[color=598527]ID: Ryan Harper
Location: Great Lake
Time: Error
Opponent ID: Riff[/color]

The water had stilled once again, moonlight glinting strangely off its blackened surface. Riff stared at it intently, still barely capable of coherent thought. He was [i]programmed[/i] for this. How had he allowed so much damage? His electronics were beginning to regain some sort of balance, but a lot of them were absolutely fried. It wasn’t something he’d been prepared to cope with. It wasn’t something that was [i]supposed[/i] to be able to happen to him.

The moon’s reflection rippled suddenly before his gaze. His twitching arms struggled to lift the rifle, yet he did not relent.

Water licked at Ryan’s ankles, rushing through the bullet hole, trickling through various cracks and crannies, dripping its cold and unnerving warnings down her bare back. If it reached the damaged wires she suspected she’d fry on the spot. A thought that didn’t occur to her until she felt the first droplet hit her shoulderblade. She was livid.

The lake churned as a large metal dome began emerging from its depths. The machine rose slowly, with the imminence of an ancient beast awoken from its slumber, slicks of oil and mire trailing past it and dripping down its frame. The Sentinel’s joints screeched and whirred menacingly as it stepped out onto the shore, its feet tracking sludge from the bottom of the lake. 

Riff’s finger finally complied and squeezed the trigger. A single shot echoed out. It glanced off the top of her hull. He’d forgotten. He’d forgotten to set it to automatic…

Several tons of metal rammed into him, easily swiping him off his feet. She hadn’t even bothered to shoot. The android didn’t attempt to dodge. A fraction of his conscience registered that he was suffering severe physical damage. Riff felt his back grinding against rock and the immense pressure of what now seemed like a wall of steel pushing at his chest. He vaguely recognized the sound of the waterfall somewhere to his right. The last thought that passed through his mind was how nice it would’ve been if he’d brought his guitar up there.

The second jolt of electricity had finished him. Ryan knew that. She sat there in the cockpit, frozen, for more than half an hour, staring at her display. The man’s visor had cracked from the impact, revealing a single eye, wide open, with a strange look to it. After a while feeling started to return to her limbs. Her grip on the controls relaxed and the mech stepped back, allowing the limp body to fall to the ground with a dull thud. Her trembling hands slowly pulled the singed tank top back on and, after a few moments, she gathered the courage to open the hatch and slip out of the machine for the first time since she’d entered the tournament. The girl made a few timid steps towards her opponent, and carefully crouched down beside him, after making sure the rifle was no longer within his reach. Her aching fingers clumsily slipped under his collar. She pulled out his phylactery, then quickly crawled back into the safety of the mech. She curled up on the still wet floor panel, clutching the heart shaped object to her chest, and concentrated on the feeling of cold metal against her skin. The night was still again.

[center][color=598527]-Threat eliminated-
[/color][/center]