Description: Everything is proceeding according to plan. All Saiki - The One who Rules Time - needs is a single charged Time Sphere in order to open the Time Gate. From there, he will claim a dire force of nature for himself and rewrite history. There is just but a matter of insignificant roaches who refuse to die when stepped on. Within the endless white void, they dare to throw themselves before a power far greater than anything they've ever faced and choose to stand tall against what appears to be inevitability itself -- the world will crumble to oblivion. What do they hope to truly accomplish against The One who Rules Time? This is the exciting conclusion to Match of the Millennium. FINAL ROUND... FIGHT!
The Void.
There is a certain beauty to be found in a place such as this, where all is nil and nothing is everything. It is an endless sprawl of white light, of perfection, of immortality... No sky above, no ground below, just a pale dense fog that shimmers and glimmers, drifting lazily on as is its wont, smoky tendrils crawling over two doors that are separated by an indeterminable distance, facing one another. Through one, the fighters came. The doors represent opportunity and stagnation, and these Gates are the only non-living things that exist... For this domain is creation and destruction.
Life and death.
The very first and the ultimate last.
It is here that Saiki has established himself as Alpha and Omega. The One who Rules Time. From his throne of the infinite and finite, all he needs is but one Time Sphere, and with it, he shall return to the past and reawaken Orochi in order to change history. He will write the notes of the grand symphony of time and it will be a utopia. HIS utopia. A clean, flawless, absolute world of his own design. Will there be anyone but him in this Elysium? I must ask you, does it really matter?
The great tragedy in all this... may well be as to how the people who believe they are fighting for the desire to put a stop to all that has happened, could well be playing into this.
Such thoughts don't come to one Howard Rust, who is wholly preoccupied with keeping moving. Even with Zach's help, the aging American man who has now thrown himself headfirst into almost certain oblivion for sake of everyone struggles. He is physically shattered, barely glued together.
In some ways, it's a natural state of his being, pushed to the absolute brink physically, mentally, and emotionally. With every crisis he gets wrapped up in, this absolute boundary seems to get pushed further and further down - a consequence of his increased strength from pursuing mastery of the art of fighting. His lifelong dream. As Heihachi taunted him about this being as far as he could go, the stings of blows from the King of Iron Fist still ring fresh.
It's hard to breathe, hard to walk. It's harder to imagine this man being able to successfully mount any sort of physical resistance if he or Zach were to be jumped at right about now, but yet... in some fashion or another.
Howard Rust, as he famously does, appears outwardly to endure, traveling along the Void with the guidance of intuition, grit, and maybe the nudging of the Time Sphere Zach has managed to secure.
He's not one for many words, saving his strength best he can as he drags himself across the, er, voidscape, bolstered along in confidence of Zach standing by his side - a friend he has been through thick and thin with across so many adventures.
Now, they stand together through thick, thin, and - in the case of this space - nothing. The nothingness that threatens to break their spirit for that final trudge towards whatever course of destiny this world travels towards.
Zach looks around, seeing a whole lot of nothing. He frowns. The psion's been through hell, both mentally and physically, to acquire the Yang Sphere. He heard that the relic held the power to save the world. The sphere sits in a pouch on his tactical harness, Zach unwilling to make serious use of it yet. He saw what had happened to Duke because of it. Zach would not use the sphere lightly. It lay there with a business card and a length of ribbon. Along with the mismatched wakazashis on his back, they represent, in some ways what brought Zach to this juncture.
The psychic brings a hand up toward the Miraitou on his right shoulder, sliding the blade free. He's not sure what he'll face here, he knows nothing of this Saiki... but Zach will be ready when he shows up. He waits.
There is no fanfare, no pretentious show. When Saiki appears, he steps through a distortion in space and time, avoiding all unnecessary flourish and touching down with nary a sound. The air around him ripples, then the electric blue portal closes. Shaking out his length of silvery hair, he combs his long fringe from sharp, effeminate features. Eventually, hands are placed akimbo upon narrow hips. To Rust and Zach, this man's appearance likely means nothing. Surely they do not know Ash Crimson, unable to spot the similarities between the flamboyant Frenchman and this... person. This being who has ascended. He is a master...
He is... A God.
A strange aura surrounds him, an unfathomable nothing. It is as though he is non-existent to the senses, completely imaginary. This does not bother the man as his expression remains utterly detached, his emotions disconnected and entirely unconcerned that there are two trespassers who have sullied his sanctuary of all. Saiki's self-possessed calm is impenetrable, his arrogance paramount.
At first, Rust and Zach receive no acknowledgement, The One who Rules Time is a void unto his own. He toys with his bangs, sighs once, then decides to move on. One brow lifts high on his forehead, the man's lofty cerulean eyes snapped to their limits, but the keen light in them fades. "An old vagabond and his handless companion, the Sphere Holder. This is what the world has to offer me for tribute, the best humanity can do?" His tone is snide and condescending. Saiki does not think his cruel thoughts but speaks them out loud.
"Trash."
"Insignificant creatures, parasites."
"/Maggots/."
His delivery of each insult comes with less and less effort, like Saiki finds speaking in full sentences to be beneath him. He sweeps away fog, a mass of tar-like energy trailing after his fingertips, "Hurry up and return to nothing." It's so dispassionate, empty. The aloof man suits his kingdom -- he embodies divine dichotomy. Indicating Rust lazily, the pale man adds, "Your body shall be restored to a point before your injuries." How this will happen and for what reason, there is no answer to be had, but once he has finished, it seems that Time itself leaps to the command and reaches for the older American with invisible claws, reversing and ensuring that he feels each and every single strike all over again, agonizingly slow. The man clad in white looks to the Door, the one that leads on to opportunity. Past, present, future... This is the way forward.
Memory.
Elisabeth Branctorche didn't make it far from Heihachi and Rust after their protracted battle before the weight of what she carried became too much to bear. The noblewoman was a person of strong will, but she vastly underestimated the potential of the Time Spheres and their effect on mortals. Plagued by indecision at her entirely mercenary decision to leave both men behind as she made her escape, filled with doubt and fear about the fate of her childhood friend, Elisabeth's mind was much easier prey for the sphere's reverie-inducing power than she had expected.
The featureless fog of this world helps not at all. Without a sense of direction, or any sort of indication where she 'truly' is, it's easy to project the mind's eye onto the fog. Images of the Branctorche estate many years ago. Of afternoons spent laughing with Ash Crimson, spent learning the way of the Light Fist so that when the time came, she could stand against the threat that her family had been born to combat. The blood red afternoon sky the day that Ash left that life behind and vanished, and the chase Elisabeth has been engaged in ever since, staring at Ash's back. But her childhood friend is really just the carrot, not the goal line. What she's really wanted all this time, nobody could really give her:
Closure.
It is thus that while Rust collected himself, with the aid of a friend, that Elisabeth was lost in the mist, or more accurately lost in her own mind. How long she wanders, and what she thinks about, isn't terribly clear. It's enough that it means when Zach and Rust finally confront Saiki, she is nowhere to be found. Until... until she literally walks out of the mists as the One who Rules Time confronts his opponents. The sphere is held before her in her palm, like a lantern guiding the way, but unlike the confident and sure woman Rust had met, she seems dazed, tired, listless, head tilted to one side.
And then whatever scene is playing in her mind suddenly finds Ash Crimson before her, clad all in white, with a sinister aura, hurling insults at strangers. Her mouth opens slowly, and she forces herself to say, "Ash...?"
The sphere recognizes its 'master,' however, and becomes agitated, almost as if it wants to leap from the Frenchwoman's grip. But perhaps that is the opening she needed, as well, to break through. The more the sphere focuses on returning 'home', the more Elisabeth can fight back. Slowly, clarity returns to her. Her posture straightens, the proud definition of her bearing returns. "No... you're not Ash."
That leaves only one person it could be.
The sphere is stowed, and Elisabeth looks over to Rust and then to Zach, one face familiar, the other not. She seems as if she wants to speak, but cannot find the proper words. Instead, she turns to look at Saiki and steels herself for what's to come.
The lack of recognition of a likeness does little to dull the actual surprise of seeing someone else... appear. No, to give someone like this the descriptor of 'someone else' doesn't quite encompass who they are and what they represent.
To the derisive commentary, Howard stands in his tracks, wondering if he should even bother asking as to who this may be - he doesn't admit it outright, but his guesses as to who or what this Saiki might have looked like after Mukai dropped his name... don't quite match up with what could be the reality.
"You, uh, didn't, ah, exactly... roll out the, the red carp--" He can't speak over the insults and name calling, and is summarily quieted only because it pains him to talk much. In turn, his coughing that follows is equally disruptive - but even the lesser effort this mysterious man in white puts in speaking his disgust drowns that out.
And then offers, well, more like forces on him, th restore his body, and before he can say anything he relives any number of awful, horrible blows. It starts at its absolute worst as his body contorts to the physical sensation of every blow by Heihachi, his consciousness fading in and out of, uh, being conscious as he twists on the floor for every blow, every slam suffered. One might wonder if the descriptor of 'restored to a point before your injuries' has been left purposely vague to maximize his suffering, but it seems to stop somewhere around the time he picked up Jiro. Thereabouts.
He can tell because his lungs are a little less full of ash, but that's not much of a relief given that he now kneels over, supporting himself against the non-existent floor with his arms as his eyes go wide, his mind having difficulty comprehending the depth of which what just got inflicted upon him. (Or... what just got uninflicted on him, which is equally absurd in concept.)
His head perks up as Elisabeth speaks, but he says nothing.
"Well," Zach says. "Strange appearance, overbearing demeanor, and better than thou attitude. Sounds like we have our gu-...gal... person?" Zach scratches his head in confusion, he's having a hard time figuring out which (if any) gender Saiki answers to.
And then Rust goes down. The sword drops silently to the floor as the psion tries to help his friend up. "Get up, man," Zach almost orders. "This dude needs an asskicking posthaste." Zach winces as the Time Sphere in his posession makes an effort to get to Saiki. Emerald eyes shoot to the pouch containing it, then to Saiki. They narrow in comprehension. "Ah," he says. "Trap, then."
Zach finishes getting Rust on his feet, and is about to retrieve the Miraitou when Elizabeth arrives. Rust recognizes her, it seems. No time to deal with her ditching his friend now. Zach thrusts his left arm forward, sunlight blossoming from the appendage before stretching and grasping for the dropped sword. The energy construct's visually resolves into a hand, which picks up the sword and brings the weapon back to its master. Zach snaps his right hand out, catching the sword almost as if he had practiced the maneuver to the point of muscle memory.
"Well then," he says as Soul Power washes over his body, spinning around him like something akin to flame. "Let's see what Fate has to say about all of this."
Ah, so there is a third. Elisabeth wanders out from the dense mists, dazed and confused. She reminds him of a fawn that was separated from its mother...
Wait, no. The noblewoman reminds Saiki of nothing, because he does not care. Because the Blanctorche heir does not matter, nor does her mission to see that she ends his ambitions. He disregards her entirely and continues to watch the Door. Fog shifts and dances across the surface, possessively coils around each intricate handle...
'Ash...?'
Somehow, the name manages to penetrate the aura of indifference far more effectively than her sudden appearance, reaching his ears which are seen because Saiki tucks back a long lock of hair. The Frenchwoman eventually discerns that he is indeed not Ash Crimson, and a sardonic twist seizes one corner of his mouth in an expression that lasts for only a single heartbeat. "My descendant. A useless fool." He shakes his head and drifts back into his strange state of utter calm, entirely unperturbed and unruffled once more.
Most villains would enjoy watching an opponent writhe in agony, but Saiki, the one time he does glance toward Howard Rust twitching about and blacking out, there is not the slightest hint that he derives pleasure from the man's suffering. In fact, he might not even be seeing the older American at all. Things happen as his attention is again focused on the Gate. Displays of true camaraderie, of determination... But they do not register to The One who Rules Time. He is so far beyond it in a place that is unreachable, where he cannot hear the mistake of his gender or musings. Zach creates a working hand out of energy alone and is awash in Soul Power. For all the reaction he receives, the psion might as well have just walked away.
Suddenly, the man's cerulean eyes flash in a blink. He turns to look directly at the Sphere Holder, his gaze piercing and analyzing him, falling on the pouch. Hands return to his hips, Saiki standing tall, taller. Blue is devoured by crimson, the whites of his eyes turn blacker than night. "Fate has no place here, you insect. There is only creation and destruction, no more and no less."
"Tell me your dreams for humanity..."
"I will rip them from you."
"I will crush them."
"I will deny each one of you and your very existence for all eternity!"
COMBATSYS: Saiki has started a fight here as a boss!
SAIKI
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COMBATSYS: Zach has joined the fight here in the center.
SAIKI
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Zach 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|
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Zach 0|-------|-------
'My descendant.'
What.
If the word 'what,' deadpanned, could be conveyed through facial expression alone, the fine and aquiline features of Elisabeth Branctorche would be broadcasting it like a billboard at the moment. She knew, KNEW, that Ash must have some connection, but this? Never mind that Saiki has apparently discarded him, views him as no longer useful. If that's the case, then where IS he?
Speeches about humanity's dreams and their imminent end do not seem to concern her, right now. For the first time in her life, Elisabeth Branctorche has decided to act as a woman, as a person, rather than a representative of some force or duty. "What have you done with him? Where is he?"
The woman sweeps forward, twisting into a torso-level sobat intended to plant her foot in Saiki's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Which might be counterproductive, because she follows this by shouting, "Answer me!"
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
SAIKI
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|-------
With Zach's help, Howard's back on his feet, but he still doesn't seem entirely steady. While he might be physically repaired, a part of him still appears as though a man caught in entirely over his head--
Huh, when did his toupee get back on his head? Both Rust and Zach walked away from it earlier, didn't they? ...Moving on.
It may well be that he has a firmer understanding of the power scale in play here. He watched Magaki dismantle a skilled chi manipulator. He got thrown into a wall after being encased in stone by Mukai. He got absolutely savaged by a young Heihachi Mishima - all three individuals, by far, more than a match for himself.
Even Mukai made it clear as to the power Saiki simply has to... decide. He just simply decided to reverse time with the snap of a finger, if even that - he doesn't look like he's putting in much effort at all.
That is what is terrifying, even for a man who had proven brave enough to risk it all many times over for friends and strangers alike... the knowledge, in context, as to what power this man must have in order to have the respect, fear, and compliance of those far beyond the reach of almost anyone...
They are standing before someone who might be exactly a God. This fact makes it difficult for him to speak up with the same enthusiasm and bravado as Zach, when such details like descendants (is he from a long time ago, or something? A great-grandfather?).
Yet, when prompted...
"My thoughts for, for humanity, uh, well," it doesn't sound full of conviction, but maybe he's getting used to not having his lungs feel so full of yuck that it's disarming, as he stands up a bit straighter, "I, I don't think... one person oughtta decide. I've, ah, run across a buncha people, with... ideas, hopes, dreams... I don't always agree with, even if... even if I know why they got 'em."
Why does he feel compelled to speak when Saiki has already demonstrated a lack of care for what they have to say?
"I'm not here to, to decide for 'em... only... see to it they can, but... for me," he says, even as Saiki has already decided to rip them from him, from Zach, from Elisabeth (who is already launching forth to attack), from everyone else who is fighting the good fight they can...
Ol' Rusty is smoothly drawn from the toolbelt pocket it resides in, pointed towards Saiki at a distance he may find uncomfortable, close to his face.
"'m gonna beat the hell out of you, if that's what it takes." It's a bolder declaration than it sounds on the surface, as it showed in his face moments ago - no, almost his entire time in the void - that he's aware of how everything seems out of his league, his ability to affect.
Moving forward into a lunging backhand swing with half a spring in his step, he moves to backhand Ol' Rusty into Saiki's chest. The fear does not disappear from his eyes, or his movements. He has been given a taste of what Saiki is capable of by having time reverse for him.
Yet, he pushes forward to attack, which in itself probably says more than enough... if it cares to be heard.
Zach grins as Elizabeth and Rust make their moves. He doesn't really have much to say that Rust hasn't already said. The other two fighters charge in. Surprisingly, Zach doesn't. He simply turns his left side towards Saiki, the maimed arm raised and pointed at what might just be a god as if he held a gun in a hand that simply isn't there.
Soul Power gathers at the end of the outstretched arm, swirling and spining around, throwing off the occassional flare as Zach aiming at his target. A good shot's all he needs.
COMBATSYS: Zach gathers his will.
SAIKI
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Saiki blocks Rust's Medium Piping.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth successfully hits Saiki with Un Coup de Pied.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
Why do you speak when he has no inclination to listen, Rust? Is it that the aged American enjoys throwing his pitiful words against the wall that is The One who Rules Time? They are discarded, ignored. He would wave his hand, but the effort required causes Saiki to abandon the dismissal. There is no respect here -- clearly everyone present is beneath his acknowledgement. "Let me see you crawl on the floor and beg for your life." Would doing so garner a reaction from him? Likely not.
He is so dispassionate, so impassive, that even threatening him means nothing. Demanding answers mean nothing. Waste pointless narrative on a man who requires validation, for Saiki has no need of it. There is no question whether he MIGHT be a God, he just is. Fear him, love him, it makes no difference. His head swivels on the axis of his neck, pondering the Door.
Elisabeth may indeed plant the sole of her shoe directly in the centre of the man's abdomen, but as he exhales a quick breath, it does not have the intended effect. He doesn't seem to notice, at all. Saiki's attention remains drawn to the Gate, for so long that perhaps Rust will also earn himself a clean strike...
Until the man in white's arm whips up, backhanding the backhand BECAUSE HE CAN.
The One who Rules Time trains an unsettling, unblinking gaze on Howard Rust. "Move." That isn't a request. A shadow rises up from the mists like a blackened spectre and acts as a gale, catching the pipe-wielding individual in strong winds and removing him from Saiki's sight with great force. This leaves his view of Elisabeth unhindered, and hopefully she has reclaimed her foot. While a more pleasant sight, he cares so very little.
But he does acquiesce to her request, possibly out of the goodness of his 'heart'. A contemptuous laugh slips past his thin lips. "Where is he?" Saiki repeats the question with a bored drawl, "Dead."
"Alive."
"Reduced to ashes, as befits his name."
"Go join him in hell, woman."
One long leg lifts, extends, and nothing happens. The God might look ridiculous to someone so full of bluff and bravado like Zach Glen, currently taking aim at his opponent, but then something pushes him forward. His form... shutters, as if quick pictures were snapped of his movements, but the truth is that Saiki is too fast for the human eye to follow, so what is seen are multiple afterimages until it connects, IF it connects. He kicks high enough to strike the Blanctorche heiress in the face, because unlike so many, there are no moral hangups here about brutally beating anyone, even children.
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth blocks Saiki's Hiori no Kusabi.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
How swift can someone be? If they have partial control over time? Swift indeed. But rather than disheartening her, Saiki's words kindle something remarkable in Elisabeth, dredging up emotions long suppressed... or if not suppressed, then at least kept under strict control, seen by no one. As Rust said in their battle against Heihachi, there is nothing left for anyone to lose. This battle will decide so much. She cannot let the lies of the puppetmaster keep her from her goal. Some part of her knows he is out there. She KNOWS he is.
The kick slams into Elisabeth's suddenly upraised guard hard enough to send her sliding back across the floor a few feet, a heavy sound indicating the sudden displaced air the impact produced. But her defense was just barely in time, saving her the blow's full, swift impact. From just above the line of her forearm, the woman's eyes are visible, burning with anger and even hatred for this figure in front of her.
"Your lies mean nothing to me, monster!" she snarls, ducking forward, fighting recklessly. Her arms sweeps forward, her usual riding crop discarded. Now she fights with skin and bone only, he arm sweeping in a wide arc to smack Saiki in his stupid, smug, lying, BORROWED face. "I won't be dissuaded by illusions!"
Alone, the backhand to the backhand itself is enough to force Howard to make a total 180 to catch his deflected swing and stop Ol' Rusty from flying completely out of his grasp. At a casual glance, one might assume that counter-backhand itself landed clean given the stagger that follows to hold his balance.
'Move.'
He is moved, scooped up by shadowy forces and sent tumbling across the void at a distance that appears to be best described as 'don't care as long as they're out of my sight,' and it's quite a distance indeed.
The aging pipe wielder comes to a stop eventually in a sliding crouch, one of his knees twinging out in pain from the wait put on it against the nothingness. Through either adrenaline or Saiki's apathy, or maybe both, he seems largely unharmed - but discarded.
Like he weren't even worth the effort to utterly dismantle on the spot.
He looks back to the fight, to watch the trade of words between Elisabeth and the man of the (final) hour. He takes in a deep breath as he considers the circumstances that saw him left a broken heap (because... he was).
"Who does... who does he think he is," Howard mutters to himself. Who does he think he himself is?
...He's a fighter. Dumb question. Feet, move.
His knees comply as he breaks off into a jog - about as fast as he can really go - to try and close the distance. Gauging distance is hard in the void. Things aren't quite as close or as far as they appear, sometimes, but he comes running back in.
Coming in sharply from behind Elisabeth - the footsteps might be a cue and let's face it, he'd be in Saiki's peripheral vision - he comes in with a low forward leap that is hardly impressive by any fighters' standards.
Two legs lash out from on high, a single horizontal swinging kick followed by a front kick at about head-level, the second kick's motion for some reason giving Rust an odd backward momentum that doesn't quite seem right by the laws of physics, with a sharp kiai backing them.
Even with what fears and hesitation may have their grip on him, that he's still willing to fling himself as such when shown just a God's simple way of saying 'shoo' not long prior...
It seems like it might take far more to dissuade him yet.
There's a reason behind the bluff and bluster: If Zach didn't spit defiance in the face of every villain, megalomanic, demi-god, would-be god, or even god he put himself up against... he'd likely go mad from fear. So far, Saiki is showing exactly /why/ Zach should be throwing the insults when he pulls the here-then-there trick. Zach's eyes narrow. Staying still isn't going to cut it. For that matter, moving may not matter much either.
The psion prefers action to inaction any day of the week.
Zach charges forward, that mass of Soul Power still clinging to the arm and trailing sparks of yellow-white sunlight. He takes a deep breath, focuses once more, and then blurs...
...and vanishes!
The disappearance is short-lived, however, as Zach reappears behind Saiki and looses that explosive sphere of psychic power right into He Who Calls Himself Whatever's back!
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth successfully hits Saiki with Power Strike.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Saiki blocks Rust's Girder Sway.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Saiki overcomes Blast Punch from Zach with Kiyoku no Taiyou.
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Rust 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
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Zach 0|-------|---====
Is he out there, or could Saiki be telling the truth? Does it really matter?
In his opinion, no. Elisabeth clearly disagrees.
There is a moment when the God of the Void considers sharing the story about a certain hospital in Athens and how it caught fire, just to shut her up. He decides that this would require far too much effort and proceeds to ignore the noblewoman outright, instead. You don't see Saiki mourning his stupid descendant. She shouldn't either.
But wait, what about this thing humans call, 'Love'? Is that what he is seeing, a weakness? Elisabeth allows her heart to blind her, confuse her...
As his foot is set down, all attempts to kick her in the mouth foiled, the passionate Frenchwoman strikes her fair-haired opponent, slapping him hard across the face. His head snaps to its limit, cheek reddened. An imprint of four dainty fingers and a thumb mark his pale visage. Saiki squares his shoulders, even his size is an exact replica of Ash... Slowly he turns back, but there is nothing. No flare of anger, no hint of foul temper. All he does is look down at her, reaching out. Tar-energy wreathes his entire arm as The One who Rules Time utters a single command, "Stay."
He pours the shadows onto her head of blue-hued hair. It is like being doused with cold water, and when it reaches what might be the ground, sticky ropes glue her in place. A temporary measure, Elisabeth will surely be able to break free, but it allows Saiki the time to deal with other threats to his person, such as Rust and the Sphere Holder. Her sphere is useless, of course. Tainted.
The pipe-wielder asks himself pointless questions, thinking far too much, and when he finally commits to action, Saiki bests him at every turn. Above, the pale fighter fends off each attack with his forearms. He pushes Rust away with a small grunt of effort and rounds on Zach so quickly that it almost suggests that this is all by his divine design. Sunlight, Soul Power, it is crushed by darkness. Cutting through the sphere of psychic power, an explosive mass of black looms in its place. It claws its way to the younger American, inky fingers reaching for the psion's face, his arms.
Uncaring and twirling a lock of silvery hair, Saiki says, "Next, I will claim the Time Sphere and use it to open the Door."
COMBATSYS: Zach blocks Saiki's Kiyoku no Taiyou.
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----===========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Zach 0|-------|--=====
Zach is already leaping away, almost as if he allowed the burst of energy to propel him as he blasted Saiki. It's the only thing that gives him time to see how Saiki had reacted. His eyes go wide as the tendrils of darkness come for Zach.
The backward momentum also gives Zach enough time to summon a brief barrier of energy and get it between himself and the incoming energies. They do the job, mostly. Some of the attack makes it through, however, tearing at cloth and flesh with equal abandon. Blood drips to the floor as the psion skids to a halt. Zach grits his teeth as he resets his grip on the Miraitou. "I don't think so," Zach says. "I'll destroy it before I let you have it."
The psion bolts forward, reaching for Saiki with his left arm. That, however, is a move to draw attention. He knows Saiki saw the energy hand even if he didn't comment on it. No, the leading arm is to mask Zach's intention to bury the Miraitou in the would-be god's chest!
For a moment, Elisabeth is restrained, forced to watch as Saiki looses his anger on those fighting with her. It's unpleasant, to say the least, and the feeling of powerlessness to help isn't much greater. Though a part of her watches these two stalwarts and asks: why? What is their reason? While she knows little of Zach Glen, she does know of Rust. She KNOWS that he knows that this is the end and the end is inevitable. Heihachi told them so. Yet still he struggles. He could have gone to his rest, but even as she has that thought, a pang of guilt stabs directly into her heart.
Her reasons may be selfish, but she cannot fight with only selfish reasons. And as this thought emerges in her heart, her chi -- the force of pure light, antithetical to the inky consuming darkness Saiki wields -- erupts, dispelling the tentacles holding her in place, washing them away with its radiance.
"I... _we_... will not allow it," Elisabeth intones. Saiki opening the door means so much worse than the end of the world. It means the end of HISTORY. It will be as if everyone here never existed at all... and considering she holds the sphere of Memory on her person, there is no greater reminder that to disappear from memory is the only true death. We all live on in the memories of those around us.
Family... and friends.
The noblewoman appears behind Rust and Zach, that luminous chi gathering around her form, and as the two attempt to strike home, she surges in to the space left by them, sweeping her arm up. In its path, a geyser of that luminous energy looks to send Saiki sailing into the air, before Elisabeth follows after, leaping up to swing her arm, trailing light, in a wide arc and batting the white-clad ruler of Time to the ground.
When martial artists who fight their fellow peers go about defending against blows, there is always a specific purpose as to how they block, in what range of motion they intend to utilize, and how to best go from there.
What may constitute a slight effort from Saiki - and only the slightest - and the way he barely cares to recognize any of them, means this deflection doesn't feel as that of a fellow fighter deflecting their peer.
It still reads far more as someone swatting away a housefly, the motion of his hand succeeding in actually throwing Howard's balance out of whack when he comes back down from those two kicks (and the lack of any visible ground beyond what has been assumed to /be/ ground) leaving him in a less-than-ideal crouch landing with a bit too much weight on his knee.
This still puts him close to Elisabeth as he pushes himself up, finding no comfort in how Saiki turns away from either of them to proclaim out loud - even narrate - what he intends to do with it, and how Zach stands defiantly... there's a certain unease, if only brief, as to what might happen if that thing does shatter. It's clearly something powerful, something dangerous...
Howard at least inwardly agrees it's at least at minimum simply better to keep the Sphere out of this man's... God's... jerk's hands.
As he steps ahead of Elisabeth while she is briefly bound, he primes the pipe to strike into Saiki's back - as there is a consensus that comes to fruition between Zach and Elisabeth alike in their own resolves, Howard takes a moment to breathe in.
Looking at Saiki is... nauseating. Not for lack of appeal, but the way he carries himself. He is at a magnitude that exceeds even the likes of Igniz, or... maybe even Vega. The way he has so casually discarded everyone...
"Whatever... whatever end this goes to," he says as he coincidentally steps to the side to allow Elisabeth a clean shot when he's really just figuring the best angle for attack, to allow him the momentary meditation against a superior foe, he pulls Ol' Rusty back in both hands.
He chooses to go in low, sliding across the non-floor. To beg for mercy, to grovel for his existence? No, to swing Ol' Rusty low for the back of Saiki's ankles, to bring him to the possibility that he will be the one who has to kneel to their wills.
"We're not lettin' you do as you please!"
COMBATSYS: Saiki endures Rust's Foundation Layer.
SAIKI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-==============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Zach 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth successfully hits Saiki with Grand Rafale.
- Power hit! -
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------------=|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Zach 0|-------|---====
COMBATSYS: Saiki interrupts Heavy Strike from Zach with Hanetsurube no Nata.
! VENGEANCE !
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|---------======|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
So the damage is negligible, but that doesn't bother him. He's not much attached to the results, as long as the sphere finds its way into Saiki's possession. Should Zach live or die in the process, that is his problem. If he tries to break the orb so that The One who Rules Time cannot lay a hand upon it, his corpse will paint the Gate and his soul will be used to power it. He will never be permitted to leave the Void, ever.
"Impudence. Don't speak to me, I have no interest in your prideful prattle, maggot." The pale man... flips his hair. A very strange action, considering his cool and collected demeanour. Perhaps it is another way Saiki is comparable to his descendant, but only one is capable of recognizing these similarities: Elisabeth. The God of Time is still busy ignoring her and her sullied sphere, but she may soon earn his notice... Possibly.
For someone so subtle, he exudes confidence. It seeps from every pore, almost as apparent as his startling aura of darkness. When Saiki pivots sharply on his heel, presenting his back to the psion, it is complete and unequivocal dismissal, cold and cruel. Come and stab him, child. What can Zach do to a being so superior? He is something the likes of Igniz and Vega could only dream to achieve.
Howard Rust aims for his ankles. Elisabeth Blanctorche charges him. Zach Glen may just sword him in the spine. These three, two friends and the noblewoman, work together seamlessly, trapping Saiki in the midst of a pincer attack. He allows Rust to trip him so that the effeminate fighter first pitches forwards before rocking back into a controlled handspring. His hands meet what may be ground with a muted slap. The blade of Miraitou skips across his thigh before Zach gets a very deep look into a God's soul...
I mean, sole. Whoops.
He stomps on the psion, forcing him into a bow. Reversing his movements quickly enough that it's a shock Saiki hasn't given himself whiplash, he kicks Zach into the air mid-flip. The man follows his path, calculates the velocity and takes aim not at the soaring psion, but at the pouch, releasing a blast of black gooey chi to rip the seams of the fabric. It drops into his open hand. Success.
Or it was, because he's uppercut and sent what could be considered skywards. As his lithe frame arcs through the Void, Saiki seems far more peaceful than he should. The noblewoman leaps to meet him, smashes him back to 'earth'. An explosion of mist, a body colliding with... It's hard to say. The fog settles and nothing stirs, not for at least three whole minutes...
He rises, laughing softly, shoulders trembling. It builds to sound, it builds to a terrifying, heart-stopping chortle. Splaying a hand across his lips, the God has a few words: "Behold, the Gate...!"
The door to past, present and future has begun to swing open, and the Time Sphere sits embedded in the frame above the opening. ... How?
The pressure becomes unbearable.
As the Door creaks open to Saiki's jubilant laughter, Elisabeth drops to her knees, eyes wide, breathing quick and heavy. It as if the sphere in her possession, when the door was opened, became an anvil, magnetized to the floor. Dealing with its mental effects is one thing -- a strong enough will can fight back against that -- but now the Sphere of Memory is like a lead weight. You can fight doubt and reverie; fighting the laws of physics gone awry is another thing entirely. It takes all of her strength not to be pulled along toward the gate.
Ignoring Saiki for the moment -- a force she feels she can't really do much about -- the noblewoman turns to Rust and Zach, shouting to be heard above the din of a world seemingly turning inside-out before their very eyes. That door can only lead to one possible location: the safe space outside of time, the bridge between worlds and dimensions, where history could be made or unmade in the blink of an eye. "We can't... we have to close the gate! It's the only way!"
But how is she even going to DO that?! She barely has the strength to MOVE.
Summoning every ounce of power left in her body, the Frenchwoman struggles to her feet, seemingly fighting a terrible gravity all the way up, and as she rises her hand swings in a broad arc. Thankfully, the luminous crescent of energy that flows in the path of the swing seems unburdened by whatever cruel force is pressing down on her, flying towards Saiki. Anything to keep him away from the door long enough for it to be forced closed.
From Rust's angle on the not-floor, the trip looks genuine enough as he kicks out his feet to get himself back up to a standing position - but as he rights himself to a proper standing angle, it dawns upon him very quickly that Saiki had figured it all out. That handspring changes his face from a tense grimace of heightened tension that they may have finally started to get a handle on this guy...
It's a rush of emotions to watch Saiki get back his bearings so effortlessly, to charge Zach and give him what for as he grabs hold of the thing that everyone may have once thought was the solution to this whole mess, only for bringing them here to be the catalyst to his plans...!
Even for the time that passes when Elisabeth Blanctorche appears to remove him, the tension doesn't leave the aging American man. His pipe remains extended out into the Void, as though being cautious with his steps.
"Zach, are, are you okay, uh," he looks to Elisabeth, "good... uh, good... hit." If he's really upset about being left for dead back there, it doesn't quite show, but maybe it's because they have bigger problems? Eyes dart around the nothingness...
Laughter. Howard's among the first to look in Saiki's direction, and his knee forgives him for the quick pivot. The air becomes unbearable, quick. The feelings of past, present, future all rushing out from the cracks...
"Shit, close that, I, I don't see a... a handl--" He thinks that maybe it's better if he chance, somehow, grabbing a hold of a God who has eluded or otherwise taken advantage of his every advance, but Elisabeth quickly volunteers herself to slow Saiki.
There's no time to argue over who's sacrificing themselves in what way, as he signals to Zach.
"C'mon, we gotta," uh, what? Gotta do what? Close it? He gestures with the pipe up towards the top of the doorframe to Zach, as though wondering if there might be something he can do about that as Howard himself moves to the gate.
To the oppressive, overwhelming feeling that trumps even what he went through making the plunge into the vortex... fear. Doubt. It's been made very clear by now that this world is not going to recover - is what they're doing, despite the nefarious aims of that Saiki... helping? Are they threatening to deliver everyone into oblivion?
He doesn't want to chance putting himself in there - he tries to point Ol' Rusty inside to try and hook one part of the opening door back inwards, back closed, if the forces of time and space might even allow him to do so...
Or if Saiki would even allow him to approach...
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|---------======|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
Zach makes no real sound when he gets the boot to the head, but the scream he makes when Saiki's chi rips through him is one of pure agony. The psion falls to the ground in a heap like a discarded toy, and is still for a disturbingly long moment. He looks up with bleary eyes when he realizes what has been done, and slumps back to the ground. Black flames lick across Zach's body as he tries to figure out what to do.
Elisabeth is taking on Saiki. The mad godling. Rust... is trying to close the door. The choice isn't much of one.
Zach slowly, painfully, drags himself to his feet, staggering towards the door. However, where Rust is trying to use Ol' Rusty as a lever, Zach has no such useful tool. Zach resheathed his sword, and reaches for the door in a desperate attempt to force it closed.
Because frankly, that seems a hell of a lot easier than fighting Saiki or destroying the Gate outright.
COMBATSYS: Zach takes no action.
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|---------======|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
COMBATSYS: Saiki blocks Elisabeth's Grand Etincelles.
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------=======|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
"Close the Gate? Idiot woman, do you not see? Think of this world. It is a shadow of its former glory, a broken shell." A beat. "The timeline will continue to splinter until the human race is wiped out, or subjugated by superior beings. Do you want to see that fool of my bloodline ever again? Stay your tongue and keep out of my way!" She tries to prevent him from advancing, tries to bar his path. Elisabeth shouts to Rust and Zach, issues commands and they hasten to obey. Dark pupils in a sea of crimson narrow dangerously. His expression does not change. The light traces an arc after her arm, the shards intent on piercing Saiki, but he coldly denies them. He swats them from the air like annoying flies, chi burning his fist, and then unfurls his scorched fingers.
Black shadows coalesce, churning and forming grotesque shapes that scream in voiceless torment. These are the souls Saiki has claimed for his own. Men, women, children. The young and old. The healthy and infirm.
The bubbling mass grows in size, so much that it envelopes much of his white sleeve and arm together. Saiki shakes out his silvery hair, allowing it to cascade down his back in a waterfall. He can hear the sphere that Elisabeth holds, whispering, demanding to be reunited with its brethren. Without knowing it, the Frenchwoman holds the key to what could be 'salvation', the tainted Orb of Memory. Fortune be with him and she never realizes this fact.
Swinging open further, as if pushed by all possible outcomes and alternative timelines, the force required to close the Time Gate is more than Rust and Zach can manage on their own. Still, humans and their indomitable spirit are not to be underestimated. Stranger things have happened. "So strong is your wish to live and die at the same time. A great duality. Why is it that your kind seeks a Pyrrhic victory so relentlessly? Do you only want to increase your suffering? Never mind, I don't care to know the answer." Allow him to show you what awaits those who try to stop him. Hurling the glob, it is intended for them both, setting each man ablaze with the shadows of souls and chi alike!
COMBATSYS: Saiki successfully hits Zach with Kiyoku no Tsuki.
SAIKI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--=============|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
COMBATSYS: Saiki successfully hits Rust with Kiyoku no Tsuki.
SAIKI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
The door does not budge. It will not be pulled closed, no matter how much muscle Howard puts into it - and he's certainly not lacking for it.
He puts his absolute all into this as the atmosphere of compressed time - perceivable only in the form of a white mist that is all but invisible to this Void backdrop. Muscles strain, bulge... sweat runs down his brow.
"I'm... it's not," he wheezes aloud as his entire body locks up, as though innately wondering if it were simply possible to stop it from opening further (which is itself a futile gesture, if it's still open enough for someone to go through). "It's not... cl-closing... it won't... budge!"
The Gate, as driven by the forces of inevitability, will not concede a single inch. It does not appear as though Rust's tugging even affects its opening in the slightest, as though he weren't even there to do that, for all the clear effort he puts in.
"Cripes...!" The situation warrants a harsher swear from the pipe-wielding Kyokugen fighter than that, certainly. It seems to warrant even an observation from Saiki. It is a Pyrrhic victory at best, even if they did close the door. As he said over yonder with Elisabeth, this world is lost no matter what anyone does.
It is punctuated, readily, by the black chi that envelopes him, of which there is no meaningful defense he can muster even if he threw his forearm out to try and catch it. It overwhelms, it burns... it screams, blinding away the featureless white for a crawling, endless black.
Howard falls backwards as his pipe loses its hold on his half of the Gate's doors (or rather, the door's hold on /it/, as it was very content to simply drag him forward, inevitably into whatever lies beyond), gasps and sputters as he corkscrews and falls onto his knees, catching himself with his left hand.
It looks a lot like the beginnings of a groveling posture.
"Maybe," Howard finally mutters as the burning black of chi and souls part in so much as it comes to his vision. They still burn, they still torment, "we can't... we can't stop the, the, thing."
Heihachi's said it plainly - do they really have the strength to change anything on such a grand scale? Heihachi himself, a truly strong will, fell to Saiki's sway...
His right hand trembles, shaking, as it holds the pipe from where he kneels.
"But," facing upwards, his teeth clench, even as his joints loudly pop and creak, as though they were resigned to give up...
"I don't... I don't think it's too late," too late for what? They can't stop the Gate from being open! The physically strongest man of the three who stand before them now could not do a single thing to stop its continued opening...
"Too late to stop," is he delirious? Is an old, fragile mind so tormented by failures and disappointments grasping onto a distant fantasy? He stands up, every muscle in his body tensing as Ol' Rusty's tip scrapes the nothing he stands upon.
"You."
He moves forward to try and close the distance between Saiki and himself, a quick spin of his wrist to test his grip upon the trusty pipe - pipe's still there, still ready and willing (inanimate objects don't really have a will, but regardless).
He thrusts it upward in a horizontal moving uppercut, feet sliding against the substitute ground in his trademark technique that, even at the end of the world, still has no clear connection with cement.
It is an 'Upper,' by far - but would a defiant claim to even /think/ of having a chance against a God, with a long busted and useless length of pipe no longer suitable for its original intended purpose, truly be worth much of anything to Saiki?
The effort, at least, is clearly worth it for one Howard Rust.
Zach makes no progress on his end either. It's hard enough to do it with just one functional hand. He frowns as he sees Rust is making no progress either, but does not give up. He tries to cast aside Saiki's taunts and words.
He cannot so easily disregard the chi blast, which hurts no less the second time. He falls to the ground in agony as the evil black energy overtakes the psion, crumpling. How much more can he take?
He watches Rust go through a change of plans. Deep inside Zach, his Soul Power flares through his right hand. Not to be outdone, not to let down his friends, Zach takes in a deep breath and rises up.
Stopping Saiki won't be easy, but if it's the only way, he chooses to punch his way through. His right hand glows with an awesome power. It does not tell him to destroy Saiki.
He wills it to make his mark, closing the gap to swing the punch from waist height up towards Saiki's chin, glowing to the brim with the psion's power to explode on contact!
"Let's ring his bell," Zach grins through his pain as he stands alongside Rust and Elisabeth anew even as he is on his last legs.
They give it their all, at the words of a woman who they barely know. Perhaps Rust and Zach feel some sort of trust for her, in the sense that she is standing alongside Saiki with them. Which makes it all the worse when Saiki brushes her aside to take his full wrath on the two men, leaving her momentarily spared. But that in and of itself has a measure of survivor's guilt: the knowledge that it could have been you, maybe even SHOULD have been you.
For a moment, Elisabeth is forced to confront the painful truth that perhaps a part of her WANTS Saiki to end it. That facing the end this way, feeling powerless and abandoned at the inevitable end of the world, is the easy way out.
The fear that he was telling the truth about Ash.
And yet these two strangers endure that pain, and turn to face it and fight back, and they do so without any of the personal motivations that Elisabeth has for being here. Which isn't to say they don't share an overriding ambition, to stop Saiki from erasing all memory of this world, but that goal seems so large as to be amorphous and impossible to grasp. Wanting to rescue a friend, to fulfill a generations-long family duty... those are close by. She holds on to that in her heart... and takes her resolve from these two brave souls willing to do for much less than she.
There are no words, this time; no dramatic cries or lofty statements. There is only the moment, where she attacks alongside Rust and Zach, driving toward Saiki, hoping that the pair of hammer blows dazes him enough so that she can grip him and hurl him skyward, before spreading her arms and detonating a burst of that luminous energy that is her birthright.
Kyo would be hard-pressed to say how he ended up here. Partially this is due just to the mystic nature of this... event. Partially it's due to the crazy beating he took at the hands of Mukai. (And elbows, and feet.) But, as Rust, Elisabeth, and Zach charge in to fight Saiki... here he is. Kyo Kusanagi. The bearer of the Sword, one of the three Sacred Treasures. A man who has faced the power of Orochi many times, in many ways.
He doesn't look -good-. His clothes are torn, ragged, and he himself has several wounds that look only hours old at best--most likely minutes. And yet, to borrow a phrase, the soul still burns. Whatever happened at that volcano bent him, lacerated him, but it did not break him. Not spiritually, at least. As he emerges...
He can feel it. That power. It calls to his blood, to the fire within him, a fire that seeks to extinguish. It can hardly be said that he, the man called Kyo Kusanagi, is actually in control of his own faculties at the moment. Perhaps he will arrive presently. For now, at least, most of him is here, his right arm sweeping up, gathering a trail of fire that concentrates in his hand, glowing bright, only to be flung at the--floor?--of the arena, landing, gathering, and then hissing on its way towards Saiki.
He needs no introductions to the man, nor speeches. He can feel the importance of this.
COMBATSYS: Kyo has joined the fight here in the center.
SAIKI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Rust successfully hits Saiki with Cement Upper.
SAIKI
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Zach successfully hits Saiki with Dynamite Punch.
SAIKI
[ |||||||||||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth successfully hits Saiki with Mistral.
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Kyo successfully hits Saiki with Yami Barai.
SAIKI
[ ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|------=
Is there another way to shut the Door, to sabotage the Gate without using the sphere Kagero has tampered with? Unless they wish to cease this pointless struggle, to end all fighting, all attempts to close the portal to past, present and future will only be met with failure. As long as the ragtag group of heroes insists on beating The One who Rules Time, they play directly into his hand. Saiki could laugh himself to death, the irony is delicious.
And yet their energy is not enough. The Yang Sphere of Flux speaks to him, craving more. A sacrifice on a far grander scale is required to reach utopia. It demands a power that is eternal, limitless... /His/. At first, Saiki is entirely unwilling, perhaps bargaining the lives of the three who face him, but that offer won't be accepted. To earn rite of passage, it must be him.
"Come." He spreads his arms wide, addressing all, his sheer presence drawing each to him in turn. Elisabeth, being the closest, reaches Saiki first. She may have hesitated, waited for an opportunity to strike simultaneously, but space and time work differently in the Void. Things that appear nearby are a million miles away, and it is the same in reverse. Rust is still a long way off, Zach trailing behind him, when the God is gripped by his zippered top and tossed into the air.
Light both blinds and burns him. It rips through the fabric of his clothes, through his very being, and sends him flying higher still in the ensuing explosion. Somehow, Saiki lands on his feet, knees bending to cushion his impact and his silvery hair in disarray. "All hope will fade..."
"All life..."
"Everything..."
Rust fills his vision, his heavy uppercut colliding with the beautiful man's perfect jaw. His head snaps back, the long column of his throat exposed. Stars are born and die in his crimson coloured eyes. Saiki's mouth drops open and he laughs, the frightening and patronizing ghost of it echoes back at them. The dark energy begins to coalesce around him again. He's like an inky black stain against a white and misty backdrop. "I will create..."
"I will destroy..."
"This world shall be as I wish it!"
The final blow comes courtesy of Zach, who blasts the God in the chin with a punch that detonates with Soul Power. He rocks back a step, his entire body consumed by shadows and souls. His aura is a terrifying mosaic of dark faces, their eyes rolling in fear. Saiki reaches to his lovely visage and with a sickening CRACK, he resets his jaw. Lips peel away from pearly white teeth and he dons a maniacal grin. "I will erase each of you..."
"I will remove the very event of your conception from time..."
"You won't be forgotten, for there will be nothing to remember!"
At last, the Door is completely open; the Void begins to distort as all possibilities and pasts bleed in. There is colour and then none. Kingdoms are built and crumble to dust. Animals thought to be long extinct walk again, but they rot away into piles of bones in the blink of an eye. Saiki glides to the very centre of the images, brushing past his opponents in an irritating, unnerving way, completely unphased and as dispassionate as ever...
Only to find himself awash with the Ever-Burning Flames of Kusanagi in the moment of his triumph.
A scream of rage is torn from his lips, arms rising in a weak attempt to shield his battered form. "You dare?!" Saiki shrieks, throwing a baleful glare in Kyo's direction, hating the young scion with a fierce, unbridled passion. Now would be a good time to regain your bearings, Kusanagi, because he has a special gift just for you?! "Impudent maggot, Orochi is nothing compared to me! I cannot be struck down, the Sacred Treasures are useless! You have no place here!" This is the grand finale. The shadows begin to expand, consuming the entirety of the Void and turning all to black!
Saiki makes an awful face, his attractive features contorting in pain. A choked gurgle escapes him and the all-encompassing spread of darkness comes to a stuttering halt. In shock, looking down at his chest to locate the source of his discomfort, he finds a hand protruding from it and dimly registers the presence at his back. Blood, red like any human, seeps from the corner of his mouth. "You..." He rasps. The God is brought to a kneel, clutching at the fist that pierced him, skewered on the arm of his killer, "I gave you this power... Ash Crimson... N..now you would use it... against me--"
"Ahaha, I never accepted with the intention of helping you." It is as Saiki says, the Frenchman is there. Badly beaten and broken, but still smiling in his jovial way. Ash lets loose another lilting giggle.
Spluttering, flecks of blood disappearing into mist, The One who Rules Time, the great Saiki, utters one last condemning word, "... traitor..."
Ash pulls his hand free from the man's body, who collapses to never be seen again, clutching what appears to be a small wisp in his fist. Considering his options, scarlet eyes scrutinize it - wait, when did that happen? And is there any way to destroy a soul? Knowing Saiki, his ancestor could probably find a way to come back, even with no soul. Pressing the wisp against his breast, it is absorbed into his body. With the Yata Mirror, the flamewielder should be able to contain it, fight back the God and keep him at bay.
He has never been more wrong in his entire life.
For one brief, shining moment, Ash is in control and his mind is clear. Lifting his head, it gives him a chance to take in his surroundings and those present. The young man's freckled-face lights up at the sight of Elisabeth, "Bonjour, Betty! Ca va?" It's almost as if he hadn't, you know, took down the greatest threat humanity has ever known. Reaching up, strands of platinum blonde are twisted around a slender finger. He opens his mouth...
His heart stops.
A strange beat reverberates throughout his lithe figure, the ground thrumming with energy beneath him.
"I can use this body!" A voice rings out, but from where? "I can still make it!"
White light consumes shadow in a blinding flash and the fog grows so thick that it chokes any who breathe it in...
His aura pulses a myriad of colours, visible even through the mist. The Frenchman curls in on himself and his hair blanches, his clothes darken from red to obsidian. Crimson eyes begin to roll back, then he snaps to full awareness. "What is this impairment? Such a nuisance." No. NO! How is it even possible?!
Blithely waving his hand, Saiki restores the body he possesses, reversing all of Ash's bruises, knitting his broken bones, closing every open wound. A harsh and toothy grin splits his face, from ear to ear. "Ah, perfect." Being a God has its advantages.
Without warning, without even announcing that this will be the true ending, a clap rends the still air asunder. There are small atoms of black energy that suddenly appear; they swell to massive proportions and then burst with a bang like a firecracker. More take their place. Soon the Void is filled with a crescendo of thunderous explosions. Shadow chi is spat in all directions. Sound all blurs together into one long deafening note, and the world is enveloped in darkness. This superior creature intends to kill them with a final blow -- is there anywhere to run, any way they can escape? Not unless they step through... The Door. Above it all, Saiki shouts his jubilant laughter, "So close! /SO CLOSE/!" He embraces the chaos, the nothing, what will be the eradication of history and birth of his paradise! He will need Orochi's power to add to his own... Yes! Ash's aura eventually solidifies into a film of sickly black goo, and The One who Rules Time refuses to release him. Ash Crimson will be his vessel when he sets foot in Eden, his descendant should feel deeply honoured!
COMBATSYS: Rust endures Saiki's #Kasumi+#.
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||| ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|------=
COMBATSYS: Zach endures Saiki's #Kasumi+#.
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|------=
COMBATSYS: Kyo endures Saiki's #Kasumi+#!
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Rust 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Elisabeth
[ ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth endures Saiki's #Kasumi+#.
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Rust 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Elisabeth
[ ]
Zach 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 2|<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<
As far as Rust knows, this is the only way he believes they can affect anything. It's worked countless times before - Vega, a supernatural, virtually untouchable pinnacle of psionic power, would go down after an epic effort by so many powerful fighters. With just these three here...! He rears back the pipe from the impact, somehow even a situation where a pipe /hits/ Saiki feeling entirely to his loss with what runs through his arm on impact... not unlike when he tried to hit Mukai...!
Saiki laughs, taunts, promises things that he could probably damn well back given how he reversed Rust's injuries... can they stop him? He feels the extremes of temperature in rapid succession as the ages pass before everyone's eyes...
A scream. Flames. When Saiki's eyes move, so does Rust's to see...
"Kyo," Howard says the name quietly. He remembers the Kusanagi scion from when they fought while Rust was helping set up a fighting ring (and he still can't get Frei's name right?!)... but the sideglance doesn't last long as he looks back to Saiki, raising the pipe anew, when...
Someone gets him, to put it mildly. This doesn't bring him much ease.
"What's... what's going on--" Should he say thank you, you saved us? Should he say who are you, what are you doing? Should he swing for him like Saik-- he looks a lot like him, come to think of it!
It's not over, and things answer themselves right quick, clearly enough that even Rust seems to be (vaguely) on the ball as he raises the pipe again...
Then, black. Black. Black everywhere. To describe its effect is to do it a disservice. It is simply black. A black that transcends Vega's pinkish-purple, in Rust's mind. Black. Nothingness.
He feels nothing. He tenses his left hand... but this does little good, as the black encompasses... where can they go? Is there nowhere to go? He cannot describe how he feels. It is nothing, but everything. Life should not exist here. Life can not exist here.
There should be nothing to fear, but one among Saiki's number did. Mukai wanted to kill Rust on the spot, for his apparent meekness... all tyrants before him that he opposed, eventually, fell.
Saiki did Rust the honor of reversing all his injuries out of arrogance. He'd have fought, even if he didn't... but he'd have been dead long before now.
Now... the man who inexplicably survived the purest incarnation of fire, the man who somehow overcame the overbearing perfection of psionic power, the man who even managed to endure hard vacuum, dimensional collapse, and flesh-rending g-forces...
Somehow, he works a step forward. It's more a stumble. He forces his eyes open (still all black, what can he see).
Something tethers this mortal man who will not so easily die to things that should have killed him...
"Zach!" He calls above the chaos and disorder... somehow, by some way, finding a way to his side. He points the pipe forward, and moves on.
"Kyo!" He repeats, a bit more clearly as he staggers through the black. He points the pipe forward.
"Uhh... Betty, that what he-- Betty!" He decides not to waste precious time fumbling over what her name is and is assuming what the curious Saiki near-lookalike said is close enough. He points the pipe forward.
Somehow, though he can't see much of anything, he points the pipe correctly in the direction of Saiki, his face contorting as his body decides that yes, this is pain, this is suffering, this is... destruction.
Somehow, through the black on black of the man of the final hour of Earth, the black of everyone's vision... a slight speck of purple, that horrible toupee so absolutely unimaginably foul that it still stains the purity of the black, might be the beginning of a beacon of indication.
They're not alone. They're fighting together. This is their last stand. They have one final chance, as Howard's legs start to give out.
It is time for them to shine their light, their flames, their souls, to be beacons in turn to push everyone together...!
Kyo can feel the anger and the hatred. It doesn't simmer--it boils to the surface. And then it boils outwards. This place is timeless, formless, pure white--but now... it's pure black. For the second time today--is it still today?--he is engulfed in world-shaking power. But this time, he doesn't cover. He doesn't cower. He brings his arms up, not to defend himself, per se, but to protect his face--as he walks forward.
Somehow, he speaks, raises his voice, though he might not be heard until the black field of energy dissipates. "I am Kyo Kusanagi... heir to the flames of the Kusanagi and bearer of the Sword, the Sacred Treasure. For all my life, I've fought this... but today... right here... right now..." His body bursts into flame, limning him from head to toe, not just burning--raging, an inferno that pours off him.
"... I will use this power of mine to seal your fate. Prepare yourself, Saiki...!" The energy pouring off of him seems to obscure him completely, and as he prepares to release it, it seems almost solid.
This time, Kyo doesn't throw a gout of flame. No, this time, the Orochinagi--the Serpent-Sealing Sword--comes out of the ground, roaring, exploding, columns of pure fire slamming out and upwards from where Kyo stands, looking to engulf Saiki in their purifying, cleansing flame.
"We humans will dictate our own fates!!" Of course, expending energy like that is tough, even if he weren't already wounded--after the explosions, he drops to a knee, wrapping his left arm over his torso, panting heavily. The flames that burned so brightly moments ago merely flicker now--but still they live. The soul still burns.
Zach's screams are lost under the thunderous detonations of void. Everything in Zach's eyes goes white, then black. He cannot see anything. Can't hear anything. Touch, taste, smell, gone. Even that ethereal sixth sense of the mind that Zach had only fairly recently learned to use properly provides no input for the psion to proces. There isn't even pain anymore.
So this is it, he thinks to himself. This is the end. Well, at least he put up a fight. Gave it everything and then some. No shame in that, right? Even if it wasn't quite enough.
"Zach!"
The psion's eyes snap open. There is Rust, standing beside him, larger than life. Zach realizes then that he had fallen to his knees, a bruised and bloodied mess. The scar in the dead center of his chest, one that Zach had thought pretty much healed, weeps blood. Zach looks down at the wound inflicted by someone he had thought, and still thinks of as a friend. The blood, the returning pain, the sight of his best friend once again at his side, these things tell Zach that this thing isn't over yet.
Zach stands, wobbling on legs all but screaming in protest at the movement, and looks down once more as a flutter of motion catches his eye. His right hand moves sluggishly, but still manages to catch it. Bleary eyes focus on the object: a length of ribbon, bright blue with the symbol of a now-dead empire over one of a nation reborn, given to him by a young lady upon his return to Japan. A symbol, really, of wishes asked for. The psion grins, clenching the ribbon his hand firmly. Zach takes a deep breath, and pulls himself upright as a final outpouring of Soul Power lights up the room, banishing the shadows of the room with a noonday's brightness.
"It's not enough to shine," Zach says as he gathers that power, that will, that wish to /continue/ into the palm of his right hand. He twists his upper body away from Saiki, bringing his left arm around as if to try and support the construct. A faint wisp of silver slithers along the maimed arm, coalescing into a shimmering hand as the sphere brightens and expands. The ribbon disappears, seemingly absorbed into the sphere. "Here, we must burn!" Zach roars as he thrusts both hands, material and immaterial forward.
The resulting beam of Soul Power is easily as wide across as Zach is tall, and roars with the wishes of those standing against this rampant mad god as it tears a wide furrow in the ground!
COMBATSYS: Zach can no longer fight.
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Rust 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Elisabeth
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|--=====
Ash appears and the world falls away.
At that moment there is nothing in Elisabeth's field of view but what happens. It is a rollercoaster of emotions, starting with surprise, then relief, and then swiftly becoming horror. Saiki lied; Ash isn't dead. He's here. He's alive, or at least alive enough to present a threat to his ancestor. And by his actions, it seems as if Saiki's quest to open the gates of Hell and erase all that has ever been is finally ended. He didn't abandon their oath. He didn't forsake Elisabeth forever. Maybe the road was full of twists and t--
And then in the blink of an eye, that's gone.
The world becomes full of darkness in every sense of the world. Saiki's corrupted power erupts from Ash Crimson's body, seeking to engulf these last defenders of humanity who stand before him. But to see Ash's efforts laid low at the last second, to see the momentary look of genuine surprise -- the first time she's ever seen him look caught unawares and had it not be affected, but real -- crushes her spirit. She stares forward, unbelieving, even as the tide of darkness washes over her, becoming a tide that feels like it will carry her away.
Perhaps that's for the best, having seen her--
'This isn't the end.'
Hovering as she is in the void between sleep and wakefulness, the sudden serene voice in her head comes as a shock. It's a vaguely familiar voice, but not one she can name... and suddenly, though probably unseen by those around her, the Sphere of Memory she had been carrying appears before her in a flash of light. For a moment, it is free of anyone's control, and it is a conduit for that voice.
'There's still a chance. There's always a chance.'
When the wave of darkness passes, Elisabeth slumps forward, exhausted, beaten, bruised, but despite it all, not floored... not yet. The Sphere hovers before her, thrumming with power, and the Frenchwoman slowly reaches forward and grabs it with one hand, then with two. The glassy look in her eyes fades. Her resolve returns.
There's still a chance.
Raising the sphere over her head, Elisabeth summons one last ecstatic burst of strength, one final execution of her singular power. If Saiki would bury these warriors in darkness, then she will be the star that burns away such a horrible night.
In the blink of an eye, her form indistinct, Elisabeth Blanctorche fills the world with light.
"COME BACK TO ME!"
COMBATSYS: Elisabeth can no longer fight.
SAIKI
[ |||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ <
Rust 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|--=====
Howard Rust staggers as he addresses everyone, each step harder and harder to take. He might be the one who suffers longest, if it isn't turned around - everyone else is stretched to the absolute limit to keep together... his left fist clenches. His body goes rigid... no, you're not, he throws his left arm smoothly outwards as he throws off the shackles of tired, overworked joints to take back the mantle of strength and flexibility.
"Alone... alone, we aren't... much," he says, "but... you aren't just, just pickin' a fight with us. This... this ain't a world of... of single heroes who... who stand tall over everyone else... like, like they're the only ones who can."
It's posturing in the face of oblivion. What isn't is when he launches himself forward with a flying... knee? One leg is barely raised, the other bent at an odd angle as his pipe-wielding arm bends backwards, flying towards the source of the darkness. He does not endure - he persists. That is the ultimate critical difference that might just be why he somehow survives.
Howard Rust persists.
"This is a world of fighters, and you're... you're pickin' a fight with all of 'em." He's just one, as he swings a low kick covered in washed-out, flickering energy shortly after landing just shy of Saiki's new body. This is followed up with a countless multitude of strikes and blows, rapid-fire, endless, fighting through the dark.
He throws an uppercut and falls back, waving his hands to summon more of that flickering energy, only a moment of calm before it completely envelopes his body, the energy shining out the tip of the pipe as he points it outward.
"It shouldn't... fall to, to just one man," is he speaking out to Ash in saying this, "it's... it's the responsibility of everyone who can to... to stand and fight1"
He pulled this against Heihachi... and he's doing it again. That show of strength wasn't a one-time deal. Howard Rust is a fighter, and he brings all his fight with the rest of them, together.
He joins them all together in one final lunging blow, pipe outstretched, as he carries the gathered energy in the size of a Haoh Sho Ko Ken. On collision, the chi particles - unimpressive compared to the energies of the other three visually - do not dissipate, and instead scatter throughout the void.
His horrible toupee flops off his head on the impact and flies towards Saiki's new body at a completely unthreatening velocity that would hardly do any harm unto itself.
---
The black spreads further and further out. It even transcends the Void - such is the will of the One Who Rules Time. No one on the planet is safe from seeing it, or feeling it.
They have gone from spectators to active participants, and even if they cannot see the five that battle at the heart of the Void, their influence is now inescapable. Their fates are all inexorably tied - some may believe that said fates are even sealed, with but moments to continue existing.
Four of them refuse the black.
---
Elisabeth Blanctorche turns the power of the Sphere of Memory against its original owner, of who it might have served... no, it is truly her power. Her power, in all its splendor and brilliance, with a little help from one who passed but yet lingers. Together, they shine to fulfill each promise.
From this, the skies flash and shine a bright white to color in the black. The light of the Blanctorche clan. The world would come to know there is opposition, of people with capability and willingness to stand against it. The light of Elisabeth's birthright will not be snuffed!
Duo Lon smiles softly as he watches carefully over Chizuru Kagura. They both know Elisabeth Blanctorche is more than pulling her weight, that even in the world's final hour she still bears the light.
---
Zach Glen digs deepest into himself. The power of a psion is themselves, given form and effect... but he knows full well now, and has for a long time, that the power does not come from just oneself. With all the connections he's made, each and every friend has enriched and strengthened him as he turns that into a beautiful expression to drive back the darkness...
The golden yellow of Zach's soul spills forth into the skies of the world itself, the mark of a man who has truly conquered his inner demons. The world would know there is not but just one savior holding back the black from them all, but several. It is like the light of the sun peeks through the clouds.
Zach's immediate family, and those psions who struggle with their place in life, all turn to this light and smile. Those with the gift summon their own expressions of light and power, adding their own colors - however small in reach - among those with them.
---
Howard Rust pushes himself to the absolute limit of physicality - the discipline instilled in him as a black belt of Kyokugen - fighting through incredible duress for every punch and kick given, his body and mind honed through hardship to tough out oblivion, his chi particles scattering about with the refusal to simply wither away...
The world would relate to these numerous, flickering motes of vague washed-out color from Rust in the skies, and relate themselves to each - perhaps unimpressive and fragile, yet numerous and refusing to be snuffed out - the fighting spirit of everymen who endure hardship and melancholy.
Howard Rust's father sits alone on a porch, reconsidering the path his son has been taking with a gentle smile on his face as he reaches a hand up towards those descending motes. Entirely random people worldwide all take note - people he might have known, or helped - holding up hands to catch.
---
Kyo Kusanagi forsakes his earlier days of messing around and taking things easy, and it shows as he masters his flames to burn a path through the very darkness that lingers. All evil will burn to nothing, to be nothing more than ashes to brighten the dawn... the fires of the Kusanagi will never be snuffed!
The burning red of Kyo's flames burn through the skies, speaking of one who truly embraces their responsibility and capability to the ends it is made for. The world would be hard-pressed to even see any more black in the flames of Kusanagi that purge the evil when it dare rises to sink its fangs into humanity.
Shingo Yabuki excitedly tugs a friend's sleeve to say that's Kusanagi-san's fire! He is probably shouted down with 'we know, we know,' perhaps because Kyo is so incredibly famous with those flames. Saishu Kusanagi no longer fears for his son. He has learned truly well - he is the Kusanagi heir. Brett Neuer and Ayame alike would know, with their own irreplaceable assistance, they saw Kyo reach his destiny... and humanity's salvation.
---
Anywhere and everywhere, the world all gathers together in what should be their final moments, side by side, watching the dance of these colors, of their individual characters, movements, and patterns. All four colors banish away the black in equal measure.
They may not have seen the people in question right there, right then, but they knew of the fight. Each and every one, after this event, have already known what they will refer to the event as in its wake.
This fight, more rare than once in a lifetime... more rare than once in a century... throughout history, this final battle shall be called, now and forever through what annals are left to stand...!
COMBATSYS: Kyo, Zach, Elisabeth and Rust successfully hit Saiki with Match of the Millennium.
- Power hit! -
SAIKI
[ ]
0|---------------|-->>>>>>>>>>>>>
[ \\\\\\ <
Rust 0/-------/-------|
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Kyo 0|-------|--=====
Saiki wields Ash's body with total abandon, commits it to annihilate even the one his descendant holds most dear. Does his arrogance know no bounds?
No, and that must be why he ultimately fails.
Perhaps he had thought that tipping the scales of balance in his favour would yield the best results. Should all darkness consume the light, there would be nil. This is not so. Saiki challenged humanity's will to survive, their very emotions and passion for the gift of life. Some may not appreciate it, but it is clear that the four who made it this far are determined that all receive an equal chance...
A chance to laugh.
To love.
And to find happiness.
By defeating him, they enable their species to build a life worth living. Because of this, Saiki must ruin their success. Reject it, for he is a /God/!
He shouts them down, but the rush of sacred flames, white light, Soul Power and Kyokugen might drown him out. His cherished darkness flees, scattering like children caught at play, drifting away in a flurry of energy particles. All that is left to Saiki is the inky barrier - the aura surrounding Ash - and it is only capable of protecting its master for so long. The first strike weighs in, the next, a third. Rust chips away at his makeshift shield, raining blows down upon The One who Rules Time with fists and feet until it collapses, dispersing. Ash's face contorts, wearing an expression of sheer horror. Eyes with their scarlet hue widen to the limit. "What have you done, you fools?! I cannot die here!!"
It does not happen in quick succession, but all at once -- he is struck with a force of such magnitude, so very beyond his own incredible comprehensive abilities and set ablaze by the birthright flames of the Kusanagi, that no words could ever describe this power. To even make the attempt would do their combined effort a great disservice. Saiki is stripped of sight by the purest light that he is only able to glimpse. Of hearing by the roar of a purifying conflagration that consumes him. Of each sense, one by one. "Stop!" He commands them with the last of his voice, his flawless and uncaring image dissolving. The body in which he borrows screams its protest to any movement, even one so subtle as drawing breath, many injuries becoming apparent: Broken ribs and collarbone, a shattered wrist, multiple lacerations...
The God doesn't understand. This is his descendant, his blood! If Saiki is truly a divine entity, then this worthless sack of meat should be able to stand! Ash has the potential! Kill Kyo Kusanagi, at the very least!
His legs give an awkward sort of jerk, then refuse to hold him, pitching The One who Rules Time onto his hands and knees. The white fringe falls before his eyes, but it cannot be seen. Somewhere, perhaps in front of him... The Gate..! Saiki reaches desperately towards the past, to a war that had once threatened the entire world. He reaches desperately for the present, to himself, struck down and so pathetic, forced to face his own morality. He reaches desperately to the future, and Ash's blood-stained lips crack an acrimonious smile.
If he could just...
... crawl...
... or reverse time...
* * *
There is one who does not join the battle, one lost in a darkness that cannot be banished by the brilliant light of four who make their final stand, or beaten away by the fists of some old American man. He is trapped, imprisoned in his mind, and the young flamewielder wanders aimlessly. Whichever direction he may turn, the void stretches on without end. Ash is afraid - terrified - and he breaks into a run, searching...
'COME BACK TO ME!'
"This is where you will remain for all eternity. There is no way out, Ash Crimson!!" Saiki taunts his descendant, his tone decidedly imperious.
Eyes like the clear sky search the void, attempting to locate The One who Rules Time... And Ash can't help but wonder, if those words Saiki had spoken happen to be true, then why could he hear Elisabeth's voice?
* * *
The extended arm droops, then is lowered. His head turns and vermilion irises dart from Kyo to Zach, from Rust... to Elisabeth. To start, they are simply vague outlines, but grow clearer and sharper as moments pass. Pitching his weight forwards, Ash's body grabs at the actual door of the Time Gate, using it to pull his slight weight up to his feet. He drops his back against it, cringing in pain. Could it be Saiki's last effort to enter the portal, or would this be the true owner of the soul case? "Saa... Always telling me what to do, Betty, ever... since we were children..." As the left wrist is swollen and of no use, he uses his right hand to apply pressure to new and totally different areas of damaged ribs. Wha..what even happened?
But it /is/ Ash. Maybe he managed to resurface for a second, a minute, or forever...
He came back to the noblewoman with whatever time has been allotted to him, to share all of it with her.
His eyes remain crimson, his hair white. He steals a glance at his attire and exhales a disappointed sigh. There is another reason for his return; a purpose which he must see through. "H..he saw it, the future... The Gate showed him. Come with me, all of you." Yes, Kyo, that includes you, and we all know how fond you are of Ash. "Help me change the past, help me prevent this tragedy from ever occurring." Help him absolve his guilt, for those who have died for and because of him, those who he has killed. The Frenchman never knew regret quite like this until so very recently... "Just a few years back, and start all over again. Forge friendships... and relationships anew. I like this world... It doesn't need to be destroyed..." The battered flamewielder holds out his good hand, looking hopeful. Will anyone take the offering, or shall he move on alone, all protest be damned?
Everything hurts. After pouring out every last ounce of strength in her body, and weathering Saiki's initial assault, all Elisabeth can do is slump to the ground, exhausted. Every neuron in her body feels like it's on fire, and perhaps more than that, the effort of dealing with the Sphere of Memory has left her mentally fatigued as well. And that's to say nothing of EMOTIONAL fatigue. The last minute has been one intensely compressed rush of emotional whiplash. She barely has the energy to hope as she stares Ash's form down, not sure if what's going to emerge is her childhood friend, or his ancestor, the man who sought to destroy human history and rewrite it himself, personally.
Thankfully for her, she doesn't need to say anything.
For the first time in her life, it feels like, Elisabeth's carefully constructed outer shell of composure falls away. She teeters forward, unsteady, arms and legs unruly, and all but slumps into Ash. She brushes past the outstretched hand and merely collapses on to him, eyes shut tight. She cannot bring herself to cry, not even now. But she can have the sort of boneless physicality and unfettered emotional state that comes with the sudden and irrevocable lessening of a lifelong burden.
"You never said anything..." the noblewoman says into Ash's shoulder, partially muffled. Her eyes stare past him, at the Gate, the woman unable to meet Ash's gaze... because she's afraid of the truth she might see reflected in his eyes. "Why did it have to be *now*? Why does this all resolve itself NOW, when the world's about to fall apart around us no matter WHAT we do?"
At the end of the epic final stand, with that last, great lunge, Howard flies past - or through - the shadowy aura of Dark Ash, and...
Hits something.
There's nothing there, but the pipe is clearly embedded in... something. Double-nothing? Its orientation is horizontal in the air, and it is partially submerged into an unseen... dimension? Did he strike so hard, so mightily, that he has managed to partially bury it /through/ the void? Even more inexplicable, in the wake of unrelenting, nightmarish, all-encompassing pressure... he doesn't just stand.
Pushed to the absolute brink of consciousness and reason with all it took to hold himself together - ironically by the good graces of Saiki himself - he catches sight of Saiki's second body crawling for the door, one hand on the frame.
He still has it in him, through injury and exhaustion, to persist.
"We," he wheezes, coughs, and sputters as he tugs with what strength remains. The pipe doesn't budge. It is absolutely stuck... but this is to the benefit of the young man who has now regained his senses. Adrenaline runneth over, to cloud his decisions, "we won't let you get... g-get away," he coughs again, "Sai--!!"
He stops mid-name call, as he watches Elisabeth come down to his side. It takes him a moment to truly register. She's been seeking someone... she's... certain she found him. He isn't - or wasn't - or will be at some point but isn't? - well, let's start that he's confused about which tense to use about that young man's identity.
He lets go of the pipe, slowly but surely, the fingers of his right hand lowering from the trusty weapon. The weapon that was returned to its original incarnation (the first pipe he ever picked up) by Mukai's power... the weapon that was destroyed, replaced by other pipes given the same name under the delusion of the soul of the pipe carrying through whatever he chooses... Mukai's boon has probably not helped him entirely grasp reality in regards to Ol' Rusty.
He exhales loudly as he lowers his hand away. The fight... this one. It's over. It's been many years, through many trials... this pipe, at long last, deserves a rest, and so Howard steps away. He leaves the remaining aggression built up from a harrowing experience within the confines of Ol' Rusty itself.
His left hand unclenches. His entire body turns into a series of horrible joint pops. His combover, only marginally less offensive than the dark purple /abomination/ that lies on the floor near Ash, is not regarded with much... he casts quick glances to Kyo and Zach, both of whom definitely look just as badly off as anyone.
Ash begs for them to come through the door. They could change the past... how much of it could they change? Temptation sets in. So many mistakes could be reversed, if they all went in... the weaker grip in his right hand, reversing the events that saw to Quon's suicide, knowing in advance his ex-girlfriend was a dirty cheater, to stop Rolento from having ever been able to acquire nukes...!
An envelope suddenly falls out of his gi top, and he stops in his tracks to pick it up... Ayame entrusted him with this, with specific instructions...
He looks up to the top of the doorframe. When he thought that the Time Spheres were the key, to bring them all together... everyone put all their eggs in one basket, and they were... this close... this close to largely helping Saiki's plan! (In fact, arguably it's still succeeded, the Gate is open.)
Howard, once again, sighs... he looks down, considers his options. He looks at Ash's outstretched hand, to the rest of them....
"Wait." He speaks up, as he draws nearer to Elisabeth and Ash, kneeling down before them as he dares to try to speak to Ash, face to face, without aggression. It takes as much of him to fight off the desire to keep striking as much as it does to speak.
"In... in, in trying to get everyone here with... with the Time Spheres, I... I really almost... fucked it all up, just, just... putting it all into.. one idea," he explains, running a forearm past his nose. (He thinks he's developing an allergy to void mist. Grass has a new ally in the war against Rust's sinuses!!)
Can he trust him? He doesn't know. They're short on ideas and long on questions, and even shorter on time, but now...
He takes Ash's hand.
"I, I dunno how all this, uh, time's gonna work," he says, "if... if that can be done... if, if she trusts you, I won't... I won't stop you." He bows his head again. "But..."
"If the past," he clears his throat, "'scuse me, if... if the past won't change, even with... with all you do. I got... I got a backup plan."
Has he been withholding it from everyone?! Truthfully he's not sure what it exactly entails, other than 'keeping memories,' but...
"If... if the past won't change... I, I got a shot at the future." It sounds nonsensical, given the past defines the future, but his tone of voice, even as it is, indicates a certain confidence. "Uh, sorta, if... if what someone said is right, so... here," he gestures to the rest.
"The present, there's... there's not much to be done, but... you, you go through the door," he points, "maybe the past can be changed, like... like you said."
"It, it might just be me... Ash, but, I've... I've lived through so much, disappointment, we don't... we don't have time to go over that," read the logs!!
Howard leans forward to put an additional hand on Ash's shoulder, if he lets him, "if, if I'm gonna trust you... you're, you're gonna have to trust me in turn. Two angles of attack," he puts up two fingers as he takes the hand from Ash. "You... you take the past, with... with whoever's willing. Me," he says, as he looks to the Void.
The Void looks less like a Void. It is no longer defined by powerful minds with nihilism. It is occupied with those that hold hope, that have the strength to change the course of fate, even if the planet itself no longer does.
"And... and whoever else," he says, "I, I know it might not... make much sense, uh, things goin' as they are, but... I'll take... the future. Whichever... way it goes."
He looks to the rest in specific. Elisabeth, whom he bears no grudges for leaving him behind, knowing the urgency of her purpose now and maybe even his relief she managed it in such bleak times. Zach, his best friend who equally went through as much hell and transformation as he has. Kyo, who has lived up to the legacy tenfold...
"Even, even if we never see one another again, with, uh, how far apart time... goes, that's... that's how I plan to keep fightin', from here on out," he says as he stands up.
Rust is tired. Exhausted. The black nearly swallowed him. He will never be unafraid of life-threatening, existence-ending danger. He will simply... persist, perhaps until old age finally takes him some decades down the line. (If it even can... he's doing pretty well despite his myriad of injuries.)
The Void may be difficult to leave to where he must go next... but he found his way in. He'll find his way out. The One Who Rules Time could not stop them. Whoever or whatever governs space... might have their hands full.
"Our... our wills makin' it," he says, "we'll... we'll meet together in the center, some way... some how."
That final outpouring of power must have done it for the psion. Zach collapses, falling to one knee. His left arm snaps out on reflex. The energy hand... holds him upright long enough to keep him from completely face-planting. Zach shifts his weight, forcing himself to a sit. He's unable to to much more as Saiki attempts his final defiance...
...which fails. Zach lets out an explosive breath, barely realizing that he was holding it. He finally gathers enough strength to look up at the gathering in time to hear the plan. He looks at the door, at Kyo, at Elisabeth, at Ash. He's a bit confused, and definitely a bit punchy. Changing the past to save the present and future? Holy hell that sounds crazy. Crazy and dangerous.
Zach feels something in his pants pocket. He reaches in, and pulls out an envelope very similar to Howard Rust's. Comprehension dawns as the big man speaks. "Huh," he grunts, "Maybe she trusted me to get it done," he mutters. He looks back to the gathering, then at Rust. "You really think I'm leaving you to do that alone?" he asks. "Yeah, right."
Zach takes a deep, shuddering breath. Everything about him either wants to fall down and take a nice, long nap or fall down and die. It's hard to tell, from moment to moment, but Zach jerks a thumb at Rust as he addresses the group, "I'm with him. You guys cover that end, we'll pick up ours."
It takes a moment before Elisabeth pulls herself away, but she eventually DOES manage to do so, straightening and even taking a step away from Ash. In part, this is her upbringing reasserting itself after the brief but intense emotional reunion she just had. But that's not really the entire reason. Part of it is that Ash just made a... rather tremendous suggestion, all things considered, and then Rust goes and complicates things to the nth degree. How in the hell could this possibly play out?
"Fairy tales don't talk about this part," Elisabeth murmurs, glancing at the gaping maw of the gate. "Where the dust settles and you have to figure out what's going to happen AFTER." Certainly, this is one of those times. And the problem is, there is no taking time to make the right decision, no chance to test the waters and see what might happen. What Ash is considering doing is rewriting history itself. You only get the one chance. And she is forced to pick between Ash's assertion that this can all be fixed by rewinding the clock and giving everyone a second chance, and Rust suggesting that instead, the answer might lie in the future. And truly, she can see the usefulness of both approaches...
And the *tragedy* of both approaches.
"It's... hard to make a decision about your happiness when you know that you won't remember having made the right decision," Elisabeth says, turning to Rust and Ash, a rueful smile on her face. There is no right answer here, and she knows it. No real good choice. At the end of the world, how could there be? No matter what you decide, _the world is still ending_. She turns to Ash, once she continues to speak. "That's really what's going to happen, isn't it? If we redo everything, nobody will remember. All this will still be... gone. And what about... him?" She can mean no one other than Saiki, who as far as she can tell probably isn't dead. That sort of person takes a lot more killing than 4 ragtag heroes can deliver.
However, she doesn't actually wait for answers to those questions. Instead, she walks toward Ash and takes his injured hand, holding it in hers, covering it with her other hand. "But that's sort of liberating. When there's no good choice, then the best choice is the one you make with your heart. Right? I assume that's what you're doing. So... I'll go with you to see it through. And, well..."
She glances at everyone else. "I think the future doesn't need quite as much help as the past."
Is there no one? The young man's white-haired head turns to the portal, a moment spent in contemplation, the next steeling his resolve. To leave Elisabeth behind will be agony to him, but Ash has known since he opened his mouth that she may not choose to join him. That the noblewoman could suspect it is all a clever ruse and Saiki is manipulating his descendant, offering sweet words of complacency to lull her into a false sense of security. Another emotion, entirely unbidden, rises from within... He feels grief, sadness. His arm is like lead and holding it aloft takes every ounce of energy left to him. The others take too long to decide... Just when the Frenchman is about to push away from the door and press onwards into the past...
Elisabeth stumbles and falls against him.
The wind is pushed from his lungs, his chest compressed by her slight weight and his ribs crying out... Pain. It takes great effort, but the flamewielder forces it to take a backseat to an experience he deems more important, one he doesn't know what to make of. Does this mean good-bye? Is she reprimanding him? "I'm... sorry." His proposal is retracted, if only for a moment. He has to, needs to... Sweeping his good arm around the noblewoman's waist, the gesture is something caught between an embrace and ensuring that she doesn't fall, should her knees give out. Ash leans his cheek into her short-cropped bob of hair, mumbling again, "I'm so sorry..."
He could explain, he could tell her that this was all... to protect her. But Ash, being Ash, says nothing more, not even to answer the questions she speaks into the black fabric of his top.
Although he is reluctant to release the Frenchwoman, Ash won't keep her from doing as she will, so Elisabeth breaks away. He makes a soft noise that could represent his agreement or even confusion at her words, then his crimson-coloured eyes move to Rust. The aged American had believed this was Saiki, but now... If the heiress could see that this is truly Ash Crimson, then so can someone that he doesn't even know. Perhaps he expects too much.
Or maybe not.
His hand taken, Rust's stumbling, stuttering speech is hard to follow. He is not the most patient of men, but he has enough for this, if only just. The more he has to share, the wider Ash's scarlet eyes. Fingers squeeze, lips thin. "But, your existence..." He begins to say before biting back any remaining protests. No. Stop. Visibly relaxing, radically accepting, his head tilts to the side. "I cannot stop you, if that's what you want, mon ami."
Of course the pipe-wielder gets all fatherly on him. This is very strange, but there's no resistance, simply allowing the man to clap a hand on his bony shoulder. "I... bonne chance." He nods, and allows calloused digits to slip from his, arm dropping to his side. "May we meet again." Ash... smiles. A truly genuine smile. Real warmth can be felt from his expression; remember this, as it is something so rare that it has happened less than five times, ever since the pale European left the Blanctorche estate.
"Make sure you take care of him, oui?" To Zach, who pipes up to state that he will be with Rust. Ash knows... if he cannot change the past, then they will watch the end of the world. Could there be any way to stop it, from the present or the future? "And take care of yourself..." He adds, "You'll need your, ah, la main." A flicker, a darkness, a stirring... The Frenchman winces, but he continues to use the Void and the Gate not to reverse time exactly, but locate the psion's lost hand and bring it to him. It fades back into being, skin grafting back onto skin, muscles attaching, bones and joints connecting.
Expression drawn, Elisabeth mentions their happiness, things like the right decision, then addresses the flamewielder directly. Slowly, agonizingly slow, he faces her. He's so drained, his body certainly not the correct vessel for the sort of power he has come to wield. Don't make him answer, he doesn't want to...
But the French heiress takes his hand, the one with the shattered wrist. Ash uses the inside of his cheek for damage control, almost hissing in pain. He vents a breath through his nose-- ??? "You're coming with me, Bett--non, Elisabeth?" Out of respect for the noblewoman and her image, and in acknowledgement of his clearly broken state, he doesn't just pull her straight back to him. The lean fighter could, his elation such that suddenly he has all this energy and no outlet for it. An ashamed laugh escapes.
Now there is just one left who has not made clear what his intentions will be... Kyo Kusanagi, which path will he choose, or will he create his own..?
"Wait, y-you got one... too," Howard turns to Zach, pointing a finger as he produces that envelope. So, how many people might be converging there as they speak? This is not a complaint, but maybe a relief that there will be at least several people who will be taking that plunge - whatever that plunge will fully entail.
"I'd, I'd never turn you down, Zach," he says with a tired smile. As much a smile as he can muster. The more, the merrier by far.
He grits his teeth aloud and grimaces with odd timing with Elisabeth's declaration - it is not a disagreement. It is pain, as he clutches his left forearm to rub it gingerly as she explains her position - her take of how she copes with the whole tragedy.
"whichever... whichever way we go," he says as he looks back to Elisabeth, "we're... we're not abandonin' the other. If it comes to it... y'know, if it ain't us, there's, there's a lotta us that'd... that'd fight their hardest, after us." Beat. "Before us... with us."
"I, I know what we're riskin'," he says to Ash, even with his protests about his continued existence. The smile's not lost on him. "But it's a chance I'm willing to take... we're, we're all still playing risks. Like... waitin' for that, uh, that second joker from the deck. Kinda. Y-Y'know what I mean." Rust has been at the heart of several. What happened here against Saiki is nothing short of one - is there at least one more for the both of them, for everyone left behind?
He parts away from Ash, turning his head as Zach's hand is restored. He can only imagine what pain that might go through, but there's something of a brief nod of thanks...
Seeing the toupee on the ground, he snatches up immediately, and... stuffs it into a toolbelt pocket? Not putting it on his head? He does not even dwell on the decision any more as he stands up.
Staggering and stumbling while the adrenaline starts to wear thinner and the real weight of what was inflicted upon him. His heart pounds ever faster, dark, ugly pulsating feelings going through his aching, tired muscles...
He walks backwards a short ways, before staring back out to the Void as he goes to help Zach up. They got a bit of a walk - and something tells him they'd better hurry! They'll find their way out. He pays the three of them - Elisabeth, Kyo, and Ash - one last look... as well as that of the pipe.
"Good fight," he nods his head once as he waves that goodbye. Their one last, great fight.
It's good bye for now, Ol' Rusty. Another time, another place, then, when the fight begins anew. Maybe the pipe will find a new path, for what career options are available for busted, rusted piping... or a new hand to wield it. It could wait patiently for his return. The mind of a pipe is incomprehensible (because it has no such thing).
Both Zach and himself, in an odd, roundabout way despite the ontological technicalities of what may transpire, both look to a future that is uncertain, but one that still holds hope against all senses. He no longer dreads the inevitability, the end of the daily routine and livelihood he fought hard to make and maintain. He still believes a new dawn is coming, in his own way.
...
SOME TIME LATER
...
They are led to a rocky outcropping overlooking a forested valley. Little, if anything, appears out of place... no direction. There may be others. There may be questions. Could they have come to the right place, all along? uncertainty may wash over some who gather, but there is no mistaking the coordinates among those who have any lingering familiarity of the location.
They are rewarded for their visit not just with a beautiful view of one of the last places on Earth largely untouched by chaos and disaster, the sky excepted as it contorts and twists (even with the lingering warmth of the colors of flame, light, soul, and flickering persistence to remind them of a narrow victory)... but a song.
As those who gather and stand upon the outcropping, the music of a lute fills the air from... somewhere. Below? It seems to lift up from there. It escapes no one's notice.
It is a beautiful song, meticulous and full of soul. The only sound, beyond what voices may stir among those who come to the place of invitation.
It is the world's final song.
Those who opposed The One who Rules Time all have made their choice, seeking out their various destinies as the world fell to destruction, to its final, painful whimper of oblivion. They carry the hopes and dreams of humanity deep within their souls as they enact their plans of attack against this tragedy, walking the road of martyrs.
* The year's at the spring,
Southtown, covered in ash and dust to be buried and forgotten under an explosive, fiery end by a volcano that would not be quelled all in an increasingly radiant and beautiful day for the students of Southtown as they go about class, laughing and playing and sharing moments together.
* And day's at the morn;
Metro City, buried under the rising sea and continuing to be besieged by storms, ensuring nothing could ever be erected in its place up to another busy day in the great metropolis, a melting pot of ideas and cultures who all carry on under clear skies and well-traveled streets.
* Morning's at seven;
Thailand's waters, frozen and desolate, heralding a great collapse in the ocean's ecosystem and starvation that would reach far beyond its borders, sometimes seemed non-existent as peoples the world over flocked to enjoy some of the finest cuisine in Asia or the breathtaking sights.
* The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The ghostly, abandoned City of Lights had many trails - foot, tire and horse - that appear to disappear into thin air to never be found again while the streets of Paris are populated with cheer and purpose under the greatness of its monuments and aesthetic beauty enjoyed by all.
* The lark's on the wing;
The great smoldering crater where much of the nation of Italy once stood, water from the nearby sea rushing forth to deplete itself into the yawning abyss of a country prosperous, inspiring so many people even today as they look back upon one of the greatest civilizations, walking through the streets of modern Rome with hope in their hearts.
* The snail's on the thorn;
The oddly coloured skies around the Ise Grand Shrine, the air having distorted and twisted in mockery of any semblance of cause and effect, it brings calm and reverence to those of the Shinto faithful who now walk their pilgrimages under sunny, peaceful skies as per traditions with respect and awe.
* God's in his Heaven--
This world, devoid of order and coherency with all humanity has taken for granted now forever lost to despair and entropy with hardly a hope brims across the people of the world that this peace they enjoy today, dominated by friendly competition of little world-shaking consequence, will last for ages and ages to come.
* All's right with the world!
The many who are strong all walk their chosen paths, to their various destinies as the world continues to turn its routine, endless cycle of progression. They carry the desires and ambitions of their aims within their souls as they challenge anything that comes their way, walking the road of champions.
* Pippa's Song, by Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Log created on 14:53:10 10/19/2014 by Saiki, and last modified on 14:31:45 10/25/2014.