"I'd be more than happy to take his place, human," A voice echoes through the gym as Raijin steps in.
Icarus furrows his brow stepping in front of Pandora as Ali steps forward a bit. "Raijin…" Icarus mutters, sounding somewhat annoyed.
Ali raises an eyebrow upon hearing the name. "Raijin? What do you want? Gods aren't exactly welcome in my gym," He says as all the giant bulky men step up to Raijin.
"What do I want? I'm here to meet my opponent for tomorrow!" He says with a smirk. "Mind if I try that boxing thing? I heard it's pretty popular in that America place you're from!" he says stepping into the gym with a smirk, holding his hands out to the side in a rather cocky challenging manner, walking straight past the various boxers.
Ali crosses his arms. "I ain't against showing you the basics, but then… you gotta go."
Raijin stops in front of a punching bag and pats it. "Heh. So I just hit this, right?" He says before he suddenly just kicks it, no one even seeing him lift his leg and it flies off the hinges and tumbles and breaks on the floor, spilling sand everywhere. "Oops. Guess none of YOU can do that can you?" He says with a laugh.
Ali crosses his arms. "Hey. Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" He asks as one of his gym-mates, a large man with a chipped ear and face-tattoo steps closer to Raijin. "Tyson. Don't bother with him. He's LOOKING for trouble,"
"Well, he found it, thinking he can step up to US!" The giant man says 'casually' striking a punching bag dangling next to him, knocking it high into the air as it rips open spilling sand everywhere as well.
Raijin just shrugs a bit seeing Mike Tyson walking up to him. "Okay, I stand corrected. Guess you guys can punch a little harder than normal," He says as suddenly Mike throws a punch from a lowered guard, Pandora not even registering what happened as Raijin stands with his head casually leaned to the side, Mike having punched a hole in the wall behind him.
The giant boxer pulls back dusting off his glove. "Get out. You know where the door is. Use it!" He says before looking to Ali. "Sorry champ. I got a little overexcited there."
Ali sighs. "It's all good. Just walk away alright? I'll throw him out," He says stepping out of the arena as Mike nods and turns to walk away suddenly Raijin smirks with a devious look in his eyes Ali noticing. "TYSON!" He starts before Raijin suddenly throws a powerful kick STRAIGHT between the boxer's legs, hitting him straight in the crotch, and sending him tumbling to the floor. Ali rushes to Tyson's side as the giant man grips his crotch. "You alright, Tyson!? Hey man!" He says as Mike just writhes in pain, Ali stands up glaring at Raijin, but before he can take a single step forward another man puts a hand on his shoulder and steps past him. An utter giant bald dark-skinned man with red boxing gloves.
"Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just waltz in here like you own the place?! YOU PUNK! You don't just kick someone in the balls like that YOU FUCKER! I'll kill you! Forget the door!" He yells.
"Why not? An opponent challenged me and then turned his back to me. He must not've been very good. A little strong maybe, but that's about it," He says holding up his fists in a very amateurish boxing stance.
The big man holds up his hands with his big gloves while Ali hesitates to let him fight. "Liston. This guy doesn't play around."
"Heh. Just cause YOU can beat me every time don't mean some punk can just walk in here and disrespect Tyson, no… BOXING like that! Besides I can take him!" He says stepping forward and taking a swing at Raijin who just lowers his guard completely instantly, moving out of the way without a second thought. Liston keeps up his strikes as Raijin just stands completely still, completely unguarded, dodging every attack without a single hint of being pressured. Liston grits his teeth and attacks again stepping forward for more power this time. Raijin yawns a bit as he steps aside, giving a light tap to Liston's foot right before he sets it down making the giant man lose his footing, and Raijin leaps into the air.
"Go lie down," He says mid-air as he kicks Liston straight in the head, sending him flying into the discarded punching bag. Pandora gasps rushing up to him.
"A-are you okay, Mister Sonny!?" She asks as Sonny takes himself to his head.
Raijin cracks his knuckles and his neck a bit. "This boxing stuff is EASY," He says letting out an almost disappointed sigh.
"That wasn't BOXING!" More of Ali's gym mates yell as they run forward, as they try to gang up on Raijin, but as they get close and start swinging, Raijin simply walks backward, dodging each strike like it's nothing. He suddenly disappears and reappears behind them wrapping an arm around their shoulders like they're old friends. "W-what the-!?"
"You're right. It was WAY better than that shitty excuse for a fighting style," He says pushing the two of them forward before he speeds back around in front of them, clotheslining them both to the floor, making them slide into their workout equipment knocking it all over. Raijin speeds forward towards the final boxer opposing him. But as the boxer braces for impact, he's suddenly pulled aside by Ali as Raijin's punch just barely misses his head.
Ali glares at Raijin clearly incredibly angry. "You come into MY gym, beat up MY friends, and rivals, disrespect MY sport!?" He says tossing a pair of boxing gloves at Raijin who catches. "You want disrespect? Then I'll give you some disrespect," He says stepping into the big ring in the middle. "Get in. Now."
Raijin puts on the gloves punching the air a few times. "Heh. Cute. Alright then. You're 'the Champion' after all. Makes much more sense to kick YOUR ass!" He says stepping into the ring with Ali
All the boxers have gotten up from the floor with Pandora and Icarus looking at this match. "Are we… going to let them do this?" Icarus asks Pandora gulping as she looks a little nervous. These are BOTH the fighters for tomorrow's match! Is this even allowed?
Sonny Liston grunts standing behind the two, Mike Tyson already on his feet as well though he seems a little unsteady on his feet. "I don't think we can really stop them at this point," He says as the two take one step toward each other.
Raijin leans his head back confidently. "Alright, 'champ'. Tell you what. Just to let you see HOW outmatched you are I'm gonna give you a chance to hit me," He says leaning his head forward and turning his cheek towards Ali. "Come as close as you want. And when you start your punch, that's when I'm allowed to dodge. No matter HOW close you get!" He says and everyone's eyes widen in surprise at the brazenness of this guy.
"Don't let him disrespect you like that champ! Beat his ass!" Sonny calls out clenching his fist in anger.
Ali just nods. "Alright, Raijin. Just try to dodge this then!" He says raising his fist and slowly starts bringing it closer to Raijin's cheek.
"That's right. As CLOSE as you'd like!" Raijin says as Ali just keeps bringing his glove closer and closer, slowly. 'He's not very confident in his speed huh?' He thinks to himself before suddenly Ali's glove pokes at his cheek very gently and Ali pulls back, taking a step back. "Huh?"
Ali hops back and forth. "So confident in your speed, but you couldn't dodge that?" He taunts and Raijin feels a vein pop out on his forehead.
"HAAAAH?! That wasn't a PUNCH!"
"If you think a punch needs to be fast to count, then you got a LONG way to go, kid! CAM ON! Let me show you what a REAL fighter's like!" Ali taunts back before suddenly Raijin suddenly blasts forward to strike at Ali, the champ jerking his body aside, not even having his guard up as he dodges the strike, Raijin throwing another punch, and another. And another. And another! Over and over Raijin tries to strike Ali, but the champion just keeps moving out of the way JUST in time with each one. Raijin grits his teeth, not feeling himself hitting Ali AT ALL! He concentrates and it's as if time slows down around him as he sees his fist approach just as his previous retracts, Ali's eyes moving from his retracting fist to the new approaching one, and its as if his body is the wind, moving fluidly out of the way. The wind…
"The wind…" Raijin mutters before shaking his head, speeding up his strikes even further. Ali raises an eyebrow. The wind? He doesn't let up his dodging however.
Everyone looks on in shock as Ali is STILL expertly dodging Raijin's relentless strikes. "That's… crazy! How can he keep dodging those attacks so easily?!" Icarus exclaims as he can just BARELY keep up.
Sonny smirks. "It's because he's using boxing." He says crossing his arms confidently. "One of the two fundamentals of the sport. It's essentially the reason we don't use kicks. His footwork!" He declares as Icarus moves his attention down to Ali's feet, which are shuffling around, causing his upper body to be able to jerk to the side easily.
Icarus and Pandora raise an eyebrow as it looks like the man is… floating across the battlefield.
Raijin eventually retreats a little from his attacks, and Ali shuffles around a little more. "What? That all you got?" He asks as Raijin takes a deep breath.
"How about you show me what YOU'VE got!?" He says and Ali smirks as Raijin holds out his arms in challenge.
Ali raises his fists and moves in, with a slight smile on his face. "You asked for it," Raijin uses his concentration again, seeing Ali coming and he dodges the first strike with ease, not moving his feet one step, simply tilting his head, but Ali simply throws another at equally impressive speed. His strikes are as fast as Raijin's, yet they're not landing at all! Straight, Straight, Jab-Jab, Hook, UPPER! He tosses out combos of punches, all of which Raijin dodges, only moving his feet back when he's forced to back off. "You really don't got ANYTHING that can beat me, do ya!?" He says seeing Ali toss out strike after strike. However, slowly but surely Raijin finds himself backing away before suddenly his back hits the corner of the arena. He attempts to move to the side but Ali's got it covered, moving in his way! Raijin's eyes widen as he can see it! A DEADLY Straight he cannot dodge! He hates how easily he can see it, but he can't dodge it! Not from here! He tries tossing up his guard but he won't make it in time! However as Ali's fist approaches it suddenly stops, mere inches from Raijin's face and the boxer lowers his guard and walks back to his own and sits down. Raijin looks confused. "What!? What're you doing!?"
Ali points to a clock hanging on the wall. "It's been three minutes. That's a boxing round. So we get a break. You look like you needed it too. Lucky you," He says Raijin gritting his teeth as he shoots from the corner, his body practically trickling with electricity as he aims a straight kick, directly for Ali's head, but even seated Ali dodges it with a tilt of the body, the corner bending down from Raijin's kick. "What? Something piss you off?" Ali asks and Raijin seems to take a step back.
"Whatever. I've seen what I need to see. You don't stand a CHANCE tomorrow." He says jumping out of the arena, pointing to Ali. "You can mark my words on that!" He says exiting the room. "Grrr…" He pauses as he feels himself get angry, which makes him seem… confused. However, amidst his own confusion, he hears the sound of bells from down the hall as he sees Izanagi and Izanami walking toward him. "What do YOU want?"
Izanagi furrows an angry brow. "You will NOT disrespect Shinto, by going on such a CHILDISH rampage, Raijin. Settle it TOMORROW, you brat!" He yells and Raijin just scoffs.
"Whatever, 'dad'," He says pushing Izanagi aside as he walks past. "Not even worth any more of my time anyway. I'm just going to finish that guy off tomorrow! Then you'll leave me alone right?" He mutters giving Izanagi the finger as he exits. "See you tomorrow, 'champ'," He whispers to himself.
Izanami sighs, putting a hand on her cheek. "Where did we go wrong with him, dear?" She asks and Izanagi just holds her close.
"Best not to dwell on it. The boy has much on his plate."
Meanwhile back inside the gym Icarus, Pandora, and the others rush into the ring. "That was AWESOME, champ!" Pandora says as Ali just chuckles.
"It wasn't that much. He needed to be taught a lesson. Buuuut he's tough that's for sure! It's gonna be one hell of a match tomorrow! Wouldn't have it any other way for my grand revival match!"
Pandora nodding. "Yeah. He was… really rude."
Ali crosses his arms and lets out a sigh. "I'm pissed about that yeah. Comin' in here and messing with MY friends and my sport like that? Don't worry 'bout me though. Imma show him some REAL power tomorrow!" He says looking towards the entrance to his gym where Raijin left from.