The following is a collab-post between Beta and Greased Smitening
Even as he walked into the
arena, Junkiro could feel the oppressive air from the stands crushing down upon him. Nearly everyone there seemed to be rooting for Mr. McRude, with maybe a cry here and there positively directed his way. Not exactly promising. Figures he had to pick a fight with the popular boy, didn't it? With a shrug, Junkiro witnessed the show Shotaro was giving off as well; he wasn't sure which sensation was more oppressing, the crushing aura Shotaro was exuding from every pore, or the screams the enamored crowd was raining down upon them. Either way, he was an ant in the giant's garden. How was he going to put up with this?
Easy....calm yourself, you've shown your honor just by arriving. No need to win, just hold your own. Junkiro shut his eyes as he meditated for a brief moment on this thought before responding to his friend.
"Do not worry about myself, Vincento. Honor will prevail, and if his exists at all, he will not want to to cripple my body. And if he does...that is what the judges are here to stop, yes? Besides...perhaps there are a few tricks you all must get accustomed to...for I have a talent up my sleeve." Junkiro gave his friends a smirk-they had seemingly forgotten that many students had their own little quirks.
Once again, now that he had ignored Shotaro for a minute, he addressed the rude senior accordingly.
"Of course, sir. I would be happy to be your assistant on showing the proper kicking of the butt. But did you want it to be your left cheek or right? I'm still new at the prospect, after all." He heard several gasps from the crowd; he was being cocky, and he knew it. Then again...in every movie he had ever seen, trash-talking was quite the norm.
The large man who introduced himself as their judge, Mister LeBlanc, offered Junkiro the opportunity to go change before the scrap-a welcome chance, as he realized he was still in his street wear.
"I will be right back, professor, see you in a brief moment!" Junkiro, not wasting any time, sprinted to the locker room. This served a dual purpose; not only did he need out of his clothes, he also needed a moment to quell his nerves. He was walking into a beatdown with all the fake swagger of a corrupted official. And yet he was not backing down. Nay, he couldn't. He would go through this battle despite the injuries. And he would benefit for it in one way or another. This he continued to tell himself as he stripped down in preparation for the battle.
His preparations complete a minute later, Junkiro strode out of the locker room with regained composure; the crowd, however, froze in silence for a brief moment before the arena was filled with with indistinct murmurs and chatter. Junkiro's fighting uniform, as opposed to the typical gi, consisted of merely a skintight black Speedo. Junkiro, however, stood unperturbed, feeling even the eyes of his friends, and the judge, on him.
"Get to safety, fellows, I doubt he will discriminate who he targets," Junkiro issued to his friends before giving Mr. LeBlanc a warm smile.
"All set, let's get this battle on, shall we?" Junkiro then got himself into a defensive stance, giving his foe the same warm smile.
"And the best of luck to you, fellow competitor!"
Ok....3...2...1..
So this kid not only came to the fight, but tried talking shit? That was it for Shotaro. He had planned on just kicking the kid around and then saying he was bored with it. Possibly even conceding the match out of sheer disinterest. Wouldn't be the first time he had done so. But this kid's attitude had just sealed his fate.
"Oh man... you're done now, kid. I was gonna be nice about this, but you just FUCKED yourself!" The lesser-ranked students who were present would almost immediately get a strong sense of unpleasantness and possibly fear, as Shotaro's entire being was now focused on the destruction of his opponent.
In the minute that the Japanese student was getting changed, Shotaro walked over to Axel and Vincento and had a word with the duo.
"You two might want to go let the infirmary know that your friend will be needing someone here soon. If they don't get here fast enough, I can't promise he'll live." Chills ran down Vincento's spine at the notion that someone might die in front of him. He knew people could get badly hurt here. Accidents happend, after all. ... but death? The thought was mortifying.
A few seconds after the senior had returned to his side of the arena, Junkiro returned... in a speedo, no less. Shotaro rolled his eyes at first, but was a little... not wary, but intrigued. Usually only the Greco-Roman wrestlers stripped down to their skivvies before a match, and Elias' info had told him this Junkiro kid was a practitioner of Kyokushin Karate. Odd that he didn't dress in the traditional white Gi. Something was definitely not right about the whole situation, that was for sure.
"Oh your little pals have nothing to worry about, small balls. Its YOURE blood I'm after, not theirs." ... in a few seconds, the fight would be on and Shotaro would be firmly planting his foot somewhere between Junkiro's femur and eye sockets. The Japanese boy wished him luck, to which the senior responded
"Don't send ME your luck. You'll need every bit of it you can muster."
3... 2... 1...
Weiss' hand dropped and the whistle sounded. The fight was on.
Gritting his teeth and rushing forward, Shotaro was intent to deliver swift punishment to this cocky new kid. In his face in just over a second, the first thing that Junkiro would have to deal with was a left knee feint followed by a turning right kick aimed for his sternum. Right out the gate, Shotaro was already looking to inflict high damage. Several bystanders knew this kick all too well, as they had been on the wrong end of it at some point. If it hit dead on, it'd be trouble.
There it was, just as Junkiro expected; Shotaro the bully, charging in like a starved dog at a steak. Junkiro, though, had somewhat underestimated his foe's speed, surprised that he was in range in barely a second. But he held firm, knowing he had to stand in and take it if he was going to do anything back. The first thing he saw was a left knee; and that was all he needed to jump on it. Expecting to take some form of a hit, Junkiro shifted to his left leg, putting his strength into a high kick aimed for Shotaro's chest, hoping to catch the burly senior off guard by defending offensively.
Then things went south. The knee never came; instead, Junkiro found himself kicking at a Shotaro delivering a powerful right kick in turn. Both kicks landed, though neither where initially intended; Jun found his foot in Shotaro's side, while he let out a loud grunt of pain as his right shoulder was forced to endure the brunt of a powerful kick. And yet, the crowd murmured in confusion. Why hadn't the freshman been sent into the wall, unconscious? No, the two fighters seemed locked in their positions. What was going on here?
Junkiro spared Shotaro the explanation: He had used his ability to stick to things by planting his foot in the ground, keeping him from moving around. In addition, his other sole was now firmly stuck in Shotaro's side. And thus, his plan came into effect. Snapping his leg down, he forced his foe to, at the very least, lean forward and bring his head within range of his next move: a straight lefthanded punch aimed to cause as much damage as it possibly could. Did Jun have a plan if it didn't knock him out? No. But he didn't exactly expect to win, either...just prove he could not be stepped on.
Well, this Junkiro kid had at least SOME skill to back up his cocky attitude. He'd managed to evade the worst of the kick. To make things more surprising, he had even delivered an attack of his own. It wasn't the most forceful of front-kicks, but it was enough to defer a bit of the impact and elicit a strained grunt from the senior student. But Shotaro had little time to consider how to break the kid's leg... as somehow that leg then pulled his upper body downward with it.
So THAT must have been why he didn't wear a Gi. Some sort of static electric or adhesive ability. Certainly a pain in the ass... Elias dropped the ball on this one. Still, he would not be done in. Slamming his feet into the ground as hard as he could, Shotaro managed to remain upright for the most part. The fist that was hurtling toward his face? Simple enough to deal with. A simple arm-block stopped the strike before it hit home. That was it. He was done pissing around now.
Grabbing the hand that had just tried to further injure him, Shotaro torqued it firmly and lifted upward to accentuate and increase the pressure applied to Junkiro's wrist. However, that was only a quick diversion. A snap side-kick would immediately follow the wrist-hold, aimed right for the freshman's guts. He'd really only have two options here. Take the kick and deal with that pain, or try to evade it somehow and likely cause significant damage to his wrist.
Crap. No other way to put it but just plain old steaming dog-shit crap. Junkiro's plan was solid, but he overestimated his own abilities just a smidgen too much. While the punch came in fast, it wasn't fast enough, and did little more than strike a strategically-placed arm. And from there, all hell broke loose. His wrist in a stranglehold, he let out another gasp of pain. While his years in Kyokushin karate had toughened his body enough to handle moderate pain, joints still hurt a whole hell of a lot.
It didn't take long to figure out what was next, a point poignantly showcased by his ribs suddenly screaming as a foot blasted into them full-force. Junkiro felt the wind fly out of his lungs and his vision of Shotaro shrinking as his wrist was released and he was sent soaring away several meters, landing in a heap on the ground. The crowd went wild, and several even started to head for the exits, as surely this cocky freshman knew better than to get up after that. Junkiro's head swirled with that possibility even amongst the pain that nearly caused him to lose that lunch he had eaten an hour or so ago.
No. Even in this crippling situation, he still had to prove he wasn't about to just quit so easily. But where was there a point of attack? He was a peashooter with a single trick up against a sniper rifle. And yet....
A hoarse, yet still audible laugh escaped Jun's lips as he shakily rose to his feet and gave Shotaro a winning smile.
"Thank you for the lesson! I think I could fit one more in somewhere, though. So that I can one day be as good as you are!" He meant it; Shotaro was better than he was, and it wasn't like he ever thought otherwise. But who knew? Goading had worked once this fight. He took his stance one more, exuding the confidence he knew he lacked as the crowd stared at the idiot boy who had just politely asked for his ribs to be broken.
Holding his pose for a moment after delivering the bone-crushing kick, Shotaro listened to the kid prattle on and on about lessons and whatnot. Apparently he hadn't been broken enough yet. That would soon change. He wanted to go through this without using his ability... to show this kid just how low he was. But really, using his ability would hammer that home even further. And so, the fight would soon end. Ramping up his adrenaline to double the level of a normal person, Shotaro rushed toward Junkiro with a burst of speed that scattered a bunch of dirt and mulch from where he had been standing.
First, a kick would be sent screaming toward Junkiro's ribs for the second time. Weiss immediately stood and moved to intercept, but he wouldn't make it quite in time to stop the first blow. That would be on the Japanese boy to defend himself from. Regardless of if he defended or not, Shotaro's next course of action would be to pivot on his other foot at an incredible pace, bring the other foot down, and send another turning kick at the freshman challenger.
This one... was headed right for his face. Until...
Even as he held his stance, Jun knew he had maybe one more shot in him before he was spent. And from the intense burst of power he just felt, Shotaro just activated...whatever his power was. This could not end well. As the senior screamed in at a speed beyond even the initial encounter, the freshman did the only thing he could: hold his arms out in a block.
To his surprise, it worked. The kick, aimed for his already stinging ribs, slammed into a crossed arm block instead. With multiple contact points, the force was spread out just enough for Junkiro to avoid breaking both arms. Just. Didn't stop it from eliciting a scream, however. Nonetheless, a single thought flitted across his mind amongst the pain.
Another one's coming. With no other options to avoid a kick that could come faster than his eye could follow almost, Junkiro did the only thing he could and stuck to Shotaro's foot. The force of it snapping down for another pivot dragged him to the ground, his head hitting the ground heavily. On the positive end, it also threw Shotaro off balance, stopping the older student from delivering the final blow even without Weiss' intervention.
Junkiro looked up, expecting Shotaro to already be stepping on his head, but instead found the judge, Mr. LeBlanc, standing over the two in a panic; not a good sign at all. Jun checked himself briefly; nothing was broken, and while he was in a significant amount of pain, he would probably get over it with a couple days' rest and a checkup from the school nurse. He forced himself to sit up despite his aching bones, and gave the judge a smile.
"Do not worry about myself, I am fine. However, I feel I, and perhaps yourself, have had enough. I'll exit here."
Now he turned to Shotaro and bowed low to him despite the protesting of his midsection, a sincere smile on his face.
"And to you? Great fight, Shotaro. You win." His business complete, Junkiro turned away and glanced up once to the crowd, which was raining a slew of boos and slurs upon him, and gingerly made his way to the locker room. Immediately upon closing the door, Junkiro turned to the wastebasket and heaved his guts and steak all over it. Maintaining his composure after that final kick had not been easy, but in the solitude of the locker room, he was free to lie on the locker bench, too tired and in pain to move much at all. It had been an obvious losing effort...but nobody would say he didn't try.
That went a little differently than Shotaro expected, but he HAD determined the upstart freshman's power. In short, the kid could stick to things. That was an ability straight out of a comic book, thought New Peaks' top dog. Still, the kid could at least take a beating. Add that to the information Shotaro had gotten on him from Elias, and a plan was coming together. Yes, things would fall into place rather nicely. All that remained was to wait for the kid to heal up. A cracked rib and severe bruising would be an easy fix for the New Peaks Medical Staff, and Shotaro figured the kid would be out for three days at most.
Vincento had rushed off to get a doctor as soon as the fight was over, as Junkiro had taken shots that could drop a horse. As such, he wasn't really there to interact with anyone. Weiss glared in frustration at Shotaro, who stared right back in a way that said "Do it. I dare you." ... and the excitement of the first big fight of the year came to a close.
Elias and Siu headed over to Imperius Hall with Shotaro, with Elias leaving shortly after he arrived. Shotaro went to his dorm after his friend departed, and Siu began to practice on the various training dummies and punching bags in the hall's main floor gym. Everything was back to normal after the fight, it seemed.
Just another day at...
New Peaks Academy - Fight School!
