Fight By The Fountain(Dante W., Spectators)

[Nathan Branigan]

It was another boring day at Hircine High. The temperature was quite high. Being close to an area with temperatures of 115 degrees did wonders to skyrocket an area’s own climate. It was 105 degrees in the city today. Too make matters worse, it was summer. The days were longer and the school’s air conditioning was in poor condition. It was like being cooked alive. For a certain sophomore, this made the classes that already seemed to drag on forever even longer. It was like his own personal hell.

After what seemed like an eternity, however, salvation did come. The lunch bell rang and the prisoner of his own mind, Nathan Branigan, ran through the exit at full speed. Never slowing down to spite the heat, he made his way to the courtyard. After spending an eternity sitting down he could not help but stretch his legs. The wind from the running even made it seem cooler as well.

Once Nathan reached the courtyard, he finally began to slow down. He took a few deep breaths to get the wind back in him after running from the top floor to the bottom at full sprint. He then proceeded towards the fountain and splashed his face with a handful of water to cool himself off. Satisfied, he turned to the crowd. He had escaped hell. He had won his freedom…at least for about half an hour. Then he would have to return to his cell. So Nathan planned on using all the time he was given. Facing the crowd he inhaled and blew out an enormous yell.

“ALL RIGHT NOW WHO WANTS TO TAKE ME ON? I BET I CAN BEAT ANYONE OF YOU!”

Staring at both the shock and obvious irritation of the crowd of students, he waited.

OOC: Dante first, he's the one I'm gonna fight after all. It can be assumed that my quote above is just to better fit my IC personality.

[Dante Williams]

OOC: PLEASE NO THREE WAY FIGHTS!!!! T_T I had enough of that with Martin and Bruce...

Dante sighed, his head sunk inside of his crossed arms. The class seemed to go on forever, because of the current heat, and the fact that it was math class didn't help. Not that Dante was bad at math or anything, he actually got pretty good marks, it's just that the class was SO BORING... Nothing ever changed in math, nothing eventful in the least bit anyway...

Finally the lunch bell rang. This was a slight escape from hell for Dante, so he decided to make the most of it.

He walked out to the courtyard, only to find some kid out next to the water fountain, screaming obnoxiously at the top of his lungs, “ALL RIGHT NOW WHO WANTS TO TAKE ME ON? I BET I CAN BEAT ANYONE OF YOU!”

Did I get out of this hell in my classroom to have me and everyone else be annoyed by this punk? Dante thought to himself angrily.

He spoke up in the pestered crowd that was forming around Nathan. "With all due respect: Please SHUT UP!!!" Dante spoke out angrily, "I'm sure I'm not the only one being annoyed the hell out of by your obnoxiousness..."

Though Dante knew that something as simple as that would shut this kid up, but there was always the off-chance that something like that would work...

[Nathan Branigan]

'And we have a winner!' Nathan thought to himself as he heard the angry reply.

He scanned the crowd that had formed in the direction of the voice he had heard and he found his mark. The student that would dissolve his boredom and reinforce him from his hell would be the one who yelled out in response to his little act. Nathan stared straight at the student and bolted at him at full speed. Excitement sent adrenaline pumping through his system as he neared him. Only for his new buzz to be killed as he closed in.

Nathan was easily a head taller than his soon to be opponent although the boy seemed to be older than him by a year or two.

'Oh well. I guess I'll have to make the best of things.' Nathan told himself in his disappointment.

Nathan locked eyes him, looking down at him to compensate for the great difference in height.

"Ok shorty. If you want me to shut up, all you have to do is make me..." Nathan began

"How shall you do this you ask? Well this is simple. You must join me in a lunch time brawl. Interested? Of course you are! Who wouldn't be?..." He paused to take a slight breath

"But you are absolutely going to ask what are the rules!? Well here they are! No breaking bones, stop the fight at the request of the fighter, no major insults, and the challenger strikes first!" Nathan said, listing the rules with his fingers.

Once he had said his part, Nathan bounced back about six full paces to gives the challenger space. Never talking his eyes off his opponent he opened his mouth again.

"By the way, you're the challenger and I'm Nathan Branigan. If you would tell me your name and let's get this started."

OOC: Sorry for the crap post

[Dante Williams]

Dante smirked as Nathan's eyes locked on Dante, most likely sizing him up. Nathan was taller than Dante, but then again, he's stood up to a LOT larger than this annoying guy, not that Dante was technically going to FIGHT this guy, but the chances were that this guy wouldn't shut up if he didn't...

"Ok shorty. If you want me to shut up, all you have to do is make me..."

At this, Dante sighed. He knew it. This kid was one of those people whose only reply to everything was more fighting to prove themselves? Was this kid getting even more obnoxious by the second or what?

"How shall you do this you ask? Well this is simple. You must join me in a lunch time brawl. Interested? Of course you are! Who wouldn't be?..." The kid quickly said, barely taking any time whatsoever for a breath, "But you are absolutely going to ask what are the rules!? Well here they are! No breaking bones, stop the fight at the request of the fighter, no major insults, and the challenger strikes first!"

Great, Dante thought, Just perfect... I have the worst luck. And if that's not enough, I have to strike first.

"By the way, you're the challenger and I'm Nathan Branigan. If you would tell me your name and let's get this started."

Nathan... for some reason that name seemed familiar. Dante finally spoke up, "The name is Dante Williams..." Maybe Nathan would remember Dante from his fight with Tiao before, and underestimate him yet again. But Dante has evolved in his fighting a lot since Tiao...

Dante continued, "And you should seriously learn when to shut up." Then he sighed quickly, racing forward throwing a couple of quick jabs towards Nathan's face, ending the combo with an elbow at his chest. Nathan would probably be too busy blocking his face to stop the assault at his chest.

Of course, this wasn't the best Dante could do, he was simply seeing what his opponent could do with a simple move...

[August Velway]

I love it when I'm right!

It wasn't a hard bet to take; earlier, when August Velway was trapped in one of his various classrooms, he didn't even know which, one of his classmates found themselves taking a twenty dollar bet that the terrible heat would prevent any fights from occurring across the school. Of course, being the risk-taker he was, August had no qualms on arguing the other side of coin, and as Lady Luck would have it, it only took a five minute walk from the same class to find a clash of fists and feet taking place nearby the school's fountain courtyard.

"Pay up, loser." August Velway commanded with a victorious grin, the other youth grumbling in a bit of frustration, but having no thought of avoiding the deal, especially since his opponent had been renowned for breaking the fingers of those who "forgot" their dues.

August instantly pocketed the worn Jackson, and kept his eyes on the fight beginning in front of him. The two combatants looked to be an interesting pair: a darker haired kid who was at least five inches shorter his opponent, a lad with a golden head and build that made him relative to Velway. The latter introduced himself as Nathan Branigan, and the former was named Dante Williams.

August hadn't heard of either of them, but their fight was something of a unique opportunity for the junior classman. Here they were, two adrenaline-driven teens, ready to fight each other for the sake of entertainment, and here stood everyone else, pissed off from the head and the boredom of school, desperately desiring something to distract them. To the eyes of a pure competitor, it meant two things: some easy exercise, or some easy cash.

"Hey Jim," August quipped, elbowing the shoulder of the youth next to him, "Know either of those guys?"

James - although he was always known as 'Jim' - took a quick glance over to the two fighters, nodded, and replied, "Shorter guy's name is Dante --"

"Yeah, I figured that out, dumbass." August added in, frowning a bit, "Besides that?"

"What I was about to say..." Jim continued, now a bit aggravated, "was that he got taken down by Tiao Lei Shen a good while ago. Nothing too fancy, just fact. I think he's a Varronite, too. The other guy's been around, but I don't know too much."

August grinned, "So we've got a 'born' fighter and a newbie... or maybe we don't, that's what I'm wonderin'."

"Gambling circle, right here!" Velway yelled into the crowd, a reaction coming that was probably not expected, but certainly good to hear. Almost instantly, every guy in the local vicinity turned their heads to look, as a select group of gamblers quickly dashed up to get in on the action.

"Ah, hey August, what's it gonna be today?" Teddy Red asked in a hype, ready to join in the usual festivities, "What you losin' money on today?"

Velway grinned, "What else Ted? We're gonna gamble on that good match right there. Throw in your chips gentlemen, let's get this started."

Jim pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil, getting ready to write down everyone's bets. With a flurry of words and cheers, the collection of a dozen youth grew loud as names where thrown around, and numbers given.

"Will's a fellow Varronite! He gets points for that! I'm giving him twenty bucks for a clean victory!"

"I'm with shorty too, ten bucks in."

"Screw ya'll, the country boy for me! Thirty FIVE greens to out do you both!"

August rubbed his left hand across the roughness of his 5 o' clock shadow, pondering the chances. He knew that the Varronite students had quickly grown a reputation for their apparent edge in combat situations, but this particular Varronite was five inches shorter than his opponent, and lightly built too. While the other guy was less known, he seemed to know what he was doing by calling for a random fight, especially if he set down rules AND made sure to have a clear area to fight in, covering his basics with the Pillarship in a sense. The Nathan fellow deserved to have some money on him, and in the end, if he did lose, it'd make sure that Jim, Ted, and the rest of the crew didn't stop throwing their own money in.

"I'm throwing in a Benjamin." Velway finally noted, side glancing Jim's surprise, and grinning, "Just write it down, you shithead."

The man reacted with a steady grin, "Geez, your loss Aussie, your loss."

Nah, it'll be my gain, if I played my cards right. August thought, looking up to watch as the fight continued, grinning all the same, If he's not my Ace of Spades, perhaps I'll make him one.

[Martin Tome]

Martin was sitting by the fountain, about to light a smoke, when a group of people came by and knocked into him, making him drop it into the fountain.

"Son of a bitch. Will I ever actually get to smoke?"

The moment had passed so he was going to pursue the person who made him drop the cigarette, when he noticed the fight going on. There was even a person making bets. He walked over to the guy making bets. He noticed that Dante was the person in the fight.

"Hey, 30 bucks on the shorty."

He began to yell toward Dante.

"Hey shorts stuff! If you loose, I loose 30 bucks! So don't loose!"

[Nathan Branigan]

'And so we begin'

As Dante closed in for the first assault, Nathan quickly blocked out all else. However, in the crowd he quickly heard the change of mood from irritation to that of excitement. Like him, the crowd was enjoying the display. Nathan found himself hoping that Dante would do the same. This event that he had conceived was to be for the benefit of all, not just himself.

Once Dante was in range, he immediately threw a punch. This was obviously to be followed by another. Such an attack gave Nathan the perfect opportunity to set his height and weight advantage into play. Dante would have to aim high to reach Nathan's face. He would also have to get in close to compensate for the distance lost to the diagonal punches. The great thing about being taller is that it also gives you longer arms and legs. Because of this, Nathan would have no problem countering Dante's attack.

Dante closed in on Nathan and he unleashed his counter immediately. Nathan threw his left arm up, knocking both of Dante's arms off course and into the air. He also made sure that it would be a forceful enough move to knock Dante off balance. This would cause him to motion backward, preventing an attack from Dante's legs. They would be too busy keeping him on his feet to do anything. It was simply reaction to allow your legs to guide you in such a situation. And to make matters worse, this left his midsection completely open. To exploit this, Nathan sent a powerful punch with his right arm straight into Dante's gut. A blow like that would surely knock the wind right out of Nathan's opponent.

[Dante Williams]

OOC: Sorry for the short and kind of crappy reply, I'm kind of rushing this

THIS IS MY EDIT POST

IC:
As Dante tried to punch Nathan, both of his arms were blocked and knocked off balance, along with pushing Dante himself back enough to knock him backwards a little to knock him off balance.

He heard the confusion and annoyance that was in the crowd originally ripple to excitement. Everyone was cheering on who they thought would win... and by the sounds of the cheers, he sounded like the favorite....

Then Dante heard a very familiar... and a very annoying voice, "Hey shorts stuff! If you lose, I lose 30 bucks! So don't lose!"

Wow... Dante thought as he continued the attack, Glad to know he cares about me this much... Wait? Thirty bucks? They're placing bets on this fight?

He smirked, then his eyes' opened widely as he saw Nathan's fist coming straight towards Dante's gut. Since Dante was already stepping back, to regain balance, he kept the momentum as he was quickly hit.

He hit the ground, and skidded a couple of inches, then stood up quickly, though still in a daze. He shook it off quickly then smiled and said, "And THAT'S why I don't like attacking first..."

[Nathan Branigan]

Nathan's counter-attack landed quite smoothly and Dante stumbled backward as a result. This match was quickly made to give him an advantage, but Nathan chose not to exploit it. This match was for fun after all and he had forced Dante to attack first. It was for that reason that Nathan would wait for Dante to get his defense back up before he charged. He watched Dante fall to the ground, stumbling, and finally hit the ground. Dante seemed to be in a daze from the hit which was understandable. Nathan had hit him directly in the gut. This knocked the wind out of him and sent him on the ground quite quickly.

Only a second of two later, Dante forced himself back on his feet. He would only be in a daze for a second longer before it passed. As he recovered he spoke to Nathan, "And THAT'S why I don't like attacking first...". Dante smiled as he said this, putting Nathan into an even better mood. 'So...he's finally beginning to enjoy himself. That's fantastic! It'll be more fun if he isn't full of insults the entire time'. Nathan smiled as he listened to Dante. Suddenly a few people began to change their attitudes. It had changed from irritation to excitement. Nothing lightened the mood more than a nice fight at lunch time.

"Well if that's how you feel about it than I'll go ahead. It's mine turn anyway." Nathan said, his arms folded

As soon as he said this he bolted forward. He pulled his arms out in front of him ready to attack. It was then that he got an idea. He was going to steal a move from someone he had just recently fought. AS he closed in he braked with his left leg hard. At the same time he sent a palm strike at Dante with his right hand, aimed at his jaw. A basic attack, yet it always worked out for Tiao. Besides it was just plain fun to try it out.

[Dante Williams]

OOC: Short and crappy I know, I have writer's block

Dante smiled as the crowd started to buzz with excitement. He was perfectly fine now, and out of his dazed phase. Who knows? Dante thought to himself, this fight might actually be fun...

"Well if that's how you feel about it than I'll go ahead. It's mine turn anyway."

Dante grinned as Nathan replied to what Dante earlier said about his displeasure of going first. "Good for me." Dante said, still smiling.

Then Nathan quickly charged for Dante and tried to strike Nathan's palm against Dante jaw. His eyes opened widely...

Tiao... This was one of Tiao's signature moves. Flashes of his memories fighting the pillar returned to him. The fight, the loss, and the mission for revenge...

With clenched teeth, Dante quickly pounched forward while crouching, so he went under Nathan's arm, then tried to smash his elbow into Nathan's unprotected midsection. Nathan, unlike Dante earlier, had no backwards momentum to his advantage, and his arms would be too far from Dante to block.

Dante was too close for Nathan to dodge... This one's probably gonna hit... Dante thought with a smile.

While he was attacking, he said, "Have you ever fought the Pillar, Tiao, by any chance?" Dante was still trying to remember why the name Nathan was familiar... maybe this was the reason?

[Nathan Branigan]

OOC: I'm assuming you're attacking with your right elbow

As expected from any fighter with the slightest talent, Dante went under Nathan's palm strike to the jaw. He pounced directly at Nathan, sending a right elbow strike directly at Nathan's midsection. 'A decent attack, if I wasn't prepared for it' He thought. Dante, for some unknown reason, had forgot to compensate for the fact that Nathan's left arm was ready and waiting. Dante's attack came at a quick speed, but Nathan's arm was relaxed and already at the area of attack. A quick fluid motion was all that was required to block the attack completely. He simply dipped his left arm slightly under where the elbow would come. Once the elbow was within range an instant later, he threw his arm to the left. It was bent at the elbow to give a better blocking motion. This would redirect Dante's elbow strike to the left of Nathan, missing him completely.

By this time, his palm strike would have returned from its failed attack. It was immediately given a new purpose. He sent it straight at Dante's face once more. However, this time it was a closed fist. It would hit hard and very fast, thanks to Dante's pounce and Nathan moving forward. The fist would land directly on Dante's left cheek, hitting his upper mouth line and his jaw. Nathan made sure to avoid the nose after all it was only a fight for pleasure. He also took care to bend his arm ever so slightly to protect his joint from a strike to break bone, just in case Dante got carried away.

"Have you ever fought the Pillar, Tiao, by any chance?"

Dante had said this during his attack. Once Nathan's counter hit, he would answer his question. "Actually yes I have and, seeing as how you recognized his move, I assume you have too. Why would you ask though?"

OOC: Just so we are clear, I'm writing what would happen if I hit not assuming that I have. I wanted to avoid us sending unnecessary PM's.

[Dante Williams]

OOC: Sorry for the long wait, as I explained earlier, I've been busy...

WARNING: SHORT POST AHEAD!!!

IC:

Dante mentally grumbled as his elbow was redirected so he stumbled to Nathan's left. Damn, he thought, then saw Nathan's fist come straight towards Dante's face.

Dante used his state of stumbling to his advantage. No longer at a loss of balance, he quickly stepped forward on his left foot, and tried to quickly crouch while doing a quick sweep at Nathan's legs. The crouch would dodge Nathan's fist...

Hopefully this one will hit... Dante thought as he carried out the attack...

If he did hit, then if it didn't make Nathan fall, it would surely make him lose balance. Then Dante would land his airborn leg and pounce forward yet again, to elbow him in the chest...

[Nathan Branigan]

'The same old move again? How boring' Nathan thought in disappointment. Dante dodged his attack the exact same way as before, causing a slight sensation of boredom in Nathan. Fights were so fun for him because they were unpredictable, you never knew what was going to happen, and things could turn on you in an instant. However, Dante decided on using the same thing as before. This effectively made Nathan lose a little bit of respect that he had for his new acquaintance. 'Well if he's going to do the same thing over and over then I might as well take advantage. I don't want to be stuck in a boring fight'. And with that thought Nathan began his defense. Dante would be in the process of just crouching down when Nathan's right arm would begin returning to him. It would look exactly like it was merely returning, but with one difference. It would grab his hair with the grip of a dead man, yanking Dante to Nathan's right as hard as possible. To defend against Dante's weakened sweep, he widened his base by spreading his right foot, giving him more balance. It was enough to protect him from the sweep, but not enough to make him an easier target to fall down. The sudden yank would also stop Dante from making an elbow attack to Nathan's chest.

With his defenses covered, Nathan moved on to his attack. His left arm, being free, was the obvious choice. He sent a powerful hit straight to Dante's diaphragm. This would knock the wind out of him, and because of the strength of the blow, cause a lot of pain. It would hit an instant after the yank and Dante's eyes would very likely shut from the pull as well, or at least look up. Nathan would then send two punches to Dante's face afterwards, unless he came up with a counter. Dante had made Nathan bored. He had two choices. Make things interesting, or be knocked unconscious.

OOC: Sorry if it seems like God Modding.

[Dante Williams]

OOC:

I am SO SORRY FOR THE LONG REPLY!!!

I've been busy with family funerals, school, and plain life in general!!!

And I haven't written for a while and I have writers block, so please excuse me if my post is crap!!!

IC:

As Dante was crouching down, Nathan reached back quickly to grab Dante's hair. Luckily though, Dante wasn't fully crouched, so he still had the option to move. He pushed his upper body out of the way by pushing down on his right foot, then tried to grab Nathan's arm with his right arm, if successful, then he would grab it also with his left arm, which was currently in front of him to block.

He would land with his left foot, regardless whether he was successful or not, then he would pull on Nathan's arm if he was successful in his earlier move, causing Nathan to fall forward because he lost balance, then Dante would let go with his right arm, pull it back, and hopefully hit Nathan's face. The worst he could do was break Nathan's nose.

If he wasn't successful with the grab, then he would land with his left foot and simply jump back and get into a defensive position, waiting for Nathan's next move...