Fire and Lightning and Bears, Oh My! {Vox}

[Naomi Daily]

Sitting in the middle of the make shift arena was a small girl. She sat crisscross applesauce as she leaned back on her hands. This was the second time she was in this place and she was even more excited than the first. Naomi hadn’t heard a thing about her second opponent and the anticipation was killing her. This entire time she had been looking at this “serious” fighting competition as a game. If she was going to be forced to be here, she might as well enjoy it, right? Right. So, she sat with her eyes trained on the opposite door, her body buzzing with excitement. Or was that the lightning crackling under her skin? Who knew?

[Liam McKinly]

Liam took a deep breath, stretching and cracking his neck before making his way up the ramp that led to his side of the arena. One down, two to go. His first match-up had been relatively simple. The boy's overconfidence had made him an easy target. But this second opponent, he knew nothing about. Whoever was in charge had done a good job in the second round of making information about the involved students hard to find. Liam hated using the same opening twice, but playing defensive and drawing out his opponents' abilities was the most effective method for survival. He did cock an eyebrow in surprise however, when he entered the arena to see a small girl sitting across from him. He stopped and tested the floor again to see if it's springiness had changed or been modified. It had not, and he looked back to his opponent. Best chance is to take advantage of my size and strength advantage. She's almost sure to be lighter, faster and more agile. The question is, how difficult will it be to get in close... Lightly he closed his eyes, opening them again a moment later, his irises looking just a bit cloudier to anyone paying close attention. He settled into stance, this time speaking prior to the match's start. "Good luck."

[Naomi Daily]

Bouncing up, Naomi grinned at her opponent as he settled into the space. “Thanks! You too!” She called, waving quite energetically at the boy. An easy going grin settled onto her face as she looked him up and down. ’Yep, no clue.’ She thought, her eyes running up and down his body multiple times trying to soak in any hint of who he was or what his powers might be. The only difference was the slightly faraway look in his eyes after he spoke, connection? Plausible. Shrugging a bit, Naomi shook out her limbs before her hands caught on fire. Within seconds she crossed her arms in an ‘x’ formation, a wave of fire following the motion and shooting out towards the boy. Let the games begin.

[Liam McKinly]

Liam raised his other eyebrow at the girl's chipper, outgoing response. Immediately however, he inwardly cringed as the girl started her assault, though he betrayed nothing in his face or form. Fire? Not good. That gave her a output advantage over him as well. He forced his breathing to slow, despite the air near him rapidly growing hotter. He had to do something, or the match would be over before it could start. Stop panicking. Analyze. Time slowed to a crawl for him as he took in everything, his power kicking in. She moved her arms before she attacked. Suggests that she either needs to, or has a habit of moving with her projectiles. Watch her physical motions as telegraphs for her incoming attacks. Fire relies on air and fuel. High speed energy attacks directly into projectiles I can't dodge could create a displacement effect, remove the air and extinguish the fire momentarily. Suggested strategy for the time being, avoidance and exhaustion. Time resumed its normal flow for Liam and he sprung into action immediately, hopping backwards twice and then running forwards, sliding through the gap at the bottom of the 'x'. He came up and onto his knee, coming out of the motion with his arm extended and his hand in a 'gun' shape, releasing a small spray of high-speed blasts of blue energy as suppressive fire.

[Naomi Daily]

Fighting was something that Naomi had been practicing and training for what seemed like forever. Her responses were no longer thought oriented but instead action. Naomi no longer thought, she just did. Which is exactly the moment after her attack she launched forward, skating over the air with a boost of fire. It's probably the closest thing she'd ever get to a jetpack or something and she was more than happy to take it. However, the moment she saw her opponent slide under her flames a pinch of worry sprinkled over her. That worry was totally justified as she processed the blue energy closing in on her rapidly. "Uhoh," she blurted before jerking to a stop. At the same time she kicked up the fire around her feet using it to launch her over the energy in a simple arch fashion. The moment she landed she slid into a round house kick, launching even more fire at Liam. However, this time she sent a crackle of lightning after it watching as the electrical burst and spread behind the concentrated flames.

[Liam McKinly]

Liam had to admit. He was impressed with her reaction time. The girl was fast, and quick to respond. Clearly an intuitive fighter. Though this did levy him a small advantage. To act before evaluating the action of your opponent was much like making moves in a chess game before analyzing the last move made. It could work for sheer overwhelming force, but a practiced opponent might not react in the way you expected. As she leaped over him, the boy was already moving. He ran forward, kicking off the mat to give himself some extra speed as she landed and launched her roundhouse kick. Fully expecting a ranged compliment in case he evaded the initial attack he cloaked his body in a protective sheen of blue energy a moment after he started moving, turning on a dime and thrusting out a fist in a mock punch. He used a concussive blast of blue energy to strike the air rather than sending an actual projectile out this time, sending a wave of compressed air at the blast of fire and extinguishing it, but also sending the superheated air back at her like a squall. His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he shifted back into a ready stance, the blast of electricity revealing itself as the fire was blasted away. Luckily it hit the protective sheen of energy he already had up, ricocheting off and up into the net surrounding them. He narrowed his eyebrows and watched her, waiting patiently for her next move. This was getting interesting.

[Naomi Daily]

It was a little disappointing, watching as her flames were distinguished but not surprising. She knew the property of her element well and was fully aware of how easily someone could put the flames out if they understood it themselves. Within moments she was engulfed in super-heated air, her eyes watered as she forced them open to watch the boy’s movements but her skin felt the effects all the same. While she could control fire and had built up a tolerance she wasn’t completely immune. Staggering back, Naomi lightly shook herself out again. “Noooot fun,” She mumbled before her attention snapped back to Liam. So, if long distance attacks weren’t working maybe she’d have to try something different. However, it wouldn’t work with that shield around him. Deciding to go with a ‘what the heck’ moment, she launched herself forward. A few feet from him she kicked up, pushing herself into the air and continuing to do a summer sault propelled by her flames. Pushing the flames out she created a spinning wheel of flames which flared out seconds later, aimed to envelope Liam and his shield. The minute she landed she turned around and darted for him. If his shield had dropped than she’d go for a regular punch, if not electricity would crackle around her fist as she aimed to punch the shield itself. Hopefully she could break it down to bring the fight to him, if not well then she’d try to tire him out to break it down.

[Liam McKinly]

Liam blinked and almost literally pinched the bridge of his nose as the girl ran straight at him, tensing to counter but then taking a step back as she somersaulted into the air just before reaching him, spinning faster and faster as she built up what looked like a wheel of flame. He felt the air around him burning and getting hotter and hotter with the increasing intensity. So, she'd noticed the shield and was trying to nuke it down. But what could he do. He closed his eyes, time seeming to slow to a crawl for him again as he drew back into his mind. When he opened them again he was standing in what looked like a white room, looking at a mirror image of himself; his subconscious. It began to speak to him in a bored, almost fed up tone. What's happening? Think. She didn't hit you with the kick. And the heat alone isn't going to break the shield. IF she's trying to nuke it, she's going to throw the wheel at you any second now. First. Can the shield withstand it? No. Not as it is. I can feel my skin peeling from the heat, when that hits it's gonna be like a bomb. There has to be a way around it. Has to. What will she do after? The image of himself disappeared, quickly replaced by one of Issac, who began to speak to him in a rather annoyed tone. You've got seconds. What are your advantages? Think, Liam.

Issac disappeared, Liam now looking at the scene in front of him as if a TV sreen hung in the air. He peered at it. Fire. The hot air affected her earlier. Oxygen deprivation leads to decreased reaction time and susceptibility to illusion and suggestive stimuli. She's susceptible, I'm not. She also wont be able to see me through the fire. But I can keep track of her aura as long as I'm conscious. She's not a complicated fighter, she's straight up. Intuitive. If she's trying to nuke the shield, whats the most logical next step if it's gone the next time she sees me? A direct physical attack. She'll figure that I'll be stunned. But the close proximity...I can use that. She doesn't know I can augment my physical attacks. If I time this just right... Even in his own head he sighed. He almost didn't want to leave. Back to the real world.

Time resumed its normal flow, Liam letting his eyes widen. Letting her catch that last mental image of him shocked and unprepared before the fire impacted and exploded. As soon as it did, the black of the smoke pluming from the impact with the mat and the flames themselves obscuring him from view, he took a deep breath of air and then poured as much power into his shield as he could in one go. He felt the shield crack and moan against the fire, the two energies contesting to see which was stronger. He could see her aura drop to the ground, and in that moment, just as the fire abated and just before she fell, he let the shield go, intentionally manipulating the construct so that it seemed to shatter right as she touched down. As she dashed towards him, the smoke cleared to show him slightly slumped and feigning heavy breathing, the illusion made complete by some very real burns on his shirt, skin and hair. Inwardly he smiled as she threw a punch straight for him. Waiting until the last second, for her momentum to commit her to the attack, he twisted his foot clockwise as if trying to catch his balance. At this action, a conic wave of energy left his foot and slammed towards her ankles. Simultaneously he straightened and, feinting left, poured every last drop of his remaining auric energy into a massively enhanced right handed punch to her solar plexus.

[Naomi Daily]

Everything seemed like it was going according to plan. She revved up the fire, causing the wheel to grow in size and temperature. It was only aided in the fact that her normal orange glow slowly began to pale in color until it was a scolding white. Finally at the point where it could cause a fair amount of damage she released the energy, directing all of it at Liam’s orb. Touching down she didn’t hesitate to launch forward with the second part of her attack, going off of a prayer that the wheel actually did its job and broke down his shield. As she approached through the black smoke it was clear that it had and by the looks of the slightly slumped figure ahead of her, it had worn Liam out as well.


Clenching her first without flame encompassing it, she went for a direct punch. Really, she just wanted to get close to the kid in order to move the fight along from their long distance range which clearly wasn’t being effective. She had no clue that it was about to turn sour, extremely quickly. As she approached, about ready to make contact she felt a siring pain spread throughout her ankles. Crying out in pain she lost her momentum, nearly falling forward. That momentum was stopped by a blow to her solar plexus. She hadn’t had time to react to Liam’s movements or even process what he was doing, he was far faster than she had been expecting.


All the breath left her lungs, almost like someone had shoved a vacuum into her lung and turned it on reverse. Her vision became spots and all she knew was that she was very afraid for what was about to happen next. Almost by a natural reaction a blast of electrical energy left her body and surrounding her and probably transferring to Liam, especially if he still held contact with her. The moment she regained her breath she let out a withered cry as she fell forward, collapsing onto the ground. With her vision fading to black so did any remains of her fire or electrical outburst. 

[Liam McKinly]

Liam blinked as electricity blossomed along her body as his fist hit and he felt her go limp. ...Subconscious reacti-...shit. He forced his body to go limp as the jolt hit him, the electricity spreading across his arm, then his chest and down to his legs. He felt himself go rigid as a board, veins in his neck standing out as the charge sent him flying backwards. He struck the net of the arena back first and slid down onto his knees, breathing heavily, sparks crackling around his skin as he tried in vain to make his muscles respond to his commands. He stayed on one knee, fighting the oh so easy desire to tip over onto his side and stay down, knowing that if he could just ride out the electrical surge, control would return. He just had to hang on. The crowd held their breath, waiting to see which combatant would move first. Slowly, after a moment, Liam twitched, and then gradually started to move, pushing himself to his feet. As the buzzer for the end of the match went off, Liam looked down at his still clenched fist and then at the prone form of the girl on the mat, shaking his head as attendants came to help her up and escort her to the infirmary. When they made their way over to him he shook his head again and turned his back, heading for the recovery room to think. Proud of yoursef? ...You shouldn't be.