Day 20: The Beatdown Part II

This article, , is the ninth chapter of the Investigating Grat arc, which is part of Bleach: Cataclysm. Randy Jones and Ries Nohr serve as the primary focus, with Tiffany Henderson as the primary POV character. May, Lloyd, Garrett Sheppard and Aaron Sheppard serve as supporting characters.

Garrett's fight did not start immediately. There was another side of the draw to take into consideration first, and it was into that draw that Randy and Lloyd found themselves placed. In total there where roughly twenty or so fighters, with more apparently on the way.

It was going to be a long day.

"I'm fighting that guy." Randy, whispering to Tiffany and May, said.

"You've got height and weight on him. I wouldn't worry." Lloyd answered, also whispering.

Randy's opponent had been named as Ries Nohr. Tiffany followed Randy's pointing finger towards him and her eyes fell on a wiry young man with long silver-coloured hair tied up in a tight ponytail. Ries was dressed is a loose-fitting blue-coloured jacket with a chain necklace and belt, coupled with a pair of padded blue trousers. He sported a strange black tribal-design tattoo on his right cheek. When he saw Tiffany scrutinizing him he rose to his feet and approached.

"Hello, there." Ries greeted. "You are Randy, correct?"

"I am."

"My name is Ries. I hope we have a good- Well, hello." He approached May. "I hope a beautiful young woman like yourself is not planning to fight."

"Oh, no! I'm just here to support my friends."

"Beauty and kindness. I hope we can speak further later."

Tiffany watched him go with a growing sense of worry. There was something familiar to her about this Ries, though for the life of her she could not put her finger on the why. It would come to her later she was sure, but by then it could be too late. She instead returned her attention to Randy and Lloyd.

"Ries would shit a brick if he knew May was already spoken for." Lloyd noted. "If Hawke where her then pretty-boy would've had his face rearranged."

"He was just being polite." May insisted, though she was blushing crimson.

"Be careful, okay? There's something about him." Tiffany, ignoring May and Lloyd, said.

"He's spiritually aware." Garrett noted. "Listen to Tiffany. Keep your head and watch your openings."

"Speaking of openings, I would like a word."

Everyone but Garrett near leapt out of their skins! The person who spoke was none other than Garrett's father Aaron, whose hand now rested on his son's shoulder. Garrett turned casually to face him before rising from his feet and motioning his father to lead on.

"Garrett..." Tiffany began.

"I'll be fine." He assured her. "I won't be long alright?"

Tiffany reluctantly agreed and returned her attention towards Randy. He was making some final preparations before he walked towards the centrally located ring where Ries was already waiting. The cheers of the assembled crowd grew louder as Randy entered the ring. It seemed there where quite a few who supported Randy. In comparison the chants for Ries where essentially non-existent.

Ries grinned.

"I hope there won't be any hard feelings."

"Why would there-Ooof!"

Randy just about got his guard up in-time! Ries had closed the distance between them in a single heartbeat. Tiffany registered the movement as something altogether different to, or. In fact she didn't know what form of movement he had used.

"What was that?" She asked.

"That was Māipō." Lloyd answered. He continued on at Tiffany's confused look. "It's a high-speed movement technique used by martial artists. Instead of using the surrounding reishi, like I would with Hirenkyaku, the Māipō makes use of the user's internal reiryoku to produce a continuous movement."

"Hawke uses it." May added. "And I think Randy's in trouble."

True enough he was being systematically broken down. Ries parried his jabs easily enough before darting inside to land his own punches to Randy's ribs, which he followed with a direct upper-cut that left Randy staggering. Suddenly Randy's size was a hindrance: he just couldn't catch the smaller Ries, who was now stepping clear of Randy's punches and kicks entirely, which looked slow and laboured.

"Wait for it." Garrett, sporting a smile, said.

"When did you get back?" Tiffany asked.

"Just now. I'll tell you about it later. For now just watch."

Randy's feet emitted a flickering green light as he suddenly sped towards Ries's back, where he wrapped his arms around the smaller contender. Randy was a tall and muscular young man -- when he started squeezing you felt the pressure. At least normally at any rate. Ries looked to be at his ease.

"I think its time, don't you?" Ries asked.

"Wha-?"

Ries's spiritual power gushed out of his body like a flood! He broke Randy's grip and turned to face him in one fluid motion, where he landed a vicious kick to his head. Randy's neck made a terrible "snap" sound and the big man fell towards the canvas. Garrett's feet emitted their own green light, although he made a noticeable "swishing" sound more akin to Shunpo, and suddenly he was underneath the larger Randy acting as support. His next step took him and Randy clear of the ring and into the back room set aside for the competitors.

Tiffany, May and Lloyd followed in almost immediately.

"May, he's in bad shape." Garrett revealed.

"Give me some-"

"Leave him to me."

Ries pushed past Lloyd and knelt beside Randy, with Garrett eyeing him dangerously. Ries ignored him for the most part and placed his hand on Randy's neck. Green light emanated from his fingertips for a short period and when he moved his hand away Randy gave a groan of pain before sitting up.

"The hell happened to me?"

"Ries kicked you senseless." Garrett answered.

"Then patched you up." Lloyd continued.

"Huh. Thanks, I guess."

"You are quite welcome. I enjoyed our match."

With that Ries politely excused himself and withdrew to the far side of the room, where he sat on a bench with his eyes closed. He appeared to be regulating his breathing. Tiffany and Garrett eyed him from where they stood but soon put him out of their thoughts.

"I knew there was something about him." Tiffany said.

"Come on. We should go and see whose fighting next."

With that Garrett led his friends, including Randy, back into the arena...