Shady Invitation [Vice]

[Tatsuma Kirihara]

Tatsuma was idly rolling the laminated card between his fingers as he walked along the coast. He wasn’t interested in the beach or amusement park, only in the place his invitation was for. A map with a date and time was on the card, and Tatsuma decided to check it out. He was curious what Vice wanted with giving him the card, and anything with the name "Fight Club" would mean he will have fun. Maybe a broken nose and bruises too, but definitely fun. Of course, this could be a trap too, but he could care less. It is at least something he can go by until he has a steady lead on the happenings going on in the city.

He found the place without problems, and ventured into the club. It was bursting with energy and excitement, the crowd that gathered was loud and aggressive. It was just like how Tatsuma assumed it would be. A strange wave of nostalgia rushed through him as he was standing at the back of the crowd. Carefully blending in he wasn’t cheering and wasn’t shouting. This kinda place was always something that made him more cautious, but it also made his heart beat faster. He could tell that whatever could happen here, and if he made the wrong move, he might actually end up in hospital. But who cared about that? Vice said he wanted Tatsuma to prove himself, and he could only think about a fight. That should be enough of a proof.

His tattoo was visible on his face now, and of course, he didn’t have his roller-skates on, because he figured he would have to remove them anyway when he was here. Running away wasn’t among his options now. When he wanted to stand his ground, he needed to be solid on his feet. He looked around to try and spot Vice for a sign.


(((Vice Ysal
Kyle Shibata come spectate if you want to~)))

[Vice Ysal]

"And gowch! That's ol' Rabou's killer hook! Jiggy's gonna feel that in the morning." The enthusiastic voice of the announcer washed on over the entirety of the warehouse where the fight was being held. Just as he did so, the fighter called out to be Jiggy, after getting his face screwed over with said killer hook, seemed to sway on his feet just a second too long. Said second was capitalised on with a gut wrenching kick from his opponent which literally sent the guy off of his feet and into the crowd outside the ring. Being the good sport the audience was, no one bothered catching the guy properly.

He did end up getting carted off to the side by the members who were on medic duty that night so that was a plus. And with the winner proudly proclaiming his superiority, bragging rights and all in those red shorts of his, the announcer began calling out for the next contestant to get up the ring to try and complete the Rabou Challenge. Off to the side, and as in waaaay off to the side, Vice was enjoying a small bottle of ice cold beer. With all the excitement happening over the once a month Rabou Challenge going on, the biker took to people watching instead. The fights weren't as exciting as they used to be and who knew, he might just catch something interesting.

When his eyes spotted the familiar mop of dyed hair, the biker hailed for one of the fighters to tell the announcers that something was up and to call on a guy to fight as the next contestant. Might as well start this strong.

"Ooooh man! This shit right here, this shit don't happen! Looks like we've got a VIP IN DA HAWWWS! OI, ERRYONE. LOOK FOR SOME PUNKASS KID WITH SOME SHITTY TAT ON HIS FACE! WE GOT AN INITIATE IN OUR HANDS TONITE!"

[Tatsuma Kirihara]

Well, that was the most obvious sign he could get.

Being invited to a Fight Club was one thing, but getting announced and called to the ring was just better. He didn’t have to be a genius to know that the “punkass kid with shitty tat” would be him. He brushed his dark hair out of his face to make sure his tattoo was visible.

He wouldn’t want to make them wait. With the confident steps of someone familiar with the situation, Tatsuma started for the ring that held the winner of the previous round. He couldn’t spot Vice in the crowd, but he figured that was how it was this time. It didn’t matter if the guy showed himself or not, he still knew he was watching. This was the time Tatsuma would prove something to him, so of course he must have been watching.

Nearing the ring he removed his black and white jacket from above his dark t-shirt, and tossed it just at the ring's outside. That jacket would only get in the way of a brawl of this kind. He wasn’t wearing his accessories for the exact same purpose with the exception of a pair of black wristbands. He checked out his opponent, height, estimated weight, body shape and ridiculous red shorts included. He had an excited smirk plastered on his face, and for the love of God, he couldn’t wipe it off. Little Red Riding Shorts would be his opponent, so it seemed.

[Vice Ysal]

"BAH SPECIAL MENTION OF THE UP-TOP, LET'S WELCOME THE FRESH MEAAAAAT FOR THE NIGHT! ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RING, THE CROWD'S FAVOURITE, GOOD OL' RABOU!"

And with his name mentioned, the old timer raised both of his fists high into the air before smashing the floor thrice. It was his chant, it was his thing, so let the guy be and let em get hyped. Standing at an intimidating height of 6'5, a thick ass waist line and a pudgy muscle belly, with the most awesome chest-long beard you'll ever see on a guy, it's easy to see why this old man still gets to discipline the fresh meat who enters the club.

"Oi, kid. Dis be a gud dai fer yeeh! Nought ulways 'e callin' for keeds hawp in the rying!"

And it just keeps getting better and better with that broke ass accent of his. The bells rang, and the announcers voice once more flooded the crowd with his obnoxious jeering. As it was though, the entire crowd was getting hyped and everyone was watching the match minus the security meant to keep the place safe from them police officers.

"C'meen. Hyi'll geeve yeeh dah first shuot!"

---

Action: Taunt

I'll be placing notes here just to make things simple. ^^b

[Tatsuma Kirihara]

Hearing the cheer of the crowd, Tatsuma looked around. Yes, he knew well how this place worked. It was the same back in Japan, but if someone was to suffer defeat while dishonoring their pride and the gang’s, they would lose a finger. Tatsuma still had all of his fingers for a reason, but at the same time, they didn’t have guys with Rabou’s build back there. They had the occasional sumo brawlers, but Tatsuma never fought any of them. Maybe he should have tried.

Just one glance was enough to know he couldn’t win by strength alone. Tatsuma was tall, but Rabou beat him by full 4 inches on height, and at least 100 pounds in weight. However, Tatsuma was light on his feet, and he would try to exploit his speed and stamina in this fight. At least he had some confidence in his hand-to-hand combat ability he gathered on the streets.

Jumping up and down a few times, he was getting his leg muscles ready for some heavy footwork. That will be the deciding factor for him, he just knew it. The thick accent Rabou showed made it obvious that just like Tatsuma, he wasn’t a native. He heard that Mosaic city welcomed any and all ethnicity, so that didn’t came as a surprise.

After Rabou’s first sentence, Tatsuma already rushed in. He saw no point in waiting for the taunt, because he knew from the display of confidence on the opponent’s part that it would come. One fist was covering his head, the other was pulled back at his side, then shot out and targeted the soft tissue between the chest area and the abdominal muscles. However strongly built the man was, there was no way he wouldn’t feel a direct hit there, if it connected. Tatsuma was still trying his grounds and feeling for strength and proper distance, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to get a surprise hit in from the start.




Action: Attempted surprise attack even before the taunt is over

That's a good idea! =U

[Vice Ysal]

There was often a reason why men like Rabou boasted. It wasn't because they were insecure of their own battle prowess, no that was for mere casuals. Fighters like Rabou did that to go ahead and do the whole psychological mind games thing. Whether it was called for, or if it was a good thing, didn't matter. It broke the flow of the battle and in turn allowed him to step it up to make the pace his.

Or that was how it usually went. Despite his looks, and his jarring accent, Rabou knew how to fight and he had fully expected the bum rush that was thrown his way. That pathetic punch, from some scrawny kid, well, it didn't matter all that much to him. Faster than his size should have let him, Rabou turned his body sidewards and pushed forward with his shoulder just as the punch was thrown. It would allowed him to get inside the kid's reach while dodging the attack itself. Now with his opponent's outstretched hand and his other guarding his face, the muscle man wondered just how he was going to deal with a shoulder slam with someone of his weight and experience.

---

Action: Dodged the blow to the side -> shoulder tackle to Tatsu's unprotected side

[Tatsuma Kirihara]

Tatsuma had learned long ago not underestimate his opponents. Actually, there was little he could underestimate Rabou for. He was bigger, heavier, and probably stronger than him, and he admitted it. His attempt at a surprise attack failed, which also told him that he had way more experience. At close range, at infighting, Tatsuma had the advantage due to Rabou’s longer reach, but it also meant the man could utilize his body and tackle him. The only thing Tatsuma would never let is to be thrown on the floor. He knew he would be done for, if that happened.

He couldn’t avoid the shoulder tackle from such a range, but he could use the man’s own power to get away. He leaned back from the man as he started his tackle, and as the shoulder collided with his side, Tatsuma kicked himself off the ground toward the same direction. To ease the power of the hit, he somersaulted backward and got on his feet with the same buoyancy.

That fucking hurt.

However, he was sure it would have hurt more if he didn’t use the tackle’s strength to get away. Standing tall, he rolled his shoulder to test it, but there didn’t seem to be any cracks in ribs or dislocated joints, only a dumb pain he would stop feeling as adrenaline rushed through his veins. He couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

He rushed forward again, minding the distance this time. He aimed a fist at the man’s side, but that was a convincing feint as he stepped to the side to get behind the man and kick his knee.


Action: Feint and kick in the knee.

[Vice Ysal]

Rabou might have been old, but he sure as hell wasn't frail. Years of muscle training to make him what he was now wasn't being wasted, and though he may not have been a professional and was actually quite the father figure at home with the meanest bacon and sausage waffle combo, he was still gonna kick ass tonight. Prior injuries from the several fights before not withstanding.

The feint was taken but he was still reactive enough that Rabou managed to tighten the muscles on his leg to brace himself against the blow. Within reach now, having long arms did have its uses, Rabou would then reach forward with both his massive hands. One meant to use its palm to smash Tatsu in the neck while the other would hover around to act as a defense for anything the kid could come up with.

---

Action: Took the blow-> palm smash towards the throat.

[Kyle Shibata]

Kyle strolled into the fight club with his usual attire of a faded gray hoodie with the hood pulled deeply down over his head and the usual black slacks. He still stood out like a sore thumb due to being at least a head or two taller than most people present. He just walked in and some people... actually backed away from him as he wandered in, nodding to a few people. He casually sauntered over towards Vice's side, watching the  fight go down. Kid in the ring wasn't bad. He wasn't going down in three hits from Rabou, that was always good.

He leaned back against the wall near Vice and stared at the ring. "Do I smell fresh meat or is it just the smell of farts and itchy armpits in here?" he said with a deadpan expression. "S'up. Who's the new recruit? He a User?" he added quietly.

---

Action: Spectating, also giving everyone a vertically challenged complex

[Tatsuma Kirihara]

Tatsuma was half expecting his attacks not to work at all. At least the feint was taken, but Rabout wasn’t as slow as Tatsuma assumed him to be so even with that he could defend against his kick and even retaliate with a palm strike. He had no way to avoid the hit, he was in reach and this time he couldn’t use the attack for his advantage. The palm smashed into his neck from the side and he stumbled back from the force. He was not able to counter with his own attack, so Rabou’s defense was meaningless.

Standing a few feet away from his opponent, Tatsuma placed a hand on his neck to ease the pain he was feeling. His breathing was quick and deep, and he had to cough a few times to get it right again. He stopped when he could taste blood in his mouth and spit to the side. That smash hit something important. He was sure he won’t be able to talk clearly for a while, but he saw no need to anyway. He wiped the blood that was dripping out of the side of his mouth, smearing it just a bit. Another devilish grin was the answer to the attack. This guy was strong, he knew it, but the fight was fun, and his adrenaline was skyrocketing, easing the pain and pushing him forward until he could barely stand.

He coughed again, but he managed to even his breathing as much as possible in this situation. Jumping on his toes, he circled around his opponent, waiting for him to move this time.

---

Action: Defending and waiting.
And welcome, Kyle~ Tatsuma will greet you once he isn’t, you know, busy.

[Vice Ysal]

From his own vantage point, Vice was slightly amused by how Rabou was going about things. He probably understood that the kid wouldn't survive if he actually went all out and decided to give him a handicap just to give everyone a show of what was happening. That, and the hair do probably had something about it. Well, whatever, Vice wasn't the type to comment on the eccentricities of the people around him. What they did was their thing. Soon enough though, another male had sauntered over him and so far the only guy that Vice even knew that towered over him, aside from Rabou, was a fellow user.

Snorting at Kyle's entrance, and giving him a slight nod to acknowledge his presence, the young man then returned his eyes back to the ring to watch the development of the battle. "A New Blood. Got some fight in him, even if Rabou's taking easy on the kid." Rolling his shoulders as he saw the palm strike connect, Vice's mental estimation along with the tallying of the score began to be edited in accordance with the ongoing battle.

"If the kid passes, I was thinking about tossing him over to you for some Babysitting. I already threw Aile over at Tristan, so doing this might do you some good."

---

Rabou put on a grin, an honest to goodness scary as fuck bloody thirsty grin that even made some of the grown men in the room cringe at the sight of it. Of course, it was all fake but it was always fun to see the reactions. The kid still stood after getting a palm strike to the throat so that was an indicator of his prowess. Not all that impressive but better than quite a bit of the other hopefuls in the warehouse. So when his opponent had began to circle around his position, actually expecting him to make the first move when there was still so much room to manoeuvre in, Rabou just gave an amused grunt as he slowly paced himself towards one of the corners.

Limit the kid's avenues, and crushing any assault was going to be easier done than said.

---

Action: Defending and Waiting.

[Kyle Shibata]

Kyle smirked a bit at the 'trench war' starting in the ring with the two opponents stopping and sizing each other up like roosters about to start a big-ass cockfight. Well, well... So Rabou was holding back. Pretty interesting. Maybe he oughta go a round with that guy himself, at some point.

He studied the new guy. Funny hair and he looked kinda... squirrely, but he was holding his own well enough, for now.

"Really? We got someone greener than Aile?" Kyle sighed. "Speaking of which, the heck happened to that guy, Tristan manage to go and lose him?"

Actually... that dork Tristan was getting hard to come by lately. The hell was up with him?

"Anyway... you sure you want me to take care of teaching this guy the ropes? I ain't got a problem with that. But he better have some spine."

[Tatsuma Kirihara]

Blood was filling his mouth slowly and Tatsuma knew he should get that smashed throat checked out soon enough, but he could still breathe, so he considered it to be a necessary injury against this kind of fighter. Sacrifice was always an option in a fight, and as long as he was the one being sacrificed, he was okay with whatever development came his way.

Rabou’s grin made him shiver, but not in fear. It was anticipation and excitement. Tatsuma was long ago told that he had a badly addictive relationship with danger, and even if he knew Rabou’s bloodthirsty grin was just a mask, he would answer with his own excited smirk. That’s how he rolled.

The opponent wasn’t attacking, and he knew what that meant. It made sense though, it was Tatsuma that was being tested, and if Rabou were to initiate an attack, he would just get pancake’d on the floor of the ring. But before that he could at least dish out something that could at least impress his judges.

So be it.

He took a deep breath, as deep as his throat allowed him, and rushed in for another infight. True, bigger fighters were intimidating and the opponent usually didn’t like to get close to them, but due to the bigger guy’s reach, Tatsuma still had a tiny bit of advantage within the reach. It was dangerous, he knew it, but what wasn’t? Instead of going directly from the font, Tatsuma tried to grab Rabou’s right hand from the outside with his own right and pull it toward the man’s left to open up his side, if the grab wasn’t a success, he would still try to swipe it away. Tatsuma then proceeded to smash his knee against the man’s side. With his position, he had little worry about the man’s punches, but of course he could still get tackled like at the start of the fight. He was prepared now, and would use his free hand for parrying.

---

Action: Attacking

[Vice Ysal]

Rabou mentally grinned when he finally saw the younger male take the initiative. The glint in his eyes probably meant that he had finally gotten the hint and the reason as to why Rabou was playing it defensively rather than sticking to his ever-loved method of simply steamrolling his opponents under him. It wasn't to say that he was going to let the kid do what he wanted however. So when the opponent had reached for his right hand to be pulled on over to his left, Rabou had began his counter attack.

The pull itself wasn't enough to shake someone up of his weight class but it was still a usable amount of momentum for what he was going to do. This time, however, he was going to be showing the Kid a glimpse of what he could really do. A reward for his efforts of still throwing himself into the fray despite the injuries he had sustained. As his arm was pulled, it was child's play to break through his enemy's grip and instead apply his own clamp on Tatsuma's wrist. His side may have been exposed, and though the over all damage would be mitigated by the incoming knee, their positioning would more than make up for his advantage.

And so Old Man Rabou stomped, his entire weight and a sudden spike in his speed being transferred into one massive attack. His shoulder aimed at his opponent and it continued on through despite taking the knee. The moment it would touch, where the maximum amount of force had been applied, Rabou would then immediately bounce his shoulder back in order to further increase the amount of damage he could deal.

Now if the kid survived that, then he was going to personally walk up to Vice and demand he let the kid in.

---

Action: Super Shoulder Smash

---

"Possibly greener, but from what I've seen, this one has more potential. Where Aile may have probably made up for his magic, Tatsuma here has a taste of our kind of experience. That's something we don't ignore." Shrugging his shoulders then as his eyes took note of how the battle was progressing, Vice then chanced over a glance to where Kyle was and planned to address the apparent problem of the New Blood not having the spine or his confidence in either of the two's ability to survive whilst being paired up with each other.

"I don't know what the hell happened with Tristan, but it's his responsibility already. That said, I wouldn't have thought of the decision if I didn't know you could handle it. Besides, should anything ever happen to my batch then I'd at least know we've got dependable back up."

And for a moment, the air around Vice suddenly dropped and the presence became suffocating. Even those around him who had been a few away subconsciously shied away from him.

"Don't waste this chance to make a difference, Kyle."

[Kyle Shibata]

Kyle sensed that change, faintly. Unlike the other people, he didn't flinch. He'd seen too much already to flinch at something like that. It certainly made Sitri snarl in his head. He could feel the winged leopard padding around, his snout all contorted in frustration and his tail whipping around in annoyance.

Yeah, something was up with Vice.

But he smirked faintly. "Aah, so he's of our ilk," he muttered. "Yeah, should've seen that coming."

Vice's words struck a small chord with him. Should anything ever happen... seriously? On the other hand... Vice trusted him, apparently. Well, that was something. He breathed out, something between a sigh and a small snort and smiled. "Don't worry. I don't plan to. I'll keep an eye on the kiddies. If this guy can handle it, he'll be fine."