Match of the Millennium

Description: The spirit of the fight beckons, as Athena Asamiya leaves behind her successful, swiftly growing music career to stand among the others who dare to participate in Krauser's World Warrior challenge. Already having earned his lumps in the gauntlet of combat, Abigail decides he's fed up with Germany and seeks a way out of the country. His plans are interrupted as he accepts the heartfelt challenge of Asamiya in a massive nexus of trains and tracks.

[ABIGAIL]
South of Hamburg in Germany, the Maschen Marshalling Yard is the largest railyard in Europe and exceeded only by one in the United States. Trains of all sorts, freighters and cargo trains and the like, make their way through here and fill up this hub of regional, national and international intersecting trains and tracks. It's a sight to behold if you're passing through the area. Worthy of taking pictures of and recalling the hundreds of kilometers (miles for us dumb Americans) of tracks with repair shacks, engine sheds and other assorted business. For Abigail it's -almost- like being home. Almost.

For his part, the behemoth had just sort of walked his way through one of the outer fences and walls framing the maintenance areas of the yard like some sort of juggernaut, leaving an Abigail sized and shaped hole in the walls from where he strode through, and he makes his way across a stretch of departure tracks towards a set of massive cargo boxes that were gearing up to take their leave of the place as he has full intention of getting the heck out of Germany for awhile. Strolheim isn't to far from here and he's already helped wreck the place a couple of times. Now it's time for some sight seeing. He's got a musical idol to find! His favorite musician is based out of Denmark, see. That's right next to Germany, right??

When he finds a suitable freight box, he reaches forward for the shut door and basically wrenches it open like peeling open a can of soup. A loud screeching noise occurs as the behemoths vast strength basically breaks the car in half in his attempt to gently deal with the locks on it. "What the hell?? This thing is like tinfoil!" he complains.

The beeping on the watch in his pocket is going unnoticed...

[ATHENA]
One of the follies of youth is the inability to fully appreciate just how vast the experiences life offered were. From your limited perspective, you probably thought you would have the time and ability to do everything, see everywhere, accomplish anything, and meet just about anyone you wanted if you just put your mind to it. At some point, it became necessary to realize that for all the possibilities, there were also limitations... The world was too large, the time required to master everything far exceeding anyone's lifespan, and the number of interesting people to meet and know outnumbering what anyone, no matter how gregarious, could hope to find time for.

Athena Asamiya used to think she could do it all. Be a good student, a diligent pupil, a successful fighting competitor, a famous singer, and all the while, also finding ways to help, protect, and defend those who needed someone strong enough to be there for them. But as far as the public knew, she had quit fighting a year ago, following her triumph at the King of Fighters 2016 event. It wasn't long after that her idol career took off and fans imagined she had decided to put off fighting in order to pursue it diligently. It was half true... they couldn't know of the harrowing experience the young fighter had on Shang Tsung's Island as one of Earth's chosen champions.

She always meant to get back to fighting gain... eventually. That was a year ago. Blood's visit was a forcing moment - choose. And in that moment, without time to fret over every possible angle, she chose to fight. Her upcoming concert tour was canceled over the protests of her manager, tickets refunded to all the disappointed fans, and her schedule cleared for the next several weeks. At least Justice High was accommodating when it came to its students furthering their fighting careers... As long as they were successful, the teachers would be flexible in the aftermath. If they shamed the school, on the other hand... well, triple homework for the rest of the year won't KILL her, right?

World Warrior was unlike any other fighting event she had participated. It wasn't broadcast around the world in elaborate arenas and amazing venues like King of Fighters. Nor was it conducted in secret on an island in the Lost Sea where no one but those who shed blood for this world would know who was there.

It was somewhere in the middle. There were the watches to find each other, but no great stadiums to fight in. There were no stage crews, judges, announcers, and audiences packing the seats, but there were people on the streets, amateur fight journalists and bloggers, capturing images on their phones, streaming blurry, erratic videos that offered glimpses of the event all the world was talking about even if almost no one was able to watch it.

The rumor mill and watch data suggested that many of those that entered the brutal competition were in Europe still, following the retrieval of their special tacking watches and so that's where Athena is.

She was alone. She had to do this alone. She had the support of her team in King of Fighters, and Momoko's moral bulwark to bolster her through the ordeal of Mortal Kombat... but World Warrior was about the individual's worthiness to stand and prove themselves. Her friends, agent, and manager were none too thrilled with the increasingly famous pop idol jetting off to Europe on her own to fight who knows who in who knows where. She promised to text a lot, and even enabled a tracking app on her phone so that her anxious manager could keep tabs on her whereabouts.

And now she was off, searching for the nearest competitor to challenge. She was under no delusions that she was the future World Warrior. She had seen the list of names. Most she didn't recognize. But Akuma? That demon almost killed her once before. It was insane to think of facing him again. Good thing none of her friends or crew knew about THAT battle from her past.

The watch takes her to the train yard and before long, she finds herself following the path of destruction left in the fences and walls that had the audacity to get in his way. This fight isn't one of her stage shows, it isn't putting on a production for the fans on stage or in an arena. Gone are the trappings of her idol appearances, the young hopeful fighter wearing comfortable light link Kung Fu trousers with a crimson tunic-like top with matching short pink sleeves. Red shoes and fingerless gloves that match the top, a golden sash around her waist, and her red hairclip worn just behind her bangs completes the simple attire.

She isn't here to show off, to impress fans, or to entertain. She's here to fight- her footsteps slow to a stop as the watch she keeps checking has brought her to the place where Abigail has just ripped open a cargo container with his bare hands. She looks at the watch again, then back at the behemoth of a man, her mouth opening, then closing.

She entered World Warrior. No where in the fine print did it say anything about warriors the size of the world!

W-well, this is quite ridiculous, really. Surely there are other competitors to test herself against. She needs to warm up against someone not several times her size, right? She starts to take a step back. He hasn't noticed her standing a few yards behind her even if she can hear the beeping in his pocket echoing the one on her wrist.

But finally since sucks in her breath, closes her eyes, clenching her fists at her side. "Ah... excuse me?" She sounds like a mouse. "Abigail?"

[ABIGAIL]
"It's A-BI-GAIL!" roars the goliath in reflexive frustration without turning around yet to face Athena and see who addressed him. His name is a sensitive spot you see ..but..uh..it's not like he -actually- said it that much differently then how one would say it anyway. It seems the difference is mostly in his head. A slight spacing of the three syllables in an attempt to separate himself from the nearest Dear Abby columnist.

"The hell is it??" he continues, still annoyed but calming down as he turns around and then espies Athena. He blinks a few times in surprise and then drops the remains of the train car door to take a few steps forward, his movements literally shaking the ground slightly with faint rumbles from the pressure of his footsteps and vastness of his weight.

"Hey...you look familiar.." he begins and then he gasps, intaking his breath with a rushing gust of wind as his eyes widen, "You're Athena!! Ooooh man!! This is...this is...this is AWESOME!!"

It seems the Death Metal loving behemoth is..a fan. He clasps his massive hands together, squeezing them as he bounces back and forth from one heel to the next, dislodging pebbles and shaking the earth from the hulkish fury of his giddy movements, "Oh man, Roxy's going to be jealous! I...uh.." he calms down and takes a moment to sweep his gaze over the trainyard. No managers. No signs of photographers. No signs of an impromptu concert.

"Uh.." he then reaches down as he hears the beeping finally and pulls up the tracking watch, pinching it between two fingers. "Tth. Oh boy. Figures." He rumbles, mood immediately souring just a touch.

[ATHENA]
The shout of his name in response sends Athena taking a couple steps back. Did she say it wrong? It sounded similar to her. Maybe she left too much emphasis on the last syllable? Is it a dialect or accent issue?

"Um-"

He turns to face her, looking even more imposing from the front than he did from the back! She should expect this though, right? How often had she encountered many of the world contenders in the fighting leagues only to discover that their power was not a facet of an otherwise friendly individual, as if the seething enmity they harbor within is the secret ingredient to being a world class contender.

And as he drops the crumpled metal to the ground with a loud reverberation, she recoils a little more. Well, what did she expect? Do mild manners have a place in this world?

But then something changes and the titan of a man's expression shifts, eyes narrowing as recognition begins to take hold. "Well, I-" she starts, intending to explain that she was a somewhat well known fighter, only to be cut off as this man makes the connection she had least expected. Violet eyes widen as he claps his hands and bounces on his feet, putting the whole area to trembling as he does so.

Athena's expression warms significantly in spite the minor earthquake taking place beneath her feet, the girl looking markedly less tense. "That's... wow, I-" she looks as surprised at this revelation as Abigail is at seeing the J-Pop star standing right in front of him. Athena lifts her hands, folding them atop each other near the base of her neck, "That's great. I always love meeting people in person that enjoy what I've worked so hard to make. Thank you."

She blinks as Abigail takes notice of the beeping of his own tracking watch, reminded of her own, which she reaches over quickly to silence, looking almost chagrined at suddenly remembering why she, herself, had come all this way.

"But yes, I have entered World Warrior, like you. Before I was a singer, I was a fighter." Her left hand lowers against her side, her right closing into a fist while remaining pressed just below her neck.

"My singing career means a lot to me, but I also find myself needing strength in other ways. Participating in this event... I think... is my next step to improving as a fighter."

Her right hand lowers, both arms at her sides now, neck craned to look up at the massive man. "Would you do me the honor of being my opponent?"

[ABIGAIL]
For a long series of seconds, Abigail just sort of stands there..staring at Athena with a bewildered look on his face. He then looks away, pressing his lips together and then making a rumbling trilling sound that..sounds..kinda like an idling car engine? "Vrrrrrrrrrmmmm." As if this was his way of thinking outloud. His foot taps lightly on the ground and his body leans back and forth in a slow series of rocking motions..and then he stops.

"Okay! I will!"

He holds up a massive hand, one finger extended as he shakes it back and forth and briefly monologs, "You know...at first the only reason I came all this way was cause that Krauser idiot's thug ruined two good custom tires on my monster truck and I intended to invoice him personally. But he wouldn't even see me! Then..I got put dead last in those rankings. What gives! It kinda hurt my ego but..then I realized that nobody really knows who I am outside of Metro City. I've never done anything like this before. Just..maintained my business."

He rubs his jaw, lately showing the signs of thick stubble from him not really attending to his signature look due to all the back to back challenges, "Maybe there is something to this tournament stuff. Hugo thought so and he's a moron. But the two I've run into so far..they're nuts! I was beginning to think only psychopaths and schizo's were involved in this.. But now..you're here! And you want to take me on? Despite what you've already got going for you?" He grins and beckons for her now, "..You wanna give up singing for this? Then show me why! But your managers better not come looking to me for any lawsuits!"

With that he slides into a brawlers combat stance, his huge arms splayed out at his sides and his stance widened as he faces down Athena.

"Make it interesting! Okay??!"

[ATHENA]
Her heart races as Abigail takes time to consider her request. On one hand, there is a nervousness about fighting someone like him. Given her stature, facing opponents that are of a larger build than the burgeoning starlet is certainly safe to assume. But she has never stood in the presence of someone even close to the scale of this man. Every step she takes will be critical. She will have to be at her best to not let her guard down for one moment. To stare at his arms for too long is to risk being overwhelmed at the thought of having to expertly avoid them, in spite his incredible reach.

On the other hand, there is the anxiety that he won't take her seriously. Early on in her fighting career, she faced those doubts, that skepticism. Even when she began a meteoric climb through the leagues, many fight fans and commentators chalked it up to being some kind of rigged publicity stunt. Surely, she couldn't really compete on the levels she was, could she? Will Abigail think the same? That this is just some kind of joke or stunt?

When he says he will, there is a soft exhale of relief, her smile bright, the girl nodding her head twice in rapid succession. She's quiet as the man continues, in spite the adrenaline racing through her making her anxious to act. But more important than exchanging blows and finding her limits is listening to what this man has to say. The more he talks, the more she realizes the contrast between initial impressions and the truth of his soul.

She frowns a little as he describes the slights inflicted by House Strolheim - the damage to tires, the disrespect of denying an audience, and treating HIM as a joke with the rankings chart released for the participants. But it isn't a frown of disapproval, rather one of empathy, sharing in the umbrage he expresses, even nodding along with him in an expression of understanding.

When he pauses to rub his jaw in thought, she cants her head to the side a little, a friendly grin returning, a sympathetic reflection in her eyes as he mentions encountering only psychopaths so far. The world of fighters is a strange place indeed. She nods about taking him on, sucking in a breath, "Thank you. I will," she declares. She'll show him why this matters so much that she would leave behind the glitz and glamor of the life she has back home to come to this industrial train nexus to face a giant. "I have to be strong... so many count on me." she continues, a solemnity to her voice.

Her grin becomes lopsided as she continues, "And what my managers don't know won't hurt them." For a moment, she bows her head, eyes closing, arms against her sides. Something shifts in the young woman, a subtle but tangible thing, her presence becoming more felt; an aura of sincerity that insists on being felt.

Eyes snap open, head raised as Athena lifts her arms and slides one foot forward. Her palms are open, her stance simple and light on her feet. "I promise," she grins back at Abigail as he speaks of making it interesting. Her hands close and open once, stretching her fingers in anticipation.

"I'm ready."

COMBATSYS: Athena has started a fight here.

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

COMBATSYS: Abigail has joined the fight here.

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

[ABIGAIL]
"You had better be! We're both in this crazy World Warrior thing.. It's to late to not be ready!"

Abigail doesn't become introspective very often but a sincere challenge from someone like Athena on this particular stage seems to have triggered it, especially in light of previous happenings in this tournament. An urge to not let her down, or himself for that matter, boils up on the inside. "Let's go full throttle!" he roars, and with that, has suddenly dashed forward at her!

well..it's less a dash and more like an ongoing earthquake causing trundle with both of his huge arms lifted up to his sides like some sort of monstrous parody of frankenstein's monster. His pace is steady but seems unstoppable all at the same time and then at the very last possible second he abruptly shifts stances. His massive body screeches forward to a halt and the momentum of his movement ripples up through his body to add to his vast strength as he twists and sends a single shockwave carrying punch out at Athena. Such is the behemoths strength that the very air pressure of his strikes distorts the landscape around them both, whipping up rocks and dust and shaking nearby freight cars.

COMBATSYS: Athena blocks Abigail's Dynamite Punch.

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

[ATHENA]
"True," Athena replies, her own voice a calm acknowledgment amid the thundering shouts of Abigail as he gets charged up for the fight asked of him. "I guess we're both committed now. To face whatever challenges this event places before us." She begins to bounce lightly on her feet - not to the point of excessive, unnecessary movement to create a deceptive stance, but rather to keep every muscle in her body ready to act in an instant. "Starting with each other."

She was acting more confidently now, the nervousness of before bled off, replaced with a clear if restrained zeal for a chance to prove herself. Let's go full throttle, Abigail shouts. "I couldn't agree more!" Athena replies, raising her voice to be heard over the thundering steps of the approaching titan, his own energy seemingly contagious in the smaller opponent that faces him.

So much so that rather than hang back, she rushes forward to meet him, a quick dash in, feet pumping to cover the same amount of ground Abigail does, compensating for her smaller stride. And then he moves - she can sense the moment where he transitions from approach to attack, a shift communicated clearly by the way his body turns into delivering a crushing blow with one arm.

She reacts in an instant - anything less would have seen his fist colliding dead on, easily tearing her off her feet with the exchange of forces in play. Instead, Asamiya moves to the side, using her raised forearms arms to push off from the forward momentum of his punch, turning what could have been a devastating, direct blow into more of a glancing strike, her feet dancing alongside the mighty arm that mostly passes her by.

The defense was not without its cost, of course. One could hardly expect less, a dull ache already coursing down her left arm from bearing the brunt of what force did reach her. She doesn't pause for an instant, however, rose hued energy ripping down her forearms as she swings them behind herself. She's at Abigail's side now, potentially retaliating faster than he can possibly hope to recover from such a mighty swing.

Both arms swing forward, sweeping past each other, the psycho power gathered toward her hands colliding into a singular sphere of churning energy that launches into an upward angle toward Abigail's torso.

"Psycho ball!"

To shout out the name of her signature technique in a match no one but these two will ever see is perhaps a bit silly. Such antics are more fitting for her stage performances where she keys in on the audience's thrill for the match and finds herself unable to help but stirring up even further excitement by announcing her attacks loud and clear.

But now that the bout is underway, perhaps she is simply caught up in the moment of it, attempting to deliver the acutely painful blast of psycho power from close range. Defending against it can be a bear, the Psycho Soldier's unique from of energy cutting clean through the aura of other fighters, gunning straight for the opponent's nerves.

COMBATSYS: Abigail Toughs Out Athena's Psycho Ball!!

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

[ABIGAIL]
Indeed, Abigail doesn't have much time to react. There are moments where he moves with surprising bursts of speed in regards to his ability to unleash attacks or even move from one place to the next, but his actual ability to reflexively respond to assaults is..shall we say..abit challenged.

Some, however, might say that he doesn't need it. The Psycho Ball erupts against his flanks, splashing its energy across his body with psychic energy that buns its way into and through him as much as it spreads out around and past the contours of his freakishly inhuman physique.

He barely flinches. If he even does that. His body trembles and presses forward through the assault - spinning around to send a massive hand capable of palming the top of some automobiles, hurtling for Athena. The immense brute trying to close the distance before she can recover from her own assault.

At the very last second the huge hand forms a fist and then stops. There's a brief breath holding pause followed by a single finger flicking out in an attempt to smash into the pop idol turned fighter. Such an attack might be seen as strange were it not for the fact that the giant has so much brute strength this same finger flick could send warriors his own size hurtling away from him and possibly smash apart one of these freight cars.

COMBATSYS: Athena dodges Abigail's Red Leaf.

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

[ATHENA]
Seeing the concentrated blast of her Psycho Power splash against Abigail without garnering so much as a flinch is cause for alarm, to put it mildly. Her ability to channel such phenomenal energy has taken her a long way as a fighter. Though her training under Master Gentsai includes extensive Kung Fu practice, Kensou always seemed to take to the physical side of their martial art better. For Asamiya, it was learning to draw upon that fount of power, to shape it according to her will, to control it rather than be controlled.

And right now, she's just watched Abigail turn into it and simply charge right at her as if he hadn't even noticed. Violet eyes widen, her arms still out in front of her, just now drawing back as she frantically tries to recover from the aggressive stance even as Abigail presses forward.

There's no time to sidestep it, and definitely no time to retreat backward out of range considering the man's incredible reach.

It leaves her only one recourse, her legs, bent at the knees, straightening in an instant, pushing her into the air into a forward flip up and over the outstretched arm, narrowly avoiding the release of another dangerous amount of energy, dust and stones sent flying right through where Asamiya had been an instant before.

There is no time to think at this frantic pace, no chance to try and comprehend what life might be like for someone of Abigail's stature. He must shrug off attacks that would drop most fighters, and he probably has no idea what it means to be hurled through the air by a foe of superior strength... But that also means he might be unfamiliar with her own attack vector? Asamiya completes her forward flip, tucking herself into a ball at the apex, wreathing herself in vibrant, churning energy that burns pink and orange as she dives right back down toward him.

Having escaped the reach of his arm, she attempts to barrel straight into his chest. In theory, it's not a hard target to find. Naturally, the impact of the featherweight Kung Fu artist is hardly at threat to him, but that same energy she had just used against him ripples over her form, promising a brush with pain that he just might feel this time.

Unless prevented, she would land into a slide near his feet, sweeping out with her legs into a handstand kick, attempting to kick off his shin to backflip right back up to her feet. The only downside is that even if she succeeds, she'll have put herself awfully close to the giant brawler!

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Athena's Phoenix Arrow.

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

[ABIGAIL]
Abigail purses his lips into a frown that wrinkles up towards his broad nose once he sees that Athena escaped him again. The mere force of his finger flick sends a bullet of compressed air barreling out away from him to slam into the side of another freight car, rocking it violently as a mild indication of the behemoths brute strength. %rBut his disappointment doesn't last over long as his steel grey eyes flicker to watch Athena as she launches herself skywards, tucks and then rolls at him with the force of her supernatural power bringing her into him. This time his reaction seems to have improved as he widens his stance, broadens his chest and flexes thunderously with both of his mountainous arms spread to the side - his vast physique rooting itself in place to literally be as a wall for Athena to slam into, travel across and behind and then rebound from him when her kick lands against his shin. His huge body shudders but again weathers the psychic power as it discharges through him and he is quick to respond in kind.

His body spins, grinding the pavement up beneath his booted feet as he pivots and then lunges low into a crouching attack that threatens to fill Athena's field of vision fully with the incoming immensity of his shoulders and arm. "Let's kick it into another gear!" he roars while bringing his massive arm around in a twisting back fist assault that, if it lands, will surely lift Athena skywards with the force of its impact.

If success occurs, or not, his body continues on its spin, sending his other arm hurtling around now in an upper cut for a two pronged assault.

COMBATSYS: Abigail knocks away Athena with Abi Twist.
- Power hit! -

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

[ATHENA]
This close to Abigail, the smaller fighter can't even take in his entirety all at once, focused for the moment on his giant, tree truck legs, attempting to rapidly backstep away. She needs to get distance again, needs the ability to better see what attack is next coming her way. It's really the only way she can hope to anticipate the attacks. Right now, she's in danger of being stepped on even accidentally, if she doesn't move quickly!

But for the sometimes slow way Abigail seems to react, his offense suffers no such shortcoming. She notices his full body spin in the way his feet move, skipping back one step herself. That motion should give her a hint of where the next attack is coming from - or so she thought. Anticipating a hook rather than a backhand, Asamiya hesitates a moment too long, the sweeping backfist nearly as big as she is colliding full on with the Kung Fu fighter, launching her easily off her feet, sending her several yards up into the air.

Her whole body throbs with the reverberating pain of impact as she sails upward. She is quite certain she doesn't like this gear. Not one bit.

Even stunned as she is, she has a moment's reprieve, a chance to correct herself in the air, and she takes it, spinning to the side in an attempt to recover into a controlled fall and maybe another attack.

She never gets the chance as Abigail's uppercut swats her further into the air like a mosquito. Dazed beyond awareness, she falls out of the sky, crashing down against her upper back several yards away, a plume of dust exploding up around where she landed.

Her mind tries to catch up with the speeding car that just hit her, the girl shaking her head as she presses herself up. The simple two hit combination landed with more force than many of the more expert assaults she's faced over the years! "Ough," she grunts, folding herself into a seated position and finally getting back up to her feet. Disoriented for a moment, she is forced to turn halfway around to find Abigail, eyes blinking as she tracks down the man that nearly launched her into another country with that attack of his.

Breathing in, she tries to bite back the pain. Adrenaline is enough to keep her unaware if anything was broken by the hits, though her own light stature tended to keep her from suffering as many broken ribs as one might expect for such a small fighter in the violent world of competitive brutality. Getting knocked away tended to mitigate the potential for breaking bone at least.

Gritting her teeth, she presses her arms down against her sides, palms open and angled flat. "Okay!" she exclaims back. There is no anger, only resolve. A determination to answer force with force. His power may be in his tremendous fists, but hers stems from elsewhere, deep within, a force urging to be tapped into.

The air around her begins to swirl, evident by the churning of the dust as she closes her eyes and concentrates. Two large spheres of violet, pulsing power burst up around her, orbiting in a rapid helix pattern, creating a form of barrier that would be difficult to simply punch through. "aaaaaAAAAAAH!" Additional power builds around her, an aura seen but not immediately felt.

Eyes open, violet flashing, Athena lifts her right hand over her head, pointing finger raised, and all of that gathered power surges up into a single, ultra compressed sphere.

Taking one step forward, she swings her arm down, pointing it toward Abigail, sweeping every ounce of that inner force toward him, a cruise missile of concentrated Psycho Power. It rockets toward the man, leaving a wake of scattered dust and displaced air in its passing, on a direct collision course toward his chest.

COMBATSYS: Athena successfully hits Abigail with Shining Crystal Bit EX+.

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

[ABIGAIL]
"C'mon!" roars Abigail, slamming his huge fists into his chest, producing thunderous s*BOOOM* that rock the area, shaking nearby freight cars. Shaking the very ground just from his king kong like display against his own body. "You've gotta hit me harder then those little itsy bitsy baby bee stings..."

There's a pause and he then rumbles, "Uh oh."

Abigail widens his stance, braces his monstrous body, but ..he blinks rapidly in confusion as he..really has no idea -how- to defend against this. How do you block..uh..energy? Well, by trying to just block one supposes. Needless to say it doesn't work. While he's not exactly lifted off his feet, the blast roars into him with more force then anything he's had yet to endure in World Warrior. More then what Juri managed to unleash, or Duke. It ripples into him, tearing at his soul and his body and dragging his immensity backwards until it slams into the freight train car he'd already crumpled up by his antics earlier.

He goes down, blasting through the debris and momentarily buried as it falls about him and plumes dust and metal up into the air. For a second all is still.

Abigail then punches a huge fist up through the rubble, sending part of the freight car flipping away. He emerges, his body beet red and billowing steam from his ears and nostrils. He looks like he's..actually getting bigger! His upper body inflating larger and larger, shredding his tank top as he further hulks out to even more ludicrous proportions. He slams his huge hands together, producing another shockwave that shakes the train yard.

"That's what I'm talking about. Let's push it to the redline!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail VROOOOOMS!!!

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Athena           0/-------/-----==|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2          Abigail

[ATHENA]
The compressed size of the Bit conceals the magnitude of power concentrated into it. Only by experiencing it first hand can one fully appreciate the little powerhouse Athena Asamiya truly is when it comes to the art of fighting. Her arm still extended, hand pointing, she exhales as the attack impacts Abigail head on. As the giant is lost beneath the mountain of destroyed rail car parts, she lowers her arm to her side, releasing an exhale, pausing for a moment to catch her breath.

Her left hand goes to her side, pressing tenderly against one of the points of impact in Abigail's powerful if straight forward attacks. She gasps softly, cheeks flushing red from the pain. But she forces herself to stagger forward a step toward the rubble pile. Is he okay? He should be okay, right?

Heavy steel goes flying as the fist surges up a moment later, proving without a doubt that Abigail is still ready for business. And boy does he look ready, his body a rich red and... is he somehow even bigger than before? His towering form casts a shadow over the train yard as Asamiya cranes her face up to find the massive brawler's face. Is that steam?!

Yet for his utterly terrifying presence, there doesn't seem to be anger broiling off of him. Of all the emotions she has found herself subjected to in the company of powerful fighters, anger is one she's most familiar with. Sometimes it is cold, blood chilling, murderous power that gives her shivers. Other times, it is a furnace of hostility and a violent desire to inflict harm. Yet from Abigail it seems to be pure fighting zeal.

The excitement of his words echo throughout the area and as he slams his hands together, Athena finds herself having to steady her feet beneath her, the ground swaying so violently that the rails in the tracks begin to warp.

"Abigail," she declares back at him as soon as the earthquake subsides, making a concerted effort to mirror the emphasis he used when shouting his name back at her. "I don't know why you have not been better recognized for the fighting spirit that burns in your heart, and the strength of your strikes." She pivots to the side a little, arms raised once again to the ready, left hand forward, right hand held back near her face, elbow bent. "I do know that finding your true potential as a fighter requires sacrifice though. It's a point driven home to me only recently, and I'm still not sure I fully comprehend it." She smiles, readying herself, muscles tensing as she arrives at the moment of decision.

"But I hope to find my potential. And I hope you find yours."

This is it, she tells herself. One final exchange that will decide it all. Another blow from him will be more than she can take... she has only one choice, one hope to make her own mark.

Sucking in her breath, biting back the dull but pronounced pain from prior blows, the Kung Fu artista leans forward into a sprint straight toward the towering man. She can't hesitate now, she can't be afraid. The only way forward is toward her opponent, holding nothing back!

She launches herself from a few yards out into a forward hop, arms reaching up over the back of her head, more of that rose hued, vibrant psychic potential churning along her limbs. She'd land about one yard from Abigail, well within his reach, even if it's outside her own much shorter striking range. But she's not trying to punch him-

Her arms swing forward with the momentum of her landing, palms forward, the power within her surging forward and outward, manifesting in a massive sphere of swirling energy larger around than she is tall. A point blank, sustained assault, as Asamiya pours her all into maintaining the sphere of power directly over Abigail's lower half simply due to the limits of her own reach.

"AaaaaAAAAH!"

If she catches the giant in it, she intends to sustain it as long as she can or until prevented from doing so!

COMBATSYS: Abigail Toughs Out Athena's Round Psycho Reflector EX!

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Athena           0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2          Abigail

[ABIGAIL]
Abigail's pauses briefly to focus on Athena's words. Lack of recognition..? A lot of it has to do with his own contentment - or perhaps it is complacency. He's a man of simple interests and desires - and in fact is building a business where he's becoming quickly known as a modding genius and a brilliant mechanic. Perhaps engineer .. but even that reach seems largely limited to Metro City. There could be more but his own limited imagination has hamstrung him. Perhaps, until now. World Warrior might be what he needed after all.

But there's no time to dwell on this as Athena comes barreling forward at him, fearless, despite the immensity of his Max Power state and the sheer pressure of his presence.

"Yeah!" he roars, slapping his huge biceps a few times and then crouching low to prepare to brace himself against the assault and then, once it arrives, to grit his teeth and power through it. It wracks his body violently , blasting a crater into the earth around him and shaking the rail yard but..he presses in and lifts a huge hand overhead to then bring it down in a palm smash for the ground around Athena. The force of the impact rocking the earth and attempting to throw her off balance as well as disperse the continual assault of psychic energy.

"No escape!" he roars while surging forward and reaching ahead with his huge hands to grasp for Athena and lift her upwards should he do so. IF this is successful he lifts her upward before releasing her and then slamming his huge fists into her body with several rolling rapid fire punches as if she were a speed punching bag while roaring, "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!" - the force of Abigail's rolling momentum and strikes such that he keeps her from being knocked away as the assault continues until the very end which is a huge palm strike intending to shoot for the proverbial rafters.

COMBATSYS: Abigail knocks away Athena with Abigail Special.

[                            \\  < >  /////////                     ]
Athena           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>---\-------\0          Abigail

[ATHENA]
The spherical assault surging just beyond the reach of Athena's palms almost entirely obscures her vision. It wouldn't matter too much, as her eyes are squinted closed. She really did pour everything into this attack, to channel as much of that energy of hers as she possibly can. He accepted her challenge and has treated her as a fighter. The pressure is on her to prove that she meant every bit of what she had said, to step up to the challenge, no matter how imposingly massive the Brawling Mechanic might be.

She can feel him pushing through her assault, the direct contact of her psionic energy causing it to resonate back on her with the grit, the resolve Abigail possesses as he forces his way through the very attack that she had crushed her way to victory with in King of Fighters 2016. How can he get through it?

Dust and debris are sent scattering out from around them both, driven by the exchange of forces in play as Abigail finally pressures his way through and reaches out to get a hold of the idol fighter. Caught in a grip that defies escape, she gasps, the last of her attack melting away, the energy spent now that she can no longer focus on it.

Eyes widen as she's hefted easily off the ground. Maybe blinding herself with her last technique wasn't such a great idea. There is a glimmer of hope the moment she's released, arms moving forward, legs bending to try and get knees or shins into the way, but when Abigail's arms start swinging, it hardly matters. Such ungrounded blocking does nothing to mitigate the force of his strikes, and by the third swing punch, her guard is knocked aside, leaving her an easy target. For Abigail, the rapid blows may amount to his idea of a jab, but for most fighters he would swing at, each individual impact is not a far cry from a full force, step in body blow or hook punch from a trained, muscular boxer.

She had shown up wanting to be treated like a real fighter, just like anyone else that is trying to compete on the world stage, and being caught by the rapid piston-force blows of Abigail's chain assault certainly removes any doubt that he was pulling his punches on her.

The final blow sends the featherweight flying, cashing against the side of a rail car and sliding down to a seated position, her back against it. The welts on her cheeks hint at what bruises her tunic no doubt conceals, and when she draws back her lips in a lopsided, somewhat punch drunk grin, there is blood between her teeth.

But while the combination technique may have obliterated almost all of her capacity to fight, it seems to have done nothing to diminish her fighting spirit. Recklessly, she surges up to her feet, carried forward on adrenaline for a few more steps. "All right!" she exclaims back.

She has the range she would want now, distance between the two fighters affording her an opportunity to draw her arms back, once more pulling energy from seemingly nowhere into a surge of potential power along her limbs.

What is that sense of dizziness she feels closing in on her mind? Why is the world turning left and right, as if one of Abigail's localized earthquakes has gotten even more out of hand that normal?

The power building in her hands behind her back is immense though unsteady, nothing like the precision of concentrated psycho power she built the last time she was at range.

Athena takes another step forward, her legs trembling. Oh, right. Right... she just got speed bag punched by that giant guy she can somewhat make out ahead. That must explain the impression that she's about to topple over. But not before she swings her arms from behind to forward, forced off the ground slightly by the magnitude of psionic force she unleashes Abigail's way.

She doesn't land properly from that either, knees finally giving out, Athena slumping down to a kneeling position before falling over onto her side with a gasp.

The large sphere of chaotic energy, however, is still roughly on course for Abigail. Sure it wobbles and sways along its path, as if the attack itself was also feeling the effects of having its lights punched out... and it's no where near as fast as the bolt she had fired at him before... But it's still big, dangerous, and very much on a course to impact him for one final blast!

COMBATSYS: Athena can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Athena's Psycho Ball Revolution.

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

[ABIGAIL]
Abigail almost feels bad. ALMOST. Okay sure he's a fan. Sure she's a lithe little thing. Sure his arms are quite literally twice the size of her whole body but..he's also a thug. Just a sort of jovial, good natured jockish single minded thug with a growing business but..he was still the Mad Gear Enforcer and Bay Area Chief so beating up girls isn't exactly the sort of thing he's shy about even if he tries to give fair and square warning.

Then again Athena is hardly just 'some girl'. She's more then made it clear that her ability to hurt Abigail and hurt him badly is well within her capabilities and she's the heart of a fighter - one who refuses to go down despite any odds against her. Abigail grins but then purses his lips into a frown as the psycho energy builds again. "Bring it on!" he roars.

When it slams into him, he crosses his huge forearms infront of him and hunches over, turtling his body and pressing back against the incoming wave. Sheer muscle power furiously pushes back against the crackling sphere which burns against him and presses back in an ongoing back and forth push until - finally - Abigail spreads his monstrous arms out, splaying them to the sides and disperses the energy ball in all directions around him.

His huge body wavers, leaning back and forth as he smiles ..but in the end it all proves to much and his huge body leans forward, backwards and then finally topples over to the side, tumbling to his knees and then down fully flat on his face. His body deflates and begins visibly smoldering as the burning energy reveals its visible toll on him.

"Ergh. I can't move."

COMBATSYS: Abigail takes no action.


COMBATSYS: Abigail can no longer fight.


[ATHENA]
The ground feels pretty good right now, really. Even though as she lies there on her side, eyes closed, she feels it rumble a few times a short time after she had collapsed. Her world is pain, her mind way too foggy to make sense of all the places she hurts, from the earlier crushing blows, to the thorough trouncing she got the moment Abigail got a tight grip on her.

She can't even think through how the match itself came to an end, having been in no condition to witness the manner in which Abigail responded to the incoming super-sized psycho ball. Rolling onto her back, she gasps for breath, eyes still closed for now. She wants to thank him for the fight... and maybe if he isn't busy, they could talk for a bit. About World Warrior, about being fighters, maybe about what's next for each of them?

"Ugh..." she murmurs, still on her back, one eye squinting open a little only to find the world still swimming around before her blurred vision.

A car door is heard closing off to the side, footsteps over the gravel approaching her as a man in tan kahkis and a button up, powder blue shirt rushes over to crouch down next to the girl.

"Miss Asamiya, please... your manager sent me to pick you up the moment we discovered you were in another fight." His arms scoop under her upper back and behind her knees, hefting the girl up with ease. "You really have no business being around a violent brute like that. You're lucky you weren't hurt worse." the assigned driver chides, the 'tsk' all but implied in his voice as he turns to stride back toward the waiting white sedan.

She may have wanted a clean break, a chance to see what being a wandering warrior felt like, but tonight the young celebrity will rest in comfort all in same. Maybe if she had any fight left in her to protest, she'd get her way!

Log created on 13:01:44 02/10/2018 by Athena, and last modified on 20:42:41 02/10/2018.