Match of the Millennium

Description: "ZACH GLENN. You'll be facing ARANHA at the dead pool at the base of my tower. Don't you find it fascinating that certain of us always find ourselves at the precipice of history? A thought, nothing more."

[ZACH GLENN]
The Mortal Kombat tournament-slash-invasion attempt has begun. Fighters from multiple worlds have come together to test Humanity's right to exist in a clash of will and strength. Most of these fights seem absolutely pointless at first; many of those selected/invited/press-ganged into the defense of Earthworld are pitted against one another. Perhaps it serves as a sort of qualifying round, culling out the weak from the strong.

Regardless of the purpose of this round, the match-up process has pitted Zach Glenn against one Keith "Aranha" Mason, in what appears to be the sewer system for the keep. The stench of melted down flesh and other materials assaults the nostrils of both men as they pick their way to the assigned arena.

Zach is wearing what appears to be some kind of tactical outfit: black combat fatigues, a web harness (bearing a pistol, a long sword, and a pair of long bladed knives), and black combat boots. He looks around warily, the insistent clamour of the souls of the dead still trying to claim his attention even in the face of the fight in front of him.

[ARANHA]
The Dancing Spider received his match up and location he took it in stride and didn't exactly know what to make of it... At first. But then he received a spider shaped necklace that current finds its home in his jeans pocket. Every since he received it, he's been hearing whispers in his mind about how that name sounded familiar. He's ignored that voice and just tried to focus on the upcoming fight

When he finally gets to the tower and eventually to the Dead Pool his stomach turns and he's silently thankful he didn't eat right before coming in. He frowns for a moment before taking off his denim jacket and laying it down on the ground near the entrance. That's when he looks up and sees the fighter he's supposed to go up against. It's a familiar face but he has no clue why. The voice in his mind, originating from the spider shaped pendant knows exactly why.

Aranha decides to play it off. "I guess you're my opponent. I don't think either of us want to fall in that."

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach Glenn lets out a short bark of laughter at Aranha's comment. "No doubt," he agrees, and then stops short. He squints at Aranha, leaning in a bit even as his right hand drifts toward the hilt of the sword at his hip. A cutlass, but the looks of it. "Huh," he grunts in a curious tone.

He rolls his left shoulder, then his right, trying to figure out why he is sensing two men in front of him instead of just one. "Guess we'll get it sorted at some point," he muses as he draws the cutlass from its sheath. He slides his feet to lead with his right side, and the sword, as his left hand hovers over the hilt of one of the knives. "Ready when you are."

And it appears that he is ready as gold and violet light slip along the length of the sword, revealing a fine tracework of Celtic knot designs on the flats of the weapon.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zach Glenn       0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Aranha has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Aranha           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ARANHA]
The Dancing Spider goes into ginga, swaying to and fro in the dance of his martial art. He takes in the environment once more, this time as a traceur and aside from the walls on either side of the somewhat narrow walk and the hanging hooks there's not much in the way of ways of using his parkour get around the battleground and what little ways he does have put too much risk on something going horribly wrong for either him or his fellow Earthrealmer. Both the capoeirista and the whisper in his mind are in agreement. Parkour is /mostly/ off the table. That left him with having to deal with the significant reach advantage that his opponent has. He'll just have to deal with it.

He takes a deep breath and starts to test the swordsman's defenses coming in with a low scything kick to upset his balance slightly and then lifting upwards while delivering a side kick to the stomach with the other leg.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Zach Glenn with Medium Kick.
- Power hit! -

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Aranha           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach winces as he notices... /something/ coming off of Aranha. It's familiar, somehow, and enough to distact him from the Spider's charge. He wobbles under the first kick and loses his breath as the second kick slams into his midsection to drive him back. He shakes his head, trying to refocus on the fight at hand, as opposed to the mystery.

He knows that the arena actually favors him more than it does Aranha, who prefers more open terrain than what is present. Zach charges Mason, lowering a shoulder and reaching whichever leg is holding more of Aranha's weight for a modified single leg takedown, before attempting to drive a pair of soul power enhanced punches at the man's face!

COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Zach Glenn's Rough and Tumble.

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Aranha           1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ARANHA]
As Zach reaches for his front leg, Aranha drops into capoeira's version of the sprawl. He shoots his rear leg farther back, drops his hips lower and brings his chest downwards on top of Zach's back. This has the net effect of keeping the capoeirista on his feet. That being said the grip on his leg is not a pleasant sensation.

Now that he's kept his balance he needs to get atleast a little separation so he can continue to move as he pleases(considerations for the environment aside). He reaches under the armpit of one of Zach's arms and places a hand on top the shoulder of the other arm and with a lift and downward push of the respective arms he simply flips Zach onto his back.

COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Zach Glenn with Quick Throw.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Aranha           1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach goes to the stones with force, grunting at the impact before backrolling away from Aranha. He wants a bit of distance as well, it seems. Glenn comes up on his feet, glad Aranha is not one for banter. In a way, that works for the monster hunter.

Zach spins once on his back heel as he continues to get some distance, sweeping the blade of the cutlass in front of him, and launches a blade-like swath of psychic force at the Dancing Spider!

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Zach Glenn's Caladbolg.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Aranha           1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ARANHA]
Aranha hasn't fought Zach Glenn before. He doesn't know what to expect. The whisper in his head. The one coming from the pocketed spider pendant is confused but is telling him to observe and figure things out as he goes along. Aranha tells that voice to shut up because that's what he'd do anyway.

When The cutlass sends that swath of energy in his general direction, he dive rolls over it and when he pops up into a standing position, his foot glows blue as he swings out with a chi-enhanced roundhouse kick across the jaw followed by jumping spinning roundhouse likewise engulfed in blue chi before giving his back up for a just an instant and flipping backwards and delivering a chi enhanced flip kick down upon the top of the head.

Aranha doesn't plan on distracting himself with banter unless it serves a purpose and considering his opponent could be a potential ally here, not risking angering him isn't a bad idea.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn blocks Aranha's Aggressive Dance.

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Aranha           1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach blocks the roundhouse with a raised arm, catching the kick on the meaty part of the elbow, before stopping the second kick with the pommel of his weapon. He shifts his torso a bit, turtling up to keep the last kick from striking his head and parrying the strike with his forearm somewhat as the chi burns at cloth and skin. He kicks back again, slamming into a wall.

Glenn keeps his blade up as he focuses his energies on putting himself back together a bit; Aranha's assaults are striking far too accurate for his liking. He slows his breathing, and forces himself to pay more attention to the freerunner.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn gains composure.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Aranha           1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0       Zach Glenn

[ARANHA]
He's been applying pressure in an attempt to see how his opponent deals with it. Well that and the fact that capoeira underneath all the appearance of flashiness is an art of constant movement of constant attacks. When he lands, he's grateful that this particular aggressive assault isn't being taken advantage of and he's given all the time in the world to recover.

Aranha takes a large step back and then performs a quick spin his arm lashing out as it glows with blue chi. The energy leaps from his hand, taking on the shape of the web of his namesake as it flies in the soul power wielder's direction.

Even in throwing the projectile, Aranha chases after it, aiming to be close by when it would ideally make contact with him and clings.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn endures Aranha's Web Shot.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Aranha           1/----===/=======|=======\=------\1       Zach Glenn

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach is already stepping towards Aranha with a purpose when the webbing slams into his chest, restricting his movements somewhat. The psion takes a wide stance, and steps in with a low-swinging left hook-slash-uppercut that is aimed directly at Aranha's jaw.

A faint ripple of golden energy shimmers around Zach's left fist, forming a sort of armored gauntlet that will explode upon impacting the Dancing Spider!

COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to interrupt Explosive Strike from Zach Glenn with Dead Man's Hand EX.

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Aranha           1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1       Zach Glenn

[ARANHA]
Even as his chi web connected, he could see that Zach was still coming in bull rushing through. He was impeded but he knew that he wasn't impeded enough for his particular purposes. Still, he knew he had a decent shot of still connecting the question was, 'Who would connect first?' Zach's fist connected just barely before Aranha's blue chi enhanced open handed strike could connect with Zach's face.

The uppercut sent the capoeirista flying backwards with a pained grunt as the psionic energy worked through his body. The whisper in the capoeirista's head does comment on the familiarity of that situation.

Aranha works his way back up to his feet. He has a few cobwebs to shake off at the moment.

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach is not content to allow Aranha any time to breath. The former Marine continues his blitz, not even really waiting to see the effects of his strike as he whips the blade around in a pair of quick circles before sheathing it as he closes in.

Zach flings the now empty hand out at Aranha to grab the front of his shirt to pull him in for a swift and brutal headbutt before driving a sharp left handed strike at the Spider's liver to further wind the man!

COMBATSYS: Aranha dodges Zach Glenn's Armed Combo.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Aranha           1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1       Zach Glenn

[ARANHA]
Aranha didn't have to ask himself what would he do if he knocked someone's block off. That was pretty much the logical extension of what he'd figured Zach would do to him. Jump on him and not give him a chance to get his mind together. As a result Aranha, just barely has enough awareness to ready himself for when Zach comes in.

When Zach's hand comes in, he turns, denying the fighter an opportunity to grab his shirt, weaving out of the way of the headbutt and then a step back to avoid the liver strike.

He then crouches slightly and leaps blue glowing hands first out for Zach in an attempt to grab him and then if he should do so, push his energy into the psion and shove him away with his feet as he flips backwards.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn equips a glimmering Sandy Yellow Soul Shard.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Aranha           1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1   [E] Zach Glenn

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn channels the strength of the killing fist.

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Aranha           1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1   [E] Zach Glenn

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn interrupts Hunting Season from Aranha with Flashing Blade.

[                         \\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Aranha           1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0   [E] Zach Glenn

[ZACH GLENN]
Aranha's hands come in. Zach watches the glow with narrowed eyes. That cannot /possibly/ be good. He definitely does not want to be hit with that. Between the intensity of the fight and the souls of the dead and damned all but demanding Zach's attention, his nerves are starting to fray in a dangerous manner. His mind is flying through options when he hears a voice of his own. Slightly higher than his own, but the candence and word choice is as familiar as he were saying the line to someone else.

*Looks like you could use a hand,* the voice says. The air around Zach's right hand ripples, and a metal shackle shimmers into existence around the wrist. A single whole link is attached, rattling as gravity takes a hold of it. On the outside of the metal bracelet, a single yellow sapphire, oval in shape snaps into reality. *Let me help you with that,* the voice says.

Zach Glenn's right hand goes to the hilt of the cutlass once more as Aranha's palms slap into his chest. A second later, the sword arm flies empty handed.

Gold and violet energies ripple around the hand, crackling into the shape of a wakazashi that slams into and almost /through/ Aranha's torso to throw the freerunner across the stones. Zach straightens up, his eyes wide as he looks at Aranha in shock, then down at the now heavier right wrist. There is no seam on the shackle, which brings more than a bit of worry to Zach's bearing as he turns his wrist to regard the soul shard mounted on it. He frowns a bit at this.

[ARANHA]
The look in Zach's eyes says it all. He's about to do something crazy and because of miscalculations on Aranha's part, there's not a thing that the Dancing Spider can do about it. All he can do is grit his teeth.

And that's when the purple and yellow wakizashi of pure energy is quick drawn from a non-existant scabbard and connects with his body. The scream that's released from his lips fills the air with agony. If it had been physical force that hit the traceur like this, he would've required another trip to the hospital. Instead, his mind reacts as though every nerve ending in his body was hit with the most excruciating pain he's ever felt.

Even as Zach is looking at his wrist, Aranha is still screaming.

Even as he wills himself back to his feet, he's still screaming and with every step he takes to get back into range of the psion he screams. And then his voice leaves him but by then he even while he continues to silently scream he's delivering a variety kicks from roundhouses, to spinning back heels, to side kicks, to crescent kicks all engulfed in blue chi culminating in him tilting over into a handstand and lashing out with a few spinning kicks until his body completely gives out.

COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zach Glenn [E]   0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn blocks Aranha's Royal Flush.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Zach Glenn [E]   0/-------/-======|

[ZACH GLENN]
Zach looks up sharply when he hears the screaming. His eyes go wide as the previous moments run through his mind. There was... /way/ more power in that strike than he had meant to use. More than the psion /knew/ he was capable of using. The shackle. It had to be connected somehow. The Dancing Spider steps in, laying into Zach with that storm of chi-powered kicks. It's all Zach can do to turtle up and stave off the strikes. Aranha gives out before Zach does, dropping to the floor. The sleeves of Zach's fatigues fall to the floor in tatters, burns and bruises showing on Zach's arms.

The shackle, though? Completely intact.

Zach lets out a shout of worry, stepping towards Aranha. The capoeirista falls to the ground before Zach can get to him, but the psion is reaching into cargo pockets to pull out first aid supplies. The scrapes, cuts, and bruises he can help right now, but Zach does not have an IV kit on his person, so helping the after effects of getting hit by what amounts to an insanely powerful taser will have to wait until food and water can be given to the shorter man.

COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn has ended the fight here.

Log created on 20:19:17 09/16/2016 by Zach Glenn, and last modified on 01:32:03 09/17/2016.