Match of the Millennium

Description: Lightning Spangles visits the Restaurante Ribeiro, Bahia to face the NUMERO UM love bird hostess Olivia in a Neo League match! <Winner: Lighting Spangles>

[OLIVIA]
The cobbled streets of the Pelourinho district in Salvador de Bahia are lined with a distinctive array of colourful buildings, the bright pastel blues and yellows and pinks and greens and reds perhaps best viewed on a sunny day like today. As the historical center of the city of Salvador, the district - translating to 'Pillory' district in English - has something of a dark history, but today, it is a vibrant cultural highlight for tourists, especially during Carnival season.

It is not Carnival season now, but that doesn't stop one particular girl outside one particular restaurant in one particular corner of the Pelourinho district from doing her best to invoke the aesthetic for the sake of commerce!

"Permita-me regala-lo,
Com o conto de uma galinha
Uma grande galinha vermelha
Que ficou sozinha num campo o/~"

Olivia dances back and forth across the cobbled street in front of the Restaurante Ribeiro, sweetly serenading both passersby and the lunchtime crowd dining at the open-air tables with a song about... a big red chicken?

Most of the tourists don't seem to be especially concerned with the lyrical content of the performance, which is backed by instrumental music piping out of speakers flanking the doors of the yellow building that houses Restaurante Ribeiro. More are interested, it would seem, in the Brazilian girl's costume. Today, she is dressed - as usual - in a colourful carnival-style bird costume, with a bird's head-shaped headdress, wings strapped to her arms, and a bikini, tailfeathers and high-heeled sandals. Astute aviary aficianados may perhaps recognize that she is in fact dressed as a Rosy-faced Lovebird - a seasonally appropriate choice from a marketing perspective, with Valentine's Day arriving soon.

"Esta galinha enfrentou um grupo
De quarenta e oito bandidos... o/~"

The song takes a darker turn as the red chicken is confronted by a group of forty-eight bandits. The diners, however, are more interested in their meals than the plight of a clearly fictitious red chicken.

[JEZEBEL]
"I think we should forfeit."

The handler talks to the manager, as LIghtning Spangles sits there, with the makeup finishing up. She is smiling, as she always smiles, holding still while she is finished up. "She can fight, you know she's good at fighting." "THe problem isn't the fighting, it's the style. Look, your Lightning Spangles isn't very good. People are noticing she's not as good as the real thing. There has been that whole frost thing going on, she's coming off as fake- look, have you seen this girl out here?" The handler goes out to the curtain, drawing it back to show the beautiful woman dancing as a ruddy Lovebird. The style, the rhythm, the oof. It was all in full display, as the handler shakes his head. "Lightning Spangles doesn't stand a chance. The crowd is wrong, the chicken is good. I think you need to cut your losses."

"I don't think that!"

Lightning Spangles chirps brightly as she stands up. She puts on her white ten gallon hat, adjusting it as she looks in the mirror. "I don't have to be the center of attention all the time. I like working with people from all kinds of cultures, even ones that have young ladies dress like they ought to work at the saloon!" Lightning Spangles finishes adjusting, and looks to her manager, and the handler, nodding her head before strutting past them out to the opened curtain. She gives a last parting shot before she strides past.

"Oh, and I am the real Lightning Spangles, don't forget that."

Lightning Spangles comes on out, dressed in her cowgirl best. A star studded rhinestone vest, blue jeans, and soft brown boots. She doesn't step on Olivia's show, just walking up to the center of the tables, waving at folks as she comes along. When she reaches the middle table, she brings a boot up to the chair, and leans on one, resting on the one leg as she watches the dancer. The diners are in their meals, but Lightning Spangles? She's following along, furrowing her brow. And there, she finally interjects as something clicks.

"What about them banditos, pardner?"

[OLIVIA]
While her costume may come across as eccentric, Olivia is a surprisingly adroit dancer; while the whole of her body seems to sway from side to side with the sort of laziness appropriate to a sunny early afternoon as her feet carry her back and forth, her hips and shoulders add little flourishes of movement at each end of the shuffle. It's all built around seemingly simple but exceptionally precise footwork and superb balance.

Still, a dancing, singing lovebird in a bikini can't help but look a little goofy.

When Lightning Spangles turns up, people take notice - the crowd at the tables may not all recognize the high-kicking cowgirl immediately, but kids both local and from abroad can be seen getting subtle smiles, whispers and nudges exchanged, parents' sleeves tugged.

"Papai! E Lightning Spangles!"

Olivia looks over when Spangles addresses her, and her face can't help but break from the dramatic tone of the ballad into a sunny smile, teeth flashing even as she continues her song and dance:

"E ao cercarem a galinha
Eles brandiram suas armas o/~"

As the instrumental bridge between the verse and chorus of the song builds tension in light of the bandits surrounding the chicken and brandishing their weapons, Olivia's attention shifts more to her dancing, each end of the path of her clicking heels now flourishing with a broad sweep of her wings and a spin to face the opposite direction as she shimmies her tailfeather. When the chorus arrives, the spins cease in favour of simply spreading her wings wide and pouring her heart into the vocals as the tale reaches its climax:

"Oh, Cometa Vermelho
Suas penas manchadas de sangue
Deviam ter sido espertos o bastante
Para nao atacar o diabo o/~"

As the grim fate of the bandits is insinuated and the red chicken's role as anti-hero is revealed, Olivia gives a bow, sweeping a wing across her chest as a few of the onlookers clap - the foreign tourists showing a fair bit more enthusiasm than the locals who can follow the words.

Almost instantaneously, her solemn duty as dancing entertainer concluded for the moment, Olivia breaks from her character and bounces over closer to Spangles, waving a wing energetically, then stopping a little ways away to clap her hands together.

"Bem-vindo ao Restaurante Ribeiro, senhorita Spangles!"

She tilts her head a little to one side.

"Did you come to try our famous Brazilian barbecue?"

Is she actually not aware of why Lightning Spangles is here, despite the restaurateurs almost certainly being informed of such a visit?

A cynical mind might think she was just taking a cheap opportunity to shill some churrasco.

[JEZEBEL]
The beautiful thing with Lightning Spangles, is that nothing really looks ridiculous.

There was a silliness, yes. But as the children's whispers brought along, in the presence of Lightning Spangles, nothing was truly weird, nothing was truly strange. It was part of a Spangles World, with Spangles people living in it. It was sometimes invasive for people who refused to live in a world where beautiful young women dress in costumes and enjoy life as one would enjoy a platter of slow-cooked smoked ribs, but for the rest of those? It was a Spangled Universe where a cowgirl and a birdgirl could meet in the center of a house of dining. Lightning Spangles didn't -understand- the language totally. She just understood a word, and repeated it out loud to let it continue. She could understand the sound of the song, the tones of the language. So when it reaches the end of the music, and the greeting is made, Lightning Spangles just absorbs it in with a smile. It was theater. Everyone who was a smart mark knew it was theater.

BUt the theater is the point, wasn't it.

"I've come to try something famous, and something Brazilian, but it isn't the high quality barbeque right here at the Restaurante Ribeiro!" Lightning Spangles gives a tip of her hat, and gestures to the plates. "What's come to try is the world famous Olivia Riberio herself, with a signature platter of her. What've come to try, pardner, is a full sized helpin of the Fujian White Crane, with a side of Kung Fu!" Lightning Spangles gives a whole-hearted wink, before dropping her leg off the chair, circling the dancing waitress with a smile stapled on her face.

"Does that come with a soft drink too?"

[OLIVIA]
For her part, Olivia seems to hold a certain degree of something that's hard to distinguish between obliviousness and total self-acceptance in regards to the theatrical nature of her presentation. She's practically unflappable.

Except when Spangles announces that she's come to 'try the world-famous Olivia Ribeiro herself.'

Olivia's wings come up to her mouth, brown eyes going wide, her cheeks flushing to match those of the Rosy-Faced Lovebird that she's impersonating. She even gives a little hop of surprise, feet coming together. It's not what she was expecting from the great Heroina Americana. Is the Love Bird in danger of becoming twitter-pated?

'...a full sized helpin of the Fujian White Crane, with a side of Kung Fu!'

Olivia's eyelashes flutter as she returns from her mission to space.

"Ohhh, ahaha! Compreendo!"

Olivia's face remains slightly flushed as she smiles brighter to cover the private embarrassment and she lowers her wings to her sides. Then, with sudden vigor, she snaps her winged arms around, fingertips closing with her thumbs in the shape of beaks as her expression becomes one of intense focus. The wings snap around to the opposite direction in circular motions, then spin outward as she steps back onto one foot, then back in reverse rotations as she crouches forward onto both feet before whipping around as she rises up onto the opposite foot, lifting a knee. While some might recognize the various stances of the Crane style, others might think that she was demonstrating some strange new dance craze, if not trying to start one.

At some point during the process, she's managed to swipe a bottle of soda off of a table.

She beams as she holds it up.

"I know you prefer Coca-Cola, Lightning Spangles, but since you're here, may I suggest a Guarana Antarctica? It's Brazil's second favourite soda, and like Lightning Spangles, it's also big in Japan!"

Obviously, the prop bottle isn't itself fit for offering to the Hoedown Heroine, so Olivia quickly returns it to the coaster in front of the bemused customer who originally ordered it, her eyes shifting sidelong to his face as she smiles.

"It's pretty good," the customer chips in, raising the bottle indicatively before taking a sip. Olivia gives him a discreet wink before turning her attention back to her celebrity guest.

A sudden epiphany seems to hit her.

"Oh! Mamae! Can I show Lightning Spangles my Hoedown Tatu?"

Olivia's eyes - along with the camera, which has been set up by now - cuts to a buxom middle-aged Brazilian woman in an apron standing next to the door to the restaurant and wiping sweat from her brow.

"Nao, minha filha - you can't just go showing it in public all the time. There are cameras!"

Considering what Olivia gets away with showing in public all the time, it must be scandalous indeed.

Olivia pulls a pout.

"Por favor???"

Olivia's mother rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Fine! I'll go inside."

Olivia looks back at Spangles with a triumphant smile as she starts giving a bit of a tug at her bikini bottoms - and leaves it at a minor adjustment, her nose twitching as she stares at Lightning Spangles with a blank smile.

After half a minute, the woman in the apron re-emerges, holding up something.

"Aqui esta."

Olivia turns to see, and her face lights up.

"Obrigada, mamae!"

The mother tosses the object to her daughter, who turns to Spangles, slipping a hand into it and holding it up so that the tall cowgirl can see.

As the camera cuts to a close-up, the object becomes clear - it's a hand-crafted, slightly derpier-than-usual hand puppet of the Hoedown Dillo wearing a tiny pair of sunglasses.

"You picked the wrong DILLO to mess with, missy!" the brown-haired bird-girl ventriloquizes in a voice that sounds oddly precisely similar to a miniature Brazilian version of Johnny Cage.

Olivia stuffs the puppet into a hidden pocket in her left wing.

"You know, I never realised what amazing creatures meerkats are before I watched that show! It's so legal how they can pretend they're on fire to scare off predators!"

[JEZEBEL]
Meerkats.

Lightning Spangles had an incredible fight at the Trouble in Paradise tournament with the meerkats. She was stunned, dazed for a moment. All those meerkats. Countless Meerkats sacrificed their lives in an unsanctioned slaughter of innocent creatures. They say that strife builds society, and the society they created was the cruelist reflection of mankind. But Lightning Spangles didn't feel like she remembered in the right shape of it. It was a distant memory, a shape, images. Lightning Spangles did that, didn't she? Then why did she feel like she would never do it. It was something that Jezebel would do, wasn't it? But who was Jezebel? She wasn't Jezebel.

She was Lightning Spangles.

Lightning Spangles goes down to a knee, lowering herself to the eye level of the child. She touches the puppet lightly, inspecting it, looking at it. It was real. Innocence was not the purest form of reality, but Lightning Spangles could only see the right way for children to love Lightning Spangles. She smiles. "Well tie me up and call me Susan B Anthony! I thought you had the real deal there! Boy howdy, that kind of craftsmanship deserves a real prize!" Reaching into her " She sticks a deputy star right on the girl's shirt, and stands back up. Grabbing a bottle of Guarana Antarctica, she gives a sip. "That's a refreshing drink, from such a refreshing country!" She gives a wink towards the camera, and places it down. "You got the right kind of fans here, Olivia! It sure looks like they don't need to scare off any predators!" Lightning Spangles laughs as her handler facepalms severely. The cowgirl begins to ease into the fighting stance of Tae Kwon Do. "But that there is just an appetizer. I'm ready for the main entree, ya hear?" She gives a wink, as she brings up her guard, straddling her legs in her fighting stance.

"Lets get this hoedown started!"

[OLIVIA]
Olivia seems to swell with pride at the endorsement from the Real Lightning Spangles, beaming as she tucks away the Hoedown Tatu and fingers her new Sheriff Star. It's evident that the girl is a real fan of the American icon, which makes the chance to have a real Hoedown Showdown all the more meaningful.

Even so, it would be dishonourable to deny her childhood hero the full might of her Fujian White Crane* style!

With that in mind, Olivia lifts her wing in salute of the cowgirl, a fierce, determined smile on her face. Whatever was said about predators seems to have gone right over her feather-plumed head.

"Obrigada, Lightning Spangles!"

With a flap of her wings and a sudden gust that sends at least one customer's pao de queijo tumbling off of their table, Olivia flutters backward, landing on her right foot as she faces across from Spangles and lifts her left leg at a bent angle, wings raised in a crane-like pose while the Neo-League official countdown counts down.

"TRES!"

"DOIS!"

"UM!"

"FIGHT!"

"In that case, perhaps I can interest you..."

Olivia is saying as the countdown commences, before giving a mighty hop forward and landing on one silver sandal near Spangles. She's immediately swinging a swift kick of her left foot at the cowgirl's midsection.

"...in COMBO!"

Pressing the attack, she twirls forward, hopping and driving her right heel toward Spangles' knee as she shifts onto her left foot.

"NUMERO!"

Continuing to spin, she aims to smash the back of her winged wrist into Lightning Spangles' chest -

"Sete!" - and, shifting to her right foot again, she'd then finish by snapping a powerful kick at the Hoedown star's chin, aiming to knock her right out of her figurative boots and up toward the sky!

"Extra Spicy!"

Olivia holds the practically-vertically-split-legged pose as she snaps a salute with her right wing and winks for the cameras.

COMBATSYS: Olivia has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Olivia           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Jezebel has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Jezebel          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Olivia

COMBATSYS: Jezebel blocks Olivia's Combo #7 - Golpes de Pe e Pulso ES.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Jezebel          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0           Olivia

[JEZEBEL]
It was an honest endorsement.

Lightning Spangles didn't really have too many other thoughts than the endorsement of herself and others. It was the state of her mind. Sometimes she would think about it. But not often. Whenever she thought about it, it would get in the way of being LIghtning Spangles, so she wouldn't. Nobody wanted a bad Lightning Spangles. The joy of the children, of Olivia, of all the fans. That's what the point of LIghtning Spangles was. Whenever Lightning Spangles got into a dark, sad place, she just remembered she was Lightning Spangles, and Lightning Spangles never had dark, sad places. It was always happy. IT was always fun.

It was nice being Lightning Spangles.

The high-kicking cowgirl stands fast as she carefully watches the dynamic approach of the birdlady. THe opening kick comes, and LIghtning Spangles catches it, deflecting it with her arm. The wrist smashes into her shoulder, knocking her cleanly as LIghtning SPangles gives a grunt. THe combination comes to a conclusion as the kick snaps up to her chin. THat slips past, knocking hard on Lightning Spangles as she staggers backwards. Body burning with pain, and face already bruised, her smile doesn't. "That's real spicy pardner!" The cowgirl cries out, as she turns. Sweeping her leg around, she lunges in with a thrusting, deep kick, throwing herself straight in with a charging dash kick, aiming straight for the bird girl's mid section.

"Don't suppose you got something a little more mild for a Texas girl?"

COMBATSYS: Olivia instinctively blocks Jezebel's Broken Arrow.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Jezebel          0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0           Olivia

[OLIVIA]
Olivia snaps out of her salute as Spangles staggers backward, twisting her leg around and bending her knee as she slips smoothly back into her single-legged crane stance, her wings at her sides and hands open, fingers together. She smiles in a manner that's difficult to distinguish between cheeky and sincere at the commentary.

"I saved my highest kicks for you, senhora Spangles!" she claims merrily.

It would seem that the unipod stance that she's adopted might make Olivia something of an easy target, especially for a hard kick aimed for center of mass. As it's coming in, though, she shifts reflexively, causing the cowgirl's foot to collide with the side of her left hip rather than with her more vulnerable stomach. The Rosy-Faced LoveGirl flutters up into the air briefly as she's pushed back before landing in stable fashion on her heel once more.

"If you'd like something less spicy, perhaps I could recommend a nice Moqueca, Baianos style - followed by a COMBO!"

The girl pivots and snaps her left foot forward in a front kick to Lightning Spangles' stomach.

"NUMERO!"

The words and foot fire in a rapid staccato, a second front kick snapping lower at the cowgirl's groin region.

"UM!"

She hops in as she fires the third kick, aimed to take out her opponent's knee!

COMBATSYS: Jezebel interrupts Combo #1 - Tres Patadas from Olivia with High Noon EX.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Jezebel          0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0           Olivia

[JEZEBEL]
People were feeling a little funny, as the high kicks were kicking higher.

Lightning Spangles lunges in, bringing her momentum forward. She was smiling, as Olivia takes her order, and jots it down. "That'll be mighty fine- nrgh!" She drawls back, before coming to a grunt as the left foot comes slamming into her gut. It was a staggering blow, as she couldn't really roll with it. But she wasn't rolling with it.

She was attacking.

Red, white, and blue energy flashes over her as she brings her kicking leg down, and swings her other leg up. Pivoting, she was striking as the second snap kick bursts out. It doesn't connect with her pelvis; she intercepts Olivia's kick by slamming her leg up into her rosy opponent's chest, sending herself and the birdlady up in the air. Reaching the apex, she swings her leg around in a wide angle, driving it down into Olivia's chest with a burst of fireworks. The pair slams down, as Lightning Spangles knocks her into one of the empty tables. Lightning Spangles was grinning, gasping as she steadies herself. But staggering back, she falls back into her stance. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry pardner! I shouldn't have hit the table!" She apologizes, the smile starting to crack a bit. And she says something very Lightning Spangles, but to the pain and agony of her handler and manager.

"I'll have my team pay for those damages, okay?"

[OLIVIA]
The Rosy-Faced Lovebird takes flight as Lightning Spangles slips her own kick in past Olivia's, the Brazilian girl inside the costume crying out an 'Ai!' of pain as she's taken to the sky. Jezebel's patriotic pyrotechnics take the party to another level, sending Olivia down to crash through one of her parents' tables.

The bird-girl groans and bends her back in pain for a second or two as Lightning Spangles' conscience gets the better of the cowgirl, and Olivia lifts a wing reassuringly.

"E legal," she says as she kips back up to her foot, wobbling a little as she gets upright. "My parents have carnival insurance."

This, of course, means that any damages caused by people dressed in carnival costumes will be covered by the insurance company at no cost to the client.

At least, that's how Olivia understands it. Her papai, on the other hand, is surreptitiously exchanging a meaningful look with the off-stage Spangles crew while he schmoozes with a table of American tourists.

Olivia flicks her wings to shed any excess bits of table-wood and hops forward out of the carnage.

"You may not like spicy food in Texas, senhora Spangles, but this is Bahia! I think it's time we turn up the heat!" the battle-bird calls out as she bounds forward. Then, as she nears the American Hero, she launches herself at Spangles, spiralling in a blur of green feathers as she attempts to batter her repeatedly with her outstretched wings.

"Especial de Papagaia Voadora!"

She cries out as she starts to ascend, before striking out with a follow-up thrusting side kick to try and send Spangles back down to Earth, winking for the nearest camera and saluting as she holds the pose.

"Extra Spicy!"

COMBATSYS: Jezebel dodges Olivia's Especial de Papagaia Voadora ES.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Jezebel          0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0           Olivia

[JEZEBEL]
Lightning Spangles knew in her heart what was going to happen next.

Steadying herself as she steps back, she gives Olivia the space she needs to build up. It was a kind of show fighting. She was happy that everything was taken care of. But there was a choice she had to make when she was by herself. There was a problem. It was happening more and more. And she had to fix it. She had to stop making the mistake. But she couldn't! She could avoid it. But as Olivia takes to the air, she reaches out, and grabs the empty bottle of the Guarana Antarctica. The birdfighter descends, dive bombing at the Spangles. The actress waits until Olivia is about to connect... and she turns. Her vest whips as it barely misses by the flaps of her clothing. Stumbling a bit, she clutches that bottle in one hand, as she keeps backing up. And she sparks up, smiling broadly.

"Heating up?"

She opens her hand, staring into it. Smiling. Still smiling. Lightning Spangles had a secret. They told her to stop. But Lightning Spangles wasn't trying to do it, really. She wasn't. It was just happening. And if things just happen as Lightning Spangles, then it's what should happen with Lightning Spangles. Somebody who isn't Lightning Spangles would be doing the wrong thing. But she was Lightning Spangles.

She was Lightning Spangles.

She tightens her grip on the bottle as she began to flash and flow with red, white, and blue energy. And then, the energy shudders, disrupting just as Lightning Spangles expected. The manager and the handler break away from their conversations with Olivia's father as they stare in shock and anger at Lightning Spangles doing that thing again. The red, white, and blue snap as it collapses into white, blue, and violet. The air around her gets astoundingly frigid, as the ground at her feet becomes covered with rime. Lightning Spangles herself becomes covered in the same frost, as the classic American energy gets replaced with the distorted, corrupted frozen force. Standing fast, she sips the empty bottle again, and then in a cold breath, and exhales a cloud of frigid air.

"I think it's time to get pretty cool!"

COMBATSYS: Jezebel burns with the darkness of her sins.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Jezebel          1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0           Olivia

[OLIVIA]
The lunchtime crowd starts to look a bit uncomfortable, shifting in their seats to put themselves further away from the fighting and especially from the plummeting temperature of Spangles' aura. Olivia herself, having landed on her foot, starts to shiver as she twirls through her recovery from the sidestepped bird-wing blitz. Her wings wrap around her bikini-clad frame as her knees bend a little more than usual to minimize the exposure of her flesh to the frigid chill.

"That /is/ cool, Lightning Spangles!" Olivia chirps as her teeth start to chatter. She manages to force a smile on, drawing in a deep breath before finally bravely flinging her wings wide, flaunting her form once again. She needs to restore morale, after all, or customers might start dropping like flies. This part of Brazil /never/ gets this cold, after all. Olivia herself is resisting the urge to migrate.

"What we need is a warm-up!"

Olivia twirls around, pointing a wing at the Restaurante Ribeiro building.

"Um samba picante...!"

The restaurant's speakers, as if on cue, shift tracks from the bossa nova that's been playing so far to a more upbeat samba, and Olivia's hips and shoulders start to twitch in time with the music.

"A round of fresh, hot buns..."

Olivia starts to shake her tailfeather to the beat, prancing along in front of the tables and winking at the crowd between keeping her eyes on Spangles.

"Compliments of Restaurante Ribeiro! Vamos! Let's dance!"

Perhaps surprisingly in the cynical modern age, a good number of customers actually get up out of their chairs, not to leave, but to join in with the girl's dancing as she wiggles her way around the perimeter of the fighting space. Soon, even some of the tourists are swept up into the sudden mob dance, albeit with less clear practice and... choreography?

A caption pops up at the bottom of the broadcast.
AcademiaBahianaDeDancaSalvador.com.br

COMBATSYS: Olivia takes a moment to appeal to the audience!

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Jezebel          1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1           Olivia

[JEZEBEL]
Lightning Spangles continues to charge up, as Olivia makes her pitch. But when she reaches the final advertisement, she suddenly realizes that something had gone wrong. Fortunately, what had gone wrong she was already prepared for. As Olivia finishes her pitch, Lightning Spangles picks it on up as she looks towards the camera, a smile on her face. "And for our viewers at home who are region locked out of advertisements, don't forget that for only $9.99 a month you can subscribe to the Spangles VPN Service! Spangles VPN allows you set what regional advertising and content you receive from your various Spangles affiliated medias! Enjoy all your Spangles media the way you want to see it, whether you are an Ethiopian native, or a Japanese fan! Spangles VPN! Now with TOR Secure masking! And as for you Olivia? Get ready! I need all your spirit now, I need your best! Come on pardner! GIVE IT YOUR ALL!"

And she launches herself.

Flying through the air with contrails of diamond dust, Lightning Spangles spirals straight for Olivia, whirling like an American Football (which is highlighted if you are using non-American region locking) at the birdgirl. Blazing with white and blue energy, she attempts to outright bowl over Olivia, running her down with a drilling charge of raw energy. It hurt, the iciness really hurt her skin. But she was part of it now. And it was a part of her. She didn't care what her manager, or her handler would say. She was Lightning Spangles.

And this was okay being part of her.

COMBATSYS: Jezebel issues a challenge!!

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Jezebel          1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1           Olivia

COMBATSYS: Olivia blocks Jezebel's Where Eagles Dare.
CSYS: This exciting moment brought to you by Academia Bahiana de Danca Salvador!!
CSYS: This exciting moment brought to you by Spangles VPN Support!!

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Jezebel          0/-------/-======|=======\======-\1           Olivia

[OLIVIA]
Olivia's prancing back and forth stops as Lightning Spangles looks to the camera, but she doesn't stop moving. She can't stop. Not because of some inner drive or compulsion, but because she's freezing her bunda off. She's never seen this much ice in person before - well, she may have come close that one time that she went in the freezer room to pull some chicken for the grill, but she made a pact with her parents not to mention what happened or go in the freezer again. So, there she is in the background, a Rosy-Faced Love Bird shimmying to the music while Spangles helps her fans bypass regional content locking.

But then, she can feel it.

Winter is coming.

Olivia stops her samba and strikes a pose - wings raising and leg tucking as she steels herself for the spiralling Spangles. She can feel the icy air from afar, the sensation blotting out the familiar feeling of the sun on her skin. It feels like death.

And as Spangles crashes into her, it's even worse.

The whirling cowgirl hits Olivia's winged arm as she braces for the collision, plowing the girl along the ground. The icy stone beneath her silver sandal allows her to slide back with the impact, barreling through a chair and toppling an umbrella over a moment before the pair break out of the shade and into the sunlight beaming past the building behind them.

"Nossa!" the Brazilian battle-bird-babe breathes as frost starts to spread rapidly over the green-feathered wing and her skin beneath it.

This isn't what she expected from a battle with her hero.

Sure, she expected the spectacle, the commercialism. She even expected to have her bunda roundly kicked. This frosty side of Spangles, though, is way too cool, and that isn't legal.

"Combo...!"

Even as she's being driven back, Olivia is already calling her shot, her focus intensifying. What she's about to do goes against every instinct, but she has to try.

"Numero...!"

When the moment comes, Olivia swings her leg up and around, feinting a high left kick toward Spangles' head.

"DOIS!"

The true attack, though, comes as she reverses out of the kick, aiming to catch the cowgirl off-guard with a scissor sweep of her right leg backed by her left that would, should she succeed, trap Spangles' legs between hers and slam the superstar down to the ground before she would abandon reason and squeeze her thighs tight around Spangles'.

"E-e-Extra S-Spicy!"

The accompanying wing-salute and wink at the camera would come across more like a cringe and grimace as her teeth chatter.

There's a pulse of strange energy as the bird-girl attempts the takedown; her veins taking on more of a green hue than usual and her legs seeming almost wooden in their solidity and grip - but perhaps it's just the cold?

COMBATSYS: Jezebel blocks Olivia's Combo #4 - Chute e Tesoura ES.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Jezebel          1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2           Olivia

[JEZEBEL]
Strange energy was unfolding before them.

Both in the literal and spiritual sense. The corruption of Lightning Spangle's energy was already beginning to become accepted. But seeing the same corruption showing up in Olivia's? The handler's angry was still seething, but the manager? He's expression shifts, studying the pair more carefully now. Lightning Spangle's furious cowgirl change slams hard to a sturdy Olivia, the crane-style kung fu meeting the Tae Kwon Do (?) stalwartly. As the icy attack fades, the red white and blue comes surging back, rolling over Lightning Spangles as she lands off. In tandem, Olivia counters with a high kick. Lightning Spangles is actually too slow to react to that one, having failed to bring her guard up in time. The fact it was a feint, however, ends up playing to her favor on the scissor sweep. That she can catch cleanly, as she brings her arms up as she is squeezed by Olivia's murderous Brazilian thighs. Smiling brightly, the cold is well gone from Lightning Spangles as she pipes up, refusing to go to ground as she actually carries up the other woman.

"I'm sorry pardner, I guess that Texas Cold is too much for you!"

Up close in the clinch, she attempts to claw back at Olivia to wrench her off without getting to ground. Staggering around, she grunts and groans in front of a 12 year old boy, who was a real fan of both Lightning Spangles AND eating at Restaurante Ribeiro, who would be later that night discovering something very important about himself when he would go googling that night. Meanwhile, Lightning Spangles would at least try to seize Olivia by the back of her lovebird britches. Should she manage to tear her off, she would spin around, using the momentum to build up speed. There, she would heave her up in the air, before trying to intercept her with a swift aerial kick before Olivia would hit the ground.

"YEEEEEE HAW!"

COMBATSYS: Olivia counters Hang 'Em High from Jezebel with Combo #5 - Surra de Bunda ES.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Jezebel          1/=======/=======|>>>>>>>\>>-----\1           Olivia

[OLIVIA]
While they are certainly Brazilian, it might be a stretch to call Olivia's thighs murderous, at least in intent; if anything, they might be excessively friendly - though the result is the same, in any case.

Olivia's face screws up in confusion as she struggles with Lightning Spangles, her wings flapping as the cowgirl carries her around.

"I thought that Texas was hot, senhora Spangles! Even if..." she huffs with exertion, "...it's not as hot as Bahi-aaahhh!"

Olivia's eyes go wide as she cries out in response to the tug on her bikini, lifting her away from the hold that she'd trapped Spangles in. Her legs kick in the air frantically as she's hoisted, but as she's spun around and about to be given the heave-ho, she manages to catch her wings on a nearby chair. Using the furniture for leverage, she pushes her feet up, hooking her ankles around Lightning Spangles' neck and interrupting the spin.

And then, as the music on the speakers changes out of nowhere, Olivia bends her knees, forcefully yanking the cowgirl face-first into her green tailfeathers.

"Combo Number Five!"

Olivia calls her attack as she repeats the punishing maneuver again and again.

'A little bit o' Monica...'

Looking for the camera, the Brazilian bird-girl winds up spotting the twelve-year-old boy watching the engagement and raises a wing to wave and smile at the fan.

"Extra Spicy!" she adds, before unhooking her silver-sandaled feet from behind Lightning Spangles' neck and dropping bodily back into the cowgirl, winking and bending her wing in salute as she does so.

[JEZEBEL]
To be fair, it's not the first time a Lightning Spangles encountered something both murderous and excessively friendly.

Lightning Spangle's reversal is in turn reversed! Driven hard into the tailfeathers again and again, the poor 12 year old boy stares wide eyed alongside his father. The man who too would be learning a great deal about the Lightning Spangles fandom immediately after this match, getting into the 'scene' as it were the same way countless other fathers have. As Spangles is lovebirded savagely before the two men's eyes (because it was safe to say now that the 12 year old was no longer a boy but a man)), Lightning Spangles is released from the colorful lock into a bodyslam, hammered down with a moan as she is splattered down. "That's sure is spicier than what we get in Texas! And it can sure get pretty hot-"

The manager suddenly gives a strange hand gesture to Lightning Spangles.

Lightning Spangles nods.

"I'm going to stop talking about Texas for a bit Olivia! Sorry!" She chirps brightly as she rises up, bruised and battered and her vest somehow gotten torn and loose. Exposing skin underneath, Lightning Spangles turns back towards Olivia, glancing back with a swollen cheek. Grinning, she opens up with a relentless opening kick, attempting to slam her leg squarely into the crane fighter. Whether it connected out not, it would be the start of a chain of kicks, high kicks, low kicks, straight kicks, thrusts. An overwhelming assault of kicks that would ultimately come to an end only when she backflips into a swallow kick, which was absolutely -not- stolen from any Korean national heroes. "How about we talk about your style instead! Is this really crane-style fighting?" She finishes the flip on both legs.

"How did you come across it!?"

COMBATSYS: Jezebel successfully hits Olivia with True Grit.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Jezebel          0/-------/-======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>--\1           Olivia

[OLIVIA]
It's easy enough for Spangles to get Olivia off, and once she does, the Rosy-Faced Lovebird rolls away from the cowgirl and up to her feet in a daze. Pulling a face, she reaches back and makes an adjustment to her tailfeather region to correct for some discomfort caused by the reversal - or perhaps the reversal of the reversal. Once it's fixed, her smile turns back on, and she's just lifting her leg and her wings up to resume her battle stance when Spangles rushes her.

"Ahh!"

The girl is too slow in her attempt to raise her defenses, and the opening kick drills into her side, knocking her out of her stance. She's blasted relentlessly by the chain of kicks, cowgirl boots battering bare flesh, bikini and feathers alike as Olivia is driven backward under the barrage. Finally, she is mocked by the cowgirl's inclusion of a bird-based blow of her own, the swallow kick flipping Olivia beak over talons to land skidding across the stone-paved ground.

"Egh..."

Olivia shudders as she pushes herself up on her wings, bruises beginning to well up across her skin and face, her knees scraped from the cobbles. She looks, for most intents and purposes, like a girl in a Halloween costume who's just been pushed off of a bicycle. Her eyes start to glisten. Her mother stands in the background, hands cupped over her mouth with worry.

"M-my style?"

And then, as though a weather god were playing a lark on a meteorologist, a sunny smile breaks through.

"Naturalmente! It's Real Fujian White Crane Kung Fu!"

The bird-girl lifts herself up, stumbling as a light breeze starts to blow across the plaza.

"I trained at the Estudio de Artes Marcias da White Crane Real de Salvador under Shifu Tung-Mei! She's very humble, so she doesn't like me to mention it too much!"

Olivia reaches up to fix her headdress back into place, only to realise with a glance over her shoulder that it's gone tumbling away down the road, leaving her brown hair blowing in the wind as it continues to pick up. She smiles anyway as she looks back at Spangles.

"I like to add my own flavour too, though! Just like my papai says, 'If they can't taste it, it won't hurt them!'"

The hazel-eyed Brazilian leans forward, her wings stretching out to her sides as she plants her left foot down.

"That's why I prefer to serve up Tung-Mei's Fujian White Crane with a bit of extra Ribeiro spice!"

==*== AT THE ESTUDIO DE ARTES MARCIAS DA WHITE CRANE REAL DE SALVADOR ==*==

Shifu Tung-Mei rubs her temples between two fingers and groans as she watches the unfolding fight on her television, surrounded by a group of excited young kung fu students.

==*== BACK AT RESTAURANTE RIBEIRO ==*==

In an instant, Olivia's lean turns into a sprint, wings wide to gain lift as she runs toward Spangles. She takes to the air, soaring over the cowgirl as her unruly command of air chi allows her to defy the natural order of physics and fly not unlike the bird she portrays, spiralling up into the air.

"Especial da Casa!"

Then, as she reaches the apex of what her abilities allow some twenty feet up, she starts to steadily lose lift until she's plummeting toward Spangles with wings outstretched in what amounts to little more than a guided bellyflop.

"Cometa Vermelhooo!"

==*== AT THE ESTUDIO DE ARTES MARCIAS DA WHITE CRANE REAL DE SALVADOR ==*==

One of the students turns to Shifu Tung-Mei and asks her a question.

(Subtitles: When are you going to teach us the Red Comet House Special Technique, Shifu?)

Tung-Mei presses her face into her palm and sighs.

==*== BACK AT RESTAURANTE RIBEIRO ==*==

COMBATSYS: Jezebel blocks Olivia's Especial da Casa - Cometa Vermelho.
CSYS: This exciting moment brought to you by Estudio de Artes Marciais da White Crane de Salvador (?)!!

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Jezebel          1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0           Olivia

[JEZEBEL]
As the final assault finishes, Lightning Spangles twirls backwards, giving thumbs up and waves to the crowd. Backing off, she gives Olivia the chance to explain her style. Lightning Spangles was a simple Tae Kwon Do fighter. But everyone in the world liked learning about new fighting styles. Lightning Spangles was just the means of bringing that to people. She nods her head earnestly, as Olivia explains her own flavor. Frost was beginning to cling to her outfit again; the cold spreading across her clothing in a more and more obvious way. But Lightning Spangles didn't notice it. She wasn't doing the thing to trigger it! And then, as Olivia begins to jump, she gives a stomp.

"Well if there's one thing that you can count on with LIghtning Spangles, is definitely strong taste!"

Nobody could deny that truthfulness, both the volume and size of it. As the bird lady surges to the Lightning Spangles was looking up at Olivia, shielding her eyes from high above. The salute comes, as mist comes from her mouth. When Olivia descends, the actress throws her already bruised arms up to stand fast against it. It -slams- her backwards, sending the Spangles spiraling into a tumble. It was a hard roll, but it was a roll. Bowling up and over, she rises back up, arm purple as the frost continues to spread. She felt very cold now, and NOW she noticed. The blue energy floods over her as she stumbles, chasing after Olivia. "Here comes another cold one! I can't talk about Texas, but-" The kick comes, as she arcs her leg in a swift roundhouse. Icy energy trails from the limb, as it becomes imbued with... with the chi? The blue-grey energy flashes behind her, as she brings the chilly force into Olivia.

Finishing with a frigid rush washing over them both.

COMBATSYS: Olivia fails to counter Roundhouse Kick from Jezebel with Combo #6 - Prato de Asas ES.
- CRAZY Hit! -

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Jezebel          1/-======/=======|

COMBATSYS: Olivia can no longer fight.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Jezebel          1/-======/=======|

[OLIVIA]
Olivia may not be familiar with the latest in Lightning Spangles lore, but she knows one thing:

This cold, frozen energy is anathema, and if she ever goes to Texas, she'll need to bring a parka.

Maybe she could wear a penguin outfit.

The gears start to turn in the costume design portion of her brain start to churn as her eyes follow the arcing trail of Spangles' icily-imbued foot.

Bring the arm up to trap the leg.

Ooh! Maybe some sleeves for the flippers?

*KSSHHH*

Icy energy explodes with a sound like shattering glass as Olivia redirects the roundhouse kick from colliding with her shoulder to instead smack into her head. She staggers backward, wings clutching at the sides of her crown as she learns for the first time what brain freeze feels like. The lights go out in her eyes as she trips over a chair, falling back and landing with her head in the lap of a geriatric female French tourist.

"Aww, pauvre petite oiseau," the lady comments, before gently pushing Olivia off onto the ground, where her head knocks against the cobblestone pavement.

"... o/~"

In a barely-conscious trance, the Brazilian bird-girl raises her hand up as if to gingerly touch her face, only to find that the handmade Hoedown Dillo puppet that she had revealed before has found its way onto her fingers. Quietly, she whistles a little opening tune, then starts to sing, ventriloquizing through the puppet:

o/~ A Hoedown Dillo is a special friend o/~

o/~ That sticks with you till the better end o/~

"Obrigada, Tatu," Olivia thanks the puppet before going limp.

[JEZEBEL]
Maybe Texas could be cold.

Lightning Spangles couldn't, wouldn't dwell on what this change was. But all the onlookers could see it. What was different? The cold was different. But Lightning Spangles was. Is. How could she not be herself. She was herself. She was Lightning Spangles. As the roundhouse crushes through the defense of Olivia, energy cascades all around her as the frost spreads in a snowflake pattern on the ground. It hurt her. It hurt Lightning Spangles. But sometimes Lightning Spangles hurt herself.

And sometimes she couldn't control it when it happened.

Lightning SPangles is crouched down over Olivia as she is rolled off. She didn't understand the French very well. Why would she? She was LIghtning SPangles. But she looks at the puppet, as it sings. As the HOedown DIllo sings. She opens her mouth. What were the words? She couldn't remember the words, unless they were explained to her. She had to have her manager, her handler give her the rest of the words. She smiles though. She just keeps smiling as she touches the puppet, and then, her fingers on Olivia's feathers. She smiles, before perking up. ARms so bruised, frost clinging to her own hair. And she gives a salute to the audience, the crowd. "That's the Hoedown SHowup Spirit right there! Good work Olivia! You're a real Spangles!" And she rubs her hands together. "Now I'm real cold, and real hungry."

"How about some Combos?"

COMBATSYS: Jezebel has ended the fight here.

Log created on 16:10:04 02/04/2021 by Jezebel, and last modified on 13:44:31 02/17/2021.