By the Flagpole (John Ong, Spectators Welcome)

[Yahto Fang]

It was a pleasantly warm day, with the late morning sun shining majestically within a cloudless blue sky. Yahto stood waiting by the flagpole in the school's courtyard. The soft songs of small birds could be heard drifting over a light breeze while the sounds of students laughing and chatting away filled Yahto's senses. Of course, Yahto was a million miles away from all of that. Anyone would be if they'd found a mysterious note in their locker with a challenge written on it. Or in this case, a test against Yahto's mettle. Written by one John Ong, too. Yahto hadn't been at this school that long, but the name wasn't unknown to him. From what Yahto knew of him, he was a strong fighter with a reputation for being as ruthless as he was methodical.

Anyone would've been nervous about getting a note like that from someone like him. Anyone but Yahto. No, he found it something to look forward to. A chance to get stronger and to learn a trick or two. "Come on... You said 3 o'clock. So where are you?" the boy said to himself with a smirk lining his face, his eyes scanning the doors for any sight of his "challenger." He hadn't felt this fired up in a long time.

The sound of the flagpole rattling in the wind brought Yahto's gaze to the school flag flailing in the breeze. He couldn't imagine how many fights this spot had seen before he came here, but then that hardly mattered to him. What did matter to him was this, though. Whatever happened here was going to be something that no one would be able to forget. He chuckled lightly at the thought as he removed his jacket and revealed the E-Nomine hooded sweatshirt he wore beneath it, then tossed the coat near the pole's base. If he wanted to fight at his best, then he would need to get his body as light as possible.

[John]

It may have been a rash descision, but John, for all his selfish pride, had recently admitted needing help to his only friend. But they would need more, more than just him and her, they would need fighters. And John's eyes wheren't just used to see the hydrogen particles in the air, it was for spotting particuler things, and this new person had been caught in his eye. Something different about him from everyone else.

So walking into the courtyard, and to the flag poll he would spot the young one he challanged. Standing there he'd cross his arms and stare with his usual judging glare. Yet, it was different still, as if there where actually a small glimmer of emotion... Odd right? But never the less he'd approach the kid and unfold his arms. His usual blood red coat would be on his back, but he'd slide that off and throw it to the side, leaving his white tank top and black pants. His red gloves still there, the symbols of fire on the back of each glove. More for look than anything else. His silver hair, red eyes, and tan skin may seem odd to some people, but it wasn't really.

"Well, I guess I'll give you the opening move. My name is John Ong, and I'll be evaluating your survival rating at this school... A war is coming, will you be prepared?"

With that, his right foot would stomp forward, bouncing on the toe, his left taking in some weight as it turned to his left slightly, his arms coming up in front of him, as his upper back bent into his fore arms, his body utterly protected. Muay Thai. His fighting style of choice.

[Yahto Fang]

It seemed that Yahto didn't have long to wait. Almost as soon as he dropped his jacket near the flagpole, the sound of someone approaching caught his attention and lifted his gaze to a white-haired youth who wore a crimson longcoat. It was someone that Yahto had never seen before but he didn't have to know the person's face to figure out that was John Ong. It was in the way he carried himself that tipped Yahto off more than anything. It was the cold, even ruthless, determination that seemed to shine from his eyes like light off a glacier's surface. It was in his stride, and even in his aura. Yahto couldn't quite suppress his smirk from growing into a full and probably over-confident grin as he turned towards his opponent. "This guy is the real deal. Looks like I'm in for a better clash than I thought." he mused to himself, the bones of his neck popping softly as he rolled his shoulders to loosen up. Today was going to be a good day.

Stopping about fifteen feet in front of John, Yahto offered the other male a nod in greeting before sliding his hands into his hoodie's front pocket. In some ways, he was even more impatient to begin the battle than John was, but he also wasn't the sort of fellow to just blindly rush in. After all, this was a friendly duel. Of sorts, anyway. "Survival rating, huh? Well, in that case, I'll be sure to not disappoint you, Mr. Ong." Yahto told him, a slight breeze blowing by and making the strands of black hair framing his face flutter loosely. The bit about "a war coming" from John managed to perk the boy's interest, but not by much. He had already seen the chaos wrought by the Enforcers and had heard about the movements of the other gangs from Delilah. But now, Yahto was beginning if this fight was really just some attempt at recruiting him to one side or the other.

Of course, that was neither here nor there right now.

As soon as John entered his stance, Yahto did the same. He rolled his shoulders and neck for a bit to loosen his muscles before he lowered his body into a stance that kind of resembled a football player's three-pointed stance. But then, it became so much more. As soon as Yahto's hand touched the ground in front of him, a kind of metamorphosis took place over him. He brought his other hand down to the ground and his feet spread even further apart, lowering his body even closer to the ground until his stance began to resemble a wild animal about to strike. His right hand extended forward while the left clawed back towards his flank, perfectly distributing the weight of his body onto his limbs. But what was most noticable was in how much stronger the flow of his Qi suddenly became as it coursed through Yahto's body, like the flow of gushing water within a kinked garden hose that suddenly became straight. In many ways, it seemed this form was even more natural for him than even everyday walking. Even the grin from his face had vanished completely while his eyes reflected a kind of primal determination to win.

This was the style that Yahto had invented himself with the help of the teachings Shou' Shu', the art of Beast Knowledge. Wolf Style Kung Fu. While most other fighters concentrated only on their weak spots, Yahto alternated between attacking both weakness as well as strength. After all, the quickest way to bring down a large elk for a wolf was not in attacking the throat, but in the legs.

Then, within a blink of an eye, Yahto had suddenly disappeared from where he crouched and reappeared even more quickly than that on John's left side. The Body Flicker technique. His body was kept as low to the ground as it was before, but now his hands were clasped together as he aimed a hard elbow strike the side of his opponent's knee that was closest to him. However, that was only a feint. Just when it seemed like his driving elbow strike would come into contact with the side of John's knee, Yahto suddenly vanished once more with another burst of the Body Flicker. But this time, he reappeared in mid-air directly behind John's head with his left leg held straight up and his body relatively parallel to the ground. Then, using the momentum left over from the Body Flicker, Yahto rotated his body to bring the heel of his feet hammering down towards John's right shoulder.

[Arim Urem'der]

Behind the corner of a protruding room of the school, a small blonde head bobbed lightly, picking itself up as it slid back down once again. A silent heavy breath escaped from the girl every once in awhile. It was obvious, the girl was asleep right now.

Previously, Arim had been doing her semi-weekly check on her friend's lockers, breaking into them and adjusting them so they are neat and tidy. There's neat and tidy, obsessive, then there was Arim. A whole new pedestal of cleanliness, making sure everyone was neat and organized around her. Spick and span, that was her motto. Of course, the problem was locker combos. Which of course, she had memorized. A photographic memory is a good thing. On her run, she had decided to turn around Yahto's locker (of course she didn't tell him, she always did these things in secret. How she got away with it was another story). Upon examining the inside, she found an obvious note on the inside of it, written for a battle. Of course she had gotten flustered, not forgetting to tidy it up of course, Arim flew down the hallway and started what she had set out to do.

A stake-out in broad daylight...

...4 hours early.

Unfortunately, it was 4-hours early or nothing. Arim was booked solid, and had to time to make it outside at any other time. A few large novels laid on the ground beside her with a notepad in her lap, it was a bit obvious that the hours went by agonizingly slow. Her eyes fluttered open when she heard a loud noise of something colliding with the ground, making me jump a bit and clamp her hand over her mouth. Her brown eyes widened before she turned over her shoulder to look at what was going on. They were here already!? She couldn't help but turn to one of her books, mentally shaking a fist at the biography of Microbiologist. The author was phenomenal with points-of-view... but reading always made her sleep. Damn you, Louis Pasteur.

Turning back, the girl's large eyes stared eagerly at the two as she analyzed them carefully. The man with white hair... she knew he was mentioned before, or she had overheard a conversation. John Ong? Something like that, her lips puckered a bit as she stared at his form. "White hair? How illogical... he can't be an old person" the blonde thought to herself, dismissing the thought for now. His stance was odd, she couldn't recall seeing it before... but what she could tell, it was more defensive looking. His upper body bent into his arms, this protected his shoulders. A very well known fact in her own discipline, balance in crucial, and your shoulders are a very vulnerable place. Even a simple push in the wrong spot on your shoulders meant one straight ticket to face-plant-cement street.

However, her focus here was on Yahto. Eagerly her eyes flicked to him, noticing his change in stance. His form seemed more.. animalistic, like a wild beast more or less. But she was not one to think so simplistic of things, there was more to fighting than just what your stance resembles. Yahto was very low to the ground, lowering your center of gravity gave you more balance, it's also harder to knock you down when you're lower to the ground. Scooting closer to the corner, her legs curled up to her chest and she wrapped her arms around them, her eyebrows knitting together as she calculated this. She hadn't seen Yahto's fighting style as far as she knew either, this was definitely going to be something. A smile crawled up the girl's face and the gold flecks in her eyes seemed to almost shine in amazement.

However... her shoulders slumped and her gaze turned to hard in thought. John Ong mentioned... a war? What war...? What was he talking about, and what did this have to do with needing Yahto? Her eyes turned blank and dark for a moment, perhaps even cold, and it didn't show often. Something was right... and someone wasn't telling her everything...

Her eyes widened when Yahto suddenly disappeared out of sight, her mouth opened in question before he reappeared by John, seeming to attack lower. Arim laid her chin on her knees as he flicked from sight once again, "A feint, thought as much". Feints were a crucial thing she knew in the Art of Trickery, but it was quite interesting on it's own. She could tell already, this was going to be interesting. The girl blinked and she sung a silent cheer in Yahto's favour in her head, "I uh... hope you do well-- and win, yeah... win..." she thought to herself, a light blush started to form on her cheeks.

[John]

John sat nicely, completely solid in his stance as Yahto got down into a fighting style John had never run into before. Which also meant predicting him would be harder than usual. His eyes focused, the pupils becoming nothing more than a dot in his intensely dark red eyes. Then poof. John's senses went on high alert and bam, there he was. Then poof again. John turned slightly keeping his defences up, raising his right arm and obsorbed the impact of both heels. His muscles going to full mass, and his eye brows tilting inward as his, hand would slip down to grab the kids ankle.

From there John would yank downwards to throw the kid to the ground with as much force as John could muster, his blood vessels bulging, letting out a small yell. He wasn't sure how this would turn out but he had already analyzed the kids tactics and strength. He was fast. Almost if not equily as fast as himself. He had technique and a brain to use it. But he was held back by something, not sure what that something was John just kept his analyses to his mind and would continue the fight.

By letting go of the kids ankle before impact John would add more power to it being a throw instead of a swing. Sure that gave the kid freedom, but John wanted to see what that would do. Would he get up if it worked? Would he be too injured to continue? The possibilities where endless being the Muay Thai fighter had no idea what this kid was like so predicting him would be difficult, as said before.

[Yahto Fang]

Had Yahto believed that his attack would've hit, he probably would've been a bit upset. However, that was not exactly the case. This attack just now had been nothing more than a test just to see how fast John's reflexes were and to test his physical strength. He had heard plenty of rumors regarding the older male's prowess, but things like that usually came far short when compared to actual experience. In short, "Know Thy Enemy" was an addage Yahto took to heart. He lived by it.

A knowing smirk lined his face when he felt his ankle grabbed and his body yanked towards the ground, his back parallel to the ground and his body already reacting to save him from a potentially heavy blow. By extending his arms over his head and bending them over his shoulders with his palms facing the ground, Yahto managed to angle his body so that his palms would land first before the rest of him touched the ground. This gave him the split second he needed to bend his knees and catch the ground with his feet, which then saved him the trouble of having the wind knocked out of his lungs. However, the boy's feet and hands were tingling so much they were practically numb.

But despite that, Yahto wasn't done quite yet. Because there was still one opening on Yahto's opponent that was still wide open. Yahto's original target. John's knees. Taking advantage of the angle his awkward stance allowed him and because it seemed that John was still partially hunched over from swinging him to the ground, Yahto bounced his feet back into the air as soon as the instant they hit the ground, then he drew his legs back just far enough to give him enough room to thrust each leg into the middle of John's knees as fast and hard as he could. If this worked the way Yahto hoped it would, each of John's knees would be forced to bend the wrong way just far enough to really weaken them and make fast movement all but impossible. Even standing upright would become a painful burden for him.

Regardless of whether or not Yahto's tactic worked, the boy dropped his entire body back down to the ground immediately afterward and rolled away on his side before scrambling back into his own battle stance. In a way, this had been Yahto's original tactic all along. Instead of attacking the opponent directly, you attack his ability to fight. That was just one of the favorite tactics liked to employ and it was also the main one he used for taking down opponents that he knew were far stronger than him physically. But he also knew it was too far early to call this his victory yet, especially given the abilities John had already displayed. Either way, whether or not Yahto won or lost, he was definitely going to make this fight one that the great John Ong would never forget. In the end, that was probably what mattered most to him.

[John]

As John's eyes caught what just happened, the way the kid landed and how he portrayed an animal like fighting style he knew the next target. From studying Jyo's notebook he read about fighting styles that people make themselves and perfect through means of training others dare not try. This must of been one of those. The kid was good, skilled. Not many would of been able to stop that throw. As John was still hunched over it was the perfect time to attack, so instead of doing anything to stop it, he had to go into it.

He'd drop his body into it, so he would still feel the kick, but it wouldn't do too much. As he was bent over it would be off balance, and his knee would be bent forward so it wouldn't be bent backwards. He was pushed back, but also forced to roll, so he didn't move very far from where he was. Then he was in a standing position. Back in the Muay Thai stance waiting for the kid. He'd have to hand it to the kid, a bruise was already forming on his knee, as invisible as it was he would have to keep himself in check considering he had an injurred knee anyways.

"That was interesting."

John closed hsi eyes for a second, and then opened them again, but this time, a dark red glow was coming from them, through his eyes he could see bright red glowing flames everywhere. Those where Hydrogen particles in the air. Once he used hsi Qi he wqould be able to ignite them around his fist for a flaming punch, and attract more to the source where he would hit for a small explosion of fire. He wasn't going to play anymore.

"Try it again?"

[Yahto Fang]

"Sorry, but I don't do the same trick twice. Yahto replied to his opponent with a wry smile lining his face. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy during a true fight. This was more intense than anything Yahto had ever encountered at his father's martial arts school and John was definitely far above any opponent Yahto had fought there. The way he had managed to absorb the brunt of his kicks without harming his knees too much only proved that. Anyone else Yahto had fought before wouldn't have had the reaction time to do such a thing and would've likely had their legs out of commission for quite some time. This was exactly what Yahto had been hoping to find when he requested to be transfered to this school. A real opponent with real strength instead of just a load of fancy talk. Yahto couldn't stop himself from grinning ear to ear at that.

That was when he noticed the red glow in John's eyes and he knew that the stakes had just gone a lot higher. "So he's decided to get serious, has he?" the boy thought to himself, the grin on his face slowly shrinking into the look of bold-faced determination from before. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what technique his opponent had in store for him now. "One solid hit from those fists and I'm a goner. Guess I have no choice but to get serious too." The gloves with the flame design John wore provided Yahto with enough of a hint for him to figure that out, but especially when combined with the redness in his eyes. Red was the color of Anger, Power, and Fire. Not only that, but it seemed this guy made it a point to broadcast that power of his quite nicely. Yahto, on the other hand, didn't feel the need for that. John would be finding out what Yahto was made of soon enough.

After lowering his body even closer to the ground, Yahto clawed the ground with his right hand and drew it back and brought his left foot forward as if he were preparing to lash out like he had before. But this time, there was a small difference. He had also closed his eyes and began taking in soft and cleansing breaths as if he were meditating. In a way, that was exactly what he was doing. He could feel the flow of his Qi move differently than the way before and a kind of special awareness overtook him. He could hear John's heartbeat even from the wide distance that seperated them, smell the sweat of his exertion, and even feel the vibrations in the ground whenever either one of them adjusted in their stance. Yahto continued like this, his senses continuing to expand as he searched for that one special presence he had only just recently discovered yet had known all his life. The timberwolf with the blue eyes. Yahto's spirit guide.

But then, he had found it. Or to be more precise, he felt it. "Hello, my friend." At that moment, it was like something had taken over the boy's form and a new power was being brought to the surface. Yahto's lips suddenly curled back in a vicious-looking snarl that revealed a set of teeth one could've sworn were pointed. The muscles all over his body began to twitch and spasm, almost appearing to swell just slightly beneath his clothing. That was when the boy suddenly opened his eyes and glared at John with such an intensity it was almost beyond human. In fact, for one split instant, what John would see when he looked at Yahto would not be a student at all, or even human for that matter. It would be a snarling wolf with a coat of grey fur lined with black streaks and a set of blue eyes that seemed to pierce through the soul.

Some would probably say that Yahto was only fooling himself by thinking that a spirit guide was entering his body and making him stronger. Others would call it a form of self-hypnosis or self-delusion. But none of that mattered to him. Not one bit. Whatever was happening, whether or not it could be explained, was real to Yahto. And that was all that mattered to him.

Yahto had that in mind when he made his next move. After uttering a low growl and tensing the muscles in his legs, Yahto suddenly dashed at his opponent on all fours. The speed at which he moved caused him to appear as nothing more than a zigzagging blur as he moved closer and closer to John, his approach constantly changing angles and directions to keep him off guard until he was close enough to strike. Then, using the Body Flicker once more, Yahto disappeared entirely and reappeared some yards directly behind John. But that wasn't all Yahto had done. As he had passed by John's right side, he had also stiffened his fingers into a shape like a blade and made an attempt to stab his opponent in the kidneys. But then, Yahto again vanished once more and reappeared in a spot far to John's left, then again to his right, then behind, and then front once more. Each time he disappeared and passed by John, another strike was attempted at key vital points in this order: Hand Stab to Left Kidney, Elbow Strike to just below Right Knee, and then a Heel Kick to the Back of the Head before vanishing in mid-air.
It was than that he appeared directly below and in front of John in the middle of a leg sweep to the back of his ankles. If this worked the way Yahto hoped it would, John would be disoriented enough to be victimized by the leg sweep and be toppled onto his back. Following that, Yahto would finish the combo with a perfectly-timed Hand Stab to the exact center of John's solar plexis just under his rib cage.

That was the key to Yahto's combat style. Darting in and out of combat to systimatically take you opponent apart with strikes to key vital points and joints. It didn't matter how strong Yahto was physically, either. If there was enough speed and momentum behind the strength, it could be just as devastating as a blow from a heavy person.

[John]

John watched the kid vanish from the untrained eye, but John had enough focus to watch the kid move. He was fast, but John could play that game too. Dropping his Muay Thai stance he would also flicker forward, going to turn sideways so he could interfere with the kids main attack with his left arm, then slam his right elbow across the kids face. Twisting into it, he would re-appear alittle ways after the connection would be made, if it worked. To fighters who could not follow their moves they would simply see the end result and not what had happened inbetween.

'Two can play this game'

A shock came from his knee from the exurtion, and John would simply growl a little from it. The kid had done some damage. More than he had expected, but it could be dealt with for now. John may have decided to drop the stance, but he would still use the attacks of the style. He had deduced that against an apponent like this staying in a stance like that would leave him unprepaired for his attacks. It was based on fighting an upright fighter, but this guy was everywhere, so he had to be everywhere too. Jyo's note book had said.

'If your opponent forces you to change, then do it without thinking. Adapt without forcing yourself to. Learn it.'

[Yahto Fang]

It was then that Yahto recieved his first strike during the match. The sudden increase in John's speed when he had deflected that first Hand Stab at the combo's beginning had surprised Yahto enough to fall victim to his own technique. If he hadn't managed to roll along with John's elbow strike in time, that hit probably would've knocked him out cold. Instead, the only thing Yahto had recieved was a bruise on his cheekbone that was painfully forming into a nicely sized lump. Fortunately, he had also managed to put some distance between him and John when he had spun away. "Keh... Guess I deserved that one." Yahto remarked, the ever-present confident smirk still present on his face. "It's not everyday I find someone who can also use that technique."

Regardless of how excited Yahto was feeling, this was quickly turning into a problem. Even from the beginning, he had been expecting John to counter straightforward attacks like that, but the way he had used Body Flicker prevented the boy from reading his movements until it was too late. Still in his Wolf Style stance, Yahto lifted a single hand from the ground and gingerly rubbed at the spot where John's strike had grazed him. "Yeah, that'll leave a mark. Not like I was expecting to get out of this without a few bruises to show for it, though." Yahto couldn't help but chuckle internally at the thought when he turned his eyes back on John and noticed his stance. Now the Muay Thai stance was gone, leaving his upper body and torso noticeably less guarded from before. Now it almost seemed like he was trying to adapt to fighting Yahto's style. "Huh..." Yahto thought to himself, his brow furrowing in concentration and the smirk leaving his face. "Looks like I need to make some changes myself. But first, I better see just how well this guy can read me. And how fast he really is. Although.... This is going to cost me a lot, probably. Ah well... Can't be helped." Unfortunately, that was really his only option. John had already proven to him that attacking him with conventional techniques was foolish, especially when he could defend with those hands that could burst into flames at any moment. He absolutely had to avoid them or this match would be over.

After closing his eyes and feeling for his spirit guide's presence once more, Yahto exhaled another calming breath and felt it enter his body just as it had done before. Once again, the surge of Qi he felt brought a beastial growl ripping through his lips and made his limbs claw at the ground. With that, Yahto once again rushed at his opponent on all fours with the same zigzagging pattern from before. But this time, it held a twist at the end. With the final approach towards his opponent, Yahto let loose a beastial roar before disappearing entirely even to John's eyes. Then, all of a sudden, Yahto reappeared and was crouching in front of John, his right already in the process of sending a straight-forward punch aimed at his solar plexis.

However, there was more to it than that. The fact of the matter was that the Yahto crouching in front of John wasn't really Yahto at all. It was an after-image, created with such inhuman speed derived from a combination of Yahto's Qi and the beliefs of the Cheyenne Tribe to drive his body to the limits. It would only last perhaps one half of a second before blurring out of existance, but it would hopefully give Yahto the diversion he needed to get the upperhand. While the illusionary Yahto was sending his punch at John's solar plexis, the real Yahto had already reappeared and suddenly grabbed John's right wrist in a grip more powerful than anyone would've expected he would be capable of making, one that almost seemed like it could crush the small bones that connected John's hand to his arm. In fact, for one brief moment, John would feel a sensation like canine teeth ripping into his skin where Yahto had gripped him. The Wolf Bite, a technique designed to crush and immobalize an opponent's joints and prevent them from further use. At the same time as that, Yahto used the Wolf Bite to keep John's arm ramrod straight before sending a vicious Palm Strike to the back of his elbow, thus hyperextending it and making the limb much less effective.

All in all, the whole series of motions had consumed roughly .35 seconds. With luck, John's senses would be fooled by the after-image and he would concentrate on that long enough for Yahto to sneak from behind and perform his real attack. But even, Yahto wouldn't exactly be surprised if this plan failed as well. After all, he had been expecting to lose from the start. But this was all for fun now.

[John]

John, spun around and turned with his left side to Yahto, pulling his arms up into a morbid boxing stance, that was very flexible. He focused with those eyes of his looking for Yahto as he charged. He was waiting for that Body flicker, just waiting, and there it came, those dark red eyes still glowing as he watched, the air moving out of the way of Yahto, as he left the trail, he saw the image show up, and his hands immedialty burst into flames, but there was something wrong with this Yahto that he picked up immediatly, the red hydrogen particles where going through it, they dont go through real people, so his senses burst open as his wrist was grabbed.

"Guh!"

John felt the clamp down, and he did sense an animel biting his wrist, which is why his hand exploded with fire. Throwing the first open the fire would be thrown out as well, he'd yank the arm in hard, as Yahto would be attacking for his elbow, his right knee would be thrown up under the arm that was grabbing his wrist to slam into Yahto's soler plexus. But what Yahto probably didn't expect was that John's knee had exploded into flames, apon contact, John's Qi would expand quickly, causing a small explosion of fire, increasing the force of the blow, the fire dispersing in a small cloud.

His wrist felt like it would need to be looked at by Ms. Nanda again. Seemed this John Ong boy just couldn't keep from getting injurred in fights.

[Yahto Fang]

A strangled gasp along with some blood was forced through Yahto's lips when he felt his opponent's knee connect with the spot just under his ribcage. The force of the blow had been enough to lift him right off his feet and make his eyes roll back in their sockets to show only the whites, almost making it appear that he'd been sent into a coma for a brief moment. That alone was probably enough to end the fight right there under normal circumstances, but the sudden fiery explosion that came with it had all but destroyed him. Yahto could already feel his abdomen becoming red and tender as traces of fire licked at his skin through his clothing. That had definitely caught him by surprise, even more so than the sudden elbow strike he had recieved from John earlier. If Yahto hadn't been prepared and braced his body for a counter, he would've already been sent flying and knocked out of the fight.

But even so, it wasn't over yet. Yahto had managed to maintain his grip on his opponent's wrist even as he was lifted up by the explosive knee strike. Using John's counter to his own advantage, Yahto used John's arm as a swing bar and his knee strike as momentum to move up and over. Like this, Yahto was in the perfect position to continue the swing and drive his heel into the top of John's head before recovering on his feet once more. That manuever had taken just about everything Yahto had in him, but he wasn't about to end it just yet. Not when he still felt like he could do more.

Once his feet were back on the ground, Yahto reached out as quick as he could to snag John's other wrist in another Wolf Bite. Once again, the sensation of teeth ripping into his skin would be felt just before Yahto quickly and forcefully spread his arms apart to keep John from using his hands. This created the opening Yahto needed that would either make him or break him."Gotcha!" the boy roared, his arms tensing to keep John's arms at bay for as long as possible before he jumped up to drive a knee into the center of his opponent's throat.

[John]

((OoC: Sorry for making you wait so long. I've been busy.))


John's red eyes watched the boy, not only was something wrong, but it didn't put the kid out. John liked that. The Ex-S.H.C.P watched the boy come around from the attack and bring his heel down, slamming the top of the Juiniors head and making him bend down. The sole of his shoe cutting the scalp making the white hair a visible red. Trailing to his forehead. The kid would land and grab his other arm, a growl coming from the red eyed coyote's mouth from the feeling of an animal attack.

In that bent over position he saw what the kid had in mind. And it was happening. John would bend his head down even harder to head butt the on coming knees and prevent them from hitting his throat, his hands would burst into flames as he would throw his head back, jump up and back to bring the kid even more off balance since he seemed to have a death grip on his wrists, and John would throw his feet into the boy's chest, an explosive close range drop kick.

~Nice try kid.~

John thought from his perspective the kid had gone longer than most have, and done some damage of his own. John would pull his arms towards himself to pull the kid into the drop kick even more, hopefully the guy would let go by now, and maybe this would be over. Depends though, the new guy was made some other stuff than some of these guys.

[Yahto Fang]

((xD No harm done. I know what it feels like to be really busy.))

Yahto released an audible growl when the knee he lifted at John's throat had been deflected. His first reaction was to try another, but very unorthodox, attempt at striking the throat. He was about to lift his body once more, using John's arms as leverage, and essentially clamp his feet as tight as he could around the other boy's neck as a kind of chokehold. The only way out of it that Yahto could forsee would be with a fire attack, but strongly doubted even he could endure lighting his own head on fire.

However, it seemed that Yahto would never get the chance to see if that plan would work.

At that moment, John's fists ignited with a magnificent burst of fire once more. Luckily for him, Yahto had been gripping at the spot just below where the flames had appeared, although he could still feel the occasional tongue of flame lick at the side of his hands. It hurt like a bitch, the look on Yahto's face proved that, but at least it saved him the trouble of having both of his hands burnt to a cinder. In response to that, Yahto pumped more of his Qi into his hands to make his Wolf Bite technique even more powerful. Once again, the sensation of canine teeth digging into flesh would be felt by John, but this time with a a loud popping noise as the small bones in his wrists were squeezed in specific points to cause the most damage and pain. With any luck, this would also stifle the flow of John's Qi to his hands and make that fire attack of his that much less effective, at least for his hands. Or so he hoped, anyway.

But then, Yahto felt his opponent pull back on his arms, which then forced Yahto to come closer as well, not to mention off balance. Another growl was loosed from the boy's lips the moment he felt it, a spark of recognition lighting in his eyes. He had John's hands and wrists bound, and a headbutt would probably do more harm to the white-haired stranger than good. Especially after already ramming his head against Yahto's knees. That could only mean John was using his legs.

This entire deduction took place in the span of a millisecond, in fact it was more instinct than conscious thought. Yahto watched with half-feral and wide eyes as he witnessed the flaming drop kick come roaring at him, aimed for his midsection and probably strong enough to send him barreling away and into a wall like he'd been shot out of a cannon. That alone would probably send him to the hospital for at least a week right there.

But, what happened next occured from sheer instinct. Using Body Flicker and the vast majority of his remaining Qi to supercharge his speed and to alter his own perception so it appeared John's dropkick had been done in slow motion, Yahto used both his legs and his arms to lift his body high off the ground and narrowly avoid the potentially lethal dropkick from Hell. In fact, he could've almost sworn he felt some flames lick at his front, now parallel to the ground, and singe more of his skin and shirt. Much to his displeasure, lemme tell you. However, that also left Yahto with a very nice hole in John's defense he could work with. For that split second, though to Yahto it was more like a few because of Body Flicker, both of their bodies were parallel to the ground and face-to-face. Using that oppurtunity, Yahto drew his fist back and brought it crashing down toward's John's exposed solar plexis. Yahto was still firm believer that if one had enough momentum and enough speed, one could be just as powerful as someone with big muscles. Well, this punch was coming at John a whole lot faster than the other strikes and was aimed at a very painful and crippling spot on the human body.

After that, Yahto had no idea if he'd be able to go on. That alone had nearly consumed the last of his remaining Qi, and he'd definitely be feeling the loss right after this. But even so, it was better to go out with a bang than just to roll over and die.

[John]

John's head, face, and eyes would look straight at the kid the whole time he moved for the counter, seemed that animalistic training gave him instinct as well, cause some of the regulars wouldn't of been able to pull that off, if John wanted to he probably could of wailed on the kid after he let go, the smile that would spread across his face as the kid reached back would probably tell him that. John could keep up with him, and he had deduced his style, his survival rate was good.

As the punch landed just under his rib cage, his smile would stay as blood stained the back of his teeth, and he would slam into the ground. John would lay there for a second, and then, begin laughing. He'd turn over and stand up, obviousely a little more than sore.

"Not bad, kid. Sure gave me a good work out. I think I have enough information on your survival rate, I think you will do just fine. I think we should both go get a check up at the nurse though. Didn't mean to go so hard against ya. You just kept pushin it though."

John would laugh some more as he would walk over to his coat and throw it over his shoulders sliding his arms in the sleeves. He'd walk back over to Yahto and see if he mite need help walking or maybe a question.