Match of the Millennium

Description: La Huesuda and the mysterious Phantom Wolf, protege of Sven, face off in the ring at the Sydney Opera House and literally bring the house down.

[ALEXIS]
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most impressive pieces of architecture of the 20th century, and it's an important locale for classical music. What it has never really been is a venue for demonstrations of craft on the part of that particular brand of fighter that is simultaneously most loved and disrespected by the fighting fandom as a whole: professional wrestlers.

That's about to change, though.

With a substantial renovation on the cards and demanding funding, the Opera House has been the recipient of a much-needed donation from the Kanzuki zaibatsu, with a catch: the famous classical centre is to be lent to the use of the Kanzuki estate in order to host one of the matches of the first round of the Rising Star Tournament. And, as La Huesuda and her mysterious opponent 'Phantom Wolf' are both tagged as pro wrestlers, the venue has been set up with a wrestling ring on the main stage to accommodate the pairing - a typical four-corner affair, complete with black corner posts, red ropes and a red mat with the Kanzuki Rising Star Tournament logo emblazoned in the middle of the canvas.

They've even brought in a commentary team, because wrestling fans love a good announcers' table, if only to have a piece of furniture available for someone to get slammed through.

"Hello, Rising Star fans, and welcome to this Round One match between the deathly luchadora La Huesuda and her opponent, Phantom Wolf! You may be wondering who I am, and I'll tell you - I'm Tom!" the first announcer, a clean-cut play-by-play guy in a suit with a moustache, says.

"And I'm Lou! What I really wanna know is, who is this 'Phantom Wolf,' anyway?" a heavyset and aging colour commentator wearing a red bandana and sunglasses says.

"To be honest, Lou, I don't know! I can Google just as well as the next guy, but all I've been able to find is speculation and spoilers for the next Metal Gear Solid installment!" Tom replies. "Considering the nature of the tournament, this could well be somebody's professional wrestling debut!"

"If it is, they've got their work cut out for them! It may be a tournament for up-and-comers, but there are also some veterans who've never really hit the big time! La Huesuda is no slouch, either! I'm looking forward to a little taste of Santa Muerte!"

"You do realise that Santa Muerte isn't a holiday destination or a type of pepper, right?" Tom says, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure it is! Haven't you heard of ghost pepper, Tom?"

As Tom sits in stunned silence, the sound of Amon Amarth's Valkyria starts to play over the sound system, flooding the acoustics of the opera chamber, and a ring announcer cuts in.

"From the Wolf's Den in Stockholm Sweden, weighing in at 130 pounds, Phantom Wolf!"

Emerging from the backstage area, 'Phantom Wolf' is a somewhat odd yet immediately striking presence. Standing at roughly five and a half feet, she's not the height that one might expect from a Scandinavian wrestler, but more noticeable is the mask that she's wearing - a grey wolf half-mask that covers the upper portion of her face, with a black strap around the back of her head to hold it in place. While a fairly realistic-looking take on the design, it's clearly not an actual wolf's head, and the eye sockets are empty except for one-way-see-through black fabric, giving it a slightly macabre appearance.

Below the mask, the wrestler is wearing white face paint on a heart-shaped face, with full lips sporting matte black lipstick, likely establishing the 'Phantom' element of the Phantom Wolf persona. She has dark brown hair currently braided in a low and loose ponytail that reaches down to the middle of her back.

In terms of clothing, Phantom Wolf sports a cropped and distressed black tank top with a wolf on the chest overlayed with the word 'WARWOLF', black leather hotpants that show off pale and shapely legs, and fingerless black gloves and elbow pads along with matching mid-calf boots.

"Well, Lou, here's our Phantom Wolf and it looks like... is... is she a furry juggalo?"

"I don't know what that is, Tom, but Phantom Wolf looks kinda hot! There's something familiar about her..."

The crowd has a mixed reaction - some booing, some cheering - the former of which intensifies as Phantom Wolf pauses for a moment halfway through straddling her way over the ring ropes to flip the bird to the audience. The sound of jeering grows as the simple gesture firmly establishes the otherwise silent wrestler as a heel, and she seems to bask in the sound on her way to her corner, where she leans against the turnbuckles and awaits her opponent's entrance.

[LA HUESUDA]
It's time to enter the ring once more.

La Huesuda, not quite a rookie but not quite yet reaching the big leagues, has entered this tournament to try and get even stronger to be better at her hunts. Her secret life as a vigilante is still a secret to the world - all that's known is that she tends to disappear for short periods and come back bloodied and battered. The rumors, of course, run wild from there about what she's up to, particularly in the world of wrestling. Most find her fairly creepy or a bad omen.

But none of that matters. In the opera house, she makes her entrance. The lights dim and a church bell rings ominously. Then, a slow heavy doom metal instrumental begins to play as she appears in low light and methodically slow walks to the ring. She stares with her head tilted slightly down, never taking her eyes off her opponent, until she reaches the ropes and hops up gracefully into her corner.

She does her signature pose, the one her trainer came up with for her: crossing her arms over her chest with her palms flat, like a posed corpse in a coffin. She then lowers her arms and cracks her neck from side to side, assuming a wide, slightly hunched stance. She says nothing, only staring at the 'Phantom Wolf' and beckoning her with one hand.

COMBATSYS: La Huesuda has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
La Huesuda       0/-------/-------|

[ALEXIS]
As the metal music starts to die down, there's a strange, lingering hum that fills the opera house in its wake. It's difficult to pinpoint, but for some reason it can be heard - and - felt - especially around the ring, as Phantom Wolf flexes her fingers and drops into a fighting stance across from La Huesuda, fingers curled but not quite into fists.

"What hideous acoustics they have in here," a balding older man with a goatee in attendance remarks, crossing his arms over his suit.

"Well, these two wrestlers don't look like they have much to say to each other, Lou!" Tom remarks.

"I love good banter as much as the next guy, but I can respect a couple of ladies that wanna get right to the action!" Lou fires back. "I'm still getting a funny feeling about this Phantom Wolf, though."

"Well, Lou, there's a whole community out there -"

*DING DING DING*

"And here we go! Phantom Wolf kicking things off with a taunt -"

"AWWWOoOoOoO!"

"My God, my ears!"

Who said that last line?

Actually, probably half of the attending audience.

It's no natural imitation of wolf by woman - it's a piercing howl, a sound that emerges from the black lips of Phantom Wolf in the form of a barely-visible but extremely-tangible wave of energy hurtling through the air between herself and La Huesuda - threatening to pummel the luchadora with blasting force and drive her back into the ring ropes!

"Wait, I think I know who this is, Tom!" Lou shouts. "It's ----!"

Unfortunately, his guess is drowned out by the feedback coming through the sound system in the wake of the unleashes audio eenergy.

COMBATSYS: Alexis has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Alexis           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       La Huesuda

COMBATSYS: La Huesuda dodges Alexis' Power Chord.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Alexis           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       La Huesuda

[LA HUESUDA]
The luchadora's eyes narrow when her opponent starts to howl. She picks up on the sonic wave emitted and quickly sidesteps, letting it pass by her - blowing her hair a little as it passes. She immediately goes on the offensive, rushing closer and then pivoting on her front foot, spinning around to deliver a 360 degree back heel kick to the Wolf's chest. She had already fought a wolf in the ring...and a very real wolf not too much later. A third will not phase her.

COMBATSYS: Alexis blocks La Huesuda's Light Kick.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Alexis           0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0       La Huesuda

[ALEXIS]
"And La Huesuda sends Phantom Wolf to the ropes with a wicked spin kick!"

The luchadora's kick collides with the wolven warrior's palms as they're brought up to defend, but the impact is still enough to send the wrassle-wolf into the ring ropes as described in the play-by-play. The cords bend under Phantom Wolf's back as she catches herself on her elbows.

"Nice kick. Should've known I'd be fighting a ballerina in a place like this," Phantom Wolf breaks her silence to say as she leans into the ropes, hopping onto the middlemost one with both boots before launching off and spinning herself around through the air, lifting a boot high.

"Now, catch!"

Her foot seems to sing a single sustained melodic note as it descends heel-first toward La Huesuda, threatening to unleash a burst of sonic energy on impact should it connect with the luchadora's head as intended!

COMBATSYS: Alexis successfully hits La Huesuda with Hammer-On EX.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Alexis           0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0       La Huesuda

[LA HUESUDA]
Huesuda's eyes narrow at the ballerina comment.

She notices the Wolf gathering power, her body tensing in preparation for something heavy. Once she kicks off, the luchadora moves to avoid it - but the speed is quite something, and she barely has time to avoid taking the full frunt. The heel grazes her cheek rather than her head, but the force is enough to knock her sideways and into the ropes, ears ringing from the sonic wave and her cheek bruised from the impact. She is dazed for a moment, but pulls herself off the ropes with a grunt.

So this one could harness chi, too, she thought. Well, it was time to ramp it up a bit, then. She backflips onto the top of the corner post, points down at the Wolf, then summersaults into the air - coming right down in a body splash to slam her onto the mat.

COMBATSYS: Alexis endures La Huesuda's Mournsault.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Alexis           0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0       La Huesuda

[ALEXIS]
"And a devastating Mournsault from the top rope!" Tom exclaims as the deathly luchadora crashes down on her opponent, driving the sonic Wolf-wrestler hard onto the canvas with a force that shakes the ring.

"Phantom Wolf must have mistaken La Huesuda for her grandmother, 'cause this Big Bad Wolf ate all of that!" Lou remarks. "I'm not sure whose ears are gonna be ringing worse after that one!"

Gritting her teeth below her mask at La Huesuda, Phantom Wolf cocks back her right arm, clenching it into a fist. In spite of what must be a fierce amount of pain in addition to the effect of having the wind forced out of her, the black-clad battle bitchremains defiant.

"Sven told me to send his regards," the girl growls, before hammering her fist up at La Huesuda's face, attempting to ring her bell with a fistful of sonic force.

"I know who this is," Lou says insistently as Phantom Wolf tussles with La Huesuda.

"Are you sure you're not just having flashbacks to being a judge on The Masked Fighter?" Tom asks.

COMBATSYS: Alexis successfully hits La Huesuda with Medium Punch.
Grazing Hit

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Alexis           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0       La Huesuda

[LA HUESUDA]
Again, La Huesuda does her best to avoid the blow, just narrowly getting hit as the fist strikes the side of her head rather than full on. She yells in pain as the sonic force rings inside her skull, causing her to stagger backwards and lean into the ropes, her vision slowly clearing. "Sven? THAT guy?" she asks with a snort. Of course, this made sense.

"He can watch you get that ass beat," she says. She rushes the Wolf and aims to grab her by the arm. Huesuda turns and with a burst of strength pulls her over her shoulder and slams her to the mat.

COMBATSYS: La Huesuda successfully hits Alexis with Strong Throw.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Alexis           1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0       La Huesuda

[ALEXIS]
Phantom Wolf circles like a wolf stalking prey as La Huesuda staggers from the punch. She shakes her hand out as a feedback hum resonates through the Opera House, sending a shudder up through the still-under-renovation structure.

"Phantom Wolf is completely reckless, here. She's hardly putting up a defense!"

Indeed, as La Huesuda charges into her, Phantom Wolf doesn't try to avoid, reverse or break away from the grapple - the luchadora gets her hands around the wolf-girl's pale arm and pull her into the shoulder slam. The ring rattles with the force.

"You can't just keep taking those and feel okay in the morning, Tom. The thing is -"

*CRASH*

*tinkle*

"Was that a light fixture?" Tom cuts in as he looks over toward the source of the sound.

Indeed, it is a light fixture - one that apparently was jostled loose from the ceiling, now a shattered pile of useless glass and metal lying at ringside.

Meanwhile, Phantom Wolf has pushed herself back up to one feet, panting heavily as she backs off from La Huesuda. A dull, bass hum is building in the air, emanating from the vicinity of Phantom Wolf as the noise of the crowd seems to warp and distort around her.

Then, throwing her head back and her arms wide, she lets out a deafening:

"AWWwwWWOOoOoOoOoO!!!"

Lou's mouth is moving frantically, his eyes on the action, while Tom looks on in panic at the ceiling as two more lights dislodge themselves from the ceiling and crash to the ground below - all of the sounds of which are completely lost like drops of water in the ocean of sound filling the chamber.

COMBATSYS: Alexis surges with the power of rock!

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Alexis           1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\0       La Huesuda

[LA HUESUDA]
La Huesuda circles around after tossing the Phantom Wolf, focusing out the roar of the crowd as she watches for the other wrestler's next move. She was a lot stronger than Huesuda thought, and she felt she had to be careful. As the Wolf gets up and begins to howl, the luchadora grimaces behind her skull mask and protects her ears with her palms, still staring the other down in anticipation.

Deciding to take the initiative while the sound waves reveberated through the air, she moves forward, bring her hand up for a chop. Her hand glows with purple chi, and she brings a hard, heavy chop to the Wolf's chest, a purple wave following the movement of her chop in the shape almost like a scythe blade. It will cut without leaving a physical wound, such is the nature of channeled chi.

COMBATSYS: La Huesuda successfully hits Alexis with Reaper Scythe.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Alexis           2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1       La Huesuda

[ALEXIS]
The noise is chaos.

The commentators' efforts to breach the metaphorical wall of sound around the ring are doomed. Even in the modern age, where the titans of metal can be recorded in concert with pristine clarity, the feeds of the cameras recording the match, for all the investment put forth by the Kanzuki estate, cannot decrypt the garbled sound filling the building; they can only show the action in the ring. Many in the audience are already fleeing, unable to abide the noise.

As La Huesuda rushes forward, Phantom Wolf lowers her masked eyes to meet the skull-covered eyes of her opponent. Her outstretched hands ball up, thumbs extending before flipping over in a double thumbs-down seconds before the chi-infused chop slams into the WARWOLF logo in the middle of Phantom Wolf's ample bosom. Her teeth curl into a snarl as the pain drives into her heart, lips forming an unintelligible curse before, suddenly, the ring explodes.

It's not a pyrotechnic blaze, but a raw blast of sound again given tangible, devastating power - the ocean of sound surging in a tidal wave of wretched noise. Within, the Phantom Wolf is howling like a banshee, the mat beneath her feet cracking and splintering as the noise rips toward La Huesuda, two of the nearest ring ropes snapping loose from the corner posts - and the aural barrage threatening to wreak even more devastation either on the luchadora or the rest of the ring (and opera house) behind her!

COMBATSYS: La Huesuda blocks Alexis' Shredding Solo EX.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Alexis           1/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1       La Huesuda

[LA HUESUDA]
Huesuda is surrounded by a wall of sound, the whole ring shaking apart around her as the Wolf screams. She clamps her hands over her ears to minimize the damage and curls inwards, the soundwaves pounding against her very body, the inside of her skull. "Rrrgh!" She squeezes her eyes shut, feeling paralyzed. But a second later she forces them open, staring down the Wolf as she begins to force her body forward. Slowly, step by step, she advances on her target.

Upon getting close, she unleashes another chi-enhanced chop, followed by another, then a third, then a fourth, intent on driving Phantom Wolf towards the cornerpost. Once she does, she raises both arms, the hands now brimming with purple chi, as she drives a double cross-chop down on her opponent to deliver the coup de grace!

COMBATSYS: La Huesuda successfully hits Alexis with Cero Miedo.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-

[                        \\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Alexis           1/--<<<<</<<<<<<<|==-----\-------\0       La Huesuda

[ALEXIS]
The blasting sound shreds apart the ring beyond La Huesuda as it breaks and rushes around her. And yet, the luchadora persists. Phantom Wolf appears to brace, leaning forward as La Huesuda's advance proves inevitable. Her fists clench at her sides-

"-- she's broken through the assault from Phantom Wolf and - holy moly, I think she just about chopped Phantom Wolf in half!" Tom's announcing cuts back in as the Warwolf protege's noise marine-style barrage fades enough for the speakers to kick back in.

"-- been trying to tell you -" Lou is in the middle of saying, the pair talking over each other as La Huesuda chops into Phantom Wolf like a lumberjack, the already-distressed crop top she's wearing tearing even further under the barrage of blows as the flesh beneath is bruised and marred, the wolf-themed wrestler staggering back into the corner turnbuckle - and the commentators both cry out simultaneously as La Huesuda's double chop crashes down on Phantom Wolf's head, splitting the wolf mask in half to reveal the grimacing face of -

"Alexis Lovell?!" Tom shouts in disbelief.

"You stole my thunder, you son of a bitch!" Lou cries out in greater disbelief, flipping the commentators' table and sending sheafs of notes flying.

Indeed, it is Alexis Lovell, last seen on Saturday Night Fights' Idol Showdown Series in a cage match with Tairyu Katashi (or Katashi Tairyu, if you're into that). Despite the gothic face paint under the mask, now streaked from the blow to the head, the Canadian punk rocker is immediately recognizable for those who couldn't identify her already from the sonic energy with which the opera house has been getting torn apart.

Alexis' shaded aquamarine eyes open to level with glazed fury on La Huesuda as she grips the ropes.

"Bitch!"

With that simple word, she launches herself at the luchadora, attempting to simply tackle her to the ground and mount her before pounding her sonically-charged fists into La Huesuda's skull mask one after the other.

"You can't just flip the table every time I beat you to the punch, Lou!"

"Yeah? Well get in the ring with me and we'll see who beats who to the punch, Mister Play-by-Play!"

"Oh, so that's your idea of professionalism, is it, Lou?! I'll have you know - hey, did Alexis just pass out?"

COMBATSYS: Alexis can no longer fight.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
La Huesuda       0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Alexis successfully hits La Huesuda with Beatdown in Three Four.

[                         \\\\\  <
La Huesuda       1/------=/=======|

[LA HUESUDA]
"...Who?" Huesuda asks aloud, not up to date on certain things.

Unfortunately for her, Alexis' last burst of strength overpowers her, and she's quickly mounted and struck by the Wolf's fists. While her mask protects her a bit, she is still taking repeated, enhanced blows to the head, and the pain explodes in her brain, her vision quickly fading into darkness as sounds become muffled and her sight becomes dim.

Instincts, however, cause her to shove Alexis off her once the former's strength fades. "Puta," she growls. Her own strength fades, and she falls on top of Alexis, effectively pinning her as the ref slides in to start the count.

[ALEXIS]
"It looks like she is - my God, out like a light! They both are!" Lou exclaims, adjusting his sunglasses.

"La Huesuda's managed to make the cover despite losing consciousness, though! I can't believe it! It looks like La Huesuda -"

*DING DING DING*

"- has won the match, Tom!"

"She's got her revenge on the Warwolf - via his Canadian protege!"

"If she's the Canadian Warwolf, does that make her the Peacewolf?"

"Canadian pacifism is a hurtful stereotype, Lou, and one that Alexis Lovell has always sought to change! Now that we have a moment, I'd love to share more with the viewers about the history of Alexis, Sven Maesters, La Huesuda, and how this match ties together - but I think the Sydney Opera House is collapsing!"

Sure enough, speakers and light fixtures are starting to crash down from the ceiling, the lingering effects of the sonic chi of Phantom Lexi interacting catastrophically with the acoustics of the chamber such that even the freshly replaced ceiling-length panelling on the walls starts to crack and collapse from the damage, a chain reaction ensuing that will almost certainly set the renovations back for some indeterminate time to come.

Fortunately, there's enough time for all in attendance to escape more or less unharmed, with La Huesuda and Alexis almost certainly rescued before the building can fall down on top of them.

Win or lose, it seems that yet again, the wrestling showdown between the followers of Warwolf and Santa Muerte is cursed...

Log created on 23:55:56 03/27/2021 by La Huesuda, and last modified on 22:14:25 03/29/2021.