Description: In the aftermath of the North Korean ocupation, and before Vega's final attempt at reclaiming the city... Howard Rust, Momoko, and Julia Chang have a chance encounter in the South Korean Capital of Seoul. Discussions about recent events and how to deal with the 'Vega' problem ensues. Momoko gives both some insight into the nature of Vega's Psycho Power for the uninitiated as a parting gift before returning to her aid work as well.
Seoul, Korea -
After much chaos and tumult, this once beautiful mega city and capital of Korea (used to be South Korea) now bears the wounds of war. Entire city blocks have been leveled, buildings collapsed, pavement littered with craters, and not a sign of the citizenry anywhere. They've all been moved to nearby Incheon while the local and foreign militaries and aid workers are left with clean up duty. Even now, after the capital's seizure by allied forces (with some unexpected aid from Russia and China) the government in this place has yet to sort itself out and now finds itself in a state of nebulousness.
It is because of this, that some of those who came to South Korea's aid now find themselves doing battle with a different kind of opponent. They are stuck with the aid work now that military order has been established here. This means any and all capable hands who have been allowed to stay in the city are helping with some manner of clean-up duty. That's where one sixteen year old capoerista now finds herself... shuffling down the street with a trash bag in hand and a song in her heart!
"Mmmhmmmhmm...~" The brown-haired seemingly twelve or thirteen year old girl, who is wearing a rather dangerously risque black strapless tube top and baggy white pants, hums to herself as she wanders down a broken stretch ncutting through the heart of the city with a trash bag in hand. She's here helping to clean up the city streets, and help anyody else who needs it! She'd only just arrived in Korea three days ago at the Incheon airport - having come to investigate the goings on in this country after Athena's recent run-in with the evil dictator. She thinks it's a shame Kensou and Athena couldn't be here to help but... they had planning to do. Or so they said... maybe they just really wanted Momoko to do it!
It's amazing how much damage has been done to a city that was designed to be able to withstand the worst the Northern forces could throw at it - and still seem to be pushed over like wet cardboard. It's a sobering, alarming thing that reminds everyone that there is almost no sure thing to be had in this world - teeming with danger from the evils that surround the innocent from the shadows... etc, etc. The forceful unification of Korea and Vega's involvement is just another bloody chapter and unfriendly reminder of how security is, occasionally, an illusion.
Howard Rust, one of the main figures of the resistance efforts, sits injured in a nearby open triage from his close fight against the mighty Diesel, but he looks positively uncontent to be sitting there even as he's treated for the usual array of injuries. There's plenty of bandaging around his head from where Diesel had been mercilessly stomping him (...again), a black eye and plenty of other little miscellaneous damages.
There's a toolbox just out of arm's length. How much he wants to just reach over and pick it up - at heart, he's a working man and a part of him almost longs for the old construction work days. He'd show some of these hands a thing or two, but he can't spit on their efforts with all this pressure - they're young and stressed, and the cleanup and repair efforts are not going to happen overnight, after all.
The happy humming just a ways away sees him wince as he turns from his seated position, putting undue stress on his side as he watches Momoko with a trash bag in her hand. It's... more than a curious sight. He hasn't really remembered the last time he's seen a kid smile in these parts... a local, maybe? He is, for the moment, wordless.
For those who have seen Korea from the outside, whether on television or in the news or otherwise, Korea looks bad enough as it is. Those who see it probably feel glad they're not there and pity those who are stuck there at this time. But when you're there personally and experiencing it, it's even worse. The true horrors of war and the dark side of humanity are revealed firsthand. Even watching a movie or reading a book isn't the same as the real thing. The death, the losses, everything. It's only known when you experience it first-hand. Even the tough soldiers who fight it find themselves bending underneath it later on in life, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. And Julia Chang, having found herself thrust into this whole conflict herself, will definitely be able to attest to how those soldiers feel.
Walking down the street, Julia is looking down at her boots as if she is lost in thought and doesn't want to be interrupted. Her eyes are half-open, and the expression on her face indicates that she's definitely not in one of her better moods. Granted, it is a warzone, but she's definitely not happy about something. She continues to walk, only looking up briefly to make sure there's nobody or any objects in her way as she walks. Aside from that, there's little else to notice about her.
Curious, energetic, eyes find a rather beautiful-looking gem on the sidewalk nearest her feet... causing the brown-haired 'kid' to cease in her humming and smile a bit wider. Dropping her trash bag, momentarily, with an audible clatter... the girl wanders over to stoop low and pick up the dusty green gemstone. "Wow... pretty..." She gingerly caresses the stone, knocking the dust from it, and then turns her eyes back toward her surroundings. Her head turns this way and that, brown eyes searching for the jewelry store she assumes it came from. But for all of the busted up shops nearby... there isn't one.
Clutching it tightly in her hand, she mulls over something internally. She fails, for a few moments, to even realize she left her eyes on Howard Rust across the street. Somewhere in her inner thoughtfulness she realizes two things: 1. It must have fallen off of someone, and 2. She's being very rude and staring at the nice man who is... also staring at her.
Her cheeks flush subtly as she returns to reality... and promptly stands up. "Heeeeey!!!" She waves, excitedly, in Rust's general direction. It had taken her some time... but she now realizes who the man taking shelter in the triage is. For all of her bubbleheadedness, she did watch the news you know?
Then, her brown eyes turn briefly to regard the approaching Julia Chang, realizing someone was coming by the scraping of gravel produced by the shuffling of feet. She had intended to talk to Rust, but maybe this person needs help? "Do you need help ma'm? Are you lost?"
The dropped trash bag in favor of... a little gleam of green that shines through its coat of dust, maybe a marble or something? It's hard to tell. The dissonance of the girl's cheeriness to the heavy air that the war-weary all around casts is equal parts worrying as it is perhaps almost reassuring that there's still good, beautiful things to see and partake in when one man seems ready to take it all away.
Even more disarming is the sudden greeting shout. At him? He raises his left hand cautiously, wincing as he remembers how much it hurt to bend that arm after Diesel struck him right in the arm.
"Uh, hey, can I he--" His mumbling cuts off as she goes along over to someone else... ma'am? Oh, Julia, it's Julia. He grunts as he adjusts the angle he sits at, moving carefully as to not make any of his wounds even /worse/ in the big picture of things.
"'s everything... everything OK?" He means to ask of her, even if he probably knows the answer as to how 'OK' things currently are around these parts.
"No, I'm fine," Julia says in a neutral voice, but she doesn't really look upwards for a moment, but when she does, she looks a little confused. "Are you the one who's lost, little girl?" Julia asks, raising an eyebrow. "Because this isn't a safe spot for children to be walking around in." Julia generally isn't condescending like that, especially intentionally, it's just the way that Momoko is dressed. Especially the fact she's not wearing any shoes.
As for Rust, Julia looks over and gives a slight nod, but nothing else otherwise. She is definitely not in the mood for socializing right now, as she looks up at the sky and sighs while rolling her eyes upward a little.
Having already decided that someone had, apparently, dropped the gemstone and she wasn't likely to find them anytime soon... the spritely capoerista pockets the shiny green gem quietly. She felt kind of bad taking someone else's beautiful treasure but... they probably had bigger things to worry about.
A rustling of plastic ensues as she then gathers her trash bag once more, and regards Julia Chang again. ... There's then an aaaawwwkwaard pause as Momoko just kinna stares at Julia for a little bit...
...Then lapses into a touch of childishness... "I'm not a child!" The brown-haired, squat, capoerista declares... in a manner that almost makes it sound like Julia just made a declaration of war against her. She then pumps her smallish fist into the air almost in proud defiance. "I'm Momoko! I'm a Psycho Soldier! I'm an aid worker! I'm sixteeeen!" This last part has a bit less forcefulness to it, her tone seeming to drop off into her usual candy sweetness. "I'm also hear to help kick the bad guy's in the butt!" She then feels the need to make a display off it by throwing a rather expertly executed round house into the empty air with great enthusiasm, before landing again and triking a pose complete wth stereotypical 'peace sign' (she is truly Japanese...). "I am also /not/ lost... ~" She adds, before proceeding to practically skip her way toward Rust cheerfully. "I came here for a reason, ya know?" And that reason was to deal with the 'Vega' issue. Who better to learn about that from than the man who last defeated him..?
"...So..." She leans in toward Rust after she makes her way toward the Triage, now ignoring the dismissive Julia entirely, "Athena said you know a lot about the war and Vega! Can I talk to you??"
Few people are really in the mood to do... much of anything. The bleak realities of war are a hard thing to swallow. This is Howard's third go at it... fourth, maybe? He's not entirely sure how to quantify some of the events of King of Fighters 2011 - a highly surreal set of circumstances in comparison, indeed. He doesn't outwardly disagree with Julia's thoughts on the matter, for what few thoughts she's willing to share.
"Just, uh... just let me know if something, ah... something... just, comes up," what doesn't? What could he do if something else does come up while he's trying to rest off the wounds he can between engagements? He's getting older and doesn't quite bounce back as fast as some people do. Hard to take apart, hard to put back together, as it were. The older man rubs his left shoulder with his right hand, a sour look on his face that might be misinterpreted for disgust as he tries to flex out a sore spot or two as Momoko goes into her protests and declarations.
He's mostly wordless thanks to dealing with his own aches when Momoko drops the bomb about her associations with Athena. Athena, the idol and - most recently - central heroine to helping push Vega out of Metro City. His left arm lowers as he - eventually - nods his head.
"Yeah, 's... not my, not my first time with him." The inflection suggests he'd have rather not have ever had to have experienced him to begin with. "By Athena, uh, you mean... Asamiya, fought over in... in Metro, right?" Who else could it be when Momoko is proudly declaring being a Psycho Soldier?
After taking a drink from her canteen, Julia looks to Momoko again. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that. I'm not exactly familiar with other fighters right now. I'm Julia Chang, an archaeologist. I happened to be in the area when things started getting out of hand so I've done my best to help the South Koreans retake their country." She refers to them as 'South Koreans' since she knows that this was theirs and that the DPRK had no right to be here. "You're here to fight Lord Vega? I admire your courage, but I must also advise you that he's not one to be taken lightly." She smiles a little at that.
Then she turns to face Rust. "You... I've seen you before around here. Who are you? Why are you here?" She doesn't sound confused or anything like that. Instead, she seems intrigued, since this is also another civilian who is here to help in the war also.
Momoko doesn't seem to catch the look, be it disgust or something else. In fact, she seems pretty damn well oblivious to the gravity of the situation despite declaring she's here to help. Either that, or it's just her age... and Julia and Rust are showing theirs. Experience with bad things tends to accumulate like stains on a rug and it's always hard to get out. It can make some people very cynical... but Momoko just may not be that type of person...
She nods softly as she takes in what the older man has to offer, standing there by him and clutching that black plastic trash bag behind her back. Even now, she just can't seem to sit still though... her body sways in time to some inaudible rhythm. Whatever is in the plastic trash bag... mostly metal from the sound of it... seems to declare its presence every time she moves. To an older person, it might seem like she's a squirming child with too much energy... but this is just Momoko.
"Yes!" Another energetic nod follows. "Athena Asamiya! She's a word famous singer, leader of the Psycho Soldiers, and one of the strongest users of Psycho Power there is! She's my friend, and she got more than a little worried when Vega showed up in Metro. ... We've been training to deal with people like him... but..." She trails, regretful, realizing they failed to do so when it was important this time. The way she practically sings Athena's praises, however, makes it seem as though she might idolize the girl... "I can use it too. But my abilities aren't that good yet." She almost wishes she were more capable, she could probably be more helpful.
As Julia regards Rust again, it dawns on Momoko that Julia had apologized earlier. "Oh! It's okay! I'm used to being seen as a child. ... Doesn't mean I like it though!" She then offers her a smile...
Fighter or no, sixteen /is/ very young to be going around like this, Rust would most likely back up Julia's first feelings on the matter - a part of him sinks when she smiles at the idea of Vega not being one to take lightly when he's the one who's stood face to face with him... three times, maybe? Each one more terrifying than the last. There is no getting used to him.
"Me? I'm... Howard. Howard Rust," and that name should really ring a lot of bells these days considering his involvement in the recent war. The man who was the last one standing in what was supposedly Vega's demise in China - the one who was still standing and conscious when UN forces came and converged on the site of the final explosion of psionic power. "'m here because... well," he gestures widely with his right hand to the general scenery, deciding this is a better way to finish the sentence than with actual words.
When Momoko takes central stage with her singing the praises of Athena, the discussion about Psycho Power and her powers and such... things click for him. Well, beyond the click in one of his elbows. More in his head... no, that was his neck.
Now things click in his head. "Yeah, what he's got, what he... what he does," he clears his throat, "'scuse me. What he does... it's... like, uh, how do I explain," even though chances are the young Momoko probably has been given a very, very good idea by her mentors as to what it is this man's describing, "like... all the, all the hate and anger there is, more than you can think is... possible, just. Just, just, bearing down on you. Goes... goes right through, to your mind, like... almost, compels you to want to just... just give in to it all, curl up in a, in a ball, if it doesn't.... kill you outright."
He shakes his head. "There's, there's nothing like it. Can't think of, of anything that'd even compare to... that."
"Howard Rust... I've heard that name." Julia looks down for a moment as if deep in thought, then looks up again. "Yes, now I remember. You've been quite the fighter in the recent activities of Vega and Shadaloo." She doesn't crack the slightest hint of a smile with that last remark. "Unlike you, though, I wasn't exactly intent on getting involved in this battle, but fate had other plans for me apparently. All because the source of my intel for my original project arrived at the worst possible time." She looks down at her pendant and examines it briefly. "Now that I'm here, though, I can't leave. I know I'm no soldier, but I got caught up in this, and I'll do whatever I can to help those in need... just like what I'm doing for my homeland."
Then Julia turns to face Momoko. "The Psycho Soldiers, I've heard of them too. I'm not big on music right now, but I do know the name." She then takes a seat on a nearby object and adjusts her hair slightly. "I find it interesting, though, that the three of us all have gathered here for the same reason. Some might say it's coincidence, others might think it's fate. For me, I believe in the way of the ancient spirits of my homeland. They were the ones who brought me here."
Momoko nods again, solemnly, several times as Rust starts talking again. She displays a great deal of patience for one so seemingly immature, simply nodding along with his stuttering knowingly... and letting him talk until he's through. She certainly DID know what he was talking about... she was around Psycho Power every day... and there is no denying how pentrating and impactful it is. When in the hands of someone like Vega... someone with /zero/ regard for how he impacts people... well... "It swallows you whole... leaves you drowning in foreign feelings in the hands of someone like him." She tacks a very succinct summary of what Rust is describing on, once he's finished. It's probably the most sombre thing she's said so far. "Not all Psycho Power users are like that though! We usually take great care not to impose on people. That's just him..." 'We' of course being the Psycho Soldiers. "Our master would never forgive us if we used our power like that."
When Julia responds to her, finally, Momoko's brown eyes flit back to her in a sidelong glance and she smiles again... albeit stil leaning toward Rust. "Athena makes the good music! I'm just an assitant! And Kensou..." She pauses briefly, in her mind's eye... Kensou is stuffing his face with meatbuns. She then suddenly blushes subtly again. "...is kind of weird." At Julia's mentioning of fate, however, she adds... "It's not fate, its Vega. He has the effect on people..." And what an awful effect it is...
"I, I don't go 'bout my day thinking or... or hoping this comes up," Howard grouses aloud, "it just... ends up, happening, like," he struggles to think about how to phrase a train of thought that isn't particularly well-defined as he settles with just scratching the side of his hea-- wince! That spot's still sore. His head's taken a lot of blows but few ever as vicious as Diesel's stomping.
There is plenty more to the Psycho Soldiers than just the music. Rust's familiar enough with psions between Vega and a number of his friends (...Rust's, not Vega's) to put two and two together that Momoko really isn't just some oblivious child walking into danger, but... striking 'oblivious.' The talk of spirits and fate, well... a certain incident involving a paper crane had certainly showed him that miracles do exist, though he's not sure he agrees with the idea it's fate they're all here - Momoko's description further belies her age as she succinctly sums up his feelings, although he might think trying to simplify the experience in words does not do justice (...injustice?) to what Vega's will turned strength /does/.
"Actually, uh... while we're here. While we're here," he clears his throat, "'scuse me. I'm thinkin'... well, no, I saw the Chinese some time back." China, the nation whose legacy would forever be stained by Vega's instigation and manipulation in his previous bid for world power. "Saw 'em fighting in North Korea... with Shadaloo, as in. Together."
There are serious political issues and complications that may have led to this very decision, but the chill of that truth should not be any less blood-freezing to think about.
"Heard 'bout... Russia, too." Russia, the first victim of the war outside of China themselves. "It's... it's.. if I, if I just had a... a camera," he forms the shape of one between his hands, "if I could just... record something, reach out and, and tell 'em... what the hell they're doing, by, by choosing to... do what they're doing, it's..."
"You're right, it definitely is Vega," Julia replies. "He's definitely got some sort of power that brings us together. It may be difficult, but it can be stopped. I believe it, and I'm sure you all believe it too!" Julia clenches her fist, although it's not so much a gesture of violence as it is a sign of determination and courage. "We can do this!" She then looks to Rust and replies to him.
"Recording is a good way of preserving evidence, but the truth remains that, even if it's not credible by law or otherwise, our mind is the greatest way of preserving things. It may not be perfect, but that is the best way of preserving something I believe." She smiles at Rust a little. "I admire your courage and your strength. It definitely proves that anyone can stand up to adversity if they believe in themselves."
The smile remains as she turns back to look at Momoko. "So, how long have you been with Athena? From what I've heard about her, you must be a very good assistant. And your friend Kensou... he sounds kind of... funny. Almost like a comic relief?" Her intent here is to try to lighten the mood a little.
While Rust goes into a long, protracted, speech about feelings his obviously been keeping bottled up for quite some time... Momoko turns and moves across the area underneath the triage canvas and finds herself an empty seat. Shen sits down, placing her black plastic trash bag beside her chair... and leans forward... placing her chin upon upturned palms whilst her elbows rest on her lap. She's still actviely listeniing to Rust's concerns, as evidenced by the fact that her muddy brown eyes quickly find him again once she's seated, but she's clearly realized they might be here a while. There might be a lot of issues to discuss... and however immature she might be she at least had manners enough to know standing too much when people are talking makes you seem impatient!
"No one goes out of their way hoping something mean and nasty like Vega happens!" Okay, maybe Vega does... "...But, still, you always have to be prepared for the unexpected." As much as he seemed to radiate sunshine usually as if nothing bad ever happened... she knew it did. But dwelling on it didn't feel right to her... "...But letting it suffocate you is bad too! You're almost giving the badd person what they want! You have to be positive!" At this, her head comes out of its resting state again... and she pumps her right fist suddenly as if to declare something great again. "Filling the world with happiness, even when sadness threatens to overwhelm is the best idea!" It was like defiance. honestly... for someone like Vega who thrives on negative emotions. It really wasn't a bad idea. "...Especially when you're dealing with someone who grows stronger when exposed to negative emotion. Hedoes this stuff for a reason, ya know?"
As he mentions Russia and China, Momoko seems to be at a loss for words suddenly,. She really didn't follow politics too much... even though Athena has encouraged her to... "Well... people doselfish things. That's how people are sometimes." ... And politics was inherently a selfish game fter all.
Regarding Julia again, as she speaks to her, the squat capoerista girls seems to pause... and think... "Mm... we've been together a while now. A year or more? ... Honestly, I'm newer than they are. They have so much more experience than me." At everything... music... Psycho Power... dealing with situations like this one... "Kensou is a giant meatbun!" She giggles. "He s a great fighter, honestly, but he isn't all there!" She motions to her head, cocking it to the side as her smile widens a bit...
"It's not... evidence, I mean, just... reaching out, telling 'em," to the extent Rust should ever be a public speaker in any capacity, they've only had to hear him speak for, what, how long? Always tripping over words, sounding sleepy, occasionally trailing to an indecipherable volume, and... that... hairpiece. Julia's compliment about his person, her words of admiration don't sink too deep, even if it is ultimately true. A lot of people did eventually stand up, enough of them the last time to finally turn it all around...
It's always hard to put a lot of things about Vega into words. It's, at least to Rust, part of the reason why he's so scary to think about and have to stand up and deal with. The seeming blind optimism of youth ends up giving way to something that someone else mentioned in passing that he wasn't able to get the full brunt of (on grounds of charging towards Vega to see that, yes, that's Vega still alive). Something Chun-Li herself alluded to when he spoke with her about how she was able to face him as many times as he has.
His jaw drops a little. "You mean... that's, that's how it works for him, directly," he hangs on that point for a bit before he continues, pointing out with his left hand at pretty much nothing, "that... he gets stronger when, when..." If that's true, surrounded by the despair and dangers of war... oh son of a bitch, he inwardly curses, it's not just the usual psionic power base of one's own self, is it? Momoko might be a child, but if she's being trained by expert psions who know this sort of thing, then...
"No wonder he's so quick to... to try war again," he susses out as there's small talk about the Psycho Soldiers band, "lost his, his old body," something Vega made sport of, "got a new one, he's just... soakin' it all in, isn't he, ah, like a sponge, gearing up to be just as nasty, if not, if... not more."
Of course, as Momoko is not Vega and probably can't confirm this as fact directly while they're all in relative safety, he could just conjecturing to absolutely no one.
"'m sorry," his voice goes a bit low, "shouldn't... shouldn't talk 'bout the worrying things like that."
Julia doesn't say anything to Momoko for the time being. Instead, she looks to both people and then speaks to them in general. "I understand what telling everyone about what's going on is important, but unfortunately, that's not always possible. Sometimes, we just have to do what we can and hopefully there will be another chance." She folds her arms a little, before responding in a sense to Momoko. "If Vega thrives on negativity, then the soldiers fighting him are likely to only make him stronger. Unfortunately, after what they go through in boot camp, there's no way they'd feel anything but hostility towards their enemies." She sighs and puts a hand over her mouth as if she's deep in thought, before looking up again.
"But maybe... maybe if we try not to focus so much on negative things when we encounter him. I know it seems like a contradiction when we're fighting him, but if we try to envision it not as an attempt to destroy him, but to bring peace back. I know it's not perfect..." Julia bites her lower lip as she looks down again. "Then again, our actions alone may increase his power. But we have no other choice."
Momoko offers a slow nod at Rust's first question, "Yes, that is exactly how it works. When people get worked up emotionally they produce psychic energy naturally that resonates with what they're feeling at the time." She then stands, suddenly, again... in preparation for returning to the job she'd all but forgotten. But she's not leaving just yet... "Users of Psycho Power do have their own power to use but... someone as advanced as Athena... and Vega... they can feed off of the energies of others. It really is empowering to them." Being so inexperience, she hasn't really and truly experienced but... she knows Athena can do it. She's told her as much, and if Athena can do it... "When you react negaatively to him, you're just feeding his inner monster! You're giving him the strength to hurt you! That's what you've got to try and be positive! Even if you're facing someone like him!" Another fist pump ensues, followed shortly by another radiant smile, "That's also why we have to do what we can to brighten people's spirits here! That's what I'm gonna do!"
he then regards Julia again, responding to her musing about how to deal with the dilemma of not giving him what he feeds off of when faced with him. She then jumps up and down a little, excitedly, arms tucked close to her chest as she displays her enthusiasm. "Just remember who you're fighting for! Remember their smiles... remember how you want to make them feel... and when you're staring him in the face that he's just an obstacle for that you've got to overcome." She says this as though he weren't a difficult obstacle to tackle...
Having said that, she then darts over and snatches up her plastic bag again, and heaves it up to shoulder level, then heads toward the door. Before stepping out into the sunshine again, she looks back over her left shoulder again with a radiant smile. "I'm going to go help people smile right now! Take care, okay? ... and..." She kicks high with her left leg suddenly, hopping onto her left with a practiced skill... balancing there... "Lets kick his butt, okay??" Then she waves, one more, energetically... and promptly darts out into the street again!
The time Rust thought they were taking Vega down for good, he still distinctly remembers how he attempted to talk up Vega's own fears and weaknesses in the face of defeat, and even so it was nigh-on impossible for him to fully overcome Vega's negativity of the everything. What Julia speaks sounds great on paper, but in practice, against someone like /him/...
The reassurance that this sort of thing works /both/ ways for good and bad is only a small silver lining. It's not a good enough silver lining on itself to take off the edge of the ache of when he leans forward in his seated position to think of standing up, pain running through his left shin... well, push comes to shove he's going to have to get up eventually, anyway.
There is one thing he's forgetting to say, one very important thing on the young Momoko's behalf as he decides that maybe some of his injuries he ought to go on ahead and walk off.
"Thanks," he utters, hopefully able to be heard as Momoko heads on out the door on her quest to make people smile - a quest that now, in the light of their conversation and discussion about some of the nature of psionic energy - seems less immature and more an actual, legitimate idea to help put a stop on Vega's spreading of negativity before he can get a new foothold again.
"Well," he says as he turns his head over to Julia as he staggers and stumbles along up to his feet - perhaps to the protest of some others nearby about his collective injuries - "if, if he shows up," no, /when/, "when... when he shows up," he points a finger as he looks away, eyes squinting at the sunlight for a bit. It's gotten a little brighter out, somehow, as one of his knees pop loudly, "guess that's.... that's gonna have to be the way to go."
He clears his throat. "'scuse me. Gonna... gonna go see if someone has a, a camera."
"That's a good idea. I'll do the best I can," Julia says with a slight smile to Momoko, watching as she heads off on her own, before turning to Rust, her tone darker than before. "You're right, they will show up again soon. It's not a premonition, it's a fact. They will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, no matter what the cost. Because of that, they will strike, but we will never know when. All we can do is be on high alert." She adjusts her gloves and cracks her knuckles, before looking at her pendant once again. She clasps it with one hand and closes her eyes, silently praying to the spirits. After a moment, she opens her eyes again.
"Mr. Rust, I truly admire your courage and bravery, and I know that if we work together with the others who assist us, we will be able to overcome whatever Vega brings towards us." She takes off her headband to tighten it a little more. "The spirits are with me, they will protect me, and they will protect you too. Even if you don't believe in them." She starts to walk away, back towards the shelter where she's been hiding out with the allied forces.
Log created on 14:01:10 09/02/2012 by Momoko, and last modified on 02:35:30 09/04/2012.