Description: When two people with nothing but hatred in their hearts for the machinations of Vega investigate an abandoned Shadaloo installation, the untimely activation of a mind-altering machine brings the darkest parts of their psyches screaming to the forefront and pits them against one another in an all out war for--well--something. (Winner: Sagat) (PS: A pretty good chunk of the log got lost midway through the scene; it got patched back in later, but the formatting is ugly for part of it. The rest is okay; my apologies!)
COMBATSYS: Sagat has started a fight here.
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Sagat 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
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Sagat 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Chun-Li
The door opens sharply with the blow, ice fragments falling from the frame as the anorak wearing figure forces entry and swiftly moves through the room sweeping with the small pistol she rapidly covers the room and confirms no enemy presence. Lowering the gun she pulls back the anorak hood so that she can better survey the contents of the room, the fierce scowl she wears a clear indicator of just how well this was going. No-one, ...none, ...not a soul, ...no-one here, ...empty, ...contents destroyed. She opens door after door and growing more and more frustrated. With each entry she grows more frustrated, how could this entire facility just be abandoned like this? Was it in any way responsible for the terrible events here in Thailand? Even if that were so there is nothing and nobody left in this place. No, that's not true, calm down and focus -- Perhaps there is something down deeper inside the facility.
The way down is not barred by any security measures or personnel, it just takes time to investigate security of control rooms. Any kind of hint, any kind of evidence, Something to implicate Vega - anything to unite the world against someone so utterly despicable. Somewhere along the line she had grown impatient enough to start running, searching furiously and abandoning her methodical search in favour of trusting her intuition. No-one, ...not good enough, ...garbage.
Unzipping and discarding the anorak Chun-li hurls it aside without even a glance or committing to memory where she left it. She was irritated, so very irritated now and though her breath fogs she isn't even feeling the cold any longer. The doors opening automatically for her continue to lead her onwards and downwards no longer raise questions or alarm in her mind. Striding purposefully into a room filled with devices and ancinet looking artifacts the only reason she stops at first is because the door opposite doesn't open for her. The cold is ferocious down here still, the machinery is ticking over still but the fans are chattering and squealing in protest, the artifacts covered with a veil of frost that is thickening in places. Her boot meets the upopening door with a whumpy that dose little more than drop a powder of broken frost and snow. Perfect! maybe it was frozen.
Sagat spent several days as a statue and an extra one as a patient following his encounter with the indomitable Mukai; to say that he was displeased would be an understatement. Since recovering, he has divided his time between protecting his countrymen and investigating the bare leads he managed to extract from the obsidian titan; given the need to remain in Thailand and his near-total lack of experience as an investigator, it was inevitable that his search would eventually bring him to Heaven's Crown.
When Shadaloo was at its peak in the area, the Crown was a satellite installation responsible for testing some of the syndicatedeveloping some of the syndicate
Sagat spent several days as a statue and an extra one as a patient following his encounter with the indomitable Mukai; to say that he was displeased would be an understatement. Since recovering, he has divided his time between protecting his countrymen and investigating the bare leads he managed to extract from the obsidian titan; given the need to remain in Thailand and his near-total lack of experience as an investigator, it was inevitable that his search would eventually bring him to Heaven's Crown.
When Shadaloo was at its peak in the area, the Crown was a satellite installation responsible for testing and further developing some of the syndicate's more eccentric breakthroughs/acquisitions; Sagat never spent much time on its grounds, but he was very familiar with its reputation. If there's any record, any evidence at all of Vega having had dealings with the Tournament's organizers, the Crown is where he'd expect to find it; absent any more concrete leads, confirming the presence or absence of the most obvious collaborator in Thailand's downfall is as good an idea as any.
The Invincible Tiger was studying documents in another corner of the facility while Chun-Li progressed through door after miraculously functional door; unlike them, the one connecting the lab he's occupying to the rest of the base refuses to budge. Fortunately, the base's ventillation system was actually designed to accomodate people crawling around in them, just on the off chance that Vega or one of the Dolls might want to use them to get the drop on an intruder; wriggling his seven foot frame through shafts was something of a challenge, but at least the security systems were down. There are segments of the vents that are now warped beyond recognition and function, but it's unlikely that anyone will be coming to repair them.
His reading is interrupted by a sudden *WHAM!* against the door that sends a fine mist of snow wafting from its surface into the lab; his eye snaps up to the door immediately and narrows. The facility isn't exactly on any maps, but given the dire circumstances in Thailand, it is entirely possible for a curious local to have stumbled onto it while searching for shelter. It's doubtful, however, that a local would /knock/ as hard as whatever is making the noise outside, and just as unlikely that it was made by a Shadaloo operative.
/They/, he reasons, would probably also be yelling at him through the door, or else not bothering with knocking in the first place in favor of deploying an assassin of some kind; he can't, as he sets a handful of papers back upon the haphazard pile they came from, quite decide whether he'd prefer to be wrong on that count. A Shadaloo presence could confirm a connection between Mukai, Saiki, and Vega, or it could simply be the result of a still-functioning alarm; either way, questioning one directly would be a huge improvement over muddling through documents.
Instead of waiting to see whether or not the mystery party is able to - or even interested in - punching their way through, he decides to draw in a deep breath which he holds in his lungs for a couple of seconds while drawing his arms back, before--
"TIGER!"
--exhaling and thrusting his arms forward in the same instant. Fire courses along his limbs, gathers momentarily around his fists, then explodes outwards to splash against the door and give whomever is on the other side a hand in forcing it open. Once that's done, he folds his arms over his chest; /now/ he's fine with waiting for a while, just to see how long it takes the other person to find a way in.
The impact against the door from the other side is enough to startle Chun-li, that blow had clearly come from the other side and been preceded by a loud yell of something. Drawing her leg back she hits the door with a white soled boot that starts it rattling back and forth in the frame. Blow after blow she hits and starts to deform the metal in the centre of the door, it's not as firm as it looks like it should be, as her fingertips push through the gap. The metallic groan as she parts the two security doors enough to force her thigh through and jamb her foot against the doors inner surface.
The doors begin to parts with a juddering slowness moving with sudden jerks as she wrestles them apart with the strength of her entire body. Just a little more effort.
The doors themselves are most certainly warped but slide far enough apart that the woman can release her hold and step into the room. The air flooding into the room is bitterly cold and wafts some of the ice shards in ahead of her, enough for her boots to crunch loudly as she suddenly rushes into the room.
"Sagat!"
There he was, a mountain of a man, a man of such height and breadth it would never even occur how he managed to gain entry. A man that was one of Shadaloos most prominent and powerful figures, standing right in front of her -- in a facility all but swept clean of evidence. Ah, so he was back to old tricks; Covering up for Shadaloo? Staring at his face yields nothing as she cannot read it well enough to discern his reaction or intent in regard to her presence, she would do better studing a stone to discern it's intent, until her eyes trace the scene enough to find the papers . So, that was itc covering Vegas tracks. Some small part of him raged against the treachery in that man's past, he had betrayed his people, then even Shadaloo. A small part of her bristles even further at the betrayal of Shadaloo. A sickly and worrying feeling that sounds all too familiar. One foot planted firmly in front of the other she is only dimly aware of her hostile stance both arms hanging at sides but wrists and fingers lightly curled and ready to assume a fighting stance.
"Hand over any evidence you have."
A strict ultimatum but staring levelly at Sagat would giver her a crick in her neck just being forced to look at that stoney face for much longer. Her prejudiced view on how trustworthy he could be was coloured by his past. One that should never be forgotten even if people forgave him for it!
Sagat is wearing a winter coat with his Muay Thai shorts, but as the door shudders and begins to bow inward, he takes a moment to whip the garment off and toss it to a corner of the room before refolding his arms. There's a smirk on his lips; it's one he's spent many years honing in front of adoring fans and hopeful boxers, full of indulgence and dismissal. Although it's one of the subtler elements of his fighting posture, anyone who's ever seen him fight - or moreover, been across an arena from him - has probably seen it at some point or another, whether in the opening moments of the contest or just before some terrible blow was struck.
"Officer," he replies when Chun-Li says his name. He relaxed at the first sight of delicate hands and spiked bracelets prying the doors apart, but only a little; knowing that the other visitor isn't here on behalf of Shadaloo isn't quite as good as knowing where she stands--or, more important, what brought her here. Then again, just sharing a lack of love for Vega could be enough to break the proverbial ice and avert a--
'Hand over any evidence you have.'
--fight.
Sagat slowly cants his head at the request, and it's the only move he makes. There are papers piled on a desk near him, and there are many more scattered around the floor. Past him, there are lab tables with a few frosted tools, components, and devices strewn about them, and at the very back there's a bank of several computer terminals. The papers seem to be printouts of charts, lab reports, journals, and other documentation of the Crown's various projects; it is fairly unlikely that Sagat of all people was getting much from reading them besides annoyed.
"Evidence of /what/?" he wonders with an even tone and an arching brow. "I have no idea why you're here; I certainly wasn't /expecting/ you." A beat passes as he straightens his head so that he's staring directly down upon the former law enforcer. His eye begins to narrow as he adds, "Perhaps if I knew - and I were asked properly - I would be able to help you."
The jaw drops slack for a moment as she blinks at Sagat, raw pained emotion plays across her face before she clamps down on it. She had no real right to be here but that didn't mean she would back down, even from a 'National hero' in his own country. In the heart of a criminal tyrants fortress lines were oh, -so- easily crossed and law almost meaningless. Her teeth gritted she points right at the piles of paper.
"Whatever evidence Shadaloo is behind this - are you also? Covering your Masters tracks and damning your own people?"
if a national hero wouldn't protect his own people, she was furious. This place was looking like it had been swept clean and the only person she could find here, she had not wanted to come across. A fallen emperor; willing servant of Shadaloo, and still despite it all he was still loved and still their national hero.
Infuriating.
She tightens her fist and stares beyond it at the gigantic mound of muscle standing imposingly before her. She wasn't a national hero, she wasn't a police officer but she still wanted to protect people despite all the negative emotions, all the fear, hate and suffering. The presence of someone appearing so calm egging her on and barbing her with his words; pushing when she seems already so close to the edge so prompts her, her posture shifts into a definitive stance as her arms relax and raise both hands into a guard posture, she's ready to attack at the slightest of provocations or moves on his part, he would not escape Justice, the corrupted and empty form of Justice that is twisting her heart by preying on her insecurities.
Heaven's Crown was a place for experiments, the biggest of which was built into the very structure of the place. Speakers throughout the place broadcast bursts of carefully pitched but scarcely audible sonics and the lights in certain areas strobe with precise rhythms, sometimes changing colors entirely for the blink of an eye; the system was designed to alter the moods of new recruits and make them more pliant to suggestion.
Once the temperature began to plummet in Thailand, it didn't take long for the system - already suffering the deleterious effects of abandonment - to began behaving erratically--beginning with being active at all. At standard levels - without propaganda to help mold the thoughts of servants - the effects are relatively subtle and mostly serve to accentuate negative emotions. As Chun-Li points to the paper behind Sagat, however...
*...eeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!*
... what was an ultrasonic hum begins to fall until it's an incessant keening threatening to crowd out rational thought with its sheer, shrill persistence. The smirk melts from Sagat's face as the sound becomes more and more audible and Chun-Li presses him for evidence. Not only that, she tries to tie him to Shadaloo--to the ruin of his people.
And all while having the gall to call Vega his 'Master'.
"Oh, how they must lament the loss of your deductive talents in China," he hisses once his features have fallen fully into a narrow-eyed glare. His arms unfold, baring the jagged scar carved across his chest, and he takes a step towards the woman. "There /is/ no evidence here--not for you," he continues. Or, really, for him, not that there's any reason to admit it to her--especially not with her questioning his very motives for being here at all. "There is /nothing/ here for you--"
The lights in both the lab and the room Chun-Li entered from go black, only for bright red bulbs running along the floors and ceilings in both rooms to pop on and replace them. Within seconds, the original lighting begins to strobe at an infuriatingly mad tempo as the rapidly degrading mood alteration system continues to intensify.
"--but a lesson in manners!" he finishes, voice rising to a roar as his hands tightly clench.
Chun-Li accepts the hostility in Sagat's words as a matter of fact. The increasing whine alarms her enough that she momentarily pauses as if searching for the source of the sound. There's no time! No time. There was a strong chance it was a self-destruct or some other escape device, hissing static that is unsettlingly familiar assault her ears but her priorities are clear, to defeat the guard dog and make off with whatever he was guarding. To punish him, to break him!
Flying from the spot Chun-li tears across the open floor space between the two fighters, with every flicker of the lights she appears to close without having to have bothered with the intervening space. Blue and gold shine brightly during the flickering of the lights. Almost point blank she feints and leaps, sailing overhead of the giant, ribbons encircling her as they twirl while she spins. There is an 'Ei' of effot as she prepares to kicks out at the back of his head.
COMBATSYS: Sagat endures Chun-Li's Tenshin Shuu Kyaku!
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Sagat 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Zero respect. He has fought, bled, and sacrificed of himself to atone for the sins he committed during the long night of his Shadaloo affiliation, yet this woman who shares his hatred for Vega has decided that none of it matters. His nostrils flare as he tries to remember the /last/ time they crossed paths - were they enemies then, too? Are they /now/? The siren makes it hard to say; whenever he's close to the memory, it shatters like glass, defying his attempts to grasp onto it while filling his thoughts with blood.
As long as they're bathed in the maddening glow of these strobing lights, there /is/ no past for them, nor any future; just an endless, scarlet-tinged now.
The Tiger pauses the first time he catches sight of Chun-Li's lightning-quick advance between flickers, but rather than sink into something resembling a defensive - or even offensive - posture, he just waits with tensed muscles and intermittent snorting sounds. He begins to cock a fist back when it seems as if she might dance within his reach, only to be drop it when her boot soundly impacts the back of his head and sends him stumbling several feet forward with a howl of pain.
"You come to my HOME--" he thunders upon stabilizing himself; when he whirls back around to face - and more importantly, charge towards - her, his face is a twisted mask of rage. "--my COUNTRY--and you DISRESPECT me in pursuit of NOTHING?!" One of his fists snaps open, and he tries to snag one of Chun-Li's legs before she hits the ground from leaping all the way up to his head; if he's able to catch her, he'll simply hurl her back into the room she came from with a final, wordless roar.
COMBATSYS: Sagat successfully hits Chun-Li with Aerial Tiger Carry.
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Sagat 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Chun-Li
The hand seizing her leg completely encloses it, there is no time to think of breaking the lock or escape as the room suddenly turns sideways and wind roars past her ears as she is catapulted back at the thin opening in the doors she had so very recently entered through. Tucking herself into a ball she collides with the sides of both doors with hardly a noise and lands heavily before performing a modest breakfall and using her arms to slow herself and rolling and sliding to a stop. Spinning her legs with a rotorary motion she rights herself from her back into a seated position with legs folded neatly under her. A hop back to her feet and she stands poised to resume battle without outwardly displaying the burning pain in her back and shoulders.
Having picked herself up she comes right back like a stinging hornet, furiously angry her her bracelets crash against the inside of those same doors as she dashes back though but she carrys on unheeding. Seemingly having gone berserk or in the very least single-mindedly intent on destroying her target. Arms drag behind in her wake as she dashes in but as she comes back in not and fast she drops low, sliding in close this time , The man standing over her appearing almost monolithic in proportions, there's just more of him to strike out at. She launches off the ground right up at him spinning her body in the air to deliver kick after kick.
COMBATSYS: Sagat just-defends Chun-Li's Tenshou Kyaku!
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Sagat 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Chun-Li
As soon as he let Chun-Li go, Sagat pivoted and began pacing towards the doors so as not to give the offending former officer any room to escape his wrath. Low rumbles or snarls emanate from him with each breath, and tongues of furious orange chi briefly dance along the length of his scar. The first few steps aren't by any stretch leisurely, but they're fairly methodical--a brisk walk more than anything; that less hurried pace lasts for about as long as his resolve to stretch his 'lesson' out does, and once /that/ glimmer of restraint fades, his brisk walk becomes a pounding sprint.
Even when she regains her feet and launches at him with a flurry of kicks, he charges; even with the urge to rend her asunder for failing to show the proper respect driving him inexorably forward, though, he isn't foolish enough to discount the legendary strength of her kicks--especially not while his skull is still throbbing. The first time her leg surges towards his chin, he brings his arms up to cover his face and allows her leg to slam against his forearms, driving him back slightly; the only thing that saves him from an aching, if not outright cracked limb is the momentary flash of chi that appears when their limbs make contact.
When the next kick comes, he swats it aside with a broad sweep of his arms and another orange flare. The blows that follow are similarly met by intercepting shins and forearms alight with spiritual fire until he finally sees an opening: just as she's spinning around to deliver another blow, the Emperor sinks half a step back, then thrusts a hand forward in the hopes of once more snatching her from the air. Instead of just hurling her away, however, he intends to slam his knee into her body once or twice before letting go, if he manages to get a hold of her.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks Sagat's Tiger Rage.
Folding one of her legs up and tucking it across her body she takes the knee strike against it rather than her leave her body vulnerable to his power; simultaneously leaving her arms free. Her tiny hands dwarfed by Sagat's sweep inside and up slapping and pressing at the delicate bones and cartilages between wrist and hand, breaking the titans hold on her at the same time the second kick propels her back and away. Her landing is sketchy, one leg is still feeling the brunt of the attack and as such she hurls her upper body forward and takes the weight off of the leg as she slices each leg wide she walks her body forward spinning and whirling with those scything legs. Papers and the like sent scattering and she neglects to even consider why she was here any longer.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blitzes into action and acts again!
COMBATSYS: Sagat just-defends Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick!
The Invincible Tiger releases Chun-Li with a growl of pain as her fingers worm their way into the vulnerable places of his massive hand. Meanwile, the keening - while losing none of its volume or piercing tone - begins pouring from the speaker in machine gun bursts like a storm siren gone awry; within moments of the shift, Sagat's eye begins to twitch and bulge, which precedes a frenzied roar that that shakes free some of the snow and dirt clinging to these unused surfaces.
And then, before he knows it, Chun-Li generates a /real/ storm--or something very close, anyway; she's /so fast/, and tougher than her build would suggest, to boot. More kicks are coming for his face before he knows it, forcing him to once more tuck his arms close to his face to intercept them; along with flares of chi, mounting noises of anger at her continued stubbornness accompany each blow that collides with his forearms. Initially, he tries to force his way forward /despite/ her, but all it really takes is one steel-crumpling hit to make him think better of it; all he can do is hunker down and wait, and even /then/, he finds himself being forced steadily backwards by the sheer strength of her legs.
When it's all over, he is left panting with the exertion of having weathered her tempest, and his arms - positively blazing with chi - are thrown aside with another cry of scarcely human fury.
The whirring motion of her body stops and as she drops her legs to regain her feet she doesn't come up empty handed, A scintillating rush of a different bright blue gathers in her hands as she attempts to press it point blank into Sagat with a fierce cry of--
'KIKOUKEN!"
\Adrenaline was pumping and despite the aches and pains in some little corner of her mind she was crying, Not again! Stop doing this. But it felt so good to be fighting him, the past and present merged and right now she was simply fighting an agent of evil. There was no rule to stop her, no law to hold her back or tie her down. Faster! More powerful! She'd have his head!!
Tears start to gather in the corners of her eyes but she blitzes on regardless; completely oblivious and overwhelmend by the still rising fury.
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Sagat 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Chun-Li
All seven feet of Sagat towers over the former investigator as she hits the ground, his upper body ablaze with tongues of orange fire. In the blink of an eye, blue light blossoms between her hands and careens towards him, clashing momentarily with his manifested chi before splashing directly against his chest.
Right now, his severe height advantage mostly just means that her projectile catches him at /just/ the right angle to blast him off of his feet and send him hurtling towards--/through/ the ceiling with smoke and cries of fury trailing from him in nearly equal measure the whole way. The facility shudders as the Emperor of Muay Thai's body crashes through its already delicate infrastructure, all the way until he crashes elsewhere in it with a great rumble. From the sound of it, he isn't /too/ far away--perhaps a room or two.
It takes him a moment to regain his bearings when he finally crash-lands on a desk in some scientist's former office, but once he does he scrambles to his feet with such violence that both the chair and broken pieces of the desk are cast aside, and he immediately charges to throw a punch at--a wall. It's a good punch, hard enough to make the room rumble; it also causes him to recoil with a yelp of surprise and frustrated anger. Even with the shrill siren and incessantly flickering lights, he remembers enough about the Crown's layout to be able to turn towards the wall separating him from the lab he was blown out of a moment later, at which point he drops a step back from it and his fingers across his searing chest.
"TIGER!"
He definitely isn't more than a room away; fortunately, Chun-Li won't have to try very hard to chase him down, because right after that thundering cry, a fireball explodes through one of the lab's walls. If he could still remember what he was doing here before Chun-Li came to impose her will on him, the papers it passes over as it soars through the room might have survived the meeting; instead, there's a line of burning evidence leading from the wall to--well, somewhere; the attack /was/ fired blindly, after all. Given the former officer's incredible speed, it has just as much chance of stopping against the opposite wall as it does coming anywhere near her.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges Sagat's Tiger Shot.
Falling like leaves the scattered papers drift through the air peaceably before igniting or being immolated in their entirety as the flaming projectile that rockets towards her. Her footfalls had slowed and her pursuit ceased as the flare of chi fuelled fire forms and then launches towards her at a frightening speed. Contorting her body she leans aside and weaves her arms move like a serpentine impression of a crashing wave as she flows around and under the projectile, one eye screwed closed against the brightness as she weaves her way around the fire with only a light singing.
Burning papers falling all about her like leaves she doesn't even stop to consider the implications of the fire, or the importance those papers had just a short time ago. As it detonatates against the ground behind her it throws the draping cloth and fluttering ribbons away from the point of impact and she hastily resumes her guard as it presses her away from the point of impact
That had been a close call, her skin still felt the burning of its passage and lingering sparks and cinders fall around her. Behind her the office is beginning to burn.Waiting for her eyes to adjust she rights herself and appends to peer through the now brightly lit rooms interior towards her adversary, it would be difficult to lose sight of an imposing figure like Sagat.
-Whoosh-
Having dropped into a crouch she jumps high, upwards through the same hole the Emperor of Muay-Thai had created she bounces herself off part of the now destroyed debris and sail through the air towards him having hiked off of it. One legs seemingly near disappears as she throws kick after kick with lightning speed.
"Hyaaaaaaaaagh-Kuretsu KYAKU!"
COMBATSYS: Sagat interrupts Hyakuretsu Kyaku from Chun-Li with Tiger Crush.
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Sagat 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
Sagat's chest is black and bright red thanks to the Kikouken; between the landing that followed it and the kick to the back of his head, his gait isn't quite steady as he climbs through the hole and stomps through flaming research. He weaves slightly from foot to foot most of the way--right until Chun-li flows underneath his fireball, at which point he freezes to watch with incredulous fury.
His first instinct is to start running in the hopes of getting close enough to catch her with a reciprocal punch, but his wildly thrown arm slices through empty air when she drops low at /just/ the right time. Just as he's drawing his leg back to punt her out of her low position, she goes high, then springs back down at him with more kicks than his eye can follow.
This, he remembers; the times, the places, the circumstances, they all still blur together into a sea of formless red, but the rapid-fire violence unleashed by the World's Most Dangerous Woman is hard to forget, especially as her foot cracks across his jaw. In the blink of an eye, he's left with a bloodied nose and swelling eye--and she /still/ isn't finished; he stumbles back a step, and she's /still/ on him. He manages to get his arms up in front of his face after steadying hiself, but so many kicks slip past his guard that it doesn't even matter; instead of waiting for her to tire out and trying to continue weathering her assault, he decides to try and end it prematurely by shuffling back a step, and - after taking one more punishing kick to the jaw - launching his massive frame into the air with a booming roar, seeking to crash into her knee-first.
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Sagat 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
All the air expelled from her lungs; Chun-li hangs as the knee strikes across her torso, doubled across Sagats knee she almost in all but pinned in the air until the last drop of air has been expelled and the blow press down upon bone and muscle before she arcs backwards in the air, dropping back through the not so convenient hole in the level floor and falling solidly to the one below. Lying unmoving for a scant handful of second as she begins pulling herself together.
That last hit had definitely shaken her and her whole body feels somewhat tenderized by the dual impacts of the blow and the fall. Coughing as her body struggles to find its breath in the now smoke filled air she hurriedly climbs back to her knees and steadies herself. Her hands tremble with rage, elevating himself above her like some kind of imperious Emperor when he was nothing more than a criminal, a traitor who probably had plenty of blood on his hands. Her hands stretch upwards rather than in front of her, she would not allow him to feel that sense of superiority, Not it it cost her a hundred lives.
The air cinders and fires in the room begun to circulate as the atmosphere changes just a little, the blue sphere summoned between her hands flares brightly but then explodes and expands complete with brilliant light as she forces more power into it.
"Ki-KOUSHOU!"
Desks and paper are pushed away or circle her crazily as she pushes the sphere of corkscrewing radiant light right up into the ceiling on which Sagat stands.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Sagat with Kikoushou.
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Sagat 1/------=/=======|=------\-------\0 Chun-Li
The ceiling crumbles before the mighty wave of chi rushing out from Chun-Li, and in his haste to leap through the hole and continue pursuing his prey, the Invincible Tiger is in mid-air when the energy washes over him. For several torturous seconds, he is frozen amidst the crushing tides of that rapidly expanding sphere as the rest of the floor he was occupying is turned to rubble; it isn't until the burst begins to subside that he finally starts to fall, until he finally crashes into the desk full of papers he was initially perusing.
Shallow, enraged groans and snorts rise from his massive form as he writhes in the splinters, and his flailing attempts at standing leave new dents in the nearby wall until he finally manages to stagger back to his feet. Even there, he weaves drunkenly for a moment before he's able to plant his feet and achieve some semblance of stability; at that point, he vigorously shakes his head, then snaps it up to level a murderous, wide-eyed glare on the former officer.
There's a dark rainbow spreading across most of his chest and fire in his chest whenever he tries to breathe; regardless, he gulps as big a lungful of air as he can bear while driving himself back to his knees. Orange flames lick across his chest, and as soon as he hits the ground, he expels the breath with another cry of, "TIGER!" and thrusts both arms forward. Chi spirals along his limbs before exploding from his fists in another scintillating ball, and once it's out, he remains on his knees to give himself a moment to catch his breath.
He might not remember the last time he saw Chun-Li without wanting to break her, but he's /sure/ that he was a younger man; the very thought that he's flagging where once he might have plowed tirelessly onwards just adds fuel to the fires of his rage.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks Sagat's Low Tiger Shot.
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Sagat 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Still breathing hard Chun-li watches the fallen emperor cautiously, scoling as he shifts around looking for an opening the limbs thrashing appearing to her far too dangerous to advance towards. She could be clobbered senseless before she even reached striking distance and so she starts to step sideways, beginning to circle and nook for an opening to exploit. The room filled with overturned and destroyed furniture, falling ash and debris and the constant crackle of fire provides plenty of obstacles now to her movement. It's harder to move as she likes and she's unsure as to how much damage she managed to even inflict.
It's only when he rises and shakes his head to glare at her that she allows herself to smile, immense relief that that seems to have actually hurt him. The smile rising on her lips is subtlety twisted, Entirely wrong. The newly formed scintillating ball of chi bears down on her the moment she realized just how precariously she is positioned, rather than throw herself around the room in a manoeuvre that might risk breaking her own neck she like Sagat drops into a crouch and is driven backwards under the pressure of the driving blast. As the flames thin out just a little she dashes the projectile between her arms and dissipates what little flames remain to either side. Her arm reddened and angry and bracers blacked -- the stocking has sheared away from her defending leg leaving it bare and she has to test it for strength as she rises. The upside now however is that she has a clear path right to Sagat and falteringly at first but quickly gaining speed she chases right in at him, crouched as he is it's almost like facing a fighter her own size. Fingers flexing and spread as at the last conceivable moment she reaches out to grab at him rather than launching yet another blow.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Sagat with Koshuu Tou.
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Sagat 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Sagat's head bounces off of the ground once Chun-Li tosses him away. He flops onto his stomach almost immediately afterwards, but the room is spinning far too violently for that; the best he can manage is supporting himself on his hands and knees while he tries to recover his bearings. Shortly after propping himself up, his body is unexpectedly racked with violent coughs that only cease after he's spat out a mouthful of blood, the very sight of which causes the veins in his neck to bulge angrily. His fingers are swiped through the spatter, allowing him to to examine it a little closer still without laying prone again; snarls that have no business coming from a man rise from his throat as he contemplates it, bringing it ever closer to his eye until finally... he decides to just wear it.
A shudder passes through his body as he haphazardly paints streaks of crimson down his face, and as soon as he's done, the snarling explodes into guttural howls and he scrambles to his feet. Without even straightening up, he breaks into a charge, unconcerned with the way he's weaving to and fro with each step; he doesn't intend to stay on his feet for very long, anyway. As soon as he's close enough, his already bent frame sinks even further, bunching into a momentary crouch before explosively unfolding to deliver a rising uppercut.
"TIGER BLOW!"
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li eludes Sagat's Tiger Blow.
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Sagat 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Chun-li's smile falters under the bizarre seeming behaviour of the Muay-Thai Emperor; She simply watches fascinated by the display of barbarism, her blood starting to run cold bearing witness to the act of him painting his already serious face with his own blood. It were as if the mountain she had been fighting were now coming down at her in an avalanche, she takes a half step back just with the frightful nature of the beast she may be fighting.
As he begins his charge she resumes her stance and begins to trace small circles in air with her hands, with every powerful footfall however she slides her feet back and away. To meet hardness with softness, control the power used against herc oh god NO!! There was a difference between redirecting a blow and being hit by a speeding train.
Sagat drops low Chun-li is already throwing herself back at a speed that just barely seems to match the rising fist aimed directly at her, Arms spread wide and back like a bird in flight she curves her spine to lean further away and gently begin to turn backwards in the air - The world moves slowly as she glares at the incoming shoulder and body, cocking her head back to look behind as her body turns though a back somersault and she lands neatly, that half a foot - that was all the difference, no.. maybe even less. Her adrenaline was peaking, that had been terrifying in the extreme, when she kicks off the ground and launches herself at him with all her strength it is to push him away, lashing out with everything she has left.
"TENSHOU KYAKU"
COMBATSYS: Sagat blocks Chun-Li's Tenshou Kyaku.
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Sagat 1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Rather than the satisfying crunch of bone, Sagat just feels air rushing past his fist as he twists upwards. The Kikoushou made plenty of room for him to rise, and he committed so much of his strength to the attack that he can't help but use all of it. He's only just coming down from his apex when Chun-Li spirals up to meet him with a flurry of steel-rending kicks, and while there's certainly no hope of twisting his hulking body aside from the attack, he has enough time to tuck his knees and elbows close to the rest of his body so that her feet aren't lashing across his already battered chest and head.
Every time she makes contact with him, he's driven a couple inches upwards; all told, the clash adds a second or two to his descent and leaves him with limbs that'll continue stinging long after he eventually crashes back to the ground in a crouch. He hammers it with a roar of frustration and a low rumble ripples out from him.
"Indignity after indignity--" he bellows, his right fist grinding against the ground as his left hand gradually claws across his scar. Raging tongues of chi begin pouring from beneath those fingers to spread across the rest of his body, seeming to grow larger and brighter with each breath forced from his battered chest.
"MY PATIENCE IS AT AN END!"
Flecks of spit and blood spray from his lips; a tendril of it lingers afterwards, but he seems wholly unaware of or unconcerned with it as he not only rises from his crouched position, but launches himself after Chun-Li like a cannon shell with his knee bent forward to tear through her. The chi racing along his muscles bursts into a blazing aura that leaves searing trails in the air as he travels.
"TIGER--"
COMBATSYS: Sagat knocks away Chun-Li with Tiger Destruction+.
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Sagat 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Chun-Li
The crushing knee blow isn't the end of Sagat's onslaught, just a terrible prelude.
The arc of that initial attack brings him back to the ground in fairly short order, and he lands on the balls of his feet; rather than remain upright, however, he compresses his body for a second time and snaps his gaze up to the officer while drawing his right fist back. The spiritual conflagration consuming him races along the rest of his body to collect around his readied fist, and a hateful gleam shines in his eye.
"--DESTRUCTION!"
He rockets into the air after that booming word, his chi-infused sledgehammer of a fist blazing a path towards Chun-Li's body; thanks to the flickering lights, watching his soaring approach might be a little like watching a flipbook, only there's no surprise at all as to what's waiting on the last page.
Her kicks had made solid contact and yet all she seemed to manage was more pecking away at mountain, he won't fall. Drifting to the ground lightly she lands with flowering of blue and gold that sprouts beneath her like a flower. Her breath isn't coming easy and she's been pretty well tenderised by the battle thus far. As Sagat begins to roar about the indignities he has suffered she can't help but be cowed by the rage, the vehemence with which the words are spoken. She had though to bring him back to earth, but the mighty Emperor it seems to have been enraged by such a feat.
Like a deer in headlights she folds and around the oncoming knee strike, pupils shrinking as her brain tries to process the damage across and through the interior of her body, The consciousness behind her eyes is already dimmed as the second blow, an uppercut wreathed in fire smashes her higher into the air, faster and further; sending her spiralling through the ceiling two stories above. As a ragdoll might flattens out against the ceiling there and then falls limply to the ground right at the edge of the very hole she emerged from. One arm hanging down over the drop swings freely back and forth, quite limp while Chun-li lies still and unmoving.
Eyelids flutter open as if she might awaken but just slide closed as though with a sigh. The heavy weight of her bracelet draws her body closer to the hole and with a gentle slipping motion her body slides closer to the hole and she falls.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Sagat 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li can no longer fight.
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Sagat 0/-------/-------|
Sagat's landing isn't anywhere near as rough as Chun-Li, but there's very little grace to it. That he lands on his feet at all is mostly due to surging adrenaline, and even then, remaining upright for more than a second or two is a painful effort. His spine curves forward each time he tries to take a breath; it feels like she's still kicking him, only from the inside. The room isn't quite as much of a madly spinning mess as long as he doesn't try to move too much, but darkness is creeping into the corner of his vision thanks to suffering so many vicious blows to the back of his head. His whole body wavers two and fro like a willow tree; it would be so easy to fall right now, to succumb to the terrible injuries he's suffered from the educated feet of the World's Most Dangerous Woman. All he'd have to do is stop trying so hard.
But--he can still hear breathing above himself. If he squints hard enough, he can just make out her arm dangling - and sliding towards - the hole in the ceiling amidst his multiplied vision; stopping would technically be the easiest thing in the world, but her continued presence makes it impossible. She's up there, sure, but--it's only a matter of time before she's with him. The Invincible Tiger's shoulders shake as he lets out a loud snort and paces back and forth beneath the hole; he can't move terribly fast right now, but impatience nonetheless evident in his bearing. Whenever he hears a new sound above him, his eye twitches up there, and each time she's a little bit closer. Soon, he can see ribbons dangling down along with her arms, and not long after that--she plummets. With his teeth bared in a hateful rictus, Sagat's hand snaps up to snag the falling former investigator from the air by her throat, and as he draws her limp form closer to himself--
--the lights go dead.
The alarm continues to wail, although its pitch begins to fall even further once the lights are gone; the bestial growls rising from the depths of his body are about the only other sound in the lab. Once again, she's helpless in his grasp, only this time--/this/ time, there won't be any precision strikes or lightning-like agility to help her escape. Her dead weight compounded with the pain still shooting through his arms from soaking her kicks makes hanging onto her an arduous task, albeit one he's glad to endure if it means repaying her for the disrespect he was shown. All he'd have to do is squeeze until he felt something give, but--
--then it wouldn't just be /his/ blood on his hands today, would it?
The brawl between Vega's enemies was relatively contained, but the two fighters still managed to decimate their corner of the facility; given that, it was only really a matter of time before the already failing obedience system woven into its structure gave out. The siren's pitch continues to fall as Sagat contemplates his prey until it's just a gentle hum not unlike a whale song, at which point the Emperor's eye flutters before narrowing on the darkness where she's dangling.
"What...?" he lowly wonders, struggling to form the word as he finally begins to think thoughts that aren't splattered with blood. He remembers coming to the Crown to determine whether or not Shadaloo and the Gaia Tournament are linked. He remembers spiked bracelets and fluttering ribbons, evidence and--
Evidence...?
The facility's usual pale lights flicker back on and stay on, giving him a full view of the battered ex-officer in his grasp--which is loosening, now that he can see her again. Her wounds--/his/ wounds--was this /really/ about those research papers? He does a quick check around them and his eye momentarily catches on a few scraps of burning paper before settling back on Chun-Li with a mixture of confusion and disgust. Try as he might, he can't make sense of what just transpired: warriors who could have been allies descending into a blood-soaked frenzy, all over her manners and a bunch of documents he could barely even read; all he can do is consider whether the bruises, broken ribs, and concussion that'll no doubt nag him for days to come were worth it.
"I--" he just stops himself; she isn't awake to hear any apologies anyway. Instead, he clenches his jaw in a tight line and gingerly shifts the ex-officer to his shoulder, because limping out of the Crown and finding a triage center is the best gesture he can make at this point.
He won't be there when she wakes up; maybe the /next/ time they see each other, there'll be time for amends.
Log created on 00:06:18 09/10/2014 by Sagat, and last modified on 18:30:12 09/12/2014.