"Top students at Haven Academy, Cinder Fall and Emerald Sustrai of Team OBEC have done well to make it to the second round on their own. Even with the tragic loss of one teammate and another unaccounted for, they've defied all expectations."
"You might have a point, Barty, but don't let appearances fool you everyone; beneath their adorable exterior Team RHPL's heavy hitters are no small threat, as we saw Team SSSN learn firsthand."
"Right! No matter who comes out on top, this promises to be a splendid display."
"What's an 'Obeche'?" HInata whispered as the two of them walked out onto the stage.
Observing the opposing pair as they approached, Louise recited, "An exotic tree with yellow wood used in minstrel instruments and decorative frames."
"Okay, no offense, but why do you just know that? I didn't even know that!" Emerald asked as both sides came to a halt, cold steel flooring giving way to tall grass on one end and marshland on the other.
The mocha-skinned girl was somehow more scandalously dressed than Yang, her green top covering nothing more than absolutely necessary and framed by a strange harness thing that only made her chest more apparent. The only mercy was that she was wearing pants rather than some outlandish apparel to match her 'shirt', but still, why did so few women of that world dress appropriately?! Ill intent or no, Cinder at least was wearing a dress... even if it did reveal a lot of her legs.
Putting the reprehensible fashion choices out of mind, much easier with all the practice she had, the Louise answered curtly, "I read a lot."
"Not one for banter?" Cinder asked, almost appearing nonchalant if not for the fact that Louise could see her pulse pounding in her neck. "I can respect that."
"Three. Two. One. Begin!"
Both teams leapt backwards at the same time, a spray of bullets from Emerald's weapons impacting uselessly against the flat of Louise's larger blade. As Hinata shot back in retaliation, the pinkette covered the both of them in Fireshield and began to spread Runes around the arena.
"Do my eyes deceive me or is young Miss Vallière using her the Schnee family Semblance?"
"No, Peter, the design is almost entirely different, though the resemblance is remarkably uncanny. I can only guess as to the effects, but if standard color patterns apply, we can safely assume that stepping on any of them would be extremely dangerous."
While the pair of professors debated her magics, Louise relied on her friend to defend her as she continued to cast. Trust. After all that she'd been through, it was a difficult thing to give to others, but the ninja had more than earned it and continued to do so. Magic eyes tracked everything in the stadium and carefully timed swiped turned glassen arrows aside with contemptuous ease as the Hyuga heiress stood guard.
Slowly but surely the relatively safe landscape grew exponentially more perilous. Shoulder high grass and knee deep water were more treacherous than windy mountains or thin ice when the slightest misstep could lead to an explosion of elemental fury. Unsurprisingly, only Cinder seemed to have any luck in avoiding the Runes.
As the Sustrai girl's scream of panic and pain echoed out of the foliage, Louise decided to make use of her intense studies. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she called out, "Looks like you've activated my Trap Card!"
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Watching the Vytal tournament with her sister and a bunch of the children, Amy slapped a hand against her forehead. Of all the things to do on international television...
"What does she mean?"
"I don't see any cards."
Grinning like a lunatic, Vicky cooed, "Yeah Ames, what does she meme?"
"Don't make me rearrange the furniture while you sleep, klutz." The ex-healer groaned.
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While she didn't know much context behind the phrase other than that it came from a piece of children's entertainment that involved demon possessed playing cards, the taunt had its intended effect. Scorched and irritated, the mint haired enemy recklessly gave away her position by sending her kusarigama blade at the pinkette.
Sidestepping it, Louise grabbed the extended chain... but her hand passed right through as the weapon knocked her head back.
What?
Shaking off the minor disorientation, she moved to dodge another blow... until she felt her skin tingle at the approach of someone she couldn't see. Spinning as she dropped to her knee, the pinkette pivoted into a low sweeping slash, but the presence hopped onto her blade and placed a hand on her face. In an instant, the world shattered and Hinata crouched on her sword.
"Illusion magic." Louise surmised, getting a nod from the girl as she back-flipped off the sword to stomp on an incoming arrow, the little showoff.
They'd known that Emerald could use illusions after she'd done so at the CCT tower, but she'd expected some sort of sign. Instead, she'd been ensnared without warning, not even a slight warming of her anti-psionic implant. That just wouldn't do, not at all.
Projecting her newly learned Ward spell from both hands as she dropped her sword, the pinkette actually felt the impact of the next illusion against her magic barrier. From the look of her face, Emerald felt it too, as she winced in pain and grasped at her head with one hand. A moment of weakness that Hinata moved to capitalize on, but was interrupted when a high whistling noise preceded an explosion right in her path and sent her skipping across the ground.
As the ninja climbed to her feet and dodged undeterred between rapidly exploding pillars of fire, Doctor-Professor Oobleck announced,
"And it looks like Miss Fall has decided to make use of her skill in Dust manipulation!"
"Not a moment too soon, either. I can say from personal experience that you do not want to let that little girl get up close. I've had Deathstalker stings that hurt less!"
Dust manipulation was what he'd called it, but nothing in Beacon's library that she'd read had mentioned anything on that subject beyond how to use it in crafting ammunition. Weiss used the art to enhance her swordplay and so several other students did the same, but it seemed to be a more personally developed or taught skill than one that was published. So that begged the question of how Cinder had gotten so good at it since it clearly wasn't drawing on her reserves, which remained frustratingly untouched so far as Louise could sense.
Regardless of the how, there was no way to win if she didn't make the woman tap into her magicka. If it hadn't been for the Fireshield, Hinata would probably be seriously injured and that spell would only last so long before it needed recast. While it wasn't too costly, Louise wasn't an endless fountain of magicka and she'd already shed a lot of energy just inconveniencing the enemy. If Hinata got removed from the fight before Emerald, then Louise would be stuck entirely on the defensive until they wore her down.
"Maybe so, but her unique use of Aura puts her at a disadvantage in competitive fighting as without a defensive Aura to measure, a significant hit will force us to make the decision of whether or not she is fit to continue the fight."
The commentary only emphasized the point that either Cinder needed to be forced to cast some sort of spell or her Aura needed to take a serious beating if this fight was to have a positive outcome. At the same time, dropping the Wards with Emerald still on the field would be risking another illusory attack.
Status: Healthy
Magicka: (6224/14424)
Choose:
[] Close in and press the attack.
-[] Melee only.
-[] Melee and elemental attack for extra damage at relatively cheap cost.
[] She thinks she can attack your friend with
explosions of all things? Bombard from a distance with Explosion and Shaped charge.
[] Write in.
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A/N: Due to repeated castings, Rune spells are now cheaper to cast. Cost is now reduced for Louise from 200 to 180 magicka. Lesser Ward at 60xduration and Fireshield at % x Duration means the two are expensive to maintain, FYI.
