Private Finished Tournament Arc: Ater vs J

Ater wasn't going to win this fight through strength, his opponent got him beat in that field. But he could maybe use that strength against her, wear her down until he could get some hits in or maybe pin her down. Last one was not likely. "I am Kitsune!" he'd say jokingly as he engulfed himself in his icy flames for show as he hopped in a zig-zagging motion trying his best to avoid the punches. As far as he could see he had the speed advantage, he just needed to be alert and not get his head smacked off by one of her punches. The air pressure alone was telling of the damage one hit of those could do. And he was all for the show, but she wasn't pulling her punches. One wrong move and he'd be in the infirmary for a week. What made him want to focus more on dodging however, was that his control over his cold fire was wavering. There was something wrong here. He saw the kick too late, and all he could do was twist himself in the same direction and followed the momentum of the hit to make it seem like it made some for of contact as he made himself intangible, except it actually did hit, squarely on his shoulder blade, and boy did it hurt. He got thrown to the floor, and rolled. He got to his feet in a quick second, and took a breath through gritted teeth. "Good one... Let's see you land another."

She wasn't letting up at all, and that was fine by him. He knew something screwy was going on, with him not being able to fully go intangible, and that was enough to not rely on that tactic anymore. At least not when she's that close. But it did seem like he was right about the speed advantage. She was fast, but no faster than he was. And all those forceful blows carried plenty of momentum. When she charged once more, he stepped towards her, making an obvious wind-up to his own counter charge before abandoning it entirely and using the built-up energy in his muscles to jump to the side where her knee was raised. During that side-step, he kept his hands close to his chest, and when he touched down, he threw out a ball of flame at her the size of a yoga ball. The flame was still ice-cold, like being splashed with water in the winter, but it wouldn't have gone past the arena itself, instead, at the end of its tether, it would disperse as if hitting some force field and splinter off to smaller fireballs, all of which re-directed towards J.

"" It seemed the cold didn't even phase her as she was just as adamant in her barrage of punches, and that was a big problem. He'd have hoped the cold would slow her down, but it seemed it'd take more than ambient temperature and a few hits with the foxfire to wear her down. He weaved his head away from the punches, but being driven backwards to the corner, he had precious seconds before he'd be disqualified for leaving the ring. He felt two more punches slipping under his guard and hitting his sides. He wasn't going to last long being on the defensive. He increased the radius of his self-immolation to engulf his opponent as well. He'd have to increase the time she spent in the cold, even though the foxfire would flicker in and out. If not to dissuade her from staying so close, at least get her to slow down a bit. While doing this, he tried to grab a wrist as she went for the head, and if he could, he'd himself towards her to try and get an elbow strike to the face, though it was admittedly a high-risk move, but he'd have to try before he was pushed out.

And just like that, it was over. He was thrown out of the ring, landing on his back where he got hit the hardest out of all of those connections. He went limp, fires dissipating, and breathing a sigh that was half relief, half pain. He groaned as he soon pushed himself up to a sitting position, resting an arm on an upright knee. "Not bad, not bad," he said panting. "That was an unlucky match-up, but I had fun nonetheless." He slid his mask to the side of his head, revealing a smile. "Guess that's it for me, good luck on your next match."

Ater picked himself up off the ground to accept the handshake. "Really? I thought the opposite, that everyone was going to use what they had, well, so long as it doesn't maim anyone in the process. Strong? I could say the same about you. You pack one hell of a punch. And I'm sure you did something. Otherwise I would have just kept ghosting," he chuckled to himself. "Guess that's what I get for not sticking to tradition."