Fisticuffs Fundraiser! (IC)

[angrydurf]

Ace ignored the jab at his advanced age with smile on his lips and returned the High Five. He winced only slightly as he shook his now tingling fingers and replied, "Thank you sir. I hope we managed to entertain, though I reckon most are waiting for the heavyweights."

[quotemyname]

"ACK!" Colt sputtered when the cold water hit his face. His senses came back to him all at once, though the adrenaline had long since faded. "I...uh...Whoo nelly! That was quite a punch!" He pushed himself up off the mat to see Grim in front of him. "Reckon I always like wakin' up ta see ya, but ya done gone'n gotten me all wet!"

After the beam from Dark Star hit him, he felt good as new. A referee with healing powers sure had it's uses. "Good match, Ace," He called as he turned to leave the ring, "An' good luck ta you." He added planting a kiss on Grim's cheek before he left.

Once he slid out of the ring, he turned to Jack. "Don't buckle 'er swashes too hard now." He said with a smile.

[Gizmo]

Jack clapped Colt on the back as the sharpshooter exited the ring. "See, it's no fun if you just set them up for me like that," the swordsman admonished with mock severity. "'Buckle her swashes' indeed. You don't hear me making cowboy jokes at your expense, do you?" Pausing to consider for a moment, Jack's false sternness broke into a wide smirk. "Oh, wait, I guess you do. Speaking of which, you just got beat up by like an eighty-year old, bro. Like, mid-eighties, even. That? That is hilarious." Slipping off his greatcoat, he tossed it to the side of the ring and retrieved a pair of boxing gloves. "By the way, Altas was paying a lot of attention to all the grunting and groping, so if you're interested, I think you've got a shot. Valentine's Day is coming up, eh?" Jack cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "Hoo. Alright, good warm up. Thanks, Colt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get mercilessly pummeled by your tiny, tiny girlfriend." Though his words were light and teasing, a significant look passed between the two men for a brief moment, assuring Colt that he had nothing to worry about. Though Jack didn't intend to hold back against an opponent as competent as Grim, he was, in the end, a finesse fighter, and had no intention of causing any undue injury. Taking a moment to ensure that his acrobatic antics in the audience had kept him limber, he glumly hoped that the shapeshifter had made a similar resolution.

[Geez3r]

The announcer makes his way back into the ring, as the match comes to a close and the competitors exit the ring. "And as expected of Freedom's heroes, the opening match alone was enough to get everyone in this capacity crowd to their feet! Let's give another big round of applause to our great competitors: Ace Danger and Colt.

Let's not waste any time here folks, our next match is about to begin! Our next competitor is now heading to the ring, and she has already made her presence known here this evening. The Pixie Pugilist. The Feisty Fae. The Charming Changeling. For your viewing pleasure, I present to you GRRRIIIMLAAAKIN!!!!"

And prepare to buckle your swash ladies and gentlemen because her competitor is on his way to the ring! The Waggish Warrior of the West End. The Fabulous Fencer! The Scandalous Swashbuckler. I am proud to present, JACK OF ALL BLAAAAADES!!!!"

The crowd once again erupts.

[quotemyname]

"Whoo doggie!" Colt sighed, taking up a seat next to Atlas, and politely ignoring Jack's comments. "Nothin' like a good ol' fashioned fist fight ta get the blood movin'. Leastways now'at ma work's done I c'n relax an' watch!"

Colt turned his attention to the ring, "Go get'm, Grim!"

[Heritage]

"An' good luck ta you."

Grim smiled, then frowned in mock outrage.

"Hey, what's with this 'peck on the cheek' crap?"

She jumps up, wrapping her legs around Colt's back and plants a big wet one on him, which needless to say drives the crowd nuts. At long last, she lets the cowboy breathe, doing a backflip off his chest and then bounding her way up to the ring. By the time she gets there, she's wearing full boxing kit, including a midnight blue sports bra, with matching shorts, gloves and shoes. She bobs and weaves around the ring, throwing in a few flips and tumbles for the crowd's ammusement.

In fact, Grim was apparently the one hero unsure of her chances of dropping Jack; she'd never sparred with him before, and the guy was fast and smart, so she didn't want to assume anything. She waits for her oppenent to join her...

[Geez3r]

"You zink you vould be relaxed already, vat vith ze nap you took just now." says Atlas as he retakes his seat next to Colt. He was just hoping that these comments weren't going to come back and bite him, as his match with Fulcrum could turn out less than wonderful for him. He had never seen her fight, and was just hoping he wasn't terribly out classed.

[quotemyname]

"Well I was!" Colt butted in defensively, "Then Grim went'n got me all excited again."

"We ain't all got an iron jaw like you, big feller." Colt continued, "Reckon I'd kill fer an ice pack're a raw steak right about now."

[Cyroa]

Dark Star returned to the center of the ring, floating a few feet above it. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have out next contestants. Here we have the ever changing and lovely Grimalkin!" He waited for a moment to let the cheers subside. "And in this corner, a relative new-cower to the city but certainly a memorable and stylish hero, Jack-of-Blades!" Again, he waited a few moments. "Once again, the rules for this contest are unchanged. Good luck to both of you. Begin!" He quickly floated up and out of range to let them get started.

[Gizmo]

Jack slipped into the ring nonchalantly, tightening his gloves while Grim played to the audience. The swashbuckler's black, skintight bodysuit showed off the lean musculature normally hidden under his flowing greatcoat, with only his deep crimson sash and bandanna mask breaking up his shadowy silhouette. His earlier practically manic energy had given way to a relaxed ease, like a lounging cat. Waiting a moment for the crowds cheers to die down, he raised his voice to carry out into the audience. "I gotta tell you, Grim, I'm not so sure about this. I mean, here you are, an experienced super heroine, loved by the just, feared by the wicked, with fantastic eldritch powers beyond the ken of mortal men. Just doesn't seem like a fair fight." Pacing back and forth as though in deep thought, he abruptly stopped and threw a gloved hand in the air. "Ah ha! I've got it." Reaching up, he turned his mask around so that it completely covered his eyes, effectively blindfolding him. "That's better! En garde, dear lady." The crowd roared as he took up a fighting stance.

[Heritage]

"I gotta tell you, Grim, I'm not so sure about this. I mean, here you are, an experienced super heroine, loved by the just, feared by the wicked, with fantastic eldritch powers beyond the ken of mortal men. Just doesn't seem like a fair fight."

Well if he wants to kill me with laughter, this fight is already over. Whatever happens tonight, this is gonna be good.

"That's better! En garde, dear lady."

When he pulls the blindfold gag, Grim just completely loses it; her laughter is good-natured, and in no way mocking of her teammate.

"'Tis better to be Fortune's fool than to play the fool to fool the fooler, good Sir Knight!"

With a flourish of her hand, the eyeholes of her mask shrink down to nothing, and the crowd cheers again.

"Okay, I have no idea what I just said, but I'm blind now too, so this fight is gonna be awesome!"

The young shapeshifter drops into her fighting stance, cocking her head this way and that as she begins to circle her foe.

[Dariusprime]

Once Jack vacated, Fulcrum stood with a smirk, two-finger saluted Dark Star for his telekinetics, and strolled alongside Atlas. The banty rooster took off before she could pinch his cheek. Then again his performance was to be expected, being his modus operandi after all. Chuckling, she whispered to Atlas, "You have no idea."

"Wisecracks about your age aside, you're one of hell of a fighter, Ace." The comment was quite honest and accompanied a more mild handshake. Fulcrum too initially thought Ace something of a pretty boy, his reputation based at least on part on tall tales and misquoted exaggerations. Maybe he did have a martial artists mentor hidden away somewhere. True, the Invasion really demonstrated...but...yeah.

The congratulations in order, Fulcrum shifted her seat to Colt's free side and patted him, gently, on the shoulder, "Good go of it anyway, Colt. Maybe we should go for dinner after the fights?" She addressed the last question to Colt and Atlas, if anything to keep Grimalkin from getting jealous.

For all she knew Grim had hyper-acute hearing. :ninja:

[Gizmo]

With his eyes covered, Jack's energy sense naturally moved to compensate. The audience was a surrounding tingle, and ultraviolet glow he was constantly aware of, but which didn't distract him. Fulcrum's beacon of malevolent radiation served to mark the spot where the event's other participants were seated, helping the swashbuckler to orient himself. Even that was simply background noise, peripheral vision as he focused his attention on the woman cautiously stepping around him.

Grim herself registered as a human silhouette, edges blurred by the faint inner glow of body heat and synaptic signals. Separating her from the average human being, however, was the shimmering mystic energy of transformation magic wrapped about her. Grim's magic translated as pale green strings of luminescent bubbles filled with a sort of three-dimensional paisley pattern. Jack tried not to think about it too much. Instead he grinned as the bubbles moved to envelop the heroine's face as she modified her mask.

"I always was a trendsetter. I expect blindfolds will be all the rage in Milan this spring." Even as he spoke, the young man was charging forward, getting a running start before leaping. "Actually, when you were sitting on Colt's shoulder's before the matches, it got me thinking about my favourite pool game." Twisting in the air, Jack sailed over Grim's readied arm, landing on his hands behind her. "Goes like this: Polo!" A backflip brought him over to her left side. "Wait, no, Polo!" A tumbling somersault took him to his teammate's left flank. "Whoops, Polo over here, now!" Hopping back to his feat, Jack crossed his arms and shook his head. "No, see, you're supposed to say, 'Marco'. I can't believe you don't know this game. It easily makes the 'top ten water-related activities named after a Venetian merchant' list."

[angrydurf]

Ace good naturally accepted the congratulations as he made his way from the ring. Taking his seat on the other side of Fulcrum he relaxed into a casual slouch to observe the next bout. He'd seen Grim in action on a few occasions but this would be his first live viewing of Jack.

He laughed out loud and cheered at the pairs theatrics as the bout began leaning towards the others to speak over the cheering crowd, "So how are Atlas and yourself going to up the ante?" he inquired of Fulcrum with a dazzling smile.

[quotemyname]

"Knock'em dead, Grim!" Colt called towards the ring. He continued rubbing his jaw.

"Lemme guess..." Colt joined the conversation with Ace, "Y'all're gonna fight wit' both hands tied behind yer backs, right?"

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum couldn't help but smile at Jack's tactics. If she figured out one thing about the man, it was his flare for the dramatic. That his theatrics always, or least nearly always, had a very practical purpose didn't escape her notice. Obviously he knew what he was doing. He managed to bluff a pixie into a blindfolded boxing match. Now the only question left what was his angle?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the good natured ribbing of Ace and Colt, "Good idea, Colt. Only way I'll keep him from cleaning my clock," she quipped while watching the match. So the truth came at last. She was just as worried as Atlas, if not more so. She gazed evenly at Ace, raising an eyebrow at his smile, and returned to the fight, "Not to beat a dead horse, but look at the size of him. Even as big as I am, his biceps are bigger than my thighs."

Shaking her head, she grinned, "Besides aren't the two of us big enough to up the ante?"

[Geez3r]

"How do ve up ze ante? Zere is an obvious answer to zat question." said Atlas as he spread his arms out behind the backs of the chairs so his hands where behind Ace and Colt. "Ve use ze ozer competitors as our boxing gloves." Atlas laughed at the reaction of the other fighters. "Zey vouldn't let us use cars because of all ze glass" he added.

"Don't count yourself out Fulcrum. I'm not exactly looking forward to fighting someone who can punch me in ze face. I keep all my important zings zere."

[angrydurf]

"Well in the face of that irrefutable logic I must concur dear lady. I think each of your ... Prowess alone should be sufficient." Ace replied with a nod to Atlas' suggestion.

"I'd not worry overmuch." He said once more to Fulcrum. He leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "Your opponent seems a wee bit smitten after all." the leaned back with a wide grin, "Give him what for Grim, this is a fight not a floor routine." He shouted to the competitors.

[quotemyname]

"Reckon y'all're dancin'! Not fightin'!" Colt yelled up at the ring.

"Hey now, big feller..." Colt shied away from Atlas, "Reckon I took enough of a beatin' t'day."

[Dariusprime]

"Considering Dark Star's healing ability, you'll be back to smiling pretty in no time. Besides I don't punch that hard," teased Fulcrum while she flexed her biceps, "Rock'em Sock'em Robots using these two would be really fun though."

Her attention turning back to the fight, she nearly missed Ace's suggestive whisper. The look on her face was a mixture of pure shock and more than a little skepticism. That sort of information was difficult for Mona to process. Ace came across a bit inscrutable, sort of like a more mature version of Jack. The thought of an older, wiser Jack was even more terrifying, and Mona shook that thought from her head immediately. Anyway, he could have very well been pulling her leg and hiding behind that patented smile.

Staring into him side long, she finally gave up and instinctively turned to Atlas, curiosity and a little surprise still playing over her face. Oh sure, the action had a touch of subtlety to it, but lets face it, Fulcrum wasn't stealthy by nature and really wasn't that great at disguising her feelings.

He doesn't look 'smitten'...

[Heritage]

Clearly Jack was trying to bewilder Grim with BS and backflips, a solid technique that played to his strengths; strip away their different powers, and Jack and her had a lot in common, truth be told.

Wow, I wonder if I'm this annoying in combat; yeah, probably.

Now with a newfound sympathy for her foes, the tiny shapeshifter does her best to tune out the jibes and focus on Jack's movements, visualizing his various changes in directions in her head while making herself a challenging target. Rather than joining him in playful banter, Grim goes into Quiet Killer Badass mode, and weaves her assault into a dance, ducking, twirling and rolling, throwing an arm out first this way, then that, before suddenly spinning right in front of Jack, then dishing out a mean and graceless upper cut.

[quotemyname]

"Well, I don't know the last time y'all got slugged by Mister Ace Danger over there," Colt rubbed his jaw again, "But I reckon it hurts! Healin're none!"

"Give'em the left, Grim! THE LEFT!"

[Gizmo]

Placing his gloved hands behind his head, Jack emoted boredom as he casually stepped around Grim's random swings then ducking under her real attack. As his opponent recovered from her vicious uppercut, the swashbuckler straightened and shook his head. "Grim, c'mon," he said softly, his tone carrying exaggerated disappointment. "We're trying to put on a good show for the kids. Work with me here."

Leaping backward, backward before she could respond, the blindfolded man landed easily atop the ropes surrounding the ring and began to pace along them like a tightrope walker, while turning to face the other heroes in the stands. "Hey now, guys, I don't know how you were raised, but Mama Blades always told me, 'Jack,' she'd say, 'if you're going to take a lady out, take her out dancing.'" Reaching one of the corner posts, he turned to address the rest of the audience as he continued to walk along the quivering ropes with an alarming lack of concern. "Honestly, it's almost like my pals up there don't want me to win. Which is crazy, obviously, 'cause I'm pretty much terrific. Have you seen these abs? Seriously, we're one washtub bass short of a jug band over here." So saying, he tossed his arms in the air and undulated his stomach in an exaggerated belly dance.

As his antics drew forth another round of applause and laughter, he hopped down from the ropes back into the ring, the crowd's noise covering the light sound of his landing. From there he stood perfectly still, moving only to put a finger to his lips, miming a call for silence with a shameless grim which only brought on a greater cacophony.

[Geez3r]

Atlas looked away from the bout, shaking his head. "Anyone else getting motion sick from vatching zose two? I am pretty sure zat ze boz of zem vould have hit me about tvelve times a piece by now. And I vouldn't even know vere ze attacks vere coming from. GOOD SHOW!" roared Atlas at the last part, shouting encouragement to both parties. They were certainly setting the bar high.

[quotemyname]

"Good show's right!" Colt agreed, "Though I reckon if'n this is any indication of how they plan on fightin' the whole match, then we might be in fer a long match!"

Colt relaxed, and reclined in his chair. Then, noticing a stadium salesman nearby he flagged him down. "Proceeds go ta the children, that right?" The man agreed with him, "Well, then, I'll have peanuts an' drinks fer ma friends here." Colt held out a few bills for the man. "First round's on me, fellas!"