[VS] The Hawk vs The Tiger

[Laskt]

When his life began, Idoc had never thought he would ever become so acquainted with underground cage matches.

But there he was, 24 years later and more blood on his hands than he ever though possible. The spearman watched idly as the consciousness bled from his foe’s eyes as he fell to the ground, utterly unconscious. The drunken rabble surrounding the pair went wild, either with excitement or rage depending on which way their bets had went. For his part, Idoc strolled over to the side of the arena, taking a swig of warm, salty water and toweling off his sweaty hands. His current master had discovered just a little too much of Idoc’s talents when he had been forced to defend them both from several enterprising pirates, and had consequently shoved him into arena after arena on the Loguetown underground, determined to extort as much money as possible from the masses before they figured out Idoc was perhaps a little too skilled.

For now however, Idoc was content to grab his spears and stroll back to his starting position, waiting for the announcer’s call….

[Mr. Moon]

Eric #1 

Many outside fighters were joining the underground matches for money as there was always some nice prize for defeating current champion, but Eric was different. He didn´t care about money. All he wanted was to pit himself against strong opponents to hone his skills even further and this time it was no difference.

He got a message from his friend who was close to the Loguetown underground, that there is a new monster in the arena. Young slave using two spears who went with undefeated record. Maybe even someone who could make it to the champion of the city. That captured Eric´s attention and so he made the trip, once again entering the arena he left a few months ago. To his utter disappointment it was like if they forget about him. He made it perfectly clear who he want´s to fight and why, yet they let him wait till the man finish up another fight against man who signed up before him.

Fortunately it wasn´t long match and Eric could at least use the extra time to properly warm himself up.

Than finally, the door to the arena opened and the commentator announced their fight.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN for the next fight, we prepared something really special for you! In the left corner, undefeated, legendary spear master IDOC “RED PHOENIX” ZAITLI”

He gave the audience enough time to cheer their favorite combatant before continuing.

“And in the left corner the challenger, true beast whose brutality in a cage has no equal please welcome ERIC “WHITE TIGER” IRONGATE!”

This time the reaction of the crowd was mixed cheering with careful silence.

With a smirk Eric entered the arena. With his 180cm he wasn´t really tall, but but his massive muscles were more than enough compensation for it to make him look threatening. Wearing nothing except simple gray pants he was unarmed , yet despite facing spear man he looked more than confident.

“Double spears that´s unusual”

Eric smirked.

“Alright, let´s do this!”

With that, he Leaped straight against Idoc.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Leap}
Quick and powerful jump with little to no counter movement. It doesn´t allow Eric to move with "blinding speed" but still he can cover great distance quickly and without prior notice, which is ideal for surprising his opponent with violent charge or sudden retreat (as he can use it for both jumping forward and backward). He isn´t invisible during the movement and can travel only in straight line (or rather fixed curve) but on the other hand he can carry the momentum of the jump to the follow up strike.

[Laskt]

Idoc raised an eyebrow as his new foe strolled lackadaisically into the ring, clearly enjoying the roaring of the crowd. My next foe should have been that idiot pirate Richard Ratoz with the broadsword and three hidden daggers. Who is this man? Idoc thought, furiously trawling through his mental library of all the warriors he had met and memorized the fighting styles of. Unfortunately, the slave came up empty, an experience which was both unusual and frightening for the young spearman. This ‘Eric Irongate’ was unarmed to be fair, but all that meant to Idoc was that he was confident in his hand-to-hand skills, especially considering his extremely muscular frame.

Idoc paced the sandy arena like a caged tiger, calming his raging pulse with the rhythm of his steps. “No more unusual then stepping into a cage match with your bare hands.” He called out in his usual calm tone, ignoring the jeers that resulted from his comment. The spearman really didn’t care for the usual taunts and threats that preceded a match such as this, but his new master had instructed him to be flashy. If only the fat man knew how foreign such a concept was to the young warrior, and how much his brothers would have shaken with laughter at the mere idea of their intense younger brother showing off……..

The announcer’s call barely had time to reverberate across the dusty floor when Eric blured into action. With more speed than Idoc had though possible, the bare-handed gladiator shot across the sands, pouncing like a wild animal! With strength born out of a mixture of adrenaline and desperation, Idoc hurlded his short spear directly at the man’s chest with all the force his superhuman strength could grant him, while simultaneously jumping and attempting to twirl his body around the beefy warrior’s body. Three quick strikes with his long spear would follow if the dodge was successful, targeting the main’s shoulders and neck areas for a quick knockout!

[Mr. Moon]

Eric #2

For a pit fighter, that spearman was quite unusual. He didn´t brag about his strength, nor was he wasting his time by incitement of the crowd. Instead he kept his cool and attacked Eric directly, which was something that the half naked warrior could respect.

As he was in the middle of his jump. The spearman threw his shorter weapon directly against Eric´s chest. As he couldn´t change the direction of his movement in the middle of his jump, he simply hardened his muscles with Indestructible and let the weapon to bounce from them, without leaving single scratch on his bare skin.

“Not bad”
He commented for himself, when Idoc twirled himself around him, attacking him from behind. For a fighter from a Blue he was both strong and agile. Rare combination in these days, but still, it was far from enough to put him down.

He let all three of his strikes connect with his body, absorbing it with his Indestructible, while using it´s strength to propel himself further forward.

When he got enough space from his opponent, Eric released his technique and curled his body to a roll, from which he jumped directly on his feet, facing Idoc again.

“This will be fun.”
He smirked, inviting Idoc for another attack with his completely open stance.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Indestructible}
Eric #2

For a pit fighter, that spearman was quite unusual. He didn´t brag about his strength, nor was he wasting his time by incitement of the crowd. Instead he kept his cool and attacked Eric directly, which was something that the half naked warrior could respect.
As he was in the middle of his jump. The spearman threw his shorter weapon directly against Eric´s chest. As he couldn´t change the direction of his movement in the middle of his jump, he simply hardened his muscles with Indestructible and let the weapon to bounce from them, without leaving single scratch on his bare skin.
“Not bad”
He commented for himself, when Idoc twirled himself around him, attacking him from behind. For a fighter from a Blue he was both strong and agile. Rare combination in these days, but still, it was far from enough to put him down.
He let all three of his strikes connect with his body, absorbing it with his Indestructible, while using it´s strength to propel himself further forward.
When he got enough space from his opponent, Eric released his technique and curled his body to a roll, from which he jumped directly on his feet, facing Idoc again.
“This will be fun.”
He smirked, inviting Idoc for another attack with his completely open stance.

[Laskt]

Idoc’s expression widened with surprise as his initial spear throw bounced clean off the man like his skin was made of steel, doing absolutely nothing. Similarly, the warrior’s follow-up thrusts did little more than grant the opposing pit fighter the momentum to spring backward out of Idoc’s effective attack range! The spearman hit the ground flatfooted, using the tip of his long spear to flip the shorter one back into his free hand.

“I-Incredible! Irongate opened up with a blazing-fast leap, but Zailti was not only able to dodge the White Tiger’s signature opener, but actually dodge it! Unfortunately it seems even he cannot breach the steel skin of Eric Irongate!”

The crowd roared as a single beast, stamping their feet wildly among the rusting stands. Idoc cracked his neck side to side, glancing down at his short spear. Curious, this ‘Eric Irongate’ seems to have the ability to harden his outer skin to an unbelievable degree. A razor-sharp metal spearhead did practically nothing even when backed up by his own momentum, even blunting itself in the attempt! Seems like I’ll have to get serious if I want to draw blood. Idoc thought, returning both of his weapons to the ready position.

“If you say so." Idoc responded emotionlessly to his foe’s prodding, choosing this time to be the aggressor. With a burst of speed and inhuman strength, Idoc shot into the air, thrusting his longer spear directly at his foe’s chest. In a flash, the power of the Yari Yari no Mi activated, elongating the seemingly normal wooden spear drastically and morphing the steel spearhead into a long, iron needle. In addition to condensing the existing steel and decreasing it’s surface area, the speed of the thrust was also drastically increased! This was Idoc’s Silver Beak technique, and he wondered: would Eric Irongate be able to dodge?

[Mr. Moon]

Eric #3

For the whole time, Eric was watching his enemy closely, as he was suspicious that he has some hidden trump in sleeve. After all, being undefeated with just this level of skills would require colossal amount of luck or really short career and Eric was pretty sure that neither was the case. And he was right as Idoc showed him, when he shoot his spear on him from distance. 

“Fast...”

Eric nodded, but not so fast that he would be unable to react. After all, he was frequently sparring with Michael whose movements were way faster than this.

“Paw Strike!”
As the spear was getting closer to his body, Eric formed his right hand into imitation of a tiger pawn by folding and spreading his fingers, hitting the spear with it from a side, while simultaneously turning his body to right to dodge the surprising attack by a skin of his teeth.

“Devil Fruit? I like that.”
He growled as he once again, leaped straight against his opponent, hardening his body with Indestructible in the middle of the jump, with the clear intention to knock him down, with a full body strike.
"Wow, Eric Irongate blocked Idoc surprise attack and now it´s him who is on offensive! Can our champion guard himself? Against assault from this beast?"