Match of the Millennium

Description: Kenzo was the first fight for Buck in both the first and second season. The two fighters face off in the Trojan Horse Ring. The action is electric as two versatile fighters face each other.

[KENZO]
Well... If NFG wants a giant robot horse, a giant robot horse is what the NFG will have. And considering how much money Kenzo has saved the company by not being destructive, the execs were willing to let him have (mostly) free rein to design the robot. And Kenzo was going to take advantage of it.

The robot rolls just short of the hills of the ruins of the site of Troy. There are some things that are made clear by the horse's arrival. First, each of the legs are acting as the turnbuckles for the corners of the ring with steel rope acting as the boundaries for this fight. The wheels can be lifted allowing for the Trojan Horse Ring to remain stable. There's also enough room between the ring and the horse's torso to give the fighters space to not feel crowded.

There's a short pause before the drum opening of Pride and Glory's 'Horse Called War' starts playing on the horse's sound system. The fog machine set up in the horse's torso floods the ring with fog. When it clears, Kenzo is visible in the ring and can be seen posing for a few moments before going into his corner to wait for Buck.

[BUCK]
One figure comes striding from the ruins as the horse appears. And it seems Buck has gone all out for this match's mythology. Zeus-Buck was called for, and Zeus-Buck is who currently takes those long strides across the grass. He wears a simple white wrap about his waist, buckled in place with a thick leather belt, and not a lick more. Unless someone counts the wig of wild white hair and the flowing white fake beard that have been very carefully applied by the costuming department. Then there's the body paint someone no doubt meticulously airbrushed to make Buck look even more buff than he normall is, which is nothing to sneeze at. All in all, he mostly does the Greek statues justice.

His own addition is the sparks and small crackles of electricity coursing up and down his arms, a little show of the trick he figures out the last time these two came into battle.

He leaps into the ring, landing in his corner and turning to Kenzo with his signature giant grin that even he fake beard can't hide. "Cool horse." Zeus-Buck says quite chipperly in a tone that does not match the menacing air he's trying to put off. The dude is just too friendly. Pure golden retriever energy. But as he slams his fist into the palm of his opposite hand, he gives off another quick snap of electricity. The display is showier than it is practical, but he has fans to consider now.

COMBATSYS: Buck has started a fight here.

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Buck             0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Kenzo has joined the fight here.

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Kenzo            0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0             Buck

[KENZO]
Kenzo's own face lights up with a smile of his own. After all, their fight was among the most fun of his fights the previous season aside from the loss.

"Thanks. I designed most of it myself but I had to embrace the art of delegating duties or else this wouldn't get done in time."

The stops leaning on the horse leg turnbuckle and moves to the center of the ring, sickle in one hand while spins the weighted end of the chain in the other hand. Only when he gets close but not directly in the center does he stop.

"Fire, electricity, webs... It's almost unfair how versatile you are."

The smile the ninja had been wearing since entering the ring has only gotten bigger after saying that to his opponent.

[BUCK]
"Eels." Buck says as he wiggles his fingers, little sparks flying off of them. "Sometimes I need the right inspiration to think of these things though." He says with a nod to Kenzo. He's never been shy of naming his inspiration for various techniques in interviews, after all. "Versatility versus genius then." He adds chipperly.

He lets the electricity dissipate, it was mostly for show after all and he can't go wasting energy on flash when he needs it to fight, especially against a quick opponent like Kenzo. It'd only make him drag and slow down.

"First opponent of both seasons. I almost wonder if this is going to end up as a side by side." He mutters softly, still smiling.

His eyes dart to the kusari-gama, already knowing that'll make closing the distance hard. He drops into his brawler's stance, forked tongue flicking between his lips as he takes aim.

Then he fires three quick shots of snake venom from his mouth, each glowing softly with chi, already his feet moving to try to close in on Kenzo behind the projectile assault.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Buck's Spit Take.

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Kenzo            0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0             Buck

[KENZO]
Kenzo finds himself dropping the weighted end to quickly draw and open his war fan to intercept the venom with it, using it as a shield. The amount of force the venom shots have is somewhat surprising considering that impact was jarring. Also there's the fact that some of the splash still managed to get through the guard.

"One could argue that it is a battle between two versatile opponents. My versatility coming from my weaponry." Leaving the versatility in his tactics being unsaid after all, he's pretty sure Ichika had mentioned that in team Thunder's briefings about him.

With a flick of the wrist, he yanks the chain up so he can catch the loop for linking the weight to the chain in his pinky and keeping the chain out of the way while he moves in with the tessen. With the fan still open, Kenzo takes a swipe at Buck before leaping away.

COMBATSYS: Buck blocks Kenzo's Reaction Strike.

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Kenzo            0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
"That's even more fun. Who knows what to expect?" Buck quips back, even as he brings up his arm to intercept the tessen strike from doing more than leaving him with a nasty welt along his forearm which his body sets to knitting up.check

"That's even more fun. Who knows what to expect?" Buck quips back, even as he brings up his arm to intercept the tessen strike from doing more than leaving him with a nasty welt along his forearm which his body sets to knitting up.

He seems intent on not letting Kenzo set up much distance between them, he knows where his strengths are and his had ample time to see Kenzo in action beyond their initial match.

So it is that he keeps trying to close the distance and keep the pressure on, barreling ahead toward Kenzo, this time with his head down as a pair of ramming horns sprout from either side of his skull.

Whoever did the wig and beard must have taken Buck's nature into account, because they stay in place despite the bovinification of his head.

Buck lets out a bullish snort as he keeps on at ramming speed towards his nimble opponent.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo dodges Buck's Bullheaded.

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Kenzo            0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0             Buck

[KENZO]
The lightning ninja, steps to side allowing the bullheaded brawler to pass right by him. It probably would make one wonder if he saw some footage Rodrigo footage before taking on this fight. Either way, Kenzo slips towards Buck's side and puts himself in a relatively safe position.

Kenzo isn't content to stay idle however and wants to apply some pressure of his own as well as take advantage of the horns that his opponent now has. If all goes well, Kenzo will wrap his arms around Buck's waist, leap into the air and then tilt backwards and drive him horn/head first into the ground and then rolling away with a move that most ninjas have some kind of variant of. The Izuna Drop.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Buck with Izuna Drop.

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Kenzo            1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
Well, the dodging is somewhat to be expected, what he doesn't expect is having his head driven into the ground. Even though the horns take the brunt of the impact, those are still attached directly to Buck's skull, so it's enough to rattle his brainpan.

Oddly, he stays like that for a moment, and where most might find the situation embarassing, Buck just bursts out laughing, though distorted by his still bovine countenance.

It does give him a good view between his own legs though to spot where Kenzo is rolling.

Instead of freeing himself, he uses his planted horns as a brace, planting his hands on the ground as he pulls his legs in.

IT's easy to see his barefeet turning into a pair of hooves, which he wastes no time in lashing out with in a powerful donkey kick, one he can get a bit more power behind because of Kenzo helpfully turning his horns into the third leg of a tripod.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Buck's Hoofing It ES.

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Kenzo            1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0             Buck

[KENZO]
Kenzo's war fan makes another appearance. He doesn't quite like his chances of getting away from those dangerous hooves and so he brings the metal fan up between himself and those hooves using his other hand to reinforce it. He ends up letting out a grunt while the force drives him backwards and putting more space between them than Buck might like.

With a flick of the wrist, the fan closes and he quickly puts it away to free his hand to pull out a familiar orb. Kenzo sends an electric charge into it before rolling it out towards Buck then crouching down. His placement however will put Buck in a predicament. The moment Kenzo's Pulse Device releases the burst of energy, Buck will need to go through the blast radius if he wants to continue putting pressure on him by coming at him directly. Even flying over it to strike from above might give the ninja more time to react then Buck might feel is ideal.

COMBATSYS: Buck endures Kenzo's Pulse Device.

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Kenzo            1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1             Buck

[BUCK]
The good thing about Buck having his horns stuck in the ground still, is that he's not truly stuck, as soon as he stops concentrating on keeping the horns there, they retreat back into his skull freeing him to stand back up again.

He only has a split second to decide what to do with that bouncing ball. He knows what it is, but he does what he hopes Kenzo doesn't expect. He runs right into it.

He's right over it as it detonates, the energy seemingly engulfing him.

It's the fact he comes chargin out the other side of the explosion grinning like a lunatic that might be a bit worrying. His costume is definitely worse for wear from the burst, and his skin has the look of a nasty sunburn, but his arm is pulled back, electricity coursing over the limb in brilliant blue sparks.

The moment his foot lands on the ground in front of Kenzo, he swings, his electrified fist coming in for a strike that explodes in a crack of electrical discharge as his arm fully extends.

COMBATSYS: Buck successfully hits Kenzo with Shock & Awe ES.

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Kenzo            1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0             Buck

[KENZO]
Expected? No. Welcome? Mostly. Buck charging through the burst of electricity taking all of that energy full in the face was welcome. However the getting in his face afterwards is less welcome. He then notes Buck's footwork indicating him pushing himself to get extra speed. A mistake. He realizes that Buck essentially took his attack all for nothing. Unfortunately, Buck still was moving too quickly to punish the mistake. At least punishing it right away.

Kenzo finds himself eating an electrified knuckle sandwich sending him flying at the steel rope. Oh dear god that hurt. Kenzo slowly picks himself off the ground and takes a deep breath.

He takes his stance once more spinning the weighted end at the shapeshifter. It was a quick, relatively low commitment attack, but with him not being able to avoid that power punch, Kenzo couldn't exactly afford to hang back either.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Buck with Medium Strike.

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Kenzo            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
Buck has to take a moment. It wa a gamble sure, but one that thankfully paid off. Even if he did feel like he had fallen asleep on the beach under the Greek sun. Luckily, that would be a problem he only needed to deal with for a bit, once he could rest.

It also means he's caught slightly off guard by the retaliation, which he tries to bring up an arm to deflect but it ends up nailing him square in the solar plexus, making the air in his lung vacate in a wheezing rush. "Oh heck, I think something broke." He squints one eye and crouches for a moment with his hand on the ground.

He really is in pain, but a keen eyed ninja may also notice him beginning to palm a sizeable rock into his hand.

He sucks in air through gritted teeth and pushes himself into a few quick forward steps as he releases the rock, leaving a cord of spider silk between his hand and the stone

He whirls it through the air in a rough approximation of the weighted end of Kenzo's weapon, bringing it around and towards the ninja in an effort to wrap the sticky cord of spun silk around at least on of Kenzo's limbs, still trying to lock the more nimble fighter down.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo dodges Buck's Spin Doctor.

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Kenzo            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0             Buck

[KENZO]
It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. There's a little bit of amusement that shows on the lips of the ninja as he watches Buck attempts to pay homage to his style with the chain. It stops feeling flattering when he sees that rock on a web heading his way.

Kenzo puts on sudden burst of speed to hop back and out of the way as his entire body becomes covered in electric energy. As he watches the rock pass by, he hopes to capitalize on the moment of recovery that most novice chain wielders have when they use chained weapons for the first time. It's when Kenzo decides to show how its done with a modification of a move that he used in their first fight.

Buck would recognize the initiation somewhat though it's a bit faster and moves more directly to the neck to wrap around it. With the dragon breath being less likely, he might end up seeing the difference with him yanking Buck into a side kick before he stomps down on the chain to bring him face first to the ground. He would then follow up by snapping the chain upwards to slam him on his back before pouncing on him with Kenzo's knee on belly making it harder to breathe as he pulls out his closed fan and repeatedly bashing him with it like it was a baton.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Buck with Violent Electrocutioner's Snare.

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Kenzo            0/-------/---<<<<|=======\===----\1             Buck

[BUCK]
One advantage Buck has over someone actually wielding a chain weapon is he doesn't care about his rock on a string. The connecting string is snapped loose from his hand and it goes sailing off into the distance the moment he sees its not going to connect. Fun idea, but didn't work. He adds the to his list of things to workshop later.

But it's also a distraction, and one that costs him as he turns into the chain wrapping around his neck. The next few moments are a blur of pain for him as he finds himself smashed to the ground not once, but twice. Less dignified is Kenzo atop him wailing on him with that tessen. But that also puts Kenzo in a bit of an odd situation, one where he can feel Buck shifting under him. Bone and muscle snapping and rearranging, and in this case, growing. Certain beasts don't like being on a leash.

Buck's entire body sweels with heavy muslce as fur sprouts all over, it's almost like something out of a werewolf movie, except its an ursine face that opens its mouth in a ear splitting roar. Both of the massive paws curl into giant fists, which he brings up from either side, intending to catch Kenzo right in the middle of a bearish self-fistbump.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo blocks Buck's Bear Arms.

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

[KENZO]
Kenzo probably had enough speed to get out of the way of the bear knuckle fistbump (Kenzo's player facepalms), but he wanted to maintain physical contact for the follow up. As a result, Kenzo shifts to the side so he can put all of his weight on one arm to restrain one arm while using the closed fan to deflect the other arm's strike. The powerful impact still knocks the fan out of his hand sending it flying to one of the horse leg turnbuckles.

While true that certain beasts don't like being on a leash, that chain is still wrapped around the bear's neck and he can use it to finish the job. Where the head goes, the rest of the body usually follows so he hooks a leg behind the bear's head and rolls in an attempt to get the bear face down to the ground allowing him to take his back. Should he manage to do that, he'll lean back while sending electric chi into the chain as he attempts to choke Buck out until he goes limp and then releasing it. He's not trying to kill the man just win the fight after all.

If Kenzo is successful, there is a high probability of a resurgence Mystikal's HELP THE BEAR meme.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo successfully hits Buck with Shocking Ambush.

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Kenzo            0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0             Buck

[BUCK]
There's not much Buck can do from this position, not with an electrified chain around his neck. He's going to have some strict words about the ethicality of shock collars after this match. Eithr way, he can't brerak free in time and goes flipping into the ground with a solid thud. Which looks enough to do the fighter in, with the electric shock just being a cruel jab of salt in the wound. That doesn't mean he doesn't have one last surge of strength.

He snags the chain in one of his still oversized bear mitts, even as he seems to be losing control of the transformation, slowly reverting back to normal. Electrified or not, he gives a solid yank on the chain, trying to pull in Kenzo along with it. Yanking the ninja close in an effort to deliver one more mighty punch as the last of his energy leaves him.

If his blow connects or not, he stays laying in the dirt, spread eagle, staring up at the sky. "I think that's one-one. Just.. give me ten minutes." He mutters before his eyes slide shut and he... starts.. snoring?

Unconscious or asleep, perhaps hibernating from some residue of bear instinct, he's not getting up for a bit, even as the bruises and electrical burns are already visibly knitting themselves up.

COMBATSYS: Buck can no longer fight.

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

COMBATSYS: Kenzo dodges Buck's Fierce Combo.

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

[KENZO]
If there's anything that would surprise Kenzo, it would be that Buck had anything left in the tank.

When Kenzo feels the chain move away from him, he struggles to maintain his hold on it, at first, even he's no longer sending electricity or choking him out. He knows he's done enough to finish the fight and the realization sets in that holding the chain is actually a danger. He releases it as Buck pulls it one final time. When the punch comes in, Kenzo rolls to the side.

The ninja stands up long enough for the official to declare him the winner and then the crash comes and he collapses to the ground, himself.

COMBATSYS: Kenzo takes a moment to do absolutely nothing.

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

COMBATSYS: Kenzo has ended the fight here.

Log created on 16:33:56 02/16/2024 by Kenzo, and last modified on 09:21:03 02/21/2024.