Chapter 29: Delving Deep; the Surprisingly Speedy Runback
Kara-Throwing in Kaiohdrahl Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" – The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.
"High Score Results ~{Taito Type X²}" - Ultra Street Fighter OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Character Select (Full 'Mix Version)" - Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition OST. Scene 2 (First Half).
"Rake Your Inside" - Judgment OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).
"My Own Style" - Judgment OST. Scene 3 (First Half).
In a shocking turn of events indeed the group, having all signed up for the national Kaiohdrahl martial arts championship, witness not only one unexpected upset within the tournament but two. When Barkner and Alwyn match up in round one it is Barkner that surprisingly takes the day in a similar vein to when Raynard and Lyna match up. Rather than what most were expecting, and especially of the fairly arrogant Raynard himself, it is Lyna whom takes the day in their match-up, a similarly surprising outcome for a match-up no-one else expected either; the new contenders, Zayne Wyeford and Ragnar Romanov.
When very little at all was known about Zayne and any potential experience of his own, Ragnar on the other hand was a name well-known to those within the circles of indie fighting circuits. 'Ring of Honour', 'Fight for the Finish', 'Maximum Impact Gylomecia', 'Sultan of Stralanavia' and no doubt many more; not only has this relatively young martial artist taken part in all of these challenging competitions, he has also reportedly gone undefeated in every single one of them, presumably championing each one in his career.
"It would seem this man doesn't quite have the flashy skills your group has... yet it's his fundamental skills that appear to be much higher."
Words of wise observation spoken by Shanaari, knight to the Kaiohdrahlian royal family and companion to the heroes.
In the explosive round three engagement, Ragnar calls true to these words of wisdom by easily overwhelming and baiting the readily-aggressive young Zayne; an act that, very slowly, finds the shocked young Kaiohdrahlian knocked up against a metaphoric wall. Overpowered in strength, speed and even simple tactics, Zayne cannot seemingly find a way through Ragnar's impressive array of skills, said to be taught to him by one of the world's pre-eminent martial artists' themselves; Sun Hui. Not only does Ragnar end the fight without even sparing a bead of sweat itself, he near kills the poor young man; a deafening blow to Zayne's high ego that sends him down crashing back to planet earth.
While the thoughtful Link already had a full ideal planned out for the Kaiohdrahl national championship, it has already been thrown to the wayside in these incredible and shocking revelations that they all witness together. His concern and growing uncertainly only rise ever further with these reveals and worries; with Raynard now missing after his shocking loss to Lyna, the young blonde Hylian finds himself delving deep into uncharted territory; contrary to his usual overconfidence, he finds himself nervous and worries not just for his missing rival Raynard but for the appearance of this new martial artist Ragnar.
For now however he has little time to ponder as the fourth and final round to the opening qualifiers commences; Link 'Fire Fist' Firbrand VS. the recently-crowned Palashian champion herself, Vassia Palashia. Having lost to her very narrowly in the grand finals of the Palashian Premier a mere month ago, Link attempts with great fervour to sweep away his concerns and apprehension and instead focus on his much-desired runback with his haughty and overly-pushy self-proclaimed fiancé.
In a match-up most of Aurelia sit on the edge of their stands in anticipation, it is only Link himself that newly approaches this confrontation rather half-heartedly...
Scene 1
"What a match-up that was! I think we can all agree we got to witness a new shocking page in the Prima World Tour, ladies and gentlemen."
The ever-smiling words of the sociable and jovial Mr. Marshall filled Tiverpool Arena up, melding well with the powerful cheers of the surrounding audience littering the filled-up stands. As he had seemingly stood up from his usual commentator's table, ever joined by his younger companion Tasty Seth, the two men stepped up to march toward the still-standing Ragnar and his fallen opponent as if to interview him. As the referee nodded toward them and walked off toward the competitor's box, the two men at last approached the muscle-bound man, forcing him to swing his scowling-faced head 'round to eye them carefully and suspiciously.
"Easy!" The laughing Seth responded in a half-nervous chuckle, leaning backward and halting in his walk almost as immediately as Ragnar's eyes came upon him. The watching Draerithian's suspicion appeared to calm and he merely squared his bare muscled shoulders back at the pair.
"That... was incredible," Marshall smiled back at the taller foreigner, speaking into the small Gossip Stone he held in his right handed grip. "In all my years commentating I've only seen handfuls of fighters half as good as you are; how do you even find time to think in all that chaos?"
As the smiling Marshall leaned his Gossip Stone into the scowling-expressed Ragnar's face, he briefly looked down at it before swinging his eyes back up to briefly face the pair of men and at last opening his stoically-silent mouth. The listening audience all fell silent, genuinely interested in what the mysterious man had to say.
"Don't think...," he at last spoke, his hardened baritone knocking powerfully off the walls of the inside stadium. "Feel..."
The tone in which he spoke, an oddly confrontational one, was punctuated further by the brief scrunch his mouth took as he enunciated the word he came out with, his thick Draerithian accent coming through in it. Without warning and surprising the older brown-haired commentator, the firmly-frowning Ragnar stuffed the small Gossip Stone back into the wide-eyed Marshall's hands before turning to march back toward the competitor's box in his victory. As half-expected, the watching Aurelian audience all erupted into deafening cheers.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
"A man of few words huh...," the watching Seth chortled on, half-amused as he tilted his head in Marshall's direction before 'rounding his eyes on him as he did. "I can dig it."
"Enlightening yet mystifying words I must say," Marshall laughed alongside the younger man before turning to face the audience. "There you have it boys and girls; some words of wisdom from today's round three winner! Stay seated; round four, a glorious runback of epic proportions, is coming up next!"
Link remained planted firmly and motionlessly in the competitor's box's entrance, his widened oceanic eyes still fixated on the battlefield before him. Ahead just a few paces came the slow-marching Ragnar himself, just fresh from his victory with the brutally-beaten Zayne and looking ever the intimidating one all for it.
His tall muscled form towered over most of the group's members and, as he began to approach them, most of them all stepped out of his way purely out of respect; it was Link, however, that opted to remain where he was. A strange course of action that saw some of the younger members of his troupe reaching out for him in vain, hissing out toward him as if to call his attention. He opted not to listen however and kept his frozen-eyed stare on the glaring-eyed Ragnar, even as the tall Draerithian warrior slow-marched toward him.
Time seemed to slow down for the two martial artists; as Ragnar very slowly began to approach the blonde boy, his short-haired head gradually lowered a little to match his eyes' new direction and the wide-eyed Link's rude and surprised stare. The pair watched one another for what felt like ages before, finally, Ragnar's brown-shaded eyes narrowed just a little back and he stepped past the young Hylian.
Time at last regained its natural flow and, as it did, so too did feeling return to the seemingly frozen Hero of Time himself; he let out a sharp gasp of air through his nose and snapped his pony-tailed head 'round to stare around at the back of the last match's winner, a worrying feeling in the air making him doubt.
"What's wrong...?"
The soft soprano of his close companion Zelda gently pulled him out from his deep-minded thoughts and he double-took in her direction to his left, feeling a bead of nervously-gained sweat drip down from his forehead. Soon realising that not just Zelda, but every eye belonging to his group of friends were now on him studiously, he couldn't help but feel on stage and lowered his own eyes in a light wince.
"U-Um... nothin'..." He murmured back, anxious and tense filling his tenor.
It was only when he felt the blonde princess very slowly and skilfully take his fingers into her own, threading them together lowly and demurely, that his anxieties somehow found themselves slowly melting away. Link double-took a second time in her direction, finding her smiling warmly back at him and he couldn't help but smile back, albeit fairly weakly in response.
How does she do that, he thought.
It's like she can read my mind.
"Feeling all right?"
Impa's own concerned contralto pulled the youth from his engagement with his country's princess and he blinked once in mild curiosity before turning his straw-haired head up to face his red-eyed mentor. Sure enough even the standing Barkner, Alwyn, Shanaari, Malon and even Vassia all remained cautiously silent as they watched on in their own curiosity, seemingly opting not to comment on the odd situation.
"U-Um... yeah, Impa-sensei; thanks," Link lied in an apprehensive chuckle, freeing one of his hands from Zelda's grip to run its fingers through the curtained fringe of his hair; an old habit obtained from his adulthood in the original timeline. "I'm just a little... queasy I guess."
"I certainly don't blame you."
The listening Link's face blanched as he recognised the high and haughty soprano of Vassia; his face switched very quickly and comically to a deadpan-like expression, one he normally liked to wear when conversing with the rude and discourteous young Palashian princess.
"Not when your next opponent is me, after all," she continued on in an all-knowing little laugh to herself, raven-shaded eyes briefly shut grinned on. "I imagine that I am all you can think about at the moment, mon amour."
"Not quite...," the half-annoyed youth shot back, a similarly irritated look written across his countenance before he swung his oceanic-eyed gaze back 'round on the marching Ragnar, his scrunched up look soon resetting to a relaxed yet worried-etched frown. "I got too many important things in my head ta-be thinkin' about you."
"How dare you!" The insulted young girl fired back, her cheeks taking on an angered reddish tint to them. "Don't you remember the way our engagement ended last time?!"
"Yeah, you got lucky," Link responded, eyebrow rising up as a returning smirk very gradually built back up on his face, amused by her easily-garnered rage. "And don't call it an 'engagement', please," he rectified this time, wincing as he spoke. "It's bad enough you want a ring on my damn finger."
"Afraid I'll put a ball and chain on you mon chéri?" She shot back, ever the topper, a superior smirk written across her doll-like demeanour. Link groaned back as he felt his companions' stare and inevitably-entertained chuckles, briefly turning away from the violet-haired princess before swiftly re-facing her.
"I could always just...," he began, a new frown wore on his young face as he rose up one of his index fingers to head-level. Igniting it with fire-elemental Aegir at the tip, he re-opened his mouth as if to elaborate further. "Burn the chain off." He finished, this time in a satisfied-seeming smirk of his own, drawing a half-annoyed frown from her in response.
"Well I suppose we shall see won't we?!" She exclaimed out angrily, clenching her little gloved fists as her cheeks puffed up in annoyance. "You had better ready yourself; I won't go easy on you this time!"
Link's overconfident grin and his shining charisma, ever carrying him on, blazed him on as he opened back up his mouth to retort. "I guess that makes two of us then."
"Competitors Link Firbrand and Vassia Palashia, please report to Tiverpool Arena!"
The sound of the young referee's words out in the stadium to their side made the pair of children blink out of their semi-argument, surprised, before soon regaining the eager grins on their faces.
"I guess it would hurt to suggest you two fight just for fun today then, huh?" The sighing Malon spoke up from her position next to Impa, folding her arms at the pair in a disapproving frown as she did. The two swung 'round in similar-faced blinks and, as they very abruptly darted their heads to face each other, they soon responded by turning their heads to the ceiling and bursting out laughing.
Their odd reaction, of course, drew a shut-eyed half-smirk from the listening Alwyn, Impa and Shanaari and a quiet giggle from the smiling Zelda. Barkner chuckled on knowingly, rocky-bodied hand resting on his similarly-skinned hip. At last however, as the sounds of the gong outside echoed out noisily – a second call for their challengers – the two former grand finalists merely swung their smirks on one another before turning to march for the arena.
Malon let out yet another disappointed sigh as she watched them walk off, her arms still folded. "Why does he always have to be so hard-headed?" The farm girl lamented on, annoyed. "I don't get him sometimes."
"I think it's endearing," the smiling Zelda commented on, rising up one of her closed hands to softly rest on the front of her mouth, briefly hanging it away to re-open it. "He's... focused... and never lets up when he should."
"It's won him more fights than he should have won," the half-way entertained Barkner grinned on as he tilted his Goron-shaped head over at the back of the marching Link himself. "I'll give you that."
"Oh please...," Malon rolled her eyes in another annoyed turn to her frown. "You think everything he does is endearing," the fire-haired girl called the blonde princess out, drawing her attention this time in a surprised frown. "He could tell a terrible joke and you'd call it endearing."
Zelda frowned back at her. "It is though." She stated simply and cluelessly, drawing a listening snort from the normally impassive-faced Impa.
Barkner at last swung his head to the ceiling and laughed in a manner similar to his earlier Hylian and Palashian companions, joined by the smirks and smiles on everyone else's faces.
–
2
"And here we go ladies and gentlemen! It's the runback of the century; will the tide of battle turn this time?!" Mr. Marshall's ever-excited baritone called out, knocking off the walls of Tiverpool Arena powerfully and melding well with the inevitably-screaming cheers of the surrounding audience. "Last time we left our two intimidating challengers in Palashia, young Firbrand and Vassia herself faced off in the grand finals; an incredible match-up that left us all on the edge of our seats!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
"For real," the ever-grinning Tasty Seth agreed in a comparatively calmer baritone of his own, turning his brown-haired head in his seat to face the older man. "I still can't believe how close it ended last time."
"You're not wrong! The fear that day was tangible," Marshall chuckled on, tilting his head in an old habit of his own. "If Firbrand landed just a millisecond later... he'd have won that set."
"You know who my rupees are on this time Marsh."
"Oh yes...?" Marshall grinned on curiously. "And who would that be?"
"It's gotta be that Palashian chick," he shot back, shaking his similarly-faced head as he did, drawing out an inexorably-mixed reaction of boos and cheers from the surrounding Aurelians watching. "She was just way too strong!"
"It's a fair point...," Marshall smiled on, briefly shutting his eyes as he lowered them as if in quick thought. "Even in his odd demonic change, and the no-doubt significant rise to his strength during, young Firbrand still found himself fighting uphill against Palashia's beautiful defensive style; a true mark of the Palashian royal family themselves!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
As the sound of the Aurelians' cheers rent the air for their violet-haired challenger her very pictograph itself, black and white as all the others, was displayed up on on the left pillar next to the competitor's box. She stood in a newly-updated pose, smirking ever in her superior fashion as she held both elbows risen at her centre, purple-curled head similarly risen in superiority at the viewer. Her physical statistics, as always, were noted just below it.
Vassia Palashia
Agility: S+
Side-Stepping: A
Defensive Ability: A+
"Still though...," the grinning Seth began, turning his head to the right pillar, almost as if having known of the upcoming second pictograph; a still-picture black and white of the similarly smirking-faced Link himself. "I wanna see how 'Fire Fist' takes her now!"
Link Firbrand
Aggressiveness: A
Agility: A
Tenacity: S
"That's right, people, 'Fire Fist Firbrand' and Palashia's princess themselves will be duelling it out a second time right here, right now!" Marshall called out excitedly, clenching a fist as he perhaps inevitably drew out yet another deafening cheer from the surrounding audience.
Even as the frowning-faced Link marched out to the arena and readied himself on the small red-marked side of the tiled field, still he could not take his mind off the ever-irritating words his raven-haired rival had tossed his way during his ill-fated match-up with Lyna earlier.
This ain't good, he thought.
I have to focus if I wanna beat this chick.
"Hey!"
He rose up his blonde-haired face to blink back at her, half-surprised by the sudden sharp soprano she sailed his way.
"Don't forget our wager!" She called on, her silky-clothed hands cupping her elbows as she rose up her smirking-faced head at him, as per in her pictograph. "If you lose... then you have to buy me an engagement ring."
The inescapably-irritating calls and whoops that came from the surrounding men and women watching them made the listening Link roll his oceanic eyes vexatiously before re-facing his old opponent and re-opening his mouth to respond.
"Don't forget the other potential," Link shot back in an eye-narrowing frown. "If I win... the marriage is off."
The audience all let out amused cackles and laughs, knocking against the arena humour-fully.
"Well now...," the listening Marshall began lightly, pursing his mouth as he rose up his eyebrows and lowered his eyelids, soon re-rising them to face his co-commentator in amusement. "That's one interesting arrangement, wouldn't you say Seth?"
"Our boy Firbrand is engaged to a princess?!" Seth cackled out, eyes widened as he leant back in his chair. "He's got it made!"
"And at only the budding young age of eleven...," Marshall chuckled, briefly shaking his head as he did. "Impressive!"
"Red side, ready!"
Link crossed up both his fists to rest one horizontally, back-facing his opponent, while the other rested a little higher and vertically at his side. He hopped very lightly in place, as if to gain feeling to both his shoeless feet, the tore karate-gi he wore so well blowing around a little in his movement.
"Blue side, ready!"
Vassia smirked on superiorly as she both silky-garbed hands to her front, one open-palmed and facing the glaring-eyed Link as the other hovered in a vertical sense similar to her opponent. Her legs both remained far apart from one another, as if ready to move at a moment's notice, her posture complimenting her defensive stance fairly well.
As always, the echoing sound of the gong knocked off Tiverpool Arena's walls powerfully, signalling the beginning of the tournament's end to the qualifiers.
"Begin!"
SWISH
Link's eyes remained narrowed, even as he back-stepped the wide horizontal roundhouse that Vassia threw out his way, a loud yelling battle cry to her soprano filling the air as she did. She pressed on aggressively with a relentless barrage of quick-stabbing kicks, smirking on even as the frowning-faced Link side-stepped and quick-stepped out of each one, leading her to at last present a contrasting offensive.
The young Palashian princess called out a second time loudly as she joined her fingers at both palmed hands and stabbed them endlessly through the air in an attempt to catch her fast-moving fiancé; Link kept his oceanic eyes glued directly to hers as he darted and weaved his pony-tailed head out of her strikes, soon rising up both calloused small arms to block her own silky-clothed ones. It didn't take long however for the watching Vassia's smirk to very quickly lower into an angered frown as the athletic young Hylian weaved his body backward to avoid her strikes, before soon back-flipping acrobatically into a safe-enough distance that left him secure from further danger.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est?!" She called forward impatiently and aggressively, placing her hands on her hips as she did. "Do you insult me?! Why you won't fight back?!"
A mixture of boos and cheers from the audience rent the air, joined by the ever-entertained pair of commentators.
"It looks as though we're seeing a little faint-hearted fighting in 'Fire Fist'!" Marshall began, his baritone echoing out through the small Gossip Stone in his hand. "I wonder what could have spurred on this potential change in him?"
"Yo he better get that fire burnin' Marsh," Seth grinned on alongside the older man. "This chick don't screw around!"
The listening Link stood amongst the mixed reception of the surrounding people watching him, cerulean-shaded eyes lowered in deep-narrowed thought, his fists clenched safely at his sides as he watched his bare feet below him. He soon shut his eyes as his ruminations, perhaps inevitably, centred themselves around the earlier disturbance in the missing Raynard's words.
She's right, he thought.
I'm basically insulting her, fighting her like this.
He breathed in deeply through his small Hylian nose and, as he re-opened his eyes, so too did he re-rise up his blonde-haired head to face the Palashian princess a few paces ahead of him.
"You're right," he called forward loudly enough so that she could hear him. Not only the sound of his tenor surprised her into wide-eyed silence, but the sheer words of modesty coming out of his mouth. The surrounding Aurelian audience were similarly too shocked into silence, their voices all very quickly falling silent as they awaited to hear what he had to say next. "I'm sorry."
Vassia's raven-black eyes widened in sheer awe, as if unable to believe the apology coming directly from him, her mouth opened very slightly as if to display her shock.
"You deserve better 'n that," the young Hero of Time began again firmly, clenching his fists harder as a near-invisible aura of Aegir began to circulate 'round his form, light blue in colour. "We deserve better 'n that." He finished, this time in a newly-gained grin to his countenance, one that looked fairly familiar on his young expression.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
While even the listening Vassia half-expected her own superior smirk to return to her expression, a surprising smile instead that graced her doll-like visage; an appreciative look that won even the hearts of the picky audience around them. Watching on in the competitor's box far-off from them was the approving members of their group, similarly-surprised smiles dotting their faces as they opened up their own mouths to speak on the sight.
"Gotta hand it to 'im," Barkner tilted his rocky-skinned head in a compromising smile, hand on his hip. "She wanted it and he gave it to her."
"Hey!"
The sound of Malon's offended soprano made the listening Goron and other surrounding companions swing their heads down to child-level, surprised, only to find her with her own small hands placed on her white-dress hips.
"What's he giving her?!"
Even the watching Impa could only rise up a silver-shaded eyebrow in half-curiosity when she caught the similarly negative look in Zelda's sea-shaded eye; a fact that made the Sheikah's normally hardened frown soften a little as she realised the pair's misunderstanding.
"He's apologising because he's probably thinking about something else during the fight, knowing him," Alwyn elaborated on for his Goron companion, his Zoran arms folded as stoically as ever to match the seasoned frown his face took. "He's giving her the same respect he gave her now that he gave her in Palashia, as martial artists together."
At last realising their misreading of the situation for a romantic one, Malon and Zelda's expressions soon settled but in fairly contrasting tones; Malon merely rolled her eyes uninterestedly while the once-frowning Zelda slowly regained her calm and serene-faced smile.
–
3
The pair of combat-gifted children ran like swift wings along the white-tiled arena, eyes focused on one another, likewise grins plastered across their expressions. Perhaps anticipating his path, the narrow-eyed Vassia shot a few more stabbing palmed assaults a stride or two ahead of the young blonde, causing him to bring up his own right and left arms to block with. The two remained in offensive and defensive manoeuvres, fairly quick and difficult to follow, before finally Link grunted out as he used the tiled ground beneath him to bound backward in a far-off withdrawal.
Vassia lost her grin, raven-black eyes narrowing a second time as she leapt high into the air in pursuit, a relentless quality in her seemingly new-found offensive technique. In a surprising sight indeed, the seemingly defenceless mid-air Link somehow managed to swerve and manipulate his body into weaving and darting away from Vassia's quick onslaught of attacks, drawing out cheers from the audience as he counter-attacked in a few agile jabs and spinning kicks of his own. She blocked them all, similarly to his own defensive, even as they both landed, their descent slowed by their Aegir and their combat.
"Your pace... so disappointing!"
The sound of Vassia's voice made the listening Link drop his entranced grin in favour of a simple-faced frown, rising up a curious eyebrow as he did. She now stood in a dangerously-relaxed position, standing up straight as she rested the back of her silky-clothed hand across her open mouth, violet-curled head held haughtily up to look down on him as she always liked to.
"How can you hope to beat me after that commanding duel we had in Palashia, mon chéri?" She smirked on, abyss-black eyes briefly narrowing at him as she giggled on, presumably at his expense. "You fought like a real man then! Show me your... how do you say... virilité!"
Those in the audience that had knowledge of Palashian couldn't help but chuckle, especially the female side, otherwise drawing out unsure frowns from the rest of them.
"She's demandin'; that's for sure Marsh," Seth grinned on before soon regaining his unsure frown. "But what's that mean?"
Marshall chuckled back, a light smile adorned on his face. "I believe it's Palashian...," he began, nodding his brown-haired head as he did. "I'm not a hundred percent on it but I think it's got something to do with 'manliness' or 'masculinity'."
Seth pulled his head back and burst out laughing, truly amused by the situation. "This is one hell of a chick!" He laughed on, shaking his head as he did. "You can't say she ain't got drive!"
"You certainly can't." Marshall chortled on.
"You really that confident huh."
Link's own half-interested tenor pulled the giggling Vassia out of her usual self-absorbed simpering; she lowered her eyes and her head to turn back on her Hylian opponent to find him leaning back at her, his earlier grin soon renewed strong on his face almost as if he had some form of knowledge she did not. The young Palashian princess found her own smirk soon fading as a result and re-opened her mouth to respond.
"Of course I am!" She snapped. "You were a commoner to me then and you're a commoner to me now!" She spoke sharply again, her brow furrowed angrily and her voice in a curious tone, as if she had been insulted personally somehow. "There's no way on this earth that you'll be able to win this fight!"
As he shook his pony-tailed head, eyes briefly shut before soon re-opening them as he re-rose his head, Link grinned on confidently as he spoke once more. "Don't say I didn't warn ya baby."
Even as the young blonde pulled back his left fist, clenched at his side and upside down, he swung it 'round right-way up as he thrust it forward seemingly at thin air itself. Like magic, an invisible force of Aegir suddenly came careering from his movement; a shocking enough sensation that managed to connect with the wide-eyed Vassia's form.
She yelped out loudly, like a dog abruptly being kicked, before she was sent flying through the air, her hands reaching out in wide-eyed desperation for the edge of the arena. Unfortunately for her, however, she could not reach it; as she began to approach the edge itself in mid-air, and horrifyingly rapidly at that, she yelped out a second time and made a distressed expression with her face when she realised she couldn't seem to alter her trajectory of flight.
CRASH
THUD
The newly-frowning faced Link re-adjusted his crouching stance to a standing relaxed one, soon regaining the ever-overconfident smirk to his face as he admired his own handiwork. The poor shocked Vassia, even as her back smashed almost harmlessly against the concrete wall separating the ring from the watching audience, still somehow went unconscious from the near-harmless strike; a reaction of seemingly sheer surprise and shock that sent her to the ring's out-of-bounds area. As she landed rather unceremoniously, the watching young referee stepped into the tiled arena and frowned on as she grappled at the half-surprised Link's arm to rise it skyward.
"Ring out!" She called out. "This set's winner... is Link Firbrand!"
