Post by Jay on Apr 16, 2020 0:06:25 GMT -5
”...Yeah, no, it’s a really creepy power!”
”I mean, yeah, if you’re someone who gets creeped out super easy, I guess. I think it’s pretty cool!” Crystal rolled her eyes. ”Whatever, you think anything a cute girl does is cool.”
”Hey, all I’m saying is-” He paused mid-sentence to wave at Rose who was shooting him the middle finger, from all the way down in the arena, and then again at Rin, whose thumbs up earned a wide grin from the Valeian commentator. ”-she’s got style! Panache! And let’s face it, that’s a badass transformation if you’re up against a couple bandits, and we have to remember, this is totally a Huntsman trainee tournament!”
”I guess. I’m rooting for Team SATN here, anyways- up against the Pumpkin Pete girl, two Hellebore heiresses- one of whom is a frickin VAMPIRE- and that guy in the suit!? They’re like, total underdogs!”
And for underdogs, it was starting to look like a much closer match.
Rin and Rose were distracted for a moment too long, shouting up at the announcer’s box, and Theia, though making progress on Amaretto, was unable to properly avoid Skye’s next attack, as her hair once again lashed out in all directions, like a spiky array of white spears. Theia and Rose were simply too pre-occupied to dodge all of the strands at once, but Rin was deft enough and small enough to weave between them, just as she’d done before. However, instead of choosing to move out of the way, she managed to weasel herself between Rose and the oncoming attacks, taking the hair-spears head-on.
Theia, on the other hand, had some reflexes about her, and managed to avoid the brunt of the attack by placing Amaretto between herself and Skye, thus forcing the hairs to move around him at odd angles as the pair continued their fighting, sword versus spear.
”Wow, check out that precision from Ery! For all you viewers at home who might not have noticed, look how she’s hanging out right up close and personal with Amar! Beauty, brains, and brawn- she’s got’em all!”
”Yeah, but clearly not as big brain as her sister- Rin just whole threw herself in front of an attack from SATN’s leader. I guess that’s one way to end a fight quick.”
The Rose and Rin tagteam was an undeniably strong one, though- Rose lunged in for a quick attack with her Dust-enhanced sword, which Skye was unable to avoid completely, taking about 16% in damage, and crackling with the effects of the fiery, electric Dust, before she was able to launch a counterattack.
However, just as she did, Rin once again thrust herself between the attack and its intended target, much to Skye’s visible annoyance. It was clear, though, that even a direct hit from the faunus’s blade could do little to pierce the blood that continued hardening along Rin’s skin at the point of impact.
”Wow… Yep she’s clearly the brains of Team HARP. Honestly, even if you are especially tanky, it makes zero sense to just body-block every single attack like that, especially when your own teammate is that fast- Rose could totally dodge those easy attacks, if Rin would stop eating them for her.”
”No, no, I think she’s totally got a- plan!?”
Unbeknownst to Skye, who was focussing entirely on the two opponents in front of her, Rin’s crumbled blood spear, and the bits of crumbled blood from where she’d taken Skye’s other attacks, began to move across the ground, and slowly began to encase the feline faunus.
”W-wait, what!?” She stared Rin down, for the first time in the fight, wide-eyed and confused, and more than a little alarmed, as the dried blood gained speed, and started to harden around her entire form. As it encroached on her neck, she gave a loud scream. ”A-Amaretto! AMARETT-!!”
”Oh ****!!!” Immediately, Ashton was once again on the very literal edge of his seat, and Crystal was watching with stunned silence. It was an unusual attack, for sure, and even with the knowledge that Skye’s Aura was there to protect her, the bloody spikes protruding from the cocoon-like formation around SATN’s leader didn’t inspire much faith in the Aura meter on the screen.
If the crowds had been hushed before, they were damn silent now.
And then, piercing the silence, as he narrowly dodged a surgically precise swing from Theia’s swords, Amaretto’s head whirled around with a fury pointed right at Rin. ”S-Skye! MONSTEEEERRR!!!”
No attack could strike him as he moved, stumbling in oddly pointed movements, towards Rin.
With a great swing, he cleft his spear right at her ankle, catching the hardened blood just as her health sank to the point that it could no longer withstand such strong attacks. And then, seemingly at the exact second that her Aura began to flex a deep bloody red, her brought down a hard foot against the back of her head, still hanging in midair, slamming her with a vengeance into the concrete ground, first with a sound like shattering glass, and then with a distinctive and unpleasant crunch as his foot followed through before he could stop it, before he really even realized that her Aura had broken right before impacting the ground.
”Whoa! And there goes spooky vampire chic- wait, hold up!”
Rose wasn’t even able to move in time to react, as Theia took the opportunity presented to her by Amaretto, blasting him with her Semblance’s full strength- he was caught completely off-guard, and the electric shock blasted him far clear of both Rin and Skye, sailing past Rose as his own Aura shattered into wine-dark confetti.
”And that’s Amaretto! Now we’re down to a two on three, so this should be-”
”Wait.”
”Huh?”
”Something’s not right. Her Aura broke, but she should have been able to stand by now... “
”Yeah? Maybe she’s just taking her time to get up? Sore losers do be like that sometimes.” Ashton shook his head, a more serious look crossing the young man’s face. ”No, no, not that- look. Her hands are still covered in blood. Even while Skye’s blood cocoon is breaking away. I’m heading down.”
”What? We can’t just pause the match-”
He shot his cohost a cocky grin, as he stood, moving to step out of the announcer’s box, high up over the Arena. ”Then don’t pause it- I’ll be quick.”
On the ground, or more accurately, a dozen meters above it, Nike managed to narrowly miss yet another of Arrats’s shots, as he gave valiant chase. She was just a bit too high up for him to take proper aim, and moving as fast as she was, she outpaced him by just a hair with her headstart.
Her eyes had gone wide when Rin encased her leader in some kind of weird blood sphere thing, but out of Team SATN, she was arguably the least affected by it, between Skye’s panic, Amaretto’s raging, and even Tungsten, who was shouting out in the stands after getting knocked out. She just kept her eyes on the prize ahead of her- and as soon as she was within shooting distance, she lined up a shot at Theia, before immediately ducking backwards, a few meters out of Theia’s range. The rock she launched was pretty split as to whether it wanted to hit Theia, or not, though- the heiress, although slightly distracted by knocking Amaretto out, managed to deflect it with cool precision, but in doing so, she only split the rock in half, deflecting one half, while the other still hit her, in the side of her torso, bringing her down to 4% of her Aura.
”Wow, okay, looks like Team SATN might be making a comeback! Though Theia’s definitely not out yet…” Crystal flipped a switch, and a hole opened up towards the top of the shimmery wall dividing the audience from the arena- thankfully, over a spot void of seating. It didn’t stay open for very long, though.
To an assortment of screams, hoots, and swoons, from the audience, the dark-haired commentator leaped through the person-sized space in the barrier, as a cloud of what looked like smoke and soot billowed out from his feet; it should come as a surprise to exactly nobody that Ashton Soot was not born with his name. He sailed through the air at incredibly high speeds, and landed a few meters from the fight, with a small puff of scorching hot smoke.
Then, a true professional, in spite of his outlandish showmanship and slang-filled commentary, he made a beeline to Rin’s unconscious body, watching carefully to duck under any crossfire from the opposing team. Gently, he lifted the small trainee up, taking care to support her head, after seeing the nasty slam into the ground she’d received. ”Carry on,” he offered to the remnants of SATN and HARP with his most charming grin, before taking a massive leap into the air, followed by another jet of smoke from his feet, shooting him even higher up, so that he could exit through the same window he’d made on his way in; up towards the commentary booths, and in the same ballpark as the emergency on-site infirmary.
”Well that was exciting, right folks? Don’t worry- she should be totally safe now, she’s in good hands. Hopefully he makes it back soon, though; we’ve got a good fight in store here, now that things are heating up a bit more. In Team SATN’s corner- a recently rattled Skye Spears, sitting at just under 50% Aura, and Nike Nocturne, who isn’t doing much better, but has the added benefit of being way out of reach for at least one or two of HARP’s members. And on HARP’s side, we’ve still got Erytheia Hellebore, but not for much longer- one more hit, or another zap to her semblance, and she’s a goner! Then we’ve got Rose Phoenix, beat up and battered, but still brawling with bravado, and finally- my man, the one, the only, Arrats Calanthe, sitting at a whole almost perfect Aura! We haven’t seen much of this dude so far, but c’mon- if he’s rolling with those two hotshots and the weird freaky scary girl, he’s gotta be a total badass! Bet he’s got something up his sleeves.”
Nike was still dancing pretty carefree in the sky, as she lined up another shot, this time aimed at Rose, but Skye wasn’t looking nearly as casual about this- the numbers advantage Amaretto had resolved moments ago was gone now, and she was sure she wouldn’t last too much longer against the rest of Team HARP. She was on-edge, and looking to retreat; Rose and Theia surrounded her, and Arrats was coming up quickly from the side, and her only ally was Nike, who was not exactly the combat mastermind of their team.
Her hair rippled as she prepared for another attack, but suddenly, the seemingly fearless (moments ago, at least) leader made a charge, backpedaling away, to the side where Arrats notably wasn’t running up, her hair poised to strike out at anyone who tried to follow her. From there, she started making a run for the ice biome, still moving backwards to keep an eye on the other team. Rose had been successful in her previous endeavor, to cut off retreat into the tall grass by lighting it aflame, and with speed on their side, it was very likely that Rose and Theia could catch up to Skye, although attacking from short range was surely asking for a counterattack by way of her hair.
It was still a close fight, even with SATN on the defensive. Only time would tell which team would walk away victorious...
AURA LEVELS:
Theia: 4%
Arrats: 98%
Rin: AURA BREAK
Rose: 47%
Skye: 46%
Amaretto: AURA BREAK
Tungsten: AURA BREAK
Nike: 44%
BATTLEMAP:
WC: 1999 | TWC: 7993
”I mean, yeah, if you’re someone who gets creeped out super easy, I guess. I think it’s pretty cool!” Crystal rolled her eyes. ”Whatever, you think anything a cute girl does is cool.”
”Hey, all I’m saying is-” He paused mid-sentence to wave at Rose who was shooting him the middle finger, from all the way down in the arena, and then again at Rin, whose thumbs up earned a wide grin from the Valeian commentator. ”-she’s got style! Panache! And let’s face it, that’s a badass transformation if you’re up against a couple bandits, and we have to remember, this is totally a Huntsman trainee tournament!”
”I guess. I’m rooting for Team SATN here, anyways- up against the Pumpkin Pete girl, two Hellebore heiresses- one of whom is a frickin VAMPIRE- and that guy in the suit!? They’re like, total underdogs!”
And for underdogs, it was starting to look like a much closer match.
Rin and Rose were distracted for a moment too long, shouting up at the announcer’s box, and Theia, though making progress on Amaretto, was unable to properly avoid Skye’s next attack, as her hair once again lashed out in all directions, like a spiky array of white spears. Theia and Rose were simply too pre-occupied to dodge all of the strands at once, but Rin was deft enough and small enough to weave between them, just as she’d done before. However, instead of choosing to move out of the way, she managed to weasel herself between Rose and the oncoming attacks, taking the hair-spears head-on.
Theia, on the other hand, had some reflexes about her, and managed to avoid the brunt of the attack by placing Amaretto between herself and Skye, thus forcing the hairs to move around him at odd angles as the pair continued their fighting, sword versus spear.
”Wow, check out that precision from Ery! For all you viewers at home who might not have noticed, look how she’s hanging out right up close and personal with Amar! Beauty, brains, and brawn- she’s got’em all!”
”Yeah, but clearly not as big brain as her sister- Rin just whole threw herself in front of an attack from SATN’s leader. I guess that’s one way to end a fight quick.”
The Rose and Rin tagteam was an undeniably strong one, though- Rose lunged in for a quick attack with her Dust-enhanced sword, which Skye was unable to avoid completely, taking about 16% in damage, and crackling with the effects of the fiery, electric Dust, before she was able to launch a counterattack.
However, just as she did, Rin once again thrust herself between the attack and its intended target, much to Skye’s visible annoyance. It was clear, though, that even a direct hit from the faunus’s blade could do little to pierce the blood that continued hardening along Rin’s skin at the point of impact.
”Wow… Yep she’s clearly the brains of Team HARP. Honestly, even if you are especially tanky, it makes zero sense to just body-block every single attack like that, especially when your own teammate is that fast- Rose could totally dodge those easy attacks, if Rin would stop eating them for her.”
”No, no, I think she’s totally got a- plan!?”
Unbeknownst to Skye, who was focussing entirely on the two opponents in front of her, Rin’s crumbled blood spear, and the bits of crumbled blood from where she’d taken Skye’s other attacks, began to move across the ground, and slowly began to encase the feline faunus.
”W-wait, what!?” She stared Rin down, for the first time in the fight, wide-eyed and confused, and more than a little alarmed, as the dried blood gained speed, and started to harden around her entire form. As it encroached on her neck, she gave a loud scream. ”A-Amaretto! AMARETT-!!”
”Oh ****!!!” Immediately, Ashton was once again on the very literal edge of his seat, and Crystal was watching with stunned silence. It was an unusual attack, for sure, and even with the knowledge that Skye’s Aura was there to protect her, the bloody spikes protruding from the cocoon-like formation around SATN’s leader didn’t inspire much faith in the Aura meter on the screen.
If the crowds had been hushed before, they were damn silent now.
And then, piercing the silence, as he narrowly dodged a surgically precise swing from Theia’s swords, Amaretto’s head whirled around with a fury pointed right at Rin. ”S-Skye! MONSTEEEERRR!!!”
No attack could strike him as he moved, stumbling in oddly pointed movements, towards Rin.
With a great swing, he cleft his spear right at her ankle, catching the hardened blood just as her health sank to the point that it could no longer withstand such strong attacks. And then, seemingly at the exact second that her Aura began to flex a deep bloody red, her brought down a hard foot against the back of her head, still hanging in midair, slamming her with a vengeance into the concrete ground, first with a sound like shattering glass, and then with a distinctive and unpleasant crunch as his foot followed through before he could stop it, before he really even realized that her Aura had broken right before impacting the ground.
”Whoa! And there goes spooky vampire chic- wait, hold up!”
Rose wasn’t even able to move in time to react, as Theia took the opportunity presented to her by Amaretto, blasting him with her Semblance’s full strength- he was caught completely off-guard, and the electric shock blasted him far clear of both Rin and Skye, sailing past Rose as his own Aura shattered into wine-dark confetti.
”And that’s Amaretto! Now we’re down to a two on three, so this should be-”
”Wait.”
”Huh?”
”Something’s not right. Her Aura broke, but she should have been able to stand by now... “
”Yeah? Maybe she’s just taking her time to get up? Sore losers do be like that sometimes.” Ashton shook his head, a more serious look crossing the young man’s face. ”No, no, not that- look. Her hands are still covered in blood. Even while Skye’s blood cocoon is breaking away. I’m heading down.”
”What? We can’t just pause the match-”
He shot his cohost a cocky grin, as he stood, moving to step out of the announcer’s box, high up over the Arena. ”Then don’t pause it- I’ll be quick.”
On the ground, or more accurately, a dozen meters above it, Nike managed to narrowly miss yet another of Arrats’s shots, as he gave valiant chase. She was just a bit too high up for him to take proper aim, and moving as fast as she was, she outpaced him by just a hair with her headstart.
Her eyes had gone wide when Rin encased her leader in some kind of weird blood sphere thing, but out of Team SATN, she was arguably the least affected by it, between Skye’s panic, Amaretto’s raging, and even Tungsten, who was shouting out in the stands after getting knocked out. She just kept her eyes on the prize ahead of her- and as soon as she was within shooting distance, she lined up a shot at Theia, before immediately ducking backwards, a few meters out of Theia’s range. The rock she launched was pretty split as to whether it wanted to hit Theia, or not, though- the heiress, although slightly distracted by knocking Amaretto out, managed to deflect it with cool precision, but in doing so, she only split the rock in half, deflecting one half, while the other still hit her, in the side of her torso, bringing her down to 4% of her Aura.
”Wow, okay, looks like Team SATN might be making a comeback! Though Theia’s definitely not out yet…” Crystal flipped a switch, and a hole opened up towards the top of the shimmery wall dividing the audience from the arena- thankfully, over a spot void of seating. It didn’t stay open for very long, though.
To an assortment of screams, hoots, and swoons, from the audience, the dark-haired commentator leaped through the person-sized space in the barrier, as a cloud of what looked like smoke and soot billowed out from his feet; it should come as a surprise to exactly nobody that Ashton Soot was not born with his name. He sailed through the air at incredibly high speeds, and landed a few meters from the fight, with a small puff of scorching hot smoke.
Then, a true professional, in spite of his outlandish showmanship and slang-filled commentary, he made a beeline to Rin’s unconscious body, watching carefully to duck under any crossfire from the opposing team. Gently, he lifted the small trainee up, taking care to support her head, after seeing the nasty slam into the ground she’d received. ”Carry on,” he offered to the remnants of SATN and HARP with his most charming grin, before taking a massive leap into the air, followed by another jet of smoke from his feet, shooting him even higher up, so that he could exit through the same window he’d made on his way in; up towards the commentary booths, and in the same ballpark as the emergency on-site infirmary.
”Well that was exciting, right folks? Don’t worry- she should be totally safe now, she’s in good hands. Hopefully he makes it back soon, though; we’ve got a good fight in store here, now that things are heating up a bit more. In Team SATN’s corner- a recently rattled Skye Spears, sitting at just under 50% Aura, and Nike Nocturne, who isn’t doing much better, but has the added benefit of being way out of reach for at least one or two of HARP’s members. And on HARP’s side, we’ve still got Erytheia Hellebore, but not for much longer- one more hit, or another zap to her semblance, and she’s a goner! Then we’ve got Rose Phoenix, beat up and battered, but still brawling with bravado, and finally- my man, the one, the only, Arrats Calanthe, sitting at a whole almost perfect Aura! We haven’t seen much of this dude so far, but c’mon- if he’s rolling with those two hotshots and the weird freaky scary girl, he’s gotta be a total badass! Bet he’s got something up his sleeves.”
Nike was still dancing pretty carefree in the sky, as she lined up another shot, this time aimed at Rose, but Skye wasn’t looking nearly as casual about this- the numbers advantage Amaretto had resolved moments ago was gone now, and she was sure she wouldn’t last too much longer against the rest of Team HARP. She was on-edge, and looking to retreat; Rose and Theia surrounded her, and Arrats was coming up quickly from the side, and her only ally was Nike, who was not exactly the combat mastermind of their team.
Her hair rippled as she prepared for another attack, but suddenly, the seemingly fearless (moments ago, at least) leader made a charge, backpedaling away, to the side where Arrats notably wasn’t running up, her hair poised to strike out at anyone who tried to follow her. From there, she started making a run for the ice biome, still moving backwards to keep an eye on the other team. Rose had been successful in her previous endeavor, to cut off retreat into the tall grass by lighting it aflame, and with speed on their side, it was very likely that Rose and Theia could catch up to Skye, although attacking from short range was surely asking for a counterattack by way of her hair.
It was still a close fight, even with SATN on the defensive. Only time would tell which team would walk away victorious...
AURA LEVELS:
Theia: 4%
Arrats: 98%
Rin: AURA BREAK
Rose: 47%
Skye: 46%
Amaretto: AURA BREAK
Tungsten: AURA BREAK
Nike: 44%
BATTLEMAP:
WC: 1999 | TWC: 7993
