She'd felt something lift from her shoulders just then, a chewing thought in the mind that up and disappeared from her thoughts. Hope's vision returned, but the pain was very real. She should know. She mostly did it to herself. She fell for The Room's ruse. Did this mean she lost...? No, no it can't be! She didn't lose, she was in control! It was [i]her[/i] trap, [i]her[/i] ruse! While beaten down, Hope wasn't out yet. She was planning on jumping him when he got closer, but it seemed he was more keen on giving her a sporting chance. Was he... was he pitying her!? What the [b][i]hell!?[/i][/b] She was tough, she could fight! Heroes don't just pack it in and take handouts, they slug it out through the suck and they win anyway because they were better than that! Hope wasn't going to be one to take the easy out, and she wasn't going to fight dirtier than he was. She was going to win this, fair and square.

Legs quivering, Hope staggers to her feet through her soreness and ache. Her face burned, her hand burned, her thighs burned and hurt and screamed at her to just lie down and give it a minute but Hope didn't listen. She was always a bad listener. Gasping for breath and relief through her mask, Hope rolled her neck to either side with sickening pops and motioned toward the bonafide hero.
"Put your belt back on," she spat, more out of exhaustion and choking for oxygen to ease her muscular fatigue than out of any malice. She shook her head wearily,
"'F you were a villain you wouldn't've let me get back up, I'm [i]not[/i] gonna take an easy win." Hope shifted her shaky legs apart, taking a more offensive stance.
"'F I'm gonna beat you, I want you to try and take me out. Nobody else got it this easy, don't start with me." Hope began to focus again, her thoughts becoming clear as her breathing began to regulate. Once it started again... it was on. No mercy, full bore. The best defense was an unstoppable offense. Even as she spoke to him, she began to throttle her mental energy, waiting for the signal to let loose and ground him. Her thoughts wavered for a moment. There was concern in there too, not just pity. It was too bad that Hope was too serious to have any herself. Being a hero hurt, suck it up or go home.
"I'll be fine," she answered, "It just burns and hurts, all it's gonna do is make it suck to fight you. I wasn't going to use anything that could mess up anyone's skin, the docs are outside anyway."