Jakob Azazel vs. Skull - D.R.S.R.L.L.R.W.D

[Ciles Gorey]

DUAL RING SKULL'S RULES LADDER LUMBERJACK ROBIN WILLIAMS DEATHMATCH

"Everybody come to church!"

The child's voice signals the arrival of EVPW's resident master magician. With the wall of bass emerging from the PA system the camera men and everyone in attendance turn their attention on to the entrance way, expecting the former citizen of the United Kingdom to emerge from out behind the veil to the back. The four bassists of Evil Blizzard duel it out as the rhythmic pounding on drums ploughs on through the song and yet there is still no sign of the Shining Superstar.

MO: Where's Azazel? He got an impressive win against Stalker on the last show, don't tell me he's gotten cold feet tonight against Skull?
MD: Cold feet against Skull? I LOVE IT! 'COZ HE'S DEAD AND COLD AND SHIT?!

Suddenly the arena lighting begins to strobe. From the rafters a second ring begins to descend into a gap in the crowd. The ringside staff secure the final noose on the ringposts and begin to flee, not wanting to be trapped underneath the slowly approaching squared circle. Perched on the top turnbuckle like a proud pirate captain, with his hand wrapped firmly around the supporting cable stands Jakob Azazel. His eyes scan the arena. His body unmoving as the ring slowly reaches its destination.

JY: Erm... coming down in the ring to the floor, he weighs in at two hundred and thirty pounds. Formerly hailing from the United Kingdom. He is the sovereign of Azazelandria; Jaaaykuuun Azzzaaaahzooool!

For the second time in as many matches Azazel's will is broken at the ineptitude of Jeff Young. He hangs his own head and begins to shake it in disappointment. In his hand he wields the Staff of Azazel, an item he leans against the turnbuckle as he drops down into the second ring. Jakob removes his duster, but uncharacteristically leaves his half-mask on, partially muting himself. The leather strop hangs from his side, but Miss Deeds is nowhere to be seen.

TBC: Skull

[Skull]

Skull’s entrance music starts to play and The Hellion steps out onto the stage to a round of applause from the crowd who never believed he would make it this far in the tournament. His face is painted white as usual with dark rings around his eyes, contrasted by his blood red hair. Around his neck he wears his familiar shrunken head necklace, now adorned with the head of his fallen opponent Desperado.
The High Priest of Horrorland saunters down the entrance ramp, flanked by a massive 7 foot ‘zombie’ and four smaller but more rapid looking ones. As Skull approaches the rings, the four smaller zombies each take a side, while the big man makes his way over to the timekeeper and stares a hole in him. Without saying a word, the zombie stretches out his hand. Quickly gathering what the zombie wants, the timekeeper sheepishly hands over the hammer and the zombie walks away, leaving the relieved timekeeper unharmed. Inside the ring, Skull calls the large zombie over and takes off his shrunken head necklace, and places it around his undead minion’s neck.

JY: This Match Is Robin Williamson Ladder Jack Zombie Match Of Two Ring. Now Introducing Making Way Down Ring. He Is Hell From 213 Inches. Skeleton Man.

Matt: In case anybody didn’t get that, there are many ways to win this match. Standard pinfall, submission or knockout, of course. But you can also win by climbing a ladder and ringing one of the two bells above the rings, or by hanging your opponent from one of the eight nooses on the turnbuckle posts until they pass out.

MD: Or die.

Brain: The Ladder option may be out of the question for Jakob though, as the hammer you need to ring the bell is now in the possession of that 7 foot zombie. And you have to imagine that these ‘Lumberjacks’ will not be attacking their master.

MD: I’m confused already. Can these two just get on with beating the Hell out of each other?

TBC by Jakob Azazel

(ooc: Just a quick entrance to set the scene. I’ll take the 2nd action post after Meth. Its already semi written)

[Ciles Gorey]

With the two men stood in separate rings, the referee signals for the start of the match. The timekeeper stares at the official and points to above the ring. Indeed; where the two rings meet, directly above the ring ropes hangs the official ring bell, the hammer of which is in possession of the rather large ‘Zombie’ that chaperones Skull. The zebra-clad ref strugs his shoulders at the timekeeper, unaware of how they are to signal the beginning of the match.

BB: Well, one of the fundamental flaws of this match, is starting the match. Officially matches may not start until the ring bell is rung.
MO: Well, what they could do is-
MD: I’VE GOT IT!

Metal Dragon shoots up out of his seat, staggering slightly from the excess of alcohol he has consumed already tonight. He walks up to Jeff Young and pushes him on the floor before picking up his microphone. Dragon drunkenly stumbles his way back to the announce desk and rushes to put his headset on. It is here he raises the microphone to his mouth.

MD: DING! DING! *Hic* DINGALING!

The with the drunken EVPW veteran taking charge and mimicking the ringing of the bell, the two in-ring combatants decide to start the match anyway. Both men pace back and forth, both realising that crossing the threshold into the other ring will make them more vulnerable to an attack by the other. Eventually it is the former leader of the Cult of Azazel that makes the first move. He takes hold of the top rope and in a single bound vaults over both sets of ring ropes straight into the oncoming boot of the Hellion, the toe punt catching Azazel in the ribs, his somewhat elegant leap into the ring bursting into metaphorical flames as he crashes and burns against the canvas. He is quick to take a knee all the while holding his sides with a single arm across his stomach. The monster in makeup marches toward his opposition and lunges forward with both of his hands primed to grab his prey. Jakob rolls forward underneath the lurching arms of Skull and goes straight into a sprint into the ropes. He rebounds and charges toward The High Priest of Horrorland, who turns around just in time to be met by the soles of both of the Demon Hunter’s boots with a tremendous dropkick, the force of which sends the EVPW veteran to the canvas. Skull elects to take a tactical break outside of the ring, rolling under the ropes. In the ring, Lord Azazel once more takes hold of the top rope and squats down, preparing to launch himself up over the rope and down onto Skull at ringside. That is, until the seven foot zombie makes his way in front of his master. He folds his arms and shakes his legs, informing Jakob it wouldn’t be a wise move. The Warlock pauses for a second, doing a quick risk assessment before deciding the zombie is right. He turns in frustration, clicking his fingers as he does so. Putting his hands on his hips, he shouts out a muffled “FUCK!” out from underneath his mask. Skull on the other hand has a huge grin on his face, quite happy that his minions are successfully protecting him. He uses this respite to his full advantage, painfully aware that he is immune from the aggressions of EVPW’s Spirit of Vengeance as long as his zombies are at ringside to protect him. He pats the seven foot monster on the back as he walks past him. Skull throws the ring skirt up onto the apron and begins to rummage around underneath.

BB: Skulls zombies really are making a difference here. Jakob is basically trapped inside the two rings so long as those “lumberjacks” are present.
MO: Yeah, meanwhile Skull can take his time on the outside of the ring. And as we can see; he’s got access to all the weapons.
BB: That’s a good point Matthew. The great equalisers are all underneath that ring. Skull can have his pick of the crops from EVPW’s large arsenal of weapons, whereas Azazel must rely on disarming the Hellion if he wants to use a foreign object.
MD: Azazel can’t get weapons? Fucked. He’s fucked.

Skull’s smirk seems to grow and his eyes widen as he finds just what he’s been looking for. From underneath the ring he drags the American classic; a solid black slugger. Still at ringside, the Nightmare Warrior takes a few practice swings at thin air, all the while Azazel stands in the centre of the ring, deflated by the wait. Skull slithers in underneath the rope, but Jakob dives on top of him, raining down fist after fist and clubbing forearm blows to try and disable the six footer, but to no avail. The Hellion makes it to his feet and pushes Jakob back before he begins to swing wildly with sweeping strikes with the baseball bat. Azazel is forced to dodge backwards a total of three times, before being backed against the ring ropes. This time Skull raises the bat above his head and tries to bring it down across the top of his foes skull, but once again Azazel times his roll right and dodges the blow. Skull turns round, following through with the momentum of the swing and manages to crack Azazel square in the back. The British born superstar arches his back in pain and drops to his knees as the vertebrae of his spine explode in waves of anguish. His teeth grind together in a grimace before he is struck in the back of the head with the butt of the bat, flopping to the floor like the corpse of an executed prisoner. Skull paces around his opponent, swinging the bat in circles by his side as he does so. He laughs in delight as he raises the bat up overhead once more and smashes it into the side of Jakob’s knee, the squeals of pain quenching Skull’s thirst for suffering. Azazel clutches at his leg, Skull fully aware he’s taken the spring out of his step. With this in mind, the man in makeup baits the alleged Most Evil Man in EVPW back to his feet. Jakob struggles to do so, stumbling over to the ropes when he finally accomplishes the feat.

BB: I’ll say one thing; Skull isn’t stupid. Azazel’s known for his technical abilities, but he isn’t afraid to go airbourne. Plus he’s quick. Taking Azazel’s legs out takes his speed out of the equation and severely limits his aerial options.
MO: Not to mention his ability to climb ladders, which is one of several ways to win this match.

Skull swings the bat up so it rests on his shoulder and takes the handle in both hands. He takes two side steps toward Azazel, gearing up for a big swing. As he does so, the Bastard Son of Babylon drops to the canvas, catching Skull in the knee with a dropkick, tripping him up and causing him to drop the weapon. Both men are quick to their feet, though Azazel still favours that left knee of his. Weaponless and staring down the pissed of Azazel, Skull raises his hands up ready to brawl. Instead both men lunge forward, locking horns in an attempt to overpower one another. It is the bigger of the two, Azazel, that manages to gain the upper hand, slipping his arm in behind Skull’s neck and pulling him into a side headlock. Azazel slips his hand over the face of Skull and hooks up on his nose, causing Skull to flail his arms. The Hellion pushes off of the back of Lord Azazel and sends him careening into the ropes, upon the rebound The Shining Superstar leaps into the air and catches Skull square in the chin with the heel of his boot, both men falling to the ring mat. Upon landing, Jakob begins to rub his knee, clearly still feeling the effects of that baseball bat blow. Skull on the other hand rubs his jaw with his hand and begins to shake the cobwebs out, the heel kick having temporarily dazed him. Jakob rolls onto his front and pushes himself up to his feet, while Skull uses the ring ropes to his advantage, climbing through them to the second ring and away from Azazel. Jakob follows in pursuit as Skull crawls to the far side of the ring. He marches over to Skull who thrusts the sole of his boot into the gut of The Magician, then again into his face. The Warlock rears back clutching his nose and Skull pulls himself to a standing base. With his adversary’s back to him, Skull wraps his arms around the head of Jakob, trying to lock in the Sweet Dreams. Realising what Skull is going for, Lord Azazel throws his head back, the crown of his cranium striking the bridge of the Nightmare Warrior’s nose, which explodes into a bloody mess. Skull staggers back, blood dripping from his nostrils. Jakob rubs the back of his neck in relief but quickly goes back on the offensive. He begins to deliver a series on knife-edge chops, each once slowly backing the High Priest into the corner of the ring. Here, Azazel begins to glide his hand over different parts of his body, each time revealing a new card in his hand, declaring “IS THIS YOUR CARD?” as he shows each one to Skull, only to slap it into the Horrorland Hellion’s red chest. Lord Azazel takes a second to flash the booing crowd the middle finger, a costly mistake as Skull reaches behind him and pulls the noose up. He reaches out to Jakob, grabbing the back of his vest and pulls him back, looping the noose over the head of the Azazelite. Jakob holds onto the rope around his neck with both hands and a look of horror takes over his face. Skull places his head under the arm of Azazel and slips his own arm behind the knees of his opponent before lifting him up and dumping him over the top rope, where he hangs from the noose, his legs kicking wildly for some kind of leverage. Skull points to two of his zombies who immediately begin to walk towards the flailing gallows victim. Each zombie takes a hold of a leg each and begin to pull, only exemplifying the matter for Jakob. His face turns bright red as he struggles for breath, Skull raises his arms in victory in the ring. The Bastard Son reaches back behind him, searching desperately for something to help his situation. He pats around the ring post finding nothing of use as he feels himself going faint. Finally he touches something that could be of use. The handle of his staff. Without thinking his swings his arm round, the ornamental raven that adorns his staff cracking into the side of the head of the first zombie, laying it out. With his now free leg he kicks at the second of Skull’s minions, knocking it back into the crowd barrier, freeing his second leg and swinging back hitting against the ring post. The zombie comes running back at the hanging Azazel, who swings his staff up, managing to catch this zombie just under the chin. The minion manages to stay standing for a brief period before collapsing backwards against the barrier. Jakob drops his staff to his side and focuses on getting the noose from around his neck. His face turns a deeper shade of red and his eyes begin to roll back as he tries to force the rope from around his throat. He manages to do so, dropping down into a gasping pile of flesh at ring side, desperate to get his breath back, rope marks clear around his neck. Skull can scarcely believe it. He demands his three remaining zombies go after him, including the seven footer. Azazel looks around. He’s surrounded. The three zombies close in on him, two on one side, the seven foot monster on the other. In this dire situation, Azazel elects to do the only reasonable thing he possibly can do; run away. He dives underneath the second ring just as the three zombies lunge for him. He can quickly make his way to the other side of the ring as he is not forced to fight his way through the selection of foreign object hidden underneath the main EVPW ring. Upon emerging from the other side, Jakob is quick to re-enter the ring. He wants to try and blindside Skull, but more importantly; he doesn’t want to spend more time than he needs on the outside. The Hellion turns, trying to get the drop on Azazel with a haymaker, but Jakob once again ducks underneath. He buries his heels into the canvas and pulls his hands back, as if holding an invisible ball. Once Skull turns around, Azazel thrusts his hands forward, driving both palms into the chest of his rival as he screams out “HAAADOUKEN!”

MO: Hadouken! Azazel would be smart to go for the cover while he has the chance to!

Oliveira would be right. That would be the smart move. But Jakob isn’t a man led by intelligence; no. He’s a man led by the thirst for revenge. And this man just tried to hang him. Slowly, Jakob unzips the pocket in his knee and reaches in, removing his beloved Ms. Deeps from the pouch. He unfolds it and holds her up to the light, manipulating her so her blade glistens. Underneath his mask he smiles. Jakob returns to the very rope from which he hung moments ago and begins to saw away at the knot that ties it to the ring post. Slowly he slices through the layers as Skull begins to stir in the ring. Finally the knot gives out, and Jakob holds the noose in hand, just as Skull makes it to his feet in the opposite corner. His largest zombie handing him the ring hammer as Azazel turns around.

TBC: Skull

----------------
OOC: Kept it fairly short. Good luck Skull, would have liked to do more with this.

[Skull]

The two warriors stare each other down across the ring, Skull with a tight grip on his hammer and Jakob swinging the cut off noose around slowly. The two feel each other out, pacing around the ring in a circular motion but keeping their distance from each other. Both men show the wounds of war. Skull’s crimson mask is the most obvious, but Jakob is betrayed by a noticeable limp caused by his injured knee. The stalemate continues for a few more revolutions before Azazel starts to twitch, eager to get his hands on his adversary. He never gets the chance, however, as he is sent down to the mat by a hard clubbing blow to the back of the head. The four smaller zombies, on sombody’s command, had slid into the ring behind him and were now putting the boots to The Magician.

BB: Now this isn’t fair. Since when could lumberjacks enter the ring?
MO: Well there are no disqualifications in this match, so technically there is nothing keeping them on the outside.

Smirking as his plan begins to come together, Skull starts to direct traffic. He orders the smaller zombies to drag Azazel out of the ring and then demands a ladder from the larger zombie. The 7 footer obliges and reaches under the ring for a ladder then slides it under the bottom rope. The Hellion erects the ladder directly under the ring bell and the zombie holds it steady as he begins to climb to victory.

MO: I’m not sure if I believe what I’m seeing here. Skull may have just outwitted Jakob Azazel.
BB: He certainly stacked the deck in his favour and now it looks like he’s going to slither into the final.
MD: This is no fun. I wanted to see Skull hanging from the ringpost.

The villainous veteran reaches the summit of the ladder and raises the hammer, ready to strike the bell, when the roar of the crowd causes him to pause. He looks around just in time to see Lord Azazel vaulting up onto the ropes, the four zombies lying unconscious in his wake. The large zombie advances toward him but the Azalelandrian is too quick as he springboards off the ropes and plants two boots firmly in it’s chest. The zombie stumbles backward into the ladder, knocking it over in the process. The Hellion, atop his perch, has no time to react as he is knocked off the ladder and lands hard on the outside of the rings. The crowd let out a gasp as Skull’s body hits the ground with a thud, but Jakob is not done yet. Knowing he wont be able to win the match while the big zombie is around, he decides to take matters into his own hands. He walks over to the corner of the ring where the cut off noose lies dormant, and with a sick smile, he picks it up and walks over to the downed zombie. He loops the noose around the zombies neck, then sits on top of it, putting all of his weight on the small of the creatures back and pulling back on the noose.
The pain of the rope around it’s neck wakes the zombie up and it starts to struggle but this just causes Jakob to pull the noose even tighter. The zombie continues to struggle but its goans soon get fainter as Azazel’s get louder. Finally, as the Demon Hunter is screaming at the top of his lungs, the zombie flops down to the mat unconscious.

MD: Now that’s what I’m talking about.
BB: That zombie won’t stay dead for long though. They always come back.

With his work done, Lord Azazel wipes the sweat off his forehead and looks over at his downed opponent. To his surprise, he sees that the four smaller zombies were swarming over the Horrorland native, scratching and clawing at him. With their commanding officer down, it seems the zombies had returned to their feral state and their hunger for human flesh had overcome even their loyalty to their master.
This left Jakob in a predicament. If we wanted to pin or hang Skull, he would have to save him from the mauling. But if he wanted to ring the bell, he would have to retrieve the hammer, which lay down next to Skull. This would also result in another unwanted encounter with the feral zombies.

MO: Azazel is in a tricky position here. He’s in the perfect spot to climb the ladder, but he needs to retrieve the hammer first.
BB: He could easily pin Skull and win the match right now. But he’d have to save him from being mauled alive by his own minions.
MD: Fuck him. I’d just have a beer and watch the zombies go to work.
MO: We know you would. But Jakob must want the satisfaction of hanging Skull.

Seeing the situation, Jakob swears loudly, then paces up and down, contemplating his next move. Eventually, he comes to the only logical conclusion. He climbs onto the ring apron and takes out the closest zombie with a swift kick to the face. He then jumps down to the outside, taking out another with a double axe handle to the brain.
The remaining two zombies look up from their meal then simultaneously charge at Azazel, but are both taken out with hard punches to the face.
With no zombies remaining, Jakob drags Skull up to his feet and rolls him into the ring. He looks over to the referee, then down at his bloodied opponent and for a minute he considers pinning him. This doesn’t last long, though, as he hauls Skull up and throws him into the nearest turnbuckle. Paying the Hellion back for doing the same thing to himself earlier on in the match, Jakob puts the noose over Skull’s barely conscious head and pulls it tight. He then tosses the High Priest over the top rope and leaves him to fail around as the rope cuts into this throat.

BB: Skull tried every trick in the book but I guess he couldn’t overcome Jakob Azazel. No zombies to save him now, and no escape from the hangman’s noose.
MD: Now why’d you go and say that? You just jinxed it.
MO: I’d be surprised if Skull didn’t have one more trick up his sleeve.

Skull writhes around as he struggles to breathe, and tries to put a foot or two on the apron to relieve the pressure, but each time Jakob kicks him off and pulls back on the rope, lifting him further off the ground. As Skull starts to turn blue, Jakob loosens his grip on the rope a little, sensing that the end is near. That is until he feels a giant hand on his shoulder and another reaching between his legs. Before he knows what is happening, he has been lifted up onto the shoulders of the resurrected 7 footer and is being bent in two in a torture rack. The stretching doesn’t last long as the zombie quickly drops onto it’s back, slamming Azazel hard into the canvas. With the threat now dealt with, the zombie makes its way over to the turnbuckle and picks up it’s master, placing him back inside the ring and removing the noose.
Skull immediately collapses on the mat, coughing and spluttering and gasping for breath. This doesn’t deter the zombie, though, who simply grabs Skull by the wrist and drags his lifeless body across the ring and lays him over Jakob Azazel.
The referee looks on sheepishly, unsure whether to make the count, but decides it will be better for his health if he does.

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