[VS] Duel of Fates

[theone]

"I'm not too sure about this." Bright blue eyes flitted about the cramped confines of the dank, dark alleyway; the burly teenager moving slowly, as the other, much smaller Marine recruit with him buzzed with excitement. "Come on K-man. I'm tellin' ya, this is easy money! With yer skills, there's no way anybody in here can touch ya!" They passed by random denizens of the night time, who weren't too keen on the two young men, mustering as much malice into their stares as they could.

Komodo, the large blue eyed Marine from Kano was very much out of his element. He didn't know why he let Garcia talk him into these things, especially something as dumb as underground fighting in a grimy dive bar smack dab in the middle of a seedy part of town.

The two rounded a corner and were assaulted by the offensive combination of the stench of garbage and blood mixed in with the roar of drunken slurs and cussing. Komodo retched immediately in response. Garcia patted him on the back for reassurance, but was it more for the bigger man or himself? "Uh....it's great ain't it K? Y-you'll do great."

The duo stuck out when compared to the others within the small space that was afforded the illegal fighting ring. A strong flood light shone down from a shaky canopy above, showing the sailors, bandits, and drunkards in all their disheveled wonder. The atmosphere was foreboding, yet strangely, Komodo felt an excitement welling in his gut, a nervous, weak smile creeping across his visage.

The small crowd parted for the large Marine as he approached the blood smeared circle designated for the fighters. Donning a short sleeved white shirt, brown trousers tucked into leg wraps and soft shoes, Komodo defiantly strutted into the center of the circle, as he flexed his hands and wrists, adjusting his thin black wristbands. 

"A newcomer to our humble 'club', I want you skeevy lot to feast yer eyes on the Dragon." A scrawny man had come to the edge of the circle, voice cutting through the dull roar of the open aired dive bar. "Now, let's bring out the man whose gonna fight this palooka, and prove whether or not he's really just a gecko in disguise!" Laughter filled the air as the crowd anticipated the entrance of the other combatant. 

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #1 

Yuri was no stranger to the underground fighting rings. In fact, he used to run one, when he was younger and studied for his grandfather´s money. It was there, where he learned most of his fighting skills and techniques, which he later perfected for a real life purposes during many skirmishes on the streets, when he and his gang fought with others over territory. Now, when the battles ended, he had enough time to chill from time to time and so, when he learned that there is another fighting club nearby he couldn´t resist that opportunity. And so here he was, sitting in the crowd cheering and betting on the fights, waiting for opponent interesting enough for him to actually step into the ring. He was slowly losing all hope, when he overhead that there will be one interesting fighter stepping into the ring soon. Some marine guy nicknamed Golden Dragon who was supposed to use some unique fighting techniques. Now that definitely picked his interest. So he went to the promoter and bribed him to replace the originally listed fighter for himself.

Fortunately he didn´t have to wait long for his opponent as few minutes later the crowd created space for a big guy in civil clothes who went straight in the center of the ring.

“Hey, are you sure it´s him?”
Asked Yuri the promoter who only silently nodded and than announced his arrival.

“His opponent”
Continued their promoter

“is no stranger to violence, known as the Mad Dog of Underground fighting with record of 19 matches, 16 wins 2 draws and only 1 lose, please welcome...YURI BAYKOV”

The crowd quickly made a space for Yuri, so he could enter the ring. With height over 270 cm he was towering over everyone present, including his opponent.

With confident look on his face he went straight to his opponent and offered him genuine handshake.

“Yo Dragon”

Yuri greeted him with a slight smile on his face.

[theone]

He couldn't help it, much less stop it, but Komodo's first thought after witnessing his opponent break from the minutia of the crowd was simply....


DAMN. He's big.


A swift, curt shift of the head shook the insecure thought from his head, hoping to the gods above that his face didn't betray his initial reaction. Sucking his cheeks in to further stiffen his expression, the Marine's instincts kicked in, immediately assessing the one that was to be his opponent. 

It was obvious where a name like "Mad Dog" came from when looking at the thuggish dressed man. He had a wild expression, with fierce eyes and a smile that came with wolf like fangs. Despite his size, he wasn't burly or cumbersome, his slight of build and light gait telling Komodo everything he needed to know about the man's potential for movement speed. 

Before he could sink too deeply into his paralysis by analysis, the larger man was upon him, with hand outstretched in a gesture of respect.

"Mad Dog, 'sup."

Without hesitation, the warrior offered his own hand, making sure he was firm, as he well knew that this could be an early test of will and strength. His own cool eyes met the piercing yellow gaze of his opponent and fixated on them, not willing to yield an inch.

"Kick his f****ng a** K!!!" 

Komodo winced as if in pain, but it was really embarrassment.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #2 

Yuri firmly squeezed the offered hand with a wolfish smile on his face. He was confident but far from underestimating his opponent just because he was smaller than himself. Than someone from the crowd yelled and Yuri´s smile changed into grim smirk.

“Looks like you have some dedicated fans buddy.”

He said and stepped two steps back to get some space between him and his opponent before the promoter starts the match. Of course, with the crowd hungry for a blood he didn´t have to wait long.

“Alright guys, you know the rules. There are none, just don´t kill yourselves and no kicking to the balls, understood?”
Yuri nodded and stretched his arms a little bit, before taking his fighting stance, regular boxing guard with his right slightly back.

“Than FIGHT!”

Yuri didn´t waited single second. Once the promoter gave his signal, he lunged forward, sending wave of fast jabs to test his opponents defense.

“Invisible left!”

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Invisible Left}
While standing in the basic stance, Yuri will throw a flurry of jabs from the front arm to distract his opponent, shock them and break through their defense in a preparation for more powerful attack. This is one of Yuri´s favorite combinations, focusing all his attention to the speed of his attack for the cost of lowering their power.

[theone]

"Less of a fan, more of an idiot." Komodo released the hand of the other man and he also stepped back, yet it was only a half step. He wanted to keep possession of the center of the makeshift ring for as long as he could. The taller, muscular man had assumed a stance, anticipatory of the beginning of their duel, conventional wisdom said that the young Marine would or should do the same, but Komodo was far from conventional. 

He merely shifted one leg back and turned his shoulders so that he was giving his opponent less surface to possibly hit. He stood with his hands at his side, body loose and supple, waiting to explode. This was considered a neutral stance, or "no stance", it was tactic that the martial artist rarely used, but in a situation such as this, he thought it was appropriate.

The announcer began the fight, and with incredible speed, the bigger man was upon Komodo, quickly eating away whatever space had been between to two combatants. The teen's clear blue eyes shone clearly as the onslaught began, the wolf like man throwing continuous left hands with bad intentions. Quick feet skipped lightly as Komodo retreated from the barrage, before lowering his body and pushing off towards his right, Yuri's left.

A large fist grazed his cheek as he made this move, but it did not impede him. Staying in motion, he ate up the distance between them and returned fire with a single shot of his own, only his large hand was open, aiming to contact the target of the taller man's solar plexus with the stone like butt of his palm. 

"Kobokushi!!"

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #3 

Yuri assumed his fighting stance, while his opponent kept so relaxed posture, that the Mad Dog started somehow doubt if this is really the opponent he was waiting for. However his doubts were dispersed after the first exchange, If nothing else the Dragon was quick on his feet, both in defensive and offensive as he at first skipped out of the range of Yuri´s barrage, before rushing again forward with his own counter attack.

The counter attack was to fast for Yuri to dodge completely, but he didn´t have to do so as simple palm strikes like that were dangerous for him only if they would hit few specific locations, other than that he could shrug them off without much concerns. So instead of avoiding the incoming palm completely, he only twist his body to the side, changing his barrage of punches into inner defense, pushing the incoming arm with his own palm away from his body. As he thought it wasn´t enough to defend completely, as the palm hit his tensed abdomen, however for his body that was used to being hit I was nowhere near as dangerous as a hit to the solar plexus would be.

The Dragon was skilled so much was obvious and so Yuri decided that he will break his rhythm with counterattack of his own. So right at the moment the open palm connected with his body, he threw his right against Dragon´s face. This time, it was single cross punch, straight and predictable, however packed with enough strength and power to send average man flying.

“Killer´s Right”