The Clockwork Man’s defence worked as he expected, though his opponent’s reaction was both unexpected, and to his mind irrational. What had to be remembered was that the Clockwork Man was surprisingly strong, despite his relatively slight frame, so the force of his strike was decisively powerful and quick. His right hand wasn’t just floating around for a blade to go through it, but had been thrown wide and was already dropping down to draw his pistol by the time his foe had activated her blade and tried to strike. It probably didn’t help her that she had the palm strike to contend with. However, even as he made contact, catching her arm with the palm strike and dislocating her shoulder, her blade scored another groove into his arm, missing the wrist but still causing him some alarm, if struck in the right place he could be in considerable trouble. The pistol flew out of its holster and the Clockwork Man set his weight onto his right foot forward for a better firing stance. Unexpectedly, fire burst from her back as she fell and set his boots and lower trousers alight. 

“Why is it always fire?” He murmured quietly to himself as he simultaneously fired his pistol three times, the first shot too low as he calculated her momentum correctly. The second and third flew true, one likely to hit her mid-flight, though it would only hit the far right of her left leg, just as she adjusted her stance, and the final shot aimed at her chest when she stopped. He cynically expected her to somehow see the pistol drawn and fired, despite the messiness of her dodge, and somehow avoid the pillars all around her in another spectacular escape. 

His clothes continued to burn as he drew three more rounds from his bag with his left hand and deftly reloaded his pistol, all the while keeping a close eye on his opponent and judging her situation. With a flick of his thumb he set the Clockwork Pistol into its wind-up format, it whirred as it began to build up significant energy. The bottoms of his trouser legs had burned away by then, and his boots were in tatters, but the Elmorium beneath was in perfect condition, and the fire smouldered and went out.