The fight started off with a punch square in the nose...Not a great start. Nathan felt his eyes water over immediately after the strike, the force of the blow actually knocking him backwards and forcing him to keep his footing. He had been in fights before, most of which he lost, but he had never in a million years thought that he would see himself fighting...well [i]himself[/i], and from the get go this entire scenario had him a bit thrown off. Rearing back in pain Nathan reached up to his nose to make sure that it wasn't broken; as far as he could tell it wasn't. The gray scale version of him stared at him with a smug and arrogant grin that he honestly didn't even know that his face could make until now. It didn't pursue him but rather stood there with its cocky smile waiting to see how he was going to react. Nathan didn't know what to do, but he was pissed.

He lunged forward as quickly as he could manage and went straight in with an attempted tackle. The was a brief look of shock in his copycat's eyes as Nathan made contact, forcing his shoulder deep into the clones ribs and beginning their descent towards the ground. Before the clone could hit the hard gym floor he somehow managed to turn the momentum around to where as they landed he would be on top of Nathan, giving him an unexpected advantage. Nathan's hip hit the ground hard and before he could even collect himself the clone began pummeling him again and again; all Nathan could do at this point was block. His arms managed to soak up most of the damage, and as this was happening Nathan desperately tried to come of with a plan to not only get him out from under his attacker but that would hopefully help him get the upper hand. Then he realized exactly what he needed to do.

Nathan waited a few more seconds before dropping his guard all together, which of course allowed a few well placed strikes to hit their mark which was unfortunately again his damned nose. He knew that in order to do what he hoped would get him back on track in this fight that he would have to take a few hits, and they hurt like hell, but his mind was focused on his next move rather than the pain. He reached up ferociously and grabbed his clone by the neck as soon as the doppelganger was going down for another punch. His intent wasn't to choke his attacker, but rather he simply activated his powers once their skin made contact. 

Instantly the false Nathan's eyes lit up and shock and fear as the true Nathan could feel himself siphoning his enemy's energy. For a moment it seemed as though he had gotten control in this battle as the clone's face began to deteriorate and seeming dry out in front of him. All seemed well until the clone reached its arms out towards Nathan, grabbing him by the face, and doing the exact same thing. Nathan had never felt it before, never experienced what it actually felt like for someone when he used his powers on them, until now. It was excruciating. An immediate and intense exhaustion flooded his senses as both Nathan and his doppelganger had each other exactly where they needed them to be in order to win this thing. A panic rose inside of Nathan as he wondered what he should do next.