Match of the Millennium

Description: After waiving her Red Master Belt, Honoka sets her sights on challenging Abigail for his Worldwide Master Belt in the G-King Arena. Things get wrecked!

[HONOKA]
The Circuit of Champions may have been largely outshone by its flashier cousin, Saturday Night Fights, but the fact remains that it's still here, year after year. Champions maintain their belts, and PFW is more than happy to continue maintaining the display on its website, waiting for the day when challengers rise up to contest the mighty champions...

Tonight, a challenger rises! Champion of the Master Belt and several-time competitor in the King of Fighters tournaments, Honoka Kawamoto has stepped back into the limelight with a fiery declaration! Some two weeks ago, the juggling superstar uploaded a feisty three-minute video to FightTube, starting with her hoisting the Red Master Belt high! "This belt has served me well -- but it's been far too long since I've earned it! It's time for me to pass this along to someone else!"

She lets it fall off-camera with a loud clank, as she clenches a fist, eyes gleaming brightly as she leans close to the camera.

"I want that -Worldwide- Master Belt, Abigail! So you'd better get ready!"

The internet exploded into fevered discussion, as it always does. The Circuit of Champions? That old thing? And yet, Ms Kawamoto had enough of a fan following to get people buzzing again!

And so it is that seats at the technophile paradise, G-KING ARENA, have been sold out for a special event! The dynamic arena has been shaped into a shallow bowl configuration, raised on both sides.

On the right side, a massive tower of monster truck parts - beds, hoods, windshields, fog lights. Sloping towards the center is a hill, flanked on both sides by monster truck tires, with sparklers and dazzling displays inside each cavernous circle!

The left side, in contrast, is made to resemble a circus big top, with large support pillars, posters and streamers and animated cardboard cutouts to suggest a cheering audience! A sweeping suspension bridge leads from here to the center of the bowl!

The house lights dim. And a spotlight snaps onto the big top. The audience roars from behind their individual monitor displays. Applause erupts. Fists are thrown up. And all of a sudden...

BOOOM! A pyrotechnic explosion erupts from the big top area! And emerging from a smoke cloud is Honoka Kawamoto, with a purple top hat, and her signature purple jacket! Two round diabolos whip out from her hands, each lit with fiery red sparklers, as she strides out to thunderous applause!

The announcer booms out: "WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Professional Fighting Worldwide has a very special treat for you tonight, in the latest installment of the amazing CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS series! In this corner -- Juggling star HONOKA KAWAMOTO has sacrificed the RED MASTER BELT, leaving it up for grabs... all in one bid to make a play for the WORLDWIDE MASTER BELT!"

The applause reaches a fever pitch! And Honoka takes off her top hat, bowing to the crowd!

A spotlight snaps onto the right side of the bowl... "And in the right corner...!"

[ABIGAIL]
Two weeks ago..

"What th'hell are you guys doing?! Get over here and hurry up with those parts! Do you want me to sit here holding this thing all day??"

The speaker is a bellowing Abigail, smeared with oil and grease, a welding mask pulled down over his face and a single gigantic arm propping an entire car upwards, tilted at an angle so its underside can be clearly seen. THe massive interior of his garage and junk-shop is strewn with varoius bits and pieces of automotive tools and parts in a look that would appear unorganized and chaotic to anyone else but him. Right now, though he's irritated. Well..he's usually irritated but it's a touch more then usual.

Roxy leans over on a nearby counter and demures, "Chief if you'd just pay to get the hydralics fixed you wouldn't have to do what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doin'!" snaps Abigail but before he can add anything, Two-P and Axl step into the garage and wave at them both, "Chief! You gotta come see this!"

Moments later, Abigail looms up behind Two-P, Axl and J as they crowd around a computer monitor and Honoka's Fighttube video plays and then plays again and then plays again as they repeat it. Abigail's expression can't be seen, even through the visor on the welding mask, but the looms there in monolithic silence.

"You gonna let her call you out like that Chief?" questions Axl.

"Hey cut 'im some slack!" J chimes in, "You know he didn't do so well in that last Neo League.."

"Yeah.." agrees Two-P, "Chief's probably a little out of shape. Been hittng that Street Meat BBQ joint almost every day.. Getting kinda chubby.."

"Come on guys!" says Roxy, stepping into view and ignoring the growing aura of menace around Abigail, "Leave 'im alone. He can't help getting sluggish. You know his birthday's coming up in October. I mean sure there are -some- old guys that keep fighting but you know...all that weight aint good for the heart when you ...start gettin' up there."

The Welding Mask visor cracks.

Fast forward and the spotlight swings over towards the top of the hill between the tower of spare parts and revals the King Kongesque physique of the immense monster-titan. The hallowed out shell of a car is lifted up and raised overhead as the behemoth grins to the growing roar of the crowd. "ABI-GAAAIIIIL!!!" he roars, voice practically drowning out the announcer who misprounounces his name. His gigantic arms flex and press inward and the car hull begins crumpling in, smashing like an accordion under the behemoths inexplicable brute strength. The display doing much to get the crowd further hyped up.

A flippant toss sends the balled up scrap hurtling away and he then jumps - thundering down towards the arena floor with an earth shaking impact and then both of his arms thrusting upwards with fingers pointing at the arena ceiling, "VROOOOOM!!!"

Backstage, Roxy and Axl look on in amusement, "You'd think he's actually enjoying himself." comments Roxy.

COMBATSYS: Abigail has started a fight here.

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Abigail          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Honoka has joined the fight here.

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Honoka           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0          Abigail

[HONOKA]
Honoka hands her top hat to the staffer. It's an odd look; her jacket is not even a little bit formal, and neither are her charcoal gray shorts. But, it's more that the eccentric fighter was tipping her proverbial hat to the Twilight Star Circus -- a casualty of the shifting roles of entertainment in the twenty-first century. As it would turn out -- fighting is a lot more popular with the kids these days!

"Abigail has been a regular staple in the Neo League competitions, and the ever-popular Saturday Night Fight series, while his challenger, Miss Kawamoto, has hardly been seen at all since her -last- fight against Abigail on the streets of Brazil... "

As the announcer runs through his schpiel, Kawamoto is completely unfazed, whirling her diabolo props through a steady orbit, tossing them about on a string suspended by two sticks. Rocking her neck from side to side, she keeps a continual half-smile upon her face as she sashays down the long suspension bridge. With her thin, 5'5" physique, it hardly looks like this beanpole could stand against the juggernaut before her -- and yet, anyone who had witnessed their last fight would know the truth beyond the tale! As Honoka steps halfway down the bridge, her skills get a bit fancier: she swings the diabolos side to side, then does a pirouette, tossing the props high into the air! As she twists about to catch them, she lashes the diabolo cord forward, snapping it outwards at Abigail! An dragon roars, snapping its teeth as the diabolos bounce back as its 'tongue' -- though this one's an illusion from Honoka, rather than the pyrotechnic team!

"So, ladies and gentlemen -- it seems like we're looking at a rematch from the King of Fighters 2019 tournament! Let's get ready for a great fight!"

Honoka smiles as the illusory dragonfire fades away into wisps of smoke. She waves back to Abigail, proud to acknowledge the 'rivalry' from the announcer. She's not shy about calling out to the towering Abigail, either, raising her voice to be heard over the din of the crowd: "C'mon at me, big boy. Let's get this audience revved up!"

"FIGHTERS.... GOOOOO!"

And as soon as the word is given, the diabolos burst into twin blazes of pink-purple soulfire! A grinning Honoka swings them side to side sharply -- and then with another snap of her wrist, both of the diabolos shoot off like rockets towards Abigail -- one arcing right towards his head, while the other seems to be making a beeline for his knee!

Honoka herself isn't playing things safe, though -- for not long after, she breaks out into a run around the rim of the bowl, seeking to close the gap to her gigantic opponent!

COMBATSYS: Honoka successfully hits Abigail with Ishirishina.

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

[ABIGAIL]
It's not the sort of match up that Abigail would prefer. That's for sure. All that fireworks and energy and chi mumbo-jumbo..,just doesn't sit well with him! This reality made rather clear as the purple fire comes crashing into his body. The diabolos hitting him straight on with a flowering burst of colorful flames that ripple out over his gargantuan physique and light up the valleys and mountains of his muscle masses as they violently roil over his frame.

"Yeooow!" he roars, staggered from the force of the assault and teetering backwards like a leaning tree threatening to be pulled up by its roots. A single foot stomps back down, shaking the local area with the force of his strength and weight and he shoulders through the remnants of the flame while grimacing, "Yeaaah..I remember all this. But I started that fight with you last time with you fresh and me having taken out yer teammate. Let's see how well you do now!"

He lunges forward, reaching out with a massive manhole covering sized hand to try and grasp for Honoka as soon as she gets close enough for his reach to enable him to do so.

Success would see him yanking him closer towards him while bringing his other hand up - not for a punch but for a single finger to flick up..albiet considering the behemoths anomaly like strength..flick up with a force that seems more like a battering ram then some sort of nose flick.

COMBATSYS: Honoka blocks Abigail's Red Leaf.

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

[HONOKA]
Honoka's twin diabolos each hit their mark, soulfire rippling across him. While the lower diabolo clacks as it hits the floor, the other rebounds high into the air. The juggling superstar -- still running towards Abigail -- raises her wand to catch the prop -- though she shudders as the ring does from that monstrous stomp! Twisting to compensate, she lashes her cord high, snatching the diabolo right out of midair and bringing it back into a stable orbit.

A faint smile plays on her features as she twirls around to face him again, pink and black forelocks bobbing with agreement at the shared memory. "You're exactly right on that, yes!" she chirps back -- though her voice is likely to be drowned out by the roaring audience. Which is just as well, as Honoka rarely actually -speaks- in her fights.

Especially when a meaty hand large enough to crush her head like a grape is grasping out at her. Panic flits across her features as she raises both her diabolo wands high in an attempt to ward off the grab! Luckily for her, she's successful in that, the wood of her wands straining from the exertion of keeping his meathooks at bay!

But the seemingly terrified juggler also has another ploy in the works, for while she's defending against that, she's also taking note of the diabolo rolling downhill -- to say nothing of the one still swaying in the cord. Either one could pose a threat to Abigail's balance, as Honoka's cord suddenly snaps upward, hurling the diabolo into the air! The cord lashes in an attempt to ensnare Abigail's outstretched arm -- and if it manages to do so, Honoka would flip her legs up to wrap around the limb as well!

Now, what would a 50-kg fighter have to offer against someone seven times her mass? Not much -- if she weren't using her soulfire abilities to blast herself away -- pulling Abigail forward and off-balance, twisting him slightly as she slams him into the center of the bowl! "Hnyyyyaaaah!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail interrupts Medium Throw from Honoka with Abi Lift.

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

[ABIGAIL]
"Ergh!?"

Something is..not right. Abigail squints his eyes, looking briefly squeamish as if he's reacting to something unpleasent that he ate. A strange look to have in the middle of a fight but it's clear that something has distracted him in the middle of him reaching for Honoka and in that distraction her acrobatics and props work wonders in deflecting him and preventing those mittens of his from getting hold of her.

Her cords lash and whip about him as he recovers from his previous assault and disorientation an he growls out in bizarre confusion, "Th'hell? Did you do something t'me!? Whoarrgh!" An instant later and he's being yanked forard and towards the arena floor but at the last instant he twists his massive body and brings his other arm around in an upwards swat to bat the girl off of his outstretched arms just before he crashes into the arena floor. As far as Abigail is concerned, it's a glancing flailing swat..but a swat from Abigail is often comparable to things like..sledgehammers and pistons and such.

And then there is the strange added chi to it. A sudden weight around the entire assault. Is he ..enlightened!?

[HONOKA]
Did Honoka... -do- something to him? Not -yet-, she thinks to herself, while locking her grip around the giant's arm. At such a close range, though, the psychic can sense his growing alarm, even as the soulfire engines ripple to life, blasting her along her intended vector. Her diabolos go unheeded, as he hurtles to the floor -- all according to Honoka's plan.

At least, it -was- all according to plan, until his flailing swat -nails- her across the backside, torquing a yelp out of the circus star as she's forced to relinquish her grip -- and she's hurled high into the air! But, even the audience would be able to tell that she's falling quite a bit -faster- than gravity would normally demand. And Honoka was only halfway done with the somersault that would have let her land safely -- if things were -normal-. She cries out in pain a second time as she hits the bowl floor, gritting her teeth. "Nnnnrgh!"

A moment later, she uncurls, springing to her feet. One hand is snapped to her back, while her other carries the two diabolo wands, sans diabolo. Keeping her shoulder drooped low as if the wands were four times as heavy, she snaps, "I should ask you the same thing...!"

But then, she turns her head towards her nearest diabolo. And nudging it into the air with a kick, she does a quick twirl of her diabolo wands, bringing it back into a steady orbit.

She doesn't press her advantage -- taking a moment instead to catch her breath, and hopefully giving Abigail a chance to rise to his feet -- and time to reacquaint herself with reality after that momentary blip in the laws of physics. "The weird chi stuff's happening to you too, huh? Bothersome as heck..." she comments.

But it doesn't take much longer before she's hurling herself back into the fray. Now that reality has asserted itself once more, she throws herself into Abigail's shadow, twisting into a quick pirouette. Her diabolo orbits her like a satellite, ignited once more into a blossom of soulflame -- though from the twang in her string, it looks like it multiplies into two, or -three- diabolos! And while it might -look- like Honoka is lunging forward in a telegraphed strike at his knees -- it looks like that image is a mere shadow of her! The real Honoka is twisting into a backflip, her form erupting in an expanding shell of fuschia flame that she hopes to drive upwards into Abigail's chest, igniting another fiery blaze! "HRAAAAAAAAA!"

COMBATSYS: Honoka successfully hits Abigail with Kamui Atemka.

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

[ABIGAIL]
..What is he doing here? Life was so much more joyful when he was busy dirty with grease and oil stain and burns from handling hot engines with his bare hands. Not this.

The grouchy attitude has a source as Honokas assault lays into the giant with all the fury of a bomb going off in his face, engulfing his torso in a burst of psychic fire that blasts through him and sears him physically and spiritually.

It doesn't help that whatever happened before left him in a state slightly more vulnerable to harm and that isn't a good combo when facing down a fighter that can really, really lay it into you.

"Yaarrgh!" he thunders while being pushed up off his feet and actually tumbling backwards only to quickly roll up while patting his body to try and put out the psionic fire to no avail.

"Fine!" he roars, looming to his feet, "You want belt pretty badly, eh? Well you still need to push it past the redline!" He slams both of his huge hands into his chest, producing a loud *KABOOM* un impact and then he lifts both of his upwards, crossing them overhead as he leans back.

And then he suddenly surges forward in a rapid dash that seems like he's practically got rockets installed in him for the sudden speed and force by which he goes launching for Honoka. His upper body leans forward into it, coming at her head first as he roars out a brutish crazed laugh. "AH-HAHAHAHAHAAAAAH!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail successfully hits Honoka with Metro City Crash.

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

[HONOKA]
A peaceful, idyllic existence would surely be a welcome departure from the hustle and bustle of the cities, but it isn't the right path for the Champion of Earthrealm. Scarlet Dahlia has her role to play, and Honoka Kawamoto has hers. And that means getting out in front of as many eyes as she can.

Honoka lands in a low crouch, slashing the air with her wands to gather her diabolos back to her side, as her soulflame sears Abigail head to toe. And, yes: she does want the belt. She answers as much with a tacit nod, setting her forelocks into motion, as she juggles her diabolos off to her right. She stares back at him for the line that follows, drawing in her breath and steeling herself. Whatever he's planning -- if it starts with a 'KABOOM', then it's probably going to hurt.

A pink line appears upon each of her forearms. What looks like a ribbon of fabric rapidly unfurls from that line; the ribbon races down the length of her arms, wrapping tightly around her arms and upper body, and eventually weaving down to encircle her hips, legs and feet. It all happens in two blinks of an eye -- which is crucial, because on the third blink, Honoka is leaping backwards, arms and legs curled around herself.

It doesn't seem to help -- as Abigail -slams- into her, working a well-earned cry of pain out of the acrobat as she is hurtled backwards. Abigail's charge carries him all the way across the suspension bridge, right into the big top exhibit -- and Honoka *slams* into the set, sending a storm of cardboard audience members flying!

A battered Honoka tumbles forward from the wreckage of the set. The ribbons, from moments before, evaporate in a sheen of light. One hand plants downward, trapping her twin diabolo wands in an 'X' pattern beneath it with an audible 'clack.'

She smiles, spotlights catching a gleam on her pearly white teeth.

"Is this a good time to talk about your extended warranty?"

Her two diabolos sail in a high upward arc. The juggler follows a split-second afterward, leaping with her right hand forward. She seeks to make contact with Abigail's chest, right around the time those two diabolos plummet down into him!

And if she gains purchase, four tendrils of psychic energy will prod forth, anchoring her right hand to Abigail. A mighty sideways shove is delivered to Abigail's right, driven by her considerable willpower. And regardless of whether she wrenches him to the ground or not -- one single lightning bolt will rend down from the heavens, jolting into him -- accompanied by an ear-splitting thunderclap!

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Honoka's Niwen Horobi.

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

[ABIGAIL]
"We offer COMPREHENSIVE EXTENDED COVERAGE with CUSTOM PLANS available JUST FOR YOU!"

Abigail's thunderous response is punctuated by his looming figure towering up, kaiju like, over the ruins of the wrecked set and crumpled pieces of cardboard. He thrusts a steel girder dwarfing arm skywards, pointing a thick finger straight up once again in a decleration of being numero-uno..at least in his mind. It helps to have a dose of over confidence if you occasinally need to escape reality.

But he's brought, rapidly, back to the here and now as Honoka comes tumbling in towards him. His body braces and his enormous arms down and then infront of him, crossing over each other as he hunches into a turtle like defensive posture and holds his ground, rooted like a mountain range against her attempt to pull him down.

That doesn't do much for the flahs of lightning which rips into him and the area around him, briefly obscuring him from sight and sending tendrils of electricity blasting erupting every which way in a chaotic cascade.

It leaves him..standing upright. Singed but otherwise okay, comparatively speaking. Those scorch marks and bruisies from her earlier assaults have him reeling.

"Looks like you have..an electrical problem---okay that was lame." he rumbles, ending with an admonishment of his own bad joke. "But I'm still HIGH OCTANE!"

His massive arms unfold and spread out to the side with his monstrous physique suddenly swelling even bigger! An unsettling sight to be sure considering that he's already an unreasonable mountain of sinew. Bigger and bigger he grows with his skin turning a glowing bright red and steam gouting out from his nostrils and moutah as he roars.

COMBATSYS: Abigail VROOOOOMS!!!

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

[HONOKA]
Honoka grits her teeth, stuck onto the immovable titan as he refuses to budge to her will! But that's what the lightning is for -- another attempt to -force- the Worldwide Master Belt Champion to yield to her will! As it is, well...

The pink-and-black-haired acrobat stares back at Abigail and his well-intentioned attempt at wit. "Yeah. A little," she near-whispers. But, sensing that retribution is en route, the lithe acrobat plants both feet on his six-pack and vaults quickly to his side, tumbling as she hits the ground. A quick lash of her diabolo wand is enough to return the juggling props to her -- but as she looks up at Abigail, she sees that not only is he -not- retaliating -- but charging up for an even more powerful attack.

She places her hand to her heart, face shifting into a look of concern. "Listen, Abigail, you're a nice guy and all..."

And then, one by one, the spotlights snap off. And then all lights in the G-KING ARENA entirely, leaving the glowing mountain of meat as the only light source at all. The cameras are still rolling; the ever-present hum of quadrotor drones in the air has not ceased. But Honoka is nowhere to be seen.

At least, not until -six- of them appear, evenly spaced in a circle around Abigail, roughly three meters away from him. And each Honoka has a ribbon of pink-colored energy coiled around her right arm, as before.

"But you don't have enough cylinders to take -all- of us on!"

The Honokas' hands snap into fists. And as they do so, the ribbons suddenly expand outward from her hand, whirling about like terrifying augers.

In unison, each of the Honokas closes in simultaneously, with one heart, one mind, and one intent! Each will suddenly drive forward -- and plow her drill-hand squarely into Abigail! "HRAAAAAAAAAAH!"

COMBATSYS: Honoka issues a challenge!!

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Honoka           0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0          Abigail

COMBATSYS: Abigail fails to interrupt Sarak Kamui from Honoka with Ontario Drop.

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

COMBATSYS: Abigail can no longer fight.

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

[ABIGAIL]
Confusion. It is Abigail. He swings around from side to side, turning his head this way and that like the movements of a tank turret. A boulder turning this way and that on the stump of a sequioa. His eyes blink rapidly. "Whugh."

"Don't attack, Chief." mouths Roxy, in the back, watching the fight on the big screen monitors. "Don't attack. Wait it out. Defend and focus."

In the arena, Abigail goes, "Woogh?"

Axl shakes his head and puts a hand over his face, "The Chief's going to attack."

"We've been over situations like this before. If he's learned how to smile at the customers then he can be patient."

In the arena...Abigail attacks.

He leaps into the air, randomly selecting one of the Honokas while roaring, "It's going to be a dead heat!!" His huge legs tuck in and then trust outwards for a monstrous drop kick attempt..that hits nothing but air and he thunders to the ground violently while yelling, "Hey..what the!"

Honoka and company alll plow violently into him at that point and Abigail roars out furiously and then ends it all with a, "Vrooooooom..?" and topples over, thunderously, for the arena foor once more.

Roxy simply..sighs..

[HONOKA]
The targeted Honoka explodes on contact with the drop kick, her very essence obliterated into a shower of minuscule particles, scattering like dandelions in a stiff breeze. There is no resistance to the strike, not even a burst of air pressure left behind in the wake of a drop kick powerful enough to cleave a boulder in two.

A moment later, the entire arena rumbles, as Abigail's colossal form hits the ground with a clap of thunder.

And a split second after that -- five Honokas leap forward, stabbing thrusting their spinning augers into Abigail's chest in perfect unison. But -- as one brief instant earlier -- four of the mirror images break, shattering into a billion plumes of scintillating dust.

All that's left is one Honoka, stabbing her auger into Abigail's ribs. The ribbon itself ablates away on contact in a coruscating explosion of blue, green, and yellow soul sparks -- each of them delivering a powerful electric jolt to the mountain of meat! She drives the blow all the way down until her bared knuckles slam into his ribcage -- after which point, she leaps backward, shaking the numbness out of her right hand.

Honoka pants for breath, raising her left hand and its diabolo wands to a defensive position. A moment later, the spotlights snap back on, one after the other, until the two fighters are once more bathed in light. Honoka, sensing the audience's eyes on her, unclips her two diabolos from her waistband, and sends them into a reaffirming orbit.

For a good moment, it seems like she's expecting Abigail to rise to his feet again. But then her eyes lift -- and she meets eyes with his Metro City compatriots.

Choking out a meek smile, she snaps a quick bow of her head. "Had me right on the ropes right there till the end, big guy. It was an honor to fight you, Champion."

[ABIGAIL]
Roxy and Axl give Honoka a friendly enough set of smirks. Mad Gear is...Mad Gear but appaerntly good enough people outside of the influence of Belger. Most of them. Nobody is suggesting reaching out to ask Rolento out to dinner but the down to earth ones are just that.

"Yeah..yeah.."

Abigail grunts as he slowly attempts to crank his monstrous body back up to its full height. He's scorched, battered and bruised and his Mad Gear print tee shirt a shredded mess but he's up again and grouchy in his usual grouchy way. But..he's not a sore loser or a spoiled sport.

"You did good." he adds. His tone of voice slightly modified enough to indicate he means it but it's still Abigail so the irritated gruffness is never going away. "Yeah..not bad. Now I guess I better read up on how this belt thing works so I can go get me another one!"

He waves it off and then stumbles and staggers back towards his side of the arena to join the other Metro City menaces.

[HONOKA]
"AND THE WINNER OF THE WORLDWIDE MASTER BELT IS... HONOKA KAWAMOTO! LET'S GIVE THE FIGHTERS A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"

The announcer really loves his job -- but he's only an afterthought to the experienced performer, who smiles in reply and thanks for the Mad Gear faction's graceful replies. "The Belt'll be here whenever you're ready. Thanks for the fight!" She would fully understand if they wanted to get rowdy over it -- but that would make for quite a scene, and she's lucky she doesn't have to tax her body any more after -that- workout. A shudder runs down her spine at the mere thought!

A quick *twang* of the string sends the diabolos into the air once more. Honoka tosses both sticks into her left hand, and when the diabolos land, she sweeps them both out of the air with her right hand, transitioning smoothly and gracefully into a bow.

"See you around, Abigail..."

COMBATSYS: Honoka takes no action.

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

COMBATSYS: Honoka has ended the fight here.

Log created on 19:37:15 08/31/2021 by Abigail, and last modified on 06:47:02 09/02/2021.