23/01/04
Characters: Terry_Bogard, Jack_Karrde, Johnny_C
*CLIFF OUTLOOK*
Terry leads Jack up the side of the mountain; jacket zipped up to fend off the
cold winds. After a long hike, he finally steps off onto a wide ledge and looks
around. Slowly he blinks, running a hand through his hair. "Well... this is
where Rock came to. But I don't see... huh." He runs a hand across the wall
instinctively; "You feel anything, man?" he calls back over his shoulder.
Jack perches himself upon a boulder and looks around a bit, "Something..real
vague." he hmms a bit and closes his eyes. Calling upon his power he goes to
use it in a nice little version of what is called Sonar. There's an opening but
finding it will rely on THIS little trick.
Terry nods, "See if you can find anything, while you're doing that I'll try and
make sure we're not busted before we even get inside..." that said, he gets down
on the snow-dusted ground, crossing his legs and turning himself inward... set
on one last attempt at building that internal wall.
Jack says, "..Even if we're found it'll probably be those masked maniacs. But
maybe we'll encounter who YOU hunt."
A slight smirk touches Terry's lips, the man giving an almost imperceptible nod
before he turns totally inward.. constructing that all-important wall. Slowly,
painfully his ki-aura starts to dim, but it is not a steady dimming. It
fluctuates, increasing in power one moment then decreasing the next, but still
Terry concentrates.. desperate to get it right.
For the benefit of Jack's sonar.... near the center of the outcrop's wall there
is definitely an opening... large enough to admit a fully grown man, though the
biggest and bulkiest of men might have to turn sideways as the opening is
certainly rather cosy. But the rock wall does not lapse in thickness, or change
its composition.
Jack gets up from his perch and walks to the outcropping. Pulling one of his
blasters he checks the clip in it and goes on ahead to scout it a bit.
Inside is a dark, narrow passageway through the rock. The walls are rough stone,
but not jagged, and feel as if they may have been smooth once.. long ago.
Nothing is visible a few meters within, but.. and it might be your imagination..
there seems to be a pinpoint of light far away in the darkness.
Terry opens his eyes with a gasp. His ki is now moves between the barest flicker
of power, and a full blazing light. He stands up shaking his head, and reaches
into his pocket for the bracelet Jack gave him. Slipping it on improves the
dimming, now invisible as the lowest point of fluctuation and a bare flicker at
the highest. Nodding to himself, Terry turns and looks around for Jack. "You
there, man?"
Jack peeks his head around the outcropping, "Found it."
Terry smiles slightly, "Good job." He lifts his right hand, indicating the
bracelet, "Even with this on I can't suppress completely, but it might be
enough." He moves to join Jack, peering past him into the darkness. "O-kay..
let's do it. Anything in there?"
Jack narrows his eyes. Obvious that he's shifting his eyesight to nightvision as
well as being able to see the light in the distance.
*DEEP IN THE MOUNTAINSIDE*
With the benefit of night vision, it become obvious the passage does not just
run straight - holes large enough to admit a person are placed at periodic
points along the ceiling, and inside the shadows seem to shift ceaselessly.
Jack says, "..Holes in ceiling..walk behind me."
Terry nods and falls in behind Jack, fists curled at his side and eyes flicking
between the ceiling and the man in front of him. "Lead on, when we pass beneath
one of those.. when I can -see- one of them.. I'll cover us from the back..." he
smirks, "Looks like Kain designed this place's defences without you in mind."
Jack says, "..He didn't know what I was or what I could do." walking into the
place he holsters the blaster and smirks as he meets the darkness, "See me with
your senses, not your eyes and watch where I step."
Terry gives a slight nod, letting his eyes be overcome by the darkness as he
concentrates his hearing and instincts on following Jack and watching for any
dangers. One hand reaches, fingertips lightly brushing the wall as he walks.
Jack is keeping his own senses working like a sensor suite. After all he has to
make sure they're not attacked from above. Of course the fact he's already got
a few ideas to deal with them planned out. Well, he's let's just say he's
ready.
Terry's eyes turn upward as he senses an opening above, narrowing his eyes in
the darkness to see the blacker than black hole. When they have passed it he
glances over his shoulder, tensing his body as he sees a faint speck of red
light dart out into the darkness. Power flares from all along the corridor,
almost like a switch being turned on. "...shit." the fighter murmurs, turning
and falling into a loose stance, what senses he has scanning the darkness in
front of him.
Jack keeps his own body loose, "So much for the subtle approach, right Terry?"
Terry nods, careful not to less his energies show as he prepares himself.
"Right. Still.. this is no trap we've walked into, I can tell that much. This is
just the defense system.." he smiles, "Let's hope there's no alarm."
Jack nods, "Run for it?"
Terry says, "Sure. Right behind ya."
Out of the darker shadows steps two fighters, clad in black uniforms. They
pause, as if scanning Terry and Jack, possibly assessing a threat. Recognising
Terry one of them thrusts his arms out, a red flicker of light begins to build
at its fingertips...
Jack narrows his eyes and takes off. Keeping his speed under control so Terry
can keep up with him. Pulling a couple small discs from his coat he keeps his
senses at their best. With a flicker he hurls two of the discs, which sprout
blades from them, at the two zombies which have just shown themselves. As
usual, aiming for the mask.
Terry curses as he turns to see the fiend gathering its ki. "These are the
bastards got me before, Jack.." he calls through the narrow passage as he dashes
after the half-phoenix, prepared to hurl himself to the side if the attack
comes.
The first fighter, his attention diverted, fails to notice the incoming disk. It
embeds into his mask causing it to release a gurgling scream. The second one
quickly charges down the tunnel at full sprint. Despite it's obvious rage it
makes almost no noise. As it approaches, four-inch talons extend from its hands,
held at chest level.
Terry falls back a little ways, allowing Jack room to move. His fists curl and
uncurl rapidly as he stays alert, watching for the emergence of any more
creatures. Almost as an afterthought, he glances upwards.. noticing a dark hole
directly above his head.
Jack curses a bit and leaps up, forming his own fingers into talons he digs into
the ceiling and his momentum takes him off the floor to let Terry by, if the
fighter DOES pass him he'll let go of the ceiling and twist in mid air to
deliver his OWN strike at the masked fighter's mask with a pair of diamond hard
and razor sharp claws right in the face.
Terry nods as Jack does that, taking his attention from the ceiling. His next
movements are hindered as a masked fiend leaps from the hole, eyes flaring up as
it thunders down towards the fighter. Ducking and moving forward a little too
late, its claws rake across Terry's back. "Gah..." he grunts and staggers,
quickly shifting his feet and reaching up to toss the thing through the space
vacated by Jack. Wincing at the pain in his back, he dashes on after it,
hammering a fist into its mask the moment it lands. With a crack the mask
shatters, the thing giving a pained gurgle as it withers and dies. Terry takes a
deep breath and then bends double as he thunders on into the darkness - the
pinpoint of light growing less distant by the second.
Running down the corridor at full speed, a third masked man performs a jumping
tackle, his hands extended ready to slice through whomever stands before him.
Terry tucks into a roll as he sees something thundering out of the shadows,
ducking underneath the extended claws and coming up a couple of meters away. A
slight smirk touches his lips as he trains his ki-sensors on his opponent, eyes
now able to make out its movements as it turns to face him, claws retracting as
it lifts a bandaged hand. "You're kidding me..." the blonde fighter mutters,
quickly lunging forward to smack the hand aside and hammer the edge of his left
hand into the thing's throat.
Jack's target stops in shocked surprise, claws halfway through to meeting the
half-phoenix's flesh when suddenly his attack slams home. The mask, however,
does not shatter... the claws pierce through but the mask remains in shape. In a
sudden jerking movement the fiend fires a taloned jab towards Jack's shoulder.
And the attack hits home, but Jack's coat his made of a very nice armor that
deflects the keeps it from going to deep. Ripping his claws sideways to RIP off
the mask.
As the creature is sent staggering into the wall behind it, claws flailing
around it's crushed windpipe, Terry moves forward again, grabbing the thing by
the front of it's bodysuit and slamming his forehead into the black mask. There
is a painful *crack*, a cut tearing itself open on the fighter's head as he does
this.. but the mask shatters and the creature falls to the floor in a heap.
Terry wipes the trickle of blood from his head as he turns away, tearing up the
ground towards the light that glimmers in the darkness.
Jack's opponent turns it's red eyes towards the deflected claw, readying itself
for another attack too late as the mask is torn from it's face. The bloodshot
eyes of a thickset man, in his early thirties, blink at the half-phoenix before
he falls to his knees, life fading from his body.
Jack looks at the man for a moment and then he takes off after Terry, using his
power to increase his speed.
By now Terry has approached the source of the light. It shines from a room that
looks something like an ancient temple, a strange archaic altar set up at the
back. The fighter blinks, glancing left and right to spy out two other possible
exits. One curves off to the right, a natural passageway - more like a cave than
anything - that curves around to penetrate further into the mountain. The other
looks more recently man-made than the main corridor, and appears to be a secret
entrance of some kind - to judge by the door that hangs half open, made to
resemble the passage it flows into. As Terry takes this in a black figure steps
from inside the temple. Cursing, the blonde fighter tosses his head over his
shoulder. "Jack - I'm gonna go ahead, take care of this one for me?" Without
waiting for an answer, he ducks into the left-hand passage, past the half open
door.
Jack looks at the figure and he sighs a bit, "..No problem." he says as he
tenses himself slightly for the coming fight.
Standing framed in the light from the chamber is a slender figure, standing in a
threatening yet casual stance, hands held loosely curled at his sides. The man
is wearing a mask, but his outfit is different. There are no bandages wrapped
around his wrists and ankles, and the suit he wears is made from expensive
leather rather than the cheaper materials of the others. As Jack approaches, the
masked man nods a greeting and beneath the mask you would swear he is smiling.
No light flickers in the eyeholes of the black mask, and no aura comes from the
figure it seems dead, somehow, far more than the others.
Jack asks, "..So, who the hell're you?"
Terry, meanwhile, dashes down another straight passageway, even more nondescript
than the last. At the end he suddenly comes to a locked and barred metal door.
"Hmph." The blonde fighter steps up to it, peering through the grill at the top
into a dark room. Various tables and the recognisable shapes of laboratory
equipment can be seen, even in the shadows. "If anyone's in there, open this
door or I'll do it for you."
The figure takes a step forward, spreading his hands to either side. No voice
comes from the mask, but suddenly something flickers... power rises from the
man. A very recognisable power. Blue ki-wings flare on his back, the eyes
suddenly light up - blazing with a shimmering blue light, like that of the
ki-energy it produces. A slow whirring starts to come from the mask.
Jack shakes his head a bit. Calling upon his power Jack's speed becomes ungodly
as he quickdraws a blaster and firing a shot at the mask.
Hearing nothing in response, Terry draws back a fist and hammers down onto the
lock. He winces and lifts his hand, shaking the pain off. "Crap, guess I've got
no-agh..." he falls to his knees as something flares nearby, from shock rather
than from pain. "Rock...?"
The figure lifts one hand, ki flaring around it. The blaster bolt is thrown
aside, hammering into the chamber behind the masked man where it quickly fizzles
out on the back wall. As Jack approaches, the man falls into a stance.. again,
painfully familiar, hands held about him and hopping energetically on the balls
of his feet.
Taking a deep breath, and trying to shake off the prescence of Rock for the
moment, he draws back a hand again. Golden ki-energy flickers around it as he
slams his fist down into the lock. This time it shatters beneath the force of
the blow and Terry falls back, shutting off his ki again and charging the door
with a thunderous shoulder barge. The bolt is sent flying into the laboratory,
the door hurled open... and a moment later Terry steps inside, chest rising and
falling heavily as he searches for a light switch with his right hand.
Dr Leyland stands working on a body atop a large operating table. Instead of the
expected surgical tools, he holds a soldering iron. Quickly he turns to glare at
his intruder. With a growl he demands, "What the hell do you think you're
doing?"
Jack holsters the gun and smirks a bit. Without warning he's suddenly in front
of the masked fighter and he unleashes a savage backhand at the zombie.
The figure catches the backhand on one uphurled arm, spinning back into the
chamber and flinging it's other arm forwards. As the arm whips through the air,
it blazes with blue ki. The energy is hurled to the ground, where it thunders
towards Jack... but the cry that would normally accompany this move is not
present. The attack thrown, the figure takes another step back, tightening the
black leather driving gloves it wears upon it's hands.
Terry steps forward with a dangerous smile, eyes flickering around the gruesome
lab before alighting on Leyland. "You know why I'm here, I think. You work for
Kain, and I want answers. What's your job here?"
Leaping over the Reppuken Jack hovers in mid air and shakes his head, "Ah to
hell with it." gathering his power he holds his hands up and a volley of energy
blasts erupt from his hand to hammer the warrior.
Gevauden Rock's blue eyes flare as the attack thunders towards him, arms
crossing in front of his face to protect from the blast. Never the less, he is
hurled back against the strange winged statue that dominates the altar, leather
suit ripping and flesh below torn to shreds by Jack's attack.
Dr Leyland sets the iron down carefully. He's covered from head to toe with
large patches of blood and gore. Slowly he picks up a towel and wipes the blood
from his hands. "Ahhh... Mr Bogard. I don't have to tell you a damn thing..."
With his left hand he reaches for what appears to be a remote from the edge of
the table.
Taking advantage of his advantage Jack dives at the warrior, letting his energy
aura take the form of a bird of prey diving to the attack first held back to
strike the final blow.
Terry dashes forward and swats at the remote, but the distance between them is
great enough that Leyland has more than enough time to trigger whatever effect
he intends to trigger.... the blonde fighter curses inwardly as he realises
this, and has the prescence of mind to turn the swat into a heavy haymaking
punch towards the doctor's chest.
Gevauden Rock drops down from the volley of blasts, and even as Jack's fist
thunders towards him he brings his hands down onto the ground. Huge wreaths of
blue ki instantaneously fire up from the ground, tearing at the roof of the
temple, which begins to crumble dangerously as the 'Raging Storm' is released.
Dr Leyland, underestimating the situation, doesn't move fast enough to reach the
remote before Terry's punch knocks him off his feet, sending him flying back,
overturning a gurney and sending a dissected corpse spilling out across the
floor.
Snarling at the Raging Storm is fired off he stops his forward momentum and
lands on the ground, "..Oh, you ARE pissing me off bub." he says as shuts DOWN
his power, "Let's settle this the old fashioned way. Hand to hand."
Terry smirks and follows after Leyland, standing over him with his fists curled
and ready to strike again. "Okay.. we've established you're nothing against me.
Now talk, I wanna know exactly what you're doing here."
Gevauden Rock straightens, eyes flickering with something approaching mirth as
he falls into his stance again, blue reams of ki dissipating around him from the
previous attack.
Keeping himself balanced he smirks a bit, oO("Sucker.") and the instant the
storm vanishes he blurs out and vanishes. And with his power masked it's
anyone's guess where he is.
Dr Leyland grins as he tries to stand, "What's it look like to you? I'm Mr.
Heinlein's personal physician and I moonlight as a psychiatrist."
Terry nods impatiently, shifting his weight to place a booted foot on the fallen
man's chest. "You stay right there. That bit I coulda guessed, but I want you to
do the talking. What kinda work do you do? You build those.." he waves a hand
angrily, "-Abominations-, am I right?"
Gevauden Rock's masked head twists from left to right, and then the man jumps
forward, whipping his gloved hands clawlike through the air in all directions -
ki shrouding the wild blows as he searches desperately for the vanished
opponent.
Dr Leyland glares at the foot on his chest as he's pushed to the ground.
"Gevauden Units! How dare you call my work an Abomination?!" He struggles weakly
to push off the boot.
And above him Jack appears hovering for a second before he starts falling,
"Ashes.." he intones as the power gathering his cupped hands, "..Of The.." he
continues to gather the power to it's desired level. Death from ABOVE sucker.
Terry only increases the pressure, as he nods again. "Gevauden Units, right.
Abominations is more fitting, but we'll let it pass... so you take living
fighters and turn them into your goddamn slaves? Nice." He pauses to glance
around the room, eyes narrowing briefly on the sheeted figure Leyland was
operating on. Then he looks back to the grounded doctor, "That can't be all you
do. What's your part in Kain's grand plans? You helping him to gain power or
what?"
Gevauden Rock senses Jack and looks up. A split second later, he drops to his
haunches and then flips up into the air towards the half-phoenix, spinning like
a corkscrew with his arms spread to either side, feet fully extended and kicking
repeatedly at the air above.
Dr Leyland growls at Terry, "I'm an inventor! If Kain wishes to fund my research
so be it. My role in this is to keep the fighters coming from our world so we
can use them in the experiments. What he does with my research is none of my
concern!"
Nice try pal, but no cigar, "PHOENIX!!!" the half phoenix roars as the energy
blast is released with all the fire of a Turbolaser battery.
Terry leans down level with his extended leg, all but spitting into Leyland's
face as he speaks, one hand lancing out to grab the man by the collar of his
labcoat. "But it is my fucking concern! What are you being paid to invent? Kain
isn't just interested in building armies, he wants power for himself! Something
you're doing is helping that along, and I want to know what the hell it is. Hear
me?"
Gevauden Rock is caught in the monstrous blast even as he spirals through the
air. The temple's roof finally begins to give way, boulders thundering to the
floor below, some bouncing off the winged statue and tearing chunks in its
beautifully sculpted surface. Rock's mask splits apart, revealing the boy's face
below locked in a silent scream, red eyes filled with pain as he is torn apart
by Jack's attack.. body tossed like a heap of rags to the floor below, lying
amidst the tumbling boulders.
Dr Leyland chokes under Terry's weight, "B-bathorian in-infusion... turning
blood to e-energy..." His face begins to turn blue from lack of air, his hands
become weaker in their attempts to push away the fighter.
Jack lands on the ground and he just blinks for a moment. It couldn't have
been...no way it could NOT have been. Shaking his head he looks at the ceiling
and uses his power again this time to seal the fissures created by the battle
using the celestial fire he commands to close the fissures with well-placed
beams of concentrated energy.
Terry lifts his foot a little, allowing the doctor's chest to rise and fall once
more. His mouth, however, falls open and he straightens up with an expression of
shocked realisation. "Blood to energy... then...." his mouth locks in a snarl
and he looks down to Leyland again, removing his foot completely to allow the
man to reply with perfect clarity. "Then Kain wants my blood? That's why he
wants me dead?!"
The cracks in the temple slowly start to heal, leaving the chamber looking the
worse for wear but stable at least. On the floor, the body of Rock rolls over in
it's pool of blood, knocking against a vast boulder near the center of the
chamber. There's no mistaking it... everything about the man, he quite clearly
is who he appears to be, and even the energies were the same...
Dr Leyland, regaining his breath, quickly sits up and pulls a small stun gun
from beneath his bloody coat. He takes the opportunity to use it's full force on
Terry's leg as he jumps to his feet, running over to the operating table.
Jack looks at the boy and stands there in mute horror. He was thinking it was
just someone that was infused with the techs since he never committed the aura
to memory before. Shaking his head as sheer berserker rage appears on his face
he looks in the direction Terry went in and takes off. Yes, someone's gonna die
now.
Terry gasps and grips the leg, "..shit." Sensing the power Jack is using, he
shrugs and quickly restores it with a well-placed ki burst and turns to face
Leyland. "Answer me! Run if you have to, I don't care, but I need to know -
Kain's after my blood? I can assume that now, but what does he want with Rock?"
As Jack runs down the corridor towards the laboratory door, the entire passage
suddenly blazes with flames.. these are not natural flames, but constructed
purely from ki. Smoke starts to fill the area, a few strands even leaking
through to the lab and back to the main corridor. A sense of power grows around
the half-phoenix... something big is coming.
Jack narrowing his eyes at the flames Jack just smirks a bit and starts to call
them to him. Fire, no matter what it's source is the domain of the Phoenix.
And since he does know ki techs he can manipulate it like anything else.
Grabbing the remote Dr Leyland hits a red button, sending the alarm system going
off in full force. The lights in the room go red and a large siren can be heard.
Darting around to place the table between Terry and himself he throws off the
sheet revealing a grotesque body. The flesh on it's chest has been completely
removed. Bare muscles and veins hang from the open gaping hole. Where it's
stomach should be now sits a mass of wires and machinery. Upon it's head is
another less finished looking mask. Leyland reaches deep inside the creature
hitting a switch, causing the thing's eyes to flash. Leyland laughs at Terry,
"Why don't you try asking my new friend here... I'm sure he's just full of
answers..." As the thing sits up, and rises from the table Dr Leyland charges
out a rear exit and vanishes.
From inside the flames a deep voice echoes, "The phoenix. Born of fire, and
there he will also die only to rise again...." The flames flicker away even as
Jack draws them towards him, but the blazing light cast from them remains.
Standing at the end of the corridor as the flames splutters away into the stone
floor is a huge man; tall, broad of shoulder and incredibly muscular beneath the
thick black cloak he currently holds around himself. His face is covered with a
horned mask, a strange mixture of the ancient and the futuristic, with glowing
green light blazing in the eye sockets. More obvious than anything is the heavy
aura of power that emanates from him, like a vice-grip on your senses. "Welcome,
Jack Karrde. Your powers are all I have heard and more. It would be an honour
if.. you would battle me, just once?"
Skidding to a stop Jack looks at the man, the rage finally being mastered. True
honor, he has not seen that like in years, "..Very well, but one thing. The
warrior I fought..was it who I think it was?" he asks, his voice a raspy growl.
Terry's eyes narrow, mouth twisting in a horrified grimace at the abomination
that rises up to greet him. In his disgust, he forgets to mark the exit used by
Leyland, instead letting his golden ki flicker out to surround him. "What the
hell are you bastards doing..?" he murmurs, stepping forward to meet the
mountainous creature.
Grant pauses to cast off his great black cloak. It hangs in the air before
fading away into nothing. The titan of a man slowly nods his head, green eyes
flaring, "I believe so. Though perhaps not exactly... their attributes were
similar enough that I would expect such a reaction." Sadness creeps into his
voice, though the imposing depth of it does not falter, "My.. old friend has
grown to be rather different of late. I find his methods lacking in what you and
I might term honour. None the less, I am his to command, and my duties are
clear." He takes up a stance, legs set firmly and arms crossed in front of his
massive chest.
Jack narrows his eyes and nods, "Then we have no choice but to fight." and he
assumes a loose stance, holding one hand up he makes a 'Come On' gesture. Looks
like he's got what he wanted, a true battle.
As Terry advances on the semi-sentient mammoth, it falls back with a deathly
grunt, the equal of the almighty Grant in size... though clearly lacking the
grace and skill, to judge by it's posture. The blonde fighter smiles, though it
is tinged with bitterness and anger, and shows no mirth at his situation, before
dropping into a stance of his own, hands loosely curled in front of him. "If you
can hear me... c'mon. Let me end your torment, big guy." His hands tighten into
fists before uncurling again as the thing advances, green light flickering in
the slits of it's half finished mask as it readies one huge arm for a punch.
Grant takes a deep breath before lunging across the passage towards Jack, one
fist pounding through the air gracefully, trailing a shadow of itself behind as
the Martyr of Might opens the battle, aiming the blow for Jack's chest. So
narrow is the passage that his bulk all but fills it's width, giving only half a
foot or so on either side.
While a graceful strike it's in slow motion for Jack as he steps to the side and
in to give Grant a good old-fashioned charged blow to the stomach. Of course
the punch can dent steel and is moving almost 80 mph.
Terry dashes forward under the blow that hammers towards him, reaching up to
grip the creature's extended fist with one gloved hand. (Strong... I've not
fought many like this.) With his other hand, he extends a palm into the open
stomach of the thing, firing off a huge blast of red-gold ki.
Grant takes the blow with a deep, pained grunt and is forced to stagger back,
one arm clutching at the attacked area. With his other arm he wastes no time in
extending and sliding forward again, the palm facing outwards towards the
half-phoenix and fired up with deep purple ki. Grant's speed seems to have
increased greatly since the last attack, now the equal of anything Terry could
muster.. though still not at Jack's level.
The huge, twisted zombie takes a step back, circuits and blood fizzling in it's
open body as Terry's golden ki flickers inside it. Like Grant, but with far less
speed, it wastes no time - left arm coming around in a vast haymaker aimed at
the blonde fighter's head. Terry curses, releasing the creature's right hand and
ducking, blocking the next blow with both hands before using the momentum to
swing upwards, whipping a somersaulting axe kick into the thing's jaw, ki
trailing his feet as both of them soar upwards.
Reacting on instinct borne of a warrior born Jack ducks under the blow and
lashes out with his elbow to deflect the strike away. If Kain wanted a fight
he's got one he won't soon forget as Jack surges forward from his crouch to
deliver a uppercut charged with the power of the Crescent Blade to add in a but
of cutting damage in conjunction with the impact damage.
Grant brings his other arm up, bracer first, to meet the blow, ki flickering
along the limb as he uses it to deflect Jack's awesome attack. This doesn't
prevent damage - the uppercut rips through the shackle-like piece of leather,
tearing it into two and making a mockery of the thickly muscled arm underneath.
The Martyr gives a howl of rage and thunders forward, ramming his horned head
towards Jack's side and then swinging upwards with his left arm once again
trailing purple ki, this time aimed for the side of Jack he -didn't- try to
impale.
The fiend takes both feet to it's jaw, the mask it wears beginning to crack, but
the whole is apparently unfazed by the blow. As Terry comes down to land in a
crouch, it charges forward, clenching both hands together and bringing them down
in an axe-chopping motion towards the fighter's right shoulder.
Oh..this is good. Smirking a bit Jack kicks back into a jack-knife motion as he
leaves the ground into a twisting move, his leg trailing energy to deliver a
powerful heel strike to Grant's noggin
Grant is caught by that one, and pitched towards the ground. He bounces off the
wall, his bulk shattering brick as he falls to the floor before raising in an
awesome upsurge of power, the aura of purple ki now surrounding his entire body
as he hurls himself towards his opponent, both palms out-thrust towards the
half-phoenix. With this charge, the floor below cracks and shockwaves quiver up
the passage.
Terry takes the blow to his shoulder with a strangled gasp as he feels his bones
shudder from the impact. Rolling with the blow, he lets himself be bowled to the
floor but quickly slides between the zombie's feet and rushes for the door, feet
tearing up the ground as he dives for a desk, grabbing a handful of paper-work
with one arm before spinning to face the fiend. One arm trails behind, ki
blazing around the fist as he jumps forward, "AAAAAAARGHBURN KNUCKLE!!!" This
hammers through the plate of metal that protects the gargantuan beast's chest,
pitching it back onto the table it occupied previously. Before it can rise to
counter-attack, Terry darts away and runs for the door, where the effects of
Jack and Grant's battle blaze through in an awesome show of light. "FINISH IT,
JACK! WE NEED TO GET OUTTA HERE!"
Gathering his own power Jack smirks a bit and flies at Grant, haloed in golden
fire taking the form of the Phoenix itself. "BURNING PHOENIX!!!" he screams as
the energy blast is released right at Grant. Unstoppable Force meet Immovable
Object.
And that is going to hurt. The corridor quivers weakly as the forces collide,
the Martyr of Might and the Eternal Phoenix, red-gold ki flames and dark purple
blazes of light meeting and tangling together, dancing up towards the ceiling
and tearing at the ancient brickwork. Grant's cry of pain and rage tears through
the mountain as he is hurled back towards the laboratory door, a cavity open in
his barrel of a chest. When he hits the ground, the impact is great enough to
leave a crater in the rock.. blood spattering through the rubble.
And you think THAT was bad for Grant? Well, Jack's also flying backwards. His
chest caved in as he goes back the way he went. But unlike Grant there IS
nothing to stop him. Oh wait..there is. HELLO small entrance. Oh wait..no..
it's a big entrance.
Terry gets to the door just as this occurs, the impact of energies on his
conscious and unconscious senses causing the blonde fighter to stagger and drop
clumps of paperwork onto the floor. Behind him, the zombie starts to rise, and
it is being joined by hordes of black-clad figures rushing from previously
hidden openings in the chamber's wall. Terry swallows and looks down at Grant
before looking towards where Jack just vanished into blackness. "Shit..." he
pounds past the Martyr of Might, whose chest is rising and falling only faintly,
leaping his fallen form as he hammers down the corridor towards the
half-phoenix's location, letting the man's aura guide his steps. "JACK!
-Shit-..." with his free hand he starts to ggather everything he can, ready to
feed his energies into Jack.. if only to give them enough time to escape.
Jack is already rising slowly. His wound healing with sickening sounds as bones
realign, "YEOWWCH!!!" and he goes to his knees.
(
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