Pillars of Peace (Darren, spectators)

[Kit Lee]

Kit decided to make a move. With the way things were going, the pillar structure didn't seem very stable. In a previous event, Kurtz had ordered football players to assault the students as opposed to trying to calm the masses with speech. He had worked independently, speaking against the school captain, and was also beat by a student. In addition, he had undermined an undercover that was working for the current system to help maintain stability. She was known as Valencia, and Kit had seen her around on several occassions. This caused many students who were neutral, to begin to side with either Leon or Stern, wanting a change in the policy of the school. Kit's group that was against Stern, soon gained the support of those that were for the pillars, content with the stability it had.

Kit was going to challenge the School Captain to a fight. He would request to be considered as an addition to the pillars that worked to maintain the order of the school. Kit was unaware of Stern's plans but there would be much chaos to come from the way his speech sounded last time with the call for a walk out. With Kurtz not agreeing with the School Captain from the way things sounded before, the School Captain only had Tiao and Ein to help restore peace to the school.

When the School Captain should arrive in the courtyard as the school day had just ended, Kit would form a fist with his right and grab it with his left, giving Darren a traditional bow. Kit would do this for the respect that he had for the captain in holding peace. The captain from what Kit had witnessed was not one who jumped into a fight, started off with aggression to ward off aggressors, but rather engaged in speech. This was what Kit respected the most and that is why he wanted to support him and become a pillar.

Kit would greet Darren by identifying himself, then challenge him to a fight so that Darren could consider if he wanted Kit's help or not. If the courtyard was not a suitable place, he would gladly accept whereever Darren deemed to be a more appropriate setting. From the way Kit saw it however, the courtyard would not only catch the attention of students, but also remind them why Darren was the school captain should Darren accept the challenge.

[Darren Blayne]

Word always gets around fast in a high school. Especially when that word was that a student wanted to challenge the School Captain to a fight after class.

Darren listened to the myriads of lackeys and suckups who came up to him throughout the day, each giving their own variant on what they heard. From the different storylines, he had managed to piece together that Kit Lee was challenging Darren to what seemed to be a sort of 'friendly duel', with not the Captain's own title, but a chance at becoming merely a pillar, on the line. To this, Darren could only let a small smile creep across his face. It was an unconventional approach, indeed. However, he had not been challenged in quite some time, either for his title, or, apparently, for an empty one. There was no harm in stretching his legs out, especially since the coming storm meant that they would likely need to be as loose as possible.

School ended, and, as per the rumors he had heard, Darren found his way to the courtyard. There, he found a single student out in the open, waiting for him. As he approached, the student turned and gave Darren a formal bow, traditional to the Chinese culture, and an oft-practiced ritual in many Eastern Martial arts before a match. Darren, respecting the tradition, but being a non-practicioner of martial arts himself, did not believe it appropriate for him to return the bow as such, and thus simply gave Kit a long, respectful nod.

Kit introduced himself, and made the challenge formal. Darren had known of this particular student, had seen him around on multiple occasions. He was always willing to side with the pillars on various subjects, seemingly believing in the strengths of the Corporal Punishment System rather than focusing on its flaws. Finally, Darren found it the right time to speak, and did so.

"I will accept this challenge, Lee, but only if you understand the full weight of your actions here. This is, by no means, a 'get in free' pass. You will be judged on this fight, and only after this and some time for deliberation, will I decide if you are suitable or not."

Darren paused a moment, allowing the student to take all this in before speaking again.

"Also know this: This will not be a pretend fight, and I will not be an honorable opponent. I taught myself to fight in order to protect myself, and then, to protect these students and the system. There will be no holds barred on my part, and I expect none on yours."

Another, shorter pause, and Darren stared down at Kit icily. The conditions were clear: Darren would be fighting him as he would any offending student, not in a friendly spar-like manner.

"If you understand, and still wish to continue, then, we shall begin."

[Kit Lee]

"I understand that my fight will be judged and I hope it will be as well. I wouldn't want someone that is not up to your standards becoming a Pillar either. As for not being an honorable opponent, I know as well as you that Pillars protect the system and the students, so there shall be no holding back, otherwise the enemy could take advantage. I am ready to fight and to see if I would be of use to you."

Kit got into his ready stance with that note. He would bounce up and down on his toes that were wrapped in a clean sock shoved inside white adidas sneakers. His left foot would face Darren as his right foot would be positioned behind it. His body would be vertical to Darren (meaning his chest is not facing Darren) as his left fist was raised up and right fist facing the sky as the arm stretched from his abs to his right side. Kit smiled as he was happy the captain gave him enough credit to accept his challenge.

The crowd noise was increasing as people had not seen the captain fight in a while though people backed off to give the two plenty of fighting space in the dirt and grass courtyard. The soil Kit was bounding upon was quite soft as it had rained last night but not wet either as the spring sun had dried it up. "I am ready when you are," Kit said. Kit had learned a few things about punching from the student that taught a seminar on punching, Odin Reeves, and was ready to apply them.

[Darren Blayne]

"I was ready as soon as I stepped into the courtyard."

Without allowing any time for further thought on the subject, Darren stepped toward Kit briskly, constantly leading with his right foot, bringing the left one up even each time. It wasn't long, only three steps in and he was within striking distance.

However, without a single break in his movement, as his left foot came up from it's trailing position for that final step, Darren's speed would change dramatically, and his right leg would shoot out, swinging in a tight roundhouse kick aimed towards Kit's left shin.

[Kit Lee]

As Darren moved swiftly to Kit, suddenly changing pace at the final step, he threw a roundhouse kick. Kit would simply bound backwards as he was already in the motion due to the bouncing motion he was doing when waiting for Darren. Kit would then follow up with his own kick towards the shin of Darren's right leg that soon came to the ground with a straight kick with his left. Kit would not have time to do a fancier kick if he wanted to strike Darren's shin. In addition, the bound backwards gave him sufficient distance from Darren to prevent a counter with a punch from Darren. Darren's shin was in range as he had attempted to strike where Kit was previously standing. Kit's stance would also be maintained when he bounced back a step.

[Darren Blayne]

As soon as Kit would leap, Darren's foot would slam down, balancing himself and giving him that split-second's time needed to deal with the counterattack. Kit, utilizing his springy nature, had bounced away from the kick, maintaining an optimum area of distance between himself and the Senior student. As he landed, however, he attacked in a similar fashion as had the captain, giving a straight left kick towards Darren's own shin.

As Darren had brought his foot down prematurely, however, he had slid up about a half-step forward with his left leg, securing his balance and ensuring he did not over-extend himself. Thus, when Kit's own attack came his way, he was squared enough to raise his right foot again, this time straight up, until it was just over Kit's own ankle. As quickly as possible, before Kit could fully recover from the miss, Darren's foot would stomp down, crushing the ankle beneath his foot and the ground harshly before stepping back and away one step.

[Kit Lee]

Noticing that Darren purposefully sped up his kick to secure balance, Kit realized that he was most likely preparing a counter to the shin kick he was about to pull. Sure enough his prediction came true as Darren began to pick up the same foot to dodge Kit's shin kick. Rather than landing it in the open, Kit would further his kick by sliding it across the ground as it hit the soft dirt ground with the patches of grass. He would then pull up for a punch he had learned from Odin. Timing would be slim but possible to avoid an obscene opening as Darren had pulled up his leg after Kit had shot his downwards. He would pull up by launching off his right foot and swinging with his right fist towards Darren's jaw.

This would put him into range of Darren's fists, but Kit was ready for a counter as he assumed that Darren was most likely obtaining stability during the time Kit was launching the next attack.

[Darren Blayne]

Kit decided against the kick after all, sliding it along the ground instead of through the air. However, this would not stop the fact that Darren's foot, stamping down to the ground, was still on a collision-course for the opposite appendage. Without the added force of Kit's own foot hitting the ground, it would hurt a fair deal less than he had intended, but it would hurt all the same.

Not to mention, with his leading left leg stopped flat for the moment as it were, Kit's balance for the ensuing punch would be off-kilter somewhat as well. Darren stepped back off the foot, and blocked the right-handed punch as it came in with a swift forearm, swinging up to catch the inside of Kit's wrist, striking arm against arm and stopping the strike from hitting his jaw.

Afterwards, Darren simply stepped back again, awaiting another assault by the younger student.

[Kit Lee]

Ouch, Kit thought as Darren stomped on his foot that was sliding to close the gap between them. Darren then continued to block Kit's right-handed punch with his forearm. Kit had obtained a firm ground in that instance as his other foot that lunged foward to allow him the distance to punch, had landed. Kit followed up with the other move he learned from Odin, utilizing the left hand to punch in a form of combination attack. This would force Darren to use the other hand to block as well or do a counter of some sort or dodge.

In addition, Kit would not let the pain he took in go to waste. At the same moment that Darren stomped upon it, Kit would slide his left foot foward so that Darren would lose balance in the foot that had stomped upon it (Darren's right foot). This would be possible as the other foot had landed to allow Kit to push foward with his left foot. This would enable Kit to have a higher chance at hitting Darren's ribs with the second punch as he would lack balance to provide a firm block. In addition, he would prevent Darren from stepping back with the right foot that had lost balance. He would lock Darren's right leg by shifting his left foot over so that Kit's knee was on the left side of Darren's knee (From Kit's point of view) and his left foot would be on Darren's foot's right side (also from Kit's point of view).

In terms of order, Kit would slip his foot from underneath Darren's right foot. He would attempt to follow up his blocked punch with a left handed punch towards Darren's side while preparing to interlock Darren's leg in the event that he attempts to pull backwards to escape the punch.

[Darren Blayne]

As soon as he felt the movement of Kit's foot under his own, it was not a difficult task to simply slide his foot off to the side of the offender's foot, putting Kit's foot on the outside of his body. This movement required little conscious thought on Darren's part, it was mostly an instinctual reaction. When one's limb is in danger, the obvious instinct would be to get it out of harm's way. Thus, Darren expended little mental energy towards it.

Kit, on the other hand, was running on all eight cylinders, blocking, attacking, juking and jiving with multiple hands and feet, almost entirely in sync. Generally, when one expends so much of their thought process in generating an attack, they leave little room open for defense. As such, Darren did not hesitate one bit to return the favor.

A major difference, it seemed, between Kit's fighting style and Darren's was the economy of motion. Darren, if at all possible, made very few moves at a time, keeping himself balanced, well-positioned, and most importantly, not over-extended in any manner. Kit, meanwhile, attempted awkward combinations and tricks which involved going different ways with different limbs, and all-around chaos. The designs were likely intended to confound and manipulate, to force the opponent into choosing to block one while taking another, but they would not work so well this time.

Using this aforementioned economy of motion, Darren did one simple main motion, using positioning and follow-through to help set up a fairly worthwhile counter-attack. He torqued to his body to his right, cranking himself around hard, which, as he did, worked three of his limbs in unison. Not only would the right arm, held rigid, be swung into place to block the second punching attempt by Lee, but the left arm, as well, would form a fist and lock as it swung a hard punch towards Kit's jaw. The torque of his hips would add extra follow-through and power to his attack, and the fact that Kit's right arm was still where Darren had blocked it earlier wouldn't help the younger student either.

On top of all of it, the right foot, placed down earlier, would swing to the side somewhat and back as well, with intention of hooking the back of Kit's own leg and pulling it off balance, giving the punch to the jaw a chance at knocking the student off his feet.

[Kit Lee]

It seemed that the Captain was well aware of Kit's tactic of utilizing every body part he had to force the Captain to make one false move that would allow Kit to capitalize upon. Sliding the foot from under the Captain and continue with a lock was not sucessful as it appeared the Captain had well internalized such reactions. However, Kit would not let Darren strike him again.

Rather than stand there like a punching bag, Kit would use what was thrown at him to his advantage. The moment his second punch was blocked off, Kit would let the momentum from the two blocks to his punches, swing his arms backwards as he performed a back hand spring. This would allow him to utilize Darren's punch to cloak his movement. Darren may think that Kit was dodging, or slipping as he threw his punch when Kit seemingly fell backwards with his arms flailing back, but in actuality Kit was going to land his arms behind him on the ground to allow him to perform a back hand spring. In addition, as Kit pulled up to do the flip when his hands landed on the floor, Kit would be able to throw a kick straight at Darren's jaw with his right foot. Darren's left arm was swinging toward's Kit's jaw and was most likely not prepared to block the kick. Kit was not sure how the right arm would react however. Kit's left foot would sail straight upwards on the outside of Darren's body.

Darren had countered and held footing for most of the fight and Kit did not expect it change.

[Darren Blayne]

The one defining flaw in Kit's plan was entirely not his own fault. In fact, it was mostly the luck of coincidence that doomed his kick to failing. Perhaps a month ago, Tiao, in a training spar against Darren, had used almost the exact same tactic. And Darren would use almost the exact same defense.

Kit threw himself backwards, and Darren's eye registered the precision as something other than a flop or a sudden imbalance. The arms did not flail back, they were merely stretched in that direction. As the back arched, Darren realized the attack, and reacted in kind.

On his own, he couldn't lean back far enough to keep the foot from clipping his chin. However, as he leaned back, Darren's lower-positioned left arm shot upwards underneath the leg, his forearm catching the back of Kit's upper leg near the knee and pushing up and away, misdirecting the trajectory of the foot to miss by a hair. This would also, to a slight degree, possibly throw off Kit's accuracy with his landing, though, if he were willing to use such acrobatics in a fight, and the fight was as important to him as Kit believed it was, Darren assumed he would be easily able to make up for it with slight mid-jump corrections.

As Kit would have half-finished the leap, however, landing upside down on his hands, Darren shuffle-stepped forward again, much like he had been doing the whole match, leading with his right. And again, as his left came up to bear again, the right shot out, hooking Kit's right hand with the ankle and sweeping it out from under him with a hard kick. This would yank the hand off the ground and cause Kit's balance to crumble, making a fall inevitable. Darren, however, showing his very precise control over his legs, would hang his leg in the air for a half second more after the first kick and kick out again, a pushing side-kick aimed directly for the small of Kit's back, it's intentions to cause direct damage there as well as push him over and interrupt any instinctual or planned evasive maneuvers after losing his balance.

[Kit Lee]

It appeared that Darren had managed to block the kick as Kit felt a shift in the direction of his leg. This meant that Darren was most likely going to strike him immediately while he appeared to be open. Odin had done it in their spar together so he didn't see why the Captain wouldn't take opportunity of the current situation. Though Kit was not able to see what Darren was attempting to pull off as his back was pretty much facing the Captain, he would ward off any attack by attacking himself.

Kit would perform an airtrack. (An air track is a breakdancing power move that utilizes momentum and abdominals to swing the legs like a windmill while the performer is lifted off the ground. Video) Following the push that he had recieved in his right leg, Kit lift up his left hand and would spin in a clockwise direction on his right hand. He would avoid burns on the grass and dirt ground by using a soft bony area near the wrist on his palm. The momentum would allow him to spin 180 degrees so that he could face Darren. In addition, Kit would be able to swing a kick towards the back of Darren's head with his right leg. His left leg would dip down to add to the momentum when he was in 90 degrees of the spin. As he spun to view, he would see Darren's foot shooting towards his right hand. Kit would use his left that had been freed to do the airtrack to yank Darren's right foot even further than he wanted it to go while Kit's momentum would guide Kit's left foot to kick Darren in the back of the head.

This would upset Darren's stable form by extending his leg further and give Kit a chance at striking.

[Darren Blayne]

As Kit would lift his left hand to push off in preparation for his second acrobatic trick, Darren's foot, as planned, would hook Kit's only remaining hand out from under him, regardless. Whereas before, with two hands on the ground, Kit would have been able to push off and land shoulder-first on the ground, with his only planted hand kicked out from under him, Kit would, likely, have no place to go but straight down.

Unless he pulled a miraculous break-fall, which his intended spin would help nullify by changing his momentum from being backwards and away from Darren to rotation, Kit would wind up falling directly on the top of his head, which would, for the first split second, only hurt moderately badly, but when the rest of the body crushed down upon it, would put great pressure upon his spine for a few moments until he crumpled to the ground.

Meanwhile, whether or not he succeeded with his intended effect, Darren would step back quickly, his arms raised to deflect any oncoming kicks should Kit managed to outmaneuver him again.

[Kit Lee]

OOC: Thank you for taking the time to post. I thought I was going to have another fight thread die on me
Edited: To clarify as stated in PM. Sorry for confusion.

Darren had suceeded in yanking Kit's hand when he had pushed off his left hand. Since Kit had at this point only performed a 45 degree turn, he would not be able to continue his move. Following the yank, Kit would perform a mid air kip up. This was not hard to do as all Kit had to do was use his abdominals to push his legs downwards so that he would land in a squating position. He would also be out of Darren's immediate range until Darren decided to step up after his leg had landed after hooking Kit's right hand.

Even if so, Kit was prepared to handle an attack from Darren as he now had grounding. If Darren decided not to charge at him (or rather take a step foward), Kit would face Darren in the same starting position as he had in the beginning.

[Darren Blayne]

As Darren had stepped back, Kit had managed to kick himself forward and up, sparing himself from a painful fall. Darren, while impressed with the younger student's maneuverability and acrobatic talent, would waste no time in pressing his attack. After all, throughout the battle, one thing would have been clear to all those spectating: Once Kit began his acrobatics, he lost almost all the offensive momentum he had gained thus far.

With nary a break in his step, Darren had taken a step back, yet, as Kit would be landing from his mid-air kip, Darren would strike forth with a kick often used by the martial artist Bruce Lee: One more shuffle-step forward, this time his right foot shooting out with a powerful shuffle-sidekick with full extension, aimed for what would normally be the midsection of a person. However, in his crouched state, Kit, a moment after landing from his trick, would see a foot heading directly for his head.

[Kit Lee]

Kit did not have grounding for most of the duration of the fight and it had finally changed as he landed. However, the captain would not let this opening go as the sound of his shuffle foward made its way to Kit's ears while he landed. As Kit landed, his fists were raised up in front of him as he originally planned to stand up in a ready position. However, as he tilted his head a bit to the right as he was preparing turn to face Darren, he would see Darren's foot shoot straight at his face from the corner of his eyes. Kit narrowly dodges it by falling with his back on the floor and reducing the speed of the kick with a block from his left arm. In addition, he would grab the ankle and push the leg with his right hand, supported by the left arm after it blocked the hit, as he kicked his right leg straight towards Darren's crotch.

The push would shift Darren's right leg to Kit's left side and force it to land on Kit's left following the momentum of the forward thrust.

[Darren Blayne]

Darren's kick was blocked and dodged, all at once, as Kit fell to the ground in order to save himself from being kicked in the face. As he did so, he pushed Darren's leg out of the way and threw out his own kick as he fell, heading right towards Darren's private parts.

If not in a fight at the moment, Darren would have smirked at how, this time, it wasn't he who went for the low-blow first.

When Kit kicked out as he fell, however, he sacrificed momentum and range, having his leg go one way, but his body the opposite. Thus, as it came in, Darren made a small jump, lifting his left leg and bending it at knee as he twisted his body to the right a small bit. With his leg being held by Kit, Kit would be, in a sense, holding himself in place, as Darren fell back down to the ground quickly, his knee, with the force of his whole upper body behind it, dropping Kit's kicking foot the ground and crushing it underneath his weight.

[Kit Lee]

OOC: I'm assuming Darren's drop on Kit's leg is lower than Kit's knee, in between Kit's knee and his ankle. If this is not the case, please tell me and I will correct.

Kit's kick would not have the speed and range to hit Darren without a reaction from him. Darren would lift his leg, bending it in as he attempted to drop down upon Kit's kicking right leg. However, it wasn't as if Kit's leg was one entire segment that couldn't be bent. Kit would at first have his entire leg follow the downward push of the drop, only to speed up his right foot so that it landed flat on the ground, allowing his right knee to stick up into the sky, tilted a little to Kit's left. In this fashion, Darren would slide along Kit's right side of his right leg, and end up dropping his crotch straight into Kit's knee.

Of course, it wasn't like Darren didn't have arms and hands, and Kit expected something to become of it. Darren would not be able to use his right leg however, as Kit had wrapped his left arm around it after clamping it with his armpit. Kit's right hand had returned to the front of him after he had grabbed and pushed that leg.

Kit would not be very comfortable with the current situation as he was a straight man and didn't like all this touching going on. The captain said to not hold back, so Kit would not let his homophobic nature stop him.

[Darren Blayne]

Darren, sensing the trouble he was in, shot his hands to the raised knee of Kit Lee, pushing both palms against it and pushing himself backward somewhat, moving himself out of reach of the knee to his groin. As it stood, Darren's knee would land on the ground, which wouldn't feel too great in and of itself, but it was much better than racking himself on Kit's knee.

As he landed, Darren would waste no time, falling backwards a bit and putting both hands out behind him to hold up his body weight as he kicked out with his left foot this time, aiming for the left pectoral of Kit Lee. It was a powerful kick, to be sure, but the biggest aim was, upon impact, to pull back with his right foot, attempting to free himself from the younger, weaker student's grasp.