From Captain To Captain

[Cain]

OOC: Matrim.

Fourth day in San Francisco.

Second day in school.

And Cain was already finding his life getting messy again. The blue-haired male wandered around the hallways, his head lowered slightly and his sapphire fringe covering most of his face. He was clad in a black sleeveless vest over a white buttoned shirt, the collars erected and his sleeves folded to his elbows, his preppy attire completed with a pair of black pinstripe pants. He certainly looked classy that day, though such was an attire that Cain had simply put together in less than a minute. As unlikely as it seemed, Cain could care less for his appearance.

He was more distracted of the events of the day before, where his whole life was thrown back once more into the drama of reality less than an hour after he even stepped into the school grounds. He had been assaulted by a brute and his goons, though not even together would they have been a match for the Azure Tiger, but Cain had gotten help from another person. One that he had never ever expected to see again when he left New York.

Leanne.

He was unsure whether that was a good thing or not, for she had been one of the reasons that Chrynos had pulled Cain out of the metropolis city of New York, though he regretted leaving at such short notice. He had loved her, and he loved her still, he knew. He simply just could not get over her, though he was planning to. However, Leanne's presence only destroyed whatever chance he had to be able to do so. He sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

What a mistake.

As Cain entered a junction of hallways, he found himself bumping into a male his size, the male's eyes opening immediately as his hand shot up, catching the person mid-fall. Straightening him, Cain apologised, ignoring the man's curses. However, soon enough, the man stopped as soon as he realised who had pushed him, his eyes widening. Cain simply stared back, unsure of what to make of the reaction.

"... Cain!? School captain of 552!?'

... That was a little too loud, wasn't it?

[Matrim Gallagher]

Matrim was barefoot, walking through the halls of the school sporting a pair of blue jeans and a white button up shirt, buttoned for once... well, three or four of the bottom ones. He was sporting his necklace, the emblem on it rather big but it was just something he liked to keep on him. His sleeves rolled up and hands in his pockets he made his way through the school toward his locker. As he passed by several kids would look at Matrim in a bit of bewilderment because the truth of the matter was that Matrim had been the Varsity Captain up until late. It wasn't like he was School Captain for very long.

Passing by kids he didn't really notice anything going on with the blue haired male he had just walked past until someone bumped into him, and Matrim was making his way down the hall, not even facing the two anymore when he heard the kid say something, or rather, almost yell it....

"... Cain!? School captain of 552!?"

"That's interesting," Matrim said, turning around slowly, hands still in his pocket as he tried to judge the strength of the blue haired kid with his eyes alone. Matrim once had hair like this guy, except he gelled it and his bangs were incredibly long. Though now he was back to his natural hair color, and it was long, far longer then he was used to. He liked it though, "School Captain of a school called 552..... funny, two School Captains from different schools going to a new one...."

Matrim said this to himself and then walked towards the boy, "Cain was it? So, is what this kid said true, were you School Captain at one of your previous schools?"

[Cain]

Cain sighed, slowly nodding his head as he stared at the student, wondering who the hell he was. Was he a transfer from 552 too? Well, the possibility did exist. According to Leanne, this place was considered the escape to people who wanted to leave 552 and could afford to do so. Though, he found it hard to recognise him, so he simply passed him off as one of those innocent quiet ones. At that, he stepped back, patting the guy's shoulder, gesturing him off to wherever he was heading to. There was no need to attract any more attention to himself.

Just as he was about to walk away, though, someone came up to him. Someone who apparently was barefooted, though for whatever reason Cain was not aware of. His eyes climbed the person's figure, reaching up to his eyes, their orbs locking. What did this guy want? Had he attracted the wrong kind of attention? After his first hour here, he had realised that this school was not that much different from 552, though less violent. And he was here, as the school captain of the most violent school in 552. Sounds exciting, wouldn't it? Cain gritted his teeth behind closed lips, hoping for the best but ready to welcome the worst.

"Cain was it? So, is what this kid said true, were you School Captain at one of your previous schools?"

Cain turned on his heels to face the man fully, nodded his head as he did. Tilting his head slightly to add a sense of hospitality and innocence to his appearance, so as to either catch his opponent off-guard, or to tell him that he was not hostile, he opened his mouth to reply.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

After all, such a title did not matter here, in another school.

[Matrim Gallagher]

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" The man asked him, and Matrim grinned. For once he was angry about that no---

Wait a tick.... Linda isn't School Captain, I am! I am the guy who makes the rules... right? Which means I decide what happens with the school. And if I want to challenge this guy to a fight on Campus, I'll damn well do it!

"Well I was School Captain of a school in Point Hope, Alaska. Transferred to a School called 259 and became a Pillar there, transferred here and became..... well, just recently, School Captain. So seeing a Captain from another school kinda makes the blood boil, makes me wonder if I am as strong, if I could beat him in a fight, you know, that old fighters complex," Matrim extended his stance a bit, his right hand on his hip now.

Blue hair means great fighter. That's my story and I'm sticking to it... after all, I had blue hair once....

"So, you ever wonder the same thing about a person? If they are all they are cracked up to be? If they can be the one who beats you down? The one to show you that there is still room for improvement? Your next challenge, your next goal?" Matrim's smile grew big. He had high hopes for this kid and he hoped sincerely that he wouldn't be disappointed. Of course, if he wasn't like this, Matrim wouldn't press the opportunity of a fight. After all, he wasn't a bully.

[Cain]

"Well I was School Captain of a school in Point Hope, Alaska. Transferred to a School called 259 and became a Pillar there, transferred here and became..... well, just recently, School Captain. So seeing a Captain from another school kinda makes the blood boil, makes me wonder if I am as strong, if I could beat him in a fight, you know, that old fighters complex,"

Cain's eyebrows raised at the first few words. Point Hope? This guy had been the captain at that school? He remembered that school, for it had been the school that Carlos had initially intended to send Cain to. And 259? Wasn't that a school in California? Cain had heard of it, for it was the school that Carlos had graduated at. In fact, Carlos was in California right now, near 259. At Long Beach. What a small world, eh?

And what was even more amusing was the fact that this man here, standing right in front of him, was the captain of this school. And he had only been here for less than a week. Was he already going to get his ass kicked? It seemed like it, considering that Matrim's words were gesturing towards a challenge. And of course, a challenge that Cain would never think twice about accepting. He simply enjoyed challenges too much to deny, especially one as exciting as this one.

"So, you ever wonder the same thing about a person? If they are all they are cracked up to be? If they can be the one who beats you down? The one to show you that there is still room for improvement? Your next challenge, your next goal?"

Cain grinned. For some reason, he found this guy quite an interesting fellow. For one, he wore no shoes, which was interesting enough for Cain. However, he also had the same mentality as Cain, where every defeat is not a mistake in one's life, but an indication that there were still room for improvement, as the Captain had said.

"With every fighter that I meet."

Cain simply replied as he reached up, grabbing his bag strap, getting ready to pull it off him if necessary. As obvious as this may be becoming, Cain did not want to have to make a fool of himself by mistaking his words for a challenge.

[Matrim Gallagher]

"With every fighter that I meet." Cain had said, grabbing his bag strap. Matrim himself was not carrying a book bag, oddly enough that was the reason he was going to his locker in the first place. He did however, crack his knuckles loudly and stretch his arms out. The knuckle thing was a bit over the top though, unless you were double jointed it didn't really do anything except damage you a little in the end. At least, that's what his grandmother told him. Who knows if that old nurse had been right.

"Then by all means, allow me to be the next." Matrim said pulling his right foot back and putting a bit more of his weight on it. He pulled back his right fist, drawing it back near his gut. His left hand was loosened up, fingers separated, "And hopefully by the end of this thing we'll know."

We'll know who has room to improve....

After giving a few seconds for Cain to prepare Matrim would start this off, closing the distance between them with a few steps, stopping with his right foot forward, turning his body hard towards to the left to launch his right fist towards Cain's left cheek. Should the attack succeed Matrim would follow threw the punch by bending his arm at the elbow, then he would place his opened left hand onto the front of his fist and push against it, aiming his elbow for Cain's gut.

[Cain]

Matrim cracked his knuckles, a message that Cain clearly interpreted. A grin crept up to his face as he gave a soft nod, before pulling the bag off his shoulders, tossing it aside with considerably, the thud as it landed indicating how heavy it was. It was not that heavy, but it couldn't be considered light either. One could easily tell that Cain had a strength above the average man. However, it was not his strength that he was proud of. It was speed.

"Then by all means, allow me to be the next. And hopefully by the end of this thing we'll know."

Cain nodded his head in reply. There was no need to say anything. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, except, as Cain realised, one last thing. However, it would wait till later as Cain decided not to let his opponent wait any longer. Taking three steps back, he created a reasonable distance between himself and the fighter. It would be enough for him to gauge exactly how fast his opponent was.

He took his stance, his right leg placed a shoulder width behind his left, half a shoulder width outwards as his left leg twisted so that its toes pointed at Matrim. His hands were raised, his left arm across his chest and the other diagonally going up from his side to his left shoulder. Both hands were opened, his fingers curved slightly and stiffened, like claws.

And his opponent charged. Cain's eyes widened in shock and amusement. The male was faster than he was. And he came in way too fast for Cain to execute a dodging maneuver, forcing the speedster to stand his ground instead. He raised both arms, placing it at his left, his left arm vertical and his right arm placed behind it for extra support, hiding his head behind the make-shift meat shield.

The impact was hard, the momentum so strong Cain was lifted off his left foot. At that, he glanced towards his opponent, moving quickly then as he made use of the momentum behind his punch to aid him. He snapped his left leg forward, sending it at the waist under Matrim's outstretched arm. He continued to move to the right, causing the elbow to simply brush hard against his waist, sending a stinging sensation throughout his lower body.

Damn it, this guy was good.

[Matrim Gallagher]

Cain reacted quite well to the attack, so far so good. Matrim took a hit to the hip from Cain's fist, which stung a bit but Matrim was able to gauge the strength behind it thanks to the hit. He figured out from it that Cain was pretty strong, but not strong enough. That is, unless he was pulling his punch for some reason. Cain was moving to the right, which was putting him slightly offset of Matrim, who reacted by putting weight on his right foot and the part of his hip that was just hit. It groaned in pain as he snapped a kick towards the right side of Cain's face which was no easy feat with Cain moving away. If he didn't go very far it would most likely hit around the nose at the ankle, and the top of the foot would probably be hitting cheek.

If he kept moving the top of the foot would most likely catch Cain in the nose. Of course, this was all assuming his attack hadn't been dodged or blocked. If Matrim was quick enough to get his foot away he would bring it back down to the ground, bringing it back so that his right side was facing Cain he would push off of his right foot and aim to slam Cain with his right shoulder, both hands up and open to shove as he did so.

He was hoping the kick would connect and disorient Cain so he could do this. But, then again, things don't always go as planned.

Come on blue... let's see what ya got.

[Cain]

Before Cain could recreate that safe distance between them, Matrim was once more on the offensive, throwing a snap kick upwards at Cain's right cheek. Cain caught sight of it, but was a little too late once more to really dodge it. All he could do was block it, or at least, minimise the amount of damage that would be done to him upon contact. He was being pushed too hard here that he was forced to stay on the defensive. Cain was supposed to be the offensive type, but the relentless of his opponent was forcing him to do otherwise just to last a little bit longer in the fight.

With his right hand still on his left arm, Cain raised his elbow, putting it in the path of the kick, allowing his triceps to suffer the damage indeed, a choice he knew he would suffer from soon enough, but for now, it was a better option than letting this obviously stronger male hammer him at his head. The impact caused Cain's horizontal retreat to come to a halt as he found himself once more glued to the spot.

That made him an open target for Matrim's follow-up attack. He could only watch as the faster and larger male lowered himself, his shoulder primed to strike. Cain struggled to keep up, bringing his arms down as he did. However, he was too late as Matrim's shoulder went past from under his arms, hitting hard against Cain's chest and throwing him off his feet, but not after Cain was able to retaliate by throwing a wild left arm at the back of his head.

Cain really needed to regain his bearings if he were to match up to the obviously stronger male. He now carried the image of 552 alongside him, since he used to be the School Captain. And as much as he hated the school, he had some good memories from it too. And a few good contacts. It was also the school that gave him a second chance to live his life, albeit one full of sufferings and challenges.

He was not going to go down without a fight.

[Matrim Gallagher]

Matrim was hit in the back of the head with an arm as he shoved Cain. The arm and the momentum Matrim had delivered was enough to knock him off balance and as Cain did whatever he was doing whether it be falling or gaining his balance once again, Matrim would land hard on his hands and knees, bringing his right foot up he would stand up and his right hand would go to the back of the head where he had been hit. In the end it didn't matter how tough you were, when you got conked good on the head you always were a little dizzy as a result, and Matrim was no different.

"Pretty damn good," Matrim said grinning, he would back away slowly, putting some distance between the fighters. He wanted to see Cain on the offensive since the truth was that Matrim was better with reacting to attacks than dishing them out. Being the wrestler and grappler that he was, he'd much prefer Cain throwing the punches here. So putting some distance between them he tightened his fists, getting into a loose boxing stance of sorts. He wanted to grapple but he'd keep his fists balled tight, hopefully giving the impression that he was more into the striker style of fighting rather than holds and throws.

"Let's see what else you got!" He said getting himself pepped up for the kid, waiting for him to attack, his right foot and right fist were leading, his shoulders would be squared off with the position of Cain.

[Cain]

Unfortunately for Cain, he was bit 5'10'', making him considerably short for his age. This made him a whole lot easier to be thrown around, or pushed down or anything along those lines. However, due to his smaller frame, it made it quite hard to get a grip on him, and considering how flexible and agile Cain was, he would be like a slippery eel. This time, though, this eel was facing against one fast shark. Cain was thrown backwards longer than he would like, landing on his upper back but recovering quickly as he rolled backwards, getting his bearings back as he ended the roll on one knee, facing Matrim, his right arm on the spot where the shoulder had rammed. This guy was big, fast and strong.

Cain was simply enjoyed himself.

A wide grin crept up to his face as he straightened himself, preparing himself for the next wave of offensive relentlessness, only to be surprised as the male gave him the chance to do otherwise. Cain stared at him for a moment, before letting out a soft chuckle. Well, he was not going to let this opportunity slide. Sliding his right foot back, he lowered his body as he kept his eyes on Matrim's.

"Let's see what else you got!"

Taking that as a cue, Cain sped forward, his person scaling the distance between then in a mere 2 second duration. At that, he would swing his right arm back, his left arm coming in front and placing itself horizontally across in between the two fighters. Without wasting a single nanosecond, Cain would twist back towards the left, his right arm coming around in a quick right hook, aimed at Matrim's left lower abdomen. Whether or not that connected, Cain would continue twisting, sliding his right leg around and aiming to smack his shin into Matrim's left ankle.

[Matrim Gallagher]

Matrim let the hook come, wanting to feel this kids hit yet again, getting a good feel for his strength. Didn't make it hurt any less, but at least he could prepare himself for the impact the hits would have. The fist connected sending Matrim's head hard towards the right, his eyes staying on his opponent as his head turned. The kick came in, and Matrim caught just a glimpse of it in his peripheral. Sadly with the hit to the face he didn't see it in time and while he lifted his foot off of the ground slightly the kid still hit his ankle, sending it inward as Matrim's balance became compromised.

Matrim's left ankle collided with his right leg, his balance was failing him so he twisted his body towards his left, his right arm hooking around as his fist opened into a claw, he turned aiming to get the area of the back of Cain's head, a little to the side, hoping to grab on as he twisted to the left and fell trying to take Cain down with him. If he got Cain's head he would put his weight and strength onto that hand to push Cain face first down to the ground as Matrim fell. If not Matrim would look a little idiotic having turned to fall forward away from Cain and land on his chest.

Gotta love improvising in a fight.....

[Cain]

And much to Cain's surprise, both hits connected. Was it luck? Nah, it couldn't be. Especially his punch. That had been too two-dimensional to not have been obvious. Matrim would have at least parried it. Was he trying to test Cain's strength? If so, then he succeeded in doing as such. Although Cain had not intended it, the momentum behind his swing, which was intended for his kick, had supplied his punch enough power to be considered to be the strongest Cain could hit, or somewhere about there.

Ah, well. If Matrim had allowed Cain to actually land a square hit on him, then he was not going to let the opportunity slip. And of course, Cain had also thought of it as a trap, which was why he let his instincts take over as his body moved to pull away from Matrim. That was Cain's fighting style. To run in and hit, before moving away and running in again, forcing openings and openings until Cain was able to get one good finishing strike in.

However, just as he was about to pull back, he felt a hard grip come in from the back of his head, somewhere at his right side. His eyes widened. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed Matrim's arm reaching past his face. The larger man had managed to get a good grip on his head. Dammit.

Cain then felt himself getting dragged down, his grip on the ground being taken away completely. His hands shot forward, trying to cushion his landing, but to no avail. Matrim had his own strength, plus both their weight, to work with. Cain found himself being smashed head first into the tiled floor, the thud filling his ears as he felt his head shake. His vision blurred for a moment, his ears ringing as he laid there momentarily.

That had not been a soft landing at all.

[Matrim Gallagher]

He caught Cain in time luckily as he crashed to the floor, and much to Matrim's happiness the attack had worked. Upon contact with the ground Matrim would let go of the kids head, rolled away from the kid and pushed himself up. He wondered how quick this kid would get up but chances are that he'd have a head start since Matrim spent some time rolling. Matrim would get up and without even looking at Cain he would rip a locker door off of it's hinges before turning around.

If Cain had attacked Matrim would most likely bring the locker door in front of his body like a makeshift shield. However if Cain hadn't pressed the attack but this point Matrim would charge and swing the locker door down towards Cain's head wherever he may be given the situation. Matrim was going to be a little more reckless and creative from now on. He worked out that the kid was fast, and that the kid seemed to know how to attack. The thing that Matrim had not yet gauged was how long this could last. The only way he could do that is by beating him.

Which to tell the truth, Matrim hoped was easier said than done.

[Cain]

As soon as Matrim's grip left his head, Cain would roll onto his back, his right hand on his red forehead. He felt giddy, that impact having shook his brain inside his skull. In fact, he was quite close to tapping out then, but remembered what exactly was at stake here. He opened his eyes, before placing his hand on the floor. Pushing himself up onto his bottom, Cain quickly, but unsteadily, got himself back on his two feet. He glanced up at his opponent, who seemed to have gotten up on his feet too.

His vision was still blurry, but that did not stop Cain from making out Matrim's next move as the larger man pulled a large locker door out of its hinges. Plus, the metal clanging sound was enough proof to tell Cain what was about to come at him. Of course, considering his state, Cain chose not to charge, instead waiting for his opponent to come to him. Besides, it would be dumb to charge in without a weapon to match Matrim's metallic one.

Matrim charged in, swinging the metal door downwards then, aiming at Cain's head. Oh, Cain was certainly not going to let this one hit and add damage to his already aching forehead. At that, he swung his right foot towards his left, placing it far past his left foot, thus turning his back towards Matrim. Quickly, he would lift his left leg, pushing off it to shift his body out of the way of the locker door as it smashed against the floor.

Then, with his lifted leg, he would send a snap kick at Matrim's face. After all, considering his height, he would have to bend down a bit to be able to swing the locker door down hard enough to deal some real damage.