[center][color=c0c0c0][b][u]Slayer[/u][/b][/color]
Level 3
Day 2
Location: In-house Smash Arena
[@Zarkun]
[b]Experience: [color=orange]|||||||||||||||||||||||||||[/color][color=black]|||[/color] (27/30)[/b][/center]

Robbed of its support, the slapdash construction project fell to pieces, and with it to the earth plummeted its creator.  One rough landing amid the broken, jagged chunks of stone later, Steve appeared down for the count.  [i]Perhaps[/i], Slayer guessed, [i]his adrenaline ran dry, allowing the pain from his earlier wounds to catch up.  Regardless I am happy enough to have this clown out of my way.[/i]  With the polygonal builder out of the running, that just left...

The sound of a gout of flame came from behind Slayer, and with a slight start he realized that he'd been so occupied with eliminating Steve that he'd forgotten about the other, more tactically-minded competitor.  On one hand, it had been foolish for the vampire to assume that James might stand by until Slayer was ready for a one-on-one, but on the other it would have been easier for him to shoot from a safe distance into the back of his head rather than whatever he was doing now.  Speaking of, the futuristic soldier had gotten the jump on the gentleman, and before he really got a grip of his next opponent's course of action a second grenade was falling down on him from above.  Eyes narrowed, Slayer stared upward, and his thoughts went into overdrive.  For a split second Slayer was grateful that the arena was packed dirt rather than sand or gravel, which would have been kicked up by the tower's destruction and prevented him from understanding what was going on.  With that mental note out of the way, he got down to business.  Judging by the color, this grenade was another of the same type James used earlier, which meant it erupted into a wall of purple flames on contact.  On second thought, it must detonate on [i]impact[/i], otherwise merely touching it would set it off, making its use inconvenient.  Slayer started to move, grabbing the edge of his cape and flinging it upward.  Its surface straightened, soft but with a definite shape, in order to catch the grenade without triggering it.  

The mantle and the bomb made contact.  The latter exploded anyway.

Purple flames washed over Slayer, turning his face into a stolid mask of repressed pain.  His clothes, hair, and cape caught fire, and he mumbled.  [color=c0c0c0]“Ah, well.  Can't be right...all the time.”[/color]  The burning did not prevent him from noticing that James had yet to finish, however.  After rolling out of his jetpack-assisted jump, the soldier turned with his Hand Cannon extended and opened fire without too much attention to accuracy.  Slayer threw himself to the ground, rolling to put out most of the fire, and pushed up some of the stony wreckage of Steve's building to use as a shield  Wryly, the gentleman wondered how much it would cost to get his suit repaired, or to tailor a new one.  [i]Twelve shots,[/i] he thought next.  [i]Is that all he's got?[/i]  He popped up from behind cover to see if James was reloading, but he was too late, and only found him at the ready with pistol and dagger prepared.  Without hesitating, Slayer speedwalked forward, easily pushing the makeshift barrier as he did, then disappeared into a black silhouette.  He reappeared just a few feet in front of James, baiting an attack, then executed a Dandy Step at the last moment.  After the dash backward, he shot forward again, coming in low with a flame-wreathed Pile Bunker punch upward toward James' jaw.