[IC] The Pride of Sheep

[Shamitako]

The arena was unusually cold, a frigid breeze brushing particles of dust across the surface. A moderately sized group of onlookers, including the contestant's parents, watched over the cold stone circle. Three enclaves sat recessed into the walls, a thick curtain separating the contestants from the arena. It was almost time to begin. An all-out war between three sides, sides which had been officially drawn mere hours before. Six and a half children who had grown up together, now would fight against one another for a cause they could probably care less about

Body Enclave

Denise stood next to his charges, trying to think of what she could say to fire them up. He couldn't really think of anything, so he ended up just standing their awkwardly, resisting the urge to twiddle her thumbs. The horn that signaled ten seconds until the match would begin suddenly went off, and she felt that he had to say something.

"Harituuli, Deb." He said as confidently as she could, raising his fist in the air, "Do your best out there. This may not make any sense to you, but that's okay. Just use this as a chance to show everyone what you've learned."

And then the curtain collapsed, leaving the path to war wide open.

(OOC: I just realized, Strat and I ended up together twice over, oops)

Mind Enclave

Unlike his colleague, Mr. Jeff was much more composed. He stood calmly and explained to his charges exactly what to do.

"You three are all very strong and smart, some of the brightest kids I know." He said, "so while this may not make sense, and may never make sense, I still want you to go out there and win it."

He smiled wistfully as the warning horn blew. These were the final moments of innocence before his students would be sent into the real world. He savored them for as long as they would last, then the fateful curtain dropped, revealing the path that would steal it.

Tech Enclave

And in the final enclave was Mrs. Stanton, glaring angrily at her students. Neither was easy to work with, and she had no intention of encouraging such disrespectful children. She didn't care how strong Victoria was, that didn't make the little girl the boss.

"Welp, later Mrs. Stanton, hope I never see you again." The little twat sneered as the curtain dropped.

Victoria

Victoria charged into the arena without a second thought, eager to get away from her painfully stern teacher. She wasn't sure she meant it when she said she didn't want to see her, but right in the moment she was glad to get away. She stopped in the center of the arena, standing light on her feet and waiting for one of her friends to make the first strike.

Artemis and Fowl

The twins carefully edged their way out into the field, Fowl taking up her stance on the edge and Artemis moving towards the middle where Victoria was already in position. Neither of therm was looking forward to fighting their friends, but they had no intention of backing down.

Stay calm, Artemis. Fowl said over their link.

I know, I know, I'll be careful. Artemis replied halfheartedly. Hey, you think we should see about working with Wally? That might be fun.

For the moment focus on Victoria, she seems eager to get this fight going. Fowl replied. Once the battle lines are clearer we can work on a battle strategy. Right now we have only one opponent, so take her down first before thing get really hectic.

Artemis hefted her shield in front of her, holding it so it covered all but her eyes and above. Focus on Victoria, sure, that was fine. But-

And don't even think about running off to do your own thing. This is important, stay focused. Fowl cut in.

It seemed the two knew each other to well, Artemis sighed and held her ground, taking up a defensive stance until she could get in range to take on Victoria.

[GotWala]

Harituuli stared up at her mentor with a mixture of childlike wonder and canine obedience. After processing their 'inspirational words', Harituuli nodded her head a few times and let out a wide grin before turning to her companion, Debronee.

"Ooh! Ooh! Debby! Teacher says we can go fight now! Let's go, let's go!," Howled Harituuli with childish glee offset by the feral gleam in her eyes. "I wanna fight! Fight, fight, fight! Gao, gao, awoo!"

As the curtain fell, Harituuli's giggly excitement rapidly turned to beast-like fervor as she immediately sprinted out into the field. The chill from the floor of the arena served to provide a spring in her step, as Harituuli's sensitive feet traveled briskly across the ground. She quickly spotted Victoria in the center of the arena and responded by skidding to a halt just short of getting within 10 yards of her. Quickly wiping drool from her mouth, Harituuli adopted her crouching stance and smiled with her wide, dopey, canine-filled grin.

"Vicky is here! So cool, so fun! Wanna fight?," asked Harituuli as her grin widened further and her saliva-covered teeth gleamed.

[Noir]

Debronee and Harituuli

The curtains descended upon Debronee and his wild acquaintance as they stepped out into the field together. Answering to Harituuli’s excitement with an equivocal nod, the boy followed her adrenalised entrance onto the arena slowly, entering seconds before her as the two stood a certain distance away from one another.

Let’s finish this quickly.

Casting his phlegmatic gaze upon the battlefield, a blazing furor intensified the vermillion glow that permeated the face of his helmet as he flexed his blade in hand, his violet eyes regarding from beneath his helmet the pair of raven-haired twins as they poised for battle against the other blonde girl, all three with eyes an aquatic blue. The concept of two heads being better than one entered his mind for but a rational moment, until his attention centred itself upon Victoria. Instinct hammered into him the profound possibility that she was stronger than the other two, and her mechanized gear in contrast to the twins’ medieval weapons further accentuated his deduction.

He readied his blade as he entered his stance in preparation of his first attack. I’ll start with the girl with the red ribbon.

Resounding a war cry at the peak of his voice towards the heavens, Debronee made the first move as he sprinted towards his adversaries before him, dragging his blade as the tip screeched upon the stone floor. Reckless as it was to charge into three alone, his eyes remained fixated on the identical twin wielding a slingshot as they stood veiled from within his helmet, knowing that Haritulli would likely follow close after.

Edited August 16, 2016 by YagamiNoir4896

[Sutoratosu]

Wallace

He said nothing as he walked onto the stone field; not surprising, given talking was never a big habit of his to begin with. He gazed upon them all, face hidden behind that golden veil as they gathered, already eager to get into the thick of it. And of course the Body Enclave were the ones most eager of all, Harituuli acting as her usual self and the sole other boy, Deb, charging in with nearly no hesitation, beholden of about all the Testosterone-fueled bravado one could expect of a seven year old.

Mr.Jeff had it exactly right: none of this really made any sense, when one thought about the circumstances. There had always been some level of innate conflict between the primary Disciplines, but... for it to escalate to this? Over something as simple as another path happening to open up for people to choose from?

Well... whatever. If the adults wanted to tear at each other's throats like dogs, there honestly wasn't much any of them could do to stop it. And the Mind Instructor had another point as well...

Even if this situation was completely stupid, they still had to try anyway, if for no other reason than to prove a point, and whatever that point might be, it apparently wasn't one to be made through rhetoric...

"Fine by me..." the boy thought as he pulled upon the hammer of his armament. The heft of his weapon, the weight of his frail armored body on his even frailer legs, they all seemed to melt away as the winds of Tempest swirled about his mortal coil, Cannon raising as he took aim and flexed his concealed fist, fingers triggering the firing mechanism as flint met pan and all else fell into place as a blast resounded from the muzzle, sending hot, solid lead speeding for the boy charging the twins. Wallace considered it a mere warning shot as he rotated to the next chamber, hammer pulled back again in preparation. But Deb on the other hand... would probably think otherwise if it made landfall...

There were certain advantages to being a group of three, and Wally figured that they'd might as well exploit it for all it was worth.

Tesla

The little Walker rolled her eyes in return to the old woman's glare. Nothing they hadn't gotten countless times over, it did make her wander though, "whatever did happen to make her such a tool like that? Was she born like it? Is it genetic?" she had to stifle a giggle at that as she stepped onto the field; the thought of an infant Mrs.Stanton, lying in a crib with a glare befitting a bitter, wrinkled geezer, surrounded by a whole clan of bitter and wrinkled people near identical in expression. "Kinda like little Sully when he fusses, except with, ya know, all the cuteness of it sucked out through a straw."

She had to pull herself together though, she knew it. This wasn't a time for joking about, even though they were among friends and all. All the grown ups had seemed pretty serious about... whatever this even was, afterall, not just Mrs.Crabby.

And already, the others were getting serious too. The Deb boy was closing in on one of the twins like he had the hots for them, and apparently Wallace didn't take kindly to anyone else putting the moves on his lady friends...

"Alright, I have to stop now... really...gotta focus" She stifled another giggle beneath her helm, louder than the last but still audible to only herself. The coils entwining her arms and legs flared to life with visible static, her mind finally steeling itself for the fight ahead as she actually took a serious look at the field. So far only the boys looked to be the ones to fire any shots... typical, right? Everyone else looked to either be waiting for the other to move or busy making small talk with the opposition like Harituuli over there...she probably would've made an easy target... but a cheap one as well. The twins on the other hand... well, Wallace looked to be a bit more focused on the Melee fighter... he could've made an easy target too... but she knew it wasn't right, as sickly as the boy always was, looking like he'd fall over any moment. Always so distant, like he's not even there with the rest of them... going and taking a pot shot at him when his back was turned would be by far much cheaper than going for Hari- the beast girl probably did have the reflexes to get of the way of a surprise attack afterall. Though, to be honest, she doubted Wallace would have had any qualms about opening fire if their roles were reversed right now...

"Whatever, twins it is then!" without another moment of deliberation, she brought her palms together, lightning arcing back and forth along her limbs as drew the fingers apart, cradling a softball sized sphere of crackling energy between them. All she had to do was give it a little thought, and the thing sped off towards Fowl as she hung in the backlines, leaving a blurred violet streak in it's wake as the air heated around the ambiguous ball of electrons... Ball lightning, she had always liked to call it. Even though she knew full well it technically wasn't "true" Ball Lightning and was fully capable of actually making some of the real stuff if she wanted, but, eh, details, schmetails...

Afterall, sometimes it's just more fun to zap things to bits first and worry about the specifics later.

[Shamitako]

Victoria

"Sure, we can play Harituuli." Victoria smiled softly.

Harituuli might have seemed oddly cheerful for such a grim scenario, but that was just how the beast girl fought. She had pointedly kept herself well at a distance, preventing Victoria from being able to land an effective first strike. Or rather, an effective first punch. Harituuli and her had sparred before, so Harituuli knew better than to get too close to Victoria. She'd either have to make a risky charge or wait for the little shadow to make the first move. In such an open arena where a separate fight could easily turn on them in an instant, it seemed safest to wait. Victoria didn't like to play safe. She dashed forward, igniting her rockets and aiming to land a hit on Harituuli's lower body when the girl inevitably tried to dodge.

Twins

Told you so. Artemis snickered over the girl's link.

Not exactly, I said to focus on Victoria until the battle line were clearer. As it stands now- help! Fowl's protests were cut off as a sphere of energy rushed for her head.

Two of their foes attacking her was unexpected, although it seemed Wally was backing the girls up by targeting DD. Probably had nothing to do with them, Deb likely just seemed like the most available target, still it left them some breathing room, they just had to deal with Telsa. A tough challenge, considering they didn't have defenses against energy attacks. Fowl dodged to the side while Artemis began walking towards Tesla. Artemis sheathed her shield and raised both crossbows, firing off a pair of steel bolts towards she dropped them and quickly retrieved a pair of bolts which she tossed into the crossbows as their strings pulled back once more. She raised them again, but refrained from shooting until she could see what Tesla did. Meanwhile Fowl skirted around the edge of the arena, trying to get away from Deb an Wally and to a position where she could provide Artemis with cover fire.

Careful A, I can't back you up right now. She warned

Don't worry, I'll keep my distance so I have plenty of time to dodge. Artemis replied

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla

Tes didn't really think about her reaction so much as her body moved on full instinct, her arm arcing up and palm outstretched as more lightning crackled and popped around her, the tendrils of bright purple expanding and flattening into a makeshift shield burning like a little star. The twin bolts made landfall only to find themselves virtually destroyed on contact with the intense heat of her halted electrons.

"Ha! That all ya got?" She laughed. She cut it short though, seeing the other girl was already aiming another two bolts right at her "Guess not..." With a single thought, a small piece of the shield before broke off, the little rogue collection forming itself into a miniature ball of glowing light just in front of the construct, virtually indiscernible from the rest of the barrier when backed by the similar radiance of it's origin. In the blink of an eye, the smaller construct elongated into a small, peircing beam of blazing light, sweeping across the arena in Artemis' general direction, it's seemingly random, zigging and zagging path leaving a deep swath burnt into the stone floor as it headed for the Crossbow wielder...

[Noir]

Debronee

More entered the arena as the battle resumed. Debronee’s focused attention on Fowl retracted as he sensed a shot coming toward him a perpendicular distance away from his headed location. Facing the noise of the shot and swinging his sword in hand in a vertically circular motion, the sound of metal meeting lead resounded as his blade intercepted the bullet, knocking it aside, not knowing where it landed next as he continued running, this time on the path the split in between Fowl and the lethargic boy at the aid of the winds, heading closer and closer.

Tch.

Debronee’s gaze shifted momentarily to Wallace, the mix of contempt and curiosity hidden beneath the metal exterior. Certainly, the lethargic boy wasn’t fond of Debronee ganging up on a busy comrade. Amidst all the strife occurring, his initial charge had been an obviously reckless decision, although it certainly invited a degree of regard from his opponents. The battles also seemed to split – the twins against Tesla, and his bestial comrade and Victoria – things seemed to transition in a way were to go into a way of a secluded battle until one side defeated the other. Foiled of his initial intent, he gritted his teeth in annoyance as he decided to first scout the waters.

Change of plan. Let’s see who wants to get squashed first.

Withdrawing his blade behind his back, he intertwined his fingers into a fist as he held his hands above his head, and, with much needed strength in his lower limbs as he stiffened his wings, he launched himself into the air – enough so that most of the battlefield was visible to him from the peak of his jump. Aloft, albeit knowing not for long, his eyes scanned for an appropriate landing site, peering towards the new location where Fowl had just moved in an effort to diver him as the other twin was distracted by Tesla, before reviewing Wallace's current position again. Landing only inches away from where he first leapt, his descent, filled with his strength, weight, and speed from the free fall, hollowed the earth beneath him, leaving a massive dent as a shockwave was sent surging beneath the earth as it trembled from his position, spreading out towards the locations of the two Mind enclaves, though covering more towards Wallace's, as his feet braced themselves to pursue once more.

He had the option to land directly on top one of them – Wallace or Fowl, with Wallace having superior priority, as he deduced as his two best targets thus far – but with the way things were processing, Debronee knew his best move at the moment would be his safest. He would be sparring against the mercy of the winds or worse yet, have the original advantage turned against him as others would have their attention shifted to him as well. As much as the fervent desire hammered in his head for things to end swiftly, circumstance had already set out different plans in store for all of them.

Edited August 17, 2016 by YagamiNoir4896

[Sutoratosu]

Wallace

He remained unmoved as the winds picked him up and away from the shockwave tremoring along the earth, putting some more distance inbetween himself and the other boy in the process. Even with that blank mask, he still held that ultimate poker face of his, the other child's display was as trivial to him as the minute dust particles he sensed entering and exiting his little storm with every passing second. This situation was relatively simple, compared to the one that had led to this mass fight in the first place:

Deb was a bird boy. Bird boys, just like regular avians, needed to be clipped. Well, in his case... more like Pinioned, but the same basic concept regardless.

"Let's see you try to scout things from the air again when I'm done with you..." Almost as if in response to his thoughts, a few of the winds around him began to condense as their pressure increased greatly, converging into a tight, invisible ball of shredding force that just as quickly as it had formed, flattened out into a vorpal blade of air that sped towards the young sword user at high velocity, it's edge intended for one of his wings as Wallace already went to work again, conjuring up another of the condensed, invisible spheres and letting it hover unseen nearby, Cannon still at the ready as well. "You may use a blade of iron... but I use one of the Atmosphere. Let's just see who's sword prevails in the end, hero..."

[Shamitako]

Twins

The tremor momentarily disrupted Fowl's footing, causing her to trip and fall, but since DD chose a middling distance it was quickly overwith and she rolled back onto her feet. Artemis just barely managed to avoid Tesla's attack by firing a wired bolt off to the side and dragging herself away from its wild path. Really could use some cover fire. She called out.

I'm moving as quickly as possible, hold on. Fowl responded.

Without Fowl to back her up, Artemis was more or less a sitting duck. Tesla's attacks were inherently faster and she was actually capable of defending against Artmeis's bolts. It was only a matter of time before Tesla landed a solid shot, forcing Artemis to stay on the defensive

[GotWala]

Harisha Tuuli

Victoria came at her, hard charging and headstrong, just how Harituuli liked it. She was almost too caught up in nostalgic happiness to attempt to dodge the attack... Almost. Harituuli's playful grin turned into a focused scowl immediately as her body sprang into motion. Not called a savage jet stream for nothing, Harituuli made a flying leap above Victoria's propelled fist at speeds fast enough kick up a large dust cloud. Her ascent from this ball of sediment looked akin to that of a human jumping spider; her various, organic tendrils from her armor fanning out in a faux multi-legged manner. As she descended, Harituuli used her tendrils to glide in a half moon pattern whilst quickly landing, generating a large amount of momentum as she swung around Victoria. As she swung around, Harituuli used her sash tendril to wrap around Victoria's right leg in hopes of using the force of her movements to trip her light weight foe.

Edited August 19, 2016 by GotWala

[Noir]

Debronee

Sensing the aerial force of mass that was heading straight toward him, Debronee nimbly leapt a certain distance to the side, sidestepping the blade as he remained close to the crater he'd created earlier, dented with pieces of chipped stone scattered around it. Debronee was unsure if he had the strength to parry Wallace’s attacks, but he decided it wasn’t a risk worth taking. For a moment, his attention returned to Fowl, who had staggered from the impact of the tremor he’d released, although she had swiftly recovered and was still fixated on fighting Tesla.

Still vulnerable, I see. He entertained the thought of how differently the outcome would’ve proved if he’d pinpointed the attack on her instead for a moment. But I’ve got a more important person to deal with.

One punch was all Deb needed to wreck that blasted boy to bits, but he knew the raw difficulty of reaching him itself. The boy whom was one with the winds was feeble in all places but the mind. Debronee knew Wallace enough to know that rush tactics wouldn’t work on him, but the latter required a substantial amount of concentration to utilize his winds to levels that threatened the more athletic boy. He needed to facilitate an opportunity, an opportunity where one strike would prove its worth, where an attempt on an attack, even if unsuccessful, would prove minimal risk.

His irritation fuelled the strength in his right leg as it crushed the ground beneath him, as pieces of stone from the crater from where he’d landed knocked up in response to the force, and, with a mighty swing of his blade using the surface of its forte fuller, he sent the pieces of rock hurling towards the now aloft Wallace at a speed that rivalled that of Wallace’s aerial slashes. Collecting a piece of stone in his left hand and his blade in the other, knowing that this was the best course of action until a chance made itself present, he continued running the arena in a circumference around where Wallace now stood aloft after the initial attack was launched, waiting for an ample chance to distract and strike.

Through the many years of training together, the diligent Debronee knew that his lack of ability to attack from a distance was a grave weakness, especially against foes like Wallace. To that, he had pondered and trained on ways for him to actually commit to attacks such as these, with his current rubble attack being one of them. He’d attempted many ways mostly incorporating forces from his blade or limbs, but all these barely gave off the gust to ruffle one’s hair and sleeves. As much as a punch would do much better than the minimal amount of ranged attacks he could offer as of now, he could only lunge when Wallace was vulnerable, or the trade-off would end up unfavourably.

Throughout all this, he managed another glance at the twins as they continued with their spar against Tesla. He knew he would take any opportunity if it presented himself, knowing that if he was to lose, he wouldn’t be going down without taking someone with him, as a last resort. It was evident that Debronee had a far better chance of taking down the twins even if Tesla wasn’t busy with them, but he had to make do with his current situation for now.

[Shamitako]

Victoria

Victoria felt Harituuli's tendril lash around her leg, attempting to mess with her balance. It was a smart strategy, but it relied on Victoria being caught off-guard. She wasn't. She spun around and quickly reversed her direction, launching another punch towards her speedy friend. But instead of just charging towards Harituuli haphazardly again, she kicked her leg back, pulling Harituuli towards her charging fist. If she could just land a good hit on Harituuli, the fight was essentially hers, two or three solid hits would be plenty to batter through Harituuli's hide, and she could easily make one hit into five. The issue was hitting her nimble foe, a task that had never proved easy in the past. And if she didn't end if quickly, one of the others might win their skirmish and break off to try to take her down. It was quite the dilemma, but she was sure she'd figure it out. Victoria lived up to her name, and she wasn't looking to change it anytime soon.

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla

The girl wasted no time pressing the attack, giving a quick glance over as the crash of earth and stone sounded in the distance only to find Fowl flat on her face for a moment or two. "Oh, yeah, forget about the other one... well, won't make that mistake again." Over in the distance Wallace and Deb appeared to be fully engaged in their game of cat and mouse... but they were both targets to be dealt with later. Either one of them offered around the same threat level to her- not very much, given her inertia field would heavily dampen whatever Deb tried on her and well... Wallace might be able to get the upper hand if he took her by surprise, but, in an open, face-to-face confrontation... well, her electrons practically trumped everything the boy and his winds were capable of doing. Then again though, perhaps the fact that if he did get the drop, meant he would be the greater of those two evils...

Regardless however, it didn't matter. Her attention for now, were on the girls. It was so obvious, how artemis had merely been distracting her all this time so her sister could flank and launch an ambush in support. She didn't really know what she had been expecting from them though- they were twins afterall. But, she also had a good remedy for their little plan...

She tore the shield apart as he coils flared to life once again, the halted electrons finally making that one, most vital decision in their life as she sent the remnants of the sundered halves towards each of the sisters: Whether to act as a particle, or a wave...

And they chose particles, the menacing spheres of twinkling light firing off towards the other children in the form of pure, unbridled lightning, Tesla seizing it's path and twisting and turning both of the bolts of skyfire to snake and curve towards their targets erratically, just to make anticipating and dodging the little, literally lightning-fast display all that more of a hellish undertaking.

Wallace

The Tempest picked up and reacted of it's own accord as Wallace watched the other boy begin flanking about the arena, the small condensed sphere at his side lashing out like a hound in defense of it's master the instant the rock disturbed the wind field, slashing it apart with invisible speed and force before once again condensing down into it's spherical construct. The boy was no fool, and neither was his opponent, but Wallace was the one boasting superior observation and mental prowess, even if in most other aspects- especially of a physical nature -bird boy surpassed him quite easily. He knew an attempt at distraction when he saw one; he wasn't about to make it that easy to draw his attention away. Nearly his entire life, spent an invalid, a weakling, relegated to the pathetic fate of a mere observer, a watchman, a literally diseased fly on the wall as all else passed him by and left him behind. That had been his childhood, no running, no playing, no socializing... the bed and the window, frequent medication and even more frequent meditation, those and those alone had been the stables of his whole damn existence, and utterly and completely loathsome as it was, it had come with a few perks over time... One of which being that Wallace was fully acquainted with splitting his focus between multiple places, and even better at taking in every last detail while he was at it. Not much else to do when you're stuck as an audience member instead of an actor, now, is there? Watch a bad play a thousand times, and eventually, much to your own mortal horror, you either begin to memorize every last line, scene, and gesture or you simply look elsewhere about the space out of boredom and desperation while still taking in what's occurring on stage, knowing you can't escape your seat, but hoping, just hoping, that somehow, somewhere in the wings, the aisles, hell, even the stage itself, the avenue to your unlikely salvation from this circle of hell will open up, if only you are able to notice it's subtle manifestation and grab it the moment you do...

"Birds of a feather die together...if you aren't without sin, don't bother casting stones my way, heathen..." again, the tempest picked up, this time however lifting the two split halves of stone from the floor and compressing the winds carrying them until they reached a fever pitch in their pressure, cycling faster and faster around the two smaller projectiles and in turn sending them spiralling in place before finally, he opened fire, an audible boom resounding across the whole arena as the makeshift pressure cannon launched the split stones like missiles towards Debs path, whistling like hot and deadly lead as they sped forward at considerable velocity and acceleration, only increased by their prior rifling within the storm...

[Shamitako]

Twins

Lightning was both a blessing and a curse. Artemis could much more easily deal with lightning than Tesla's normal attacks, but Fowl had no chance against it. The electrical arc blasted into Fowl's torso, sending her to the ground in spasms. Artemis used the split second before the lightning fired to toss her shield in front of her. It was fairly conductive and absorbed most of the lightning and sent it into the ground, but the force of the shock was so overwhelming that it launched the still-electrified shield directly towards Artemis, shocking the hand she raised to defend it and numbing her arm. Seeing that she was now defenseless in this position, she decided the best course of action was to retreat. She double check that she had no wires deployed and then triggered an Inversion Sigil. Now the the armored twin, the one closest to Tesla, was also the limp one. Artemis now possessed only the shield and a single crossbow, but she had a much better chance of not being taken out. She checked herself over, the lower half of fowl's shirt had been burnt off. Favor would have protected her sister from true physical trauma, but it would still hurt a lot, she'd be down for a while. Artemis had to stay up until that happened. She quickly stood and sprinted back along the wall as fast as she could manage in an attempt to put Victoria and Harituuli between her and Tesla. Hopefully blocking Tesla's attacks would buy some time, perhaps even long enough for her to use both arms again. As it was right now, her crossbow hung limp so that she could defend with the shield

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla

((tbh, lexi, that diagram you put in the OOC was... kinda confusing for this, so... I'm just gonna go off the actual details of the post instead))

"Oh no, you're not get-" She halted the small volley of electrons she was already conjuring, seeing the girl before her vanish to be replaced with the unconscious sister, lips pursed as she realized the switcheroo just performed. She scanned the rest of the arena, the burning eyes of her visor leaving streaks as she turned about, finally spotting the other twin running away. "Oh, what? You really think putting something between us will stop me?"

"HAAAAAAA!" She again cupped her gauntlet-clad palms, condensing the electricity into four, orange sized spheres as she looked past Hari and Vicky's fight. She had curved the lightning just moments ago without issue- whatever could make her foe think she couldn't do the same with the Ambiguous form, she didn't know... but the other girl was in for a rude awakening. Without hesitation, she blasted the spheres into four burning streaks of light, flexing her arms outward before clapping her hands together once more as all four of the searingly hot rays seamlessly arced around Victoria and Hari's duel before converging towards Artemis on the other side, their blazing heads curving like vipers ready to strike, all in yet another attempt to cut off further escape...

[GotWala]

Harisha Tuuli

Harituuli snarled, cursing herself for underestimating the skill and balance of her opponent. She knew Victoria better than to think a maneuver like that should've worked, but for her own lash to be used against her was troublesome. However, Harituuli was nothing, if not a creature of instinct and adaptability. Instead of working against the act of Victoria pulling her into another devastating blow, Harituuli used that as another source of momentum to attempt to fly towards Victoria fast and low. Harituuli needed to duck the punch and slingshot herself behind Victoria to regain the tempo of their duel. As she streaked along the ground, Harituuli saw the flash of lightning out of the corner of her eye which seemed to arc around her battle. While Harituuli may not of had the time or opportunity to focus on the skirmishes around her, it did remind her of a fact she had mostly forgotten: There was more than one powerful opponent here. It was this very thought that caused the hair to stand up on her back, her eyes to sharpen, and her mouth to salivate more as it twisted into the toothy grin of hunger and delight.

Edited August 19, 2016 by GotWala

[Shamitako]

Victoria

Harituuli's second pass managed to displace Victoria slightly, the extra momentum displacing her slightly. She was forced to trigger one of her jets to maintain her balance. She decided now would be a good time to not get tripped up and thus seared off the tendril with on of her hand jets. It would have been better to save it for a time when Harituuli would be caught off guard, but it was also a bad idea to get herself caught off guard. Without waiting, Victoria then launched towards Hairtuuli again. To an onlooker it might look like Victoria was simply making a fool of herself, throwing punches without any regard for whether they would land against her nimble opponent. And an onlooker would be entirely right, because Victoria didn't care about actually hitting Harituuli yet. She knew she was too slow, so she wasn't going to push herself and get worn out. She liked being aggressive, but she also knew her limits

[Noir]

Debronee

As the two pellets formed from his earlier projectile returned back to him, Debronee brandished his blade in yet another circular motion as the structures were reduced to rubble upon meeting the cold steel, soundlessly mixing into the dust on the ground.

Mere projectiles like these won’t work on me.

It wasn’t a lost cause, but the end would close in at any minute. The longer the battle took, the more ideas would come to him. Glancing at the unconscious Fowl over his shoulder as she swapped places with her twin, Debronee knew that Tesla’s battle with the twins would likely end soon, and the thought of intervening for the sake of accomplishment entered his mind for a while, but was quickly dismissed by a moment of his still-maintained rationality, for Debronee would be the obvious one out if he were to come between a three-way between Tesla and the wind caster.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Even as Debronee grew slightly weary of all the running and flexing, it was the sound of his raging heartbeat that was the source of his strength, as he could feel the rush of adrenaline and furor react with his body with a slight increase in power in his limbs. It was merely a start; Debronee’s power would only grow as the battle grew harsher, but he knew he had to finish quickly, as such benefits wouldn’t last for long.

[special Ability Activation, though it’s just a small strength buff as things start]

When it came to aerial mobility, Debronee was certainly no slouch, but there was no denying that Wallace had the superior capability in such a field. Debronee needed to improve his aerial maneuverability if he wanted even a single strike onto the frail boy – but how? It was moments before an idea hit him; Wallace had yet to bother with dodging any of Debronee’s projectiles, and that was something he might be able to use as an advantage, and there was no real risk to it – only chance. How would Wallace react to this? In all, however, it was, an unncertain, but a low-risk, possibly high-reward move……and quite frankly, the only thing he needed to cut was the mechanized structures that were the only things that made him a threat to Debronee in the first place.

Cocky one, aren’t you, squishy boy? Unlike you, I'm not reliant on my wings. That's right, stay still if you're up for it. It’s about time this farce ended.

Debronee continued running along a circumference around Wallace as he knocked the piece of rubble contained in his hand with the hilt of his sword, sending it flying towards Wallace again -- and with newfound strength – Debronee slowed his circular marathon immediately after his projectile attack and heaved with all his might, dragging his sword along the ground as it smoothly, and rather quickly, cut the earth where it sliced as the blade dug deep within. It took him mere seconds before a rough, uneven quadrilateral of around a metre’s length formed on the ground a stone’s throw away from him, and one slam in his empowered legs gave sufficient force for the large structure of stone to be lifted from the ground a relative distance into the air. As the giant piece of granite suspended in the air momentarily as it neared the ground, Debronee gathered all the strength in his limbs as he readied himself to send the mammoth piece of stone straight towards his airborne opponent.

[OOC: Basically this is the process of him forming the giant projectile; he’s about to launch it, but it’s not flying towards Wallace yet.]

[GotWala]

Harisha Tuuli

Right as Harituuli was about to stick her landing and attempt a counterattack, the jet of flame from Victoria severed the tendril that was held taut from the tension of her rapid movements. Traveling much further and faster than she had anticipated, Harituuli continued to fly further behind her opponent and towards the outskirts of the arena; all the while desperately attempting to maintain control just enough to land and not crash into the arena wall. Harituuli used her clawed hands and feet to grip into the terrain to slow her pace, grinding out trails of claw marks as she skidded to a stop just short of touching the wall. As Harituuli composed her stance, she quickly assessed her placement in the arena and found herself a short distance away from Tesla.

​Opportunity. Back turned. Weakness. PREY!

She began turning towards Tesla, remaining on all fours and ready to pounce. Her tendrils flared outward, readying themselves to strike along with their master as if they to felt alive with predatory eagerness. Aggressive purring from Harituuli slowly ramped up like a felidae hunter just before the attack; her muscles tightening and preparing to launch herself onto Tesla.

Tessy. Back turned. Weak. Unfair... Friend.

​

​Harituuli shook her head rapidly and let out a baying sound like that of a dog who knew it had done something wrong. "Tessy! We can play later, okay!? I have to fight Vicky first, but I wanna have fun with all of you soon!," Proclaimed Harituuli as her tendrils flattened to the ground around her like extra limbs.

With her original resolve restored, Harituuli proceeded to run across the arena back towards Victoria in a serpentine pattern. Her tendrils acted as stabilizers that would quickly shift her movements to attempt to obscure the exact direction of her approach, but the goal wasn't to strike first. She wanted to try and bait out another attack from Victoria so she could wrap another tendril onto her limbs, however this time it wouldn't be to trip or gain speed on them, but instead was to serve as yet another feint. That's when she'd find her opening! The sudden shift back into the action had already started to renew the savage glee within the beast girl once more.

Edited August 19, 2016 by GotWala

[Shamitako]

Artemis

Lightning arced towards Artemis once again, but the extra instant Tesla used to was just enough to give Artemis reaction time. She already had a plan in place, she just needed a delay to use it. Well, in all honesty, it was basically the same plan as before. She tossed down her shield again, but this time she used a wired crossbow bolt to tug herself aside as the electrified bundle of metal and leather launched backwards. She sprinted to scoop if off the floor from where it landed and noticed Deb making, something, to attack Wally with. See as she couldn't deal with Tesla on her own, it seemed like a good to assist Wally instead. Deb and Tesla weren't allies in this so it would be like, two on one on one. She was sure Fowl would have some objection, but Fowl was down anyways. She raised her crossbow again and fired off another shot with a cable just past Deb, redirecting so it would wrap around his legs if he didn't take steps to avoid it. She was left shieldless, but the new combat dynamic would be a lot better defense than barely avoiding lightning with a flimsy shield

(OOC: Temporary was the wrong word for Inversion Sigils now that I read it again, it's not like a time limit or anything, they go back and forth at will. They just can't swap when they're using the wires from their Ability. There's also a soft time limit, since they need a bit to not become totally disoriented from swapping constantly)

Victoria

Victoria was surprised to see Harituuli go flying, it seemed she had still had plenty of momentum left. It was kind of funny to watch and she stifled a laugh. She halted her movement and waiting for her feral friend to bound back. She looked for a moment like she'd get distracted, but quickly change her mind. Harituuli took up a strafing pattern that was very hard to predict, Victoria waited for her to get a lot closer, and then made a move to attack. Not a punch this time though, or rather she didn't punch Harituuli. Instead, she raised her fist and smashed it into the ground. There was a loud crack as a large slab of stone broke free, the end opposite Victoria shooting up just underneath Harituuli and launching her up into the air. Harituuli could glide well enough at high speeds, but with the way she had been launched it was unlikely she'd be able to make a solid attack unless she charged directly towards Victoria

[Sutoratosu]

Wallace (And Artemis apparently, what a twist!)

I'm slightly disappointed that not one of us has included any fighting music at all thus far, so...

"He's up to something" Wallace mentally snarled as yet another stone was hurtled his way. Deb had stopped his circling, it was as best a time as any to put distance between them- the only reason he hadn't attempted earlier was because he knew of the other boy's leaping... and the last thing he had needed was to potentially tempt him into spring up and swiping at him. The wind propelled him in a backwards strafe as the rock neared, causing the thing to miss it's course and continue on beyond the bounds of the field, his eyes fixed firmly on the massive chunk of stone his foe was quite obviously about to launch all the while...

"What did I say about stones, heathen?" A pointless question to be asking, given he hadn't actually vocalized it the first time either. Regardless, his cannon was raised, hammer still ready for fire from he last time as he summoned winds into and around his barrel, glacial blue eyes narrowing between the one-way mask. He knew he had been too passive thus far, too reactionary and reserved. Maybe it was the circumstances of the fight, maybe it was the fact that regardless of what happens in this arena today, what any of them do, the worst of things was still likely to come. It starts with children, it ends with corpses, and for what? What is gained through any of this?

He didn't know. None of them did, but of course, they were all going to go with the tide anyway... it was what children did when the adults were about, they were powerless to fight it, even for one such as himself who realized the grasp he was under. Resistance, is futile. Reservation is futile.

Why hold anything back, when it didn't matter one way or another?

"Tempest..." He muttered softly, voice barely above a wisp among the fearsome wind he commanded. And the Gale responded to his whisper with a resounding roar in fury, just as he was about to flex his fist and launch the screaming projectile... and then he saw her, or her cable rather, arcing there towards the swordsman's leg. "No...stop." The winds dropped their roar to a begrudging howl as he halted his fingers just mere milliseconds from activating the firing trigger, still swirling and mingling with the barrel with their coiled power as he kept the weapon raised.

Choosing to hold his fire was a risky move, and he knew it. But it was risky for more than just the fact that he could be giving up a potential chance to stop Deb's plan; if Artemis got caught in any of the blast from impact- and he knew there would've been, a shot like the one he held at the ready didn't simply collide with something like stone without sending a fair bit of shrapnel flying -he would just be digging himself a bigger whole in the later stages of this.

Right now, it was best to wait. Strafe and wait... just encase Deb managed to still get that thing flying. Either way, his winds were ready.

Tesla

"Oh come on!" Tes shouted as her blast ultimately missed and burnt it's way deep into the arena wall, the four beams crossing into a scorching, black-X as she killed the output, teeth beginning to grind as she watched Artemis rush to Wally's aid. Every part of her that valued strategic advantage demanded she shoot the girl in the back this very instant, take her down while she dare turn away from her... but there was the same question as before- it may be strategically smart... she didn't need any softening up or complication from Artemis to take on Deb or Wallace, but was it right? Technically... yes, by all means. Art had actively abandoned this front, it's not a surprise attack if you get them while their fleeing. But something still made her lower her palms, the crackling storm of violet dying down around her arms.

"Coward..." she muttered, though whether it was more to herself or the twin, she did not know. She turned her attention to the still unconscious Fowl not too far away, weapons lying there with her. The girl was clearly down, there was no sense launching another blast... but what if she got up again, when Tesla's back was turned? No, she was right, blasting her again was senseless... but there was something else she could do, something that didn't involve further harming a downed foe.

"Fine, go play with the boys, see what I care." she muttered, triggering a short burst of electrons from her legs as she blasted over towards the fallen child, landing just a few feet or two away as another sphere of halted electrons formed near her face. She watched for just a moment for any signs of conscious before she fired the miniature beam at the cable she knew full well connected the crossbow to the girl's mech, intent on kicking it away beyond the bounds of the arena... and that slingshot would be next on her list...

((I don't know if the cables can actually be severed or not, so... just gonna leave it ambiguous for now))

[Noir]

Deb

With a gargantuan force from both hands and one of his feet, Debronee sent the portion of earth charging toward Wallace. Before he could make his next move, however, he became wary of Artemis’ sudden attack towards him, and frowned.

Sigh.

Noticing the cable from Artemis’ bolt as he aimed for his legs, he immediately flipped backwards as the cable slipped below him and missed his upward trajectory, using his wings to slowly balance himself at a considerable distance away from where he first was, concealing an irritated grunt as feet braced his landing on the ground.

You’re annoying.

It sidetracked his original plans a little, but it was, regardless and understandably, the best move she had; a cornered rat would bite the cat, after all, but her efforts would only prove asinine.

“What but a thing can you do now?” His contemptuous tone heavily implied, if not literally expressed, that he was all but disinterested in the meagre young girl. His helmet, directly staring at Wallace still, hid his glance from her, though his first words on the field were audible enough for them to hear; he wondered if his statement would elicit a pull of Wallace’s nerves as well. “Join your sister in defeat while it counts.”

The battle was as much a mental one as it was a physical one. It didn’t seem that Tesla intended to rush things anytime soon, however, instead having her attentions on the fallen other twin. If Debronee wanted to attack Artemis at all, it needed to be precise and critical. It was best to convince her that Debronee had little intention, if at all, of intervening, and Wallace would back her up as much as she would protect his. Nevertheless, Artemis proved a miniscule threat, and she was now defenceless without her buckler after her trade with Tesla. He managed another disdained thought of Tesla as his glance diverted to her as she attempted to disarm the unconscious fowl.

Chivalry….pfft. We’re dragged out here to fight for reasons we don’t even know, and yet you possess such liberties, Tesla? How gracious of you.

Perhaps Tesla and Victoria could afford such negligence at a time like this, but Debronee certainly couldn’t. As asinine a purpose as it was for the whole fight to start in the first place, or be it to display and evidence worth of what training and honing, to appease whatever higher power and the schadenfreude to them that was children fighting to the death – they were all stuck there. Emotions and self-sentiments had no place on the battlefield, and powerful as his foes were, their lack of resolution was but one of their weaknesses. Debronee would not falter to such trivial things. Regardless of the outcome of the battle, he had to try his best.

Debronee’s attention returned to Wallace as the massive hulk of stone hurled toward the latter, an anticipant smile on his lips as he awaited his response. He’d noticed how he’d hesitated and dodged his initial attack and held back from firing an attack, though still at the ready. While not optimal, it was a comfortable, desirable response.

While you, on the other, are as soft in the heart as you are in bodice. He concealed an amused smile, knowing that Wallace hadn’t attacked for the sole fact that Artemis had intervened, and that he was either as disinclined as Tesla was for his own gentle reasons, or the fact that he needed her at this very moment as much as she needed him, perhaps to avoid spreading out the fight as quickly as it was about to.

Dependent on the other, as it is? He couldn’t deny the fact that if the worse had come to it, he would have to switch tactics as well, much like how Artemis had attempted to put the still-fighting pair of Hari and Victoria between her and Tesla, and pondered on more options to manipulate the tide of the fight in his favour as he awaited Wallace’s next move, the rush of adrenaline intensifying as the battle developed.

Edited August 20, 2016 by YagamiNoir4896

[Sutoratosu]

Wallace

A red streak of nigh molten lead scorched through the frigid air the moment the stone began it's arc, a resounding cacophony of howling wind behind the shell as it cracked through the stone and sent countless shards flying from the violent and abusive marriage, far enough from any of the three relative combatants to be little more than a spectacle of destruction rather than a general threat of splash injury. The smoke still curved off Wallace's barrel as the hammer again pulled into ready position, this time aimed squarely at Deb... Wallace slowing himself to a halt.

But there was no second blast. No hammer falling, no round to screech with the wind. He could do it, could unleash everything against the boy here and now in a barrage so utterly violent it would've been nigh impossible to avoid. He could end it, right now... but for as much trouble as Bird Boy had proven thus far, there were undeniably two others who posed a danger several magnitudes higher... and one of them was foolish enough to choose mercy over force, and as much attrition as Victoria might be capable of, she was reliant on being within relatively close to medium range before things would go south.

Nothing showed on that blank mask. Just a shining facade of gold as the boy rotated the chambers and gathered an intense bundle of the gale before him, as if to finally attack Deb, only to fling his main armament to the side at the last possible moment and fire another, streaking shell of hot lead at his true nemesis in all this. The remainder of those gathered winds not used for the Cannon's blast formed into several condensed spheres of churning, tearing force that waited around him like the loyal hounds they were. He didn't bother to take his attention off the other boy; the sound of tearing metal and a girl's screech from the outskirts was enough confirmation.

"Good..." The boy muttered, knowing full well it had been worth it as he stared down Deb expectantly "Now...you." He could come for him if he wanted. It didn't matter to Wallace either way; he was ready, and he wouldn't hold back.

Tesla

She had never seen it coming. Is she had, it never would've hit, would've been disintegrated on contact with one of her shields...

But she hadn't... and that was the one thing the little green-haired fuck across the field had banked on.

One moment, cutting through the tethers on Fowl's person, the next? Feeling the blooming heat of a thousand suns boring into the side of her skull and her helm tearing into countless scraped fragments as the impact force and accompanying burst of condensed winds set her flying into the wall. Someone had screamed, in that instant, she thought it had been her, but she didn't recall opening her mouth. Her whole self seemed to ache, reality spinning and collapsing on itself as she tumbled until finally, meeting that hard slam on her back and only just barely catching herself with those gauntlet-clad palms as she fell.

Favor had defended her from the true trauma of having a high speed round fired into her temple, and her mech's own compensation systems had managed to let her retain some fleeting consciousness despite the shock, but she was frozen as she sat there, eyes fixed on that cold stone floor and what ruined pieces of metal remained hanging from her face. The fused round of lead sat nearby...

She could do nothing now, it was enough of a fight to maintain conscious thought as her suit attempted to stabilize her vitals, but the moment it did... the moment she recovered enough to get up again without toppling over....

But for now, all she was capable of was grinding her teeth as her lightning responded in kind, beginning to surge through the coils and fill the air with the burning heat of archaic fury...

[Shamitako]

Artemis

Artemis was beginning to feel her arm again, that was good. Deb avoided her attack easily enough, so she dispersed the cable on the bolt and loaded another. It had it's intended effect, opening up Wally to make a move. The move he made was not the one she expected, but it was one she could make good use of. She activated another Inversion Sigil, swapping back to her original position. The shield she had discarded transported onto her back and the crossbow Tesla had tossed aside rejoined her hand. She sprinted up to Tesla and raised her crossbows, pointing them squarely at the center of her chest, unloading a pair of bolts which easily pierced through Tesla's weak armor. For good measure she reloaded and launched another pair, one of which sliced into the armor yet again. The other one missed and poked harmlessly into the ground due to the numbness in her arm causing her to slip. Still, three was plenty, it would be a miracle if Tesla's suit still functioned after this. She then turned towards where she had left Fowl, still flopped on the ground just in a different spot. She had given Wallace an opening, and he had used it to give her an opening, it had worked out surprisingly well. Now she was going to play safe and try to wait for Fowl to wake up. She took several steps away from Tesla, just in case she exploded or something crazy like that, and then leaned on the wall for a brief moment of respite

(OOC: I figured she was down enough that assuming the attacks landed was fair, lemme know if I'm wrong)

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla

The storm of electrical discharge swelled and quietly faded to nothing as the girl felt the sting of cold steel through her chest. She had seen the twin swap in, but... nothing to be done in her state. Even as she tried through all her fury to conjure one last volley of destruction onto the other child, any child- she gave no damns whether it was wallace or the wretch standing over her -there was no response as yet pain struck her. Her arms quivered under her own weight... she blinked, and was on the ground within the instant, eyes heavy with her plight, sight filled with the other girl's boots walking away.

But through it all, she found the strength to utter one last thing as she lost conscious, a hoarse whisper, but still loud enough for the little bitch to hear

"Cowards..." but this time, she knew who it was addressing. Both of them. She was too soft to shoot the girl in the back when she shot have, and the girl was craven enough to wait until her little boy toy had softened her up and finish her off.

Cowards, both of them. but cowards of different types...

Tesla would remember that.