Fisticuffs Fundraiser! (IC)

[quotemyname]

The bell rang, and Colt was off. He circled around the ring to get a better angle at his opponent. His blood pumping quickly with the thrill of a fight and the cheer of the crowed, Colt faked to the left before he pulled right and made a lunge for Ace. Colt went in for a clinch, attempting to grab Ace and ensure that he wouldn't be able to fight back effectively.

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum laughed lightly, "Well said, Atlas, well said." She patted him on the free arm.

As the bout was getting under way, she fell silent, watching Jack's antics, saying nothing, and blowing a raspberry at him. Overall she'd put herself on the endeared side of the swashbuckler. True his behavior seemed rather...annoying and inappropriate....at times, but at the same time that rogue's grin wasn't the reason she liked him. Somehow, though she couldn't put her finger on it, the act was oddly familiar. So familiar that she wanted to bap him upside the head for it. A friendly thump though.

The match itself looked promising, but she had the ask the $10,000 questions on her mind, "That's Dark Star right? Not to insult the man, but is he always this wooden?" Her second question though was a bit more serious, "Who are you putting money on?"

[Gizmo]

Jack chuckled as he leaned an elbow on Atlas' head. "You kidding? For Mr. Twinkle-Twinkle that's practically hamming it up." The swashbuckler shrugged unconcernedly. "Cosmic-types, go figure. As for placing bets..." Jack scratched the light stubble along his jawline. "I mean, granted that's Ace flippin' Danger, excuse me while I squee like a pre-teen fan girl, but I gotta have my boy's back on this one. Y'know, in a totally butch, non-man-crush way." As he spoke Colt charged forward to wrap his arms around his celebrity opponent's midsection. "Speaking of which, this has gotta be doing something for you, huh Grim?"

[Heritage]

"Speaking of which, this has gotta be doing something for you, huh Grim?"

Grim doesn't appear to be listening, but her eyes are wide and nostrils slightly dialated as she intently watches the battle begin; an old-fashioned megaphone appears in her hand, and she bellows through it at her boyfriend in the ring, a slightly manic edge creeping into her voice.

"C'mon, rip him a new one, Colt! Take that pretty boy down! Hard!"

Chucking the megaphone over her shoulder (thankfully it dissapates before it hits anybody), she starts mock-fighting along with Colt, jumping, lunging and shadowboxing around the edge of the arena as she continues to shout encouragement, much of it borderline obscene. Yes, a childhood spent watching hockey and wrestling has made Grim into a rather scary spectator.

"Yes! Yes!" :?

[Gizmo]

From his perch atop Atlas' shoulder, Jack gave Grim a long glance before leaning forward to address the massive red hero. "Uh, say, 'Lassie, ol' chum, I don't supposed you want to switch opponents? Eight feet tall I can handle, Jersey I'm not so sure about." In his younger days, Jack had attended and participated in a number of fencing competitions, and though a few of those had gotten rowdy thanks in part to his own penchant for theatrics, the packed Liberty Dome was on an entirely separate plane. The crowds cheers combined to form a roar he felt throughout his body, blending with the pulsing energy glow of the gathered spectators in a way that made the swordsman think vaguely of being submerged or wrapped in a thick blanket. Even Fulcrum's tremendous energy output was simply a noticeable point in a sea of tingling vibration.

[angrydurf]

Colt came in fast and got a good hold on Ace slamming him to the mat with a resounding crash as he slapped the mat to spread out the impact. He managed to squirm free of the cowboys grasp selling the hit the whole while, rolling slowly as if in real pain as Colt regained his feet. Then as he rose from his crouch Ace aimed a sweeping kick at his foes legs.

[quotemyname]

Colt's hesitation at a certain crowd member cheering him on had allowed Ace to get out of his hands. But luckily, the clumsy rising sweep was easy to dodge. Colt quickly back flipped over it. Coming out of the flip he aimed a kick a Ace's mid-section.

[Geez3r]

"Punch him!" roared Atlas, cupping his hands unnecessarily, his baritone bellow carrying nicely through the crowd. Atlas paused for a moment. "...In the face!" Another pause. "...Vith your fist!"

"No zank you. I'll take my chances vith ze sane one." chuckled Atlas to Jack. Altas looked like he was about to say something else to Jack, but then stopped and looked at Jack critically. "Vait. How long have you been up zere?"

[angrydurf]

The flying kick took Ace off guard sending him stumbling into the ropes where he hung for a few moments as Colt approached. He seemed almost beat as he hung from the ropes shaking his head to clear it. At the last moment However Ace launched himself forward. "Not bad for an amateur." He said as he swung taking Atlas' advice and aiming a vicious right hook hook at Colts jaw.

[Dariusprime]

The only thing better than a good competition was the spectators. At least that was how Fulcrum saw it. Which meant that she couldn't more than side long at Grim without laughing. Between Jack's wisecracks, Atlas' cheers and Grim's "encouragement", the excitement was contagious and more than enough to keep her entertained.

Pausing a moment, she pulled over a pad and began taking notes. Other than that, she kicked her feet up with a bottle of water in hand. No sense getting all riled up.

Glancing at Jack and Atlas, she closed one eye and bugged the other out, "Who says I'm the sane one?" A sly smile crossed her face as she turned back to the fight.

[Gizmo]

"Why 'Lassie, I've been here all along! I'm your conscience, Jackimy Cricket!" Planting a hand on Atlas' head, Jack cartwheeled from the big man's left shoulder to his right, belting out in a surprisingly melodic baritone, "When you wish upon a Darkstar..." As he completed his acrobatics the swashbuckler's greatcoat settled over the Russian's head; nimbly crouching back down, Jack tugged the garment away from Atlas' eyes, then turned to Fulcrum in time to see her pull a face. "Well that's attractive," he grimaced. "And lady, you ain't crazy. I know from crazy. I've been defenestrated by some of today's biggest names in crazy. By the way," he added, looking back down at Atlas, "I think 'punch him in the face with your fist' is my new bumper sticker. Well, if I had a car. Maybe I can get a shirt made..."

[quotemyname]

Colt took the the same way he took everything else. Like a man. It did, however make him go stumbling back to the other side of the ring. He recoiled of the ropes, and thanked them for their help before he realized he was still in the fight!

He shook the fog out of his head and focused his attention back on his opponent. Reckon if'n I don't do somethin' this is gonna be a real short fight. thought Colt as he danced around Ace and then lunged for another sprawl.

Finally managing to wrap the man up, he took him to the ground. From a side control position, he focused on keeping his opponent on the ground. Unfortunately, Ace was stronger than he was and Colt knew it. He hoped his experience in bar-room brawling would help him win out. "Reckon I'd should be hog-tyin' ya're somethin'!"

"Say Uncle!"

[angrydurf]

As Colt shook off the punch Ace bobbed and weaved but another flying tackle caught him by surprise none the less. Colt quickly managed to pin Ace to the mat. If this was some kind of wrestling match it likely would have been over. On the other hand it did limit Ace's options, unfortunately for Colt his most potent weapon was still quite available. He ceased his struggle for a moment to speak clearly, "You're a charming enough man, but Grims a friend so I simply can't do this to her." winking at the end for emphasis

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum kept glancing between the fight and Jack. Both activities were entertaining to say the least. She snorted at his retort, "Don't mind him, Atlas. I think he is going to talk Grim to death." She thumbed toward the match, "I wonder what they're saying."

Speaking of the match, Fulcrum jotted down a couple of notes. Her handwriting was terrible, but looked like she was scoring the fighters. How scoring a boxing match turned MMA bout would work was another question.

[Geez3r]

Atlas reached up to Jack's head, placing his thumb under Jack's chin and his pointer finger on top of Jack's head. "Hush." said Atlas cracking another grin. "Zey are talking about one of two zings. They are eizer trying to put zeir heads togezer to determine vat ze rules are for boxing, or zey are vondering how much of zis Dark Star vill let zem get avay vith." Replies Atlas to Fulcrum, while removing his hand from Jack's cranium. Atlas folds his arms and frowns a little bit, before adding this after thought. "Zat or zey are planning a trip to a certain mountain."

[Gizmo]

Jack struggled for a moment to pry Atlas' digits off of his head to no avail. Giving the big man a baleful look, he managed to comment, "Hyu mnow mh't th' se 'bet ah m'n m'th b'g h'nds..." When the Russian finally released his head, Jack took a moment to work his jaw and watch the fight. Colt seemed to be approaching the bout the way he would a saloon brawl, and Ace had evidently deigned to follow the cowboy's example. At Atlas' dry speculation as to the combatants' intentions, the swordsman grinned. "Hey, check out 'Lassie, coming alive with the suggestive pop culture reference!" Springing off of the giant, Jack landed lightly on the back of Fulcrum's seat, looking over the statuesque heroine's shoulder at her notepad. "Well, shucks, forget talking 'em to death, if I'd known there was gonna be a quiz I would've brought one of those voice recorder deals, maybe taken some cell phone video."

[quotemyname]

"Aw, ya sly devil!" Colt gasped in mid sprawl, "I never knew ya cared! Reckon that means I won't be tryin' fer the rear naked choke." Colt laughed at the suggestiveness of the whole thing. Still, if he could keep Ace on the mat for a little longer...

[angrydurf]

Taking advantage of Colts lapse in concentration Ace slid free bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. He shot a series of quick right jabs followed by a wicked left hook when the cowboys guard was drawn off. 'Man's tougher than he looks, and that's saying something.' Ace thought to himself as he bobbed defensively watching carefully for colts counter.

[quotemyname]

The counter never came. The left hook took Colt right on the button as they say. His neck twisted and his body's emergency systems kicked in. "Time for bed," it said, and it was lights out for the Cowboy.

The world swam and then when black. It turns out even extra dimensional cowboys could get KOed like everyone else...

[angrydurf]

'But not tough enough.' Ace finished his thought as the Inter-dimensional Cowboy hit the mat. Ace bowed to the cheering crowd with a flourish and saluted his fallen opponent. Speaking as best he could over the din he complemented Colt, "A tough fight indeed. I've faced deep jungle Python adepts with a less tenacious grip." Then offered a hand up into the ring to Grimalkin, "I'll wager he'd rather wake to prettier face than mine." He said with a wink and charming smile.

[Heritage]

When Ace's left hook popped Colt square in the jaw, Grim felt in in her gut, knocking the wind out of her as though she took the hit herself. No matter how jaded a crimefighter you are, seeing your teammate and lover go down, even in a friendly match, hurts like hell. In a flash, she's ringside, eyes damp and full of concern; despite herself, Grim wants to leap onto Ace and kick the snot out of him, charity be damned.

"I'll wager he'd rather wake to prettier face than mine."

But then he's standing there, with a wink and a smile, and all is forgiven as the anger drains away leaving only concern for the man she loves.

"Thank you. Good match, Ace."

She gives the rugged adventurer a quick peck on the cheek and absentmindedly rubs his arm before crouching down beside Colt; a member of the ring hands her a water bottle, and she squirts a stream of cold water over the cowboy's unconscious face as she whispers in his ear over the roar of the crowd.

"Hey, big guy. Hey there. Come back to me, okay? I'm right here waitin' for ya. I'm right here. C'mon back to me..."

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum snickered at Atlas' insinuations, but didn't get the chance for her own counter.

That hook came in and she knew Colt's number was up if it connected. She watched enough matches to know a mean punch when she saw it. Hell, even being a spectator was painful at that point. A genuine grimace crossed her face. Turning to Grim, she started to say, "Now the sharpshooting category...," but consoled air.

Instead she eyed Jack, her lashes fluttering innocently, "Pop quiz, hotshot." Simultaneously the chair shot out from under her. One advantage of her form of flight was the ability to hover, even poised in a sitting position.

[Gizmo]

Jack tilted his head to the side contemplatively as Grim bolted for the side of the ring. The swordsman felt a pang of concern for his fallen teammate as well, though he suspected it was of an entirely different magnitude than Grim's distress. Still, he trusted that Ace was competant enough to avoid doing any lasting harm and more importantly that Colt was more than capable of taking a punch or two. He contented himself with giving the couple their relative privacy when Fulcrum spoke and his perch suddenly fell out from under him.

Had he been an ordinary person, even with his considerable acrobatics training, Jack likely would have gone sprawling. Fortunately, the heroine's comment focuses his attention on her just in time to feel her disconcerting energy aura shift ever so slightly. The swashbuckler's limbs were moving before his conscious mind even had time to recognize an exertion of power or note that it reminded him vaguely of Darkstar's gravity manipulating abilities. As the chair flew away Jack was already somersaulting through the air. Planting a hand on Fulcrum's head to control his impromptu flight, he landed comfortably in the hovering paragon's lap. Tossing one arm around her neck, he tapped her on the nose with the index finger of his free hand. "Oh, you," he smiled dreamily before tumbling away and approaching the ring below with a series of leaps and vaults.

[Cyroa]

Dark Star hovered over Ace and Colt. "And we have our first winner ladies and gentleman! Ace Danger!" While the crowds cheered, he reached down and gestured, emitting rejuvenating radiation to infuse Colt. The cowboy would likely not have a mark on him in a matter of seconds. He reached out and grabbed the moving chair with his telekinetics, lest it go too far disturb another spectator. Look back to the crowds, he raised his voice to be heard. "If you will give the heroes a moment, we'll get out next bout underway momentarily." He floated down to the others to see who was next in line.

[Geez3r]

"OOOOOooooohhhhhhh." said Atlas wincing as Colt took it on the chin. "He's going to feel that one in the morning." Atlas got up and walked to the ring, shaking his head at the antics of Jack and Fulcrum. "You're going to enjoy vatching Grim pick him apart aren't you?" muttered Atlas quietly as he passed by Fulcrum. Figuring the loser was getting enough attention, Atlas headed over to congratulate Ace. "Heck of a fight out zere son." said Atlas, taking his own jab at the hero, and holding out his hand for a high - five.