Match of the Millennium

Description: One of the NFG's premiere animal lovers faces off against the NFG fighter who is all of the animals. Is romance in the air? Or is that just the smell of something burning?

[COCO]
Due to, perhaps, a slight miscommunication, or a misunderstanding, or possibly just bad judgment, the large junkyard known as Abigail's Scrap Metal has been designated as Team Frost's base of operations, its residence for the team's members, a location for promotional events, and, now, a venue for live fights.

What's wrong with that?

Well...

==*== EARLIER THIS WEEK ==*==

Constance Coalbridge had not been best pleased when she'd been informed by her new sponsors that she would now be living in what she had blatantly described upon witnessing it as 'the filthiest pile of tetanus waiting to happen that [she'd] ever observed' before mentioning that '[she was] REMARKABLY WELL TRAVELLED FOR [her] AGE!'

However, after negotiations with her sponsors, she had finally agreed that she would remain on the premises as long as she was allocated a section of the junkyard to which she could have a private trailer delivered for the duration of her stay, and that she would be finding alternative accommodations until such a time as the trailer was available and fully furnished with her rider. She had received a message on the morning that informed her that her trailer was due to be delivered for eleven A.M. She had then decided that this would be an opportunity to show off her new trailer to her fans (as well as subtly signalling her own worldliness for agreeing to stay at Abigail's Scrapyard).

*** FOOTAGE ***

"Hello, lovelies! As you can see here, I am arriving at Abigail's Scrapyard, AKA the new home of Team Frost. I will admit that I was feeling especially frosty when I first saw it, but my sponsors have been very understanding, so, as a team player, I've agreed to a compromise by having my own private trailer delivered. It arrived here earlier this morning. Oh, look, there's Nixie. Hiya, Nixie! ...Oh, what's this?"

The smartphone's camera panned from Coco's teammate to the sight of a pristine new trailer.

Suddenly, the side of the trailer crumples with a loud *CRUNCH* as somebody delivers a hard blow to it.

"Wait, what?"

*WHUMP*

*THUNK*

"What you doing?! That's not one of the demolition cars, that's my trailer!!!"

==*== PRESENTLY ==*==

Coco has her arms folded across her chest, just beneath the 'TEAM FROST' logo emblazoned across her cropped sports top, as she rests the seat of her frost-blue kickboxing shorts against the fender of a rusted-out jalopy next to the designated fighting ring and scowls at the middle distance. Next to her on the hood, a binturong wearing a hard hat snores as it sunbathes on its back.

"Bloody Americans," Coco mutters under her breath as a barbwire tumbleweed rolls past.

[BUCK]
Is that truck pulling up a new addition to the junkyard? It looks like it should be. It's running, but the poor thing looks like it's seen better days, the only thing that looks new is the pair of horns that have been attached to the front. As it comes to a stop it belches a cloud of black smoke out the back before making a sound like a dying moose and stalling out. Buck hops out of the driver's side and casts a worried look to his 'new' ride. "Hmm.. Maybe Abigail will let me borrow some tools.. and a carburator." He mutters as he waves away some of the black smoke from his face.

He turns and immediately spots Coco off by a jalopy that might actually be in better condition than what he just rolled up in. "Heya, Coco!" He calls out, cheery as ever as he shrugs out of his leather jacket and tosses it inside the truck, revealing a new tank top that's his usual black, but sporting a lightning bolt and the words 'Bring the Thunder' on it.

He looks at his boots, then at the scrapmetal laying around. "Better leave those on." He mutters.

"Nice digs." He says as he glances about, sounding genuine as he steps closer and shoots a nod off towards the camera and sound guys, "Mey, Morgie!" He calls out to the biturong, as if he's an old friend. Someone is in a great mood today.

He shoves his hands in his pockets as he comes to a halt several feet away from Coco, still grinning like the village idiot. "You ready to kick me in the face?" He asks jovially enough that one might wonder if he enjoys getting footwear smashed into his nose.

COMBATSYS: Buck has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Buck             0/-------/------=|

[COCO]
Coco's gaze is pulled away from the abyss it's glowering into by the arrival of Buck's truck, not because she's particularly concerned with yet another shoddy vehicle arriving at the yard (a regular occurrence, she has learned), but because she is initially concerned for the welfare of an unforeseen moose, recognizing the sound from a Nordic cruise around her sixteenth Christmas that hadn't gone particularly well. When she realizes that it's Buck's vehicle, she pretends not to have noticed after all, turning her head the other way and fixing her resting bitch face into a pleasant smile before turning it back toward her freshly-arrived opponent.

"Oh, hiya, Buck," she calls out in her crystal-clear Chelsea accent, the name almost sounding awkwardly like 'book' as it rolls off her tongue. "Yes, it's all very Americana, isn't it? You've got your smell of petrol, and your sound of metal being sawn in half..."

As if on cue, the sound of a buzzsaw through metal can be heard from the interior of the shop. Becoming aware of Buck's presence, Morgie jumps off of the hood and scampers across the asphalt to greet him, chuckling all the way.

"I'm sure there was a pack of wild dogs somewhere around here, as well. Lovely."

Coco shifts her ass off of the burning-hot metal, dusting away a few flakes of rust as she approaches Buck in Morgie's dusty wake. Her feet are clad in black Muay Thai wraps, and she's wearing the same style of padded gloves that she normally wears to fights.

"We'll see, shall we?" she says of Buck's question, stretching her arms behind her back with fingers interlaced before lifting her left leg up nearly vertical, holding the pose for a moment before letting it drop and repeating the process with her right leg.

Needless to say, it's a rather showy maneuver, and one that isn't likely to quell the misinformation that's been spreading on social media about the pair after the NFG broadcast where Tom and Lou had forgotten to actually talk about the match and instead speculated on their celebrity couple name.

"Seems like," Coco says with a wink before dropping her right leg casually back down to the concrete and stepping toward the fighting area.

"I'd ask if you're ready to whatever, but I can't think of anything you do that won't come off a bit lewd at a casual mention."

She lifts one of her knees slightly as she gets her hands up, smirking at Buck from behind her gloves as her fingers curl into fists.

"So, /are/ you ready to whatever?"

COMBATSYS: Coco has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Coco             0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
"Nicer than a grimey alleyway. At least here I can identify most of the stains." Buck mutters.

Oh look, here comes an animal to pet! Buck crouches down as Morgie approaches, ruffling the critter between the ears. "Aww, don't worry, I remembered you'd be here." He digs into his pocket, and after a bit of rustling, he produces a dried pineapple ring to hand to Morgie with a grin and another pat on the head.

Standing back up, he waits for the biturong to scamper away, hopefully with his treat before nodding his head to Coco, afterall, he doesn't want her pet in the crossfire. He'd feel bad if anything happened to the little guy.

He tilts his head to the side, squints, then shakes his head. "Nope, guess you're right. It all sounds horrible out of context." Not that it's particularly appealing in context either.

He crosses his arms over his chest and nods. "I'm ready. You know, it would really help if they decided to spend a few bucks on a ref to tell us when to start."

He shrugs and spreads his hands in a 'What can you do?' gesture. He drops into his brawlers stance, throwing a few shadow boxing punches then nods. "Here I come, then." And with that as his warning, he charges forward, his fighting style always a bit more on the direct side, after all.

Planting one foot on the ground, he moves into an attack, the jeans on his other leg growing tight as he does one of his tricks, though it's mostly hidden from view other than the growing muscle and odd way it seems to be bending.

His booted foot swings up then comes down in a hammer blow of an axe kick. Seems he wants to start off going toe-to-toe with the kicking queen.

COMBATSYS: Coco just-defends Buck's Hoofing It!!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Coco             0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0             Buck

[COCO]
Coco narrows her eyes slightly at Buck's words.

"What's that about grimey alleys?"

The bearcat is happy to receive a treat, hopping up to snatch the pineapple ring out of Buck's hand before scarpering back to the jalopy to sit against one of the tires and enjoy its acquisition in the shade. The sight causes Coco to forget her paranoia and beam broadly, her molten heart shining through her silver eyes - at least, until she brings them back to meet Buck's, at which point she blows a stray purple strand out of her face and turns the climate control of her soul down to her prior ice-queen aura.

"You know, just because you're nice to cute animals doesn't mean I'm going to make this easy on you," she says as the two fighters face off. She dips her head in assent as Buck decides that it's time for the match to start. The truth is, there is a referee who's supposed to be telling them when to start, but the health and safety team have been struggling to find the hard hat she was supposed to wear on-site, and the scrap workers have refused to loan one of their own due to union regulations.

As Buck's leg extends upward, Coco's focus sharpens visibly, her gaze intensifying as she follows the arc of Buck's foot - or whatever it may be underneath those boots. Her gloves cross as she steps in, deadening the impact with the padded portion of her handwear as it catches Buck's upper leg and pushes back, opening up a moment of momentum for herself to try and throw out a quick left-handed jab combination at his upper body. Keeping the pressure on, she moves to try and clinch with the primalistic pugilist, aiming to wrap her right arm over the back of his neck and double him over before sweeping him to the floor head-first with both hands.

"I suppose kicking isn't that lewd, really," she concedes amidst her efforts. "Well, apart from when Juri-sensei is doing it."

COMBATSYS: Coco successfully hits Buck with Singapore Sling.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Coco             0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
"Aw heck," drawls the Oklahoman as his leg gets caught, meeting Coco's eyes just past his still mostly elevated leg before he stumbles back, his foot landing awkwardly with the toe of his boot twisted in the wrong direction. Which would look like the world's worst twisted ankle, except Buck only looks down with annoyance.

It's enough of a distraction that Coco gets the hit in clean. "Dang boot's... hurk." The arm around his neck cutting off his complaint followed by the solid thud of his head meeting the ground and rebounding like bowling ball.

He smacks his twisted boot on the ground, getting it back in the right position before he clambers back to his feet, bloody nose on display as a result of that exchange, which he just wipes away with the back of his hand.

"Alley was my last match. Now a junkyard. Maybe I'll get an old fish cannery next." He chuckles, still grinning at Coco, but the banter only lasts a minute as his grin gets wider and wider, then just a bit too wide as his mouth opens up much further than it should.

Then with dripping snake fangs on display he hocks a venom loogie, the chi-reinforced cobra spit arcing across the distance between him and Coco.

"Don't you dare take it easy, I ain't." He quips as he pops his jaw back into place, his grin easing back down to human normalcy.

COMBATSYS: Coco blocks Buck's Spit Take.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Coco             0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0             Buck

[COCO]
"Oh, yeah, 'course," is Coco's quick quote in regards to Buck's clarification of his own comment as she takes the moment he spend getting back up to brush her hair back and check her nails. "The standards are appalling. They'll have us fighting in strip clubs before you know it."

Coco nearly does a double take when she turns her eyes back onto Buck's ever-widening grin. She didn't exactly pay that much attention in the one match of Buck's that she did spectate in person (she'd been reading a book through sunglasses and pointedly ignoring the goings-on for most of it). She's seen cobras in action - up close and personal, even - but even her Individuation recoils invisibly in horror at the sight as disgust writes itself plainly across her face.

Instinctively, she brings her elbows down, arms together and knee up, pivoting away so that the poisonous projectile splatters against her protective appendages.

"That was..." Coco says slowly as she wipes the venom from each of her elbows and cleans it off on her shorts, "...SO GROSS!"

The flirtatious demeanour evaporates as she glares at Buck, stepping in and lashing out with a high, swift snap kick toward his face, as if to punish it for the crime against nature as she knows it that has just been committed.

"Keep your bodily fluids to yourself, will you?!" she demands as she does.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Coco's Light Kick.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Coco             0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
"Djamila wouldn't mind, I bet." Buck says in response to the mention of the strip club. Though he doesn't look like he'd appreciate it much himself the way he wrinkles his nose.

He moves his head to the side, bringing up his arm to catch the kick, bracing it with his other hand as he rolls his eyes a little. "Well, that'll end the rumors at least." He says, perfectly chipper as always.

Nope, he has no problem being called gross, it comes with the territory. "Maybe I should work on that move, it's a bit too much sometimes. Maybe porcupine quill projectiles?" He asks, trying to gauge Coco's reaction to that idea.

Even as he talks he steps in, trying to get right past Coco's guard, angling his arm until his elbow is pointed at her, then with a jerk of his shoulder, aims to drive his elbow right into her. "Oh! Maybe I could find a way to crank down the fire breath? Nah, that's Hawks' thing.." His pensive expression remains fixed on his face as he follows through with his attack, head tilted to the side in thought.

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Coco with Aggressive Strike.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Coco             0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0             Buck

[COCO]
"Mmm, no. I think those would leave a mark," Coco's vanity pushes back against Buck's suggestion that he could sling quills at her willy-nilly instead of expectorating. She pulls a face as she twists to try and keep her guard between herself and Buck, starting to cock her own arm back to load a punch while defending herself with the other hand. "Fine; spit on me if you must -"

*WHUMP*

The elbow collides with her stomach, slipping past her defenses and causing her to wince and double over.

"Oh, bollocks. It's been a minute since I've caught one of them," she groans out as she steps into Buck instead of away, trying to keep in close quarters - perhaps to avoid getting spat at again - and twisting, the back of her center of gravity against Buck's own as she turns what was going to be a punch into a sudden backward elbow of her own, aiming to bowl him over - and potentially collapsing toward him herself in her aggressive haste!

COMBATSYS: Coco successfully hits Buck with Aggressive Strike.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Coco             1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
"You make it sound like I make a habit of spitting on people." Buck mutters, though really, he suddenly looks a litle concerned. "Maybe I do need to figure something else out." After all, Matt was complaining his last fight, too.

Maybe Buck should be paying attention rather than trying to figure out new moves. Either way, he barely has time to turn and try to get out of the way with one stumbling step backwards, not far enough though and Coco's return elbow finds its mark.

It does send him reeling, his back hitting the ground, but he quickly recovers and goes into a roll instead, stopping in a crouch a few feet away. "Woo, that was a fun tussle. Oh, hey.."

Buck looks down by his feet where some of the junkyard's junk lays, picking up a metal pipe. "Exhaust pipe, just the one I need, too." He says with a quick glance back towards his truck.

He flips it in his hand, shooting Coco a grin before he exits his crouch, legs uncoiling as he springs forward.

Combat style magpie that he is, he takes a note out of one of his teammate's books, swinging the pipe like a sword as he closes the distance. A quick slashing swing at waist level, aiming to either connect with Coco or drive her back.

COMBATSYS: Coco blocks Buck's Random Weapon.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Coco             1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0             Buck

[COCO]
Judging by the reaction of the crowd (admittedly mostly comprised of former Mad Gear gang members) to the poison loogie and resulting revulsion, there's definitely a demographic that enjoys Buck's dilophosaur-like transmogrification. That demographic just isn't Coco.

Coco does end up hitting the ground backside-first as Buck rolls clear of her, having lost her balance in the exchange (as many of Metro City's wealthy tend to do). She's back on her feet, but still in the midst of soothing her own tailbone with one hand when Buck comes after her brandishing the pipe.

She's definitely going to be having a word with either the NFG management or her own sponsor about this.

Not wanting to offer her knees or elbows willingly to a swung pipe, Coco instead turns her left hip into it, allowing it to smack into the fleshy side as her upper teeth sink into her lower lip to suppress the impending pain.

"You know, you do /rather/ remind me of an American version of Lucky," she remarks, feinting a knee lift toward his middle as she steps into his reach, "except maybe a bit less scruffy."

The fact that she's saying Buck is less scruffy after he's grabbed a piece of junk off the grounds of a dirty scrapyard and tried to wallop her with it probably says more about what she thinks of 'Lucky' than Buck.

"Lucky and Bucky," she amuses herself by saying aloud as she pivots and grabs for Buck's wrist to control his weapon hand after throwing the fake knee, a move intended to get his guard low. "You two should try tag teaming," she suggests, quashing any forthrising rumours about the nature of her relationship(s) with the two fighters, before snapping her arm over Buck's guard to try and smash her elbow into his face. If successful, she'll follow the dazing attack up by swinging her hip violently into Buck's side in an attempt to knock him over and take revenge for his pipe-based battering.

COMBATSYS: Coco successfully hits Buck with Tiki Bongo.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Coco             1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1             Buck

[BUCK]
"I'll take that as a compliment, Hawks is awesome." Buck replies with a grin, someone's trying to start bromance rumors. He shrugs, even as his pipe doesn't quite make the impact he was hoping for, "Though, Ma always said just because you live on a farm doesnt mean you need to look like a goat."

Buck moves his other arm in an attempt to smack away the grabbing hand from Coco with no success.

His head bounces back from the elbow to the schnoz, which is only a temporary wory as he finds himself going to the ground once more. This is becoming a habit in this fight.

He doesn't stay down long, rolling to his feet and tossing the pipe over his shoulder, which surprisingly lands in the bed of his truck with a loud clang. Maybe he really did need it.

"You know, technically we did team up already after that crazy lady kidnapped you." Sure, this is a great moment to bring that up.

He scrapes one boot on the ground, then charges, its only a few steps to close the distance, really, but in that time his pulls his head back, skull thickening as a pair of horns curl back from his brow, points thankfully away from Coco. Someone took the goat comment to mind though, since instead of his normal bull brain antics, he's gone goat. Then with a bleat of menace, brings his head forward to try to smack it against Coco's braincase.

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Coco with Bullheaded.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Coco             1/-======/=======|=======\===----\1             Buck

[COCO]
With Buck sent to the floor of the fighting space, Coco gets her guard back into position with a smirk.

"I suppose you did, didn't you? Shame you went to all that trouble over what was really just a poorly-planned recruitment pitch."

Granted, it had looked - and felt - very much like a kidnapping at the time. Apparently Coco doesn't have any particularly hard feelings about the outcome.

"Talk about awkward rides home," she mentions with what might be a bit of mirth - just as Buck starts to scrape the ground with his boot.

Recognizing the signs of a charging animal from a particularly eventful trip to Ibiza, Coco wraps herself up to cover her midsection against what she expects to be a bullish goring attempt - but instead, Buck keeps his head held high, and Coco's not quite quick enough to adjust her defenses accordingly.

As such, she's sent stumbling backward with a dazed expression by the headbutt, one hand pressing against the darkening mark on her forehead as she tries to regain her senses.

"Bloody hell. Maybe you /are/ worse than Lucky," she mutters loudly before shaking her head once to clear it, hair whipping back and forth before settling on her shoulders.

"A goat, is it? Well, then, why don't you eat /this/?" she recommends, before leaping forward and spinning, one of her long legs (for her size) outstretched, aiming a flying roundhouse straight for Buck's muzzle!

COMBATSYS: Coco successfully hits Buck with Diving Kick.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Coco             1/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\======-\1             Buck

[BUCK]
"Aw, thanks!" That wasn't a compliment, of course, but Buck takes it as one. Also, the goat voice is a bit scratchy and bleaty, which makes him sound like he's trying to talk through a mouthful of rocks.

At least until that foot makes contact with his goaty face past a feeble attempt to bring up his arm to block it, driving him back a few steps.

It sends him back against the old jalopy which he stops his backwats stumble by slapping a hand on the metal hood with a sold thunk.

"Fine, here's another Hawks trick I can do." He bleats, taking a deep breath as his muzzled face breaking into a grin. The horns grow even more, curled and jagged, the fur giving way to scales as he opens his mouth wide.

Coco gets a good view of a mouth filled with sharp teeth and a faint glow at the back of Buck's throat. A click like steel hitting flint is the only sound of warning he gives before a rush of flames blasts forth from the open maw roaring across the distance to Coco.

COMBATSYS: Coco just-defends Buck's Burn Out ES!!

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Coco             1/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0             Buck

[COCO]
It is commonly instilled by British mothers in British daughters that one should always wear clean underwear in case they happen to be hit by a bus. Constance Louise Coalbridge was one such daughter, and Margaret Coalbridge was one such mother. She also insisted that they should be matching and that they should be pretty.

This will soon become pertinent.

For now, though, Coco marvels slightly both at the worrying transformation that Buck's visage is undergoing and the continued parallels with a certain scruffy Irishman that Buck continues to exhibit. What could Hawksley do that involves his mouth, though? The question riddles Coco's mind with distraction as she prepares for what's to come by pre-emptively raising her fists to defend her face.

Realising that the rising heat is coming from external forces as well as the internal ones at work, Coco clues in to the comment's connotations just as the click comes from within Buck's maw.

"Oh, fuck."

Constance Coalbridge is not fireproof. Why she should deem that her knee, her elbows, her gloves, or her wrists are suitable sources of protection against the heat of literal bloody dragon's breath is beyond even her own conscious decision-making process. However, it is on a subconscious level - or perhaps a level of greater consciousness - that where what Constance Coalbridge deems as truth actually carries the clout to renegotiate the terms of reality. Or, to steal an excellent quote from a relatively mediocre movie that Constance Coalbridge has never seen, it allows her to reject everyone else's reality and substitute her own.

In Coco's reality, her skin /is/ fireproof, if only for a moment, and the psychic sheen encasing her defending limbs (visible only to those with psionic capability) makes Coco's reality a reality for everyone else.

As a result, the heat washes over Coco's guard in a shower of molten gas (or whatever dragon's breath is made of), leaving her body visibly unharmed.

Her Team Frost costume, however, is not fireproof in either reality.

Fortunately, while it would have been utterly useless if she'd been knocked over by a Metro City bus, Maggie Coalbridge's advice at least means that Coco's ice-blue bikini-cut designer panties and matching bra are freshly laundered, leaving her with at least a modicum of dignity upon having her outfit utterly obliterated by dragonfire on live broadcast.

"Thanks, Mum," Coco mutters under her breath as her realities reconcile into an inexplicably painless yet undignified present.

Unfortunately for Coco, the match isn't over.

"Guess it's a party, then."

Invigorated both by the sensation of cool air against her skin contrasting with the brutal heat of moments before and a desire to move this exhibition along to the next opportunity for a wardrobe change, Coco darts in on Buck with a quick jabbing left toward the face, following up with a right cross and a lunging left knee to close the gap. Posing with her hands on the side of her head as if to brush her hair back while actually keeping it protected, she pivots forward, swinging light elbows left and right after each other toward Buck's head. Intending to maintain the offensive pressure, the rosy-cheeked Coco would, if successful, then grab the beleaguered Buck and pull him into a clinch made all the more confusing by her state of dress, planning to double him over and drive her bare knees into his body and face over and over, aiming to leave him on the verge of collapse.

Before he'd be able to, though, she'd grab a handful of his hair to at least keep him on his knees before turning to an audience of leering ex-Mad Gear workers, flip the bird while blushing furiously, then swing her double-jointed hips violently sidelong into Buck's head as a finishing move.

Whether this reality of Coco's will also come to pass depends, of course, on Buck's ability to defend himself.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Coco's Full Moon Party.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Coco             0/-------/----<<<|=====--\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
There's a very specific noise a confused Buck-dragon makes. It's a noise every viewer is soon going to be familiar with. There's a moment of triumphant glee on Buck's draconian visage as the flames wash over Coco. Even if she protects herself, he knows that is going to do some damage. Then the flames clear, smoke dribbling from his mouth and nose.

Then he sees Coco, unharmed and dressed in.. no.. that's not beach attire. His expression stays frozen,, still grinning but it's clear in his eyes that something in his brain has at least temporarily broken. Then the sound comes.

"Gruuuu?"

It's sound remarkably similar to that of the perishing moose that was made by the truck upon his arrival. Though less pained and more dumbfounded. It's a subtle difference.

Thankfully the scales on his face aren't completely decoration and do absorb some of the blows from the elbows, enough to knock him out of his stupor. Enough that he brings up his arms to soak up more of the blows as his face returns to something more normal, though bruised. Still his defense isn't total, and Coco gets her clinch, but as her knee makes contact with him it's not with the giving thud of flesh, but instead a sold thunk that feels too much like striking bone. Each knee strike produces the same solid thunk.

Even as she gets a grip on his hair, his twisted tank shows off the boney plates covering his chest, like the underside of a..

"Turtle." He says, sounding a bit dazed but still wearing his trademark grin as he does so. Maybe not his normal grin after all, the poor guy looks a little punch drunk.

Perhaps that works in his favor, numbing himself up a little. As for the final blow comes he reaches up, a gleaming claw at the end of one finger, and slices his hair, freeing his head from Coco's grip. Leaving her with a clump of hair in her hand, he rolls along the ground towards her, trying to knock her of her feet.

Should he achieve this, he springs to his feet, shoots a double devil horns into the air, and jumps with every intention of body-slamming her with his shell reinforced torso. A move that definitely would not help rumors. At all.

COMBATSYS: Coco blocks Buck's Combo Grapple.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Coco             0/-------/---<<<<|=====--\-------\0             Buck

[COCO]
Left with a handful of hair and an ass that finds nothing but air, Coco can't help but feel a bit disappointed with the reality that she finds herself landing in.

"Turtle?" she finds herself echoing in question before letting the strands fall from her hand as Buck starts rolling toward her. Before she can say another 'Thanks, Mum,' she's bowled over bum-first into the dirt by the ever-evolving Buck, legs flying everywhere as her elbows narrowly manage to save her head from cracking against the ground.

Bottom bruised, elbows aching, and worst of all, now wearing dirty panties, it's safe to say that Coco is left feeling a bit shell-shocked by the experience.

Before anyone can speak the obvious pun aloud, Coco brings her hands and feet up simultaneously, bending her knees to her chest and splaying her fingers as, with great effort, she successfully catches the descending turtle-man between the four of her limbs.

"Right. Turtle."

Shoving primarily with her legs, she pushes Buck off of her, rolling away along the dusty and dangerous scrapyard floor, the faint sheen of sunblock and sweat soon hidden beneath a layer of dirt and oxidized metal particulate upon her return to her feet.

"You're lucky I wasn't particularly bothered about that outfit, by the way!" she calls out to her opponent as she rushes him once more, leaping up and twisting her upper body into a flying right-handed superman (superwoman?) punch, knuckles visible through the scorch marks in her kickboxing glove as it approaches Buck's face. Then, upon landing, she intends to immediately follow up by whipping her left leg up violently into Buck's side!

COMBATSYS: Buck interrupts Sea Breeze from Coco with Shock & Awe ES.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Coco             1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
There's definitely going to be an animated gif online somewhere of a underwear clad Coco laying on the ground, supporting Buck above her with his arms out like he's trying to give her a hug. It will definitely not help matters.

Buck is tossed to the side where he rolls for a few feet then swings up into a kneeling crouch. "Don't wear clothes you like to a fight." He plucks his own tank top that definitely looks worse for wear, though the thunderbolt on it is still visible through the junkyard dirt.

As Coco charges, Buck slams his fist into the ground, the skin on his arm turning a bluish-grey. Instead of bringing his arm up to defend himself, he pulls it back and as she launches her punch towards his face, he returns the favor.

This would make a much more awesome gif than that other moment, though sadly, likely won't.

"Let's try this again!" He shouts, as his fist lights up with sparks as he launches himself forward, meeting Coco fist to fist, and which point the sparks turn to a full fledged electric jolt that surges from his arm right into his opponent.

[COCO]
As fists collide, Coco's eyes go wide with shock - literally. Electricity surges up her arm, causing her muscles to involuntarily spasm throughout her body in mid-leap. The total loss of motor control leaves her to crash gracelessly backward into the ground under the propulsion of Buck's punch, and Coco continues to shudder uncontrollably on the floor for a few seconds afterward.

Now, her reality is neither painless nor dignified.

"F-f-flipping hell," Coco manages to stammer as she forces herself into a seated position, nerves firing in places she didn't even realise she had them.

This is turning out to be quite the journey of discovery. The plethora of peculiar powers that are possessed by the purple-haired prospect's peers provide her no end of pique. However, she's aware that she still has an ace up her sleeve. It didn't make it to the table last time, but this time...

Still twitching as she rises, seemingly on the verge of collapsing all over again, Coco levels her silver eyes with Buck's brown ones, attempting to lock his gaze with her own. She's been told not to flaunt her power in public by Juri, but at this point, she's already flaunting just about everything else, and suffering her first seasonal defeat after what she'd felt sure was a win just waiting to be grabbed, she's ready to reach for it.

If she can manage to hold his gaze, he'll suddenly find himself struck by a primal, unnatural fear; an animalistic sense of prey before a predator. The forlorn feeling of a great beast left alone and helpless on an icy road. It's a paralytic sensation that assaults his very will.

And unless he could wrest his body free of the influence of her cobra-like gaze, he'll find himself trapped as Coco coils her body, balancing on her left leg and tracing a trail through the dust with the toes of her right foot as she concentrates on maintaining eye contact while winding up for the coup de grace. Then, like a snake going for the kill, she'd suddenly unleash that potential energy, spinning around in a corkscrew motion through the air with a lightning-fast kick, hammering her right foot down toward his head with devastating power.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Coco's #Cobra's Fang#.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  //                            ]
Coco             0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
"Hot dang."

It's all Buck can comment after the traded blows, looking at his own arm as the normal sun tanned skin returns, his fingers flexing. "I really need to thank Kenzo for puttin' that idea in my head."

He turns his gaze to Coco, still grinning and freezes.

For a moment he stalls like, for lack of a better term, a buck in headlights.

But there's one thing Buck probably understands better than almost any fighter in the NFG with probably a few notable exceptions, and that's primal instinct.

He struggles out of the prey state in the easiest way he knows how, by diving head first into the other side of the pool.

His lips peel back from teeth that have become sharp and pointed, his ears likewise coming to points as his eyes shift from brown to a golden yellow. His fingers curl in as claws push out from his fingertips, fur sprouting in patches as he goes through the beginnings of what looks like a werewolf about to go psycho, with hows he's twitching and fighting against the paralysis.

Then it breaks, and he brings up his clawed hands in time to absorb most of the impact. But perhaps he went a bit too far, because for the first time in the tournament, he goes a bit haywire.

He lets out a howl as he pushes further into werewolf territory, bulkind out as his head goes completely lupine. No longer fighting the instinct of prey, the predator he went to for safety takes over.

Then he launches himself at Coco in a complete fury, claws slashing, and even his teeth snapping away. But he's taken quite a few blows, and the blood fury can only keep him going so long.

After the last burst of adrenaline fades, he stumbles forward. Panting, ha falls into the dirt as he slowly reverts back to a normal, if battered Buck.

There's no call for burgers coming, in fact, he looks to be completely out cold for once.

COMBATSYS: Buck can no longer fight.

[                       \\\\\\\  <
Coco             0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Coco blocks Buck's Fierce Combo.

[                         \\\\\  <
Coco             0/-------/------<|

[COCO]
The effect that Coco's attempt to impose her will on Buck elicits is, to say the least, not quite what she was going for. It seems that she's still not fully mastered the knack of that particular trick. She's too focused on delivering her kick to fully absorb what's going on with her opposing predator. As she goes cold-blooded, he goes hot-blooded. The kick collides with raised paws, and Coco lands in a crouch, one hand on the ground.

"Oh, bollocks," she remarks, lifting her eyes as the Swiss Army shifter lets out his howl.

Then, she's on the defensive, raising arms and knees and hands and legs to fend off swipe after swipe. Normally, the 'eight limbs' of Muay Thai refer to their use as weapons, but Coco employs them in a reactionary manner, pushing, smacking and catching Buck's arms as he attempts to maul her. Cuts start to appear here and there on her thighs and forearms, but she manages to keep the deadly claws away from her vitals and, most importantly, her face. She's not so eager to emulate Sagat that she'd be willing to give up an eye. All the while, she shouts commands at Buck, trying to use her nascent psychic power to stifle his rage.

"No! No, Buck!"
"Down boy! Sit!"
"Time out!"
"Stay!"

Buck's rending claws manage to catch Coco in the back as she twists away, slicing straight through the back of her brassiere. It's all she can manage to wrap an arm across her chest to salvage the further resulting malfunction before she makes national news. Fortunately, though, it's at that moment that the wolfman runs out of steam and collapses, panting, onto the ground in front of her.

Coco, too, is panting, but after a few seconds, she manages to compose herself to lean over him, lowering her eyes to his fallen form, and say in a clear, crisp tone:

"...Good boy."

Then, turning around as the referee finally returns with a hardhat just in time to announce her victory, Coco starts staggering off with resignation toward Team Frost's communal housing space, clutching the sundered strip of fabric across her cleavage with one arm as she goes.

At least the Mad Gear goons have gone quiet now. Coco can feel it; she may not have put the fear of Constance Freaking Coalbridge in Buck, but she's put it in at least a few of them.

COMBATSYS: Coco takes no action.

[                         \\\\\  <
Coco             0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Coco has ended the fight here.

Log created on 12:12:59 09/22/2023 by Coco, and last modified on 18:08:48 09/23/2023.