32 FINALS: IRON FIST VS. BATROC THE LEAPER
The place: Paris, France, a city widely known around the world as the 'City of Love.' But today, it was to be used as a battlefield for two upcoming combatants of the Contest of Champions tournament. And in this eloquent city, a good majority of people have gathered around the Eiffel Tower, where the laser ropes have surrounded the monument and holoscreen right in front of the tower above the crowd. Moments later, two flashes of light occurred, and sure enough, the combatants if this much arrived: Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist, and the infamous French Mercenary, Batroc the Leaper.
A grinning Batroc looked around in glee in being back in the land of his birth, as well as the cheering crowd. "Ah, Wonderful!" he said ecstatically, then turned his attention to Fist himself and got into a Savate fighting stance. "Iron Fist...it vill be an honor to defeat you in zee place of my birth, and my vellow Frenchmen!"
Despite being disgusted with Batroc's boasting, Fist nonetheless remained calm as he gave his enemy a Wushu hand salute, then calmly lowered himself into a readied fighting stance as well. "We'll see."
Suddenly, a Ref Bot appeared and floated in between the two martial artists, with the announcer's face on the screen. "All right, gentlemen, given the many close calls we've had in the last match, please remember that you are to defeat, not kill, your opponent? Understood?" After receiving no answer from neither Fist or Batroc, the announcer assumed, and prayed, that they did, did understand the rules. "Well, now that that's out of the way...BEGIN!"
After hearing this, the giddy Batroc lets out this cry. "ALONZI!" The Mercenary then ran, jumped up and threw a left legged flying kick at Fist.
Fortunately for Fist though, he saw this and steeped to the right side to avoid the kick. Afterward, he responded by throwing a right-legged kick, aiming for Batroc's head.
However, the French mercenary spotted this and threw up his right arm to block the kick. Moments later, he threw a left-handed middle punch, with his sights set on the K'un Lun warrior's belt buckle.
Luckily though, Fist used his left hand downward and not only blocked the punch but also pushed Batroc's Fist away. Moments later, he responded with a right jab, which unfortunately is blocked by his equally fast opponent. Not wanting to give the mercenary another chance to attack, Fist threw a left jab, only for Batroc to block it, and thus went for a right hook.
Batroc saw this attack coming and quickly ducked to avoid the punch. Moments later, he popped back up on his feet and was surprised to see the Living Weapon spinning around and throwing a left elbow strike, which forced Batroc to hold up his left arm to block it. From then on, the mercenary attempted to fight back by throwing a right hook.
Fist, on the other hand, anticipated this and ducked underneath the punch and stepped back to create a small gap between himself and Batroc, retaliated by throwing a left legged round kick, aiming for his enemy's head.
Unfortunately, this attack was stopped when Batroc himself threw both of his arms to the left side and blocked it. After saving himself, Batroc fought back by throwing a right hook.
The Immortal Iron Fist proved just as quick on defense as he held both of arms up to the right side, blocking the punch, then caught Batroc by surprise by throwing a quick left backfist into his face, stunning him. With the mercenary now disoriented, the Living Weapon from K'un Lun took his right Fist, channeled his willpower and 'chi' into it, causing it to burn in pinkish colored flame. Afterward, he went and threw a charged up right middle punch, aiming for Batroc's belt buckle.
However, Batroc's noticed Iron Fist's chi charged punch, and threw a left legged front kick, using his foot to block the attack. It was here that Batroc silently thanked Osborn for his gift in the form of energy resistant boots, for his foot was protected from the Living Weapon's burning fist. And, with his foot still on Fist's burning hand, he used it as a boost to jump up and perform a flip-kick, using his right foot to kick Fist's chin and knocking him loopy. While in the air, Batroc back-flipped in mid-air, and grabbed one of the many railings that composed the left leg of the Eiffel Tower. Afterward, he managed to pull himself up, placed his feet on top the railing and balanced on it as he looked down at the fallen Fist, who was still on the ground and trying to shake off the cobwebs from the mercenary's kick. "So, ZIS is ze legendary Iron Fis?" he asked the fallen Hero for Hire in an arrogant tone. "How pitiful."
Not wanting to stay down for long, as well as put up with Batroc's snide remarks any longer, Fist popped back up on his feet, concentrated and channeled his chi into his entire body. This caused the K'un L'un Warrior himself to being glowing the same pinkish color, which also enabled him to run in incredible speeds, then jumped incredibly high and landed on the same railing in which Batroc was standing on, who by this time looked impressed if not surprised.
It didn't take long for the Ref Bot to fly over and hover right above the two fighters to keep observing the match.
And as for Batroc himself, he gave Fist a smirk as he got back into a fighting stance. "Oh, gotten a second wind, have you?" he asked, sounding pleased. "Good, zis might just be fun after all."
As Fist returned to his fighting stance, his only reply to Batroc was using his leading hand to give him the 'come here' hand gesture so they can continue the match.
Moments later, Batroc charging towards the battle readied Fist and going for a left jab.
Luckily for Fist, he not only used his left arm to block the punch, but he also responded by throwing a quick right straight punch of his own, nailing Batroc in the face and stunning him long enough to give the K'un L'un warrior the opening he needed to throw a right side kick into his enemy's chest, causing Batroc himself to stumble backward.
While in a daze, Batroc backed himself up against one of the rails, with the impact being enough to help him snap back to his senses. He then placed his right foot on the metal beam behind him, then pushed himself off of it to give him the boost needed to help him charge towards Fist, who by this time is still in a fighting posture, but appears to be more relaxed. Once he got close enough, Batroc went on the attack by jumping up and throwing a left round kick.
Fist saw this, and this prompted him to duck and by pure instinct, threw a right leg sweep. Though he knew this tactic was useless because Batroc was already in the air, he still saw this was a way to 'go with the flow' in regards to keeping up with the mercenary's pacing. And once Fist stood straight up, he saw that Batroc had landed safely on his feet, and thus attacked him with lightning fast punching combinations.
As Batroc masterfully blocked every punch that came his way, he finally decided to fight back as he blocked an incoming right hook and used his right foot to throw a low round kick, hoping to hit Fist's right knee.
Luckily for the Living Weapon though, he spotted this attack and quickly threw his right arm down to block the kick, but later saw Batroc pull that same leg back and threw another low kick, this time aiming for his yellow masked head. This prompted Fist to duck and dodge the kick, and as he stood back up, he retaliated by throwing a left legged round kick, nailing the French Mercenary in his left side. Once Batroc was in a vulnerable position, Fist threw a right round kick with the same leg, this time, aiming for Batroc's head
Despite the pain, however, Batroc proved to be just as fast to recover, meaning he held up his right arm to block the kick, the fought back by throwing a right jab, hoping to hit Fist's belt buckle.
Fist, however, saw this and instinctively held up his left knee in front of his midsection, blocking the punch and successfully protecting his belt buckle to stay in the match.
However, this did not stop Batroc from continuing his assault, for after pulling his right hand back, he stood up and threw a left legged crescent kick, to which Fist easily avoided by ducking. Once he put his foot down, he saw Fist pop back up and throwing a right hook, and thus held both of his arms to the right side to block the punch, then fought back by sneakingly throwing a right elbow strike into the K'un L'un Warrior's chest, forcing him to stumble back two steps. Now having his opponent on the ropes, Batroc went in for the kill by running in, then jumped up and used his right leg to throw a flying kick.
Though still feeling the effects of the last strike, Fist saw this coming and ducked underneath it, allowing Batroc to fly over him.
After landing on his feet and balancing perfectly on the rail, Batroc spun around and saw that Fist had not only fully recovered, but this charging towards him and threw a left legged sidekick in defense.
Spotting this, Fist threw a left sidekick of his own, with the bottom of his foot hitting Batroc's, and thus putting the two martial artists in a stalemate, with the two staring at each other while still in sidekick stances.
After a few seconds, Batroc quickly pulled his left back and promptly got into a fighting stance, and watched Fist do the same. "Impressive, mon ami!" said the grinning mercenary. "Zere truly iz more to you zen meets ze eye, no?"
"I've got a few more surprises," Fist replied with a sly smirk.
Before giving his answer, Batroc looked past Fist and noticed a steel railing with a small crack in it, one in which he knew was made by his new friends in S.H.I.E.L.D. "Oh, zo am I!" With that said, Batroc then ran in, then jumped up and threw another flying kick, one in which Fist easily spotted and quickly ducked.
After a successful dodge, Fist stood back up, spun around and saw that Batroc had landed safely and turned to face him. And thus, wanting to end this quickly, Fist charged forward, and upon getting close enough, he threw a right legged front kick, only to have it blocked by the French Mercenary. However, the Living Weapon continued his attack by throwing numerous lighting fast straight punches.
Batroc, however, quickly blocked his opponent's punches that came his way, all the while walking back to the railing that had the crack. Finally, once the timing was right, the mercenary used his left hand to block and push the K'un L'un Warrior's left Fist over to the right side, causing him to punch the crack instead, and prompted Batroc to close his eyes.
As this happened, a blinding flash of light occurred and blinded Fist himself, causing him to put his hands over his eyes in pain and step backward.
Batroc opened his eyes and saw that Fist was disoriented, and thus seized the moment by leaping towards the blinded K'un Lun Warrior where he used his right legged front kick into his opponent's chest, then delivered a left legged round kick, hitting Fist in the head causing him to go over the railing, and just barely used his hands to catch the railing. As he slowly regained his sight, the dangling Fist managed to push himself up back on to the railing, and through the corner of his left eye, saw Batroc heading towards him with another flying kick and quickly ducked to avoid it.
As for Batroc himself, he managed to stop himself by grabbing onto one of the railings, and once he saw Fist stand back up, he strangely decided to climb up the tower itself.
Though confused why his eccentric opponent would do this, Fist nonetheless gave chase and proceeded to climb up the railings after Batroc.
Back in the Garden, the audience looked at they just watched in a mixture of shock and bewilderment. And while the Avengers were surprised at this as well, Iron Man appeared to be completely calm.
The Wasp noticed her armored teammate's strange behavior and thus approached him. "Uh, Tony, you're not completely freaked out about this?"
"Nope," Iron Man replied. "Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed, but I'm not shocked." As he continued to explain, the Armored Avenger stared at the Iron Patriot with a narrowed brow behind his faceplate. "Pissed because I got a feeling that that little flash in Iron Fist's match wasn't an accident."
Spidey heard Iron Man's statement, which also made him give the Patriot a suspicious stare. "That makes two of us."
Meanwhile, in the hallway of the Garden's business floor, Gwen Stacy silently walked through it in her attempt to follow Victoria Hand and the male agent from earlier. She lost track of them earlier, but soon noticed one of the doors cracked open slightly, and thus decided to slowly walk towards it and check it out.
Once Gwen approached it, she looked through the small opening, and sure enough, she spotted Victoria and the agent looking at a TV screen which showed the Iron Fist/Batroc match in Paris, to which the male agent saw the two fighters were almost at the top of the Eiffel Tower. "Batroc will be arriving at one of our light bomb spots, ma'am."
"I can see that," Victoria replied, sounding annoyed. "I just hope this time Batroc can correctly take advantage of it and win the damn match!"
At this point, Gwen looked at this development in pure horror. She wanted to use her phone to take pictures of this but knew that she was already in enough risk as it was. As such, she quietly backed away and walked away from the door, and instead chose to use her phone to make a few calls to the one person she knew would listen to her...Peter Parker!
Back in the room, Victoria briefly turned to the door and saw that it was open, having thought that it was closed. And what disturbed her the most was that she could've sworn that someone was standing there, and what's worse, was listening to what was going on.
Meanwhile, back in Paris, Batroc finally arrived at the top of the tower, where he climbed over the railing and on to the platform. While panting in exhaustion, the mercenary saw Fist had just arrived as well.
Once Fist finally climbed over the railing and his feet touched the platform, he spotted Batroc and soon got into a Wushu stance, and thanks to years of training on how to control his breathing, did not look the least bit tired.
Moments later, the Ref Bot also made it to the top, continuing to monitor the two fighters as they continued their match.
As Batroc tried to catch his breath, Fist looked through the corner of his left eye and spotted another mysterious crack in the steel railing next to him. And, remembering what happened last time, he stayed cautious, while at the same time, decided to use it to his advantage. "Listen, friend," Fist called out to the still panting Batroc. "You have nothing left, and you must by now know that your tricks won't work on me. So, I strongly suggest you do yourself a favor and surrender while you have the opportunity." While Fist was sincere in giving Batroc a chance to surrender peacefully, he also hoped that this would damage his pride and goat the mercenary into attacking first.
Luckily for the Living Weapon, it did! For Batroc's breathing soon stopped and he looked at Fist with pure anger, as if this friendly warning was an insult to his skills as a master of Savate. "How cute," he said in defiance. "You actually zink zat YOU are in control of ze situation!" With that said, and forgetting his plan, Batroc charged towards the calm Iron Fist and went for a left hook.
However, Fist calmly stepped over to left side to dodge the attack, and once he saw Batroc turn and go for a right legged spinning back heel kick, he closed his eyes and moved his head slightly to the right, allowing Batroc's foot to hit the crack instead, causing that same flash to spark and this time, right into the mercenary's eyes, blinding him instantly. This caused the now sightless Batroc to stumble around aimlessly...until he unintentionally tripped over the railing and would've fallen off the top of the tower and on to his death...
...if Fist had not have grabbed his ankle, then pulled him over the railing and allowed him to fall back first onto the platform. As the fallen Batroc was still wallowing in pain, the Living Weapon charged up his right Fist and punched Batroc's belt buckle, shattering it instantly and causing the French Mercenary to freeze in place in the same yellow energy that froze his two fellow teammates from the matches before.
This action caused the Ref Bot to float over to the now victorious Iron Fist, broadcasting his image to spectators worldwide, as well as the French spectator below. "Here is your winner," said the announcer via the screen. "IRON FIST!"
As for Fist himself, he only looked down at the defeated Batroc and shook his head at him in pity. "What a shame...such a waste of talent."
WINNER: IRON FIST