Description: An investigation probing deep into the depths of the Louvre Museum reveals a twisting maze of catacombs that descend further and further into the Earth. Two individuals investigating the mass disappearances meet and find that they are unlikely allies from very different backgrounds. Approaching the door that lies in wait at the end of one particular corridor, they encounter the guardian of the door, who refuses to permit them entry. Claiming to be from a mysterious group known only as Those from His Distant Land, Mukai challenges the two to an honourable battle. Should they best him, Mukai may share details of what lays beyond the door. If they fail, they will learn the way out and be permitted to leave with their lives... before the world goes black and each awakens on the steps of the Lourve.
The mystery of the disappearance surrounding the city in France is one of the areas where few people gave it particular notice. Yet Daniel and Noboru, through their own investigations -- both hired for this by an unknown benefactor who seemed to think it an important location -- find that the Louvre appears to be the critical point, the exact center of the circle. Nothing out of the ordinary is apparent, until the sealed catacombs are found. A horrible, twisting maze that seems to fill the air with an increasingly inhuman air, the duo would find the air to suddenly grow hot rather than cold, and a strange, heavy sensation fills the air.
Suddenly, an opening. A broad hallway with large columns, showing strange, twisted humanoid figures upon them. Wild haired with sharp teeth, worn from untold passed time and covered in dust.
Only one of those odd-looking individuals is presently sitting cross-legged, before a gargantuan door; easily fifteen feet high, inscribed in countless runes. From the outline, a red light appears to shine.
The figure in question is absolutely massive, head lowered and arms crossed over his knees. His skin is a blackish-gray, with hair a stark white. Unclad above the torso, beyond his granite skin of etched muscle, a voluminous kilt-like attire of noble bearing with white and brown cloth leads to tape-bound feet.
"Leave." echoes a deep voice, resonating with power. "This place is unstable. It is not yet time...!!"
"Hrr." comes a grumbled bass reply, one of the shadows between the pillars shifting, then splitting as a large brown-haired man in a midnight blue coat pads silently out into the open. A black silk mask hides the lower half of the newcomer's face, the eyes above it oddly mismatched. The right is ice-blue, and stares toward the seated guardian with calm detachment; while The left is blank and white, and could be looking at anything. It's hard to tell if someone is cross-eyed when they don't have two pupils.
"I believe," states the shinobi mildly, good eye flicking idly over Mukai's greyish form, "it is too late to turn back." Noboru does not break stride as he says this. His padding steps slowly close the distance between himself and the seated guardian, black-gloved hands clasped loosely behind his back. He doesn't have the look of a man about to start a fight, but he is walking toward the door, and is a stranger, and has that wicked scar across his face, and apparently has run out of things to say.
Yeah. There's going to be a fight. No amount of relaxed body language can hide that.
What can be hidden is Noboru's special talent for energy analysis. As he walks he stares out at the world through his damaged left eye, seeing it in shades of brilliance. The underlying weaves of chi that infuse almost everything give the world a faint glow, overlapping colors bleeding together till they pulse in shades of grey. On that field of grey, larger sources of chi blaze bright, their color and intensity revealing their nature and strength to the big shinobi.
All of this is old hat to the ninja. He does it without thinking. But what really catches his private attention is the door. So much power, such an aura...and, not a "color" he's ever seen before. In fact, though the idea is mildly startling, he's fairly certain it isn't even chi or psy.
Daniel wanted to get out of Southshore.
The volcano meant death. Everywhere meant death. Even the dead were rising, as his encounter with Jiro proved. The end of the world was here. The last judgement was soon. He was packing up his belongings. He had to leave. He must leave.
Needless to say, he was not in high spirits when the parents called.
"Yes, this is Daniel Jack." He had said, picking up the rotary phone. They had told them about their little girl. 9 year olds. The sweetest thing. "No, I can't take international cases any more." He had responded. He remembered the Black Dragon cult. He remembered the betrayal.
"That's fifteen?"
"No? That's fif-TEE?"
And that was how Daniel landed on the next plane to Paris.
And here he was. The trail was similar to the Black Dragon cult. The ninja? Well. The ninja was not an enemy. He tolerated him. And yet, as he entered through the doors, ignoring the visages, ignoring the dread, the horror, he finally saw the guardian. Noboru expected a fight. It made sense, considering what the guardian looked like, what he sounded like. And yet, as Daniel approaches, his eyes goes wide. And his tone is not of foreboding. It is not of fear.
"Mukai!?"
It was of friendship. The tense expression relaxes. A smirk spread across the corner of the detective face. He stepped forward, holding a hand towards the stoic titan. "Mukai! Wait, hold up!" He states to the other man. "Hold up. I know him! Mukai! It's me! Daniel Jack!" The detective states, pointing to himself. "Remember the Andes? When we picked a fight with the Ikari Warriors?" The detective nods furiously. He ended up getting stripped naked, and left for dead. It was good times. Good, good times. "What are you doing here?" He asks, looking towards the door.
"What's going on?"
Noboru is incredibly talented at being hidden; such certainly belies his size. But there was no sense of ever truly disappearing from the monster further along, despite his seemingly nonplus attitude. Indeed, this is as far from a mundane individual as can possibly be encountered within this world. Still, there is a distinct lack of hostility all the same. One might expect, from the look of him, for Mukai to be a bloodthirsty creature, cackling madly. Although he radiates raw power like few in this world possibly can, it is assuredly neutral.
"This world is full of choices, human. Some of them can be taken back. Some of them can't. Who you fight, who you spare. Sometimes as minor a ripple as who you lock eyes with in passing can echo into the future in ways beyond fathoming. It is never too late. If that was the case... then our purpose here would be wasted. ...Although sometimes, it may require... extremes."
Closer to Mukai, he feels... well. It feels like the entire planet's chi is seeping into him, blazing so bright it is difficult to look at. Every stone and clump of dirt is alive within his presence, and lending it's strength to him. He also, as far as the talented shinobi is concerned, absolutely 100 percent not what he would consider in a lifetime of analysis 'human'. A force of nature. It can be summed up as nothing else.
And he is insurmountably stronger than Noboru could ever hope to be.
The door behind him... is... it cannot really be understood. An intense energy, one that is building up, but wild, dangerous, chaotic. And above all, ominous.
"...Daniel." follows, with a tone of regret. "It saddens me to meet you here. But my carefree days as herald of Gaea's will are over. The time of action has come. What I do here, and what lies behind this door..." He pauses then, frowning and tilting his head to the side.
"...It is for the good of the Earth... if not for the good of 'Those Still Living'..." The way he says that is somewhat dark.
Finally his eyes open, and Mukai rises. Slowly, slowly, to his grand eight feet.
"I cannot say... I agree with what Saiki is doing." he mulls out. The name, of course, means nothing to either of them. "So... in deference to you, struggling mortals of Earth. Facing a threat you cannot fathom... I will give you a chance."
Arms spread, and slowly energy begins to shimmer to life. The catacombs quake, as it turns out the power that had been dormant within the stone giant had been asleep. "Bring me to my knees, and I will tell you the significance of what lies behind this door. ...But if I crush you... then you shall leave. And neither return, or tell a soul that you found me here. I will offer no alternative. Were you to stand before another of Those from the Distant Land..."
"Then your shattered limbs would paint these walls in blood already."
Noboru continues his slow advance on the seated giant as sage words, regrets, and ominous bits of foreshadowing are flung about. Even once the giant has stood and offered them what might be their only chance, the shinobi's measured pace does not falter. His icy-blue eye has fixed itself on the face of the towering guardian before him, and in it there is the calm acceptance that only the truly dedicated can ever feel. If the ninja has to die, he will die. There is no hesitation in him. That was conditioned out of him long ago.
"If you will not stand aside, then both of our choices must be of an extreme nature. I have never forced a god to kneel, beast, but today you have given me the opportunity." There is no heat or excitement in the shinobi's quiet rumble. if anything he sounds somewhat tired, or possibly regretful. If he must fight the Earth to save those on it, then he will. He hasn't been given any other real choices.
The distance between Noboru and Mukai slowly shrinks to 10 feet, then 8. The shinobi's mismatched eyes remain focused on the giant's face as he approaches, until, suddenly, he catches a flash of something from the corner of his good eye. Dark spikes of hair set in a pattern deeply familiar to him, briefly visible in the shadow between two pillars. He does not look toward it, but he is comforted. At least one other of his fellows has made it this far. Perhaps the others have too. Maybe they've found a way to hide themselves from this monster.
The smirk slowly fades.
He could see the man he met in the Andes. He could see him right now. The stoic, stone facade faded, revealing the mentor, the man he met so long ago. That is why Daniel understands. That is why Daniel isn't snapping back.
But it does nothing to assage him.
Saikai. That name. As Noboru gradually closes in on the titan, Daniel Jack was tightening his fists, staring down at the ground. He did not share in the ninja's aggression, his contempt for Mukai. Mukai was just doing his job. And his job was... He looks up, across at the giant above him. And he answers, voice cracking, eyes soft.
"Mukai, I'm part of Those Still Living, aren't I."
Daniel steps towards the titan, circling around to keep his distance from the unknown ninja. But his expression was still forlorn. "Mukai, I believe you. You wouldn't be doing this, unless you had to, or... or unless you felt it was right. And if you beat us... I will respect your request. But under only one condition. Whether you are left standing, or I am..." Daniel Jack drops into the defensive stance of Todoh-Ryuu. Legs broad, palms forward, eyes focused. He didn't want this fight. He had seen how powerful Mukai was. But he had a job to do. And already, he was far too curious.
"Tell me why they are being kidnapped."
"Hahaha!" Mukai states, grinning broadly. Each tooth is razor sharp, a monstrous pointed canine. "Yes...! Such resolve. And from one whom I can clearly see is aware of the breadth of his threat. Promise me you can muster up some modicum of resistance to back up such proud words. Humans... you never cease to fascinate me!! You are the blessed children of Mother Earth, born with infinite potential!! How blind the others are... and what a waste it would be..."
But then his attention turns to Daniel, and that somewhat battle-loving persona falters. "Yes." Mukai says, without hesitation. He does not, however, explain any further what precisely that might mean.
"...I see. ... ...So that is your concern. ..." Eyes stare long and hard at Daniel, before suddenly Mukai lifts up his arms. Slowly, white lines of chi surge up his body, tracing along like tattoos. Leylines of his massive power, and once more his grin spreads. Although now lacking in that passion Noboru had begun to incite.
The door behind begins to shine a touch brighter. Another shadow slipping out, which Daniel might faintly recognize out of the corner of his eye.
"We all have regrets. All have things in the past we wish to change. But nothing is immutable in this world. Nothing is absolute. Life, death, creation, destruction. There is no stage of existence where any of this ceases to be possible." Whirling up behind both Noboru and Daniel... would be dead spectres, people who should be gone from this world.
"I accept. For the brief time we knew each other, I will answer that question afterwards. But any other information... you must pay a tithe of blood and broken bones to hear. Know this..." Muscles bulge from him, feet sinking into stone in an eruption of cracks, body seeming to grow slightly larger. "I have been tasked to guard this door. And guard it I shall. None of you shall open it. What else I do is my whim alone... show me!! Show me your strength, humans!! And I might speak of the Sword of Damocles' shadow, hanging above your planet!!"
"And what those figures haunting you truly mean...!!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai has started a fight here as a boss!
MUKAI
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0|---------------|---------------
COMBATSYS: Mukai stops to appreciate nature.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|---------------
Noboru's steps do not falter as Mukai flares with even more ungodly amounts of chi. He doesn't even falter when ghostly images of people long dead swirl into life around the room, staring at him with empty, haunted eyes. But his steps do come to an abrupt halt when the shadowy figure he glimpsed just moments ago steps out from between the two pillars. He stops, and his icy gaze shifts to stare in flatly. Maybe he doesn't believe what he's seeing. or maybe that is the look of a man who realizes something horrible has happened, but who no longer has the emotional capacity to grieve.
The figure, visible only to Noboru and Mukai, is a short, compactly muscular man in his mid to late twenties. The visible half of his face suggests strongly eastern features, maybe Indian, with medium tone skin, dark eyes, and black hair set in a series of thick inch-long spikes jutting out in every direction. The back of his hair is grown long and plated into a single long braid that hangs over his right shoulder. Like Noboru he wears a black half mask covering his mouth and nose, but unlike Noboru his other item of clothing is a monk-like robe of dark material that leaves his forearms exposed, and a pair of wood-soled sandals. The cord-wrapped hilt of a Katana juts up over his right shoulder. He looks like any living, breathing person, except for the fact he is made up of shades of grey, and is faintly transparent.
For a moment, the two Miyama share a look. Information travels between them through an instinctual connection, almost a sixths sense. A slight twitch of the shoulders from one, a raised eyebrow, and everything seems to become clear.
(They got me.) the ghostly ninja agrees with Noboru's unspoken statement, voice quiet and faintly musical. (it's likely they will get you to. You know your chances against this man. You've seen what he is.)
Noboru's only reply is a hard, impassive look.
The ghostly ninja lets out a quiet sigh, but doesn't seem surprised. His right hand lifts and he waves it vaguely through the air.
(Well, go on then.) States the ghost simply, (You'll be ready to talk soon enough. I put it at three hits, then you'll want to know what I know.)
Noboru stares flatly at the ghost for a moment longer, then, in one fluid motion he steps backward and whips about in a swirl of midnight blue coat, right hand streaking up and around in a quick, lunging half-fisted blow aimed right for the center of Mukai's stony chest.
(Typical.) Mutters the ghost off to the side, (Hit them where they're strongest. Test their strengths before their weaknesses. You always did stick to the same tricks.) As he talks the ghost crosses his arms over his stomach, taking hold of either elbow and watching the start of the fight with interest.
COMBATSYS: Noboru has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-======|
They had to work together, to bring down his friend.
The detective was circling Mukai, trying to set himself up for the flank. As the leylines empower themselves, Daniel only nods. He had rarely dealt with large opponents of this caliber before. To battle a demi-god... he had to be careful. He had to have focus. Glancing towards Noboru, he sees some motion out of the corner of his eye. In the corner, beside the door, a figure stands at attention.
"Daniel."
The words come out from the young lady. Only 15 years old, though certainly looks far younger. The small woman is dressed in a Shadaloo uniform, she is clearly one of Vega's Dolls. And yet, she is too pale, even for a ghost. Blood drips from her body. "I have calculated the best approach of the attack. Do not use your chi. It pales in the presence of his." Daniel Jack is speechless at the ghost, jaw slack. His hands tremble for a moment, before shutting his eyes.
"Th-thank you"
Regaining his composure, he lunges at Mukai, attempting to go low as Noboru goes high. Diving for the legs, Daniel Jack will attempt to grab the limb. And smoothly, swiftly, sweep his legs up on the titan. And there, using the full force of his body, try and hurl the demi-god down to the ground.
That is what you do with a master of earth, right?
COMBATSYS: Daniel has joined the fight here.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Noboru successfully hits Mukai with Precordial Thump.
- Power hit! -
MUKAI
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0|---------------|--------------=
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Noboru 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Mukai fails to interrupt Power Throw from Daniel with Power Throw.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|-------------==
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Noboru 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Daniel
The only response to the rush forward from Noboru is for Mukai to laugh heavily, keeping his arms lifted but making no motion to guard. However, as the brutal lunge forward follows, the point of impact suddenly shimmers, black skin turning a stone grey. The strike is hard; hard enough to probably bloody the ninja's knuckles. But it's much harder than the massive figure thought, stone cracking beneath in an imprint of his knuckles. Sliding back a meter, his attention was completely diverted. "Oho...?! That was a good strike!!"
Only for Daniel to slither in like some kind of serpent for his legs. He reaches down, but his fist only grasps the back of his shirt. Managing to rip free, the hook upon his legs is successful, and there's a mild grunt of surprise as Mukai just topples backwards, falling over Daniel with a few hundred pounds of weight before his upper shoulders collide heavily with the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"...HAHAHAHA!" he states, sounding far more amused than hurt. The stone has melted away from his pectorals, showing no meaningful wounds in the wake of the large ninja's strike. "Unbelievable. You both took me to the ground already... amazing!! Truly, creatures not to be underestimated!!" ...Well, it might be nice if he sounded at least a LITTLE bit threatened.
"Very well. I shall fight you seriously." His voice is grave, almost. "You, ninja... with such resolve, and so mighty a fist... I shall execute first. Daniel, as a former friend... I shall save you for last. But I will try to make it quick...!!"
"What do you know?" Noboru grunts as he retracts his fist from the opening strike. The black leather has split open along the knuckles, but no blood drips through the splits. It helps that he's trained by punching metal drums, cliffs, and similar things that are generally bad to hit. Still, that worked better than it had any right to.
(Only one hit then?) Asks the ghostly image behind him, open amusement showing in its dark eyes. He knew his statement would bate his sibling, and he knew Noboru would know he knew. Poking the bear is fun, and familiar. Familiarity is comfortable.
Noboru does not repeat himself. Watching as Mukai is brought down in a loud crash and puff of dust, the big Ninja stalks forward. Stepping around Daniel, he starts to circle the currently prone giant form about 5 feet away, hands clasping neatly behind his back. As he walks he studies Mukai with both eyes, moving like a ghost through the dust-filled air. it might be a bad idea to surround himself in dust right now, but, he's already deep in a twisting maze of catacombs. He can't really screw himself any worse in that regard. Earth chi. He should have suspected as much.
(I think,) comes the quiet voice of the spectral Miyama, wandering along behind Noboru with his arms crossed, (I think that we're wasting our time. All of us. The Miyama. I have regrets. Do you know what it's like to have regrets when you're dead? This is the end for me. I'm stuck here forever, and I feel like I failed. I feel like we all did.)
COMBATSYS: Noboru focuses on his next action.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Daniel
Too close.
Daniel's zoot suit jacket is torn free from his body as the detective is nearly plucked free. But the resounding blow from Noboru stuns him, and unbalances him just enough for Daniel Jack to finish taking down the giant. Releasing himself from the leg, he backs up, giving the giant his space. He would fight them seriously now? That might give some dread. But as the bloody doll stands behind him. he shakes his head at Mukai's claim. "I am still your friend, Mukai." The detective declares.
And the girl scoffs.
"Am I your friend too, Daniel?"
"Why do you make friends with such awful people?"
The detective halts. He averts his gaze from the girl. And yet, it continues, the bloodied form of Marz speaking with that cold, clinical monotone. "I'm a killer, Daniel. A monster. If Vega gave me the order, I would eliminate you. Just like Juri, Diesel, and Roland. Just like your 'friends,' Rust, Zach, and even your mentor, Todoh. Just like Mukai, your friend there." She gestures towards the titan.
"Don't you understand we just use you to our ends?"
"That we have no interest in you as a person? You are just a tool, Daniel. A means to an end." Daniel Jack doesn't look back. His hands tremble. His breathing grows heavy. This was a ghost of some sort. Was Marz dead, and tormenting him? Or was this an apparition that Mukai created. The detective's eyes become an accusing glare to Mukai. But the inward thoughts fade. He numbs them. He ignores the reflection that she was bringing forward, as her monotone continues. "But this isn't news to you, is it?"
"You already know this."
Daniel Jack ignores it. He so actively ignores it, he just shuts it down. He just throws himself away, throws himself into the hulking titan that loomed before him. Palm strike right first, hand chop left second. The Zoot Suit Riot is unleashed towards the thigh of Mukai. An upper-cutting palm strike follows the hand chop, and the chain is finished with a cross-chop with the left hand. This isn't a malicious assault, though. It is a distracted one. Mukai, and even Noboru might notice.
The attack is hollow, devoid of feeling.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Daniel's Zoot Suit Riot.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Daniel
Slowly Mukai begins to get to his feet. It's utterly without haste, and leaves him completely vulnerable to the assault from Daniel. His body grows hard and motiveless as the stone across the majority of his torso, and each crack of impacting fist from Daniel does not seem to even jolt the massive figure. He then gets fully upright, before the fist of the last blow from the Zoot Suit Riot is engulfed by an interposed hand.
"What is this, Daniel...? Is your resolve so weak? I did not know you were so wracked with insecurities. The fists of a man dredged in the past will never reach me. Hrmph. Perhaps you would do better on our side." He then shoves away, hard. But there's no risk in damaging anything but Daniel's pride, ergo said pride might be on his ass a couple meters away.
Arms then lift once more, leylines flaring back to life in thrumming white as the grin returns towards Noboru. "You, though. Yes. Are you shackled by the past as well?" And then suddenly Mukai extends a leg straight upwards, swishing close enough to likely force Noboru to retreat.
And then it descends, roaring as he stamps into the ground. A surge of chi roars unseen, but able to be sensed, before converging above Noboru on the ceiling far above.
And then an intricately ornate pillar erupts out, striking down like a piston; easily two meters wide, if it misses it's mark, then it will crash upon the ground hard enough to shatter it, rumble felt like a small-scale earthquake. A few moments later it disintegrates, falling into shards upon the ground around the fighters.
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Noboru with Heavenly Shock.
MUKAI
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Noboru 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Daniel
"Our mission is clear." Noboru rumbles solemnly to the ghost behind him, watching as Mukai stands and ignores the rain of blows thrown out by the dark-skinned detective. The ninja's hands remain clasped behind his back, steps measured.
(Our mission is a joke!) the ghost retorts sharply, dark eyes lighting with sudden passion as he steps around Noboru and looks up toward his face. (I devoted my entire existence to it, and now I see the truth. It's stupid. How can we think of ourselves as noble when all we do is work for filth? You are filth. Killing and killing for evil men, just so now and then you can not kill someone and be proud of yourself? That's ridiculous!)
It is then that Noboru is forced to jerk backward, hands unclasping from behind his back as Mukai's foot whips up through his ghostly sibling's body and just misses clipping him on the chin. Dodging to the side to avoid the downward stomp, the bulky ninja looks down at his shorter fellow and meets the intense stare with a solemn one of his own.
Those words, they do ring true. How could he not have doubts?
(Yes.) States the ghostly Miyama in a quieter tone, looking down toward the ground, (It's a waste. What's the best thing you've ever done? Not killed someone? Billions of people live their entire lives without killing a single person. How does that balance your sins? How did it balance mine?) The shorter ninja trails off and his shoulders slump, arms still crossed over his stomach.
A flash of chi snaps Noboru back into the fight. He has just enough time to mentally berate himself for such an unprofessional lapse in judgement before he follows the line of chi, head tilting back to glance toward the ceiling. He has a half a moment to register the giant pillar swooping down toward him before he snaps his upper body forward and ducks his head. Both arms lift to protect the back of his neck and skull, his knees flex, and then, the pillar hammers into his shoulders in perhaps the second largest impact he's ever felt in his life.
The force of the hugely heavy pillar striking him forces the bulky shinobi instantly to his knees, bows his back, and causes his whole frame to shudder visibly. But, amazingly, he is not crushed. On his knees, bowed almost double so that he is staring at the floor, the big ninja strains to keep from being crushed to death. Muscles flex, bones creek, and, abruptly, the pillar shatters. As pieces of stone rain down around him, the hellishly strong ninja removes his forearms from over his head and slams both fists against the ground. Slowly he lifts his head from it's bowed position and stares up at Mukai. There is only flat refusal in the man's icy-blue eye. He will not be crushed.
"hrrrrr." Noboru rumbles, the sound something between a sigh and a growl. Joints crackle and pop as he surges back to his feet, a single step bringing him toe to toe with his giant opponent. With both feet solidly braced he twists at the hip and throws his shoulder forward and up, left fist rising in a hard, vicious uppercut, followed by another twist and a right straight aimed for the stone giant's upper stomach.
"I'm -fine-
Daniel Jack blurts this out, as the assault finishes with Daniel getting sent flying back. Landing in a clean tumble, his hat goes flying back down the hall, free. Picking cleanly up, Marz is beside him, staring at him neutrally. Daniel was sweating, even though he wasn't tired. He was cornered on his dark side.
"Daniel, why did you save me?"
The girl asks, as Daniel strides back towards Mukai, storming towards him. He doesn't want to answer. But she answers for him. "I know why. When you saw me left in that alleyway, bleeding to death, you know what I was. A monster then, a monster still. But you need to save people, don't you? You felt good about saving me. But you know I am a bad person. Doesn't that make you a bad man, helping bad pepole, treating them like friends? But that's not why you do it. You don't want us to stay evil, do you. Daniel..." She whispers, following behind Daniel Jack.
"You don't think you can change us, do you?"
Daniel Jack's fire reignites. The resolve returns, burning as a wave over his body. The detective picks up speed, moving in tandem with Noboru. The duo closes in together on the giant once again. This time, Noboru was aiming for the middle. And Daniel, with the girl watching him silently, takes the route towards the hand that Mukai would respond with. Hands out, he would grab the hand and arm of the demi-god, and with a smooth gesture, wrench with what little leverage he had. But that close, Mukai and Noboru might hear Daniel's response to the girl's question. A cold murmur.
"I do."
COMBATSYS: Daniel successfully hits Mukai with Mad Jack Crack.
- Power hit! -
MUKAI
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Noboru 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Mukai guards against Noboru's Fierce Punch.
MUKAI
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Noboru 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Daniel
"Tch." Mukai states, watching Noboru impassively as he gets distracted by the haunting voice of the spectre. "Do you know why it is I who stands before this door? Because I have no voices to speak to me. No regrets past the door. The path I have walked... is resolute."
<< Liar. >> whispers a voice behind his shoulder. Yet nobody can hear it but him. No matter. A voice has no power over him. This fight is a suitable distraction from that endless torture.
However, when Noboru isn't pancaked down, that seems to cause a small perking within the large man. Arms heft up, and he just laughs once more. "Shackles. Shackles in the dark, pulling you down--"
A fierce arm swings down suddenly, swishing past Daniel's hair with the ferocity of a semitruck on a highway. He's caught then, just as Noboru slithers close for a brutal assault. Letting out a grunt of surprise, he's forced to shift, and intercept the blow with a braced forearm rather than simply absorbing it with his stone abilities. Yet that doesn't save him from being flipped, feeling his huge limb wrench painfully.
"HRRRRRRGH!!"
Suddenly Mukai twists in the air. His shoulder bulges unnaturally, but rather than be thrown to the ground once more, both feet slam home to the earth. Twisting, Daniel is hefted like a weightless bug, to fling him away once more. Such force is more than sufficient to send him hurtling into the pillar hard enough to shatter it and send him to the ground, likely in no small amount of pain.
"Is what she says true?" he asks, then. "Would you remain friends with me... even if you heard what we planned to do?" Mukai just snorts in derision. "You might. Self-sacrifice... seems fitting for you. It is one of the values I admired."
Noboru is then treated to the sight of Mukai twisting his neck to the side, expression turning rather feral as eyes light up. "You fight well, ninja. I acknowledge you as a fellow warrior!!"
Noboru backs a step away after his blows meat Mukai's guard, braced and ready as Daniel hefts the giant up and over in another toss. When that toss is reversed the shinobi doesn't seem surprised at all. But, there are still no choices. The obstacle must be removed. The fate of the world rests on his shoulders.
"This." Noboru rumbles as he stalks forward toward Mukai, right fist raised while his left hangs low at his side, gaze intense. "This mission. Attempting to save the world. Our interference with the others? Does that balance nothing? Is that not good?" Though low, his deep voice carries easily through the chamber, sounding as if he were murmuring more to himself than anyone else.
(Excuses.) the ghost fires back immediately, stepping through the dust behind Noboru with a slightly annoyed look in his eyes. (This is good, yes. I can't argue that. But does it balance the evil you've done? No. I don't even think evil really works like that. it isn't a scale. It's more like, evil is mud or blood on your hands, and good is finger food. The more evil you do, the more your good is tainted. They aren't opposites. They just are. So saving the world now, even if you can, balances nothing. Interfering with Vega balances nothing. It is more food to eat with your tainted hands.)
There is a faint slump to Noboru's shoulders as he listens to this, but his prowling steps do not falter. Without responding he closes with Mukai in a sudden charge. Rushing right into the big man's personal space he swings his left fist up and around from the hip in a hard hook aimed for the side of Mukai's head, followed by a quick, jabbing punch of his right hand aimed for the giant's chin. If he can only stagger him a bit, set him off guard, then the real maneuver can come into play...
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Daniel with Strong Throw.
>>> Punitive Hit!!! <<<
MUKAI
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0|---------------|-------========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/------=|=======\-------\1 Daniel
The detective gets a hold.
Lifted up in the air, Daniel doesn't break his grab. The Kasumi technique. Focus on crippling his joints, and his body will be his own foe. Already, the chips against Mukai was built on using his weight against him. But as Daniel is swung around on that hand, he realized the problem with his hold.
He couldn't break from it safely.
The detective is spiked through the air, spiraling through the air as he is hurled away. The flight ends prematurely, however, as he is smashed straight through a pillar. The detective groans as he crumples into the rubble of the pillar. Delicately, the girl walks up to the man, staring down at him.
Daniel doesn't get up.
He rolls over, face down, on his knees. He vomits, hurling up a mix of bile and blood. That. Hurt. Gasping for air, he tries to digest the response from Mukai. Unfortunately, the bloody Marz speaks for him. "Don't think of him as being so selfless, Mukai. He doesn't do this out of tolerance." She shakes her head.
"He thinks you are being forced into this, against your will."
A wicked smirk picks up at the corner of her mouth, as she stares at the titan. "Isn't he naive? He thinks of you as an honorable person, who believes in the good of the world. Not a love of humanity, like he does, but a belief that the planet itself should be fostered, and protected. But where you stand now? He thinks of you as the enemy. He thinks you have a part in the world being torn apart. Why, he even thinks you have a part in the kidnapping of the children. And he thinks that you don't choose these things. He thinks you are forced into it, that you hate it. And that's what he wants to do for you. Just like what he wants to do for me, for everyone he meets."
"He wants to save you."
Daniel Jack mutters to himself. Slowly, he begins to rise to a stand. He takes a deep breath in, letting the dank energies around him fill him. And promptly, he destroys them with an exhale. Bright orange energy flares around his body, as he shakes away the pain. Glowing with power, he stares across the floor, blood on chin, mouth chanting as the voice comes to a rise. He runs past the ghost of Marz, charging down Mukai. And as he closes in, the sound of his chants could begin to be heard.
"Shutup-shutup-shutup-"
The detective throws himself into Mukai, arms thrashing. Palm strike right, hand chop left. Upper right, cross left, repeat. The assault is like the Zoot Suit Riot as before, but now with feeling, now with spirit. He was pouring in the resolve of not Todoh, but the burning spirit of Daniel Jack. After the fifth chain of the relentless assault, he breaks the charge by hurling himself into the titan's abdomen, and attempting to grab. If successful, he will finish the rampage by hurling him across his body.
And smashing him straight into the stone floor.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Daniel's Harlem Sunset.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------=========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Noboru successfully hits Mukai with Chiropractic Therapy.
- Power hit! -
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----===========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Daniel
Noboru's charge is joined by that of Daniel, and that might be what gives Noboru the edge he needs. Because after his second punch lands, the big shinobi reaches up to clamp the steel-like fingers of his left hand around Mukai's throat, while those of his right clamp down on the spot between the earth-wielder's legs, squeezing a hand full of loincloth and who knows what else.
There are no words spoken, only a single drawn out hiss of breath as the brutish ninja hauls the giant bodily off his feet and up to chest height, then, shoulders rippling under his dusty blue coat, military presses the heavy figure right up over his head. For a moment he stands there, feet braced and arms extended, looking up at the giant man above him. Then he steps forward and drops down to a kneel, jerking the big guardian out of the sky and bringing his spine down hard onto the point of his right knee.
"hrr." Noboru grunts as he stands from the slam and half turns, heaving the giant up and away in a toss toward the door he is here to guard.
Ah; Mukai just... can't get into this fight. Haunted by an unseen voice of himself. Seeing the suffering of humans, desperately resisting their own mistakes while still attempting to fight him for a future. This is not what he desired. The great demon simply wants strong fights; yet this... neither of them are on his level. But still. They struggle. And they struggle well. His own lack of resolve is thoroughly sabotaging him at every turn.
Maybe, deep inside... he doesn't want to win? That voice haunting him is correct...?
The words of Marz reach him, as the heavy blow of Noboru strikes his face aside heavily. A ripple of petrified flesh intercepts the brutal strike from Daniel, sending chips of stone flying in the air, as the monolith lifts upwards.
And then comes down, audibly cracking against Noboru's knee. It is the stone that rippled up along his spine, before he's hurled. It's not really an /impressive/ throw, but given Mukai's size it's still respectable. Yet like some kind of feral cat he twists, landing in a crouch and ripping furrows into the stone as he skids away.
"...Hahaha... Hahahaha!!" Mukai states then. ...Still? The giant still appears to be unscathed. Even the brutal impact that Noboru opened up the conflict with has completely faded. Is he immortal? Do those exist? How cheap it would be. Indeed, the energy signal that Noboru senses has not weakened in the slightest...
But something is off. Something else. Unrelated to his incredible conduit to the elemental world.
"FOOL." he bellows towards Marz, rolling his shoulders. "Humanity...? NO. Humanity is the festering cancer I cannot decide whether to rip off this planet, or allow to survive. Is it natural? Is it not?! That is the question I battle with. Yet forced...? Hmmhmm. No... do you really think... I am a good soul?"
"My love... is for Gaea alone. And all that I do... I do by choice...!! Do you really think the people in this city were kidnapped? No!! They are gone. GONE. Every last one of them... erased!! Is that the answer you expected to hear?! They are necessary losses of life for our plan. In the end, it won't matter anyway!! They no longer suffer, where they are!!"
Suddenly Mukai's right arm seethes with energy, and he kicks forward. He slams it out, attempting to catch Noboru by the face and then clamp it down. And then... Noboru would feel his entire body begin to turn to stone. Rippling across with surprising speed. "Enough... ENOUGH!!" He seems to be snarling it at more than just those present. Twisting, with intention of hurling Noboru away to crash into a wall like a ragdoll, which would shatter the coating of stone with likely painful results.
"You cannot hope to fathom the reality of the decision I struggle with. No. All I see in this time is the twisted mistakes that lead to a shattered, disordered world. Gaea weeps to me, when before she was so full of life. ...Between our ancient war and this fruitless time... the choice is CLEAR!!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai knocks away Noboru with Execution.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----===========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Daniel
relaxes out of his toss of Mukai and hunches forward, tendons and joints protesting in another series of soft cracks. He still hasn't quite recovered from having the ceiling fall on him, and that was just one attack. He and Daniel have been throwing everything they have at the guy, and he isn't even slowing down.
"We all must live with our sins. How bloodied will your hands be? How salty your sweet victory?" Noboru grinds out in his slow, archaic Japanese. "Fight me, beast, and let your hands drip red with it. Choke on your triumph." The words are full of weight and bitterness. He might be talking to the guardian, but he is no doubt aiming the words at himself. A killer. Drenched in blood. What sort of victories can he have?
(If you could go back. if you knew,) Whispers the ghostly ninja behind his larger counterpart, (would you change?)
Mukai is charging Noboru, hand glowing, reaching for his face. The ninja reaches up and grabs the wrist, leaning forward and staring into the giant's eyes as his hand is slowly, inevitably forced back, the larger man's glowing hand coming ever closer to his head.
"Yes." Noboru says tiredly into Mukai's face, then the hand clamps down over his masked features and stone is spreading across his skin.
A surge of chi flairs then, tiny, almost pathetically laughable. Summoned up from deep inside Noboru, the spark is molded and twisted with a master's precision. stretching the energy to its limit, the ninja molds it into a shield and pushes it up into his skin. Thin tendrils of power run throughout the interior of the field, strengthening his bones and muscles against the influence of the chi. The thin barrier flexes, keeping the stone coating from penetrating further than the outermost layer of his skin, and strains, stressed to breaking.
If Mukai didn't take that moment to stop forcing chi into the shinobi and throw him across the room, it is likely the blue-coated man would be mostly statue by now. But, as it stands, he is flung through the air like a rather stiff doll and crashes into the wall with a loud 'THUD!'. The thin layer of stone coating his body shatters, some splinters being driven into his body while others pepper the walls and floor. But, the ninja is alive.
Falling to the stone floor with a 'wumf', Noboru forces himself into a clumsy roll away from the wall. His gloved hands slide out of sight beneath his coat, so that when he struggles up to his knees they can flash out in a quick LeftRightLeft series of backhanded tosses. Three throwing knives spin through the air toward the giant guardian's chest, right knee, and face. The ninja isn't quite up to standing just yet, but he's gathering himself for another push. It's only a matter of time.
Marz doesn't yield.
She watches Mukai, as Daniel throws himself into the titan. As he is focused, she simply tells him what his heart reads. "He does, Mukai. That's how small he is. Even when he doesn't believe your cause, he believes you are acting on good faith. He does believe you have a good soul. Even when you say that you hate humanity. Because he hates people like us. He loaths evil in the world. But he believes we still have good souls, even a soulless doll like myself. You know why, Mukai?"
"Because you hesitate."
"It is just like with me. Because I hesitate he sees at as having the glimmer of goodness. Not as weakness, as it ought to be. But as strength. That's why he is so contemptable. That is why he doesn't deserve anyone to tolerate him. He sees weakness as strength, and strength as weakness. Even with you, after shattering his skeleton, after ripping apart the ninja, he sees weakness, not strength. He sees desperation, not resolve. You can't believe he can fathom what you are doing? Why, he believes that you can't fathom the reality of the decisions you struggle with. He thinks you are telling the truth. That Gaea is weeping. But he doesn't think it because of him, or his people."
"He thinks it is because of what you are doing."
Daniel Jack slows down, his assault dying down. Body still alight with chi energy, he now averts his eyes from Mukai. He was burning. It was one thing for the ghost to confront him. But how she was confronting Mukai... she was inciting him. Enraging him. He was feeling more and more exposed, more naked. Throwing a hand back. He forces himself to look at the stone titan, as he transform the ninja to stone. And there, he looks Mukai in the eye, letting the fear fuel his power. And he tells him straight. "It is true. She is telling the truth." Is what he says flatly, before swinging his arm slowly overhead, building a cascade of burning chi straight at the demi-god. And he says firmly aloud, the wave of energy surging forth.
"Kasane Ate."
COMBATSYS: Mukai dodges Daniel's Chou Kasane Ate.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----===========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Noboru successfully hits Mukai with Triple Shuriken.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Daniel
Slowly Mukai rises, breath exhaling in a lazy manner. "Of course you would." the giant states, beginning to stride slowly towards the massive ninja as he remains wounded in the wake of the brutal toss. "Some mistakes... cannot be lived with. And as I said... depending on the extremes... it is always possible to rectify them." Arms slowly begin to rise, as if inviting attacks. It might be the case. That vulnerability is obviously a charade. He does not actually have to martially defend himself, as has been proven time and time again.
Three shuriken impact Mukai, each ricocheting cleanly off a ripple of granite skin. It does not even cause his footsteps to hesitate. But attention is spared towards Marz as she continues to speak, echoing out what Daniel himself refuses to say. Although contrary to what many might think, he can be an exceptionally wordy individual himself... Magaki takes great pride in teasing him about it.
"Do you know what they call that?" he offers Marz. "Naivety. Nothing more. Good and evil do not exist. They are simple terms attributed to those who attempt and understand the ebb and flow of the world. The great cascade of events. To cope with reality, it's pains, and the senselessness of it all!! Hahahaha!"
The furious blast of chi is slow enough that even Mukai doesn't bother allowing it to impact him. He pauses, shifting backwards in a ripple, skidding away with some room to spare. "Gaea weeps because of the pain of humanity. Of this, I do not lie." growls the massive being. "Do you remember what I said at the start...? What we do is for the best for the Earth. It is those who squat upon her defiled husk that should worry... But I tire of this!! Two foes, who can barely marr my flesh?! Am I to take delight in this?! If I die, it shall be of BOREDOM!! Speak with your FISTS, insects!!"
And then he's charging straight towards Noboru, roaring in defiance. Leaping high into the air, he then descends with an extended hand, aiming to impact him with an incredible, deafening BOOM!! in the hallway. In order to then lift him up, stamping the ground while swinging him brutally overhead... intent on causing his form to strike a pillar as it explodes from the ground, causing it to shatter and send Noboru spiraling away, hopefully to skip off the ceiling a time or two!!
COMBATSYS: Noboru just-defends Mukai's Wrath of the Earth!
MUKAI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Daniel
(There is always time to start fresh. You don't' need to add any blood to that already on your hands.) The ghostly ninja whispers into Noboru's ear, crouched low by the big man's kneeling form.
Noboru can't seem to muster a reply. His breaths are slow and deep, shoulders hunched. Planting his left hand on the ground he gets his right leg under him, grunts, and starts to push himself into a standing position. Mukai's approaching laughter is just enough of a stimulant to jolt him out of the pain-filled fog clouding his mind, and as he lifts his head to glance toward the giant, he notes, grimly, that the tattooed menace is airborne and on his way down to finish the job.
"HRRRR." The sound rips itself out of the ninja, a primal snarl of frustration several times deeper and more intense than his usual grumbling. IN another burst of effort he lunges the rest of the way upright and swings his left forearm up and around, forcing Mukai's palm strike to the side. As the big man lands directly in front of him he meats the giant grab for grab. Fingers with a grip strength strong enough to compress metal and crush bricks link with Mukai's own grasping hand and he squeezes and pushes back, bringing the throw attempt to a sudden halt.
"You, will, fall." Growls the ninja fiercely, his usually focused stare a glare of pain-filled rage. And, as if to enforce the point, his left hand whips back around from deflecting Mukai's palm away to aim a single, heavy punch for the spot right between the white-haired giant's eyes.
"He is naive."
Marz shakes her head at Daniel "He believes in that very good and evil. He believes that those who wish to commit evil, either choose to do it in the name of good, or treat themselves above it all. But we know the truth. The only morality is power. And you have that very power, don't you?" Daniel Jack grits his teeth, still struggling to keep pressure on Mukai. He could feel Mukai's inhuman wrath. He could see it. And yet, he denied it. He states bluntly to the giant.
"I'm sorry, Mukai."
He looks towards Marz, thrusting forward with a palm strike from the right. "You won't change me, Marz. You know this. I made a choice when I saved you. When Vega came to me, and I gave him back to you. Because that would save your life. I've helped a lot of people who don't deserve it. And I'd help them again. I'd help you, Mukai, if it would save lives. Those people aren't gone. I've seen a ghost from the past. If ghosts can return from the dead, they can come back."
"You can make them come back."
Daniel Jack brings a hand chop with the left, aiming for the knee. "Humanity... humanity has done a lot of things. But you believe humanity can change. You believed I was doing the right thing, to help you put faith in humanity. You believe they can do the right thing. But someone is forcing your hand. You wanted to wait! I can't defend the worst of humanity. I can't defend the human blights, like that... like that creature that took Roland's arm. But if things are gonna change." The detective hurls himself back into Mukai's abdomen, attempting to throw him over his shoulder straight towards Noboru's oncoming assault.
"It has to start with me."
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Noboru's Strong Punch.
MUKAI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--=============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Mukai interrupts Gang Buster from Daniel with Slider.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-==============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Daniel
What insanity is this?! The pillar still flies straight upwards, but there's no longer a meaty sack of Noboru for it to enjoy. It breaks into pieces shortly thereafter, and were this a normal opponent, then his utterly vulnerable position would be completely exploited. And in truth, it was... except that his face simply turned to stone, and he /slammed/ his forehead into the fist, the hardest part impacting those well-tested knuckles.
"YOU ARE DISTRACTING ME!!" Mukai roars, before suddenly twisting. He hurtles forward, Daniel managing to just barely begin his assault before a veritable wall of aggravated stone-meat slams him. It's sheer raw force, before a second slide forward impacts a second time, to send Daniel hurtling like a badly tossed football down the wall.
"The fact I sit here, barring passage, tells you the choice I made!! I cast my vote with my comrades. What is done is DONE!!" He then begins to roar, earth beginning to shake and seize, a column shattering and collapsing to the ground nearby. The white of his leylines starts to glow even brighter.
"Words are through!! I gave you the terms, Daniel!! If you want to speak with me... BRING ME TO MY KNEES!!"
The ghostly ninja standing behind Noboru watches on in sad silence as the bulky shinobi slowly uncurls the fingers of his left hand, several of them no doubt badly jammed. But, no matter the damage, the ninja stands quietly and forces the fingers straight, then curls them back into a fist. Now is his chance. With Mukai's back turned to him, busy hammering into the detective, he can pull out his last trick.
Sinking into a crouch, the bulky ninja flexes, relaxes, flexes, and silently judges the distance between himself and Mukai's glowing tattooed back. then, abruptly. He is gone. Through Mukai's connection with the earth he can still feel the ninja crouching there, his feet touching the ground, but the ninja's chi signature has vanished completely. it's as if he weren't alive at all. Then, Noboru leaps.
Like his grip strength, Noboru's leaps are honed from years spent free climbing mountains, sky scrapers, and sheer surfaces of all varieties. he has a standing vertical leap of about 25 feet if he has the time to build up steam and focus.
The ninja's horizontal leap sends him flying shoulder-first through the air toward Mukai's back, attempting to plough into him and force the huge man down to the ground. If successful, the big ninja will land atop him and grip the back of his neck in his right hand, while his left hammers three quick, brutal punches into various parts of the giant's spine. All the while his chi signature remains completely invisible, somehow cloaked to that extra sense some fighters possess. The cavern has started shaking again. Lines of power are converging. he has to end this quickly. His clothes are dusty and torn, he no doubt has several internal injuries, and blood seeps out around splinters of stone stuck in his skin. There isn't much left to give.
Slammed.
Daniel's throw is broken, as Mukai explodes force. The detective is knocked straight into a wall, cratering it. He collapses, as the shadow of Marz shakes her head. Daniel hurts. He is broken even further. And yet, he does not wane. Slowly, he struggles to rise. "If I must bring you down, Mukai..."
"Then I must."
The detective charges forth, picking up speed as he dives towards Mukai. He was accelerating, zooming in, pinpointing. Dipping low, his body ignites with the orange fire. He was going for the legs now, to grip them both. And should he get that grip, he would launch. Firing high into the air, grabbing Mukai tight, before igniting him with the same energy that flows in him. And with that, he would spike him straight to earth, shouting the name of the energy burst.
"KASANE ATE!"
COMBATSYS: Noboru successfully hits Mukai with Spinal Tap.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Daniel's Jumping Jack Flash EX.
MUKAI
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-----==|=====--\-------\0 Daniel
The sudden lunge from Noboru works as expected, and he manages to wrap his legs about the massive figure before unleashing a hail of blows. He does not manage to bring up his statue-esque defense in time, but a great and mighty shrug gets the oversized ninja dislodged... in time for Daniel to take them both airborne. Inverted, one hand suddenly extends, arm tensing explosively. Fingers sink into the stone like it were made of clay, stopping him dead and causing Daniel to likely continue on and thump comically into the ground.
Still. Still, Mukai seems to be physically unfazed. But something is incredibly out of skew with him. Defeat -- what qualifies as defeat -- is near. A great, unstable wavelength is rippling through, and seems to be manifesting itself in his more violent personality.
"She is a lie!! Nothing but your soul, whispering the truth you are afraid to say!! She is a shell. A puppet. Dead and gone, a monstrosity refused by Gaea!!"
Extending a hand, suddenly Marz would shimmer. Enough time for a parting phrase; before her wispful chi dissipates and whirls through the air, coalescing in Mukai's palm. Solidifying into a piece of stone.
And then he crushes it, while punching down into the ground.
Suddenly, the ground before Daniel liquefies. And a great, whirling pillar flies upwards, aiming to nail him right in the midsection, extending all the way to SLAM him into the ceiling before erupting into multiple pieces!! "NOW BREAK!!"
Noboru lands lightly on his feet after being shrugged so easily from the giant's back. Still his chi signature does not re-appear, and he watches in silence as the lines of energy throughout the cavern quake and twist.
Shaking his shaggy head, dizzy, the big ninja waits for Daniel and Mukai to impact the ground, then surges forward in a dead sprint to try and close the distance. As he nears Mukai he notes yet another pillar forming beneath Daniel, but has no time to feel anything for his partner in arms. The detective has fought hard, and if he falls, he falls honorably.
The big shinobi's ghostly companion stands far off at the other side of the room, arms still crossed, expression unreadable, as the big ninja charges the last two steps to Mukai and lowers his shoulders. His aim is to try and tackle the guardian off his feet and bull-rush him into the wall. His steps are a bit unbalanced, however, and the trail of blood he leaves on the ground behind him is growing thinner by the moment.
COMBATSYS: Daniel blocks Mukai's Terrestrial Shock.
MUKAI
[ ||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------------=|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Daniel
Defeat was coming soon.
But it wasn't clear for whom, yet. Daniel Jack managed to get some air, but is stuck with landing back to the ground. He was tired. He was sore. And his body could barely take it. But there was only one consolance.
His spectre was gone.
The detective recovers from his failed spike, readjusting his footing. As the ghost fades away, he smirks again, facing down his towering opponent. The quiet giant a ninja was proving his strength, working alongside Daniel (and dealing much more damage) in taking down the titan. But a looming dread comes over him. Once Mukai goes down.... how soon would he turn on him? The thought is interrupted as the earth swirls before him. A massive pillar juts up, in time for Daniel to cross his arms before him. The pillar launches, smashing straight into the detective. Exploding into dust, the remains of the pillar scatters around him.
And Daniel stands tall, breaking through the pillar.
The detective uncrosses his arms, limbs bleeding from the sheer impact. Sweat was pouring across his face in buckets. He was pushing himself past his limit. But broken, bloodied, and mad, he just marches straight back towards the stone giant. "What you are afraid to say isn't a lie, Mukai."
"So what are you afraid of, Mukai?"
Steadily, he picks up speed. The detective was accelerating, hurling himself recklessly ahead. This was like his fight with Saishu. Fighting a superior opponent, while only held together with pure will. And he would take that will all the way. Daniel Jack leapt into the air pouncing straight for Mukai's neck.
And would attempt a flying tackle, to bring him down again.
COMBATSYS: Noboru successfully hits Mukai with Medium Throw.
MUKAI
[ ||||||||||||| ]
1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Noboru 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Daniel
COMBATSYS: Mukai interrupts Skiffle Drop from Daniel with Light Kick.
# Disabling hit! #
MUKAI
[ ||||||||||||| ]
1|------------===|===============
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Noboru 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Daniel
Once more, Mukai is caught off-guard; Noboru's mastery of chi might not be external, but within the torrent of distraction he has managed to once more slither out of sight of the beast. Raw strength is sufficient to heft him upwards and slam him against one of the pillars, but as always he seems to be more aggravated than actually injured... but perhaps the mental battle is what truly matters here. Twisting around, a brutal backfist is leveraged towards Noboru, trying to get him away. It would likely shatter him if it hit, but it is all brute force and no finesse, sufficient even for someone less spry and injured to clear without genuine risk.
"What do I fear...? I fear the future." Mukai offers, just as Daniel impacts him in the throat. But before he finishes following through, a knee raises with brutal force, slamming into his stomach; the gesture remarkably fast, but sufficient to send him hurtling up towards the roof with more force than might be expected.
"Or... what the future has become..." Slowly his arms rise, but he seems to be having some difficulties, despite his unscarred body and the torrent of energy remaining unabated. Controlling it seems to be heavily affected, and the white runes in his body are crackling white. Sharp teeth grit in raw determination, as he breathes heavily.
"Come, warriors... you are near finding the answer you seek...!!"
'WWWOOOOF!'
Mukai's stone-shattering backfist brushes through Noboru's hair as the bulky ninja drops to one knee, barely avoiding getting his head taken clean off. Or, well, knowing Noboru the blow probably would have just knocked him through the wall, but that's unpleasant enough in and of itself.
"Hrr." Comes the big shinobi's grunt of frustrated effort. A couple of feet above his head Daniel is in the process of getting kneed through the roof. But, there's nothing he can do about that.
Noboru's left fist hammers down hard on his knee, giving him that little extra boost of momentum needed to force his body into yet another upward lunge. As he stands, still up close and personal with the giant earth guardian, the big ninja swings a quick right hook under Mukai's raised arms, attempting to get him with a solid rib shot. Then, refusing to let up the pressure, he brings his left fist up in a hard uppercut aimed at Mukai's stomach, attempting to force him back against the wall and knock the wind out of him. Nothing has worked thus far, but there really aren't many ways to beat a god to his knees with your bare hands.
In the distance, Noboru's ghostly companion continues to watch in silence. Apparently there is nothing else to say. Now, it's up to Noboru to decide. Will he give up his violent life style? Will it end if he can defeat Mukai? or is it too late to change?
Daniel had just enough left.
As the dive comes, he is suddenly kneed in the gut. The detective gasps, contorting in pain as he sputters. With a collapse, he falls to the ground, convulsing. The pain should have blinded him. That was a coup de grace. He was too fatigued now, too weak. And yet, something washes over him, as he lays writhing on the ground.
Clarity.
Daniel Jack takes a deep breath in, letting the feel of the chi around him consume him. The orange energy flows over him, struggling against the earth energy. Daniel was finding the right balance between them, as he exhales. "We all fear that, Mukai." He responds, slowly drawing back a hand. He flattens it into a chop. Another deep breath in. Another deep breath out. He channels himself with the chi, letting both the chi around him, and the chi within him to come into tune. And then, he lets in a third factor. Mukai's own overwhelming chi, attuning to it. A breathe in. A breathe out.
"Some of us don't take children over it."
And Daniel Jack unleashes the flawless hand chop. Perfection comes, in a single strike, straight for where he sensed the weakness. Not the head. Not the chest. But the back of the shin, a single, flawless hand chop, sundering with the force that could rip apart that very door, directed straight at the titan's shin. All of the detective's last remember force poured into that single point.
Before the detective collapses, body finally giving up.
COMBATSYS: Daniel can no longer fight.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Mukai dodges Daniel's World's Greatest Hand Chop.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Noboru's Aggressive Strike.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/---====|
Stiffening his body, the flurry of quick blows from Noboru crack hard against hardened stone skin, as the massive figure simply laughs. "Do you think me so weak that such lovetaps will do anything...?!" he growls out. Only the last blow, the solid thump to the midsection, even seems to cause him to give a mild grunt of acknowledgement. No; still just pounding on granite, at this stage.
"You ignorant fool... I told you already. We kidnapped no children. Who said we did? Those who are lost... are lost. It is tragic, yes. But they are beyond your reach, or mine. Those who pass through... are gone!!" The door seems to be thrumming with far more energy than it did at the onset. Yes; Noboru at least could confirm that it seems beating on Mukai... is apparently causing whatever's beyond to react. Stronger, denser, closer to... it would feel the most like 'hatching'.
Hopping backwards from Daniel's mighty shin-chop, Mukai lands heavily upon the ground. Before his feet turn gray, and the ground begins to merge with his feet. His muscled form thrums, drawing in a great well of power from deep within the very earth. Fingers clench, grin manic and wild. He jerks now and then in an unwanted spasm when white lightning seems to flood through those leyline-like tattoos, but he's still hanging on.
"Well then, warrior. Destiny is in your hands... this is your last chance to bring me down. Use it well...!!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai gathers the power of the Earth!
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/---====|
Noboru stomps down his right foot as Mukai hops away, sparing not a glance for the detective's form lying crumpled beside him. All of the ninja's focus has locked itself on the stone guardian and his gathering energy, and on the swelling energies behind the door.
Swelling?
Far off behind Noboru the ghostly ninja seems to smile privately to himself as his larger counterpart slowly cocks his shaggy head to the side.
"One choice, and its results. The world hangs in the balance." the bulky ninja grinds out tiredly, gloved right fist lifting till he stares over his torn and bleeding knuckles at the spasming giant. For a moment he seems to consider, weighing the two paths before him.
The ninja steps toward Mukai.
"Very well." Rumbles the battered shinobi. Leaning forward he forces his stiff body into a headlong charge, right arm drawing back. Working himself up to a run, the ninja lunges the last few feet and throws his body behind a single flying punch, knuckles curled into a half fist and aimed for the center of Mukai's forehead with stone shattering force.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Noboru's Temporary Diplopia.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-----==|
"Do not be so dramatic, human. The world does not hang on this fight. No... hahaha. Not at all. You fight for knowledge. Even your life is not at stake...! For there is no need to claim what is already forfeit..."
And then, Noboru rushes forward. Eyes widen, and an inviting laugh roars through the cavernous tunnel. The brutal strike from the huge ninja hits true, but as he did the last time, there's a sudden manifestation of rippling stone, and the fist thunks home.
It knocks his face backwards, until his upper body is pointed towards the roof. A few cracks of stone follow behind. But then he rips his feet free from the ground, fists clenching together.
"Not good enough. A shame... A SHAME!! Not... Good..."
And then he lifts his arms. There's a sudden eruption of energy, that flashes out in all directions. The air seems to lose all color, turning a deep, slate gray. Yet this is not normal... no, not in the slightest. For where it strikes, Noboru would feel stone begin to manifest, slithering in like wicked tumors. Daniel's fallen corpse, having no defense, is likely quickly wrought into the immobile image of a statue.
"ENOUGH!!"
This is truly his last, defiant stand. Afterwards he grasps his arm, staggering and nearly faltering, knees sinking halfway to the ground. One eye remains open, glaring... There is no way that the ninja is not frozen in place, locked within a thoughtless oubliette of petrification...!!
COMBATSYS: Mukai knocks away Noboru with Netherworld Agony.
MUKAI
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Noboru 0/-------/-----==|
'CRUNCH!'
Noboru's fists have hammered through brick walls, steel plating, and human torsos. So there is some satisfaction when the force of his punch is enough to bend the giant over backwards.
Landing in a somewhat stumbling crouch, Noboru is just starting to straighten up to go after Mukai again when the earth wielder tears himself free of the ground and lifts his arms, shouting defiance of his own as the wave of petrifying energy sweeps out to engulf everything around him.
Noboru's arms lift to cover his face, attempting to deflect the energy away. However, his small reserve of chi is exhausted, and though he still registers as non-existent to chi senses, the energy immediately turns his coat to stone, then the flesh beneath. His talent does not make him immune.
Saying nothing, flesh turning to stone with every heartbeat, Noboru lowers his gaze to the god now kneeling before him. There is a cold, unforgiving light in the ninja's good eye, and he takes yet another step forward.
The sounds of stone thunking and grating grind out from beneath the ninja's coat as his transforming body is forced to take another step, then another, teeth bared behind his silk mask even as it too is turned to stone. As his final breath hisses out from hardening lungs, the ninja looms over the kneeling giant and reaches stony hands down for his throat. Pouring every last ounce of will he possesses into his fingers he strains, eyes turning to stone, and attempts to clamp both hands around the giant's throat and squeeze. If he can get that grip he can turn to stone in peace, locked forever in a snarling pose of effort as he strangles the life out of the kneeling giant.
COMBATSYS: Noboru can no longer fight.
MUKAI
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COMBATSYS: Mukai breaks through Strangulation from Noboru with Terrene Tower!
MUKAI
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Looking up, there's a look of sheer surprise as Noboru lunges forward. Although his body moves slowly, weighed down by a growing amount of stone, forcing that much power through himself made him more than a little vulnerable. He's grappled, throat turning to stone just in time to stop Noboru from choking the life out of him. One knee thumps to the ground, a flash of energy causing him to nearly entirely lose focus. "Grk... gack... get... OFF!!"
Suddenly Mukai lifts a foot and stomps, before another of those ornately-manifested pillars breaks through behind, striking up and slamming between the demonic figure and the huge ninja. He would strike the ground, easily weighing a few hundred pounds now, before the last of the petrification slowly takes effect.
"....Hahaha. HAHAHA!!" Mukai suddenly realizes... he took a knee. Naught but a thoughtless action, due to the surprise of Noboru's tenacity... technically, he cannot claim an absolute victory.
No. There is no way he would have allowed such in good conscious either way.
Slowly, the pair would begin to regain consciousness, outside in the open air. Stone cracking off skin and sloughing away. It might take a few moments to realize Mukai is near, arms crossed before his chest and staring up at the sun. He has fully recovered in the interim period, although the same can likely not be said for those that faced him.
"This place is one of four." he allows. "I am from a group of comrades... Long ago, we had a grand task before ourselves. Our only choice was to come to the future, when the circumstances might allow victory. ...But we failed."
Arms lift up. Deep beneath the Louvre, the feeling of a twisted chi can still be felt. "All that you know will vanish. But there should be no despair. It is not the end of the world, as you fear. But a rebirth. A new chance, for both me and my comrades... and all of you, with their own regrets and failures. I do not find it fair, to erase this world... we failed in our mission...!! At least, not without a fighting chance."
Slowly, Mukai begins to stride back up the steps, thumping back towards the museum and in the direction of the catacombs beneath. "Yet remember our deal... you cannot speak of the 'Door'. But warning people of a threat... Heh! Do what you will. I return to my duties. Do not come here again. I swear on my pride and honor, the second time, I will kill you."
After a moment, "Even you, Daniel. You lost your right to parlay with me in words. But this fight was not for the world. No. The war has just begun." Striding inside, the doors suddenly pull shut with a grating roar, drawn by invisible force.
COMBATSYS: Mukai has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:24:25 08/24/2014 by Daniel, and last modified on 19:20:22 08/26/2014.