Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5426254-20150930003410/@comment-5426254-20151018000955

''Sorry if it's too long for you. -GL'' -- The first thing that appeared in Sable's eye was the bright blue sky, with clouds of white.

Wha-?

Then he felt the sharp pain on his chin and forehead.

Ow- Wait, I'm not-

Then he heard loud cheers as he looked around to see the forests of red, and heard the loud cheers of the spectating audience.

''So, this isn't the infirmary. Or the afterlife. We're still in the match.''

He saw the billboard with his name marked in red.

''Oh. Never mind, then.''

The sound of footsteps alerted Sable as he saw Pieter limp around.

"Hey Petie! You're alright. You still in the match?"

"It looks like I have been eliminated."

"Shit, sorry man!"

"But from the looks of it, Asher is also incapacitated."

"Hah, way to go! Taking down the other guy with you is a good idea when you feel like you can't go on anymore! High five?"

"No. As a matter of fact, you and I need to train more often. You didn't fare so well after that Heart girl defeated you."

"Shit, really? Damn, that girl is a real killer. Maybe I should ask her for coffee and a rematch full of whoop-ass."

"Not until you've prioritized training your speed and reflexes first. And then your strength, technique and defense."

"Alright. Might as well get out of the way first. Let's head over to that Asher guy's spot and get outta here!"

As the two of them headed to Asher's location, Pieter began to recall the fight that took place.

He had entered into a state of tranquil combat, focusing only on the opponent's moves and subconsciously responding while forming counteroffensives. He had seen Asher's strategic moves and had disarmed him, only to fall in a stalemate when Asher rammed him into a tree as his final charge.

Asher looked pretty calm when the two boys approached him.

"You know, you look like an Ursa ran over you," Sable teased.

"Says the kid with a bruised forehead and a broken jaw," Asher retorted. "Ugh... what happened?"

"It looks like our little duel ended in a draw," Pieter responded as he lent a hand.

As they walked to pick up Tana, the two continued their conversation as Sable followed.

"It's pretty interesting, seeing as how the two of us are pretty much alike," Asher stated.

"In what sense?"

"In the sense that we've both got hot-blooded melee fighters like Heart and Sable, childish adorable kids like Tana and Alicia, cool-headed strategists like us, and ..."

"And stoic teammates who would protect those closest to them at the first sign of trouble," Pieter concluded.

"Huh," Asher replied, shocked at how Pieter thought of that. It spoke volumes on Pieter's similarities to him, and how they thought alike. "Interesting, though I thought Carmine was the hot-blooded, competitive type."

"Not from my experience. Carmine's anger may appear competitively intimidating, but he's mostly calm. He rarely competes. I can tell that he wants to win as a strategic victory, but he's not obsessed with it. He unleashes his anger when Alicia or any other teammate gets hurt. And he mostly insults as a tactic, rather than as a means of empowerment."

"I see." As the two were talking, Sable was fascinated by Asher. The guy had been strong enough to take on Pieter, so he wanted to see how Asher stacked up to him.

"Come on, let's see what the others are doing," Sable interrupted, carrying Tana's unconscious body as the three walked out of the arena... -- The fierce battle continued as it appeared Heart and Raybe had the upper hand.

The two appeared to be dominating Carmine and Alicia from every angle possible, consistently forcing them to be on the defensive.

Rayne first led the attack, with a thrust of The Viper that forced Alicia to roll to her left, buying some time for Rayne to fire her shot-tonfas, Alicia barely blocking the pellets with the intact parts of Wonderland's Kevlar fabric.

And that was before Heart charged in and shredded whatever pieces of fabric still remained on Wonderland, causing Alicia's grin to turn into a pout. Shiranami was then entangled in the exposed spaces of Wonderland's frame, causing a frustrated Heart to also scowl.

While the two girls decided to lodge control of the entangled weapons, Alicia had a harrowing thought of what would happen should Heart's Shiranami break free, given what happened last time.

As she looked to Wonderland, and then to Heart, her dismay was reversed with a glimmer of hope, as she had a clever thought.

Not this time.

She pulled out Tweedledee and proceeded to land several bruises on Heart's visage. When Heart caught that last strike, Alicia inched forward before landing a headbutt, separating the two of them.

As Alicia massaged her forehead, she quickly blocked a downward strike from Heart, with both Tweedledee and Tweedledum in hand, before sending Shiranami upwards, leaving Heart vulnerable to several strikes to the torso with her two weapons, before a final blow from the blades of the re-combined Wonderland sent her backwards.

Meanwhile, Carmine was attempting to hold back Rayne's longer ranged scythe sweeps, as he dodged the first two. The force from blocking a third strike sent his feet sliding a few feet backwards as Rayne then detached the blade, aggressively swiping the sword at Carmine, now dodging, blocking and parrying as much as he could from every angle.

''This is no different from last time. All I gotta do is find an opening and exploit it.''

As Rayne attempted a downward thrust after rushing from several angles, Carmine instinctively readied Gust Breaker and lodged its swordbreaker edge onto the blade, locking it away from Rayne.

But then Rayne pulled out the staff and proceeded to whack Carmine with it, knocking off Gust Breaker and The Viper's blade off his hands. She then separated the staff into tonfas and began landing blows on Carmine, forcing the latter to block with his crossed arms.

Instinctively, Carmine then caught the tonfas, and headbutted Rayne before several series of cybernetic punches and kicks sent her flying to where Heart was.

The two groups of fighters then stood up after having collected their weapons. Carmine looked to his Scroll to see how much Aura they had left.

Carmine: 80%

Alicia: 86%

Heart: 53%

Rayne: 72%

They were at an advantage, but were still wary of any tricks their opponents had left up their sleeve.

Heart was frustrated by this revelation, because she had an odd-numbered, Aura disadvantage and the fact that she was unable to use The Breaker sword, thanks to Asher's elimination far away from her. But if she could still salvage a victory, it was because of Rayne, and their long years of working together, despite first meeting as enemies.

To think I'm going to need your help, even though the first thing we wanted to do was to send each other in a grave at first sight, Heart thought as she grinned. They had learned how to put their differences aside to work together in situations like these. They had learned how to succeed together on instinct without issuing commands or strategies.

And they would do it again.

Carmine had remembered about all the happy memories he had. He realized that he always entered these tournaments to make Alicia, the kid sister he always wanted, happy. Just like the time at Amity Colosseum.

"Hey Alicia! Remember that special training? Let's win this thing!"

"Mm-hm."

"Remember to stick by me, kay'?"

"Alright!"

As Heart and Rayne readied their stances, Carmine and Alicia unloaded another barrage of rounds, causing Heart and Rayne to take whatever damage they weren't able to block, and bringing up a smokescreen.

Coming out of the smoke was Carmine in front, suppressing the opponents with bullet fire. He then leaped into air, and kicked downward, forcing the opponents to backflip away... until Alicia leapt up over Carmine's back, kicking several times at their heads, then sliding down for a leg sweep, before another flurry of kicks knocked them backwards.

Then the two kept alternating opponents, making quick hit-and run attacks at each fighter before switching to the next one. But Heart and Rayne still held through, despite being on the defensive. It still wasn't enough.

"Let's have a change of scenery, shall we?"

The four fighters then continued their fight in the icy parts of the arena.

Rayne attempted a thrust, but Alicia flipped backward, leaving an opening for Carmine to send her backwards with a punch. When Heart intervened, locking blades, she was forced to dodge when Alicia came from behind, before evading a salvo of rounds from Wonderland.

''Shit. How did they get so good? I thought we had them on the ropes!'' Heart angrily thought as she furiously sped up with a series of sword strikes, blocked by Carmine himself.

Rayne wasn't having a good time either. Alicia was evading her shotgun blasts, and ducking her scythe swings, before Carmine stepped in. A low swipe forced Carmine to step back a few feet. But the following thrust was rendered useless as the shaft was lodged again by Gust Breaker, before the distance was closed when Carmine elbowed and punched Rayne in the head, sending her sprawling.

As Heart tried to rush in, Alicia blocked her blows before retaliating with furious swings of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, forcing her back.

Carmine then finished the job when he transformed Howling Wind into its cannon mode, firing three blasts at Rayne, who was standing near a Dust crystal; the perfect spot. The first two shots hit Rayne directly, and the third detonating the crystal and sending her flying back a few feet.

Heart was now furious and desperate. She was all by herself, and the tide had turned in Carmine's and Alicia's favor, who now had the upper hand.

But she would still not admit defeat.

Even when Carmine and Alicia were getting ready to unleash another blow.

"Now!"

Carmine and Alicia landed a simultaneous downward strike, before landing a kick to the stomach. Then they leaped into the air, and landed a hard kick.

"ANGELIC... HEART....SMASHERRRR!!!!"

Heart had recognized the move as she blocked the kick with the base of the sword, but the force of the kick sent her back, before they both spun around and landed several consecutive kicks to the head. Another kick sent her slamming into a crystal, with the third sending her flying into the air, and the fourth, a midair axe kick, sending her crashing down to the floor, to the delight of the crowd.

She was bleeding, and had multiple concussions as she couldn't believe she was defeated. There was no way she could've lost!

"Damn...you...pretty boy!"

With a final heave, she fell with a thud, her body sprawling on the floor as her Aura levels depleted to zero.

"Heart is out of the match!"

A momentary silence filled the arena, before Stan, wearing an "I WUV CASP" T-shirt, clapped his hands, starting a round of hearty applause full of screams, whistles, and cheers.

"Now that is how you battle," Emerald remarked, to the indifference of Mercury, still videotaping the match.

"I could've taken 'em."

"Sure."

As Rayne got up, she realized that she was the only one left on her team.

''Although my teammates have been defeated, I will not fail! I will be victorious for Asher's sake! I will do anything to make you happy, Asher! Even if I have to kill them to do it!''

Carmine and Alicia were still wary of Rayne, and decided to concentrate against this unpredictable opponent, despite having secured a major victory against Heart, and now had a 2-on-1 advantage.

As they nodded to each other, and prepared their next move, the fire in their eyes and the grins on their faces indicated that they were determined to win.

And this time, they would make sure of it.