Description: Seeking an ancient fighter who he believes filled with regrets, Mukai's search into the past of warriors leads him to Thailand, where he challenges Sagat within the very ring tht he felt his greatest highs and lows... intent on seeing what, if anything, he might wish to change. And, more than anything, finding a worthy human warrior who can bring him defeat...!!
THIRTY YEARS AGO
"WHO ELSE DARES TO CHALLENGE THE ONE TRUE EMPEROR OF MUAY THAI?!"
A middle-aged man wearing bright red shorts with black trim bounces from foot to foot in the middle of the ring that has served as his kingdom for the last several years. His body is lean, toned, and criss-crossed with numerous souvenirs from a life spent in combat, and he's grinning like it's Christmas morning Streams of blood slowly trickle from the broken bodies of men who sought to dethrone him; most of it just soaks into the mat, but a few little rivulets join up with the puddles dripping from the Emperor's body. He doesn't much seem to mind that he's leaving bloody footprints in the ring.
There are many, many Muay Thai boxers in Thailand, a fair number of whom have earned fame, prestige, and the monetary rewards that go along with them thanks to their performances in the country's pro-fighting circuits. Several are household names, the heroes who children adore and lesser fighters look up to and resent in equal parts.
None, however, are the Emperor of Muay Thai; he crowned himself such after years of unprecedented domination in each of the country's professional leagues, and ever since then, he's made a spectacle of proving his superiority over the legions of professional fighters who attend his annual exhibitions in the hopes of making a name at his expense. Between endorsements, ticket sales, and speaking engagements, he has attained a level of wealth that even the most successful pro fighters envy, all without a single purse; they don't all admit it, but this alone is why a healthy percentage of challengers risk their bodies and careers.
Money and celebrity are the last things on Sagat's mind as he approaches the ring from the crowd, though; mostly, he's just hoping that his coaches were right about him--that he's right about /himself/. Tall and wiry, the young fighter spent several undefeated ears in the junior and amateur leagues, and has continued to dominate in his first few professional bouts; no part of his record really justifies entering the ring tonight, but his trainers sensed potential in him, or so they insisted as they talked the exhibition up to him.
As his feet hit the ground outside of the ring, he - briefly, and for the first time - wonders if perhaps his coaches aren't just sensing an opportunity to make a name for themselves; if he could make even a passable showing against the Emperor at his age, wouldn't it reflect well on his teachers...? He pauses for just a moment before swallowing a lump, slapping his face a couple of times, then hollering, "Me!" over the roar of the audience. A second later, after someone manages to get a mic near him, he reiterates, "I do!" which causes the crowd filling the Si Lom Arena to fall silent.
The Emperor stops dancing to stare at his young challenger for a few pregnant seconds before bursting out in laughter. He continues laughing as Sagat stares at him incredulously, and by the time Sagat starts approaching the ring, the Emperor has taken to rolling around on the ground and painting himself red as he cackles. He doesn't stop until the young man - red-faced and clearly shaken, by that point - grips the ropes to climb inside, at which point he does a kip-up and wipes tears from his eyes.
"I accept," he announces with a smirk, followed by a quick, mockingly flourished bow. "Let's--oh, dear. I do hope your parents aren't watching..."
NOW
Abandoned shortly after Shadaloo's rise in Thailand, Si Lom Arena has seen better days; that dozens of locals have taken to seeking shelter in its decaying architecture is a testament to the desperation that has settled over the region in recent weeks. The Gulf's freezing was a domino - albeit a massive one - that set off a chain reaction of food, water, and financial shortages across the country. As more and more people found themselves facing eviction and starvation, things began to take a turn for the violent in some regions; despite years of disrepair, the Arena has come to be a relatively safe space for people with nowhere better to be.
Not that many - if any - of them are in evidence today, though--not since a mystery man with midnight-black skin arrived and claimed a place in the center of the dust-caked ring.
Sagat arrives at the Arena an hour or so after Mukai, having heard rumors of--well--a strange man with black skin hanging around it. He doesn't enter immediately, preferring instead to close his eye and let his memories of thousands of awed voices washing over his exhausted body bring him back to a time before Shadaloo, before Ryu--when the world still made sense, and he was comfortably near the top of it. No sooner than he himself a small sigh of nostalgia, his eye opens and he's greeted by the crumbling facade of his birthplace; his gaze eventually catches on a mortar hole from one of the battles that have rocked the region, at which point he decides he's had enough of reminiscing and stalks inside with a grunt.
He was livid when he'd first heard that the stadium would be shut down, but as the place that not only gave rise to his reign as Emperor but served as a frequent venue for his bouts afterwards, it was rather tainted once his alignment with Shadaloo became public knowledge; all he could really do was stew at the traitorous public and cowardly owners who killed the place. The only thing mitigating his indignation was the knowledge that at least 'his' Arena would, for better or worse, remain 'his'; as long as it was closed, no other fighter could defile the holy ground he'd spent the better part of his career consecrating with the blood of his enemies.
Which is probably why he's already in shorts, tape, and nothing else as he navigates the corridors leading to the ring; he can accept his desperate countrymen seeking shelter in their hour of need, but the man he's investigating didn't much sound like a local--nor does he seem to be particularly in need of shelter when Sagat emerges from a tunnel and gets his first glimpse of the occupied ring. /His/ ring.
In the exact middle of the ring proper is indeed a figure unlike any that even a man as ancient and weathered as Sagat has ever seen. 'Monster' in many various connotations and dialects was thrown around... that, and 'demon'. Such seems fitting. He is large, even moreso than Sagat himself, a feat few alive in modern day could hope to manage. Skin is black, rough and coarse like stone, and just as motiveless. Recessed within, like tattoos of burn scars, are strange and intricate lines that seem to flow with the etched ferocity of his chitinous musculature that makes the leanly efficient Muay Thai God seem almost small. The likes of Grant, Haggar and Zangief are the only ones who might hope to challenge him for sheer power in his mass.
White hair wildly swept back, wearing only ribbons about his forearms and a noble-looking garment of robes beneath a bare torso. Yet he seems serene, legs crossed, leaning forward with both hands upon his knees. There's a strange feel in the air, one similar to the 'chi' Sagat is so used to, but different. Earthen, temporal, and unstable.
"EXCELLENT."
Mukai's voice booms in the air like thunder as Sagat strides forward. "This place... seethes with your strength, human. Such power...!! Enough power to make all others seem like insects before you. There may be others on your level in this world, and perhaps higher... but few have your fighting history..."
Slowly, Mukai lifts himself upwards, sliding his stance open. Power. Sagat is looking at a powerful man. Unlike the others who took victory over him over the years... Ryu, a seed with potential. Adon, who took advantage of his broken mindset and lack of focus. Go Hibiki, who's tenacity cost him an eye. Here is a figure at the very least the equal of Sagat...
Perhaps instead, Sagat is the challenger, rather than the defender? How ironic would that be?
"Like a great thresher, you crushed the potential of countless people. Feasted on the futures of fighter your inferior. Ones who might have some day matched you. If you have any flaw, great warrior, it is that. You allowed too few rival flowers to bloom, and trampled them to the ground before you!! And what is wrong with that? For a king can do what he wishes, to those under his domain. It is the right of the strong to govern the weak, and to pass judgement!!"
"Hmmhmmhmm... yes. And I see... you cared only about whether someone was as strong as you. Do you think that makes a fight won? Greater technique, speed, strength, stamina, resilience... having all these, great warrior, does not mean you win. Will. Tenacity. That tiny seed which makes humanity's great potential so infinite and intriguing to me!! That a man as powerful as you could lose... to a snake like Adon, to an unfinished stone like Ryu... is proof of how wild and unknowable this world is!!"
Fingers beckon invitingly towards Sagat then. "Come, great warrior. COME!! I have hungered since entering this world anew to match fists with someone my equal. Please. I beg you... grant this sorrowful arena, the former throne of Thailand's strongest figure past or present, the very regrets carved into this once proud stadium, one last, grand battle...!!"
Sagat pauses in his tracks the first time he senses that powerful, alien force filling his former stomping grounds and takes a quick look around the Arena with a wrinkled nose before re-fixing his eye to Mukai and resuming his approach. The interloper speaks as he walks--and in frustratingly familiar terms, at that; he isn't the first stranger to throw Sagat's embarrassments into his face - they're so public that anyone who follows the world of fighting on even a casual level is bound to be aware of at least /one/ of the humiliations he's suffered in the ring - but familiarity doesn't make the words any less infuriating.
To his credit, though, he doesn't betray much more than a thoroughly unamused glare during the approach--even when Adon is brough up for the second time; there was a time not so long ago when he might have reacted to such disrespect with roars and charging, but time and hard-earned wisdom have brought a degree of balance to the Emperor's ferocious spirit. The anger boiling beneath his surface will simply need to be channeled constructively into attempting to punish the--towering--figure intruding upon his ring, rather than being allowed to explode uselessly.
"At first," he quietly and tightly observes as he reaches the ring and lingers beside the apron, "I assumed that you were simply a lost, helpless outsider in need of guidance to a shelter better suited to you; it would seem that you're merely misguided." He reaches up to grab the middle rope, plants a foot on the apron, then hauls himself up so that he's standing on it. "For all your familiarity with my history - with what this place means to it - you must have known what desecrating it with your presence would mean to /me/." As he steps over the ropes to enter the ring, he adds, "Do you have any idea the number of men who stood where you stood, sure that they would be the one to conquer the upstart Emperor...?" and then gives his head a quick twist to either side to crack his neck.
"I'm not yet sure whether to be outraged at your impertinence, or respect your audacity, interloper," the Emperor admits as he brings his hands up and assumes a fighting posture; as he exhales, orange chi briefly flickers across his scar. "Regardless: you will have your match; perhaps by the end, I will have my answer."
"Hahaha... Even now, with the world in chaos and battle... you come to Thailand with the air of a father caring for it's child...? Interesting indeed. The fires within you have matured, great warrior. The forge that burned your soul black has instead turned brittle iron to steel..." For some reason this seems to make Mukai frown, although all he does is lift up his arms slowly. A strange, almost hypnotic motion that seems to cause a blurring trail beneath his great limbs. Like lightning, his bodies' leylines flash bright white for a moment, and the ground beneath Sagat rumbles within the entire ring.
"Yes." follows Mukai, slowly grinning. Each tooth a brutal, sharp canine, his face looking like an oni. Nothing about him seems like some eccentric large human with extensive surgery. No. The very feel of his chi is alien, strange, otherworldly. A man of such power, deep as a mountain, explosive as a volcano... there is no way he could have existed here unknown. He must be linked to the chaos and strangeness going throughout the world in the last month.
"I came here to fight you, great warrior. Of all those whos past I have watched, whose regrets I have analyzed in the lense of 'Time', yours speaks to be loudest. I devoted my body and soul to strength. ...But true strength. Not technique. Not skill. POWER!! A power to surpass what you humans treasure. A weapon with no wielder!! A weapon pointed at this world."
Slowly, Mukai's grin turns into a frown. "If you need more incentive... I am to blame. The natural disasters shredding this world. The anamolies ripping the very fabric of space. Devouring innocents. Destroying it all. Breaking it down. Me. ME...! Every soul suffering in your homeland... is because of ME!!" He is not lying. It seems a partial truth... but for Sagat, likely true enough.
His form tenses, and a laugh suddenly leaves him. "Do you need to hear more... to fight me at your full strength?!"
Suddenly, the large arena shudders. From Makai's feet, stone spreads in all directions. If Sagat does not leap up to avoid the purple-gray haze, he'd find his legs up to the knees caught in a sheathe of invasive petrification. In a moment, the battlefield is now like a mountaintop, each turnpost suddenly surging up, widening, turning into a fang-like tooth stretching overhead to arch over the center where Mukai stands. The ropes shift into sharp, meter-long stalactites, jutting inwards.
COMBATSYS: Mukai has started a fight here as a boss!
MUKAI
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COMBATSYS: Mukai stands in a loose stance, arms raised, grinning wildly.
MUKAI
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Mukai's measure is taken through a narrowed eye as Sagat warily circles towards the ebony giant's right. He's encountered hundreds of fighters over the years, and he can't once remember facing one with such a palpable aura of otherworldly might; not even the terrible force that laced Ryu's fist on the day his world fell apart quite compares. And that skin--that /face/...
Exactly /what/ manner of demon has come to darken his sanctuary...?
"Power is nothing," he begins to ruefully reply, "without the purity of spirit to wield it wis--"
Mukai not only interrupts Sagat, he /goads/ him, and the Invincible Tiger's initial reaction is to recoil from the news. It would, from any other mouth, be so implausible as to push him right past outrage to incredulous laughter, but with that ancient and unknowable force surrounding them - not to mention the utter conviction with which Mukai speaks - it's hard to take him at anything less than his word.
Besides: even if it isn't /entirely/ true, Mukai still committed the sin of violating his ring; the possibility that he might also be responsible for his country's suffering just means that he'll have a better reason than his own pride for trying to punish the monster. His fists clench just a little bit tighter as he settles back into his stance, and his eye narrows to a hateful slit from behind his raised hands.
"I would have given you my all--and /more/--simply to teach you the proper respect for my Arena..." he begins in a snarl before the contested space begins to tremble around them. His eye flicks downward for a second, and then he leaps towards Mukai, seeking to remain clear of invasive stone.
"... but clearly, it isn't a /challenge/ that you've come seeking--it's your own destruction!" he roars. As he reaches the apex of his jump, he twists his body sharply so that his seven foot frame is almost sprawled out above Mukai with his right elbow angled to drill into the larger man's upper body. "I came seeking to ease Thailand's pain with money, but perhaps a taste of your foul blood is the medicine she needs!"
COMBATSYS: Sagat has joined the fight here.
MUKAI
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COMBATSYS: Mukai endures Sagat's Medium Punch.
MUKAI
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There's not even the slightest reaction from Mukai when Sagat begins to circle him. He simply retains that strange stance. Indeed, there's no hint of even the slightest defense; it is an invitation to strike him. Multiple vitals are exposed, and his center of balance is rooted to the ground, meaning his ability to evade is highly compromised. There's almost no real ability to interpose his arms before any strikes to the stomach, a fatal state of affairs against Muay Thai. ...But at the same time, there's no hint that he is being reckless. He said his 'style' was sheer power. Does that include not needing to defend himself...?
"...Coming at me with anything less than a desire to annihilate me... would mean your defeat!!" Mukai roars out, laughing heavily. He moves forward, slamming a heel into the petrified ring and sinking in for leverage. He's open... completely... and then Sagat's elbow thumps into flesh that seems even harder than rock, petrified at the moment of impact to dull the strike. A single crack splits through it, and a look of content surprise...
Before Mukai's right arm strikes down, a brutal overhead blow aiming to plow through any attempted defense, strike Sagat dead in the chin, and hurl him down to the unyielding ground. "To be fair... I am only one of five responsible for this destruction... if you impress me, great warrior, perhaps I shall reward you with some information?!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Sagat with Fierce Punch.
MUKAI
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The Emperor's eye danced over the openings that Mukai left in his defenses before leaving the ground--intentionally, no doubt; not even a man(a creature?) who's dedicated himself to achieving overwhelming power at the expense of technique could be so unaware as to leave himself as vulnerable as the titan has, not without a deeper motive of some kind. Wariness isn't enough to keep him from driving his elbow into Mukai's body, of course, nor does it ward off the tight, savage smile that crosses his lips as he hears - and feels - impossibly hard flesh give just a bit after his strike.
It is, on the other hand, why his first instinct is to pull his arms and knees up protectively in front of his face and body when he notices Mukai's movement... and perhaps why he isn't /surprised/ when a mountainous fist forces its way past his clenched limbs and drills him into the mat. The whole ring shudders upon impact, and a second later, it begins to creak, then list, then...
*CRASH!*
... it's suddenly a foot or so lower; the ropes undulate wildly, and will probably continue doing so for a while to come.
"Impress you...?" Sagat growls before jerking upright with a scowl that reveals teeth already stained with blood. "IMPRESS YOU?!" His huge frame bends into a roll towards Mukai, and he comes out of it in a run with his fists raised and his torso angled forward. "You'll tell me who is responsible for this horror with your last breath, demon!"
A few steps away from Mukai, with his roar of defiance still echoing in the the cavernous ruins, the Invincible Tiger slows his pace just long enough to momentarily crouch before exploding into a soaring uppercut intended to extract a little vengeance from the no doubt stone-jawed ancient.
The Emperor's eye danced over the openings that Mukai left in his defenses before leaving the ground--intentionally, no doubt; not even a man(a creature?) who's dedicated himself to achieving overwhelming power at the expense of technique could be so unaware as to leave himself as vulnerable as the titan has, not without a deeper motive of some kind. Wariness isn't enough to keep him from driving his elbow into Mukai's body, of course, nor does it ward off the tight, savage smile that crosses his lips as he hears - and feels - impossibly hard flesh give just a bit after his strike.
It is, on the other hand, why his first instinct is to pull his arms and knees up protectively in front of his face and body when he notices Mukai's movement... and perhaps why he isn't /surprised/ when a mountainous fist forces its way past his clenched limbs and drills him into the petrified mat. The whole ring reverberates upon impact, and and Sagat is left lying in a shallow crater, his arms and legs draped over the edges.
"Impress you...?" Sagat growls before gripping the edges of the crater and jerking upright with a scowl that reveals teeth already stained with blood. "IMPRESS YOU?!" His huge frame bends into a roll towards Mukai, and he comes out of it in a run with his fists raised and his torso angled forward. "You've assaulted my home and defiled a place where legends were born and extinguished--you will tell me who is responsible for this horror with your last breath, demon!"
A few steps away from Mukai, with his roar of defiance still echoing in the the cavernous ruins, the Invincible Tiger slows his pace just long enough to momentarily crouch before exploding into a soaring uppercut intended to extract a little vengeance from the no doubt stone-jawed ancient.
"TIGER BLOW!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Sagat's Tiger Blow.
MUKAI
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Indeed, attempting to sheerly absorb the brunt of Mukai's power can be a dangerous thing. It was choreographed, but such was the point; to bait Sagat into thinking it easier to handle. Both sides of his blade have been revealed now. The manner in which he requires no defense, and the inhuman strength being a punch that lacked true finesse and technique. How much raw chi must be boiling through his blood to compensate for such shortcomings so thoroughly...?
"Oh! You got up so quickly!" There's genuine pleasure in Mukai's voice at that, eyes alight as his grin spreads wider. "EXCELLENT...! Beat me down, CRUSH me to my KNEES... and I will tell you EVERYTHING!!"
Arms open invitingly, and then Sagat's fist collides. Once more he has petrified himself, muscles inlaid with a bolstering white burst as hands curl inwards to better manipulate his chi. Amongst Daniel, the large ninja Noboru, the paragon Sakura, the other girl who was not nearly so notable, he never tried to TRULY defend himself...
And still he's struck hard, grunting in surprise and sent skidding backwards a good meters, the fist having sheared a dent from the base of his pectorals all the way to his chin, where a dozen deep cracks crumble and spread. Metal sloughs off as the chi is dismissed, and a small bruise darkens his charcoal features.
"Hahah... I've been hit off-guard by people of this realm softer than that... Beautiful!!" And then he bolts forward, faster than his frame seemed capable of. A hand thrusts out, but he seems only intent on grasping any part of Sagat -- as what would follow is his arm flaring white once more, and sending that petrifying energy bursting within the fellow titan. Trying to turn him into stone...!
Regardless of success, an attempt follows to hurl Sagat towards whichever large, talon-like corner stone is nearest, able to heft a man of his weight effortlessly!! If he's all neatly entombed, it will likely end with a painful shatter of the outside shell...
COMBATSYS: Sagat fails to interrupt Execution from Mukai with Tiger Crush.
MUKAI
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Flecks of blood fly from Sagat's knuckles as they chisel away at Mukai's chest and chin. Whatever damage he might be doing to the demon, it's taking a toll on /his/ body, too: his elbow is already throbbing after being slammed into rocky pectorals, and now his knuckles are covered with angry red scrapes and gashes. As eager as he is to let Thailand drink in its newest oppressor's blood, it's seeming increasingly likely that there'll be a pint or two of his mixed in too--and that's if he's /lucky/. As soon as he lands, he has to turn and spit out mouthful of the stuff, lest he choke on it.
"What manner of devil /are/ you?" he growls after dragging a fist across his red lips. The question's been rattling around his head almost since he first laid eyes on Mukai, but he'd held his tongue for the sake of not giving the interloper the satisfaction of his bemusement. A few improbable feats and punches to the face have a way of changing a man's outlook on things, though; ultimately, his pride isn't quite as important as understanding what, exactly, has come for him today.
Mukai's terrible speed only adds fuel to the Emperor's curiosity, but he has the presence of mind to respond, rather than stand uselessly and ponder: with a wordless battle cry, he hurls himself into the air for the first time, barreling towards the charging demon with no apparent regard for the strange white energies flaring around his arm. Moments before impact, he angles his right knee so that it'll slam into the larger man's already cracked chest...
... only to be plucked effortlessly from the air. He hangs in Mukai's grasp from a single leg for an infuriating split-second before stone begins to rush over his body; his bellows of protest are still audible when it's all over, albeit muffled by stone.
When he's finally - and violently - released, Sagat tumbles free from the shattering stone and immediately stabilizes himself on a knee, opting to take a moment to try and recover before trying to mount another assault. He isn't thinking about the cuts on his knuckles so much anymore, because his whole body is a patchwork of cuts and flowering bruises, and there are still a few stray bits of stone sticking out of him. "You..." he rumbles between labored breaths.
"... I have /never/ faced anything like you." The admission is forced through clenched teeth and laed with plenty of venom; after making it, he starts pushing himself back up to his feet. "I want to thank you: by choosing to desecrate all that I still hold sacred, you have given me more competition than I've seen in ages; it's a pity that such /power/ resides in the body of a monster."
"What am I...? Hmph. So few seem to care to ask so simple a question. ...I see no reason to answer. Only that there are monsters in this world, not born from the rage and destruction of human flesh. Monsters such as you!!" Mukai indeed uses sheer speed to intercept the attempted leg, the force snuffed out like a candle in a hurricane even coming from the likes of the Muay Thai death god. After he slams upon the pillar hard enough that a great, mighty crack splits up it's entirety, Mukai's arms once more heft up into the air, swirling up as fingers spread, grin unchecked.
"Power is power, great warrior. You should know this. Does power care what it's vessel is? Would the weak complain about it's source? Gaze upon the faces of those like Vega, whom throw themselves into the tide of madness. ...Or the insolent defilers such as Rugal, who would dare to taint the great Orochi's essence with his vile touch...!"
Sagat would see true rage there. Rage...? About the mythical Orochi? Then again, he was supposedly a sealed god or demon, conquered in ancient times. Could that be true? Is this man related to him, or whatever 'race' he might be?
Suddenly Mukai's feet merge with the stone of the ground, and his arms lower. "Enough. I will not be satisfied as it lies. Rest yourself, great warrior. I do not wish to tarnish this battle through defeating you, because only now do you realize what you face." He then crosses his arms, chin lifting high, noble and proud.
"Believe it or not... I am not a being without honor. I do not do this to look down upon you. Swallow your pride, and recover a moment. ...Then come at me, with that same pride, the pride of your country, and the pride of your race empowering your fists anew!! I wish for this challenge every bit as much as you. I implore you... not to let me down...!!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai stands in a loose stance, arms raised, grinning wildly.
MUKAI
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Sagat's lips curl spitefully at the parallel Mukai's drawn between them; it isn't the first time, but the comparison is far less flattering.
It's also difficult to deny. In fact, the blood running freely along the sculpted lines of his musculature and jagged edges of his scar make the demon's suggestion that they're roughly equal competitors the harder of the two comparisons to believe; he's beginning to wonder if it was, perhaps, a trap designed to snare his ego and draw him into a fight that he couldn't win. There are forces greater than him in the world; it's a lesson that took years of struggle and frustration to finally accept, but now that he's staring down this black mass of elemental destruction, he is grateful for having endured long enough to learn it.
Mukai has raised the stakes to a point where accepting defeat isn't an option in the cyclopean destroyer's mind, though; if this /is/ a trap - if Mukai /is/ his better - then it simply means that he can't relent in trying to beat Thailand's salvation from the demon until he /can't/ any longer--or until perseverence wins the day. He takes a determined step towards the demon, ready to leap back into the fray--only to be interrupted by, of all things, an invitation to recuperate.
Is /this/ a trap?
Sagat spends a few moments glaring warily at his foe as he weighs Mukai's words and his own options; is it an /honorable/ defiler that's come to mock his past glories? "Very well," he finally, gruffly acquiesces--although it takes a little while more for him to lower first his fists, and then his body until he's kneeling on the petrified ring again. His eye doesn't stray from Mukai as he takes deep, bracing breaths in and out; he /still/ doesn't trust him, no matter how honorable he might claim to be.
"But what do you know of Vega, of Rugal...? Of /me/? To have remained unknown for so long as a--/being/ of your magnitude is incredible in and of itself, but you speak as if you /know/ this world you've spent so long hiding from."
COMBATSYS: Sagat drops his guard to recover.
MUKAI
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COMBATSYS: Sagat takes no action.
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Mukai simply stands there, as open and inviting as he was at the onset. One thing has been certain from the onset, though. Respect. There is a deep, genuine respect, that has been clear as day since the first words spoken. Whatever sort of beast Mukai is, his genuine desire for a true battle... that much is not under question. Every antagonism, every word, carefully picked and sculpted to turn the fangs of Sagat sharpest, and to ensure they go straight towards his throat.
A true villain would attack now. The God is now as weak as a kitten. If he used the strength and speed he showed earlier, he might be able to mortally wound the figure before he could rise. It would not be the first time someone has struck him when vulnerable, knowing it or not. Yet he doesn't so much as twitch or blink.
Sagat can tell... Mukai is not recuperating in turn. He simply waits, patient, eternal, chi swirling around battle-ready but unchanged from moments before his offer. Not until Sagat once more stands does he answer, and his battle stance is retaken.
"I have peered into the very time of this world. Again and again. There are no secrets to us. We from beyond 'Time'. Those of the 'Distant Past'. ...I know, too, of failure. Of crushing defeat. ...And I know, too, the extreme natures required to rectify it. ...I apologize, great warrior. To bring up the shadows of your past. Perhaps I was wrong... and all I needed for the battle I desired was a simple request..."
And then Mukai bursts forward, dashing across the ground. His huge hand swishes out, aiming to grasp Sagat by the top of the head once more. It is almost like a father, preparing to pat a child for doing well.
"But what if I could tell you... that you, too, could have a second chance? Your mistakes redone? The slate wiped clean? That Go Hibiki would never take your eye, that Ryu would never be allowed to stand again, and that your glory would have remained...?" At least, at the time. Even had he won World Warrior, many others did not take part who might have been able to wrest victory from Sagat...
If his hand finds him, Mukai's body would explosively tense, every muscle bulging in a burst of white energy. To CRUSH downwards, and crumple Sagat like a broken puppet into a heap upon the stone, hard enough the entire ring would quake!! Sheer, ruthless brutality!
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Sagat with Strong Throw.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|--=============
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Sagat 0/-------/-======|
Sagat keeps his eye glued to Mukai even after it's clear that the titan is as good as his word. He uses the time to study the glowing lines decorating the larger - and elder - man's musclebound physique and the way that chi surges around him like a barely held storm. The cracks inching across his craggy body draw the tiger's gaze too; if /any/ parts of him are liable to be vulnerable - truly vulnerable, and not just exposed challenge him - it's them.
It'll just be a matter of weathering Mukai long enough to open them up a further.
When he eventually stands, the demon has truths share with him. Or--well--he has /words/ to share; his demeanor suggests that he means every one of them, but they're ludicrous on their face. 'Peering into' time, existing 'beyond' it--how could those things possibly be? Then again--how could it be that a mysterious stranger has descended upon his shrine and tossed him around it as if he were one of the celebrity warriors he'd spent years making sport of?
"I--"
Could a being capable of those things also be capable of wiping away the embarrassments of his past...? Even as every instinct screams out to warn him away from letting temptation poison his spirit, his fists come down an inch and his posture goes the slightest bit slack. Mukai is coming for him; he /sees/ it, he knows it, but flashes of the life that could have been tease the corners of his mind as the monster approaches.
They are not so distracting that he doesn't /try/ to protect himself for the massive hand coming for his skull, but he doesn't quite have time to roll out of the way; turning the attack away is his only option, and as he swiftly learns upon trying and failing to catch Mukai's wrist in a defensive lock, it's a poor one--at least, as long as his mind is anywhere but focused firmly on what is happening /now/, rather than would dcould have been. Tendons strain and pop all along his arms as he fights to peel Mukai's fingers free of his skull, but no release comes until he is driven into the earthen mat with a strained cry of frustration--and pain.
For a moment, he thinks that Mukai must have broken his legs; he's in a heap at the bottom of another crater, and while every part of his body is in agony, trying to stand brings a special kind of torment that almost makes lying there seem attractive. Almost. One bloodied hand after another shoots out of the crater once the trembling settles somewhat, and with a creaking groan, he manages to painfully drag himself out of it. One he's free, he presses both palms against the ground to force himself up; his legs aren't quite broken, but he weaves almost drunkenly as soon as he has to support himself on them, and he doesn't really /stop/ stumbling until he reaches one of the columns sticking up from the corners and falls back against it.
"--would refuse!" he finally finishes, doing quite a bit more gasping and wheezing than when he began his response. A hand comes up to clutch his chest for a moment as he follows those defiant words with a deep, rasping breath. "These wounds--the failures I've suffered--they are where I draw /MY/ power, devil! Without them, I would still be the tyrant that you described, living only to crush the spirits of those beneath me!" Wisps of brilliant orange chi blossom in the air around Sagat's chest, wrapping around his hand as it closes into a fist. "Information, salvation for Thailand--those are the /only/ offerings that I will accept from you!"
He throws both shoulders back and surges out of the corner... and immediately falls to his knees. However, the whorls of chi around his fist flow to surround both arms as he falls, and by the time he hits the ground, he's able to thrust both limbs forward; all his mustered energy snaps towards his fist, where it coalesces for a moment before firing across the ring in a fiercely burning ball.
"TIGER SHOT!" Breathing is torturous, but he still manages a roar that reverberates throughout the arena as the projectile flies.
COMBATSYS: Mukai slows Low Tiger Shot from Sagat with Terrestrial Shock.
Glancing Hit
-@- Dazing Hit! -@-
MUKAI
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0|---------------|===============
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Sagat 1/-------/=======|
There's been no signs of deception from Mukai, only a lack of elaboration, a breft of clarity, saying simply enough to give implications without unveiling anything. Then again, he had said were he to fall here, then the massive demonic god would better elucidate upon Sagat the truths about what is happening.
This was a test of resolve. The fact the assault succeeded has nothing to do with Mukai's desire to crush the man. It is proof that, deep within his heart and soul, what he just spoke rang true with temptation and desire. To be able to so utterly crumple a man of Sagat's stature into the ground, standing tall without proper leverage, and with even a token resistance... certainly testament to the sheer physical power thrumming through the massive man's face. He defies the physics of fighting at every turn. A man holding him in such a manner shouldn't be able to generate that much force. A man standing in such a stance shouldn't be able to move that fast. More and more proof his style of 'pure power' is in every way a valid one. It is obvious now more than ever how he has suffered with a lack of proper challenge since entering this world...!
"Words mean nothing." Mukai says, softly. "Your soul echoed the truth. ...The question is whether the man you have become now... is worth erasing those mistakes and sins. You would not be 'You'. You would be something new. Greater? Lesser? I could not say. I can peer into the past... but the future, ripped open and malleable as it is, remains bound to the will of those 'Still Living' to either defend or allow to fall!!"
Although it seems Sagat's words shake Mukai to some degree as he recovers. Indeed, that urge to deliberate caused him to not capitalize on the very poor state of Sagat's posture once he was pancaked upon the stone arena. "...So failure need not be a scar of weakness. But of growth? Hmm... A catalyst for improvement, beyond the present path... I see. But I would not know."
And then he suddenly hefts up his leg, as Sagat whirls up his energy. The moment the blast of energy flies out, Mukai's heel slams upon the ground. In a whirl, a great pillar suddenly shoots upwards at a sharp angle. "FOR I HAVE NEVER TRULY LOST!" It strikes into the ball of fire... but the tenacity of will are too much. It is annihilated, broken fragments flying in all directions. Wide-eyed, Mukai has no defense as it then strikes him directly in the face.
A meter-sized flash of chi-woven flames causes a cry and a stagger backwards, reeling and grasping his face, no longer able to tell what's up or down. Blind. He's blind. But a moment later he's attuned to the earth. Feeling every tremor and thrum. Sagat standing out almost as clear as day. "Hahah... I see. You finally did it, great warrior..."
"The rage in your fists is able to reach me. Do not let me down. I crave defeat... defeat in personal combat. Not the defeat of a mission... but of the battlefield!!"
It still hurts to stand, but Sagat forces himself to his feet anyway while Mukai staggers on his. A grimace creases his features, and he has to stave off the urge to fall back upon the pillar for support again; any advantage /has/ to be pressed, no matter how much it hurts. His pain is nothing next to the suffering of an entire country, and after all that Thailand has given him, sacrificing his body for her is the very least that he can do.
"I see /one/ of the paths that I could have taken stumbling away from me," he contemplatively rumbles as the fingers of his right hand brush across his scar on the way to a shard of rock still embedded in his side. "Had I managed to secure - and /defend/ - the title of World Warrior--had I succeeded in expanding my kingdom beyond Thailand and crushing dreams the world over--" The Emperor's grimace deepens as he wraps his hand around the shard, yanks sharply, and tosses it away. "--perhaps I would thirst to know an honorable defeat as greedily as you do."
The air around Sagat reverberates as he draws in a deep breath to focus his boiling chi and push aside the doubts creeping along the edges of his thoughts. Even Vega at the heights of his power and delusion was only ever a man--a man whose terrifying strength was still bound by some semblance of order; Mukai, on the other hand, seems to have achieved such a level of inhuman might that he's outgrown those limits. Could it be that he spent so long away from the world because the world simply wasn't big enough for him?
"Or perhaps I would have simply grown bored of dominance and allowed my contentment to extinguish the fires within," he tosses off a beat later. "I have little doubt that the man who stomped around the darkness following World Warrior would have gladly rolled the dice; I, on the other hand--"
The towering Thai boxer leans in and takes off running towards Mukai until he hits the rim of a crater, at which point he leaps into the air and twists his whole body to try and deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of the demon's head. "--would rather have my glory /now/ than chase the past!" Assuming that he's able to throw that strike without being snagged or swatted from the air, he'll attempt to drive his bloodied fist into one of the crackes in Mukai's chest on his way to what will surely be an uncomfortable landing.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Sagat's Fierce Combo.
MUKAI
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1|-------------==|===============
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Sagat 0/-------/=======|
"Do you really think you were qualified for the world...? The World Warrior... it was a battle where you were intended to be the strongest. Countless individuals, such as Geese Howard, the monster Vega, Heihachi Mashima, and Rugal Bernstein did not attend. Those who are confident in their power and station... do not need to tout it to everyone as you did. And I doubt any of them would have lost as you had." The tone is different. Mukai is not attempting to mock or demean Sagat; it is a statement, almost curiously philosophical. "Why do you fight, great warrior? To be the strongest? That dream has passed. ...But if you could start anew, knowing the heights, with your potential and drive... perhaps you could unseat those kings above..."
Despite his vulnerable state, Mukai is finally forced to shift up a forearm. Petrified, the kick strikes hard. The air reverberates under the blow, and Mukai's body is skidded to the left with a grunt of discomfort. Fragments of broken stone go flying in all directions. For the first time, he forced Mukai to actually defend himself. But the follow-up fist simply strikes dead center in hardened mass, driven forward as the massive figure laughs in approval. "Good. Mercy has no place here...!!"
Suddenly Mukai's foot explodes off the ground, bolstered by earthen power, attempting to /slam/ his knee into Sagat's midsection with shocking force. It seems that through his unity with the stone beneath, he's capable of those monstrous bursts of speed to attack...
Although despite it all, he seems scarcely wounded. Only those dark singemarks about his face, which seem to be slowly fading and receding before Sagat's eyes. The well of energy deep within remains as potent as ever, as if gazing upon an ocean of elemental power funneled through this one man, arms raising invitingly.
"But to be happy with your current state... you, of all men, I had thought might wish a second chance. A new world... Is that the way of humans? To take a loss, and simply move on?"
COMBATSYS: Sagat just-defends Mukai's Medium Kick!
MUKAI
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1|--------------=|===============
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Sagat 0/-------/=======|
"Then?" Sagat hisses as he hits the ground in a crouch, "Of course I did--I was convinced that I was ready to crush any and all competition." He barely has time to straighten up before Mukai's knee shoots towards his midsection, and while he /might/ have been able to tuck and roll in time to avoid what is sure to be a thunderous at the beginning of the fight, just /standing/ is an accomplishment right now. Sucking in a lungful of air, he grits his teeth, brings both arms up, and throws himself completely into the one option available to him.
RAttempting to turn Mukai's attacks aside has been a wholly futile endeavor so far, because the demon seems to have the power of the planet itself behind his fists; just standing there and allowing himself to be pummeled further would be unacceptable, though. If he is to be crushed into the place where he once bathed in the cheers of his people, he would rather do so knowing that at least he /tried/.
An orange flare bursts from the point where Mukai's knee crashes against the Emperor's forearms--and miraculously, his guard holds; he is still sent skidding several feet away by the tremendous force of the blow, but once he recovers and drops his guard, it's clear that he injuries weren't further exacerbated by it.
"Arrogance," he quietly says of his past certainty; saying the word aloud is almost as hard as surviving Mukai's knee strike. "No; it was merely one possibility among countless others. It is--infinitely possible, even /likely/ that I would have simply met my downfall at a later date." His nostrils flare as he makes that admission, but the lack of venom in Mukai's tone seems to be enough to keep thoughts of violence from being actualized--at least, for the moment. "Then... /then/, I fought to forever silence and shame detractors, to make my name one that would live on well after my final kick was thrown; now, I fight to salvage the potential I squandered by wallowing in obsession. A chance to begin anew /could/ provide the opportunity to topple those heights... and then my reign would be built--hgh--on a /lie/."
The last few words are spat out a little awkwardly thanks to a fresh welling of blood in his mouth; once he spits that out too, he begins to briskly shuffle towards Mukai while continuing, "A warrior does not flee from defeat; he is either crushed by it or envigorated in his pursuit of victory! I fight for the day when this body - beaten, broken, and scarred by misguided pride - is powerful enough to claim a place among those lofty figures--or fall gloriously in the effort; to have the past that brought me here wiped away just to ease that journey would make a mockery of all that I have endured!"
Sagat's brisk shuffle becomes a breakneck run for the last few steps, until he's close enough to reach for the earthen devil's throat with one hand. Such a clinch would likely be enough to hold most men helplessly in his grip at least for a little while; he /tries/ to heft Mukai from the ground, but the hold is mostly meant to give him a little extra extra leverage as he attempts to slam his knee crushingly into the devil's hips and mid-section.
COMBATSYS: Sagat successfully hits Mukai with Tiger Rage.
MUKAI
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1|----------=====|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sagat 1/-------/=======|
"...!" Mukai looks pleasantly surprised to find that Sagat has managed to repel the brutal assault. It might have seemed casual, but it had lacked none of the raw desire to break the other man that has been demonstrated before. Sagat is beginning to fight back... good. Good!! Mukai genuinely wanted nothing else since the start of this battle than to feel the sheer satisfaction of someone able to stand up to him. And at long last, after such a crushing beginning, the pair are on nearly equal footing.
"..." Mukai's grin finally leaves him, although he keeps his arms lifted in what passes for his battle ready stance. Not pressing forward, and allowing Sagat time to talk as much as he will. "I see." is finally mumbled out. "Words from a fellow warrior. To fail is not the end... yet Saiki and the others insist on these selfish, extremist measures..." A name. A name that means nothing to the scarred figure, but the implication is that they are a leader. A leader? A man above Mukai? That might be a chilling thought. Along with the statement that there are multiple people with him -- ones that, presumably, are at a comparable tier overall.
"I AGREE." Mukai suddenly snarls, before shifting forward. His body shifts, turning to stone once more, only for the unexpected grapple to take place. The first blow likely feels like it might shatter Sagat's knee, but his defenses are blown away in a spray of stone in all directions. A look of genuine pain for the first time, before the massive figure is hefted up and then slammed upon the ring, shaking it hard enough one of the brutal inward spikes that used to make up the ropes cracks and falls with a clatter.
Mukai simply lays there a moment, before beginning to laugh. "Amazing... you brought me down. You made me feel pain... Do you have any idea..."
Suddenly Mukai is in a crouch, the motion so fast it was barely a blur. "HOW HAPPY THAT MAKES ME?!" And then the large figure's arms widen in either direction. Those leylines suddenly glow bright white, and his body seems to bulge, muscles growing further. It is as if the shadow seen all along has been replaced with a great eclipse of power. The ring shudders, warping, and then explodes. The four corner pillars, one already damaged, collapsing. The arena splits into pieces and then shatters, likely offsetting Sagat's feet.
In these moments, Mukai feels infinitely more powerful than he did before. Pulsing cracks of power whirl and simmer like lightning over his body. "I WILL TRY TO KILL YOU NOW." he intones. "...IF YOU ARE WORTHY... YOU WILL SURVIVE!!"
And then he bursts forward, each slam of his foot upon the ruint ground sending a spray of rubble in all directions. With one hand lashing out, a flash of blinding light right before he moves to grasp Sagat by the face...!!
Finally, he will see the apex of Mukai's abililities...!!
COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Mukai's Titan.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|-----------====
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Sagat 1/-----==/=======|
After grasping Sagat by the head, Mukai suddenly snarls and hurls him backwards. This seems a foolish move, until Sagat's back impacts a giant pillar that erupts directly behind. Both of the massive demon's fists shift, turning to stone, before he stamps forward. A brutal short hook is launched towards Sagat's torso, whirling every ounce of power within it. The sound rings like thunder through the air, shaking the very ground. He then swings with his right, the blow managing to be even more powerful. Again and again, Mukai begins to strike, fists starting to crack from the simple feedback of those earthen knuckles upon Sagat's own iron frame. The column behind, momentarily pinning the Muay Thai god, begins to crack and split in the wake of the assault. Before a final, dashing straight is met with a roar -- right towards Sagat's midsection, and finally driving him back sufficient that the column behind explodes into multiple pieces.
And then his free hand catches Sagat, twisting and hurling him overhead like a ragdoll to slam upon the ground adjacent to Mukai. Who then brings up his heel, and with a roar stamps it down as hard as he can right towards Sagat's face; and then, a moment later, four massive columns shoot down from the sky, crafted from the broken supports that used to make up the turnbuckles of the stage; each massive, ornate projectiles, that would explode in a huge dust of stones and fragments afterwards.
"Hahahaha... how do you like that, human...?! That... is my sheer POWER!!"
"Ah; a noble warrior subject to the whims of madmen," Sagat observes with an tone of familiarity. Of course, 'noble' is entirely too big a word for what he was in Vega's employ, not that he's about to let /that/ get in the way of drawing parallels. "A pity; such power, bent to such useless ends...!" His movements are a bit stiffer after having risked his already tender knee to crack the demon's defenses; given a little time to recover, his leg would probably drop back to its previous levels of agony, at least until the /next/ time he has to use it as a weapon.
He's caught stretching it out as Mukai shifts from prone to crouching in the blink of an eye, and while his first instinct is to throw a sweeping kick at the kneeling devil's head, the tremors shaking the ring toss him to the ground while he's mid-strike. As he fights to find new footing upon the jagged ruins of his temple, Mukai strides across the rubble as if it were a well-manicured lawn; he's snatched upright before he's able to make it up to his feet, drawing a defiant snarl that is nearly muted in the titan's grasp.
Sagat braces for what he's sure is coming next: a fresh layer of stone across his body, perhaps dense enough to suffocate if Mukai is serious about trying to end him; instead, he gets a stone pillar to the back, straightening his spine for a painful moment before he slumps against the construct to try and catch the breath that was just driven from his body. Unfortunately, Mukai has no intentions on letting him rest, so when Sagat sees stone forming around the demon's fists, he jerks his forearms up to intercept the inevitable punch.
And the one after that, too--as well as however many more follow. He stops trying to count after three, when Mukai nearly snaps his ulna in two and forces him to start thrusting his shin and knee - the 'good' one, inasmuch as either could be considered such right now - in the way of incoming blows, just to spread the damage out a little. Tongues of orange chi flicker along his limbs after each strike, but how long can his inner fires protect him from the boundless might of a god...?
The pillar is giving way behind him, and he can already feel piece of it digging into his back as cracks spread across stone. And Mukai isn't stopping; he doesn't even seem close to stopping, and there's no telling how much longer his guard will hold out--nor what will become of him if the pillar /does/ break. Sagat cannot afford to learn the answers to those questions, so before he's tested on them, he draws in as big of a breath as he can and throws himself into a sideways roll as Mukai drops back to deliver that pillar-shattering blow.
"It is--" he exhales as he comes up in a three-point stance. "--incredible--/impossible/!" He rises with a sharp pivot, aiming to hammer the obsidian titan's ribs with a spinning heel kick as the pillar is rent. There is appreciation in his voice; it's buried amidst the anger and determination of a man who's fighting for his life and the honor of his past achievements, but it would be difficult to bear witness to such a display without a measure of awe.
COMBATSYS: Mukai blocks Sagat's Medium Kick.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sagat 1/-----==/=======|
"Useless ends...? No. You cannot fathom the charge from those of us from the 'Distant Lands'. We failed. It is true. And that failure... can only be rectified at the cost of this world. The pieces are already in motion. Your very struggles... will only bring it faster to fruition!!"
Although then the symphony of violence begins, and when Mukai sees that Sagat bursts upwards, striking out like a viper without a broken body, it's difficult to tell if it's shock or ecstacy on his face. But he simply shifts forward once more, the heel of Sagat's foot striking that mountain of muscle as it hardens explosively once more in a crackle of white, doing nothing to halt his frontal charge. "REMARKABLE! EXCELLENT! You are... the best fight I've had... hahaha!! Tell me. Are there others?! Those as strong as you?! Can this world... continue to breed fighters of your MAGNITUDE?!"
Suddenly Mukai's heel extends straight up, before he slams it down upon the ground. Huge chunks of stone go flying into the air, and it likely forces Sagat backwards. An axekick of no restraint... his simple punches can destroy the God of Muay Thai's guard like it were tissue.
But then, abruptly, the airborne rocks and stone forcefully coagulate, shining bright before a massive pillar hurtles downwards directly above Sagat without any warning, Mukai roaring as his body shines bright white, increasing both the density and gravity of the strike incredibly while further causing the pull of the earth beneath Sagat to increase tenfold...
For an impact like a meteor to hopefully collide with the unyielding form of the smaller man. That level of raw chi manipulation... it shouldn't be humanly possible. But there's likely no longer any delusion that Sagat faces one...!
COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Mukai's Heavenly Shock.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sagat 1/----===/=======|
Sagat hesitates once his feet are solidly on the ground again; what could he possibly mean by his - the world's? - struggles hastening the destruction that's dominated the past weeks? Could it be that the prize he's fighting for is meaningless...? What good is intel against the inevitable? His fists drop an inch as the possibilities multiply in his mind.
"Then why--" he begins to inquire before cutting himself off with a low snarl and a firm cheek-slap. Mukai has been straight with him so far; if there are to be any answers to his questions, he can trust that they'll be received when - if - he manages to bring the titan to his knees. To allow himself to get too wrapped up in them /now/ is a distraction that he can't afford; if the violent shockwaves shaking the arena in the wake of Mukai's stomping weren't enough of a reminder, the shadow that begins to spread across the ground as he stumbles backwards from the tremors is.
A quick glance up confirms that it portends something terrible: shattered remnants of his ring compressed into the crushing fist of the earth itself. His first instinct is to flee before the the Rock of Damocles fully forms, but the avalanche of power flowing from Mukai's body means that his limbs feel like great, stone blocks affixed to his torso. His attempts to leap, roll, or even /crawl/ from the impact zone mostly add up to a lot of grunting and straining; there are moments when one leg or another comes off of the ground, only to be yanked back to the earth by invisible hands. Even shifting his arms for defense brings barely held noises of discomfort as beads of sweat and blood mingle all across the rolling hills of his tensed musculature, and once the pillar begins to fall, he still hasn't managed to bring his fists much further than his chin. The outcome seems inevitable--
"Hrr--rrRAAAGH!"
--until a last moment flare of chi lights his right fist and his arm surges straight up. Stone meets fist instead of skull; flesh is pulverized, knuckles are nearly crushed, but a crack shoots up the surface of the meteor as the Tiger roars in agony and defiance. Flashes of orange briefly flicker in the flaws as they spread upwards, right up until the whole thing explodes and showers the arena with shrapnel.
It'll probably be a little while before he's able to use that arm for much of anything, but since the tremendous force weighing him down seems to have faded, he negotiates the treacherous terrain of the arena as adroitly as he can, stepping from chunk to chunk of twisted stone until touches down on a segment a couple feet away from Mukai. Instead of immediately bounding off, he pauses long enough to cock his left fist back and bend his enormous frame into a low crouch before launching himself across the rest of the distance. With a sharp twist of his body, he brings his prepared fist shooting up for a meeting with the mountainous demon's chin that is scheduled to occur somewhere around his apex.
COMBATSYS: Mukai just-defends Sagat's Tiger Uppercut!
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sagat 1/-----==/=======|
"Oh...!" Mukai comments, looking genuinely impressed when Sagat powers through the incredible manipulations woven against the Muay Thai warrior, and manages to crush an assault that he put his all into. Twice... that is twice that Sagat has managed to surprise him with his sheer tenacity. "EXCELLENT!!"
Arms heft up to either side once more, before suddenly his chin swirls. Darkening more and more. Pure, pitch black; not the normal gray that has been seen thus far, Mukai's entire body bright white. Feet have melded with the broken ground, locking him in place.
Sagat's fist strikes. And stops, dead. It might be as much agony as any other inflicted thus far; the spurt of blood that comes out is certainly not from Mukai. It was harder than stone, harder than steel... The grinning demon's chin scintillates in a swirl of rainbow colors.
"Secret Technique: Diamond Shell. Carbon... is the strongest element on earth, right? You must be slowing down... to give me an opportunity to use it!!"
And then Mukai suddenly twists, stamping forward and then twisting, to strike the ground in front of himself. There's a great warble, before from the earth directly beneath Sagat, another pillar flies up, quick and resolute -- aiming to strike him dead-center in the stomach, and send him hurtling into the air as it shatters to fragments and rotes afterwards.
"Have you reached your limit? Age... is the true leash of all beasts, and the true limiter to all power. Such a shame...! But do you consider yourself weaker now, than when you were young?"
COMBATSYS: Sagat endures Mukai's Terrene Tower.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Sagat 1/---====/=======|
"AARGH!"
Sagat's fist recoils immediately upon meeting diamond-hard skin, and he ends up landing in an ungainly crouch thanks to the abrupt termination of his flying offense. Besides the gashes hatched across his knuckles and leaving them raw, his fingers are already beginning to swell; each will probably end up being a slightly /different/ shade of bruised come morning.
Assuming that he makes it to the next morning, anyway.
He has just enough time to wriggle his fingers and confirm that they aren't all broken before Mukai strikes the ground again and knocks him on his ass; before he's able to get all the way up from /that/, a fresh pillar surges from the earth and catches him right in the midsection, hurling him out of what's left of the ring amidst a shower of rock and dust. The best that he can do to protect himself /now/ is turn his body so that when he inevitably crashes into the collapsing stands circling the arena, he lands on his back instead of his head.
What corroded struts still remained under that section of the stands creak ominously in the first moments following his landing, and by the time he sits up, the bottom levels have begun to give way beneath his bulk. It's a little like trying to ride an avalanche made of rusty metal and plastic; finding any kind of stable footing is impossible, but he is at least able to make it partially upright and clutch a piece of railing a ways down. It doesn't make the landing much easier, but it does mean that once the rubble settles, half the battle to retake his feet is already behind him.
"My body is far--" he raises his volume as high as he's able to at this point; between that and the arena's acoustics, his voice is audible, even across the distance. "--from what it was--but my instincts remain, and my spirit blazes hotter than it ever did in my youth! Age has allowed me to know dizzying heights and terrible valleys alike; if ebbing strength is the price that I must pay for that experience..." Just before trailing off, the hand not currently engaged in helping him remain on his feet flutters over his chest before clenching painfully to grasp the sparks of chi beginning to course across his chest and palm.
"... then I consider it an even trade!"
He slams his hands together in front of himself and orange light flares around them; those energies rush to cover his battered fists and forearms as he then draws his shoulders back before finally thrusting both arms towards the ring and unleashing a roaring ball of furious chi upon Mukai. The stands vibrate beneath him as it races above them, and once it reaches the broken ring, the stones littering it are drawn into the projectile's wake, forming something of a tail as it approaches the titan.
"TIGER SHOT!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai just-defends Sagat's Tiger Shot!
MUKAI
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Sagat 1/----===/=======|
Slowly shifting back upwards, Mukai's slow recovery would normally be a liability. But he has proven that such is not the case; what has to be beaten is not his body's ability to move, but his own reaction. But then, the huge figure's eyes seem to darken, and all he does is remain standing, not even taking the purposefully vulnerable pose he normally exhibits against Sagat. The burst of chi roars forward, hurtling at the mountainous figure...
And then collides dead on, a great burst of bright energy washing over. Smoke billows from his torso, but slowly wafts away to show his frame wrought in the same black carbon diamond as before. Utterly unharmed, and not moved back even an inch.
"I see." is all he allows, before his feet finally rip free from their rooting to the ground. This seems to have been the source of his ability to transform to the hardest substance on Earth, as the shiny blackness merges into the normal craggy charcoal of his lined body.
"Experiences... living... there can never be put a value on it. This fight... proved more than any other. That I do not agree with the path I walk. It is not one... of which I am proud."
Slowly he begins to march towards Sagat, without haste, seeming to be in almost slow motion. "I thank you, great warrior. You have won. This battle was never against me. Humans cannot face me, any more than they can face the ocean's endless tide. ...Yet blow by blow, you have torn away at my resolve."
Slowly he begins to glow with building energy, the ground starting to rumble as his true power once more shines out. The same ferocious onslaught that Sagat only barely survived before, now welling up to the same catastrophic levels.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
"Come. You shall fall before me in honorable combat. Our words have ended. The remainder shall be spoken with our fists. ...Perhaps, yet again, a human shall surprise me, even now...?!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai gathers the power of the Earth!
MUKAI
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Sagat 1/----===/=======|
Sagat's eye widens when the smoke parts to reveal Mukai. Unmoved, unhurt, unfazed by the techniques he's devoted countless hours to developing and perfecting... and coming right for him like a tireless engine of destruction. He, on the
Sagat's eye widens when the smoke parts to reveal Mukai. Unmoved, unhurt, unfazed by the techniques he's devoted countless hours to developing and perfecting... and coming right for him like a tireless engine of destruction. He, on the hand, can barely stand; if the inevitable wasn't stomping towards him, he would probably be leaning against the little bit of railing still sticking up from the crumbled stands--or better yet, kneeling. Or sitting; anything but supporting himself on legs that have been crushed and beaten almost raw.
Instead, he slowly plants a foot on a piece of rubble not too far ahead of him, and once he's sure it can hold his weight, places the other a little further ahead; Mukai could explode into sudden, terrible violence at any moment, but for now - while he takes his time - Sagat just concentrates on keeping his feet moving. Step. Step. Pause. Grimace. Step; his scarred chest rises and falls with the effort of drawing rasping breaths as the giants approach one another. His fists are balled tightly at his sides, but that's more a matter of training and instinct than anything; just keeping them clenched is painful. Trying to /use/ them - against a body sculpted from stone, no less - is a different thing altogether.
"Very well," he wheezes as he takes his last step down from the stands. "But no warrior - certainly not one of your magnitude - should allow himself to be chained to a cause in which he doesn't believe."
Once those last words are offered, the Emperor takes a big bracing breath to steady himself for what could very well be his last exchange of blows, then charges across the rest of the distance separating them. He leaps a foot or so off of the ground just before getting within arms reach, and means to drive a knee into the side of the honorable devil's head with a primal roar before landing. It will - if he lands, anyway - be followed by a flurry of snap aimed at chopping Mukai's legs out from; any offense he can muster before Mukai makes his sure to be devastating move is precious.
COMBATSYS: Mukai endures Sagat's Aggressive Strike.
MUKAI
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Sagat 1/----===/=======|
"Heh. Some shackles are strong, warrior. Such as to one's comrades. To one's mission. To one's purpose. No matter how it may strike our pride. Some things stand above it." There's no particular reaction when Sagat moves forward. The battle is at it's end, as far as Mukai is concerned. He suddenly flares with more power than has been seen before, as if such a thing were possible. Every one of those strange arcane tattoos is glowing bright white, and the area around them vaporizes, stone disappearing to dust as he draws it inwards. He swirls in a deep gray energy, dark, twisted, and ominous.
The knee strikes Mukai in the head, knocking it aside in a small spray of black blood. The myriad strikes follow, hitting him in the meaty legs with the crisp sounds of success. He's not guarding. No. He has no energy to spare TO guard.
And then suddenly Mukai lifts a hand, and the world flashes in dark gray. The very sun is blotted out, as if all color is drained. What is taking place might not be immediately apparent... until everything begins to turn to stone. The ground spears out for meters in seconds, washing over the already ruined stage that had for so long been Sagat's throne.
A great, expanding orb rushes out, left in it's wake naught but lifeless petrification. And at the forefront of that storm is Thailand's own; he would feel his own skin begin to transform, suffusing down to the core of his being, as the pervasive power of Mukai attempts to turn him into naught but a statue.
"Well fought, great warrior. I hope... I will soon find someone able to bring me defeat...!!"
COMBATSYS: Mukai successfully hits Sagat with Netherworld Agony.
MUKAI
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0|---------------|---------------
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Sagat 1/=======/=======|
Rivers of blood stream down the bottom halves of both of Sagat's legs as he kicks away at Mukai, and while there is little doubt which of the two will be the first to fall if he keeps it up, each new shock of self-inflicted pain just spurs him on towards the next. There's no lingering hope that one of those blows will be the one that miraculously fells the black titan, only the stubborn determination of a man who refuses to quit on his home.
Even as the world is bled of its color around him, he continues to struggle--until the ground erupts beneath his feet and forces him to jump or be impaled upon the petrified ruins of his legacy. His feet end up pressed against two spires of stone jutting in opposite directions, leaving him in a wide and thoroughly awkward stance as raw power blossoms in Mukai's palm. The treacherous terrain and his litany of injuries make dodging unsafe in the extreme; his terrible footing makes trying to block the orb - /whatever/ it is - nearly as dangerous as dodging. All he can do is accept his fate the only way he knows how:
With a defiant battlecry and a last, desperate attempt to give the interloper every bit of the battle he came seeking.
The Invincible Tiger springs from his ungainly perch, driving his knee forward just before meeting the orb. As soon he makes contact with its colorless surface, his kiai twists into a cry of agony. Stone spreads across his body from several points at once, but the real terror is only hinted at by the way the many streams of blood covering his body harden to reddish-gray. Being entombed in stone is bad enough, but feeling blood and bone and tissue petrify is unlike anything he's experienced to date.
It'll only be a matter of seconds before Sagat becomes a memorial unto himself; the only question that remains is whether or not his claws will taste blood a final time.
COMBATSYS: Sagat can no longer fight.
MUKAI
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COMBATSYS: Mukai endures Sagat's Tiger Destruction+.
MUKAI
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Sagat's forward momentum is blunted by the earthen mass that his body is becoming; he crashes to the ground just after making contact with the titan, and is left with the arduous task of trying to /force/ his body into position for one comes next, groaning painfully all the while. Clouds of dust billow from his body as he strains to bring himself low, and chips of stone snap off of his shoulder as he draws his arm back. Blazing chi surging beneath the surface of the stone forces its way through the cracks left behind, but none of the openings last for more than a heartbeat before new rock grows to replace what has been lost.
The last sound he makes before rocketing fist-first towards Mukai's chin is a wordless mixture of fury and torment that is ultimately cut short when his tongue, then vocal cords become solid stone. A ring of chi bursts out from his feet when he takes off, but whatever other power he's managed to gather is held more less in check by the stone shell; it reverberates just underneath, but there are no more breaks.
His landing - if he lands - will be a precarious one, balanced on a single petrified foot with his seven foot frame still fully extended in defiance.
"You've earned the right to some knowledge, great warrior. A small hope of a fighting chance against our machinations. ....There are four places of power. Four keys, that together will allow one to reshape this world. That is all I shall grant you. Now. Come."
Mukai's arms opens, but this time the invitation is genuine. The knee strikes him in the chest, sending Mukai skidding backwards. His teeth grit, more black blood struck forth. The storm of blows tear into the resolute statue, even as strength and speed is slowly stolen away from Sagat. They hurt. Pain. True pain is a rarity for Mukai, who is used only to the dull ache of insects pecking at him.
"Your will... carve it into my flesh... I shall take it...!!"
Again and again he is torn into, and the last brutal uppercut strikes him square in the chin... but before Sagat can lunge upwards and complete the motion, it is too late. He is locked in place, a raging statue that until the end never once abated in it's full-force rush for battle.
Mukai staggers, nearly dropping to a knee. Trembling arms struggle to remain raised, black blood spattering upon the ground. "Hah. Excellent... You fought well, great warrior. And now, you are locked for all to see, at the apex of battle..."
Slowly Mukai rotates his neck, cracking multiple times before spitting once. A sudden infusion of earthen chi ripples over him, and the many heavy dents in his black body begin to press out, wounds receding quickly as he drinks in Gaea's might, a recovery that no human could hope to imitate. Arms spread open, he starts to stride away, both happy and distraught.
It will wear off in a few days... Sagat likely discovered by those of his homeland, the question of what happened on all his mind, before slowly the infectious chi fades away and his roaring uppercut would finish into air long vacated by the opponent still burning in his mind's eye.
He lost; But he was spared. Of that, there is no doubt. Mukai could have shattered him into pieces in the aftermath.
COMBATSYS: Mukai has ended the fight here.
Log created on 17:50:18 09/02/2014 by Mukai, and last modified on 17:56:11 09/08/2014.