Description: With the gentle suggestions of Sagat to get over to Russia and help try to free it from China's grasp as a staging ground for further invasion - the long trip is relatively smooth for one Howard Rust until he pops into Iran, a place that just happens to be one of Vega's next targets. But wait! With the Black Power Ranger present, these goons stand no chance against justice and heroism! ...Right?
It seems many countries drew the ire of Vega as of late. Many countries willing to ally with the dictator decided against it when it looks like China showed it wasn't as powerful as they boasted. This in turn turned into a bad thing for them. Now the various countries in the Middle East find themselves under the assault of Vega and his forces. Will they fall and regret their choice or shall the come out victorious and further prove that perhaps China truely isn't the super power it was boasting to be when it first started to take over the various countries in Asia?
Right now Iran is a very important target to take over. With the nuclear capabilities the country holds along with the exports they control it would be a perfect country to take for resources alone. That is exactly why they are getting hammered right now from the combined Shadaloo and Chinese forces.
Marching to the capital is one very dangerous unit. Not really for the troops, but for their leader. A large man that is easily seven feet tall and often covered in the blood of his victims stands in front of the rest of his unit as they continue onwards. They have had little resistance and any that has appeared as promptly been dispatched. The unit is called The Cleaners for the reason. Where they appear any life other than their own is often eradicated. Many killed by the bare hands of their leader, Ming.
COMBATSYS: Ming the Bloody has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-------|
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|
One Howard Rust (alongside Quon Chen, not pictured) have been sent off by Sagat to try and move to reclaim Russia. Russia's... kind of a big place. So is China - cutting through China to get there is absolute suicide. The best chance he - and anyone else, really - has to even get there is to go the long way around between several territories already occupied, some still being contested... and keeping one's head down while hoping for the best.
Howard absolutely had to get out of a truck near the Iran border, ultimately left to his devices. He should be okay with the fact he's come /this/ far at least (hopefully Quon will be okay), taking in a deep breath and drawing Ol' Rusty as he cannot help but worry about how many political snafus that are inevitably going to arise over an American war combatant in their borders.
Hours later and just outside the capital, there Howard is, already a bit dinged from a skirmish with some enemy scouts, crouched near bales of hay to catch his breath as he considers whether or not he should stand and fight against whatever's coming, or save his strength and move forward. He's so close to Russia, he knows he can stop in Turkey - word's come to him they're gearing up to assault it.
But... what would it mean for the people here? Even if it's entirely likely they wouldn't want his help, even possibly shoot him? It's always the little things.
Looks like it's time for the Cleaners to get their clocks cleaned!
Emerging from the sandy storms of Iran's desert, comes a shadowy figure that flies from the sky in direct trajectory towards the bloody armada. This humanoid like shape, spins repeatedly in mid air displaying tremendous feat of dexterity before valiantly, and might one also add very dramatically, landing on his feet directly in front of the bloody platoon. The sun reflecting on the man's helmet, once the dust clear it is revealed to be none other than the Mighty Morphin Black Power Ranger here to save the day, pointing up to the sky while his other hand rests on his hip.
"EVIL DOERS! YOUR CRIMES WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED!!"
From the looks of it, Mister Jones has gotten waaaay too immersed on his role of super hero. Ever since defeating those forces in Bangladesh and Indonesia, all doubts that he couldn't possibly be fit for the role of savior of the world are completely erased from him. Where he would have normally jumped to the trenches with the rest of the soldiers, now he jumped cleared over them casting a shadow below to stand before the onslaught of Shadaloo making himself a big big target.
He had made a promise to his buddy Elias that he would help find his charge Alice, but before he does that he needs to ensure that the world she returns to is one that is safe. One which does not have this evil blood soaked butcher prowling about making it dangerous for children to frolic. The fact that Alice could probably absolutely annihilate all these men by flicking her fingers is completely irrelevant to him.
"Repent from your actions and I may, possibly not really, go easy on you!" Doth says the Black Ranger as he starts making frantic, intimidating(?) poses before slipping on some sand and falling on his back like a total moron. "Ack! These boots got no friction!"
Our savior everyone.
COMBATSYS: MrJones has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
There had been rumors swarming about through the Shadaloo and Chinese forces of certain fighters that have become a pain in the rear for Vega. Mr. Jones is one of those people mentioned. Both him and the priest he was traveling with made a bit of a statement in Bangledesh before they parted ways. Elias was last seen in the US helping fend off forces there, but it seems his partner in crime has gone another way and has found himself in the Middle East.
Rust is actually spared being noticed at the moment at least. Mostly because of the flashing entrance of Jones that makes Ming and his unit stop as they just stare at him. They aren't sure how serious this man can be given he soon is on his back. They erupt in laughter and Ming shakes his head. "He amuses me." he says to the group and he laughs again. THat is when his face goes from joking to dead serious. "I will break him." That causes The Cleaners to all erupt in cheers as they start to load up their guns. Ming himself stalks forward and the large warrior soon is upon Jones and reaching to pick the afro'd fighter up and then drive him back into the sand again face first.
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners calculates its next move.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
As Howard is busy contemplating matters of standing up and doing the right thing vs. the commodity that is one's sound health for a battle that demands his absolute best (...moreso than some of the previous) in a politically volatile landscape, the sudden - incredibly comical - appearance of a man wearing a black suit that /has/ to be much too hot to run around in gets a sour look on his face when those words come out of their mouth. Really?
The older man takes in a deep breath as he considers the laughing soldiers with their loaded guns, that giant man that's painted in... that's red paint, right? Please tell me that's red paint, Howard thinks.
With 'I will break him,' Howard grumbles. No, there's really no escaping it - it kind of doesn't matter where or what the situation. Something bad's going down, he's here to possibly stop it right here, right now... he damn well ought to. He can't let innocent people potentially get themselves killed at a whim because he simply didn't feel up for it...
Unfortunately, the most heroic, dramatic, hard-hitting thing he can think of is hoisting a particularly large bale of hay with the tip of Ol' Rusty, his position betrayed by the snap of a knee joint as he steps forward and hurls the bale of hay with such deadly force it might give the Cleaners a bit more than a case of hay fever.
"H-Hey!" He calls out, any further dramatic speech stopped in twain with a brief cough. God damn hay.
COMBATSYS: MrJones blocks Ming the Bloody's Face First.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
Downed as he may be, Mister Jones is not spared the obnoxious laughter of Ming the Bloody and his platoon of most decidedly Unclean soldiers. The movie star, turned vigilante, turned Prize Fighter, turned SUPER HERO may be incredibly impervious to insults, what with dealing with movie critics for most of his doomed career. But when the mocking laughter comes from those who wish to see innocents hurt, that is something he cannot forgive, even Angelo had a sense of honor, ideals, something to aspire to! These men just...disgust him.
It is this very same laughter that prevent Ming the Bloody from getting a good hold on the Power Ranger. Kicking himself up back to his feet as soon as he felt the large man's thunderous steps approach him, the Ranger adopted a Jeet Kune Do position....and got grabbed anyway! "Wuh oh!" But not without at least twisting himself in mid throw to roll forward and break his fall, minimizing the damage he would have taken from falling head first.
Oblivious that his suicidal attack on Shadaloo's forces has sucked a certain Rust Howard into the fierce skirmish, the Black Ranger looks first up to the sky noticing the hay sailing directly towards the group of soldiers to crash upon them. He takes this as a signal to do an attack of his own, the visor of his Power Ranger suddenly fixing upon his crimson covered foe to charge at him with a flying kick directly to the gut.
"WATAAAAAAA!"
Power Rangers didn't yell like that...
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners blocks Rust's Large Thrown Object.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: MrJones successfully hits Ming the Bloody with Slide Double.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Rust
The laughter does stop for two reasons. One is the fact Ming is caught off guard by the quickness and actual power from Mr. Jones. A mistake he won't be making again after he feels that kick slam into his stomach. It staggers the large fighter back and he almost goes to a knee, but keeps his balance. He goes wide eyed and he slaps his face a few times and then points to Mr. Jones. "You think yourself funny? I will eat your face and bath in your blood like the last person that attacked me." Given how he looks and the fact that redness covering certainly isn't ketchup it is safe to say he is dead serious when he tells the Power Ranger that.
And while his men had prepared to fill Mr. Jones full of lead it seems intead they are caught by surprise to an extent by the sudden large bale of hay thrown their way. Men turn about and most get out of the way while a few have to catch it and fight their way out of the mess. "There is more than one! Get him!" shouts one soldier as a few grenades are soon sent hurtling the way of Rust. Ming on the otherhand seems more intent on just ramming his large fist right into the face of Mr. Jones.
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks The Cleaners' Grenade Volley.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Rust
With the hay tossed into the fray (and his chips into the pile, metaphorically speaking), the aging American man pats his chest firmly to clear his throat before stepping forth to the lot of them gathered. Same deal as before, right, he thinks to himself - lots of gunfire, they'll probably bunch up together, is going to have make the most of every swing he makes--
He doesn't take his borderline legendary resilience for granted when the grenades are thrown, actually able to track them. To his credit, he plays it more safe than reckless, going to a low crouch to anchor himself as explosions happen just a ways ahead. He feels a bit of rattling to one of his legs and forearms while bits of dirt shower him, but he's not too much worse for the wear.
Really, it just gives the Cleaners a head start to run like hell when the older of the two American heroes-to-be rises up. The dark purple mass of... something... on his scalp somehow manages to shine through the clouds of smoke, a grisly sight that may match or surpass Ming's bloody visage. (Howard's actual scowl is not quite as scary in comparison.)
"'m givin' you... givin' you all one chance to, to just... turn around," he mutters unconvincingly with a wince of his popping knee as he steps forth, Ol' Rusty drawn as he swipes it a couple times in a series of non-descript swipes if he can close in on the Cleaners - if they'll let him.
COMBATSYS: MrJones parries Ming the Bloody's Black Eye!
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Rust
Mister Jones is a goofball yes, a huge moronic, childish, Power Ranger suit wearing goof, there's no changing that. However, much to the chagrin of far more serious and experienced fighters, he honestly possesses great skill despite his short comings. A fact that Ming the Bloody may start to realize once he throws his big meaty haymaker fist directly at Jones' face only for the Black Power Ranger to smack it out of the way, twisting Ming's arm around and trap him under his arm pit to put him out of balance.
Eat his face will he? Well...
"Side order of Knuckle Sandwich!"
Jones has no mercy for evil doers. He will avenge all those men that Ming has killed.
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Rust with Bullet Spread.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: MrJones successfully hits Ming the Bloody with Retro Knuckle EX.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Rust
Ming himself seems to still be caught off guard to an extent. He has underestimated his opponent today and it is showing badly at the moment. He looks to just swat away that hand only to be overpowered and have the fist slam into his face and knock him off his feet. On his back is not a position he is used to being in when in battle. He is a man known for his sheer violence and overpowering many men at once. Yet here he finds himself being embarassed by some fool in a costume. It only seems to be sending him in a rage as he seethes. "I will stab you thirty-seven times in the chest and eat your hands!" he shouts while getting up and looks to just pick up Mr. Jones and toss him away.
The rest of the troops are instead intent in trying to just mow down Rust before he can get close. Mostly because they are unsure what is on his head and they don't want it to get near them. It causes for alot of frantic firing and somehow Rust, and the toupee sadly, getting away unscathed as his swings start to take down the closest of the soldiers as the others quickly start backing away. "Regroup!"
Howard's waiting for that ticklish but lightly painful sensation of being shot by so many bullets at once - that's inevitable when you're going to try and approach a bunch of soldiers on foot, especially when you are not well known for having great closing speed in most circumstances. He feels his step sink just a bit moving into sandier terrain, realizing this will probably lead into some problems for what options he /does/ have for covering distance.
While he's busy worrying about matters of footing, he reaches out to grab one of the retreating soldiers by the arm as he thinks, for a moment, to look back over to that weird guy in the black costume and that large one in the... red.
"You... you doin' okay--" He thinks to ask the guy in the costume, but after seeing that fist slam into the big man's face, Howard just nods once and looks back to shoving that one soldier he might have a good grasp on into his retreating buddies in something of a bowling effect.
Yeah, that guy seems to be holding up okay, that's a relief, he thinks, giving him a little bit more peace of mind to focus on taking care of /this/.
COMBATSYS: MrJones blocks Ming the Bloody's Quick Throw.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Rust
It is awfully convenient that Rust is taking care of the Cleaners. Even if Mister Jones..no.. The Black Ranger has proved himself to be more than a match for armed men in the past, he is far better suited for one to one battles against formidable foes like Ming. How lucky! The big bloodied man gets to have all of Mister Jones' attention to himself, he should feel honored.. and pissed off....mostly pissed off though.
Jones is grabbed again, he's kind of lightweight so unfortunately throwing him around it's not that difficult. Hurting him with a throw however is a different story, since the man knows how to land and makes a spinning back flip landing on his feet to avoid any further injuries.
As he lands, all stylish like, he gives Rust a thumbs up without looking directly at him as if sensing his concern. He knows that there's a guy out there covering him and will make sure to do the same to him when it comes to Ming the Bloody.
"Oh yeah!?? We'll I'll.....punch you...umm...twenty seven time and....eh I dunno-WAASHAAA!" For once, Mister Jones seems to be at a loss of words to counter Ming's strange threat. However, his fists are far from running out of energy and he rushes back at his opponent again, swinging a lariat kick down to the man's leg, aiming to the side of his knee to snap it.
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners blocks Rust's Quick Throw.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Rust
COMBATSYS: Ming the Bloody fails to interrupt Aggressive Strike from MrJones with Kidney Punch.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Rust
This entire advance has been thrown for a loop. Of all the sorts of resistance that Ming and the rest of the group could have thought about running into they never expected that they would meet a brick wall that consists of a man with some weird creature on his head and a Black Ranger. Nothing Iran has thrown at them has seemed to have even been close to a problem. The frustration has Ming so annoyed he can't seem to do anything against the man he faces. Even when Jones comes at him he starts to swing to catch the man square in the kidney only to once again miss and meet the ground.
The Cleaners are having their own problems. One man yelps as he is grabbed and is started to be tossed about. THe rest get the hell out of dodge so not to get gripped as well. They try to get back around their leader who is starting to get to his feet. "What do we do?" they ask and Ming looks angered, but he is also no fool. His men were caught by surprise and they are not faring too well at all. "We go." he snarls and hates to think of retreat, but they need time to regroup and move elsewhere. "Give cover fire and we will leave a few people to allow the rest to get away." He just glares in the direction of both men as he makes a throat slitting motion. The Cleaners do just that and unleash a rain of hot lead on the enemy as Ming and the rest make their retreat. They will live to fight another day and if Ming can help it he will have his revenge.
COMBATSYS: Rust Toughs Out The Cleaners' Focus Fire!
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The Cleaners 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Rust
The ex-shop teacher, current frightening-slab-of-a-man-who-just-won't-die-when-shot has some trouble making out some of the words being said as he still feels his ears ring a bit from being in such close proximity to aimlessly aimed rifles in that initial approach that he doesn't quite get that they're thinking of running away.
He remembers Nepal - the guys he fought there kept going at him even with their bare hands when they expended all their ammunition - all of it - trying to kill him. They focus fire upon the man in the suddenly far more realistic hopes of stalling him, and the larger, thicker American man does not seem like he might be cowed...
Or will he?! There's a very good shot to one of his knees that sees him unsteady as he overcommits a step into somewhat unsteady stand after them, having already drawn back Ol' Rusty for what might have been a powerful forward lunge, a sudden curse as he loses balance, falling forward with such force as otherwise mildly annoying gunfire pelts him, the vast majority bouncing almost harmlessly off of him as per usual.
His left hand flails suddenly with the poor expectation of his ability to stay on his feet, brushing against his scalp with just enough strength that the... thing pops off.
Under the Iranian sun, his head gleams with beads of sweat to a freshly revealed combover, revealing a most horrible and unbearable truth that the world has already familiarized itself ten times over, the older man's eyes widening in shock and sudden panic to his spiritual health.
The dark purple thing flies forward, threatening to smack itself in a Cleaner's face with all the loving impact of a filthy, disgusting, unnaturally-feeling /thing/ that might make Ming's brand of decoration seem almost wholesome while Howard stumbles back up to a forward jog that won't catch up with them if they're actually running away full tilt.
COMBATSYS: Rust has another bad hair day.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 [E] Rust
"Where ya think you're going homes!?" Oh, now Mister Jones is getting quite cocky. He's got the forces of evil on the run, and when this happens he unfortunately tends to regress from his lofty ideals of super hero goodness and get...well..gangsta'. This is a man that began his fighting career fighting in Metro City's streets after all, when it gets down to the nitty gritty, Jones shows the real bone snapping, face punching, teeth knocking hoodlum that resides deep within the layers of move actor goofiness.
Why, the Black Power Ranger looks positively enraged at the idea of Ming and The Cleaners running away so they can kill another day. He wants to make sure to cripple them all to the point where walking is not going to be an option for years, let alone fighting. Jones charges, running headlong to the group of soldiers ready to take them all by himself if he has to. Only stopping when flurry of bullets comes his way, falling prone on the ground to avoid getting hit. Skilled as he is, he is still human and he realizes that running into a next of machine gun fire is down right suicidal. He's not /that/ dumb.
But he can't simply just let them get away. No, he has to leave his mark. It is then that he realizes that he can tap into the heroic Mighty Morphin Power energy of his suit to do something he couldn't ever do before! He's going to shoot a chi blast at them.
"Fuuuuuuunky-" Getting into a stereoptypical power blast stance, feet spread slightly with hands clasped together down by his hip. Mister Jones extends his palms forward and unleashes all the power that resides within!! "DDOOOOOUKEEEEN!!"
Cue fart sound coming from his hands.
"Ayyo, you know what!?" He bends low picking a brick from the ground to chuck it at Ming. "NYEH!"
Why spend years upon years of chi manipulation when throwing things is just as good?
COMBATSYS: MrJones endures The Cleaners' Focus Fire.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 [E] Rust
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners dodges Rust's Weakened Small Thrown Object.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 [E] Rust
COMBATSYS: MrJones successfully hits Ming the Bloody with Small Thrown Object.
Glancing Blow
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The Cleaners 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 MrJones
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Ming the Bloody 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 [E] Rust
They won't call it a retreat. It is just that, but they will call it a tactical withdrawal. If they said they retreated Vega would have their hide. Ming is strong enough he might at least get out of punishment alive, but all his followers would easily be turned into go with a Psycho Crusher or the like most certainly. Even so that seems not so bad compared with the danger at least one of The Cleaners face. Eyes go wide and a young man shrieks in terror as the creature on Rust's head detaches and comes flying his way. It was a brain eater moving onto another host! They knew it! All the men just scramble faster now that the fuzzy creature is on the loose. They don't even notice the fact it just kinda lands on the sand and doesn't move afterwards. Who knew a group of troops could run so fast?
Ming himself is really not fully paying attention mostly because his own attention is diverted to the brick coming his way. He raises an arm up and knocks if off to the side and makes a rather rude gesture to the Black Ranger. He won't forget these two. He will find them and next time be properly prepared. And when he defeats them he will be eating well for quite some time. Ming soon catches up with the rest of his unit and they all continue their withdrawal back into more friendly territory to regroup.
COMBATSYS: Ming the Bloody has left the fight here.
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The Cleaners 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 MrJones
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|====---\-------\0 [E] Rust
COMBATSYS: The Cleaners has left the fight here.
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|=======\-------\1 MrJones
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|====---\-------\0 [E] Rust
Howard's surprise that they actually truly are running away is met with something like relief smothered under the uncomfortable blanket of feeling somehow naked, stomping across the sands to the site of his fallen... er... let's be gentle and call it a 'possession' and just not shed any additional light upon it, as he slaps it down upon his scalp poorly and haphazardly. Such contact with the sand almost certainly ruins the adhesive bits and must feel uncomfortable to his scalp.
Then again, he did mostly shrug off no small amount of direct gunfire, so he may in fact /be/ that dumb, possibly that suicidal to willingly run into a nest of machine gun fire, an eye cast out to where the soldiers and that gigantic man are running, running, running...
"They're... th-they're running away, huh," Howard mumbles out the obvious as he casts a look back towards the Black Power Ranger. "Y'know, uh, I... I didn't see all of it, but... shit, almost, almost looked like you could've, uh, could've taken on... 'bout a thousand of 'em at once."
If only he knew!
Meh, got 'im in the arm, but oh well! Next time they meet, Mister Jones will not be so kind! The Black Ranger shakes his fist at the retreating platoon, still with half his mind intent on chasing after them, though he knows better than to run head long into the unforgiving desert where they can lay a trap for him, or heck, he could possibly just get lost. Besides, Rust is right, the Power Ranger suit has no ventilation whatsover and the only thing that keeps Jones from passing out is his unlimited supply of groovness.
No sooner have the Shadaloo men retreated like little baby cowards, Jones removes his helmet and *POOF* goes his afro, bouncing slightly as it is freed. "That'll learn 'em." Says the movie actor as he turns to meet his helper, wishing to thank him for his assistance. "Eh they were just a bunch of chums any------" Jones suddenly freezes on his spot. The thing about that whole fight is that he hadn't gotten a good look on Rust. A good thing too, because if he had, he would have just exploded on the inside after getting a good look at that...-thing- on his head.
In fact, as he stands there looking at him, his shades crackle and shatter completely showing the expression of pure horror on his eyes.
Though he quickly composes himself and puts on another pair, clearing his throat. "You ain't that bad neither homes! Thanks for the assist back there."
The man with the pipe in one hand and a head with... that thing... visibly slumps in posture to the sudden appearance of that afro, and a much better look at who he's looking at here... oh, no way, no way--
He winces at the sudden burrst of eyeglasses, mouth hanging open a little at this sudden sensation that seems to keep happening a lot lately. Glass sure seems to like shattering around himself a whole lot, lately, but, more importantly, the matter of who it is he's talking to! (To be fair, Quon may or may not have mentioned him in the past couple of days, but this revelation is no less shocking.)
"Uh," he points a finger as the name's on the tip of his tongue, "you're, ah... you're... Jones, right? From the, from the movies," he says, the compliment slipping off his sweaty, sandy back, "for... for real? Neo Development, uh... League, no, starts with, uhh, starts with... a P... the guy who won it?"
He is standing before not only a bonafide movie star (well, a has-been, from the looks of things) but one of the hottest names in fighting right about now. Here, right now.
In Iran, surrounded by Chinese troops that may or may not be fleeing the country and a bunch of paranoid nationals on the other side, in the middle of a pitched war for the sake of the world against Vega's ambitions. Mr. Rust is not even sure as to whether he's kind of happy for this stroke of luck, or severely horrified that a movie star and recent fighting champion is bouncing around playing dress-up in a black suit.
"That's me baby!" Mister Johnny Jones Damon makes a pose when he is recognized! It always elates him to know that people still remember his movies, a sensation that only increases when he knows that his fans that he hopefully inspired in some way are here fighting the good fight right along with him. It's like something right out of a movie.
"Neo League Development Project. Yeah, I lucked on that one versus my homie boy Aranha." Jones says modestly and laughs slightly. Thankfully, he is still wearing another pair of shades to hide the fact that he's staring intently at Rust's toupee, almost thinking that it may move at any moment at attack him. Almost absent mindedly he starts stroking his own afro, thankful that at least /his/ scalp is covered with royal curly locks.
Something about Rust draws his attention, something other than his toupee of death that is. Jones furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head to get a good look at the man before him as realization strikes him. "Wait! I know you too! You're Rust Howard aren't ya?" He snaps his fingers "Quon told me a little 'bout ya, said that I might be running into some of his friends if I kept wandering 'round here." It would appear that yes, Quon had indeed spoken, but to Jones about Rust rather than other way around.
"Where ya headin' brudda? We should totally team up to kick some Shadaloser ass."
Man, Howard scratches the side of his head (with increasing caution when he thinks he might accidentally lop the... /item/ off his head mid-scratch) with Jones' incredible enthusiasm and cheer in the face of pretty much everything here. One of his knees pop loudly as he turns to cast very worried glances out and about. Really, anybody could come out screaming at them with rifles at this point.
Even if such a notion is hardly intimidating to people of such incredible fighting caliber and physical abilities, the idea of getting caught up and being treated as an invasive element as much as the Chinese war machine is not terribly appealing - he does seem to be largely half-listening to Jones, nodding every so often as he looks over himself to make extra sure that they're out of trouble.
He seems to start paying fuller (if not complete) attention with the mention of his name, met with a brief nod. "'s Howard, uh, Howard Rust, yeah." He clears his throat, wondering if he's got some of that sandy dust in his throat or something. He feels so /dry/.
"You, you know Quon, huh," he says as he sticks Ol' Rusty back into the pocket of his toolbelt. One of his fingers touch something fabric-y - at which point he realizes the pocket he put something very important in is giving out from all the fighting, and that maybe he shouldn't shove it in there unless he wants to accidentally lose it in-transit.
"I'm, I'm headed over to... Turkey," he says with a pause as he takes the thing out - looks like a scarf. A rather familiar scarf, actually, one that looks like it belongs to a certain young girl. It's hot here for now, but maybe wrapping it around his neck and shoulders will help keep some of the sun and sand off. Sunburns are not a joke.
"'m," he gestures uselessly with his right hand, making a vaguely circular motion, "headed up to Russia from there, heard that... that they're gonna try 'n... uh, take it back, but uh... say, where've you, uh, been thus far? I mean, through the war."
Mister Johnny 'Beats' Jones hears that knee popping and looks down, immediately realizing that this guy has a lot of old injuries to deal with. Poor fellah' he thinks, definitely not a guy that life has been very kind to, and it only draws admiration from his part that he's out there in the field doing his damnest despite...well..everything, (right now Jones thinks the least of Rust's problems is his knee).
"Yep, met the dude back in Indonesia, nice kid." Jones doesn't look very worried about the constant danger of armed men appearing all of the sudden. What does he have to fear from guns when he has the strength of the BLACK RANGER to back him up? Also he spots the scarf, but he is not familiar with the girl that it belongs to to the point where he'd recognize it just by looking at it.
Jones rubs his chin in thought "Wellp! It sounds much better than my current plan of runnin' around willy nilly. I was hanging out with my brudda Elias before this but we split ways 'case we thought we'd cover more ground that way. But..admittedly...heh, I'm kinda lost!" He's not actually sure how he even got to Iran, Jones kind of just followed the sound of gun shots.
"As for where I've been, just Indonesia and Baghla--baghla..Bagaladash." Typical of movie stars, he's quite ignorant of foreign geography and pronunciation. "Looks like you could use some help and I'm kinda not doing anything productive. So I can lend a hand if ya want."
Mr. Jones wants to join the party.
>Accept
Decline
Life not being kind to Howard here is kind of an understatement, but then again, despite everything... here he is!
Jones' revelation that he just kind of wandered around and came to this point elicits a blank stare from the other man as what comes exactly to mind falls right out of his mouth - tired, gravelly voice and all.
"Are you for real?" Howard dares to ask. "Just... kinda... ran into this?" Man, that Jones guy's either just playing it cool for the image or he really /did/ just kind of come by here out of sheer luck, but to be fair... that... often was his excuse, too.
"I... I was in Nepal when the, the, y'know, the whole thing started," he coughs once, "'scuse me. It just, it just... all kinda hit at once, I see, I see someone crying over another gettin' shot, and... and the next, uh, the next thing I know... medic types kinda try and shoot me up with, with needles, and... and I get mobbed by a buncha guys, shot at... rockets... punched," his voice trails off.
This is because he realizes he's not actually answering Mr. Jones' question about lending a hand. 'Kinda not doing anything productive,' he says... like it's a casual thing for him to be caught in this here life and death warzone. On one hand, he sure looks like he can take care of himself, and yet...
"If, if you're gonna be... gonna be serious 'bout it," he subconsciously seems to select 'accept,' "but, but I gotta warn you... I don't, uh... I don't have my passport." This should be extremely bad news. They are Americans. They know how hard it is to get back into America without one of them - and what that means to Rust's ability to easily move between borders (comparatively).
"Wouldn't, wouldn't be surprised if... if, y'know, at first the Turks kinda just... just tossed my ass in prison before we headed out," he knows he's already had a few extremely close calls just during the long, long trip from Thailand to here, as the older man rolls one of his shoulders to get out the pops. "They might, they might not keep us together, but... but I'm not, I'm not gonna lie to you, Mr. Jones, almost, almost all of us've been... kinda... runnin' 'round," he gestures with a finger, "if we were, y'know, able to get all our acts together..."
Didn't we all really? Mister Jones thinks that from all the fighters that have been sucked into this mess only few actually selected to participate, people that had their homelands threatened, had personal vendettas, or were just flat out drafted. Jones though, he's just in it because he wants to do his part to save the world, and he knows that others feel the same way that he does. It is perhaps Mister Jones' goofy personality that keeps him from realizing the truly dangerous situation that he's in, no normal man would act so casually about being in a warzone, unarmed and dressed as a Power Ranger no less. Yet he has shown to be able to take care of himself, so there might be a reason as to why he acts so confident and aloof.
"Yeah...I guess I kinda did." Mister Jones nods, still not sure how he got dragged into this himself, that's actually a question he can't quite answer. How did get involved with all this? But then again, does it matter? He is there now. "It's cool, take your time brudda." Jones waves his hand letting Rust get over his shell shock, dude is probably not used to all the death that surrounds him, and truly neither is Jones, but he may have an easier time dealing with it simply because he's originally from the streets and not from Hollywood as people might think.
"You don't--" The man blinks and slaps his own forehead "You don't have your passport?" Well that complicates things, how did Rust manage to run through all those borders without getting caught exactly? Oh well, there is the fact that there's a world war on. "Look brudda, you just let /me/ handle foreign affairs. I can talk myself out any mess!" He does have a motor mouth...and the charisma...and the fact that he's a world wide known movie star, maybe Jones has some connections? How else would he be able to cross borders himself?
"It's gotta start somewhere anyhow. If we can get Quon, then MayLee and Kim, then Zach, and maybe if Elias decides to return we can really get this ball rolling." Jones smiles and puts on his Power Ranger helmet placing a hand on Rust's broad shoulder giving him a thumbs up.
"No worries, we got this!"
Where does he get so much enthusiasm? It must be suit.
Log created on 20:32:12 02/28/2012 by Rust, and last modified on 09:17:21 03/01/2012.