Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5426254-20150930003410/@comment-5426254-20151029161516

''I am so terribly sorry posting this late and keeping you waiting, being stalled by midterms and all. But on the plus side, I think that compared to Round One, we got most of the tournament rules right. -GL''

Alicia had realized what had happened to Carmine; he was unconscious and pinned to a tree, his left arm severely damaged. She was now the only one left on her team.

She welled up with sorrow and rage as the man who had been her team leader-no, the man who was like an older brother to her, the one she was always glad to have, was now severely hurt.

"CARMINE WAS LIKE A BROTHER TO ME, YOU-YOU JERK! YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!"

As she gritted her teeth, she immediately swung Tweedledee and Tweedledum as hard as she could at her opponent, hoping to land a few good hits on Rayne.

However, Rayne had telegraphed her movements, and had instantly countered them with a few good blocks and a couple of hits to the stomach.

''Damn it! How can I beat her! How!?''

Goodwitch sighed as she saw the battle enter its final phase. ''So the battle will conclude with a dramatic one-on-one duel. I could have ended it with a 20 percent Aura technical elimination, but no, the crowd just had to love dramatic tension!''

Alicia continued dodging and evading Rayne's shot-tonfa, forced on the defensive after her rage-induced attacks were thwarted.

But as she noticed Carmine, pinned to the tree, she saw Gust Breaker was still in his hands. And then she remembered what he told her all those moments ago...

"Do you know why I do so much for you? Why I always made you happy with sparring matches like these?"

"No, why? Is it for something special?"

"Everything I did, it was for you. It's because you were the little sister I always wanted."

"Aww, thank you! That's so sweet!", Alicia replied with a bubbly smile.

"But there's something important I gotta tell you, so you better listen, okay?"

"Ooh! What is it?"

"You gotta understand that I won't be around forever. That someday, somewhere, I will be gone."

Alicia then began to tear up as she realized this revelation of the eventual, haunting reality.

"Aw, don't fret! I've always believed you can go far in life by yourself on your own two feet!"

"Really?"

"Sure! I mean, was the reason that you came all the way to Beacon just a fluke?"

Alicia sniffled as she replied. "No. Mama and Papa said it was because of hard work and my creativity."

"Exactly! But there is also one thing that will take you very far in life."

"What's that?"

"It's called focus. Once you concentrate, you can succeed any way you want. It will be your best friend when things go south."

"Mm-hm!"

Now get out there and win, tiger!, Carmine thought as Alicia began to smile, her sadness turned to joy...

Alicia decided to make a break for the trees where Carmine was pinned, with Rayne in hot pursuit.

The crowd continued to watch as Alicia quickly grabbed Gust Breaker, salvaging any remaining ammo in the process.

By the time Rayne had arrived on the site, Alicia was nowhere to be seen. She was scanning for her opponent in the surrounding environment, trying to find her.

Now, where is she?

She had little time to react as Alicia descended from above, wielding Gust Breaker and Wonderland, barely blocking both weapons.

But she could not block the roundhouse that followed, skidding on the floor from the impact.

Rayne quickly moved backwards from the succeeding series of charges aimed at her, as she analyzed her situation.

I need to even the odds a bit. She quickly saw the scythe blade lodged in Howling Wind.

And that's how I'll accomplish this.

Rayne then charged, leaped over Alicia while stepping over her head, and retrieved the blade before jumping onto a nearby branch.

Alicia decided to land a few shots on Rayne before following suit by heading to the same branch.

As the fight continued, the two continued to trade blows. Rayne's tonfas smacked Alicia, sending her backwards a few feet. Alicia responded by locking the scythe with Gust Breaker, and then bludgeoning Rayne with Wonderland before a kick to the chest sent her reeling.

Rayne then attempted a thrust, but Alicia slid and performed a leg sweep, Rayne now tumbling off the branch. But before she fell, she pointed the scythe on the ground, and swung from it, kicking Alicia into another nearby tree with a crunch.

Alicia had blood dribbling from the mouth, but she wasn't ready to give up...

"When will this bore-fest be over, Em?"

"Soon, Merc. It's the home stretch with two left in the field. You shouldn't get bored that easily."

At the tree, the first thing Carmine saw was his damaged limb. And then he saw two blades near his throat as the two girls continued their fight right in front of him.

Okay...

He was forced to scurry away when the duel moved to the trees, with Alicia and Rayne's blades lodged in the trunk. Alicia attempted to use her other hand to swing Wonderland and jab Rayne, who had the same idea with the staff segments of her scythe.

Seeing that there was little progress made in bludgeoning each other on the tree trunks, the duel moved to the other tree branch. Rayne made a wide sweep, causing Alicia to backflip and land a kick to Rayne's head. But the aggressive jabs and swings with the staff parts of the Viper bruised Alicia's stomach as she was forced back.

Rayne then attempted to land a shot with one tonfa, but she was forced to switch positions with Alicia as the two locked blades. Now it was Alicia's turn. A shot from  Wonderland caused a few splinters from the tree fly out and the two to tumble off the branch.

The fight had resumed once more, this time in the icy parts of the arena. And Rayne was hunting down Alicia, shooting down every possible crystal deposit and icy pillar that Alicia could possibly hide behind.

Alicia was behind a pillar, desperate in thought after her efforts failed to do any significant damage. She was about to be cornered at this rate, if Rayne were to determine her exact position. She had taken some damage from one of the Dust explosions, but had barely escaped.

Then she remembered about the Vytal Festival Tournament, specifically how the elimination worked. Aside from elimination by Aura level dropoff, all competitors could be knocked out of the arena.

Rayne was still searching, unaware that Alicia had snuck up behind her. And she was in for a surprise when she was hit from behind from Wonderland. And then Alicia decided to tackle her all the way into a tree, before landing a series of kicks.

But Rayne was far from defeated as she knocked away Gust Breaker, before jabbing and whacking Alicia with the staff end, before they were blocked by the bases of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

''She's got an edge in Aura, 20 percent versus 1 percent. But I'm going to win, no matter what!''

As Rayne prepared a final charge, what Alicia did next was surprising.

Time seemed to slow down as Alicia flipped herself over Rayne's head, as she whipped out Wonderland and unloaded every single round that she had behind Rayne.

As she turned her head, she had barely noticed the blasts. She was too late to react as she was bombarded from all of Wonderland's rounds, sending her off the edge of the forested arena and crashing into the wall, landing on the ground with a thud.

"Rayne Annarose is out of the match! Alicia Blue is the winner!"

The crowd began to cheer as she realized what went on. She had won the match! So she leapt in the air to her delight.

"I did it? I won! I-"

But darkness eclipsed the corners of her eyes as she fell smiling on the ground with a thud.