[center][h1][b][color=#C4DF9B]B[/color][color=#C3DD9F]e[/color][color=#C3DBA4]a[/color][color=#C3D9A8]t[/color][color=#C3D7AD]r[/color][color=#C3D6B2]i[/color][color=#C3D4B6]z[/color] [color=#C3D0C0]v[/color][color=#C2CFC4]s[/color] [color=#C2CBCE]S[/color][color=#C2C9D2]e[/color][color=#C2C8D7]l[/color][color=#C2C6DC]e[/color][color=#C2C4E0]n[/color][color=#C2C2E5]a[/color][/b][/h1] [sub][color=#C4DF9B]T[/color][color=#C3DE9C]h[/color][color=#C3DD9E]e[/color] [color=#C3DCA1]O[/color][color=#C3DBA3]n[/color][color=#C3DBA5]e[/color] [color=#C3D9A8]w[/color][color=#C3D9AA]h[/color][color=#C3D8AC]e[/color][color=#C3D7AD]r[/color][color=#C3D7AF]e[/color] [color=#C3D5B3]L[/color][color=#C3D5B4]e[/color][color=#C3D4B6]s[/color][color=#C3D3B8]b[/color][color=#C3D3B9]i[/color][color=#C3D2BB]a[/color][color=#C3D1BD]n[/color][color=#C3D1BF]s[/color] [color=#C3D0C2]a[/color][color=#C2CFC4]r[/color][color=#C2CEC5]e[/color] [color=#C2CDC9]P[/color][color=#C2CCCB]u[/color][color=#C2CCCC]n[/color][color=#C2CBCE]c[/color][color=#C2CAD0]h[/color][color=#C2CAD1]i[/color][color=#C2C9D3]n[/color][color=#C2C8D5]g[/color] [color=#C2C7D8]E[/color][color=#C2C6DA]a[/color][color=#C2C6DC]c[/color][color=#C2C5DD]h[/color] [color=#C2C4E1]O[/color][color=#C2C3E3]t[/color][color=#C2C2E4]h[/color][color=#C2C2E6]e[/color][color=#C2C1E8]r[/color][/sub][/center] [hr] Bea was still in her fighting gear from the last bout. She was nervous, and not doing a very good job of hiding it. Her face was stern but her breathing was elevated and she was nearly bouncing on her feet. Doubt had crept into her and she was doing everything to hold it at bay. Logically speaking she knew this opponent would be much more difficult than her previous one, and she had barely won that fight. On the other hand, she was probably stronger than she was before, right? She had to tell herself that. She let out a breath, sighing, and stood in the arena, making sure her gloves were secure. Selena was the very definition of confidence when she walked out into the arena. Her head was held high, she walked with perfect serenity, and she could not help but look at the cute, scruffy opponent as though she had already won the match. Most of Selena’s body was concealed by a long, dark blue cloak. This would be easy. Everything was easy for Selena, after all the hard work she had put in. She approached Bea curiously, feeling unbothered by all the spectators on them. Selena fixed her otherworldly eyes upon Bea. [color=c2c1ea]”Beatriz Barro, yes? I saw your last match. You are quite talented.”[/color] It wasn’t a particularly warm or friendly greeting, so much as an observation made by Selena. Selena made Beatriz feel a little underdressed.[color=c4df9b]”Yeah, that’s me.”[/color] She said. [color=c4df9b]”Sorry, uh, I missed yours. Thanks! Thank you, though.”[/color] She smiled and nodded. [color=c2c1ea]”Selena Phoenix.”[/color] Selena’s expression was neither smiley nor downtrodden. She seemed to be very businesslike, and respectful of her opponent’s capabilities. Selena might’ve said that it made her appear more competent, but she was just being passive aggressive in reality. [color=c4df9b]”Hi, Selena.”[/color] Bea waved. [color=c4df9b]”So, uh. Good luck, have fun, right?”[/color] She said with a smile and shrug. [color=c2c1ea]”Perhaps I will.”[/color] [i][b][h3]"FIIIIIGHTERS! GET RRRREADY FOR ROUND TWO!"[/h3][/b][/i] [i][b][h3]"THE SCRAPPY BEATRIZ BARRO, VERSUS THE WHIIIMSICAL SELENA PHOENIX!!"[/h3][/b][/i] The bell sounded, signaling that the fight had begun, and Selena instantly sprung backwards, making two fists which erupted into a pale, milky glow. Selena flung both of the glowing orbs at Beatriz, and they shot forth like a pair of fireballs. Immediately, Beatriz got a sense of how this fight was going to go. Basically the exact opposite of her fight against Brenda. [color=c4df9b]”Ah, [i]filho de puta.[/i]”[/color] Bea said as the glowing orbs surged towards her. She dashed to the right and caught herself by putting all her weight on her right leg and then springing forward on it, sprinting towards Selena. The orbs went clean over Beatriz’s head, and Selena quickly conjured up another ball of magic, energy, but this one was thrown at the ground in front of Beatriz, which then became a wall of jagged, crystalline rocks blocking the girl’s dash. Either she’d run face-first into them or go around. Just to be sure, Selena ran towards the wall, using it as cover, and readied another spell to surprise the girl. Bea watched the ball hit the ground in front of her and really had no idea what to expect. It could be an explosion, a spike, it could bounce right at her, it could do nothing at all, it could flash and blind her. She crossed her arms in front of her and lowered her center of gravity, squeezing one eye shut and just preparing to take the brunt of whatever it was Selena was doing. When the wall formed, she looked up at it and blinked, not sure what to make of it. Selena crept around the wall, and caught Beatriz while she was distracted. She thrusted her hand out in front of her, and the magic energy in her hand exploded outwards like a shotgun blast, sending Beatriz flying back. Bea managed a sloppy block, her arms absorbing some of the blow. [color=c4df9b][i]”Bwah!”[/i][/color] Nonetheless, she went flying backwards and landed with a thud. She converted her tumble into a roll and popped back to her feet, right back where she started. Trying to keep a cool head, Beatriz changed up her approach. Performing toe tap, she summoned a green flaming ball of energy and then launched it towards Selena and her wall where it would create a small explosion on impact. That was just cover for Beatriz to start running forward again, which she did. Selena quickly ducked behind the wall again, only to find it shattering into a million, slowly-dissolving shards of hardened energy. In an “oh shit” moment, Selena looked up past Beatriz, and exploded into a flash of white light. When the light faded, Selena was no longer in front of her, but roughly 20 feet [i]behind[/i] Beatriz. She quickly readied another shooting star, and fired it. Bea stopped running when she saw the wall had fallen but Selena wasn’t behind it. [color=c4df9b][i]”Huh?”[/i][/color] She looked side to side and the shooting star thumped into her back. With a grunt Bea turned around, seeing Selena behind her. Bea grit her teeth and began sprinting at Selena again. Suddenly, there was not one Selena, but two. Magic distorted the air, and an imposter of the magician appeared beside the real deal. They spaced out, and began hurling shooting stars at Bea once again. Bea tilted her head. [color=c4df9b]”What the- how many fucking-”[/color] She cut herself off and got into a defensive position. She used Quick Step to avoid the first barrage of shooting stars, and when she instinctively swatted one away with her hands she discovered it was possible. Still, from two different sources? It wasn’t great. Beatriz jumped a clean ten feet into the air over and forward the shooting stars, and ran towards one of the Selena’s. Quick-Step offered her quick, short-range bursts of mobility, leaving behind a faint, shimmering trail of after-images that lasted only as long as the half-second of speed she acquired from the move. Both Selenas followed Beatriz into the sky, keeping track of her as she fell back down. The clone readied another arcane pulse, while the real one threw another rock wall down in front of them. The clone blasted the wall, causing rocks and splinters to fly forward like a shotgun blast. Bea ran forward as the wall appeared, not going to be intimidated by it anymore. She leapt forward and clean over the wall, a choice that also protected her from the shotgun blast. [color=c4df9b][i]”Yaaah!”[/i][/color] She landed on the other side with a roll and glanced between the two Selenas. Taking a blind guess, she lashed out with a long-ranged Sidewinder kick, a trail of dangerous ki whipping out from her bare foot to knock into one of the mages. One of the Selenas is hit, but rather than being ragdolled, the clone explodes into a shower of glittering light. The other Selena backpedaled, and hurled a pair of shooting stars at Beatriz immediately after. [color=c4df9b]”Shit!”[/color] Beatriz shouted in frustration. She pivoted on her heel and swung her foot again into another Sidewinder kick in the opposite direction, nullifying the shooting stars. Bea began running forward again, failing to come up with an alternate strategy quick enough to do anything else. Selena quickly made another orb, one in each hand. She tossed one straight up, and then disappeared into a burst of light once again. The orb hit the ground just as she vanished, turning into a rock wall. Selena was behind her now, and about to shove the second orb straight into her shoulders. Bea was getting ready to jump over this next wall when there was a pulse behind her. [color=c4df9b]”Wah!”[/color] She flew forward with all her speed and slammed face first into the wall, splatting against it. Momentum pinned her there before she began to fall backwards. Selena didn’t give her time to get to her feet. Instead, she brought both hands together, and conjured a much [i]larger[/i] variation of the shooter star spell: The falling comet. It was the size of a basketball, and Selena flung it at the girl while she was dazed. Beatriz was blasted from behind and flew through the wall, shattering it. Eyes squeezed shut she tumbled like a ragdoll across the arena floor before managing to bring her arms up to defend her head from the ground. As if to kick someone while they were lying down (literally), Selena summoned more shooting stars, and started blasting with one hand. In the other she prepared a spell she hadn’t used just yet. The moonlight spell. When she officially cast the spell, her next attack would hit harder. To Beatriz, it could’ve been anything else she had thrown at her so far. The blasts struck into Bea before she finished tumbling. [color=c4df9b][i]”Urk-”[/i][/color] With a strained grunt she managed to get onto her hands and knees, raising one arm as a shield as the stars battered against it. It was painful, and of course some bursts hit her in the side or the legs. Breathing heavily and sweating, Bea glared at Selena as kept casting spells. This wasn’t working. There was a hot spike of anger digging into Bea’s spine that she would have to swallow down if she was to think clearly. Bea used Quick-Step on the ground, suddenly rolling to the side to get out from under the projectiles and rose to her feet. Parts of her body were scuffed and red, signs that the ki that made her body strong had faltered under the magic pressure. But she was still strong enough to fight. Selena used her moonlight spell. She then tossed a crystal wall down at her feet like a softball. It was much larger now, and at an angle. Selena ran up the side of it, and stared down at Beatriz. [color=c2c1ea]”Still able to fight?”[/color] Selena didn’t look like she was even winded. Call her naive, but Bea assumed this was Selena genuinely asking if she was hurt or ready to give up as a courtesy. [color=c4df9b]”N-no, I’m good! Don’t hold back!”[/color] She insisted, holding her fists and looking ready to run. [color=c2c1ea]”…As you wish.”[/color] Selena raised her hands into the air, and… The sky fell apart. Dozens upon dozens of circular shapes manifested high above the stadium, and they spilled open like portals. What fell out was the meteor shower spell. Like a hailstorm, crystalline orbs rained down, littering the battlefield and turning it into a glorified maze of walls, rocks and jagged magic. Every inch of the arena was under fire. If any of these orbs struck Beatriz directly, they would simply explode. [color=c4df9b]”Holy shit!”[/color] Beatriz shouted in alarm. She glanced up and stared in shock, dodging away from where she saw them get near her, but there were too many to keep track off. Walls erupted and spikes did too, and she fell over and one landed on her shoulder and sent her spinning to the floor. [color=c4df9b][i]”Oof!”[/i][/color] Thumping up against a wall, she kicked its bottom and cracked it, causing it to fall over onto her. She rolled over and got into a squat. She caught the wall wholesale and then lifted it over her head with a strained grunt, planning to use the chunk like an umbrella. What would happen if the magic touched itself? Probably nothing, right! Selena couldn’t help but feel slightly impressed. No one had ever tried to use her spell against her in such a way yet. More rocks fell from the sky, slowly and steadily boxing Beatriz’s surroundings in. One landed over her head, and her umbrella grew extra magical… Stone? Over it, growing a bit heavier. Perhaps out of curiosity first and tactical soundness second, Selena generated another falling comet, and lobbed it over the battlefield into Beatriz’s general direction.direction. [color=c4df9b]”Phew, agh, shit!”[/color] Bea strained as her ceiling got heavier and heavier and a box formed around her. Bea heard the big spell come in- the one that had blasted her through a wall. Muscles flexing, she tossed the wall shield in front of her, almost creating a rocky ramp as it landed against the environment. She Quick-Stepped backwards, letting the comet explode between her and her ramp. Then she sprinted up the ramp, clambering over the uneven surface like it was nothing, and jumped from the top. From the myriad maze and falling projectiles nad erupting walls, Beatriz shot up like a bat out of hell. In mid air she flipped, spun, turned upside down and away, and brought her leg in a full vertical 360 kick to send a riotous blazing green fireball towards Selena. [color=c4df9b]”YAAAAH!”[/color] It was her Bicycle Kick super. The ball would blow through any falling projectiles in its way. Selena watched the glittering hailstorm explode all around the girl while she fell from the sky. And she had absolutely no idea [i]how[/i] the girl launched herself that high up. Momentarily, it caught Selena off guard. She didn’t choose to teleport away, since that would’ve gotten her stuck in the wall maze below. Instead, she tried to leap backwards. This worked, enough she could make some distance between herself and Beatriz, but ultimately, she was caught up with. Selena was slammed clean off her platform by Beatriz’s fireball, down into the dirt below. Beatriz landed unsteadily, extending her hands out to catch her fall and landing on all fours. [color=c4df9b]”Phew! God fucking damn!”[/color] She let out a breath. Super moves took a lot out of her, but she still had plenty in the tank. With the barrage stopped for now she jumped over a wall, saw Selena in the dirt, and began to run over to her to keep up the pressure. Beatriz was looking to hit Selena as fast as possible before she had a chance to get her bearings. The fireball had dazed Selena. It hurt like [i]shit[/i] and left her staggering. She saw Beatriz running towards her, and knew she had to start playing more conservatively. Simply teleporting around the arena wouldn’t be enough, since then it would just be attrition. But the spell she cast earlier turned the arena into a game of corner camping, and so Selena did just that. She sprung to her feet, and ducked down low behind a crystal, reading a shooting star. She waited until Beatriz would round the corner, and proceeded to shove the shooting star straight into the girl’s face. But the girl was fast. She was already looking in Selena’s direction when she rounded the corner, her lips parted, gaze focused. Beatriz Barro tilted her head to the side, the shooting star blowing her hair back and nearly catching her ear, casting shadows across her face and making manifest the fire in her eyes. The moment passed, the shooting star missed, and Bea shot a snap kick towards Selena’s knee and threw a jab into her nose. Selena wasn’t prepared for that, and the kick blasts her leg out from underneath her. As a result of this, the nose jab knocks her flat on her back… And blood begins to run out. Bea grinned, breathless, her heart racing. The witch was made of tissue paper! Desperately, she descended upon Selena, falling on top of her in a full mount. She began to punch down towards her chest and head, swinging her fists in from the side to get around any warding hands. [i]Thud, thud, thud.[/i] The hits just kept coming, and Selena [i]tried[/i] to get up. But Beatriz had a mean swing, and so blood was spat up instead. It was hard to really do anything in this situation. Two orbs of light appeared in her hands, but quickly dissipated into nothing. Was that a spell that just failed? Beatriz wasn’t going to hold back- Selena had proved herself too dangerous. Beatriz aimed to grab Selena’s wrists, pull them out, and then slam her head into Selena’s in a vicious back alley headbutt. Alas, Selena didn’t need her hands to cast magic. Something behind Beatriz lit up, like a floodlight. She made a clone with one of the orbs she just consumed, and that clone was about to shove a falling comet straight into the back of Beatriz’ skull. The other one went towards the second falling comet, which appeared between Selena’s trapped wrists. Blood went everywhere upon being slammed by her head, but Selena knew what she was intent on doing. Weakly, she flicked her hand up towards Beatriz, in time with the clone’s attack. Beatriz was caught between two explosions. Bea’s eyes widened as the light was cast upon her. She used Quick-Step, leaving a faint after image behind her as she tried to dive out of the way. The noise and light was blinding. Crystal walls shattered around them in clouds of glittering dust. Bea opened her eyes, blood trickling down her face. Some of it was hers, some of it was Selena’s. [color=c4df9b]”...Crazy bitch..!”[/color] She muttered, coughing. Beatriz had been flung into a tumble in the resulting explosion. But she clambered into a crouch, supporting herself by pushing against one knee. Going by the look on her face, she was genuinely worried Selena might have killed herself. She searched the cloud dust for any sign of her wizard opponent. It was stupid to think she could walk away from an explosion at point blank. Beatriz seemed to half walked it off just fine. Selena, however, was done for. The blood that dripped from her face now dropped from several other places. Bits of shrapnel cluttered down, and didn’t help. She wasted everything she just did. She could’ve pushed Beatriz off with a pulse. She could’ve strained to blink away again and hope she had enough left. But instead, Selena got careless, and panicked. And so she thought she could risk [i]that.[/i] She would no doubt be dreaming about her failure in her sleep. Selena was unconscious now, taken out by her own attack. Beatriz has won. [i][b][h3]"THAT’S IT! IT’S OVER! BEATRIZ BARROOOOO!"[/h3][/b][/i] The crowd erupted into cheers after the explosion had shocked them into silence. Beatriz was happy about it, really really happy, but she was also a bit angry and fearful for Selena. [color=c4df9b]”Heeey!”[/color] She shouted, and then grunted, holding her side where the explosion had gone off. Beatriz spit some blood out onto the arena floor. [color=c4df9b]”Gonna need a medic over here! Urk.”[/color] After waving her hand she sat back down on the ground. What the hell was that? Beatriz was really worried about Selena getting away or getting her off. But she didn’t expect her to do a slow-ass move that would blow herself up. Even if it [i]had[/i] hit Bea directly, wouldn’t the outcome have been the same? Well, whatever personal hangups Selena might have had, as the medic attended to Selena, Bea lowered her face into her hands and grinned, exhausted and beaten up but thrilled beyond measure. [color=c4df9b]”WOOHOO!”[/color] Throwing her hands up she landed on the arena floor like a starfish, her chest rising and falling with each labored breath. The blue sky of Brazil met her stare, and Bea was happy.