Chapter 23: The Tournament (Round 1) (2/3)
“Next up, Jinx and Gallant Force.” Andrei announced.
The two Earth Ponies both stepped out of the group, and like those before them, went into separate corners. However, Jinx moved very slowly towards his corner, like he was in a daze. Even so, it seemed like an even match. Both were about the same height, and looked about the same strength wise.
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“Should be a good match…” Andrei whispered to himself as he started the timer. “Go!”
Gallant began to slowly move out of his corner, walking towards Jinx. It was rather odd though. Jinx did not make any movement, even as Gallant Force drew closer. Hell, he wasn’t even looking at him. He seemed almost detached from the whole ordeal.
It was obvious that Jinx’s lack of participation, or even the acknowledgement that he was in the midst of a fight was causing Gallant Force some mental distress, making him hesitate on his approach. He took a quick look over at Andrei, who shrugged. A few seconds past, and nothing changed.
“If he isn’t going to defend himself, then hurry up and put him down.” Andrei shouted out to Gallant Force.
After a few seconds, Gallant Force closed the distance between him and his opponent and raised a hoof to strike. However, just as his hoof was about to make contact with Jinx’s muzzle, he deftly blocked the hoof, took a quick sidestep, and landed two blows to Gallant Force’s head, sending him staggering back. Jinx did not pursue his opportunity though, as he returned back to his corner. At least he was watching his opponent now.
Gallant Force, after wiping the small trickle of blood that was now dripping down his muzzle, merely returned Jinx’s stare. It was one the weirdest fights that anyone in that room had ever seen. The three humans exchanged glances, but merely continued watching. After another long pause, Gallant Force attempted to go on the offensive again. He closed the distance once again, and tried to get in a blow, only to have it blocked again. Jinx apparently decided to follow up on his attack this time, as he began to barrage Gallant Force’s chest and muzzle with blow after blow, not allowing his opponent to gain a moments rest.
Finally, after taking around four blows, Gallant Force decided to change his tactic. He dropped to the ground right as Jinx threw another hoof, which resulted in him hitting nothing but air and staggering. Taking advantage, Gallant Force grabbed hold of Jinx’s legs and knocked him over. Now in a frenzy, Jinx began to throw punches in every way, landing in any place he could. Gallant Force began doing the same while attempting to pin him.
In conclusion, nopony really won that battle. Jinx managed to knock Gallant Force off, but both paid a price. Both were badly bruised from the massive cluster of punches that they had landed on each other. Neither of them really possessed the strength to get a good clean knockout blow, and the unusual strategy of Jinx made it hard for a counter to be found.
After a moment of recovery, Gallant Force decided to take advantage of Jinx’s injuries and not allow him the chance to recover himself. He rushed him head on, but at the last second, dropped and slid under Jinx, knocking his hooves out from under him. Gallant Force quickly climbed on top of the flailing pony and began to pin down hooves.
“One… Two…”
A wild, lucky hit from Jinx managed to land right into Gallant Force’s exposed neck, causing him to fall off of Jinx and cough and wheeze violently. Using the opportunity, Jinx jumped on top of him and sent a blow to the back of his neck, causing him to fall completely down. Jinx then began to quickly pin down hooves, while sending blows to his side if he decided to move.
“One… Two… Three… Four…”
Gallant Force, in his final act of defense, flung his head back, connecting with Jinx’s muzzle. The shock temporarily stopped him, but not for long enough. Soon, Jinx was back upon him, and managed to get his front hooves down.
“One… Two… Three… Four… Five!”
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Jinx got up off of Gallant Force’s back and slowly made his way back towards the crowd. Some congratulated him, most didn’t say anything. Gallant Force sluggishly got up on his hooves as he was assaulted with another coughing fit.
“Hey, go to the infirmary if you need to.” Truck shouted to him. “Same goes for you Jinx.”
Both of them decided to heed his advice, and made their way over towards the infirmary, whose staff happened to be sitting right at the door. Andrei checked the stopwatch, which read 3 minutes, 23 seconds.
“Very well, the next two up are Cloud Sabre and Dual Ties.”
The two Pegasi walked out and moved to their respective corners. Cloud Sabre had a look about him though. It wasn’t exactly nervousness, nor excitement, but it was enough to cause Grinch to question him.
“Hey, you good to go?” Grinch asked Cloud Sabre, who happened to be in his corner.
“Yes, Sir.” He responded, although his voice was lacking confidence.
“You don’t sound or look like it.”
“Why did I have to get paired with the mare?” He responded in a whisper to nobody in particular, but Grinch picked up on it.
“Well, you might want to try and get over it, because it might happen in a real fight. Ready yourself up.”
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“Go!” Andrei shouted as the familiar ‘click’ of the timer sounded, signaling it was going.
Cloud Sabre hesitated right at the get-go, doing a false step and returning back to his original spot. Dual Ties merely walked out of her corner and started to make a slow beeline for him. Once she got about three-fourths of the way there, she stopped. Cloud Sabre began to slowly move out of his corner at an angle, and they began to circle each other.
Dual Ties decided to open up the fight, and took a quick lunge forward and sent a hoof towards Cloud Sabre’s head, which he blocked. She sent another to the opposite side, which was once again blocked. She backed up away from her opponent, and the circling commenced once again. Cloud Sabre decided to attack next, as he took flight to the side of Dual Ties, but quickly course corrected and turned to tackle Dual Ties from her side. However, she deftly took flight as well, missing the blow by a few inches as Cloud Sabre took a nosedive into the floor.
After a roll or two on the ground, he steadied himself and got back onto his hooves, only to be met with a quick blow to the face. Stunned, he let fly a wild punch, which Dual Ties easily sidestepped and countered with her own hoof, connecting with his head yet again. Once again, Cloud Sabre tried to follow through with a hit of his own, but Dual Ties sidestepped yet again and sent another blow to his head. Seeing as he was in a very bad position, Cloud Sabre took a quick back step and took flight above Dual Ties.
The flight, however, exposed his under belly, which Dual Ties realized. She took flight as well, hitting him directly in the stomach as he passed over her. The hit resulted in Cloud Sabre to lose control of his flight, and he spiraled back to the ground, landing head first with a loud thud. He quickly got back onto his hooves, readily raising his hooves to block the inevitable attack Dual Ties would try to commence in his weakened state. Sure enough, just as he turned, she was already there, a hoof coming towards his muzzle. He deftly blocked the hoof, and swung an uppercut that connected with the underside of her chin, which was his first successful hit of the fight. A few gasps and grunts could be heard from the spectators from the mere look of the blow.
Dual Ties staggered back a few feet from the blow with a dazed look on her face, almost falling over. Taking the advantage, Cloud Sabre rushed forward and managed to land two blows in quick succession. One to her muzzle, and then another to her chest. Dual Ties immediately retreated from her opponent, only to get drawn back in when Cloud Saber used his wings to quickly close distance. She sent a blow towards his head, only for it to be blocked. He attempted to do the same, only for Dual Ties to block his as well. She sidestepped, and sent another blow, which Cloud Sabre easily blocked. However, just as her blow was deflected, Dual Ties did another quick sidestep to his exposed side, using her wings to increase her speed. Before Cloud Sabre had any time to react, another blow landed on the side of his skull. He quickly tried to turn, but found that she had already moved yet again to his other side, sending two blows quickly to his head.
Trying to make a move of his own, Cloud Sabre purposefully copied his previous move, expecting Dual Ties to move to his exposed side, which she did. Just as she sent another hoof towards him, he did a quick back step, resulting in the hoof passing by his head by mere centimeters. He turned and sent a hoof of his own square between her eyes, which she blocked with incredible speed. Seizing the opportunity, Dual Ties grabbed Cloud Sabre’s hoof before he could retract it, and pulled him towards her, while using her other hoof to deal a devastating blow square to the forehead. She then sent yet another blow to the chest, and then knocked him away with yet another forceful blow to the head, almost toppling him over.
A second or two passed, with both of them just standing in front of one another. Dual Ties raised another hoof to strike again, but just as she got close, Cloud Sabre dropped from where he stood to the ground, unmoving. A moment of hesitation passed, until Andrei began counting.
“One… Two… Three… Four… Five!”
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There were not many cheers from the side, as most just gawked or stared at Dual Ties, who had managed to flat out knock her opponent unconscious. She looked over at Andrei, who merely let out a small chuckle as he checked the timer, which read 3 minutes, 57 seconds. Grinch and Truck soon intervened, rushing over to Cloud Sabre’s side. They could both see his chest rising and falling, seeing that he was alive. After a bit of visual checking, they concluded that he was merely unconscious.
“Is he well?” Andrei asked, walking up to two Americans.
“Well, I mean, he is friggin’ unconscious here.” Grinch responded, sending a glare over to Andrei. “I knew one of em’ would end up on the ground like this.”
As if on cue, the few medical ponies that were off on the side came in to check on him. While the did their examination, Dual Ties merely trotted off to the side and rejoined the cluster of recruits.
“He will be fine, he is just unconscious.” Andrei said reassuringly.
“Being knocked unconscious isn’t something to be taken lightly. Many health complications can arise in the near future.” One of the medical staff said matter-of-factly. One of the others, a unicorn mare, lifted him up in her magic and began taking him over to the exit.
“We will need to evaluate him when he wakes up, and before he does anything else.” She said as she trotted off. After a moment of silent thought sharing, the three humans decided to return to their respective corners and continue on.
“Black Night and Spade.” Andrei shouted out to the group.
The two Earth Ponies walked out from the group. A few of those behind them seemed visibly shaken from the last match. The two moved over to their respective corners, while the three humans sized them up. Spade looked like an average Earth Pony, but was smaller compared to Black Night, and not as strong. However, the humans reasoned that it would probably make him quicker than his opponent.
Both ponies readied themselves, just as Andrei clicked the timer.
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“Go!” Andrei shouted yet again.
Black Night took a rather hasty approach, and did a full on charge out of his corner, trying to take Spade unaware and surprised. It didn’t work though, as Spade dodged his rush, and sent an extremely quick blow to Black Night’s exposed neck. He recovered quickly though, and spun around, hoof raised, to bring it down upon Spades muzzle. With a speed none of the spectators had ever seen, Spade dodged the blow and sent two quick jabs to his opponents face. Recovering, Black Night sent another hoof flying, but it was dodged and countered with yet another blow to his head.
A number of the crowd was surprised at the sheer speed that Spade was moving. Black Night closed the distance and tried to send a blow, but Spade backed up quickly and sent two blows to the head. Black Night sent another hoof flying, only for it to be dodged and another two hits land on his head. The hits, although quick and repetitive, did not carry much force behind them. Another two attempts were made by Black Night to land hits of his own, nut each attempt was met with the same result.
“Proklyatiye…” Andrei muttered to himself, taking a quick glance over to the two Americans. Both returned his glance, each sharing their own surprise.
Black Night, deciding he needed a new approach, tried to draw his opponent in close. He took a step forward and lunged with a hoof, expecting a side step, which Spade did. Just as the blow was launched, Black Night dropped to the ground, hoping for Spade to stumble over him or stagger. However, Spade utilized his forward motion and leaped over Black Night’s sprawled out body on the ground. Just as he landed, Spade quickly bucked Black Night in the face while he was trying to get up. The force knocked him back with an audible thud and a loud grunt.
Realizing that this may be his chance, Spade leaped over to his opponent and began to pin down hooves. He realized rather quickly, however, that he was no match up close. Black Night pushed him off of him before Andrei could even count ‘One’ and send a devastating blow to Spade’s muzzle. Another was sent to his chest. Another landed on his side. The fury of blows continued from Black Night, who managed to topple Spade over onto his back, resulting in him unable to properly defend himself. Another six blows met flesh as Spade vigorously attempted to escape from the hold he was in. Eventually, once he was satisfied he wouldn’t be able to get back up, Black Night began to pin down hooves.
“One… Two… Three… Four…”
Just as Andrei neared ‘Five’, Spade shook off one of Black Nights hooves that were pinning him, quickly grabbed him from behind the head, and pulled it forward, sending it flying into the floor next to his own head. The resulting hit made Black Night lose all control over his opponent as he was forced off, and then pinned himself. Unable to properly recover, Black Night couldn’t manage to get his attacker off of him.
“One… Two… Three… Four… Five!”
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Spade slowly got up off the ground as Black Night did the same. There was a visible trickle of blood flowing from Black Night’s nose, as he clutched it with one hoof. Spade, however, seemed the worse for wear, as he had a visible limp to his stride.
Andrei read his timer, which was showing 2 minutes, 11 seconds. He glanced up, to see Grinch glaring at him.
“Go to the medical staff you two.” Truck ordered them. Both complied, although keeping a distance between each other as they moved for the door. One of the medical staff walked in just as they neared the door, let out a grunt of irritation, and moved for them to follow. Just as the left, Grinch moved over to Andrei.
“They are going to kill each other like this! All we are accomplishing here is them hurting themselves!” He whispered angrily.
“I had to go through this when I was in training. They can handle it.” Andrei responded coldly. Grinch let out a sigh and muttered something inaudible.
“Fine… but if one of them gets badly hurt, or worse, it’s on your head.”
“Very well.”
Grinch muttered something again, and made his way back to his corner.
“Next, Breeze Chaser and Night Arrow.”