King of the Ring [Unknown, OPEN]

[Salvador Mora]

KnockOut now had a choice to make. He could try to abort his attack, and try to dodge those nails... Or he could keep going and hope to beat Persona down before the sword weilding Rider could finish him off.

Or... His fist, the one leading the jabbing attack, twisted, the Kamen Rider forcing the rocket propelled limb to change course into a rising arc, rather than a straight jab. Rather than abort his attack, he -changed- it.

"KO HOOK BOOSTER UPPER!" Then, as soon as he felt his blow following through, and a Phantom completing the swing for him, KnockOut vanished, replaced by another phantom as he skidded to a curving stop behind Persona.

[The Unknown]

The nails would impale through the phantom and solidify, paving the way for Persona to finish his onslaught. However, Persona wasn't a stupid one. He quickly turned around, the first part of his assault already in hand as the ritual began. (Since I don't feel like c&ping or retyping THE WHOLE DAMN THING, I'll keep it simple.)

[Salvador Mora]

KnockOut, at this point, though now that the nail had pinned a Phantom rather than himself, vanished again, and again, as he bobbed and weaved, the Kamen Rider now pushing himself to simply weather the assault by narrowly avoiding the sheer onslaught of attacks coming at him, though as he closed in, avoidance was turning into grazes as he tried to close in. If he could just get in one... good... attack... And as he closed into punching range again, he unleashed a second KO Hook Booster Jabbing, attempting to pummel the black-armored Rider into submission before Persona's own finisher's final attacks turned him into an ash pile, forming a veritable wall of fists intent on pummeling Persona into paste.

[The Unknown]

The full-out assault was nearing its end, but the damned rat kept dodging, making his body-doubles take the hits. Fine. That could easily be remedied. Persona created a 1-second lag on his 15th attack. This would give KnockOut that opening he oh-so-desperately craved. Taking the first two punches, Persona would immediately open fire again at close range.

[Salvador Mora]

Oh crap. KnockOut mentally winced as he saw the rest of the attacks coming at point blank, but two punches, that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, the Rider attempting to weather the remaining three attacks as his fists jackhammered into Persona's body.

Five punches. Ten punches. Twenty. Fifty. EIGHTY, and finally, ONE HUNDRED strikes, and a ringing bell later, Kamen Rider KnockOut was heavily injured, but he'd unleashed the full fury of his OWN finisher on Persona.

[The Unknown]

Persona took some of the punches head on as the nails from the Persona Scheme dissipated. As soon as he was given the opportunity, he jumped back "You're at your limit, and I'm just getting started," Persona said, panting a little from having taken what seemed to be 22 punches. He let himself rest a little as the soreness of his body was numbed out by a short adrenaline rush. "Your attacks in that form are weaker... I can kill you right now without even trying..." Persona said with a small chuckle. "But, I like your spirit. I'll give you an option. Die, desperately holding your wounds like a child deprived of medical attention, or join me in my Rider hunt."

[Salvador Mora]

KnockOut was quiet, eying the dark Rider, considering his options. Persona was right. In this form, he couldn't hit hard enough to bring the other Rider down. All he could do was dodge, and he couldn't do that forever.

But there was no way he was going to help this guy hunt down other Riders. He'd only just found out they existed, and they couldn't all be like this guy.

But with some space between him and Persona, he DID have a third option. As much as he was loathe to consider it... But he took it, and used his Float Form's immense speed, despite his body's protests...

To take off running the other direction, little more than a streak of red and blue.