Break out the Rust-Eze

[Dain Gavyns]

((Open for any and all interactions. Fight, Spar, friendly Chat, whatever. Just trying to give poor Dain something to do.))

Three or four long, deep breaths emanated from one Dain Gavyns. The cages long since taken down from last week's fights, a large square area of his gym floor was now covered with a simple athletic mat. He stood in the center of it, and on each corner, a younger man stood, making four in total. Slowly and carefully, Gavyns turned a circle, looking at each one in turn as he rolled his shoulders. These guys weren't the most hardcore fighters around, but they were all former Varron students, and thus knew their way around a punch and/or a kick. They were all of legal age, and had been hanging out at Legion a few nights back reminiscing about the old days. Dain had been up at the counter trying to bartend at the time (He could serve up a beer easily enough, and had a natural talent for flairing, but the simple fact that he was alcoholically challenged made it necessary to beg the actually scheduled 'tender to make all the mixed drinks for him) and overheard the group. He brought them all drinks, on his tab this time, and decided to join in a bit. He talked a bit, got their names, and gave them his. Sure enough, they remembered their old Senior Captain Dain, and it was enough of a conversation starter, coupled with Dain's natural charm, to keep the group hanging around 'til near close, which racked up a decent tab for the lot of them. Either way, before they left, Dain asked them if they would be interested in a little friendly fight at the gym he owned the next day. One laughed, mentioned something about sleeping off his hangover first, but they all agreed. And now, here they were. Dain had decided to challenge them to a four-on-one, considering that, all in all, it wouldn't matter one way or the other if he won or lost. The simple fact of the matter was this: Dain had been getting lazy, and he needed to break himself of it before he found himself in a position where he needed to, but couldn't.

His thoughts snapped back to the present, and now these guys were at his gym, dressed in various tanktops and basketball shorts. He was decked out in his usual sparring attire, a pair of black windpants and a dark blue, form-fitting tanktop. "Alright, guys... you ready to rock? Come at me anytime."

The four guys all looked at each other in turn, signaling to the others that they were each ready, and, as one, rushed towards the middle of the mat, attempting to overtake Dain from all sides.

Here goes nothing, you old fart, Dain thought to himself as he cracked a wry grin. Time to see if you're still worth a shit.

Instead of letting the four come to him, Dain struck out, taking two steps forward to engage one of them first. This threw the guy off his stride, causing him to stutter-step to a stop and throw a wide right hook, more out of self-defence than anything. Dain simply lowered his head and kept going, dodging right under the hook and turning as he passed to the boy to come up behind him, quickly giving him a two-handed shove on his back. The boy stumbled forward a bit, falling into the three other guys, who quickly caught him and righted him. In one move, Dain had gone from being flanked on all sides, to only one.

The four attacked again as one, this time coming at him with a volley of punches and kicks in a line. Dain simply hopped to his right, coming up to the far side of the last guy in the line, and struck out with a kick to his leg. The guy raised his shin and took it Muay-Thai style, and upon dropping the leg back down, used it to stand while he spun with his right leg into a high kick toward Dain's head. Dain raised his right hand to take it on the forearm, pushing it down and rolling his arm around to try and grab the leg under his arm, but the closest guy came around underneath the high-flying leg with a straight side-kick, and another guy came around the dude's back swinging a right hook.

Dain moved fast, continuing with his initial catch of the high kick. As he brought it down, he turned his torso to the left, swinging his assailant's own leg against his partner's, tangling the limbs of the two. As he did so, his left arm came up and caught the hook at the crook of the elbow, folding the arm around his hand. He pushed the captured leg backwards, causing the two tangled men to fall backwards, and jerked his own captured hand back toward himself, his fingers closing around the inside of the man's arm to keep him from simply opening his arm and negating the whole thing. The kid stumbled forward and Dain lowered his body and caught the kid in the gut with his shoulder, doubling him over before picking him up over his shoulder and quickly slinging him back down, on top of the tangled two-some from before.

That only left the one guy, who decided to hop over the group of bodies to reach him. Dain just shook his head, and, whilst the guy was in mid-air, struck out with a high side-kick to catch him in the gut and cause him to fall back onto the group.

Snap, Dain thought as he extended his hand to help the guys up, one by one.

Looks like I've still got it.

[Ryou Jackson]

Clapping interrupted the silence, as Ryou walked forward from the shadows into the bright lights that lit the gym up. " Nicely executed, you're no slouch when it comes to fighting." he complimented Dain, as he walked right up to the edge of the mat, he stopped clapping and now had his hands in his jacket pockets. He didn't recognize any of the four guys that were craddling their heads in pain after being soundly defeated, they probably had graduated when he was still in his early highschool years, and it was four-on-one, not fair obviously, but Dain had overcome the odds, and for that, Ryou had to applaude him.

He was sure that they were all thinking the same thing as the fight began, four against one? Surely one of them would deliver the finishing knockout, not so, as Dain had proved them wrong minutes ago. " You pack quite a punch and kick." Ryou said, he had walked in and watched the fight mere moments after it had started, wincing as he saw the three guys go down like a sack of potatoes, and the last guy joining them moments later.

" After seeing the way you fought, it's no wonder my friends come here." Ryou said thoughtfully, looking around the gym.

After leaving his dojo for three years, he had only gone back once, this gym was certainly a change of pace, it gave him a good location to train, it was a far cry from his old training spots, whether it'd be at home to a quiet spot in the park. " Name's Ryou." Ryou said, holding out his hand in a friendly gesture. He made eye contact with Dain, if it's one thing he knew best, always make eye contact with someone, it's the only way you could ever assess a person truly, whether it be personality or fighting style. Looking at Dain's eyes, he could tell that he'd seen his fair share of fights, perhaps something more that Ryou could not comprehend or begin to understand, but he was also kind, and tough, despite outward appearances. That was the number one rule in Ryou's books, never underestimate your opponent, no matter what.

[Brad Kavanagh]

(*I'm not in the best condition rp-wise, so excuse me if it's a little lacking.*)

"Hey... aren't you the guy who runs the league?"

This was the intro Brad Kavanagh would have made. He would have walked over, onto the mat and just initiate a conversation with the man. Even if such forwardness was a common habit for him, he would still be passive about it. If he hadn't just seen Dain completely decimate four men in one whole sitting. That was an accomplishment that the boy couldn't say that he had accomplished. Hell, he would have probably been beaten to a pulp. The other man made it look like child's play. Either out of envy or respect (Brad really couldn't tell between the two at the time), Brad stood right next to the cage, shaking his head in complete disbelief.

"Wow.. just wow..." Brad exclaimed, trying his best to keep the comment under his breath but not succeeding in doing so. "That... just... completely crazy. Just wow. I can't believe it..."

Brad really wanted to walk over onto the mat and shake the other man's hand, but that wasn't the style he was used to. He was more quiet, deciding to stick to the background unless if something involved one of his friends (a group of which didn't include a number with double digits). Hell... he probably would have kept quiet anyway, even if someone wandered up and initiate a conversation or not. Brad sighed softly, shaking his head back and forth, his back against a wall near the exit. Whatever... I'll wait for this other guy to get done with him... I don't want to go bothering him. He looks like he could beat the both of us down if we piss him off the wrong way... Brad looked at the floor, seeing one of the men still struggling back up to his feet (despite Dain's efforts to help him up). The sight made the boy chuckle softly. He had seen the whole fight from beginning to end, and while Brad wasn't nearly an acrobat, there was still something very admiring about the way he fought.

"I think I have to keep a close look out for this guy." he said to no one in particular.

[Dain Gavyns]

((Hey Kavanagh, maybe I didn't make this clear enough, but the cage is gone now. Don't worry about it, though, editing posts is for losers... just pretend it never happened next post you make is fine with me. ))

"S'up Ryou?" Dain replied, letting out a few long, slightly ragged breaths. The fight had been a little more taxing than he had expected. Mostly, however, this was due to his absence from fighting in so long, but also due in part to the fact that, at least three or four times during that fight, Dain had to completely shift tactics to keep up with the changing and multiple attacks of his opponents. He let out one last long breath, and grinned up at the guy who had walked in first. He reached out and accepted the proffered shake, giving it a firm grip and a quick shake.

"I'm Dain," he said, and released the handshake. "Dain Gavyns. I used to go to Varron Academy, now I do a little of everything to get by here in San Fran. And unless these guys are your friends," Dain said, jerking his head over his shoulder to indicate his previous sparring partners, "you should tell them to stop sneaking into my place!" Dain smirked and winked, indicating that he meant no harm in his comment. "This place is mostly for my own benefit, I've only opened it to the public a few times. Still getting things set up and what-not, y'know?"

Dain also saw the other entrant, who simply quietly remarked to himself about the fight at hand. Dain extended his arm high into the air and waved at him, beckoning him to come on over if he wanted to. By this point, though, his buddies were just getting situated. Dain turned to speak to them for a moment, but not before looking Ryou in his eyes and saying "Excuse me just a moment, please."

"Hey, guys, thanks for the spar."

"Psh, you wiped the floor with us!"

"Dude," Dain said, shaking his head fiercely. "It was nothing but luck. I got around your first hook," he nodded towards the man in question, "and from there it was just luck on my part. Had you guys done any combination other than what you did... I'd have been eating mat. So, yeah, feel free to come around anytime. Here's my cell number," he said, trotting quickly over to a bench where his jacket was and grabbing a notepad and pen, and writing down a set of digits. "If you guys wanna come around and work out, or whatever, I'll be getting in the real equipment and stuff within the next few weeks. I'll get you a discount or whatever on your membership, y'know? Anyway, see ya 'round."

The four guys left, leaving Dain to go back to Ryou and, if he had decided to enter the group, Brad as well. "So, you guys just come for the show, or what?"

[Ryou Jackson]

His handshake returned, firm and quick, Ryou let his arm fall back down to his side. " Dain Gavyns huh?" Ryou thought, making a mental note in his mind. " So you came from Varron Academy? Well, I didn't come from Varron, so I wouldn't know these guys," Ryou indicated to the four guys still picking themselves up from the beating, " Since I've been in Hircine from the start of my highschool years, but some of my friends used to go there, before it got shut down." Ryou replied, shrugging his shoulders. Varron shutting down was a very delicate subject among his friends, so Ryou knew how to tread lightly around it, especially around someone from there. He then heard someone comment behind, to no one in particular, which made Ryou turn his gaze. He saw a young guy behind him, standing against the wall near the exit. " Don't be shy, come and join the fun, I won't bite, I swear." Ryou called out the guy, " Not so sure about Dain here." he added, smirking at Dain, but his tone of voice indicated he was just joking around.

Dain excused himself to go talk to the four guys, leaving Ryou free to comprehend what he was going to do next. " Well, it looks pretty good so far, considering you're still setting things up." Ryou said, glancing around the gym, as Dain came back after the four guys left. " Came for the show, stayed for a whole lot more." Ryou replied to Dain's last question. " Needed a change of scenary, training in the same spot makes it a lot more boring and monotone. I remember one of my friends mentioning this place, so I came to see why they always come here. Looks like I found out why." Ryou said, smiling slightly. " I've tested my skills against Odin Reeves before in a serious match, but I always say there's room for improvement." Fighting Odin Reeves in a serious fight, to some, that 's impressive, but Ryou always wanted to improve himself, and to do that, he'd have to fight strong opponents, and Dain was strong, no question about it.

" So what do you say? Want to help me improve?"

[Dain Gavyns]

As Ryou spoke, Dain, for the most part, simply nodded and gave small noises of affirmation here and there, having no real reply to most of what was being said to him at the time. There was no insult meant in this, simply the fact that Ryou was talking about people and things that Dain, up until now, knew little to nothing about. Up until the point about him biting, however. When Ryou mentioned being unsure of Dain's propensity for leaving teeth marks, the older man just grinned widely, showing all his teeth in a mock-feral look. Other than that, however, he listened quietly, however, raising his arms up and putting his hands behind his head for comfort as Ryou spoke.

Ryou eventually got the point, something Dain, as a long-time member of Varron, felt coming about halfway in.

He wants to fight!

It wasn't a sixth sense, or anything so supernatural. It was just a fact of graduating from such a hard-knock school. Something about a person's body language, their tone of voice, and choice of words could just scream to Dain whether or not they wanted to fight. Heck, by this point in his life, he could usually see beforehand if they wanted to fight out of anger or otherwise, as well. It seemed to him like Ryou was fresh off the block. A match with Odin, however, wasn't anything to joke about.

Of course, that's never stopped Dain before.

"Oh, Odin Reeves? Isn't he kind of a jackass?" Dain raised an eyebrow and gave a faint smirk, trying to give the impression that he was completely joking, even though he wasn't. While Dain couldn't honestly say he had anything against the guy, he had worked with him in the past, back at the club in Varron, and the man's overly serious demeanour always struck the older man as unnecessary and rather forced. "Well, whatever he is," Dain would say, either in reply to something Ryou said about him being a jackass, or simply moving on if the young man had nothing to say on the matter, "one thing that I can't argue is that he's a good fighter. I hear he won a lot of tournaments... 'course, I hear that's about all he ever does, is enter tournaments, and when there aren't tournaments, he trains for tournaments."

Dain shrugged, turning around and walking a few paces back, continuing to talk as he walked.

"I mean, really, you've found the exact opposite in me. I haven't really ever been formally trained, or underwent formal training. I just, I dunno, do what feels right in the situation. S'worked out well for me so far."

Dain turned back around to face Ryou, having casually gotten a decent distance away from him, enough to be in good position should a spar actually start.

"So, really, helping you improve could only help ME get back into shape. Sounds like a good plan, eh? You ready?"

Dain laced his fingers together and popped them, and then rolled his shoulders, a habit he always did before a fight. He glanced up at Ryou and winked at him before cracking a smirk, raising his arm towards him, and flicking his fingers forward in a "come on" gesture. He stood in his usual first stance, a non-stance that consisted of Dain simply standing there, arms by his sides, and waited to see if Ryou would accept, and/or make the first move.

[Ryou Jackson]

Ryou smirked at Dain's remark at Odin being a jackass. " Well, there's no denying that, and I'd have to say he acts very serious, well, not most of the time, more like all the time." Dain turned and walked a short distance, all the while still talking. Ryou couldn't deny the fact that Odin had won a lot of tournaments, and Dain added that tournaments was all Odin did, and when there wasn't any, he'd be training for them. " I don't know if Odin would recognize fun if it danced naked in front of him." Ryou said outloud, leaving Dain an opportunity to reply or not.

" No training huh? Well, we all fight the way we can to get through." Ryou replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Whether someone had training or not didn't matter to Ryou, what mattered to him was if the person could hold his own in a fight, and Dain had shown him he could, just by the four-on-on match. " So in otherwords, you just wing it?" Ryou smirked, he was liking Dain more and more by the minute, he himself had some experience with winging moves in a match, though when seen by those who never practiced karate, it was more like Ryou had planned it.

" Help you get into shape? Hell yeah. Looks like both of us will get some benefit out of this." Ryou replied.

He pulled his hands out from his jacket pockets and stepped onto the mat, he then went into his normal stance, his right arm out in front of him, drawn close to his chest, his left arm behind slightly, his legs spread out shoulder length. Whether the guy behind him wanted to get in on the action was all up to him, Ryou wouldn't stop him, in fact, it would be an excellent asset to this match, and he was sure Dain wouldn't object either.

" Show me what you've got."

[Dain Gavyns]

Well alright, guess I'm gonna kick this bad boy off right.

Opting instead to assume a stance after all, Dain shifted his body so that his right shoulder faced Ryou, and held his right hand about a foot away from his boy, at the height of his midsection, and his left hand was held up high, next to his face. His feet were positioned like a T, his left foot positioned normally and his right turned to point at Ryou. (For viewing reference, it's a reversed stance of this guy. Pun intended.)

Dain raised his eyebrows up quickly before bringing them back down and grinned. Those guys he just fought were, all in all, pushovers, but this kid had the spark. Once again something Dain could just see in others, Ryou had the look in his eye and the attitude that spoke volumes. He wasn't just another static fighter in a world of static fighters. He was a potential, he could be great, or he could crash and burn.

Guess it's up to me to see which one. Ahh, Dain, just like old times.

And with that thought, the former Senior Captain of Varron Academy struck forward. He moved quickly and suddenly, stepping forward with his right foot, following with his left, and then pushing off his left again to make a sort of hopping step forward, closing the distance between himself and Ryou within a span of seconds. As his right foot would touch ground from the push-step, Dain's right hand would shoot up, swinging his arm up from the elbow in a sort of backhanded strike towards Ryou's right cheek. It was a simple move, easily blocked and/or avoided, but Dain was just probing right now. He had to pick at and analyze Ryou's defenses before he worked on breaking them.

[Ryou Jackson]

Ryou's face immediately became dead serious. If he learned anything from his spar with Odin, punching and kicking was just too damn predictable. Dain immediately closed the gap between the both of them, and immediately fired a backhanded strike right at Ryou's right cheek. Ryou immediately brought his left hand out, blocking the strike with his palm, as he brought his right arm out. Even if Dain tried to use his free left hand to attack Ryou, Ryou's right arm could just defend himself easily.

Ryou had seen a small portion of what Dain was capable of, and he was confident that Dain had more to show then just what he had put on for the show moments ago. He had spent the few days he had to himself to try out new tricks, with aid from Kazuya, his old sensei. With a new bundle of tricks added to his already vast amount of techniques he had mastered, this was an excellent opportunity to try them out. With his legs spread out in a stance that allowed him to keep his balance, a leg sweep wouldn't be possible, not unless Dain's legs were so long his could sweep Ryou's shoulder-length legs.

Ryou then shifted his right arm from defense into a uppercut, aimed at Dain's chin. A easily blocked move no doubt, but that was just a ploy on Ryou's part. If Dain moved to dodge it, he would have a surprise, as Ryou's left arm came out from behind the uppercut, postitioned as a hook right into the gut.

" Your move, Dain."

[Dain Gavyns]

This was always Dain's favorite part. One sudden move, and bam, the fight began.

Ryou raised up his opposite hand to block the attack, something Dain took critical note of. The obvious hand to block with would have been the right, being the closest to the attack and the easiest to manipulate. Taking into account Dain's sideways stance, however, it would be obvious that, if one were to block with the right, they would have to attack with the left, and there weren't any vital spots to hit on Dain's left side. Whether or not this was intentional on the older fighter's part was in question; regardless, it served him well in this encounter, giving him a bit of insight as to where the counter-attack would come from.

Another thing Dain took in during that split-second of the attack: Ryou made a clean block. He didn't grab the arm, or redirect the momentum, or even block-and-dodge.

Ah hell, he wants to keep using that arm, better watch out!

After a second of analysis, of course, comes the response.

Dain allowed his right hand to be blocked, using the transference of force from the front of Ryou's palm to the back of his to effectively 'bounce' his hand back the way it came, just in time to catch the rising uppercut with a knife-edge chop on the middle of Ryou's forearm. As he did this, Dain's left hand shot out as well, grabbing the wrist of Ryou's uppercutting arm after the block and pulling it down and back toward him, stretching out the arm somewhat.

Following quickly thereafter, however, was the left hook, aiming towards Dain's midsection. Once again, Dain 'bounced' his right arm from attack to defense, swinging it back across his body and bending it down at the elbow to block the incoming hook with his forearm. Wasting as little time as possible, Dain would swing his arm, once again from the elbow, back the opposite way until it was in position, and straightend out his arm forcefully, stepping forward into a straight-fisted punch towards Ryou's sternum.

[Ryou Jackson]

Ryou's uppercut and hook blocked, far from discouraging Ryou, would actually excite him, he was having a good time. Dain then fire a straight fisted punch right at Ryou's sternum, at which point Ryou would react instantly, dropping his shoulder as the punch sailed above his head harmlessly as he moved forward and let lose a flattened-palm strike with his right hand at Dain's chest, his left hand in a prime position for defense countermeasures, he hadn't forgotten about Dain's left hand, he was sure Dain would use it if his right fist failed to connect.

He had put a little bit more power than he normally did in his strike aimed at Dain's chest, if anything, it meant more to temporarily stun Dain, it probably wouldn't send him flying, but backwards slightly, leaving Ryou an opportunity to move in and strike, which he would do.

Ryou however, was sure his strike would be blocked or countered, so at the point he had moved forward, he had positioned his legs in a stance that enabled him to strike, but at the same time, abandon any opening whatsoever for his opponent to attempt a leg sweep, something he had seen far too much of, and let's be realistic, leg sweeping, while effective, was too predictable, every fighter and his best friend would attempt it at least one point in a battle.

His match with Odin had given Ryou a little bit more sense and feeling when faced with an opponent who's style differed from your own, and he wouldn't be forgetting it for a long time. His feet firmly planted on the ground, Ryou readied himself for whatever Dain planned to throw at him next.

[Dain Gavyns]

Dain's grip on Ryou's right hand must have went unnoticed, because when Ryou ducked under the punch, he tried to attack with it. Dain's grip tightened, holding Ryou's attacking arm firmly and slowing its momentum. At this rate, the best the younger fighter could hope for would be to try push the former Captain over with his single hand. With his body crouched as it was, even, Ryou would be in fairly good position for an exploding tackle-type maneuver. However, Dain clearly recognized this, and used his attacking left hand once again in order to get away from the situation.

Simply put, Dain's ground game was terrible. He didn't like it, he didn't have it, and truth be told, he would, nine times out of ten, prefer to drag a fight out longer than it needed to, if ending it quickly meant going onto the ground with his opponent. If Ryou could tackle him head-on, Dain's lateral stance would leave him unbalanced and an easy fall. And so, Dain's left fist opened and he grabbed the material comprising the back of Ryou's jacket. Finally, Dain pivoted back with his left leg, using his grip on Ryou's hand and back to throw him off to the side as he pivoted. The end result would look much like a matador allowing a charging bull a pass: Ryou, bent forward, moving forward, while Dain, still standing straight, would keep his body facing him the entire time.

Of course, this would, at best, only cause the younger fighter to stumble. If he was even moderately good on his feet, he would be back up after only a few stuttering steps. Dain, however, would still be standing, and in the exact same stance he'd been in earlier. Once Ryou would get back to a standing position, Dain would beckon him forward with a flick of his fingers, giving him a good-natured wink as he did so.