Match of the Millennium

Description: Upon the shores of Southtown, two demi-gods of war face down. One embodying the brutal chaos of war, the other a more regal and commanding decider of the necessary wages of blood. But both come after a single target: the Command Gear. For Kotal, it is a bargaining chip, an offering to secure his power and influence over the mortals. For Necalli? She is food to be consumed. And neither can approach without ensuring the other has been suitably subdued.

[KOTAL]
Chaos. So often the disruption of order is seen as a disaster. An evil that shatters the day to day patterns cherished by most conscious beings. Whether that pattern is a strict routine of eating and exorcize, or a sweeping goal of protecting the innocent, chaos has a way of straining the boundaries of what is comfortable.
What is often ignored, is that chaos is also a time of opportunities. With the recent attack on Fuji, many have used the resulting scramble to tap into leylines previously guarded, or expand borders that have held for centuries.
Kotal, once known to many as the god Huitzilopotchli, had originally thought to attempt such a maneuver. Claiming control of a leyline would certainly have given him leverage of many kinds. But no. Now is not the time for such things. The energy of the realm has endured for time immemorial, and will continue to do so. True chaos is a time for creating allies. Shifting alliances.
Golden tassels sway around black-wrapped calves as a pair of enormous feet thud heavily onto a warped wooden boardwalk. In the distance, the sounds of sporadic gunfire punctuate screams both shrill and course. The deep thud of explosions play counterpoint to fizzling flashes of energy that light up the sky, reflected back off of the bellies of the low, brooding clouds.
Thud. Thud.Thud.
Groaning, the boardwalk shifts beneath the weight of the massive figure striding along its center, each step accompanied by the quiet rattle of his bone-decorated belt. Roughly seven feet tall, clad in the glittering golden armor of an eagle warrior, the figure of Kotal is difficult to miss. Even if his armor weren't throwing back flashes of light, even if his skin weren't a light bluish green, eyes and ritual scars glowing red as he feeds off of the violent energy in the air, even if none of these things were true, he would still draw the eye. Everything about his upright posture and steady gate speaks of purpose and power. Of the authority and power granted him by centuries of life.
Tall, skeletal structures rise up to the right of the ancient Aztec, their metal bones decorated with innumerable lights flashing every conceivable color. Garish advertisements buzz and flicker, proclaiming 'half price pizza', and 'children under 3 get in free'. The air is heavy with the scents of sizzling grease and spices, undercut by the salty tang of the sea. A distant, haunting tune echo's through the deserted stalls, tinkling above the steady 'whoosh, swoosh' of the see as it rolls in to the god's left.
It seems this part of the Dream Amusement Park has been abandoned. Further in, hidden deep within the maze of structures, Kotal can sense his target. The fitful, shifting energies of one called a Command Gear. It is there that he must go, and he will. But something has slowed his steps. Some sense, not yet clear, that tickles at the back of his mind. A familiar presence, if he could only recall...

COMBATSYS: Kotal has started a fight here.

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Kotal            0/-------/-------|

[NECALLI]
Another among many has sensed the energy emitted by the Command Gear; one habitually drawn to power, to consume it. Most recently, he was drawn to Mount Fuji by the stirrings of the beast chained beneath the mountain, and encountered one of its servants, who became a fitting meal. While secluded in the wilderness of Japan, Necalli read the stars, feeling the flows of energy, and concluding that this is indeed the Hour of Battle - and yet he found this region, the world itself in fact, overflowing with powerful souls. A feast to glut himself on, and to usher strong warriors to the jaws of death -- including this "Gear."

Having licked his wounds, Necalli has followed the scent of the Command Gear, taking care to avoid civilized areas as much as he could - though the chaos of battle has made it easier for him to follow stealthily. To anyone watching the shadows between the stalls of the boardwalk, it would be as though the world changed when they blinked; one second he was not there, the next he was, and he could tell she was close - but so was another, someone familiar. An older presence, one dating back to when this body was merely a warrior-prophet, perhaps...

Bare footfalls pad along the wooden walkway. A well-built speciman of a man, Necalli nonetheless stands out for his ritual scars, his minimal dress, and his absolutely enormous mane of dreadlocks. The golden bands on them tinkle softly against each other as he eyes the taller figure of Kotal. Of Huitzilopochtli, a god long dead, yet a god walking the Earth all the same. Necalli smiled wryly to himself. More than two gods were stirring, after all, it seemed. Too many gods, perhaps.

His hand clenches into a shape mimicing a bird's talon. "Huitzilo-lo-lopochtli!" he rasps, leaping into the air. "You also seek the Gear-ear-ear's power, but only one of us can have it." A neon sign on an old ride buzzes briefly to life, and his grin glints in its short-lived glow. "Let me escort you-you into the jaws of death, and then the Gear after you!" He brings his hand down in a one-handed scratch-slash-strike, more testing the old god's power than anything.

COMBATSYS: Necalli has joined the fight here.

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Necalli          0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Kotal

COMBATSYS: Kotal interrupts Medium Strike from Necalli with Melahuac EX.

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Necalli          0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0            Kotal

[KOTAL]
Thump.
Like a song that can be hummed but not sung, or a word stuck on the tip of the tongue, the sense of familiar power works to distract Kotal from his mission. Solid features shifting into a stony frown, he struggles to think back, to recall when last he felt the creeping touch of this insidious presence.
Thump.
Continuing forward with ever decreasing speed, a riot of long red and black feathers swish softly across the ancient warrior's broad back as he casts a wary glance from side to side, looking away just in time to miss Necalli's shadowy arrival. The impressively built monster has the god dead to rights, just a short lunge away and ready to be claimed.
But then the beast call's his name.
Swinging around in a flutter of battle skirt and feathers, heavy wooden sword thumping against his back, Kotal throws his hands up and plucks the descending red-head right out of the air by shoulder and thigh. He can do nothing about the talons that rake noisily across his front, screeching across the golden armor of his upper chest before drawing triple lines of thin bloody cuts down between his muscular pecks, but he has caught him none-the-less.
Glowering up at the barely clothed warrior held suspended in his crushing grip, Kotal studies him with eyes that pulse a deep, bloody red. Slowly, stretched between two moments measured only by pounding hearts, recognition dawns.
"Necalli." Kotal purrs, the name rumbling out of his chest with the quiet majesty of a prowling lion. He does not seem pleased to see the once mortal here.
Making his displeasure known, Kotal hurls Necalli straight down toward the boards at his feet, smashing the ancient beast straight through them and toward the sloping sands beneath. Supporting beams snap and buckle, causing a 20 foot section of the boardwalk to collapse in a hail of fragmented wood.
Riding the collapse down behind his foe, Kotal falls ten feet to the steeply sloping beech, knees flexed as his cloth-wrapped feet thud heavily into the sand. The odd bit of wood tumbles down to bounce off of his shoulders as he lumbers forward after the monster, eyes alight with righteous indignation.
"Your strength has grown in my absence. I remember when you were but a cub, yet now you think it wise to challenge me. I will prove to you the foolishness of this path."

[NECALLI]
With a crashing and splintering of wood, Necalli is unceremoniously thrown downward through the boards of the boardwalk. His body, and the debris, thump to the sand below and slide several feet towards the sea. Caught off guard by the grab, Necalli nonetheless manages to regain his footing at the bottom, turning to face the advancing monster.

"And I remember-ber-ber when you were less... green." He laughs, a weird, harsh bark that probably not many people have ever heard. He drops into a crouching stance and leans backwards somewhat, his legs coiled as if preparing to spring. "You've changed." His feet planted into the sand, Necalli bounds forward.

He first makes contact with a pillar of the boardwalk, springing off of it (and causing it to creak precariously in his wake). Coming from a new angle, his open palm catches Kotal's face; with a grunt of exertion, he lifts the other demigod off his feet, shaking him like a ragdoll before depositing him facefirst into the sand - aiming for a spot with fallen wood, as opposed to just sand, which would make this considerably less effective.

COMBATSYS: Necalli successfully hits Kotal with Mask of Tlalli.
- Power hit! -

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Necalli          0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1            Kotal

[KOTAL]
A low hum of rising anger builds in Kotal's chest as he takes another lumbering step toward Necalli. With every passing moment the deep red of his eyes darkens , while the ritual scars etched into his hulking form glow brighter and brighter with awful red light. Necalli is not fighting a mere priest. No, he is fighting a god. Young by the measure of gods, but still, a divine being powered by his aspects.
Blood.
Sunlight.
War.
The longer and more violent this fight, the more powerful Kotal will become.
Tracking Necalli's sudden rush with his eyes, Kotal lifts his right hand in an attempt to grab the red-head out of the air a second time. A bit slow on the draw, his hand closes over empty air as the monster bounds passed him, rebounding off of the unstable boardwalk and hitting him from the side.
A powerful hand clamps over Kotal's face as he is hefted off of his feet, armor rattling and feathers swishing as he is shaken about. Letting out a grunt of annoyed frustration, he throws a wild elbow down toward Necalli's face, missing by half an inch as he is flung away, impacting the sandy beach chest-first with a 'whumPH' and a 'crunch.'
The ground trembles beneath the weight of the fallen god, causing the remnants of the boardwalk overhead to sway even more dangerously. Bits of pulverized wood and fine powdery sand trickle from Kotal's face and chest as he levers himself up to a kneel, casting a thunderous look over his shoulder toward Necalli.
And then the boardwalk collapses on him.
A cascade of thick support beams and lighter boards crumples from the unstable structure, falling in a solid mass of tangled wood right onto the bowed shoulders of the god. The impact is tremendous, a great crash that echoes down the length of the beach. Dust and sand is flung up into an obstructing haze, hiding the crushed warrior from sight. But Necalli can still sense him. Feel his growing power.
The entire mess of boards is sent tumbling away as Kotal surges to his feet, looming through the dust like a red-eyed shadow of nightmare.
"I grow weary of games." he rumbles, tone low and hard, full of tightly contained anger.
One, two steps carry him across the distance toward Necalli, both hands sweeping up to grab the hilt of the saw-bladed Macuahuitl hanging behind his right shoulder. In one, ferocious move he yanks the weapon up, then brings it down in a mighty overhead chop.
'FWWOOOOOOOSH!'
Putting all of his might behind the blow, feet planted and muscles flexed, Kotal attempts to cleave through Necalli, through the sand, through the earth itself. Whether the beast is struck or not, the weapon's impact with the ground will cause the entire beach to jolt, sand bouncing into the air from the force of it.

COMBATSYS: Necalli blocks Kotal's Tenchalli.

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Necalli          0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0            Kotal

[NECALLI]
As the macahuitl falls towards him, Necalli throws his hands up. Kotal probably grins to himself instinctively, if a god is capable of mirth. Yet this is no cowering stance. Necalli raises his hands and /catches/ the macahuitl. It is still strong, but its force is dulled; it still cuts into his hands, carving bloody rends into his palms, but it is no severed limb. Whether Kotal would prefer it to be so or not, he is fighting a fellow god, and their clash will shake the land.

Swerving his body out of the way, Necalli lets the blade go, and it strikes the ground with a phenomenal crash. Shockwaves send sand and wood a good foot into the air around them, and the sound booms and is echoed by the not-so-distant waves; timing a crouching leap, the beast-man sails into the air with it. Necalli's face breaks into a manic grin. "Good-good. You know as well as I do this-is-is is no game."

His hair billows out behind him, and suddenly he changes trajectory; his eyes and scars are beginning to glow red as well, and his outstretched foot is aimed directly for Kotal's chest with a vicious flying kick.

COMBATSYS: Kotal blocks Necalli's Road of the Sun.

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Necalli          1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0            Kotal

[KOTAL]
"WHAM!"
Necalli's descending foot is caught upon the flat of Kotal's blade as the enraged god tears it free of the earth, slashing it upward in a spray of sand to ward off the falling monster. Surrounded by the glittering gold of his helm, the Aztec's greyish green features have grown stony, lips compressed into a tight line of controlled rage.
Swinging his blade in a broad one-handed swipe meant to toss Necalli back, Kotal thrusts his left palm high into the air. Above, lines of bloody red swirl and fall toward the towering being's open hand, gaining mass and texture. All at once, the energy solidifies into an enormously heavy disk of dark grey stone, it's skyward side etched with a skull who's eyes glow bloody red, rim alight with crimson runes.
"You test my patience, pretender. If you think yourself truly one of the gods, show me the power you claim to have."
This vague threat rumbled with all the dignity he can manage despite his mounting anger, Kotal drops the disk to chest height and surges in a tight half circle, whipping the enormous disk backhand like a Frisbee. Its mass is such that the air is forced out of its path with a loud 'Whooooof', runes blurring into a single line as it spins through the air toward Necalli's head. If it impacts, it will detonate in an enormous explosion of burning crimson energy and rock fragments, causing the air itself to tremble with thunder.

COMBATSYS: Kotal issues a challenge!!

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Necalli          1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0            Kotal

COMBATSYS: Necalli Toughs Out Kotal's Sunstone EX!

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Necalli          1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0            Kotal

[NECALLI]
The incoming stone disc strikes hard and true; although Necalli raises his hands to protect his head, the disc nonetheless pushes him back for an unbelievable distance. Sand and dirt go flying, raising a veritable sandstorm in the disc's wake, making it hard to see. There's a sound of metal crushing, even, as Necalli is forced backwards into an old popcorn cart, abandoned piece of amusement park equipment, forgotten this far out from the boardwalk proper.

When the dust clears, Necalli, beaten and bruised, his palms still bleeding (moreso now), flings the disc to the side. There is a clank, then another, then another. The gold bands that bind his braids fall to the ground, and his hair - now a vibrant red, glowing as brightly as his eyes and scars, almost hard to look at - spreads out behind him, floating in the air of its own free will.

"I will show you," he growls, his guttural voice raising gradually to a crescendo. "I am the jaws of death!" His movements are faster now that he is unleashed, and he again comes for Kotal with that deadly grip. Should he succeed, the Aztec god will find himself on the receiving end of multiple brutal slams - including into that same popcorn cart - before a flurry of slashes finishes the combo.

"Devour-our-our!" Necalli howls, his voice echoing.

COMBATSYS: Necalli successfully hits Kotal with Ceremony of Honor.

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Necalli          0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>--\1            Kotal

[KOTAL]
Standing tall and imposing, scars and eyes alight with crimson energy and saw-bladed sword held loosely in one hand, Kotal gazes through the rising dust cloud toward his distant opponent. Though he can sense his growing energy, all the Aztec can see at first is a bloody glow as his foe finally releases the limits of his true power. It is only when Necalli comes bounding through the haze, hair flying and glowing scars mirroring his own, that Kotal gets a good look at what he has become.
"Abomination..." Kotal breathes, only now realizing just how far this once mortal has gone.
Necalli's charge hits the gold-clad god like an oncoming train, knocking the sword from his hand and carrying him back a good 3 feet. Even still, the devourer can feel his prey's muscles tensing, inhumanly sturdy bones absorbing the impact as he is slammed back-first into the sand. Again, and again the god is slung about, body smashed through wood and steel, debris flying away as the earth shakes from the blows.
Coming to rest with his back imbedded in the collapsed steel of an old ride, metal bars bent around his heavy frame, Kotal brings his muscular arms in, catching the repeated slashes on golden bracers and tensed biceps rather than having his guts torn out. Sparks fly, metal shrieks, and above, the sky begins to turn red.
Summoned to the call of the god of war, all the violent tribute offered from this fight, and every fight throughout the world swirls into being above the beach, filling the entirety of the sky with an ominous red light. The amount of energy on display is staggering, lighting the area in its bloody glow.
"Is that all?" Kotal practically purrs. He is beaten, savaged, but the light in his now blazing red eyes is anything but defeated.
Metal grinds and falls away as Kotal shoves himself upward, massive hands lashing out in an attempt to grab Necalli roughly by the throat. The energy swirling visibly above grows agitated, drifting lower as Kotal bares his blocky white teeth down at Necalli, sending an absolutely massive pulse of chi surging down the length of both arms...

COMBATSYS: Kotal successfully hits Necalli with Soleil.

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Necalli          1/----<<</<<<<<<<|>------\-------\0            Kotal

The burning wave of chi exits Kotal's palms like a stream of lava, blazing directly into Necalli's throat as the enraged god squeezes tighter and tighter, teeth pulling back in a snarl of pure fury. Giving his monstrous opponent a couple of vicious shakes, he suddenly lurches forward and hauls him into the air high overhead, before bringing him smashing down into the sand with enough force to blast the tide out a good 15 feet, earth trembling beneath them.
"HRAAAAH!"
Gone is the dignified speech, the godly presence. Necalli, through his own bloody mindedness, seems to have flipped some primal switch in the war god's brain, releasing the primordial beast within.
WHAM!'
Having lifted both fists overhead, Kotal brings them pounding down on Necalli like a berserk gorilla, deepening the crater they have already created. Then, rage finally seeming to subside, the ancient warrior reaches down and grabs Necalli by the waist, hoisting him once more high, high overhead.
Offering him up to the sky above, Kotal brings the full might of war crashing down upon them both. The energy that had been hovering above condenses into a single, impossibly bright column of light before blazing downward, scorching through Necalli's body and into the war god beneath. And while this is likely quite painful for the devourer, the wash of energy seems to invigorate his towering opponent, causing many of the slashes and gouges in his arms and chest to burn closed, leaving only fresh scars in their wake.

[NECALLI]
Necalli realizes, all too late, that he has met his match.

The chi flooding his body overwhelms his senses, flooding his nerves with pain, and at first, all he can see is white. He briefly wonders if Mother Earth has reclaimed his body, until the crack and creak of bones being pummeled and broken by the animalistic rage of Kotal - of Huitzilopotchli - proves he is alive to endure more punishment...which is exactly what Kotal does. The war god never disappoints. Necalli's attempts to withstand the damage serve only to keep him conscious and aware of all of it, of every iota of pain, and when Kotal stands at last to absorb his tribute, Necalli stares at him from the ground with one eye - the other being completely covered in blood, much like the rest of him. Still, that red glow remains.

Slowly - agonizingly - he pushes himself to his feet. It probably shouldn't even be possible just from a physical standpoint, much less through the pain, but he does. He spits blood into the sand; the crimson stain matches the unholy glow in the sky. "Go then."

He draws his right hand back, now stained entirely vermillion and writhing with a foul black energy. "Collect-ect-ect your prize, champion." Necalli seems to gather himself, drawing on the very last reserves of energy he has, unbelievably pushing him towards Kotal. Won't this thing stay down?

Forming his right hand into a claw, he rakes four lines of blood chi across Kotal's chest, reopening the newly-formed scars, attempting to flood the old god with his own essence. "And carry my energy-gy with you -- Huitzilpotchli!" Hit or miss, the blood rage leaves him afterwards, leaving him very much ... well, not quite human, but definitely a shadow of what he just was.

COMBATSYS: Kotal just-defends Necalli's Soul Offering!

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Necalli          0/-------/-------|>------\-------\0            Kotal

[KOTAL]
Looming above Necalli, battle scarred, battered, but standing tall as the god of war should, Huitzilopotchli glowers down at the red-haired monster as he drags himself once more to his feet. Steam rises in curling tendrils from the enormous warrior's bulky frame, the light of his ritual scars having died to a dim glow. Heat still radiates from his turquoise skin, not unlike the lingering warmth of a sun-baked stone. He seems anything but pleased, though he is no longer lost to a bestial fury.
The chi-infused claw is given a distasteful glance, and as Necalli lunges forward, Kotal reaches up and catches his wrist. Holding the smaller man in a grinding grip, he stares at the pulsing energy, scowling intensely as he forces the strike further and further away.
"Too long have you stood before me. Take your paltry chi and retreat to the depths where you belong, hidden from the burning gaze of the light."
Scornful insults given, Kotal steps forward, bulky torso twisting into a heavy shoulder thrust meant to catch Nacalli square in the chest and send him staggering back. Releasing the red-haired monster's arm, he swings his free hand around, burning red chi roaring around his fingers as he attempts to deliver a chi-imbued palm strike from hell, to blast the wretched being before him backward into the cold depths of the ocean.

COMBATSYS: Kotal successfully hits Necalli with Mahtizquia.

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Necalli          0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0            Kotal

[NECALLI]
From afar, some people claimed to have seen a falling star. Others disagreed, saying that it had only been something low in the atmosphere that fell. Maybe it was a weather balloon or something; it definitely didn't come from high enough in the sky to be a star. No one really wanted to go check on it, though, as it had been bright red, and that felt like an omen or a warning.

Therefore, no one was around to see Necalli fall directly into the ocean (except Kotal, of course), and no one was around to see him slowly dissolve and disappear into the water like a red mist.

COMBATSYS: Necalli takes no action.

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Kotal            0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Necalli can no longer fight.

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Kotal            0/-------/-----==|

Log created on 16:25:35 11/20/2017 by Kotal, and last modified on 15:32:12 12/05/2017.