Neo League 551 - #561: Drake vs Roberto

Description: A challenge is issued to Domino, yanking him from his vigilante shenanigans in Metro City. Still though, neither Domino nor Roberto have had a Neo League match in a while, so it benefitted them both as their return bouts. Despite a strong lead by Roberto and Domino taking a turn of terrible luck, he managed a strong turnaround. (Draw Match)



In the middle of Metro Square there's a large crowd gathered to see another Neo League fight. There are many people carrying numerous signs and foam fingers with names of their favorite fighters. The noise of the crowd can be heard from blocks in multiple directions.

One of the fighters enter the center of the square in silence as he makes his way into the area cleared out for the fight carrying his mesh bag and wearing his signature sky blue visor and red goalie gloves before dumping the contents of the bag onto the ground and tossing it out into the crowd.

As he was entering he was cheered but he doesn't have as big a following as his opponent due to his lack of recent activity in fighting circuits and most of his following is currently in class right now. He takes it in stride though since it's not really about the fans for him.

It is for Domino, though. And while his activity in Neo League has been low of late - putting precedence on fighting crime and whatnot - he can't really turn down a challenge. That'd look bad. So here he is, somewhat against his will and not feeling entirely up to this. Doesn't mean he's going to lack in style, though. His entrance may be lacking his typical robe and such, he still strides amidst the audience to shake hands and high-five people on his way to the fighting zone.

And once there, the model sets a gloved hand to his hip and regards Roberto. "Not heard about you since Thailand," he remarks. "Nice to see you made it out of that mess intact." He's trying to keep the annoyed tone out of his voice. Trying, but failing to a degree. Yeah, he puts a ton of importance on his career, but doing good comes first.

In Roberto's defense he had nothing to with the match up. That was all Masters Foundation's work in this case. Had Roberto known about Drake's situation he would've turned it down for Drake. Roberto could afford to take the fallout for cancelling the fight. And besides Roberto could understand the need to do good.

As things stand though Roberto isn't telepathic/empathic and so he doesn't know that anything is wrong. Well the voice is an indicator but he doesn't have much to go by other that. Even still he has to respond though he's quiet enough the mics don't pick up. "Not completely intact." If Drake wants further info he's going to have to speak with him in private. "Anyway we probably should get this show on the road."

With that, Roberto opens by running up to one of his many soccer balls and at first it seems to dart away from Drake but then the spin Roberto puts on the soccer ball makes it curve back towards Drake. Soccer players love working the Banana Kick.

COMBATSYS: Roberto has started a fight here.

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Roberto          0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Drake has joined the fight here.

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Drake            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0          Roberto


COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Drake with Long Shot.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Drake            0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0          Roberto


Domino's expression is neutral, albeit an eyebrow quirks with this tidbit of information. He starts to querry further, but then there's a soccer ball immediately searing at him. It strikes his torso squarely, knocking him back with an 'unf' sound.. and it gets an annoyed look from him.

Domino suddenly rushes the soccer player, whizzing across the fighting zone in a blur of movement. And suddenly, he drops down to slide the remainder of the distance, legs scissoring out to hook with Roberto's legs and send him crashing down to the ground.

COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Drake's Fast Throw.

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Drake            0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0          Roberto


Roberto doesn't have a soccer ball at his foot like he would as a striker but his response is almost the same as the usual response to a slide tackle. He hops up and over the slide. If he had a soccer ball it would've involved using a rainbow to pop the soccer ball up and over it as well. It also might've meant that Roberto would've made a mistake falling prey to the scissor take down.

After the hop, the fact remains that Drake is still on the ground. Because of that, Roberto goes into a slide of his own extending one foot out to drive his foot into Drake's stomach in a soccer style slide tackle.

COMBATSYS: Drake dodges Roberto's Sliding Kick.

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Drake            0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0          Roberto


Domino's legs scissor only air, which just intensifies the annoyed look on his face. But seeing Roberto sliding in at him, himself, Domino proves that his own movements are far from sluggish. His body curls into a ball suddenly, and his hands vault him from the ground to spiral through the air and land clear of the attack. But having done this, he dashes towards the soccer player again and attemts to grab him by the shoulders to haul him up to his feet.

If successful, Domino hooks his right arm under Roberto's left leg, and his left arm over Roberto's right shoulder to quickly whip him off his feet, twist over, and smash his back against the pavement - along with Domino's torso landing across Roberto's for an added powerslam. But immediately upon delivery, Domino pulls forward into a somersault to get back to his feet again at the ready.

COMBATSYS: Roberto blocks Drake's Solar Eclipse.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Drake            0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0          Roberto


Roberto doesn't have enough time to get out of from the trained grappler's grip mostly due to his slide tackle having horrible recovery time. However he does have enough presence of mind to keep aware of where the ground is. And so he goes up and over and then when he hits the ground his arms go wide and slap the ground to spread the impact out and reducing the pain being dished out.

He still has a problem. He has wrestler on top of him and he seeks to rectify that grabbing that wrestler and giving him a good shove of with some words that Drake might remember from their last match. "Ugh!!! Get off of... ME!!!"

COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Drake with Quick Throw.
- Power hit! -

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Drake            0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0          Roberto


Domino had intended to get off of him, silly. But Roberto just expediates the process for him, a bit. Enough to launch him off of Roberto and smack hard into a streetlamp with a resounding CLANG.

For a moment, Domino just stands against it, eyes squeezed shut to work out the pain now wracking over him. Ugh. What the Hell is the matter with him lately? When he pulls himself off the lamp, he glowers at Roberto and rushes him yet again, going to grab him firmly by the shoulders to haul him up to his feet again. And this time, if successful, he scoops the younger male into a cradled position before him, hops into the air, and aims to SMASH his back across an upturned knee.

COMBATSYS: Roberto dodges Drake's Strong Throw.

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Drake            0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0          Roberto


Roberto slowly gets off of his back as Drake works out the pain in his back. Roberto didn't expect to shove the wrestler that hard. As a matter of fact he's actually somewhat surprised that he managed that much power. He watches as Drake charges at him as he tries to determine whether he'll use the strategy of a striker or a goalie and just as Drake pulls him back to his feet Roberto makes his decision.

Drake would probably be surprised to see the soccer star darting out of his grip and to his side to ratchet things up with a powerful kick to his side. "Urrragh!!!! Whoa... That was close!"

COMBATSYS: Drake fails to counter Heavy Kick from Roberto with Blackout.

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Drake            1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0          Roberto


Which really goes off flawlessly, Roberto's foot striking the agitated wrestler soundly. It gets a yelp from Domino, who falls aside... and who's fans are becoming grossly disappointed with things. Indeed, he's letting them down something ferocious, and it's really grating on his nerves. If he can't beat -this- guy, what good can he actually do for Metro? Geeze. But nevertheless, the annoyed Drake raises back to his feet again.

Roberto slowly backs away from Drake and tries to figure out what exactly what's going on. While Roberto had trouble in their first match getting away from Drake's attacks he's having a much easier time of things. Luck as much as Roberto would hate to acknowledge it has been a major deciding factor in a lot of his recent matches going into extremes but rarely finding middle ground. It's only a matter of time before Roberto's luck runs out.

Roberto does intend on milking this current swing of luck for all its worth, throwing a snap jab after Drake has a bit of time to get himself together.

COMBATSYS: Drake parries Roberto's Quick Punch!

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Drake            1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0          Roberto


Domino isn't going to just -give up-, even if he's hurting and Roberto looks right as rain still. That's not his style. Fight 'til he can fight no more. Sure, the trend here seems to be grossly out of his favor, but things can turn around... can't they? Huh? Keeping this mindset, Domino tries to focus on things and clear out the severe irritation he's been building since before the match even began. As such, he sees the jab coming, and he abruptly catches the limb at the forearm. Using its momentum, he twists aside and shoves to bear Roberto down against the ground again.

But Domino doesn't stay that way. He immediately dashes away and hops into the air, landing atop the shoulders of a very tall, muscular spectator. Needless to say, the guy's not sure at all what to do with this... so he remains standing, albeit a little wobbly. Domino, meanwhile, thrusts a fist into the air to hopefully garner more cheering and the support of his fans again.

The response is weak, unfortunately. Sigh.

STILL, though. Domino leaps from his perch into a double backflip, soaring through the air. On the second rotation, his arms and legs splay, pulling the musculature of his torso taut and firm for impact against Roberto in a high-flying moonsault.

COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Roberto with Darkside Slam EX.

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Drake            1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0          Roberto


Roberto managed to take the crowd out of it... Interesting.

Unfortunately Roberto's snap jab wasn't as quick as he would've like and so he's on the ground against his will and luckily enough he isn't in pain... Yet. Roberto does have a problem he's on the ground and Drake is up on the top make shift turnbuckle of a muscular fan.

Drake telegraphs it in so many ways. The fist pump to get the fans back into it. The double backflip... but when the moonsault comes down, Roberto freezes and is crushed under the force of Drake. The soccer player slips out from under it giving a kick as he scrambles towards freedom.

COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Drake with Light Kick.

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Drake            1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0          Roberto


WHACK. Domino is unsuccessful at recovering in time to evade the kick. It thus smashes into his ribs and gets a yelp... who is really feeling the pain of everything so far. God, what a horrid showing he's put on. One hard hit. One. How pathetic. He tumbles over and gets up to his feet, glaring at Roberto. And suddenly, he makes a grab for Roberto's shoulders to yank him forward and lock his neck between his legs and hoist him upside-down in piledriver hold...

COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Roberto with Total Eclipse.

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Drake            0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1          Roberto


With Roberto locked in the piledriver hold, Domino's arms suddenly crush inwards. Suddenly and sharply. The forearms dig into Roberto's torso for several excruciating seconds, turning and twisting about - thrashing, one might say - with his captive to make it yet more painful. Well, and put on a show for the audience. Hopefully they'll start to come back around for him.

But after that, Domino takes to flight. More or less, anyway. He leaps high into the air, ascending in a series of forward flips with Roberto, gaining speed and momentum along the way. On the descent, the momentum has built in so great that their forms are blurred together into an opaque swirl of motion, ending only when they meet the ground again. That is, when Roberto's skull is smashed against the pavement, backed with their combined bodyweights, the height of the jump, and the insane momentum. Domino raises back to his full height and backs up a few feet, glaring at the soccer player.

Roberto goes up, up, up.... then down then comes down to the ground hard. His skull's impact with the ground causes cracks to form under him. It's obvious that it hurt. The soccer player is slow to get back up to his feet so stunned from the pain. "Damn that hurt."

That glare bothers Roberto a bit as well and he begins to stumble to one of his soccer balls as he's about to show he's so dangerous with a soccer ball. He hasn't used it in awhile and so many of the fans in the audience might forget that he still has this move. The stumble becomes a walk, the walk becomes a run and then he performs a powerful swing of his foot to drive the soccer ball at Drake but this time the soccer ball is on fire and then on impact or upon gettin close to Drake's current location it will suddenly explode with fiery chi civering a large area. Roberto's still careful enough to make sure no spectators are caught in the explosion.

COMBATSYS: Roberto successfully hits Drake with Blazing Strikers.
Glancing Blow

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Drake            0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0          Roberto


Domino is feeling a bit too drained to really get out of the way of the ball.. and it's moving freakishly fast. The nimble wrestler dives to the side to attempt to evade it, but it smacks directly into the side of his hip, blasting him aside and getting a pained cry. Much less than it could have done, but still highly painful.

But still, Domino raises up to his feet again, teeth gritting. He dashes for Roberto yet again, and this time he maneuvers in a bit low and twists around to grab for his left arm. He swings his right leg over Roberto's shoulder, attempting to force him to double over while he straddles the younger man's arm, yanking it upwards in an armbar submission hold.

COMBATSYS: Roberto fails to interrupt Fast Throw from Drake with Quick Punch.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Drake            0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0          Roberto


Roberto gets his hand grabbed and then twisted into a painful position and while it hurts he doesn't seem overly discomforted by it however he's put into the hold so quickly that he finds it's impossible to respond adequately to it. Instead throw a punch at Drake to get him off but the hold is applied and he doesn't have a chance to get away just yet but he's struggling to get free.

Domino twists and wrenches at the arm as fiercely as he can for as long as he thinks would be wise. After that point is reached, the wrestler attempts to chain more pain into the hold. He drops forward, legs kicking back to hopefully pull Roberto over and land him on his back on the pavement. And from there, he's naturally landed in a grounded armbar position. Legs press against Roberto's torso, hands grip the captured wrist, and he yanks back on the arm, hoping for a submission...

COMBATSYS: Roberto interrupts Medium Throw from Drake with Quick Punch.
- Power hit! -

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Drake            0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0          Roberto


Roberto digs in deep inside of himself as he struggles to free himself from Drakes grip. Hr focuses as he attempts move through the pain before lashing out with a punch. With Drake's position he can't muster much more than a weak punch but he's counting on punch precision and placement to get him out where brute might not manage it for him. "Gah!! I gotta get you off!!! Now!"

And as Domino is wrenching the arm, Roberto's fist slams into a tendon on his leg. Owohlordpain. Strained tendon, hard punch, it sends shocks of pain through the fighter. And at this point, he's fighting off unconsciousness. He releases the arm, but he tries to grab Roberto and haul him up by the shoulder again. But immediately once up, he twists over sharply and snaps his right fist up in a backhand aimed for Roberto's face.

COMBATSYS: Drake can no longer fight.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  <
Roberto          0/-------/-----==|


COMBATSYS: Drake successfully hits Roberto with Crescent Fist.

[                        \\\\\\  <
Roberto          0/-------/----===|


Roberto is fighting fatigue as well. Also one has to consider the damage done to Roberto's arm by the armbar. Where Roberto would've cleanly blocked it before he just can't get his hand up in time and he's too exhausted to dodge. He's backhanded hard before dropping to ground unconscious and unable to finish the fight with his arm raised in the air.

There's a moment where the crowd is in a stunned silence as they try to figure out how to respond.

COMBATSYS: Roberto takes no action.


COMBATSYS: Roberto can no longer fight.


Domino's spin, itself, carries the martial artist blitz wrestler over, takes out his balance, and he faulters to his knees. And the simple impact of falling is enough to berift him of consciousness as well the remainder of the way. He falls onto his side and rolls onto his back, supine, and incapacitated. The hits Domino has endured throughout this match has finally taken its full toll.. and he can't even feel his leg anymore.

And so? The match is a draw.

Log created on 13:34:11 12/13/2007 by Drake, and last modified on 21:57:48 12/17/2007.