HCBC Round 1: First Night (Ch. 2: Day 7)

Tony · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:39 pm

Basil let out a muffled grunt as he took the first hook head-on, but didn't drop his focus as his opponent now began trying to circle him to catch him off-guard with more rapid jabs. Jacques did his best to back off and keep just out of range of the blows, but he kept his fists up in defense until an opportunity had presented itself.

The moment the hedgehog attempted to throw him off, Jacques instinctively ducked as the following cross skimmed over his ears. Without missing a beat, the detective gnashed his teeth onto his mouthguard and give it his all, as he focused his strength, and fired an uppercut for the opponents chin, in an almost corckscrew-like fashion.

Sheff · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:50 pm

By this point in the match, Sheffer didn't expect for all his punches to land effectively, always expecting the worst. This happened to be one of those moments.

Retracting his arm as fast as possible, he eyed the incoming uppercut, leaning back as far as possible. Unfortunately, the punch still made contact, but fortunately, it only managed to push him back a foot, his head snapping back down in an instant as his foot dug into the mat behind him.

Taking the opportunity as an advantage now, ignoring the pain pounding in his jaw, he cocked back his right fist and let it scream forward, aiming for the twitching mustache on the rabbit's face, the hare still in his uppercut. All his strength went into the movement, and he knew very well that this would be his last desperate try at taking down his opponent.

Tony · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:41 pm

Basil never saw it coming.

Before he could pull back and put himself back in a defensive position, the hedgehog was already in full-swing with yet another attack. Unfortunately for the detective, this also meant he took a direct hit.

A dab of spittle and blood flew from his lips, including the mouthguard that he had been gnashing on the whole time. The rabbit appeared to spin a bit in place, before facing Sheff, his own stance a bit wobbly as he tried to stand up tall...

"Ghk...good show, lad.."

And with that, Jacques fell to his knees, before his upperbody followed through and flopped onto the mat.

It had appeared, that by a slim margin... the hedgehog had bested his opponent.

Sheff · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:46 pm

Sheffer was frozen for a moment, staring down at the fallen rabbit as rapid pants escaped his lips, his arm still straight forward. Slowly, he let it fall, standing straight on wobbly legs as he spit out his mouth guard onto the mat, letting himself take deep breaths.

He nearly staggered backward to the ropes then, supporting his body on them as he tried to rest, waiting for the ref to call the match, a small, victorious grin on his lips.

Admin · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:47 pm

The referee immediately barged in and pointed Sheffer to a neutral corner. Only after the hedgehog went did he turn and start counting.

"One! ... Two! ... Three! ..."

It was far from unfathomable that a tough guy like Jacques might pull it together before the count was up, but it would be hard for him to do anything more than have the dignity to finish the fight on his feet, with how little time was left on the clock. Still, stranger things had happened. The ref counted on.

"Four! ... Five!... Six!..."

Tony · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:57 pm

Basil lay there as the ref began his countdown, and for a minute, it really looked like it was a complete lights-out for the detective... That is, of course, until Jacques actually began attempting to push himself up from the mat on the ninth count. It took him a short moment, but the jackrabbit had eventually pulled himself together, and got back on his feet. His posture wasn't quite as straight and proper as it had been previously, due to the fight's own intensity, but he had managed to at least get back up, and level the hedgehog with a bit of a gaze...

Time was short. He didn't really have much left to utilize any super fantastical maneuvers or anything like that. But as the ref cleared away, and the two of the boxers got back into place... Basil put his fists back up, his mustache twitching...

You were a fine opponent, Hawkins... Possibly one of the most honorable folk I've had the pleasure of meeting in this hellish locale... We shall meet again soon enough.

The jackrabbit put everything he had into one last dash, and ducked forward, before driving his gloved fist upwards towards the gut of the hedgehog, aiming to knock the wind out of him at the very least.

Sheff · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:05 pm

Sheffer was displeased as he watched the rabbit stagger back to his feet, feeling his mouth guard being unceremoniously shoved back into his mouth. He respected Basil's determination though, and he could feel the air of it as the rabbit charged at him.

To put it simply, Sheffer was drained of most of his energy by now. The last punch he'd given had taken a good deal of strength in just the first place, but now, being thrown back into the match like this, there wasn't much he could do as the hare came at him.

With reflexes slowed, the hedgehog did his best to step away from the incoming uppercut. It still made a solid hit, though, as he stepped to the side, his body lurching back some as he nearly keeled over, something sounding between a mix of a heavy cough and a grunt coming from his lips.

But, he was still standing, even though it was on very unbalanced feet, stumbling away from the rabbit before he had a chance to throw another punch. He didn't believe he could take another.

Admin · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:42 pm

But he wouldn't have to.

*DING DING DING.*

The ref immediately got in the way. The match was over, and to a lot of cheering, too. The knockdown stirred people up, but Jacques' dramatic last-second return and post-script to the fight really blew the roof off.

"Spectacular finish," said one of the TV commentators, while corner men took to the ring, immediately tending to the boxers, squirting water in their faces, checking for problems, etc.

"Definitely," replied the other commentator." That was an intense three rounds. By the looks of these guys, you'd think they just went fifteen."

"Yeah, I thought Hawkins was gonna fall down after the bell on that one. The winner's going to have a lot of work to do if he's gonna survive these progressively longer and more taxing matches in the coming rounds of the championship."

"Speaking of, here's the decision."

The announcer stepped up to the center of the ring, holding the card with the outcome. The bell rang a couple more times to get the audience's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a majority decision. Judge Martin scores: 29, 27; judge Carlyle scores: 28, 28; judge Lowery scores: 29, 27, for the winner by majority decision, Sheffer Hawkins!"

Sheff · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:57 pm

Sheffer had once again retreated to his corner as the results of the match were announced, slumped against the ropes as he heard his name called as the victor. He smiled weakly, trying to stand straight as he gave a feeble wave to the crowd, then looked over to his opponent.

With whatever energy he could muster, he slowly shuffled his way across the mat, approaching the rabbit.

"Hey, good match there... Basil, right?" he asked, his voice a bit hoarse. "Couldn't tell who it was favoring half the time, to be honest." He grinned, slipping a hand out of one of his gloves and offering it to the hare. "I'll be feeling your hits for the next few days, that's for sure."

Tony · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:32 pm

The detective smiled a bit beneath his mustache. No, he hadn't completely won the favor of the judges, but the experience itself had been most exhilarating, and would be an event that he would not soon forget. Specifically, his opponent was something else. There was power to those punches, and the hedgehog's stamina was to be reckoned with, for certain. The gears began to turn in his head..

However, there wasn't much time to think at the moment. Sheff had begun to make he way over to the jackrabbit's area, and as such, Basil decided to shoo his 'trainer' away (which was fine by him -- stomach about to cave in and all), and took to his feet again, to meet the hedgehog at the center.

"Hey, good match there... Basil, right? Couldn't tell who it was favoring half the time, to be honest. I'll be feeling your hits for the next few days, that's for sure."

Jacques chuckled, his bushy nosehair quivering a bit. As he tossed his own gloves aside, he grasped the hedgehog's hand and shook quite heartily, perhaps moreso than poor Sheff might've expected. "Yes, yes, Basil is right. Basil Jacques. No doubt, I, too, felt that match was something else! It was an honor to be able to compete with you. Congratulations on your victory, lad!"

The rabbit took Sheff by the wrist, and hoisted the hedgehog's hand up high, the detective waving out to crowds of spectators, to garner more cheer and applause from the masses. Amidst the noise, the detective passed a business card over to his competitor, and gave 'im a wink. "If I may, I quite like your spark! We could use more capable hands like you on the force back at home. If you wish to discuss anything like that, just follow the number on that card. What say you to that, lad?"

Sheff · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:16 pm

Sheffer peered down at the card with curiosity, giving it a quick look over before his eyes met the rabbit's. A job offer? Something a bit out of the blue, in the hedgehog's opinion, but he was thankful of it nonetheless.

"I'll give it some thought," he said with a grin. "Kind of... uh, busy with other things after the tournament, but I'll get back to ya on this. Probably will need some sort of money-maker sometime."

After he finished, he looked the crowd, smiling a bit at the cheering. Even though the stands weren't even full, he'd never been given this much attention... except maybe the incident at Yellow Desert. Otherwise, he was proud of his win, pondering if his next opponent would be tougher then the rabbit that stood beside him.

At least we still have Tank if the rest of us get booted...

HCBC Round 1: First Night (Ch. 2: Day 7)

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