18/02/04 - Final Storm

*Description: Kurokami*

You see a young man who moves with the powerful grace of a skilled martial
artist. He is of below average height, but broad in shoulder and powerfully
built. His angular features lack all but the faintest touch of his youth and
seem built not to describe emotion; square jaw set with determination, and dull
brown eyes offering a chilling glimpse into his ice-cold soul. His brown hair is
loosely tied back into a braided ponytail, with two long, thick bangs left to
hang to either side of his face. He is clad in a simple gi of orange sackcloth,
left open at the front to reveal his bare chest, which is covered in small
scars. His loose pants are tied at a waist with the traditional black belt of a
karate master. In a break from tradition, however, the two ends of the belt are
not knotted together but instead held by a small ebony clasp etched with a
picture of a portcullis. His feet are bare and heavily calloused, but his large
hands are wrapped in white bandages - tied in such a manner that only the
fingertips and the palms of the hands are left bare. Drawn in black ink on the
bare flesh of each palm is a small symbol, similar in appearance to kanji but
far more complex. Something about both the bandages and the symbols on the
youth's palms tells you that they are refreshed every morning, without fail.

*End description. Prizes for guessing who it is!*

Characters: Terry_Bogard, Jack_Karrde, Johnny_C

Terry strides down the road to the south, hands fisted at his sides and eyes
narrowed on the distant mountain range. His eyes are narrowed to mere slits and
his aura blazes around him, tendrils of golden ki flickering around his
shoulders and burning around his tightly clenched fists.

And walking down the street as well is Jack Karrde.  Looks like he's checking
out the neighbourhood.  oO("Hmm..he's not going to be coming here..the aura here
will be like a defense field against him.")

Terry is too far gone to sense Jack. All he senses is a powerful aura, and spins
around with a snarl of rage, "So you come to me, huh? Okay, let's go you
bastard, it's time to fin-what?" He hesitates, dropping his guard as he sees
Jack. With a sigh he looks down and away, hair whipping around his face, "Shit.
I thought it was -him-..."

Jack tilts his head, "Him who?" he asks when he gets close enough taking in
Terry's stance as he does so.

"Kain..." the blonde fighter spits, looking back to Jack, "I'd've called you,
but he's gone too fucking far this time Jack. Doing what he did to Rock.. that
was personal between -him- and Rock, but now... now he's taken it to a level I
can't forgive." He takes a deep breath, shaking his head, "Jack, he's attacked
Mei and taken my daughter.. I don't even wanna know why. But I need to get her
back." There is an unsurprising quiver in his voice, but any sadness or despair
is being channelled to rage, his aura blazing violently.

As Terry speaks Jack's eyes narrow dangerously as his mind goes through the
logistics of what has just happened.  Of course the logic is thrown out in a
heartbeat....emotion here and now is dangerous. "..Okay..we get her back." he
says as simply as that.  Plan of action mapped out and ready to be set upon.

Terry nods and spins away, "You're damn right." He looks towards the distant
mountains, hair and jacket buffeted around by the ki-charged wind that howls
around him. Glancing back over his shoulder he cocks an eyebrow, "More than
that. We end this now... no more waiting around, no more planning.. Kain dies
today."

Jack stands there watching Terry, "..We will..but you do one thing first."

Terry glances back to the horizon impatiently, "...What?"

Jack says, "..Calm down. You go in there THIS angry you'll get yourself killed. 
And by the way...do you know where Kain's MOVED his base?  Me and you kinda

trashed the LAST one."

Terry sighs, running a gloved hand across his face, "Yeah.. look, I'm calm...
I'm fine, okay? I'm as calm as I -can- be considering. As for where he is.." he
waves the hand vaguely in the direction of the mountains, "Somewhere over there.
I can find him once we get closer, I know I can. Having part of -me- over there
is kinda helping too, y'know?" He snaps the last, then looks away, "Sorry. But..
let's just go. If I wait any longer I'm gonna explode."

Jack asks, "..Then let's go." and he starts off.  "By the way...how'd the
kidnapper get past the defenses and the Kinomoto place?"

Terry sets off at that same brisk stride, hands clenched tightly at his side, "I
don't know how, I don't even know -who-, but someone disguised themselves as me.
So completely even Mei couldn't tell... he attacked her." He stops, swallowing
tightly, "Jack, when I first came into the room she wouldn't let me near her.
She thought I'd come to finish her off..."

Jack winces a bit.

Terry nods, "Yeah. Now you see why this has got me so bad?" He shakes his head
and sets off again, "Let's just go. Follow me, I'll let my senses guide.. I can
feel Kain and I can feel Samantha...." he sighs.

Jack says, "Good..."

Terry doesn't speak on the journey... intent on his task. But the path leads to
a mountain trail that curves upward for some way. At a seemingly random point,
Terry stops.. eyes narrowed on a point a good fifty feet above the path. "Up
there.." he glances at Jack, nodding almost imperceptibly, "They're up there."

Jack looks up, "You're right." and he hmms, "Something is odd here."

Looking up and down the almost sheer face Terry smirks coldly, "Great. So now
all we need is a way up..." he moves over and tentatively tests a few minor
handholds, glancing up further for signs of any higher up, "Much as this looks
like an impossible climb.. I don't have much choice but to try it. Unless..." he
looks over his shoulder, "If you've got no other ideas?"

Jack looks at Terry crosses his arms over his chest.  "Terry...what am I?"

Terry chuckles, "Point. Sorry, I have a tendency to forget these things.. but
even so. If you make the change now, will there be any changing back? One of us
needs to keep our head..."

Jack says, "..I can shift back and forth easy enough."

Terry nods and steps back from the cliff, glancing upwards one last time and
noting, "That crack.. you can see it? About five foot high, two across?
Somewhere in there.." he looks back to Jack and smiles slightly, "Do your
thing... it's not like we have to worry about 'surprise'. Even if I was
suppressing, Kain knew I'd be coming."

Without even nodding Jack gathers the power needed, letting the phoenix fire
rage over his body.  Shaping it..changing it...altering it.   His hands become
diamond sharp talons, from his back red and gold wings erupt.

Terry unconsciously glances away for the transformation, looking back when it's
complete and smirking, "Okay.. time to kick some ass." He turns around,
spreading his arms to either side, "Going up.."

As the transformation finally finishes the Phoenix raptor looks down at Terry
and lowers itself down.  Looks like you're riding Terry.  Hold on tight..

Terry headtilts and glances around, "Oh... okay." He shrugs and steps up beside
the phoenix, placing a hand on back his neck and swinging himself up, sitting
with one leg to either side of the neck away from the wings.

And like that with a beat of its wings the bird takes flight up the mountain to
the hole.

Terry shudders, touched by the aura given off by the creature underneath him. As
they reach the hole he nods and carefully lifts one leg, reaching out with his
left hand and gripping a sharp outcropping rock, which he uses to swing himself
down from the back of the phoenix, placing first one leg inside the dark cave
and then the next, dropping down in a crouch, "Mission accomplished.." he
murmurs with a smile, sidling a few paces in and turning to glance into the
pitch blackness as he waits for Jack to join him.

And boy does he ever.  Going for a straight on run at the opening the raptor's
form is covered in energy and..then..it's just Jack as he skids in.

Terry chuckles dryly, "Nice entrance." He nods to Jack as he stands up, lifting
one hand to feel for the ceiling. "It gets higher further in.. we should be-"
before he can finish a light blazes from deeper in the mountainside, a gout of
flames suddenly appearing and spreading to fill the narrow cave with light,
their spread ending a couple of feet from Terry's booted left foot. He glares
into the flames, clenching his hands to fists once again, "This I don't have
time for..." As the Martyr of Might appears, his arrival accompanied by a
violent shockwave that rocks the cave, dust and fragments of rock tumbling to
the floor.

Terry slowly shakes his head, turning to face the mountain of a man as the
flames flicker and fade away... their light however remaining. "No, Jack. He's
not here to fight.. or if he is, then he's lost what honour he once had..." He
tilts his head, cocking an eyebrow questioningly. The masked man chuckles,
hollow boom resounding inside the passage, "Who can truly say. I question my
sense of honour daily, but no... I am not here to fight. Not unless.." his green
'eyes' flare brightly, gaze fixing on Jack, "Unless your friend desires a
rematch."

Jack shakes his head, and at once the cocky attitude drops giving way to the
warrior within, "No..you proved yourself a worthy foe Grant.  Granted my power
is strong but your heart is just strong.  If we fought again it would be
worthless and foolish to do so.  We both proved we are the best there is."

Grant inclines his head, the green light from within his mask dimming a little,
"Your wisdom is noted... the true warrior within you moreso." Looking up, he
folds his arms across his chest and steps to one side of the passage, his bulk
filling the most of its width.. just enough room left to slip past him. Glancing
sidelong at the pair he sighs deeply, "My orders were to delay your passage. I
will overlook them for now... though one day we will meet as enemies. It is not
a day I look forward to." He looks down, turning his gaze away to the floor in
front of him, "Now go with haste, wolf and phoenix... my master and friend is
soon to leave this plane. You must prevent this."

Jack nods at Grant's words, "Then when that day comes..when we meet on the field
of honor and blood.  Know you will face the Phoenix." he intones.

Terry blinks and glances sidelong at Jack, surprise turning to a soft smile and
a nod as he looks back to Grant. "I knew you weren't like him." He strides past
the giant, stopping in the cavern beyond just before entering a down-sloping
passage, "For what it's worth, Grant.. when we come to fight again." Glancing at
Jack he chuckles, "-If- we come to fight again.. I'll have a hard time killing
you. My thanks for this.." He looks away, nods, and then turns to head down into
the darkness.

Jack follows Terry and glances back at Grant, "Till that day warrior of Might."
and he takes off after Terry.

Terry is waiting at the end of the slope, where the darkness is becoming near
complete once again as the light given off by Grant's fades into the distance.
"Welcome party number two, Jack... this one won't be so welcoming." Looking
around with a sigh he says, "Gevauden. More than I've felt before, too, and I'm
really not in the mood." The passage beyond is huge, an elongated cavern running
deep into the mountain range, unlit except for the odd eldritch glowing rock. As
Terry speaks red lights begin to flick into existence, pairs of glowing eyes
emerging from the shadows. "There's not much to see by, but let's keep it that
way and fight this one running."

Smirking a bit Jack reaches into his coat, "Terry...I take point.  I have
something I've been wanting to try for a while."

Half a dozen red globes of ki burst from the out-stretched palms of ragged
shadows as they tear off from the walls and come running towards the small
entrance at the base of the slope. Terry nods as he steps forward, giving Jack
room to move as he raises his guard.. waiting for the things to get nearer
before he moves. "Knock yerself out.. but make it quick."

Shooting forward at inhuman speed Jack pulls out a pair of guns and smirks as he
cranks on the speed and from there he starts firing as fast as he can pull the
trigger. But what emerges from the guns is not bullets or laser energy...but
Phoenix flame.  Yes, he's channelling his powers into the guns..and like stated
before by him and Raven both...he's a crack shot as he becomes the weapons.

"Make it very quick." Terry says with a shake of his head before he too shoots
forward into the cavern, pausing to spin on his heel and hammer a vicious punch
into the space between an emerging pair of red optics. Kicking aside the
crumpling body he dashes on after Jack, keeping as much energy as he can charged
to the end of his fists.

Is keeping it quick..he's nothing but a blur.  Whenever he senses one he locks
on and opens fire.  Using two weapon fighting to a new level he goes for no look
shots...behind the back shots..crossing his arms and shooting at two on either
side.  And considering the weapon is going like a full auto weapon shooting
fireballs..it's not pretty.

Terry tucks into a roll as a flaming ball of black clothed limbs is sent
hurtling towards him, a set of flailing claws barely missing him as their owner
tears a burning path into the darkness. Coming up out of the move he comes
face-to-face with another G-Unit, smoking hole in its back and red eyes flaring
with rage as it stumbles forward towards him. With a wry smirk he ducks down,
hammering a shoulder into the thing's stomach and then turning and placing a
sharp knee into the mask, shattering it completely. He whips his gaze around,
eyes locking onto the fireball-spewing blur that is the phoenix.. in the
distance. Hopping over a burning corpse he sets off after Jack again,

Jack says, "Please tell me they've stopped coming?  I'm getting dizzy here!!"
Jack says between volleys as he ducks underneath a flying one and opens up into
the thing's face and chest, without missing a beat he spins and fires of a few
spreads at other ones.

Gevauden are being thrown left, right and centre by this ferocious gunfire,
little more than smoking flesh and burnt rags as they are hurled up against the
walls and onto the floor. Those that do survive are easy targets for Terry,
dashing on behind as fast as his human legs will carry him. Pausing occasionally
to hammer a ki-charged blow into a black-masked face, or to fire off a sharp
kick into a madly flailing would-be opponent. "Dammit!" he breathes as he does
his best to keep up, staggering over a sharp rocky outcrop on the cavern floor.
Jack, meanwhile, might be nearing the next room soon... a dead-end in front but
a wide, jagged tear in the wall to the left, leading into a truly huge cavern
lit by naturally glowing rocks and with a shimmering lake at its centre.

Jack skids to a stop, mainly because he did need to catch his breath, "Uh..room
spinning..want to get off please." he mutters as he looks around.  Holstering
the weapons he takes a look around testing the auras in the area.

And Jack has done a lot of damage... but the number of Gevauden still apparently
standing is remarkable, a good three or four dozen still open to detection in
the long cavern they have just traversed. Terry catches up after a moment,
ducking one-such still standing opponent as it drops from the ceiling. Hopping
into the air, he kicks one leg straight up, snapping his foot into the thing's
face and, as he lands, spinning and planting another kick to the chest. As it
falls back, mask crumbling, he turns breathlessly to Jack. "You.. are far... too
fast..." he shakes his head. Behind him more red lights flare, mostly from
higher-up small caves in the side of the passage.

Jack looks at Terry, "I just...found that out." looking back behind him he
groans, "That does it." pointing his hand back he screams as a volley of energy
blasts erupt from his hand to seek out and BLAST the G-Units still remaining.

Terry drops to a crouch, reflexively flinging an arm about his head and
concentrating all his energies defensively. "Holy shit!" He exclaims,
tentatively looking around as the blasts light the cavern, each seeking and
destroying a black-garbed victim, chunks of flesh, high-impact plastic and cloth
erupting in clouds of blood as each is blown apart. Once the light fades, no red
dots remain.. the cavern falling into darkness again.

Jack slumps a bit after that stunt, "I HATE those things." he roars and he looks
around the cavern, "LISTEN PAL!  I am getting SICK and frelling TIRED of this
pseudo-necromantic bullshit!  Why the hell can't you be like normal villains and
hire pyjama wearing ninja wannabe's for use to bust up!?!  THAT'D be a LOT
better than this creepy shit!"

Terry stands up, dusting down his jeans with both hands as he looks towards
Jack. He nods, sighing, "I second that sentiment, man..." wrinkling his nose as
the scent of burning flesh fills the cavern he takes a step towards the entrance
of the next, more brightly lit cavern, glancing sidelong at Jack with a
sympathetic smile, "But let's go huh? Y'can voice your concerns to the piece of
shit responsible.."

Jack nods, "...I will..assuming I don't vomit all over him first. My stomach is
not happy with me." he says as he looks around for the next leg of the journey.

Terry gives a dark chuckle, running a still-glowing hand through his hair as he
hops down two and a half feet into the next area, gaze sweeping across the lake
at its centre. "Seems peaceful enough..." he mutters, heading over to the edge
of the lake and peering down into it, "Provided there's no horrific tentacle
things waitin' to jump outta here." He shrugs and looks across the lake, which
fills the entire width of the cavern, across to the 'exit' at the other side,
another narrow passage wide and tall enough to admit a large man.

Jack glances at Terry as he mentions the 'tentacle' bit, "I'm sorry...but do I
look like a Japanese schoolgirl to you?" he asks as he crosses his arms over his
chest, "We both should know those tentacle things go after them first."

"Heh.. shoulda known -you- were a hentai freak, birdboy." Comes the familiar
voice of a female New Yorker, followed a couple of moments later by the sound of
booted foot hitting the cavern floor. Talon calmly leans back against the rock
wall by the entrance the pair just came from, idly flicking a switchblade around
the fingers of her gloved left hand.

Jack glances at Terry, "Your turn.." he says as he leans against the wall. "Mine
was back there." he comments as he points down the smoking corridor they just
left.

Terry smirks and is about to comment when he hears that voice and stiffens,
right hand clenching tightly. As the leather creaks he looks back over his
shoulder with a vicious snarl, "You.." as Jack speaks he nods, turning around
and adjusting his gloves with exaggerated nonchalance, "Don't mind if I do. I
need something to blast some rage into." He smirks dangerously over at the girl,
"Never learn, do ya?"

Talena reaches up with her free hand to remove her shades, tucking them inside
her jacket with a sweet smile towards the blonde fighter, "Pretty much no. But
I'm not the one with a death wish here... I'm just doing my job, baby." She
flashes a quick, toothy grin then moves in a blur of speed, blade flicking
across into her right hand and slashing down towards Terry's right thigh as she
comes to a stop beside him, other hand flung out for balance.

Terry was mostly ready for that and his right hand darts out to grab hers before
the blade can penetrate his jeans, left coming across in a ki-charged blow at
her cheek. As she dodges this he spins to the left and pushes her away, flinging
her out over the surface of the lake, glancing sidelong at Jack as he steps back
and drops into a crouch. "Go on.. stop Kain.."

Jack nods and in one blurred move takes off towards the opening.  Burning power
for speed as goes like a crimson comet.

Talena spins out over the dark waters, suddenly seeming to come to a stop in
mid-air. She smirks and blurs once more, flipping head over heels and landing on
the other side of the lake, tossing away her jacket as she does so. Strapped to
her lower back is a pair of beefed-up holdout pistols, and the handles of
various bladed utensils protrude from the front of her jeans. "Let's go, babe.."
she murmurs, reaching up to pull a wad of gum from her mouth and flick it into
the lake.

Terry remains in his crouch, fingertips of one hand brushing the floor. He looks
towards the crimson comet, raising his voice, "Jack! Save some for me, okay?" He
smirks and stands up, beckoning the brightly dressed girl on with his left hand
as the right blazes with energy. "You're on the wrong side, kid. C'mon."

Seeing Talena on his side of the lake he mutters.  Yet again one of those days. 
But he's got something she's never seen. Leaping up he flings his coat out wide
and without warning a fusillade of shurikens and throwing spikes go screaming at
Talena as his guns appear in his hands.  Yes, he's fighting her on her terms..

Talena is about to quip a reply when her eyes widen. A spike slams into her
side, penetrating flesh before she can react.. though when she does it's with
awesome speed, leaping up and then becoming a formless mass as she shoots
through the air over Jack's head, landing on the other side with her own guns at
the ready, ignoring the pumping of blood from her injured side. "Ooh..
gunfight!" She grins, eyes glimmering with anticipation, "Got what it takes?"

Locking onto her aura Jack turns slowly and just grins, "Bring it bitch." he
says with a cocky as hell grin on his face.

Terry shakes his head and takes a running leap, using a burst of ki to propel
him higher than would normally be possible, golden tendrils whipping out behind
as he vaults the lake, landing in a crouch on the other side, right fist
slamming into the ground. In usual style this sends a wave of red-gold energy
ripping up the ground towards Talon.

Talena smirks, eyes flicking to the left briefly as Terry lands, "Love to." She
replies to Jack, stepping forward and blurring just as the wave rips past where
she once stood. Her form shoots towards the phoenix, a volley of armour-piercers
erupting from either handgun as she flits towards him, swerving left and right
as she travels.

Terry and Talon both know he's fast.  But now they learn how fast as he becomes
a blur and he dodges bullets, letting them zip past him.  When in battle the
world slows down making it faster to react.  Of course due to Talon's erratic
manoeuvres he does fling his coat up to let the alien material take the bullet
and stop it dead.  Keeping a grip of his gun he waits for the right moment as he
watches Talon's moves and he fires once..not at where she is..but at where she
will be.

Talena's blurred form converges with Jack's shot, guns suddenly training on his
shot and firing, two bullets slamming in on a head-on collision. The twin
explosions jerk her back slightly, but not so much as Jack's shot as it makes
short work of the intended slug-stoppers and hammers on into the girl's stomach.
With a strangled cry she emerges from the speedy blur and thunders back against
the wall, one gun clattering to the rocky ground, now empty hand clutching at
the hit area as she blinks dizzily. "Huh..? You....?"

Jack looks at Talon and he just smirks, "See..nice trick I can do with my guns. 
I can channel my power THROUGH them.  Being one with your guns is not as good as
becoming the weapon." he says as he looks at the girl and sighs, "But alas..all
things must end." he brings up the gun one more time and pulls the trigger.

Talena screams as the shot slams into her cheek, slamming her head back against
the wall as it turns to a pained gasp. As the fingers of both hands tighten, the
retained handgun is fired, bullet ricocheting from the cavern wall... then the
fingers loosen and the gun slips to the floor with a dull clatter. And then
she's still, blood trickling from one side of her mouth and from her right ear.

Jack looks at Terry, "Let's go." he says as he holsters his gun and he takes off
towards the opening.

Terry watches from his crouching position, barely able to discern anything from
the two speed-driven figures. As Talena falls back from the set of small
explosions he smiles and straightens up, in time to see the final shot. He
winces and looks away, glancing back and expecting to see a bloody mess where
the girl's head had been. He blinks in surprise and looks at Jack, "What...?"

Jack glances at Terry as he goes, "So I couldn't kill her..big deal.  She knows
she's no threat to us now.."

Terry shakes his head, "It's not that.. I was just surprised." Narrowing his
eyes he glances at the narrow exit, "Let's go. We're not far now, about a
hundred yards and we're there." He clenches both fists, taking a deep breath
before he sets off, totally intent on Kain's head.

Jack asks, "..Surprised about what?"

Terry stops, looking at Jack with a faint, impatient shrug, "I didn't know you
could tone those things down.. I figured her face would be a bloody smear." He
shrugs again, stepping through the exit into the next passage which curves off
to the right, then back left to continue in the same direction as the exit. He
turns back to face Jack and smiles, "I don't mean anything personal, Jack. Any
doubts I had about you have been dispelled time and time again.. I know you're
not a cold-blooded killer."

Jack says, "Good..." he looks from side to side, "No G-Units so far."

Terry peers into the darkness beyond, "No.. there aren't any more that -I- can
feel. But Kain's close... end of this passage. I can see a light up at the end."
He looks at Jack and nods, "This'll be it. Kain should be alone now, too..."

Jack nods, "I'm ready for him."

Terry glances down at his right hand, splaying the fingers then curling it into
a tight fist. A flash of golden ki bursts around the fist then up his arm.
Looking up again, focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel, he nods, "Me
too. Let's do it..." he sets off at a brisk stride up the passage which, below
the shroud of darkness, is smooth and free from obstacles.

Jack picks up the speed as well.  "Sense anything?"

Terry nods, "Yeah.. Kain, more than anything else. He's gained power, Jack..."
there is a slightly worried tremor in the blonde fighter's voice now that the
time has come, quickly bitten back and turned into pure rage, his aura blazing
again as it was when Jack first found him. "My daughter's with him and.. someone
else... it's a vaguely familiar aura but I can't place it." He shakes his head
and jogs the last few paces to the tiny entrance, from which glowing and
throbbing light emanates.

Jack says, "..No ideas here either.  Okay..game plan..I go after Kain you get
Sam."

Terry nods to Jack, "Sure... but we're both on Kain once Sammy's safe." He sighs
then steps up to the next passage, leaning in and glancing around inside. The
next chamber is not as large as the previous one, but a lot more impressive. The
cavernous walls of grey rock are marked in places with outcroppings of crystal
and mineral veins... both shimmering in the strange light given off by what
currently dominates the back of the domed cavern. And that is a portal,
perfectly round and crackling with energy, its surface shimmers and throbs with
light. The howling wind accompanying its prescence billows around the three
figures arrayed on the ground opposite the small entrance in which Terry and
Jack stand. The central is very recognisable as Kain Heinlein, clad in his more
usual white-and-blue suit rather than the Chinese robes he has taken to wearing.
To his right stands Dr. Arryl Leyland, a device of some kind cradled in his
hands, a slightly worried frown creasing his brow. Off to the left, some way
from the others, is a muscular young man in an orange gi, his expression one of
stoic detachment as he glances across at the portal. Kain on the other hand
looks simply ecstatic, a gleam in his scarlet eyes and a pleased smile on his
thin lips. Cradled on one of his arms is Samantha. The black-haired nekojin babe
is totally silent, staring up at her captor with something approaching avid
curiosity. "At least we're not too late..."

No wasting anytime Jack narrows his eyes and calls forth his power in the form a
energy blast that goes screaming at Kain with all the force of a heavy blaster
cannon.

Dr Leyland glances worriedly over at Kain, "Sir, I have to beg you not to go
through with this. I need to run more tests on the device. It's not made for
this kinda stress..." As Jack's blast fires at Kain, he jumps back against the
wall, his fears of the device malfunctioning forgotten.

Terry curses, "The hell're you doing, Sammy's with-" he reaches out to grab
Jack's arm, stopping both this and his outburst as Kain's power flares, the man
turning lithely and raising his free hand, purple flame billowing out from under
the cuff of his jacket and becoming a gargantuan fiery burst that thunders
forward to meet Jack's attack. "Impressive, phoenix!" the graceful man purrs,
voice magnified and strengthened with power so that it echoes around the large
cavern, "But not enough." He glances down at the girl in his arms and smiles,
"Mr. Kurokami... would you take the girl from me?" The man in the orange ki
glances across and, after a brief pause, steps over to receive the blanketed
bundle.

Jack glances at Terry, "That was my plan to begin with!  I knew he would block
it!!"

Terry nods, holding up his hands, "Sorry, sorry.. I got a little jumpy." He
sighs and then turns away, springing lightly down into the cavern, "Kurokami..
whoever the hell you are," his sapphire gaze narrows on the man, "Put my
daughter the hell down." Flicking his gaze to Kain he smirks, "And you... you're
a dead man."

Looking back at Kain, Jack smirks and narrows his eyes a bit.  "What do you say
Kain?  Ki fire vs. Phoenix fire." he in challenge as he pulls off his gunbelt
and tosses it aside as his eyes flash solid red for a moment.  "Or do you truly
fear me."

Kain's smile falters, becoming a determined grimace as he glares across at Jack,
"You will not be my undoing, Jack Karrde. Not here, not now." He calmly steps
forward, holding his hands up to either side in an elegant, exaggerated shrug,
"But please.. feel free to try."

Kurokami nods, casting his steely-eyed gaze down to Samantha. Without a word he
turns, walks to the edge of the cavern, and sets her down lightly before turning
to face Terry. He bows slightly, then snaps into a fighting stance, legs set
firmly to either side with one lower arm blocking his lower body and the other
held across his chest, fingers lightly curled. The blonde fighter closes his
eyes for a moment. (Something familiar... even the stance... but I can't -quite-
place it.) His eyes snap open again and he inclines his head, returning the bow,
before springing forward into a low dash, one arm dragging behind and glowing
with golden ki-energy, "HAAAAH!"

Jack narrows his eyes.  The look on his face a match for Kain's as he reaches
deep within himself for the stores of power he has yet to call upon.  Letting
golden tendrils of flame dance over his body he screams as a burst of energy
erupts from him and he flies right at Kain.  One arm trailing back for a good
old fashioned punch.

Kain laughs and springs back towards the edge of the portal, both arms whipping
claw-like around his body and sending twin bursts of violet flame raging towards
the oncoming phoenix.

Leaping over the twin blasts Jack goes into a arc over Kain and comes down right
next to him in a crouch.  Without missing a beat the Wild Phoenix leaps to his
feet and with a jack-knife of motion he let's fly with the flaming kick, the
heel aimed at Kain's shoulder as he fires off the infamous scythe kick.

Dr Leyland takes a few steps closer to the portal, his eyes following the
situation closely.

Kain smirks, left arm coming up - wreathed in raging ki-flames - to catch the
kick. His right hand, gloved in blue velvet, comes around to launch another
volley of flame towards Jack's stomach as Kain slides back, kicking up dirt as
he flies with the momentum of the blow landed on him. As he starts to come to a
stop he reverses his balance, flipping up into the air where he.. hovers.. held
up by the fire that now rages around his entire body, billowing the expensive
material of his suit. "And to think my conquest has only just begun... already
all are nothing to me!" He laughs, tossing his head back, blonde hair flying
wildly as he glares maniacally down at the phoenix-born, "Today will not see my
end, phoenix!"

Terry leaps forward towards the waiting youth, spinning full circle and then
flaring with energy as he rages in with the previously trailing fist
outstretched, ki shrouding the limb as it hammers into the flesh left bare by
Kurokami's sackcloth gi. "BURN KNUCKLE!" Terry lands in a crouch and stands as
the youth slams back-first into the rocky ground. The blonde fighter pulls his
arm back as the ki dissipates, pausing to adjust the glove before dashing in
after the youth as he rights himself.

Dr Leyland puts his hand up to his ear, cupping the small earpiece he wears.
Suddenly his eyes grow wide. "Sir! Mr Heinlein! We've just received confirmation
from the other side. The links been established. Shall I send for the 'emergency
package' we sent through earlier?"

Dr Leyland puts his hand up to his ear, cupping the small earpiece he wears.
Suddenly his eyes grow wide. "Sir! Mr Heinlein! We've just received confirmation
from the other side. The links been established. Shall I send for the 'emergency
package' we sent through earlier?"

Being left open Jack takes the blast and is sent back a few feet, but he refuses
to fall. Refuses to be beaten.  Looking at the portal and then at Kain he smirks
as he gathers his power, "Dark" he intones as he calls forth the tempest within
him.  This is the battle he was born to fight and he gives himself to the
passion of the fight, no longer fighting the rage. "...Phoenix..." he continues.
Yes, the double is gone..but everyone has a dark side and he's calling it forth
as well adding it to his fury as a cyclone of fire erupts around him.

Kain waves a hand impatiently, sending a gout of flame erupting towards the
portal where it is swallowed up. "Yes, Mr. Leyland! You do not need my word on
-every- small detail. Do it." He shakes hiiss head, gaze narrowing again on Jack,
"Ahh.. now we see some real power. Be aware though, Karrde, that I hold the
trump card...." he laughs and swoops down gracefully to the ground, landing
beside the swaddled nekojin.

At Leyland's command, the towering figure of a seven foot tall warrior steps
through the gate. The figure resembles the masked Gevauden Units in every way
except that its chest is heavily protected beneath a thick steel breastplate and
the creature resonates with the cold aura of death. It scans the area and awaits
its instructions.

Kurokami brings his guard up in time to block a haymaking punch with his left
palm, stepping back and turning to the right as a snap kick is thrown his way
immediately afterwards. Moving with a swift burst of speed, he moves up into the
over-extended fighter's guard and hammers a knuckle-punch into his stomach.
Terry staggers back from the blow, sending a small burst of ki into the area to
numb the pain. The smirk flickering to life on his lips quickly dies as he
glances away and sees Kain beside Sammy. "Trump card my ass..." he mutters,
dropping into a dash - flinging out an arm to block the kick thrown his way by
Kurokami as he lunges past on his way to Kain, "GET AWAY FROM HER, HEINLEIN!"

Knowing that Kain would do that Jack levels his hand at the Portal, "Whoever
said YOU were the target!!" and as the creature comes out of the portal he
smiles a bit. "Your call Kain..all I have to do is fire at through your portal
and your base is ruined.  See..I can open a gate..and I can SEAL it as well." he
says with a smirk.

Kain's eyes widen, flashing dangerously, "Even if that were possible, why would
you do such a thing?" His eyes narrow again as he chuckles darkly, "At risk of
your good friend's daughter?" With this he flings out his arm, sending a huge
spurt of purple fire towards Terry as he rushes forward, rock blackening and
then shattering underneath the blast, hurling up sharp chunks of stone in
addition to the blazing ki-based heat.

The instant Kain is gone he blurs out and appears near Samantha.  Pulling out a
commbadge he sets it in the bundle, "..Falcon..signal lock and transport!!"

Terry's eyes widen and he flings his face to one side, hair whipping around him
as he spins, sending him back-first through the searing flames, firing off his
aura around him to protect from the worst. As he comes out the other side he
drops into a crouch at the edge of the burst, jeans torn and legs bleeding from
the shattered brickwork that got through, smell of scorched hair filling his
nostrils. "Gyah..."

Kain lowers his arm, even as his other hand comes around in the air just in
front of him.. fingers curling and tightening into an iron grip on nothing. Or..
maybe more than nothing as the commbadge shatters. He smirks at Jack past a
curtain of crazily whipping blonde hair, "A very nice attempt, Mr. Karrde." As
he finishes speaking a figure clad in orange gi bursts from the fading aura of
Kain's flaming attack on Terry, Kurokami landing in front of Kain and scooping
up the nekojin in one smooth movement.

Jack comes to the feet in front of Kurokami, "Let her go!  She has nothing to do
with this!" he sighs, "Let her go and I won't stop you from crossing over." he
says.  He won't let the child be hurt.

Kurokami bows his head, eyes cast towards the floor at Jack's feet.
"Impossible," purrs Kain before the man can reply, "I require the child to
further my cause... although I might be willing to make a bargain." He gives a
self-satisfied hmph, casting a quick glance across to Leyland and the recently
emerged Gevauden, then back to Jack. He raises one eyebrow.

Jack narrows his eyes, "What is it?" he asks as he glances at the creature.

Terry braces his feet against the floor and stands, bloodshot eyes narrowed on
Kain, "Bull. Shut up, Kain.. no deals, no bargains... Kurokami?" He breathes,
looking towards the youth in the orange gi, "Put my daughter down, then back off
outta here. We got business with your employer, not with you."

Jack looks at Terry, "STAND DOWN!!" he roars in the voice of command he used a
long time ago. Looking back at Kain the Wild Phoenix narrows his eyes, "We can't
win Terry...between Kain, Kurokami, and that thing the child would be in danger.
We can get him later...but now we have to focus on the objective..your
DAUGHTER!!"

Dr Leyland, becoming annoyed with everything, reaches into his pocket and pulls
out a small device. Pressing a button on it he grins, watching his creation with
interest. "GF-Unit 002? I'm getting tired of his heroics..."

The creature's eyes lock onto Jack and he glares at him beneath his black mask.
Suddenly, the it charges at him, becoming an unseen blur. A second later, the
towering figure is standing over Jack with his hands raised ready to hammer down
on the cocky fighter.

Looking up at the creature Jack becomes a blur all his own and goes out of the
reach of the thing. "Cute...real cute." his eyes flash and he forms two orbs of
energy in each hand and waits, "Bring it ugly." he says as he gathers his might.

Terry nods, glancing at Kain.. who stands silent, flicking his red-eyed gaze
between the two men and smirking contemptuously. "I know, Jack, I know.. but
we're not gonna take her by-shit! Behind you!" He leaps forward as Jack is
attacked, one fist slamming forward in a charged kidney punch on Kurokami even
as he leaps, aiming a nasty kick at Kain's throat and rebounding to catch his
daughter as she flies from the youth's arms.

Making an almost guttural growl, the GF-Unit smashes down into the space where
Jack had just occupied. Looking up slowly and spotting him again, the creature
again vanishes. Reappearing behind Jack with the palm of his hand raised to his
head, preparing to unleash an energy attack of his own.

Kain staggers back from the kick, the flaming aura around him stopping the
majority of the damage but still causing a worthy distraction. On straightening
he throws both arms forward with a snarl of rage, hurling twin waves of purple
flaming energy soaring towards Terry as he straightens up, cradling his daughter
in both arms.

Letting the energy gather within him Jack grins a bit as he looks at the
creature, "Four words fugly.." he says with a cocky as hell grin on his face,
"And guess what they are!" he screams as he let's the energy erupt from him in
the form of a hemisphere of raw energy that explodes from him with all the force
of a shooting star.

Terry's eyes widen once more, and again he spins to take the brunt of the flames
on his back, though some lick around the protection offered by his jacket and
cause a scream of pain and rage from the blonde fighter. He staggers forward,
face inches from the portal... Samantha still silently staring, but now looking
rather more fearful, possibly on the brink of tears. With a gasped curse Terry
takes one arm from around her, hurling a burst of golden ki-energy towards Kain.

Despite the force of the attack, the creature still stands. His body is burnt
and charred and most of his clothing has been torn off. Beneath the disguise
it's apparent that the breastplate has been bolted to it's bare flesh. With a
charred hand, the fiend backhands Jack across the face with almost all the
strength it has remaining...

Kurokami leaps to his feet and sprints over towards Jack, stopping just short
and giving a cry of rage as he thrusts forward with a vicious palm thrust, legs
setting firmly to either side of him to brace the impact of the blow.

With all the sound of thunder echoing through the room from the impact Jack's
sent flying.  Yes..that hit..but he's not out yet..not even close.  Going into a
flip he land right in front of Kurokami and without even thinking about it fires
off a iron palm at the chest of the man.

Kain calmly deflects the blow with a shrouded arm, bringing the other round as
he slides forward effortlessly, fingers curling to claws and lashing out towards
Terry's face, the arm previously used to block now looping around and flinging
the blonde fighter around - into the claw-handed blow.

Kurokami is sent flying back by the blow, but flips in the air and rights
himself, snapping back into a stance as he recovers, chest rising and falling
heavily. His steely eyes narrow on Jack before he charges forward again,
preparing his next attack.

The fiend slowly stomps towards his target. As he moves closer, large chunks of
still burning flesh melt from his shoulders. Its eyes are fixed on Jack and
nothing is going to keep it from completing its objectives...

Jack rubs his jaw as Kurokami surges forward. No shields..now this.  He doesn't
need this.  As Kurokami reaches him he has fully intends to use a old Judo trick
to use 'Kami's own momentum against him to THROW him at the GF-002.

Terry is sent reeling by that blow, but dragged into it by Kain the damage is
made more extensive as he finds himself unable to dodge. Crying out, he snaps
his eyes open against the pain as fingernails claw through the flesh of his
cheek, then makes a grab - with the only hand he can spare - for Kain's throat,
ignoring the whipping tendrils of ki-flame enshrouding the man as he grips and
twists, wrenching him sideways and down towards the floor.

"GE-TO KURASSHA!" The cry tears from Kurokami's lips as he takes one last,
smooth step forward, gliding up to Jack with deceptive speed, his left hand
coming up in a stabbing, quickly withdrawn feint towards the man's right
shoulder. His right hand unclenches, flying open with palm outstretched, the
symbol in the center flaring with a starburst of pure white light as the
broad-shouldered youth twists his body sharply, hammering the out-thrust palm up
and in towards Jack's stomach with breathtaking force.

That was what Jack was waiting for to do this, pulling off a quick side step he
grabs Kuro's wrist and flicks it to send him screaming at the GF-02 with all the
force of his opponents' own move against the creature.

Dr Leyland rolls his eyes at the poor situation his creation has gotten itself
into. Producing the controlling device he chuckles to himself, pressing a red
button. After taking a moment to consider his actions he yells out to his
employer, "Kain! The unit's set to blow! We need to get the hell out of here!"

Kain gasps, teeth gritting as his throat is grabbed and wrenched, but with
superhuman force he flicks his body to the side, lifting a leg in a vicious kick
to Terry's back, hammering the other man forwards into the portal. His throat is
quickly released as the blonde fighter is pulled from this world, Kain pausing
briefly to recover before he looks over his shoulder towards the others,
focusing on Leyland as he speaks, voice rather strained and cracked, "That we
shall, Mr. Leyland.. all is set."


Kurokami's eyes widen as he is grabbed and thrown, tucking into a ball as he
hammers into the GF-02 with all the awesome force he mustered up for his blow on
Jack. As the creature is undoubtedly sent staggering the youth flicks himself
around in the air and lands in a nimble crouch, fingers of one hand splayed on
the floor in front of him as he looks towards Kain, a smile flickering on his
lips.

The GF-Unit screams as it's knocked backwards. It tries to crawl to its feet as
energy begins to pulsate from his eye sockets. As it gains it's footing it
unleashes a horrible scream of pain.

Jack, knowing Terry isn't here he looks around and then at the portal.  There is
no time for logic or emotion...just time for action as he takes off for the
portal.  Moving as fast he can to make it to the portal  He knows he won't make
it..but he has to try.

Jack looking at the GF unit he looks at the portal and smirks as he calls forth
what power he has left to form a defense field in the form of a bowl pointing
outward to take the force of the explosion and channel it back.  IN other words
Jack's using the force of the explosion to throw him INTO the portal.

Dr Leyland chuckles to himself as he runs into the portal hoping all the
nuisances of Neo Tokyo will be destroyed along with his beloved creature.

As Kain and Kurokami calmly slide into the portal it rapidly starts to close, a
shockwave billowing out as this happens and shattering the very rock of the
cavern, huge chunks of stone hurtling down from the ceiling, the floor cracking
and shaking... the roar is deafening as the inside of the mountain begins to
tear itself apart, the portal now the size of a door as Jack flies forward
inches away from it. He'll make it, but by a whisker as the Gate slams shut,
leaving behind only darkness and destruction.

Needless to say this is going to REALLY hurt when he hits the other side since
he's probably breaking the sound barrier.  If Kain and Leyland think he's
dead..watch out.  The Phoenix has risen..and he is merciless.

The fiend continues to scream as it blindly progress towards his target.
Somehow, despite all that is going on it continues to follow its original
instructions and tries to reach Jack in a pathetic attempt to fight him.

The remaining Gevauden is going to find itself dead and buried pretty soon as
the entire interior of the mountain collapses, hunks of rock, crystal and soil
raining down into the ancient cavern and destroying anything left within...

And somewhere between worlds something.. snaps.. the strain on the already
unstable portal too great to bear. Six figures are thrown every which way in
space-time, each landing in the same world but their paths entirely separate for
now... each left to pursue their own fate.

Looking up at the sky above the small grove of trees, Jack might notice
something unusual for such an idyllic location... it is not located in the
countryside at all, as given away by the wreathes of smoggy black smoke working
their way through the air. And, when the ears finally awaken, the sounds...
traffic and the general hubbub of a city centre, raised voices and chatter... it
sounds suspiciously like a festival celebration of some kind.

Jack looks at the scene through glazed over eyes.  He can see, but yet he cannot
see.  Part of him knows he may be dying and wishes to accept this.  But another
part of him rebels and fights against it.  All his life he's been at war with
the Universe and the Gods.  Every time they took something from him and tried to
hand him a defeat he'd make them regret it.  Death has stalked him taking
everyone he's loved from him.  Maniko: his first love, Misato: his surrogate
mother, Kaji: his teacher in the ways of being a man and not a monster.  They
have been taken from him...but he's still here.  Inch by inch he pulls himself
to his feet, showing to the cold dark universe that wants to claim him he is
STILL here.  And he will still be here.  Terry's alive somewhere and he WILL
find him.

For every other detail though, the area around Jack is heavenly... a small grove
of trees, with rows of delicate fragrant plants running from the grove across a
beautiful rock garden up to the wooden steps of a typical Japanese-style home.
Perfect in every way, right down to the pale-faced kimono-clad maiden kneeling
at prayer on the porch - her face set in the picture of calm concentration, at
peace with herself and with the world. But the smoke.. and the noises.. are so
distant yet so close. Like two worlds placed too near to one another, two
entirely different realities.

With a final Herculean effort Jack pulls himself to his feet, a silent cry
echoing from his mouth to announce to the cold fate that has ruled his life the
Phoenix has risen from death anew.  Looking around the warrior take in his
surroundings and he feels something twinge deep inside.  There is a balance
here..one he has sought for so long and only found in the arms of Raven or when
holding his children.   "...Where?" he asks softly.  As he hears the sounds of
celebration he looks in that direction and makes his way to it.

His steps will lead him, unnoticed by the young oriental girl, to a small wicker
gate at the edge of the garden. Peering over it away from the idyllic peace of
the garden, it is clear that this is no utopia... the street beyond is not
unclean, but no paradise either, the scratched and pitted brickwork of a small
alley directly opposite, bumpy tarmac surface below. The gate is held closed
with a delicate strip of bamboo.

Jack looking around he sees only the girl and he hmms.  He may be without much
power now but his normal abilities have YET to be affected.  Leaping up suddenly
he flips in mid air and lands on the other side softly.  No sense in making TOO
much racket.  As he takes a step he shifts from other-worlder to a normal
wanderer with no set destination in mind.

The alley emerges into a busy town centre, crowds of brightly dressed people
bustling back and forth. A roar resounds from some nearby location, not the roar
of happiness or elation but the roar of a warrior, full of the will to fight.
And then it becomes clear.. the banners hanging across the busy street, the
small flags being waved by young, happy children, the t-shirts and baseball caps
sported by members of the joyous crowd; they all bear the same five words, 'King
of Fighters: Final Storm'.

Looking at the hats Jack blinks a bit, oO("Well...I AM in Terry's world.") he
thinks with a confirming nod.  Looking at the nearest person, "Excuse me..." he
asks as he nods in the direction of the roar, "Whose up now?" he asks as he puts
on his best embarrassed grin acting the role of a man who missed the opening and
hoping he didn't miss his favorite fighter.

The zit-faced teenage boy blinks, looking Jack up and down, "You're kiiidding,
where have you -been- man?" He shakes his head, indicating the huge viewscreen
suspended on the side of the building at the end of the central square... the
building shaped like a modern interpretation of a coliseum, the building from
where the roar had emanated. "Kusanagi finally decided to fight.. he's blitzing
these guys."

Jack arches an eyebrow at this.  Kusanagi, fighting?  This is interesting,
"Thanks kid..." he says as he walks off..sensing auras is a good thing.  He's
going right for the heart of the action.

The scene on the screen is currently dominated by a close-up shot of a familiar
face... the hair is longer and the lines on the face older, more refined, but
it's definitely the Kyo Kusanagi people on more than one world have come to know
and worship. The camera zooms out, showing Kyo lowering his arm, flames
billowing around the tanned flesh as he drops the limb to his side with a
self-satisfied smirk towards his opponent... a middle-aged man with tousled
blonde hair, clad in blue denims which are now mere burnt rags clinging to his
bleeding form as he huddles up against the low wall that surrounds the arena's
central 'stage', breath coming in ragged gasps as he fixes a tired glare on his
victorious opponent. "This fight is mine." The Kusanagi master declares,
glancing briefly at the judges' booth high above the floor of the arena before
he turns away, shaking his head slightly as he heads for the steps that lead
down towards the exit.  As for auras... besides those now on the 'stage', Jack
will feel a good two or three -dozen- of note, some beaten and broken.. most
others relaxed, one or two perhaps still burning to fight. But all powerful
fighting spirits.

Jack twitches a bit.  oO("What a ego!") he decides as he cracks his knuckles. 
Kusanagi's power is fire...he's the phoenix.  If he's going to open the gate
home he needs power.  Grinning a bit he decides all he has to do is get close
enough to subtly draw on that fire and recharge his flagging batteries.  But
that blonde haired man....who was it.

For those still looking to gain entrance, there is a ticket booth besides the
steps that lead up to the spectator's area of the arena... the ticket price
advertised is frankly extortionate, clearly cranked up to cater to desperate
newcomers with money to burn.

Flashing in the corner of the screen is one word 'FINAL', picked out in
shimmering golden text and attracting the attention of anyone who cares to look.
Once in a while the word flicks over to reveal the text 'Kusanagi Team vs. The
Wolves'.

(On the stage) As Kusanagi strides on towards the steps something, or even
some-one- moves in a graceful blur from a long metal walkway that leads from the
central stage to an entrance on the left-hand side of the arena, the mirror of
an identical one opposite. Covering the distance to Kyo's side in under a second
before coming to a sudden halt, as the speed-illusion fades the figure is
revealed to be that of a short, strikingly pretty neko-girl with black hair and
ethereal blue eyes. She tilts her head to one side, the catlike ears atop her
head twitching a little. Her long, sleekly furred tail flicks gently behind her.
"Not yet, Kusanagi-sama. Two out of three ain't bad, but your work isn't done
yet." She smiles sweetly.

Jack looks at the ticket seller as he walks up, "One ticket...close as you can
get if you don't mind." he says calmly.  He has something they may want....of
course he's loath to use it since it is for emergencies off planet.  But this is
off planet after a fashion and it is a emergency. As he sees the name flashing
he blinks, oO("Wolves?") and he looks at the screen and just...gawks.

"Certainly, sir! As close as we can get is as close as -you- can get, though..
standing room only." The cute young blonde manning the booth gives Jack a quick
wink, "Use your elbows and you'll be just fine." She taps a few points on her
computer screen, "That'll be one hundred and fifty bucks please, sir."

(On the stage) "Hmph." Kyo stops, his stance remaining loose and casual as he
regards the diminutive girl with a sidelong glance. After a few long moments he
returns her smile with a faint one of his own, and an acknowledging nod, loose
brown hair bouncing around his shoulders. "Cute." He states vaguely, as he
reaches out with one gloved hand to flick a finger underneath the nekojin's
chin, "You've got potential, kid." He drops his hand back to his side, thumb
looping into the waistband of his pants. "Don't waste it on a fight you can't
hope to win." With that he turns away from her and starts strolling towards the
exit once more, gaze cast down at the arena floor.

"Okay...but to answer your soon to be inevitable questions they are.  Yes, it's
real.  You can keep what's left.  And are you SURE you can't get me closer?" he
asks as he turns on the charm. Reaching into his pockets he pulls out a bag and
dumps it out revealing emeralds...rubies..and a couple gold coins from the
1600's.

The woman's expression falters completely, mouth gaping open. After a moment
just staring at the pile of valuables she nods numbly, regaining her bright
smile after a short struggles and tipping her head to one side as she reaches
out and slides the pile inside the booth, "I'll get you a security pass. One
moment please." She turns to the computer and, with the light of impending
riches in her eyes, begins to hack the system feverishly, screen flickering.

(On the stage) The girl scowls, whipping her head around to follow Kyo as he
heads for the double doors at the back of the arena. "Don't patronise me!" She
calls, one slender hand flying to her hip. Kyo just waves his left hand vaguely
over his shoulder, "Sorry. Accept my apology, then leave huh?" At that she
smirks, half-turning away before suddenly launching herself into the air,
curling into a ball with her tail spinning around her as she flips over Kyo's
head and lands nimbly in front of the steps, arms flung out to either side and
fixing him with a low glare, crooked smile touching her lips. "You're not
getting out of here until you fight me, Kyo Kusanagi!"

Keeping the charm on Jack nods, "Thank you." he says, "Also...can you get me one
of those hats and your phone number." he adds as he fires off the 'Solo' grin.

Looking back to Jack the woman, already rich beyond her wildest dreams, gives a
dreamy sigh, her head tipping to one side slightly before she can gather her
confidence again. Then clearing her throat gently she smiles, smartly grabbing a
pen and a small square of paper on which she hastily scrawls her name..
Jeannie.. and her number, sliding it across to Jack along with the security pass
she has managed to have verified. She looks into Jack's eyes as she reaches
underneath the desk, pulling out a 'King of Fighters: Final Storm' official
baseball hat and handing it to him sweetly, "Anything else, sir?"

(On the stage) "Is that a fact?" Kyo stops, tipping his head to one side as he
regards the girl for a few more moments. Then he sighs, unhooking the thumb from
his waistband and reaching up to flick the hair back from his face. "Then that's
what'll happen. Just don't say I didn't warn you..." in a slow, deliberate
movement he falls back a pace, turning his body side-on to the catgirl and
raising his guard. She flashes a roguish grin before her form blurs and she
appears beside the man in a fighting stance, promptly spinning 360 degrees and
hammering a chop towards the back of his neck with awesome speed and precision.

As he take the hat he takes her hand in his and lifts it to his lips kissing the
knuckle, "Not a thing.." he says as he let's his voice drop to husky levels. 
"You've helped me find a old friend." and he plops the hat on his head and in
one swift movement he takes the pass and her number.  Then he's gone like a
ghost.

Jeannie sighs, leaning back in her chair... and she's gone for the day, end of
her pen between her lips and eyes turned upwards to the heavens.

(On the stage) Kyo's eyes widen briefly, but he reacts with almost equal speed,
spinning away with his right arm cutting an arc around his body. Searing flames
follow the limb, creating a barrier of fire that burns away as the man lands,
tossing his head to fling back his hair before aggressively snapping back into
his stance. "IKU ZE!"

Making his way to the doors he flashes his security pass to the guards, "Keep up
the good work boys." he says in his commander voice.  Now that that's out of the
way he needs to get to where the fighters are..locking onto those auras again he
makes his way to where the fighters rest and the med area.

At that the crowd roars, whistles blown and baseball hats hurled to the sky,
many sections beginning to chant the name of their hero.. and it's not the
mysterious neko-girl. One portion of the arena is strangely quiet, the only area
covered from the burning heat of the sun, official types lounging around inside.
But at the back of this area are several doorways, pinned with signs every bit
as official as the lounging officials... 'No Entry', 'Authorised Personnel
Only'. You know the score.

(On the stage) The girl takes a deft step backward to avoid the heat of the
flames, and then she too turns herself side-on, right leg extending out in front
of her and the left held at a sharp angle to the other side, feet set firmly.
With a flourish she raises her arms, left hand coming to rest with fingers
loosely curled beside her forehead, right hand extended in a beckoning motion.
"I've been looking forward to this," she murmurs, smiling as she looks towards
her opponent.

Jack keeping the hat low he goes to lock onto the aura he knows has to be here. 
If that girl IS Samantha he won't be far behind.  He was the blonde haired
man...but they're older...why?  As soon as he asks that question the answer hits
him like a snap kick fired into his abdomen like a kickboxer.  oO("No...")
feeling his strength leave him he falls against a wall and starts to slide down
it.  Catching a glance at his reflection he sees he hasn't aged.  oO("I was the
last one through..the explosion must have triggered a temporal jump when the
gate collapsed.") Raven...her youth gone and her beauty burned away by him
missing.   His children grown up now.  "...No...no.." he says numbly.  It seems
as though the universe and the gods have FINALLY claimed victory over him. 
Merely hurting those he loves is not enough....they took HIM from them.

(On the stage) Kyo blinks slowly, eyes narrowing even as they widen again, lips
turned up in a slight confident smirk. "I'll bet you have. KURAE!" He springs
forward lightly, bending low with left hand tucking into his chest as the right
comes around in a snaking overhead punch. As the punch connects with the air a
couple of feet in front of the waiting girl, a gout of flames is sent raging out
towards her.

A man in the crowd turns as Jack staggers against the wall, calmly flipping the
shades down from his eyes. He raises one white eyebrow, running a hand through
his short equally pale hair. The movement causes some creaking of the black
leather that clings tightly to his form. "Hmph. What bites, guy?"

"Who?" the now beaten Wild Phoenix grates out.  But running through his mind is
one name 'Kain', the man that was the cause of this, it's HIS fault.  Pulling
himself to his feet he holds onto that anger..that rage and uses it to focus him
on the task at hand.  Find Terry. "Is Terry Bogard here?" he asks the pale
haired man.

The man snorts, rolling his heartlessly cold eyes, "Terry Bogard.. where have
you been? Terry Bogard's been gone for the last five years. Hasn't showed up
here either. What's it to you, anyway? After an autograph?" He glances up at the
hat on Jack's head and smirks, shaking his head.

(On the stage) "SATSUKEN!" As her bright clear voice rips through the air,
amplified by the microphones set up around the stage, the nekojin slides forward
into Kusanagi's fire, crossing her arms before unfolding them in a wide arc to
either side. The right, unfolding towards her opponent, leaves a searing trail
of pale blue ki. Kyo has already followed through with the momentum of his
punch, tucking into a quick roll to the right, leaving the girl to stop on the
other side of the flames as they burn away, both arms remaining extended for her
moment before her soulful gaze finds him and she snaps back into a stance.
"Nice..."

Jack looks at the man, "For your information sir.  I'm a friend of his...I've
been...away.  I was hoping he'd be here." he sighs, "So much for that.." he
looks at the man, "And your name?"

The lithe, leather-clad young man snorts again, "Gimme a break." He waves a
hand, nonchalantly indicating the members of the audience around him... intent
on the action but casting the occasional glance towards him, as if uncertain of
themselves. "One letter, first half of the alphabet?" He lowers his eyebrow and
turns back to watch the match, "Forget it. Glad you're not dead."

(On the stage) Kyo snorts as he straightens up, lifting one arm into the air.
"It'll only get better." He jerks his hand into a fist, an explosive burst of
Kusanagi flame billowing out around it. He steps back and beckons his opponent
on with a single finger, "Bring it on."

Jack narrowing his eyes, oO("K'") the man thinks as he shakes his head.  Of all
the people that creep.  Shaking his head he hmms, "Who's the girl?" he asks with
deadly calm.

(On the stage) Samantha smirks, "You bet." She spins her hand around as she
drops into a crouch, fingertips brushing the floor as blue energy ripples around
her hand. "Spiral!" The other hand then comes round in a similar motion,
brushing the floor to the other side of her body and with a flash of light a
narrow burst of ki rips from each limb, the two converging just in front of the
girl and dancing around each other as they fire off towards Kyo.

K' turns and shrugs vaguely, "Called Samantha something." He looks back,
speaking over his shoulder to Jack, "Some girl Mary Ryan dug up... pretty weird,
eh?"

Jack nods, "Yes...very.  Know where I can find Mary Ryan?" he asks as he subtly
starts to siphon off a bit of K's fire.  Of course when K' looks back at him
he'll see a different Jack.  More confident, stronger, and a lot meaner.  Might
be due to the eyes, eyes that belong to a dead man..not a living man.

K' laughs, a single, cold barking sound. "Nursing her wounds in the med pit. She
was the first up, first to be torched by Kusanagi. Not that I care but.." he
glances over his shoulder again, cold eyes regarding Jack.. the strangely
re-invigorated Jack, over the top of his shades, "Who are you, and why all the
questions?"

(On the stage) With bored nonchalance, the Kusanagi master's right arm comes
around with fingers curled towards the ground, trailing the customary flames,
which promptly shoot off into the floor where they coalesce into a fiery spark
that zips forward to meet the nekojin's ki-wave. Kyo smiles as he starts to walk
on behind his flameburst, ready to meet his opponent's next attack head on.

Jack looks at K', in those eyes in a fire of creation and destruction.  As he
goes to give his name..he mentally smirks, "Jack Fenix.  And you were wrong...I
am dead.  Just my soul now..the body hasn't caught up yet.  As for the
questions...I've been..away for a long time.  Trying to catch up." as he walks
off he smirks, "Thanks.."

(On the stage) Or perhaps not. Immediately before the fire and energy attacks
meet, the latter splits apart, the two initially separate waves separating once
more as one heads on into the collision - causing a flashing burst of power -
and the second darts away at a right-angle before sweeping in again, hammering
into Kyo's left leg as he calmly strolls along into the explosion caused by the
two attacks. This throws him off-balance and he tumbles to the side, shoulder
slamming into the ground. Quickly he pushes himself up, wiping a gloved hand
across his mouth. "What the...?" A grin flickers on his lips as he looks towards
the girl, now rushing towards him with her tail dragging out behind. Both hands
come around in front of him, each burning with a fierce abundance of orange
flame. "Time to start trying..." he mutters, glancing off to the side as he
fires off a gargantuan fiery burst, aiming at the oncoming catgirl.

K' shrugs, then turns away with a small nod, "Sure." His cold gaze finds the
fight again, the man frowning thoughtfully as he tucks his hands into the tight
pockets of his leather pants.

In Jack's mind the words roar through him with all the force of a tsunami.  He
is dead..he's lost it all again.  The only thing remaining is the
mission..but..what if Kain IS dead already?  Killed by the warriors here.  Then
the mission is over before it even began. oO("Damn it Karrde...it's pointless. 
I don't belong here..never will.") he thinks as he makes his way down to the med
pit.

The pit lies at the foot of the stage, on the side opposite the stairs Kyo had
been heading for before his confrontation with Samantha. It is empty but for the
duty medics and two fighters... one the man Jack sighted on the screen in the
town centre, clad in torn blue denims, his blonde hair tousled and damp with
sweat. "Fuck it, and we came so.. close." He snarls in a thick cockney accent,
clenching a fist as he looks down from the screen and across to his companion in
the pit, a short, lithely muscled and, even with her thirty-nine years, quite
beautiful blonde-haired woman. She just smiles, giving a faint shrug as she
nurses the burns on her bare arms and stomach, glancing at the man briefly
before looking up to the small screen suspended above the pit.. pride in her
expression as she watches the fight unfold. "Don't be so sure, Billy.."

(On the stage) As the flames rage through the air between the two martial
artists, they are scattered by a spear of pale blue ki thrown from the slender
girl's suddenly out-thrust palm, "HI-" She turns, sliding gracefully through the
brief break in Kusanagi's flames, poised on the tips of her toes as she comes
around to face him, right hand bracing the left arm at the elbow as she throws
it forward, palm glowing with energy, "SHOOOUKEN!" And a throbbing ball of ki
slams out from deep inside the nekojin, rotating wildly at the end of her
outstretched limb, fingers tensely curled as she keeps it tamed.

Jack blinks, oO("Billy Kane?") he thinks as he steps down into the med pit. As
he sees Mary he takes off the hat and puts it into his coat and clears his
throat to get their attention.

Billy's fierce glare snaps to Jack, one thin eyebrow raised violently. "Wot?"
Mary blinks and looks across, following Billy's glare. Seeing Jack she offers a
polite smile, "Um.. can it wait?" She indicates the screen by raising one
slender hand, promptly turning her gaze back to it with an apologetic shrug.
Billy keeps his attention fixed on the newcomer as he rubs at the raw knuckles
on his right hand.

Jack nods and watches.  But with Billy glaring at him Jack just grins warmly at
the man.  So he's been stared at before..nothing big.

(On the stage) Kyo arches his back; tilting his head to peer at the surface of
the energy ball inches from his face as he comments, "So tell me something
that's new." Rolling his eyes he drops onto his back, spinning over and coming
up next to the girl as she lets the ball dissipate, bringing up her guard in
time to meet a powerful side-kick from Kyo, catching it on the leather bracer on
her left wrist. Swiftly dropping the leg, he fires off a snap kick from the
left, point of his foot slamming into the side of the girl's head and sending
her spinning to the floor. The man smiles, taking the time to slowly adjust his
gloves as his opponent groans and pushes herself unsteadily to her feet. "This
is nice," he says, nodding, "It's been a while since anyone made me do this."

"Wot??" Billy repeats, still glaring at Jack... apparently not bothered about
the fight now he's decided there's no hope of his team coming through.

Jack tensing a bit at the strike on Samantha his eyes flash solid gold for one
second.  He could shift this fight in HER favour, but he stays his hand...is it
because deep down the man he used to be is still there...fighting the fight as
he always has done.  Or is it because the girl needs a chance to make her own
mark...a mark that himself once made in his world.

Mary tenses up, swallowing tightly as she sees this, hands wringing together in
her lap. Her instincts to protect are even greater than those Jack is feeling...
those of a mother, and her expression and entire bearing are reflecting this.

(On the stage) The nekojin catches her breath, and then raises an eyebrow in
Kyo's direction as she brings her guard up. "Made you do what?" In response he
nods curtly, "This." And then lunges forward with another snaking punch aimed to
strike dead centre of the girl's chest. "Kore da..." The punch meets her crossed
palms, and as it does so the Kusanagi master smirks before the cry splits his
lips, "KUSANAGI NO KENDA!!" Flames explode from his fist, the power and
intensity of the blow rocking the arena. Then the solid stone plinth that is the
stage cracks as a column of pure power erupts around the two combatants,
silhouetting them against a background of burning white-centred orange. The
slender girl is sent spinning up into the air and then down, bouncing off the
low wall, the sheer force of her impact sending the brickwork flying away in
chunks - the fierce heat that accompanies the attack shattering said brickwork
as it tumbles to the floor. Whimpering softly, the nekojin slips from the wall,
tail curling around her almost protectively as she collapses in a limp ball atop
the rubble on the stage. Kyo straightens up, the flames and column of power
fading around him as he jerks his head to the side, curtains of brown hair
whipping back from his face. "Now, the fight is mine." He spins on his heel and
starts to head for the steps once more, before suddenly coming to a halt,
pausing for a second before he turns and walks towards the barely conscious
nekojin. He tilts his head to one side, looking down at her and raising one
eyebrow as he gives a soft chuckle, "Moetaro?" And the crowd erupts...

Mary jerks upright, glaring at the screen with fire in her eyes, "BASTARD!"
Billy blinks and looks across to the screen, seeing the battered girl lying at
Kyo's feet, "I told you so..." he mutters, shaking his head with utter disgust.
Though probably not the utter disgust Mary is feeling, or Jack...

Jack catches Mary doing that and he mentally groans, oO(*"Oh..goody..") and as
he sees the strike he growls a bit under his breath...his aura flickering around
him.  Oh...it'd be so easy to AOP this man right where he stands. "Get up
kid..." he encourages softly. oO(*"You're Terry's daughter....GET UP!!!"*)

(On the stage) As the cheers of the crowd shake the skies above the arena, Kyo
glances around with a cold smirk. After a few moments he sighs and looks down
again, offering a hand to Samantha as she glares up at him through slitted eyes.
Her shimmering sapphire gaze alights on the hand and she smiles, ignoring it and
pushing herself to her feet before snapping back into her stance... not as
aggressive or energetic as before but with the utter will to fight burning in
her expression. "....Not yet..." she breathes. Her ears, nestled in her now
dishevelled and tangled black hair, twitch as she stares down her opponent.. who
nods appreciatively. "Good." He gives her an encouraging smile before turning
away, crowd falling silent as he throws this challenge in the girl's face,
heading for the steps with no signs of hesitating this time around...

"Question....can I just challenge this guy right now, I so want to kick his ass
now." Jack grates out.  After all that's happened someone needs to burn for it..

Mary leans forward, moving to kneel on the bed she has been sat on and bringing
herself closer to the large screen. "What!? Just hit him from behind! No-one
treats my Sammy like that!!" She snarls at the screen. If she hears Jack she
doesn't register it.. unlike Billy, who turns his attention back to the
stranger, "Yeah? You'd challenge Kyo Kusanagi out o' the blue? Who'dya think you
are, eh? Fackin' Terry Bogard back from the dead?"

Jack says, "Maybe I am..." he says as he goes to enter the ring. 
"Besides...someone needs to get that kid out of there." he adds in as he walks
off.  "Do you want Kyo well done or extra crispy."

(On the stage) Samantha stares at Kyo's departing back, her breathing coming in
tight, controlled gasps, "Hah...hah...hah..." suddenly, as his foot hits the
first step leading down from the stage, she darts forward, form blurring as she
hurls herself like a bolt at his exposed back, right palm hammering forward,
out-thrust and shrouded with blue-white ki.

Upon seeing sensing this Jack turns back to the screen, his eyes widen a bit at
the move she is doing.  oO(*"Burn Knuckle"*)

(On the stage) Kyo spins as the girl nears him, swatting at her palm-thrust with
his left hand, flames flickering in between the fingers as he deflects the
attack. "I told you..." he smiles, stepping in around her and aiming a kick at
her back to propel her down the steps. "You can't w-" he doesn't have time to
finish as the girl twists her body in mid-air, reversing the momentum gathered
from the dash and the kick delivered by Kyo to flip head over heels, kicking out
both legs and bringing them thundering down into the Kusanagi master's left
shoulder. As she rebounds from the awesome kick, catching the edge of the stage
and hauling herself back up, he staggers and then crumples to his knees with a
pained cry.. clutching at the bruised - if not broken - shoulder blade targeted
by the feisty nekojin.

Jack whistles appreciatively.  People say he takes, took, risks but that was
above and BEYOND anything he never pulled in his life, "..On second thought..let
HER finish him off." he adds as he nods at the screen, oO(*"Kick his ass"*) he
thinks as he watches the fight with a wild grin on his face.

"Ha!" Mary whoops and punches the air as Samantha pulls that off, Billy snorting
appreciatively and shaking his head. Looking back to Jack, he cocks an eyebrow,
"Wot was 'at you were sayin'?"

Jack smirks at Billy, "Can we just forget I said that." he says and he holds out
his hand, "Jack Fenix.." he says in a friendly tone.

(On the stage) Samantha pulls herself up and remains in a crouch, panting but
with an ecstatic grin on her lips, "Heh... maybe I can, huh Kyo?" Bracing both
hands against the rubble-strewn floor she pushes herself upright and takes a
step back to the centre of the stage, waiting for Kyo to right himself and join
her. He is only a couple of seconds behind, loosely going into his stance,
favouring the side -without- the possibly broken shoulder-blade. "More than
good... now I see why you're here, kid." He smiles.

Billy lowers his gaze and grins, then looks back with a more friendly glint to
his previously fierce glare. "Billy Kane." He grips the offered hand briefly,
then rubs at his hair. "So wot brings you 'ere, you seemed to 'ave somethin' in
mind just nah?"

Jack sighs, "...I was looking for a friend..but I hear he's dead.  But it can
wait until the fight is over.."

"I think we all do, Kyo Kusanagi. It seems I chose wisely." The slick, seductive
voice oozes out over the speaker system, followed by a light chuckle that
quickly becomes a quite insane laugh as flames burst out over the stage... not
red like Kyo's but purple and even more powerful, the aura that accompanies them
breathtaking and decidedly evil in nature. Samantha takes a step back, both
hands coming up in front of her face, entire body tensed as her gaze flits
around at the gathering flames. "Huh?" Kyo remains standing firm, eyes
narrowing, "The organiser, I presume.." he growls, a sigh in his voice.

Billy shoots up, grabbing for the red cane that lies beside the bed he is
sprawled upon. "Shit! That's the bastard I'm 'ere for!" Without further
hesitation, he vaults the wire fence at the edge of the medical pit and dashes
around the side of the stage.

Jack looks up at the flames and he just stops dead, his eyes narrowing
dangerously.  He knows THAT aura ALL to well, "...Kain Heinlein." he growls out
slowly. And like that he takes off after Billy, "..Hold up Billy!!"

Mary glances after the two, "What the..?" With a sigh she pushes herself up and
follows after, looking up at the surface of the stage and biting her lip as she
jogs around to the steps.

The flames rage higher, becoming hotter and more potent as they rage around the
edge of the stage, encircling the two combatants inside completely... but not
blocking view from the cameras, the fire maybe four feet high at its highest
point. The flames at the centre of the stage gradually coalesce into a tall,
lithely muscled man clad in silken Chinese robes, his red eyes glowing
maliciously and a dangerous smirk on his lips as he focuses on Kusanagi. "What a
well-informed guess, Mr. Kusanagi. You are well, I trust?" Kain raises an
eyebrow, looking the master martial artist up and down slowly, ignoring the
nekojin behind him for now.

Billy scrambles straight onto the steps, not pausing to heed Jack's call or
anything else.. eyes glowing with murderous intent. "Time to get some
vengeance.." he snarls as he springs to the edge of the flaming barrier, glaring
over Kyo's shoulder at Heinlein as the Kusanagi master replies. "Well enough. So
you're this Heinlein, huh? The guy they say killed Bogard and Geese Howard?
Funny..." he smirks, returning the other man's sweeping glance, "You look like
another foppish pretender to me."

Samantha drops to a crouch, tail curling gracefully behind her as she tilts her
head left and right, considering Kain carefully. (So this is the man...) Her
eyes narrow, ki flickering around her fingertips as she lays them gently on the
ground in front of her.

Kain laughs, tilting his head to one side and regarding Kyo coldly. "Foppish
pretender... many said the same about you before you finally made your name. I
wonder, Kusanagi, what will it take for -me- to make -mine-?" He raises his
hands, purple flames dissipating from around the stage and flooding into him,
streaming around his lower body and then up into his arms, concentrating around
his fingers.

"Wot it'll take, Heinlein, is your fackin' head onna pigpole!" Billy cries out
as he leaps forward over the dissipating flames, shouldering Kyo aside brutally
as he springs for Kain, staff drawn back and ready to strike.

"Hmph." Kain's body jerks, hair and robe billowing, as he releases the flames,
the power staggering as his attack rips through the middle-aged punk's body
before sending him hurtling back over the edge of the stage where he is hurled
to the ground below, landing on his neck with a sickening crunch, charred flesh
leaking blood as his body folds over in a crumpled mess. "Fascinating words..."
Kain purrs, looking towards the wide-eyed Kusanagi whose shouldering aside by
Billy led to him being -just- on the edge of the blast.

"Billy!!" The cry rips from Mary's chest as her oft-time business partner is
sent flying from the edge of the stage, the woman dashing to his side and
falling to her knees. It doesn't take long for her to realise his condition..
her eyes narrowing as she whips her gaze around to the top of the stage,
"Samantha!" She cries, fear and anxiety heightening her voice, "Get the hell
away from there!"

Samantha waits until Kain's attack is spent, his words spoken before she kicks
off from the floor with a girlish scream of rage, spinning around and aiming a
vicious ki-enhanced kick to the back of the man's blonde head. "Shinkou Ta-" as
he staggers from the blow she starts to spin again, other leg extending to
deliver a second kick when her leg is suddenly gripped by a hand wreathed in
purple flame, Kain's crazed laugh echoing around the arena as he hurls the girl
in the same direction as Billy... the nekojin spinning with her arms, legs and
tail flailing madly as she hurtles through the air. "Do none of you have a hope
against me? Is there not one?" He tosses his head back, screaming this to the
blue skies above with unadulterated ecstasy in his mad voice.

There is one.  The most dangerous man ever born. Running up the steps would take
to long Jack decides.  And doing this would give him a free shot..which is what
he wants more than anything. The choice is clear..the course of action decided. 
Raising the shields over his aura, not that he had it going to begin with, he
looks up and leaps into the air.  For him 15 foot is a mere leap.  But the
people watching will see a normal man cover that distance in a heartbeat might
be surprising.  Clearing the stages edge he spins in mid air to alter his
momentum and change his trajectory dives like a bird of prey to give Kain a
charged elbow smash RIGHT in the kisser, even if it's blocked the follow up
super charged right hook may connect. To Mary it seems he combined Mai's flaming
elbow move with a variation of the Burn Knuckle. He may be weakened...he may be
hurting.  But what's power without a reason to use it...what is pain when the
most critical wound has been already inflicted.  Physical pain means nothing. 
But he'll be damned if he allows Kain the chance to gain more power.  All he has
left is the fight...all there is is the mission. All there is...is VENGEANCE!

Kain's eyes widen, flaring with demonic hatred as he sees Jack incoming. With no
time to react the first blow slams into him, sending a spray of blood from his
mouth and nose. The second catches the back of his head as he spins away,
launching himself into the air on a burst of purple flame. The momentum of
Jack's attack coupled with his own intentional upwards velocity sends the man
into a crazed spin, robe whipping around him as he fires up into the air, blood
dripping from his chin as he hurtles upwards, shrouded in ki-flames and
laughing. "Welcome! Phoenix!" He snarls to the skies, voice now lacking all
sanity as he turns to look down at Jack and the gathered crowd. "To my show!" He
grins, breath coming in seething gasps and sending blood raining down from the
skies. "It has been some time, Jack Karrde! Has it not?" And truth be told Kain
must have aged a good four or five years... not to mention his aura is at least
double what it was, something familiar flowing in the cocktail of power... the
blood of someone Jack has encountered before. But who?

Of course unlike Kain Jack has NOT aged at all, the goatee..the clothes.  He's
unchanged..untouched by time.  He just stands there.  Fists clenched and his
eyes narrowed to glowing slits.  "It has...I was hoping someone had vaped you a
long time ago.  But I guess no one DID!" he roars in a voice that seems to shake
the heavens.  He has nothing left to lose so it has to end now.  It has to
end...here.  No matter the cost.  "And as for a show...pal..I've seen better
barfights on Alpha Centauri during mating season." he replies in a dead pan
voice.  No joking manner involved.  There is only ONE thought going through his
mind...KILL the enemy.

Kain circles the stage, glare fixed downwards on Jack as he swoops gracefully,
buoyed up by his aura of flame. "How very amusing. You see, phoenix, there is
one problem... for every man that tries, and fails, to kill me... I become
stronger. Because I," he throws his arms to either side, gazing heavenwards
again with a crazed laugh in his voice, "I have found the secret to true power!
Not godhood, not immortality, but true, -real- power, Jack Karrde! Power you can
never know unless you find what -I-, Kain R. Heinlein, have found!"

As Samantha spins towards the ground, she twists to land as only a feline can,
all four limbs out-stretched and weight spread evenly. Unfortunately her human
blood makes the effort rather more than would be required for a full-blooded
Felixian and also stiffens her limbs to the point that the landing is far from
perfect. She winces and cries out weakly as she hits the floor, eyes slamming
shut as the pain runs up her arms and legs. Mary glances across and scrambles
over, wrapping an arm around the girl protectively as she moves to a sitting
position, eyelids fluttering as she struggles to remain conscious.

Jack smirks coldly and he glances at Mary and Kyo.  "Get Billy and Samantha out
of here NOW!" he commands as he looks at Kain, "Power?" he scoffs as he crosses
his arms over his chest, "..Real power is standing up when others sit down. 
True power is making a difference when no one else can!  Real power comes from
knowing when to use it and when not to." he retorts with all the passion in him.
Gathering that anger...that rage as he remembers all he's lost.  Raven...his
children...Terry...all that matters to him has been taken from him again by the
gods.  But this time Jack intends on making them pay in blood for this victory
as he releases the shackles on what sleeps within ALL humans.  Call it the Eye
of the Tiger, the Mark of the Wolf, the Call of the Wild...all those things are
one..and now..the Wild Phoenix lives up to his name as a pillar of raw,
unbridled energy erupts from him to pierce the heavens.

In a sprawling crouch near to Jack, Kyo looks up at him with a disbelieving
stare. He shakes his head when the speech is done and pushes himself to his
feet, fists lightly curled at his side as he sends a nod towards Jack, "I'm with
you... this is my match by rights anyway." he smirks, turning his gaze upwards
to Kain, flames of the Kusanagi flickering in his eyes. Below, others have
arrived at the edge of the crowd... the veteran faces of KoF; Andy Bogard,
Robert Garcia, K', Athena Asamiya, and others old -and- new. Some are missing,
others look far older than they should but all are on the same side...

Kain shakes his head, "NO!" He screams, looking away fiercely. Lowering his
voice again, he dips a little lower in the skies, flames licking out around him
still.. seemingly endless power being blown away into the atmosphere. "No.. you
still don't understand. None of you understand. My power cannot be equalled, not
by any one of you... only united in one body could you hope to rival -me-." He
laughs again, spiralling in the air, shooting out over the innocent crowds who
are watching.. eyes wide and mouths agape. "Life is mine to control! Observe!"
And without further warning his power explodes around him, filling the arena
below with flaring purple flames, raging out into the audience, scorching and
shredding flesh and filling the stands with waves of blood, screams of the dying
and injured filling the air.

And as Jack's energy wave dies down he stands there.  Unbeaten and unbowed, his
warrior's heart burning with fury. "Here and now Kain...we finish this..by my
hand Orochi fell.  By OUR hand you shall fall." he intones in a echoing voice. 
Lifting his hand he screams out, "NO!!!!" and he releases a blast of energy at
Kain to get his attention back where it belongs..on him.

Kain cackles with insane glee as he turns his flames away from the crowd,
whipping them up to meet Jack's blast, lapping out around it, surrounding it and
burning away at its very essence. "This is madness, Jack Karrde!" Kain warns in
a sneering yell, circling closer, legs hanging in the air below him. "We cannot
end this now... not when there is so much more FUN to be had!"

Looking at Kyo he nods, "When he's down..hit him with everything you got..all of
you." and without waiting for confirmation he blurs out in a burst of inhuman
speed to appear in front of Kain.  Before he'd make a cocky comment about
something..health insurance..but no more.  Bringing his hands together he
charges them with the power he now wields and goes to hammer them into Kain's
abdomen.

Mary helps Samantha to her feet, the two fixing their gaze on the circling Kain
and the energy blasts.. joining the collective intake of breath at the
destruction of the innocent crowds. Across the arena eyes tear over for the
lives lost in Kain's devastating attack... wondering how much more damage this
crazed megalomaniac can do. All eyes are turned to Jack Karrde as he thunders
towards the man, all clenching fists and charging their powers for the final
assault. But how much damage can he take..?

Kain takes the blow with a wild grin, bring his twisted face up to Jack's and
letting the subsequent wave of blood, a mixture of shades - black, red, purple,
blue - spew out into the air, towards the phoenix... the evil cocktail burning
like acid, with much the same effect on the skin, burning, tearing and
melting...

Taking the blast he backpedals..more in shock than in pain. His own blood's
abilities burning away the acid and he growls as golden blood leaks from his
face and chest, "...Nice.." he grates out as he charges forward again..acting
like he's committing to a full out charge but at the last second he leaps back
and swings his arm in an arc letting three blades of energy go screaming at
Kain.

Kain snarls, whipping around to let the blades fly past him. One tears into his
left arm and garners a cry of pained rage from Heinlein as the others thunder
past. Spewing more acidic blood to the floor below, he roars, "ATTACK THEM NOW!
KILL THEM AAALLL!!" And with that the auras of Gevauden flare into life,
hundreds of them... all converging on the steps of the arena and swarming
inside. But more than Gevauden.. far in the distance the tramping of booted
foot, the whirr of heavy machinery. "Even with my death! You would not secure
the fate of this land, Jack Karrde! Not by a long way..." he shoots back through
the air to the centre of the arena, staring down at the assembled fighters and
spreading his arms, "All of you may choose! Attack me and die, or fight for your
lives and have one last chance at life!!"

Jack glances at Kyo, and he nods, "Kyo...I'll handle Kain.  You try and stop
those things..the innocents ARE priority.." he says as he takes flight himself
to meet Kain in the battle field in the sky.  His destiny is clear now...to stop
Kain he has to go beyond everything..beyond his limits...beyond life and beyond
death.  This is the foe he was born to fight...this is the battle he was born to
fight.  No retreat and no surrender.

Samantha gasps, head tossing left then right to take in the three or four
hundred Gevauden Units now streaming up the four arena entrances, all black
masks, ragged cloth garbs and flaring red eyes, many already with their claws
out and dripping with the blood of Southtown's citizens... others charging red
orbs of ki-energy as they dash headlong into the gathered crowds. The other
fighters look around with surprise, shock and even fear in some cases, but
quickly gather their courage, most leaping into the crowds to fend off the army
of G-Units. Some remain staring up at Kain, ready to follow Jack's orders to a
tee. Mary and Samantha are not two of these, both leaping up onto the steps and
herding the innocents away in between hurling a weary attack towards a
particularly bothersome Gevauden. Kyo nods numbly to Jack, all his cocky
arrogance lost for the moment as his tiredness descends and duty calls...
spinning away to spring likewise into the crowds, his flames a beacon amongst
the milling, terrified throng as he does the same task as Mary and Samantha,
eyes filled with hatred for this new enemy. But, somehow, for some reason, he
trusts this stranger to handle the situation.

Kain shakes his head then soars upwards at incredible speed, purple flame
billowing around him still, flaring out into the skies as he retreats, screaming
down to Jack as he does so, "Save them! Their time may not come today, but
pursue me and it will be that more likely, phoenix!"

Cracking his knuckles he gets the lock he needs on Kain's aura and he brings his
hands together as he calls forth his power.  All his sorrow at losing his
life..all his anger and failing Terry..the rage of seeing innocents suffer
gathers within him as he powers up to his ultimate attack, "Phoenix.." he
intones as he begins to glow like a star in the throes of a nova.  Kain is
getting all barrels this time. "...Ascension..." he continues letting the
maelstrom of power roar to life around him..making him a second sun in the sky.

Kyo ducks under an exploding ball of red ki that scatters the innards of the
woman behind him. With a rageful shout he runs into the thing, impaling it on
his palm and letting a huge burst of fire explode around the thing, shattering
not just the mask but everything... the mindless ex-human all but disintegrating
into nothing.. the few remains drifting to the ground at his feet. Straightening
up with an angry gasp, he turns his gaze heavenward, seeking out the source of
the immense power now being summoned.... the power concentrated on the
retreating violet blur that is Kain Heinlein.... far in the distance.

The violet blur which judders to a halt, the white and golden figure at its
centre stopping in mid-air far above Jack, arms spreading to either side and an
angelic smile touching his lips. (With all your power, phoenix, do it... do not
hold back!)

As the power reaches it's pinnacle the sun changes before the eyes of all.  From
it comes glowing wings of light that seem to cover the sky as the unknown being
called 'Phoenix' prepares to give Kain the ultimate anal rape.  Too many it may
be a sign of disaster..but to some..new hope in tomorrow.  But in reality it is
one young man out to do what he preached..to stand up, make a difference, and be
both cruel and kind. "WAVE!!!" the young man roars out to the heavens..to the
cruel gods and the cold uncaring universe which wishes to claim him in it's
disinterested embrace.  And like that..the sun becomes a nova and the Phoenix
rises from the ashes of creation as the raw unbridled force of Jack Karrde is
unleashed in a blast that will turn night to day and beat the darkness with the
light.  Like a thunderbolt hurled from Olympus on high the massive energy blast
goes screaming at the man who would be god to punish him for his hubris.

Mary cries out as she takes a clawed stab through the stomach, coughing up blood
as she doubles over. The Gevauden responsible is blasted away by a burst of pale
blue ki and Samantha storms in, pulling out the claws in time to let the dead
creature crumple to the floor, lifeless form trampled by the surging crowds as
they make for the exits. With a deep frown the nekojin supports her surrogate
mother, laying her down in her lap and smoothing back the sweat-soaked hair from
her brow. "Mary... I...." she shudders and looks heavenward, "Please live...."
her ethereal blue gaze settles on the gargantuan blast, eyes widening with utter
hope and belief.. she can make it, we can -all- make it, PLEASE!

Kain R. Heinlein hangs in the air, whipping his head back, golden hair streaming
in the winds of power as Jack's blast thunders into his suddenly painfully,
-horribly- mortal body. "NO PHOENIX!" His  ccries whips out even as his body is
lashed and buffeted by the awesome blast, the strength of an erupting sun
juddering his form.. pushing everything he boasted to its very limits. "NO, JACK
KARRDE, THE PHOENIX MAY RISE AGAIN BUT I AM ETERNAL!! MY -POWER- IS ETERNAL!!!"
Even as he screams the last the energies coalesce around him, his tall, lithe
frame becoming a barely discernable silhouette at the centre of the raw energy
streaming through the blue skies, "MORE THAN LOVE, MORE THAN HOPE, MORE THAN
ANYTHING YOU FOOLS CAN EVER ACHIEVE! HEAR ME, GODS, I DEFY YOUR RULE, I DEFY
YOUR EVERY DECISION!! -I- -AM- -P-O-W-E-R-!!!" Suddenly the burning, raging aura
of pure destructive power is sucked into the form too slender, too weak, too
human to contain it... but contain it it does, the silhouette of Heinlein now
shuddering, white lines appearing in its solid black form, not just holes in his
framed shadow but tears in the very fabric of reality. This should not happen,
it should not -be- happening, but it is... the entire power of Jack Karrde, a
lifetime as a legend spent striving for hope, for the truth of his power, sucked
in and contained by a single mad human. The containment seems to last an age,
all eyes turned heavenward, even the Gevauden stopping in their tracks and
quivering with fear as everything that had been contained now... explodes
outward, lighting the skies once more, but to double the intensity or more - far
more, the rage of a dozen burning suns blasting out into the atmosphere above
Second Southtown with an intensity never conceived of by man or god, mortal or
eternal. Everything fades into light, so bright as to blot out everything but
the brightness, all things ceasing to exist for those observing... before
suddenly reality snaps back to consciousness, the skies returning to their
peaceful blue hue, only two figures remaining in the sky, evidence of the fierce
display above the surface of the earth. But how many of the two have survived?

Barely able to maintain his flying ability Jack hovers there...his breath coming
in laboured gasps as the impossible occurs.  Kain took in his power?  Against
all odds the man tried to absorb it.  He knew Kain was powerful...but not to
this level...not to this extreme.  Girding himself again he knows to fire off
another will mean his end...his death.  But there HAS to be another way..another
option he has yet to exploit.  oO("Wait..all the energy in a mortal form..a
mortal FORM!") and he grins.  He may have one chance at this...but it's his ONLY
shot.  HE lost his Eagles..but his old CZ75.  If Kain is alive and like a
balloon filled with too much air..then all it'd take is one pop to bust him.

And the fighting resumes, minds torn away from their living selves by the
spectacle in the skies now wrench themselves back to life - back to the
necessities of existence, sound returning to a soundless world as shattered
mortal and mortal collide.. Gevauden rampaging through the innocent ranks of
Southtown with only a group of brave souls to stop them. But one soul does not
move from her perch on the steps of the arena, brushing back the hair of one she
loves and looking to the skies with a heavy heart.. feeling that hope has died,
the gods have let her down, the gods have let down the brave man who seemed
their only chance at victory, thrown in mortal faces what power they were able
to muster to defend themselves, -abandoned- them to their hideous fate. All this
resounds through the girl's heart, piercing her soul, but she cannot cry...
tears feel meaningless in a world with no sympathy, a world that does not care.
And if the world does not care... why should we? With an angry shudder she lays
down her beloved one and stands, lip quivering violently as she turns and
launches herself at the closest she can get for a place to lay her blame, the
unliving -things- streaming around her. A whirling dervish of meaningless,
directionless rage and sorrow, she spins with limbs flailing about her with
precise and deadly strength, tears still refusing to fall as she channels her
hopelessness into the only thing she can think to do...

And in the skies that lone, fragile silhouette remains... no longer silhouetted
against power but against the light of the sun. The sun that feels like it
should no longer be burning, but it is and that is what matters.. here and now.
Wheeling to face the source of its newfound power, the figure - no longer quite
human, something more or something less, but not human - outstretches a slender
limb. "Karrde..." the purr sounds quiet, pitched low, but fills the air like no
scream or shout ever could. Red eyes flare, blazing out into the sky, "I thank
you for this gift. But.. why stop here. Why stop when we are so close? I could
possess everything you are, everything you can be... by using this against you."

Jack makes a single gesture with his free hand, his other behind his back
gripping his old gun.  "Then let's go Kain.  One thing I learned is HOPE NEVER
DIES!!!!" he screams out in challenge.

Hope... a hollow concept for the furious nekojin below. Whatever hope was built
in the five happy years of her life, the five years being raised by Mary,
whatever hope she gathered over the course of the tournament and, most
importantly, in her battle against the legendary Kyo Kusanagi... all of this is
gone. Blow after blow is rained upon those to whom she directs her rage, eyes
dry and focused whilst at the same time.. not. The focus is there, but it is on
a concept rather than a physical source. By destroying what she sees has done
this to her she destroys everything she has ever perceived, every concept she
has been raised to believe in.. hope, justice, love.. what is all this if
nothing is ever gained? Staggering she falls at last, physical and mental
tiredness overwhelming. But she does not fall. Arms support her slender frame..
arms that are familiar but at the same she has no recollection of ever having
known. And, burying her face in the chest of the man whose arms these are... she
cries at last, tears flowing from her eyes, streaming down her pale cheeks as
his arms encircle her, holding her close. Hope, love... everything she wants and
needs, it is here. Lost and now found again in her darkest hour. Tears fall...

Kain's hand opens, human fingers curling open.. inhuman claw wrenching at the
skies.. as he faces his final enemy, the only being he could not overcome. The
only being against whom sheer power is not enough. A sick smirk slices his face,
blood dribbling from his chin to be whipped away into the eternal winds
surrounding the planet. "Then keep the hope alive, Karrde... kill me if you
think it possible." Power. Power tears from his hand, tears from its claw, a
stream of purple flame rocking the very heavens as it thunders towards the
phoenix, at the same time it is a tendril of red-gold energy reaching out to
embrace its brother, the power absorbed from Jack one with Kain's own energies,
temporarily at least... can the phoenix be defeated by himself? This is the
question now being asked as Kain launches what must be his final assault.

This is what it comes down to, all or nothing.  He made a promise to stop Kain
and now he shall.  His life is not important..only the lives that will be
endangered by Kain should he continue his rampage.  Somewhere in his mind he can
imagine Raven screaming out his name across time and space...telling her she
loves him and to never give in.  There's Terry telling him he's invincible and
cannot be beaten by the likes of Kain.  His children....his hope for the future
and the redeemers of his soul.  Violet, the child he never knew..never was
allowed to hold telling him to finish the fight.  "Hear me..." he intones his
voice carrying to all, "..I am Human.  I am a warrior and a man!  Now and
Forever I am Jack Karrde." and as his own energies hit he feels it tear into him
but he ignores the pain smiling grimly he swings his gun into view and fires the
whole clip nearly point blank into Kain's face letting the explosive phoenix
blood rounds to their thing..  His blades cut the man..and he probably won't be
expecting something like this.

And now Kain's very self expands, as his face, the mind.. the brain.. the very
focus of this being is blown away, only the heart and soul remain. But with a
creature who has strived for power all his life, using not these things but
scheming, plotting, conniving and crawling his way to favour.. with other men,
with the gods, with power itself.. using trickery and deception to see his
way... what good is a heart? What -good- is a soul? No good in this abomination,
this thing of pure evil, pure twisted desire to rule those it sees and bind them
to its will. And as the centre of its being is blown away, there is one thing it
can do, one thing to achieve its goals... it can take the one more powerful
being with it, ensure that it at least can perish on equal standing, one of the
two most powerful.. most deadly forces in the world. Neither of which shall
survive past this date. Ragged, blood-soaked arms wrap around its would-be
killer, extending beyond their normal capacity to encircle and drag the phoenix
closer, hold him to the bosom of the one abomination who sought to destroy.. the
one abomination that seeks to destroy -him- more than anything else, more than a
desire to live, more than a desire for hope or love.. the destruction of Jack
Karrde now first and foremost on the thing's twisted, devastated mind. And power
explodes... this time with no pretty fireworks, no extravagant floorshow, just
an eruption of concentrated power, heart to heart, SOUL to SOUL, everything that
-is- power exploding in a concentrated blaasst with the power to tear apart the
gods themselves. And what is hope against such power... can hope stand true?

The twisted form of Kain R. Heinlein quivers and buckles, becoming ever more
twisted as it holds the phoenix close... all empathy, all emotion, all
-humanity- long departed. This creature faasshioned from power, and from the
desire for power, channels its everything into the phoenix... life and death may
indeed be one, but no more so than in death... none have truly -lived- who have
not martyred themselves. Can one claim to have experienced life to the fullest
without having experienced the very polar opposite? And this polar opposite is
exactly what the being once known as Kain R. Heinlein is about to experience as,
with one last shuddering eruption of energy, it becomes nothing... a memory in
the hearts of man, and a memory... in the heart of the phoenix.

To say Jack has done it all is a understatement.  He has lived, loved, and seen
the undiscovered country that lies beyond life.  And in this moment he is the
balance of all there is as he takes in Kain's power...shapes it, changes it and
let's it flow outward in the form of starlight healing rain.  But for the mind
of Jack Karrde he knows that this is all he is here and now.  Like the locks
clicking into place in his mind as he sees beyond what no one else can see.  He
feels the solar wind on his face..hears the gleaming stars sing only for
him...see those that have come before him.  The consciousness of Jack Karrde had
strewn itself across to galaxy, across the spectrum of light.  Passing beyond
choice and consequence, truth and lies, life and death, light and dark he sees
all he could be one day..all humanity could one day be.  But like all men there
is still the part that craves power..but not this time..not here he decides as
he casts it aside and embraces the universe for one moment knowing sheer bliss
and a peace he had never known except only briefly in his life.  Letting go of
it all he returns to his human form..to the adventure that is still only just
beginning.

A shudder racks the willowy form of the young girl below, her tail curling
around her leg.. and around the leg of the man who holds her so close as his
hand gently cradles the back of her head. A sob wracks her body, every emotion
she has been through in the last two hours, everything her heightened senses and
her youthful instincts have picked up... the trials not only of her life, but
those of the phoenix and those of all mankind... everything is poured into this
one violent motion as she pushes her face hard into the chest of this pillar she
has found. Not an obstacle, but a pillar of strength, something she can depend
on.. and somehow connected to everything that has transpired here. Swallowing
hard, she calms herself, feeling the ordeal at an end despite the danger that
still surrounds them...

Letting go of the excess power Jack takes a look around. He can see the
remaining G-Units, the brave defenders fighting to good fight against impossible
odds, never giving a inch of ground.  This nightmare must end..it shall end here
and now.  Gathering the power in his hands he smirks, "LET HOLY LIGHTNING STRIKE
ALL THAT IS EVIL!!!" and he calls down the thunder in the form of a storm of
energy that goes to slam into the G-Units like the hammer of Thor.

And the two hundred-odd Gevauden still left standing are hurled into the ground,
bones snapping and masks shattering as they feel the righteous power crushing
their unlife into death: pure, simple, death.. the end of everything their
tortured bodies still retained. The collective feeling of relief, of renewed
hope, is staggering.. though many, hundreds, lie dead on the slopes of the area,
blood and organs collected in pools of unjustified horror, those that are left
know that, for today at least, they have been given another chance.

Coming down for a landing Jack sighs and slumps a bit.  Sure he's back up to
ALMOST full power...but AYE CARAMBA!!  He is exhausted....Orochi was nothing
compared to Kain. oO("Damn...I gotta slow down. I keep THIS up Bean's gonna get
jealous.") he thinks as he looks for a nice easy way outta here.  Last thing he
needs is a bunch of people screaming his name.

Nobody screams, no yell or shout echoes from the assembly of heroes and
innocents... but many are compelled to bow their heads in thanks, in
gratefulness, or just sheer relief... eventually a sound does break out. The
sound of applause, the hollow booming of gloved hands applauding from the
highest point on the arena stands, off to Jack's right and just out of view.

Jack blushes a bit.  He doesn't want to be a hero..that's Terry's job.  And as
he hears the sound of the applauding he casts out to scan the aura.  He has an
idea who it might be..but he can't be sure.

The nekojin jerks back to full consciousness, glancing up with shocked confusion
as she is stirred by a nearby sound. She glances up at the man whom she is still
leaning against, whose leg her tail is curled around, binding the two of them
together. Desperately she tries to get her bloodshot eyes to focus... who is
this man she feels so safe with? What is he doing here? As Jack looks around,
the applauding stops, the man doing it lowering his hands down to the small of
the young girl's back as he grins across at his friend, past curtains of
dishevelled blonde hair, "Bravo, Jack... couldn't've done it better myself." His
voice is not loud, but amplified and exaggerated by the structure of the arena,
resounding across the entire area, instantly recognisable to many there - some
gape, others smile, a few clench their fists not with anger but with
anticipation. Each person reacts in a slightly different way to the return of
Terry Bogard.

Jack blinks at Terry, "Aren't you suppose to be dead old buddy?" he asks as he
flashes the old familiar cocky as hell grin of his.  Yes, he was embarrassed by
the people showing him thanks and all that.  But well..where Terry is concerned
he does have to act the role of scoundrel.

Terry chuckles, glancing across the sea of mostly familiar faces... older than
he knew, but still familiar. "So I'm told..." he murmurs, glancing down at
Samantha. "Guess I couldn't go without finishing what I came here to do." He
smiles, smoothing back her tangled, bloody hair with one hand.

Jack sighs, "Well...since you're not dead stand still so I can punch you." he
comments as he cracks his knuckles, "I've done half the work here this time
out."

Terry chuckles, "No, you've not done half the work..." He tilts his head to peer
up at the blue skies above, then looks back to Jack with a soft smile, "You've
done everything... throw all the punches you want." He shakes his head, "I won't
move for the world."

Looking at Terry he sighs and throws his hands to the heavens, "Terry...you're
gonna be the death of me." he mutters as he pulls that hat out and the phone
number goes flying out of his coat to land at Terry's feet.  Of course he's so
busy muttering he doesn't notice.

Terry is a little absorbed being clung to by a certain slender nekojin. He does
however glance down towards the fallen slip of paper, noting what he can of its
contents and raising an eyebrow. "Jack.. if that's not the pizza delivery number
it's not -me- who's gonna be the death of you."

And far off in the background, heavy machinery continues to whirr.. the noise
getting gradually louder. The tramp of booted feet is sounding that much closer
than it was before the final duel with Kain.

Stopping dead Jack goes beat red and looks around.  He is SO busted, and if
Raven finds this out she'll kill him. "Eh...ah...I'll be quiet now." he says as
he pulls the hat on and down over his face.  But upon hearing the sound of
booted feet he mutters, "...Not again.."

Terry nods, "Yeah, again. I don't know how or why but it's the military." He
glances around with a sigh, noting the fallen bodies... but not noting anybody
specific. Yet. "Kain's little attack force has done enough damage.. this isn't
over yet. We need to get these people the hell outta here." Looking across at
the familiar faces he grins slightly and raises his voice, but is quickly cut
off by a voice.. startlingly, shockingly, painfully familiar. "We're a long way
ahead of you, big bro." The blonde fighter blinks, tilting his head.. so it
makes perfect sense, but he can't help being a little dumbstruck.

Shaking his head he flicks up the hat with a thump and he hmms, "Ashes of the
Phoenix could cover this in a heartbeat." he says idly. As he looks around at
all the people.

Terry finds the source of the voice and nods, smiling, "Andy... we'll have time
for reunions later though, er, if I'm not mistaken I'm no longer big bro here."
He winks, then glances at Jack, "Huh? Jack.. you're not pushing yerself again,
not for a few days. I saw that little display..."

Jack nods, "All right..let's go." he hmms, "Is this KOF ALWAYS like this?"

Samantha finally comes to her senses, focusing on the man she is latched onto,
"Wait.. wait, who -are- you?" She lifts a slender hand, tapping a finger against
Terry's chest. Impulsively she looks over her shoulder at Jack, her ears
twitching, "Who is this?"

Terry nods at Jack's question, "Pretty much..." as Samantha finally comes out
with that he blushes, glancing off to one side. He takes a deep breath before
looking back at her, "Okay, well... I'd think all in all that question's best
aimed at the first person you asked, huh?" As she looks back around he smiles,
"It's a long story.. but I'm your.. father..." he shrugs loosely, glancing away
again, "If you c'n believe that..."

Samantha smiles, giving a slight nod and placing both her hands on Terry's
chest, "Yeah, I can... I'm not sure why but.. I lost myself back there and there
was one person who brought me back." She disentangles her tail and leans back,
"It's kinda weird to have.. you as my pop but.." she shrugs faintly, taking a
step back and gently pushing his arms from around her, "I can take a little
weirdness." She smiles, looking up at her father... but the smile quickly
falters and she glances off to the side, eyes finding the very thing that made
her lose herself so totally, her voice dropping to the merest whisper,
"Mommy..."

Jack blinks, "Mary..."

His senses kicking in Jack looks around trying to lock onto Mary's aura.  He
knows she's here...but where is the question.

Terry swallows, throat suddenly bitterly dry. His gaze follows Samantha's,
locking on to the fallen body, a line of four jagged stab wounds in her stomach,
"Mary...?" Tears threaten at the corners of his eyes, and before he can think
about moving he already is, kneeling at the woman's side, checking her pulse
with his right hand as he strokes her cheek tenderly with the other.

Jack looks over at Terry, "..Terry is she?"

Terry closes his eyes, shaking his head. Pausing to swallow again, he stands up
with her in his arms, body hopelessly limp, eyelids moving just slightly as she
is moved.. the only sign of life. "No. No.. but... she might... if we can't help
her soon." He looks across to Jack, asking with a quiver of dread in his voice,
"What've you got left..?"

Not even answering the question Jack is there on the other side of the woman,
"When I absorbed Kain's power I held back enough for trouble.  I should have
enough for this." he says as he calls forth his power again, this time not to
destroy..but to heal the wounds.  Laying his hands on the wounds he let's the
golden flame race through the woman..healing her wounds..giving her strength as
he once again goes to cheat death that stalks him.

Samantha stands watching helplessly, none of the confidence and strength she
showed in her fight against Kusanagi displayed in her stance now... hands held
loosely in her lap, eyes wide and threatening to again brim with tears. She
watches as the golden flame traces its path, then glances between Jack and.. her
father. "Will she... will she live then?" Her tail is totally still, lying
slumped on the ground behind her.

"Sammy..if I have anything to say about it she will...my mouth to God's ear."
Jack states, his word a utter conviction of his belief in nothing is impossible.
Before the eyes of all he defeated a god matching sheer power with a iron will.

Terry adjusts his grip as Mary stirs slightly, a groan parting her lips as the
healing flames do their work. He confirms Jack's statement with a nod, smiling
at his daughter, "She'll live..." he murmurs, then sighs and looks across at
Jack, "One of these days I'll manage to get by without owing you anything." He
shakes his head, looking down at the woman he once loved... and that part of him
still does and always will... then across to his other old friends. "Guys, let's
go. I don't know who's gone.. but I'm not sure I want to. Let's just get outta
here and get as safe as we can." He looks at Jack again, smirking humourlessly,
"Ready for war?"

Jack looks over at Terry and grins, "This is me Bogard...I was born ready."

Samantha wanders over, offering a shy smile between the two men, "I'm ready
too... I won't lose anyone else, ever again. Not if I can help it." She clenches
a fist, placing it over her left breast with a determined nod, eyes shining with
a stubborn confidence.

Jack looks at Terry and arches an eyebrow, "..Now...who does THAT remind you
of?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

Terry glances at his daughter and can't help wincing as Jack comments, "Yeah..
well... I guess that bit's genetic." He sighs, watching the girl closely for a
moment before smiling, "C'mon then, gotta admit I can't wait to see how you
turned out." He flashes her a quick grin and turns away, "Let's get outta here."

Jack asks, "I'm game..by the way...I take it the title's void this year, right?"

Terry grins, rolling his eyes, "Jack.. the title's void most every year." Behind
him Samantha smirks, glancing at the floor, "This is the first tourney in five
years too..." she comments with mock innocence.

Jack eyerolling he shakes his head, "Not the best of beginnings." he mutters as
he shakes his head, "..Well..I can look at it this way 'I saved a world and all
I got was this crummy hat'."

Terry winces, "Y'know.. if you weren't such a goddamn hero I'd kick your ass for
that."

Smirking a bit Jack has to ask the most obvious question in existence, "You and
what army?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

Samantha sidles up to Jack and taps him lightly on the shoulder. Smiling
sweetly, she nods towards the exit they are headed towards, wherefrom emerges
the sound of booted foot and heavy machinery. "This one.. right here."

Jack says, "That might do it.  Terry...AOP?"

Terry clears his throat, cocking an eyebrow sidelong at Jack, "Since you've got
even less energy now than last time you popped that question.. I'm guessing no.
Let's sleep this one off, huh? Deal with those guys in the morning... and then
work on getting home." He glances at Samantha. She catches this and stops,
falling behind as she frowns, looking off into nothing, "...Home...?"

Jack asks, "..Know a place we can hide then?"

Terry thinks for a moment and nods, "Yeah.. yeah, I do. Back where I fought
Grant the first time.. on the edge of town there's a network of caves. They're
pretty well hidden and offer a back way out.."

Jack nods, "Let's go.."

Samantha still lingers behind, looking over her shoulder at the shattered arena,
littered with bodies. "Home..." she murmurs wistfully, sighing as she turns away
and hurries to catch up, walking with a renewed bounce in her step.

    Source: geocities.com/terrybgoode/logs/terry

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