The next day Heimdall blows his Gjallarhorn as the crowds have once more gathered, the gods watching even more intently after the defeat of Hachiman. Pandora and Icarus are standing in their usual spot, Ra having gotten himself a seat away from Izanami and Izanagi this time around, Osiris standing behind him rather content with himself. A spotlight shoots down from the sky around Heimdall, illuminating only him. "Ladies and gentlemen! Gods and goddesses! Welcome back to the second day of Ragnarok! Today we'll be sure to see some more intense and amazing matches! Following the victory of Sun Tzu, humanity does not seem to be slowing down whatsoever! In fact! They appear to be speeding up! What say you, everyone!? Shall we see what amazing displays of power Ragnarok has in store for us today!?" Heimdall calls out through his horn as the crowd erupts into cheers for more battles. "Then let me introduce you all to our next two competitors!" He swings his hand out towards the gate to humanity a spotlight shooting towards it as well.
"Iiiiiin the blue corneeeer is THIS man! What lies in an epithet!? In a title!? "Iron" Mike Tyson, the man with fists of pure steel! Thomas "Hitman" Hearns, who was nothing short of a killer in the ring, with his deadly fists! "The Big Bear" Sonny Liston, a man to rival even the gods in his size! To boxers, big and small, their epithet is not merely a title, but a symbol of their very being! A core principle that tells you exactly what you are up against when you step into the ring with them! So what does it say, in a world of these modern-day powerhouses such as these legends, that a man exists known simply as 'The Greatest'!?" Heimdall calls out as Ali appears in the spotlight. He's wearing a white silk jacket, his blue boxing gloves, white boots with blue lining, and boxing shorts with the large belt reading 'champion', a confident smirk on his face, holding an arm in the air. "Of all men to ever step into the ring with this man, very few have managed to do so much as to lay even a finger on him, let alone knock him to the floor. There exists no man, past, present, FUTURE, who can take this man's place atop the pedestal he has ascended to! He is without a shred of doubt a man who deserves to stand at the pinnacle of fist-fighting! With grace, skill, and beautiful brutality, he systematically struck his way to the top! The word 'dedication' does not even BEGIN to describe the love this man has for his sport! Today! This man is here for his first official match since his death on Earth! And I, for one, have no doubt that he fully intends to demonstrate why he is called 'The Greatest'!" Ali tosses off his jacket, as he leaps into the ring, hopping in place with a bright smile at everyone in the crowd. "Weighting in at 214 pounds! Standing at 6 foot 3 inches tall! HUMANITY'S GREATEST FIST-FIGHTER! The king of the ring! THE GREATEST! THE CHAMPION! MUHAMMAAAAAAD ALIIIIIIIIII!" He introduces, and the crowd goes wild, Ali laughing as he stretches a little, showing off his toned body. Heimdall looks a little confused though. 'This man… he's not as bulky as I expected.'
Ali throws his hand in the air. "Oh yeah. This is what I'm talkin' about! What an audience for my grand revival match!" He calls out with a laugh.
Heimdall nervously chuckles. "At his request, the arena this round will be THIS!" He declares as several more spotlights shoot down onto the arena, revealing the entire arena to be a gigantic boxing ring. It still has the same size and ropes at the edges but the arena is square with a small stool in either corner.
"Not exactly what I had in mind, but I can work with this," Ali says before handing a piece of paper to Heimdall. "Hey, Heimdall. Read this out loud, will ya?" He says and Heimdall looks a bit confused but opens the slip anyway.
"Um… sure thing." He says giving it a quick read-over. "You're KIDDING right!?" He asks and Ali just shakes his head.
"A real boxin' match ain't complete without it."
"R-right. Very well then! Muhammad Ali's match is sponsored by Cleopatra's beauty salon: 'Ptelomaic Beauty'! Located in the eastern high-end shopping district of humanity's side of Valhalla. Are you a human who is not quite certain that your golden age is your true look? Do you seek to improve on what the gods define as 'perfection'?! Then come to Ptelomaic Beauty! Where we show you your TRUE golden age!" He reads as Ali waves at a woman in the crowd. An utter dark-skinned beauty in full Egyptian Pharoah attire, sitting on a rather fancy throne, somewhat similar to Ra's pyramid, though his throne is naturally WAY more extravagant.
"Thank you Aliiii! You're most kind!" She calls out, blowing him a kiss as Ali just laughs.
"No problem, Cleo. Anytime!"
Heimdall pauses for a few seconds as the gods look confused. "Is this some kinda joke!?" "A SPONSOR!?" "You've got to be kidding!" "Take it seriously!"
Heimdall clears his throat and holds out his hand towards the other entrance, another spotlight shining down. "Now without further ado! Iiinnnnnnn the red corneeeer we have THIS god! Across the entire nation of Shinto, nay, ALL OF HEAVEN, the sound of his drums signals trouble! A storm is brewing! No being, god or otherwise is capable of stopping him in his tracks. He is the undisputed fastest god in all of Heaven!" Suddenly, from above, the loud sound of thunder echoes as Raijin suddenly crashes onto the field from high above. He stands up, with a smirk on his face. Unlike when he went to Ali's gym, he brought his weapons this time. Large ornate bachi, with one currently at his side, the other in his hand. Both are metal with a lightning pattern embedded into them. In his other hand, he carries a large drum with the same symbol on it as his necklace beads. He bangs on the drum as sparks seem to fly from the drumstick as he does. "The sound of his wild drumming as he approaches humanity has come to call thunder! The blitz as he passes they call lightning! The sound of his feet on the ground and the banging of his drum is all the applause he needs! Listening to anything but the sounds of the wind in his ears and his feet against the ground is a waste of time! To test the limits of speed itself, this god zooms through Shinto! Some may call him arrogant, but arrogance cannot be backed up by ability! And this god has ability in spades!" Raijin leaps over the ropes and into the ring with ease. "Will his speed be fast enough to usurp 'The Greatest' from his throne!? Will his wild drumming of triumph blow out the eardrums of everyone in this arena!? Or will the great thunderclap be rung for the last time!? We will surely see soon enough! Weighting in at 216 pounds! Standing at 6 foot 4 inches! The fastest god in heaven! The Bad Boy of Shinto! THE THUNDER DRUM! LIGHTNING INCARNATE! RAIIIIIJIIIIINNNN!" He calls out as Raijin steps towards the center of the ring.
Ali points to Raijin with his glove. "Hey. Where's your weapon? You GOTTA have one or else you ain't doing much to me. You didn't even come CLOSE yesterday."
Raijin pauses for a second. "Weapon? THIS is my weapon!" He holds up his drumstick, tossing his drum aside as he picks out the other from the side. "I don't need a drum when I'm going to be playing your skull like a drum soon enough though. Speaking of weapons, are you sure you don't want to take off those gloves? I saw yesterday how ineffective those things are." He asks and Ali raises an eyebrow.
"Take off my gloves? Not a chance. Little Pandora made sure these things pack a little extra punch. Plus, I'm gonna fight you with boxin'. And in boxin' you wear gloves. Problem?" He says as the two of them step up in front of each other, for a regular face-off, Raijin standing just an inch taller.
"Suit yourself."
"I am. So who's YOUR sponsor?"
Raijin smirks, crossing his arms and taking a brief glance at his armband. "Sponsor? Who needs a sponsor? Only person I need looking out for me is ME!"
"So I guess you're already at a disadvantage huh? Even more than yesterday."
Raijin scoffs, crossing his arms and flexing his rather powerful biceps. "I wasn't at a disadvantage. Just letting you get cocky is all."
"Oh is THAT why I cornered you without trouble? I see. I see."
Heimdall gently pokes his way in between them. "Alright, you two! Go to your corners and let's get started!" He says as the two fighters go to their respective corners of the giant arena. Raijin looks up into the stands and raises his bachi to the audience with a cocky smirk.
"GO RAIJIN!" "Kick that cocky human's ass!" "Beat him to a pulp!" "Play his skull like a drum!" Various rough-looking Yomi and Oni call down as Izanagi and Izanami sit in silence and watch Raijin take his place.
As Ali walks to his corner he nods up at his fellow boxers, and Cleopatra sitting in the stands watching him dutifully. "YEAH!" "That's our champion!" "NO WAY We'd miss something THIS big!" "The revival of the champ!"
Heimdall hops onto a commentator's chair and table which floats up for a bird's eye view. "Here it is gods and goddesses, ladies and gentlemen! THE BOXING MATCH OF THE CENTURY!" He calls out holding his Gjallarhorn to the sky as a large jumbotron floats down above the stage, all four sides showing a picture of Raijin and Ali.
Name: Muhammad Ali
Age: 1.070
Height: 6'3''
Weight: 214lbs
Win/Loss/Ko: 57-5-37
Style: Orthodox Style
Finisher: Apis Mellifera
Name: Raijin
Age:
Height: 6'4'
Weight: 216lbs
Win/Loss/KO: 0-0-0
Style: Lightning Drum Style
Finisher: Yakusa no Ikazuchi
Ali smirks as he looks up at the jumbotron. "A complete newbie huh? Not exactly what I'd hoped for, but you'll do!"
Raijin just smirks right back. "I might not have an OFFICIAL record but I've beaten more people than you've ever KNOWN!"
"Prepare yourselves! There is no way you will want to miss THIS!" 'Although it's not actually boxing since Raijin is using a weapon. But I suppose it's as close as it's gonna get!' Heimdall calls "Alright! With this, we are set to let the third match… BEGIN!" He declares raising his tiny hammer to strike at the bell.
Ali takes his fighting stance, ready to counter Raijin's first strike. He knows EXACTLY how fast he is! Raijin lowers his stance, placing both of his bachi against his thighs and it's as if time slows down around the two fighters as Heimdall's hand slowly approaches the bell. The moment it makes contact there's a loud BOOM as Raijin suddenly blasts forward, leaving a black streak on the ground. Ali feels a powerful wind pass him by, his eyes widening in surprise before looking behind him, Raijin nearly on the opposite side of the arena. Ali barely got his fist raised before Raijin was past him! That was WAY faster than he thought it would be! Raijin looks over his shoulder with a cocky smirk. "Just so you know. I missed that on purpose," He says clacking his bachi together in a steady rhythm.
"Oh really? You know? I've had enough of your WEAK trash-talk since yesterday! CAM ON!" Ali declares turning around and sticking to his previous stance.
Raijin smirks. "You asked for it! I'm coming for your head this time. Just try to dodge!" He says raising his bachi into the air before slamming them into his legs again. KARAIJIN! He shoots forward at the same intense speed, Ali letting on a smirk himself just as Raijin approaches, raising a bachi for a strike. Once again there's a loud BANG the moment Raijin hits Ali and Ali stumbles back a bit, with blood running from his nose, falling to his knee.
Osiris smirks. "It seems Raijin has already knocked that human off his feet."
Ra scoffs a bit. "Look closer, Osiris," He says as Osiris' eyes widen as Raijin steps back as well, blood dripping from his nose as well.
Ali gets on his feet again, wiping under his nose, and hops in place, wobbling his arms around lifelessly, looking at the sky as if warming up his joints. "I can't remember the last time someone hit me in the face. I'll give you that. I'm gonna have to pay that back in full. Ain't nobody mess with my pretty face!" He says Raijin looks almost shocked.
"That's… never happened before," He says as they both look at each other briefly and there's a little spark in their eyes as they both couldn't believe the speed of their opponent! Raijin leaps forward, swinging his bachi around with wild and powerful movements. Down, Diagonal Down, Inverse Side, Side, Stab, Double Strike! He swings with vigorous speed, his next combo beginning as soon as the previous ends, Ali stepping into a fighting pose, swiftly dodging each strike by a hair, having to swing his body side to side, back and down in rapid succession.
Icarus grips the railing. "T-this ALREADY can't compare to yesterday! Is boxing's footwork really THAT powerful!? I can't keep up with Raijin already!" He says and Pandora cheers happily, jumping in place, still wearing her pink boxing gloves.
"Yeah! It is!" She excitedly declares, Raijin's attacks not even coming close to connecting in spite of how close it looks! Even as Raijin tosses tens of strikes at Ali in mere moments! BUTTERFLY STYLE: BRUSH-FOOT!
"T-that's… INSANE!" Icarus screams out with Pandora smiling brightly.
Raijin finishes his combo with a twin-strike in an X from above, Ali leaning himself back, feeling his back hit the ropes finally. "Then how about this!?" Raijin retracts his bachi he clacks it against his other, the two sparking with electricity. MEIRAIJIN! His bachi flares up becoming coated in a bright flashing electricity almost like a shell of armor and he strikes it towards Ali even faster than his previous strikes! His back is against the ropes! Humanity collectively clenches its fists for its boxing champion. All except Ali's fellow boxers, one of which smirks as Ali throws his hands out he grabs the ropes, and throws his entire body back and exactly aside from the attack, which slams right into the wall behind him making a massive crater. Raijin swiftly pulls back, his bachi still flared up in his Meiraijin technique as he tries once more to strike at Ali but it's as if Ali's body is made of wind, simply adapting and swinging around Raijin's attacks. BUTTERFLY STYLE: SWALLOWTAIL! However, he's not without injury as he gets tiny cuts and burns from a few of the strikes, Raijin's speed NEARLY enough to hit him! Raijin finally moves back a little to collect himself, looking almost confused as to why his attacks aren't landing.
As he moves back Ali shakes his body around a little with a laugh almost like he's dancing. "Oh? Done already? And here I was thinking we were still warming up?" He asks letting go of the ropes as he starts walking towards Raijin warming up his fist with a few light jabs at the air, Raijin winding back his arm as well as the two step up to one another. As they get close to each other it appears like they both disappear for a brief moment, in a blur, and reappear with a swift cross-counter to each other's faces, Ali's fist coming up JUST short thanks to Raijin's bachi and slight height advantage, but luckily Ali manages to dodge Raijin's strike. However the next moment Raijin steps back as it appears like he was hit! Ali capitalizes as he steps in with a flurry of blows to Raijin's face and stomach, his fists nowhere near fast enough to disappear as each strike is meticulous and carefully planted! Left left left! Right, Straight, Straight! 'Damn this guy! His hits… they're WAY strong!' Raijin thinks as he gets hit over and over. However after merely five to six hits, none of which were to his face, Raijin has regained his footing and begins to dodge himself taking almost a full step back each time before going in for a counter-hit, Ali twisting his body aside, to dodge the bachi before feeling Raijin's foot in his stomach sending the boxer tumbling back.
Izanagi grits his teeth seeing this sight of Raijin getting beaten up. "He HIT Raijin!? That's impossible!" He says clenching his fist. "RAIJIN! Pull yourself together! Take this seriously!"
Izanami puts a hand on Izanagi's, causing him to calm down instantly. "Relax dear. Raijin will win. I have every confidence in our boy."
Raijin grits his teeth up at his grandparents. "Shut up will you?" He mutters under his breath as he and Ali rush at each other again, Ali taking the first swing this time with Raijin going on the defensive, still swinging his bachi to try and stop Ali from attacking! Ali goes in with swift dodges to all of Raijin's attempts to stop him, striking hard and fast with straights and hooks, all of which Raijin manages to dodge. Raijin suddenly feels a strike to his stomach, much larger than Ali's fist which knocks him back as Ali stops his assault, sighing a bit.
Meanwhile, Ra's eyes move from the fight, up to Pandora. "So… she did not leave Ali entirely unarmed."
Osiris raises an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean, lord Ra?"
Ra turns his eyes back to the fight where Ali holds out his glove. "Those gloves."
Raijin shakes his head. "Okay, so what's THAT about!?"
Ali's glove starts slowly glowing before they change color, turning a golden yellow. "I was hoping to not need these things. But after yesterday, it was pretty damn clear. Ordinary boxing technique isn't gonna cut it against a guy as fast as you! Especially not when I can't even hit you without them. So I'm going to show you some DIVINE TECHNIQUES! CAM ON!" He declares getting back into his stance. CHAMPION'S GOLDEN GLOVES!
Raijin stands up, coating his bachi in electricity and spinning them around his fingers before getting back into his own fighting stance. "BRING IT ON, HUMAN!"