Match of the Millennium

Description: Boxing isn't a traditional Thanksgiving pastime, and Thanksgiving isn't a traditional Spanish holiday. Neither of these facts will keep the classy boxing champion Dudley and the mercenary pugilist Vanessa from giving an arena full of blood-thirsty Spaniards a heaping helping of violence. But all throughout the fight, there is a mysterious, man-sized egg shuddering in the corner of the ring. What could be hatching from it, in time for Thanksgiving fun_? (Winner: Dudley)

[DUDLEY]
Meson De Las Flores (Inn of the Flowers) is a popular tavern in Barcelona tucked away from the public eye, a membership only club hosting unsavory activities - as well as street fighters in its famous caged arena, where a certain infamous Spaniard is known to draw blood. Flamenco dancers, guitarists, and other entertainers also add to the nightlife, and the drinks are fairly priced.

Though it isn't quite clean enough for Dudley to actually hang around, he is here nonetheless as part of Saturday Night Fights, his continued foray into street fighting. No longer content with the ring, he seeks new and interesting opponents to test his skills against. So far, it has not disappointed. The Brit stands at one end of the arena, the cage already up, tightening his boxing gloves while one of the staff carries off his jacket. He is immaculate in personal appearance; even his hair is kept perfectly conditioned.

He thought for sure there was something of his family's somewhere in Barcelona, but he can't quite recall. Well, no matter; it was time to focus on the fight...and that strange egg in the corner. Dudley has asked, but no one seems to want to tell him what it's doing there or what is in it.

[VANESSA]
The potential for crazy bloodthirsty Spaniards, Meson De Las Flores is Vanessa's kind of place.

Since arriving, and getting a taste of the quality -- and, more importantly, price -- of their liquors, the redheaded mercenary has been spending much of the rest of her time preparing for the fight ahead of her by hounding down the people who run this establishment trying to figure out what, exactly, it takes to get membership here.

A few unnecessarily superfluous apologies later, and Vanessa is leaning her back against the cage ring, dressed to the nines in her black pinstripe suit, tugging on her gloves with an increasingly irritable frown.

"'We don't deserve someone of your quality,' my amazingly white ass," she mutters, half beneath her breath, as leather creaks nice and snug around her fingers. It's fine. She gets over these things fairly quick.

Case in point: wry, subdued confidence is already decorating her features by the time Dudley has prepared himself. Pushing up and more solidly onto her feet, Vanessa grips the lapels of her coat and casually yanks it off, tossing it aside to add a little extra panache to some random corner of the cage as she strides towards its center.

"Stylish look there," she remarks, smile on bright red lips. A second passes. She hesitates. Tilts her head to the right.

"So, uh," she begins, and then jerks her thumb to the side. Towards that gigantic egg.

"Any idea what this is supposed to even be?"

[DUDLEY]
"Thank you. You seem to be well tailored yourself," Dudley replies in his slightly clipped formal tone. He slowly looks over the egg. "I...don't know, I'm afraid. The officials said it was a surprise. They didn't specify if that surprise was pleasant or not."

He spreads his legs, dominant foot ahead of the other, raising his arms and keeping them close to his core, throwing out a few short jabs that make a slight 'whoosh' sound from the air displacement. "Regardless, I believe it is time we put on a show. You may have the first attack, miss."

By now the crowd is putting their full attention on the two fighters, beginning to cheer and call for the fight to start. The tavern band is beginning to play the two off.

[VANESSA]
"It's Saturday Night Fight," observes Vanessa casually as she runs a gloved hand through her short mane of red hair, eyeing that egg like it might hatch into an Ultra Mega Turkey at any point and eat them both.

"They don't really 'do' pleasant surprises."

But as Dudley adopts his fighting stance, those cool green eyes turn back his way. Red brows hike upward just a bit at his words. "Really?" wonders the mercenary boxer -- and pearly white teeth are exposed in a grin. "Well, aren't you the gentleman? And here I thought they all went extinct."

Those joking words delivered, Vanessa eases herself into her fighting stance, polished shoes spreading across the smooth earth and upper body lowering as her hands rise up. Leather creaks as she curls fingers into two tight fists. The right corner of her lips twitch up as she listens to the music.

"Alright then," she utters, body subtly tensing. "Was kinda hoping for some flamenco, but..."

And, planting her right foot into the earth, Vanessa -springs- in a straight rush, bringing her right arm back.

"... let's dance!"

Before -surging- forward in a wide swing before following up with an identical motion with the left, violent gushes of wind trailing in the wake of her one-two assault.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Vanessa          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Dudley has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Vanessa          0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0           Dudley

COMBATSYS: Dudley blocks Vanessa's Forbidden Eagle.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Vanessa          0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
Dudley simply nods at Vanessa's comment; a gentleman does not brag.

He is eager to see how her boxing style matches his, and things kick off hard right away as she lunges at him with her forceful one-two. Dudley keeps his guard tight, protecting his torso and head with his arms as she strikes him left, then right. He grunts from the impact of the punches, shuffling a little to keep her in sight. He comes in closer to her, ducking quickly to try and shuffle past her swings and bending slightly, unleashing a single uppercut to the jaw, provided he can get past her defenses.

COMBATSYS: Dudley successfully hits Vanessa with Ducking Upper.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Vanessa          0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Dudley

[VANESSA]
And get through her defenses he does.

"Damn--"

*crack*

She overcompensates the swing, just a little. And in circumstances like these, 'just a little' more often than not equates to 'more than enough.' That padded fist introduces itself powerfully to Vanessa's jaw, and all she can really do is let her body go slack to roll with the motion to at least diminish /some/ of the force behind the blow; it means the momentum of the uppercut ends up launching the redhead off her feet, twisting through the air to land a handful of feet away in a crouch. She presses a gloved hand to her bloodied lips, wipes, and smiles brilliantly.

And just like that, the woman is -surging- forward once more, aggressive to a fault in her style. She ducks in close, feints to the left --

-- and then hammers forward with the right, curled fist aiming to introduce a body blow to Dudley's sternum.

"Flamenco, right?" she asks in between the motions. "Would've had a much nicer rhythm!"

COMBATSYS: Vanessa successfully hits Dudley with Medium Punch.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Vanessa          0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
Dudley falls for the feint; he attempts to twist his body to avoid the left, and as a result is left completely open to the right, which slams into his chest with a loud THUD, causing him to stagger backwards, gasping and coughing. He holds a hand to his chest, which now aches, grimacing as he tries to correct his stance and get back in the dance, so to speak.

"Yes, it would. Shame we did not request something beforehand." The Brit keeps his feet moving, as if he's ready to spring forth at any moment. He circles Vanessa, looking for another opening...and goes for it, moving up to swing his arm around in a hook punch for the side of her head.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa instinctively blocks Dudley's Hook Punch.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Vanessa          0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0           Dudley

[VANESSA]
"Something to keep in mind for the rematch. If whatever's in that egg doesn't eat us."

Vanessa is nothing if not a go getter. As Dudley staggers back, the redheaded boxer springs spritely on the heels of her feet, gaining distance in a way some might misconstrue as a defensive posture. The reason why, however, soon becomes apparent. Because the moment that Dudley springs upon his perceived opening --

Vanessa is suddenly dashing in too to meet the gentleman boxer halfway, forcing his hand slightly earlier and allowing her to intercept that blow with her left forearm. Muscles strain for a brief moment as she feels all that momentum explode a sharp sting of pain across her nerves, but she ignores it as her right, leather-gloved fist flows upward at the exact same time in a blazingly fast uppercut, aimed to clock Dudley in the jaw to gift him with a future bruise to match her own.

COMBATSYS: Dudley just-defends Vanessa's Dash Puncher!

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Vanessa          0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
Dudley is momentarily surprised by Vanessa's sharp reaction - but just as she capitalizes on this, so too does Dudley as a counterattack. His gaze sharpens, and as Vanessa unleashes her uppercut, Dudley completely knocks her aim off at the last second with his left arm, pushing her arm aside. In the brief window that he has, he retaliates with a rapid series of punches from his right hand, unleashing supremely fast jabs at her chest and face, then finishes with a quick uppercut from his left hand. "Machinegun Blow!" he calls upon finishing.

COMBATSYS: Vanessa instinctively blocks Dudley's Machinegun Blow.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Vanessa          0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0           Dudley

[VANESSA]
In close now, Vanessa doesn't seem to have much intention of getting out of the tango of fists she finds herself embroiled in. Normally subdued, those green eyes are wild with adrenaline, her grin unwavering even as she finds her assault subverted, her momentum going wide and her footing momentarily unsettled. There's an opening there, and she knows it.

And she responds immediately as she can, a soft, "crap!" prefacing the yank of her head to the right as the first blow barely nicks the side of her skull. By the next, she has her arms up, the barrier of her forearms warding against punch after punch until they start to feel comfortably numb about the prospect of rebounding Dudley's powerful jabs. The uppercut comes --

And Vanessa -surges- to her right in a smear of whites and reds, just barely avoiding being launched off her feet as she drives her right fist down in an overhead blow meant to unsettle. The perfect lead in to her second uppercut of the evening, carrying with it raw, crushing strength.

COMBATSYS: Dudley counters One-Two Puncher from Vanessa with Cutting Upper EX.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Vanessa          1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
Dudley blew a sharp breath through his nostrils; he was not expecting her to react so fast twice in a row. He was beginning to sweat; now THIS is what he has come to expect from fighters around the globe. He just wished he could have found such a thrill in the ring proper, not in front of sketchy rich Spaniards.

Vanessa swings her overhead...but not enough! Before that uppercut can even make its entrance, Dudley immediately sways backwards out of the way of the overhead, leaving Vanessa's guard down as the attack finishes. He comes rushing back in with yet another uppercut, this one surrounded by howling chi-produced winds in a strike that tends to knock people off their feet.

[VANESSA]
Vanessa has one immediate notion dominating her thoughts the moment she sees Dudley take that swaying backstep.

'Ah, shit.'

It's a thought she doesn't even have time to voice, however, let alone mount a proper defense for what comes next. She's still stumbling from the botched swing, trying to get her feet under her, when that powerful uppercut of a blow directs its full force into her jaw. The woman -launches- into the air, aided by the rippling rush of the chi that is summoned forth by the force of his blow, feeling the wild energies rippling about her with the tight grit of teeth.

This time, when she lands, it's not on her feet; Vanessa hits earth roughly, rebounding once and rolling until her right hand snaps out to grip onto the chain cage that surrounds them, reminding her once more of where they are, and who made his name here.

"... I swear, if that crazy-ass Spaniard pops out of that egg, I'm just done," she mumbles under her breath, before dragging herself up onto her feet with the faint bounce of heels.

"Okay," she announces, wry smile returning, green eyes alight.

"Round two."

And with that, she pops off on her right foot, a charge that brings her right for Dudley -- and then /past/ him, heels squealing to a stop directly behind the man as Vanessa -whips- about -- aiming one fist in a wild hook straight for the back of the man's head.

COMBATSYS: Dudley blocks Vanessa's Hook Punch.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Vanessa          1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
Dudley doesn't hear Vanessa, but he would probably agree. Sweat starts to collect around his brow, but he doesn't lose that cool expression, eyes glimmering as he watches her every move. The charge past him is unexpected, as is the hook punch to his head, but he responds in kind, reaching an arm back to block the punch and make a barrier between her fist and his skull. It still hurts, but it could have been worse. He grunts again from the impact to his arm, and whirls around. "Excellent reads, by the way," he says. He then launches into another uppercut...but it's a feint. He switches to a fast jab with his other fist, followed by another jab, then a hook punch to finish.

COMBATSYS: Dudley successfully hits Vanessa with Mix-Up Combo.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Vanessa          1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0           Dudley

[VANESSA]
"Right back at you! -- damn!"

This is the curse prefacing Dudley's swift, sharp combination game; Vanessa doesn't quite see the tactics within his motions fast enough, and it costs her -- mostly, by way of a lot of pain. A padded fist cracks into her ribs, unsettling her enough for the second to finish the job in unbalancing her completely. She can already feel her ribs bruising by the time that hook punch comes rolling in. Her body is going to hate her in the morning. But, at least right now, as her fists start to curl tight in preparation --

She's loving it.

And it's a fact that shows even now in that energized way she carries herself forward. The hook punch snaps her head to the side, and blood and spittle fly from her lips, but she hardly seems to mind -- she, in fact, tries to power -through- it to continue that lightning melee with one wide-armed blow aimed for Dudley's side. And then another, from the opposite angle. And another for the head, the arms, the chest -- all wide strikes to build up momentum and power, all designed to weaken and unbalance -- all leading in to Vanessa ducking low...

... and then surging upward in one mighty blow towards Dudley's jaw.

Uppercut #3 of the night.

COMBATSYS: Dudley counters Machine Gun Puncher from Vanessa with Cross Counter.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Vanessa          1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
However, Dudley is waiting for another of those wide blows. As the first blow is aimed at his side, he does something unusual - he drops his guard completely. His arms hang limply at his sides, and he leans forward, staring right at her. "Go on then," he invites, as if WANTING her to KO him. But as soon as her fist connects with his flesh...he's gone. One moment he stands there, the next he's rushing past her, slamming his right fist into her chest and then dragging it past her as he goes, finishing with him behind her and with his fist extended. It's over in almost an instant. "CROSS COUNTAH!"

[VANESSA]
Well, that turned out to be a mistake.

Her momentum completely ruined now, Vanessa can't quite seem to get her right foot forward; at the very least, she doesn't manage to anticipate the sudden -burst- of speed that prefaces Dudley's brutal reversal of her next assault. In one moment, her fist is flinging forward to begin her assault.

In the next, uppercut #3 of the night is over before it begins, as a freight train blow crushes into her sternum and bowls the redheaded mercenary over in a single strike. She doesn't fly like a ragdoll. But she does topple over, wet coughing dragging out of her throat as she tries to catch her breath past the raw burn in her lungs. One hand pressed to her chest, the other slaps into the ground -- and despite herself, a wry chuckle slips breathless from her bloodied lips between those coughing fits.

"Guess I wasn't... quite as good at reading... as either of us thought, huh?" she wonders, tone amused in some satisfied way even as sweat drips thick off her brow. Slowly she drags herself back up, skin flushed with exertion but determination still burning in the vivid green of her eyes. "... Well... still breathing."

She rolls one shoulder, than the other.

"Might as well get back to it, huh?"

And with that, she drives forward, relying on those fists to deliver three swift jabbing blows in rapid succession to the chest and solar plexus to drive Dudley further back -- and hopefully, on the defensive.

COMBATSYS: Dudley blocks Vanessa's Mix-Up Combo.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Vanessa          1/-======/=======|=======\-------\1           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
"Perhaps not," Dudley says, although he doesn't sound like he's making a mockery. "But the fight is not yet over."

Vanessa comes at him with a quick succession of jabs, and he blocks tightly, rolling with the punches and letting them strike his arms and hands, still protecting his face and chest from her blows. Red marks start to appear on his arms from the other boxer's mighty hits, and he breathes hard from the exertion of just staying on the defensive, stepping slowly back from her assault.

Once she's done, however, Dudley comes swinging again, this time aiming a hard punch right for the gut!

COMBATSYS: Vanessa just-defends Dudley's Heavy Punch!

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Vanessa          1/-======/=======|=======\-------\1           Dudley

[VANESSA]
There. Right there. She can see it. An opening.

And she capitalizes on it, as powerfully as she's able.

Dudley's swing comes; and when it does, it's met by a punch all its own, -driving- into the gentleman boxer's fist with enough countermomentum to parry the blow aside. Vanessa flashes a grin.

"Yeah," she decides. "Guess it's not."

And by the sound of entertainment in her tone, she seems to think this is a good thing. Dudley's blow punched aside, Vanessa winds up with her left, free fist, launching it -straight- into the man's sternum to unseat his footing. And if she can manage to stagger him --

-- the following punches come swiftly, hot on the heels of her first assault; Vanessa crouches down, applying pressure in a series of quick, upward punches towards Dudley's face. Becoming a smear of white blouse and black slacks, the woman shadow steps backward almost instantly, to create a gulf between herself and her opponent...

... before she comes barreling back in like a runaway bullet train, right fist drawn backwards to -piston- forward with a titanic haymaker carrying with it explosive levels of force.

COMBATSYS: Dudley blocks Vanessa's Infinity Puncher.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Vanessa          0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1           Dudley

[DUDLEY]
Dudley is impressed by Vanessa's recovery, giving a 'hrm' as she deflects his fist. "Ah," he utters. Then she unleashes a flurry of punches on him. Dudley shores up his defenses, arms taking a beating from the other boxer's upward strikes, feeling his arms slam against him from the force of the blows. Sweat pours down his face and he feels his arms shake - but they remain up, absorbing the brunt of Vanessa's punishment.

Of course, her final punch is a little much even for him. Though he remains guarded, the force of the charge punch knocks him off his feet, sending him flying backwards smack into the steel cage of the arena. The crowd cheers wildly. Dudley slides onto the ground, dazed and bloodied from that last forceful hit, his collar all ruffled. Slowly he stands, the pain in his arms turned to a brief numbness. He shakes them out. Now it was his turn.

The gentleman leaps forward, crouching low as he tries to near Vanessa. He launches an uppercut - but this one takes him upwards into the air a little bit. If it hits, Vanessa will be taken along for the ride. "One!" He comes down, and as Vanessa does, he jumps up again for a second rising uppercut. "TWO!" He comes down AGAIN...and for a third and final time, jumps up as he spins around with his fist extended, surrounded by a whirlwind of battering winds formed out of chi. Vanessa will find herself hit repeatedly from this punch as it will knock her to the cage cieling. "THE END!"

COMBATSYS: Dudley successfully hits Vanessa with Rocket Upper.
> Determined Hit! <

[                           \\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Vanessa          0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0           Dudley

[VANESSA]
Vanessa is nothing if not the kind of person to go down swinging. Or drunk. Or sometimes both.

She leads a very varied life.

Regardless, what this means is, the mercenary knows fairly instinctively that she is completely screwed at this point. She overcommit with that attack, and she /felt/ it -- it didn't connect cleanly. Not enough. Which means the follow up...

... well, Vanessa decides internally as she watches Dudley shake out his arms, knowing what's coming. Might as well go for a suicide run.

And that is exactly why Vanessa -lunges- for Dudley even as the man guns for her. She can't mount a defense -- not quickly enough -- and so she just decides the best defense in this particular situation is a good offense. As Dudley uppercuts, so too does she, attempting to catch him with one powerful swing even as his own launches her UP into the air. It's a swift pistoning blow -- and one that heralds her skyward journey of juggling uppercuts. A second knocks her further, and the third --

-- the third catches her in a tempest of whirlwinding chi, slicing through her shirt and cutting into skin and -hammering- her into the chain-link cage ceiling above. For a moment, she lingers there, as if physics has forgotten about her. The wind knocked out of her lungs, bruised and battered and bloodied. And looking satisfied.

And in the next second she falls towards Dudley, fist cocked back and looking stubborn as a mule as she delivers one final, falling, straight punch directly into the earth.

Regardless of outcome, her first, salient thought when she's capable of it again is, between the ragged huffs of breath,

"... damn, nice... job. But... seriously...

"... what the fuck is that egg?"

COMBATSYS: Vanessa can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Dudley blocks Vanessa's Puncher Straight.

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

[DUDLEY]
Dudley has his back to Vanessa after that third and final hit. But as she comes down, he turns to meet her, looking up as she comes at him with one last punch. "Well met," he says, before raising both arms to once again deflect her blow. The fist does grind past his arms and strike him in the chest, but again, most of the momentum was absorbed. Still, that'll leave a bruise - one among several, in fact. "That was an exhilarating boxing match." The crowd is cheering and throwing flowers into the cage. Dudley snatches a rose and sniffs at it, before tossing it. "Although your wide swings were tells. As for the egg..."

Suddenly the egg starts to crack and twitch. Dudley steps back, raising his fists as if anticipating another fighter.

The egg shatters, and up stands...Dan Hibiki in a turkey costume. Well, his face is exposed, with a plastic beak held over his nose. "WOOHOO! Congratulations, fighters! You proved you weren't a couple of TURKEYS while you beat the STUFFING out of each other!" he announces loudly. "As your reward, both of you are invited to my dojo to learn the number one martial art in the world....SAIKYO-RYU!" He clenches a feathery fist and holds it up.

Dudley, however, is ignoring him completely as he helps Vanessa up if she's still conscious. "Good show, miss. Do keep up the training; perhaps we shall meet in the ring once more."

[VANESSA]
Laid out on the ground, Vanessa snorts into the open air as Dudley speaks, laying the back of her palm over her flushed forehead. She looks like she doubtless has something to say --

Except then the egg cracks open, and out springs...

... something simply terrifying.

For a long time, Vanessa just stares, winded and wordless. And when they finally do catch up with her, she--

"... Nope. Sorry. I'm not nearly drunk enough for this."

She just takes Dudley's offered hand, staggers her way back onto her feet, does her best to straighten out the mess that has become her shirt, and limps her way off, casting an easy going smile and a wink over her shoulder for Dudley as she goes.

"Sure thing, Mr. Gentleman. The bruises might say otherwise, but it's always fun to see a master at work."

And with that, Vanessa meanders past Dan Turkbiki and towards the exit.

Like he didn't even exist.

Ice cold...!

[DUDLEY]
Dudley similarily leaves, leaving Dan alone in his turkey costume. "W-Wait...but...I really need students! I'm behind on my rent!" he cries out.

COMBATSYS: Dudley has ended the fight here.

Log created on 20:02:18 12/07/2018 by Vanessa, and last modified on 03:46:14 12/08/2018.