One late night at the gym...

He turned along with her as she walked past him and finally ended up facing all three of them once more. Even though he didn't say so... he was glad Stone hadn't reacted. Woman or not, she must have outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Bad odds to go up against for any fighter. He remained quiet, and as Mako pulled her gear from her bag, he looked over the other two once again. His gaze lingered on Desire for a few moments. She'd been quiet and practically in the background the entire time so far. Which, once he'd thought about it, was actually a bit more unsettling than Stone's open signs of aggression.

Once Mako's gear emerged from the bag, he watched her as she pulled the gloves on. "Fine, have it your way." He shrugged... but grinned confidently. He had height, weight and reach all in his favor. Though, the rest was harder to gauge accurately. He moved away from the heavy bag finally, toward a more open area of the floor. His eyes never left the group as he walked. "Let's do this then. Might feel good to pound on something that can hit back for a bit." He rolled his shoulders, and cracked his neck from side to side.

Divine had been so quiet because she was tinkering around on her iPod. She was, to put mildly, the least action-oriented of the three, physically incapable of giving less of a damn about what was going on and making that quite apparent. Mako sighed, shaking her head as they made their way to the open space. "Just...ignore her."

Adrian looked confident, which was always a good sign. People tended to underestimate her, thinking she was just a mouthy little bitch...which wasn't wrong, really. She was certainly mouthy, and little, and had no shame on being a bitch. But that hardly meant she was just those things.

"I was thinking the exact same thing, Knight." She got into position and motioned for Stone and Divine to keep their distance. Typically, she wouldn't have any trouble with ganging up on a guy, but she wanted to see what this one had to offer. Maybe, just maybe, they could come to some sort of consensus when the blows stopped flying.

But, for now? Just asskicking.

Without a single warning or a cue, she ran towards Adrian at top speed and came at him with a shoulder tackle, looking to barrel her way into him and nullify the reach advantage before it could even be a thing.

And... it seemed he was right not to be worried about her. Not a bad thing. And it seemed as though Stone had no intention of going against Mako's order to stay back. He grew more and more focused as they squared off against each other. Had he underestimated her? Maybe a bit, but then again she commanded the respect of both of her teammate's it seemed, so that must mean something.

"Good then we can cut the chit-chat and get star..."He paused and his eyes widened in surprise as she charged in suddenly. A bit underhanded of her, but it wasn't completely unexpected. He'd been scrutinizing their every move since they'd begun demanding money from him, after all. With what little time he had, he squared his feet and braced for impact. As her shoulder plowed into his midsection, he moved his weight forward to try and stop her momentum before she managed to topple him over while moving to wrap his arms around her abdomen. She was, however, quite a bit stronger than he'd expected her to be. Otherwise he may have tried to completely avoid the attack instead of meeting it head on. He managed to stay on his feet, but only barely as the impact had overbalanced him.

Mako liked this guy. Solid. Ready to fight. Good looks. It was a refreshing change from the boyscouts that plagued this place, but it didn't mean she wouldn't absolutely ruin his shit if he didn't put up a good fight. This was going to be a trial by fire, and if he didn't watch out, she'd gladly burn him alive and dance on the cinders.

He managed to keep his feet steady when she hit him with the bum rush, stopping her from getting the ground and pound that she so adored. No big deal, she would work him down there eventually, and once he was on the floor he wouldn't be getting up. For now, though, she'd soften him a bit. He was in her effective range, and he would have one hell of a time getting her back out again.

She let him wrap his arms around her, but she could still move her arms enough to throw some punches, and that's exactly what she did - she swung left, then right, two quick hooks blasting at his ribs. "Take it!"

All the while, she kept pushing forward. It was a lot harder now that he was throwing his eight into the mix, but she wasn't giving up on it.

Once he'd gotten his arms around Mako, he found her body to be much firmer and taught than he'd expected. She was tough, strong, in good shape... and, in her own way, easy on the eyes. A fact that he was now having to force to the back of his mind to avoid getting distracted.

He growled in pain as both shots rained into his ribs in succession. But, he too, was tough as nails and took the strikes in stride as he took the time to replant his feet. "I'm not bad in the clinch either, y'know." He informed her as he fired two knee strikes toward her midsection as he reworked his hold on her, trying to, instead, maneuver his arms around her neck for an inverted arm-triangle choke. He had no illusions about the spar ending quite so quickly, but an early submission attempt could be just what he needed to pull ahead early on.

Provided he was successful in securing his hold, he dropped down to his knees while keeping his tight grip on her, using the dead weight from his body to force her to the ground with him in an advantageous position

Mako took the two knees in stride, answering them with another two hooks into those pretty little ribs of his. Knees, she could take. Adrian wasn't weak, but she'd been soaking up damage her entire life. She knew how to hang with the baddest and give back as good as she got - hell, worse than what she got, most of the time. It would take a while, but she'd win a striking war.

Unfortunately, that wasn't his plan - no, Adrian had something a little crazier in mind. Almost like he'd torn a page from her own playbook, he got her in a tight hold, immobilizing her arms. A triangle choke, though not one she'd ever seen before. If her hands weren't so damn busy, she might have clapped. "Good. Fucking hate guys with no stamina."

He started to force her down, and she knew stopping that was a top priority. Even if she got free, his weight advantage would be crazy on the ground, not something she wanted to deal with. She couldn't overpower him, but she still had some moves that might keep her on top.

She lashed out before they could get down all the way, shooting her foot into Knight's knee and going for the joints. If he got her down, she'd make him pay for every inch with spilled blood and broken bones.

He grinned, almost evilly, as his arms sank in around her neck. He worked the hold in tightly, hoping to sap away a bit of Mako's tenacity. His upper body strength was rather impressive, and the lithe muscles of his arms made chokes that much more painful. Granted, he was more proficient as a striker, but his submissions were solid as well. He'd always been a fairly well rounded fighter. "Yeah, better hope you can keep up." He taunted back, giving the hold a sudden jerk upward, torquing the hold tighter.

As he tried to drop to the mats, where he would have been likely to secure a quick victory, his leg was kicked completely out from under him. He still dropped down, but his hold on her faltered a bit as he landed with her much more harshly than he intended. Luckly his knees were already on their way down to the mat when her kick landed, otherwise he may have ended up benched due to injuries even before his debut match. "Hey! Watch the knees." He warned while trying to re-affirm his choke.

She chuckled through her grunt as the kick connected, but she had to cut it short - laughing like this was more than a little painful. Even through the pain, she managed to mirror his smile, loving the wild look in his eyes, enjoying the raw nature of it all. She spent so much time taking on women, it was easy to forget the strength a guy could bring. She'd be fighting plenty more of them now that she was in Tension, it only made sense that she would have to train with one.

The kick did its job, made him fall down weird, and as much as Mako would have loved to quip back at his protest, she realized the danger all too well - she needed to make some space, quick and fast. She pulled away hard, trying to slip out of the hold before he could lock it in again and give her a very bad day.

She was proving to be much more of a problem than he would have guessed, even though he'd made it a point not to underestimate the girl. If she was this tough, at her size... he shuddered to think what the other two were capable of, as one was his size, and the other even bigger by a considerable margin.

He struggled to re-establish his hold as she began pulling away, making his task much more difficult. And, despite the struggle... he found he was smiling too. But just because he was enjoying himself, didn't mean he planned on losing his focus. She'd already proven that she should be taken seriously.

With one final tug, combined with the slippery sweat that was now glistening on both their skin, he lost his hold on her. But, having never been one to let his opponent rest, he scrambled back in, trying to force her down on her back under his body weight. It certainly seemed that their fighting styles were similar, as he looked to be going for a mounted position, setting up for the ground and pound technique that made him so successful in the MMA world.

It wasn't easy, but she managed pull away from him and escape the deadly hold - much as it annoyed her to admit, it had a lot to do with what she was wearing. Most often, she'd be fighting with her jacket on, and while that was good for protection, it wouldn't have been slippery enough for to squeeze out.

Regardless of the reason, she was free now, and started to move back in and get ready to throw a haymaker, put him down for good. He had some surprising speed, though, and he managed to burst up before she could get the chance, sending her flying on impact. If she'd been closer to his weight, she might have come out better, but with the differences it just wasn't happening. She went down, and he landed on top of her. Better than being in a submission hold, but not by much.

She brought her arms up on pure instinct, shielded her chest and letting out a manic laugh from behind the guard. "Just met and you're already trying to get on top, huh? Fucking figures, pretty boy."