[VS] Swimming with the fishes

[York]

THE CHAMP WANTS YOU! If you’re reading this and you think you’re a bad dude, butt kicker, powerhouse, or brawling aficionado of any kind, than this is a message for you, Jack!

The Openweight Champion of the World, Adrian Idol, is calling you out to pit your sad excuse for a fighting style against the might of Pure Professional Wrestling. It’s time to find out what truly is the greatest fighting style that exists beneath sun, sea, or sky!

If you’ve got anything to say about these words, and you can summon the guts, meet THE CHAMPION HIMSELF at the Higgins Boxing Gym for a no hold’s barred, no referee, no ring outs fight for the belt!

OPENWEIGHT DOESN’T MEAN OPEN WAIT! ACT NOW. NO WEIGH INS, NO WEIGHT CLASSES, NO WEIGHT LIMITS. THE ONLY LIMITS ARE THOSE YOU PUT UPON YOURSELF, AND A FIGHT WITH THE CHAMPION IS YOUR CHANCE TO TAKE THEM OFF!

MAKE DINNER TOMORROW, MAKE HISTORY TODAY! AT THE HIGGINS BOXING GYM!


Note: You must be 18 years old or over to challenge

Idol stood in the corner of the ring, staring down his opponent’s groggy eyes as he slowly rose to his knees on the opposite corner. Like an Olympic level runner hearing the gun, he broke out of the corner in a sprint, jumping off his left foot as soon as he hit the ring’s middle. Gracefully, he soared across the other half of the ring, raising his knee and colliding it against the opponent’s head driving it into the padded corner.

Without giving his adversary a chance to recombobulate himself, the blonde wrapped his arms around the challenger’s waist, and dragged his limp body to the ring’s center, where he gently lay him down and retreated to another corner to observe. The man’s body did not move, and Idol smiled as he raised a hand in the air and began to count.

“1…2…3…4” The opponent did not move an inch. “5…6…7…8…9!”

Idol halted his count, and his smile disappeared. He wasn’t knocked out already, was he? “9 and a half.” This fight was just getting started. “9 and three quarters.” This wasn’t going to just end like this was it? This guy said he did amateur wrestling in his early years, Idol was hoping for a more robust grappling challenge for all of that talk. “Alright. 10” Idol blankly said. “Knockout. I win. Hooray.”

Rolling the opponent out of the ring, Idol layed him down on a set of mats outside the ring, all the while approaching the small table at ringside, supporting a ring bell, a bottle of water, and a championship belt. Ringing the bell, the champion looked back at the unconscious opponent, desperately hoping he’d get up and continue fighting. This was the only challenger he’d gotten all day, and all he did was leave the wrestler jonesing for a real challenge.

Grabbing the World Openweight Championship belt off of the table, Idol stared at his reflection in the front plate. “This isn’t what you represent, is it?” he said to the belt. “No, you deserve better. You deserve better than this ham sandwich. But don’t you worry, you’ll get a proper challenger soon. I know it.” Placing the belt back on the table and grabbing the bottled water, Idol rolled in the ring and sat in the corner. With another sigh, he opened the water and took small sips. He’d hardly worked up a sweat so there would be no need for deep gulps.

[SnowDog]

There was a brief commotion that rang out from behind the curtains that led out to the down ramp. Words and vulgarity flew as crew members and officials running the event tried to reel in the latest contender.

"I don't see the issue here! I'm here to fight, now I'm looking for the ring!" A feminine voice protested as she accidentally tore her way through the cheap fabric that draped over the entrance to the ring. Finally, the last curtain was torn straight down the middle and Marina found herself bathing in the white-hot light that shined down the entrance ramp. The piranha girl's big, amber eyes squinted from behind her gray, winged masked before adjusting and seeing the man of honor down in the ring below.

"HEY!" Marina called down, beginning to run down the main ramp towards the ring. The officials who tried to hold her back earlier could only watch through the hole and tears in the tattered curtains as she made it too far down the ramp top chase after. The fish woman slid under the bottom-most rope before she stood back up tall and imposing when compared to Idol's must more average stature. "Heard you were holding a challenge!" She stared down Idol who sat back in one of the corners. An accusatory finger pointed out at the human fighter as Marina snarled with a smug grin forming at the corner of her mouth. Her hand

"What say you, 'champ'?! Or can you not handle a REAL challenge?!"

[York]

Idol stopped his gulps at the sight of the curtains coming down, and he couldn’t help but hurt inside at the earache the gym’s owner was no doubt going to lay on him later. But this didn’t appear to be an accident under the hands of an ill-prepared volunteer. No, this seemed to be something a bit more fruitful.

There she was, a 6’4, maybe 6’5 woman in a very interesting costume bolting down to the ring with a gusto and enthusiasm that Idol had been waiting all day to see, and a rowdy tone in her voice he’d been waiting all day to hear. He pulled himself to his feet out of the ring corner and brought his hands to his hips. Her costume was a lot more impressive up close, and it was amazing how her green body paint hadn’t began to run under the lights. “Body paint and a mask… she must be from the south. A luchadora, perhaps.” Idol thought, rubbing his chin and looking this new opponent up and down. “I’ll have to adjust for a speedy opponent. Even if she has me beat in size, I’ll slow her down. I’ll show her who’s running things.”

“The champ is more than ready to take on all comers. And you just set a high expectation for yourself right there” Idol said, running his hands through his hair before raising both of them in front of him in a grappling pose. “You’d better not disappoint me now. I’m used to world class competition, bring anything less and you'll be joining that blockhead outside for a nice nap.”

[SnowDog]

"If that's what you consider to be 'World Class' then this bout is in the bag!" Marina retorted, flashing a toothy grin Idol's way, matching his boast with one of her own. With Idol taking up a grappling stance to signal his acceptance for the fight, the officials around the ring compiled themselves following the fishwoman's sudden and unprofessional entrance into the competition. Marina rolled her shoulders back to ready herself, a quick roll of the neck ensured looseness in her joints. She threw her hands down towards the ground before bringing closed fists back up to protect her upper body.

"Well if Idol's into it, I guess we can skip the formalities." One of the officials sitting ringside said before hammering the silver bell three times.

Not waiting for Idol to make the first move, Marina stepped back into the ropes, bouncing off of the elastic to propel herself forward at the champ. She splayed her arms outwards as if casting a wide net, preparing a close-line maneuver to catch Idol in if he tried to run at her, utilizing both arms to unsure he has little room to run away from her.

"That belt of yours is gonna look oh so nice around my waist! It'll really bring out my eyes!"

[York]

With the ring of the bell, Idol circled this mysterious new opponent, looking her up and down in search for a weakness to target first. Size and speed appeared to be in her favor, and as such, Idol figured the best course of action would be to tire her out as quickly as possible and make a show out of pummeling her exhausted body before putting her away for good. When it came down to it, size and strength meant nothing when you can barely draw a breath, and Idol's conditioning was such that he could go all day and all night without so much as a wheeze to his name.

Tentatively, he approached her, but dared not to make any sudden moves just yet. In a match, messing up your timing could have been the difference between victory and defeat. But it appeared that he wouldn’t have to be the one to make the first move, as his opponent had already bounced off the ropes for a high-speed clothesline attack. Little did she know, she was about to prove Idol's hypothesis correct and he couldn't help but smirk.

Idol waited until she was as close as possible before trying for a counter attack. “Arms are coming from both the left and the right, that only leaves down!” Without needing to use the ropes, Idol sprung forward with only one of his arms held out. He slid on one knee to keep his body low and was specifically aiming for that waist she was so excited to have a belt around. To wrap his arm around her body and get behind her would open the avenues needed to put his plan into action. It may have been too soon to try for a Gotch Suplex, but if an opportunity to pull one out presented itself, Idol would not be able to help himself.