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James was all grins himself, but he slightly more winded then his opponent. James trained hard, but he was still young and he had very bad genes. Much of his family was genetically fat or small, and none of them had very much endurance. James had to work three times as hard to get to the same place as someone with good genes, like Athena.

And he didn't work three times as hard. James was a tough kid, lots of heart and a lot skill to go with it; but his cardio was now fully in question. He was breathing from his mouth and his movements were obviously starting to slow down. He set his hips low and put his hands high to protect himself from strikes and just started edging toward her.

He wasn't quite sure how she would react just yet, so his hips were very low and his movements were quite slow. He was also watching her hands and feet carefully, not very skilled at striking himself he feared getting struck; for he had never been hit cleanly before. And like anyone who had never been hit with a full blown punch he thought he was made of glass, he wasn't but he sure as hell thought he was.

"I'm keeping this promotion!"

He said quite loudly as they were inches from closing range with one another.

James chose to react first. He feinted out with his right hand and actually attempted to grab her forward wrist, but he hardly expected it to work and thus didn't commit enough to it for it to truly be considered anything but a feint. At the same time he stepped in with his own forward right foot and stepped past his opponents forward right on the outside, thus crossing his leg over a distance and then shoved his body through the motion.

He would then attempt to hook her ankle with his own ankle as he pushed forward at her with his shoulder and arms; attempting a very simple but highly effective forward leg trip takedown, and if it worked he would actually fall with her into her own guard.

If it didn't work then they were now well into clinch range and would be fighting for position. Irrelevant his smile had faded, a lot was riding on this win for him. James didn't have the name Athena did, a lose here sent him into obscurity forever and he would never be able to rise through the pro fighting ranks; something that would utterly crush his spirit. James was young and very fragile mentally, losing here was not an option for him.

Kill or be killed time, this was about to turn into a dog fight.

She never even had a chance. The moment her head touched his chest shifted his weight to the right to force her head slightly to the side and bent forward, placing her head into his arm pit and then sliding it down so he could wrap his arm under her neck, he then took his right hand and slide it and gripped his left hand Gable grip style; the result was a standing guillotine, but he didn't simply keep standing.

As she tried to fall he dropped his weight, allowing her to fall. Do to the head control she had no way to 'roll' for the knee or ankle hold she was going for and was now in a mounted guillotine, he pressed the blade of his forearm against her neck and extended his back as he pushed down with his hips against her stomach.

She had no where to go. She could roll over and let go of his leg, but then he had a guard guillotine, and she couldn't simply pop her head out due to how tight the hold was. She had few options, and going for a submission of her own was not one of them. Even if she did find a way out, he now had her mounted due to the way she chose to fell by setting her hips against his.

With the choke locked in that allowed him to simply slide up into the mount as they fell. And if she chose not to fall once she felt the choke in? Then he would fall to his own back and pull a tight guard and arch his back and extend his hips, same choke, same win; different position.

All the while James was grimacing with force as he tried to force her to to tap or go to bed.

He let her take his back, a Judoka was hardly a normal opponent who was weak off his back in a standing position, if anything he was stronger. He would grab right forearm area with his left hand and slide his right arm up and placed the elbow against the right shoulder, all of this in one clean motion. He would then close his feet together and roll his hips to the right side, shifting all his weight right and then quickly forward into a judo throw.

Unlike wrestling throws, which could be countered by setting the hips and grape vining the opponents leg, a judo throw actually worked best when the opponent set and waited for an opening, as it took advantage of the set hips to cause more momentum. The counter for this technique didn't exist in wrestling, and it was highly unlikely she would be able to counter such a technique. One thing she could do was keep her 'grip' around his waist, but this throw fixed that as well.

As the fighters fell to the ground the judoka would wrench with his left hand on the arm of his opponent, breaking the clasp by also falling onto the 'fingers' of the Athena, he would then take his left handed grip and set his hip against her, he would hold tight against the wrist of the arm under his body and pull it out, he would then feed his right arm under her elbow and clasp his own wrist, and 'wrench' the joint up and out and then twist it the incorrect way of the shoulder joint while keeping his hips set on his opponents side. She could raise and grab him and fight the kimura, but he control over the arm by setting his weight on it.

This allowed him to kimura his opponent from side control; and as he did this he pressed his back against his opponents side and raised his hips, setting down on her and wretching the arm harder. He wasn't trying to make her tap, he was trying to destroy her shoulder.

There actually was a counter to this move, and existed more in BJJ. Athena moved her left foot inbetween his feet and locked it against his left leg. He wasn't going to be able to throw her with her weight locked in this position, since it counter-balanced with his own body. It was about time Athena used her strength in this battle. Skill was one thing, but strength played a big part in this, too. Now came the wrestling. His left arm was suddenly underhooked by her left arm; and because his left arm couldn't get to her right arm, her right arm rose up to capture underneath his raised right arm. Both of her hands clasped behind his neck, locking his arms in the bend of each of them, placing him in a good ole Nelson Hold.

The fall would still happen, but Athena's hold was still active, so James would mostly just fall face first onto the apron. She would be mounted on his back while pressing down against his neck. This was known as a neck crank, which was probably one of the most lethal moves in grappling. For her to be using this technique against a kid showed just how serious she was taking this match. The kid would practically feel his spine being bent right underneath his skull, and it was not a very fun feeling to experience. Some of the people who recognized this move quickly became worried. They knew if she continued the move, this kid may not get to fight ever again. And we're not talking about paralysis.

Outside of the expo, a group of stoned hippies was protesting GRAPPLE.

"GRAPPLE USES CHILD LABOR!

"GRAPPLE UNDERPAYS THIRD WORLD FARMERS!"

"PASS THE ******** BONG, YO!"


"...you're holding the bong, ******** style="color: blue">"Dude... woah, that's deep."

"GRAPPLE HAS FLOURIDE AND IT WILL CONTROL YOUR MIIIIND!"

The group of tie-dyed hippies and hobos seemed to be mostly, well, hippies and hobos. They reeked of weed, really didn't consist of more than ten people, and none of them seemed to have any particular idea of what in the hell they were talking about.

Edit: Nevermind, I realized this will just cause problems for when I get back and make Vin hate me.

Good fight Vin, I wish we could finish it. Rule it a draw or continue when I come back on the 13th?