Description: Following the battle in Myanmar, things have continued to go poorly for the Strongest Woman in the World. Strung up in the appropriated headquarters of "R", she has suffered endless 'playful' horrors at the hands of Vice. While the war has raged on all sides, she's survived through the days and the weeks... but now, the world has taken notice. A group of heroes have come to liberate the fallen daughter of the Republic. But Howard Rust, Kim Kaphwan and Zach Glenn find things even worse than they might have bargained; it will take all of their unique talents to win the day. How fares Psycho Power, excellent dentistry, and the bitterness of a lover spurned when faced by such barbarism?
'R' Headquarters, Myanmar.
'R' Headquarters turns out to be an abandoned mansion that Vice has claimed for her own purposes. Mature is out methodically plundering the remaining cash assets of the country, as is her wont, and Vice has been left in charge. As Chun-Li has come to discover, this largely seems to revolve around Vice drinking too much, eating too many sweet or deep-fried things, occassionally beating her for kicks, or killing someone at random.
Right now, for instance, Chun-Li has had one of her iconic hairbuns torn out, and Vice is casually bouncing it off the dying woman's forehead.
Chun-Li is strung up over the fireplace, which has been kept stoked /nice and hot/ just for her. Vice is laying on a plush velvet couch, and is repeatedly bouncing the hairbun from Chun. It is fun. For now.
"You know. I'm impressed, police woman. I would have thought you'd have given up and died days ago, but you're really holding in there. One of the guys wanted to get you medical attention but, I said no. I know you wouldn't want to *cheat*. Come on. Pull yourself free and ~entertain~ me some more, will you--"
It is at this point a young man in mercenary clothes comes bursting into the room. "Miss! Ma'am! Ah, there's--"
He is cut off as Vice, angered at being interrupted in her discussion with her *best friend*, rounds on the man. Lunging from the couch, her heel is on his throat in an instant, crushing him to the floor.
His superior clears his throat, a more calm and dispassionate man with dark sunglasses and slicked back hair. "We have intruders, Ma'am. I know you said not to be disturbed, but they seem to be making their way up the drive as we speak. We thought it prudent to alert you in the absense of Ms. Mature."
That actually makes Vice smile. All wide and grinning, as she grinds her heel into the unfortunate mercenary's throat. "~Excellent~."
COMBATSYS: Vice has started a fight here.
COMBATSYS: Vice successfully hits Quivering Minion with Light Kick.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Terrified Minion
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Vice has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Quivering Minion has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
COMBATSYS: Terrified Minion has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
The battle in South Korea against Chun-Li feels like it has already been so long ago even if it has just been a few weeks. It is a day Kim won't forget at all. The day where May Lee even perhaps realized how harsh the real world could be. She grew up alot that day and in the end she was lucky to live. Kim knows all too well he is lucky to still be alive. That day he made a promise, though. No matter how dangerous the situation and how long it would take he promised his student that he would save Chun-Li. In this case not just from the people that hold her captive, but from herself.
How he will do the latter he isn't sure. How strong is the control Vega has over the woman? Even if Vega finds his forces falling left and right he doubts this has resulted in Chun-Li returning to herself. It would be too easy. Things are never easy. This is why Kim keeps himself in peak condition and this is exactly why Kim has traveled to Myanmar with Rust.
There is no real plan hatched by the two. In the end they decided 'charge in and attack' was going to be the best course of action. The enemy was probably even tipped off by the glint of the TKD master's teeth off in the distance. A glint that got brighter as the shout of 'JUSTICE!' grew louder and louder by the moment. Kim is dashing forward at high speed with Rust in tow and he doesn't look like he is ready to let anyone stop him. "Chun-Li! WE ARE HERE!" She must feel so lucky right now.
COMBATSYS: Kim has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
Kim and Rust both have the exact same idea going in - rush in and attack, sure. Despite being on the same page, the initial charge actually quickly goes from 'Kim and Rust moving side by side to plow their way into where they know Chun-Li's being held' to 'Kim leads the charge, leaves the unjust and villainous crumpled in his wake, Rust jogging comfortably behind partially in awe, partially because he hasn't had coffee.'
Still, he manages to get second, decisive hits on those Kim doesn't take out in this massive push, Ol' Rusty already drawn and at the ready as he swings away some at one side, kicks away some on another. He's had himself a whole lot of wear and tear this war, but this is it - even with the lingering ache in his gut, he pushes. Even with his joints complaining, he pushes.
"We're... almost there," he says in a much more reserved tone of voice. He doesn't know what Chun-Li went through since he and Munin were... removed from the picture, but for his sluggishness and fatigue, the resolve is there. It was through her actions that Munin and Rust alike would yet live... now it's his turn to make sure she gets out of this alive.
The whole heated discussion about what happened to her and what she did (a very, very touchy subject in South Korea) becomes secondary.
It has finally come to this. It had taken all of the week, and more than a bit of arguing with people who were in a very real position to make his life miserable. However, logic (that saving Chun-Li from 'Rugalistan' would also serve to deprive Vega of a valuable asset) and passion (he had been lobbying for this mission since he saw the video) had come together in a epiphanic moment.
Zach Glen had been dispatched tp Myanmar. His mission: save Chun-Li from "R" at all costs. He had been given one assest to get the mission accomplished, and he had been working that assest almost dangerously for two days. He hadn't slept much; adrenaline and caffine had served to keep him going over roads and rough terrain. He had been getting updates on possible locations during the drive. Between the intel and his own intuition, Zach found himself barrelling towards a rather beat-up mansion. Minions send up a report of a single Light Armored Vehicle charging down the road with little regard for incoming fire.
Kim Kaphwan, and Howard Rust appear as Zach brings the flaming hulk of a vehicle to the front of the mansion, causing him to jerk the driver's wheel hard to the left. The vehicle loses balance, rolls, and impropably bounces over the gates, before tumbling two more times. The vehicle, defying all manner of physics and propability, lands on its eight wheels before slumping on shattered shocks and drive trains.
The driver's hatch flips open and a rattled Zach Glen, wearing a combat vehicle jumpsuit and vehicular helmet flops over the edge of the driver's hole. He looks around, trying to get his bearings .
"Hate this fucking thing," Zach mutters darkly before spotting his friend and rival, "Hey Rust, what're you doing here?"
COMBATSYS: Zach has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
It began with the twisting of a mind that so many believed to be pure; virtuous and kind, even wracked so by grief and the dire need for vengeance. But such was enough to make her prey. To render her vulnerable. 'The Strongest' they called her, placing faith and trust in an icon who never desired to be. A young girl, grown up without ever growing up. Even before the war, she was not truly whole. Incomplete. Now; crushed into the dirt, flayed alive, torn apart from within by the dark taint of Orochi's cursèd...
Describing the torturous landscape of Chun-Li's shattered mind is nigh-on impossible.
The whims of Bernstein's more savage secretary have been mere insult heaped upon injury so catastrophic she survives only because of what she was, and what she desired to be. Since the battle in Myanmar, every breath has been laboured, the blood clotting in her veins, heart palpitating as it struggles to stay strong. Each oozing, pained beating of her pulse is a triumph. So she was trained; to reveal in the smallest victory, to approach even the greatest challenge as something that could be picked apart, taken a piece at a time.
But the human body - even that of a fighter - has limits. To say nothing of the mind.
Vice's words echo dimly into her conscious mind. It's been broken like her body, into segments, Vega's Psycho Drive having done the brunt of the workload before the introduction of overpowering, unclean energies of a different stripe has unhinged what was done. One side is the woman the world remembers - Chun-Li, the vigilante, the police-woman, the warrior. Calm yet powerful, graceful yet unyielding. A good person.
The other side is not so simple. Evil cannot be quantified. Pain and confusion cannot be fully comprehended save by those who feel their effects; it would be accurate instead to say that a mulch of personalities afflicts her, each taking its turn to keep her sane and alive through the torment of her existence beneath the cruel bootheel of "R". That hairbun bounces from her forehead, but it may as well strike the very nerve-centre of her brain, because the stimulus forces a change. It always forces a change.
"Don't... cheat..."
Her words come out harsh and ragged from a throat that has seen no water for days.
"Don't... entertain..."
Strands of hair slick with filth cling to the side of her dirtied face as she pulls her neck up, sinew creaking as it's forced to movement it can ill accomodate. But accomodate it does, as her personality shifts and billows to form some counter to this new situation. Deep in her gut, energies ebb and flow, a swirling maelstrom of disgusting Psycho Power and Orochi-blood chi duelling for dominance over a being that already had its own, much more peaceful and earthly origin. But what she had thrived on discipline, on a focused spirit...
Her lips twist in a foul grimace; a smile on the face of a demon.
A shout rings out, too far to hear entirely, too near to ignore.
Chun-Li bares her teeth, coated with yellowed, caked plaque and old saliva. Stained with blood and vomit.
"They're... coming... for you... Vice..."
As the man quivers below the other woman's heel, another word emerges. Harder, more assured.
It's almost a snarl.
"Vengeance."
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here in the center.
"AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
To say Vice is amused would be an understatement. Justice! As though what is going on here has anything to do with justice. As though Justice could possibly contain HER! Even SHE can't control herself, what chance does something as ephemeral as JUSTICE have in stopping the raging beast that is Vice from doing what she wants?
"I've heard *better* last words, police woman. Work on that."
Tossing Chun's lock of hair over her shoulder, Vice moves from the downed mercenary, letting the haggard youth get back up to his feet. "Guns." She says, snapping her fingers. "Say 'hello' for me."
So it is that, as Kim approaches the entrance of the mansion, the doors are *obliterated* in a hail of high-velocity gunfire. Certainly, Shadaloo has some impressive toys, but 'R' has been in the guns trade for a very long time. With the ancient wood splintered and broken, the heroes are faced with the hallway.
And the doors to the study, open, in which Chun-Li dangles like so much broken meat.
Vice spreads her arms wide, apparently uncaring about the hail of gunfire flung around her. "HELLO!" She shouts, voice raised even over that gunfire. "ABOUT TIME YOU GOT HERE. WOULD YOU LIKE TEA? PERHAPS A SNACK? OR, I KNOW, A BROKEN LIMB! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Quivering Minion successfully hit Kim with Suppression Fire.
- Power hit! -
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Vice 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/-------|
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Kim blocks Terrified Minion's Medium Shot.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/-------|
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
Things erupt into chaos quickly. Not just from Kim and Rust charging in, but from quite the entrance in part from a vehicle crashig through part of the mansion as well. A vehicle that can at least absorb some gunfire. Kim on the otherhand is left more dealing with his best to avoid the gunfire at all costs. It isn't working out too well for him given just the sheer amount of fire being laid out at him. His clothing is shredded rather quickly and the shirt is discarded given the fact it is mainly just hanging about by a few threads and is slowly turning red from the blood coming from where he has been knicked and hit with bullets already.
He tosses aside the shirt and he continues forward. There is no time to hesitate or stop. If he stops he just makes an easier target. That and if he can provide a distraction Rust and whoever else it was that just burst in might have a good chance at getting to Vice and Chun-Li while Kim deals with the gun happy men that seek to mow him down. "I will pass on the broken limbs for myself, but perhaps I can offer some for you all!" he shouts and he takes to the air. One of the men firing at him soon will find Kim upon him. A foot snapping forward aimed at slamming right into his face at high force.
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
Rust actually stops to look behind himself when he hears the sound of something heavy rolling through. Are they being ambushed? Is it about to be another rocket artillery strike? He actually pauses on his approach long enough to have the pipe pointed down towards the chaotic vehicle that has made its dramatic entrance just a ways behind - really, if he and Kim were here a moment later...
When he hears the voice, his tension lowers significantly. "...Zach? I, uh, I could ask you the s--"
Gunfire rings out. Cripes, Kim! Kim might be something else, but he can't linger around and let him soak up all the gunfire. He gestures to Zach briefly with his left hand to come inwards as he treks up through a ruined, decrepit garden and long-since smashed walkway to finally catch up with Kaphwan, pushing through a rotted doorframe into the hail of gunfire (one actually bounces off his shoulder among those bullets that miss Kim).
As Kim dispenses with the witty one-liners and the relentless lightning-fast offensive, his tired eyes look over the decrepit mansion. That lady, the gunfire... yeah, this is it!! Howard takes in a deep breath to make good on the raised volume he can muster from a tired, dry throat, as though a whole journey is about to come full circle.
"CHUN-LI!!" He calls out. "W-We're here!" With renewed vigor coursing through him (even if one of his knees isn't quite getting the picture), Howard grips Ol' Rusty in both hands and moves himself further into the mansion - up the stairs, through a hallway, doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many bullets he takes or how many bombs they'll fling at him - she's here, and armies have tried to stop him before.
He's not going to let an army stop him, even as gunfire whizzes around him.
COMBATSYS: Rust focuses on his next action.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
Zach grins weakly as he clambers out of the vehicle properly, just in time to see Kim get shot to heck and gone. He frowns as he considers that. "Same thing you are, I guess," Zach replies as he pulls off the helmet and tosses it aside. He's going to need some juice. Nothing like the charge one gets from a fight to do that!
Yellow, streaked with violet, wraps around the psion's wiry frame as Zach concentrates for a second. He points both hands, flexed like imaginary pistols, at the thug nearest to Rust. *WHUMP!*ing sounds can be heard as Zach attempts to "gun" the man down, gold and violet bolts screaming towards the target!
COMBATSYS: Zach equips Violet Miraitou.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
It's that word that does it, even as she hears it pour from her own cracked lips...
Vengeance. She'd forgotten.
To hope would be too much, but to wreak some measure of answering carnage; that's something all three of the potent powers raging through Chun-Li's soul can agree upon. As bullets fly and cries ring out on both sides, a violent spark explodes from her abdomen, a pained gasp shaking the burnt and gory remains of her body as Vega's sick purplish infusion makes itself known. Snakes of psychic energy pour in and out of her wounds, covering the length of her broken frame until they culminate in a ferocious explosion at the end of each limb.
It's enough to break her free, dropping toward the fires. The heat is excruciating...
But so is everything. Chun-Li's agonies have been too great to care for the presence of more, and with the instincts that the shattering of her persona cannot remove, she rolls through the flames. She comes up a shuffling, crippled thing, moving like an injured spider on limbs too slow to obey the commands frantically sent their way by a dozen voices at once. In her gut, Mature's infestation gurgles, lending her the furious resolve to send her lurching across the room. Even like this, even barely alive, she's faster than most.
One leg, sinew visible through the cuts and scaldings that mar its length, snaps up and over in a rigid arc, sweeping high to take Vice's poor, mistreated minion across the back of the neck. Even with the power fuelling her, the rage and insanity making her movements viciously erratic, Chun-Li hits like a truck. And like this, she's not pulling her punches-- her only limitation is physical.
By fortune alone, the man she targets is attacked by another.
Ignorant of the possible harm to herself, the woman follows through...
And then turns, every joint popping and cracking as she does so, to look toward the doors. To the invaders. She does so without the merest hint of recognition on her face. If not for the sole remaining hairbun, they might have the same issue. The hissing she makes as she sinks into her haunches, a wild animal /thing/, certainly isn't something that the Strongest Woman in the World would ever do. They've come for her and found...?
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Quivering Minion with Homing Shots.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Quivering Minion blocks Chun-Li's Weakened Medium Kick.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Kim successfully hits Terrified Minion with Snap Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Vice 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
The unfortunate man being assaulted by psychic force and Chun-Li does not see either event coming. He's keeping his gun trained on Kim right up until the moment those shiny orbs smash into him, and then he jerks backwards. Directly into the path of Chun's leg. "What... how did you--"
He doesn't have time to finish that before he is stumbling backwards, trying to recover his senses. Somehow, the monstrous *thing* that the Strongest Woman in the World has become is even more frightening than everything else. He's WATCHED Vice torture this woman. He's had time to inspect her wounds up close. She should not be able to move, let along hit him strong enough to break his arm!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEE!"
And he opens fire with all he's got. The fool.
The other soldier, well, he does not fare much better. These men are not trained warriors and Kim's blow breaks a rib, sending him stumbling back. He grits his teeth, and then lunges forwards as fast as he possibly can, aiming to drive into Kim and smash him with the butt of his rifle. If he can manage that, he'll swing the Champon of Justice up, and drive him down into the ground.
"YOU CRAZY BITCH HELP US!"
If Vice is paying any attention at all, though, she doesn't show it. She's far more interested in the array of people who have apparently come to rescue Chun-Li. There's an angry sneer on her lips as she looks to the woman she's spent so long tormenting. "Typical. I wait days for you to show some spine, I even flay you to check it is there, and what do you give me? Nothing. You wait for *these* losers."
Rounding on Rust as he tears into the hallway, she is apparently content to let Kim deal with her pathetic help. "HRARGH!"
And so it is that Rust meets Vice. Or more accurately, he meets Vice's hand. The woman aims to grab the would-be hero, and swing him around like a sack of potatoes. If she gets her grip on his head, he'll find himself being used to demolish nearby stairs, swung around, and then *pitched* at the fireplace in the other room with terrifying force. "I DON'T CARE HOW MANY OF YOU THERE ARE." She bellows, "GET YOUR OWN HUMAN PLAYTHING!"
COMBATSYS: Terrified Minion successfully hit Kim with Judo Toss.
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Vice 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
That foot has alot of force behind it for the fact that Kim isn't the largest of fighters. Even so he has never been able to rely on flashy energy or the like so he has honed his body to be the pinnacle of physical fitness. Even as he ages he keeps in top shape and the amount of pain inflicted by what seems like the most simple of kicks against one of the gun wielding underlings of R. He also catches Chun-Li breaking free from her bonds and watches her go after one of the other followers. He starts to say something as he looks to disengage the other underling to try and reach for the Chinese woman. "Chu-!" he gets cut off when he is actually caught by the butt of the rifle then taken down to the ground rather hard.
It seems like he has a bit more work to do against the man he is dealing with. He scrambles to his feet and he grasps for the man as he spies Vice running for Rust. "Rust! Be careful!" he calls out while trying to pull the underling off his feet and tossing him across towards where the armored vehicle had come to a stop. That is when he finally sees the driver was the young man he fought just a few months ago. What is he doing here? The extra help is appreciated, but he is intrigued on what drew him to the battle. "You be careful as well!"
COMBATSYS: Rust blocks Vice's Gore Fest.
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Vice 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|-------
Just wait for us, we're going to get this over with once and for all, Rust thinks to himself, his face the perfect picture of an angry but resolute man who has thrown himself whole-hog into danger for the sake of someone else. The moment of which all seems clear and that he and Ol' Rusty can act as one to bring this whole house down--
Until the corner of his eye catches someone dashing past him, and it completely breaks his concentration. Is that... Chun-Li there? The way she moves, the way she strikes - it's so gut-wrenching to look at. Is it really he--
In his broken concentration, Vice's hand welcomes him to another very big problem at hand (by her hand). Really, Kim's warning comes just as he finds himself being flung into stairs. It's by a narrow save he manages to catch himself up against the collapsing rail and planks that fall around him - and it's there he sees a glimpse of Vice from under her hand. It's absolutely terrifying how she can swing him around like he's completely weightless - just about as terrifying as he is flung towards the fireplace head-first.
Well, shit, he thinks, as attempts to shift his body weight down against the hardwood floor that splinters around him as his knees tear into the old carpentry. Unsteadily sliding towards the fireplace, he rears back his arms - one hand open, one clutching Ol' Rusty - and slams them against the fireplace frame in the nick of time to stop him from catching on fire, though he stares into the flickering flame out of sheer shock.
"She," he speaks up as he rises, turning to point his pipe over to Vice, "...ain't your... toy." He spits out. His knees are pretty sore after that drag, but he coaxes them enough to get to a jogging pace as he moves back towards her. He's not a fast mover, but there's a certain urgency even now to his march, Ol' Rusty held down and low as he leans forward.
"She... she ain't," he declares with grit teeth as he swings Ol' Rusty upwards in a forehand swing as he closes the gap, "anyone's god damn toy!!"
Zach grins, a bit more firmly this time as he gives Kim a thums-up gesture. It appears Zach's hands are clad in a pair of exotic-looking gauntlets. He winces a bit as he spots Rust as he goes flying, then sets it aside for a moment. Rust'll be fine, unless she's packing psychopower, he figures. Kim has his opponent firmly in hand. Well, foot anyway.
Zach decided to get into the thick of things. Leaping off of the vehicle, Zach rocks back while in mid-air, energy twisting around him as he starts his descent. The psion snaps his head forward to slam into the head of the 'unattended' goon, Soul Power protecting him from the usual woes of headbutts while making things a little worse for his target.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li endures Quivering Minion's Point-Blank Fire!
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Vice 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|------=
Trapped and surrounded, whatever manner of bestial mindset Chun-Li has entered under thrall of her warring energies only offers two possible reactions to this situation; fight, or flight. Terrified machine-gun fire is met with another baring of those horrid teeth, the former World's Strongest Woman frozen in all her devastated awkwardness, no instinct reaching her limbs beside that somewhere in the back of her suffering mind that says: stay. Stay, and make them pay. Make them all pay.
She eats every round aimed her way, twisting and writhing against each successive impact, driven back into an ungainly skid across the floor. Her feet are bare, boots long since abandoned or stolen - with Vice around, she's probably been made to eat them, if the whim has at any point arisen. Flesh rips and tears as she's shunted backward, but through it all she just keeps snarling, until she's back in a crouch.
But not cowed; still fighting, because that's what the fevered brain is screaming.
Make them pay. /Make them all pay/.
"SYAAAAA!!"
Her cry is coherent only in its violence, echoed by the hideous unravelling of reddish-black chi from her centre as she throws her palms out in a harsh, jerking snap of ravaged limbs. Ligaments stretch and bone bulges against malnourished skin, the bony point of her right elbow emerging clear through coarse, dehydrated flesh. But it's the energy she needs - it's the energy that empowers her, and it coalesces about her wrists before springing forth in a palpitating globe of tainted chi. It soars fast, gurgling and hissing for the instant it takes to cross the room and prove testament to the unfocused delirium of her mind.
Because it's flung toward Howard Rust. He's right, at least... she doesn't belong to Vice.
She doesn't even belong to herself.
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits Vice with Medium Strike.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Vice 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Rust
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Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kim
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Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Quivering Minion interrupts Headbutt from Zach with Dead On Arrival.
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Vice 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
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Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Terrified Minion blocks Kim's Sakkyaku Nage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
"Who the fu--"
Whatever question Vice was going to ask Rust is rudely silenced as Rust's pipe slams into Vice's jaw with enough force that teeth crack. She looks more surprised than anything else. The sheer force of the assault, well, she hadn't seen that coming. It lifts her off her feet, and for one terrible moment, Vice is no better than the pathetic weaklings she's been given to 'guard' the mansion.
In fact, the 'pathetic weaklings' show her up. The man Kim throws manages to control his dive, and although he does hit the car, it is shoulder first. The other, brings his gun around brutally fast on Zach. The headbutt dents the butt of his barrel, but he puts his full weight into crashing the Psion to the ground, and then *STOMPING* on him with incredible force. They might be weak, but they are mercenaries, and the best 'R' has to offer (besides anyone with names). They aren't going to go down easy.
In fact, the man by the car is now sizing Kim up, narrowing his eyes and taking careful aim.
Chun-Li is basically totally ignored, even though she's also going for Rust. The sheer, animal *fury* that Vice experiences is terrifying, and it fills her completely in this moment. "You hit me with... a PIPE?" She growls, as she gets back to her feet, "AND YOU EXPECT TO WALK OUT OF HERE ALIVE?!"
Vice's hand is reaching out for Rust again. This time, though, there's nothing but hate in her. If she grabs hold of him, it is only vengeance, not amusement, which is in her mind.
Vengeance which she intends to unleash by, after Chun-Li's energy has been dealt with one way or another, smashing him down into her knee, and then leap the full distance up the stairs in a single bound, and crush him into the floor. If Rust had been impressed with her strength before... he's about to get another rather frightening demonstration of it. She's *PISSED* now. She wants some room to deal with Rust *personally*.
COMBATSYS: Terrified Minion focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
Zach crumples under the surprising retaliation, letting out a grunt of pain as he does so. The goon possibly feels ribs giving a bit under the stomp. He stares up at the man blankly for a moment before clenching his right fist.
Violet energy starts to simmer off of him for a moment as he lets out a low growl. "GET OFF!" Zach roars as he thrusts the clenched fist at the goon. The punch has little chance of catching the good at all.
The foot-and-a-half wide surge of psychic energy, however, might be just what the doctor ordered!
Not quite as effective as he hoped it to have been, but Kim manages to create some room between himself and the underling. He just grins towards the man and those teeth still shine brightly. "You should run while you can. Let the big boys play!" he tells them and he hears Vice's shouting as he glances over and notices Rust seems to have done well to further anger Vice. That could not be a good thing at all as she looks to possibly maim him. On top of that it seems Chun-Li for some reason decided she wanted a piece of Rust as well. "Chun-Li! Over here!" he shouts and he waves his arms to try and get her attention. If she is still not her old self she should not be happy to see the TKD master at this time. He was the one that cost her victory in South Korea afterall. His brow furrows some and he takes a more serious look as he falls back into his fighting stance. "I am here because of my promise to May Lee, but I if I have to take you down again to help save you I will!"
COMBATSYS: Kim focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Chun-Li's Weakened Kikouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|-======
COMBATSYS: Vice successfully hits Rust with Combo Grapple.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|-======
Kim might be writing off Rust's situation as 'okay' a bit too soon, as the stocky American draws back his pipe while Vice recoils. His footing is unsteady - it's not so much his knees as it is the aged woodwork of this old mansion, the floor feeling creaky under him.
"Yes, yes I am," he responds to Vice with at least some level of confidence in this very fact - but he catches a very dangerous audio cue moments too late before Chun-Li screams, a very very sickly chi projection splashing into Rust's upper back before he can think to look over his shoulder.
It pushes him solidly into Vice's waiting, angry, clawed clutches, bringing him face to face. His eyes lock into hers, but there is something odd about the picture. His eyes widen. Narrow. Chun-Li's shot takes him too off-center to work any sort of traction as she smashes him down onto his knee - his stomach, still sore, feels like it caves in under her knee. His eyes break away from her face in that moment, too winded to offer any real resistance as she lifts the man up, bound high into the air...
The entire mansion rattles underneath the explosive impact Howard makes against floorboards that more or less cease to exist, his form obscured by a cloud of thick dust and a rain of sharp, splintered fragments. Part of a nearby wall caves in. There isn't even really a Rust-shaped hole - there is a /hole/.
A hole that sees a left forearm and the head of a rusted length of pipe before the very sight of that awful purple headpiece. The loathsome, disgusting thing followed by a scowl that, somehow, matches or even surpasses the wretchedness of his hairpiece. Bits and pieces of sharp wood stick out of his upper back and side - Vice must have nearly impaled him on something.
"You... you know," he grumbles out loud as he pulls himself up, "you... look a lot like, like... my ex." ...Why the hell does he see this as important to bring up even now, as he pulls himself out?
"Same look... same... ah, eyes. The way you just... yell," he sneers, whipping the rusted length of pipe downwards as he staggers towards Vice, "god damn she-dog up 'n... threw me away."
There is a legitimately dangerous glint in the man's eyes now, as though the stress of pretty much everything leading up to this point has somehow dredged up this old memory, in which Vice is coincidentally /exactly/ the spitting image.
As he draws near, he spins his right wrist a bit to ensure his grip on Ol' Rusty is true, even as blood comes out his back from whatever debris just got stuck through his back, before stepping forward in a monstrous advancing uppercut swinging motion - the infamous Cement Upper, which to this day still has no obvious connection to cement - as he undergoes perhaps the absolute worst time to dwell on relationship issues in recent history.
Ignorance is futile. Chun-Li's attention is far from the man she assaults, and at least a short distance still even from the woman who has nurtured this nightmarish state; it was about Vice for seconds at most, now it's about nothing but finding her way, over broken bodies if necessary. By the dead and the dying she is driven. With the departure of her corrupted energy ball, the broken Chinese woman is already twitching this way and that, thinned body shaking and dripping with what fluid hasn't long since dried.
Her fevered senses latch onto something before long, a voice she's already heard. There've been several, of course, but this one-- it's directed, it begs her attention. Rising, wild, her back arched and limbs angular, she directs a half-witted stare toward the source. Only to find her attention wildly disrupted. At one edge of her vision; Kim Kaphwan, memories already raging in the fragments of her mind. His face registers one thing, his voice another, a bewildering disparity between the two spinning yet further chaos...
Which is when something washes over her.
Her mouth contorts, a harsh outbreath accompanied by specks of blood and bile.
Her stomach surges, all disrupted acidic gasses as the other energy within ROARS.
The face in her mind's eye twists and warps until it becomes another.
"N-No--!!" She croaks the word, then opens her mouth to try and yell it outright, but only a croaking emerges. Her head quivers from side-to-side, a rapid denial of some nightmare, and there's no further warning before the Strongest Woman in the World - what remains of her - is suddenly leaping across the room like a tarantula, landing with legs splayed akwardly directly between Kim and Zach. Her past, the truth of what she is... and Psycho Power. Vega. Neither of which she can handle, neither of which she wants to face. Not now. Not...
Not when she's survived this long.
A torrent of energy explodes from between hands cupped near the ground, blue-white sparking at the centre only to corrupt also immediately as it spreads, throwing forth a massive, writhing globe of mixed purple, sickly red and black-within-black-black. Something between the void and the depths of Hell fills that half of the room as Rust and Vice fight to resolve their differences on the other side... but he's not targeting the only monster here. If there were any doubt of that remaining, it should wash away with the screaming flow of Chun-Li's manifest energies - natural and borrowed, corrupt by nature and corrupt by nurture.
COMBATSYS: Vice endures Rust's Cement Upper.
> Determined Hit! <
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/-------|=======\====---\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Quivering Minion with Blast Punch EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Quivering Minion 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
People often mistake Vice's fury with stupidity. Vice is not, for all she may appear it, a stupid person. A stupid person would not listen to what Rust has to say. Vice, actually does. Which only makes her more angry than before. "I. Look. Like. YOUR. Girlfriend."
The words are spoken in a tone which says 'You are going to die now'. As though she, or anyone who looks like her, would ever... EVER. EVER! Date. That.
Down below, Zach's explosive energy pretty much evaporates the poor mercenary who had smashed him into the ground. He's destroyed utterly; never even had a chance, really. It'd be sad, if it wasn't so well deserved.
The man who had been eyeing up Kim chooses his moment, or at least attempts to. Pressing a button on the side of his gun, the bottom of the barrel opens up and a small missile is armed, primed, and streaking towards Kim with deadly intent in just a couple of seconds.
"Suck on that, Mr. Justice."
But even that impromptu explosion, added to the one that Chun-Li has filled the bottom of the room with, pales in comparison to the unhealthy red energy which is now pouring off of Vice. Mature isn't here to hold her back. She's all on her own. All. On. Her. Own. Nobody here to rein her in.
It is, in fact, the only thing she has to be joyful for.
She lets Rust smash into her, but although the blow makes her head whip back, this time, she stays grounded. Both hands come snaring out to grip Rust by the shoulders.
And then Vice sets about demolishing the building with Rust.
Driving him down through the floor, the pair come out into what was a washroom, if the laundry machines are any indication. Smashing him this way and that, pretty much as the whim takes her, Vice's howling fury cuts over the top of the accumulated chaos.
And ends with her smashing Rust powerfully into the dividing wall between this one and the hallway full of madness...
And OBLITERATING it with a huge column of bright red energy, which probably slices right into Chun's terrified mind. Coalescing into a large skull, the pure Orochi power is singing a song of utter destruction. A very familiar one indeed.
COMBATSYS: Quivering Minion takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Quivering Minion can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Kim blocks Terrified Minion's Killing Field.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Rust
> ////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Kim blocks Chun-Li's Kikoushou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Rust
> ////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
Kim wanted Chun-Li's attention and it looks like he got just that. It seems the poor woman is struggling so hard. All the torture she has been through has probably shattered an already confused mind. One that was pushing back thoughts of who she was so thoughts of who she is at the moment were strongest. This is a dangerous game to be playing and he isn't sure what really to do. He does not wish to break her mind entirely and make it unrecoverable. He doesn't want to lose a friend and a fellow crusader of Justice.
This is why he keeps his ground even as Chun-Li unleashes that sickening blast of energy right at him. Almost simultaneously the rocket is launched as well. Both of them just seem to hit at the same time and there is a loud explosion that rocks the mansion and further threatens to have the whole place come crashing down once more. Kim seemed ready for it and the impact smashes hard into him and the force picking up the fighter and tossing him backwards hard into a wall. It leaves a nice Kim shaped hole in it as he drops to the ground and catches himself on his hands and knees. "H....hah. That didn't work well last time. You still can't beat me, Chun. You know Justice can't lose!" he says as he gets back to his feet.
He takes a few steps forward then launches himself. Twirling about in the air at first it seems he is coming right for Chun-Li, but a twist about in the air he manages to redirect himself to come crashing down on the R underling, his feeting turning into a flurry of stomps as he looks to drive him in the ground.
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Vice's Withering Atlas.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Rust
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
Both Vice and Rust are, effectively, a flurry of out-and-out wanton violence. Her spite and anger so absolute, he's in her grasp before he can really remark to her anything else on top of his mind while he's rattled enough to start projecting the absolute worst things - but thankfully, Vice is there to bring him down to earth.
To the floor below. His entire body rattles in shock and pain with just that first slam alone, comparable to - no, far exceeding - the abuse that entire military units had heaped upon him prior. Even so, he writhes and struggles through Vice's grasp, though despite the differences in their two builds, Howard seems to be on the losing end of the contest of out-and-out brute strength.
"Friggin'--" He's cut short as he's smashed through laundry machines. It's total chaos in there - in fact, it's almost a wonder the mansion just doesn't up and collapse upon itself right then and there, with how much it shakes with how hard he gets flung up against an unimaginable range of decrepit but painfully sturdy household objects.
In her final smash, he manages to stagger to a stand - just in time for her to smash him on his legs as his bulk crashes through that dividing wall. He disappears into the bright column of red energy - it's oddly familiar. It wasn't even really that long ago that he... encountered someone or something that felt a lot like it, as the flash of the skull is lost on him.
His knees scream in pain as he lie crouching, but his hold on Ol' Rusty stays - even if that purple... thing on his head slips a bit to his side, his bloodied, bruised, almost assuredly broken body keeps grinding along under sheer grit, anger, and the unforgotten purpose as to why he's even come this far to begin with.
"You're... you're not breakin' her either," though this thought may come really too late as he suddenly thrusts forward with Ol' Rusty with such strength that he very painfully drags a knee across ruined and splintered floor, looking to strike Vice with one single, decisive blow in comparison to her endless tirade of bone-breaking smashes - the impact, if any, striking with such force that it sounds like a wrecking ball against a decrepit building as he slides past her and finds himself headbutting one of the ruined washing machines in the process.
COMBATSYS: Zach endures Chun-Li's Kikoushou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Rust
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
Zach is already rolling to his feet before the blast connects. He doesn't see what happened to him; he has other things to deal with. Chun-Li has clearly lost it, and that chi has something... familiar to it. Zach doesn't like it, it reminds him... of Antoine. His eyes narrow as he takes a brief, but cleansing breath. The chi-blast screams towards him. “Cover me!” Zach yells at Kim.
The psion charges /towards/ the blast, unconscious of anything other than what he is attempting to do. Golden energy slides down his arms as that foul, corrupt energy washes over him. Zach screams in pain as the chi cascades over him, threatening to scour the flesh and blood from his bones. But still he presses forward. One step, then another as agony flares across his body in a solid wave.
The debris and dust kicked up by the attack is immense, and a bloody mess of a Zach charges out of the cloud, reaching towards Chun-Li with gold-limned hands. Zach's right hand, open, reaches for the woman's forehead. Knowledge. Thought. The left hand is open as well as it reaches towards Chun-Li's solar plexus. Self. Ego. Will. “You...” Zach gasps. “You're in there... some... somewhere...”
Zach gives Chun-Li a portion of his power. More than he gave Antoine that fateful night at the shrine. There are many, many differences between then and now. Zach's never done this in the middle of a fight before. “C-come... come back to us!”
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Chun-Li with Great Working.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Rust
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
"Can't..."
Her eyes remain unsteadily upon the ground, through the maelstrom of churning energy as it slowly works from raging torrent to a simmering background hum, still flickering here and there with electric strands of twisted half-chi. Chun-Li lifts her head in a creaking, sinuous motion as she hears another cry out, an unfamiliar voice reaching from the same pit where sprung the image of Vega. She's still in mid-echo of Kim when the hand descends toward her forehead, cool pam pressing to ravaged flesh. "Lose?"
That final word is delivered with something approaching her old voice... her real voice, a softness to it in spite of the crackling of a dried throat, crushed windpipe and ragged lungs. The Strongest Woman in the World directs her gaze upward, meeting eyes she's never met before, the grimace on her lips turning to a thoughtful pursing. Her head tips slightly against that grasp, half as though she means to pull away - but cannot - and half the very opposite, curiousity seeking her to plunge deeper into the wash of psychic energies. There's lot in there, to sort through and to cleanse; because she's not just twisted by the darkness of Orochi...
There's something else. Something she wants. Something she needs.
Her malnourished form continues to quiver throughout, while she otherwise seems alarmingly still. At her shoulders though, fronds of brackish energy begin to rise in twisting knots, some form of corruption working from the woman's wounded form, pooling up toward the ceiling to form a dark cloud. It's this her eyes track up to next, looking past Zach to cross somewhat as she shakes more viciously, her teeth chattering against one another before she clenches her jaw. And in that moment... something goes snap. Something /changes/.
"Don't cheat," she murmurs quickly, snorting out a breath to inhale another more deeply, chest swelling beneath the scorched material of her black-and-crimson dress, "Don't entertain. Don't..." Yes, something has changed, and it swells inside her now only to land up Zach's arm and through his body, toward /his/ mind, a terrific surging of that other energy-- stronger than his, worse than his, the opposite of what he would try to achieve, embracing the darkness of Psycho Power. Vega's energy. Vega's will. It strikes like a hammer blow.
But no more pressingly than does the suddenly upraised palm of Chun-Li, as she rises with a snap of protesting sinew and bone, screaming a kiai from the depths of her being as she lashes out with blind brutality. Almost as though she were physically following the path of that psionic counter-assault.
"Don't anything. Only /serve/ Lord Vega!" Her eyes flash aside, looking for the others. The woman who did this, and the man who allowed it to happen. Because Zach's done half the job, and then some; one is dominant, but the other simmers from within, fighting as it was before Mature did her foul work. "/His/ toy," she adds with a choking sort of laugh, swaying toward the other side of the room, ignorant of the reaction to her blow. There's work left undone.
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits Vice with Condemned.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Rust
> ///////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Terrified Minion blocks Kim's Hishou Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Rust
> ///////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
Vice was not expecting Rust to get back up. One can hardly blame her; she tore into him with everything she had. In her experience, people do NOT just 'get back up' after she has demolished a good portion of a building with them and then obliterated them with Orochi power.
Rust has been pretty effective in drawing Vice's ire. The dull thud that resounds throughout her entire body as he ploughs into her with all the force of a wrecking ball pretty much solidifies that. She's rarely been exposed to so much violence so quickly. Apparently determination to save a life can bring out the best in a man, who knew?
The unstoppable secretary is, in fact, stopped. Her legs tremble, and for a moment give out. She is forced onto her knees, her head bowed. But, like the horrific nightmare of a screechy ex-girlfriend who would not let up, she is on him again.
Or more accurately, her arm is. From the other side of the room, Vice swipes her sleeve in his direction, and her arm snatches out to grasp his shoulder.
"ENOUGH of you. DIE ALREADY!"
And with that eloquent summation of her opinions of Rust, Vice will hurl him just... *up* and *away* as far and as hard as she can. She's having difficulty keeping her vision from just turning red, and she's still got at least two more people and a Chun-Li to go through.
The mercenary Kim is fighting, meanwhile, is doing his level best to survive against Kim. His gun takes the brunt of the damage from those masterful kicks, and he gives back with a burst of gunfire at pretty much point blank range. He doesn't really *want* to keep fighting any more. With Chun-Li flipping out, his friend mysteriously vanished, Vice screaming and shouting and the building starting to collapse, he wants to flee for his miserable life. But somehow, professional pride (or perhaps sheer terror of what Vice would do to him if she found out) has kept him rooted to the spot so far.
COMBATSYS: Kim dodges Terrified Minion's Hot Lead Injection.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Rust
> ///////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
More swift and powerful kicks attempt to break through the defenses of the poor mercenary that must face Kim. He fares rather well given the circumstances. Chaos has erupted all over the place and who knows how much more the mansion can take given the damage that Rust and Vice are inflicting upon it alone. The TKD master uses the last kick to push off the gun that the man is using to defend himself and it allows him to put some distance between the two and given him time to avoid the fire. Thankfully the panic the mercenary must be in makes for erratic fire and Kim avoids every shot as he comes to land.
His attention is diverted only momentarily when he sees Zach attempting to do something to Chun-Li. He isn't sure what, but the result doesn't look like it was what he had intended. The Korean murmurs something from under his breath and he turns back to the mercenary. "You should run. Even if you kill me." he points to Chun-Li. "She will kill you and everything else here if I don't stop her." He lets that sink in and he goes charging in and leaps for Chun-Li.
He might not get there in time to help out Zach, but Kim does his best to get the woman's attention afterwards. Where Zach was hoping some mental healing may have been the answer it looks Kim is intent that a good knock to the head is the better one. "Dental appointment!" he shouts as he brings a roundhouse about to slam into Chun-Li's face.
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Vice's Deicide.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Rust
> ////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
Rust's dramatic dash-and-smash ends with a mood-breaking crack of his skull against a washing machine after that point of impact against Totally Not His Ex-Girlfriend. This, atop every bit of physical abuse he has suffered over the last month, is enough to bring him to a low kneel as his vision gets blurry, reapers circling around the top of his head.
His left hand falls upon the floor at about the same time Vice's arm snaps out to grab him, and he clutches it almost entirely by accident as she swings him up, up, and up...
But not away. He hits his head and upper back up against plentiful debris (including a falling bookcase) that bursts apart and scatters its old, faded contents around Vice and Rust in a halo. Rust disappears underneath the pile of books, but there is one really big problem with this whole scenario even now.
Something still has a grip on Vice's arm. Something stirs underneath the books - no, we all know what's stirring underneath them, as Rust's form rises up out of it.
"Y'know what," he mumbles out, "I, I shouldn't have, uh... c-compared you to, y'know, her," he says, a legitimately apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, you're... a li'l... better 'n that."
If he considers /Vice/ better than his ex-girlfriend, it probably speaks volumes about how he thinks of that lady that broke his heart even now, but the grip on her arm has not loosened in the least.
"But y'know, whatever you... you did to her," his tone grows darker, "that... that's on, that's on /you/." His face is bloodied - busted up something fierce. He still has things sticking out of his upper back, a wheeze and a cough as he pulls it all together - he knows there's someone else that got him in the back before she started really slamming him around, in the heat of the moment forgetting that it was likely Chun-Li, but remembering that he is here specifically for her sake.
He already failed her once in India - she all but sacrificed herself, willingly or otherwise, to see Munin and himself fight another day.
With this reminder, he gives a mighty tug to bring Vice closer if she doesn't loosen her grip out of his grasp or what have you, to bring her face-to-face with his clenched left fist, looking to uppercut her straight up.
If he can connect /cleanly/, he leaps up after her on sheer grit despite battered legs, looking to stick his pipe somewhere in Vice's clothing to latch onto briefly to spin her round and round and round. Even if he gets a good view, his vision is to blurry, his focus too singular, to being able to fight past this one, final, last obstacle he can see while his own friends lay their own lives for the same purpose.
He's not going to fail Chun-Li /again/, and he's not going to fail Zach or Kim now. Munin's went and gotten help, he's sure - he decided to stay and hold the line, and if this is the last line he's going to have to hold...
He makes sure, if he's still got the hold of Vice - or even a hold /right now/ - to swing her downwards, to swing her down and deep into the bowels of the mansion to cast her out of the way. He might be getting old, he might be a bit slow, he might not be strong enough to take Vega, but by hell he's going to see to it Chun-Li doesn't get left behind /this time/.
COMBATSYS: Rust prepares to take his last stand against Vice!
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Vice 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
> ////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Zach with Weakened Aggressive Strike EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Vice 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 [E] Zach
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Rust
> ////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
Zach recoils, both physically and mentally, from the response from Chun-Li. He doesn't remember EVERYTHING from the time he had helped Antoine. He feels a need to scrub every inch of himself until he bleeds as Vega's power comes forth to simply steamroll Zach's primative efforts to undo the what the madman had wroght.
He is still lost in the near sense of violation he feels when Chun-Li's palm strikes against his chin with a loud *CRACK!* Zach's eyes go out of focus as he falls back. Failure. Nothing but a failure. Glen rocks back, staggering several steps. He could not help her, even now.
"You don't... you don't come to work, and just do it, uh, half-assed, you do that job right, you... you do it to the end." Rust's voice, something mentioned in some moment gone by, rings out in Zach's mind.
Maybe his efforts alone will not help Chun-Li. But he is not here alone. Rust is here. Kim Kaphwan is here as well. Rust... is dealing with his own fight. Without the Kyokugen Fighter's intervention Vice would have likely made an even bigger mess than she was currently, if such a thing were possible. Zach cannot get to his friend, he knows he's breached his limits.
Kim Kaphwan is still here, however. The Taekwondoka is battered. Maybe Zach can help /him/ before the lights go out. Golden light washes across Zach's hands as they reach for Kim. There is no grasping for chakra points, just a crude transference of energy that should kickstart Kim's own abilities to recover from damage.
"You stop..." Zach mutters, "When it's done."
And with that, Zach collapses.
COMBATSYS: Zach can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges Kim's Spin Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Vice 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
She's looking for Vice, but she hardly needs to. That scream, promising pain and death...
It's the first thing to spark a renewed flash of memory, free from one taint if not another.
A kick comes flying for Chun-Li's face a beat later, catching her with a sudden frow upon her brow. Her gaze darts quickly to take in the airborne man as though in freezeframe, time slowing as her senses reel, taking in every nuance of his frame - his motion, his technique, and that face once more, all absorbed with care she lacked before Orochi's unruly influence were washed away. She remembers now; he stopped her. But stopped what? Why would anybody feel the need to prevent her work? Glorious work. Righteous work.
She can't remember why. Can't remember his name. Surely she doesn't /care/. But then...
'Dental appointment'.
She remembers.
"Kim Kaphwan," her hoarse words are softened once more, spoken with a distant recollection even as his blow swoops round to clock her with that astounding strength. Justice. Her head jerks, and she's suddenly moving; but it's as though she weren't inhabiting her own body, the physical shell exactly that. A ragdoll thing, befitting the tears and frays that mar it. Befitting how neglected it has become. Though ill explaining the protruding bone, the spatterings of blood, the visible muscle and ichor between terrible welts. She /should/ feel something physical - the air rushing past her face with the passing kick as she lurches backward with crippled grace. But then, she ought to occupy a realm of pain. She shouldn't be standing.
A thought bubbles through the conditioning, explodes in the forefront of her mind.
As suddenly as she dodged, she drops to a knee, panting, clutching a shaking arm across her midriff.
"/Leave/."
It's forceful, though the commanding note is ruined when she hacks up a mouthful of plasma, lifting her other hand to wipe it away. That hand's shaking so badly it's almost arthritic, and her eyes remain unfocused as they spin between Kim, the fallen Zach, and the still-battling pair nearby. Her. Him. Them. All three of them have interfered, all three of them have caused her and Lord Vega problems; she should be attacking each and every one of them. She /should be feeling pain/. Another grimace overcomes her, and she looks away with fierce defiance, twisting until she's looking over her shoulder at the wall. Looking at nothing.
"Leave now... it's done..."
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Vice interrupts Crane Launch from Rust with Nail Bomb.
[ \\\\\ < > /// ]
Vice 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Terrified Minion 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
Vice is a vindictive soul. Rust has her, and she has Rust. It is not often that men get to look into the eyes of a monster, but Vice's face is such a mask of rage as Rust tugs her closer that it is easier to think of her as that than as a human being; she is not human, really. The demon in her blood is strong. Stronger than the human in her, that is for certain.
"Do you think I'm sorry?" She hisses, in reply to Rust's accusation that what she did to Chun is her responsibility. "I'd do it all *again*. Only HARDER."
And at that moment, Rust's fist connects with her chin.
It is following the demon which turns out to be Rust's mistake. He grabs her, and she grabs him, and she does not. Let. Go.
"Lets go to hell together, you and I, /lover boy/."
Never before (except, perhaps, by one particularly vicious ex-girlfriend), have the words 'lover boy' been spoken with such utter contempt, such unspeakable hatred. Vice carries Rust down with her, down, down, down into the bowels of the mansion.
There's a bright red flare from the hole the pair make, briefly illuminating a screaming face over the wall of the kitchen...
And then, nothing.
Vice has taken out her fury on Rust. Her protesting body refuses to allow her to relax her grip enough on him to actually, get up and go to reclaim her 'favored toy'. Down in a forgotten storeroom, filled with dust-covered remnants, Vice passes out atop the Hero of Nepal. Who may just have atoned for his past failings.
And what of the other minion, you ask? What of the mercenary?
Well, as the eastern wing of the mansion slowly crumbles and collapses, he decides that perhaps it is time to take Kim's advice. He is gone. To live to fight another day.
COMBATSYS: Terrified Minion has left the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Vice has left the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Kim with Great Working.
> /// ]
|===----\-------\0 Rust
> /////////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
The mansion continues to crumble and those that came to rescue Chun-Li continue to fall. He has lost track of Rust and Vice and all he can do is hope the former is going to be okay. He seems like a tough man, but Kim did not want him to come here to meet his end. Zach too seems to find himself too worn down by the powerful blows from Chun-Li. She may still be weakened, but she is still dangerous. Much like a cornered rat looking to keep itself alive right now.
He misses with his kick, but at least manages to chase Chun-Li away from Zach even if the TKD master is too slow to stop her from taking Zach down. That is when he feels the other man grab him and he makes a request. Yet another one for Kim to try and make happen at that. He just nods to Zach and his attention turns to Chun-Li. She seems to still be confused and even if it seems like Vega's will might be winning at the moment it seems he might still have a chance to break through.
"Chun-Li! You must know I can't leave." he tells her as he steps forward and keeps some distance between himself and the Chinese fighter. "I made a promise to May Lee that I would save you. I will put my life on the line to make sure this happens." He gives a big smile and he gives a thumbs up. Is he hoping his good natured self can somehow get through to her? "Vega may have done something to you, but we all came here despite that. Rust wanted to thank you for saving him. I came along because of my promise and to help Rust as well. Most of all I would venture to say all three of us came because we are all your friends." His smile fades and he takes a more serious look as he spreads his arms wide. "But if you really feel like you are not misguided and wish to kill me you will have to do so. I will not leave!"
COMBATSYS: Kim gains composure.
> /// ]
|===----\-------\0 Rust
> /////////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
As Rust feels every turn of his body, he comes to comprehend there's an added sense of weight, an added sort of... drag, as he starts to wind down, that he realizes - no, it's better to say, remembers - that the little of tug-of-war between them has almost always firmly been in favor of Vice, just in time for those words to pierce the sound of moving air around the pipe whirl, up until he is sharply snapped out of it as though it is /Vice/ who now controls the full momentum of the descent, and even as he tries to fling her down, it works entirely with her maneuver.
He's not sure how much they push through as the two of them accelerate further and further down the mansion's depths, but he feels each and every piece and fiber of the mansion's construction ram itself against his face - it feels like under Vice's grip that the whole world is rushing /itself/ into him, rather than the opposite.
Cruelly, the very bottom floor (barely) proves hard enough to be able to give the both of them a complete stop. Things clatter and fall apart from all around. Casks of wine, perhaps? Secret weapon caches? The bright red flare of a screaming face is joined in its symphony of destruction with an echoing, very bizarre string of mumbled consonants - though faint as it may be.
At the bottom of a well made by a determined man and a truly violent woman, surrounded by the choking cloud of dust, Howard looks up blearily to that woman who has such a strong resemblance to that one from so long ago. He grumbles as his body feels numb, using the last of his strength to just try and push her off him as he stares blearily up to the faint light. He might be able to make out Kim's and Chun-Li's words - barely - but now he's going to have to leave it up to Kim and Zach.
Zach is being awful quiet, come to think of it - but whenever they come down looking for him, he's not going to let himself be underneath her.
Especially after all he's done to try and take back charge of his life.
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Rust can no longer fight.
> /////////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
Destruction. Through the emanations of her psychic infusion, Chun-Li can sense it, feel it, backlash from Vice's rage and her subordinate's fear dashing against her conflicted skull. But it's not all that assaults her in that maelstrom; Zach's work had more effect than he knew, opening a small hole in the conditioning - Orochi's influence had to leave somehow. And sometimes it's the tiniest, most insignificant thing makes the greatest difference. Not great heroes, not vast intellectual breakthroughs...
But the simplest, most mundane, most human word or gesture.
It's not the smile that forces another change, or the raised thumb. Nor the suicidal pronouncement.
Just a name.
Flashes of memory come back to the wounded beast, she called the Strongest; now weaker than any other, lost inside herself for weeks that have seemed endless. Futile, since the battle in Myanmar. She's only conscious because of what beats within, because of the spirit that cannot entirely dim. Famed for her kicks, for her speed and grace, there's only one facet of the woman that's truly important. One thing that's ever made her strong - not courage, conviction, hatred or vengeance. Not empathy, kindness, hope or honour. Shivering in the corner, trapped by the huntsman of her own terrible mistake, she's only ever had one chance.
For long, anxious moments it seems she'll never turn around - may not even have heard the words uttered by the Tae Kwon Do master. But as the building lurches, and the ceiling begins to come down around them, she lifts her head, forehead still marred by the deep wrinkles of confusion and concern. She studies Kim as their world falls apart, a child testing the limits of a scolding adult. Seeing if he'll follow through, if he means it...
She waits until she's sure, until his own belief is confirmed.
And then she bares those stained and pitted teeth, forcing herself from a weak, pathetic squat in another animal motion, crossing the small distance between them as part of the same. There's no real warning; one instant she's down, the next directly in front of him. Up close she smells as terrible as she looks, and when she presses herself against Kim she feels just as light and weak. Chun-Li isn't really /there/ any more - nothing about her outwardly gives the appearance that she's survived her ordeal, or changed from what she was at the outset of this seemingly ill-judged 'rescue'. But then she's got one arm around him, the other at his chest, pressing tight and close, a grunt leaving her lips...
As she twists and hurls Kim toward the collapsing wall. "/Go/!!"
The single syllable is screamed with a passion that's been missing for a long time, her eyes suddenly blazing fierce, her warrior's pride and her heroic mien back in an instant. In spite of everything, the shattered body and the broken brain, something HAS survived. Like a veil has been lifted, suddenly there Chun-Li is, standing in the collapsing building as she provides her friend's hasty exit. A quick intake of breath, the ghost of a smile on her lips as she watches him and then she's springing through the room, limbs awkward but functioning now at the command of a brain that knows why she does this, knows what this means...
The floor is beginning to give way when she drops through it, into the same darkness that swallowed Vice and Rust. Her movements swift with resolve, she finds them quickly, finds /him/. As Rust stares blearily up, her face comes into view, filthy and wan. But smiling as she extends a hand, regarding not the thinness of her arm or the weak shudder that still marks it. She has strength left for one thing today, and she failed him once.
She'll not let be letting that happen again.
"If you die," she murmurs, reaching to pull him up, "I'll kill you."
COMBATSYS: Kim blocks Chun-Li's Weakened Quick Throw.
> ////////////////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Kim
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Chun-Li 0|-------|---====
Time is rather limited at the moment. He has to wonder what exactly Chun-Li would do with the entire building pretty much coming down around them. He won't let her stay among this wreckage if he can help it. He will do his best to drag her along with him. He also keeps his footing and doesn't flinch a bit when Chun-Li draws that close to him. The smell is horrible and if anything he can only feel pained at how battered and weakened Chun-Li is. "Come with me." he asks here before he soon finds himself being gripped.
She has some strength in her, but Kim is still more than able to handle her attempt to toss him away. It only allows seperation and her time to get away. "Chun-Li!" he calls and then staggers as pieces collapse right next to him that make him realize this place is going to go down any minute. Zach's body is still in sight so Kim quickly hurries over to heft him upwards and sling over a shoulder. He runs and he moves to get the hell out of this place while sparing another look back to where Chun-Li disappeared. "I'll help you! I promise!" he calls out before barreling out to get out of the collapsing building.
He isn't a moment too soon either. As he continues to run out of the opening Zach made with his grand entrance the rest of the mansion seems to finally be giving away. He can only hope Rust is still down there somewhere. He will have to dig him out if he must! Once a safe distance away he gently settles Zach back down and watches the mess of what was once a rather nice looking place. He supposes it is time to start digging. He will get Rust out of there if he is buried and even Vice will get a rescue this time around. If he left her he would be no better than her.
It's kind of easy to drown out the echoing sounds of things falling apart entirely when your mind is swimming in pain, barely conscious, and really only able to grasp the basics of something that needs to happen - but his body just doesn't want to move another inch any more. It's pretty hard to breathe down here, no doubt thanks to the dust.
If nothing else before one pokes their head down there, they might be able to tell at least /one/ of them down there is still alive after some coughing - and it's really something of a surprise when something blocks out his view of what little light is left from above - could it be? He blinks once, to an outstretched hand and some words.
"Sshghfhhpbm," is about the closest the incoherent groan can come towards being able to be captured in English lettering, as his left hand reaches up to take the hand offered to him - wait, it can't be, is it? His vision is too blurry, sound all distorted around him from fatigue and the sheer amount of destruction going on around them...
"It's," he mumbles while he misses his attempt to reach out and take Chun-Li's hand the first time. Then a second - he really took a lot of hits to the head, and it shows with his near complete inability to properly judge distance and location. He manages to grab a hold of it the third or fourth time (or unless Chun-Li loses patience and just snaps a hold of his wrist during one of the clumsy misses - either or). The grip is weak - either a testament to how he barely even clings to something resembling consciousness, or the relief inherent in seemingly seeing her now. That is her, right? Right?
"Srry," he slurs with a cough. He's not going to be of much help pulling himself up, considering how badly Vice worked him over - but there's a flood of emotions that try to make their way to a mind housed in a battered and broken body that is at last filing official complaints about how Rust treats it to his brain, and his brain is struggling to hear out both these complaints and what joy and relief there might even be.
"Don't-- hngh..." Supporting a man like Rust isn't easy; all dense muscle on a robust frame, it's all Chun-Li can do to get him up without toppling herself. She takes a breath as she steadies him, one eye closing as a surge of pain and exhaustion runs through her - unfamiliar, a feeling lost to the haze of the past weeks. In spite of it she restores that weak, well-intentioned smile, though it's sad now, tinged by melancholy recollections strong enough to be uninterrupted even by the noisy collapse of the building above.
"Don't be sorry," she finishes at last, shaking her head as she continues to bear as much weight as she can, his arm over her shoulder. It's ludicrous, the size difference between them and her obvious physical state should render this impossible. But there's a reason for her reputation, and a reason she's alive. "Just..." Without caution she steps, gently but firmly encouraging Rust to keep pace. "Stay with me this time." Her voice may still be weak but it's hers again, full of her own regret, "I shouldn't have done what I did."
Murder. Pointless sacrifice. Her need for absolution allowed to take charge.
She'll keep walking until they're through the murky cellar, to a set of doors at the back. "H-Hold on..."
She does her best to brace Rust and strike out. Every narrative law in the universe says the doors will be locked; but fortunately, at least one also states there'll be fresh air beyond, too. Her first kick barely moves them, bare foot tearing further against the unyielding wood. She hisses, swooning so hard her knees almost give way. But the second time, tightening her grip around Rust, she yells as she lashes out.
The doors fly outward with a tremendous wrenching of broken hinges, catching on the piles of rubble strewn outside to dash end-over-end through the air, landing twenty or thirty feet away. Chun-Li swallows back a wave of nausea, and forces herself forward with a strained gasp. Vice is still inside, but unlike Kim she's not recovered her senses enough that she has the focus or energy to care for that woman... after all she's done...
It's all she can do to get Rust to relative safety before she collapses in a heap.
The last action she manages to take, whether anyone hears it or not, is utter two final words.
"Thank you..."
To Rust, to Zach, to Kim... and to May Lee.
The thing that saved her, her final chance, was love.
COMBATSYS: Kim has left the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has ended the fight here.
Log created on 12:24:00 03/10/2012 by Chun-Li, and last modified on 15:32:02 03/11/2012.