered with the kind of style you only get from days of constant practice, it is the closest thing in her repertoire to an actually respectable kick.
It is, however, marred a bit by the fact that the girl announces she's doing this with a loud: "KIIIIIIIIIIICK!"
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks MayLee's Strong Kick.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Rust
There's always that little bit of resistance from a solid hit or - as is increasingly more likely, it seems - a good block that he has to watch out for with the swing, lest he accidentally dislodge the pipe out of the weaker grip of his right hand, but this go around he manages to hold it as the pipe is lowered down and away just in time for a loud, dramatically shouted flying kick that might get some cheers or at least a really humorous audio edit if anyone's actually capturing this on film.
It is met with Howard's left forearm, although he does misgauge her forward momentum a little and ends up taking it on the elbow instead. Far preferrable to anywhere else, of course, but the ensuing grunt and flex of a crackling elbow joint suggests there was a lot more punch to that kick (...more kick to that kick?) than maybe he would have readily admitted at a moment's notice.
"Shoutin'... before you attack, I can get that, kiais, yeah," he murmurs out the fragments of what is probably a well-informed lesson about how shouts can shock opponents and lower their guard, "but like that," he says, as he steps forward and swings Ol' Rusty in a far less dramatic, far less telegraphed, and ultimately far less impressive downward swing, "is a, a waste of breath."
At this point his tone of voice is kind of mumbly, so there's not a great chance that the students hear that last part. They're much too enamored with the theatrics of May Lee's natural agility and charisma compared to Rust's well-noted sturdiness and strength - which one is more exciting to watch?
That's a simple question, isn't it?
COMBATSYS: MayLee counters Power Strike from Rust with Blazing Intercept.
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MayLee 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Rust
May Lee may lack a little in the technical skill department, but when it comes to theatrics, she's really coming along great. Kim would have to give her that; she's got a flair for the dramatic and it is starting to come out in her fighting.
This becomes incredibly clear as May Lee catches Ol' Rusty on the sole of her shoe. Her foot is over her head, and the downward swing actually compresses the girl with it. For a moment, she looks like she's a coiled spring. She's smiling, too. As though she could not be happier that she's in this position.
Because then she comes snapping back upwards, and her other foot connects sharply with Rust's chin. The girl flips up and away, and lands bouncing from foot to foot.
"I get that a lot!" She admits, "But I find it helps me focus. Plus it looks really cool on camera. If you don't shout your attack names, its just like we're slugging at each other, you know?"
She hmms for a moment, and frowns. "... I guess I forgot just now, though. Look! You're really calm for a guy being possessed! Can't you fight it off and throw that thing away now? I know I'm getting through to you! I can hear it in your voice!"
Is she... really interpreting mumbling uncertainty as an epic inner battle between good and evil? Well, it makes as much sense as everything else so far, doesn't it?
There's that moment that comes with Ol' Rusty being caught and stopped that he has to stop and kind of squint at what she's doing, as though thinking 'maybe I should pull this thing away.' He's getting an odd sort of flashback from when MURDERHOUSE Mick stopped the exact same strike.
He's not pulled in to look to her face to face, at least, but the resulting springing kick to the chin is not that greater an alternative as his head jerks up, a few steps backward as the older man shakes his head to try and get his bearings straight. Is this kick all that is needed to release him from the influence of whatever bizarre thought processes that hairpiece (...hellpiece?) has inflicted upon him?!
"The hell do you even... mean, possessed," Howard remains as nonplussed as to the girl's thought processes as ever as he briefly rubs his chin with his left hand. It's not a terrifying, fight-changing blow he just took, but holy hell she's energetic as all get out - that shouting didn't take any edge off of that kick at all from any perceived loss of breath or anything of that sort.
"I'm not throwin' anything away, look, where the... where the hell are you even goin' with that," for one who is in the role of instructor, it seems less and less that he's doing any instruction as opposed whatever it is May Lee is trying to push, which seems increasingly likely as he takes another step forward to close the gap and thrust his left elbow at around head level.
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits MayLee with Random Strike.
- Power hit! -
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MayLee 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Rust
"Well, I mean that your hair thingy is taking over your bra--"
*POW!*
Rust's elbow smacks right into May Lee's mouth. It definitely shuts up whatever it was that she might have been about to say, because it sends her toppling head over heels backwards. The girl's eyes are spinning and everything! Her head is ringing and her mouth tastes like the elbow of a middle aged man. Bleck!
To her credit, May Lee does not stay down for long! No Sir! Instead, she jumps up to her feet. "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, EVIL HAIRPIECE!" She shouts, pointing her finger accusingly at Rust. "You almost got me! But I think that's enough! I know how to deal with your kind of evil!"
Now, May Lee is a Tae Kwon Do fighter, but she's definitely not acting like one now. You see, if there is one form of attack that is certain to bring down the most formidable villains, it is the overhanded chop.
And what's better than one chop? Two, of course!
"CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPU!"
Lunging into the air, May Lee descends with both arms swinging down in a wide arc. All the force she can muster is put into the attack, hoping that if she can smash her way through the hairpiece with a desperate assault from above, she can save herself having to eat elbow again!
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks MayLee's Full Swing Chop!.
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MayLee 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Rust
"What'd you just call me?" Is the man's response to her disarming declarations as she just kind of pops back up from an otherwise solid hit. He's not sure at this point if there's just some new schoolyard insult in English being tossed about, or what. 'Evil' is clear, sure, but he has trouble matching up the context in the heat of what is, to him, a goddamn hooligan jumping around about justice or some such while he's trying to teach a class.
She's not some ordinary deluded sort, at least. He's felt the strikes, he saw (and felt) how she caught one of those swings with a smile. It kind of reminds him of Marisol, in some ways, as she dramatically leaps up for the dual-handed chop that is met with, largely, the same forearm that he typically blocks with.
Leaning backwards, it's kind of a surprise the man's back doesn't snap into two from how hard she comes down on him with those two mighty chops, two somewhat notable sensations of something approaching pain as he slides his left arm a ways back to try and get his hand atop May Lee's scalp before thrusting straight downward in a faceplant against the vast, paved lot of the front of the Kyokugen Dojo.
"Cripes," he grumbles as he's kind of at a loss as to where he can really pick back up the lectures while the kids sit there entertained with all the theatrics about.
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits MayLee with Brick Stacker.
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MayLee 1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Rust
*crunch*
May Lee's boundless optimism isn't diminshed at all by the fact that Rust has just, you know, planted her face into the ground. The concrete doesn't give, but May Lee's nose and lip do. For all that, she's still smiling when she gets up. It isn't the crazed smile of a berserker. It is the slightly dazed smile of a girl whose plan to 'go with' this one hasn't quite gone as planned.
"You're wearing that teacher like a mask!" She says, wobbling a little on the spot. "Well I'll free him from your evil spell!"
"RIDAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
She's in the air again.
"KIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!"
And then she's behind Rust.
The intervening distance is covered so quickly that it might even take Rust a few moments to realize he's *been* kicked. If he has. The attack is blindingly fast, representing the full culmination of everything that May Lee's style of combat stands for.
If it does connect smoothly, it will be concluded with May Lee raising her arm up over her face, her scarf flapping dramatically behind her... a split second before Rust is consumed in a titanic (evil-cleansing) explosion! KABOOM!
COMBATSYS: MayLee successfully hits Rust with May Lee- The End!.
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MayLee 0/-------/-----==|=======\======-\1 Rust
She /is/ fast. Even when he seems ready to pull back and swing at her again, he quickly aborts such notions as he clenches his left fist tightly in prime defensive position to her very loud and dramatic screams.
Some of the students are actually very familiar with what's about to go on as May Lee passes by (...or through?) their instructor, who for the moment seems legitimately confused as to what's going on despite the fact that one of /his/ top techniques relies on a vaguely similar principle, the stiff sounds of creaking and popping joints that are almost rejecting the idea of further movement possibly able to be construed to the imagination as perhaps the confused noises of a horrible monster lurking within (or without?).
The single kick's seeming connection seems almost ineffective as he starts to turn, until she goes through the motions and summons that delayed chi explosion that envelops him--
To the untrained eye, it seems more like the explosion unmakes him, given the clearing dust and the lack of the older man's form within until he comes crashing down on the concrate virtually head-first before bouncing face down. This is exactly as painful as it looks.
What's probably more wondrous in the big picture is that the man still moves, working himself up to a kneel with little stopping him aside from the popping joints that crackle distressingly under great distress while he staggers to a stand, his head visibly bruised as he shakes his head to try and get his head back into the... game?
When did this become a game?
"All right... look, look, are you, are you listening," he grouses out loud, "that's... that's pretty good, okay, but... but where the hell are you gettin' off on... whatever it is," he is simultaneously impressed and deeply annoyed. Given he has had /two/ convincing, very bad losses in the fighting circuit and is now being outright humiliated on the job, a part of him does feel that legitimate drive of feeling wronged in some form or another, "I'm gonna, gonna have to ask you to stop," he murmurs that much.
At least, before he suddenly staggers forward as he brings a leg low, even as a knee complains. It's about to complain even more, as he suddenly thrusts out a kick with such rapid succession that it sounds particularly noisy like a jackhammer.
Odd energy flares around it... no, flickers. The color is so incredibly washed out that it's nigh-on impossible to determine what it is between... blue? Green? Maybe it's a kind of gray? Whatever it is, it's not going to be pleasant to be kicked by in such rapid succession, down low at shin- or perhaps ankle-level, depending.
COMBATSYS: MayLee blocks Rust's Jackhammer Kick.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Rust
May Lee had really been hoping that Rust would go down! That her final finishing move would free him from the evil spell that his hairpiece clearly has on him. That doesn't seem to be the case, though, and instead she winds up having to face another attack. May Lee doesn't know what to make of this, but she does crouch down low, and practically turns into a ball as she's kicked with that strange energy. This at least stops her leg from being badly hurt; she needs that leg.
She isn't deaf to what Rust is saying, either. Normally, having remained standing after a Final Finishing Move, the Nefarious Villain would take this moment to mock her, or explain their villainous scheme. They don't generally continue to say 'what is wrong with you', or words to that effect.
Maybe it is that which is finally starting to get through May Lee's thick skull.
As she rolls backwards, she unfurls from her balled up position, and looks a little embarrassed. Some of the intensity has gone out of her bearing; in her mind, dramatic theme music is no longer playing, and her scarf is, well, a scarf, rather than a symbol of undeniable and impenetrable justice. She actually scratches behind the back of her head.
"Uh, hey, Mister." She says, with a nervous little laugh. "Are you really telling me that you just... *bought* that thing, at like, a store? It didn't attach itself to your head one night and start leeching out your fashion sense or something? And you really do just make little kids wail on one another here?"
COMBATSYS: MayLee takes no action.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Rust
Really, at least one of the kids seem disappointed (Mr. I Don't Want To Be Punched) that Mr. Rust isn't done for, because that totally is how the shows go! That the man's still fighting, putting a whole lot into it - perhaps not even throwing out the best he has - kind of breaks the flow of tokusatsu shows when it comes to the hero fighting the monster of the week.
He seems pretty ready to step it up to that as he draws Ol' Rusty back as he flexes out some more of that stiffness in one of his shoulders as May Lee addresses him in a more normal tone of voice - disarmingly so, as she actually asks him a straight question about the... 'hair.'
Not that it's any less humbling for such to be asked out in the open, as the stance relaxes while thinking about how best to respond to this question in a way that doesn't devalue his position in his ongoing (losing) battle with male pattern baldness.
It is very difficult. "It... uh, no, it's not some kind of... creepy... crawling... th-thing or another, no," is the closest thing to a response that satisfies both the truth of acquisition without the full-on admission of what it means.
"C'mon, finish it!" Says one of the more impatient kids, as Mr. Rust grumbles a small string of consonants while lowering Ol' Rusty down. That kid's gonna be doing more laps soon.
"N-Now look here," he says, "Kyokugen's... 's pretty physically demanding. We're talkin' not just... not just, y'know, a pull-ups, or a hundred laps, or, or what have you," he waves his hand around a bit in making examples as he talks, "'s a martial art. At... at some point or another, you gotta learn how to punch... how to take one... 'n how to, how to roll with 'em."
He motions with his head over to the lot behind him. "These kids're white belts, so right now it's just, it's just... punches, kicks, blocks, real basics. I mean... injuries do happen, these're real punches we're... y'know, we're teaching."
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Rust
May Lee does look pretty skeptical. What's going on here? Is this a lie? Is the insidious nature of this evil so insidious that it isn't willing to abide by the very tropes that birthed it? ... nah, seems more likely that she's been silly.
"HEY!"
This time, May Lee is shouting at the students, and she spins around to point at the one who demanded that she finish it. "We don't treat our teachers with that kind of disrespect! If they aren't evil, we definitely don't beat them up! We only do that to people who deserve it!"
The teenage crusader against evil then turns back to Rust, and takes a low bow. "I'm sorry, Sir." She says, and she genuinely means it. "Maybe you haven't heard the news yet. There's all sorts of strange things flying around at the moment, turning people evil and making them hurt others, even kill them!" She looks pretty serious at that; probably the most serious she's looked since she stepped into this courtyard. "When I saw your ..." She struggles for an appropriate word. "Unique, hairstyle, I thought it might be related."
She bows a second time, "I didn't mean to get in the way of your training. I'm a Tae Kwon Do fighter, so, the style is a little different. I don't even know if I could do a hundred laps!"
And then she's laughing, because this is all a hilarious misunderstanding, and not at all embarrassing.
COMBATSYS: MayLee takes no action.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Rust
As May Lee tries to verbally discipline one of the children, Mr. Rust raises a hand as if to say 'hey, no, that's my job' but, there she goes, heroically teaching the viewers as to the proper way to refer to one's instructors and superiors. He rubs at the side of his head as he reflects on the years he spent getting the necessary education to become an instructor to begin with, in regards to where he stands right now in actually applying it.
This reflection stops when May Lee bows in apology and better explains the situation at hand. It almost sounds like it comes from a TV show in itself, were he not on the up on up on a recent experience that is not quite the exact same.
"You mean, kinda like... when people all over just got... really, really violent during King of Fighters?" He asks, recalling two of his teammates had problems - one did indeed go berserk, the other just couldn't control his power thanks to that thing on their neck at the time. Could there be more cases of the latter out there? Granted, Zach didn't /himself/ go berserk, emotionally speaking...
He casts a few glances off to the side as she explains how she thinks that... 'hair' is related to any of it, as if wondering as to whether or not he's run into anyone like that. He comes up blank, but who knows at this point?
"Well, uh, that explains," he doesn't finish the sentence before he's interrupted by her good-natured laughter over the matter. There's no similar feelings of laughter on his end - but this is, in effect, one of the realities of his life now. Silly misunderstandings snowballing into dramatic martial arts battles! Which is actually a little scary.
"Ehh... l-look," he speaks up as he sheathes Ol' Rusty (to the extent it can really be sheathed as opposed to 'shoved through ruined toolbelt pocket pouch thing') and then raises one of his hands, palm facing downward, as he repeats the motion of lowering it a few times, "I've been, I've been through some... some other stuff like that, last thing you wanna do is... is lose your head over all of it, you understand? I'll just... ah, y'know, I'll keep an eye out."
It's about all he can really offer as any sort of alleviation on the matter about this supposed craze of evil sweeping worldwide so shortly after one such wave of it as he looks back to the kids. He claps his hands.
"All right, you see that? When you, when you got a misunderstanding like that, that's... that's a good way to stop it."
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
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MayLee 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Rust
May Lee nods her head slowly. Compared to her own bombastic and enthusiastic style of speaking, Rust's is almost painfully slow. She does her best to stay calm, though. She wants to listen and she wants to take this guy seriously! She just, has a bit of trouble with it.
The longer she has to be quiet and listen to him, the more she has to look at that hair, too. Look at it. There's no way that thing isn't some form of malevolent evil.
Bringing herself back to reality, she shakes her head at the sound of clapping, and tries to perk up. A bright smile paints itself back on her lips, and she nods her head.
"Words are more powerful than any fist!"
And then she slips her hands back into her pockets, which, is about as close to the 'disarming' gesture as she can really get. The girl looks just a little embarrassed. "So yeah. Uh. Sorry about that. I'll totally make it up to you some time, but... maybe its best if I come back when you aren't teaching a lesson, huh?"
Spinning on her heel, she pauses only to add the final words of wisdom she knows Kim would want her to say:
"And remember kids, stay in school!"
Before she wanders off, maybe some more time at home would relax her a bit. She's jumping at hairpieces now, she's obviously under way too much stress.
Log created on 06:56:00 01/17/2012 by Rust, and last modified on 22:50:40 01/18/2012.