[Evil Russ] West City Assault - Open To One

It was about what she called. Yangcong didn't even hesitate to stop his attacks for a moment to spill his tragic background to the Kami. Someone who was not only asking for it, but tempted fate by negging on assumptions she made with these types. It was almost vindicating, hearing one of two types of bad guy regurgitate a story of struggle and hurt, using it as a catalyst to springboard into revenge and spreading misery. She almost preferred the silent destroyers, those who did so just because they could. At least they didn't have to convince themselves what they did was worth anything.



"No... No, can't say I've been there."
But she's heard more optimistic stories about that war. Of other conflicts, the struggles of man were not a foreign concept. Yangcong's story was not unique in circumstance, only in the retaliation and petty nature of his continued existence. It makes Lottus sound like a saint by comparison. "But I don't think you know me or anyone else you hurt nearly as much as you think you do. It doesn't sound like you try either. It's a wonder you even bother talking about it in the first place, it'd save you some breath being silent in your cruelty." Jackie huffs, standing up straight with the stiff infected arm in a cradle just in front of her chest. The attempt to catch her breath while she talked him up worked for the moment. At first, she was sounding dismissive of his story.

"I'm an orphan. My people died when I was a kid, powerless to stop a raging storm that engulfed my village. For a while, I ate scraps and stole from faire ground picnickers to make due. For a while I wanted to find who did it, make them pay for it all and burn it behind me." Her good hand comes up to wipe some sweat from her brow, the burden carrying around this arm and the battle in general not going her way. "I was willing to go through a lot of people when I finally had the strength to. But I knew I couldn't cross that line. Because I'm not the only person who's been hurt. I see myself in the poor souls who can't fend for themselves just as I couldn't that day. Spreading your hate and misery doesn't make you righteous, it doesn't make you strong. It makes you empty, weak. Guessin' by how old ya are you gave in to the lesser version of yourself a long time ago." The solid orange of her eyes was sharp enough to cut into steel with the glare she gave, a determined look of someone holding their ground in face of the odds. He'd not really like her trying to speak up.

The man throws something she had a close encounter with before: Destron. Apexle had tossed one her way before. But he was much less accurate and swift in his execution than this man. In a crapshoot attempt to intercept the capsule on its way over, Jackie suddenly launched a red ki blast to meet it. Hitting it dead one and causing it to explode closer to the center between them. The kami wasn't quick enough to avoid it even with doing that and jumping away from the gas that now filled this abandoned road. The sharp pain would hit the back of her throat as some managed to invade her personal space.

"Grrrk...!"
Instead of a graceful leap, she falls to the ground. Down right to her hands and knees, where she starts coughing and crying from the small amount of contact she had with the canister. It was a pain she didn't want to feel again...

---