Second Tournament of Fighters (Aureus/Karel)

[fryman]

Location: Arena 1, Exile Headquarter
Fighter 1: Aureus
Fighter 2: Karel

Fight!!!

[Aureus]

A second was all it took for everything to click into place, like the hammer of a gun being pulled back. The smile slid off Aureus' face only to be replaced with a look of intense rage. His gloves lit up, his hands balled into fists. He would be fighting the man who dared touch his girlfriend. His body shook and felt like it was on fire. Every part of him wanted to tear the entire room up until he found the bastard. Thankfully Chi's touch was able to bring him back down, if only a little. She warned him about not doing anything stupid, but he didn't need to be told. He knew from rumors around the school that Karel was probably stronger than he was, but that wasn't about to stop him.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him. I don't care what the rules are, I'm gonna kill him. He'll pay for everything he's ever done to you, I swear," The Pillar growled, his eyes screaming murder. Turning to look at the ring, he slammed his fist into the wall, a small crater marring it's surface. "I promise...I promise you. I love you," He said to the dark haired girl, staring deep into her eyes before heading off towards the ring.

On his way there he practically pushed everyone out of the way, even burning a few, but the look in his eyes told them all that retaliating wouldn't be in their best interest. Climbing into the ring, Aureus stopped in the dead center and looked around anxiously. He was still shaking, not from fear, but rage, anticipation, and his love for Chi. The fight couldn't start fast enough.

[Karel]

Karel stepped into the arena, walking over to his starting position, and on the very first step he could practically smell his opponent's killing intent. Although he wasn't phased in the slightest, he merely took note of his particularly enthusiastic his opponent was. Apparently, as he had discovered thanks to the match-ups list, Aureus here seemed a bit jumpy. Either excited or nervous... or even a combination of both, something was definitely up.

Meh. Not his business, and so he took to his neutral position - calm, with his hands by his sides as he waited patiently.

[Aureus]

Staring holes into the Senior as he entered the ring, Aureus had to use everything in him to keep from going insane. He felt a wider range of emotion than he ever had before. He was randomly switching between himself and Levi, his bodily features almost blurring. It was like he was slipping in and out of reality with no sense of identity, only purpose. It was the worst and best he had ever felt. His breath came quick and he could feel the adrenaline shooting through his veins. His muscles tightened and loosened. Attempting to steady himself, the Pillar let out a low growl.

"I'm going to kill you, ya know that? After everything you put her through, I'm going to drag you through hell. I don't care about this tournament, or anything else. I want you to feel her pain, my pain and so much more," Aureus said frighteningly steady. There was no doubt in any of his actions, he knew what he wanted, no needed to do, and his body was screaming for it's reality.

Fist balled inside the spiked, flaming gloves that matched his eyes, the boy started towards his opponent with his right arm pulled in towards his chest. When he was finally in range, Aureus sent his right fist towards the dead center of Karel's chest with everything he had in him. It had begun...

[Karel]

Karel didn't fully understand. Although in a normal situation he would of asked "what?", this was an exception. He was in battle - and in a fight, Karel only knew one method of talk. Action. This guy obviously wanted to kill him... that was enough reason for him to fight back. Nothing else. The flaming gloves immediately caught his attention, but did little to slow him down in his actions. As Aureus charged, Karel's left foot took a step forward, than when he was in range and the fist was thrown, Karel who wasn't even looking anymore stepped in with his right foot - using his shoulder to get behind his balled up hand - "attaching" itself to his wrist as Karel's left side suddenly spun around - his elbow, sharp and combined with his strength went for Aureus' throat, just above the collar.

And that's what's known as a killing blow.

For he was fast and swift, Karel's counters were deadly if not, devastating. With Aureus' forward movement, changing course could only be done if he had room or an external force. Suffice to say, Karel could tell he didn't have either because no one else was permitted to enter the ring save the referee, and ... well, he had denied Aureus the room to move by stepping in earlier, which pretty much meant Aureus was fucked. There was, however, one thing folks should know about the ex-gang leader's attacks... it's the fact that if they don't kill, they debilitate. Determination, Bravery... stupidity even, all of that could not save one from the effects of his attacks.

[Aureus]

Karel was fast, just as the Pillar had expected, though he was still able to catch his movements without much trouble. The Senior had maneuvered around his punch and was now pivoting inside his guard. This meant a couple of things; whatever he was planning didn't require much precision as the turning would throw that off and because of the added momentum he was probably attempting something serious. That being the case, Aureus decided to protect himself the easiest and quickest way he could: lowering himself.

Because his right leg had planted itself firmly in the ground to steady himself when he launched the punch, it really wasn't all that difficult for the Junior to lower his body by bending his knees and lowering his head slightly. The elbow swished over his head, leaving it's owner's left side exposed, and before Karel could do anything more to attack or defend himself Aureus shot his left fist hard up and to the left, right where his opponent's "false ribs" would be. This set of ribs was different from the others as they weren't connected to the sternum and thus were more vulnerable to breaking from blunt trauma. If one or more did indeed break, they could puncture organs and cause all sorts of internal wounds. Even if the outcome wasn't that serious, there was still a sure shot of at least one tearing the abdominal muscle. The fact that Aureus' attacking fist was covered with a flaming, studded glove only made things worse for Karel.

Regardless of whether or not the boy stopped his turn or continued it, the schizo's attack would have undoubtedly landed. There was little chance of him being able to pull his arm down fast enough, or swinging his right knee around because his pivot hurt his balance.

Assuming that worked the Pillar would then pivot 90 degrees, moving his left leg back, and swinging his right arm up and around to catch his opponent in the side of the face.

[Karel]

Every fool made that mistake - and even Chi had warned Aureus to stay 3 moves ahead of Karel. Ducking down was the worst idea he could ever make. Why? He had ignored two factors:

• 1) Karel was wearing a leather jacket. Not the cheap kind, either.
  That said, leather was thick... yet why was it effective? Because of its ability to absorb friction. The thickness also meant that slash attacks performed by knives or of similar origin would not work effectively against the senior. What else? It wasn't cotton, it wasn't going to ignite from the brief exposure to flame. It would need a long time exposure to intense heat in order to melt - and a flame glove briefly touching it wasn't going to work, either. Unless someone had a meteor's impact of a punch, they weren't about to do any damage to Karel some time soon.
  
  Another bonus Karel received was that he did not zip up his jacket. This, in turn would flail particularly around the waist when he moved, thereby misguiding the aim of those who were intent on attacking him. Aureus' emergency save which would of needed divine intervention due to his inferior speed and should of been struck at the upper throat - at Karel's strength would leave him unable to breathe for quite a while anyway (after all, Karel aimed at the throat and not at the head for a reason), it also meant abandoning his previous attack mid-way, which was something no one could perform without causing an unnecessarily long delay without the help of a Qi ability. And ducking down during such an attack was also against the forward momentum.
  
  In short, the delay between the attack recovery to the successive attack is long such that Karel could of easily stepped around, and even behind Aureus. No exaggeration.
  
  
• 2) Karel was moving in a circular motion.
  That said, the senior's movement was continuous - and even as Aureus proceeded to attack, Karel's short intense burst-like motion would always outrun him. That was abusing the fact that he had superior speed and a hell good knowledge of circular physics. How so? Imagine a spinning top and then think about poking it. The result is that the spinning top moves away. In this case, however, Karel is much like a spinning top only stationary and also being heavier than his lower classmen. The end effect would result in Aureus' attack being deflected - not heavily mind you, but far more than enough for Karel to get away unscathed. Unscathed? Remember? Thick leather jacket? Let's make it worse and add to that. The motion in which Aureus had chosen was to move and strike Karel from via a thrust-like motion such as a punch was ... suffice to say, a failure.
  

End result? Karel was not in the least bit phased and Aureus just shortened his life by ducking down. Planting his feet was the bigger mistake and now he was going to pay for it. Karel's left foot planted down to plan a new pivoting spin, only this time it was not a punch Karel was going to launch... it was a knee. From low, and from his right - the schizophrenic pillar was too close to avoid it by stepping back. He had also initiated an attack previously, hence Karel was attacking him during that delay period. Moving towards Karel's left meant defying his still-returning momentum, effectively slowing his movement which meant he wouldn't make it unless someone gave him a kick up the ass from the back. If Aureus chose to move towards Karel, or towards his right side... well, I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of people who like running into cars. With that said, this attack was aimed for Aureus' recovering chin.

Let's just hope Aureus has some damn good insurance, because rising back up was impossible from this close... well, at least, to wave himself.

Next time, take Chi's warning to heart little Aureus.

OOC: Don't assume anything lands, people do consider it godding, y'know. Why? Because if I make one action, it will void the rest you made - I'll ignore it quietly this once, just for you~

[Aureus]

Grinding his teeth, Aureus braced for the impending impact. His attack hadn't been strong enough to damage Karel because of his spin, which one should note was insanely fast. Not to mention, the Senior had impeccable balance. That aside, the Pillar just didn't have enough time to react and was hit clean in the right cheek by his opponent's knee. Flying across the ring, he landed hard on his right side. After two seconds of sharp pain the sensation dulled and became more of a low key burning sensation that left him a little light headed.

Aureus' breath came fast as he spit blood from his cheek outside of the ring. It may have hit someone, or not; he wasn't sure, but again he didn't really care. He was still dead set on killing the student opposite of him. While struggling to his feet, the Junior fully expected Karel to make another move, he was waiting for it. However if it never came he would take the short break to catch his breath. His knees would be slightly bent, left shoulder facing the Senior with his feet set shoulder's length apart, left arm raised to protect his upper body with the right hanging near his mid section.

[Karel]

As the blow struck and Aureus took literal flight, Karel's form slowed almost immediately. Lowering his leg back to the ground with his arms relaxing by his sides. One up. It seemed his opponent had gotten the idea... after all, approaching the way he did wasn't the smartest idea of them all.

Well, whatever.

That small exchange was done with - and it seemed his opponent was intent on keeping this up. Any more blows to the head and this guy might even be inoperable before he's done. Well that was his choice, but for now it seems he was still able. Whether or not he was really any challenge for Karel meant nothing now... for this time, he could have his breath. And all they did was wait.

[Aureus]

"Do you even care about what you did to her? Is this all just some game?!" The Pillar shouted, still trying to rationalize things. Shooting a glance over at Chi, who was in the middle of her own battle, he wondered if things would ever be alright. She had gone through so much already. It was far from over though, but Aureus didn't know that, not yet anyway.

As his breath became more steady, he tried to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't let the reality of the situation sink in. Everything was falling apart. He didn't even know who he was anymore. The fire was still burning around his balled up fists and gave off a quiet sound that he had to strain to catch. Aureus felt isolated in this world of hate and anxiety with Karel and every second spent there was driving him mad.

Regardless of whether or not the Senior answered him, the boy would take two steps to enter attacking range. They weren't slow, but steady, so he could change things up if his opponent moved in turn. If not, he would plant his right foot on the second step, turn on it, and aim a round house kick to the side of Karel's knee.

OOC: Since you didn't specify in your last post and I couldn't reach you on MSN, I'm going to assume that Karel's facing Aureus chest out with his hands at his sides. I'll edit if necessary.

[Karel]

A roundhouse kick was something one only used to sweep themselves clean - using it for any other purpose renders it completely useless. Why? Compared to other kick forms, it was one of the slowest... and in order for Aureus to make such a kick successful in any case, he needed to be faster than his opponent or have some prepare time ahead of them. Suffice to say, he was not Chuck Norris. But as it was, a 'steady step' was impossible to really invoke... for movement is the imbalance of neutrality, hence why having to attack first is always such a bother.

Of course, that's enough science. Karel was going to remind the Junior of how much things can hurt when he gets careless.

From Aureus' previous movement, this senior already knew the extent of his opponent's physical limits... or at least had a very good idea. Strength was good, but speed wasn't - and on top of it all it didn't seem like he was the type to fancy grapples or long periods of connections. The easiest, most energy saving way to take him out was by using debilitating attacks. With that said, Karel suddenly charge - passing through the small distance and charging through Aureus' attack thereby interjecting it, but just as he came in he turned - throwing his right fist at the incoming ankle.

[Aureus]

Karel moved quickly and a short distance before turning his body in another direction, though the fact that he moved at all gave the Pillar the signal that he needed to modify his plan before executing it. That modification was a simple one, and needed to be as there wasn't much time.

All Aureus did was throw more energy into his rotation than was previously necessary, enough for his leg to outrun his opponent's fist. At the same time, he extended his right fist to connect with the Senior's jaw. After rotation 180 degree, around the time his fist would be near Karel's head, he would alternate feet; right foot onto left foot, for only a second before switching back so that he could steer his path away from his opponent. It was a simple precaution, as the odds of his fist hitting it's target weren't comfortably high. Not to mention, it would allow him the most versatility no matter what the circumstances.