Match of the Millennium

Description: Team Blaze has arrived in Metro City! It's a meeting writ in the stars--or at least beer foam--as The Fiery Irish Brawler Hawksley meets The Bestial Brutish Warrior Braun an the only casualty are four freshly brewed cups of coffee! Wait, what?

[HAWKSLEY]
Bright lights, big city. Metro City is something else. Sure, the dark haired lad who stands at the centre of it is from a city back in Ireland but it's nothing compared to the vast size and scale of this epic sight. It even puts Sunshine City in the shade.

Taking his sunglasses off, Hawksley Moore blinks up at the neon signs of Metro Square. He'd seen something similar during a lads weekend in London but this seems bigger, better, brighter and he actually feels his stomach flip over. Of course that could be the pizza slice and four pints he's consumed in the last couple of hours. He'd managed to find an Irish bar that actually seemed pretty authentic. Metro did have a sizeable Irish community of course, albeit of the American variety. He'd been greeted warmly, the accent helping him make friends quickly. The barman's granda had been from Ballylickey, around an hours drive from Hawksley's hometown of Cork City.

People push past him as he stands, brushing against the bare skin of his lower arms. The sun is just going down on a day in late summer where the temperature has still been close to ninety fahrenheit. He's under no illusions though, before his time in the mighty Metro City is done, he'll be feeling the cold of winter. Till then he'll make the most of not needing a coat. He decides to find a bench to sit and enjoy the early evening for a while, watching the crowds come and go.

[BRAUN]
A sudden piercing scream rips through the area, followed right after by what -sounds- like a lion's roar which rattles windows and ripples the clothes and hair of any too close.

This roar..also somehow manages to transition seamlessly into a loud "YEOOOOCH!" The roar and voice a gravelly snarly deep tenor that warbles through the area.

The crowded sidewalk parts slightly, revealing a terrified looking, fashionably dressed, leggy blonde woman holding what looks like the crumpled remnants of one of those flimsy cup holders that once upon a time held the contents of four of the best coffees and lattes that Starrocks<tm> (A Metro City favorite) had to offer. Her shopping bags are scattered to the ground along with the flickering screen of her dropped cell phone... She was just trying to do entirely too much at once, hence the collision.

A collision with a towering wall of fur and muscle. The giant looms there, arms lifted up from his sides as the scalding fluids run down his bare torso like a series of dark rivers adding new colors to his fur while scalding the flesh beneath. His teeth are bared in a snarling look of pain and consternation as the drinks leave their marks upon him. Large teeth with massive canines and fangs exposed. The maw of a lion somehow worked into human-esque features. Dark shades hide his eyes but the furrow of his brow and the snarl of his lips probably mean you don't really need to be able to study his eyes to see what he's thinking.

The woman backs up, nearly tripping on her heels and stammering an apology out but she's interrupted by the lion-man who opens his mout wide as if about to try and bite her head off...and then simply bellows:

"Watch it, lady! I aint no canvas or something! You think I can just go get this dry cleaned! Damn! Th'hell is this?! You drink this stuff this hot??"

[HAWKSLEY]
At the sound of the scream, Hawksley turns his head towards it. "What the feck?" His dark eyes search for the source, finally coming to fix on the furry fella causing the chaos. He knows that guy, it's one of his new teammates.

He rises from his bench, cursing the fact that his rest had lasted all of two minutes, and weaves his way through the throngs of locals and tourists, who've stopped to stare.

"It's alright. It's all grand" he calls out, his own voice, though far from soft, paling in comparison to the roar that had escaped the beast that is Braun.

"It's just a bit of fun, so it is" he assures them. "All part of the New Fighting Generation show."

At the mention of the famous franchise, excited conversations start up and phones screens start to be held up towards Hawksley.

"Your man Braun here is one of the new members of Team Blaze. I'm beyond thrilled to be meeting the fierce fella."

Moving up besides the monstrous man, he claps a hand on whatever part of his back that his five feet ten form can reach. He then bends down to start picking up the contents of the blonde's shopping bags, most of which seem to be flimsy fabrics.

"Braun here doesn't mean to be grouchy" he explains to her. "He just hasn't had dinner yet."

Several people back away, perhaps concerned they will be on the menu.

[BRAUN]
IT's a wild wild world where being seven feet tall puts you only at 'A' tier out of a tier that probably goes up to SSS in terms of size but Braun's immensity isn't to be under estimated especially when laws of percentages are taken into consideration. He towers over the frightened woman and those, warily, coming to her aid to help her collect her scattered bags. All moving very very sloowwwwly as if trying to not summon the wrath of the bestial man.

For his part, Braun just busies himself trying to fling the hot liquids from his hands and torso to the ground below, still snarling and grumbling under his breath. "First time in this damn city..." he begins only to pause when he hears Hawksley's voice and the atmosphere shifts and a new energy ripples through. A sort of tense excitment as the crowds begin to take into account who is in their presence and still more begin to prpoerly recognize Braun from the hype videos. It doesn't necessarily make them -less- tense. This city has a history with Darkstalkers after all and there are assumptions about what he actually is..but it does keep things from escalating into an outright panic.

"Hn." he rumbles, not exactly -completely- calming down but at the same time it's hard to guage just what 'calm' means to someone like that.

"Hey, she ran into me." he drawls, "All on her phone about missing brunch with Brad and Donald and how Emily's pissed at 'er still." Seems he heard all that. His furred pointed ears twitch slightly and the woman cringes as if he struck a chord.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. Sorry!" she finally manages, attempting to scuttle away. "Ferget it.." drawls Braun. As the people try and pull back he sneers and then lifts a hand up and gestures as if waving them off, "...Not enough protein and too scrawny. Plus when they runnin' before I get 'em it adds to the flavor."

There's a heavy pause as the people freeze and then Braun drawls out with a deadpan tone, "....I'm jokin'..."

[HAWKSLEY]
"It's my first time here too, fella" Hawksley chimes in. "we're off to a lively start." He starts to laugh, looking at the chaos that's been caused around them. "It seems that Team Blaze are already making their presence in Metro City known and we've not even started fighting yet."

He scratches at the back of his neck, his expression still amused at Braun's antics. "I knew you were joking. Well, I was pretty sure anyway."

He gestures to the skyscrapers around them. "So what do you think of the place so far? It feels like a long way from home to me."

There's a beat before he asks "Where is it that's home for you then?"

He's not even sure that Braun is from this world. Not that he much cares one way or another, he's just kinda curious.

[BRAUN]
The scalded flesh on Braun seems to be already healing. Much more rapidly then should be normal, if there needed to be anymore sense of inhumanity to him aside from..well...looking at him.

He seems 'human' enough in his behavior though. His tone, antics and demeanor having all the hallmarks of an irate back alley bruiser or bouncer at a bar as opposed to the assumptions of what one typically thinks of an otherworldy warrior.

"They didn't." he says, thumbing a clawed digit in the direction of the rapidly retreating people now that Braun's attention is strictly held by Hawksley. "..Fine by me though. Keep 'em guessin'. Good for the ratings, amiright?"

He lifts his shades up finally, revealing narrowed gold colored eyes that lock in on Hawksley now. His lips purse a touch as he examines him and then a slow smile curls its way across his features, fants and canines once more revealed as he looks the man over. "Hawksley..yeah? Been wanting to meet ya. Gotta admit..was hoping I'd get a crack at ya but I think being on the same team's a bit better... Far as where I'm from? Eh.." He seems hesitant at first and then finally says, "..Would ya believe Germany? Well sort of. It's kinda complicated. But if what you're wondering is if I'm from someplace like the Makai or Outworld? No. Not completely."

[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley's own healing from headbutting a bomb in the Sunshine City Rumble has been pretty remarkable, albeit with a little (a lot) of help from Team Thunder sponsor, Ariastra's super powers. This though seems to be instant, as if he can see it happening before his eyes. He looks up at Braun in awe, appreciation in his twinkling dark eyes.

"The rumours will be good for ratings for sure" he agrees. "Take it from someone who's had plenty flying around about him."

The golden gaze of his comrade reminds Hawksley of an animal, though he's more interested by this fact than scared. Holding out a hand to shake, he confirms the name he was called by. "Hawksley Moore. I reckon we can have plenty of cracks at each other in training, so we can."

"Hit me up anytime, unless it's happy hour" he jests, before nodding along at the mention of Germany. "Sure I'd believe you're from there. I wouldn't mind visiting it some time. If I knew where Makai or Outworld are, then maybe I'd have suspected them but I've no fecking clue."

[BRAUN]
"Don't worry about 'em." respond Braun, giving a narrowed eye slight smirk of a smile at Hawksley. He accepts the handshake, enveloping Hawksleys calloused hand with his own clawed one. The grip is firm yet actually friendly and not at all compettiive which might surprise some. Given his demeanor one might assume someone like that to immediately attempt ye old re-enactment of that scene from Pre--well you know the scene! Onlookers sure did. They're busy recording, snapping pictures, just waiting on something to break out but Braun seems to actually be getting more and more relaxed as he talks to the brawler,

"They aint the sort of place you just grab an Uber to. One's basically 'hell' and the other is..well..even more weird. I only know about it cause o'the teachings of the folk back home. Aint important." His nostrils flare abit and he shrugs lightly at the thought of Hawksley visiting Germany, "Eh." he says, "If I gotta pop back there cause of the tournament but..I seen enough of it myself. Got reasons to stay clear.."

He releases the Irishmans hand and then rubs his jaw, "Training. Right. That reminds me. You got any idea -where- we're supposed t'even be? Our sponsors dont' exactly seem...y'know. Organized. I just showed up here cause I knew it was in Metro City but...er.. This team's kinda wild. Not that I mind I'm just surprised.."

[HAWKSLEY]
"I don't worry at all" Hawksley laughs. "People seem to think I'm some kind of ladies man, which to be fair isn't the worst rumour that could happen. It's not something I intended to happen though."

He happily shakes the bigger man's hand, turning to flash a grin at some of the gaupers, which only sets the snapping off further. "Hell itself huh? I've been told I'll end up there plenty of times, so I have. I know all about escaping situations though. Part of the reason I ended up in the New Fighting Generation was because of what I left behind. It's probably the best move I ever made though. I hope the same for you."

As his hand is released, he looks thoughtful, finally shrugging his shoulders. "No fecking clue, fella. I just checked myself in to a cheap hotel, so I did. I figured they'd been in touch when they found their feet. It's always been a bit chaotic being a part of Blaze. Did you hear about the time Mike Bison showed up at our dojo and did the Macarena?"

[BRAUN]
"Yeah I caught that..."

Braun glances over the flashing cameras, settling his gaze on some of the onlookers here and there as he speaks. His look lingers perhaps a little too long for their liking as some move away or decide to switch to a slightly better angle. One that better features Hawksley and a little less of him. It's hard though. He's kinda either perpetually in the background or partially blocking their shots due to his width.

"That's wild man. Last time I bought onna his albums..I was like 'damn I want my money and my time back.' Like he just sorta had an AI do it or something."

He can't help but grin slowly as if the potential chaos is more appealing to him then he first let on.

"IF they wanna play hands off..fine by me. We got - what - a D&D ogre, a roided out smurf that maybe isn't actually blue - I dunno - contradicting reports lately. A guy that may or may not be an actual demon, some crazy school girl and...a secretary?" He ticks each one off his fingers one at a time an then clucks his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"I guess I need t'just trust the process. Workin' for you after all."

[HAWKSLEY]
As some of the crowd move away from Braun, it only inspires the Irishman to move closer, clasping a hand on his arm as he continues their conversation.

"They're a colourful crew for sure. That goes for us fighters too though. Neither of us are shy lads, then there's Genie with her super powers and Ayala is a wild woman. I don't know so much about Laurel but I'm looking forward to finding out more. Speaking of Ayala, you sounded like you might have a thing for her in your interview." He gives Braun a playful nudge, a smile playing on his lips. "She was fun to fight. I'm sure she'd be fun to party with too, although Zog might wanna kill you if you get lucky."

"Trusting the process is kinda what I do in all areas of my life" Hawksley admits. "Though I'd probably describe it as trusting my own instincts. I don't always get it right but I've not had too many sleepless nights in my time. At least not ones from worrying anyway."

There has been one in recent weeks but that's more of an exception than the rule and besides, that's all behind him now. New city, new adventures. At least that's what Hawksley is hoping.

[BRAUN]
"I'm lookin' to get pushed to the limits. If I get beaten to a pulp..well yeah.. That'd suck. I don't -like- pain...but I heal fast and I found out that I build back stronger when I get pushed. If a fight's to easy then it's not worth my time. I'm looking to break some limits and I can't do that by playin' it safe so if Zog wants a go at me cause I think Ayala's fine as hell then..eh...it's training. I mean..he -can't- kill us right?"

There's a pause and then Braun adds again, "..Right?? I mean..there's a contract right? I mean..he is an ogre..did he read it?"

There seems to be some mild concern here as if he hadn't considered all angles to this dilemma. "Huh."

After a momentary pause he reaches out and slaps a massive hand against Hawksleys back roughly, "Let's go get drunk. I heard th'city has a gang problem. Just cause I don't want to many boring official fights don't mean I don't mind an occasional flex now and again. I feel like markin' some territory."

There's a pause and he adds, "With my fists. Not literally. Ah ferget it. Let's go."

[HAWKSLEY]
"He probably had someone read the contract to him or something" Hawksley suggests with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, it's not in their interests to off their fighters. I tell you what though, if he does kill you, I'll get the rest of the team together and we'll be sure to give him a beating."

The slap on the back causes Hawksley to stumble but he soon regains his composure, his expression one of cheeriness rather than annoyance.

"Watch yourself, fella. You could break a man, so you could. Feck knows what it'll be like to fight you, if you can make me wobble by being friendly."

His good mood only improves when the idea of drinking is raised. "There's a grand little Irish place I found earlier or if you're looking for somewhere rougher, I'm sure we won't have to stray too far." He looks down at his striped shirt. "I might have to take my shirt off though if things get fun. This is one of my fancier ones."

It's hardly designer but for someone who's usually found topless or in t-shirts, it at least has buttons and a collar.

"Let's go find ourselves some trouble. It's time people knew Team Blaze are in town."

Log created on 15:10:14 09/03/2023 by Braun, and last modified on 19:20:00 09/03/2023.