The Touchdown KO Fightclub

[Ethan Corell]

As a reaction to Meredith, he chuckled softly. "Thanks, lady, but I know exactly where I be standing opposite of," he said, and removed his cowboy hat before entering the ring. He left his jacket, sports bag and hat just outside the ring and nodded to someone to help him with his hand wraps. He made sure they were good and steady before he put on his boxing gloves.
He made sure he put in a mouth guard, being well aware of what he was doing. To others, he wouldn't look like an amateur, but something about him still looked off. His slightly curling light brown hair now playfully danced around his ears as he started stretching and warming-up.
Now he had the mouth guard in, there was nothing more to say than what he could say with his gaze, and the several times he looked Louis' way, there was a look that none of them could translate, but apparently Louis did understand in a way similar to I'm ready for you in a very calm way.

[Louis Briggs]

Louis seemed to catch Wyatt's look as he glanced over his shoulder. He had finished wrapping his hands and leaned out of the ring to pass his datapad to Ramon.
The agitation hadn't left him, but he looked more focussed now.
"Could you also fetch the vest, please?"
The light skinned man hurried off again, giving Louis the time to don his gloves. They were black, with flames on them - a custom job, probably.
Ramon returned carrying what looked like a black, padded vest, and entered the ring.
"The vest," Louis explained, "Registers the hits you score on my body." He lifted his shirt to show Wyatt the protective armour underneath. "This biomod was designed to stop bullets without inconveniencing the wearer."
They were the exact words Ethan Corell had spoken to him many years ago.
"As a result, body blows don't affect me, but I'm serious about my form." Louis held his arms out, allowing Ramon to put on the vest. "If you manage to score ten clean hits on my body, I'll admit my loss, but I'm taking two points off every round, to simulate recovery between rounds."
He bit into the mouth piece that Ramon was holding out for him and took a deep breath. He let his head hang and rolled his shoulders a couple of times.
"Novarro," Meredith called out, "I want you to be the referee." The owner of the ring had taken op position in Wyatt's corner. She'd draped a towell over her shoulder.
Ramon gave her a nod.
"Jackson, you're in Briggs' corner."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Wyatt heard their voices only on the edge of his hearing. There was a certain silence, like a calm before the storm, as he waited for Louis to meet his gaze.
When he did, Wyatt had to force a chill from creeping down his spine. The larger boxer's eyes were calm and cold, reminding the self-proclaimed brawler of a killer's expression.

[Ethan Corell]

The chill was not of fear, however. The expression in his eyes was rather curious; his face was nothing but seriousness, his gaze a mixture of tranquility and determination - not aggressive at all compared to his opponent's. It was clear that adrenaline shot through his body, because he wasn't able to stand still entirely. To get rid of the energy, he gave himself a moment to stretch his muscles.

His own boxer gloves had no particular look; they were just black, and clearly used. Just like the rest of his clothes, he looked like nothing special. But Louis knew better, because he could tell that in those bleak blue eyes of his opponent, there was everything but fear or amusement.
However, he did keep his cover up, for now, and removed the mouth piece for a moment, keeping it between his gritted teeth. "I like your honesty, but I ain't here to win."

What he was here for, would not be answered, because the mouth piece was back in and he got ready, standing in a defensive position, his body already shifting from foot to foot, ready to move whenever necessary.

[Louis Briggs]

Ramon called both fighters to the centre of the ring, where he proceeded to check the gloves.
Louis used the opportunity to study Wyatt closely, the larger man's eyes resting for several seconds on his opponent's bionic leg.
"Now, gentlemen," the referee said, addressing both fighters as he finished checking Louis' gloves last, "I want a good, clean fight. That means you stop when you hear the bell, and you do not hit below the waste." He looked at each fighter in turn, to make sure that they'd understood his instructions. "Go to your corners."
Louis gave Ramon a nod, never taking his eyes off Wyatt, and walked backwards to the blue corner.

[Ethan Corell]

Wyatt nodded at the referee, letting him know he understood the rules. He lifted his arms, tensing his muscles just enough to be prepared for impact or maneuvering.

Louis was studied in return, but his opponent's eyes were measuring his expression more than anything else and he didn't let anything of what he was thinking about it slip.

Although he was pretty sure Wyatt wasn't very experienced in boxing - he could spot it with just one look at the important details - it looked like he was very alert and very aware of his surroundings and of his opponent. It looked like someone who was very able to multitask under stress and would be able to decide and act quickly if need be.

It was still obvious he was playing his game in a defensive way and he was waiting for Louis to make the first move after the referee had started the round.

"Come on sugar, let's see what you're made of," Wyatt mumbled with the mouth piece still in his mouth, and Louis was absolutely sure he was acting, although there was a subtle hint in his opponent's eyes that he was challenging him.

[Louis Briggs]

When the bell rang, the silence seemed to intensify briefly.
Louis leaned back against the blue corner post and allowed himself a moment to acknowledge that there was both curiosity and anticipation outside of the ring. Most of the fighters at ringside had never seen him box an actual match, and those that had were probably wondering what was going on.
After all, had anyone but Ethan walked into the gym and declared a challenge, Louis would have probably blown them off.
Probably.
However, it was Ethan who was waiting for him on the other side of the ring.
Louis was very much aware of how loud the voice of his frustration had become lately, and how the look in his eyes had changed. Others, most notably Lindsey, had noticed it too, and Ethan was more adapt at reading people than anyone he'd ever met.
He raised his guard and moved to the centre of the ring, where he extended his arm to touch gloves with his opponent.
It was clear to him that Ethan had come here to settle things, whatever he believed those 'things' to be. The question that remained concerned the man's motives, but Louis realized he couldn't guess Ethan's reasons as he once could. It was too noisy inside his head.
He took a deep breath as Ethan's fist moved towards his and, quieting the angry words that buzzed through his thoughts, decided that he was going to respect 'Wyatt's' challenge for old times' sake.
The moment both fighters' gloves touched, the boxer inside of Louis got tagged in, and the world outside of the ring vanished.
As the two fighters circled one another, Louis aimed a few jabs at Ethan's head, but his opponent blocked them without much difficulty. Judging from his posture, Louis guessed that the man wasn't going to go on the offence, which meant that Ethan was probably looking for a counter or close exchange - the latter option not being all that unlikely, given the circumstances.
Louis felt inclined to humour him, as it was clear that neither fighter was aiming to win on points, and the two of them clashed fiercely several times.
As the fight progressed, it became clear that Ethan had remembered Louis' lessons well; his punches were sharp and he'd developed nice footwork since acquiring the bionic leg.

[Ethan Corell]

Nobody would be able to see it except for his opponent, but in the defensive stance he took on, there was a lack of passion. He wasn't there to win. At all.
As the bell rang, his concentration grew sharper intuitively, knowing that someone with greater strength and skill was standing opposite him, and seeing the look in his eyes, ready to attack any second.
He blocked most of the hits skillfully, and although the adrenaline gave him the necessary energy to continue for another fifteen minutes, he could already notice he wasn't going to win this match. Not even if he tried. But he wasn't someone who wouldn't stand his ground; Louis being the man who knew him best, would be aware of this.
At a certain moment, when he started to grow more tired and somewhat less alert, he tried to duck to make sure his opponent didn't hit him in the jaw, but was too slow and felt the punch land. He almost tripped backwards but was able to balance himself just in time, feeling his jaw burn with pain and his head ringing. He blinked several times and looked back at Louis, who could now see that his gaze was more clear and he wasn't trying to play a game anymore like he as Wyatt. He knew there was no hiding from it and he didn't try to.
Quicker than Louis anticipated, he regained his alertness and leaped towards him and tried to hit him back.

[Louis Briggs]

Louis guarded his head well enough, but Ethan managed to get two good body shots in before taking a swing at his head.
His opponent's glove brushed his chin as he leaned back to dodge, failing to connect. Seeing an opening, Louis quickly stepped in and leveled a quick left to Ethan's liver, causing his opponent to drop his guard ever so slightly.
That's when the bell rang, and Louis follow-up left hook stopped mid-air.
The two men held each other's gaze for a moment, before both of them returned to their respective corners.
Louis found his thoughts wandering in spite of himself, and realized that something was wrong. His pace slowed as he approached the stool the people in his corner had placed for him, until he stopped entirely.
"Briggs, you okay man?"
Louis gave Jackson an absent-minded nod and sat down. He allowed the man in his corner to remove his mouthpiece, before taking a sip of water. "I need to think about something," he told Jackson, as he leaned back against the post and spread his arms along the ropes. The two men exchanged a quick nod, before Louis turned his attention to Ethan.
He's here, he told himself. He came to see you, and you're hiding yourself behind your boxing gloves and your teacher's image. I thought you were going to respect his challenge? He studied the expression of the man in the other corner for a moment. Besides, his inner voice added, Don't you have something to tell him?
Louis nodded to himself. "Jackson," he said, turning to the man in his corner, "You know how coach always says that we don't bring emotions into the ring?"
Jackson gave him a nod.
"Well," he continued, as he rose from his stool, "I'm about to set a very poor example."

[Louis Briggs]

Louis, who had his back to the other corner, took the mouth piece from Jackson and waited for the bell to ring.
When it did, another tag took place inside his head.
Louis walked back through his memories, collecting all the words he wished he said to Ethan along the way, as he went back to the moment of his friend's funeral.
In spite of all the talks he'd had with Lindsey, it seemed that the emotions this invoked had not diminished one bit. Ethan had probably noticed this already back on Massanas, which might explain why he had come here.
Louis resolved that the best way to thank him was by not holding back, and let all his anger and frustration seep into his fists. He half-turned and glared at Ethan, who had taken up a defensive stance on his half of the ring. Then, he punched his gloves together and gave his friend a nod, as if to acknowledge the other man's intentions.
Ethan returned the gesture and started moving around a bit more.
Louis dashed forward and closed the distance between them remarkably fast, but didn't throw a punch. Ethan instinctively tried to circle around the larger boxer, to avoid being forced into the corner, but Louis was ready for him and cut him off with a heavy right that connected with his opponent's guard.
Louis didn't mind that the punch didn't land. He wasn't aiming for openings anymore.
Blow after blow rained down on Ethan's guard as he got pushed further and furter back; he was simply being overpowered by someone who was almost twice his weight class.
Then, as Ethan's defenses buckled, Louis just hit him as hard as he could, sending him reeling into the corner post.
He watched as his opponent fell forward, onto his knees.
Ramon got in between and started the count, but Louis refused to back down, waiting for Ethan to meet his gaze.