Adrian Hanlon vs. Ryuu Hikari

[Keeper Of Secrets]

Adrian Hanlon vs. Ryuu Hikari

You are both led to the middle of this enormous Colosseum. All around you is dirt.

An announcer speaks.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the ring... Adrian Hanlon!!!!!" He then gives a slight pause as the crowds cheer. "And the opponent... Ryuu Hikari!" An equal amount of clapping and cheering can be heard from all around as the two of you are about to begin combat in this dry and dusty arena. You stand on regular dirt... This will truly be a match that decides skill.

"Let the Pillar Cup Tournament begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Adrian]

Adrian crossed the dirt floor of what appeared to be a giant Colosseum, smirking at the crowd who had gathered for the battle. Today, Adrian came fully prepared for battle, dressed in a black-and silver dress shirt, unbuttoned as usual, and dark blue jeans of a fairly natural cut, nowhere near being nut-huggingly tight, but not baggy either. Adrian wouldn't feel constricted, nor would he trip over them.

Of course, over all of it, Adrian was decked out in that dull-green coat known so infamously as being owned by Mathew Amtrum, until he gave it over. The Earth Dragon coat, a symbol of fortitude known all throughout multiple schools. Today, Adrian would hopefully be using it to win the tournament, and thus, the spot that Mathew himself once held.

As his name was called, Adrian held up one hand in pre-fight celebration. A smile crossed his face as the roaring crowd whipped around him. This environment, it suited him. The way the crowd was crying for blood, it only served to raise his adrenaline to incredibly heightened levels. The other fighter's name was called, and Adrian's smile grew as he put a name to the face.

"Well if it isn't the hero. Good to see you again," he said, much more genially than one would expect the words themselves to be. The crowd's roaring cheers was getting Adrian's blood pumping. He'd allow himself only scantest of formalities before this battle began, the adrenaline was simply too overpowering to ignore.


(Adrian's CON with Coat: 54)

[Ryuu]

Ryuu entered into the giant Colosseum, crossing the dirt floor, as he looked around at the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. Ryuu was prepared to fight, he wore a black t-shirt, black track pants that were comfortable and was easy to move in, he wouldn't be restricted in his movement, nor would he be tripping over them, and his black Converse shoes. Over top his shirt however, he was wearing the gray Overcoat of the Dreadnought that he had won from his last tournament, as well as the title of Pit Champion. Ryuu however, was here to win the title of Student Body President. Once Ryuu's name was called, he merely smirked as the crowd roared in excitement, Ryuu's adrenaline level began to pump up, he was ready to go. His opponent was Adrian Hanlon, the guy he had encountered back at a cafe he had obliterated. Ryuu had not so quickly forgotten that encounter, and neither did Adrian it seemed, as he saw his smile grow. "Well if it isn't the hero. Good to see you again."

"Well if it isn't my arch-foe," Ryuu replied back in the same genially tone, finally getting to put a name to the face, "If this fight will be as epic as our last one, then I'm going to enjoy this." With that said, he then took his position. "Are you ready?" He asked as he went into into his fighting stance, his feet spread apart shoulder-length, his right foot out in front, his body down low, keeping his center of balance relatively well. No leg sweeps here. He then clapped his hands together, concentrating his Qi, but not using it just yet, as he placed his right hand out, his left hand on level with his shoulder, near his face. " Let's go." he said to Adrian, a determined look in his eyes. The clap was just the spark, the starter for his flames. Ryuu would not use his Qi, not yet at least. Only when he felt like he needed to, would he use it.

[Keeper Of Secrets]

Music erupts from the speakers that surround the arena. This song will play throughout your entire match, enjoy.

Battle Music

[Adrian]

When Ryuu clapped his hands, Adrian would have no idea the boy was readying his Qi. However, the once-wealthy youngster, in his own way, was doing the same. Just as Mathew had taught him, Adrian had gotten very good at visualizing his inner spark. However, he had worked past the start of Mathew's training, and finally found out just how to ignite that spark and release his inner energy.

A moment with eyes closed, and opened again, and he had it. Ryuu spoke out, signaling that he was ready to begin, and Adrian wordlessly complied. He rushed forward, not at full tilt like so many fighters chose to attack, but a controlled forward motion that could be stopped or changed with a bit of effort. As he rushed forward, Adrian would quickly deviate course once he got close enough to Ryuu, moving at an angle to his right, Ryuu's left, and would lower his body somewhat, swinging his right fist out in a hooking punch to the boy's midsection.

The music overhead ignited, and the cheers fought the tune, both attempting to drown each other out. This was insanity. This was perfect.

[Ryuu]

Taking a moment to breath and focus, Ryuu saw had closed his eyes, before opening them once more. Once Ryuu told him he was ready, wordlessly Adrian complied, as evident by him rushing forward, not at full tilt like most fighters chose to attack, but a controlled forward motion that could be stopped or changed with a bit of effort. As he got closer, Ryuu saw him deviate his course, moving at an angle to Ryuu's left, Adrian's right, as he saw him lower his body somewhat, as his right fist swung out in a hooking punch aimed for Ryuu's midsection. Ryuu immediately reacted, instead of catching the punch, he dodged to his left, and fired a punch right into Adrian's side. If he blocked Ryuu's punch, Ryuu would be ready, he would just switch and attack with a kick of his own.

The music overhead ignited into the Mortal Kombat theme, as Ryuu fought the urge to shout out, "Mortal Kombat!!" But he didn't have to, the crowd did it for him. The cheers of the crowd fought against the loud theme music, each trying to drown out the other. Ryuu however, maintained his focus on Adrian, and Adrian alone. Everything else, the crowds, the music, was unimportant to him, and as a result, became nothing but white noise. Time to see how good Adrian was, and if he needed to, Ryuu would bring out his Qi, but that option was up in the air, and only if he needed to use it. "Bring it on."

[Adrian]

Adrian's initial punch was more of a range finder, if anything, and when it was dodged, thankfully, he still had his other hand free to work the counter-attack. And speaking of which, Ryuu was about to find out just how Adrian blocked attacks these days.

When the punch came in to Adrian's midsection, Adrian literally whipped his left hand into the path, aiming so that his Earth Dragon bracer would crash painfully into Ryuu's own wrist, using his own strength to, essentially, block Ryuu so hard he hurt himself in trying to punch. The bracer, coupled with Adrian's enhanced constitution through the coat, would bring what should have been an equally painful blow on his part into mild discomfort, much like blocking regularly for one without his enhanced items.

As Adrian swung his arm, he stopped his run, planting his right foot into the ground hard and pivoting back with his left in conjuction with the block, putting him face-to-face with Ryuu once again. The kick came out, but at this range, it could hardly do much damage. Adrian stepped forward with his right foot, closing the distance between them and causing Ryuu's inner shit to connect, the lack of distance it swung giving it virtually no force whatsoever.

As the blow landed useless, Adrian swung forth his right again in a heavy uppercut, attempting to bury his fist into Ryuu's stomach and wind him. To follow up, Adrian would keep moving forward, stepping into Ryuu with his left foot and bringing his left shoulder and forearm up bodily into the boy, using the fact that Ryuu was either still on one foot from the kick or just now attempting to put it back on the ground, and still very unbalanced, to knock him over onto his back.

It was true, none of these moves came particularly fast, but at this range, one didn't need to be.

[Ryuu]

The minute Ryuu aimed his punch at Adrian's mid-section, he saw him literally whip his left hand into the path, aiming so that Ryuu's fist would end up crashing into the bracer he wore. Ryuu however, had other plans. It was a split second reaction, but Ryuu shifted the direction of his punch ever so slightly, so instead of crashing head on with the bracer, it would end up crashing only partly into it. Although the blow did give some recoil to Ryuu, making him wince slightly, it wouldn't affect him too badly. His punch blocked, Ryuu did lift his leg up launched the kick, but the minute he saw Adrian swing his arm and stop his run, planting his right foot into the ground hard and pivoted back with his left in conjunction with the block, putting him face-to-face with Ryuu again. Although the kick came out, at this range, it wouldn't do much damage. He saw Adrian step forward, closing the distance, the blow would land uselessly. Ryuu however, planned this, as he brought his leg down immediately, planting it firmly on the ground, it was a way for him to get Adrian to attack, as shown by him swinging his right again in a heavy uppercut, attempting to bury his fist into Ryuu's stomach and wind him.

But Ryuu wouldn't allow that. He dodged to his right, completely evading the attack, as Adrian followed up by moving forward, stepping into him with his left foot, and brought his shoulder and forearm up to try and ram Ryuu backwards. Ryuu however, had other plans. His feet firmly planted, his center of balance restored, Ryuu caught Adrian's shoulder in the palm of his hand, gripping it tightly. Perfect. Ryuu nearly had to stop himself from smiling. Time to bring the fire. Ryuu activated his Qi, his eyes turned to red, engulfing his hands in flames, sure the Earth Dragon Coat was bulletproof (But he doesn't know that), but was it flame proof? He then used his grip on Adrian's shoulder to push himself backwards, putting some distance in between the two of them, his hands covered in flames, flames that could not be put out by water, for this fire, was fueled by his Qi. Bring it on.

(OOC: CON: 30)

[Adrian]

Adrian's punch was dodged by an incredibly quick shift to the right, especially considering the miniscule distance between the two. Adrian pondered his own speed in that split-second, thinking that, for such a punch to have been dodged so easily, his speed must really be in need of some work. He coudln't think too much more on it, however, as Ryuu had reached out and grabbed his shoulder, which, in and of itself, wouldn't have stopped Adrian. He felt like he was probably stronger, and could simply muscle the boy out. What stopped him, however, was that suddenly, Ryuu decided that his hand should be on fucking fire.

Adrian would have groaned, if it weren't for the aforementioned fire being dangerously close to searing the shit out of his shoulder. The leather jacket takes long enough to catch fire, but it was beginning to get really hot in there. Adrian's left arm shot out, instead of simply shoulder-ramming, Adrian swung his arm out in a backfist, aimed for Ryuu's midsection. As he punched, Adrian focused his own Qi to his fist, and as the fist would connect, as Adrian hoped it would considering the short distance, but, once again, could never be sure, he would be firing forth not a regular punch, but a Gust Punch. There would be a slight 'whooshing' sound as Adrian's fist connected, and Ryuu would find himself being blown backwards somewhat and onto his butt.

As he flew back the short distance, Adrian was moving as well, using the forward thrust from his backfist to step forward, taking two steps necessary to stay on top of Ryuu, more or less. As he fell to the ground, Adrian would come in right behind him, dropping to his right knee at the boy's legs and throwing a hard, straight punch into the boy's stomach, directly above his manhood. This time, Adrian wouldn't go for the low blow. However, the frighteningly short distance from his actual target and the boy's privates not only made moving and glancing the blow a difficult, but it would hopefully get the point across that, next time, Adrian may not be so merciful.

[Ryuu]

The moment Ryuu began to heat Adrian's leather jacket up, he saw Adrian's left arm shoot out, instead a simple shoulder-ram, he swung his arm out in a back fist, aiming for Ryuu's midsection. Continuing to maintain his grip on Adrian's shoulder, slowly burning through the leather, he brought his right arm up, in an attempt to catch Adrian's fist in his right hand. As he did so however, he heard slight "whooshing" sound, reminding him of when Sara used her Qi on him before, and realized that Adrian was using his Qi on him. Ryuu found himself blown backwards, but he did not fall on his ass, instead his left arm shot out, and as he fell, his hand caught him, allowing him to balance, albeit, slightly wobbly, as he placed his right hand down on the ground firmly to regain his balance. As he caught his balance and started to straighten up, he looked up and saw Adrian had moved forward, using the thrust from his punch to step forward, taking two necessary steps to stay on top of Ryuu.

He saw Adrian come up right behind him, drop to his right knee at Ryuu's legs, and throw a hard, straight punch into the Ryuu's stomach, directly above his nads. While most guys would've been sweating bullets, Ryuu however, did not flinch, his expression didn't even change, despite the short distance between Adrian's intended target and Ryuu's private parts. Reacting immediately, Ryuu caught Adrian's fist in his right hand, and gripped it tightly, beginning to burn it, although the pain felt would only be first degree, it would still hurt nonetheless. Keeping his left hand nearby in case he needed to block or counterattack, his feet spread apart to prevent any leg sweeps, Ryuu would keep the flames engulfing his hands up. No matter what Adrian threw at Ryuu, he would be burned on his fist either way.

(OOC: CON: 28)

[Adrian]

When Adrian leapt forward, he kept his eyes on his opponent, and when he saw Ryuu not falling on his ass like he had hoped and planned for, he would immediately throw away that plan of attack. After all, he had wanted to punch the boy while he was on the ground, and with him standing up instead, it changed the parameters of the fight entirely. Adrian would adopt a new strategy, one that kept him away from those flamin' fists o' fury.

Adrian dropped to his knees as per mentioned earlier, but instead of throwing a punch at the boy, who adopted a wide stance to prevent a possible leg sweep, Adrian would use his kneeling position as a sort of coil, and leapt into Ryuu as if he were a sprinter jumping from a starting position, throwing his shoulder and arms into Ryuu's right knee with as much force as he could muster. With Ryuu's arms high and the distance between them almost nonexistent, the boy would have to be preternaturally quick to see the move coming and defend against it. If he could not, he would be looking at a possible breaking of the knee as Adrian's body weight slammed it against its normal range of motion, and the only way to avoid breaking his knee would be to fall onto his back. Adrian's hands would wrap around the boy's calf and pull back as he slammed forward, hoping to facilitate the falling.

If Ryuu fell, Adrian would keep his eye on the boy's upper body, but send a hard, painful left hook into the side of the boy's right knee, continuing to work on the leg. If his hands were on fire, then he would simply aim lower.

[Ryuu]

The minute Adrian dropped to his knees, Ryuu saw him leap into him much like a sprinter jumping from the starting position, coiled up like a tiger, and threw his shoulder and arms into Ryuu's right knee. Ryuu however, seeing the position Adrian was in, instead of Adrian slamming into his knee, Ryuu would rush forward, and slam his knee into Adrian. The force of the impact would send Ryuu back a bit, but his right hand that he had placed down prevented him from falling backwards. Ryuu saw Adrian wrap his hands around his knee, but while Adrian was concentrating on Ryuu's knee, trying to get him to fall, Ryuu would take this opportunity, and slam a left hook into Adrian's head, and with his hands on fire, the blow itself was going to hurt even more. If the blow connected, Ryuu would pull his left arm back, and rain down blows upon Adrian's head, for with both his hands wrapped around Ryuu's calf, he could not block, and even if he could, he would end getting burned.

And for good measure, pushing off with his left foot, Ryuu would attempt to slam his right knee into Adrian, trying to send him backwards, as he pulled his left arm back, and sent a punch at Adrian's shoulder, searing the exact spot on the leather jacket he had blocked a little bit ago. Ryuu alternated the spots he punched, but for the most part, he was attacking spots that weren't covered by the jacket, ie. Adrian's head. His right hand and both feet keeping him balanced, despite Adrian's grip on his knee, Ryuu was not down for the count yet. This fight wasn't over, not by a long shot.

(OOC: CON: 26)

[Adrian]

As Ryuu's foot was swinging for Adrian, Adrian would still be pitching forward in his takedown. Thus, as Ryuu's foot would actually hit, Adrian would already be wrapping his arms around Ryuu's calf and his shoulder plowing into the knee. Whereas the boy had some chance of keeping his footing before, now that he left his other foot to try and kick, he would ensure his fall. Not only that, Adrian would certainly get to the spot before his kick would connect, considering the distance, making even the kick useless, as well.

Ryuu had almost guaranteed himself a loss at this point.

As he fell back, Adrian would waste no time in pressing his advantage. With his right shoulder pressed into Ryuu's knee and his hands on his calf, Adrian would lower his head into the ground, raise his hind-end into the air as he stood up somewhat and yanked up - hard - on Ryuu's leg. With his shoulder keeping the knee from moving, the leg would almost certainly snap with a loud, wet pop. With his head down and butt up as it was, the only exposed part of Adrian's body was his back, and he was ready and willing to take any flaming punches he had to before the leg would break at the knee. With Adrian's strength, it wasn't likely Ryuu would be able to get more than one, if even that.

[Ryuu]

Ryuu had to hand it to Adrian, the bastard was strong. With his right shoulder pressed into Ryuu's knee and his hands on his calf, Ryuu saw him lower his head into the ground and raise his ass up into the air, standing up, Ryuu felt him yanked hard and up on Ryuu's leg. Since his shoulder keeping Ryuu's knee from moving, it would seem Ryuu was out of options right? Wrong. Adrian may be stronger, but Ryuu was a quick thinker, and could think on the fly, despite the pain on his knee. Strength wasn't everything. And Ryuu's arms were free, and his hands were still covered in flames. Since Adrian had tucked his head in, there was no chance at hurting his face. And even though his back was exposed, his spine wouldn't react fast enough to stop the pain Ryuu was feeling. There was one trick though. Ryuu knew he could just get his hands to where his one ear was poking out.

Ever have someone clap both their hands over your ears at once? It causes a sudden, drastic increase in pressure. Easily enough to rupture, no, burst eardrums. Intense, incredible pain. More than enough to make Adrian ease his grip. And with his hands busy and his vision facing away, he'd never see it coming. So Ryuu quickly reeled back and slammed his palm engulfed in flames against his ear. Even one slap is enough of a pressure change to shred the tiny organs of the ear. It'd be a miracle if it didn't burst something. Add to the fact Ryuu had flames engulfing his hand, and not only would it possibly burst his eardrum, but he would have a burn on his ear too. And if it didn't work... Well, Ryuu would be limping very very soon.

(OOC: CON: 23)

[Adrian]

Ryuu's move was a sound choice, and it would have worked, too, if it wasn't for one important note: he didn't have monkey arms. At best, the arm can go down to about mid-thigh, and without sitting up, Ryuu would have a hard time reaching any farther down. Adrian's ear was planted closer to the boy's knee than anything else, meaning, if Ryuu was slapping at his ear, he'd have to sit up.

Thanks to Adrian's close positioning to the boy, he wouldn't have to see anything. As Ryuu would try to sit up, Adrian would be able to feel his leg shifting back slightly, as well as the weight distribution changing from the entire back to just the legs, and with this knowledge, Adrian would be able to react quite quickly. As soon as he felt Ryuu shifting, Adrian, thanking God for his stable footing at the moment, would simply pull Ryuu backwards a step or two, using the leg sandwiched between Adrian's shoulder and arms to yank him backwards, causing him to either lose his sitting balance or throw his hands back to keep from losing it.

From there, Adrian would simply try again, quicker this time, as he knew what was coming, yanking up against the knee and attempting to break it. It would seem that Adrian was quite intent on damaging the boy's knee, and putting an early end to this fight.