Match of the Millennium

Description: Wrestling has become a hot topic for finding your special someone in the fighting world. And sometimes, a match can be closer than you think. Taking place in the Ring at the Pueblo Thunderfoot, Tizoc brings the wisdom of the Griffon Mask against the understanding of Julia Chang, the naturalist from Arizona. With a match taking place in the ring, Julia might be out of her element. But maybe Julia has the heart of the wrestler in her right in the Mexican desert. And there is only one way to prove it.

[JULIA]
Today's match is almost like a case of brain versus brawn, with Tizoc being the brawn and Julia being the brain. That might be one possible analogy, but it's more than just that. Surely Tizoc has some knowledge of his own on his side, and Julia herself is no slouch in the fighting ring either. She knows how to fight the fight while keeping her mind focused on things. It's amazing how talented of a naturalist Julia is, yet she still manages to stand her ground in a good fight.

Unlike Tizoc, though, Julia does not fight simply for the fun or profit of it. Her adoptive mother, Michelle, once told her that the martial arts she was taught were to help Mother Earth, not hurt it. As a result, Julia has a great deal of discipline within her and is capable of remaining calm in even the harshest of fighting situations. Even in a situation like this.

The situation is that Julia and Tizoc are supposed to be getting to know one another... while fighting no less. That's something Tizoc might enjoy, but Julia's not exactly finding this amusing at all. Nevertheless, she's been asked to take part, and Julia decides the only polite thing to do is accept the invitation.

As she stands on her side of the wrestling ring, Julia has her head lowered as she prays for the spirits of nature to help her. "Spirits, grant me your strength and focus so that I may do my best in this battle." After she is done praying, she looks up and waits for her opponent.

[TIZOC]
If someone asked the Griffon Mask as to whether he valued brain or brawn, he would laugh heartily and say something else entirely -
It's all about guts! If he had to pick a specific part of 'guts' he'd pick 'heart,' but semantics rarely have place in heartfelt theatrics!
The Griffon Mask, to the world, fights for justice and the happiness of his fans - the children who need a hero in such difficult times like today!
As Julia prays, a great shadow is cast about the ring - when she looks up, she might think it has been answered in a moment of doubt. A tall, well-built man covered in a cloak wearing a silly bird ma--
Pardon, a /griffon/ mask, please pretend that one didn't read the previous descriptor, ahem--
There are cheers, as spotlights fall upon the both of them.
"Julia Chang!" Calls a voice that comes with far greater clarity than anyone should while wearing a mask. There's no microphone feedback. This man's voice... it carries well, across the arena.
"I am the Griffon Mask! Hero of Justice! Friend to all children!"
He throws the cloak off, which flutters down the entrance aisle he had to have traversed on the way here, unless he's been standing on the corner post even before anyone came in, which would be really weird!
He takes off into a leap in the air, tucking into a somersault that goes a good three rotations before he lands on his feet with a grace uncommon to men his size - but he would credit it instead to his familiarity with the feel of the canvas, its dimensions, its elasticity...
He sweeps an arm outward in challenge, and invitation, having taken the words out from the announcer's mouth. (Said announcer is grateful for this - they have a sore throat today.)
"Come forth! Our audiences await!" There... is something of a similarity between them, right here. Tizoc, to his fans. Julia, to the spirits.
Both do act before an audience, on a fundamental level, do they not?

COMBATSYS: Tizoc has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |=------\-------\0            Tizoc

COMBATSYS: Julia has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Julia            0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0            Tizoc

[JULIA]
Indeed, there is some similarity, but whether or not there is an audience is irrelevant to Julia. It's all about the fight. The fight that is about to occur right here, right now. As Tizoc makes his big, notable appearance, Julia simply stares for a moment before clasping her fist with her hand and bowing formally. "I am Julia Chang. I am a naturalist, and I strive to restore the glory of Mother Earth to how it truly should be!" After that, she stands up firmly, then assumes her fighting stance. "I usually don't believe in fighting for a reason like this, but since I am here, I shall oblige you." She looks up at the sky again as if silently asking the spirits to remain with her, before looking forwards again.

"May the best fighter win," Julia says without the slightest hint of a smile, before she goes in quickly. Despite the difference in size, Julia seems to show no fear on her face as she makes her approach. As she gets closer, she suddenly spins around, attempting to deliver a swift roundhouse style kick.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc blocks Julia's Light Kick.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Julia            0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
Julia may not be all smiles. The Griffon Mask, well, though... that's a mask. Beaks generally don't smile? Is it just all business, and nothing more?
Clenching his fist, Tizoc shrugs off the roundhouse kick with an outward swing of his forearm. Her form and delivery are on point - she is not lacking in strength.
"Your cause is just," speaks the large wrestler as he takes another step in closer. He can sense the devotion running deep within her. The unwavering focus towards her goal to restore a troubled environment at the cusp of an impending man-made mass extinction...
It is only fair that he matches her inward passion with his own, looking to bring both his hands around her to lift her up over his head.
"GRIFFON TOWER!" He calls if he has her there, falling backwards to slam her into the canvas - but that's not all, standing himself up and then diving on top of her with a body splash.
"FALL!"

COMBATSYS: Julia blocks Tizoc's Griffon Tower.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Julia            0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Tizoc

[JULIA]
"Yes, my cause is quite just," Julia replies firmly, not breaking her stare on Tizoc. "What we fight for is mostly irrelevant, though. It's all about the fight right now." She watches Tizoc with his big hands, letting him grab onto her and lift her over his head. Once Julia's above Tizoc's head, she's got an idea of what he's trying to do, and Julia immediately prepares herself.

As Tizoc falls backwards, Julia twists herself slightly so that she lands feet first on the mat. She uses this to break free and jump back a little. "A very powerful move," Julia comments. "You may not have succeeded fully, but at least you tried. I admire that." Julia watches to make sure Tizoc isn't trying anything else before she steps in quickly, attempting to do a spinning elbow strike.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc blocks Julia's Jab Punch.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Julia            0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
The eyes inside the mask widen at just how confidently and capably Julia recovers. Mentally, Tizoc has not yet completely broken the auto-pilot that comes with some of his more used sequences. When he tries to belly-flop to where he felt he slams Julia, he slaps himself down on empty air. This affords her a superior position to work with, one he does not rise high enough in time to deal with as she comes in with the spinning elbow strike.
Once again, he flexes an arm in its path. It tags him at his shoulder. She comes within inches of breaking through his defense completely. Had it glanced any higher, she'd have tagged him in the face...!
He locks eyes with Julia. Her composure, her focus... whoever taught her, taught her well! He is stunned far more by the weight of her convictions more than the weight of her strike. That is not to say it was a weak hit...
"Try? Simply try? The Griffon Mask... does not simply try for the fans!" Tizoc takes a small hop back.
"He /does it/ for the fans! POSEIDON WAAAAAAVE!!" The call comes, as he lunges forward with a beefy forearm looking to lariat Julia around face level. The strength of his very swing carries him across the canvas in a gliding motion.
Is she up to the task of overturning this next one?!

COMBATSYS: Julia dodges Tizoc's Poseidon Wave EX.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Julia            0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Tizoc

[JULIA]
"Indeed, you do it, you don't just try. Very wise," Julia comments, before seeing that arm coming at her in a huge lariat. Being hit by that would be VERY painful and not something she'd want to feel right now. So while Tizoc is gliding across the ring towards her, Julia ducks down and then rolls forwards, underneath that arm, and stands up quickly. She smiles a little as if to silently thank the spirits for their help.

"You do what you do, and the results are whatever they are. That is all there is to it," Julia comments as she approaches Tizoc again. "Even if you do not succeed, you still know you did something." She then attempts to quickly strike Tizoc in the stomach with a palm strike that is laced with the power of the spirits that Julia believes in.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc endures Julia's Palm Explosion.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Julia            0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
Julia's reaction is, in most circumstances, the right one to take. Even people Tizoc's size would think twice, even thrice, about choosing to stand in the way of that as the Griffon Mask's lariat takes him up against the ropes.
"Even this far, there is a step beyond doing...!" So he calls, as Julia moves in with a palm strike that sees little meaningful attempt at defense. Those enviable abdominal muscles, ripe for the palmin'. Those ribs, ready for smashin'. His breath, ready for takin'.
With a barely audible hiss, he curls his right arm inward, hand unclenched and open as he swings his forearm outward in a wide, horizontal chop motion while Julia is at ground zero, a loud cry still managing to excape from his throat for all the air that did rush out from under there.
"You do it with passion and... spirit!" He didn't quite have enough wind in his lungs to make that all capital letters. That instnace was more of a 'try,' but, shh.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc successfully hits Julia with Strong Punch.
Grazing Hit

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Julia            0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1            Tizoc

[JULIA]
Ground zero? Not quite.

Julia's awaiting her opponent's next attack, when it suddenly comes out of nowhere literally. Her attempt to dodge does partially succeed, as Tizoc only barely hits her, but his power is quite strong. She winces as she feels the chop hitting her partially. But she does not make any sound or anything like that. She seems to suck it up quite well.

"Spirit comes naturally to me," Julia replies, once she's regained her composure. "Passion, I am not sure about." She steps forwards quickly, attempting to strike with a hard jab at Tizoc. "Maybe it is, maybe it is not."

COMBATSYS: Tizoc blocks Julia's Lashing Arrow.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Julia            0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
"Are you not sure?" The Griffon Mask's voice loses some of the booming, bombastic, boastful, broad character to it, as though this were a thing for worry as an open palm meets her jab. When he chose to pick up the pieces of his shattered 'for show' career to take a step into 'for real,' he has seen the gazes of many who fight for their own reasons. Their desperations, their desires, their detriments.
Her uncertainty takes Tizoc, the man underneath the mask, out of the moment as he takes a step back as though staggering.
"Then... allow me to show you a taste of the passion...! tHe clenches both of his fists.
"DAH!" He thrusts both arms into the air, throwing his upper body back. The canvas shakes underneath him when he makes the call. In a strict, tactical sense, this is silly. That is a good fraction of a second not spent striking or grabbing at Julia. By her wisdom, keeping everything purely about the fight... this is nonsense.
She might take notice of the crowd, though, whom all burst into cheer as he makes the pose. Something about all this inspires audiences. A fight seems to be the furthest thing away from watching after the environment for all that live upon Earth.
The fervor seems to border upon religious. It's an intoxicating atmosphere of glitz, glamour, and - barring grievous injury - fun!
Somewhere within this pontificating, the Griffon Mask stabs at Julia around abdomen level with a crouching knife-hand jab, so maybe it's best one not get too carried away describing, or reading about, the strange allure of the wrestling arena.

COMBATSYS: Julia blocks Tizoc's Quick Punch.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Julia            0/-------/=======|=======\======-\1            Tizoc

[JULIA]
A knife-hand jab? Sounds like an attack for someone with a sharp mind.

But Julia doesn't want to get slashed in the stomach that easily. So her hand flies down to deflect the attack away. It succeeds, albeit with a bit of effort on Julia's part. She knocks the punch away but it leaves her wincing again. "The spirits sometimes put me through hardship... to accomplish what we desire." She mutters to herself, rubbing at the part where she was hit briefly.

Julia then attempts to strike again anyway, in spite of the pain she's feeling. "Spirits will guide me!" She says as she attempts to spin briefly, before attempting to deliver a high kick and an uppercut, one right after the other.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc endures Julia's Hunting Tomahawk.
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Julia            1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
"Great challenges await us all!" The Griffon Mask booms out as he retracts the deflected striking hand. "Those like us stand tall to show the fans that one can prove strong enough to fight them head on...!"
Whoa whoa. Hold on. Us? The unsolicited positivity and grandiose platitudes are one thing, but that 'us' is suspect...! In what respect is Julia part of an 'us'?
The Griffon Mask puts these words to practice. The high kick gets him just under his throat while he remains crouched. He lurches forward, having to plant a hand against the canvas for balance. It gives him an accidental peek! He is quietly ashamed, rising up toot sweet as to not linger on it.
The uppercut comes within that span of time in-between, and the Griffon Mask leans into it as it leaves a darkened mark upon his pectorals. (Julia's striking power is no joke!)
"DAEDALUS ATTACK!" Tizoc invokes the name of a mythological figure as he attacks - as he does with almost all his techinques - swinging in lariats. There's three total, one after another, looking to overpower Julia with triple the smacks of his forearms.
It's kind of curious. She's seen him ball his hands up into fists a few times already, but he never strikes with a closed fist - he's trying to strike her specifically with his forearms. Wouldn't it be more powerful if he punched her instead...?
Maybe that's just part of the culture.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc successfully hits Julia with Daedalus Attack.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Julia            1/-======/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\0            Tizoc

[JULIA]
One lariat is bad news. Two is double trouble. Three is a disaster.

Julia is hit once, twice, and three times, going flying across the ring and crashing into the ropes. She nearly collapses, but her spirits keep her on her feet... or at least on one foot as she lands on her knee but the other foot remains planted. She steps back up and, despite her bruises and her bloodied nose, Julia still has the will to fight within her. "The spirits have kept me from going down right now. I will make sure they did not save me in vain!"

With that, the spirits swirl around Julia's fists as she stumbles towards Tizoc, trying not to fall over, before she attempts to deliver a fierce punch with both hands, powered with her spiritual force.

COMBATSYS: Julia successfully hits Tizoc with Heaven Cannon.
- Power hit! -

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Julia            0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>>>---\1            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
The Griffon Mask slams both palms into Julia's fists, a thunderclap running through the arena as the canvas underneath shudders and shakes. Power courses through both their bodies, through both their thickened muscles and bracing stances. It goes down their legs and through the very ring they both inhabit. The Heaven Cannon, a davastating punch maneuver, is not something stopped so casually.
It's... not even stopped at all.
The larger wrestler's ability to contest the concussive force of the Heaven Cannon falters moments later, and he finds himself launched against the turnbuckle in what is Julia's return volley of muscular might.
The larger wrestler returns to their feet only with help of the nearby rope.
"Yes... you, too, have an audience you answer to..." Tizoc, under the mask, sees it more clearly than ever. This young woman is beyond just a mere capable martial artist. Her physical conditioning is excellent. Her determination is sincere. Should she desire, the very wrestling ring could become her second home...!
She could probably hear it now. Is it the spirits? It is the enthusiastic cheering of the people surrounding her in the audience. Her power, that grace! Should she open her heart to some of the more ceremonial aspects... she could embrace the nature of it all and be one with it, whole-heartedly, as a natural fit.
With renewed vigor, The Griffon Mask and the man underneath enthusiastically lunge forward towards Julia, looking to grab hands about her. Should he do so...
"JUSTICE HURRICANE!" That would be the call, looking to leap up high into the air in a rapid, dizzying spin as he goes inverted at the apex, to piledrive the pious young woman onto the mat as an introduction to one of the most fundamental things that make him what he is in the ring - a pretty freakin' rad signature move.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc successfully hits Julia with Justice Hurricane EX.

[                         \\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Julia            1/-----==/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1            Tizoc

[JULIA]
Julia is hit harder than she expected. Even she has no chance against this insane throwing technique. Her body is wracked and smashed against the canvas. Even though that's supposed to be fake, this pain is genuinely real. Julia knows that for a fact. She struggles to get back up, but it's very difficult with her body saying to just give up. But the spirits within her refuse to let her go down that easily. Instead, she forces herself back up, gasping for air, before giving one last look at Tizoc.

In a last ditch effort, Julia attempts to punch Tizoc, then use the momentum to spin around and strike him twice from behind. The initial blow should stun him while the other two will hit him while he's defenseless, giving her a chance to land one last attack before her body collapses again.

COMBATSYS: Julia can no longer fight.

                                  >  //////////                    ]
                                  |>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\1            Tizoc

COMBATSYS: Julia successfully hits Tizoc with Mad Axes.

                                  >  ///                           ]
                                  |>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2            Tizoc

[TIZOC]
At the point of impact, Tizoc leaps away to allow Julia a little space. It is also, for his part, to ensure she's come out of it all right. The Justice Hurricane is a risky maneuver on both ends. Even as a 'real' fight with lighter restrictions on what kind of strikes or maneuvers are allowed, he holds fast to the vast majority of them. Being dropped on one's head is beyond dangerous... but for his time in the ring, Tizoc was a man who made that work.
What a sight it is, what a mighty blow. When he sees Julia stir, he moves in for the pin, crouched down low and ready to pounce--
She does not give up. She intercepts the attempt by striking him in the gut, leaving him open for the rest of that combination as she spikes him down against the mat. He rolls to the left half-way, preventing her from landing a pin when she, too, collapses over.
A referee steps out. He decides to give a count to ten to see who gets up first... and neither one does. The contest is declared a draw. This should be disappointing, shouldn't it? That there's no clear victor, no certain loser.
Julia might hear the chatter, where she rests. She might pick up words from younger fans (and some older ones) about how awesome she was, wants to know when she'll do this next. Positivity. Enthusiasm. Where she fights against the apathy mankind has shown towards their environs, this might be the first time she's been in the company of a truly captivated audience.
The Griffon Mask sits up after the fact, as medical staff start to mobilize to check on the both of them. Neither seemed to be in urgent need of care, so they have at least a few moments before they're escorted off.
"That was... some determination..." Tizoc coughs out, some of the bluster and bravado of his voice having softened from fatigue and injury. One meaty hand goes against his lower back where he was struck.
"I hear them..." The spirits? "They wish for your return to the ring." That doesn't sound like a request from the spirits. "Will you oblige your new-found fans...?"
That is more like a request from a place of respect, who believes he might be witnessing the moment of birth of something special within the wrestling ring.

COMBATSYS: Tizoc takes no action.


COMBATSYS: Tizoc can no longer fight.

Log created on 17:37:25 07/05/2017 by Tizoc, and last modified on 19:45:06 07/07/2017.