Description: When the world is falling apart, it's hard to get a feel for when it's time to take that very final plunge into where one knows it's all going to end. Howard Rust, deciding it is time to bring the fight to the final stage of human history as everyone knows it, takes the plunge by himself... but not alone.
By the time he returned to the city of Ise, the sky no longer resembled anything a sky should. Earlier on, it was taking violent patterns that at least could be found in nature. Extremely dark skies from a heavy concentration of storm clouds, that sort of thing. For being unnatural, it was... normal, in the context of earth, sea, and sky being twisted and contorted in the proximity of the great scar of space and time.
Now it was a swirling mass of pulsating ripples of red and blue, like northern auroras having displaced themselves and decided to experiment in tattooing themselves in tye-dye vats. It is a far more whimsical analogy than gives the horror of the sight credit. This, above all the other phenomena, painted a truly grisly picture.
Everything stands to lose form in any familiar shape, character, or expectation. To date, Rust is still amazed that there at least has been consistency in just how much volcanic ash has been spewing about, still the same color, the same feel, the same temperature... the same tendency to somehow all just find its way into his lungs, as he coughs along the way up to the military barricades around the city of Ise praying that the ground itself doesn't similarly lose form (while coughing).
Coincidentally, it was the time he finally ran out of the coffee he all but stole from Pacific High while it was still abandoned - he reasoned it as a medical emergency after so many hours of sleep deprivation and having zero opportunity to sleep after the nuclear scare. They always had the best coffee he's ever tasted, and even being days old from abandonment from Rolento's threat and an unappetizing lukewarm taste, it still had that kick. It needed to keep him awake, given he had run out at his own place and held too much respect for his immediate neighbors to think about looting them.
It still wouldn't have been something he'd ever considered in more polite times, better times, but it was the end of the world as has been plainly put forth to him. After his culpability for a lot of what had taken place, just by simply allowing things to be... that probably wasn't going to be a major stain to his conscience when the choice was between passing out from need for sleep and staying awake long enough to make that final plunge.
Not that anything was going to magically get better, as he steps up ever closer to the vortex. Even in a best case scenario, the world was ravaged and all but destroyed - there is no magic solution for all the displaced people, all the ruined land, all the starvation and overcrowding that will run rampant. Nobody was likely to throw a ticker tape parade even if whoever were behind this was stopped, or go back to anything resembling the normal daily routines he had held dear.
Why would I even bother, then, anyone would ask as he set his right hand atop Ol' Rusty, that rusted, battered length of pipe straight from when he first picked up a pipe to bludgeon two ne'er-do-wells at his workplace so many years ago. It sat patiently in wait in that ripped toolbelt pocket so it could go through its bottom, to the extent an inanimate object consciously waits for something.
What signal was he waiting for? For those who gathered with the intent to come fight, there wasn't really any organization. Nobody had any 'go' for when it was time to take the plunge, as his breath grew shorter in the wait of the great vortex that continued to expand - now at an alarming rate. It was more due to that reason that any sort of attempt at communication and organization broke down.
He could hear the chattering on radios about Shadaloo operatives skulking about, of some people having already taken the plunge inside. He waited for all of four or so minutes to make sure a familiar face was hoping to find him so that they could all jump in together.
They never came. Military personnel were already moving to fall back and abandon their position to a safer one further back, towards the city limits. Some even asked for the aging American man to retreat, it's coming closer.
He shook his head. A freak gust of wind from the encroaching vortex saw him slap his left hand down atop his scalp to keep the horrid joke of a hairpiece, as it was poised to make the choice for him. So many friends had elected to instead spend their limited time with their loved ones - a sacrifice he knew he was making, knowing that worse comes to worse, he wouldn't be there for them...
...He wouldn't let the vortex make the choice.
He threw himself shoulder-first in on a snap judgment - a judgment in which all his aching joints seemed to get behind for a lack of any lock-ups or stiffness to slow him, letting himself disappear into the gigantic funnel-shaped scar in space and time. To the outside world, he might have been considered at last lost to all, swallowed hole into a horrible fate to never return before the world finally crumpled into a singularity.
As he braved the inexplicable, undefinable forces of space and time rupturing against reality as he knew it, he screamed. He was surprised at what volume he could muster, given his difficulty in having tried to breathe before in proximity of the vortex.
The transition threatened to tear him apart at a fine level beyond human comprehension. Human flesh, no, matter itself was never meant to interact with the phenomena that's seeing reality turn inside out, as his form flew head-first through a space where the laws of physics had no longer applied.
By all rights, he should have been simply removed from existence, traversing boundaries of a space from another whose intersection up to this point has only left destruction and ruin on an unfathomable scale.
What kept him here? What kept him simply being, en route to wherever or whatever lied beyond? He was in no state to answer to any prying eyes or receptive ears, eyes shut tightly for the inability to comprehend what he was seeing in the transition, yelling all the while as he felt twisted about.
It wasn't why he jumped in - it was for all who he jumped in for. A vast list of people, saints and sinners, everyday folks and larger-than-life figures alike. They all flashed right by him in an instant.
For Elle Belmounte, the mysterious underworld figure with a scarred eye he met by chance while goofing off at a dock and who would later drag him through harrowing misadventures that would come to define him, with her confidence that one man in the right place could make all the difference.
For the mysterious young woman Naerose, the witch-like woman in red with her single-minded drive towards sustenance who tried to infiltrate Pacific and pull a fast one on him more than once for her benefit.
For the likes of Keith Mason - also known as Aranha - who wanted to further his education after his life situation didn't leave much room for that, as he hoped to seek a more honest life to rebuild from when it denied him a proper high school diploma.
For Alexis LeCour, the gymnast extraordinaire who would continue to pursue her passions for as long as he knew her as a student at Pacific High.
For Marisol O'Connell and her band of hooligan delinquents who would take advantage of their family status to instead advance their craft as fighters and make their mark as the next generation of big stars as the Pacific Resistance, even as her family's livelihood comes under grave peril now.
For that mysterious girl Ayame, who he met as a troublemaker and would come to recognize as someone with strange but useful connections to a weird and wonderful world, becoming an ally in helping unravel the strange things that just continued to go over his head, with hopes that she might reconcile with her family some way, at some time.
For that baseball bat wielding thug, Cracker Jack, someone who simply looked for trouble and got it, and is probably up to no further good even today.
For Vince LaRose, that fencing prodigy who somehow convinced him it was a great idea to let him forge knives he would actually use in friendly battles in his own classroom, someone he would take on as a training partner for a time.
For Choi Bounge, who is a horrible creepy gremlin of a man that probably doesn't earn further mention for having tangled with him over matters of harassing the female students.
For Yurika Kirishima, whom entrusted so many matters of helping with Seijyun's festivals and the like with his expertise in numerous trade skills and crafts, who would see him help judge the pageants to come.
For Sada Asai, whom had accompanied Yurika that day with seemingly similar hopes in mind and may or may not have been there to murder him if things suddenly took a dramatically strange turn that day.
For Roland S. Brown, whom he encountered in that bar brawl that put him in no shortage of trouble and saw himself banned from the Duck Pond for a very long time, unaware of his current predicaments today and how they have affected him.
For Haru Izanami, the yo-yo wielding youth who he would come to understand had a mutual interest in cooking, albeit with lopsided amounts of talent between the two of them in that regard after bonding in a brief bout.
For Luc Schrodinger, who was able to take time out of being one of the worst students in Pacific High's history to bring his black and blue flames to bear against shady forces that should have well been out of anyone's grasp that day.
Yes, even for (hardly) lovable Igniz, who caused him no shortage of strife and grief - the one who would scar his right hand in a time of great fear and duress that would change the course of his life forever.
For that strange blue-haired young man with a truly horrifying... problem? With their arm, whose name he would never know - K9999, who probably would not have given much thought or regard in turn in his single-minded drive to kill.
For that strange young man in white hair and black leather that came to his aid that day - K' - in a time of great need, albeit with hardly any words traded amongst one another.
For Mizuki Kamigawa, the young heir of a family legacy who he would first meet as part of a pageant hosted at Seijyun and would go on to donate her time and energy to help him with his training to get back in shape with her mastery over chi's restorative applications.
For Sakura Kasugano, whom he met in the same circumstances as above when she presented a truly delicious dish as part of the pageant and would later come to know as one of the most dedicated martial artists of her generation in adopting an obscure and difficult discipline.
For Zach Glen, whom he met one day on a beach during a typhoon watch, where a spar between them would cement the beginnings of a guaranteed life-long friendship. It would be the first step towards so many trials and tribulations they would face head-on together, from as early as his first ever sanctioned fight to as dire as the circumstances of 2011's tournament, growing in strength and character - an encounter one of his knees in particular would not come to regard as fondly as the rest of him.
For Nataya Kovit, whose serenity contradicted the brutal strength of her fighting style, as she assisted with all earnest to help see Rust down a path he could truly call his happiness, along with yoga lessons and being especially handy with mechanics in a pinch.
For Rick Strowd, the oddball boxer who was probably plotting to drag him away to further excitement and adventure with a chloroform rag at the ready should he step back out of the vortex in one piece.
For Drake "Domino" Vyril, the charismatic wrestler he met in Spain who would walk the world in hopes of fighting the very best to push himself to new heights, parting ways as two men who saw another as equals with the hopes of rising ever higher.
For Kaida Inoue, a young swordswoman in hot competition with her sister and another person he would have met in the field of honor in the Neo League after an elucidating discussion on the nature of being sponsored and how easy it was in these days.
For that mysterious Mossad operative Spider, whom he only met once in a strange arrangement that saw them fighting in an occupied apartment at the dead of night to the pipe wielder's eventual loss.
For Frei Tsukitomi-Renard, the chi sage who he would first meet with deliveries of a pastry and encouragement for continuing to seek his dream in the wake of an oppressive work schedule, to someone whose development he got to watch alongside others, to a lasting friendship that has now crossed the boundaries of life and death itself in these times.
For Cherry Aguirre, the confident college student who worked her appeal in enticing ways for crowds as the two would fight on the last day that any semblance of a normal life for Howard Rust would ever exist... the day that the infamous Southtown Invasion would strike and shake the very foundation of Southtown to its core.
For the masterful student of martial arts Ryu, whom would give confidence that things would have worked out even as the world came crashing down around Howard and his understanding of the world, a young man he had hoped to meet again for a good old fight at some point.
For Raizo Imawano, principal of Justice High who would come to his aid when the invasion forces targetd the schools of Southtown for reasons that he could not truly comprehend at the time, with all the size, strength, and ferocity of a bear.
For the mysterious, horrifying leech of terror Ojike no Oni (secretly Kichiga Kyoufumaru), whom he would never come to know the name of - only the feelings of weakness and helplessness as he was introduced to a world that in many ways still remained out of his understanding.
For Krizalid, another face he would never quite know or recall beyond flashes of fear, of an eerily similar appearance to that young man who came to the school's aid earlier - a dangerous individual who would continue to exist in the recesses of his fears.
For Heavy D!, the honest struggling boxer whose talent would largely be snubbed and undiscovered by chance - a circumstance the two would have absolutely found something in common over had they come to know one another for much longer, in a time and place outside of the throes of war.
For Tyler James Matthews, the impulsive, overly punchy young man who hadn't yet grown to maturity over the thought that anyone and everyone he cared about was not in reach of the coalition war machine against Southtown.
For Vernon "Vyle" Cross, the opportunistic wrestling heel who would take his craft well out of the ring, to try and shake him when he was in (at the time) his greatest despair.
For Hakuya Suigetsu of Gedo's Guardian Kings, another youth who got swept up into the whole mess trying to help save Pacific High as it fell into siege once more, who would spare the time to share some tips on hand-to-hand fighting... holds, and the like.
For Rolento Schugerg, whose relationship with the man is a truly complex one, to come to know a terrorist as probably one of the world's most extremist aid workers in helping keep civilians out of danger and crisis in his war games, only to find himself later having to try and talk him out of a nuclear threat that still persists... a problem he inadvertedly helped cause.
For Sagat, who he would meet first as a terrifying sight in a clash of titans between Raizo and themselves, to eventually become a close friend and ally as the years went on - a man who would give him great aid in both against Shadaloo, and to his personal life as they both shared a same interest in the growth of a then-promising young man.
For Kurenai Takayanagi, the young math wizard who stood against him in the effort to try and liberate Justice High with her mighty mastery of a yardstick, who had him on the ropes when Sagat had chosen to withdraw from occupying Justice High.
For Geese Howard, whom he only saw in his fall from grace by the mysterious Kain R. Heinlein - unaware as of now as to what the former kingpin might be up to, whether by turning a new leaf or otherwise biding his time, could well be relying on the likes of people such as Rust in these times to still survive.
For Bred Iron, a wholly despicable and infamous thug of Mad Gear of otherwise little presence that he met when he was taking overt advantage of the chaos to have his way, a man he narrowly stopped as he dangled from the edge of a manhole.
For Daniel "Jack" Little, who he met while under Rolento's thumb, the private detective who would go on to become a rival as Howard Rust would later find himself a part of a competing dojo... and someone who still has yet a lot to answer for with the whole crabgrass problem, if he has some things figured out correctly - and there was always time to mull over the crabgrass problem.
For a strange young woman he'd never know as Angel, who stood in the way of whatever madness he got caught up in when he found himself inside a forward base for the invasion.
For Jayden Remarque, the mercenary with an attitude problem that saw him unable to stay in the US Special Forces, whom accompanied him deep in the bowels of an advance base that would see the extraction of something potentially dangerous but ultimately help put a stop to the occupation.
For the odd Frenchman (with a question mark) Francois, another mercenary under employ of Elle who would later repay Rust's interference and assistance by leaving him a whole lot of nice beer with the following unspoken promise: À tout à l'heure!
For the weaponsmith Rikiryou, who came to visit him by chance after leaving seclusion upon Mt. Fuji in order to put his crafts to work, someone who Rust has sincerely hoped survived not only the recent eruption but to find a way to put his craft to the betterment of everyone.
For Ingrid Holmann, the ever cheerful white-haired girl who visited him during a class trip in Antarctica, a psion who had hoped in earnest to see Howard Rust really continue to reach out for his dream in organized fighting - especially against her.
For Adon, the fallen champion of the Neo League, who had done everything in his power to make his life - and the life of several of his friends - miserable, up to and including a friend's suicide... to watch him (supposedly) attempt to build an honest life, where Rust still hopes one day to compare himself in battle to the former champion.
For Fei Long, the famed actor who came to help finance and support the schools of Southtown as he demonstrated the potency of Hiten-ryu Kung Fu across so many of his desks in the classrooom which, in retrospect, was not the greatest choice he made for a friendly fight location.
For Antoine Huang, a young disciple of an old friend and truly dedicated martial artist who faced his will being subverted by evil as part of the King of Fighters 2011, twisted men of a crazed cult and came out far stronger for it, a future master of Congquan - or perhaps an eternal student - who he knows is awaiting his next challenge when they meet again.
For Yuri Sakazaki, the peppy young girl taught her family's martial art more in hopes they wouldn't have to watch her back as much, and repaid their kindness by being one of the most driven young women he'd ever met, who would cause... very intersting problems in the King of Fighters 2011 tournament, but would grow stronger from them yet, and be a gateway to what would be his future profession.
For Gen, the enigmatic ancient chef of the Genhanten who has an absolute mastery over the dark assassination arts, who cooked amazing food (in which he forgot to leave a proper tip because of miscommunication and being in the company of people he rather did not like), and would pop in every so often to aid in his development.
For El Fuerte, who invaded a barbecue and left behind a present of highly questionable culinary worth and even more uncertain edibility which may or may not have given a whole new understanding about what truly constitutes the difference between 'spicy' and 'melting, I'm melting' among other such odd encounters.
For even the likes of Cammy, whose casual indifference of consequences and the weight of what she was doing to a certain someone would see divided loyalties that fall on the wrong side and leave disaster in her wake...
For Megane, the mysterious bespectacled young man he had met in the middle of an all-out brawl at the Kyokugen Dojo against the masterful cook and masterful-er martial artist, and would later honor with a spar in a parking lot that... didn't quite end well for Rust.
For Hokutomaru, a very young and energetic monkey-like ninja boy who also showed up that day at the Kyokugen Dojo in an ambush to be shown a lesson or two by someone many years his senior.
For Takuma Sakazaki, who would become his future teacher and family friend that largely took advantage of his own unique skills as much as he encouraged him to grow and develop in the Kyokugen discipline. A man who he owes much to, even as he was frequently caught in the middle of family disputes and otherwise taken advantage of.
For Quon Chen, the other Chongquan student he would have come to know, whose life came to a tragic end by suicide when the weight of their entire world being pulled from under their feet kept mounting and mounting, whose passing is still mourned today - a young man he had hoped for far greater things for.
For Farah Asmari Tenjou, the mystical psion who would carry herself as a Star of Hope to bring light to many in a time of need - including himself - as he stood alongside her and Antoine to fight against the embodiment of fire itself in one of Earth's darkest hours in 2011, of whom he never would have found the strength to continue otherwise.
For Kyo Kusanagi, the lazy bum of a talented young man whom he met while he was setting up a fighting ring, to get a first-hand demonstration of just how and why he was such a name of interest for so many out there.
For a brutish young man named Yashiro, who came to cause trouble at the Kyokugen Dojo as Howard was trying to learn how to channel chi outwardly in a meaningful fashion, in which he almost managed the basic motion of a Haoh Sho Ko Ken, and would never know the full weight of who this man actually was.
For Ibuki, of an unknown ninja clan, who he would know as a cheerful high school student and only have a small taste of the double life she would lead, first in passing as an opponent, both of them unaware as to how their actions would one day truly shape the world around them.
For Ken Masters, who he would meet as an interview subject and later as someone who would consider Rust a peer in his attempt to help bring out new talents undiscovered by the world at large, someone who would encourage the continued growth of anyone and everyone who fought in his leagues.
For Denji Akiyama, a carefree monk who happened on by at a truly tense time when he felt the need to confront that insufferable Cammy over a matter, whose apprenticeship to a chi sage didn't have to come to light to see her off... and also ate his lunch.
For Ryo Sakazaki, who was among the most encouraging of blending Rust's own sensibilities with the Kyokugen style, who cheered him on from afar in the ill-fated bid to win the King of Fighters 2011, and otherwise encouraged him to start making the hard choice as to just how far he was willing to go to become a full-fledged fighter.
For Zangief, who alongside El Fuerte would demolish his dreams and hopes of making it out of the first round of the tournament, but nonetheless was a mighty man he had hoped to meet again after having somehow found a weakness in his Spinning Pile Driver - he'd hoped to see all of them from that team again, one day.
For Kazuki Kirigana, the humble student of his own family style who came alongside his assistant in hopes of a match against Howard himself, in which the resulting fight put it much more clearly as to how far Howard had advanced even with his tournament disappointments.
For Miu Kurosaki, a somewhat volatile loner of a psion of whom an explosive misunderstanding would eventually give way to another in a long line of friendships over a favor of checking on a shrine that was important to her.
For another absolute horror who he would never identify as Eriya Tsuryumi, who he had the misfortune of encountering upon a misunderstanding as to the whereabouts of Antoine... and his near-death were it not for the intervention of Ayame, leaving more questions than answers as to who or what he really was.
For Karin Kanzuki, the mega-rich martial artist high school girl who would pull as much influence as she could to get a fight with him, to prove herself unbeatable in the face of one who too would refuse to lose, though fearing he'd have gone too far...
For Brian Battler, the violent thug of a former American football player he encountered under the very throes of intense, mind- and soul-crushing violent influences, who was but a preview of what horrible things would have come that year.
For that strange young woman he never identified as Juni of Shadaloo, who he'd only know as another student that was having problems of some sort for the one and only time he saw her, and nonetheless ironically hoped she was doing well despite never knowing her true nature.
For Father Elias Patrick, who returned an item that was of great importance and worry (an address book), got him wrapped up in a bizarre lawsuit by famous musicians, and ultimately would entrust him with a young girl if the need arose.
For Bao, the very tiny boy with a greater amount of potential in psionic energy than anyone he's ever known, including an innocent bloodlust for fun, clean battles and the horrifying ability to heft people far bigger than himself from their one meeting in the Kyokugen Dojo.
For the Guardian of Fire herself, Brihan, who he never knew as anything other than an omnicidal engine of destruction that looked to completely immolate himself, Antoine, and Farah in hopes of paving the way for something truly horrific, with only the occasional thought given about how things could've been different.
For his big friend Frank and their little tagalong Smalls, honest working men who've had to struggle with a world beyond their reach, of feeling like a small piece of something nastier. All three of whom had to experience and survive many of Metro City's final days first-hand, both unwitting pawns of grander schemes at the time.
For "MURDERHOUSE" Mick, an intense persona who he would meet in battle as a truly formidable wrestler and later someone who would camp out in his bathtub in hopes of consulting Rust himself for a lead on whatever the hell was going on as time and space fell apart, forming a new friendship over odd circumstances.
For "May" Lee Jin Ju, the overenthusiastic do-gooder Taekwondo fighter who he'd meet as an extremely loud young girl ready to do violence over a misconception, to walk away a time later understanding her as someone truly willing and ready to give it her all to fight the good fight.
For Munin Arshe, the odd twin sword-wielding woman with power over shadow, who he would come to regard as a true ally against the tide of Vega's machinations without ever truly knowing the hows and whys of her, seeing her grow from inexperience to prominence.
For the Nepali forces that he would almost never get to know the names of as he was caught in an early strike by Shadaloo into Nepal, of the young men and women who placed all their faith in him to stand and repel the Shadaloo-swayed Chinese forces at great cost.
For Chun-Li, the World's Strongest Woman, who would proceed to go through absolute hell when they were jumped in India by Vega himself, to later come to owe much of his secrets to survival from tips she gave him when she recovered from her weeks-long trials.
For Juri, an absolute psycho of a woman who he was well out of the league of, but nonetheless come to stand against her to deter her from killing off a prominent political figure of South Korea.
Even, of all people, for Vega himself, an icon of terror, mayhem, and summation of everything that makes humanity beautiful and terrible with his single-minded drive to subjugate the world, a man he would miraculously survive fighting against many times over with the help of like-minded folks.
For Faolan Sheehan, an Ikari Warrior of whom without his help could not have traversed some of the Asian continent (or get his neck realigned after a Vega head stomp) - or even ultimately survived the events of India, for that matter, even with the unanswered question of who saved Munin and himself before he found them.
For Jones "Johnny" Damon, AKA Johnny Jones, the famed Mr. Jones of action films a long while back whom proved his mettle in a real fight as he stood alongside Rust against the fearsome Ming the Bloody in the battle to stop Iran from falling into Shadaloo clutches.
For Commander Sinclair, the fallen head of the Shadaloo war effort in North Korea when Howard Rust chose to stop Shadaloo from setting up shop in the improverished nation as he single-handedly scattered away the Brute Company and walked away from the misery of Jaina who wanted to take him down with but a jeep after the fact.
For Kim Kaphwan, family man and beacon of justice who he managed to touch base with after coming in through North Korea, where they would team up to go rescue Chun-Li and, in a sense, help bring her to justice for what she did under Vega's influence.
For that mysteriously violent woman he never identified as Vice, whom inflicted nothing short of absolute brutality in her attempt to stop everyone in their tracks from taking back a brainwashed Chun-Li.
For William Guile, who he met after the first of two bloody land wars would finally grind down to a halt, a man he'd have only gotten to see in brief as matters of what would come next were discussed in brief (and over drinks).
For Takako Fujiwa, the most headstrong and emotionally unstoppable young woman he had ever seen, who would be willing to go to extreme lengths to fight the strongest and become even stronger with her mastery over her family Kendo style (...at least, her father's), with an iron and unshakable will that shames even the hardiest people.
For the fortuneteller Rose, who came to visit him at a drive-in theater at Sunshine City to ask him - him! - advice on a friend and to continue to provide guidance and care to Zach, in spite of their vastly different skills and life experiences.
For Feng Wei, the deadly martial artist who would dare crash a martial arts demonstration and unleash a technique Rust did not realize was one that should have killed him on the spot, another driven man who sought absolute dominance through mastery.
For Asuka Kazama, the brash young woman (of an endless number of them, really) he saved from Juri's wrath, who would go to great lengths to show that he was an influence to so many now. An ideal, an icon of heroism despite himself, in hopes that he might pick himself up a little and live up a bit better to those ideas for those who saw him as a role model.
For Brett Neuer, who he didn't realize at first that he fought alongsie him when Vega stirred up problems in Metro City, whom he would meet later in a nuclear threat by Rolento to Southtown that helped bring to light the true nature of the Time Spheres that have ravaged the world so.
For Maki Genryuusai, potential heir to her family style and Metro City heroine who stood tall to prove how things got done with a little spunk and a lot of having a really big mouth.
For Miranda Guardia Jimenez, the desensitized and almost stoic marksman under Haggar's new crime fighting initiatives who fought the good fight against great squads of soldiers and the deadly boasts of a giant monster of a woman.
For Diesel, the aforementioned monstrously huge woman who took great offense to Rust's having chosen to save Nepal from Vega's influence, who would go back and forth with him over the fates of Metro City and later South Korea with no quarter given between them.
For Mike Haggar, a personal hero of Howard Rust's who he fought alongside when Vega had shown to have ultimately survived his fall in China... only to now acknowledge that with Metro City gone and Haggar's fate unknown, he still prays the musclebound mayor himself is pulling through.
For Athena Asamiya, the pop idol sensation who would regard him as something of a god disguised as a fool in a lopsided tournament fight a long while after they first fought side by side against Vega, with the implicit notion of trust between them should the need ever arise.
For Decapre, someone he mistook for Cammy with a feral, violent, psychotic bent as the two had once come to blows over what would be a decisive battle to end Vega's bid to take over the Korean landscape for his own ends, alongside Munin and another.
For Sonia Romaneko, who came to deliver a message and point out the true nature of why Metro City was attacked for sake of pushing him in the right direction - albeit for possibly very shady ends, painting themselves as a spectator in all that happened, and all that would follow.
For Julia Chang, the environmentalist who was willing to take her ambitions one step further and move to help stop Vega from taking over the Korean landscape no matter the personal cost, fighting alongside Munin and himself.
For Momoko of the Psycho Soldiers, the upbeat young girl whom gave much further insight to the way Vega's brand of energy works among Julia, Munin, and Rust himself as to give them the best shot possible. Without her insight that well seemed beyond a girl her age, that final kick wouldn't have taken out Vega.
For Rob... Dan Hibiki, whoever that weird guy is who just kind of popped into the Kyokugen Dojo just to aggressively self-promote. What gives? One will never know, perhaps.
For Makoto Rindou, another highly dedicated tomboyish martial arts student met over helping fix a home, with a few tense misunderstood words but at least some sort of vague promise that maybe there could be a match between them down the line.
For King, the family friend of the Sakazakis and bar owner who puts her streetwise forward for the sake of helping keep Southtown safe from further gang activity incursions that can be halted and one of the single most famous Muay Thai practicioners alive for her successes against an institution that looked down upon women.
For Jezebel "Lightning Spangles" Faiblesse, a young woman who sticks hard and fast to her morals even with however much of herself she has to give to public images who was genuinely grateful for his help in saving China from Shadaloo as the two bonded over putting up kid-friendly advertisements.
For Wendigo, the nefarious hedonistic, almost invincible bounty hunter (to his knowledge) who sat down to have a little man-to-man chat about how the heroism Rust indulges in was nonsense, leaving him good pizza and something of a gentlemanly understanding.
For Katthalla, the wnadering martial artist of a truly detached, realxed, easy-going bent who came to witness the real punches of Kyokugen and walked away another satisfied fighter who still had room to grow, and maybe another fight in him down the line.
For Jiro Kasagi, the young man he'd come to know as being displaced in time, who has had to work through great overwhelming bouts of rage as the entire world seemed aghast at his appearance, as powerful people all descended down upon him with hopes of destroying him, of how Rust held fast to try and protect him...
For Jira Kasagi, a strange young woman who apparently isn't a cop but yet somehow gets to own a gun and showed great emotion at seeing a young man that theoretically should be dead, unaware of her true allegiances.
For... someone at NESTS whose name he never understood, someone whom helped guide him out of a facility full of horrors brought on by that thing on his head - an unspoken agreement to himself that he'd keep tabs on where that thing ends up, for what trouble it caused, wodnering if they will truly meet again.
For Tabitha Coren, a young boxer he fought in the middle of one of Metro City's storms as part of the infamously brief Gaia Tournament, someone who wanted to fight to the very bitter end no matter what the circumstance, to give her all and nothing less until someone called it quits - nothing else would have satisfied her.
For Honoka, the late Empress of the equally late Republic of Ezo, who he met in odd circumstances on the docks and later at the vortex prior, where they met and parted on very firm words from himself about what had happened - maybe too aggressive on his end, given his stresses, but if it weren't for that boon she granted to him...
For Noboru Miyama, the massive mountain of a ninja he met upon an erupting volcano under the mistaken assumption it were related to the Gaia Tournament himself, knowing full well why his journey there was so urgent... and hoping that he managed to find who he was hoping to save in time.
For Franziska von Valken, the surprisingly sturdy Panzerkunst practitioner who gave him a run for his money in a truly brutal display of precise, nasty applications of brute force where such normally wouldn't work, at a time that despite every reason to the contrary, felt like a promise to return to normalcy...
For Gouken, a master of restraint and power through holding back, master of Ryu and Ken. A friend of Takuma Sakazaki's whom has entrusted him on Takuma's behalf not with just the title of being a true student of the Kyokugen school, but of matters far greater that in retrospect he's not sure he should have been told...
For Mimiru Kasagi, the once mourning sister of the late Jiro Kasagi who he would have met after seeing her come to better terms with all that has passed, with gratitude for having watched over the displaced Jiro and a promise to do all she can...
For Alma Towazu, a shining personality of a young man he only ever knew in passing up until recently, whose love for his friends truly run deep, who stands as the head of a community center Howard Rust himself occasionally assisted and protected.
For Hotaru Futaba, one who was very close to Jiro Kasagi herself, unaware of the numerous personal trials and tribulations she had faced to get where she is now, met as numerous people all gathered together within the confines of Gedo High one last time...
There were many others, from scenarios lost to immediate recollection in the face of complete cessation of existence... didn't he borrow weights from Hayato Nekketsu? Wasn't there someone who harassed him as he carried a desk? Was someone else there at some of the training sessions he'd been in...? Didn't a young girl who embodied stone come to encourage him? Certainly, he'd also been with others in some crowds in the middle of something that rocked the foundations of the Earth itself...
For what little time his mind had to wander, he even wondered if, on some level, this widescale level of destruction was what those involved truly wanted to see. The large man of stone, Mukai, showed some regret over the developments, where the cocky Magaki appeared all too happy at first to push the Gaia Tournament.
He had only one name to chase... Saiki.
...
...
...
None of this, of course, had much bearing as to whether or not the forces that be would tear him asunder as he was gently deposited onto the... stone? Dirt? Walkways to one of the great many parts of the Grand Ise Shrine.
The sensation of what he was walking on made it so vague that he never looked down to consider it. His body felt uncomfortably... stable, as though he should have felt a violent snap as he was deposited beyond the veil of collapsing time and space, not just simply come to a peaceful stop.
For what little all this consideration had to the uncaring laws of time and space that had already been disregarded just by having this anomaly exist, all the people he kept in mind at least kept him going in one specific direction.
Forward.
For every stress a joint gives him, for every ache and ailment that would slow him, he gives little regard. With rusted length of pipe at his hip and toupee abomination on his scalp, he marched forward.
Everything up before this point, there's no question. In some way, each and every one of them, all contributed to how far he's come. He may have entered the vortex by his lonesome, but this journey was never made on his own.
Everything after this point... there may only instead be a period, where those gathered instead fight to simply complete a sentence when little is left open-ended as to how it will likely all end.
Whatever lies ahead, however many more people come across his way, friends or foes alike...
The world, today, would all look upon people like him to move forward. Hopes have all but faded for a full recovery for Earth...
He wasn't going to go back on his crowdsourced one-way ticket to help get to the bottom of this for everyone's sakes.
He didn't need to look back - on some level, he knows any one of those people, one way or the other, would eventually have his back once they all found their way together. He never truly went in alone.
The greatest match this world had ever seen was coming up...
His hand went to his gi top, to feel for a small, thin rectangular object... that letter he was given by Ayame. If he truly had faith that something would work out, would he still need it?
For one night only, at the Grand Ise Shrine, the ultimate challenge awaited him, and anyone else who cared to answer... for now, he had the greatest fight of his life awaiting him.
The Match of the Millennium.
Log created on 14:48:23 10/18/2014 by GLaDOS, and last modified on 12:57:42 10/19/2014.