You don't talk about Fight Club. (Phoenix)

[Lucien DeChain]

{OOC: This takes place shortly after the fight between Jack and Farren in this thread.}

Having watched men fight all night, Lucien had been feeling quite a bit more antsy than he would usually allow of himself. Maybe it was the testosterone in the air, which was almost as thick as a miasma. At any rate, the speaker was calling for challengers again.

Again, Lucien locked eyes with the man in the crowd, the tall one with the almost purple eyes. This time, he pointed at him, walking into the middle, breaking through the crowd into the clearing. It was quite the bold action, for as he cleared into the cardboard 'ring', the crowd quieted as they looked on at the whole five-foot-nine, 120 pound anorexic, with the colourful tattoo on his spine. But Lucien didn't care that much. He was in the moment, and the moment told him that tonight, he would fight.

[Phoenix]

Another fight finished. Stifling a yawn and burying his restlessness at the predictability of past fights, Phoenix gazed around trying to discern a reasonable opponent for himself. It was, after all, his first night in Fight Club... and the rules were all to clear. His eyes wondered through the crowd until a man returned his stare with intent. The man in question didn't seem like a large threat; he was nearly a full foot shorter and looked severely underweight. His confidence and determination, on the other hand, drew respect from Phoenix. Deciding to take him up on the challenge, Phoenix maneuvered his way through the crowd and stepped onto the cardboard into the fighting area. The warm leather of his gloves grew tight around his hands as he clenched them into fists, a few quite cracks accompanying the motion, if Jack did know he was in attendance he surely did now. A distance of several metres separated the two men.

”First night too?”

His restlessness bubbled just under the surface as he shifted his weight to the front of his feet, ready to move at the slightest stimulus. Phoenix hadn't fought against a real opponent since he arrived at Long Beach, he was looking forward to see what it had to offer.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien had to smile as the giant man stepped forward, taking his challenge. The match-up, at first glance, didn't look too fair, but Lucien knew a few ways to even the odds. He was determined, and put himself into a ready stance. Hands up, one at about shoulder level, covering his neck, the other slightly lower, guarding his abdomen. His right foot was forward, and his balance was centered between the two legs. His hands were made into half-fists, ready to close at the slightest provocation.

”First night too?”

Lucien grinned big. "Yeah."

Introductions were for later. Talking was for later. All Lucien would do is wait for the signal to start.

{OOC: Lucien's stats without items.
Str:6
Dex:20
Con:11
Int:25
Wis:21
Cha:11}

[Phoenix]

OoC: Stats without items:
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 20
Constitution: 8
Wisdom: 21
Intelligence: 18
Charisma: 18

“Yeah.”

His opponent couldn't have been any clearer, he was here for the fight, not the company. Phoenix dropped into his own stance and spread his weight evenly between both feet, his left pointing almost straight forward and his right at an angle just wider than 45° whilst his hands were both raised in a way that mirrored his adversary. Tensing his muscles like a wound coil, he waited for the signal to begin the fight. After watching several fights before this, he had grown thirsty to prove himself in the arena and he knew that Jack would like to know what level he was at.

“Fight!”

Not wasting any time after the signal, Phoenix stepped in, closing the distance between them so that he was still just outside of Lucien's own strike zone. Using the momentum of his step and his height advantage, he would throw two quick left jabs towards his opponent's head. He doubted that either of these would cause significant damage, they were to feel out the defenses of the other man. Following these punches, he would draw back his right hand, seemingly for a powerful right hook, however, after pushing the right hand forward an inch, he would draw it back as quickly as possible, transferring the momentum through his body and into a left push kick aimed directly at the gut. The timing of the combination had been perfected in training. The first jabs probed the blocking ability and drew the downcast hand up to the head for protection, as well as disorientating inexperienced fighters, whilst the feint is telegraphed and after the pressure of the first two jabs is likely to draw a premature block. With both hands preoccupied in defense of the head, a fast kick to the body is hard to read, let alone defend.

[Lucien DeChain]

"FIGHT!"

This guy wasn't playing around. Good. Once he had closed enough distance, Lucien readied himself for the onslaught.

Lucien would dip to his left, avoiding the first jab and swinging his high hand up for a quick backfist, using his hips to generate momentum, to his opponent's forearm in response to the second jab.

Then, a slower strike was readied from his opponent's right hand. Lucien didn't get it. If his opponent thought he could knock him out after three punches, he was probably in the wrong place. Though he may be underestimating me...

In that case, I need to close distance! Lucien thought as he stepped forward to block the swing with both hands. Then he realized that there was no intent to swing, and that it was to draw momentum to... SHIT!

The only thing Lucien would think to do was to use his right arm as a swinging block to the side of his opponent's calf, and then wrap his arm around the leg, keeping it in place, and turning his body perpendicular to his opponent. While he did this, his other arm, which was originally going to block the swing punch, would use the same energy to press a knife-hand strike into his opponent's throat, pushing his head up and, while his leg was locked up by his snaking arm, extend his body past its balance point.

If all went to plan, his opponent would simply lose balance and tip over backwards. If not, there was other things he could do. But what was important was to remain inside his optimal distance.

[Phoenix]

OoC: Sorry for the delay, I've had a busy few days!

A sudden step forwards and a quick downswing from his foe and Phoenix felt his left calf caught in his opponent's hand. A hand strike heading quickly to his throat gave him only a few moments to react. Analysing the situation in an instant, it became clear that he only had one or two options available. Utilising the last of his momentum stemming from the kick, Phoenix leant forwards and shot his right forearm up on the inside of his opponent's left arm sliding it past and forcing it away from his neck, safely passed his shoulder, whilst his right hand hooked around the back of Lucien's head and neck. As soon as his right hand made contact, Phoenix pulled downwards whilst bending his left knee upwards and jumping off his right leg, aiming to deliver a powerful blow to his opponent's face.

Although a makeshift counter, Phoenix knew that it had a very high chance of being effective. With both of his opponent's hands elsewhere, one below the attacking knee and the other on the far side of his right arm, a block would be almost impossible and he would almost definitely have his left back afterwards. Following the blow, Phoenix would quickly draw his knee back and retreat a few steps, looking, presumably towards the ground, at his opponent for the next move.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien had suddenly found himself in a clinch, his left arm beyond his opponent's shoulder, and his right still tangled in the leg-trap that was now keeping them both in harm's way. A hand clenched around the back of his neck, and pulled his head down as his opponent jumped up to knee him in the face.

Lucien would not expect a maneuver like that, since it would take his opponent completely off the ground. His surprise was short-lived, though, as he worked quickly and efficiently to make sure his opponent didn't gain advantage.

Lucien, when initially clenched by the neck, would drop his weight by bending his knees, making sure he had a stable base. As the knee came off the ground, Lucien would twist his neck and upper body, which was fully supporting the body of his opponent at this point. With his turn of the head, the knee would graze the side of his face instead of full-on, and he would continue to twist, trying to throw the man off to the side so that he would stumble and fall.

Lucien, however, would maintain his balance. While his opponent may have gained a bit of range, Lucien would gain a lot more. Starting towards his hopefully downed opponent, he would rush in and drop his body weight low, stretching out his right arm towards his opponent's stomach, a palm strike aimed to knock the wind right out of him.

[Phoenix]

Through his clenched hand, he could feel the tell-tale signs of change. An almost imperceptible decrease in height, a slightly looser upper body and a solid grounding for movement. The signs all rushed through Phoenix's mind like lightning, he knew that his opponent had dropped his weight, but failed to understand why. There was almost nothing that could happen to make the knee currently rocketing upwards from missing.

A sudden twisting from below. The realisation that his entire body and momentum was supported by the motion of Lucien struck him harder than any attack so far. How could he have left himself open to such a counter? As the rotation increased, Phoenix felt left knee shoot past his foe's head, grazing the side of it. The glancing blow allowed some recompense. Such a hit, even on the side, would almost definitely daze and confuse an opponent. The temple was one of the greatest weaknesses of the head, and it was one that Phoenix felt sure that his knee had made contact with.

For a second, weightlessness overtook reason. His momentum had ceased, and then the centrifugal force of the twist came into effect. A small push seemed to come from his side as Phoenix realised what his opponent had been trying to accomplish. There motion, however, was inextricably combine. A firm grip upon Lucien's neck ensured that throwing Phoenix off was never going to work as he seemed to know something that his foe did not. Weighing at least 50 lbs more and standing almost a foot taller, there was no way that someone so thin and small could alter his path through the air, especially since the twisting movement would have weakened his stable footing. As the weightless sensation faded, Phoenix threw all of his mass downwards, using gravity to its full effect, seeking to unbalance his physically weaker opponent.

Through the confusion of the knee to the temple, it would be virtually impossible to react in time, something that Phoenix would, again, attempt to exploit to the extent of his abilities. Using his greater mass to continue the twisting momentum, Phoenix sought to unbalance, something that shouldn't be too difficult considering his situation. As Lucien fell, Phoenix braced his left knee for landing on the ground and withdrew his right hand from behind his opponent's neck and drew it backwards. A tiny amount of time later, Phoenix's left knee would hit the ground, just above Lucien's right shoulder, trapping his right arm with his lower leg. Swinging his right fist down towards the throat of his opponent with his comparably sizable strength, he knew that he was in a good position to end this fight.

[Lucien DeChain]

The idea that Lucien would be unable to retaliate because he was hit in the head would have reduced the young man to laughter if he had heard it aloud. His training involved getting hit in the head and hurt by people far stronger than he, and he wasn't thinking about techniques and what to do to counter; his body was responding instinctively, his mind blank and his body moving through the fight/flight response.

However, that being said, Lucien did get reversed in his throwing movement. As his opponent's weight dropped almost fully onto him, knowing he was still in a stable stance, Lucien would let go of the leg and try to yank his arm free of his opponent's shoulder. Being in this close quarters situation, he needed both hands to be active in order to keep himself alive.

Knowing that he was well within his opponent's optimal range, he would let out a flurry of punches, aiming for a range of targets; namely the opponent's stomach, floating rib, solar plexus, just under the collarbone, neck, chin and nose. There was no specific sequence, he wasn't going from bottom to top, it was all fairly random. Assuming that, since Lucien HADN'T fell, that there was still an arm wrapped around his neck, he could remain close enough to keep his punches flying.

If the opponent tried to give some sort of block or counterattack, it would be next to nothing to open one of his hands and contain it. If it came in the form of a block, Lucien would simply let one of his hands, instead of hitting the target, open up and slam the block against the opponent's body, trapping it there. If, on the other hand, it came in the form of a counterattack, Lucien would let his elbow bend upwards and redirect the attack, passing it off to the other hand, and letting the bent elbow spring back into another punch, in a classical Hubud style drill.

[Mr. Kaar]

Assuming exact positioning of an attack to force a status effect onto an opponent is puppateering and not allowed unless its a quest controlled by a mod.

Also, that was not a "Clench" he grabbed your neck with his hand and fingers.... Not a clench. -slaps both of you on the back of the head.-

Neither of you have alot of time to think through these actions and hardly instantanious planning. As newer characters your surely not sherlock holmes.

Play nice. Your both comparitively weak and not all that powerful, as time goes on yes, regaurdless of how awesome your history your still weak until you get the stats.