Description: As per an exchange program with Thailand, Zaki and her ward, nicknamed 'Bullfight' decide to let the new inductee cut her teeth by fighting a few rounds in the so-named 'Bear Pit.' However, Adon, watching over the fighting pit, takes a particular interest in the young Thai warrior, and soon finds himself ruining the days of two young ladies. Winner: Zaki
Thailand has not been spared the rigours of war; and to say so is a vast understatement. A developing country on the cusp of what the western world regards as 'civilization', the nation has been set back many years by China's Shadaloo-speared crusade against fighters and their ilk. The cities are unsafe even as the war draws to an uncertain halt, beset by looters and lowbrow rebels, which is why the common folk have gravitated to the outskirts - and beyond, into the fringe of jungles and hills. Impromptu settlements have appeared, housing the rich and poor alike as those variously affected by the fighting gravitate toward safety.
Japan, by contrast, has thus far held. Outreach programs fuelled by charity have extended toward places such as Thailand - to say nothing of the friends and family keen to offer their assistance. Most are of the expected stripe, but some are rather more surprising... if only because they're loathe to ever show their true face. This can easily be said of one Aoi Himezaki, late of Seijyun High, self-appointed leader of the Ladies' Team.
Few know that Zaki isn't one of the worst people alive; and does in fact care greatly for the five thousand or so teenagers who comprise her private army of schoolgirl brawlers. Fewer still that she regularly travels to meet with the outliers, those who joined while passing through either Southtown or one of the other Japanese towns that boast smaller cells of the central gang mass. One of these is a naive young woman named Sora; rather cruelly nicknamed 'Bullfight' by her peers, a title she carries with dumb pride.
She's a solid thing, only 5'4" but loaded with weight to spare in the form of heavy-packed muscle. Barely talented by fighter standards, she packs more of a punch than she should - and with some benefit from Zaki's training, has blossomed into a fair example of the gang's hotchpotch style. Currently she's leaning excitedly against the wall of a steel cage, grinning a somewhat derpy grin as her homely features twist in joy at the brutal spectacle unfolding before her. She's not that bright, but she knows what she likes, and fighting?
Fighting, she likes. Zaki believes in fostering such desire.
Which is why the Seijyun sukeban can be glimpsed at the back of the small, underground dugout fondly termed 'The Bear Pit' by the local refugees who have turned it into their entertainment hotspot. Inside the seedy cage, two men are currently eviscerating one another as the crowds cheer them on. Aoi for her part is recognizable in the usual way; her leather mask, and the chain binding her flamboyantly spiked crimson hair. Though for once she's clad otherwise than her typical uniform, decked out in flared jeans and a simple black hoodie, another pair of chains swinging from her waistline as she stands with arms crossed, watching Bullfight.
The girl's up next, but where she's excited Zaki is... wary.
There's little doubt she'll be stepping in to play her hand if this gets out of control.
Of course, not everyone is as picky as Zaki.
"YES! YES! Your blood sport PLEASES the EMPEROR of MUAY THAI!" Came the cry from the 'local' support. The dark-skinned red haired man sat wearing a silk robe of dark purple lined with rich gold. In times of great poverty, like here in Thailand, people like Adon thrived like festering parasites. Sitting upon a throne brought in by four strapping young men, the Emperor had decided to 'grace' the poor refugees with his presence. Such grace, of course, was part of the reason why the "bear pit" earned its name. Adon loved to see the poor and the despreate beat each other to near death over his attentions. AS the fight between the two men carries on, the Emperor plucks his vitals from a nearby table, tasting roast chicken, fine grapes, and naturally, hot beer. As he pops a grape in, the final blow is unleashed, the last two fighters are carried out... and a strange, new person is brought in. The Emperor's eyes open wide, but not out of shock. Out of a far more base, more carnal emotion. "A woman? He belts out, raising an eyebrow, before narrowing his eyes with a grin.
"No, a young -GIRL!-"
Adon leans forward on his throne, licking his greasy lips. Grabbing a nearly goblet, he slurps down his mouthful of chicken with warm beer, growing more and more excited. "Yes! YES! This PLEASES your EMPEROR! I! ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! Wishes to see this fair youth test her NUBILE skills before her GOD!" Leering at the girl, the emperor licks his lips again. "Are perhaps if I find her skills fitting.... I will make her into my MUAY THAI BRIDE!!!
"KYA HA HA! JAGGAAAAAAA!"
When the broken and bloodied boxers are dragged away, one with his cranium split almost in two from a desperately savage heel kick thrown in the final moments - near enough finding a theretofore scrappily evasive fight in a single strike, Zaki's babysat glances back toward her, grin widening to almost impossible degrees. It takes but a slight inclination of head from the sukeban to send her bolting into the cage in the very instant that the victor staggers out, shouting in delirium as he makes toward the bar and the welcoming cheers and jeers of his compatriots. He wasn't a huge man, all stringy bulging muscle on an underfed frame...
But he looked a bit more impressive than young Bullfight.
At her dimunitive height, she lacks the aplomb to carry off rather basic attire with any form of grace. Her tank top is a size too large, smallish breasts hanging free in way that's barely noticeable within the stacks of premature muscle she's piled on through a lot of gymwork and a lot of heavy protein consumption. Not quite a bodybuilder, she's at least got the makings of one, and moves with a certain ungainliness. Egging on the crowd with a couple of wild yells, she gives away her youth enough for Adon's disdainfully jubilant pronouncement.
As the word 'girl' leaves his crowing lips, he finds a sudden glare upon him, angled from the rear left. Aoi's vulpine eyes narrow to blazing blue slits over the choking black of her mask, arms remaining stalwartly folded, posture not budging an inch as she otherwise appears to direct all her cold rage toward him. He carries on, declaring his intent, revealing what kind of person he is; but of course, she already knows. He's Adon.
Who hasn't heard of Adon? The thought leaves her mouth in a scolding scoff, and her voice raises out over his.
"Oi! Sora." The girl stops amateurishly showboating and looks toward her, eyes wide for a moment as she makes contact with the intense stare of her boss. "You let that happen, and I'll make your life a lot worse. There's no rules here; teach him what we're all about. Don't hold back. Make the bastard /pay/ for his bullshit." Her lips twisting with scorn beneath the mask, she flicks those dark sapphire slits back toward Adon.
If the circumstance were different, she'd fight him herself. But the girl's got to learn.
In the ring, Bullfight stammers out an acknowledgement and steps around the makeshift caged ring, reaching into the pocket of her baggy camo pants - probably retrieved from some kindly soldier - to pull out a length of chain much like Zaki's own, wrapping it quickly about her right fist before raising both before her. Her mouth pulls into a determined line, and she begins to shift in a bobbing motion. Her stance is.. almost muay thai, enough to make a mockery of the style without really imitating it. "Ora, ora!" She shouts, woefully removing her gaze from the Emperor for an instant to seek Zaki's approval. Bad move.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight has started a fight here.
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Bullfight 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Bullfight focuses on her next action.
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Bullfight 0/-------/-------|
Adon knows women. That isn't an exaggeration, it is considered quite a feat that he can distinguish between Alma and a young lady. The late Alma, in fact. But the Emperor looks at the muscled woman with a twisted interest, steepling his hands with a broad grin. Snickering, he watches as she reaches into her pants. "What toy will my little princess use?" But not even Adon was prepared for what was to emerge.
A WHIP?! BWA HA HA HA H!"
Adon erupts in wild cackling, rolling over and out of his throne. Crouched over, the shrill laughter of the Emperor cuts through the crowd. As the laughter dies down.... the Emperor rises up, wiping a tear from his eye. "I! ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! Am a LIVING GOD of the GREATEST MARTIAL ART of ALL TIME! And I am truly BLESSED that you have given me this TINY TOY! A WHIP!? A WHIP!?!??! Only the most carnal ofand lusty of my MAIDENS weild such whips, and ONLY when their EMPEROR consents to such PLAY!" Staring at the woman with a smug, satistfied grin, the Emperor approaches the large man whose turn was up. The bulging man, intitially wary, throws up his arms, allowing Adon to 'cut' in line. The Emperor looks at him, waiting for something. And with a shriek, the Emperor suddenly unleashes a bone shattering kick to the brute's chest, sending him to his knees.
"WILL YOU NOT BOW TO YOUR KING?"
As the crowd parts away, Adon keeps his swaggering smile, holdings out his arms. His minions rush in, taking away the purple robe, revealing the Emperor's baby-blue boxers. Hands and limbs bound up, the Emperor holds himself high above the pit. Looking down, he sneers at the younger woman, shooting his nose up in the air. "I am ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! And you are nothing more than prey for the GREAT JUNGLE CAT! I promised you were to be my MUAY THAI BRIDE! But you have shown yourself to be worth NOTHING MORE than a MUAY THAI WHORE! WHat INSULTING form! What hideous shape! Perhaps you need a lesson in the PROPER techniques of MUAY THAI! Fortunately, I! ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! Will give you more than just a LESSON in MUAY THAI! Perpare yourself, WHIPPING WELP! For I! ADON! THE EMPEROR OF MUAY THAI! SHALL SHOW YOU THE TRUE MIGHT OF THE ULTIMATE IN MARTIAL ARTS!" And with that, Adon suddenly leaps into the pit, leading with a flying knee! Firing though the air, he was aiming right for the center of the young lady, attempting to plow right through her. THere was no pretense of defense, any reason. Just a smug, self-gratifying smile... and a howling shriek.
"JAAAAAAGGAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Adon has joined the fight here.
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Adon 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Bullfight
COMBATSYS: Adon successfully hits Bullfight with Medium Kick.
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Adon 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Bullfight
There's little boundary to Adon's unseemly arrogance, though his reputation in the homeland of his art provides him with a measure of celebrity; and that's an understatement if ever there was. People may not LIKE him, but popularity and pleasantry can be utterly disparate concepts. Most of the dingy 'Bear Pit' is exhilarated by his high-pitched, chalkboard trashtalk, only Zaki showing anything approximately complete disgust as he continues to natter on. She has to concede he does it damn well, though, enough that she takes a step forward when he pushes his way in line, arms lifting away from her body as she just barely suppresses the urge to trade places with the girl she's throwing fully to the wolves...
Nobody else moves to stop him. Why would they? They want to see a fight. They want blood.
But even Zaki cringes when that poor man's ribs simply SHATTER.
"Kuso!" She spits from behind the mask, voice echoing to a volume that turns several heads even beneath the roar of the Muay Thai Emperor. His opponent shrinks back at the sound, for her part suppressing an honest shiver as he makes his way into the cage with her. Only a glare form Zaki, an unseen flaring of the nostrils, causes her composure to return, and she bobs her head in acceptance, stepping forward into the eye of the condescending hurricane. Her dull brown eyes set aflame, she tightens the chain-wrapped fist.
"I'm no WHELP!!" She screams, lacking the eloquence of the Thai GOD as she simply, blindly shrieks, stepping right into his striking knee - in what looks an impressively brash motion, until it cleaves through her solar plexus and sends her thundering away like a broken human cannonball, limbs thrashing as she impacts the other side of the cage and rebounds. Barely landing on her feet, she's groggy and spitting blood when she drives herself back toward the smug warrior, opening her mouth in a roar to swing a brutal backhand at his cheek. She's not whipping with that chain, she's using it to augment the blow...
Against anyone but Adon, it might be a serious threat.
Oh, and her hoarse, accompanying warcry? It's even more ridiculous than his.
"BULLFIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!"
COMBATSYS: Adon parries Bullfight's Mother of Slaps!
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Adon 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Bullfight
Adon is the worst blend of human being ever to grace the earth. Most supreme jerks are made to live in a world of glass. While they may dole out great dollops of sheer douche-baggery, most can't back themselves up. Not Adon, though. Adon is the wonderful blend of human being that is equal amounts of physical talent with utter disregard of his fellow men. And if he treats men badly, you should see how he treats women.
Like now.
The red-haired Master of Muay Thai simply bowls through the young lady from Seijyun High, ending his single assault by landing on his feet. Sora does not have enough time to even pull off the wall of the cage before the Emperor is almost upon her, bolting towards her like a crazed animal. But as she lashes out verbally and weaponly, the Emperor gives out his own response.
Laughter.
Sharp, jeering laughter is all that comes from the Emperor. "KYA HA HA! What is this? BULLFIGHT? Is that your WAR CRY?" Adon somehow forces his grin even more as the woman bolts towards him, attempting to backhand the emperor. With the reflexes honed from years of endless training, the red-haired martial artist catches the backhand by the wrist, stopping the attack cold with a perfectly timed catch. "How PATHETIC. You fight like a COW, because that is all you are. A FAT, FLIMSY BOVINE suited only to be MILKED. Hideous slabs of BEEF like YOURSELF has no PLACE in my ring of HONOR! I expected no less from a woman; and with one as DISGUSTING as YOURSELF, I hope you can at least COOK! BAH! Let me make SOME use out of you, GIRL! "
"
Twisting the wrist, the Emperor attempts to grip the woman with his second hand. If successful, he will begin to smash his knee into the young's stomach, again and again until he sees fit. Only when he is through with the poor youth would he finally hurl her aside, tossing the girl into the cage wall again.
Cackling all the way.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight fails to interrupt Jaguar Slam EX from Adon with Hard-Headed Woman.
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Adon 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Bullfight
"Zaki, I--!!"
A well-trained, tame pet that she is, the girl known as Bullfight would be struck dumb as Adon's ironclad grip closes upon her wrist. Were she not more inclined to go crawling to another. Outside the cage, the sukeban herself has lingered closer now, keeping her arms folded across her hoodie as she almost idly shoulder-checks a few of the screaming, heavy-drinking patrons of the Bear Pit aside. Contemptuously, she takes a position near the front, standing like an island amidst the frantic tossing seas of the Thai common folk, eyes narrow upon the action. For all that she secretly cares, she just looks cold. Impenetrable. Unrelenting.
The same cannot be said for Adon, whose vicious insults are like slaps of their own, his captured victim twisting ineffectually in his grasp as he proceeds to destroy her every confidence. The other arm rises, trying to throw a palm to the face, to force him to shut up - to force him away - but he's got her where he wants her, and needs her to be compliant to his next assault. When he twists the arm, he has complete control; but desperately unfocused hazel eyes, directed over his shoulder, send a different message to the brain.
"Not," she grunts, weathering the first knee with a choking cough that becomes a yell, "A COW! I am BULLFIGHT SORA and I defy y--" The second sends a shockwave through her body made all the worst by her attempt to lunge past it, her extended arm bending at a bizarre, hideous angle. The subsequent knees blast her all the harder, until she's rebounding in a red mist from the steel fence. She lands upon the filthy concrete, her shoulder crumpling as she attempts to roll, pinwheeling across the hard floor before coming to an ungainly stop.
The crowd, roaring, suddenly quiets as she seems to fall flat. Only the patter of blood from between her lips is any indication that she's still awake. And then, the cage rattles as an arm flies out from among the audience, striking a firm and practiced backhand to the rusted links. It happens again, and again, until the rest of the crowd take it up. By the time it's a crescendo, Zaki has her arms folded once more, her expression unchanged in its dark intensity. She'd never let on that she was cheerleading, not in a million years.
But it works, regardless, and a hand /slams/ to the floor as Sora starts to push herself up.
"The Emperor of Muay Thai," she gurgles, before spitting out a mouthful of blood, recoiling the unwound chain about her fist, drawing it tight enough that she hisses in pain before thrusting it toward him. The chain dances a merrily violent tune about her calloused knuckles. "Should take a look in the mirror! Fat? You've been resting on your laurels so long you couldn't beat anyone CLOSE to your own size! You couldn't use me if you wanted to, you stupid... fucking..." She slips from Thai into Engrish there, tailing off uncertainly as she realizes what the hell she's doing, then her gaze lingers sidelong again. Zaki smirks beneath the mask.
"DOG!" Screams Bullfight, pulling back into her mockery of a Muay Thai stance. "That's what you are! A barking, yappy little dog that couldn't do more than nip my heels if he wanted to! You're--- you're pathetic, Adon!" She stops there, gasping and red-cheeked, flushed and elated, but completely and utterly out of her depth. If he hasn't closed the distance to punish her already, if he /keeps talking/, she'll just shout louder.
"COME ON!!!"
Adon shrieks with laughter as he finishes the assault, hurling the girl into the cage wall. When she initially doesn't arise, the Emperor acts surprise. "What is the MATTER? No CHEERS for your EMPEROR? You HAVE your BLOOD! CHEER FOR ME! ADON! ADON! ADON!" The Emperor sways his arm around, trying to motivate the crowd into a chant for him, a cheer. "I! ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! Has STRUCK this HEFFER down, and DEMANDS that he is SHOWERED with the PRAISES he DESERVE! She will NOT be coming back up!"m
But then the rattle.
Whatever it meant, it brings the girl back to the waking realm. Blood oozing form her, the Emperor stares at the girl with some surprise.... but that same, unending grin. His eyes scanned the crowd, briefly lingering on Zaki.... but briefly lingering on others as well. The pair land on Bullfight again as she bellows out her challenges. The insults, however, are shrugged off like they were nothing but the chattering of sparrows. And yet, the leader of Muay Thai turns ice cold.
"You stupid whore."
The Emperor growls, grinning with cold eyes. Killer's eyes. "You THINK believing in yourself will let you win? I am ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! And you are nothing but a DOLL for me to BREAK!" Adon paces around the girl, moving like a caged panther eyeing a piece of meat. "You are WEAK. Not just WEAKER. You are BROKEN, not just falling apart. I can SMELL your fear, woman. You came to my good people's land to seek pleasure, and exploit them? Then I! ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! Will UNLEASH the GOD FIST to truly teach you a lesson that you will not only never forget....
"... But one you will never remember!"
With that final word, Adon pounces, leaping through the air yet again. Instead of a flying knee, however, the Emperor has both elbows raised. Sailing through the air, he aims to latch himself around the waist of the blockbuster. Should he land true, Adon will bring both elbows down upon the skull of the poor woman, attempting to cave it in, if not just daze and stun her.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight blocks Adon's Strong Punch.
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Adon 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Bullfight
It's clear from the expression on her youthful, dumpy face that Bullfight thinks exactly that; if she's confident like Zaki, if she tears her opponent down as he does her, if she stands up for herself with every fibre of her overly muscular being, then she stands a fighting chance. That's what fighting /is/ to her - the ability to be somebody that you've spent your life not being, to become the change you wish to see in the world. Like the men and women standing on the frontlines of the war, like those seizing their beloved countries back from those who would take it away. Those fighting for EVERY country.
It matters a lot more than what's taking place in this cage, but this matters to her the same way.
As Adon leaps, the dimunitive girl sets her jaw and steps back, gaining a measure of additional distance that sees her stop just short of slamming up against the cage once more. This time, she doesn't look at Zaki, exhaling a spurt of blood to clear her airways before the Emperor is suddenly, brutally upon her. Never forget, never remember, she doesn't listen to what he's /saying/; she just watches what he's doing. A grunt rumbles in her chest, her body firming up as he latches on to her, allowing him to drive her to a half-crouch before his elbows come crashing down. They meet a ready arm, impacting solid forearms as she weathers the assault.
That mock stance she's assumed twice now... it's because she does know his style...
But not because of him. Because of one of those brave fighters on the front line. Because of a hero.
"Maybe," she ekes out between gritted teeth, letting out a tight little roar as she thrusts her arm against his striking bone, at the same time rolling backward, trying to bring her legs up to arch her small form and send him crashing back - away from her - into the cage, impacting it hard. As she does so, her other hand snaps out to the side, that chambered chain quickly unravelling. "YOU should remember /SAGAT/!" She screams the name as she flings the chain up and around, trying to catch the rebounding Adon in its grasp.
"You're not the real Emperor of Muay Thai... you're no god..."
Her teeth grit once more as she /hauls/ downward, trying to slingshot him back toward her.
COMBATSYS: Adon blocks Bullfight's Accept No Imitations.
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Adon 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Bullfight
Bullfight falls asleep.
As Adon finishes his elbow smash into the little girl's skull (little girl being his words, not mine!), holding there as he clings to her. But his sneer kept going. "What are you doing, you BLOODY piece of HAMBURGER? You are trying to MOCK the WAYS of MUAY THAI with that hideous stance? HOW EMBARASSING! HOW FOOLISH! HOW-"
But then she mentions Sagat.
If Bullfight takes anything from this fight, it wil be, for a very brief moment, she could see how those words cut past the ever-grinning Adon. The sneer fades away to a look of absolute rage. And in that moment, she gets her opening. The strike knocks him off guard, sending the Emperor of Muay Thai off her and into the cage wall. As the chain whip is unraveled, Adon does not have time to dodge, and simply throws up his guard. Caught into the whip, Bullfight begins to pull him back
And Adon clings to the cage.
Bullfight finds that the last portion of her assault is stopped cold by Adon bracing himself on the cage all, anchoring him against it. His nose bleeding slightly, the look of murderous rage still held in his eyes. Struggling, he grabs the whip with his free hand, and as Bullfight pulls, he counter pulls, trying to drag the woman to him. As the fight of force begins, she can hear, and likely Zaki as well, a fuming hiss from the Emperor. "STUPID GIRL.... STUPID, IDIOT GIRL..... NO ONE MENTIONS HIS NAME AROUND ME, AND LIVES!" Should Adon overpower her, he will begin wrap the whip around her neck, and simply begin to strangle her. Strangle her with her own weapon before all the crowd... and likely her peers.
As a lesson to all of them.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight dodges Adon's Random Weapon.
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Adon 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Bullfight
"Oi!"
Zaki's voice rings out from the edge of the cage as Adon begins to rant and rave, the visceral edge to his tone not going unnoticed by the crowd - who are roaring for blood even as the crimson-haired sukeban narrows her eyes all the more, tasting that same scent they're smelling. She won't interfere in this fight unless she has to, but the girl is losing control of her senses, pushing buttons she shouldn't push. Anybody who's watched Adon, who knows anything about him, knows how dangerous a game she's playing.
"/Focus/. Don't let him get to you. Don't-- hmph..."
Sora is already moving, as the chain is hauled she rolls aside. Its links are briefly trapped beneath her, though this just adds to her momentum - Adon's countering pull launching her off the ground just enough that she turns her roll into a hop, spinning about with all her muscular mass weighing her down. Gravity works to her favour only because she finds the savvy to release her weapon, allowing her brutally powerful opponent to simply sling the singing metal back toward him. "You... won't kill me," she gasps out, landing with a mild stagger upon her feet but immediately focused up at the cage wall. She's not an acrobat, but...
She's a resourceful girl. She tries to beat him to the next punch, as it were, throwing herself at the cage...
Her hands grip tight, before with a tight little roar she hauls upon it, aiming to sling him back with a rattling of the massive fence. At the very least she might knock him loose, disrupt his balance; he's way more than she can handle, that much is clear. But the bigger they are, maybe even the better they are, the harder they fall. "And I'll mention his name all I want! Sagat! Sagat! SAGAAAAAT!" Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Beneath the mask, Zaki's teeth grit. She takes a step closer, all but pushing her face against the cage now.
COMBATSYS: Adon endures Bullfight's Furious Takedown!
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Adon 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Bullfight
Adon was turning bright red now, but not out of rage alone. Out of shame. This girl was humiliating him in front of all the others. As he attempted to kill her with her own whip, she simply lets go, knocking him off balance. The girl was becoming more and more elusive, simply impossible to pin down. The middle-aged fighter's mind began to whirr, the anger and shame bleeding away to an animalistic cunning. Adon releases the whip as Bullfight rushes him, trying to grab him. And despite the cries of Sagat....
Adon just smiles at her.
Zaki and Sora might realize that Adon didn't just get ripped off, but he seemed to allow himself to get torn off. After a few brutal, reckless tosses, Adon is finally flying through the air, twisting around before hitting the other side of the fighting cage near the top, hitting it with a clatter. But Adon doesn't drop down. Instead of hitting recklessly, he seems to reposition himself, twisting his body around to face Bullfight while clinging on. And then it becomes readily obvious what he is doing: Readying a pounce.
"JAAAAAAAAGGAAAA TOOTH!"
Adon fires through the air, a single foot aiming out into a powerful kick aiming STRAIGHT for Sora's center, attempting to not only hit her, but carry her across the cage to smash her against the wall again. A simple, technique, to be sure, but the speed and power is what makes Adon dangerous, not his complex finesse. And what is worse....
He stopped bantering.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight dodges Adon's Jaguar Tooth.
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Adon 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Bullfight
Zaki doesn't speak any more; it all happens too fast to bother, but as Adon endures her reckless, unorthodox assault to skip across the cage and answer with his own devastating response, there's a moment - just a tiny, fleeting instant - in which the sukeban's vulpine glare finds the eyes of her subordinate. The densely-packed Thai girl doesn't falter in that instant, her head bobbing faintly downward as she twists about, one hand leaving the cage as the other flatters against it. Her own eyes are wide with a mixture of alarm and alert, adrenalized excitement; part of her knows how much of a risk she's taking...
But fighters take risks. That's what they /do/. Every fight is dangerous. Every moment.
Bullfight throws herself into a roll, the very direct and crushingly powerful blow finding her centre; or rather, where it was, as she twists around it, feeling his muscle bunch. Feeling the shockwave. When she straightens up a few feet away, rising to her dimunitive height with a gasp, her cheeks are flushed and her mouth open as she draws breath. He doesn't banter, and neither does she, now. There's no /time/.
In a flash she keeps twisting around, a lunging step carrying her toward the Emperor of Muay Thai.
Her fist leads the way, a singular, hammering punch aimed straight for the airborne warrior's jaw.
Zaki's smirking now, her approval apparent behind the mask. And the crowd is screaming.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight successfully hits Adon with Strong Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Adon 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Bullfight
It was supposed to be over.
Adon used her own attack against her. He put himself in the perfect position to counter with unstoppable Muay Thai force. He was WINNING. It was clear he was the superior fighter. The kick should have carried her into the cage wall, leaving her in a body cast for several weeks. He would have laughed, pretended to show mercy by not killing her, and claim all the credit.
And yet, here he is on the floor.
Adon doesn't quite realize what is happening, until the screaming crowd snaps him back into reality. The Emperor of Muay Thai shoots straight up, face burning. To say he had the killing face might mean something.... if he didn't already show it before. He wasn't a powerful man who is pushed over the edge now. He was just a man who growing desperate. "You.... YOU..... STOP IT! STOP CHEERING! YOUR EMPEROR COMMANDS IT!" Adon screams at the crowd, pointing a futile finger at them. When the screams do not cease, the Emperor clutches his head with both arms, curling them up as he seethes.
And then Adon loses it.
Screaming, the Emperor suddenly starts flailing about. The pretense and elegance of Muay Thai falls into simple, core strikes. A straight punch. A kick. Elbow jabs and knees. The crude combo has a passing resemblance to his Varied Assault, but with a very notable difference: The was no discipline, no self-restraint. No control. Adon would try and let his tantrum pummel Bullfighter against the wall, and if there, simply grab her, pin her against the cage, and dribble her until one of them stops moving. And with that, Bullfighter may see a desperate, humiliated middle-aged man trying to beat on her just to save his ego. His expression: General rage. His intent?
Pettiness.
COMBATSYS: Bullfight fails to interrupt Fierce Combo from Adon with Hard-Headed Woman.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Adon 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Bullfight can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Adon 1/------=/=======|
No matter what the world thinks of Adon, he's a brutally effective fighter; and even for a schoolgirl like 'Bullfight' Sora, striking a blow across his chin hurts like hell. Her knuckles flay open as they strike, and she ends up extended over him, uncertaintly gritting her teeth as she hauls in several heavy breaths. Her head is swimming, her spirit buoyed by the explosive atmosphere but her body threatening to send her reeling as her head spins and her every limb quivers with barely-held energy. This is her first time...
Her first time fighting like this, professionally, and this is how it goes?
She staggers back when Adon's raucous cries continue, startled by his rage but coiling herself to retaliate against it, once more seeking out Zaki - who's watching him now, not her, one hand raised to brush the cage with a gloved palm as she stares him down. His finger points at her by happenstance, perhaps; but she sees it, directly between her vulpine eyes, and she seethes a hissing outbreath, suddenly gripping the links between her fingers. Saying nothing, she allows her glare to do the work; daring him, but threatening him at once.
Bullsight looks away, eyes slamming wide open as Adon rushes her. They both lack discipline now; but she lacks something he definitely has. Experience. She's also not got the same level of conviction, throwing her all into what she's done already, to land him upon his back with one punishing blow - to turn him into this raging, monstrous /thing/. There's little more she can offer, though she tries to summon her own beast, lips splitting in an answering cry that's cut short by a jabbing elbow. It drives her into the cage, followed by knees and punches that rattle her muscular form. It's like laying into a slab of meat, wet slapping sounds emerging as she's tenderized into a bloody mess. She's gasping, she's crying, as the assault continues...
And then suddenly, there's a sound from behind the Emperor of Muay Thai. Chains.
Where flimsy steel rattles before him, these are solid, weighty links. High-tensile, they /sing/.
"It's over," comes the voice, relatively calm to begin, though Zaki's sure enough he won't listen that she raises her voice to repeat immediately, "It's /over/, you psychotic piece of shit! Take your winnings and get the hell out of here!" The crowd is still roaring, bloodthirsty for that spattered across the concrete, keen for every desperate sob from the battered and broken young girl. For Adon to turn and exact the same upon this other one; the freak in the leather mask, the interloper who dared to jump the fence.
As and when the Emperor turns, he'll find nothing but that same, narrow-eyed stare that's been watching this entire fight. There's no rage in that face to echo the content of her word-- she doesn't, in truth, appear as though she really cares. Only the length of chain dangling from one hand says anything of her intent.
COMBATSYS: Zaki has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Adon
The haze begins to lift, and Adon, to his joy, is on top. The wild blows suddenly transform into softer, more carefully calculated strikes. He wanted to hurt her. Make her BLEED. But as he tears into his piece of meat, the feasting Jaguar is interrupted by not a shout, but a calm, cold interruption. Dropping the poor girl, Adon turns around, his rage gone. And in its place, the same, swaggering grin. "Over? Of COURSE it is over!" Adon raises his hands in the air, swimming drunk off the cheers of the crowd. Cheers that were form him now. But this stranger in leather... what was she trying to do? But then, she answers Adon's question.
"Winnings?"
"WINNINGS?!"
The Emperor unleashes a peal of uproareous laughter. "I! ADON! The EMPEROR of MUAY THAI! Do not FIGHT for the MONEY! I am a LIVING GOD! I fight for the SHEER PLEASURE of being the STRONGEST!" The Emperor sneers, blood still trickling down his nose, the bruises now beginning to swell up as the bloodlust leaves him. Adon was pretty rattled, but not quite through with the fight. But his condescending glare shifts from Zaki to Bullfight. The bleeding, broken mess. Adon sticks the tip of his tongue out as he bends over to pick her up, holding him up to his side as some big, bloodied baby. "Oh ho HO! What is this? Maybe you are her FRIEND? What is the matter? You DARED her to come FIGHT?"
Adon suddenly pretends to sob, mocking the crying from before. "But OH NO! The BIG MEAN ADON showed up and BEAT HER into WET GARBAGE! Is this all YOUR FAULT?" Adon cackles, bringing Bullfight up to his cheek. "Aaaaaaw. The poor baby, her so-called FRIEND lets her get torn apart, and only when she is done getting BEATEN, does she come to save her. Maybe I am NOT done with her! MAYBE I should SALK my more MASCULINE NEEDS with her! After all, you can trust that I! ADON! THE EMPROR OF MUAY THAI! Will take good care of YOU!"
And to that, Adon begins to ease in, to leave a light kiss on the bloodied, bruise cheek of Bullfight.
COMBATSYS: Adon gains composure.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\0 Adon
Most would look perturbed in the face of outbursts like Adon's - they'd at least react. Zaki doesn't, at least not initially. Not shifting in the slightest, she watches him with her own fury held calmly in check-- in part because she has no particular attention to do anything with it, satisfied enough if he'll simply walk away and let her carry the battered girl away. Another piece of her wants the fight, though, wants to take revenge by tearing into the savage Emperor. To shame him in front of his people. To draw HIS blood.
Before he picks up Sora, it's the yang that will win out.
But when he does, that mockery no longer falls on deaf ears.
Once more the chains tinkle beside her long legs, a few slinks slapping against her calf as she wets her lips beneath the mask, eyes narrowing further until they're blazing slits. She's not prepared to walk from what he does next; as the leader of an all-female gang, even at her most seemingly cold and heartless there's no way in /hell/ that the sukeban is prepared to turn her back on this. A snort leaves her nostrils, visible even over the noise of the crowd, and as Bullfight whimpers, those gathered links stop singing and start SCREAMING.
"I gave you a chance," Zaki's words boom hard and unrelenting from behind her mask, as she suddenly lunges forward, the jagged line of her crimson ponytail extending behind, right arm leading in what would be a simple if astonishingly brutal punch to Adon's face. But her knuckles are the least of his worries; they might reach him, if the flying length of chain doesn't drive him back into the cage first. She's not a timid thing, and accepts that the best she can hope for is he just /drops/ the muscular Thai girl, but she accepts that.
"You want someone to fucking take care of, you worthless sleaze?"
Driving the blow home with an explosion of force, steel seeking to smash THROUGH his face if necessary, she only holds back insofar as she won't chase him more than necessary, her back foot setting hard to the concrete to hold her firmly in place. She remains behind if the strike lands home, snarling through the thick leather.
"Try me on for size. Hope you're wearing /protection/."
COMBATSYS: Zaki successfully hits Adon with Hakai no Tessa.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Adon
Humilitation.
That was the root of everything that has happened. Adon thrives off humiliation. Power is humiliation. It wasn't just about bettering yourself; Adon followed that route for too long. It was about forcing them to fail, and rubbing it in. It is how he became emperor: Forcing Sagat into shame. Adon could have let them walk away. He could have taken the high ground. But the fact of the matter was simple.
He wanted to make them feel worthless.
The attempt works, for better or for worse. When Zaki unleashes the whip, Adon hurls the broken Bullfight to the ground, attempting to evade the attack. Unfortunately, the bloodied woman ends up being his downfall: The added weight and imbalance throws off the wounded Emperor's balance, and he fails to truly roll aside. The whip and punch drives him back, sending him smashing into the far cage wall, which is beginning to twist and bend from the force. Slumping to the ground, Adon rises up, wiping his mouth.
"NOW I have a TRUE CHALLENGE."
Adon had lost momentum, and worse, lost his distance. Neither would be a problem for the Emperor, however. He had drawn blood, for better or for worse. He had brought out the anger in this woman; He had -hurt- her. Leering, Adon shrugs his shoulders. "How RUDE! You should learn from your FRIEND on the PROPER way to submit to an EMPEROR! Allow me to teach you a LESSON in PROPER ETIQUETTE. Let us begin with...."
"BOWING TO YOUR EMPEROR!"
Charging forward, the Emperor leaps through the air. Winding back his leg high up in an axe kick, his heel begins to flare with burning light, the chi boiling over. Aiming to strike the girl square in her leather-bound head, he drops his foot with reckless abandon, seeking to overwhelm the woman with the same riproaring offense as his last victim.
"JAGGA KEEK!"
COMBATSYS: Adon successfully hits Zaki with Jaguar Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1 Adon
"You are as hell do," Zaki replies immediately as Adon deems her a challenge - she doesn't have to think about, because it was precisely what already lay in her mind. He was handed an easy matchup, a wolf in receipt of a gifted sheep. He wouldn't finish his meal and walk quietly away; he had to look for more, for something beyond the satisfaction of victory, beyond the sating of a fighter's selfish needs. Humiliation indeed, through an end to his own lingering shame. Through the suffering of a victim.
The sukeban's been called a lot of things by a lot of people, but /victim/? Not so much.
Her burning glare doesn't dim as she steps back, twirling her chain to return it with a light and easy fling back to her grasp. Gloved fingers tighten only so far as they need to, as long legs propel her around the cage in a loose semi-circle. Adon's charge is met with something unexpected-- she doesn't keep moving, doesn't speed herself or do anything to prepare at all, simply stands still and allows the axing blow to hammer home. It jars off her skull, scrapes down her nose, bending cartilege enough beneath the 'armour' of her mask. It hurts like the same hell she just invoked; and she's driven back, sliding across the filthy, bloody floor.
"Kuso!" She spits as she rallies with a bold swish of her frame, flared jeans slapping against her legs as rather than allow the pain to beat her back she allows it to propel her /forward/. Screaming a sharp, fierce kiai, she swings the chain forth once more - but this time for the throat, looking to brutally slam it into the Emperor of Muay Thai's bobbing Adam's apple. But then it keeps going, the final link tailing around the edge of his neck to loop about the back. Taking hold. Two can play at being savage. She'll not back down-- if it hits, she does quite the opposite, hauling him toward her with a feral growl echoing behind the mask.
"I don't bow to /anyone/. Least of all you."
Her words hold a fierce calm, belied by the force she puts behind her suddenly rising leg, a searing roundhouse kick flying in an instant as he hurtles toward her. The chain will be ripped from about his neck as her bootheel slams in to snap the same cartilege on /his/ face that he so kindly saw to in hers. She punctuates the blow with another roar, thrusting back with all her weight to not only strike him-- but throw him back, against the cage and to the floor if she can, forcing him to bow to her.
"Why don't you taste your own medicine?! Give ME what /I/ deserve. Do you even know who I am, filth?"
COMBATSYS: Zaki successfully hits Adon with Hissatsu Denkou Tessa.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/------=|=======\=======\1 Adon
As the heel smashes down, the Emperor shrieks in delight. "That is WHAT a PROPER LADY should DO in the PRESENCE of a GOD!" Screams Adon, as he lands with a stumble. However, he was well off-balanced, and when Zaki rises up, he hardly has time to react when she rushes in. But as the student strikes the Emperor of Muay Thai, she feels that Adon was suddenly tensing up, as if trying to endure the assault. Flexing his muscles, the Emperor's body braces for the impact of the fiercesome attack, allowing him to endure part of the attack... but not to keep his footing. Adon is sent hurtling to the cage wall again, landing in a slump. The whip master could keep Adon away, and as long as she could keep Adon from getting close, the Emperor knew he was not going to make it. Already, as his body begins to untense, he could feel painful swells and bruises, his body tiring from such an attack. Looking over the cage, he tries to think of something to even the odds to make it unbalanced towards him again. And his eyes rest upon Bullfight nearby.
Adon cackles as he jumps on the broken Bullfight again. Rising up, he has no intent of fondling the girl this time. Instead he swings around, hurling the girl in the general direction of Zaki. The intent wasn't to hit her with her own friend, no. The intent was to mislead, to distract. The stranger cared for her friend, and should she come into any danger, the stranger would do what she could to protect her. Like catch her. Deflect her. Do what she could to make sure she landed softly. A multitude of different reactions.
And all of them keeping her focus off of Adon for just a second
Shortly after the throw, Adon blasts forward, his body ablaze with Chi energy. Ducking low, he shoots upwards with a flying knee, followed by a second knee. Should Zaki be caught by this initial rush, Adon will follow up with a Jaguar Kick, knocking her back to the ground, but not before riding her down, mounting on her shoulders to hammer his elbows into her skull and upper torso. If he still hasn't been interrupted, he will finish the combo with a driving, downward stomp right into the heart of the woman, before tumbling off.
Punctuating her lung with a ever-increasing cackle.
COMBATSYS: Adon successfully hits Zaki with Jaguar Thousand.
- Power hit! -
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Adon
He may be an over-confident, egotistical troll of a man...
But in this case, nobody can accuse Adon of being STUPID.
Not taking Zaki's apparent reticence toward her fallen charge as writ, he's focused instead upon her earlier actions-- clearly paying some attention to his opponent in spite of his constant insistence on brash, boasting mannerisms. She's seen him in action, knows what he's capable of, but in some way the sukeban has most certainly underestimated what the Emperor of Muay Thai is capable. Being a coarse brute is one thing; but a calculating tactician is quite another. His ploy pays off. Zaki catches her subdordinate in both arms, the chain hanging loose and useless underneath as she supports that muscular weight with surprising strength.
The crimson-haired girl realizes her mistake immediately, and bites off a curse, but it's too late to do anything but cover as best she can; so she twists fully around, presenting her /back/ to Adon as she tenses and bends over the wracked, bloodied form of Sora. The knee carries her off the ground, and she ends up crouched in the air, hissing pain as his blow hammers into her spine, sends a paralyzing shockwave through her form.
He gets her to the ground, and gets the elbows, gets the stomp... she's savaged...
Only her GRIT pulls her through, teeth clenched throughout, vulpine eyes remaining steadfastly open in spite of the excruciating agony of suffering the obnoxious warrior's full fury. The only positive might be that he doesn't get her lung as planned; but he goes manage to savage the spine once more, and any lesser creature probably wouldn't be capable of getting up. Her friend crushed into complete unconsciousness beneath her, Zaki doesn't move for several long, drawn-out moments... and then she continues not to move.
The first sign that she's even awake is a sudden rumble within her breast. A growl.
What Adon might have missed, is that through the assault her chain has extended out to drape across the floor. The steel tip, the final link, now lies beneath his feet, the rest spreading between them in unruly coils. Perhaps he'll care to look down when the first spark of chi shimmers down the chain, or perhaps he won't see a thing until Zaki suddenly rolls over in the opposite direction, lifting her chin as she lies against the ground looking up at him. Her expression can't be seen beneath the mask, but she's /grinning/.
A flash of those searing blue eyes heralds an electric surge, blue-white chi riptiping down her extended weapon so hard it bucks from the ground, striking outward and upward to direct a nasty, charged lash directly between Adon's legs-- right in the shorts, as the sukeban glares her fury into his crowing face, and says absolutely nothing. Sometimes violence says all that it needs to say. What more could she add?
COMBATSYS: Adon dodges Zaki's Thrown Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Adon
Brutes in Muay Thai can often make it far in sport. However, there is an underlying need for a kind of intelligence. Sagat, as much as Adon loathes him, is a prime example of this intelligence. Muay Thai at its best is pure speed and power, with little finesse in the mix. On the lower levels, this may be interpreted as it being a dumb, brutal art. However, in the hands of someone like Sagat, it is a simple art allowing the artist to focus outside the eight limbs. A mindless Muay Thai artist is one easily defeated, but a brilliant one can make opportunities, and use his surroundings to his best advantage. Sagat, despite his brutal nature, was almost noble and elegant in his interpretation of the Muay Thai art
Adon simply takes the low road in its execution.
As the savage beatdown reaches its climax, the Emperor of Muay Thai finally slows down, breathing heavily as the glimmers of fatigue begin to kiss him. As he lands the last blow on her back, he watches her, grinning. "Kya ha ha.... KYA HA HA! Did you feel that! THOSE BLOWS upon your BACK? Now you are more BROKEN than your FRIEND! You have FAILED! You are WEAK! And I! ADON! THE EMPEROR OF MUAY THAI! AM STR-"
Adon's gaze snaps at the sound of the crackle of the electric whip. Still alert, he realizes that he is the not the only one well suited to feints. Sneering, he shakes his head. "REALLY!?" With nimble feetwork, he lets the whip arc towards him, cracklling with electric chi. He evades the weapon as a mongoose evades a snake, dancing around the whip with heightened agility. Sweat still pouring over him, once the whip comes to a close, he twists himself around, gazing at the rolled-over Zaki with a hungry look in his eyes. He could sense it... the weakness. "... You cunning WENCH! I am AMUSED by how RESOURCEFUL and CUNNING you are. It is impressive..."
"FOR A WOMAN!"
Adon begins to pick up speed, charging at the girl. "But I am DONE with such PLAY! It is TIME for the ULTIMATE POWER! If you think you DESERVE to STAND after what you DID to my HONOR, then you are a FOOL! I! ADON! THE EMPEROR OF MUAY THAI! WILL MAKE OUT HIS DIVINE DECREE! THAT YOU! SHALL NEVER! WALK! AGAIN!!!!!" Adon lunges in, attempting to seize Zaki. If successful, he will flip her around, and gripping her from stem to stern with both hands, attempt to slam her down unto his awaiting knee.
Attempting to break her spine.
COMBATSYS: Zaki interrupts Jaguar Slam from Adon with Kokou no Pride EX.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Zaki 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Adon
It misses, true. But fighting - for Zaki - is about more than striking or not; it's about getting inside your opponent's head, whatever that takes. She's eaten countless blows that she should have, could have, evaded with little effort... and moved aside when she had absolutely no need, to lure another in. Aoi's reputation varies vastly amongst those she has faced or simply been seen by, because every person is different. It's rarely about approaching brutality in the way Adon does, though equally rarely about finesse. It's always about the way an opponent construes her. More than anything, it's about /respect/.
"Hmph." His torrent of words is met with a sharp angling of the chin, the masked sukeban lying still upon her back as she watches the evasion and takes in the subsequent backhanded compliment. There'd be a moment of hesitation were she up and moving, because she's frankly not sure if she is inside his headspace right now. Adon's a crazy, scary man-- too unpredictable to face on his own terms, yet he offers little other path. What could she do? Run? Haul the poor, broken girl beside her along with? Or abandon her? No. This is his game.
That fact changes nothing. It just means...
"I don't need to walk--" she snaps suddenly, allowing him to lay his hands on her, tensing in his grasp as he lifts her, flips her around. But she's twisting as she falls, using that instant's opening to misalign her spine with his knee, working about instead until she comes down against her flank. That knee's bound for crushing, jarring impact with the outer edge of her ribcage; and she knows it's going to HURT. But she doesn't care. An eye for an eye. A bone for a bone. "To BREAK YOUR FACE!!"
Even as his knee strikes, seizing her breath and forcing a scream from her lips, she's turning it to her advantage, using positioning and momentum to send her right leg snapping out. If she were standing straight it would be a front soccer kick; there's nothing fancy about it, simply slamming the blade of her foot as hard into his ugly face as she possibly can. The strike forces her away as it lands, and she hits the concrete.
"Kuso!" He's better than she is, there's no doubt at all of that, but she won't quit for an instant. As he deals with the after-effects of her counterblow, she rolls to her feet, aching and bruised. Her abandoned chain is quickly replaced for another as she reaches up to the one binding her ponytail. It's disengaged and transferred to her wrist in an instant, crimson locks tumbling long and free behind her as she starts to flip the thick metal links in her grasp. "Have to say, Prince of Muay Thai," she grunts out, tossing her head and staring him down with those vulpine eyes, "You hit like a fucking bullet train. Good thing I do, too. You done presuming I'm some dumb cunt who values her tits more than her brain, or we both have to end up being dragged away by these vultures before you'll accept we're a fair match..." She jerks her head to one side.
The baying crowd just roars a little louder, forcing a scowl of distaste behind that leather mask.
"How about we /both/ just walk away, and do this again some other time. You really wanna make THEM happy?"
Was Zaki in his head?
The truth of the matter runs deeper than Adon would admit. The Emperor has everything under his skin. Shadaloo knew this, and often manipulated Adon into doing dirty work because of it. Adon himself knew how his constant feelings of inferiority to both Muay Thai and Sagat drives him into greater and greater foolishness. And yet, Adon is a slave to his desires, he lust for power, and his own, unstoppable pride. And that would be the fall of the entire art of Muay Thai, in the end.
Pride.
Zaki's suddenly rise ruined the killing blow that Adon wished to unleash. As the counter-kick is brought to bear on the Emperor's face, Adon shrieks, releasing Zaki and staggering back. His face was swelling up now, his left eye blinded from the impact. Staggering, he focuses his only good eye on Zaki, swaying side to side. Adon was on the ropes now.
But pride would not let him abidicate so easily.
"PRINCE? Perhaps you FORGOT how I NOT ONLY beat Sagat once, but TWICE! I am ADON! I AM A PRINCE NO LONGER, BUT THE GOD OF MUAY THAI! THE EMPEROR OF MUAY THAI! AND NOT SAGAT! And Adon does NOT value your PETITE JAPANESE BREASTS!" With that, Adon hurls himself towards Zaki, both arms swinging furiously towards the woman. Adon's exhaustion was beginning to grind him down; it was becoming obvious that the fighter was beginning to overexert himself. And yet, despite his gradually waning energy, he still forces himself to tear forward, attempting to bring both of his fists right into the ribcage of Zaki. He would make her leave with a broken bone. Broken BONES! There was no sense in restraint now for the Emperor. And his reason was clear.
"I WILL NEVER BACK DOWN TO A FEEBLE WOMAN LIKE YOU!"
COMBATSYS: Zaki interrupts Fierce Punch from Adon with Chain Strangler EX.
[ \\\\\ < > ]
Zaki 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Adon
Exertion is one thing; Zaki would never let it show any more than Adon, but she's barely conscious through the sheer weight of damage she's sustained. That one assault on her back alone - the one she tried to weather - would have left any budding warrior in the 'Bear Pit' dead or dying, certainly in need of serious medical attention. It's dragging her down physically, body telling her to fall, to crumple, to curl up. Like the poor girl lying battered a few feet away in the middle of the cage.
If the sight of her alone wasn't enough to keep fighting, the sukeban would do it on sheer pride. This belligerent, obnoxious oaf has gone through one person already -- maybe more, if he's been fighting here all day, which is a distinct possibility. If she goes down here, if she LOSES, she's worthless. She may as well pack up her chains and go home to that pink, frilly froo-froo dress her mother always begs her to wear.
But Aoi Himezaki doesn't roll like that. Chips are down, she fights harder. Better. Smarter.
Adon rushes forward, and she flips that spare chain around one more time. It's not as long as the other; but it's precisely long enough for what she intends. His fists hammer in, double-time and doubled-up, bearing crushing force for her already shaken ribs. And the crimson-haired girl doesn't budge. She twists slightly, meeting his wild eyes with her own, predatory glare. As he strikes, there's a singing of metal links, her hands shift in near-tandem with his... and then she's hit, unmoving. Blood and bile explodes from her mouth, coating the inside of her mask with dark, foul ichor she doesn't want to breathe or swallow...
But it doesn't matter, because Adon finds that short length of chain suddenly wrapped TIGHT around his neck.
"I don't forget a thing," she slurs past the nasty concoction swimming against her lips, pouring from the sides of that choking leather, "You pompous, over-confident streak of /piss/!" With that she wrenches on the chain with both hands, stepping back and around as she slams Adon into the floor and drops with him, ending up in what would look like a wrestling chokehold from the back; but it's worse, more brutal, more vicious. "You're nothing on Sagat, little man," she hisses as she leans close, wrenching again and again, "Because /I/ couldn't beat Sagat, and that tiny girl over there couldn't knock him /flat/ on his back. You're nothing."
That last is dispassionate, disdainful as she stands, reaching up to adjust her mask. A trickle of fluid makes its way down her face, less than she expected; it's worse when it's confined. Blue eyes flick toward the crowd as they begin to argue over bets, jostling and jeering - unsure whether to begin cheering or not.
Zaki isn't the only one holding on to the edge of their teeth. Adon has pushed himself well past where he should be. And as he lunges in with another attempt at the coup de grace, the strain shows exhaustion in the aging man. But he makes contact, and he sneers wearily. Leaning in, he whispers to the girl. "I WIN-"
Zaki exploits the wide opening before Adon can finish his sentence. The whip wrapping around his neck, the Emperor chokes out, totally in control of the woman. "YOU WHAAAGH" He sputters, as he begins to get slammed and slammed again. Rage boils within him, but as he starts to let it flare out.... Zaki does something else. She begins to cut through him, as he is weak. The Shadaloo secret. Belittling him as he is losing, telling her how weak he is. The words shouldn't affect him. He is Adon. He is the Emperor.
But something snaps.
Adon lowers his head, jaw clenched. The words, the truths, the pain.... The crowd watches it unfold slowly. Adon falling to his knees, the whip choking him. His eyes bulging, and soon, shutting. As Zaki stands tall, Adon is on all fours. The crowd may not realize what they are seeing. Adon submits to Zaki, passing out without a struggle.
The Jaguar has been tamed.
COMBATSYS: Adon takes no action.
[ \\\\\ <
Zaki 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Adon can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Zaki 0/-------/--=====|
There's nothing intelligent or insightful about the seething mass of common Thai folk, thirsty for blood in the wake of their invaded, brutalized country. While Vega's conquering horde may have been broken, they have no idea that the same has happened to the Jaguar at the feet of this tall Japanese schoolgirl. They just see another fight, another chance to gamble, another chance to cheer as blood and vomit coats the floor.
For all her disdain, Zaki was half-expecting further retaliation, her lithe frame braced for something - anything - from the man whose assault she has barely survived. When he doesn't move, she glances back toward his face, considering bending down to check. Then she hears the boisterous shouts of the crowd, realizes they see her as the victor... and much as she scoffs, much as she sneers, she thrives on respect and fear just like the Emperor of Muay Thai does. Did. Will again, when he regains his shattered pride.
So she doesn't check, she doesn't kick him or otherwise spend another instant lavishing her attention as she moves instead to pull her subordinate upright. 'Bullfight' Sora is unconscious by now, a dead weight as her muscular body is lifted and draped over the exhausted shoulders of Aoi. She makes her way to the opened gate of the seedy cage, only pausing once she's there to glance back toward her opponent. Their opponent.
She thinks about saying something, vulpine eyes narrowing as she considers what best to say...
"......"
There's nothing left, no reason to add a thing.
One minute later, Aoi Himezaki is gone.
COMBATSYS: Zaki takes no action.
[ \\\\\ <
Zaki 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Zaki has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:20:18 03/08/2012 by Adon, and last modified on 22:59:35 03/11/2012.