Description: Forced to retreat in the face of overwhelming UN forces, the dangerous duo have a discussion and make plans for the near future on their helicopter ride out of Myanmar.
Things, could certainly have gone better.
Sat in the back of 'R's latest stealth helicopter, Vice has been sullen and silent since takeoff. Thankfully, she heals quickly. Beaten, battered and bruised though she had been by the combined effort of the Heroes of Myanmar, and the collapse of the mansion afterwards, there will be no lasting injury. Not physically, at least. Just to her pride. A hideous man and two idiots had managed to undo everything. To make matters worse, Vice is left feeling personally responsible.
She's disgusted with herself for her failure. She's disgusted with reality for not measuring up to her expectations. But mostly, she's furious. Vice is always angry, of course, but there's a seething, desperate anger that washes from her in a wave. Her nails have dug so hard into the soft flesh of her palms that they are actually drawing blood.
"They think we're a *joke*."
The words are practically spat. The first words so far on this long journey, out over the middle of nowhere, Indonesia. They are accusing. As if she holds Mature responsible as well. Which, is completely untrue. She's accusing herself, hating herself for her weakness and her failure, but, just like always, Vice is not careful about who she lashes out at in her little rages.
Mature realized Vice was upset the moment they got on the helicopter, anyone that knew the other woman at all would know it in a heartbeat.
Mature just didn't care at the moment, she had contingency plans, reports, and fall back orders to coordinate. It was depressingly annoying to deal with it all, she'd not poke the bear that sat across from her until the bear snapped out of it long enough to actually comment. Thus the first part of the trip was spent in utter and blissful silence as Mature's fingers clicked and clacked against her phone's touch interface and the laptop she'd set up next to herself...she was minimizing their loss as much as possible but it was taking a large amount of her concentration to do so.
By the time Vice had spoken up Mature had been putting the finishing touches on the last of 'R's' retreat. Then Vice's comment comes and the comment briefly makes Mature's cold eyes fall on her partner, the momentarily glare is the worst the cold woman gives the passionate one for the moment as she puts away the computer and her phone.
"If they thought we were a joke, they would have not sent such overwhelming numbers to push us out, now would they?"
As always Mature is calm and reasoned, though she too was irritated with the whole situation. It had taken a lot of effort to take the country and now they were having to abandon it already. Unlike Vice though the irritation is quickly dismissed as the realities of the situation make it clear there is no point in being upset, at this point nothing can be done about it after all.
"Do not be concerned, we performed pefectly as we always do. I did not forsee Vega's forces crumbling so quickly, that allowed more forces to focused on us than anticipated."
Vice grumbles as Mature makes her point. As much as she might still be angry, Mature's reasoned and measured responses always make her feel somewhat better. No matter what, Mature can be relied on to keep her head... much like Vice can be relied upon to lose hers. But this is still a sting that Vice feels as a personal failure. If SHE had been stronger, if SHE had pushed harder, if SHE had done things differently, perhaps things would have turned out differently.
Vice does have a tendency to obsess over her failures, whether or not it will do her any good in the long run. Logically, some part of her knows that it doesn't help, but emotionally she can't help it. She's locked into a death-spiral with her own anger. She won't feel better until she's had a chance to really vent her rage on someone too weak to fight back. She might not even feel better then.
"It was all that police woman's fault." She says, and the next words are a dark snarl. "Chun-Li. If she'd just died like she was supposed to, none of the rest would have happened."
She hmphs, then. Sitting back heavily against her seat, "They think we're stupid." After a split second she adds, "Sometimes, I think *you* think *I'm* stupid." She isn't meeting Mature's eyes, now, and won't. Glaring at the floor as though it has offended her somehow. "Like you're humoring me. But I'm not stupid. I know we messed up. Call it what you like, we messed up."
And then she says the most frightening words, words that nobody would ever expect to come from the famously impulsive half of Rugal's top team.
"But I've got a *plan*."
Mature for her part leans deeper into the plush seat of the helicopter, ah sound baffling helicopter blades a necessity for stealth choppers, and a nice thing for the passengers. The blond takes a moment to relax, she'd been non stop busy since they'd taken the tiny nation and now she could finall rest a little, a part of her might even enjoy the fact for the moment she was free of responsibilities....
Mature's thoughts then turn slightly bitter at the fact that the more impulsive of the duo never has to deal with any of the more mentally draining tasks, no they all expect her to be a siege engine during a fight but the moment things are settled Vice was usually free to do as she pleased. She lets out a small sigh of annoyance but conceals it by using it to blow on her nails which she then buffs against her uniform before holding out her hand palm towards Vice while her eyes scan her nails critically.
The next comment causes Mature to peer up at her partner, "Perhaps." Is Mature's initial response but being whom she is it doesn't end there, "Though I would not lay blame at her feet either, she was merely a catalyst for the overwhelming response. Besides you seemed rather pleased at the time she survived so you could play with her more and taunt the world, or am I wrong?" The way she says the last part she has zero doubt about it all and it's more like a challenge for Vice to try and lie to her.
Mature frowns for just a moment, "If they do, they would not say so to my face, I am sure." Mature did not like her intelligence to be questioned. The next comment catches the cruel woman a bit by surprise as it was amazingly introspective of her usually very thoughtless companion, "I do not deny, I do not consider your thoughts at times mainly due to the fact that they are usually hasty, ill-advised, or given to be dominated by your passion of the moment." Mature shrugs, "I do not think you are stupid though Vice."
Mature shakes her head, "Even if we did mess up. There is nothing to do about it at this point but learn from it, it is pointless to be angered by what is done and over." The next comment though causes the usually unflappable woman to raise an eyebrow in mild surprise. Then a small wicked smile spreads across her lips...
"Do tell."
There's nothing but a careless shrug from Vice at the accusation that she enjoyed Chun-Li's resilience. True or not, now it was an embarrassing mistake and one she would have to work hard to try and rectify in the future. Not that she's going to go for the kill right away with her, either, though. Oh no. Vice's designs on Chun-li will be far longer in coming. She's going to have to beg for death, at the end.
It isn't as though the fact that Mature doesn't think of Vice all the time is a surprise; it is just one of those things. Another little resentment that festers in Vice's heart and makes her feel like a child. As though the rest of 'R' laugh behind her back all the time. Tch.
"The UN think we're monsters, right?" And lets be honest here; it isn't exactly a misconception, either. Vice had perhaps tipped the hand a little too strongly with her malicious broadcast. But what's done is done, and she seems to think she's got a way out of it.
"Well. Shadaloo is dead. NESTs is underground. Geese is hiding. Kain is just holding on to Southtown. Aside from the Ikari, it sees like with Shadaloo out of the way, we've got a clear sweep."
At this point, it would be logical to think that Vice is going to suggest trying to take over the world, too; as though in their retreat and their inability to hold Myanmar, they could just turn around and hit back at a world on guard. But no. Vice has a certain animal cunning to her, and she's actually smiling now. Bright and clear and predatory.
"So we put the sheep back to sleep. We run a tournament with Rugal's name. We toss a few million into cleaning up Vega's mess... and we convince people that the whole, Myanmar thing was a misunderstanding. We were just trying to help. After all, Rugal is a great man; he's a tournament organizer. So what if we got a little... carried away? We're making up for that now, and we're giving the peasants bread AND circuses."
It isn't like Vice knows where that phrase comes from, but she DOES listen with Mature and Rugal are talking, sometimes!
"I bet you we stir up every power out there. We line up all the little pieces, see what is where, and then..."
She flicks her hand out, and blood droplets from her cut palm splatter against the window of the helicopter.
"We knock them all down."
It is somewhat ironic then that from Mature's prospective, there is a bit of resentment towards Vice for the fact that she has no other responsiblities other than fighting while Mature rarely has time to do anything but live and breath 'R' there's even a part of her that wonders if she weren't so freakishly calm if at this point she'd have developed ulcers from the stress of it all.
Again Mature shrugs, "In its own way a not unfair statement or opinion, but it does serve our interests not to be seen as such." Somewhat seeing what Vice might have in mind the blond listens quietly for the moment as Vice continues laying out her idea. She merely nods her head in response to each of the facts about other major organizations and power players that might oppose 'R' are laid out. Mature makes no assumptions though as this is one of the few times Vice's feelings are focusing her instead of dimming her.
So it isn't a surprise that Mature has kept herself quiet and contained until Vice finishes her explanation. "Not an unreasonable idea, it would do much to put others off and rebuild any lost good will we might have sustained due to recent events." Mature tilts her head as she begins calculating a few variables on how this might go down and the time and effort it would take to organize, "We could likely begin such a plan within the next month, give or take a week depending upon number of participants and the exact rules of the tournament."
"I do have a question though Vice, how do you prepose that we knock them all down?" Mature has a couple ideas already but this is Vice's idea and she is curious just how well Vice has thought this out.
Vice straightens up when Mature says it isn't a bad idea. This is genuinely high praise. It is easily the most impressive plan of action Vice has ever had, being largely restricted to go somewhere > brutalize someone > repeat in the past. But this is excellent. She leans back, and closes her eyes. Perhaps the most relaxed she has been in, weeks. Months. Rather a lot of stress had been building up over her little plan. It feels good to get it out there, and better to know she can rely on the support of her partner.
Really, Vice wishes that she could shoulder more of the responsibilities Mature handles. She wishes she could concentrate on things for more than a few minutes at a time without finding herself wanting to hurt someone. She can't, though. This little plot had been brewing in the back of her mind for days, and really, it has developed more as a way of getting people out in the open so she can hit them. Everything else has spun out from that singular desire.
"They start poking around our places, we split them up and beat them down." She says, "I also thought... if we could get them carrying some sort of, camera, tracking device, that'll let us see who is important to them. Where they live. Who we should hit to break them." Which is also surprisingly insightful! "... I had a couple of ideas for that. Maybe something with medals? But, I don't know if it'd work. How much it'd cost. That sort of thing. I'm not good with numbers, or technology."
She actually sounds almost apologetic. She still hasn't opened her eyes though. For the first time in ages, it feels like she might actually be able to rest. She's *not* just a mindless beast. She has plans, and ideas. They might even not all be awful. And it is always much easier to think when Mature is around, anyway. Keeping that thrumming core of anger just a little bit further away from the surface.
If nothing else, Vice should know Mature is honest with her, she never sugarcoats anything and can be amazingly blunt but Mature is absolutely honest with her partner, that is not to say though that Mature tells Vice everything. Thus the praise is very much genuine and for her part Mature is impressed with Vice's idea, though it adds to Mature's suspicions that Vice might be just as intelligent as she is, it's just due to her nature as an heir of Orochi she can't properly make use of it.
Mature begins to further consider the idea and Vice's thoughts on the medals, "It would not be unreasonable to do be able to do both. We would just have to be careful and make sure the true nature of the medals wasn't discovered. Or perhaps make it so they don't even consider it an issue, sometimes the best lie is the truth." Mature grins, "We tell them that the medals have recording equipment and tracking devices in them for the tournament, we can sell the footage of the fights from the medals and it is our right to keep track of tournament items is it not?" She grins viciously, "If they can't figure out that they are operating all the time, well that is their own fault not ours."
Mature makes it easier for most with Orochi blood to relax, it is her gift and curse after all. She'll never know the power and strength granted by the Riot of Blood but she will never lose herself to it either, which in some ways might make her more of a monster than her partner as Vice is a victim of her blood while Mature chooses to be what she is.
Mature waves her hand dismissively, "Luckily I am good with both." Mature grins slightly she can't help herself to needle her partner just a little bit, "So any other things you want me to consider or expansions of the plan to consider? It is afterall a rare treat to have you contribute so much, I do not want to waste it by not taking full advantage of it afterall." If Vice should open her eyes she'd note Mature has her usual sadistic grin but there is just a hint of genuine smile and maybe even something close to that shared between two friends teasing one another.
Vice shakes her head, "No." She says, "That's all I've got. I... will leave the organizing up to you."
Well that's alright then!
Vice just can't ignore her urges, that's the worst thing. Mature helps calm her down, keep those urges away from the obscene levels of violence they tend to gravitate towards, but the woman is still without all but the most rudimentary self control. Which is why now, letting herself feel relaxed, happy that Mature is on her side, and that things might actually turn around... Vice repays Mature's confidence in her by... falling asleep.
It might even be easy to miss at first, until the redhead starts to snore. The helicopter, though, continues on its journey. Taking two of the most dangerous people in the world back to their secret base, where plans can be plotted, and put into action... with the blessing of Rugal, of course. But then, what are the chances that he will deny the opportunity to see what the fighters of the world are capable of?
Log created on 14:10:43 04/06/2012 by Mature, and last modified on 23:37:27 04/14/2012.