Match of the Millennium

Description: Finishing up a test against a wholly unsuitable candidate in Metro City, a chance bit of damage to Abigail's signature monster truck by Laurence Blood forces the man into a confrontation... and earns him an invitation; one that may very well change the course of the Mad Gear thug's future as a fighter. A chance to prove his sheer physical prowess and might to Herr Krauser, in the Halls of Castle Strolheim!

[BLOOD]
Another day, another unworthy opponent... what seemed like a hopeful candidate here in Metro City proved to be anything but, just another upjumped 'warrior' reaching far beyond their station in an attempt to earn an invitation to the prestigious World Warrior tournament.

The Spanish man known as Laurence Blood, former famed Matador and not one of the most capable and loyal Lieutenants in the employ of Wolfgang Krauser, is just wrapping up the most recent 'test' in what has already proven to be a busy week. Some people have been approached by the Strolheim agent, based on their record within the professional fighting circuit, or noble acts on the world stage...

Others, like the man who now lays bleeding and broken near the docks of Metro City, had approached Laurence and somehow cajoled or bluffed their way into making him believe they were - in any way, shape or form - worthy of the honour.

This most recent man had /failed/ in his task, and with a heavy sigh - and an utterly unmarred body, his 'opponent' having not even managed to land a single strike upon the graceful and well-poised Spanish man - Blood folds his blood-red cape neatly over his left forearm once again.

Twirling the hilt of his razor-sharp sword in his right hand, he begins to stroll away from his fallen foe...

"A waste of my time," he states to himself, shaking his head at the very idea that this weak 'fighter' thought himself at all capable of besting a Strolheim Lieutenant.

As he strolls past a massive, yellow-and-green monster truck that is parked rather conspicuously on the street, Blood's mind is on anything but his surroundings...

...no doubt, it's this distracted mind that causes the accident which follows. Moving to place the sword back in the loop on his belt, he slides the blade through - securing it in place...

And, unfortunately, driving the tip into one of the front wheels of the massive vehicle parked alongside him. A whoooosh of air, as the monster truck's one side sinks lower to the ground, the tire flattening out through the significant puncture in the rubber.

That sound manages to snap Laurence out of his disappointed stupor, as he wheels around and takes note of the damage he'd done to the vehicle.

"Oh. A shame..." he mutters to himself, seeming genuine enough - he'd meant no harm to the truck... but certainly, much worse could happen to a vehicle parked on the streets of Metro City.

With that thought, he merely shrugs, and begins to wheel around; he's clearly prepared to just walk away from the damage, thinking no more of the matter, as he goes to track down his next candidate for 'testing'.

[ABIGAIL]
"NOOOOOOO!!!!"

The roar that suddenly peals through the area causes windows to shatter, street lamps to flicker and the ground to shake. A shaking that only continues to increase In intensity and force as heavy kaiju esque *BOOMS* roar forward louder and louder as if something truly and itensily...big..very very big..was making its way closer from somewhere nearby.

When the wall of an abandoned warehouse opposite where truck is literally explodes outward..the source of this roaring disturbance begins to make its presence known. The entire front wall of the structure begin collapsing, sending a huge plume of dust and debris rolling out into the streets as the bellowing continues with its earthquake creating force.

The beastial sound then rolls into a loud, "My..MY VROOOOOM!" blasting apart the rolling dust cloud and revealing a man of such monstrous immensity that his very presence alone rolls across the street like some sort of run away steamroller. Huge and unhappy..Abigail creaks forward, revealing in his passage a long string of broken buildings and walls with his body shape having blasted through them as if he had just finished journey across a full city blocks worth of structures in order to get to this place. Uh..one might even question how he even saw what just happened to his truc.

He stares at that the deflated monster truck, trembling as he approaches slowly, huge hands twitching massive chest in haling huge gouts of air before he finally turns, staring at Blood and then at the sword itself as the final bit of rubber slips from it to drift to the ground near Blood's foot. "..My..vroom?" His voice suddenly and intensely quiet.

[BLOOD]
Laurence has only managed to put a few, long strides between himself and the damaged truck before he hears a roar that wouldn't seem out of place in 'Jurassic Park'; it's not unlike the pained bellow of some grievously wounded animal. It's more than just a noise, the entire /street/ shakes with the impact of each monstrous foot-fall on the pavement below.

The usually calm Lieutenant is actually /startled/ as the wall of a nearby warehouse is blown out in a shower of building material and dust; taking a half-step back as he discovers the source of that unnaturally loud roar... and another half-step back, when he realizes it's the /owner/ of the truck he'd just accidentally popped a tire on.

"... ... ..."

At first there is no response forthcoming from the Spanish man, simply shaking his head once; as if in disbelief at the sight that presents itself before him. He runs those brown eyes up and down the /impossibly/ tall (to say nothing of his width!), grieving man that towers high above him.

Even at nearly 6-and-a-half-feet, Blood finds himself - finally - staring hiiiigh up into Abigail's face... for a moment, his expression betrays no emotion. It's as though he were trying to wake himself up from a dream, utterly unwilling to believe that the vehicle he just damaged belongs to /this/ man.

Just his luck.

Finally, he offers an almost sheeping, embarrassed smile to the Mad Gear thug - both hands come up in a 'what can you do' type gesture... it looks almost comical coming from the usual proper and reserved Strolheim administrator.

That gesture completed, it might be noticeable to Abigail that his right hand moves back to the loop on his belt, coming to rest on the hilt of that razor-sharp sword... Laurence realizes right away - although he doesn't recognize this man - that this encounter could turn ugly in an instant.

In fact, it's almost guaranteed to do so.

/But/, he still has that single invitation tucked away inside the pocket of his vest. And, perhaps, such an /imposing/ figure might be of interest to his Master, Wolfgang Krauser.

It's possibly, he concludes, that this visit to Metro City might not have been entirely in-vain.

"My apologies, sir," he begins, his manner and voice regaining it's usually calmly confident tone as he offers a quarter-bow to Abigail - a minor apology for the damage caused.

"I'm certain, if you give me your information, Herr Krauser would be willing to compensate you for the damage I caused to your vehicle..."

Yes. That will /definitely/ work to defuse the situation..

"Or... we might settle this /another/ way," he adds quickly, wondering if this towering figure might recognize him as an employee of the man throwing the latest World Warriour Tournament. There's been no shortage of strangers approaching him on the street - by design or by accident - in an effort to win one of those priceless invitations.

COMBATSYS: Abigail has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Abigail          0/-------/-------|

[ABIGAIL]
During Blood's monologue, Abigail's attention drifts back to his truck and he turns slightly, eyes still wide and body trembling as he looks at the wheel and the massive custom rig as it lists helplessly over on its side.

The earth shudders as he lumbers forward, reaches a single hand down under the chassis of the immense truck, and then lifts. Metal groans, cement crumbles and the ground shakes as the truck is hauled upwards in a freakish display of brute strength. Abigails arm bulges titanically a bicep bulging to the size of a buick as he lifts the truck upright and peers at it more closely in search of signs of damage..

"My four thousand dollar custom cut BKT rigged tire..." he wheezes as if he were in the middle of a Sanford and Son style heart attack. Indeed they can cost that much per tire. The average is perhaps closer to the middle 2k range but Abigail works with all things custom and each tire must be specially crafted and cut for even the 'average' monster truck, let alone the beasts that he hand creates like some sort of idiot savant and genius mechanical engineer that would likely be bounced back to middle school if he tried most other forms of craft and trade.

A loud *BOOM* occurs as he roughly sets the truck back down, apparently to dazed in his mind to care about additional scuffing here and there and he turns on Blood, re focusing to hear what he has to say at the end of it all. "..Another way?" he sounds confused at first. Then his deep voice roars, "Another way!? I'll crush you like a can!!"

The ground lurches violently as the brute begins charging forward at Blood. It's less a 'charge' and more of a...brisk jog? He's so huge it's hard to tell. He's coming closer and closer but there's this bizarre inability to gauge just when the right time to get away might rise given how immense he is.

Suddenly..HUGE FIST, WHAT THE--!! Abigail's massive limb hurtles at Blood, compressing the air violently ahead of it with brute force.

COMBATSYS: Blood has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Blood            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Abigail

COMBATSYS: Blood blocks Abigail's Dynamite Punch.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Blood            0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0          Abigail

[BLOOD]
As Abigail's eyes move back over to that truck, resting slightly lower to the ground on one side thanks to that deflated tire, Laurence already /knows/ the direction this encounter is heading. As the gargantuan man heads back over towards the vehicle and - amazingly - /lifts/ it clean off the ground, the sword is already being removed from it's place on his belt.

Clearing his throat into the balled fist of his left hand, blood-red cape still draped over that forearm, he shuffles back another step away from Abigail. Resting loosely on the balls of his feet, the man's body shuffles swiftly into a graceful fighting stance, spinning the hilt of that sword in his right hand with well-practiced skill.

Eyes widen as he witnesses the bulging and tightening of Abigail's massive frame, the bicep muscles as large as a normal man's head... it's an impressive sight, even for a man used to serving a titan such as Wolfgang Krauser. He wonders, idly, just how well this beast in front of him might fare in a duel with the Head of House Strolheim... certainly, he would lose, but the idea still /interests/ him.

What would happen if one of those ham-sized fists struck the iron-flesh of Herr Krauser? Perhaps, should the fight he /knows/ is about to occur show an impressive performance on Abigail's part, he will have the opportunity to find out.

Or perhaps he will prove to be another let-down; just like so many other, failed warriors already have. Something tells him, though, that this shouldn't be his primary concern...

"As I said /already/," states Blood, his tone nothing but polished professionalism, "I would be more than happy to--"

That statement is cut short, suddenly, at the BOOM of the truck being placed - with seemingly little care - back upon the pavement... and at the threat that follows.

So much for having the damages charged to House Strolheim; it seems like Abigail is more interested in taking the cost for the repairs out of Laurence Blood's hide, in flesh and blood. The ground shakes underfoot, as the Mad Gear goon begins to jog forward... that massive stride carries him closer with startling speed for a man his size.

And yet, when the gigantic fish suddenly lashes out towards him, Laurence seems ready for it. None of the terror or intimidation that one might expect from a man facing down such a humongous foe; he simply lifts his left forearm - the blood-rape cape fluttering in the wind kicked up by Abigail's titantic steps - into the path of the blow.

One might expect such a forceful punch to knock him aside, and yet... and forearm is able to absorb the majority of the impact. Of course, it /does/ send a rattling shockwave up and down his more slender, lithe frame - his feet skidding back a foot or two from the force - but he maintain his stance almost perfectly.

After the impact is finished running through his body, Laurence lowers that cape-draped forearm and offers a small smirk up towards Abigail.

"Another way, then," he states politely, before dashing forward and spinning on one heel to aim a savage elbow-strike towards what would /normally/ be chest level, but only comes up to the midsection on the towering Abigail... should he strike cleanly, the graceful Spaniard will twirl again on one heel and follow up with a palm-thrust towards the exact same spot on his foe's body.

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Blood's Bloody Palm.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Blood            0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
The fact that his fist didn't immediately turn Blood into a ..well..bloody pulped mess..isn't lost on the colossus and he raises an eyebrow slightly , feeling Blood yield into and sustain the force of the blow even as Abigail's huge body skids forward slightly before digging to a stop.

"AND your silly sounding house of..of..Stroll..stroll..heim..will pay for the damages to!" he adds as Laurence leans forward and presses in to deliver a counter strike of his own.

The palm impacts against Abigail's sizable belly, slamming into the brutes broad midsection and quaking the muscle there which tightens, absorbing the shockwave that would certainly flatten another man if not send them flying backwards.

Abigail's fist remains planted where it is, held at bay by Blood as Abigail considers him and the force of the counter attack. "Hmm...don't I know you?" he muses before suddenly surging forward with that self same fist, bearing down on Blood with it and at the last second extending one of his tree branch sized fingers in a thunderous finger flicks that carries with it enough strength to knock even a giant the size of Abigail into the air should it strike!

COMBATSYS: Blood blocks Abigail's Red Leaf.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Blood            0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0          Abigail

[BLOOD]
"Strolheim," comes the swift correction from Laurence, allowing himself a low chuckle at the hulking man's struggle with pronouncing the name of that esteemed Germanic House. It seems almost unbelievable to him that the legends of Wolfgang Krauser haven't reached /every/ corner of the globe... but, amazingly or not, there are many who pay little attention to such affairs. Only within the professional fighting circuit is the name of Strolheim the stuff of legends.

He can feel a jolt run up his entire limb as his blows strike the man's almost impossibly muscled midsection. He thinks briefly, to himself, that perhaps opening with his /sword/ might have been a wiser idea against such a titanic foe. But his honour and noble bearing means that he rarely opens such a 'test' with deadly intent, regardless of how potent a force his opponent might prove to be.

And /this/ warrior - if he could even be called that, perhaps more a brawler than anything else - certainly seems potent indeed. A single finger-flick is unleashed towards Krauser's Lieutenant, and it's only the rising of /both/ his forearms into it's path that prevents him from being sent flying in the opposite direction. Instead, the bones and joints within those limbs groan and shock in protest at being forced to absorb such a shockwave of force.

All that... from a single flick of the finger... impressive, to be sure. If this man had been known in the official fighting scene, he might have merited an invitation based on raw physical power /alone/...

...but, since he doesn't appear to have any official record to speak of within the ring, he will have to /earn/ his invitation - like so many others have tried, and failed, to do.

Even with his timely block of the attack headed his way, the shockwave and velocity of the impact is enough to take his feet off the ground... fortunately, he's able to make it as graceful as one can possibly expect in the circumstances. It looks more like a simple hop backwards, landing on the ground a few feet away.

"You may have heard of me. I am employed by Master Wolfgang Krauser. The World Warrior Tournament...?" he says, a vague question in those last words, wondering if Abigail had heard of the upcoming tourney. Many normal citizens - outside the fighting circuit - have no doubt heard of the impending day... heard of the agents of Strolheim who were sent out into the wide world, to test all comers.

He offers no further clarification at this point, as he falls into a sudden crouch before leaping up and back /towards/ that titantic brute towering in front of him. Once his leap reaches an apex, his right hand - clutching tight to the hilt of that sword - swipes out, aiming a downward, diagonal slash towards Abigail's shoulder with the tip of that deadly blade.

COMBATSYS: Blood successfully hits Abigail with Bloody Axle.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Blood            0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
%Well -that- lands, though it doesn't exactly cause a spray of blood or a gout of violence to take place. Instead the blade travels forcibly along the gigantic brute, landing and striking true, but also contending against his impossibly huge physique, further hardened from dealing with the force of grinding metal, gears, and cutting edges caused by wrestling and working bare handed in a scrap yard. That doesn't prevent the shockwave of pain from rocketing through the behemoths immense form though and Abigail staggers, dropping back a step to try and pull away from the slashing blade while gritting his teeth in pain..

"Yeah!" he rumbles, "Now I know where I've seen you before!" He falls backwards almost as if coiling up like a spring and then he surges forward again, his massive body twisting around as he swings a tree trunk dwarfing limb around to try and catch Blood before the swift fighter can settle himself after the last attack. This is followed up with another attack as Abigail continues spinning, bringing his other arm up in a wide sweeping uppercut. "Buncha folk trying to see who has the most horsepower!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail knocks away Blood with Abi Twist.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Blood            0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0          Abigail

[BLOOD]
Immense strength, ultra dense muscles, a thick hide... it seems this brute, for all his lack of grace and style, has /many/ of the qualities that define some of the strongest fighters in the world.

Perhaps with a bit of training, he could raise himself to the level of a True Warrior. Still, to say that Laurence isn't impressed with what he's seen in this brief encounter would be a lie. To stumble upon such an impressive and imposing brawler, seemingly by random happenstance, seems almost too much a coincidence to dismiss out-of-hand.

Is it possible, he was meant to be here today? So fresh off defeating that unworthy opponent down by the docks, /accidentally/ puncturing one of this man's tires... maybe fate had decided that this individual deserves to be present in the Halls of Castle Strolheim when the tournament begins?

There can be no doubt that Krauser would be, at the very least, /amused/ with such unrefined power - it might be, even, that he would take it upon himself to shape the man into something greater... or just leave him broken on the stone floors of that prestigious House.

Landing in another crouch after unleashing that sudden slash at Abigail, Laurence rises back to his full height and stares up at the face of that impossibly-tall man. He's watching every twitch of those gigantic muscles, waiting on the next assault that is inevitably headed his way...

...but the towering individual is /too fast/, his massive stride carrying him towards Blood before he even has a chance to fully recover from the crouch.

The monstrous limb smashes into the Spaniard's side, knocking the air out of him as he staggers to one side... only to be caught by an immediate uppercut that takes his feet clear off the pavement below...

Hurtling backwards through the air, it is only a timely spin mid-flight that allows him to land on one knee - rather than smashing down onto his spine, as one might expect.

Raising the back of one forearm to his mouth, Laurence wipes away a small trail of blood that the titanic impact left dripping out the side of his mouth.

And he... smiles. Yes, this trip was hardly without results - although they have come from an entirely unexpected contender.

"Indeed..." he finally says, in response to Abigail's statement - a crude way to put such a prestigious event as The World Warrior, perhaps, but whatever helps the man understand what he might have to gain from this battle.

"A gathering of the fastest. The strongest," he begins, the hilt of that sword twirling expertly in his right hand as he continues, "The most /skilled/. Under one roof. To determine... who is /worthy/ of Herr Krauser's attention."

At those last words, he thrusts the tip of his sword into the air - pointing it directly at the massive Mad Gear thug. There's a sudden rush of wind and invisible energy that suddenly comes off the tip of that blade, spiraling up Laurence's arm, through his entire body. It fills him with a fresh, renewed vigor and resolve...

He simply... waits. Waits for this gargantuan fighter to make their next move. Let him prove himself worthy - he certainly has the raw material to make the cut. Such sheer, physical /power/ was rare enough in this disappointing world...

COMBATSYS: Blood gathers his will.

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Blood            1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
Abigail is not as unaware as maybe he leads on. He's single minded, focused, but still has some inkling of the world around him. A diamond in the rough, perhaps. Some training, the right mentor..or more importantly..the right type of promotion..would put him out there and possibly make him one of the most famous individuals in the world. His size and strength alone are pure spectacle, on a level that have not been seen by most people before. With the right direction?? Who knows!?
And yet he has seemingly been content with his business and his hobbies here in the bay area. -Seemingly-. He is not without ambition and the World Warrior tournament did catch his attention..its just..hard to focus on that with his truck sitting so despondent and deflated behind him."A buncha psychopaths with their ninja-this and psycho-that!" Abigail slams his huge fists, producing a thunderous shockwave that shatters nearby windows and rocks the ground violently as if just a hint of the giants strength.

"They're all flaaaaat! Like my tire!!" He slams a massive fist to his chest. Vibrating the area with the force of the slam.

"Fine then!! You want to see some horsepower! I'll show you that my engines are primed and running at max power!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail VROOOOOMS!!!

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Blood            1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1          Abigail

[BLOOD]
The mention of 'psychopaths' and 'ninjas' in the same sentence, brings a low chuckle from deep within Laurence Blood's usually humourless body. Ahhh, if this man only knew the truth of his words. And, if honour would allow him to speak ill of a fellow Lieutenant to an outsider, he might even speak words of agreement in regards to one 'ninja' in particular...

Eiji Kisaragi, a fellow warrior in the employ of House Strolheim - but one who Laurence bears no small amount of ill will towards. His psychopathic nature, his lack of moral qualms, his willingness to murder out of hand... indeed, there are many fighters who - skillful they might be - are hardly worthy of such an honour of attending Castle Strolheim, let alone being one of Krauser's Lieutenants.

Truth be told, he feels he has far more in common with a simple, humble man such as Abigail - unrefined as he might be - than the bloodthirsty sorts of which he speaks...

That promise, to show Laurence his 'max power', might otherwise bring another chuckle, or a smirk - with it's bizarre truck-themed talk of engines and horsepower... but he doesn't laugh. He doesn't even smile, simply raising an eyebrow and offering a small bow in response to the thunderous shockwave unleashed by the man's slammed fists.

"Yes, /show/ me," he says, his voice intense and utterly focused, obviously interested in seeing just what this titan is /truly/ capable of.

"But first, let me show /you/ the might of House Strolheim!"

With that promise, he rushes forward - a blur of movement, sweeping his cape around his graceful form to disguise much of the motion of his body... concealing his zigs and zags along the pavement underfoot. Then, as he finishes clearing the distance, Blood pulls the cape away; the tip of that sword comes up and slashes through the air, in a flurry of strikes aimed up and down the massive frame of Abigail.

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Blood's Bloody Flash.

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Blood            0/-------/-----==|=======\=====--\1          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
"Hrugh...he's got a lot of pep in that motor.." admits Abigail as his eyes dart back and forth to try and keep pace with the zig zag blur of red that Blood transforms into. He holds his ground though, waiting, thinking, bracing himself until with an explosion of movement and a flurry of steel, the Strolheim herald is upon him.

Abigail drops back a pace, thundering the ground as his vast weight slams back down earthwards and both of his fore arms lift up to cross infront of him as he turtles into a defense stance. The blade slashes rain upon him, welting his super hardened skin and searing against the engorged muscles with a whiplash of steel.

Then, at the last second, his enormous arm lunges out, a hand big enough to wrap around a gorilla's waist lunging for Laurence's legs, intending to up end the swordsman and then hurtle him around violently in an effort to slam him against a nearby oil drum, then the ground and then fling him away skywards should the blow land.

"YEAH!" he roars, "I'm high octane and with a full tank!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail successfully hits Blood with Repeated Slams.
Grazing Hit

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Blood            0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1          Abigail

[BLOOD]
If he were a less polite and properly comported individual, Blood might start to mock Abigail for the constant vehicular metaphors; instead, he simply watches the movements of that hulking man through both of his keen brown eyes...even Krauser would be dwarfed by the size and - perhaps - raw physical might of this towering individual. That in itself is no small feat; it's a wonder that Mad Gear doesn't seem to understand the potential of this brawler... were they to harness him properly, perhaps their hold could be extended far beyond the confines of Metro City and into the world at large.

It might be a fortunate thing that he seems to be stuck in his current position; for given proper training, and underlings to order around, there's no telling the havok that Abigail could wreak. Certainly he would do a far better job of things than that foolish faux-samurai 'Katana'... but that's hardly any of Laurence's business, simply an observation based upon what he knows of the Gang, and his opponent's performance thus far in the fight.

As the massive man rushes back in, seemingly undeterred by the rain of sword-slashes that cut up and down the length of those gigantic fore-arms, Blood's eyes widen in some slight surprise - but showing an impressed gaze, rather than any real concern. After all, in the employ of House Strolheim, one must /always/ be willing to die in the heat of battle; Wolfgang Krauser would allow no less from his loyal employees.

That gigantic, all-encompassing palm grabs his leg... Laurence tries to pull the limb back, but the grip is strong enough to crush steel bars - and he finds himself utterly /trapped/. A small scoff leaves his lips, before he's sent flailing through the air - his back impacting a nearby oil drum (there seems to be no shortage of these laying around Metro City...) and sending the heavy, metal object flying into a nearby wall...

...but that's not the end of his journey, as he comes swinging /back/ around and landing face-first on the ground, scraping his tanned skin against the harsh asphalt. Those two savage impacts as still ricocheting through Abigail's body as he's tossed directly /up/ into the air.

Only skill prevents him from plummeting back down to the earth from the apex of the toss... as he descends down through the air, his free hand - the one not clutching onto that sword for dear life - grips a street lamp. Spinning around it, he comes into a crouch directly on top of the towering object - for the first time in the fight, looking /down/ upon Abigail as he wipes more blood away from his face... fortunately, his cape is already blood-red, so there's little worry about staining the material.

"Very impressive, stranger! I wonder, what /is/ your name?" he asks from his perch high above... and leaves it unspoken - 'why haven't I /heard/ of you before?'

Seems that many unusually strong individuals are crawling out of the woodwork these days! No doubt Krauser will be pleased, when he makes his next report... the strongest in the /world/, is what his Master seeks... and he will give him no less, than the most promising candidates!

A jump, and a forward flip through the air, carries him over the head of the Mad Gear thug - one hand flashing into his belt and producing a hidden blade, which he throws down towards Abigail's shoulders before landing in a crouch a few feet in front of him.

Perhaps a more subtle, /unexpected/ approach is called for, when facing a fighter of such imposing physicality?

COMBATSYS: Abigail endures Blood's Thrown Weapon.

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Blood            0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
The knife spirals through the air, flashing light from its blade as it arcs out towards Abigail who strides forward right into it. The blade thunks thickly into canyon like depths of his shoulder muscles, but does little to nothing to slow the giant down and he continues to bear down towads Krauser like some sort of unstoppable machine, slowing just long enough to reach up and flick the knife free with his huge fingers.

"You're probably wondering why I'm not to known outside of Metro City." He rumbles, reading into Blood quite easily on that matter. Perhaps it's a question that's been posed quite often to the goliath. Perhaps he's tiring of hearing it. "Mad Gear did me a solid and now those days are done. Now I'm a successful business owner trying to build a business! Abigail's Scrap Metal!" he pauses long enough to pose, bringing both of his huge arms down around infront of him in a horrifically gigantic most muscular pose that looks capable of grinding the biggest Darkstalker into a toothpick. "Can't a man be satisfied with the simple things!"

He straightens and pauses for a moment before pointing at Blood, "But you know? Maybe you psychopaths are right and there is something to this world warrior stuff. EXPOSURE! So I'm going to get me one of these invitations..and show the world what a true engineering and modding genius is capable of!"

At that his skin suddenly turns beet red. Literally. Steam starts rising off of it and billowing through his ears. A shockwave of force ripples out, shaking buildings to their foundations as Abigail's prodigious body..swells bigger and bigger and bigger! It's like he's inflating, becoming an even larger mountain of sinew and just when it seems he can't get any larger, he does! "You can't run away!" he rumbles while suddenly lunging forward and looming high overhead with a vast palm that descends downward towards Blood with enough force to shake the entire city block.

COMBATSYS: Blood narrowly escapes Abigail's Abigail Special!

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Blood            0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0          Abigail

[BLOOD]
Landing in a crouch on the ground, Laurence stands up and spins on his heel to, once again, face the towering figure in front of him. A slight smirk plays over the Spaniard's face, as his opponent seems to pick up on that unasked question... the answer which the man provides brings a raised eyebrow in response.

Such strength, and yet he seems utterly satisfied with a relatively humble life? It's a feeling which Laurence himself is familiar with; at one point in his life, he walked away from the cheers of the audience in the bullfighting ring, and took up humble employ under a far greater man... a long-time administrator of House Strolheim's daily affairs, the only reason he ever goes forth into the world is to carry out the business of his Master.

And here is a man, who could shake the earth with his fists, speaking about the simple things. Happy, seemingly, with owning a business... and yet, he /too/ knows that he's capable of far greater things. In an odd way, Abigail is precisely the sort of man who Laurence has been looking for with every test he's carried out thus far.

So many of these fighters are lunatics, or arrogant madmen, or smug, cock-sure fools who think themselves true 'warriors'. Here is a man - a brute brawler, certainly - who at least knows his place, and seems content in it.

Yet deep down, the soul of a warrior; Laurence would tell him, if he were the sort to pay compliments to strangers, that he /too/ knows Abigail is capable of so much more than simply working for Mad Gear, or operating his own business. This man, properly trained... well, who knows what potential he might reach?

"I do believe, you might /receive/ one," he states, just shy of a compliment or a promise - he still must carry his way through the remainder of the bout, after all.

Blood doesn't get the chance to say much more than that, as Abigail's skin suddenly turns a bright, crimson red... /that/ can't be a good sign! Already those long, graceful muscles of the Spaniard are coiling in preparation.

'You can't run away!'

Perhaps so. Rather, he /rolls/ away, to the side - and only narrowly missing the blow that surely would've flattened him to the pavement... the impact shakes up and down the street, tearing apart asphalt from the shockwave alone - to say nothing of the crater left by his palm.

Coming to in an unstable stance - the ground still shaking underfoot - Laurence grits his teeth and widens his boots... again, the hilt of that sword is twirled around his right hand swiftly... and then, once more, he thrusts it towards Abigail with a sudden movement.

That same rush of energy seems to run up the length of the man's arms, filling him with a renewed energy - as though that very act alone was enough to breathe new life into his already-battered frame.

"Ole!"

With that sudden shout, learned from his years spent as a Matador - more a course of habit than anything else - he rushes forward again, stabbing that tip wildly into the air, veering back and forth... once he closes the distance, he slashes up and down the man's mighty frame, trying to spin back and forth to vary the path and direction of the thrusts.

COMBATSYS: Abigail interrupts Armed Combo from Blood with Abi Lift.
*KNOCKED AWAY*

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Blood            0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
Red like an engine about to explode, seemingly twice his previous size.. slow...very slow. Abigail's movements seem to have some sort of delayed sluggishness to them that can throw the pacing and the thinking of a faster opponent off. When do you block? When is he going to strike? Should you stand there and try and take it? To the trained eye it becomes rather clear that these movements are due to the brutes raw power and a sense of coiling winding motion that races in accordance to his own sense of timing.

As such when Laurence comes in for the strike, Abigail is still coiling backwards, twisting his body away from the crater he formed from his previous missed attack - and then suddenly unfurling into a winding hulking backfist that blurs around aiming to arc up and at Blood to send the spainard soaring through the air once again.

"KABOOOM!" roars Abigail. Seismometers elsewhere in Metro City continue to trigger and ring their notes and alarms, picking up the movements of the local muscled kaiju.

[BLOOD]
Those hulking motions of Abigail's massive body, the almost-constant twitching of muscles in that titantic form, make it difficult for the otherwise keen eyes of Laurence to determine when the next attack is coming... half the time it just appears like the man is heaving with breaths, rather than about to lash out with another one of those gigantic limbs.

Such is the case when that limb and spinning in his direction; the size of the man's arm, along with Blood's exertion from dodging the last monstrous palm-blow, leave him entirely unprepared to do /anything/ but take the street-shaking impact dead in the chest.

Hurtling backwards, he slams into the wall of a nearby warehouse - almost breaking /through/ the brick, as Abigail did earlier to make his initial entrance... as it is, the force of his body impacting the hard material merely leaves a solid dent - along with the crumbling of brick, dust falling down onto the pavement below.

The Spaniard lets out his first show of pain in the entire battle, groaning slightly as he struggles to get air back into his lungs; he falls forward onto both knees, only remaining propped up due to that palm which is pressed firmly on the ground below.

For the man sent out into the world to find candidates worthy of Krauser's attention, that last attack truly settled the matter. He would be doing his Master - /and/ Abigail - a great disservice by not providing him with an invitation to the World Warrior...

...despite the fact that his mind is already made up on the matter, a servant to House Strolheim can do nothing /but/ fight to the bitter end. Not to the death, certainly, not in a mere 'test' - it would be a waste of his life to throw it away on such... but until he can no longer strike with such vicious accuracy and strength, at the /very/ least.

A worthy opponent deserves no less!

Chuckling low, Blood coughs blood onto the ash-gray ground below his face... and manages to stand back up, despite the aching throb running up and down his spine from smashing into the brick so harshly. He's /still/ holding onto that cape and sword, as though the items were attached to his body in some way that made them almost impossible to disarm.

No words. Not anymore.

Now, he simply rushes forward - the blade of his sword suddenly wreathed, from hilt to tip, in a flashing, bright blue chi. Charging /straight/ ahead at the massive Mad Gear brawler, he rolls and comes to a crouch just in front of him - slashing out and up eight times, as that chi energy hopefully aids him in piercing the man's thick hide.

COMBATSYS: Blood successfully hits Abigail with Bloody Slash.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Blood            0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
Well then, there we go.

The blinding flash of chi. The brilliant sonic speed of the slashes. The bright burning blue energy. Abigail's attempts to brace his body and bring his huge arms around, but it's to little, to slow and the attack lands home. His clothes are tattered, the tire bands around his arms split apart and the chains holding the donut sized tires against his sides are all sundered and that's not to mention the slashes that welt their way onto the billboard like canvas of his skin. He's not a blood mess, no, but that did something to him and finally pierced the wall of his seemingly impenetrable defenses.

He falls back a step, wobbling abit and regaining his posture before rumbling, "It's a dead heat! But I'm pulling ahead!"

Again he lunges forward, hurtling his vast frame at Blood and stomping the ground, caving in a massive sinkhole around him. His huge fist hurtles around, arcing down low and then forward at Blood in a huge body checking gut punch of a blow as the brute roars, "Abaaiiiiiilll PUNCH!!"

COMBATSYS: Blood blocks Abigail's Abigail Punch.

[                           \\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Blood            0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0          Abigail

Upon landing, Abigail's massive blow lifts his opponent up, above his own head height and is followed by another strike, and then another and then another and then another in a rapid fire series of blurring punches in stark defiance to how immense the man is. "Didididididid V8!!!" he roars, finishing the last blow with a double fist hammerblow uppercut meant to send Blood flying even -higher- and then back away from the colossus.

[BLOOD]
The sinkhole that suddenly appears in the middle of the street (one can only imagine the amount of time the city spends repairing the carnage left by this guy!) sends Laurence stumbling forward, suddenly losing his footing and beginning to trip and fall towards his gargantuan opponent.

Of course, it sends him /directly/ into the path of that massive gut punch, which sends a spray of spittle and blood coming out of Laurence's mouth - along with whatever oxygen might have been in his lungs. He visibly winces in agony at the blow that could likely send a bus hurtling through the air - and doubtlessly kill any lesser man, to boot.

That's just the beginning of the pain that awaits, as the blow lifts him up high into the air... where he's juggled up, up, and still further up by a combination of massive, body-shaking blows that seem /dangerously/ close to breaking something /important/ inside the Spaniard's aching body... that last, double-fisted hammer blow sends him up even further - almost /impossibly/ high... and this time, there's no mid-air flip to recover from it.

He lands on the pavement /hard/, a sizeable distance away... but, to his credit, he's not down for /long/; although his recovery is hardly graceful, he still manages to stumble onto shaky feet, vision swaying back and forth almost as much as his unstable body.

"Well..." starts Laurence, coughing loudly once into his palm - which he pulls away to reveal glistening, bright, sticky crimson fluid - before he continues, "You've earned your place, in the halls of Castle Strolheim... if you wish it, still."

The only other signal that the man has sufficiently impressed Krauser's Lieutenant is a sudden flick of his wrist, which sends the invitation - pinned to the end of a dagger hidden within his vest - being tossed forward with great speed and precision...

...into the other, /unpunctured/ front tire of man's monster truck. That, too, deflates quickly with a hissssss of air.

It might be enough to get Abigail's attention; and if it does, it might prove to be a mistake on the Mad Gear thug's part, as Blood is already dashing back towards him by the time that dagger is out of his hand... one last attempt to show the man what a servant of House Strolheim is truly capable of.

Long strides carry him towards the titanic warrior, and he sliiiides on the ground the last few feet, aiming to dash through him with one last stab of that razor-sharp sword. It should be enough to carry him to the other side of the brute; and if it's uninterrupted, he will /continue/ to run, leaping onto the hood of a nearby parked vehicle, then up onto a lamp-post, then a rooftop.

An oddly ninja-like exit for the Matador but... well... he doesn't want to stick around to handle the consequences of that second, newly punctured tire. If Abigail got /this/ upset over one, Blood would /hate/ to see what he does after /two/.

COMBATSYS: Blood can no longer fight.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Abigail          0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Blood successfully hits Abigail with Bloody Saber.
- Power hit! -

[                        \\\\\\  <
Abigail          0/-------/---====|

[ABIGAIL]
One thing is for certain. Abigail is in no position to pursue. His eyes bulge at the damage done to his second tire but he's actually just about reached the limits of his prodigious endurance. His showmanship is wearing and tearing abit and his monsterous legs stagger and wobble some as he twists one way to eye the truck and then back the other way just in time to see Blood dashing past him and the flash of light from that sword.

Both rip past the titan with a blast of wind, shockwave, and a spray of the gear heads blood as the wound is cut cleanly into him and the colossus is pushed backwards and nearly over to the ground. He catches himself at the last second but by the time he straightens up, Blood is on a rooftop and Abigail, for his tremendous power, is to sapped to consider pursuit or even bringing the building down just for the sake of getting after him again.

"FINE.." he grunts, pulling up to his feet and dragging his vast form over to monster truck. :Looks like I'm going to be invoicing Stroleheim after all!! PLUS INTEREST!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail takes no action.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Abigail          0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Abigail has ended the fight here.

Log created on 21:31:42 01/09/2018 by Blood, and last modified on 17:50:59 01/10/2018.