Description: Two Brothers meet once again, in a very populated place, only to be interrupted by a crazy girl.
A storm is brewing.
The sky feels cramped with anger, as if there were no escape from the pounding rain to come. The air is crushed mercilessly, causing many people milling about the street below to comment on the unnatural humidity, and about how hard it is to breathe. None of this has anything to do with the weather.
The straw rope of his waraji grinds on the concrete as he steps forward. He's just arrived only an hour or so ago in Yokohama, and has ascended to the top of a building to overlook the city. Following his senses and his smell alone, he is looking for the source of the 'power' that he feels, a great force stimulating nerves through his body, feeling the effects deep in his spine. They say the world is about to end...
This world maybe..
The demon in the dark gi stands atop the skyscraper in the thin air, looking down at the urban sprawl like a man might regard an anthill. The endless maze of people and their testaments to their own engineering prowess, parading about as if defeating nature was such an easy thing... as if nature was something that could be beaten at all. Taking advantage of mercies and calling them triumphs...
The muscles in his fists tighten, knuckles cracking audibly as dried lips scowl back from a nightmarish face. A disgusting thought. But no matter his distaste for the sprawl, he has no interest in it, only what lays within it. Akuma will find the source of the strength he's sensed deep in this city. He knows it. He will find the source of it, for it is someone or something truly powerful. He will find it.. and then he will hone his skills against it. The next battle awaits.
When two forces of nature collide, it is considered to be one of the most violent things known to mankind. There is no victor, only pure destruction where the two forces meet, leaving scars that'll last for ages to come.
This is no storm.
Twice these forces have collided. The first, the demon was defeated, but at a great and personal cost.
The second however, was far more tragic. Two young men lost the man they called master, just as many years before, two brothers lost their own. It was no accident, and the same being that caused the loss on both parts, was known simply as Akuma.
The distaste that Akuma may have for the world, Gouken does not feel. There is purpose in saving this world, regardless of how ugly it has become. The beauty is there, it just has to be found. Of course, that isn't why either brother is here. One is searching for the other, while the second is merely there to take a ride on a boat.
Gouken can feel his brother, however, unless Akuma truly wishes to seek this challenge, it will not be there. There is far to much in this world that is going wrong, and those who have the power to shape the world have the obligation to ensure it is the correct path.
The man he once called "brother" was always better at hiding his strength. To give gently underneath stress, as opposed to standing rigid and destroying all opposition. It explains how Gouken can sense him clearly, but only now is his chakra becoming known to the Master of the Fist. Eyes that close fierce red narrow dangerously with the recognition.
He was not looking for his brother specifically for a death battle. Only for the source of the power that he sensed, fleeting on the winds. Drawn from his meditations by the burgeoning end of the world, it is his will that the greatest be lashed under his fist. It makes no difference to him what the source or nature of the anomaly was. That was a question for far more spineless people than he. But there is only one detail that could possibly matter to Akuma--the feeling that a person who should be dead has awakened. Growling audibly, strings and veins of bright red power begin to bleed from Akuma's arms and shoulders, mantling him in a visible aura of angry force.
A diversion... the Satsui no Hadou hungers for blood.
He is the antithesis of that empty sentiment of protection and guidance. Akuma crouches low, the kanji on his back burning bright. The concrete beneath him cracks visibly, as if he weighed thirty times what he does. With a sudden release of force and power, the demon leaps into the sky towards the man's position. The thundercrack of air with his passage whips through the empty rooftop. Hundreds of meters are eaten in a matter of breaths with the force of one titanic leap. As he grows closer, it grows silent.
It's been truly a long time since Gouken has last been to Yokohama, and while he's keen on taking the next ship to Thailand to join the open invitation vacation on the beach and let the kids save the world. Being old DOES have its advantages.
Sadly, that doesn't seem quite seem like it'll happen.
There are plenty of people still on the docks themselves, and while Gouken knows his brother would never harm an innocent, accidents infact do happen. This place is now about to become a warzone, and like each place the two brothers have met, it will never be the same again. At least the world is coming to an end, right?
Dropping his sack onto the ground, the Ansatsuken master takes a deep breath and lets out a massive shout. Windows shatter, rats flee, people panic and bump into eachother as they search for the easiest way to escape the docks. The number of witnesses to what may transpire is now rapidly dwindling.
This is the way it truly should be.
Akuma has never been one to waste his time with people who aren't worthy of tasting his fist.
It's not that Akuma has any care at all for insects whom shame the earth by continuing to draw breath. Hardly. Bystanders matter as much to Akuma as the yellowing leaves of a dying tree matter to the hurricane. He just sees no honor in killing the comparably defenseless. But the person he is interested in right now is not defenseless in the slightest...
When Akuma lands, it's with a soul-shuddering smash that sends the redwoods and treated lumber of the dock splintering and scattering around him like upended toothpicks. One timber cracks and shatters as he steps out of the barely-intact remnants of the dock where his landing was etched, forcing him to shove the timber aside with a tanned hand, rough, worn and bound tightly in rope. Akuma's movements are not normal, like a man might walk. He doesn't stride, as a confident man might, or stroll as a lazy man. Akuma stalks forward, with all of the unmistakable intentions of a lion in the savannah.
"To think that you of all people would show your face at the end of the world," Akuma muses aloud, the red power flexing deep within him. It is perhaps more words than he might ever speak to another man before killing him. And though he hardly speaks as loudly as Gouken shouted, his arrival brings with it the storm, and the choking force of his killing intent. Energy crawls across him. The way he looks at Gouken.. it is as if he barely realizes his own brother when he sees him. Whatever recognition is there has been worn smooth by a great and angry black tide.
"And to think that you are still alive... an unforgiveable failure."
Akuma settles into a loose combative stance. He doesn't waste time. He means to harm Gouken today.
"...But not uncorrectable!!"
COMBATSYS: Akuma has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Akuma 0/-------/-------|
It -had- been a normal day watching people act in the haste and bustle of the End, but Japan is known for their calm demeanour and handling of disasters as a people. A semblance of normalcy and order had been in place, despite the high tensions. But the panic of such a powerful landing and the damage -which Jira had luckily been able to hop on the wave of buckling wood to a stable enough remnant and trying to get into position for more mobility- had shattered the calm.
Jira's glowing eyes immediately lock onto the source of the impact, eyes staring at the man stalking from the devastation with curious expression written to her face. But her eyes continue to shimmer, the pink flickering into a more muted, calm colour as a darker conscience takes joined dominance of her form. She is not poised to fight and all of her, and her partner's, attention is focused on this angry, bloodlusting mass of power.. a sick and horrible natural energy that threatened to nausete her on the spot.
The Satsui no Hadou is something that Gouken is still familiar with even after all this time. It's not knowledge that he would like to keep if at all possible, however this is a burden he will have to bear for the rest of his days.
"Brother.. It's been quite some time."
The words are spoken with a twinge of sadness, and possibly guilt. Once before Gouken bested his brother in combat, and showed him compassion, not mercy, in hopes that Akuma may change his ways. Years later, this would prove to be Gouken's own undoing. He sighs loudly as he regains his composure. Truly this meeting is unsettling.
The elder man's left foot slams into the ground, creating a shockwave that blows away the debris from Akuma's landing. "..If only it did not come to this every time we crossed paths. However."
Muscles flex and tighten as Gouken settles into his own form, eyes focusing solely upon Akuma. The rest of the world no longer exists, and those who made the mistake to stay to watch this today are no longer of his concearn.
"I know I cannot sway your heart any longer. So, let us do this once again."
COMBATSYS: Gouken has wandered into the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Akuma 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Gouken
"Useless sentiment."
The idea that any other outcome is even imaginable than the two crossing fists every time they meet is alien to someone like Akuma, whose only major interaction with others is battle, and whose only interest is all out war between men. That is the gulf that is between them; where Gouken still strives for backwards peace, Akuma will achieve the same by becoming the strongest fighter in history.
If he is even peripherally aware of the burgeoning energy in one of the bystanders less willing to run from the scene today, he doesn't seem to show it or really care. His martial focus is uncompromising, ready for any challenge that may present itself. And today..
With the debris cleared, he slams the ball of his foot into the wood underneath him, becoming one with the primal force of nature around him. The shock would easily be enough to knock Gouken off balance, were he any other man. Marshalling the ancient strength of the world, Akuma gathers the force in his fist, feeling the dark hadou bubble over, an invigorating sensation that causes the water beneath his position to boil, and red energy to crawl forth from the cracks in the docks. Energy and force compress themselves into an intense flame carried between his two hands. The perfect form of the fist condensed into a projectile form; an intensely powered up Hadouken. This he fires with full force and authority, thrusting his arms forward like cannons to fire a blast of fire that ignites the docks as it careens towards Gouken.
As Gouken might notice, Akuma has placed a limit on the amount of focus his technique can keep by altering the spin of the chi inside. The hadou, normally more than enough to annihilate a small shop on its own, won't continue on for too much farther if Gouken dodges it. He is capable of limiting the range of hadou without compromising on the lethality of the attack, interestingly. Still, Gouken will instinctively know why; Akuma doesn't want him to try and withstand his blows for the sake of some foolish child cowering in some house behind him.
He knows that he will kill Gouken if Gouken spares even the slightest bit of focus away from him.
And that sort of false fight would not please his killing might.
"If you tire of battle.. then let this be the last!!"
COMBATSYS: Gouken blocks Akuma's Shakunetsu Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Gouken
Such horrible, abominable, distasteful energy. No matter how wondrous and delicious the cry or how beautiful the form or purpose, nature and mankind had no right to such baneful mingling. A sour and sickened look crosses Jira's face, glad she was on solid.. or, was on solid ground. Not paying enough attention to where she was while fighting off nausea. Slipping and scrambling up a felled beam to avoid getting into water.
She's overcome by dry wretching once she gets up onto a stable surface from that accursed and disgusting perversion of power. But her partner is continuing to eagerly observe the combat in hopes that perhaps a living being would prove as a worthy goal to test their project upon in the future. No matter how long it would take to get his host to that point.
As the powerful wave of chi flies towards Gouken, he's left with very little option as to what must be done. Three steps are taken backwards as arms are crossed to brace for the impact. The wave of chi washes over him, setting off every nerve in his arm from the sheer intensity of the power. This truly does bring back memories.
"The sentiment will never be useless, but long ago we have agreed to disagree on this fact, have we not?"
As the girl however starts running around in the open, Gouken finally comes to a choice on how he should proceed. Three more steps backwards are taken as he nears the edge of the wharf. A slight grin appears on his face as he balances on the edge. This isn't the time or place for this sort of battle. There is evil at play, and while you may pretend that you wish to try and kill me again.."
The elder master leaps into the air, landing nimbly on a buoy floating in bay. "I'm heading to Thailand. If you truly wish to have a battle, you'll just have to meet me there. As your elder brother, I'm telling you to make yourself useful on the way there!" He laughs loudly as he leaps from buoy only to dive into the waters. Moments pass, yet Gouken doesn't rise. Either he's drowned, or he's mastered the art of really holding your breath for a long time.
Nothing escapes Akuma's notice. Years of intense meditation has taught the fighter the meaning of even the slightest twitch, and the strength that comes with studying the true Hadou has taught the demon the meaning of each breath. The moment--the very instant Gouken moves to step back, Akuma knows exactly what he's trying to do. "Rrgh. GOUKEN!!"
Enraged instantly, the demon moves in. Without a suitable distraction, any other man would have been caught and beaten to within an inch of their life for their weakness, for trying to flee in the face fo a true battle with the Master of the Fist. It's only by virtue of Gouken's own skill that Akuma doesn't slay him with Shouryuu on the spot--instead, the elder of the two manages to leap to the buoys before Akuma can strike him down. Against anyone other than Akuma, this would result in a perverted game of tag, but a demon of battle has no such patience.
"Do you think that this is a game?!" the demon fist rages.
He heard exactly what Gouken said.
But the words are lost in the hurricane.
The dock buckles underneath the weight of his strength, the pilings cracking and splitting all the way to the silt. Livid red energy crawls across his body, burning bright in his eyes. Every corded sinew of his muscle stands out, angry and twisting against eachother. The ropes binding his fists together scream as the tension in his body reaches a high, individual fibers of the hemp snapping underneath the strain. Red force billows out from him. He marshalls every force in his body, as his eyes quickly scan the sea, trying to get a bead on Gouken's location, forcing his awareness to be at its utmost.
"Wasting my time with pointless indolence. Coward....!!!"
In a second, there is a very real chance that, barring some significant distraction, Akuma is going to try and split the boat in front of him, and the sea underneath it to continue the battle.
COMBATSYS: Akuma enters the iron horse stance, marshalling power...!!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Gouken
Something in Jira expresses.. sadness at Gouken's retreat. She very much hopes she isn't -swimming- to thailand after these two. Another heavy wave of nausea when the aftershocks of that energy finally ripple out to her and she finds proper purchase. Only to be swept almost literally off her feet at the darker brother's advance, and subsequent charging at the edge.
Jira cannot mustre the energy at once to quell her stomach's imminent threats at enducing her dry wretching from potentially worsening while talking, and instead she clumsily grabs a handful of rounds from her pocket- all but one are lost to the sea by the time her left hand grips her gun and the right comes to the cylinder. She loads that one round in and stifles a gag from the planet's energy, tampered by human spirit. Her left hand, loaded gun in grip, points the weapon to the sky. With a flicker of borrowed, purely human essence a superfluously amplified CRAKK roars through the storm of chi. The explosion that propells her round upwards, and the tormented scream of human will being shredded by profanely corrupted natural energy ripple out to cut the sound for a moment. In hopes to possibly garner the attention of that dark man.
If it wasn't for that girl, Gouken could have made his great escape. Sure, it would have cost an empty boat, and had the water parted like Moses was lurking about, but it would have been worthwhile in his mind for Akuma to give chase. Unfortunately that plan has now been thrown right on out the window due to Jira.
It's obvious that Akuma is now extremely angry, and Gouken does rise from the water, only to leap out of it directly infront Akuma. A slight grin rests on the elder man's face, only because he knows that this is merely part of his plan. Of course, if the plan is to completely and utterly piss off the bull and then get directly infront of it, every calculation has gone accordingly with this one.
Gouken now stands on the edge of the pier, staring directly into Akuma's eyes. "Gouki, I will not fight you today. I implore you to listen to me as your brother, and not a challenge for once. You have failed twice now to kill me, and this time, I will not fight. Would you kill a man in cold blood who refuses to fight?"
The elder master drops down to the ground, only to sit there. "If you choose to strike an opponent who has made it clear they do not accept the challenge, then you truly are no longer a man, nor my brother. I will give you the battle you want, however this is not the time."
COMBATSYS: Gouken takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Akuma 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Gouken
He's rapidly losing sight of Gouken's position in the sea. Coming straight from cold muscles like this, marshalling the fighting power is taking too much time. Akuma is not the sort to be underestimated... but his rage at being eluded by the only man he couldn't kill ticks up by the second. There is no such thing as hope, but what Akuma is going to do to the coastline in lieu of fighting Gouken...
A price that might be better than the one that a direct conflict might incur, but when the young woman makes her appearance, shooting her weapon into the air as if to try and scare him off, the force and direction of Akuma's anger... shifts, moving towards Jira as he recognizes the natal fighting intent within her--and the power emanating from her weapon to take advantage of it, wanting to fight him.
Limned in the power of the Satsui no Hadou, Akuma's sneer reveals razor edged teeth. The demon is calm now, but his martial calm is the sort that has already made its decision. "An opponent who hides behind a kitten... sickening." But he's not talking to Jira. He lifts his hand, as if to command the heaven itself. The clouds above churn and froth with the force of the endless enmity.
"If you survive, maybe you'll live to become a worthwhile opponent!!!"
It is literally seconds from separating Jira's pistol and maybe choice nonessential bits of her anatomy from her body, in efforts to scatter the choice components of her weapon to the seven winds for interrupting his focus. It is literally seconds from being a reality--before Gouken appears again at the pier, drawing his attention away from the young woman, possibly permanently. Fluidly switching focuses, he doesn't say anything to Gouken, doesn't bother with words, doesn't curse or spit or argue or yell at the man. He merely leaps for his throat, and with the force of an oncoming train, plants a foot, draws his arm back and--!!
--stops, just short of crushing his elder brother's face beneath his fist.
The force does not dissipate. The entire sea bows beneath the force of the checked blow, causing an upswell that sucks the boat that Gouken was once upon a time about to board, out to sea and eventually underwater.
His fist hovering an inch from Gouken's face, Akuma's anger is just barely restrained, the dark hadou churning deep in his soul.
"...Get out of my sight," Akuma says, coldly.
"Your sympathy disgusts me."
"Ho ho ho." Gouken laughs loudly as he stares directly at the oncoming fist. Climbing to his feet, he strokes his beard for a few moments. "Oh, it's not out of sympathy brother. It's compassion."
While the two brothers disagree on what path in life is correct, they are still brothers, and Gouken does treasure and respect that bond. He also knows that deep down, somewhere in that heart that is 3 sizes too small, Akuma does as well.
"I doubt the child is fully in control of her facilities, so tearing her apart would be killing an innocent person, so I'd assume you should bear that in mind. Of course, you could just make her go to sleep for a bit like you did Ken all that time ago."
The older man moves past the demon with razor sharp teeth, closing the distance on the sack he dropped not so long ago. Bending over to pick it up, he feigns injury as he rights himself, gently patting his lower back with his left hand. Of course, this may just make Akuma a bit more angry, but that IS what brothers are for. "Remember, Thailand, brother."
"OH, and please make yourself useful on the way there. It really would be such a shame if the world ended and we didn't get to fight once more."
Once more Gouken shows capable speed as he dashes away, laughing the entire time. There is just so much left to do before he rolls the dice fully on his life once again.
COMBATSYS: Gouken resumes wandering.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Akuma 0/-------/-======|
Jira's trembling arm drops limply after her shot is fired and her right grabs her stomach. Earning that attention has her wince physically. But his words are what make that sense of illness, of curiosity and unsteadiness to redouble into interest behind her eyes, genuine, violent interest. Almost as if to prove a point, she just tosses her gun to her right, towards the waves in the wake of that building energy. The weapon itself just vanishes, though unlike the norm it crackles and hisses with agonized whining as the natural, twisted energy reacts to the discarded essence.
Jira's eyes close while she speaks her reply when she hears the exclamation of survival. "I have no problem letting you two speak face to face, but don't think for a moment that MY survival impacts theirs in any way." she calls out. And, in time of Gouken's resurgance and the stopped fist her body bulks up heavily underneath her clothing, her stature becoming larger and her frame enlarging. An influx of borrowed, human energy fills her body and radiates outwards in a hungry expression. When Akuma expresses his disgust, the girl speaks out again. Her eyes no longer pink in their gaze to him, instead a bright and glossed red.
"And here I was, waiting to see such a promising show of power and technique. A true shame you postpone this and torment the beautiful vessel of violence and wrath embodied before us. One of such capacity and cultivation that even the disgusting and dying planet fears and submits. One that I would certainly give battle when my latest body is capable." she calls out, her usual voice almost totally overshadowed by the rumbling, masculine tone. So wholly projecting its influence that it dances and echoes through the lingering chi that has saturated the air, each vowel drawn out as though strained in the confines of Jira's body. "What is the name of this vessel of violence and power before me, that I may burn the name into my being and seek it out when the time comes?" they ask. Then she scowls at Gouken angrily, almost hissing. "Such disgrace and waste of potential for battle." they murmur.
"Shut up. The man you called brother is gone!! The next time we meet, we'll fight. Or I'll kill you."
An intensity of barely constrained violence warps the demon's growl as Gouken makes his retreat. There's no reasoning with Akuma, even when he is calm. If a battle comes to him... he will fight it. There's nothing else to consider. There's nothing else that he wants, and nothing else that interests him. He is done with that man ..for now. Turning away from the shore, Akuma faces the now bulkier woman, who seems to have given herself to the parasitic power within.
He knows this, with just a glance.
At least her display has shown him that tearing off her arm and the gun it was holding does no good. That is, if he even cares. He speaks to the fighting intent behind the woman now, and Akuma takes one step towards her. He doesn't answer the murderous and sick 'Akabara,' instead reaching forward in a surge of motion to grip the spirit--and its host--by the skull. If that creature tries to speak to him any more, she and it will find any further retorts choked off by the taste of the hemp wrapping Akuma's fists, an impossibly strong hand clamping down on the entirety of her face. Akuma will lift Jira's possessed body off of her feet, and choke off all air and any further words from her on the spot.
"Sycophant... worms don't have the right to ask me anything."
If he catches Jira, he'll hold her there, clamping her skull until she stops trying to fight.
"I am the supreme master of the fist..that's all you need to know. One day, you might become a worthy fight for me."
Akuma's eyes glow.
"That day, I will burn my name into your corpse so Hell knows who sent you!!"
Of course, there is no resistance, from either of them. Jira was allowing her partner his fun while her body rebels and squirms from that horrible energy of the planet, and Akabara is flooding with amusement of the demon's actions. Sycophant, how queer it is to be hearing that of another. Her skin glows underneath, a bright and luminous white bleeding out. Echoing in the aura of that murdrous and violent man are quiet snickers and whispers of, between the two, the true demon. Of course, Akuma is probably able to see that absolutely delighted expression in reply to his continued response and glow. The mention of burning the name only deepens this profound excitement, but an annoyance of the girl glimmers beneath the notably twisted delights of her partner.
They can't reply, verbally, under that grasp without giving disappointment to everyone. But defiant echoes and whispers sound in the air, gleeful tones and chimes belying a darkness that not only accepts and welcomes, but finds purpose in the challenge given. The clan that had created Akabara was truly and wholly devoted in creating a monster that thrives on violence, and then some. It is likely that even hell would have no room for its malice.
Akuma seems annoyed, more than anything, by the whispers and chimes emanating from the bizarre aura around the woman. A thing to be broken at leisure. He never actually releases Jira and Akabara, because the intention is not to intimidate, or to dominate. Akuma has no interest in fear and even less interest in slaves or peons. No. His intention is just to crush the consciousness from the person's skull, to wring it from her temples and her lungs in his viselike grip, to stress that creature possessing her until it has no choice but to retreat back into its confines. Until she has no choice but to sleep.
"Chattering toy.... begone!!"
Only when he is sated will he allow Hell to be full.
She and it will eventually have no choice but to struggle free or to sleep. Then, and only then, will Akuma release his grip, discarding her body potentially by throwing it half-mindedly through an abandoned burger shack on the boardwalk. Then he'll take his leave.
COMBATSYS: Akuma has ended the fight here.
Even as the body loses consciousness, there is no denial of the unnatural influence of the other being's presence still taking presence. Like a puppet on strings, her eyes remain open and 'alert' when her body slacks and pulse lessens. The energy flowing through her does not ebb, though the girl and her body sleeps. Her visitor is not influenced by her absence, perhaps proving an independance. Its amusement does not fade, nor does its excitement tire. A heavy heap of woman on a shack lets out gristly creaks and cricks as her limbs are forced into walking of volition of external force to trudging on to her destination, wherever that may be.
"A waste of my time," Akuma concludes, upon grimly watching the doll recover from her injuries and shuffle away in a macabre fashion. Though under normal circumstances, he would crush someone who so boldly walked again, he can tell that there's nothing left of the fighting spirit that is really going to be at all an annoyance to him for the moment. For now, he has forces to track. He must train for the battle in Thailand.
When he leaps away, it becomes possible to breathe clearly again.
Log created on 04:04:55 09/01/2014 by Gouken, and last modified on 20:46:24 09/01/2014.