Description: Eagles (1973). Elle and Brian face off in an exhibition match. Brian's tough, but Elle manages to be Brian's Queen of Diamonds. Brian ends up slinking away, angry and depressed while Elle ends up learning a lot more about the mind of a desperate man.
It's a shame, these days. This point in the year, there's not a lot going on in the world of sports, save for baseball. And baseball is a frickin' joke, according to the large patron on one side of the bar. Hence the reason that the televisions in this sports bar in Denver is not actually tuned to the Colorado Rockies' highlights from the game yesterday, but instead to a montage of the greatest hits in football on the NFL Classic channel.
The owner of the bar is humoring the man, mainly because he recognizes him twice over from the big screen behind the bar. On the screen, a player in a Dallas Cowboys uniform runs towards a quarterback in Philadelphia Eagles green, and lays the man flat out... except for the bone that is shown briefly sticking out of the quarterback's ankle. Brian Battler, watching one of his own career highlights, guffaws. "I really fucked you up right, di'in't I?" he says, slamming back the last of his Budweiser before slamming the glass down on the dark oak of the bartop.
The owner is starting to think twice about allowing the organizers of this little exhibition event to utilize his establishment. He wasn't informed at the time who was going to be fighting, and having the man who ended his career and nearly crippled him inside his establishment was not what he bargained for. "Yeah, Battler, ya did," he says sadly, shaking his head and pulling the glass out from in front of the Texan.
Turning in his stool, Brian sets his boots down on the wooden floor, his spurs rattling as they touch down. The dimly lit bar has been cleared of all removable furniture, leaving a large area for the two combatants to mess one another up in. "So," the linebacker mutters to himself. "Where the hell is this girly I'm supposed to hit?"
The door is kicked open with a bang.
Heavy cycling boots crack along the ground, the hobnails snapping louldy against the wooden floor. The heavy black cycling boots merge seamlessly with the black leather jumpsuit with red detailing and piping as the mercenary metalhead arrives with the usual practiced style Elle has come to display whenever she's forced to participate with the bargoing crowd.
As usual, Elle has a reason for doing what she does, and fighting is an excellent recruiting tool. A washed up football player seems like a prime candidate, for certain, but whether or not Brian will be compatible personality wise?
Well, that's why she's here.
Her face is, as usual, devoid of all expression, dark brown eyes at half mast while her lips are set in a slight from, an unlit cigarette dangling from the corner of her lips as she unzips the heavy leather jacket, revealing a black tanktop underneath with the Grateful Dead skull logo on it. She shrugs slightly, adjusting the odd guitar 'holster' she seems to wear, and she stops to look over the place.
The woman sniffs once. It's a nice plaace, actually, for a sports bar, and she takes a gander at the way the place is set up. Eyes flick about to find the best locations, tactically, before setting on Brian. And she looks up.
And up.
"You're almost as big as Hugo," she says, pulling the cigarette from her mouth and placing it behind her ear. "Let's see if you hit as hard as he does."
Hmph. Rocker. Punk. One of the two. Either way, the girl's kinda scummy in Brian's mind. Then again, he tends to think that about most people who don't listen to Travis Tritt or worship the ground Johnny Cash walked on. It's his own standard. Still, she's got a certain level of attractiveness to her, just enough that he might just feel bad about messing her face up. Maybe. Still, like his pappy taught him, he tips his hat to his opponent, nodding gently as he does. "Th' good Lord gave me a gift, ma'am," he says impassively, adjusting the chaw in his lip. "Part of it was size an' strength. Th' other part was the willingness t' use it." He punctuates this message by cracking his knuckles and neck.
The cameras roll. The producer gives the thumbs up. No announcers, no other indication given, but that one little motion indicates this match is free to get underway. Brian takes a step back, spurs jangling, then gets down in his old linebacker position, getting ready for the first attack. Like his pappy said, though, ladies first... So he's not gonna try and make the first move. Besides, he's a defensive player, and she's got first posession.
COMBATSYS: Brian has started a fight here.
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Brian 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Elle has joined the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Brian
Nice to know. Elle's not really the standard fighting girl. She's not out there to wave her assets around or smile pretty for any camera, ever. She's a brutal, nasty fighter with a dry, raspy voice that seems to contrast against the usual high pitched squeals of her gender's fighting representatives. Her eyes narrow. She hates big fighters. They take up too much space and make mobility hard. Not that she's fast... but many of her techniques rely heavily on the ability to build speed and momentum.
When Brian doesn't move immediately, Elle takes the initiative offered. She heaves forward in a short jump, her feet banging heavily onto the ground as if she weighed a significant amount more than she appears to. The movements aren't exactly swift as she moves for a protracted battle, her hand whipping about to stop inches in front of the huge man's solar plexus. With a sharp crackle of power, the woman lets loose a powerful bolt of electricity into the larger man's gut, already falling silent.
Talking during fights is too distracting anyhow.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Brian with High Voltage.
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Elle 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Brian
Tingly. Like that one time he was drunk and pissed on the electric fence back home. Which was... Thursday? Maybe it was Wednesday. No matter. It still stings and makes his tongue feel fuzzy for a long moment. Looks like this rocker chick has more than just a bad attitude and a voice like sandpaper going for her. She's got some skills.
This close proximity is great for Brian's purposes. He thrives on mixing it up here, in close. Seeing fear in people's eyes just before they get their face smashed in brings him a perverse joy. Even still, sometimes he knows he doesn't exactly have to see their face to know he's done his job... And it's from this understanding that he decides his next course of action.
It's simple really. One massive hand reaches out, trying to get a grip on Elle's jacket. However, if he gets that grip, he's got a lot of strength he can use to pull her in closer for a front facelock. If he can do that, it's simply a quick drop to the floor before the top of Elle's head can knock on the wood for good luck. If being on the recieving end of a DDT with almost three hundred and fifty pounds of weight on her neck could be called luck.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Brian's DDT.
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Elle 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Brian
Elle's studied wrestlers. Hugo and Raiden are to blame for her extensive research on the topic. Elle's a quick study as well. So when Brian goes in to DDT her straight into the floor, she jerks forrward with her own considerable strength, nearly tearing her jacket in the process. The sudden jerking motion causes some pain, but not enough to really slow her momentum. Elle's still cot the situation well in hand.
Instead, she does a neat spin. As she does so, lightning cascades across her sturdy but compact frame. In the process, she brings her other hand about to stop mere inches from Brian's face.
This time, instead of shimmering with electrical power, her hand seems to be blurring, a low hum emitting from her fingertips. As her hand spasms, she unleashes a torrent of destructive sonic energy at the bigger man's face, the raging chi ripping through the air like an angry heavy metal guitar riff as she attempts to rupture blood vessels and shatter eardrums as shotglasses along the bar shatter under the powerful attack.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Brian with Metal Health.
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Elle 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Brian
Brian stares at the hand. He watches it vibrate, then flinches, his face contorting in anger and pain as he has to endure... metal. It's not the sound so much that is getting him riled so much as the sound of the heathen music itself. Putting a cowboy in front of a Marshall stack does not make a happy cowboy.
But it's not quite full anger just yet. Elle's just made him rather grumpy. People don't tend to make the former NFL linebacker grumpy and walk away without at least a limp. And while he may not be aiming to cripple the rocker chick, he is certainly hoping to knock something in her head loose. Maybe wake her up to the power of Brooks & Dunn.
Taking a step back, Brian doubles up his hands as he plants his heel. With a quick, almost graceful movement, she spins on that heel and wheels his arms around in a hard arc, hands glowing blue as he attempts to hammer Elle's hair into her throat through the top of her head.
Raar. Brian smash.
COMBATSYS: Elle endures Brian's Brian Hammer.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Brian
To her credit, Elle doesn't make a sound, despite the powerful blow coming down on her head like a sledgehammer on a tent peg. The sickening crunch is all that really needs to be heard, though as the hammerfist makes the rocker's eyes cross upon impact, forcing her to her knees with a powerful bang. Put off balance, she nearly finishes the trip completely to the floor, her hands stretching out to stop her.
Unfortunately, she doesn't stay down for long. Elle's a tough woman, and despite the fact that it feels like her neck has been replaced by jell-o, she uses her low position to lurch forwards on all fours. Hurling herself at Brian, she tries to pulls herself up along his shoulders with the Shadaloo training she has at her disposal, and tries to grab him by the neck with her legs, pulling a Cammy-style frankensteiner on the man, with a hip twist throwm in for good measure.
COMBATSYS: Brian blocks Elle's Strong Throw.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Brian
Despite the fact that Elle has some attractiveness to her, the fact that she's clad in leather that's not for riding horses and that she's proven herself a diehard metalhead means that Brian's not exactly a willing participant when she sticks her crotch in his face. As she wrenches back for her huracanrana, Brian steps forward, centering his enormous mass and preventing himself from going anywhere. His ears feel the burn, though, as the woman's knees take hold and try to take them with her. Unfortunately, the only thing that does come with her is his hat.
The hat. The epitome of a cowboy. And it's now flown across the room. This does not make Brian happy. He was grumpy before, but now? Now she's knocked his hat off.
If someone were to peel his eyes back, you would see two little nuclear explosions go off in the back of his eyesockets.
Not that one could tell, really, because his face goes cold, sharp and angular. His jaw sets like steel. He's gonna cause some pain. It's a simple idea, but one that he embraces fully. Brian is, after all, very picky about his hat. So as Elle rights herself, the linebacker steps in, trying to drive his fist up and into her throat. It's simple. It's clean. And if it hits, it could cause her raspy voice to change from Joan Jett hard to 4 packs a day nasty.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Brian's Medium Punch.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Brian
The fist is huge, and probably has about half the mass of her head alone, if not the volume. Her eyes narrow as the giant hamfist comes to crush her windpipe. Her reaction to this assault could be one of two things. She can simply duck, or she can try for a morale breaker. After a quick glance into the enraged man's eyes? She picks the second one.
Before the giant hand can finish any hopes for a singing career... or the ability to speak ever again, Elle raises a hand, and catches the massive fist in hers, clamping down with her cold, iron-like fingers. The impact drives her back slightly, but she stops the assault cold.
She doesn't let the moment sink in too long, though. Recovering from the heavy punch, Elle hurls herself up the arm to grab Brian by the neck with the crook of her elbow, attempting to swing around his neck and twist it at an uncomfortable angle while at the same time attempting to bring the massive monster to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Brian with Medium Throw.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Brian
Very little can break Brian's morale. He's played professional football, which involve a lot of plays, not all of which go the way you want. He's raced professionally, and sometimes you just get outdriven. The horse bucking under you sometimes throws you. But you get back in there and mix it up; you put the lineman out of the game, you run Earnhart into the wall, and you punch the horse like Mongo in Blazing Saddles. So when Elle blocks his punch, it's not a morale breaker, it's just another turn in the game. The game that's getting quite fierce, really.
His neck twisted, the Texan falters on his feet, crashing to the ground and causing some of the glasses behind the bar to fall off the shelves and shatter. With a grunt, he twists in the hold, attempting to get himself face to face with the white haired rocker... so that he can place his hands on her throat, then roll himself up on top so he can push up and let his own weight collapse her trachea.
She's a strong girl. She can take it.
COMBATSYS: Elle dodges Brian's Strong Throw.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Brian
The dispassionate demeanor Elle gives the battle seems to be working for her. While Brian silently seethes, the coldhearted rocker seems as level headed as ever. While anger might work for the man-mountain, cold clarity seems to rule Elle's fighting style, despite the vicious, brutal battle tactics.
Again, Elle watches the slow but powerful hands come to finish off her throat, and this time she takes option two. If the man isn't going to have enough presence of mind to be intimidated or concerned, she's not going to waste more precious time attempting to shake it. She drops to a crouch as the hands whiff over her head and moves in to grab the giant by the middle of his waist. With a grunt, Elle's smaller form goes to lift the football player into the air and send him crashing to the ground with a backbreaker.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Brian with Strong Throw.
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Elle 1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Brian
Being lifted into the air surprises the Texan. She's much smaller than he is, and he knows what the scale says. So being dropped onto the floor like that makes his eyes open a little wider. There's more under the hood of this chick than leather and a blank stare. She's apparently got some Dodge in that metal soul of hers.
No matter. It's time that things change a little around here. There's really only one way to do it, too. Hefting himself up onto his feet, Brian rushes in, one hand going in for the woman's collar, while the other tries to grab her waistband. If he gets a hold of her, she might get to see the stars... Or maybe even a Supernova.
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Brian's American Supernova.
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Elle 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Brian
Having secured a grip on the woman's leathers, Brian picks Elle up and flings her into the air, spinning her several times before catching her by the collar and the waistband once again, letting her face the ceiling. With the force of a semi, he pulls her down, letting her spine crash into the top of his head before he moves her slightly to each side and repeats the backbreaker on each of his shoulders. Unfortunately for his plans, he loses his grip on the woman after the third assault, and she slips off his shoulder...
Elle's been a slippery thing since the start, and she's not about to stop now. When Elle rolls down to the ground, she jerks to the side. The rocker woman manages to skid away, slamming to rest along the edge of the bar.
Now that Elle's got a little space between her and the giant Texan, Elle leaps up and slams her feet down on the bartop like a Coyote Ugly girl that apparently forgot that the point is to wear /skimpy/ clothes, not a body-shrouding jumpsuit. Her hand whips out behind her, and then she jumps off the top of the bar, spinning rapidly. Using this momentum, she attempts to snatch the man by the collar, and spinrush him to the ground again, as the battle of the grapplers rages on.
COMBATSYS: Brian endures Elle's Medium Throw.
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Elle 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 Brian
Wrenched around hard, the mountain of a man crashes to the floor like a lead weight, skidding along the wooden planks for a good ten feet before spinning around into a four point football stance. Head down, his fingers digging into the flooring, he suddenly snaps his head up, nose flaring. Jets of steam seem to shoot from his nose as he snorts, the phantom sight of longhorns shimmering from the side of his head for a brief moment.
He's had enough of this shit. He doesn't wanna deal with this any more. But if he's gonna storm off again, he'll at least make sure the woman will remember him for the next couple of days, with each application of ice.
As the horns fade, the glowing visage of football pads erupts in a yellowish chi around his shoulders. He stomps once, and then charges, trying to crash into Elle like a one-man stampede, the impact of which would pitch her into the air and likely bounce her off the ceiling. Taking a sharp left turn after he passes by Elle's position, he drives his shoulder into the exact spot she would be again. Twice more he repeats this action, as if in a cloverleaf pattern, before sliding to a stop next to both the door and his hat.
Picking up that hat, Brian places it atop his head and turns to the door. One of the film crew foolishly attempts to stop him from leaving, but gets a faceful of hamfist for his efforts, as Brian continues out the door and out of the fight.
"Fuck this noise," he mutters before the door slams shut. Seems Brian's kind of a sore loser.
COMBATSYS: Brian can no longer fight.
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Elle 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Brian successfully hits Elle with Big Bang Tackle.
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Elle 1/=======/=======|
Elle's battered around like a rag doll, it's true. Every powerful blow sends her spinning, the bone crushing force jarring her about. There's no doubt that she'll feel this later. All she can do is close her eyes and attempt to center herself, numb the pain, and shunt away the trauma. If there's anything she's learned from her time spent with various factions, is that there's a lot of ways to get past pain.
Unfortunately, there's just no overcoming the amount heaped on her this time. She rolls, slamming into the far wall of the bar as Brian finishes his attack and stomps away like a spoiled brat. Elle doesn't stir for a solid ten seconds.
But eventually, she does stir, and gets to her feet. Solid boots crunch against the shattered glass on the floor, and the woman rolls her neck languidly, exhaling a burst of smoke, despite having never lit up her cigarette. Maybe it's time to.
her finger lights the tip of her cigarette as the patrons all start breathing again. Brian probably won't be able to show his face at this bar for a while, and the murmurs and pats on the back start. Money changes hands, and the yelling, laughter, and back-patting starts. Brian is too unstable for her to use... the man's angry, and not the good kind. Graciously, she accepts an offered drink, her lips quirking into a tiny smirk. Maybe she'll play a few Toby Keith tunes when she's done putting her shoulder back into it's socket.
The honest smiles of the folks in the bar strike her oddly. She's rarely surrounded by honest, good people.
Hey? Why not? She loves this bar.
Log created on 18:55:56 06/30/2007 by Elle, and last modified on 04:36:50 07/01/2007.