Alkaiser vs. Felix

[Dain Gavyns]

This time we're using a perennial favorite, you're all fighting in a refurbished gym owned by Dain himself for the sole purpose of this league, in a twist on the ol' Cage-Match idea.

Two domed steel cages, connected together by a path just seven feet high and three and a half feet wide, just big enough to allow the largest contest to pass comfortably. The crowd's all around the cage watching and cheering you on. The acoustics of the place are ridiculous, however, and it's going to get loud. Hope you can concentrate.

Have fun.

[Alkaiser]

The cage seemed a lot smaller from the inside.

Alkaiser looks through the metallic bars at the crowd around him. Their yells boom and ring in the small gymnasium, shaking the cage like fine china during an earthquake. Alkaiser had never felt so empowered before in his life...but the cage...there was something about it that gave him a bad feeling. At one moment he could've sworn that he saw blood dripping from one of the crossbars, no doubt left over from the last match. A blink and the red liquid disappears.

With the crowd influencing how he fights, his strength and speed are at their peak, but so is his rash behavior. An environment like this isn't very forgiving...but perhaps it would be Barzahd's opponent who was begging for mercy.

Steve closes his eyes, breathes in through his nostrils, and out through his slightly parted lips. His heartbeat slows slightly, and his awareness rises. He is as mentally ready for this fight as he will become. He begins to stretch his legs against the poles that formed the walls around him, testing their strength in the process.

"These could definitely support a person..." he thinks as the crowd roars at the introduction of his opponent...

[Felix]

As soon as Felix stepped inside and saw the cages he knew that this was getting serious. He didn't like fighting outside, with spectators as the ring either. It was careless for an event such as this, the Fighters League. Though he supposed that nothing could stop the fights in any case.

He made his way inside, his attire for the fight being his boots, khakis and a tight fitting shirt. The crowd was deafening, and he had a small concentration problem. The cat calls and the whistling would put him off by a bit, and the enclosed space made it that much worse. While he knew he wouldn't hit the sides with much force because of his size, he also would be cramped, and would be forced to fight straight forward.

His opponent was Alkaiser, though he had never seen him fight, he did know of him. 'Come to think of it, if me and Alasdair had continued in that hallway, this might have ended up as a rematch.' The memory quickly fading, Alkaiser had stopped Felix and Alasdair from sending more students home injured.

"Let's just get this started already." He had to yell over the roar of the crowd. He set up as best he could, left leg forward and his arms bent at the elbow. He kept his hands and fingers loose. He didn't know how Alkaiser would come at him.

[Alkaiser]

"So...it's Felix."

Alkaiser smiles in a welcoming manner to the opposing fighter in the other cage. It would serve as a calm just before the storm about to ensue. Although Felix spoke as if he were completely prepared, he seemed more put off by the crowd than most. This was the sort of thing that Barzahd would never understand, because it didn't apply to him, but he would always take advantage of it.

Steve's smile grows. He hops around, gesturing to the crowd and pumping them up more. They wanted blood, and they weren't afraid to scream for it, as was being displayed now. With every motion, they grow louder. Alkaiser can't help but feel empowered. When he feels that he has gotten them [and himself in turn] fired up enough, he begins to move into the cage tunnel that connects the two domes of the arena.

The shadows of the bars stretch across his face. Steve stops for a moment just shy of the opening to Felix's turf. This was a puzzling development for sure to anybody outside of the young redhead's mind. Before a second thought could be given, however, Barzahd jolts out of the tunnel with great speed, throwing a quick combination at his opponent. He goes with a leg kick, a left jab, then a right jab, then a right snap kick to the midsection. All of these attacks were meant to get in and out without allowing the opponent a chance to grab on to one of them, which was the general idea of the whole combination. After the onslaught, even if it worked, Steve would jump backwards into the tunnel once again, obviously attempting to lure Felix back into it. This meant that even if his combination were successful, he would not capitalize on any openings that were created, but at the time it doesn't seem to matter much.

[Felix]

Felix watched intently as Alkaiser bounced around his section, the crowd was going a bit stir crazy. No doubt the matches today would be some of the bloodiest if not the nastiest fights. There was nowhere to go, no wide sweeping attacks, just a good old fashioned slug fest.

Felix had no intention of fighting inside the tunnel. His disadvantages far outweighed his advatages in it, and he would have to try hard to pull Alkaiser out. 'The only problem is that he won't make it easy on me.'

Alkaiser walked the distance of the tunnel, and Felix tensed, though he made no move toward it. Felix knew that the best way to get off hits was to move fast, and it's exactly what his opponent did. He easily enough backstepped the first kick and slapped the first jab down, using his forearm to block the second jab. The last kick had grazed his side, however, as Felix couldn't pivot wide enough in time.

As he rubbed his side he threw his last thoughts aside and charged into the tunnel, stopping on his left leg and in a straight kick, sent his right boot slamming into Alkaiser, hoping to knock him back. He would follow up in two straight punches, both aimed for his body. With little room, the only way to go would be back, or to duck under, but with Felix's height, under was not the best option.

[Alkaiser]

Steve's initial attacks were generally ineffective, as to be expected. The success he derived from his first movements was in Felix's choice to follow him back through the tunnel...feet first. Inside close quarters Barzahd's grappling experience would be the deciding factor. The straight kick that he used was designed to force Alkaiser right back out the other side of the tunnel, meaning it had a decent follow-through attached to the end of it. Although the kick may have seemed relatively safe when he selected it, Felix failed to realize that while Alkaiser couldn't easily sidestep the attack, he could avoid it if he turned his body to the side. In that position, he was about half as wide as previously thought, meaning that he could get past the attack with little more than a glancing hit.

The boot scratches by Steve's midsection, leaving a nice scrape on top of skin. Alkaiser then loops his arm around the lower leg, grasping tightly. Felix's follow up shots are rendered quite ineffective, as the agressor is now off balance and at an improper range. Now, Alkaiser responds by putting his hand on the knee of the ensnared leg, using his arm around the ankle in a lever that would send the knee itself right into the steel of the cage.

If the attack succeeded, Steve would repeat it. Felix's knee would go quickly when pitted against the solid metal, and at that point, the match would be as good as over. If somehow Felix managed to slip away, Alkaiser would still have his territory.

[Felix]

Felix felt the arm wrap around his own leg and watched in fascination as his plan of attack was completely foiled in one small move. 'He's smarter than I gave him credit for.' The crowd roared as they watched Felix's knee get slammed into the side of the steel cage. Felix cringed in pain, the strike would no doubt be followed up with another one of the same force.

It was just before Alkaiser would slam his knee into the cage for a second time, Felix looked up and was able to grab onto a bar directly above him. 'Thank god for this leverage.' He would quickly raise his other leg up, suspending himself in mid air as he slammed his boot into Alkaiser's shoulder with as much force as he could muster. If Alkaiser wasn't sent flying and managed to hold his ground, he'd leave his free leg planted against him and would yank the leg in Alkaiser's grasp away.

From there, he would keep himself raised up as long as possible, firing off snap kicks towards Alkaisers chest and shoulders as fast as possible for him. He wasn't going to risk Alkaiser slipping behing him, and therefore wouldn't aim for his head.

[Alkaiser]

The satisfying crunch of bone on Steel rang out for the first time, and the crowd cheered. Felix had already had enough, and he employed some last minute resourcefulness to create a counterattack. He springs into action as Barzahd goes back for his second strike, and his boot begins to swing just as the second crack sounds. If Steve could've stopped before that second strike, he would have done so to avoid the attack that was coming, but his momentum had already propelled him too far.

Alkaiser lets go of the leg and begins to spin himself, but time was short. The boot smacks into his shoulder, lessened only by the fact that he had begun motion with the force. The strike causes muscle pain, but the shoulder is one of the body's most guarded areas of the body, so Steve works to struggle it off.

Backing off and watching for an opening, Barzahd can't find one. Felix, suspended from the bars, is swinging his legs wildly, keeping him at bay. Eventually those arms of his would get tired though, so Alkaiser waits for that.

[Felix]

The second strike to the steel sent another spike of pain threw Felix's right leg. It was hurting, badly. He knew that when he had to drop down he wouldn't be able to stand on it for long. He'd be hobbling around like a fool.

'And if to make matters worse, Alkaiser completely backed off.' Felix hung there for a few seconds more, catching his breath and feeling the sharp stab of pain every few seconds. He gritted his teeth and decided on his next action. With Alkaiser effectively out of reach, a good three to four feet out, Felix starts to swing himself.

With enough momentum, he lowered himself a few inches and with all of his arm strength, he flung himself at Alkaiser. The trick here, though, was that he flung out in a kick, his right leg previously smashed against the cage would be the one to strike if Alkaiser stayed in. The pressure of hitting his body would cause Felix more pain, but he was hoping he would hop back and dogde the kick.

If he would play into Felixs trap and move back, Felix would land primarily on his left leg, his hands out behind him to stabalize his balance. His right leg would bounce on the ground, but he'd would have injured it more either way. From his posistion on the ground, he would then wait for Alkaisers move, using the small lapse in time to catch his breath.

[Alkaiser]

(OOC: I'm loving this fight. Thank you )

"He's not gonna..."

*Swoosh*

"I mean, he couldn't be thinking of..."

*SWOOSH*

"He is!"

*FWOOSH*

Alkaiser hops backwards out of the tunnel and around the corner of the opening, allowing Felix ample room to fly his path right past and into the opening. The boy comes rocketing out, feet first, and catches himself a little way down, causing the crowd to cheer boomingly. They were eating up these daredevil tactics.

Perhaps that was what inspired his next idea. With Felix on the ground, he could keep his legs raised to delay the action and catch his breath, so while he was doing that, Steve began to climb the cage. By the time he turned around from his dropkick to look for his opponent, Alkaiser would have already scaled the cage. It was a 10 to 12 foot drop, easily makeable if Steve controlled his motion right. He dangles his feet, aims for Felix's chest, keeps his knees bent, and releases his grip on the bars above, plummeting feet first towards his opponent below.

"Wahooooooooooo!!!"

The crowd now on it's feet, cameras flaring all around, all distractions seemed to be at their peek as Barzahd makes his leap. He ate it up.

[Felix]

(ooc: Dain said to have fun, but nothing fancy in this post, gonna have to get creative. )

Felix had felt another stab of pain as his right leg bounced on the ground. He immediately turned his head around in both directions, he was hoping Alkaiser would be in front of him, where he coudl defend an attack, not behind him where he was completely open.

He forced himself to get up on his left knee, facing the tunnel, "Where in the hell..", he looked up just in time as he watched Alkaiser drop from good distance. Felix smiled and gritted his teeth at the same time. He forced his right leg to push out, working with his right arm he was able to roll sideways and stand up with a wobbly stance.

Felix was going to try and use this small chance to land a few hits, moving in as quick as possible his sent a left jab for his opponents jaw and a follow up right hook to connect with the side of the face. His knee throbbed as he put weight on it, but Felix would fight through the pain. He wasn't done yet.

[Alkaiser]

(OOC: Sorry I'm running behind, rough weekend. Hopefully this is nice and creative for ya )

Steve fell to the ground, legs bent, missing his intended target by a slim margin. As he dropped to the ground, his legs built up tension like a pair of stiff springs.

Feeling that he had the advantage at the moment in the fight, Alkaiser elects to follow after his opponent, whom he saw move to the side from a bird's eye view. He lowers his head, uses his built up tension in his legs, and rockets forward in a missile tackle. Although usually extremely dangerous and quite unrefined, this technique was appropriate and very useful in some situations.

In this particular scenario, it would prove quite effective as not only a defensive tactic, but potentially an offensive one as well. Felix's jab would now be hitting the top of Barzahd's lowered head, and the force would be Felix's own strength plus Alkaiser's force, causing a great collision. Of course Steve would end up with a good headache, but the skull is one of the most guarded spots on the entire human body. Felix's hand, however, was probably going to be in a good deal of pain.

By the time Felix's follow up shots would come in, they would be aimed behind the jetman, who would already be in Felix's gut, driving him towards the side of the cage. This is assuming the fact that Felix would, or could, still throw those punches.

Should the tackle succeed, Steve would attempt to push himself away from Felix and the steel boundaries, so that he may continue attacking from a more effective range.

Again the crowd would be pleased, as the red-head takes a seemingly huge risk on their behalf. Of course, when broken down to it's positive and negative elements, this attack wasn't quite as risky as it would seem.

[Felix]

(ooc: damnit, too creative!)

His left fist smacked into the top of Alkaisers head and he whipped it back in a flash of pain and confusion. He had no idea that his opponent would bounce towards him in a spear type move, and revelled in the genious of it.

He leaned forward, into the spear and wrapped both arms around Alkaisers midsection, a few inches short of his armpits. His right knee strained against the attack as he tried to push out, but the momentum was too much and he felt himself smash into the steel cage.

His grip was unrelenting, as he stepped foward with Alkaiser still in his grasp and he lifted him with all of his strength so that his head was the closest part to the ground. He wasn't going to give him a chance to do anything except realize what was about to happen, as his knee gave way and he fell foward, Alkaiser still within his grasp, and he used his arms to slam Alkaisers head straight into the ground, letting gravity do half of the work.

Once Alkaiser was on the ground, he pushed away and backed off a few feet, his right knee twinged every few seconds and his left hand throbbed now, though he could tell nothing was broken. 'Thank god for that, if I had a broken hand I'd have to spend time in the hospital.' As the thought went threw his mind, he realized he'd be there anyways.

[Alkaiser]

This was the risk that Alkaiser took when he chose the last move. He found himself in Felix's grasp, being flipped and dropped to the ground. He had been put into a similar situation by Odin Reeves in a previous tournament, and the move completely unnerved him. By now, he still had not learned of a consistent way to get out of such a counter, only how to reduce the damage from such a move.

At the peak, Steve contracted the muscles in his abdomen, crunching forward so that he would land with the majority of his weight on his upper back. He then crossed his arms before hitting the ground, and performed a double-slap maneuver when he hit the pavement so that he would not do any damage to his shoulder blades. The ground stung viciously, but he knew he had to get up. Cautiously he looks through his legs, ready to kick, making sure that Felix wasn't following up with an attack. He rolls to his feet and all of the sudden the two fighters are at a stand-off once again.

One thing set this encounter apart from the others, however. The steel cage was warm and unforgiving, and currently located directly behind Felix based on the set up from the last exchange. Alkaiser would definitely use this to his advantage. With his left fist cocked, Steve swoops in to shoot forward a right hook at Felix's face. For now, that would be enough.

[Felix]

(ooc: sry if this sounds god moddish, hope it doesnt though.)

He felt the steel long before he saw Alkaisers hook and he wanted to utilize it one last time. It had brought him nothing but problems and with his right knee wounded beyond any decent use, the steel cage would act for him.

Watching Alkaiser roll himself around Felix brought both arms up and grabbed onto the cage for the last time, hoisting himself up. As the hook came at him he brought his left knee up, slamming it into the oncoming punch. Deflecting it as best as he could, he then brought both of his legs together and used the cage as a counter weight, slamming both of his feet into Alkaisers chest in a stationary drop kick. It would knock him back and hopefully knock him down.

With that done for, Felix would make a hasty retreat to the other side of the cage, careful not to put too much pressure on his right leg. WIth all the moving around, and the last kick, the sharp stab of pain was getting worse. Catching his breath, he could feel all of his hits intensify in pain. Resting wasn't too good, but he was getting tired, and he needed time to think out a good plan of attack. One that might finish the job.

[Alkaiser]

(OOC: Not at all...you'll find that I planned for something of this sort I like the creativity though.)

Steve felt the knee deflect his hook and from there on, it was all instinct. "Pull the trigger..." he probably thought somewhere in the back of his mind.

Automatically, that wound up left fist sprung forward with the sort of speed that only came from good planning. With Felix's arms up around the bars and his feet off the ground, he would quite probably be cold-cocked square in the face, sandwiching the head between steel and fist.

If his attack still continued, most of the power would probably be sucked out of it, but Alkaiser would really have no way of stopping it while still hoping to connect his own shot.

Either way, the crowd would roar. Such intensity in an exchange was unfortunately sparse. Alkaiser would stand and make sure that his opponent hadn't been knocked silly before continuing any further.

[Felix]

(ooc- hope you dont mind me calling it, ive got a new job this week and im going to be focused on that, so my post time will be down. it was a good fight, and my ic reasons justify everything. looking forward to a rematch though)

Felix never saw the left fist at all. In fact, he didn't even think that this far into the match anything would come at a surprise. Already they had both used the steel cage to their advantage, the crowd could testify to that.

The left that came in connected squarely against Felix's jaw just as his own stationary dropkick connected with Alkaiser. It was a moment in which Felix had lost some sense of where he was. The crowd dimmed and then roared. He slowly released his grip on the bars as his feet somehow managed to be on the ground.

He reached back with his right hand and felt the back of his head, the sharp stab of pain was continuous. He never expected that second punch. He was foolish to have thought Alkaiser a lesser opponent. Felix knew his limits, he wanted to break each and every one of them. But at this stage, his right knee not working to strength, his left hand knuckles and now both his jaw and the back of his skull.

He just wished that his last kick gave Alkaiser something to grumble about. "Sorry, I'm done," his speech was mumbled. It would fade in time, the jaw was swelling to the hit it just endured. Couple that with the fact that his head had nowhere to escape to, only intensified the hit. "Too many injuries, gotta save some strength for the next matches, ya know?" he smiled up at Alkaiser. 'A well deserved win, he outmanouvered me from the beginning.' He could feel his head throb, the pain was immense. It would take him a bit before he would be able to drive outta here.

[Alkaiser]

(OOC: Not at all. I'd love a rematch sometime too...this was epic. Great fight.)

The hit dropped solidly on Felix's chin, hurting Steve's hand a little even through his padded gloves. At the same time he flew back from the kick to his chest, landing on his back and rolling with the momentum back onto his feet. He grabs his chest as he rises, feeling the sting of the bootprints now on his torso. Felix's eyes didn't seem to be focused ahead of him, and Alkaiser's boxing experience told him that the lights were flickering inside his opponents head.

"Ouchie..." he couldn't help but think to himself. That point was probably the best one for Felix's withdrawal, and he did just that. Still, Barzahd's heart was racing, his breaths were short and quick, and he had definitely broken a sweat. He couldn't be disappointed with how the fight went at all, and even he had to admit that he had enjoyed competing at such a high level.

Walking up to his opponent, Alkaiser offers his hand for a shake. When it is taken, he allows that moment of respect and then raises Felix's hand with his own to the crowd. They had loved every minute of it, and they were absolutely impressed with both fighters.

"This is how it's supposed to be..."[/i]

[Dain Gavyns]

Winner: Alkaiser


Dain emerged from the cheering crowd, a big smile on his face. He walked up to the cage wall closest to the competitors and grabbed onto it with his hands, leaning against it as he spoke to the both of them.

"Great show you guys. Glad to see someone using the money I paid for these cages to good use."

He smirked.

"But hey, I'm not one to hold up the fun, and if Felix feels like he should stop here, I won't deny him that. Alkaiser, congratulations, you just keep getting better and better. But Felix... don't count yourself out just yet... I'll be rooting for you next round."

With a nod, Dain released his grip on the cage and gave a little wave over his shoulder to the two as he turned around and went back into the crowd.

[Felix]

(ooc-last post for me)

The first few minutes went by in a slight daze as the crowd roared continuously. They loved the brutality of it all, even though it had maybe lasted only minutes. He sat back and watched it all come back into focus, and even was surprised that Dain had stayed to watch. He had thought the old guy was just doing the menial work and then retiring to a quieter room.

Felix smirked at Dains comment. His jaw was going to be sore for a few days, but he couldn't help himself. "Good match right." The crowd was in an uproar but Felix wanted to wait no longer.

With some minor assistance from Alkaiser, he stood up, hobbled on a knee. "Alright, well, I'm outta here." Using that cage for support he made his way out and about, back to his car. Opening the driver door, he slumped into the drivers seat, his thoughts were clearer, 'Gotta get a knee brace, well, maybe.' He gritted his teeth, leaned his seat back and lay there in his car exhausted.