Tournament Finals: Dain Vs Kyukaku

[Odin Reeves]

Final Match. Get to it.

[Dain Gavyns]

Dain rolled his shoulders as he, for the last time today, walked up to the ring. He thought about the past fights, and all the troubles he had gone through to get to this point. He had fought a talented newcomer and two established, tough fighters, and had managed to pull out ahead every time. One such fighter had been an old rival, of sorts, who had defeated him the last time they had crossed paths, and Dain had, in a sense, gotten his revenge. Another had been an old friend, and in a close, hard-fought match, the young man had proven again his dominance. Now, as he slowly and methodically got into the ring, pulling himself up with his left leg first, Dain thought about what he was here to do.

And how he'd already done it.

It was widely known that, during the last public tournament, Dain was hardly himself. That said nothing of his fighting abilities, and, to this day, he still considered the young man who managed to beat him a damn fine fighter, but his heart just wasn't in it like it once was. This time, this fight, Dain had come to keep his own skills sharp, especially with the upcoming job he had in store for him. On a more selfish note, Dain's pride had been hurt during the last tournament, and he wanted to gain it back the only way one really could around these parts.

Yet, looking around at the crowd, cheering him on after following his previous matches, he couldn't help but smile, knowing that there really wasn't anything left to prove. Any pride he might have lost losing to Tiao Lei Shen, he had gained back in his own mind by besting Shamino, and after that match with Adam "Pain Killer" Rydell, he knew he was still at the top of his game, if not pretty close. He smiled, holding his fist up high to cause the crowd to cheer even louder, backing into a turnbuckle and leaning against it as he awaited his opponent.

It would either be Tyler or the girl, but either way, Dain knew, deep inside himself, it would be a worthwhile finish to a worthwhile tournament, win, lose, or draw.

[Kyukaku]

Preliminaries, check. Semi-finals, check. Time to finally beat up one of my two friends? Check!

Kyukaku tilted his head in both directings, making sure it was flexible enough to take a punch without straining it. Kyukaku had made it far into each tournament every time, though always losing to who would be champ within the final or semi-final rounds. Throughout his life, he had a habit of taking it too easy in the beginning, something that always bit him in the ass later on. This time, he would be sure not to make that mistake. He planned on taking this one all the way.

Like he had debated all day, Kyu finally decided to not wear his kumite gloves. In fact, Kyukaku would be the most naked than he had all day, wearing nothing but his old white gi pants. He took the headband off as well; the fact it was now completely damp from the sweat of previous rounds making it's point, well, pointless. Kyu would now be able to use full advantage of the calloused knuckles of a karate-ka. Kyu smiled a bit, peacing together the irony of finally 'taking the gloves off.'

He walked out to the ring, grinning once he saw who had won the last match. Likely, he would of made that same expression if Adam was in that ring, though he was happy to see Dain back to his old self. His lost to the pillar last tournament had hurt his ego and Kyu knew it, though Dain tried to tough things out like usual. Still, ego or not, Kyukaku would have to make sure to give Dain his best. Whether it would end up being a spar, or an asskicking for the new teacher would just have to be seen.

"Dain, you're one badass Mo-Fo." Kyukaku grinned, showing the same humor that had originally helped dub him as Dain Jr. back in Varron.

[Dain Gavyns]

Dain grinned as he saw Tyler "Kyukaku" Scott make his own way into the ring, dressed remarkably much like his former mentor and current friend. He loosened himself up much in the same fashion that Dain did before every fight, and hopped into the ring, opening with the usual playful banter that was typical of the joker types such as Dain and Tyler. Dain rolled his neck at its maximum radius, a few popping sounds could be heard from the bones.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dain said, playing off the compliment with a casual wave of his hand. "And now, here we are. You and me. Tourney Finals. Mano a Mano and all that good shit."

He pushed himself off of the turnbuckle, taking a few steps forward to stand facing Kyukaku, with about six feet of distance between them. He rolled his shoulders, like he had done previous to every match. He felt pretty loose, but he went through the motions anyway. Perhaps a part of him considered it a 'good luck' thing, but either way, it wouldn't hurt him in the end, that much was certain.

As he walked, Dain closed his eyes, focusing solely on his right leg as he did so. He wanted to find out just how much damage Adam had put on it. From the feel of it, he had only just began to really trouble it when Dain had stopped him, and the only real pain he had was immediately after. For now, it felt okay, but Dain made a mental note to keep an eye on it as this last fight progressed.

"If you make any 'the student has become the master' jokes, I swear to God, I'm gonna hurt you. Bad."

Dain cracked a joke of his own, punctuating it with a smirk as he assumed his fight stance, standing with his left side leading, left hand at waist-height about a foot away from his body, right hand held up near his face. Both hands were forming half-fists, ready to be switched from fist to not at a moment's notice. With his left hand, Dain turned his palm upward and flicked his fingers back twice before turning it back to it's original postion.

"Ladies first."

[Kyukaku]

Kyukaku chuckled softly beneath his grin as Dain pushed himself off the turnbuckle, rolling with Kyu's joke as usual. As if on the same wave link as Dain, Kyukaku began shrugging his shoulders and slowly rotating his arm. Whether it was necessary at this point he didn't really know, but it tended to be a habit of his during pre-fight banter.

"You know, I thought about it. But in the end, I decided I should probably stick to jokes that aren't the truth. You know, like talking about how handsome you are." Kyu stated, holding a straight face to reinforce his counter-joke.

After Dain's next comment, Kyukaku simply followed up by getting into stance. He held his usual loose karate one, left foot in front, both hands held in half fists with his left slightly lower than the right which rested just below his jaw. He stood still for a moment, before furrowing his brow and standing straight back up, piping up once more.

"I thought you called for first move?" He smiled, adding in one last joke.

While it seemed like playful banter, it was also a tactic that Kyu hoped to break Dain's focus, if even just a little bit. Almost immediately after speaking and giving a small shrug, Kyukaku would shuffle forward, sending a standard left jab directly at the nose of Dain. Even though he was in stance, Kyu knew there was still a chance of contact for the opening strike. Subconciously, Dain might have begun to think about Kyu's last joke, getting himself sidetracked. If this wasn't the case however, Kyu kept his right guard up, ready for a counter if need be.

[Dain Gavyns]

"Ha, ha-"

Shit!

Dain's head jerked backwards quickly as his right hand, slapped cross-wise, batting the incoming jab away from his face with a mostly desperation effort.

The little turd tried to trick me up! That's the last chance he's getting.

Dain would have performed a block that would have allowed him to followup and counter, under normal circumstances, but having been caught almost off-guard as he had been, he was forced to resort to a simple parry. As such, Dain quickly re-thought a strategy. He didn't know if this would work, but it was worth a shot, nonetheless. He quickly re-assumed his stance, taking a half-step back to keep the distance between then.

"Yeah. Like I said, ladies first. Looks like you certainly hit like one."

Dain's eyebrows raised up quickly before coming back down, a smirk crossing his features as he did so. He taunted Kyu with his eyes, baiting him to take another shot at him.

You wanna play at words, Tyler? Then by all means, let's make this a battle on two fronts.

[Kyukaku]

Kyukaku had a mental shucks, as he almost caught Dain with his plan. He looked cranky for a moment, likely from realizing he was almost tricked. Though, it didn't take long for Dain to revert back to normal, deciding to have two different battles at the same time. It was something Kyu would glady accept.

"Yeah? Who's the one who slapped?"

Kyukaku retorted with his own smirk, holding stance in the case Dain decided to try the same tactic he just had. It seemed that wasn't the case however, as no attack had come. Instead, Dain was baiting Kyu back out and rather than waiting at a stand still, Kyukaku shuffled forward once more. He threw the same jab as he had before, hopefully probing through Dain's defense as he planned to originally.

However, as the jab was about to end, Kyu turned his fist over farther a few more degrees, causing the punch to snap out a few extra inches than it would of normally. His shoulder naturally shrugged forward, the inside of his forearm now facing the outside. If Dain reacted the same he had last time, the few extra inches would end up popping him in the face, though with slightly less power than the regular turn over of a punch would.

[Dain Gavyns]

Kyu kept up his own verbal front, tossing out another insult at the same time as he tossed out another punch. Dain would've laughed, if he wasn't busy fighting. While he didn't teach the younger warrior how to fight in a technical sense, as Tyler was likely more skilled in that aspect than Dain himself was, the graduate had, indeed, taught Kyu how to actually fight. The mental games, the reasons, the intentions, all the things you don't always learn in the dojo, Dain had tried to pass down to Kyukaku. As such, he knew, it was highly unlikely that Kyu would try the exact same punch over. It was almost too obvious of a feint, and, even if it were to be the same move, Dain wouldn't be so naive as to think to use a similar block.

After all, this time, Dain was ready.

Unlike the first time, Dain's left hand played into the counter. It swung up counterclockwise from it's lowered position, just as quickly as the jab was thrown. As Kyu twisted his arm to get those extra few inches of room, Dain's left hand closed around the fist, twisting it away from his face. As he grabbed it and guided it away from his face, Dain jerked the hand back, adding to it's now-lessened forward momentum as he stepped around with his right foot, essentially trying to reverse positions with Kyukaku. As Kyu would be thrown forward and Dain had stepped forward, and their heads would pass by close to one another, Dain would speak quickly in passing.

"At least I know more than one move."

With his sentence finished, Dain would release his grip on Kyu's fist, torquing his upper body around and striking out with a hard palm strike, the heel of his hand striking the back of Kyukaku's head, with the intention of furthering a stumble and causing him to fall forward.

[Kyukaku]

While Kyukaku wasn't exactly surprised that Dain didn't move the same way, he seemed to have forgot what it was like to fight someone who's movements were as precise, if not more so, than his own. He was able to catch the fist oh-so-Dain-like, tugging Kyu forward while moving behind himself. Even as he talked, Kyu was certain a counter was coming to his exposed back.

As Dain talked and moved, Kyukaku was already preparing his next attack. Almost instantly after Dain was done speaking, Kyukaku's right leg would plant forward solidly, his left leg slamming out in what he felt to be his best move, a simple back kick. Kyu's leg was longer than Dain's arm, the heel of his foot rapidly closing the distance to hit Dain in either the solar plexus or ribs depending on the amount of torque he put in. The back kick was hard to see coming, as it came in from below and was a direct attack. With both hands just being put in use Kyu was decently confident that he would strike his former 'mentor.' Hopefully this would cause lasting damage to Dain, but either way it would likely gain distance between the two.

"True. But do you have any that work?"

Kyu would reply as he followed through, causing him to pivot on his right foot and end up in the exact same stance he had started the fight in.

[Dain Gavyns]

Dain saw the tensing of Kyu's muscles and as he bent forward slightly to power to rear-kick, Dain reacted just as swiftly and gracefully. His left leg would swing out wide and high, kicking the air behind him as he used the kick the swing his body further behind Kyukaku, twisting his upper body so that the younger student's kick would whiff right past his chest, now perpendicular to Kyu's own body. Of course, like Kyu would have had to do in order to kick backward, Dain also had leaned forward, extending the reach on his palm strike as well. Unless Kyu would have eyes in the back of his head, the extending palm would still strike him, though, admittedly, with much lessened force, upon the back of the head, which would likely feel more like a playful, but hard, cuff to the head, like an older brother to a younger. The biggest effect of this attack, however, would be it's surprise factor, as Kyu would likely have not expected to feel the attack hit regardless.

"Yeah. That one."

Dain quipped right back, hopping backwards about a foot and a half to regain distance, and again assuming his stance.

"So, yeah, whenever you're ready to fight, just let me know." He would say as Kyukaku turned around, winking and thumbing his nose absentmindedly with his right hand for a moment.

[Kyukaku]

Unfortunately for Dain, he wouldn't catch Kyu unexpectedly. It was no supernatural feeling, or second pair of eyes that tipped him off, rather than a simple fact. When Kyu did any type of move behind him, he would always turn his head first, making sure he wasn't swinging blind so to speak. Kyu's kick would barely miss Dain's chest, causing Kyu to set it down prematurely. He would pivot off his kicking foot, moving counterclockwise and as he spun off kilter to face Dain once more. Consequently, he had moved just in time to avoid an actual strike, though cutting it extremely close as Dain's hand grazed through his hair as he moved.

"You pet me. Gonna' take me for a walk now?"

He reply as his pivot finished, setting himself back into stance.

"Alright old man, I'll give you the head start this time."

Kyukaku smirked, baiting Dain with a small tilt of his head to make the next move and kick start them back into the fight.

[Dain Gavyns]

Dain cursed inwardly, and sneered outwardly, when his attack still missed. Of course, Kyu wouldn't be dumb enough to throw a blind shot backwards, and Dain had to deal with that as his fingers ran through Kyu's light, fluffy hair.

That bastard must use conditioner.

Kyu turned and spat out another jibe, which could only cause Dain to shake his head with a snorting laugh. When his eyes opened once more, they had that same 'about to get burned' look he had earlier, with his eyebrow cocked, a smirk in his mouth, and just a certain look about his eyes that let you know something good was coming out of his mouth next.

"What can I say? I'm just treating you like the dog you are. Now I'm gonna rub your nose in it."

Dain took a step forward, pausing for half a second to eye Kyu, almost as if he was baiting HIM into taking the first move. Then another. Another pause. Then, exploding forward, Dain shuffle-stepped forward into range, leading with his left foot, and twisted his left hand upwards and made a fist, swinging it up into an uppercut towards Kyukaku's midsection.

[Kyukaku]

Unable to contain it any longer, Kyukaku burst out with a laugh at Dain's last comment. It broke their cycle of mocks and retorts, which might seem like a petty victory for Dain, but the way Kyu saw it Dain's witty humor had triumphed over his own. For now. After a moment of letting the laugh die down, Kyukaku became rather solemn, and uncharacteristic attribute so far in this fight. A few more mocks came to mind, but Dain had almost got him last time, meaning he would need to try and focus more on the actual battle at hand.

Dain took a stutter step forward, his eyes seeming to psyche out the younger fighter. Still a bit unfocused from the previous comments, Kyukaku took a slow and easy deep breath, lowering his gaze to the center of Dain's chest. Avoiding eye contact, he would be able to spot any type of movement from Dain as he focused himself.

The former mentor exploded forward with impressive speed, Kyukaku moving forward just a moment later, intercepting Dain on the way. Kyukaku took a forward diagonal step outwards, moving to Dain's oblique. With an open left hand Kyu deflected the uppercut to outside, striking Dain's forearm with the edge of his hand rather than pushing it. The older fighter would be forced to torque more to his right, as Kyukaku's right arm would already be coming up in a wide arc that gained alot of momentum rather quickly. His arm would twist slightly as the motion came to an end, the top of his forearm that connects to the wrist smashing into the base of Dain's skull, striking where the head meets the side of the neck.

[Dain Gavyns]

(Sorry for the lateness. RL's been kicking me in the tush as usual.)

His attack was blocked, but there wasn't much surprise there. Kyukaku had stepped off to Dain's side, putting himself in better attacking and defending position. Dain raised his mental eyebrows at the idea. It was simple, yet effective, and Dain wondered for a moment why he'd never thought of that himself. There wasn't much time to think on it further, however, as his mind had to be fully into this fight if he wanted to stand any chance of winning. Kyukaku had excellent technique and ages more experience with traditional martial arts than he did. Dain may have prided himself on his self-created style, but he knew better than most that improvisation could only get you so far.

The pain in his left arm was short, and sharp, but quickly fleeting. Once more, Dain was interested in how much like his own techniques Tyler tended to be, even despite their extremely different backgrounds. The right arm swung into play, attempting to crash into the base of Dain's skull, but Dain's own right arm up by his face and ready to react. So, the older fighter swung his arm underneath his protege's, ducking and weaving underneath as he did so. This would send the attack high and out of range of Dain's precious head. As he did so, however, he would press the attack himself, not letting up for what seemed to be an opening.

As he ducked, Dain quickly stepped forward with his right foot, putting Kyu closer to being on the same lateral as he, and as soon as the foot planted, Dain would pivot off of it, spinning his left leg around just under one hundred and eighty degrees into a pushing back kick, using the added torque to his left to aid in the spin as he would plant the kick underneath Kyu's outstretched left arm to hit somewhere along the ribs.

All the while, of course, his head would be looking over his shoulder, in case the younger, clever fighter would find a devious dodge and/or counter.

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: You and me both Brotha')

Despite having no real martial arts background, Dain always fought like he had. Most fighters who didn't tended to be brawlers, boxers, or wrestlers. Dain on the other hand was able to incorporate complex kicks and hand movements; something rarely done right by those who merely mimicked moves. Dain was a real interesting fighter, and with that in mind Kyukaku wasn't surprised to see his move dodged.

Kyu pushed off his left foot, swinging his right directly behind him as he moved his whole body straight back on the lateral Dain had created between the two. As his right foot planted in back, his left foot would slide to land in a similiar fashion to his usual stance. Dain's foot would come in, though Kyu had moved passed the effective extension. Dain's heel would hit Kyu's hip, but without any real power it would merely stay at rest for barely a moment as Kyu lowered his center of gravity.

At the same time, Kyu's left elbow would be coming straight down. It would strike the ankle, but luckily for Dain Kyukaku had to rush the technique to insure that it would strike. Still on target but not quite precise, the elbow would hit the ankle though unlikely breaking the joint as much spraining it or just plain making it hurt like a bitch.

Afterwards, Kyu would let the leg merely slip off him. He made no more advancements, for if Dain was unable to stand, he would be unable to fight. Kyukaku would simply bring his hands back up while making slight adjustments to his feet, returning to his loose karate stance.

[Dain Gavyns]

Kyu jumped back quickly, forcing an over-extension in Dain's kick that would come to more or less rest upon Kyu's hip. Dain, however, was not content with just leaving it there. From his position, however, there was not much he could do, especially nothing considered 'orthodox' within the realms of hand-to-hand combat.

Of course, one of Dain's biggest surprises always came from the fact that he wasn't a traditional martial artist, and thus, sometimes came up with plans that no traditional martial artist would ever concoct, much less expect. Dain suppressed a smirk as he launched himself into action.

With all his might, Dain literally launched off his remaining foot, throwing himself backwards towards Kyukaku as he was swinging down with the elbow. This would, in essence, be like pulling his kicking leg back, except he just pushed his body back into the leg. After the leap, Dain's body would fall forward as he caught himself on his hands, kicking out inaccurately with his right leg towards Kyukaku's midsection and pushing with his now-coiled left, intent on doing some damage, but more importantly, pushing off and gaining a bit of distance at the same time. Dain had seen the elbow coming down and wanted to avoid that at all costs.

If he managed to at least get the push off, Dain would roll forwards, popping back up to his feet with a little hop and turning a half-circle mid-air, in order to face Kyu and throw up his fighting stance once more.

[Kyukaku]

If there was just one thing Kyukaku had learned from his older friend, it was that his fights were always anything but normal. Instead of anticipating something orthodox, or even anticipating something unorthodox for that matter, Kyu merely allowed his mind to fall into an open state. Instead of expecting anything, his mind and body would work like a sponge, absorbing the information as it came to him. Fact was, Kyu had never really planned out his battles with any kind of strategy. He had always relied on his impressive reaction speed; bad idea or not, it paid off in times like these.

Consquently, the elbow strike would more drop down than strike, as Kyu's mind shifted to the next priority. At this point, Dain had planted his hands into the ground, throwing out a second back kick. Kyukaku would deflect the kick, though not in the traditional sense.

With a left torque of the hips Kyu pivoted on his right foot, sending hook punch tight accross his body. Dain's move had saved one ankle, but in essence it would damn the other. It was quick movement due to the lack of space needed, and the power was derived from the hips rather than the arm itself. It wouldn't be the most devastating punch, but when knuckles met an exposed joint like the side of the ankle, it didin't necessarily have to be.

As a result of the hip torque and hook, Kyukaku had involuntarily caused Dain's left foot to slip off to the side, preventing his push off an rollaway. The likely scenario would be Dain's legs both moving off to Kyu's left side. If this was indeed the case, Kyu's intincts would come into play once more. Continuing with the momentum, Kyu's right foot would lift up in a quick, but hard low roundkick to Dain's exposed right side.

[Dain Gavyns]

(I should stop joining these tournaments, I"m always so bad about punctual posting. It's been a really really rough couple of days for me though, and I'm still not much in the mood to post to this, but here you go.)

When Dain felt his leg slipping, a hasty abort was in need. His leg was already kicking out, he had committed himself to his move, and he knew, simply from knowing Kyukaku's fighting style as well as he did, that the torquing of his hips in that fashion could only mean an attack was coming. Kyu knew how to add that extra 'oomph' in his attack by putting the entire upper body into a strike, not just the arm. As such, Dain simply did the only thing available to him at the moment.

His initial kicking leg had been coiled and ready to push off in escape, but with it falling off its former perch, escape wasn't an option. Instead, Dain simply extended the leg again, pushing out with an understandably low amount of force, after all, he was already kicking out once, and didn't have much to push off with this time. However, his leg was falling off the hip, and his push would strike Kyu in the thigh instead of the hip.

Dain pressed his hands into the ground; he wasn't trying to move himself, he was trying to move Kyukaku backwards, or over, or anything that would cause him to fail in his next attack, or at least give him time to drop his other leg in time to not get hit. The downside was that he'd fall to the ground instead of rolling away, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He needed his legs, both of them, to beat the young fighter.

Afterwards, if Kyu did not or could not followup, Dain would fall and quickly turn himself over to be able to face his attacker before kipping up to his feet with a sudden ease and grace, not even needing to use his hands in the manuever, and as such would land on his feet with his hands near his chest, waiting for his opponent in case he tried to capitalize.

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: You can take as much time as you want on my end. Hell, I was gone all yesterday myself, so it didn't matter in the end.)

Dain's kick to the leg wouldn't go quite as he had planned. Since it was still against Kyu as it slipped, the kick would only be able to clip the side of his leg, if that. After all, Dain didn't have enough time to cock his leg back and push out in a whole new fashion. Still, the little resistance Dain had added would probably save him from a broken ankle, but not quite enough to stop the punch as a whole.

Kyu's left thigh was pushed into, though the leg slipped off before ruining his balance altogether. It did cause him to take a stutter step back with his left leg, removing just enough power to prevent too serious of an injury upon the ankle. However, the knuckles still collided with the joint, and if nothing else it would hurt like a bitch.

Dain would fall, and quickly turn over on his back. With no hurry to get into a ground fight, Kyukaku made no movements to hinder this at the moment. As Dain would begin a kip, Kyu would start his own motions as well. The adrenaline likely caused Dain to ignore most of the pain in his ankle, though Kyu hoped the force of the kip would strain it more. As Dain would kip up, Kyukaku would throw a hard right straight from his rear.

The plan was, Dain would kip up in the arc like motion, just in time to meet with the fist. Kyukaku timed it where Dain would hopefully move into it himself, as he wouldn't be able to see very well as his body would flip up to his feet. Still, it was never good to underestimate Dain, therefore Kyukaku held his left hand just below his jaw, ready in the case the older fighter pulled yet another rabbit out his hat.

[Odin Reeves]

Slipping into the ring Odin pushed his way in between the two combatants. During the last progression of moves he noticed a greater deal of control by one half of them, as well as the growing fatigue in both fighters. Whether or not they wished to continue he decided to put an end to this, simply because he didn’t want anyone critically injured.

With Dain back on the ground Odin grabbed Kyukaku’s right wrist, lifting the fist high in the air as he declared the winner of hircine high’s underground tournament. He felt proud to host the tournament, but regretted his decision not to take part. Nevertheless this was Kyu’s time in the spot light, his time to savior coming farther then any of the other competitors to take the tournament and make it his own.

“Your winner, Tyler Scott!” Yelling out toward the frenzied crowd he released his grip on the champion’s wrist, stepping back with a half turn. Looking back at Tyler he slapped him firmly on the back, a congratulation of sorts as he leaned in close, whispering something primarily for the fighter to hear. “Don’t think this is the end. I’m gonna want a match from you, so rest up and find me when your ready.”

With those final words a brief smile appeared on his face. It wasn’t a smirk, nor a sneer, but an actual smile. His lips curled upward, he seemed genuinely happy for the second in time that he remained beside the last man standing. After that he slipped back outside the ring, leaving the champion to do as he wished.

[Post your leave if necessary, otherwise it doesn't matter.]