"Quite." Furlong will wait patiently for his cue, while also scanning the crowd for his companions.

Alys, Barnabas, Kasha, Vastra, Yvan: You all take a few up and Vastra shows off some of the books and wines that she bought. As you go on, you hear talk of how this old man decided to challenge Vanity and how it'll be funny to watch him get obliterated by the Tiefling. "That's Furlong all right." Vastra mutters. "Excuse me, could you tell me where this Vanity is fighting?" "Uh sure, just go over there until you find the ring and a big-ass crowd." "Thank you. Come on! If we're quick, we might be able to get there and see Furlong before the fight starts!" Vastra begins to head off in the direction the man pointed.

Stella smiles at Rinn. "Shall we go say hi to the others before lunch?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Kasha tags along with wherever the group goes, mumbling to herself, "Oh my that was delicious." She then perks up as Vastra spoke. "Is Furlong getting his ass kicked again?"

Rinn and Stella: As the two of you decide what to do, you see Vastra start to lead the group off toward something. You can either get a meal at the tavern, or go follow them and group up.

Alys, Barnabas, Kasha, Vastra, and Yvan: "He could pull it off." Vastra says, as she leads the crew towards where Furlong is going to fight.

Furlong: As you wait for Vanity and do whatever it is that you need to do to mentally and physically ready yourself for this fight, you see the party, sans Rinn and Stella rapidly approaching you. 

"Well, my companions, are you here to provide moral support, to ridicule me about my age, or the usual mix of both?"

"Well, I think that you can win, Kasha thinks that you're going to get your ass kicked, so probably both."

"Indeed. Well, it seems this fight will be just straightforward fisticuffs, so I cannot ask much of you other than your encouragement. Though, Bixby, perhaps your special brand of encouragement would do me best of all."

Furlong hands his cane to Vastra and cracks his knuckles. "You know the waiting is the hardest part, I must say."

Stella smiles and hooks her arm around Rinn's. "Come on, let's join them and see what they're up to before we get lunch. Hopefully Furlong's all right." She tugs Rinn after the group.

Kasha begins chanting Furlong's name in excitement, banging her fists playfully on the arena floor with the beat.

"Way ahead of ya, whiskers!" The 'half-orc' says as he precariously balanced a pan flute on a finger tip. "Just as soon as they call you up, I got just the number for your entrance. Not that'cha need it! That knuckle head over there ain't got nothing on ya!" He slaps Furlong good on the shoulder. As he does, Furlong feels a familiar nudging at the mind. While in the past Bixby -- Barnabus as he preferred being called when among others outside the group -- has proven able to form a mental link without permission. For those perhaps a bit more on edge or with certain inclination, he's learned to make the attempt 'feel' more pronounced in a nudge, forewarning at least a desire to use the link. And if Furlong heeds his next words...  

For Furlong:

 Yet throughout it all, Barnabus expression remain unchanged. "I'unno know 'bout the rest of ya, but I'm gonna see if there's any side action going on around this thing... And maybe sign up too. Haven't decided yet." He whispers to the others as he starts looking around the area for bookies or the like.

Alys would light up when Yvan would offer to share his snack, "Sure, I'll try it!".

She'd munch down on her snacks as Vastra leads the group over to Furlong and wave excitedly upon their approach.

"You've got my vote! Kick Vanity's ass!" Alys would bounce in anticipation, wishing him good luck.

Rinn and Stella: You meet up with the others, who have arrived at the ring in time to have some words with Furlong before the fight. "You two were gone for quite some time. I was beginning to wonder if the two of you weren't getting up to some...mischief." 

Alys, Barnabas, Kasha, Vastra, Yvan: Barnabas' instrumental isn't his best work, but it's enough to accomplish his goal. You are all able to spot a bookie, who is currently taking bets for the fight. Furlong is placed at 7-to-1 odds to beat Vanity, with the maximum bet placed at 20. 

Furlong: After some tense moments of waiting, Vanity comes out, wearing that same ostentatious robe he wore for the last fight. The referee comes over and escorts you to the ring. Most of the crowd begins cheering for Vanity, in fact, the only people cheering for you right now are Kasha and Alys, who are almost completely drowned out by the rest of the crowd, but you do see Vastra and Barnabas walk over to the bookie and put some money down, so you're pretty sure that they believe in you too. You also spot Stella and Rinn meet up with the rest of the gang. Vanity removes his robe and enters the ring. He's sporting a new hairdo, which leads you to the assumption that his "preparations" were more along the line of getting himself prettied up. One of his entourage begins hyping him up from outside the ring. "Undefeated and untouched after 11 battles! Your boy, the ladykilling champion, Vanity! Can this old man beat him? Probably not! Let's give my man some love as he goes 12-for-12!" The referee steps into the middle of the ring again, to rehash the rules. "We're gonna have a clean fight here. No weapons, no magic, no biting. You guys aren't trying to kill each other here, just give the people a good show." 

Vanity: 20

After rolling for initiative, you can attack Vanity. He is standing with hands outstretched, letting you strike first as he usually does. From the look that's on his face, you can tell that he doesn't think you're a threat.

Stella grins at Vastra. "Not yet," she says with a wink before turning her gaze to the fight. "Oh, is Furlong about to kick another arrogant teenager's ass? I do so love this part."

Truthfully, Yvan wanted to avoid the ring as it only reminded him of the one he was forced to fight in back in his tribe, but for moral support he set it aside and joined the others. He wouldn't cheer, as it simply wasn't his thing, but he made sure Furlong knew the goliath had faith in him in putting this guy in his place by putting in 10gp in the pot for him.

"Kick his ass! Kick his ass! Kick his ass!" Kasha chanted cheerfully in various octaves of sound. You're not exactly sure who she's referring to, though.

Furlong slowly unbuttons his black dress shirt and undoes his tie, tossing them both to the side, revealing a lean, chiseled, scarred body underneath.

Then he cracks his neck to the left, then the right, then slams his fist into his palm as he centers himself. Then, from almost complete stillness into a blur of speed, he launches towards the tiefling.

 Attack: 15 Damage: 4

Furlong rushes forward and drops his right shoulder back, faking a right hook, but as Vanity reads the move and prepares to dodge, Furlong feint-steps with his left foot, and comes hurtling back upward with a left uppercut. The blow connects with the tieflings chin with a loud THUD that seems to silence the crowd.

"Hmmm..."

Furlong watches the tiefling stagger as the old man's body becomes still, his eyes wide. he exhales slowly and prepares for Vanity's counterattack.

ACTION: unarmed strike

BONUS ACTION: spends 1 Ki point for Patient Defense. Attacks against him have Disadvantage until the start of his next turn.

Furlong: As you remove your shirt and tie, the previously raucous crowd remains silent, with the exception of Kasha, who is currently chanting 'kick his ass'. She might be cheering for you. Maybe. You hear a woman in the audience call out "Damn Grandpa!" Vanity's eyes go wide as you charge him, realizing that he made a mistake. You punch him right in the face and he staggers back. He's certainly hurt, but he's not at the point where he needs to call the match or anything though. The real damage is to his hairdo, which is now messed up, and to his psyche, as he was not expecting his streak of not getting hit to be ended by a man that's decades older than him. His arrogant expression is gone replaced with a mixture of fear, embarrassment, and anger. He is, as your younger friends say, shook. "No one messes with my hair, old man!" He charges you and attacks!

Attack: 6 Damage: 4

Attack: 15 Damage: 4

 He misses twice, as you're easily able to dodge his attacks.

Kasha: As you chant for someone to kick someone's ass, Furlong's fist impacts with Vanity's face, knocking the Tiefling off his game. Both of his retaliatory strikes miss. The crowd begins chanting with you, clearly wanting Furlong to kick Vanity's ass, even if you might have intended for it to go the other way around. But no one will know that now.

Furlong dodges the two attacks with ease. He sidesteps the first, a telegraphed left haymaker, and ducks underneath the follow up, a right hook. As the tieflings arm passes over head, Furlong crouches, then explodes forward, his elbow pointed into Vanity's sternum.

Attack: 18 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.

The tiefling flexes his abdomen and is able to shrug it off. Impressed, Furlong once again steadies himself awaiting Vanity's next series of attacks.

ACTION: unarmed strike

BONUS ACTION: patient defense