Description: When a body meets a body, Sagat is busy working in a Thailand village when his former student disrupts him. Adon has no intent to mocking, or even fighting his former mentor. Rather, in the wake of the Devil's Tournament, the current Emperor has only one thing reserved for his ex-teacher: Final farewells.
It seems for many the Devil's Tournament is over. For Ryu it seems the wanderer will be getting some sort of ceremony for winning. Some people might have interest, but Sagat himself has work to do. He got the fight he wanted and in the end even if he didn't win he was satisfied. The mood of the large fighter has been on an upswing and despite some of the oddness that had occurred throughout the tournament it was a nice break from what he has been doing since the war. Not only that perhaps for the first time in years he had fun fighting. For once he wasn't ordered to be somewhere or it wasn't a life and death situation. It was like the old times.
Now he can get back to work and perhaps see what the future has in store for him. He won't scale back on his training. He does still wish to improve. He got his fight, but it is not over. He will one day face Ryu and beat him. He is not allowed to slack off one bit. If anything he might have to increase his training regime if he wants to win. It took alot out of him and he felt like he was close, but in the end Ryu was still standing. Next time it will be Sagat that is the last man standing.
The location is a familiar one for him right now. After returning to Thailand he has been visiting the various villages he has been helping out in rebuilding to see where things stand. The current one looks to have for the most part returned to its former self. No damages now to the buildings that are used. There is a small market set up now where a few vendors are selling various items. Sagat himself is actually helping a elderly woman by carrying large crates of produce and moving them where they are needed. He still has much to figure out, but some mindless work is nice at the moment. Maybe once he is done checking up on things it is finally time to check on Rust and maybe even do a bit of traveling. He loves his country and people, but to wander the world for a bit is always something he enjoys.
It was a strange sense of deja vu.
The Devil's Tournament. This Jeep ride to the village. Everything was repeating itself. Adon is defeated by Ryu. Sagat is defeated by Ryu. The wanderer gains the glory. And Muay Thai is force to lick is wounds. It was not too long ago when Adon had come into this village to face Sagat. Deja vu. It was so similar.
And yet, everything was so different.
The rumble of the jeep is heard by the village. A repeat. Like the trucks. There is no little boy to run to Sagat this time. The progress of vehicles were becoming more and more common, as commerce has recovered in the war-torn nation. The flow is only disrupted when the jeep comes sputtering into the town, the locals stopping to stare at the passenger of the vehicle. Limb dangling over the side, the Emperor hangs an arm, looking idly at Sagat, hard at work. The Emperor of Muay Thai turns up his nose, Eyes idle, he finally speaks.
"Why, hello. -Sagat-"
The roar of the jeeps doesn't really get more than just a glance rom Sagat. There is a bit of surprise that it seems like Adon is with the group coming this way, but more because he figured the braggart was out running for his life given all the idiots that are out to punch him. While Adon is a fool for many things he isn't for once at fault for something. Even if there is tension between the two fighters he actually spoke out and defended Adon. Something people might not expect.
Another crate is set down and the large fighter just nods in Adon's direction. "Adon." he says in response as he straightens up and excuses himself. There is no general ignoring like last time. It seems if the younger fighter wanted Sagat's attention he certainly has it. The cyclops dusts his hands off and he steps over to the truck containing his once student. Of course he doesn't say anything. He just folds his arms over his chest and waits to see what exactly the man wants. If it is just general gloating he has work he can get back to. If it is anything to do with the last encounter they had he might be interested.
Sadly already he has a feeling it isn't going to be anything useful. He would like to be surprised, but at the same time he doesn't see Adon as much of one being full of surprises he would care about. That single eye remains fixed on Adon, staring and perhaps even judging the man as he waits.
So many fools were after Adon.
The Emperor had been the talk of the world. The Quon suicide. The murders. The disruptions of the Devil's Tournament. The interview. King's challenge. So many people were out for his blood. But if they wanted to come?
Then let the fools come.
"So. THIS is what the FALLEN EMPEROR of MUAY THAI does for fun?" Cackles the Emperor, his shrill voice cutting the village. His presence was to seize all around him. But his attention was focused on the one-eyed behemoth. "You truly HAVE become nothing more than a defanged tiger. But I have not come to fight, oh no, Sagat. We have fought already, and as much as it SICKENS and DISGUSTS me..."
Adon steps out of the jeep.
"I have lost."
Adon crosses his arms, glaring at the ground. Grinning fiercely, still as arrogant as ever. He was swallowing this piece of pie, on his own terms. Approaching Sagat, he swaggers, twisting his head up eye as he closes in on the imposing figure. His voice... wanes. The screaming was gone. The smile was there. But amongst the villagers, seem unnaturally calm. "You could have taken it back. You could have had it all. You could have made them all forget me, by reclaiming the crown. Can you imagine the world's reaction? Sagat would be back. I realized something after the fight. When Kain 'withdrew.' With your fight with Ryu. With your fight with me."
"You truly want nothing more to do with Muay Thai."
Well it isn't quite what he expected. In the end it seems there is some humility shown by Adon, but he truely doesn't understand why Sagat acts how he does these days. There is if anything a slightly amused look on his face when he listens. Even if he seems to be arrogant and an annoyance there is something the former emporer could see. Something he started to see when Adon was having his nervous break down in their last fight. He was starting to learn.
He remains silent for a few moments longer then he shakes his head. "I have everything to with Muay Thai. I told you before I no longer need a title. When I was Emporer I clinged to it thinking this is the only way people would ever pay attention to me. Now I have come to realize my actions define me better than any title." he explains. He lefts out a bit of a chuckle as he closes that eye and contemplates. How would have Adon turned out if Sagat felt this way all those years ago? It is a shame really. Both of them have lost so much time worrying about the past.
"Sometimes it is about just chasing desires. I desired a chance to fight Ryu once more. I finally got it and in the end I lost, but I am content." There is no shame in what happened. The video showed the former emporer beaten on at first, but then he showed why he was so feared. He didn't need much to get back in that fight and he pushed Ryu into his limit. "So if you aren't here to gloat then why are you here? I am no longer your teacher so I doubt you want a lesson."
Adon tenses up. Those words kept driving into his heart. "Your actions? B..." The Emperor seethes. Gasps. Fumes. And finally, he swallows. "Then let your actions choose your path. Your -chased- desires. It was like before. Ryu tore through me. And then, he tore through you. History truly repeats itself. The only difference..." Adon moves dangerously close to Sagat, chest puffed out. "...is that I am not angry."
And Adon lowers himself down upon the crate, to assist his old teacher.
Struggling to lift the crate, he hides the effort. "Why have I come, Sagat? For many things. My life as the EMPEROR of Muay Thai has become hollow. Filled with strife, with turmoil. To be the most loathed person in the world. Truly, I have never endured the feeling more so than I have through that pathetic joke of a tournament. 'The Devil's Tournament.' It was a beclownment for us all. No, I have come here for a sole reason." Looking around, for a place to move the crate. he hardly puts any effort when he tosses his words to his former teacher.
"....To say goodbyes."
The large fighters head tilts a bit to the side and he watches Adon and listens. So he finally does seem to be perhaps starting to realize the path he walks can only lead to disaster. Maybe there is hope for the man yet if that is the case. He watches as Adon lifts the crate full of vegetables and has a bit of trouble. The offer of help is appreciated and he gives a nod. Something like this. This is a good start.
"It isn't easy." he tells his former student as he moves over to grab another crate himself and heft it up with quite a bit more ease. He shoulders it and gives another nod. "I think you will find something you want. A desire to finally drive you. Something to chase." Hopefully something worthwhile. He isn't quite sure what Adon might find, but anything right now might be something of an improvement for the current Emporer.
He motions for Adon to follow as he moves over to where he has been stacking the provisions and he speaks a bit more. Really to listen to his words is like knowing a different person entirely than the teacher that Adon had in his youth. No smugness, not hint of sarcasm or cruel names being used. "People forgive. It takes time, but it happens. Make our people proud to have you as the Emporer of Muay Thai if you truely wish to keep the title. Those that blame you for foolish things like Quon and the murder of that nurse are petty and need to move on. What you see around here is what matters. Not fools like them."
Adon saw his path. A path where he was a disruptor, not a true fighter. Where murderers envied, strangers pitied him, and self-proclaimed heroes mocked him. He was washed up. And his failure at the Devil's Tournament would see his entire empire of dirt to come in passing. He felt worthless. But the presence of Quon's death, and Sagat's choice, gave him a sense of dread.
That perhaps, his era of being the Emperor of Muay Thai was coming to a close.
Carrying the great crate, he moves the box oto the others, stacking it. "People do forgive, Sagat. And I forgive you for making a fool of yourself.
"Except you stood up for me."
Adon's grin becomes strained. The Emperor was WINCING. "What drives me hasn't changed, Sagat. To be the greatest, to fight ever stronger. To CONQUER. To be STRONG. But... I have made that difficult for myself. Well, not just I. That accursed child, the boy that.... That betrayed you."
"Quon."
The Emperor seems disgusted, alone with Sagat. Away from the world. "The child destroyed me, and mislead you. But... What did you see in him? Was he truly like me? What am I to become? Am I doomed to his fate, to be consumed by my own flame?"
"What did you see in me, so many years ago?"
The mention of Quon seems to make Sagat tense only a moment. He just shakes his head a bit when he thinks on that. Just what would have happened if he left the boy to die instead of try to save him. So much potential and courage he seemed to show back then. It appears it was too much and in the end Sagat was wrong. His attempt to make amends for what he has done and train someone properly came to a stop before he could ever really truely spend time to help Quon. Worst of all he can only imagine the toll it took on Rust.
"There is nothing worng with wanting to be the greatest. Isn't that every fighter's real dream?" he asks as he turns to face Adon once more and folds his arms across his broad chest. "Even if you are foolish and aren't great at making good decisions you were still my student. When people accuse you of things I know you did not do I will continue to do so. Prove them wrong, Adon."
He isn't sure if things are really sinking in or how Adon will really register what is being said. He can only hope that it works out well enough. Adon seemed close to falling apart when they fought. He seems a bit better now, but the older fighter can still tell he is still shaken up. To even do what he is doing right now shows some willingness for Adon to try and better himself. "Quon chose his own fate. I could only guide him as best as I could. I had faith in him much like I did in you when I first saw you approach me. The difference now between you two is you have not taken a coward's way out. If life gets rough you keep going on. How else will you improve?"
Truly, Adon must be on the deep end if he is admitting mistakes.
But holding his head high, he seems to be incapable to take the edge off his swagger. "So I am like the boy. FEH!" The Emperor spits, clearly irate. "You never lost faith in me, did you. You lost faith in yourself! " Easy, cheap shots from Adon. But he then adds, with softer tones. "But what Quon did to you.... was disgusting. Feh. What he did to us was disgusting. That whole joke of a Tournament was disgusting. Blegh! But how I will improve is the same way I proved myself the greatest."
"Through Master's stupid tournament, again."
The Emperor rolls his eyes, looking over the village. "You prefer this sort of status, don't you Sagat. A hero of the people, a gentle giant. Do they know of your past? What your vengeance drove you into? I remember how Shadaloo used me time and time again to draw you out. Those old days, where I would drive you into fighting me. But for what, in the end? The same you say now?"
"To teach me?"
The large man slowly nods while listening. It is an interesting conversation to have to say the least. To actually talk to Adon and have him listen is almost something of a nostalgic moment for Sagat. How often did Adon truely listen back then? Does he really listen to what Sagat is really saying right now at all? It is really hard to tell. "I did lose faith in myself. All that time in Shadaloo. Listening to Vega's lies about how he would give me what I want when I needed to only rely on myself."
He closes that single eye of his for a few moments as he takes a deep breath. "Adon, they know I am not a gentle giant. These people know what I have done." he tells him as if Adon really expected Sagat to be one that would use lies to get what he wants. If he cared to do that would he be here helping people out? Would be be helping rebuild. "They also know in their time of need I was there on the front lines. I helped defend our land. Where were you?" he finally asks as that eye opens back up.
Oh he has his guesses. Adon at least was avoiding any sort of confrontation probably by siding with Shadaloo the entire time. Or if not that he was hiding in one of his pleasure dens or the like just hoping Vega would ignore him. "We all have to change sometime. If you believe it has made me weaker I think you have a short term memory. I am sure your jaw remembers if I have become weak or not."
Adon? A stooge of Shadaloo?
The Emperor turns away, face growing red. This was a secret that he had long tried to obscure. The truth was far less than what some people believed... but still nothing to be proud of. "I... You told me that you would stand up for me. I had my own reasons for working with Shadaloo. Better reasons than you. " Adon was growing defensive. He could have stormed off. He could have screamed and raved. But this was about goodbyes. He would be through with Sagat.
He might as well pursue closure.
"I could have waged a war with Shadaloo." The Emperor begins, every word thrown out with disgust.
"I could have let them tear apart Thailand. To fight them. Instead, I let them work within Thailand... to protect Thailand. Shadaloo would push me sometimes, but otherwise? Thailand was very safe with Shadaloo.... until outsiders incited a war or the like." The Emperor sighs.
"But where was I? I was hiding, and in exchange for guarding Muay Thai, I would not incite either side. That... that truly should be the vision I have for Muay Thai. Utter neutrality to the affairs of the world. Being a hero is simply politics. In the end, Muay Thai is an art that should be used by the strong, to be made stronger. People change, Sagat, you are right."
"But Muay Thai is forever."
There is a bit of a chortle. It seems like in a weird way Adon was trying to protect the way of the martial art both hold so dear. "I guess we will make people remember the strength of Muay Thai in our own ways. If this is the final goodbye then I hope the next time I hear news of you it isn't about murder or fools throwing insults towards you. Make it about victory and the strength of Muay Thai."
Is it really going to be the end? The last time these two meet? Perhaps Adon will not outright persue Sagat anymore to meet with him, but he has a feeling somewhere down the like they will cross paths. Be it in a tournament like this past time or some sort of strange chance of fate that the two would be put in the same place together once more.
"Moving one crate may seem silly to you, but right now that woman is thanking you, Adon. You didn't need to be loud, you didn't need to shout about what good you did. Sometimes your actions will speak for you and that can sometimes change one's views of you more than any sort of interview of television show." He straightens up fully and he places his hands together. He then closes his eye and gives a nod. "Good luck in your travels, Adon. Farewell."
Farewells.
This was the end of Adon pursuing Sagat. After the Devil's Tournament, the encounter in this very village, it was growing more and more clear that Sagat was a worthless person to get a rise out of. He would never return to the throne. He was nothing now, worthless to the throne. To the empire of Muay Thai.
But in the end, he was still a memory.
A memory that Adon would not forget. "My actions? Let ME choose what my actions mean. This crate I move because it only serves me! It..." The Emperor sighs. "I will have to face the world again, soon enough. I will not be silent. I will be forced to call the idiots out for what they are. But that is what it should be, in the end. I do not move this crate for her. I do not fight for the people of the world, nor should I."
"I should only fight for myself."
Adon turns around, walking towards the jeep again. "I do not care for your simple, reflective life, Sagat. I have always been a hunter, and forever a hunter. A conquerer. You were once a conquerer, Sagat. But you wish for a path of peace? Then I will allow you that peace. This is where I! ADON-" The Emperor swallows. "I mean, I will part ways with you. I will pursue you no more. You can live in your world of actions, and simplicity. But I have an empire to run, to lead." Adon boards the jeep, as he taps the side, to let the driver take them away.
"Farewell, Sagat."
He seems to be learning slowly, but he still has a long way to go. Even now there is some sort of improvement and even now Sagat can only be amused by the response he gets. Things will change. Adon will more than likely change himself. How short or long that path is remains to be seen. Maybe them meeting in the Devil's Tournament was the start for Adon's journey of really finding out his true desire.
He says nothing in response and just watches as Adon and his group roll out through the village and onwards to whatever destination he has in mind. "So he thinks I live a peaceful life." he muses to himself and he then lets out a rather deep laugh. "If only it were true." With that being said he moves onwards to get back to work. There is still much to do and other villages to visit and help. It will be a long time for all the rebuilding to truely be done.
In the end it was an exchange he was pleased with. It is amazing how well things seem to just be turning out for the former emporer. Maybe all that he has done is really starting to pay off. The recent events have him feeling young again. He carries a smile on his face as the next crate is lifted. Life can't get much better right now.
Log created on 17:03:02 05/24/2012 by Adon, and last modified on 21:19:34 05/28/2012.