Ari Karamzov vs. Dante

[Dain Gavyns]

Hope Dain's gym isn't getting boring, cuz your back here again. Ever seen the movie "Fight Club"? If not, go rent it before you start, cuz it feels just like that here. The mat's been pulled up. The crowd's tight around you, just ready to see some bloodshed. Oh, and lighting? Dain's got it rigged up, the only light on is from a single, swinging bulb on a wire, right above where you're gonna fight. The crowd's pretty pliable, if you get knocked into 'em, they're gonna move out of your way, the fight can go all over the main floor of the gym, hell, take it outside if you want. Be warned, though, it's pretty late, and the streetlights aren't so great 'round here. Pretty much, if you wanna see, stick to the middle.

Oh, and don't break the light.

[Dante Williams]

OOC: Like I said on MSN, I suck at first posts, so excuse me if the post is crappy or short

IC:

Before the Match:

Dante sat on his bed, looking down so his now messy bed-head hair covered his face. He had only won one fight this whole tournament, and that was because his opponent was a bit weak. Damn... He thought, I really have gotten rusty... He looked up on the wall in front of him and saw the picture of both him and Rebecca together, hugging and smiling. He gritted his teeth and held back tears, I'm not as bad as I was, but... He slammed his fist against the wall that his bad was against, I still miss her so much...

He then got a call from Hank. He opened up his cell and answered in a slightly groggy tone, "Yullo?" He was answered by his agent, "You sound like you just woke up. Well, that's good, because you're next match is in an hour, and you better stay awake for it."

Dante nodded, "See you at the match..." Then he hung up his cell phone without bothering to hear a response from Hank. He then took a quick, hot shower to wake him up, brushed his hair, and got on some clothes. He would be wearing the same thing as last match: Some tight black sweatpants and plain black underarmor. He would then walk outside and get his bike as he would ride it to the next fighting destination.

At the Match:

Dante arrived there as he locked up his bike at the bike rack outside of the gym. He walked inside as he was met by Hank. "Finally, you're here!" Hank said as he handed Dante some water, which Dante swigged and handed back gratefully, "The match is about to start! And I hear your next fight is no pushover. Apparently he won every single match yet."

"Damn," Dante said, very much impressed, "I guess I'll just have to try extra hard for this match..." He grinned as he handed Hank his shoes and socks and squeezed through the screaming, bloodthirsty crowd. He grinned as he waited for his opponent. Maybe fighting this guy would snap Dante out of his slump.

[Ari Karamzov]

As if on cue, the door to Dain Gavyns' gym found itself thrown open as if by a great force. A dark scowl on his face, the thus far undefeated Ari Karamzov walked through the doorway, taking a second to scout out his surroundings before storming towards the circle, the spectators in the way quickly parting so as not to trigger his wrath. He was ever-so-slightly pissed off, having been just about to go to bed when he had finally gotten the call to come down to the gym for his next fight. The result? Several minutes of panicked swearing, searching his drawers for an outfit and trying to convince Paul to give him the fucking car keys. Then with all the traffic, and trying to keep in line with the speed limit while hurrying at the same time, it was a wonder Ari got to the match in time. The black vest, grey jeans with belt, and brown steel toe combat boots just barely fit him, but at least he had something to wear.

Son of a bitch. I hate being notified at the last minute...

Ari hadn't even been told who he was fighting, just, "you have twenty minutes to get to the gym you fought in last time," but he supposed it didn't matter. He had won all three of his last fights, and he was sure that whoever Dain threw him in with this time wouldn't stand up to him for long. Moving through the crowd, he couldn't really tell at first who it was due to the poor lighting, Dain's desire to emulate Fight Club meaning there was only one poor-quality lightbulb illuminating the area, and the way it swung around made it difficult to see anywhere except directly in the middle of the area. However, once he reached the middle, the spectators filing in behind him, he could clearly see the boy.

Ah, it's the kid who fought Vince last round...whatever his name is.

This opponent seemed to continue the trend of Ari being paired off against small opponents, but other than that all he knew of this one was that he had fought after Ari's own match, which Ari had stayed to watch. The kid, whoever he was, had narrowly lost to Vincent Crane last round. He'd probably be a pushover, then.

Wonder how many shots this one will take. Let's see...four, tops.

An arrogant smirk on his face, he stepped forward a bit to put the boy in his range before stopping, cracking his knuckles. He was still annoyed at Dain, and he seemed to have been given the perfect punching bag to vent his frustrations on.

"So, you're my new opponent?" he asked, raising his hands as he moved into his typical boxer-esque stance, "Well, try not to die with one punch, okay? I want this to last!"

The boy known as Dante would get no chance to reply as Ari's left fist fired forward, the jab aimed right for his nose.

OOC: Short, sorry. Couldn't really think of anything.

[Dante Williams]

OOC: It’s okay, bra. Sorry I took forever to post ^^;;

IC:

As Dante was getting ready by doing jogging in place, he was enjoying the cool freedom that he got from wearing simply the underarmor, since it was night, it gave kind of a nice atmosphere in the room. Suddenly, Dante was broken out of his thought and stopped jogging as the doors were slammed open, and he heard heavy footsteps move towards him as the doors slowly swung closed. He couldn’t see his opponent currently, due to the poor lighting in the room, but simply judging by the sound of this guy, Dante could tell that he would be overpowered easily by this guy.

Dante could see the man easily, but as soon as he saw him, he wished he hadn’t. Sh-shit… Dante gulped, the guy’s as big as Sedrix. And he looks about three times as bulky… The man towered over him, and as soon as Dante saw him, he felt a heavy aura of confidence from this guy. I guess I can see why he won all of his fights… He shook himself out of his fit of fear. He wouldn’t lose this fight simply from thinking about his opponent or worried about being ripped in half like a phone book.

Dante got in his normal defensive position, having his right foot in front of his left, and made small hops from foot to foot in order to gain momentum. He then had his right hand in front of his left, both in front of his face, and both in loose fist positions. Let’s see, Dante thought, since he’s so big, he probably will be really slow and have mediocre reflexes, so that’ll give me a chance to dodge his attacks more easily and get in some hits, then get away. But…if I ever get into a hold of his, or he even has a chance to grab me, this match will be over…

His opponent said insulted Dante, and before Dante could even open his mouth to retort, Ari’s left fist came rushing towards Dante’s face. Dante replied by quickly landing and shifting his weight onto his left foot and pushed down on it, moving forward and to the right, narrowly dodging Ari’s fist. Now Dante would be on the side of Ari, and before Ari could have a chance at hitting Dante, he quickly pivoted on his right foot, quickly jabbing at Ari’s ribcage, and by now Ari would have pulled his arm back, so Dante would jump back, out of striking distance of Ari. “At least have the courtesy to tell me your name before trying to beat the crap out of me, man.” Dante said while smirking the slightest bit, “I’m Dante, but then again, you don’t seem to be the type of person to care, don’t you?” Dante just wanted to give this person one show that Dante was confident, and not intimidated, then Dante would stop trying to be distracted by normal emotions in this fight. If I can just keep up hitting and dodging, then it’s possible for me to win!

[Ari Karamzov]

OOC: Fuckin' sorry for the delay. I just haven't had any time to post.
IC:

Ari wasn't surprised when Dante (of course he did not know this was the boy's name) dodged the punch. In fact, being an experienced fighter, he was expecting him to. He would've been disappointed if the boy had turned out to not be fast enough to dodge a simple jab. He was serious when he had said he wanted this fight to last longer than one punch.

As Dante started to move forward and crouch under his arm, Ari quickly retracted the hand and stepped back. Shuffling to his right while his faster opponent stepped to his own, he was able to lower his elbow in time to block the punch aimed at his ribs. He didn't think the elbow block would do much damage to the boy's hand, but it might cause a delay from the sensation of hitting something that was so hard.

Hope that hurts, you little faggot!

The opponent stepped back, obviously assuming that Ari was slower than he actually was, slower than this kid, surely, but he could still keep up if he tried, and in the same motion Ari turned to face him. In this circle, the boy was within range of Ari's huge arms no matter where he ran, and Ari was going to abuse that advantage as much as he could.

Drawing his leg back and around, Ari used the motion of turning to face his opponent at the same time as he lifted his right arm slightly and started to twist his hips, extending the arm sharply as soon as he was facing the opponent. As he had finished the turn and punch just as Dante was about to stop stepping back and start talking, this would mean that a solid right cross-just as fast as the jab but with much more pure destructive force-would be heading for the kid's jaw as soon as his feet were back on the ground and his mouth had started to open.

Banking on the fact that with this gap would mean that Dante would not have had time to regain his footing and therefore wouldn't have the balance for a quick dodge or grapple, along with the knowledge that the punch simply had too much force to safely block, especially since Dante-as the boy was just starting to introduce himself as-would not have the balance to keep himself from being knocked off his feet, Ari figured that at best Dante would be knocked out and at worst his jaw would be shattered. Just like Cale, Dante's downfall would be that he thought the middle of a fight was the right time for a conversation.

"Name's Ari Karamzov," he scoffed, amused at the stupidity of Dante's mistake, "now are we gonna fight or talk?"

[Nathan Branigan]

I'm calling this one a draw. Both of you have failed to start a decent fight in two weeks. And I can't declare a true winner because you are both guilty of inactivity. Good luck next time.