Match of the Millennium

Description: With the recent release of Mega Man 11, the Capcom series has been marked for potential integration. After all, the Power Fighters series has been identified as a potential fighting game. While we sort out how the buster system will work here, Jack-O' and Mai will test their limits. The insidious half-scientist Dr. Jack-O' has sent her adorable ghost gears out to stop the heroic Mega Mai in a series of scrolling stages with possible disappearing platforms. Will Mega Mai fight for everlasting peace? Or will Jack-O leave them crying like an anime fan on prom night?

[JACK-O']
It's time... to FIGHT!!

"TREMBLE, FOOLS! WA HA HA HA!"

How did it come to this?!

~* BEFORE! *~

Sanctioned fighting events aren't anything new, especially in Southtown; at this point, the city practically lives and dies by both them and their slightly less sanctioned cousins. Sanctioned fights with ridiculous themes, even less new.

And this is why Neo*Geo Land, popular theme park (??) of Southtown, is currently shut down today as producers and make-up and prop crews bustle about to prepare for the fight of the CENTURY -- or at least week, or at the very very least the weekend -- an amazing bout of action and adventure against the legally distinct Mega Mai, and her nemesis... Dr. Wisely?!

Don't judge them. They had a very limited amount of time to make this happen.

The point is, the person currently set to play the role of Dr. Wisely -- a large, burly-looking man in a bald cap -- is currently sitting in make-up, getting ready to play the part of the perfect heel, when destiny strikes him. And strikes him hard. Strikes him like a force of nature. Strikes him without remorse. Strikes him --

"AAHHHHHH I REALLY HOPE THIS IS SOUTHTOWNNNNNNNNN--!"

--Like a runaway Gear.

*BOOM*

When the dust settles, a very unconscious Dr. Wisely is groaning in agony in a crater deeper than he is tall, victim of a cheerful-looking woman currently perched precariously atop his pummeled figure. She drags herself slowly up from ground zero, looking dazedly from side to side as she coughs up a mouthful of dust.

"Ughh... please tell me this is Candy Crush Coliseum...!"

ENTER: Jack-O'.

Producers stare at her, for a long moment. Stare at the prone form of DR. WISELY. Look back at Jack-O'. The Gear looks to them. To DR. WISELY. Back to them.

"Um. Oh no?"

Silence lingers.

"Ugh. She's going to have to do. Get her to make up."

"W-wait! Wait! I need candy or else I'm going to go out of phase with the rest of reality!" They don't listen. They just grab her by the wrists, and tug.

"Oh no. Oh no!!"

And so it is that JACK-O' VALENTINE is dragged off to that ominous place called MAKE UP, dragging her heels as she goes.

"OH NOOOOOOOOOOO--"

~* NOW! *~

"WA HA HA HA! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING HERE!"

And so it is that Mega Mai's nemesis, <STRIKETHROUGH>DR. WISELY</STRIKETHROUGH> DR. JACK-O' arrives, hands on hips, wearing a lab coat five sizes too large for her, head tilted back to let out her perfect mad scientist guffaw as she stands atop a lofty ledge overlooking an entirely too elaborate series of side-scrolling stages.

For some reason, the highly, bizarrely emotive iron jack-o-lantern mask she typically wears has now been decorated with a large, bushy gray mustache.

"WORLD DOMINATION IS SOON AT HAND, I GUESS~!"

At least she's getting into it??

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Jack-O'          0/-------/-======|

[MAI]
Staged to oppose the Evil Dr. Wisely ... er, Dr. Jack-O, in her dastardly deeds is none other than... Mega-Mai!

Mai was actually scheduled for this guest appearance, as it's part of a show opening spectacular. But she did protest a little about the costume once it was issued.

There's two obvious reasons why Mai doesn't make an exact duplicate for Mega Man. One is, OF COURSE, that she found the helmet a little stifling, and would prefer to let her brown ponytail flap in the wind dramatically. The other reason is the other expected two reasons. But at least the traditional Mega Man costume does not have a hard metal breastplate, which allows Mai some freedom of movement even if she has to cope with the neckline.

As our scene BEGINS, she steps onstage on the left side of a scrolling platform stunt-show set. She is struggling a little with the limitations of the prop Buster Arm she's been fitted with.

She looks to her right, and up, spotting her target at the top of the stage. "Well, everyone, I guess it's time to get serious!"

She mugs for the audience, then laughs. "I HATE doing that though!"

[JACK-O']
Oversized sleeves billow diabolically in the passing breeze as the villainous Dr. Jack-O' lifts both her hands into the air. Lost in the voluminous depths of her coat as they are, it's probably fortunate that the spooky way she wiggles her fingers at her ETERNAL NEMESIS cannot be seen. But her foul cry can be heard for all to shudder at:

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~!"

A second passes, during which Jack-O' waves with GREAT ENTHUSIASM at Mai below her. It is the friendliest arch-nemesis wave in the history of arching, and that truly is saying something.

"WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM, I THINK! SO PROCLAIMS THE GREAT HERO, DR. JACK-O'! WA HA HA!"

She might have the roles mixed up. But to her credit, she just kind of stumbled into all this. Literally.

It doesn't make her saccharine cackle any less ominous-sounding as she proceeds to lift her hands up into the air. Green energy swirls -- magical codes imprint onto reality -- and suddenly, the mad disco scientist is conjuring forth a giant pod-furnace designed to look like an exceptionally angry face from absolutely nowhere, which she then proceeds to toss onto the stage. And then another. And another.

Inexplicably, they all have mustaches, just like the fancy new addition on Jack-O's mask.

And so do all the floating, adorable minions those pods begin to churn out en masse.

Probably best not to think about it too much. It might just be less jarring than the tonal shift that takes over the strange, masked woman not seconds later, as a serene, analytic calm settles into her words.

"Hmm. Interesting costume design, but I think it might be limiting your mobility. That might prove poorly for your efforts at stopping my scheme to take over the world. I also possess the high ground. Tactically speaking, I believe I have the advantage here. Analyzing........"

...

"Oh. Yes. Wa ha ha, and so on."

COMBATSYS: Mai has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jack-O'          0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0              Mai

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' focuses on her next action.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jack-O'          0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0              Mai

[MAI]
The high ground IS a bit of a problem. And Mai can't deny the fact that her mobility, which is usually terrific, is a bit hindered by portions of the costume.

The costume therefore may not totally survive this encounter, but she'll do what she must.

She starts by taking an opening volley... with her Buster arm. She aims it at one of the little mustachioed minions, and it shoots...

a very tiny little flashlight that flickers on the end of the weapon.

Mai tries a few more times anyway. The gun makes "Pew pew" noises (which sound a little like someone saying 'pew pew' into a microphone at a high pitch rather than any kind of real sound effect, at all). The little minions continue to advance, unimpeded by having a little light flashed in their direction. Mai is unimpressed with her weapon loadout thus far.

She looks at the audience again. "Well, I tried, but let's try this!"

She pulls the buster-arm off of her sleeve, freeing up her hand, then reaches down her top and pulls out one of her signature fans. With a flourish, she throws it in a straight line to barrel the enemies down!

COMBATSYS: Mai successfully hits Jack-O' with Kachosen.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Jack-O'          1/---====/=======|==-----\-------\0              Mai

[JACK-O']
The buster arm comes up--!!

"Hm?"

And then just sort of flashes a light a few times with DRAMATIC FLOURISH and INTENSE SOUND EFFECTS (?!).

"WAUGH! What is this power--?!"

And just like that, Jack-O' once more swerves from calm rationale to bubbly insanity. With a shocked gasp of dismay, the MAD SCIENTIST snaps her hands up over her face, masked eyes somehow squinting into glowing green slits as they avert as if they couldn't bare to gaze upon the powerful special effects of Mai's makeshift Buster Arm -- or maybe, endure the tragedy of it. It's hard to say, really.

Either way, it's enough of a distraction that the little Gearlings, too, are distracted, as if harmonizing perfectly with the wavelengths of their mustachioed master. This gives Mai just the time she needs to -hurl- that fan into their ranks: it ricochets between them with a series of adorably squeaky *POIKPOIKPOIKPOIK!* sounds, bowling over several and flattening several more in the process. It's truly a harrowing day for those poor minions.

"Oh no! Artisanal assault!" gasps DR. JACK-O' in horror, a hand flattening against her palm as more minions sweep in from the air, weaving past their fallen brethren to brandish deadly swords against their dreaded foe. 'Deadly swords' are more like 'wooden practice' swords. And 'brandishing' is more like 'flailing with exaggeratedly cutesy sound effects as they try to dogpile Mai and delay her progress.' But.

"You won't be able to stand against THIS attack, Mega ... uh ... ummm um um line??"

Still dangerous!!

COMBATSYS: Mai blocks Jack-O''s Medium Strike.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Jack-O'          1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0              Mai

[MAI]
"It's Mega Mai! I mean... I'm not a man, obviously!" Mai produces another fan, from somewhere, just with a flick of her wrist, and then hides behind it for a second as if mugging for invisible cameras. When the minions start sweeping in for her she folds it shut with a snap, and starts to block their incoming attacks with a little flicker and flourish of the fans. With one more slash she makes the kanji symbol for 'Woman' in the air with a little flashy firework, just to prove her point. It's showy, but... she can't JUST show off, or she'll never get anywhere. She needs to get to the 'Doc' herself, and that means climbing up to higher ground. She leaps onto a platform on a conveyor, and that starts to elevate her up a little bit. She takes the moment to strike another pose, only to realize that the platform is about to collapse when it hits the end of its line. It hinges at the top, and she has to make a sudden leap to another platform. But one of those little ghost minions is in her way!

She waves her fan in an arc in front of her, slashing it in the air so she can remove the obstacle... using the momentum of the slash to put her on another platform heading side to side. "And you're going down, evil Doc! As soon as I can get up there!"

COMBATSYS: Mai successfully hits Jack-O' with Sayo Chidori.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Jack-O'          1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0              Mai

[JACK-O']
"Yes! MEGA MIND~!"

She almost got it. That has to count for something, when some days you're not even sure of your own name.

With helpless little SPROINGs! the minions all proceed to bounce off of Mai Shiranui one by one, blocked and rebuffed at every turn. From her position on the archway above, Jack-O' squints, masked eye slits becoming narrowed points of thought as she quick pensively strokes that bushy, gray mask mustache, now partially obscured by the sheer volume of her cartoonishly oversized sleeves.

"Mind...?" she echoes again, head tilting towards the right as Mai ascends towards the next platform, CLEAVING through one of those poor little ghostlings with a truly mighty strike. "... Mm... it's a little unusual, what passes for entertainment these days," she muses quietly, voice mellowing out once more. "People's imaginations have grown increasingly more wonderful in an increasingly more wondrous world, I suppose. It's going to take some getting used to, I think. For now... hmm. Trajectory is satisfactory. Angle and acceleration, accounting for counter-momentum... yes, I just have to wait for it..."

And as Mai ascends in that brilliant upwards arc towards the next platform, swarming with minions, she might notice something. A shadow casting over her. A shadow growing deeper and larger by every passing second. A shadow cast by --

"WA HAAAAOOOH WAIT OH NO I DON'T THINK THIS WAS PART OF THE SCRIPT--"

Jack-O' Valentine, leaping from her high-ground with what looks like a giant iron maiden gripped between her gloved hands, masked eyes wide and wild and flaring with green life as she attempts to intercept Mai in -mid-air- by -slamming- that iron maiden overtop of her. It will split apart, seek to engulf her --

--at which point, rockets of magical propulsion IGNITE as Jack-O' sends that entire mass of metal and magic and Mega Mai suplexing towards the nearest platform with earth-shattering momentum.

"SORRY MEGA MAI I'M AN IMPROVISER AT HEART!!"

Dr. Wily would be ashamed of how his legacy has been so butchered.

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' successfully hits Mai with Forever Elysion Driver.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Jack-O'          0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1              Mai

[MAI]
"Heeyyyy wait a minute, this was supposed to be a whole platforming thing--" Well Jack-O' did apologize, right?

Not that that is much comfort in the face of a flying suplex! Mai has to give up on doing any ninja tricks, and just braces for impact as Jack-O' comes crashing down at her in all of her might.

However skillful Mai may be, a chomping iron maiden is a bit much to deflect with a block from a fan. The attack engulfs her, and Mega-Mai is momentarily trapped inside this contraption, looking for a way out. It's disorienting to be picked up, and then body slammed down, an attack that not only takes Mai down, but crushes through a platform she was standing on... and another... propelling her right back to the bottom of the stage she worked so hard to climb. When she finally bursts out of the trap, the upper half of her costume is somewhat stragetically ripped from the scratching damage.

Something seems to finally occur to her. Maybe it was the iron maiden. "Wait! You aren't the actor they hired for this demo fight! That was supposed to hurt a lot less!"

She huffs. "Well, now I'm mad, but at least you're right where I need you to be...!" She spins around with a quick fan flourish, but that's just a distraction. What really matters is the leg she spins out behind it... which is on fire as she explodes with a chi attack!

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' blocks Mai's Ryuuenbu.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Jack-O'          0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1              Mai

[JACK-O']
"I'M"

BOOM

"SO"

BOOM

"SORRY!!"

BOOOOOOOMMM

As the dust settles in the aftermath of that flying assault, little, mustachioed minions hobble the splintered battlefield, using swords and staves and spears as adorable little crutches as they waddle about. Even just moving the make cutesy little ~* boing! *~ sounds.

It is sickeningly sweet.

And in the midst of all that wreckage, Jack-O' Valentine rises, only a silhouette of glowing green eyes and smiling green mouth and gloriously large fake mustache visible within the veil of dirt. She wobbles a bit from side to side, shaking her head.

"wughhh" she complains eloquently as that tremendous iron maiden, busted open as it is, starts peeling apart into bands of metal that all inexplicably and quite irrationally warp and shrink in non-euclidean patterns until they have reassembled themselves into a ball and chain designed like a jack-o'-lantern, attached to the vile Dr. Jack-O's ankle.

You aren't the actor they hired for this demo fight! accuses Mai as Jack-O's senses begin to return. Green mask holes widen, glowing mouth goes ajar in confusion.

"I'm not?!" she wonders, as if this was somehow news to her. A second or two passes. Those mask holes go big as saucer plates, glowing mouth gaping in horror. "OH NO, I'm not!!"

And here Jack-O' stands, sleeve-swaddled hands at her mouth as she wiggles about in a panic. Mai springs for her. Leg ignites. Lashes.

And it is scarcely in the nick of time that MEGA MAI will feel a solid CRACK of heel against heel as her blazing assault is suddenly stopped short. And there, tilted into a hand-stand on her faithful metal pumpkin of a familiar, is Jack-O', right leg locked with Mai's in a bizarre and precise application of counter-force.

"So um yeah!! I don't think I'm supposed to be here? But they told me to take over the world and pretend to be a perverted old man so here I am!! It's fun! It reminds me of something fun from when I was a kid, but I don't really think it's anything that ever actually existed, because sometimes my memories are like imaginary friends and I only wish they were real!" And she continues to linger like that, leg-locked, carrying out her excitable conversation --

"So um sorry to impose but I'm getting some really good intel on current entertainment trends and I'm only halfway sure I'm not hallucinating all of this so if we could keep going until I take over the world or you stop existing that would be greAAHHH MY LEG IS ON FIRE!"

-- until she notices her leg is on fire.

And this is the story about how Jack-O', flaming leg flailing about, backflips away, yanking a sword-wielding Gearling out of the air as she goes.

"Behold my strongest technique...! DEFERRAL OF RESPONSIBILITY ASSAULT~!"

Whereupon she just throws that spooky-cute minion at Mai sword-first, yelping and igniting in swirls of green magic as it goes.

"WA HA HA, I'LL GET YOU YET!"

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' successfully hits Mai with Spectral Sentinel.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Jack-O'          0/-------/=======|=======\=====--\1              Mai

[MAI]
Mai lets out a big, full shoulder sigh, leaning into it slightly, as Jack-O' admits she wasn't even supposed to be here today. The leg-crack nonetheless connects... with another leg, and there's a tense moment as the two are locked in a very awkward position.

The fire however, as it came from Mai, doesn't hurt her, so she watches in amusement as Jack-O' figures out for a second...

A dramatic pause for effect as she realizes now, in slow motion, there's a minion headed for her face. She does not dive out of the way in time.

The flaming creature with a blade and fire is thrown headlong for her face, and there's a bit of flailing and falling as she bounces down and onto her butt... green fire erupting everywhere. She struggles back to her feet, and then develops a new idea.

The shifting block platforms up above her are still there, even if Jack-O' broke the ones nearby. Mai takes a step back, then leaps toward the back wall of the studio. "Well, if you're here to learn about entertainment... prepare to be entertained! After all I may not have minions to throw, but..."

She kicks off of the wall behind her lightly, and gets up to a higher platform up above. "I can throw something else! And I can get the high ground, too!"

Now that she has that advantage, and a bit of distance, she does what she can most effectively do from far away... reach under her arm and throw out a fan. And another... and another... raining spiraling fans down from above, like streaking, spinning comets.

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' dodges Mai's Suichou no Mai.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Jack-O'          0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0              Mai

[JACK-O']
As Mai and the minion go bouncing off, the villainous Dr. Jack-O' is... well, she's just kinda over there, flipping about on the ground chanting "stop drop and roll!!" as she stamps out the remaining flames that have set her beautiful bellbottoms ablaze with chi. In the aftermath, she flips up back onto her feet. She looks down at her pants. Somehow, the mask manages to pout. It looks unnervingly sad.

"Curse you, Mega Mai, I'll never forgive you for this! I was bringing bellbottoms back, I think! Shake fist here! I -- wait, um, am I supposed to say 'shake fist here' or actually shake my fist or or or...?? GAH! How about this!"

And here, bright and saccharine, the mustachioed mad scientist (??) shakes a gloved fist into the air, making the billowing sleeves of her labcoat froth in her adamance.

"<3 SHAKE FIST HERE, MEGA MAI~! <3"

Her sugary sweet, obliviously cheerful adamance. There's floating green hearts and everything. It's just... just awful.

"Now, to defeat you, and figure out what I'm doing here -- uh, wait, where did you..."

She looks up. Those eyes become beady green dots of stark realization against the black iron of her mask.

"... gohhhhh no."

Fans fly.

"Oh no!"

For /her/.

"OH NO!!"

The following seconds are hard to describe beyond a dizzying array of pure, unadulterated madness. Mai's fans fly with deadly precision and speed; the first -nicks- across Jack-O's midsection, the sheer velocity tearing through her ankh-covered bodysuit and labcoat and barely graving flesh in a way that impresses upon the mysterious masked woman the imperative importance of /not getting hit by them/ as she pivots with a sharp, flexible bend to her right. The next fan brushes just beneath her as she flips over it, landing hands-first on her familiar, Dopoulos. And as the intervening space between herself and Mai Shiranui fills with a veritable hailstorm of warfans...

"Let's goooooooooooooo--"

Rockets ignite on the underside of that black iron pumpkin. Its glowing green face twists into an expression of determination. And it /flies/ like a space shuttle taking flight, green exhaust BURSTING from beneath it as it sears an angry path through the air. And through it all, Jack-O' clings to her familiar in her hand stand as the pumpkin weaves between fans; sometimes, she leaps off of it, bending in mid-air to avoid a flurry of weapons before -yanking- the rocketing Dopoulos back to her; other times, she cuts the thrusters off, dropping into freefall as fans rip through her coat and cut tiny furrows at her cheek that heal with unsettling swiftness. Others, she weaves through in a bizarre display of jerking motions. All of which ultimately brings her high into the air...

... at which point, she descends at high speeds for Mai, rotating her body in mid-air as she -swings- her right leg forward --

--and sends the rocketing jack-o'lantern attached to her ankle screaming for Mai like the world's most expressive ball and chain.

"--oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo~!!"

COMBATSYS: Mai full-parries Jack-O''s Quick Strike!!

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Jack-O'          1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0              Mai

[MAI]
"They actually look really cute!" Mai says encouragingly. There's no harm in mentioning she likes someone's fashion even in the middle of a bout. She sticks out one leg, which is currently encased in a too-large metal boot. It's definitely another one of those movement-hindering problems, though it didn't interrupt her ninja walljump too much. "I'm not really all into this big-boot look, you know?"

Mai is still throwing fans while she says this, of course - fashion is just a priority. But she's gotta be impressed with Jack-O's ability to dodge all of the things she's throwing her way. That's some serious speed!

Then Jack-O' goes up for the assault! The ball comes swinging for Mai....

She already knows a fan is not going to be enough to block an attack like that. But she does have the stage around her to help compensate for the shortcomings of a paper fan in this situation. She leaps up away from the platform where she's standing - which is obviously toast, and leaps up to grab onto another from underneath. She swings forward, kicks up, and, grabs --

Well, she honestly meant to mid-air snag a platform and use that to deflect, but as luck would have it, the next platform up turns out to be one of the ones that's made of bouncing rubber balls. She rips one off of the wall and holds it in front of her...

And she really meant to do that, seriously, as the rolling wrecking ball goes rebounding away from her, leaving Jack-O' open for her retaliatory strike. "Ha! Bouncing protects me again!"

Mega-Mai, who is getting a little tired of the extra boot weight, builds another charge of chi around her legs. The blue armor glows bright red with heat. Mai leaps down from her high spot, and does a flip, a wave of fire streaking out from behind her leg in the middle of the turn.

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' blocks Mai's Hishou Ryuuenjin EX.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Jack-O'          1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0              Mai

[JACK-O']
"AW thank you I" BOOM "WAH I MISSED!"

Minions start to float, jump, or crawl (pathetically wiggle) their way up from platform to platform as Jack-O' makes a wild collision with the ground of her own. The mass and acceleration of Dopoulos' swinging descent makes short work of the flooring beneath it, breaking it apart into a bunch of perfectly shaped cubes that scatter everywhere in a perfect display of propsmanship. The jack-o'-lantern familiar goes STRAIGHT through the floor as Jack-O' yelps out, arms wheeling crazily about and maskholes pouring bright green tears of dismay as the ball and chain ignites its thrusters once more to travel -faster-. Which of course, leads to --

*WHACK*

*BOING*

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~~~*"

And this is the sound of Jack-O', ricocheting brilliantly off the rubberized wall that Mai uses in her defense. The momentum of Dopoulos suddenly reversed, Jack-O' becomes a spiraling, cartoonish flail at the end of her minion until she can land in an eloquent -smack- of partially-melted heels against the top of her familiar, teeter-tottering about precariously in mid-air as the jack-o'(-lantern) reverses its thrust to stabilize itself.

"--Phew!" exhales Jack-O', reaching up to straighten her wobbling halo. Mask eyes shut smugly as Jack-O' plants her hands on her hips; somehow, the smile on that mask seems more collected and mature. Some...how. "Mm. There. Now, as I was saying... those boots really aren't that efficient, are they? Is this 'Mega Mai' a real person, because without even going into the logistics of how unwieldy such footwear is, it's just a travesty of style--"

And then she sees Mai, capitalizing on that opening brilliantly. Her head tilts in those intervening fractions of a second before impact. Her mask somehow smiles a prim, approving smile.

"Ah! Brilliant strategy--"

CRACK

And within that slice of a moment, Jack-O' -swings- Dopoulos upward. The ball-and-chain's mouth opens wide as it -intercepts- that flaming kick and all the momentum behind it in mid-air, reinforced by the thrust of Jack-O's gloved palms against its back. And thus, the two fly through the air, as the pent up force of Mai's kick overpowers both the Gear and her weapon, her flames overheating the living mace (for given definitions of 'living') into a burning red hot surface of pain as they land on a nearby platform, CRACKING the ground beneath them both as they skid across it.

"Ow ow ow ow ow OWIE OWIE OW OWWWWW" is Jack-O's mantra as the blazing red surface of Dopoulos burns at her palms. So, she does the smart thing: she lets go.

And then instantly flips backwards to kick that red-hot familiar forward like it was a soccer ball, chain extending as she aims to SPIKE it directly into Mai's midsection.

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' successfully hits Mai with Power Strike.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Jack-O'          1/=======/=======|=======\-------\1              Mai

[MAI]
Jack-O', with a swing of her ball and chain, intercepts the flaming kick dramatically, causing a flash of fire, a puff of smoke...

And a crack to appear in the big, heavy boot. Mai goes flying backward from the interrupted hit. She manages to land on the ground gracefully, with her hands down to brace her, but the attack with all its fury was a wash.

The cracked boot, however, is kind of good news. It was just weighing her kicks down anyway! With a twist, she kicks it off, leaving behind just a blue bodysuit and a nice soft ninja sock.

Of course, she's still wearing another, and she has the terrific idea to try to block Jack-O's incoming attack with it. She raises her knee...

But it doesn't really stop the momentum. The ball knocks Mai's knee into her stomach, and she's shoved back into the backdrop of the stage show. She connects with the back wall with a ringing impact. It's sturdy enough not to break, given the power this fight was expected to turn out, but one more solid hit or so can't be good for it.

Mai collects herself and takes a breath. She twists her leg in a stomping motion, then, with another flourish, she kicks off the second boot.

"Well, I know we're bringing down the house out here! For you all watching out there, I hope you've enjoyed the show!" Mai is stalling just a little, but she's got to feed a little off the crowd. It helps her out with her chi. She feels a little fire building up inside her, but she knows she's getting tired. She has to keep it stylish, but this may be one of her last rushes... so she'd better make it a good one...

Without the boots she's suddenly taking on a burst of new speed, giving this attack a little extra rushdown power. She rushes toward Jack-O' with a ninja run, shoulder down, and then does a leap toward her with a kick, followed by a roll, followed by a burning, flaming elbow drop!

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' endures Mai's Chou Hissatsu Shinobibachi.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //////                        ]
Jack-O'          2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0              Mai

[JACK-O']
It was a lovingly rendered stage once. The prop people were surely proud. But such is the fate of the props department of any competitive fighting program:

To be forced to watch on in horror as their loving works of art are sadistically destroyed...!

Such is the state of things now, as Jack-O' Valentine lands with a sweep of her right leg across the ground, sending Dopoulos rebounding back to her side in a way that just -demolishes- the wall behind her. Her bizarrely emotive mask holes squeezed shut into two burning green slits of mirth, the mustachioed mystery woman hops back up onto her feet, plants hands on her hips, tilts her head back --

"WA HA HA HA!"

And cackles, a blithely oblivious cackle as the wall collapses behind her. A victory cackle.

"DOCTOR JACK-O' HAS DEFEATED THAT SCOURGE, MEGA-MAI, ONCE AND FOR ALL, WHICH IS GOOD BECAUSE I'M PRETTY SURE SHE WAS MY NEMESIS! MAYBE? I MEAN, SHE SEEMED PRETTY NICE, AND I DON'T REALLY REMEMBER EVER INTERACTING WITH HER BEFORE NOW, BUT ERR... ... um, wait. Am I the villain?? Than why have I been cackling all this time, isn't that what heroes are supposed to do?! It -isn't-?! WHAT -- OH YAY MEGA-MAI IS STILL ALIVE!"

A premature victory cackle.

"I MEAN OH NO MEGA-MAI IS STILL ALIVE--"

Thankfully for Mai, this long-winded, incredibly confused monologue gives her all the time in the world to prepare herself. Unfortunately for Mai, she isn't the only one who's been preparing, even during that long-winded, incredibly confused monologue.

The end result being thus:

"WARK" Jack-O' Valentine is struck, quite handily, with a flying kick.

"my life is painnnnn but you're so coooooooooooooooaugh~~~~*" Jack-O' Valentine gets FLAMING ELBOW DROPPED with such fury that it rebounds her off the ground like her entire body was made of flubber, sending her battered body, tattered labcoat and all, bouncing away with a disconcertingly rubbery mid-air wiggle.

*SPROING SPROING SPROING* and at the same time --

-- a sudden gang of roving, ghostly mustachioed minions descend from Mai from on high to dogpile and pin her down under their countless numbers of especially adorable body weight.

And if they can? Mai might notice something, off in the distance. Something on the horizon. Something truly ominous.

"Wheee~! Wheeeeee~!! WHEEEEEEEE~~!!"

Jack-O' Valentine.

Currently being gradually trampolined into the air by a group of cutesy wutesy minions circled around her.

Up and down she bounces. Higher and higher. Further and further. It looks almost surreal. Too adorable for words. Except for the ominously muttered ones, of course:

"Overriding drag coefficient..."

And with one final toss, Jack-O' flies high. High. /High/. Smashing through sets, through ceilings, through anything else until she is just a distant, twinkling dot in the sky. Until she's just a beautiful star, forgotten in the heavens. Is this the end of the lovable Jack-O'??

"i reeeeaaaalllyyyyyyyyyy"

And then Mai might see it. The distant twinkle approaching again.

"looooooooooooooove"

She might see Jack-O', burning up like she was achieving atmospheric reentry.

"thhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEE"

The way her big, bright halo transforms into a breathtaking pair of magic-forged angel wings. But perhaps most of all...

"WAY YOU LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK"

... She might notice how Jack-O's right foot is extended. On fire. At dizzying accelerations.

"WITHOUT THE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTS~!"

Aiming a horrifyingly apocalyptic Inazuma Kick straight for her.

((((BOOM.))))

The resulting impact will probably annihilate that poor, excrutiatingly-wrought stage regardless of anything else.

Like all extinction-level events.

COMBATSYS: Jack-O' successfully hits Mai with #I Want Out#.

[                        \\\\\\  < >                                ]
Jack-O'          0/-------/------<|==-----\-------\0              Mai

[MAI]
Oh wow.

That is so sweet of Mega-Mai's new nemesis to say. LOVE is a strong word, right? It's mighty powerful...

Mai is quite flattered.

But then she's about to be... flattened, instead.

The kick comes right for her, and strikes her hard with all of Jack-O's might. The impact rattles Mai, but also slams her back against the backdrop of the stage, which couldn't possibly take another hit. The big set cracks, metal and girders snap, platforms collapse, bouncy-balls fly off of the walls and into the audience as take-home prizes....

And the kick keeps going, pushing Mega-Mai out into the backlot of the studio before the momentum finally stops. Mai is on her knees. She manages a smile somehow. "Thanks! You should see how great I look without the rest of it..."

Then she falls right out onto her face, with a thud.

COMBATSYS: Mai takes no action.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Jack-O'          0/-------/------<|

COMBATSYS: Mai can no longer fight.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Jack-O'          0/-------/------<|

Log created on 20:23:13 10/27/2018 by Mai, and last modified on 02:01:14 10/28/2018.