Match of the Millennium

Description: In a heart wrenching moment of emotional honesty, two men who are DTF meet chest to chest, their muscles brimming with unbridled passion yet to be tamed. 'Can you fill, the car tonight; it is running low on fuel? If you don't, it might run out again, somewhere by the school~'

[MARDUK]
It took months of careful planning, but Marduk was finally going to convince Abigail to come back to him.

Now it was totally a platonic thing, first of all. Marduk reminded himself every day, in front of the mirror, and in front of random strangers, that he wasn't upset about Abigail or anything. He definitely wasn't making Abigail cheating on him with that leather slut K' and his robot pal Maxima a key part of his life. In fact, he barely even thought about it at all. He even tried to find his own new muscle team of big guys who were just as big as Abigail, but unlike Abigail, they were totally into Marduk and wanted to be part of his fighting group, and not just because they were paid handsomely. And you know, it wasn't all about being into Marduk and being his friend and taking -lots- of pictures and posting them so Abigail could see them. He even wrote about it to a penpal he heard about in one of his NOL meetings. But the passion in Marduk's heart was so great, he decided to act on it.

Platonically, of course.

In fact, here at Abigail's Workshop down at the docks of Metro City, Marduk had kind of organized a bunch of them together to do a big surprise for Abigail. Sure, it was expensive, but with the whole team out, Marduk was out there, dressed in a tuxedo with purple and green knee pads and elbow pads. In the shadows, several of the friends and other friends had gotten their friends, until there was a whole gang of them. Like there was a kind of Skull Cross group but you know, after Marduk explained the situation and also gave lots of money, they had all set it up right outside his workshop. And now. The moment was right.

"Okay, turn it on!"

A hulking, towering mortor head with a hunched back turns the wrench, turning on the generator with a sputter. With that, the floodlamps flash on. Illuminating the entire exterior of Abigail's workshop. Standing out in the open was Marduk. He was being lifted up by two men; one of them looking like a sailor or dock worker. THe other was a bald man with a nice bowtie, like a waiter or a callman or something. Held up high, Marduk held up a boombox that was attached to the generator and the sound system. Speakers blaring, it begins to play a song from Peter Gabriel, as Marduk stares. One of the mean grunts, as he holds Marduk up. "How long are we supposed to be here-" Growls the bald man as Marduk snaps back. "SHUT UP! We gotta stay here until Abigail comes out! Even if it takes all night! EVEN IF IT TAKES FOREVER!" The sailor responds with his own frustrated grunt. "Yarr!" Marduk holds up the boombox higher, as tears comes down his cheeks. "ABIGAIL!" Marduk roars out. "I MADE A PLAY FOR YOU! TO SHOW YOU HOW I FEEEEEEE-"

ANd promptly the lights and music cuts out.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Marduk roars, wiggling as the pair drops Marduk. The towering Aussie turns back, glaring at the generator. "PUT ME DOWN DRAK- WHAT THE FUCK! TURN IT BACK ON!" The massive wrench monkey pushes some buttons, squinting through his goggles. Until finally, he gives the generator a big smash with the wrench. It sputters a bit, and then shoots out a cloud of smoke. Caine gives a shrug, as Drake puts his hands on his hips, looking awkwardly at the situation. Marduk throws away the boombox, turning red with rage as he stumbles at the genrator. Helpfully, Marduk begins hitting it with his hands, as the boombox lays shattered on the ground. "YOU RUINED IT! YOU RUINED MY BIG NON-APOLOGY! FUCK IT! THIS IS WHY NOBODY LIKES YOU, CAINE!" Sobs Marduk, as he falls to his knees. "I HATE THIS! I HATE ALL OF THIS! I WANTED TO DO MY PLAY, AND NOW ALL THERE IS ON THESE STREETS, ARE RAGE!" A black kid with a backwards red hat and a yellow tank top rollerskates in the side. Behind him is a big guy with robot arms, and a blond guy with a headband. "Are you gonna still need us for the play, mister?" Marduk waves at him, tears still coming in his eyes. "No, I don't think so Eddie, you guys can just Skate on out of here."

The kid nods, and skates away with his friends.

[ABIGAIL]
"Oh. My. God."

"Is that..is that...CAINE??"

"He got the whole Skull Cross Gang out there!?"

"If not all, a chunk of 'em at least."

And so the conversation goes. Roxy, Axl, J and Two-P peer out of the large second story factory warehouse windows at the bizarre, disturbing, but oh so entertaining series of events playing out before them. Behind them..a large table is set with minatures and Witches and Werewolves rulebooks and dice. It's game night

But really, this is better. Their eyes are wide in a look that somehow mixes horrified with amusement but they can't look away. Who could?

"Oh..he..broke the boombox." remarks Roxy,

"Can you blame 'im? Caine was only ever so-so at all that tinkering..: drawls out Axl, "Should I start making some calls? Get a good ol'Mad Gear reunion going on?"

"I dunno." says J. "I mean. The Chief isn't here. He went out to grab the food for tonight's game! Man..he's about to be pissed. He was so excited about us letting him DM again..."

Roxy wrinkles her nose at that. The others sighs in unison at some dismay at the thought. Maybe this interruption is for the best.

And its' about to get better. A loud blaring horn resounds, shaking the area and roaring over the gathered crowd of Skull Crash hooligans as a set of gigantic headlights washes over the area. A massive yellow and orange monster truck rumbles up, Death Metal music blaring and then suddenly drowned out by the booming voice of the Superhuman Hot Rodder: "What're you idiots DOING!? Get outta the way!!"

The music cuts abruptly and then the very ground shakes with the force of piledrivers going off as the gargantuan Bay Area Chief unfolds himself from the cab of the truck and then drops down to the ground, landing with force thqt sends cracks spider webbing out from under him and causes car alarms to start going off down the street. Framed against the blaring lights of his truck, Abigail looms into view like some sort of kaiju against military searchlights. "What the...is that Caine?? Drake?!?" ...... "MARDUK?!?"

Abigail thunders to a stop, starnig at the scene before him, jaw slackas he locks his eyes onto the fallen Marduk. Then his jaw sets, fury boiling within. Eyes bulging as his lips curl and his visage resembles more and more that of a junkyard pitbull.

"You gonna come to my place of business and make all this racket!? What's the point of a restraining order if it don't work!!"

Back in the Scrap Metal workshop, Roxy winces and then says towards Axl. "...You better make those calls..."

[MARDUK]
Marduk's sobbing is interrupted by a voice. A SOUND. A MUSIC!

Marduk clasps his hands together, and stretches it over his shoulder. Lifting his leg up, he bellows out in a roar. "ABIGAIL!" He growls, before regaining his composure. Coughing, he straightens out his tuxedo, before adjusting his pads. "I mean. What a coicidence! I was just passing by, and it just so happens -you- are here! Who could have thought about that, except if it was the fact you were looking for me!" Marduk looks at the spotlights, whree were out. He looks at the speakers. The broken boombox. The... everything. The everything that was wrong. Marduk scowls, trying to find someone to blame. And then, he just... sighs.

"Well shit, okay, maybe I was trying to make a non-apology to you."

Marduk gives a great big sniff, wiping the sleeve of the rental tuxedo on his nose before gritting his teeth. "Cause you're a big dummy! A great big dummy! What kind of idiot are you! We were supposed to have something special together! We were going to be the biggest, strongest team in the entire world! Do you know how much of an asshole I looked when I went out with Hugo, ready to sell him on our team? He called me a potato! And that pretty lady she was with laughed at me too! I was never so fucking embarassed in my life! You were supposed to be somebody different. Don't you remember?!

"YOU PROMISED ME, REMEMBER!?"

Marduk's face was wet with tears, his rage bellowing out all across the harbor, like a fierce foghorn. "And what I get with those promise? Do you remember what I gave up to you that fight? What I gave to you, and you took from me? And for all that, I get a -restraining- order. And you know what restraining means, Abigail? You know what that fucking means?" He looks at Drake, he looks at Callman, and he looks at Caine. And not -one of them- knows what the hell he is talking about. In fact, with the arrival of Abigail, they were all starting to have second guesses. -Especially- with the chance of a full fledge gang war breaking out. In fact, while Caine was still fiddling with the generator, Drake was gradually edging his way to Abigail from the sides. "Yarr. Sorry mate, but he was offering a lot of money, and wel-"

"That means -wrestling-!"

Drake kind of gives a look away, as Marduk stomps towards Abigail. "You gave an order where I had to wrestle my way back to you! LIke a common, like a common- leotard wearing doofus!" There is a gasp from the Skull Cross Gang, and a troubled murmur. It was Metro City after all, and dismissing wrestling in such heinous terms always brought the fear out of the most superstituous gangster: there could be a Haggar lurking in the shadows after all, breath hot with fresh trashcan turkey meat, ready to lunge out with a fatal Spinning Piledriver. But Marduk had no fear of no Haggar, and least of all, had no fear of showing up to Abigail's home, his own territory, and walking up to him in a fine dress tuxedo, and poking the towering titan in the chest. "So apologize! Apologize for cheating on me with those- with those-" And he snarls, twisting his head up, ready to rip apart his own suit over the outrage.

"With those HEAVY METAL BURNIN' HUSSIES!"

[ABIGAIL]
"Oohmygod.." Abigail rumbles, wide eyed as Marduk begins his rant.. Echoing Roxy's previous words as he just sort of stares at the other immense man like a deer caught in the headlights of an incoming out of control, tears spraying, screaming, ranting train. "..He -is- crazy..." he concludes, mouthing this to himself before blinking out of his astonishment as Drake attempts an apology before Marduk once again intervenes with his ongoing furor, this time going as far as to do the unspeakable. To mock wrestling.

Abigail nearly places a hand over his heart in horror at that, nearly backs up a few steps as if to clear out before the wrath of the city is roused and he is caught in the wake of the devastation unleashed upon Marduk. %rRoxy gasps, covering her mouth with both hands and Axl, Two P and J, look away, clearly disturbed at the blasphemy.

"He's gone to far!" whispers J.

"Uuuh." is all Abigail managers to get out, clearly being pushed out of his element here and uncertain on just what to say and what to do. At least Marduke's diatribe has shaken the Skull Cross Gang abit. They are unwilling to personally rouse the attention of the immense Mad Gear chief but that means he's got nothing -to- focus on but Marduk.

But Marduk getting close enough to invade his personal space, to poke the vast range of his chest, and to make that final ultimate comment on the whole matter, finally gives the giant gea head abit of focus and he lets out a loud roaring, "VROOOOOOM!!!!!!" while spreading his monstrous arms wide. His skin reddens and his garments strain, tear and rip as his physique bulks up and up and up, steam billowing out from his ears and nostrils. The hulking masses of his physique quaking as they pile sinew ontop of sinew and the bruiser bulks up and up before Marduk.

"For the last time! WE. ARE NOT. DATING! SO I DIDN'T CHEAT ON YOU!" he thunders, huge arms hovering over head.

"That was...that was..three years ago! K' and Maxima..they just made me an offer! It was just business for cryin' out loud! Nothin' personal!"

In the back of his mind..maayyyybee..he could have made a better effort to reach out to Marduk but ..details, details.

"Besides, I didn't tell you to go out there and recruit friggen Hugo!" Abigail leans forward. A massive hand reaches forward for Marduk's torso,intending to grasp hold of the formal shirt and lift him up slightly, enough to force him onto his toes at least as Abigail's nostrils blast out a hot blast of steam for the other mans face. "Your calls and emails didn't make any sense! We coulda just teamed up for something else but you've gone off the deep end!!! And NOBODY insults wrestlin' in METRO CITY!"

[MARDUK]
"Well YEAH we aren't dating!"

Marduk doesn't even think much about that part as he continues. As Abigail grabs -his- jacket shirt, well, Marduk goes and grabs Abigail's, uh, shirt. Of course Marduk is being lifted up so there is a bit of an imbalance. But Marduk was now turning PURPLE in rage. "You know why it didn't make sense to you! Because you are a DUMMY! A big dumb dummy! And I'll make fun of wrestling as much as I like! I wanted to give wrestling another chance! But you- but you-" Marduk's expression drops, as the gears in his head start to click.

"DATING!?"

Marduk suddenly puckers up, his lips turning teeny tiny like he just bite a rather overripe lemon. Dating. His eyes goes wide, and then narrows. His skin gradually loses its deep purple anger, as he seems to swallow a bitter pill. "Uh, Abigail, I don't know if-" He lowers his voice, leaning in over at Abigail, trying not to draw that much attention for a singular, brief moment. He almost whispers. "I think there's some kind of misunderstanding I've had here, and you too. I'm only interested into being DTF, you know, down to fight. I'm a Dude Into Lotsa Fighting, Abigail, and there isn't anything, you know, like that." Marduk leans away from Abigail's ear looking over at the rapidly hiding gangsters as he just rolls his eyes at them. "Not that there is anything WRONG with that. But seriously, Abigail, now I have a LOT better perspective why you've been so WEIRD about all this." And Marduk just looks at the gigantic man who was heaving him up in his hands.

"It sounds like you were some kind of jilted lover all this time, dude."

[ABIGAIL]
"Now kiss." demands Roxy, grinning with glee from her window seat from the second floor of the workshop. Axl just sort of facepalms and J and Two-P start into a series of snorting laughs. They can't hear the particulars of this part of the conversation but they can just about guess.

For his part, Abigail's eyes widen, nearly saucer like, as Marduk inverts the entire situation with the skill of a Metro City councilman in the middle of his element and the Superhuman Hot-Rodder is left looking stunned, dunbfounded and at a loss for words.

The world seems to stop, waiting with baited breath as the behemoth struggles and stumbles to regather his wits in a way to save face before this gaggle of gathered Skull Cross gang members and his own Mad Gear friends. What can he do.

Well he can try throwing Marduk high into the air and letting him plummet violently onto a pile of cars..no doubt destroying the scrap pile and barely harming him.

He can attempt to crush him like a tin can. He does have him after all and rumor has it that Abigail is freakishly strong. Superhuman either. But Marduk is no slouch either so ...it wouldn't happen fast enough to be satisfying.

But instead...his eyes merely narrow and he ends up setting Marduk back down and clearing his throat.
5r"You know what! Maybe I -AM- a jilted lover. Y'see..I too am into lotsa fighting. I'm in love with the game! The crushing of bones and breaking of bodies as well as automobiles and engine blocks! So..you know what? Maybe I did kinda crack for a minute there. I thought to myself.. 'Marduk?! What possessed me to want to team up with HIM!? There's no way I can win King of FIghters that way!'"

Abigail rubs his jaw, one hand on his hip now as he 'recalls' his thinking, "And I just sort of..was too ashamed to tell you. I didn't want to hurt yer feelings and al, letting you know that I was backin' out on account of thinking you weren't that strong after all. You might not have taken it well!"

He smiles his patented Abigail smile, big jaw stretching as his eyes squint and someone screams in the distance. "My bad."

[MARDUK]
Marduk stares into Abigail, as the titan begins to insult him.

Marduk jts stares back blankly, his jaw falling slack as Abigail completely unleashes the truth on him. Every blow comes rioting in, as Abigail declare just how -weak- he was. Compared to those Heavy Metal Burning Hussies. How he really was like a jilted lover. How his feelings for him were fake all along. That he was just a one fight stand, a one and done match that was just for the experience of it, maybe to just skip out on being considered idle. That Marduk wasn't anybody special, in the end. Just a mass of muscly meat for Abigail to let out some tension on. The truth washes over Marduk. His jaw is tight, as he just stares back at him.

"You know what..." Marduk growls slowly.

"..."

"Apology accepted!"

"I think you make a good point." Marduk begins, as he wraps his fingers on Abigail's forearms, holding him not too tight, not to gentle. But with self control. "cause like, I have been doing a lot of fighting and shit, and you know those guys who shit out a lot of fire and stuff? I am not good at fighting them, and I bet you aren't either. It's like rock paper scissors. You got to be tactical. So you dumped me to get with some gimp-suit leather head who uses fire like that Iori shithead, and a literal robot who shoots lasers and also wrestles because, holy shit, what the fuck. But if you did it to win, like, no offense,Abigail, then who the fuck cares? I mean I'm pretty proud of how smart I am about fighting, but I can admit right now: you were clearly the genius here if you won!" Marduk pat pats Abigail. "Hell, if they came to me first?

"I probably would have dumped you, and left you to explain to Hugo why he has to cover the bill cause he ate so much."

Marduk squeezes Abigail empathetically, before moving his hands up Abigail's arms slowly. "I am still fucking mad that you were jerking me around like that, but I am glad I heard it come from your mouth after jerking me around for so long! You were thinking of me! You didn't forget! And I am okay with that. You just made the optimal choice to win a tournament. And you know what, maybe that's why we shouldn't do a fucking team. Doubling up on grapplers means that little girls who shoot energy beams out of their tits or something will bust our asses. We gotta be smart." Marduk knocks one hand on Abigail's knocking, grinning stupid as he locks his eyes into Abigail's own, just looking at him. Just them two, alone, in Marduk's world, outside on the harbor.. "Well damn. I guess we are just a pair of dudes into lotsa fighting, caught in this crazy world. It's just the Tattoos of memories, and dead skin on trial. But Abigail, for what it's worth, it was worth all the while. It's something unpredictable, but in the end, it's right." He brings his hands up at Abigail's shoulder, standing on his tippy toes, still looking back.

" I hope you had the time of your life."

Marduk nods, cracking just the faintest smile. "God damn, I am glad I spent like a couple hundred thousand dollars from the NOL account on this. Nobody's seen Captain Jin around for a while anyways so it's okay. I just feel so much fucking better. Abigail... can I ask you..." Marduk blinks his eyes, fluttering them a bit. "... can I just give you a great big hug?"

Marduk pauses a moment.

"But like not in a homo way."

And his muscles begin to twitch and tremble under his tux, as his legs and arms swell with the girthy manliness that mortal cloth could barely contain.

"In a -true fighting man's- way."

[ABIGAIL]
That was supposed to have been a soul flaying, mind scathing, body breaking insult from the mouth of the Mad Gear titan and somehow..SOMEHOW..Marduk has once again managed to turn it around and leave Abigail speechless, dumbfounded and out of his wits.

He just stares, blankly at Marduk as the other behemoth begins speaking. His big smile gradually fades, slowly flattening out to a straight line as his pupils dilate to near pinpricks. Hiw jaw goes slightly slack as Marduk just breaks it all down like the expert in the trials and tribulations of the muscle-behemoths that he is. The struggles with the crazy pop-icon school girls with super powers. THe bizarre reality of being thrown around by people who barely reach his knees. The need to be able to buffer that sort of nonsense by having an arsenal of your own to throw right back at them which is exactly what K' and Maxima were and did.

He locks gazes with Marduk, mouth beginning to tremble now and eyes starting to blink rapidly. Then as Marduk spreads his arms wide, gigantic physique swelling and pulling at his specially tailored formal suit in just the right ways, speaking of gargantuan strength waiting to be unleashed, Abigail's eyes tear up.

"You...you know me so well---!!" his voice getting high pitched as it cracks slightly.

"I just...I just wanted to WIN A TOURNAMENT!!"

He spreads his own arms wide, body reddening and burning with internal heat as maximum power surges within. His own immensity swelling up wildly, thickening, straining and creaking like the sound of industrial strength leather being stretched as he bulks and bulks and bulks.

"C'mon!" he wheezes, "Come 'ere!"

"Oh for GOD'S SAKE!" shouts Roxy.

[MARDUK]
It's too much.

The sheer force of Marduk's muscles quiver with engorged passion, as his strength brims at the seams of the rented tuxedo. Pulsating with the fabric, Abigail finally spreads, accepting Marduk's offer, and inviting him into the sweltering sea of swole. The full strength of Marduk's power is unstoppable, and yet, almost gentle as he glides in. As he wraps himself around the towering titan in pure masculine might, he unconsciously, instinctively flexes. With a single burst, the sculpted musculature of the Vale Tudo master becomes exposed, yearning for the touch of fellow muscle. Baby sized bicep on baby sized bicep, awe-inspiring ab upon awe-inspiring ab, the two hulking behemoths embrace in the only honest way: with the pure power of passionate paragons, pulse pounding with pugnacious pride.

It's enough to make a full grown man cry.

As the tatters of Marduk's tux are torn away, the aussie holds on for just a minute more, before he finally releases Abigail. resting his hands on Abigali's arms, clinging on to them, he just takes a quick moment to wipe away his tears. He was deaf to the noise, deaf to the audience. And the audience was... just kind of staring in shock. Except Caine. Caine doesn't see to good, and he was mostly focused on the generator. "Man, just remember next time we meet, it's going to be a fight, and I'm going to beat the shit out of you. But you know, I hope the next time we meet." He looks tenderly into Abigail's eyes, grinning stupidly. "You can beat the shit out of me too-"

And suddenly the generator roars back on.

"GOT IT!" Caine yells out, as the spotlights cast across the whole harbor, illuminating the area once more.

Log created on 09:54:18 06/21/2022 by Marduk, and last modified on 21:38:50 06/27/2022.