Description: Entrusting the Sphere of Sparks to Igniz was folly, a grievous misjudgment. Magaki has volunteered in his infinite devotion to Saiki to let his life force be tied to the orb for long enough to make it work for its intended purpose, restoring it to its previous and complete form. After kidnapping Ken's wife, Enero currently manipulates Masters into working for Shadaloo, attempting to claim as many spheres for Vega as they possibly can... But confronting Magaki in a dimension of nothingness, just darkness, may be more than the two of them are capable of handling when the monster fights to his utmost to stop the orb from being destroyed... again.
It's not hard to find trouble within the twisted confines of time and space at the city of Ise and the vortex that grows more violent with every passing moment. The very concept of 'a location' is quickly becoming much too liquid, to vague, for reality to even sustain the thought of for much longer...
Nothingness, however, at least has the benefit of remaining something of a constant in concept, form, and execution.
Exiling himself to a part of the collapsing reality within the vortex where there is nothing, a devoted... person... collects themselves. Gathers themselves, with utmost fixation upon a fluctuating sphere-like light that - alongside himself - violates this nothingness he has allowed himself to reside in.
His entire body twitches, spasms with every passing moment, the inhuman pink complexion of his body wracked in pain and agony as he smiles to himself within the bliss of self-fulfillment in being but a step away to fixing a grave, unforgivable mistake.
"The Sphere of Sparks...!" He narrates to no one in particular, but voices have a way of carrying themselves further than one may intend. "Soon, I can reform it! Ah... hah... hah hah hah... aaaah."
The line between a sick mind's euphoria and a frightened creature's resignation blurs, swinging back and forth as readily as limbs that do not appear to always conform to the presumed physical limitations of flexibility that most human bodies tend to share, fingers turning and swinging in odd ways. Even his posture seems to be on the verge of collapsing to a pair of legs that seem apt to become splayed outwards, although this issue could be forgiven as he is literally... standing on nothing.
A light bleeds out of him every so often to feed this spherical construct that is just about fully reformed, each pulse bringing unimaginable pain that cannot really be put into words. He may be the only one within this void to see it...
But to feel the power that shoots out through all the void, invisibly, it is like a magnet to those with the power to fight. Those who come in seeking, at their very core, a conflict. The reason doesn't matter - this very thing, this very individual, all a source of conflict. It is inevitable that he will be 'found.'
'Found' is the best way to put it. The role of cat and mouse between objects of desire and people of ambition become increasingly hard to define, other than the magnetic pull that will eventually see someone's arrival... or maybe more than one, into this inky black nothingness, and time is in the process of running out.
Whose time is running out is still up for debate.
The nothingness is empty; calm, in a way that only the absolute lack of form or definition can manage. It is a strangely familiar and somehow comforting feeling to Enero, mirroring the void of sensation or emotion that surrounds her consciousness. It feels somehow cold - no, not cold, numb, like the feeling of being dropped into a pool of frigid water , her senses blanking out from the shock. However, like the strange man that floats at the center of this vast nothingness into which she now strides, a singular point of light exists within her mind, a focus for everything that she is and is meant to accomplish. An image of the grim but confident face of Vega flashes into her vision, as if summoned by her thoughts, and she pauses for a moment to close her eyes and focus on the image as if drawing strength from it.
"I will not fail you," she mutters.
Despite the utter lack of substance within the darkness, the small girl appears to have no difficulty in striding into in, creating a path where no could possibly exist by sheer force of will. She pauses and turns, her wide but empty eyes glowing a faint purplish pink as she beckons at the space behind her.
"Come, Mister Masters. Our target lies within."
Ken Masters does not look happy to be walking alongside the Shadabitch (sorry, she kidnapped his wife. We're breaking the M rating here guys) that has come to be known as Enero. His eyes are narrowed and the expression on his face is one of forced to be here. That is actually an expression and only someone as vividly charismatic as Ken Masters can pull that off.
"/Your/ target." Ken corrects the Doll, as his attention is focused on where they are walking. He doesn't particularly seem like he's in a hurry to get down to whatever this business is. "I hope you know that once this is over and Eliza is safe, I'm comin' back for you and the other 100 Dollmations." Ken's snark is on high alert this moment because he's all about trying to make sure that Enero understands that Ken Masters is not about to go down without a fight. Well, that is of course why the are here in the first place, isn't it?
The void is... self-explanatory. Yet, whatever pressure allows living bodies to continue to exist appears to still be in play, be it by the will of those so strong coming in, or... some mere handwaved convenience. One imagines that at least something resembling breathable oxygen came in with the two of them... but these are two very, very small comforts within the cold, bleak confines of the nothingness that Magaki has retreated to.
There is chortling that echoes through the void, which sounds more in retrospect like someone trying to hold back a sneeze as the spherical construct he had been nursing suddenly flares brightly to provide a visual cue, a beacon, to the unlikely team-up tied together by Ken's loved one being effectively at gunpoint.
"Visitors... kyah, kyah," that's either strange laughter or just pained, babbling nonsense and it really could be both in Magaki's case as he ascertains some sort of direction to account for the surge that goes through the Time Sphere.
The Sphere of Sparks shimmers across a completely smooth surface, of a reformed work of fell devotion and dark powers that plumbs into unfathomable depths of mastery over chi itself... or maybe even further beyond, as emotions start to flare between a Ken whose concern for his wife empowers him to threaten one who attempts to maintain control of their mission.
"Aaaaah, Mukai, for once," Magaki sneers as his head tilts backwards, "and just this once, would I have envied your gift for such grandiose speech, you enormous scaredycat!! Afraid the humans would show up, would actually /mean/ something?! Kyaaaaaah!"
He finally deigns to actually speak /to/ the visitors as he turns to face them, his body shuddering with every... breath?... he takes, his entire upper body shaking, rising and falling, like the pink flesh of his upper body were poorly fitted upon the stone gray torso from the abdomen down it rests upon, a bright blue light pulsating through his forearms and vein-like markings on his body as the direction of the blue lights always favor the direction in which the Time Sphere now floats.
Greedily, one hand lashes out and palms it, scooping it ever closer even though it pains him to touch it so. He cannot help /but/ touch it. In many ways, he is the sphere, the sphere is him. That was... his idea to Saiki, to prove his devotion.
"It matters not what you lowly creatures do, now! No matter what may transpire... I will give the power of this Time Sphere to my master," his words are slightly strained, as though even the very act of speaking or just being an out-and-out condescending jerk were something that required incredible effort by now, "but now then, my sacrificial lambs... I will offer up your struggles to my own amusement, and... to the great Saiki himself...!"
His other, non-Sphere-bearing hand gestures crudely towards himself, arm snapping out with such strength and disregard for physical limitations of the human body's flexibility that it comes awfully close to whipping either of the two in the face, both arms going limp as he stands (...on nothing), shuddering with a pained but still arrogant smile on his face.
"DIE!!"
No, never mind, there's no serenity there - just his white hair flapping in the air devoid of much of anything that would really call it air, the pink hue of much of his skin intensifying as the blue lights that course through his body ebb and flow, sometimes violently spiking itself off his body in a splash of blue liquid that flits about the void.
...That blue liquid might be his blood. It's probably too disgusting a thought to dwell upon.
COMBATSYS: Magaki has started a fight here as a boss!
MAGAKI [W]
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The corner of Enero's lips twist in some shallow mimicry of a smirk but the gesture is as hollow as her gaze, as if created more from the shadow of a memory rather than any genuine emotion. She turns fully to face him, spreading her arms apart in a gesture of complacent indifference.
"If you wish to stand around exchanging quips, Mister Masters, instead of accomplishing /my/ goal and thus securing the timely release of /my/ hostage, by all means. I'm sure I have a few more Chess analogies I can conjur up. We James Bond villains always have a few in reserve for emergencies."
Supressed emotions or no, Enero seems to have a great deal of snark of her own to hand out when the situation calls for it. Whether this is some lingering facet of her real personality that has managed to leak out over the course of time or a result of having to deal with a large majority of the communication that occurs between various sections of Shadaloo and the resulting idiocies of its human components is a mystery.
Fortunately for Ken, he is spared the indignity of having to come up with a counter response to the teenage girl's barbed retort by the sudden indignent roar of the void's other occupant. The Doll frowns and turns to face the pink-hued man, if he can even be regarded as such, the facade of playful mirth draining from her features.
"If I am to be a sacrifice, it will be for the glory of my Lord Vega!"
Reaching into her belt, Enero draws forth a small slender metal tube. The microphone sits easily in her gloved hand, a familiar weight that does nothing to impede her movements as she gathers up her will into a coherent form. The faint flicker of light in her eyes surges to life in a dazzling flare as the girl sweeps the amplifying instrument past her mouth, exhaling a shrill pitch that rises to a pitch impossible for human vocal chords to produce. The psychic soundwave explodes into the air around Magaki as she swings the microphone in his direction, casting the burst of energy at him as if slinging a grenade.
COMBATSYS: Enero has joined the fight here.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ken has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Ken
"Shut the hell up. Seriously. Nobody cares."
That would be the response to whatever it is that Enero is on about at the moment. He's pretty indifferent to everything that is going on right now because he doesn't even want to be here. In fact, he's more worried about what is going on with his wife than he is this battle that he's being forced into by such coercion. He has it planned out, though. Once this is over, he's going to make sure that Shadaloo never dares to step foot on his property again. He's going to make them pay. But first?
"Dude. Seriously? This is an A and B conversation. So why don't you C your way out of it." That's Ken's childish response to the doom-filled roaring that ends up interrupting the quip-fest between himself and Enero. And then he's standing back, adjusting his sparring gloves, as Enero does her worst American Idol audition to date. "See? And that is why you don't have a record deal. You really oughta' work on your pitch." Another bit of banter is hurled in Enero's direction, before he's rolling his eyes and looking off at the Master of the Void. Or whatever this dude is supposed to be. Ken is a Honey Badger at this point.
"Come on, dude. Chillax. I mean, you're floatin', man. /Floating/. You gotta' get that checked out. And this whole Blue Light Special thing you got going?" Ken dismissively points at the dude's arms, pretending to not even care about where the Time Sphere that he's secretly plotting on trying to take from him is being held. "That's just not right, man. It ain't right!"
Maybe Ken's chitter-chatter is supposed to help distract Magaki from whatever it is that Enero's doing. Maybe not. All that matters next is that Ken is taking off in a quick run, rushing in the general direction of Magaki and all this overpowered tomfoolery, before leaping up and swinging leg after leg in his direction, clearly aiming to put some kick combo together and lay into him with tremendous style and just a smidge of heroic fury.
"Tell Zuul I said what's up!"
COMBATSYS: Magaki dodges Enero's Elaboration.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Ken
COMBATSYS: Magaki dodges Ken's Fierce Combo.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Ken
"Lord Vega? Oh, you're one of his! Kyah, kyah!!" Is he screaming in pain or laughing in mockery? If it's the former, it is - well, in this circumstance given the people involved one may feel fit to pick whether it's fortunate or otherwise - not by the amplified soundwaves as he throws his arms up around himself and contorts about the void with a comfort only he could manage within this space. (Comfort is also too strong a word. Familiarity is a bit closer.)
"Your puny master," oh, he dares go there as he hefts the reconstituted Sphere of Sparks up in his right hand with a most triumphant gleam in his eye, "can't find it in him to see how EQUAL he stands to INSECTS like --" he is cut off mid-snark with a frantic snarl in his face as Ken comes in swinging his legs and flexing those snark muscles of his with a strength equal or superior to what little matter in the void gets displaced in the wake of that kickin' combo, but his movements to avoid them speak far less of that of comfortable, smug anticipation of what Ken could possibly do.
No, with the way his eyes widen and how he has to start waving the sphere to and fro away from Ken's killer kicks, the way he gives up ground in a realm that technically has no ground, no up, no down seems much, much more befitting of that of a coward backing away to cling onto a life that could be forfeit at any moment.
"No! Stop, you fool! STOOOP!" Magaki screeches as he disappears in a flash of blue light further away, a streak of light from the sphere moving with it - unlike him, it doesn't seem quite as apt to phase in and out of view, of assumed reality in a space where there is hardly any reality to cling to.
"Watch where you struggle, you worm!" Magaki lectures as he parks his feet back down in the nothing, shuddering as he holds the sphere ever closer with a pained look on his face. "You monkeys already brought devastation onto Italy with your clumsiness with this...! Why can't you wait to kill yourselves after I MURDER YOU?!"
Lifting one of his free hands upward from a lowered position, a barely-visible, hazy cloud of blue chi forms from the blue... liquid-like matter that one sincerely hopes is not his blood because that is gross, introducing a pulse of the energy of the world itself that stands at the precipice of complete destruction. It's hard to see, it comes at an angle Ken may not see particularly well (almost entirely from below, rising upwards) in just the first taste of that aforementioned overpowered tomfoolery.
The sheer audacity of the creature that stands before her causes something inside Enero to tighten, a pressure against her chest that sets her nostrils aflare and her eyes narrowed. She has very little emotion of her own; the title of Doll is not one of mere idle fancy. However, what little anger she has lurking within the confines of her entraped heart surges in the face of such a blatant insult to the one thing that matters to her.
The caustic retort and the second surge of energy that she had been preparing to send with it is bitten off as Ken launches himself towards the fiendish man. The surprise and fear in his voice is startling to her and it shakes her free of the momentary loss of control, forcing her to step back and reevaluate the situation.
Something about that sphere he holds seems to be causing him a great deal of pain or stress. She can feel the power that radiates through this place. It burns at her, setting her skin aflame as if she were doused in acid and there is a pressure upon her soul that is no more pleasant. The man had casually shrugged off her psychic assault but Ken's approach had set him off.
The girl purses her lips in thought and slowly begins to move after the retreating figure, circling wide to avoid the blasts of neon energy that come raining down upon her pawn. Yes, pawn is an adequate term. She'll have to let Ken deal with the worst of what this creature has to offer, supporting him from the flanks. It's what she's good at, anyways.
COMBATSYS: Enero calculates her next move.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Ken
COMBATSYS: Magaki successfully hits Ken with Dimension Sphere.
- Power hit! -
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|=====--\-------\0 Ken
See, the thing is, Ken Masters wants this over as fast as possible. And the fact of the matter is that standing on the sidelines and singing at this dude is not exactly going to be doing anything useful. In fact, he's not even sure that does anything at all. What he does know, at the moment, is pain. Pain from the surging energy that comes forth, liquidy at best, bloody at worst. It strikes him from below, almost the same moment that he's ready to unleash another aerial assault of his own. It strikes with full force, knocking Ken from his feet and sending him sprawling backwards. He hits the ground and rolls, popping back up to his feet and giving a shake of his head. Even so, there's a smirk to his features as he does this.
"Hey!" It would seem as though Ken is trying to keep the attention on him and away from Enero? What? She has that psycho power crap. He's hoping it'll come in handy. "First of all? Gross." Ken leans to the side and spits out some of the liquid chi. Looks like there was a bit more punch to it than just the usual chi energy. Ken wipes his mouth. "Secondly? I have a villa in Italy. If you wanna' borrow it that bad, maybe we can work out a deal. But first, you gotta' stop with all this pink." Ken laughs. "I mean, really, you look like /Dan/. On steroids." Another laugh. "Not even the good kind!"
Anyway, through all that chitter chatter, Ken has been pulling his hands back to his side. Energy flowing between his fingers. He's got a huge smirk on his face as he takes a step, plants his foot forward in a stance that fighters the world over know all too well. "Oh yeah. One more thing, asshole..." Ken extends those arms of his, hands unleashing a flaming fireball of blue-hued energy, sending it sailing with right off in Magaki's direction. Blood drips from the corner of his lips as Ken utters, with completely confidence, a single word.
"Hadouken."
COMBATSYS: Magaki reflects Hadouken from Ken with Exploding Sphere.
~ Cruel hit! ~
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Ken
That damnable sphere that this pink bubblegum monstrosity covets is the whole crux of the matter, indeed - if what this creature says is true (and what reason would they have to lie?), then something like this was already destroyed. Capable of being destroyed, which brought forth a great catastrophe unto Italy.
There probably is at least some mutual understanding even among these three who stand opposed to one another that this thing he carries being destroyed would be terrible.
Those unnatural eyes of his start to watch Enero circle, the brief but absolutely palpable fright melting back into that of someone reascertaining control of the whole situation, of a sort. He needs not say much of anything to her, yet - she'll notice he's got an eye on her. That may complicate whatever sceheme she has in mind...!
"Did you not LISTEN to a word I SAID?!" Magaki mocks. "Italy is gone! Do you know what would happen if-- no. Hah, hah! I said too much," is he allowing himself a moment of self-mockery?
"You have far greater problems than my very appearance, Ken Masters!" Magaki hisses, regaining composure from Ken's inability to comprehend the angles of attack in which he can bring to bear as Ken leaves that 'one more thing' for him to deal with...
The monstrosity's forearms glow bright blue, and something in the space between the two of htem pops. Multiple somethings. Loud, popping, explosive somethings that catch and redirect the famed Hadouken without so much further visible effort on Magaki's part.
Said Hadouken is now turning back in Ken's direction without any change in velocity or character beyond simply being turned the other way, as though it were always headed that way. Such is the extent of Magaki's mastery, as he holds the Time Sphere ever tighter against himself while the hand that holds it shudders, a blue light shining and throbbing through the elbow side of the forearm and through his fingertips like something were being forcibly... taken. Magaki shudders ever more.
"Now that we're clear on what you mustn't do, let's... talk about what you cannot do, hm?" He gives a pained smile as his shoulder twitches and shakes.
Enero's eyes narrow as the being before them casually turns the power of the famed hadouken back upon its creator with no more apparent effort than swatting an annoying fly. Perhaps it is this void that grants him power or perhaps Magaki is simply that much stronger than either of them. Regardless, her life exists to serve Lord Vega and if she can accomplish even a small victory here then she will gladly give it.
Unaware of the extent to which her opponent's senses reach, the slender Doll attempts to utilize the distraction that Ken has created with his failed assault by launching one of her own. She leaps at the pink-hued figure and clears the distance between herself and Magaki in a single acrobatic flip, her body curling up into a tight ball as she defines a parabolic arc through the empty void. At almost the last moment, the girl uncoils like a wound-up spring, one of her legs lancing out like a spear to drive down at the shimmering flesh of her target's ribcage.
COMBATSYS: Ken dodges Magaki's Reflected Hadouken.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Ken
Ken is already in the air when that Hadouken comes hurling back in his direction. Ken actually does have to somersault a little higher than normal when it soars back in his direction, if only because he wasn't expecting it as much as he's making it look like he was. When he finally touches back down to the ground, he's got a smile on his face. As usual. "Come on, man. Who you think taught Ryu how to /actually/ use that thing?" Ken waggles his eyebrows for the moment. Yeah, he just straight up claimed he's the REAL master of the Hadouken. Okay, it's a lie. But whatever keeps this pink fool busy.
"Man, I gotta' be honest with you. I'm not listening to a damn word you're sayin'. So these little villainous monologues? If maybe you could shorten 'em by about a hundred words each, that'd be great. Lovely. Appreciate it." Ken pops back up into a full out run, rushing in Magaki's direction. He spots Enero going for a kick out of his peripheral and just decides to attempt a few body shots with his fists. /Something/ has to hit this dude. And it might as well be Ken. And if he can land those, maybe he can get a little toss in as well. Maybe give himself some room to work. Or at least get this fight back where it belongs. On Ken's side!
COMBATSYS: Ken successfully hits Magaki with Combo Grapple.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Ken
COMBATSYS: Magaki blocks Enero's Heavy Kick.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Ken
"Oh, please, you whiny little bug!" Magaki rolls his eyes in a way that eyes should never really roll. They're almost googly. Like eyes shouldn't ever set or move this way. It's like a lot of himself just... twists... twitches... and settles in ways a human body should never do so.
Enero might get the feeling that this time, it's not exactly of his own will that he fidgets like he does, like there's some great, terrible strain.
"You should thank me you're not in company of /Mukai/ if you think I'm... that bad," as though being compared to him in terms of word choice and eloquence were a grave insult, for a time that does not call for these sorts of things to be emphasized in the least.
Ken slips in with a series of expert punches that remind everyone here why he's not only been on the map, he may well as have been THE map for organized fighting for many years, where even the simplest approach and techniques work their way through Magaki's awareness of what surrounds him in the void. Every drawn breath, every miniscule pulse of life - especially his own, given the free-floating blood(?) molecules that occasionally seem to boil and grow a duller, dryer color with every surge of the blue lights through his form - that Ken holds him, fists against his gray abdoment that contorts and bends like he's punching rubber. (It is gross.)
"Get off of me," Magaki says as his entire body shimmers and flashes in and out of transparency in an attempt to loosen himself, but with every try, the sphere he holds in one of his hands grows ever brighter, and something makes him... stick.
To be stuck into, by Ken, and he's not the only problem. Well, he's the primary problem, given how Magaki flails and twists himself to try and break away, when Enero comes in for the kick...
"Kyaaaaaaah!" He screams with unbridled rage as he thrusts the elbow of the arm that holds the sphere against Enero's feet to try and get her to springboard her away, but between his twitchy sensations and what force she does bring to bear, it is just enough...
...To see the sphere float free, thrumming and humming as collision with unseen forces see a blue brick floor (something like brick) form around their feet, to a sickly blue flaming light that sprouts from the very ground.
A barely visible tether extends from Magaki's now liberated hand to the Sphere of Sparks, but it is by no means a grapple to pull it back. It is... more like an attachment.
Magaki panics as he brings his other hand straight up, to thrust it down upon Ken's scalp as opposed to the far more elegant solution that has already failed him of playing chicken with the nature of reality itself to phase in and out of sight or even corporeal substance.
"AWAY!" Magaki screams as he slaps that hand down upon Ken with such force that he might be driven through the blue brick-like ground that has suddenly phased into being in this void, and Ken may feel a sense of... something, bleeding. Not from him. An energy fills the air from some indeterminate point of Magaki's very person.
(It still feels gross.)
Though her blows may not carry the same weight or mastery behind them as Ken's, Enero is swift and, as she proves a few moments later, relentless. She rebounds from the blocked strike, gracefully curling up into a defensive roll in midair once more to drift towards the 'ground' like an elegant cannonball away from the grappling duo.
With his attention now fully on the other fighter who has gotten up-close and personal, she has a somewhat clear shot at Magaki's back and she wastes no time in attempting to exploit it. The searing pressure of the void continues to wear upon her but she pushes the pain into the back of her mind, ignoring it with a display of rigid mental discipline. She can push through such distractions but for how long? Sweat has already begun to bead upon her brow and a faint ache spreads through her limbs. Time is of the essence.
Landing in a graceful three-point crouch, Enero gathers her will about and uses the infamous Psycho Power that has been gifted to her to propel herself with impossible velocity. She stretches her body out, both legs locking together as they extend towards the wide back of the void's master. Her slender form corkscrews through the air as purple light flares up around her feet, turning the Doll into a human missile.
"Spiral Arrow!"
The shout seems to amplify itself as the words hit the microphone still clutched in her hand, the same high-pitched tone ringing out through the emptiness in a focused wave that carves through the intended path of her body, bullying aside the air in a sonic blast that creates a vaccum like tube and leaves a sharp ringing tone in its wake that lingers both in the ears and the mind.
COMBATSYS: Ken dodges Magaki's Death Vice.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Ken
Perhaps it was the sudden scream of unbridled rage that alerted Ken to the fact that there were things afoot. That there was a massive attack coming in his direction. And his instincts kicked in to make him pay closer attention. Which is why he's catching sight of that attacking arm of Magaki's. In fact, Ken has a moment of his eyes going wide before he just drops down to the brickly ground and starts with the rolling. He rolls right underneath the crazy dude that they are apparently trying to take out and pops up on the other side.
"Eh. Not too shabby there, dude. You /almost/ had me." Ken stands there with a bit of a nonchalant swagger to his stance. But then he's looking around at the sphere and what its attached to and its just everything at once that has him confused as all get out. The confusion is written all over his face. "Uh. What's with the umbilical cord, man?" Ken starts looking around the void. "Hey! Why didn't somebody tell me this dude was pregnant?! Party Foul!"
The smack talking is just there to try and distract from the spinning on his heel that Ken does, as he raises his leg up high and aims to bring it crashing down on Magaki with some tremendous effort. Definitely trying to see if he can't put a little more pain into this dude. Hopefully, Enero will take care of getting the Sphere.
COMBATSYS: Enero successfully hits Magaki with Spiral Arrow.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Ken
COMBATSYS: Ken successfully hits Magaki with Inazuma Kakato Wari.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Ken
The Spiral Arrow is an announcement of a tiny bug going at an impossible speed managing to stab those legs deep enough into Magaki's upper back - yes, into, his flesh doesn't quite give way like it were being struck with blunt trauma - the disgusting blue ichor that now can probably be confirmed as blood coats Enero's footwear, along with a gummy, disgusting glop of pink that might make one consider disposing of the boots entirely.
Through virtue of there being little in the way of air friction for the moment, Magaki spills across the blue stone-like arena that appears to form as the Sphere of Sparks continues glowing. Disturbing, gargoyle-like visages of massive winged bipedal creatures with truly monstrous faces are erected from the shadows in the same odd blue rock-like material that now defines a floor in this very void. Large pillars of this same blue material jut upwards all around, the thrumming of the Time Sphere now creating a steady ambience as the Sphere of Sparks is presently being left to its devices.
The devices of the force of creation, of beginnings. Its beauty in chaos being shaped into form from virtually nothing as Magaki thrusts one arm into the ground to catch himself.
"That's not incorrect," Magaki wheezes and spits out some more blue free-floating nastiness as twists to try and move with the raised leg that comes down upon the shoulder connected to hand that seems... somehow... connected to the sphere, and a great gush of blue energy blasts forth off-handedly alongside sparks of pink that aimlessly bounce around the forming structures before dissipating, and Magaki falls to a kneel.
He can feel it slowly ebbing away. Fleas like these... far weaker foes such as those he found in that older man's truck when the Gaia Tournament was being waved in the face of the strong for their own ends. It is all being taken from him, from the space between that one hand and the sphere that is now growing a bright white.
"While you're busy aggravating me," he spits out some more ichor as he draws a hand back, "I have been reflecting on how foolish it was to think that having you all fight in some silly tournament to give these things kick was! Given what happened...!"
He shudders, his face contorting in pain as he rights himself up. His back to the Sphere, he moves a distance away from the both of them as a vulgar portal appears in the former nothingness that continues to grow in structure, detail, and presence among the cast lights of a sickly blue flame.
"I won't... I won't let that mistake be repeated...!" He cries out as he reaches his hands through the portal. Behind Ken, they open, and one of those gray hands that occasionally glow blue start to grope around for his head. Or upper arm. Something to grab, something to hold onto, something to pick him up and slam him into this newly created blue brick-like ground...!
"Starting with you, Masters boy!!"
A faint look of surprise appears on Enero's face as her feet actually dig /into/ whatever substance the body of the unknown man is made of. For a moment she's worried that this might be some form of trap, some ability to mold his flesh to encapsulate her legs and render her helpless as the flesh deforms and spills out glowing ichor onto her feet. Fortunately, that proves not to be the case. The impact sends Magaki across the room and the girl recovers her wits as she drops to the floor, landing on her side in a short roll to defuse the momentum of the impact.
The Doll glowers down at the disgusting goop on her shoes for a moment, shaking her feet to slough it off onto the floor but some of the sticky gunk tenaciously clings to her person and she just sighs, ignoring it. It doesn't appear to be eating through her clothes or anything of the sort which just makes it another distraction to be pushed aside. Rising to her feet, Enero turns her attention back to the business at hand and allows herself a faint smirk towards the wounded man.
"Your mistake was attempting to lay claim to that which belongs to my Lord! Those who cross Him shall receive no mercy."
Again, Magaki's attention diverts to deal with the much bigger threat that is Ken, allowing her free reign to nip and snap at his ankles like a small dog. However, in her case, the bark might actually be deadlier than the bite. Taking off at a dead run, the girl dashes across the newly formed stone floor and once more throws herself at Magaki's back as he turns to drive his fist into the void portal.
Her assault is more calculated this time since Ken isn't nearby to provide an adequate distraction should her target's reflexes prove sufficient to turn on her in time. She leads in with a driving punch, following it up with a quick spin that brings the back of her other fist whipping around into his abdomen.
COMBATSYS: Ken slows Dimension Claw from Magaki with Hadouken.
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Ken
Ken doesn't have much time to think. As there is an energy hand snatching him up and he's not even going to have the strength in him to snark poetic right now. In fact, he looks to be focused and preparing for more battle, even as he's picked up and lifted somewhat higher. "Hadouken!" is exclaimed and a shot of fireballing chi energy is sent towards the void master of the sphere that is trying to put the serious hurt on him.
Ken gets the serious hurt put on him. He smacks into the ground, smashed into it by the power of Magaki and he grunts beneath the force of impact and the force at which he was slammed. There's a lot of force going on right now and it just doesn't seem to be going in Ken's direction. There's an expulsion of blood that comes with the slam and it may look as though Ken Masters is not going to be well after this.
COMBATSYS: Enero successfully hits Magaki with Strong Punch.
- Power hit! -
MAGAKI
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Ken
Magaki is so wholly focused on dealing with the Ken Masters problem, fully aware of his prowess above all. His face contorts from any sort of sick glee of confidence to something that is clearly desperation. Something comes out of his mouth that might be, for human beings, air and oxygen in a sigh. This is something else. In some way it feels like he's choking on absolutely nothing, but something tears away at him. The injury laid upon him by Enero's true strike from earlier does nothing for him, that arm twitching and writhing as though it were struggling to reconnect itself, to reform something that resemble what a human body's motor systems ought to be and not... this... individual's.
In his single-minded pursuit of Ken, this allows the sneaky and opportunistic Enero to come in swinging as she scolds him, slamming one fist after another that whatever he must have that's equivalent to nerves - or some sort of pain receptor - causes his arms to spike upwards, to otherwise flail about.
In this respect, Ken may well owe the mitigation of truly grievous harm to his partner in inconvenience. At best, Ken probably gets smacked a few times by flailing limbs that struggle and panic to get a hold of him as Ken's own highly respectable grip upon the lifeblood of the earth - which is no small feat to draw even in a place now starting to teem with... color... shape...
PAtterns resembling a chain-link fence start to surround everyone. From beyond this interlocking veil, a soft but foreboding dark purple landscape surrounds them. Their heads are now covered by a roof of the blue stone-like materials that have come to form simply by the will of a Sphere left unattended...
A sphere of which settles in the middle of the sea of blue flames off to the side of all three, an erected circular altar for it to sit as wide halos - more like paper strips stapled or glued into circles - whirl about it, the Sphere of Sparks finding some sort of contentment to... exist, there.
Away from the mysterious powers of uncontrolled creation, Magaki staggers away, one of his arms twisted violently in the direction of the very sphere that now rests where it does. His entire body violently spasms and otherwise yanks itself about as he staggers backwards, upper body leaning way back.
"This Sphere is no one's trophy...!" Magaki echoes out in a scream as gaseous blue energy and even more solid pink spheres escape through the outstretched hand, to be absorbed into the sphere in a stream. Magaki slaps his opposite arm against the shoulder to hold himself steady.
He falls to a kneel, blue liquid dripping from his person, facing downward as his wild hair thins out, draping itself around him.
"Hmph. Sacrificing all this power, and with just these results... it must mean," he talks to himself, facing down and away...
"It's not just... spirit, but something else is lacking, I sup--"
His eyes open up. His smile widens, though the side of his mouth twitches. It is as though he were about to say something he never thought he was going to, like some sort of expectation of his was just... reversed?
He laughs.
"Oh, actually, yes, this 'spirit' would in fact be enough now...!" It's a pleasant surprise, for the continued enervation of his being. He slowly turns translucent, with but mocking laughter. "Hoo, hoo... wah hah hah! That's it! This is what Saiki wanted, this is what I... after spilling so much of my own blood, the Time Sphere must respond to my efforts...!"
His eyes widen wide, his mouth agape in silent horror, but still the tinge of smiling madness as he goes stiff, and falls over into his back as a hole opens up in his abdomen. Blue ichor spills out /everywhere/, to be absorbed into the sphere.
The rest of his body... starts to cease to be.
"It... it will be! You'll... you'll still struggle for this, won't you?!" He tries to leave this parting shot. "You won't walk away with this hand in hand...! Ah... Sa... Saiki... you mag-"
Magaki disappears, the Time Sphere appearing to siphon the rest of whatever Magaki was made of. Warmth, even air, starts to refill the... chamber? Of this different space, where Ken and Enero now are.
The Time Sphere continues to hum and throb, floating where it stands.
Would the two walk away together in cooperation with the sphere...?
Enero is unable to make contact with HQ or anyone else here. This could be Ken's chance, if maybe possession of the Time Sphere may have a hand in saving his wife...
COMBATSYS: Magaki has left the fight here.
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Ken
The scuffling of Enero's boots against the stone echoes through the darkness as she backpedals away from whatever form of breakdown the bizarre being before her is experiencing. She watches with detacted interest, her eyes focused upon the melting form before her in wary preparation for some sort of outburst or trick.
There is nothing but madness and death.
The Doll furrows her brows. This made no sense. Though her fists were driven by devotion and righteousness, to have ended this powerful creature in such a fashion and with such little effort made her uneasy. Slowly, her gaze drifts up from the spot where Magaki's body once lay towards the quietly hovering sphere of energy that rests upon the dias of flame and circles.
The 'Time Sphere', as the man had named it, had seemed very important to him. What little information she had gathered from their spotty communications network before they had left indicated that similar artifacts were responsible for the state of the world as it is now. As such this object is likely very powerful - and very dangerous.
Enero turns to glance at Ken with a slow frown. On the one hand, allowing him to take the Sphere, should it prove to have the same results as it did for the pink man, might be the safer option. On the other, if it has that much power, simply dropping it into the lap of one of their greatest enemies might prove disastrous.
In the end, her own life is expendable. If the Sphere devours her whole then atleast she can be safe in the knowledge that Ken will likely fare no better. If it doesn't, then she has a prize of unimaginable power for her Lord. The choice is an easy one.
Without a word, the girl stalks towards the altar of flame, ignoring the constantly shifting landscape around her. Her lips tighten as she approaches it, her stomach churning slightly as she heads toward what might be a very violent and ugly death.
COMBATSYS: Enero takes no action.
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Ken
"... That was weird."
Ken Masters is standing tall, as tall as he could at the moment, after being beat the hell up by some random dude that decided to just bounce. It was pretty painful and the fact that he's still standing is a testament to what he's trying to do here. Survive. Survive enough to get back the only thing that matters when the entire universe seems to be imploding in and on itself. And there's the Time Sphere. Right there. Just waiting.
"Hey." Ken says this, hoping to catch Enero before she turns into some sort of dangerous ball of death and destruction. "My wife." is all Ken has to say about any of this. He's not supposed to be taking Time Spheres and fighting for the end of the world. Or whatever other crap that may be going on. He just wants to put his family back together. That's the most important thing in the world (ending or not) to him right now. And this is something that he's going to have to fix before he can get back to his mission of whoopin' up on Shadaloo.
"My. /Wife/." is added once more, with a bit more conviction, so that Enero can spill the beans about her and he can go get her. Because this Time Sphere shit? Too rich for his blood, man.
COMBATSYS: Ken takes no action.
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Enero 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Ken
As Enero approaches the Sphere - she might find the whipping blue flames uncomfortable to be near but she can easily step over them (or do a short hop) to the altar-like structure that the Sphere appears to have created entirely for itself. It seems to be fond of geometry, the color blue, and grotesque-looking gargoyles with a seeming dislike of the color purple, if the surrounding structures that have formed around it are indicative of an individual will or mind to be had from it.
The truth, as Enero finds in her close proximity, is all about what it represents - it pierces her mind and soul in an incredible sensation of... scope. Something more vast than what a human mind itself could hope to imagine, something more... incredible. A thing of beauty, a thing of terror? It invites an atmosphere of... hopefulness, perhaps best expressed with how Ken continues to cling to the deep hopes of rebuilding his family.
It... may also yet inspire fear, for the scale of what it suggests. That there is something that may well even be beyond the reach of Lord Vega himself, one that Enero recognizes as God and master, the one who grants her the privilege to exercise his will upon a crumbling world that, even now, will not submit to him.
There is one truth that is made clear just from coming into contact with it, an overwhelming sense of what many have said and claimed...
This world is ending. This sphere, in its alien way, communicates such just by its existence... and what's more, its magnetism towards an idea that implants a desire to go... inward.
'Inward' is a vague concept, but there is something of a draw to take it further inside this void, inside this vortex where time and space no longer make much of any sense - does it instill a hope that it may yet guide one or both of them to the answers they seek?
Either way, in its wake, it casts shadows of... existence, as though it were ready to be the impetus of what is to come, to create and build, to be able to lay a foundation of truth that may not already exist, but this so much is inescapable -
The sense that it will all soon come to an end.
It also has Magaki cooties.
The girl doesn't stop as she marches towards the altar. Her head tilts slightly to regard Ken, peering at him from the corner of those eerily glowing pink eyes of hers. They swirl with motes of visible energy and shrewd intelligence and it's obvious that even now she is calculating and considering possible courses of action.
After a few moments she speaks. "She will be returned to you once my mission has been completed. I must transport this artifact back to Lord Vega. When I have been safely returned to the arms of my Sisters then, and only then, will your wife's safety be ensured, Mister Masters."
She clears the blue flames with casual hop that sends her flipping through the air with the ease of a practiced gymnist to land at the base of the angular pedastal. Almost immediately she is assaulted by the overwhelming presence of the object even before she reaches out to place her gloved hand upon its perfectly smooth surface.
Enero gasps as a flood of sensation fills her mind. For the first time in what must be years she feels a surge of emotion entire her soul and it scours the cold dark husk of her heart as if gasoline had been tossed upon a candle. Her eyes grow wide and her mouth drops open, hot wisps of steamy breath escaping from her lungs into the suddenly frigid air around her. Images press against her mind, thoughts and concepts that are both alien and familiar. Like a tide, they crash against the barriers that have been erected in her mind and for a moment it looks as if they will simply collapse entirely.
Then, with an explosive surge of sudden force, the images are repelled. A column of neon pink fire erupts around the Doll, raw power exploding from her. She screams, her voice the shrill impossible pitch of psychic resonance and it fills the emptiness around her, the deep blackness giving way to a rainbow hue of colors and sound for a single brief moment.
Enero slumps, leaning against the altar for support. Her hand never leaves the sphere, fingers curling tightly around its polished surface as if clinging to a piece of flotsam in a raging storm. Slowly, she draws herself back up to her feet and takes a deep breath. Then, she pulls the Sphere away from its cradle, cupping it between her hands.
She stares at it in silence, a look of what might be fear or contempt on her usually blank face. A single tear forms at the edge of her eye and rolls down her cheek but she wipes it away on her uniform with a fierce shrug of her shoulder and then turns back towards Ken.
"Come, Mister Masters. The mission is... complete."
"Damn right it is. Got me out here in the middle of nowhere, fightin' ancient demons from beyond the grave, punching through time and space. I can't believe you! This? This is why you went through all that trouble? To get a giant gumball? You gotta' be kiddin' me! I swear to-- girl, you are lucky I still need you alive to take me to Eliza. Because I want to knock you so far into last week that you don't even get the idea to kidnap my wife. Seriously, this is messed up. You and Vega and all the rest of your little Neo-Nazi group need to seek some professional help. This just don't make any sense! What the hell does that thing do anyway? Nevermind. Don't even tell me. I don't even wanna' know. Because whatever it does, it damn sure ain't worth all this!"
Yeah. Ken Masters doesn't seem like he's going to be shutting up for a long while. He just walks alongside Enero, a Frenemy, now that the mission is complete and he's ranting and raving like there's no tomorrow. Which, now that Shadaloo has a Time Sphere, there may not be.
"And where the hell did we park the car anyway?! If I got ticket, you ain't gonna' make it back to Vega..."
Enero's mission may be complete, in so far as she declares. Ken may have designs on coming out of the middle of nowhere, to get back out to the world outside - should there even be much of a world left. Would Enero have the heart to tell Ken what it is she exactly saw, felt... came to know?
The Time Sphere hums and shines in Enero's grasp, shining a little more brightly with every little outburst from Ken. Every jeer, every complaint, every possibility that could lead to him making good on his threat, the Sphere... reacts? In some fashion.
Which way is 'out' indeed, but nonetheless, their path may yet wind in a direction contrary to their beliefs and wishes... this little improvised concerto may not yet be over.
Log created on 14:58:07 10/18/2014 by GLaDOS, and last modified on 14:58:13 10/18/2014.