Adrian Hanlon vs. Ryuu Hikari

[Ryuu]

Despite the fact Ryuu's move did not work, that did not discourage him. If anything, it pumped his determination up. Even though Adrian pulled Ryuu backwards, causing him to retract his hands to keep himself from falling, now that he knew what he couldn't do, he knew what he could do now. For starters, any movement of his upper body would alert Adrian immediately, allowing him to react and deter Ryuu's attacks. And the fact that Adrian outweighed Ryuu meant he could not yank him backwards and flip him. But there was one thing Ryuu could do, despite Adrian's face was covered, it left his back open, which was all Ryuu needed, but he would need to be quick for this to work. Lifting his right arm up, making it seem like he was trying to re-adjust his balance, Ryuu would first deactivate his Qi, he wouldn't need it for this.

With his index and middle finger extended out, Ryuu would swiftly jab his two fingers at the base of Adrian's skull, a technique he had been taught in the Shifting Dragon style of fighting, a style taught only in the Hikari family. He was racing against time, his strike to temporary shut Adrian's brain down against Adrian's breaking of his knee. But since Adrian's head was tucked down, and this strike did not require Ryuu to be in a sitting position, or move his upper body for that matter, unless Adrian had eyes in the back of his head, he may possibly not see the simple strike coming. But then again, anything could happen. Hopefully this worked, or Ryuu would end up using a wheelchair for a little while.

(OOC: CON: 23, Qi deactivated mid-post)

[Adrian]

((Interesting move, Lloyd. Bear in mind it's EXTREMELY difficult for me to put my Xin1 sense of fighting out of mind here, so feel free to PM me if something is amiss here.))

Adrian would pull up on the boy's knee as hard as he could, but before he would hear that meaty rip that signaled the joint being pressed past its limits, a sudden strike on the back of his neck would, somehow, cause the boy to lock up, as if his brain was shutting down.

What in the fuck?!

With his mind locking, his nerves soon followed, causing him to drop to his knees on either side of Ryuu's leg. However, Ryuu wouldn't get out scot-free. Adrian still managed to give a significant yank to the boy's leg, likely tearing a ligament or two, at least, even though his knee was preserved. Ryuu would be able to walk, if not well.

However, there was still the matter of getting out from under the much larger opponent.

With his body locking up, Adrian was now sitting directly upon Ryuu's leg, leaving him helpless to move, at least for now. Adrian had become mostly dead weight for the moment, and all of that weight was positioned right over the boy's leg. If Ryuu had a move to make, he'd need to make it quickly, as Adrian's will was already raging to counteract whatever had been done to his mind.

[Ryuu]

The minute his strike connected, Ryuu saw Adrian drop to his knees on either side of Ryuu's knee. That wasn't to say Ryuu got away scot-free, Adrian still managed to give an almighty yank on Ryuu's knee, trying a couple ligaments or so, but Ryuu would still be able to walk, he might have a slight limp, but he could still walk either way. The issue now however, was the fact Adrian had now become complete dead weight, sitting directly on Ryuu's leg. Ryuu had thought past that part though, and had prepared for it the moment he had decided to use that strike. Pushing his knee up against Adrian, he would then place both his hands flat against Adrian's shoulders, before using the combined strength of his leg and arms, to shove Adrian as much as he could back. Once he felt his leg could get free, Ryuu would quickly pull his leg out before using his arms to push himself back away from Adrian, man the guy was heavy.

His leg free, Ryuu would get put as much distance as he could from himself and Adrian before he regained use of his body once more. That strike however, wasn't the only one Ryuu knew. But for now, after checking his leg, and seeing that it wasn't too badly injured, as well as moving around to get some feeling back in his leg, he could still move at his regular speed, he readied himself for Adrian, who would probably be hopping mad from the move Ryuu used on him. Only the Hikari's knew about the Shifting Dragon style, so this style would be what Ryuu was going to be using for the rest of the fight, until he could use his Qi again, he needed to rest after all. Coupling such a style with his Qi, could prove to be a deadly combo. For now, he'd concentrate on keeping Adrian at bay for as long as he could with the strikes he learned. He didn't need another attempt at breaking his knee, or any part of his body for that matter.

[Adrian]

((Remember to refer to the CON I posted at the beginning of the fight to determine hit strength, as I just leveled it up.))

Adrian was shoved off from the boy's leg, and fell backwards, the jolt shaking him back to control as he threw himself into the fall, turning it into a backwards roll, both fists closing against the dirt on the ground as he did so, and coming back to his feet quickly, just as Ryuu was getting to his feet. Adrian watched the boy test his leg, and seem to find it almost entirely unhurt. His eyes narrowed slightly - he knew he had to have done more damage than that, just knew it. Regardless, Adrian couldn't argue with reality in front of him. His hands remained balled in fists, which he knocked together as he shook his head.

"Neat trick, Hero," Adrian said, his gaze not as playful as before. "It won't work again."

With that, Adrian put up a more conventional boxing stance and began moving into range of Ryuu, and once he reached in, he would throw out a quick one-two combo consisting of a straight right jab and a quick left hook, both aimed for Ryuu's head.

The one-two was only a feint, though, and as Ryuu was busy dealing with those, Adrian's left foot would strike out in a hard push kick for Ryuu's right knee. He wasn't done with that leg just yet.

[Ryuu]

It appeared shoving Adrian back shook back into control, for he threw himself into the fall, turning it into a backwards roll, before coming back up to his feet quickly, just as Ryuu managed to stand himself. Testing his leg, Ryuu found that for the most part, he was relatively unharmed, a couple torn ligaments, but nothing that wouldn't heal quickly. Ryuu then faced Adrian, seeing him knocked his clenched up fists together much like a boxer, except he was not wearing any gloves, as he shook his head. Ryuu eased himself into his stance, his hands loosely held out in front of him, his eyes narrowed in focus and concentration. "Neat trick, Hero. It won't work again." That strike however, was not the only one Ryuu knew. There were literally, thousands of techniques in the Shifting Dragon style, and while Ryuu did not know all of them, he knew quite a bit of them, to say the least. He didn't train for 4 years learning it for nothing you know.

He saw Adrian get into a typical boxer stance and began to move within range, once he was in, he saw Adrian throw a quick one-two combo consisting of a straight right jab followed by a left hook, both aimed for his head. Ryuu ducked low as the right jab blew past, and tilted his head back, letting the left hook blow past, the wind from the hook grazing his chin. While Adrian's arms were in motion, Ryuu took the opportunity and launched a right jab, but this was merely a feint, a distraction, as underneath, his left arm shot out to strike with his index and middle finger once more, this time aiming for the top of Adrian's ribs. Because they were in close range, and because Adrian was still in motion, he would more than likely have a difficult time dodging the strike, though anything could happen right now. As he did, he noticed Adrian's left foot shot out in an attempt to strike at Ryuu's right knee once more, but Ryuu reacted quickly, and shifted his leg back a bit, the strike would still connect, but it would only hurt his knee slightly, instead of smashing it in. If his first strike connected, Ryuu would then pull his right hand back, keeping it close. It would yet to been seen if his strikes actually connected.

[Adrian]

Ryuu deftly dodged the attacks, as Adrian had suspected he would. When the Asian teenager snuck an attack in underneath his guard, the initial one was impossible to block, as his left arm was still suspended from the hook. The initial jab, however, was already cocked back in a ready position, as the very nature of a jab makes it a perfect range-finder and opening punch, as it can be snapped back to guard in a matter of moments. As such, when Ryuu's initial jab came in, Adrian simply lowered his chin into his chest and leaned back somewhat, taking the punch on the forehead glancingly instead of full-on. When it came out with less power than he expected, Adrian realized it was a feint. The left arm shot out, using what Adrian didn't know to be the finger position of Shifting Dragon. All Adrian knew was that he wasn't letting it hit.

His right arm swung down in a hard downward arc, his wrist knocking against Ryuu's hand as hard as he could do it, using the extra 'weight' of the coat and the bracers on his wrists(*cough*conboost*cough*) to attempt to hurt the arm with the block.

His left hand was still out from the hook, and instead of retracting it, Adrian quickly torqued his body to the left, swinging that arm that was still positioned near the boy's head into a hard back-fist, not worrying about whether or not the boy's right hand would be able to block it or not.

The back-fist was actually a sort of feint, a clearing punch designed to knock away the remaining guard at Ryuu's face. It wasn't thrown at half-speed, it was actually thrown with harder than average force, as the point would be to catch the arm and knock it away. If it connected with Ryuu's face though, it would be painful.

Regardless, with the arm out of the way, whether through dodging or what-not, Adrian's right fist would shoot forward, his hand opening near the end of the extension, and the handful of dirt he gathered in the previous post ("...turning it into a backwards roll, both fists closing against the dirt on the ground as he did so...") would be ejected from his hand as he threw it into Ryuu's eyes, hoping to blind him if only for a moment.

Adrian would follow up with a middle-uppercut from his left hand, which would have swung back down to ready position in this time, aiming for Ryuu's stomach. He'd take the rest as it came from here.

[Ryuu]

His left jab connected with Adrian's forehead, but because it served as a feint, the strength behind it wasn't as powerful as a regular punch. His left hand was knocked away when Adrian swung his right arm out in a hard downward arc, sending a jolt of pain through Ryuu's arm, enough to make him pull his arm back. Adrian then torqued his body to the left, swinging his left hand that had been in a hook in a back-fist strike, aiming for Ryuu's head, as Ryuu deftly ducked underneath it, his arms now close to him, but just as he did, he saw Adrian's right fist shoot out, as his hand opened near the end of the extension of his arm, throwing the dirt that he had collected a few minutes ago, right into Ryuu's face. Bringing his arms up in a cross, he blocked most of the dirt, though some of it did end up on his face, not enough to blind him, but still enough to irritate him somewhat. His eyes narrowing, he saw Adrian throw a middle uppercut with his left hand, aiming for his stomach.

Timing his movement, Ryuu twisted his body back, his right shoulder leaning back, flowing with the direction of the uppercut, as the punch grazed his stomach. Now on the right side of Adrian's arm, his right hand then shot out, taking hold of Adrian's wrist, and moving quickly, launched what looked like a hook at his ribs, but just as he reached Adrian's elbow, his hand opened in a flat-palmed strike, as he aimed for the joint of Adrian's elbow, hard enough to give him a minor break. If the strike connected, Ryuu would then twist his arm into a underhand position, and aim a punch at Adrian's elbow once more, as his fist neared, he would extend his index and middle finger, and attempt to strike at the back of Adrian's elbow. Adrian was clearly stronger than Ryuu, but Ryuu was faster, and could react to attacks quicker. He would then bring his left hand back, and release Adrian's wrist, before moving back, his hands held loosely in front of him once more, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Whatever happened, happened. Whatever didn't happen, didn't. Ryuu would take whatever came next in stride.

[Adrian]

Ryuu had a remarkably quick defense, which definitely played into the teenager's fighting style, but Adrian, on the other hand, was known for having an unrelenting offense. His lack of speed and ability to coordinate complex moves essentially demanded that he do, because when he was pushed into a defensive, rarely could he move fast enough to not fall under a hail of attacks. Ironically, it was a strong offense like his that was likely one of his biggest weaknesses.

Regardless, Ryuu dodged to the inside, putting himself, unbeknownst or not, within harm's way in order to work in a potentially disabling attack. Adrian, however, would never see the attack coming, because as soon as his uppercut would glance past Ryuu's stomach, he'd torque his body back to his right, swinging the entirety of his large arm into Ryuu's midsection. This, of course, couldn't hurt him straight off, but with his legs set firmly, Adrian intended on shoving the boy to the right, causing him to have to abandon any attack he was planning on doing in order to keep his balance.

If he managed to get the boy unsettled with his fierce shove, if even for a slight stagger, Adrian would torque his upper body back again to the left, swinging his right arm out in a powerful hook aimed for the back of Ryuu's head. Hopefully he could connect with it and leave the boy ringing long enough to finish the match for good.

[Ryuu]

The moment Adrian's uppercut grazed Ryuu's stomach, he saw him torque his body to the right, swinging his arm into Ryuu's midsection. Ryuu however, saw the attack, and twisted his body once more, leaning his left shoulder back in the direction Adrian's arm was swinging. Ryuu was sent a bit to the right though, but not enough to throw him off his line of course, for Adrian never saw the attack coming, allowing Ryuu to strike the back part of Adrian's elbow. As Adrian then torqued his body back to the left, in an attempt to swing his right arm in a hook aiming for the back of Ryuu's head, Ryuu released Adrian's wrist and ducked low, he then charged forward, snapping his right arm out, aiming straight for the top of Adrian's ribs, just before the large bone plate covering his heart. Ryuu was a speedy bastard, and at this close range, Adrian would have a hard time avoiding this strike.

His eyes calm but focused, Ryuu continued to rush forward, his left hand kept close. Ryuu had to hand it to Adrian, he was a worthy opponent. His offensive strikes matched Ryuu's defensive strikes move for move. But it was also his offensive strikes that could lead to his downfall. The attack would knock the wind out of Adrian, hopefully allowing Ryuu to launch a knockout blow. Adrian may be strong, but if he couldn't react to his opponent attacks in time, that strength is wasted. And Ryuu was becoming exhausted, so he prayed even more that this strike connected. If it did connect, Ryuu would then launch a uppercut with his left hand, using his legs to propel himself upwards, to put even more power into this strike. It was now or never, as they say.

[Keeper Of Secrets]

We find Adrian Hanlon the winner of this fight. Congrats. Ryuu, however, did one hell of a job. Keep a look out for rewards when they are posted.