Match of the Millennium

Description: It's the new season of Neo League and the possiblity of cosplay has roused Abigail from his self-imposed exile from the Fighting Circuit! Is Merrick and the rest of the world ready for Mecha Abigail??

[MERRICK]
Another day, another dollar.

Of course, for Merrick that 'dollar' was earned through mayhem and skulduggery, but that's the way he liked it. After a week of vandalizing cars, stealing money and other highly necessary assignments, here he was in the shadow of night to do the big job. Long story short, one of the girls in this dorm was well on her way to eventually going into politics. And one day, might become a senator, or a governor, or even a president. For several families connected to the Syndicate, this was a bad situation given her family and how difficult they'd made life for honest criminals lately.

So, here was Merrick, hiding in the corner of this cramped bedroom, a dull navy longcoat worn over his typical uniform. Over his mask a dockworker cap was pulled snug and tight, and over his goggles, a pair of ill-fitting circular sunglasses. This combined with the potted fern in his left hand, and the silenced nine mill in his right currently aimed at the sleeping angel, he looked like quite the Professional. When he spoke it was super quiet, even as he watched her breathe and nestle tightly into her pillow.

"Well, look at it this way. The amount of debt you'd have, by the time you graduated? It would have absolutely killed you."

He waited for a round of laughter and applause. Who knows why.

[ABIGAIL]
Once Upon A Time in Metro City...
A certain Mad Gear chief had decided to lay low for abit. He'd lost his belt, opted out on attempting to compete in the latest King of Fighters Tournament, decided the Dead or Alive tournament wasn't for him and frankly was too famous for Ristar ..at least that's what he told himself. Word of another tournament had been circling and his ears had perked up slightly but he then just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his work.

Abigail..it seemed..was suffering from burnout.

"C'mon boss!" urged Roxy. "WHy don't you go into the junkyard and crush some cars into cubes. You know how good that makes you feel."

The giant grumbles something non committal.

"Hey CHief! Axl just scratched up your truck again, going to get some groceries!" tattled Two-P.

The giant just grumbled something non committal. Roxy and Two-P looked at each other in alarm now. Was this..the end? Had the behemoths march to stardom finally reached its heights?

Word of the Neo League tournament came over the large flatscreen TV in the back of the garage. Eyes turned towards it and Abigail peered at it from behind the welding mask he'd been wearing as he lazily tinkered at his latest engine mod. The Demon Queen spoke. The Demon Queen spoke to him.. and he reached up and slowly lifted his mask to stare at the screen. The sparks of inspiration dancing in his gaze.

"What is it. What is it boss?" asksed Roxy, looking pensive.

Abigail answered, "..Cosplay."

NOW: The wall on the other side of Merrick suddenly explodes inward. Plaster flying and the ground shaking. The girl is jolted awake with a shock as a monstrous figure looms into view, shaking the very earth with his steps and lumbering forward like some kaiju emerged from the seas. Or perhaps, mecha is more appropriate for the figure is decked out in plastics spray painted to rsemble the assembled parts of a robot shaped to look like Abigail himself, complete with the tires and a mochawked head with glowering red eyes. Between the segmented armor, signs of the bruisers flesh can be seen, barely restrained to keep from bursting out of the suit of makeshift armor. The girl screams as Mecha Abigail booms, arms spread wide. "It's Neo League time!"

COMBATSYS: Merrick has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Merrick          0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Abigail has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Abigail          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Merrick

[MERRICK]
The wall explodes, the shot goes wide, and after shrieking in terror, Merrick's target flees the scene even as the black-clad ninja is knocked to the other side of the dorm from the sheer force of that explosion. He is 'sat' upside down while his neck is sideways, his goggles narrowing as he looks up/down at the giant armored behemoth.

"Neo...oh, right! They gave us those beepers to find each other. Well, work can wait I guess."

Using only his neck muscles and his head, the ninja sprang up into the air, tossing aside the gun and plant, so that he could reach within his coat and pull out a gun and...gun? Diving and rolling through the air, Merrick emptied two magazines right at the armored center mass of his gargantuan opponent, a nonstop pop pop of stainless steel fired at the giant, before that giant could give it to 'em.

"BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM!"

He didn't have to say the 'blam' parts out loud, but he did anyway, even though the gunshots themselves were loud and filling this still dark bedroom with an almost blinding strobe effect.

COMBATSYS: Abigail just-defends Merrick's Terminal Glockoma!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Abigail          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Merrick

[ABIGAIL]
"Huh? Where's th'League film crew.. This was suppoed to be my big comeback!"

The behemoth saunters forward. Footsteps shaking the walls. Pictures falling, dresses tipping over, dolls and other collectibles being tread under foot as he swivels his gaze from side to side to look the room voer and then finally, at the end, turn towards his opponent who is already unloading upon him and unleashing his own variant of hell upon the armored giant.

And if -said- armor is what intervenes here..it's hard to say. The stories of Abigail's legendary strength, stamina and toughness are...well..perhaps legendary, perhaps not..but certainly something to note given his track record! Regardless, the assault slams into the shell of his makeshift mecha suit, cracking it and sending bits and pieces of it flying in various directions..and thudding against the flesh beneath but the giant continues forward, unabated as if not even noticing.

"Alright, alright. What's yer name, fella? Hm...I guess I don't care, har!"

He bursts forward into a charging lumbering ..uh..well jog. He's not fast. His incoming movements pound against the floor of the dorm, shaking the building no doubt as he bears down on Merrick and then at the last second, swerves to a stop to use the added momentumn to send a gigantic fist at the assassins form.

COMBATSYS: Merrick blocks Abigail's Dynamite Punch.

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

[MERRICK]
Abigail couldn't have known that there was a film crew currently racing to their location, getting a tip on their phones about a fight taking place and desperately wishing they'd be able to catch most of it on camera. For the time being, a League drone came down at the very least, spying on the action through the hole in the wall like some kind of voyeur.

It would see Abigail throwing down a punch that looked like god spiking a football, that fist colliding with Merrick's face and cracking those sunglasses into bits and pieces as the ninja fell to a heap on to the ground...but unusually for an opponent of Abigail's, the black-suited blackhander seemed to roll with the momentum until he was on his feet as if nothing had happened. And aside from shaking the cobwebs out of his skull, it seemed he was relatively ok.

"You want my name? Don't you think that's kinda personal, buddy?"

His tone was composed and conversational, as if Abigail and he were just shooting the shit at a cocktail party instead of trying to rip each other's heads off in a girls' dorm. And as he spoke, he leapt up into the air, pivoting and spinning so that he can throw out his leg in what would be a picture perfect knockout kick. If not for the fact that the 'kick' was instead aimed at the side and front of Abigail's massive thigh, whether it was armored or not. Either way, he landed back down on the ground almost bouncing on his feet and dancing as if this were a light sparring session.

"Hey, did you know you're big? Anyone ever tell you that? Are you the Iron Giant, is that what this costume is?"

COMBATSYS: Abigail interrupts Light Kick from Merrick with Abi Hammer.

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

[ABIGAIL]
"It's MECHA ABIGAIL!" thunders the behemoth as his arm raises, looming high overhead and casting the incoming kick under the shadow of its immensity before dropping down with a massive palm smash that brings Merrick out of the kick and instead carries him down towards the ground itself. The kick lands a glancing blow but it does not prevent the giant from placing the full weight of his strength into the blow, briefly pinning Merrick as more of the dorm room shakes and the wall Abigail entered through shudders and begins to come down.

"What about you? You looked like you were about to shoot that girl! This some sorta movie set?"

The conversation is, indeed, bizarre in how casual it is..at least at the moment.

[MERRICK]
"What are you, a lawyer? We use 'allegedly' in this house, buster."

Was it courage that let him talk so bravely while pinned underneath a giant's palm? Was it stupidity? Or, was it something else? In any case when Abigail finally lifted that massive mit, he'd see the trenchcoat and the hat...but no ninja.

"But yeah, totally a movie. Real avant gard 'Faces Of Death' stuff."

Standing on the shoulders of Abigail, Merrick brought his latest weapon down, a mildewy nylon bag filled with dirty, yet-to-be-washed laundry, mostly girls underthings. That bag he'd attempt to lock and pull TIGHT over the helmeted behemoth's head. He had no idea how easy it was to breathe in that getup, but maybe it'd be a little harder this way. And with all of Merrick's might, standing up to his full height to pull that bag as tight as possible, it seemed like his muscles started bulging in his ninja suit even as he groaned from the Herculean effort.

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Merrick's Little Plastic Baggie.

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

[ABIGAIL]
"Gurrrk!"

He does, in fact, need to breathe. Granted, Abigail is something of an engineering prodigy. A modding genius even. Despite his looks he's got all the capabilities of a legendary mechanic (there's that word again..) but his best efforts aren't going to keep him from needing to breath in a suit that's really a rapidly put together bit of scrap collected from his junkyard and welded together with a few bells and whistles for effects like glowing eyes and steam.

Said steam billows out from the external air filters on the giants back as he reaches up to try and pull at the bag full of...garments he'd rather not have near his head like that. His grasping fingers manage to tear at the bag well enough and then he gives up and just grasps for Merrick himself, intending on seizing the Ninja and hurtling him off of his body, into and through the ceiling of he gets him and then to allow gravity to do the rest.

COMBATSYS: Abigail successfully hits Merrick with Bay Area Sunrise.

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

[MERRICK]
Merrick was so focused on strangling this big behemoth, that he didn't even pay attention when the big brute grabbed him around the waist, not until he was pulled away from that laundry bag and hurled upward through a ceiling, smashing up into the night sky, looking up and seeing the moon for a brief moment, and then hurtling back down to land head and neck first against that bedroom door with a sickening 'CRACK', splayed out in front of Abigail and violently twitching like a bug on a windshield. It was a big mess.

Until, the sounds of bones cracking and 'snapping' back into place could be heard, and Merrick's head and neck 'righted' themselves as he suddenly bounced up back to his feet. He wasn't as energetic as before, in fact he looked as if though he were intoxicated or just severely concussed. But at least he was alive.

"Oh...this is Neo League, right? So you're who I'm fighting? ...you're big, did you know that? Well, let's go!"

Even as he spoke and reached down for his guns, he seemed to realize too late that they weren't there anymore as he stumbled and tripped over his feet, crashing through the doorway behind him and spilling out into the hallway.

The plus side, was there were actually cameras out here, and things were well lit. And as humpty dumpty put himself back together again, Abigail could do anything he wanted, now that he had an opening. Because that's what was stopping him before.

COMBATSYS: Merrick grows a few extra lumps that he'll have to deal with later. That's just great...(this is sarcasm)

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

[ABIGAIL]
"Ugh. Gross."

He's not a happy camper..but more disturbing then the previous attempt on his health is the visage of Merrick regaining his. Behind the mask of Mecha Abigail, the real Abigail's mouth drops open as he watches this, frankly, supernatural happening of Merrick basically..stitching himself back to one piece by some means that Abigail cannot fathom and he's forced to rumble, in confusion, "The hell have these League folk got me signed up for! Some comeback!"

Merricks retreat causes the behemoth to begin fuming as anger boils up inside. His armor starts creaking, cracking, pulling apart slowly but surely as his skin reddens and his muscles swell. True steam billows out from his nostrils and the visor of the Mecha Abigail cracks from the pressure being exerted by the gargantua.

Outside, there is a moments pause..and suddenly Abigail explodes into view. His arms are visible as is part of his torso having literally outsized them from the brutes swelling physique as he goes 'flashing red mode'. His helmet remains firmly on at least! He advances on Merrick, wide shoulders crushing the walls on either side of him as he draws near.

"WHere you goin'?!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail VROOOOOMS!!!

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Abigail          1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1          Merrick

[MERRICK]
"Hey, guess what?"

Merrick asks the question as Abigail storms out of that bedroom, plaster tracking and coming off of the walls as the human car-man is red with rage, a trait that had only ever been seen before by ancient samurai having showdowns with each other. But Merrick was unphased. The second Abigail gets close enough, Merrick hops up to hang from a light fixture between them both, as his right hand shoots out in a series of slaps, weak smacks and weaker backhands, a flurry of mainly 'insults' sent out to the most armored part of Abigail's body. But really, it was about the message more than anything.

"Chicken-butt."

COMBATSYS: Abigail just-defends Merrick's Improvised Smack!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Abigail          1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1          Merrick

[ABIGAIL]
If Merricks intention was to rile the behemoth up..there is some success! Perhaps a little -too- much success..one supposes that it's hard to get into the head of the gearhead but when he's angry it shows.

Merricks gesture of insult doesn't slow the monster truck brute down, if that was also part of the intention.. But instead Abigail presses forward into it and then lunges a massive hand out to try and grab for the other mans leg.

"Listen! You gonna take this seriously or what!?"

That thundered, if he grabs the legs, he pulls backwards and attempts to slam Merrick into the opposite wall - and then up into the ceiling - and then he spins to try and slam him into th wall behind him. Each swing a plaster shaking, body imprint leaving, hallway shaking impact should they land home.

"C'mon! You in this league for a reason right?!"

COMBATSYS: Merrick fails to interrupt Repeated Slams from Abigail with Into The Sky You're Torn.

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

[MERRICK]
He was grabbed, and went on a smashing rampage. Into the distant wall, into the ceiling(crashing through the glass light fixture and ceiling light he was just holding on to), then Merrick is hanging there for a split second before Abigail twists his body to throw the ninja aside. In that time, hanging upside down and seemingly dead, Merrick moved his wrist to flick something at the face of the giant muscle man. A fridge magnet, starring Hello Kitty just looking cute. Of course it was upside down, but Merrick did a silent fistbump in celebration.

And then he was launched to hurtle down the hallway, smashing into the wall so violently, that when he landed back down on the ground he was barely moving. But he was conscious, shaking his head and crawling around, or at least attempting to crawl. Where was he even going? Weakly to himself, he muttered.

"Ha...ha. Got 'em."

[ABIGAIL]
"What're you, made out of cardboard! how're you signed up for Neo League if you're gonna insult me and then be busted up that easy! Get up! I'll give you ten seconds. Or yield!" rumbles Abigail, his rage a mix of confusion and actual true rage as he begins thundering down the hallway, or whats left of it towards Merrick.

"is this a joke to you? I'm tryin' to make a comeback into this fighting circuit! Some of this means something to us. You gonna just spit jokes and lie there all beaten Give me a good fight! Not tryin' to suffocate me with panties!"

His taunts and urges are punctuated by his approach, his shadow slowly creaking over Merrick as he gets closer and closer. "Let's see that healin' trick again so you stop being so lame!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail takes no action.

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

[MERRICK]
"Ok."

Still laying on the ground, Merrick's wrist flicks again, tossing something green at Abigail's feet. It was easy to see them for what they were, a bouquet of pineapple grenades, gleaming in the light and promising to blow at any moment...but it was a promise based on lies. Every single one was fake, a dud, a phoney. If Abigail wanted to yell at Merrick about this, he wouldn't be able to, as the ninja was no longer there.

"Vaya...con dios!"

From behind the Man Mountain, the assassin drove the edge of his sword home, trying to stab that steel killing-sword into the midsection and kidneys, before brutally pulling the blade out and twirling it around in a way that would look a lot more cool, if Merrick wasn't staggering and standing all woozily.

Of course, this is all assuming it hit.

COMBATSYS: Abigail blocks Merrick's My Favourite Game.

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

[ABIGAIL]
The fact that such a move could have likely killed most people right then and there seems to be lost on the goliath.

Then again, we're talking a man who crushes cars as his own personal living compactor so one assumes that an untrained fighter who gets into his grasp would face a fate just as deadly as somoene bringing a sword to bear.

As it is, however, Abigail seems delighted by this, beginning to consider a job as someone who delivers motivational speeches. He's inspired Merrick! He's also reacting, quickly, turning just so, so that the blades dig into and through the metal of his costume to score into his hardened flesh but failing to find true purchase as Abigail twists and then pushes backwards. Blood is drawn and more of his armor shatters and sunders but the worst of it was turned away by his actions. And still the goliath grins.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he declares. Pleased at the assassins perserverance.

And then his hand lunges forward and towards the ninja. A vast back fist that spins wildly at him as the goliath rotates and twists into the strike. Should the blow land it will surely lift Merrick upwards and Abigail follows that with a lunging swing. An uppercut meant to land solidly on his opponent and send him hurtling upwards once more from the power behind the strike. "KABOOM!!"

COMBATSYS: Abigail knocks away Merrick with Abi Twist.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Abigail          1/-======/=======|=======\======-\1          Merrick

[MERRICK]
Well, there was good news and bad news. The bad news was, Merrick got hit. When he looked up the giant hand of Abigail was launching him into the air, and then that uppercut sent him hurtling into the air, head over heels and ass over tea kettle as he went limp from the impact.

The bad news, was those grenades right at Abigail's feet? Well, they weren't duds. Because as Merrick hurtles, he's squeezing the trigger of a detonator in his pocket, something that might cause a bit of a kaboom as well.

The bad news, was that the magnet stuck to Abigail's helmeted face started beeping and blinking with red lights. And moments after the grenades blew, the 'magnet' also gave its own explosion, just to put a little salt on the vinegar.

The bad news is that if Abigail was hit by this, and was launched into the air through that same hole in the ceiling, that Merrick would meet him in the air, grabbing under the man's mighty armpits and trying to steer him downward in the roughest looking most improvised izuna drop of all time, the secret technique passed down to all ninja.

The good news? Well...

COMBATSYS: Merrick can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Abigail guards against Merrick's Into The Sky You're Torn.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Abigail          1/=======/=======|

[ABIGAIL]
"What the.."

This is abit of a chaotic mess now. Abigail glances down to his feet just as the blasts begin going off and his attempt to blunt their force with his great strength and stance ultimately ends up launching him upwards into the shockwave that indeed sends him bursting into the ceiling and through it, tumbling into the air with flailing arms. His helmet is blown clean off at this point, revealing his pained and aggravated expression..vision clearing up just in time to see Merrick go for the grab to try and bring him back down into the ruins of their battle zone.

"'Eeeey!" he roars, twisting at the last second to burst free of the grab and go, instead, tumbling wildly off to the side to crash violently into one of the cameras and back through another wall.

At least he didn't land on Merrick himself.

Groaning, he sits up, his costume in shambles now and his teeth gritted in pain.. "Ugh..I'm gonna have to..try doing a proper comeback with another match.."

[MERRICK]
Well, the good news was, at least he didn't land on Merrick himself.

COMBATSYS: Abigail has ended the fight here.

Log created on 21:37:09 06/20/2022 by Abigail, and last modified on 09:53:15 06/21/2022.