[h2][centre][colour=a0410d]Rori Russette[/colour] vs [colour=e36700]Rufus Tenné[/colour][/centre][/h2]

[colour=e36700]“Alright! My turn!”[/colour] Was the immediate reaction from the Tiger Faunus, his tail twitching in excitement as he stood and made a fist in excitement. He was quick to gear up and head to the arena, where he would finally get to show his stuff.

[color=#C8A2C8]”G[/color][color=#C697B3]o[/color] [color=#C2818A]R[/color][color=#C07675]u[/color][color=#BE6C60]f[/color][color=#BC614C]u[/color][color=#BA5637]s[/color][color=#B84B22]!”[/color] His mouse eared teammates cheered.

Russ would’ve been lying to say that seeing her face on the ‘wheel of fun’ didn’t send a pit into her stomach. The sword at her side --she’d name it soon enough, just needed something to come to her, dammit-- was made well enough, she hoped, but that didn’t change the fact that she wasn’t well-versed with it. Handling a sword would be fine, but what about the other 90% of the thing’s purpose?

Making her way into the arena, she saw that her opponent was a familiar face, albeit not an overly pleasant one. Tiger she thought she’d called him, though evidently his name was Rufus. 

[color=a0410d]”Oh boy,”[/color] she mumbled, coming to a stop to give her surroundings a once over. Nothing fancy. Her attention turned to Rufus, she offered a slight wave. [color=a0410d]”Uh...hey.”[/color]

[colour=e36700]“Hey yourself,”[/colour] The large boy grinned cheerily, obviously in his element with the crowds attention, [colour=e36700]“Don’t hold back now. I wanna fight you properly.”[/colour]

Russ huffed, eyes going up. [color=a0410d]”Buddy, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing,”[/color] she said, again more to herself and the air. Damn the guy was big, bigger than her anyway, despite that not being much of a feat. Plus there was a crowd, she hated crowds, at least when they were focused on her. She looked back to Rufus, then put a hand on her sword’s flat pommel, the other going to the trigger mechanism. 

[colour=b18fdf]“Students, are you ready?”[/colour] Professor Goodwitch called to the waiting pair. Rufus flexed his claws in reply as Russ nodded, and the stern woman called, [colour=b18fdf]“Begin!”[/colour]

That was that then. Russ focused in on Rufus and took a light step to the side, she’d have to circle him for a while, see what was up. He was big, sure, but how quick was he? Could he keep up a chase? What--

Her finger grazed the primary trigger, perhaps just a bit too heavily but then how could she know what its sensitivities were? In a scream of air and burst of wind dust, the blade erupted from its sheath, flying from her hand and far off onto the ground. Worse, the unexpected force was more than enough to catch Russ in the exact opposite way she wanted to go, lifting her an inch or so off her feet and a good yard backwards flat onto her back. Ow. 

Rufus started charging immediately, knowing that he wasn’t exactly the fastest in the class. The redhead was built for pure physical strength, and he was proud of it, but he also knew that tiny types were generally built for speed. That would give his opponent an edge if he didn’t close the gap almost immediately and keep them there.

Russ landing on her back wasn’t expected, but Rufus wasn’t about to say no to an opportunity like that. He pounced, reminiscent of the large cat that he was, with his claws ready to grab any limb they could, [colour=e36700]“Gotcha!”[/colour]

Russ went wide-eyed when the first thing that came into view was the giant tiger faunus descending at her. No time to get to her feet, her sword was out of reach, and if she rolled she’d just be a foot or so to his right. 

So, propping herself up as much as she could in that instant, she again --this time intentionally-- pulled the trigger on her sheath, and was launched backwards further, hoping to gain enough time to get to her feet. 

The burly man didn’t drop his grin as his opponent slid away across the floor, and he landed in a crouch where she had been laying. His tail twitched as he glanced up at her, obviously enjoying himself, before launching his way after the girl.

Carrying momentum was something Russ excelled at, so using the backwards slide as a way to roll onto her feet was easy enough. But even still, a proper footing didn’t change the fact that she was still unarmed and outmuscled. She glanced off to her sword some feet away and made a B-line for it.

[colour=e36700]“Oh no you don’t!”[/colour] Rufus stated, flexing his semblance to draw her attention away from the discarded sword and back to him. For good measure he switched directions as well, aiming at the sword in an attempt to either knock it further away or to intercept Russ there.

Her eyes snapped to Rufus, and she could not for the life of her pry them away. Russ found herself running towards him in the moment of confusion, but was quick to direct herself away --although that meant she was further from her weapon again. 

[color=a0410d]”What the hell?”[/color] she muttered, but her feet kept moving, taking her towards the edge of the arena now. 

Rufus allowed himself to smirk as Russ headed away from her main weapon again, coming to a stop beside the small blade. He retracted the claws on one of his gauntlets, allowing himself to pick the sword up and wield it properly. He may not know how to use it other than ‘swing it and the pointy end goes in the enemy’, but it kept it out of the black-haired girl’s hands.

[colour=e36700]“Are you missing something?”[/colour] He called after the girl, falling into a ready stance with one hand prepped for clawing and the other holding the blade near his hip.

[color=a0410d]”Doesn’t suit you!”[/color] she called back. [color=a0410d]”But hey, you look cute with a letter-opener.”[/color]

Yeah yeah Russ, big talk, fun banter, it wasn’t going to help win the match. Still, there was a lull, a moment to think, and that’s what she needed, so talking would do. She touched the second trigger on her sheath, the one to control the lava dust, and pressed it. Though no heat came through her hold, a hot light filled the opening. It was no sword, but close enough, she’d just have to make sure not to scorch herself. 

Rufus shrugged, [colour=e36700]“Not everyone is a large as I am.”[/colour]

There was an obvious double entendre there, by the way he quirked a mischievous grin at her and Russ couldn’t help but smirk back. [color=a0410d]”That’s absolutely adorable, kitty,”[/color] she said, then nodded him forward. [color=a0410d]”C’mon then, show me whatcha got.”[/color]

His grin widened, showing a set of pearly white teeth, [colour=e36700]“Well, I’ve got your sword for one. I’m also really strong. How much do you like your sword, by the way? It doesn’t look very flexible.”[/colour]

[color=a0410d]”You break my sword, I break yours, then what’s kitty gonna play with?”[/color] she said, and shot him a mischievous grin of her own.

[colour=e36700]“Well,”[/colour] Rufus started lazily, [colour=e36700]“If you break mine, that means you have to come real close, doesn’t it? I could think of a few things I can play with instead.”[/colour]

He leisurely put the tip of the blade in the centre of his armoured palm, tapping the sword with his claws. [colour=e36700]“You want me to stop? You’re going to have to come and get it.”[/colour]

[color=a0410d]”With pleasure,”[/color] and then she was moving, only this time she was moving quickly. Though it might have been impossible to see at a distance, Russ’s eyes had gone dry of color, and even that might not have been enough of a tip to figure out what she was doing. Her Semblance was not a showy one, one might mistake it for good speed or impressive agility until she started getting tricky with it. 

Regardless, it didn’t take long to close the distance, but when she did, Russ didn’t go for any kind of strike. Instead, without losing even a bit of momentum, turned in front of Rufus, pointed the opening of the sheath out to him, and pulled the trigger. A jet of ignited lava dust sprayed forth, and though the force did register, her Semblance was quick to convert it into more speed for her continued run.

Rufus barely had time to flinch back as the girl appeared directly in front of him, and he threw his armoured hand in front of his face to protect himself from the lava. He hissed at the burning sensation it left behind, though his aura naturally protected him from any real damage, and flung the girl’s sword tip first in her general direction as the armour plating covered his other hand once more.

Russ didn’t so much as slow down, and let her Semblance-enhanced sprint take her away. Weapon or not, if the cat got ahold of her she was dinner, and if she had to make a swordless sheath work a little bit longer than so be it. She wasn’t as far away as before, and she still found herself looking more at Rufus than her now open sword. 

Rufus’s tail twitched as his grin got a little sharper, [colour=e36700]“Finally stopped dancing around then?”[/colour]

He sunk deeper into a ready stance but didn’t move, keeping a close eye on every move she made. Every muscle was clearly visible beneath his open vest, showing that he was ready to leap in any direction or attack in any way if she got close. The Tiger Faunus’s trait was the only thing that seemed energetic, as it twitched and swayed behind him.

Another lull, and Russ was more than eager to take it. She came to a stop, let her Semblance die down as she didn’t need it, then thought over her next move. The sword was priority after avoiding him, which alone wouldn’t be incredibly difficult if she could keep a good few feet of distance. 

Again in a flicker her eyes dulled and she started jogging for the sword on the ground. If he was going to stop her, he’d have to make the move. The muscular teen didn’t charge directly at her, instead cutting across the arena to meet her halfway if they kept up the current trajectory. She’d do just that, picking up into a sprint towards him as the heat charged up in her sheath again. 

Rufus’s claws lashed out with surprising speed considering the agility of the rest of his body, which was not the best. However, he had focused most of his training into arm-based attacks and was capable of delivering fast paced attacks with his gauntlets when he needed to, and in this instance it worked. His right hand closed around her right shoulder, and the Tiger Faunus used his considerable strength to lift her off the ground and slam her stomach with an armoured fist. The red-head kept a firm grip on her shoulder as he did this, allowing the extra length of his claws to wrap around the shoulder joint and provide him with purchase.

There went all of her air, and all the focus she used to keep her Semblance going. All at once Russ was just Russ again, except now she was in considerably more pain. Not an improvement past her would have been happy with. She didn’t make much of a sound when he hit, more a gasped groan, and a wince at his grip on her shoulder. 

Her free hand remembered that it was occupied before her thoughts did, and she almost unintentionally pulled the sheath’s trigger. Were face shots allowed? Punches were one thing, but Russ was considering something that might [b]kill[/b] a dude off the street. The decision was rash, perhaps uninformed and even worse, wrong, but she tilted the sheath down and to the side, aimed more for his right shoulder, before firing. 

Rufus lashed up with his other hand as the lava shot at his arm, causing him to hiss. His left hand grasped at the source of the lava even as he toughed his way through the burning centred around his shoulder, his grin dropping to be replaced by a pained grimace. He felt more than heard the metal of his claws scrape against the leather and metal of the sheath attached to the petite girl’s hip, and the Tiger Faunus grabbed the weapon.

With a low growl he pulled it away from the young woman’s grasp, tossing it somewhere behind him as the lava flow finally stopped.

And there went her last line of defense. Russ could almost feel what little air she’d sucked in rushing out of her in anticipation of the tiger’s next strike, and found herself fueled by the urge to do little else but prevent that from happening. She needed to get out, then she could figure out what to do next. 

Her legs flailed she kicked forward as rapidly as she could, even if the strikes didn’t carry much power to them they were all she could muster. Something must have connected though, as Rufus’s dark look was replaced suddenly by his eyes widening. A strangled sound emitted from his mouth and the sound of the buzzer announcing someone’s elimination accompanied it as he released her shoulder to curl in a ball.

Russ dropped like a sack of rocks and quickly found that she had no energy to scurry away. In fact involuntarily she too curled, hands going to her gut before she looked up to see her opponent had had the same idea. 

[color=a0410d]”A-are you...freaking...joking?”[/color] she gasped. [color=a0410d]”Hey...you a-alright…?”[/color]

[colour=e36700]“Peachy,”[/colour] He squeaked, his voice about three octaves higher than usual. There were tears peaking at the corners of his eyes as he shot her a pained smile that looked like someone was trying to pull his heart out through his throat, [colour=e36700]“Good fight. Congrats. It was fun.”[/colour]

She glanced up to the screen, barely registering that her portrait wasn’t crossed out before she sank her forehead against the ground. There was laughing, wheezy as it was, before she crawled back to her feet. Perhaps a bit naively, she offered a hand out to help Rufus up. 

[color=a0410d]”You too...just promise...never to punch me again...you’ll kill me.”[/color]

[colour=e36700]“Only if you promise not to kick me in the nuts again.”[/colour] He wheezed in return, but accepted the hand nonetheless. He didn’t really use her to pull himself to his feet, but more just shook it while he half-rose. He was still bent slightly at the hips, and his legs looked wobbly, [colour=e36700]“I need an ice pack.”[/colour]

[color=a0410d]”I am [b]so[/b] sorry, kitty,”[/color] she said, and slowly went to grab her sword and sheath before setting them back at her hip. When she returned she patted Rufus on the back and looked towards the exit. Well, that hadn’t been [b]so[/b] bad. 

[colour=b18fdf]”That was an...interesting way to win, Miss Russette. Congratulations to the both of you.”[/colour] Professor Goodwitch spoke as the combatants cleared the floor. She waited for the pair to rejoin the class before activating the competitor selection again. The computer landed on another pair of fair skinned girls; one with dark green eye and a platinum blonde pixie cut and the other with a pair of wolf ears peeking out of a shock of flaming crimson hair and pale golden eyes. [colour=b18fdf]“The next match shall be between Vanilla Legume and Tamnocrven Bakar.”[/colour]

The fight between the lanky Wolf Faunus and the petite cheerleader was somewhat interesting. Tamn’s hammers and general agility and bouncing attacks meant that Vanilla couldn’t pin her down with her lance, and Vanilla’s sonic boosts from the microphone of her lance meant Tamn couldn’t either.

Tamn was the better fighter however, and slowly whittled away at Vanilla’s aura until the petite blonde caught the Wolf Faunus in the backlash of a sonic blast. The sensitive wolf ears on top of Tamn’s head backfired on her, as the loud ringing disorientated the taller girl. Vanilla took the opportunity to unleash a heavy strike in the red-head, knocking her aura down harshly. A few more rounds of capitalising on the Faunus’s weakness and Vanilla was declared the winner by a marginal fraction.

[colour=b18fdf]”Well done, both of you”[/colour] The lone adult congratulated as the combatants cleared the floor, rolling the match selection once more. The images this time were of a pair of extremely pale men; one with dark green, almost black hair and deep black eyes, and the other with dark blue eyes and a shaved head. [colour=b18fdf]“The next match shall be between Basil Trista Plagas and Asche Stauss.”[/colour]