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Blood of Legends ((Kiandra&Mephilis))

As the charge began, it also began to fall apart. One thing everyone managed to miss about Menis through the reports was that he could lay magical traps. Explosions began to cut through the charging clones, taking them down as they rushed the fortress. Once they were about half way there, the man, the myth, the legend himself would rise up from his hiding place. He had already drawn back two arrows and was overloading them with magic. Before either female could take aim on him, he loosed the arrows into the air. They sailed over the clones before combusting like a pair of artillery fireworks. From their explosion came a rain of energy bolts, crashing down over the clones and exploding into them. Atleast half of the clones would be cut down before they reached the fortress.

Menis went to draw more arrows but suddenly a shot would ring out. Ducking down just in time to avoid the shot aimed for his head, but then more shots rang out. Most of them hitting the metal ramparts around him, luckily they were thick enough that even the armor piercing rounds could not get through easilly. This gave him enough time to draw back two more empowered arrows and fire them up over the forest, raining energy bolts over the area were the sound of the shots where coming from. Though, doing this exposed his arm from cover and one of the girls hit, blowing that arm clear off. He screamed in pain, recoiling and exposing more of his body which was blown away.

Once the clones reached the top of the wall, they would notice that Seylian had not reacted to them at all. Rune, being a caster herself would know that this was a rather novice spell, creating a still image. Just as this set in, the top of the walls exploded, killing even more clones. From there, the real Seylian climbed into view, sheath greatsword in hand as he waited to entertain guests.

Seeing Menis go down, Tom broke into a sprint along the other taken by the clones to avoid any traps. Fully intent on engaging Seylian,a nd trying to level that wall so Rune's clones could flood ina nd take the flag. Atleast that was the plan, before Menis killed off most of the clones, now they might have to wing it a bit. Hearing all the shots, Thyverian knew exactly where to go, and he began tracking down the source of the gunshots. The energy rain from menis giving him more clear directions.
 
Rune grinned as they blew Menis away, and then concentrated on watching the fortress. As Tom got closer, she nodded to herself, and then all the clones that had survived suddenly disappeared, making Seylian and Thyverian think that the other had gotten her. Kiara smirked and suddenly, screamed out, "Rune! No!!!!" Exposing her location as planned, before she grinned silently. She waited as Thyverian turned his attention to her, before shooting into the air with a firework round. Rune grinned, knowing that was the signal, and took a deep breath, creating over 80 clones, each male suddenly pounced on by about fifteen Runes, each clone fighting just like she does, leaving the path clear for Tom to get the flag. Rune looked down the barrel of her rifle, and smirked as Seylian came into view. She shot five shots, one after the other, going for his headshot.
 
Their ploy did work... maybe a little too well. Thanks to menis destroying most of their cover with his finally attack, Thyverian found Kiara easily. In fact, right after she she noticed him coming near and fired the signal shot, he close din on her. With nothing blocking his egress, he easily pounced on her, giving her a good cut on her arm before knocking her prone. As he was about to finish her, the clones appeared. Thyverian struggled to defend himself from their attacks as they assailed him from all sides. Kiara joining them with her machete, getting a slice in on his arm. Due to this, a clone got a good stab in on his side, opening him up to a finishing blow from the one infront of him. Or so it seemed, as the blade came for him, he caught it. Looking up at the clone as his eyes took on that familiar glow. When she realized her error, he gripped her hand with a fiendish strength. Pulling her forward forcefully as he thrusted his sword into the clone, killing her easily. Just as Tom had warned, he suddenly began to fight with an impossible level of skill. Easily defeating the clones around him as he seemed to know when each tried to attack where they were attacking as naturally as one would know they were hungry. As the last clone went down, Kiara scrambled for her gun as Thyverian approached her. Pulling the weapon up, she fired at him. He moved his blade into place before she finished pulling the trigger, the indestructible blade of his sword easily deflected the shot before he blitzed the female and cut her down.
So much for the perfect round.

As the clones vanished, Tom had neared the fortress wall. Activating his nimbus protocol, he easily leapt high enough to reach the top in a single bound. Seylian, seeing him coming would thrust his sword out to impale the ginger feline. Tom spun around to avoid the blade, planting his rifle on the large sword and used it to both keep the weapon away from him, and grind along it toward Seylian. Once he got close enough, Tom twisted forward, planting a hard dropkick onto the grey feline and knocking him off the wall and into the fort. Seylian rushed to get to his feet as Tom jumped down infront of him. "I've been waiting for this chance." The grey male growled, but the orange one only grinned as he saw the clones spawning around him. "You will be waiting a bit longer." He said as Seylian was ambushed, and the orange male rushed for the flag, taking it before turning his hands toward the front wall. He began twisting his wrists a bit, as if in a sequence. Soon his gauntlets would open up, revealing a few small rockets. Firing the small explosives at the walls, and just managing to level it with all six shots he had.

As he began to run from the fortress, Menis would respawn on the west wall, quickly setting his eyes on Tom, who was running with the flag. Hearing Seylian cry out, and several gunshots ring out Menis glanced down to see him being laid low by the swarm of Runes. It was not long before he realized that he had his own rabid fangirls to worry about, several clones were materializing around him. Just what happened? In the mission before she seemed to barely be able to fight after a few clones died, and here he had destroyed so many and they just kept coming. He did not have time to worry about it though, he had to stop Tom, and to do that he had to bury these clones. He took off running toward the edge of the wall before the clones could close around him. Drawing two arrows as he reached the edge, the boy leapt off. Infusing them with magic as he spun around, drawing them back but only firing one at the clones. The magic arrow screamed toward them, hitting the lead one in the chest before knocking her back into the others and exploding and killing them all. With twist of his body, Menis landed on the ground easily facing Tom. Drawing the second arrow back, he fired at the ginger tabby. Hearing the screaming arrow hurling toward him, Tom quickly activated his bastion protocol. A thick blue energy shield erected around his body, the arrow slammed into it and exploded gloriously. Tom was slightly singed once the dust settled, but mostly unharmed. Drawing one of his pistols, Tom began firing on Menis who was drawing another set of arrows. Aiming for center mass, he gave Menis almost no room or time to evade, gunning him down quickly and easily.

On his way out, he was met by a tranced Thyverian. Seeing that glow in his eyes, he knew better than to try and fight him. He managed to go toe to toe with both a dragon and Lenarin Terafax... this trance mode was far too dangerous to risk a direct confrontation. Holstering his gun, he instead drew a stun bomb and tossed it at the white feline. Thyverian dashed forward, catching it easily. As he went to throw it back to Tom, it went off and hit him with its full effect. Tom continued to run for the win as Thyverian was left open to shots from Rune if she so chose to kill him. Regardless, noone would be in a position to stop Tom from reaching the rally point and winning the round for his team with more than ten minuets to go.
 
Kiara saw him coming, and winced. She grabbed her gun, firing at Thyverian and snarled at him as he deflected them and then cut her down. She grinned at him, saluting him as her body disappeared.

As Tom ran with the flag, Rune ignored the pain racing through her, and then centered Thyverian in the crosshairs. She let her bullets fly, watching them cut him down, and then turned to Seylian. As she was about to shoot him, the round ended, a loud siren loudly letting them know. The ceiling flashed Black, showing the Victors of the match, and she roared happily. Kiara appeared at her side and the two sisters grinned at each other. They made their way to the entrance, the clones melting away. The slight pain that ran through her at their deaths during the match was but a smidgen of the pain she felt in the real world, and so the multiple deaths by Menis had felt more like a nuisance than what happened in the real world.

Now at the entrance, the siren sounded for the next match, and the three headed in, Rune speaking quietly, "We can put the flag as far back as possible, and my clones can protect as much as possible. I don't have the magic prowess that Menis has, but, I can connect a shield to each of my clones, that should help."
 
"Damnit!" Seylian exclaimed after the arena reset. Stomping his foot on the floor and shaking his head as he looked over his allies. "She just spawns wholes armies out of nowhere, how is that fair?" He complained, getting a shrug from his two squamates. "That means we have to approach this very differently, not only do they have better weapons, but they have more numbers." Seylian growled, shaking his head. "Its going to be like fighting up an incline thats only frozen for us." Crossing his arms, he looked looked around the arena now that it was 'off', "Oh hey look, we have an audience." He said pointing out the large number of people watching them.

Menis looked around frantically, until he found a familiar dark shape, with a familair armored figure by it. A big smile came over his face as he waved at his two elder brothers. "So what do you think?" Thyverian asked Seylian, who turned his attention back to his friend. "If they are fighting dirty, we need to too. Menis, lets talk about your magic.." He said, grabbing the attention of the younger male, "Yeah?" They then began scheeming as they headed out of the arena to let black team set the stage.

Back inside the arena, Tom was looking around at the audience as Rune laid out her plan. "Sounds good to me, but what kind of setting do you want to have the map set to? Shall we leave the area open, or obfuscate it?" He asked, he did not seem quite as excited about having won the round... because it was just one round, gold team was still in the game. If anything, how well they preformed last round had the orange male a bit worried about how the next rounds might go.
 
"In my hometown, there's a place called the Painted Mines. Its pretty much a labyrinth of rocky valleys and hills. It should work for us, they'll have to maneuver around the obstacles. My clones can watch from strategic spots above, so that they'll be funneled through the labyrinth. If we can keep them from the flag long enough, we win." Rune said, as she sent her request up and watched the arena shift, into a rocky landscape. The rocks were layered, white, red, pink and orange, and small crevasses opened up and formed large ravines. She created her clones, ignoring the audience, as Kiara jumped up onto the top of the rocks. It was a clear shot from the top, but Rune's clones would keep close watch to keep them pinned down within the labyrinth.

Each of the team members took up strategic spots, easily seen, over areas they could easily jump down to take cover from the Gold team. Rune's clones spread out, over the large area, keeping an eye on the entrance. A couple slipped down in to the ravines and valleys, setting traps and ambushes for the enemy.

"We ready to give them hell?" Rune asked, a feral grin on her face.
 
Due to the size and intricacy of the labyrinth, the timer was increased from fifteen to twenty-five minuets. Black team had ten minuets to set up their positions before the doors opened for gold team. Hearing the doors open would alet black team that gold team had entered the arena. As a rule of fairness, they were not allowed to interfer with the area around the entrance, nor were they able to watch it.


"I am." Tom said in response as he watched the canyons below him. He was the last line of defense, guarding the final passage that lead to their flag. He took the time to toggle on his nimbus, and cheetah protocols. The cheetah protocol kickstarted his leg muscles and respiratory system, allowing him to run at extreme speeds and sustain those speeds for a decent amount of time, ending with a quick injection of revitalization magic to make up for all the burnt stamina.
Things seemed eerily quiet, even by the time they would be expected to appear... there was nothing. The timer over the arena continued to tick down. Well over ten minuets into the round, there was no sign of them. As the timer ticked down to 9:55, Tom became extremely suspicious. Moving over back to where the flag was, he used the scope on his rifle to zoom in on it. The pedestal that held their flag was empty. "Shit!" Tom cursed, somehow they had gotten by them! Taking out his flare gun, aiming it high before firing it up into the sky. The others might be a bit confused by this signal flare as they never saw anyone so how did they get to Tom?


Whoever was watching over the last area might notice a couple blurry shimmers moving along the wall very slowly.
This would be Thyverian and Seylian, who were both under an invisibility spell, carrying the flag. Menis remained back in the opening area which was restricted from being watched initially, they were only allowed to chase the enemy team into here, or enter it to retrieve the flag. So he was out of sight this whole time, channeling magic for a one of the more complex spells he knows. A twisting aura of shadows starting to shimmer around him as his long green hair flailed int he intensity of his magic.
In the stands, the demon would lean over to Manus, "What have you been teaching Menis?" He asked through his helmet, provoking a grim from the black male. "A few tricks to help him out in dicey situations."
 
As Manus explained to Demon about the tricks, the shadows coalesced to form a curvy female body. Once they had disipated, Cylesta stood there, smirking at Manus and the Demon, tilting her head in greeting, before looking for her uncle, waving to him as he smiled at her.
"How are they doing?" She asked, looking down at the arena, easily picking out the clones Rune had created, and the invisible males. She smirked at that, her mechanical eye homing in on their body heats easily.

Down in the arena, Rune and Kiara looked back at Tom, confused as to why he was alerting them when they hadn't seen hide nor hair of them. Rune turned back to look at the clones, each one checking the surrounding area. No one saw anything, and another minute passed before Kiara noticed a piece of a rock, go tumbling as if someone had dislodged it. "Damnit! They've gone invisible!!!" Kiara raged, shooting at them, as she gave chase. Rune closed her eyes, and when they opened, they looked like melted iron, able to see the heat a body gave. Sadly, this was an ability that didn't cross over into her clones. She chased after Kiara, knowing Tom was near them as well.

The three ran after them, Kiara getting a shot in on one of them, unable to see who, but it wasn't a killing blow, more of a glancing blow. Run snarled as she saw Menis working his magic, the shadows twisting in on themselves. Kiara ran head first in, but Rune stopped at the edges of it, her nose crinkled. She didn't like it, and so she sent clones in after her sister, while trying to find a way around the shadowy realm that was appearing before her.
 
"Pretty well considering they are outnumbered." Manus said to Cylesta as she appeared and spoke. Looking down at the arena below with a sigh. "I would guess that is why they are using a bit of... subterfuge. They know they cannot defeat a nigh infinite army so they are just going to try to avoid it all together." The black feline said right before the flare went up. "So much for that." The demon remarked

Once Kiara began shooting, the two boys knew the jig was up. Breaking into a sprint with Seylian leading the way, flag in hand. The fragile spell breaking as they began to run through the labyrinth. Further along, Menis' ears jolted at the sound of gunfire and he knew he had to cast the spell now. Raising his right hand, he began to coalesce the shadows together in his grip, forming a sphere of darkness. A grin coming over his face as he noticed Kiara and some clones chasing his Seylian and the wounded Thyverian who was doing his best to body block for the flag carrier. "Weclome to my world!" He shouted before crushing and sphere in his hand, creating a fist and slamming that fist into the ground. Tides of darkness began to seep out from around him rapidly, filling the canyons as he created a rather large shadow nexus within. From the outside it was impossible to penetrate the the nexus with sight, no technology or natural eye could hope to see inside. Only those capable of residing within the shadow realm itself knew the spell required to see into a nexus from the outside.

"What are you doing to Menis? Did you tell him to say that when he cast the spell?" The demon asked, turning his head over to Manus whose eyes were now a deep purple as he had activated his own shadowsight to see within the nexus. "No, but I might start saying it from now on." Shaking his head, the demon would hold out an armored hand to his brother expectantly. He did not know really any shadow magic, luckily for him, Manus would take his hand and share his shadowsight so that he could witness the fight within.
For those within the nexus, most color would be devoured from their senses, only vague hints of the colors they knew remained. As Kiara chased after the two boys, she and Rune's clones that followed would find themselves threatened on all sides. From each corner of the nexus around them, the shadows would begin to take shape into various different horrors. From where the wall of the canyon once was, a particularly large beast came surging out of the darkness, large scythelike appendages where its hands would normally be. With a wide swing, it attempted to take Kiara and all the clones out at once while the other creatures distracted them with their terrifying visage, and the shortlized, almos tparalyzing effect of entering a nexus for the first time. Around Menis, a set of large shadowy beasts reminiscent of panthers took shape, standing around him protectively as he drew his bow.

Tom would stop dead in his tracks as he saw the shadow Nexus taking shape before him. "Wait..." He started, recognizing this from the orgy he was in a few days ago. Surely they would not have let that guy join... Or could Menis do this too? Shaking his head, he knew what he had to do. Drawing his pistols, he activated his cheetah protocol and rushed in, hoping to help.

"I wonder if its cheating if your girlfriend is helping Menis." The demon said teasingly, provoking a shrug from Manus, "Technically its summoning magic, if cloning spells are allowed I do not see why summong wouldn't be." With a nod, the demon simply said, "Makes sense."
 
Cylesta grinned and activated her mechanical eye easily, the darkness from within it flowing out and around it, looking as if it was a shadow nexus itself.
"Well this is going to be a short fight... At least Rune knows not to go rushing into it..."

And indeed she did, Rune was trying her very hardest to avoid the shadows that were filling the valleys around her. She stopped, but as she saw Thyverian and Seylian disappear within, would soon be enveloped by the shadows herself, her senses sharp. Ears pricked up, she close her eyes for a moment, whispering a spell before opening them. They seemed to glow brightly now, a deep emerald green, and looked as if the shadows were bleeding from them, dripping down her face in black and grey tears, staining her face. She saw the shadow beast come out at her sister, but focused on the task at hand, trying to reach Seylian and Thyverian. She pulled her gun out, checking the projectiles, and startde up the chase again, her other hand gripping a silver machete, which she used to slice through the creatures forming around her. She shot at Thyverian again, this time landing a headshot, and as she raced over his prone body, lifted her gun up, Seylian within range. Just as she was about to pull the trigger though, Seylian reached the rally point, winning the match for the gold, the top of the arena flashing gold. Rune came to a stop near a black creature, turning her machete towards it as it attacked her, before the magic disipated, leaving the arena pristine again. She panted, leaning back against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest. The black tracks of the spell she had whispered stained her cheeks, and she winced at the light that was now causing her pain. She threw a hand up to cover her eyes, and tried to remember the counter spell, but it wasn't coming to mind.

Within the shadow nexus, Kiara and Tom realized they had lost, as the shadow nexus disappeared, the light from the golden ceiling shining down on them. The clones disappeared as well, and the two reunited with Rune, who smiled at them ruefully as she tore a bandage in half to wrap her eyes for now. It was a good strategy, and one that worked very well against them.
 
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Tom raced into the darkness while Rune was still deciding whether or not she wanted to win the round or not. He could not fault her indecision, the shadows were quite intimidating, but they were also the only way to reach their targets. As he raced into the nexus at breakneck speed, he saw the rather large beast cut down multiple clones in a single swipe. Luckily Kiara managed to dodge it, Tom leapt up over the monster, planting a foot on its face as he jumped of of it, blasting it in the face for good measure as he moved on. With his cheetah protocol, he made it by most of the beasts easilly, gunning the few down that managed to get in his way.
Seeing Tom closing in on his friends, Menis drew a pair of arrows and laced them with his magic. As they began to glow that typical neon green, darkness would course over them, merging the shadows with his own arcane spell. A knowing grin came over the black feline's face as he flipped his bow arm over in conjuntion with his release. The shadowy green arrows spinning around one another before darting off in opposite directions.

As the ginger male got a lock on Seylian and prepared to fire, multiple bolts of energy rushed out of the darkness around him. It took every bit of his concentation, and the added speed to avoid dying then and there. Though his cheetah protocol would end there, leaving him tired for a split second before the stamina spell kicked in, refreshing him. This time activating his nimbus protocol, he attempted to clear the distance with a mighty leap forward. This time as he took aim at Seylian, Menis' shadow cats would appear around him and assail him in mid air. As he came crashing down to the ground with the panthers latching onto one of his wrists and a shoulder with their jaws and one getting its claws into his torso. Tom would drop his right hand gun, drawing his dagger as he began to fight the monsters desperately.


He looked a bit relieved despite his struggle when he noticed Rune had joined the fray. One of the shadowcats tackling him and trying to maul him as he heard her gunshot ring out in the darkness. He thought for sure they had won, she could be counted on to never miss her mark.When he finally killed the last beast and lay there bleeding and dying himself from the wounds they inflicted, he noticed it was Thyverian, and not Seylian she shot. Whether it was a poor choice on her part, or Thyverian making it impossible for her to hit Seylian, he knew that gold team was going to win now. "Fuck.." He groaned to himself, if he had not let Menis and his damn pets interfere with his aim, he woulda got that grey furred bastard.
As Rune ran up to Thyverian to take aim at Seylian, the dying redhead would grab her ankle with what little force of will he had left. As Thyverian slowed her, Menis took aim, loosing a couple arrows in her direction that would not hit their mark. The arrows would vanish along with the arena as Seylian scored the win for his team. "Hell yeah, great job guys!" Seylian started as the three began high fiving at their success. They got around superior gear and training through a mixture of magic and wit. "I wish I coulda saw the look on their faces when they realized what was going on!" Menis exclaimed as Thyverian lifted him up onto his shoulders and carried their MVP out of the arena. "Oh I bet it was priceless, I hope someone took a picture!" Seylian exclaimed as he followed the two out in preparation for the next round.



"Sorry guys.." Tom said as he rejoined his team, a rather dejected look on his face. "I had two shots at Seylian, and I kept letting them screw me up." He groaned, he accepted no excuse for his inability to get the job done. Losing a single round to these guys was quite the insult, especially since its possible that they may have gotten out without a technical loss. Since it would be hard to tell if Thyverian died before the point was scored or not, a technicality that would bother Tom endlessly for sure. "I feel like I have underestimated Menis, hes got more tricks up his sleeve than I would have expected... Though given who hes related to, I should have expected."

Up in the stands, Manus would be grinning at the outcome, "That boy's gonna be something terrifying someday." The demon would simply nod in agreement, "One day he will be stronger than both of us."
 
Rune shook her head at Tom, still holding her eyes, and said, "We were a bit overconfident that round. And we know that we need to target Menis first, this next round." Kiara nodded in agreement, and said, "We've seen that they are tough fighters when it counts. Now, let's take it home." The three moved towards the door, walking out of the arena, Kiara smirking as she saw Thyverian holding Menis up in the air.

Cylesta smirked at the Demon, and said, "And it'll be tempered by his sweetness."
She slowly walks over to her uncle, and stands next to him, nodding respectfully to some of the felines that are watching. A couple of them nod back, recognizing her easily with her mechanical eye. Melorn turns to his niece, smiling at her. She smiles at him, and asks, "So, what do you think of your team so far?"
 
Tom is a bit confused as to why she sis holding her face and whats going on with her new gothic look... But surely she knows what she is doing.
He hopes.
"Whatever happens, we cannot let them beat us. They might be good, but they are still rookies, and our reputations have been through enough." He did not know if his father was watching, but if he was, he would not tolerate a loss. So far, Tom had managed to not be laid low once, and he was not about to go down in the deathmatch. His hands slip into his coat pockets as he took in a long breath. His mind going over every scenario he could think of for the coming match as they exited the arena. There was a bit of downtime after this one while the final arena was being set up, and the teams were encouraged to get something to eat while they waited.

"Hes got plenty of that to go around." The demon said as Cylesta left the men to their own devices. Melorn glanced over a this niece as she approached. Offering her a nod as she came to stand beside him. "I am quite pleased with how they handled the last round, they are quite resourceful. Though now the other side know Menis' value, I suspect they will not suffer many more of his tricks. It will likely be up to Seylian and Thyverian if they are going to win this, it will take all the grit they have."

The gold team would just be relaxing near the concession stand, enjoying some refreshments while they waited to be called back to the arena. Tom would spend his free time preparing his body and mind for the next round. Having picked a nice quiet spot to do some warm ups, to keep himself nice and limber. Only drinking water to refresh himself, pretty clear that he had no intention of letting the rookies upset their team.

Once the time had finally come, the teams would be called back to opposite sides of the arena. Upon stepping in, they would hear the echoes of battle, gunfire, metal hitting metal. This would likely interfer with their situational awareness as they would not know for sure when they were being attacked or when their allies were engaged outside of sight. The scene they saw inside was a dark forest, lit up only by fires that raged across different sections of it. It would seem that the fires were spreading at a rather deliberate pace, likely to act as an artificial countdown timer for the match, the longer it went the less arena there was to use.


"This complicates things..." Seylian growled as he looked over the scene. He and his friends all readying their weapons. "I have an idea." Menis suggested, before casting a spell over his friends. "This will let us get a sense for how the others feel, its not perfect, but it will give us an idea when someone is in trouble." Then after that, Menis would cast his invisibility spell on his friends and they would all start stalking through the forest slowly.


"Not ideal.." Tom growled as he looked around at the arena. "With all the fires, heat vision will be unreliable, we need another way to spot them if they go invisible again." As he spoke, he configured both the bastion, and cheetah protocols. "Any ideas?"
 
Cylesta smiled at her uncle, and then asked, "Wanna make a wager? Because I bet that for as much grit as they have, they don't have the experience and hardness that comes with it like Rune, Kiara, and Tom have."

Rune stretched out her legs as Kiara grabbed a quick snack, some jerky sticks and water, for them both. The two sisters stuck close to Tom, taking a moment to breathe, and Rune finally remembered the counter spell to her eyes, now that she had calmed down. A quick word, and her eyes were back to their normal brilliance. She tapped a finger on her fur, and the black trails disappeared, except for a slight trace which would need a hot shower to get rid of. The two females followed Tom in stretches, keeping steady. Kiara looked over at the Gold team, and sighed, shaking her head as they seemed to just sit there.

As they were called back up, the three walked up to their starting door, Rune's eyes narrowed. As they entered the arena, they took stock of the new environment, and the fire. As Tom spoke, Kiara looked around and then smirked, "I don't know why I didn't think of it..." She turned to look at her sister, as Rune looked at her questioning lying.
"Remember the glitter bombs we used to do...?"
"That's not going to work here... too big or an area..."
"I might have tweaked it a bit. It's a heavy duty rocket, and the glitter only sticks to the DNA I want it to stick to."
"You are a genius. If that works, my clones can zero in on the glitter... plus it'll be a little embarrassing for them..."

Rune created her clones, spreading them out, and then Kiara pulled out her rocket launcher. She inputted the three DNAs that she wanted, and then aimed for the top of the arena, "Let's move!" She said as she hit the launcher, the rocket heading up before it exploded in a shower of light. The three moved quickly, staying quiet as they waited for the glitter to take affect, Rune smirking to herself as the first clone found the three, shooting at them before disappearing.
"Found them. Let's go." She said, quietly.
 
"I hate to tell you, but my money is on black team too. All of the odds are against gold team, they will be outnumbered, out teched, and lacking in experience. It would be a miracle if they could pull it off. I expected black to take it 2-0, the fact that gold team not only won a round, but did it so convincingly is already a small miracle in itself." Melorn said, waving a hand at her as he spoke. She would get no easy money from him today.


Manus would raise an eyebrow when he noticed the rocket explode, dispersing glitter over that map the began to move as if it had its own mind. "Glitter? Do they really expect that to work for longer than a few seconds?" He asked, glancing over at the demon, who simply shrugged. "I dunno, maybe they have never heard of prestidigitation. Or maybe, they think they can get them before he can cast it?"


"An odd choice, but effective." Melorn said simply as he watched the glitter move toward his boys.
Looking up at the colorful rain, Seylian would curse before order his team to move. About this time, they would be shot at, but missed as they sped through the forest. "What do we do about this shit?" Thyverian growled as they came to a stop behind a particularly large tree. "Like this, Menis said as he channeled some magic into his hands, touching Seylian and Thyverian. The magic seemed to just delete the glitter, as well as any sigh of dirt off of them and their gear. Menis quickly did the same to himself, restoring their invisibility. They were quick to disperse from their hiding spot before black team showed up. "I have an idea." Menis whispered as he began to silently chant a spell. Thyverian and Seylian watched their foes as they searched for them, luckily they did not seem to betting very close to finding them yet. Upon casting the spell, Menis created the illusion of him, Thyverian and Seylian, still covered in glitter and hungering down by some trees. The Menis image appeared to be casting the shadow nexus spell, the real gold team moved away, preparing ti ambush black team if they took the bait.

"Where did they go?" Tom growled as he looked around the tree that he thought they ran behind. Giving the tree a quick, frustrated kick before he began to hunt around for black team. They were covered in bright glitter, surely they could not hide from them.
 
Cylesta scoffed, "Oh come on Uncle Melorn? Where's the fun in that?" She hip checked her uncle, looking down at the three getting covered in glitter.

Kiara grinned, and stopped, getting a report from one of the clones. "Perfect. Exactly what I wanted..." Rune turned to look at Kiara as she stopped, and motioned her and Tom closer to her. She raised a hand, and created three balls. "They did exactly what I thought they would. When they cleaned themselves with magic, it interacted with mine. They think they've gotten rid of the glitter. All they did was mark themselves. These will track them."

While the three spoke quietly, the clones would pretend to go after the illusion. They surrounded it, with others hiding in the wings, while the black team hung way back, watching the balls, which would flash from blue to red as they got closer to the real gold team.
 
Seylian was a bit confused by how they reacted their trap. Clearly they knew it was not them, they would not just let Menis cast that spell... would they? Seylian's concern was transmitted to his friends, via their magical link. Once it became clear that they were not falling for the trap, gold team would pull back and move toward the far side of the forest. "Menis." Seylian whispered, giving him the queue to do his thing, and Menis did casting dome of silence around them.

"Not sure what they did, but they seem to know." Seylian started, with a low growl.
"Probably those damn clones." Thyverian replied, rolling his right shoulder.
"Yeah, we need a way to knock that crutch out from under them, Menis can you actually summon another Nexus?" Seylian asked, looking down at his friend.
Menis would slowly shake his head, "No, I have to prepare for that spell. I do have another spell, if they are content with just hanging out and waiting for us, I bet I can get it off."
"Do it, Thyverian and I will watch your back. They might figure out that we are not coming for them, but I doubt they will find us before you can cast it. Besides, the longer the match goes, the more of the map burns, the less room they have for their clones, also the pressure of winning is on them, not us. If we can draw them, that is essentially a win for us." Seylian said before he and Thyverian left the dome and quietly climbed up into some trees to watch out for clone scouts. Menis stayed in the dome, chanting his spell though due to the dome noone would hear it.
Eventually the danger would become evident as storm clouds began to coalesce over the arena. Manus would give a knowing look to the demon who mere chuckled. Before long, lightning would begin crashing down into the forest, escalating the fires as well as seeming to focus more around where black team and their clones were.
 
Tom turned to the two females, a look on his face. Rune looked up at him, and asked, "You've got an idea, don't you?"
"Yes, those lightning strikes don't look normal, they're targeted, which means Menis has to be spellcasting. If Kiara and I can get Thyverian and Seylian away from him, can you take him out?"
"Yeah, I'll send some clones out to help you as well." Rune answered, closing her eyes and letting her magic flow, creating about ten clones. She nodded at them, and then disappeared up into the trees, silently slipping away from them. Tom and Kiara headed the other way, making noise to draw Thyverian and Seylian their way.

It worked, very well, and the two males caught up to them as they readied themselves to fight. A little ways away, Rune hunted down Menis,
Thyverian and Seylian attacked Kiara and Tom, the distress running through the tie between the gold team. Rune slid through the trees away from the main fight, silent as she came upon Menis. She grinned, and with no warning, rushed him, her long machete out in her hand as she made sure he had no chance to draw his bow, drawing close to him in a matter of seconds as she attacked.
 
"The only real issue is..." Tom trailed off in though before several bolts of lightning struck down near them, setting more of the forest ablaze. Raising their hands to shield their eyes from the intense flashes, the three moved away from the increasingly dangerous area. Luckily the storm was not perfectly accurate, and Rune's clones managed to draw much of the storm away from them, otherwise this fight might have ended here, or at best gotten extremely complicated. "Where are they?" Tom finally finished once they were clear of the now burning segment of the map. "If we could get a vantage point, it would be easier, we could just look were the storm isn't!" Looking around, black team would notice that the trees were mostly the same height, so they would have to be a bit more creative.

"Kiara, with me!" Tom commanded, his competitive spirit causing him to fall back into his previous commanding role. Signaling her up as he climbed one of the trees, "Quickly, before more lightning targets us!" He shouted as she followed him up to the highest branches that were the most stable. Cupping his hands as he held them out to her, "I'll launch you as high as I can, see if you can spot the direction with the least amount of destruction!" He ordered as she placed her dominant foot in his hands, looking up at her, her would wait for her to be ready. Once she was prepared, her would launch her up with all his might, sending her over the treeline for several seconds as he in turn fell out of the tree. As he tried to recover from the fall, his legs hit a branch causing him to spiral out of control before slamming into the ground with a loud thud. "....ugh.." He grumbled as he stood back up to his feet, Kiara landing much more gracefully not too far away. With her newly gained intel, they narrowed down were gold team was hiding out. As black team moved toward the indicated direction, they would notice the detector orbs starting to slowly change from blue, to a more reddish tint. A grin coming over Tom face as they moved, "They are likely still invisible, so stay back until we draw the other two out. Menis will surely drop his cloak to help his friends, so you shouldn't have to hunt for him." With that, Rune detached from the group, as Tom, Kiara and several clones moved further in, many of the rune clones remained spread out around the map, drawing the bulk of the lightning for them as they closed in.

As they encroached further, the orbs finally turned bright red indicating that they were pretty close by. At that point, everyone stopped moving, readying their weapons as they looked around for any trace of a blur or flicker. "We should be on top of them.." Kiara muttered as a bolt of lighting crashed down a few hundred feet away. Suddenly it donned on Tom, "Or under!" He shouted as he glanced up just in time to notice a blur falling toward him, the speed of its decent dispelling the magic and revealing Thyverian. Tom managed to raise his own sword just in time to block the white feline's. Barely missing a beat, Thyverian quickly use dhis momentum to swing a hard kick around into the ginger male's right shoulder. The hit would connect, staggering Thomas several feet away from the redhead asone of the nearby Rune clones was split in hand by a falling Seylian. Using the distraction of Thyverian's assault, they grey feline quickly cut down two more clones before rushing at Kiara with his arming sword, hoping to cut her down before she could react as they other Thyverian attempted to take Tom out quickly.

As Rune crept around to hunt Menis, she would find her job made easy by the face that he quickly dispelled his own invisibility by rushing to his friends' aid. As she took her time to get the drop on him, he had the time to draw his bow and ready a magic volley. Seeing her chance, she would close the distance as he fired that volley, catching him completely by surprise. Though once the pain of several of her clones' deaths from lightning across the map, as well as Seylian cutting down a couple hit her, her strike was set off and rather than assassinating the flatfooted feline, she would cut in his arm. "Ah!" He cried out, as his emerald eyes glanced over at her. Before she could ready another strike, he reached a hand out toward herm summoning a wave of force energy to shove her away from him. Blood leaking from his left arm as her readied another volley, this one aimed at her. They two arrows would shatter about halfway to her, splotting off into about a hundred smaller shards and homing in on her. He kept his right hand on his bow, looking as if he were watching for the results of his attack. THis was a ploy, he was actually prepared for the possibility that she would get by his attack and close in on him again. As soon as she closed the distance, he would transform his bow into a longsword in a quick flash of light and use the vastly superior reach to try and cut her down before her machete could hope to touch him.
 
Rune threw a shield up as the volley of shards came at her. She was a little slower, thanks to the pain of her clones dying, and a couple of shards embedded themselves into her arm and upper chest. She hissed at the pain, but didn't stop her rush at him. She watched as he turned his bow into a longsword, and her eyes flashed with excitement, as she smirked at him. She was so excited to be able to spar with him eventually, oncce they were out of this arena. At his reach for her with his sword, she slid under, dropping down to her knees and sliding through the mud towards him, under the long sword. She brought her machete up and sliced into his stomach as she passed him, twisting behind him, and pulling her gun out as she rose behind him quickly, before falling to her knees, behind him, a scream of pure pain escaping her mouth as the rest of her clone died, the pain sweeping her body as she froze, her body tensing in the pain. She watched Menis turn towards her, and knew he would kill her easily. Except he didn't. Down on her knees, tensed in pain, and he ... hesitated.
Her mind froze, throwing her back into a memory, one where she had hesitated against an old friend.

Trogun had attacked her out of the blue, the two having been left alone in camp. Trogun had let her fall asleep, and then crept close to slit her throat. Thankfully she had always slept with a machete under her pillow, and unlike Kiara was a light sleeper. She sliced out with her machete, and he grinned at her, a sickly light in his eyes. She narrowed her eyes at him, as he waited for her to wake up fully, before attacking her again, the two large swords that he held, destroying her bed roll as she had twisted out ot the way. Trogun grinned and followed after her as she struggled to get up, to shake the sleep that was weighing on her. She attacked him again, and in a couple minutes, had the upper hand. She had always applied herself to actually working on her attacks, whereas he had always taken it for granted. She had a chance, a chance to take, to cut him down, and she hesitated. Trogun grinned, and he threw a powder into her face at the pause between, her lungs taking it in deep as she fell backwards, convulsing as Trogun stood over her body, an evil glint to his eyes as her grabbed her by her hair, and dragged her out of the camp, leaving a mess behind that the rest of the team would find.

Rune growled as rage filled her, and as Menis hesitated over her body, she did not, roaring in anger as she raised her machete, and slid it home in his chest, yelling at him as he stared down at her in shock.
"You do not Hesitate! You have your enemy on their knees, you KILL them!"
As Menis died, he would see tears of rage and pain blurring her eyes, falling down her cheeks, as she cried, caught in her old memories. Had she not hesitated, she would have never been taken, never been destroyed the way she was.

As he died, as she watched him die on her blade, she herself would be destroyed, looking up to see an angry male over her as they killed her.
 
Kiara managed to avoid Seylian's sword, hopping away from him as she brought her twin shortswords to bear against him. With a quick spin, the grey feline struck out at her with a roundhouse kick, disarming her of one of her swords. Taking note of where her sword fell, she moved in to test her steel against his. She had the experience, and the skill, but he managed to level the playing field with his superior physicality. His speed and leverage proving an equal foil to her greater technique. His arming sword and longer arms ultimately tipping the scales in his favor as she found it difficult to threaten a hit on him.

Deciding to change her approach, Kiara leapt back, aiming the tip of her blade at the male and pulling the trigger at the base of the sword's crossgaurd. An orb of explosive magic blasted its way out of the tip of her weapon, screaming toward the grey male. He had no choice, he had to evade it or it would obliterate him. As her attack flew, she quickly raced to her second sword to pick it up. As she ran, her blast would make contact and explode gloriously, shaking the ground beneath her feet as she retrieved her weapon. Looking over at where Seylian was, she saw little more than smoke and burning foliage. She waited a moment, but he never appeared. Quickly figuring he must have failed to evade her attack, she looked toward Tom's direction as mass gunfire erupted in her senses, and she saw a mass of green streaking heading over her head toward Tom. Shaking Seylian's fate out of he rmind, she rushed to aid Tom.

Thyverian was currently tied up with Tom and several Rune clones, though ironically the clones that engaged in melee actually benefited Thyverian more than Tom. As his plate armor countered their machetes quite easily, so long as he was able to angle their blows into it. So they largely got in Tom's way as he tried to get his longsword into the openings of his defense. With them surrounding him in melee most of the time, the firearm clones had little to shoot at unfortunately. An ironic case of numbering being detrimental rather than a huge benefit. Though at the very least, defending against and attacking all these foes would tire him out before long.

Although, something else was to happen before that point, and Tom knew that time was not on their side. Seeing an opening, he stabbed his sword toward Thyverian's exposed neck as he twisted it to deflect a machete from a clone. Unfortunately for Tom, one of the clones also saw this opening and also struck at it. Their attacks would collide, and knock eachother off course, only cutting the side of his neck rather than impaling his throat. "Shit." Tom growled when he noticed that same glow starting to take Thyverian's celeste eyes. He quickly disengaged at the trance began to take the white feline over. Moving with an unparalleled grace and precision, he began to cut down the clones around him. The orange tabby sheathing his sword and drawing his pistoles as the firearm clones took aim, getting a clear shot at him as their melee compatriots were easily cut down by Thyverian's bastard sword.

Melorn crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the display below. "I confess, this is taking much longer than I expected. Those boys might have a chance after all, however slim." Glancing over at Cylesta, "If Thyverian can take Tom down before his trance drops off, the advantage will be squarely in their favor. I hope Rune's clones know that, the fate of this battle might rest on whether or not they can keep Tom alive through this storm."
As the older cheetan spoke, the arena would erupt into a frenzy of gunfire, as Tom and all of the present Rune clones began firing at Thyverian. Tom would only watch in horror as somehow... somewhat the white furred feline was quickly enough to deflect most of the bullets away from him, while evading the ones he could not. The chorus of fire would slowly die down as he managed to redirect some shots at different Rune clones, killing them. When Tom managed to regain his composure, he started switching up his firing pattern to try and get around or even open up Thyverian's defense. It worked! They managed to land a grazing shot on his left leg before their clips started to run out.
As they began to reload their weapons, they would get a sudden rude awakening as a shower of green shards crashed around them, destroying much of the forest, and killing many Rune clones. Tom managed to narrowly activate his bastion protocol just in time to avoid the blast.
Seeing the green wave of destruction wash over Tom and the clones, while avoiding Thyverian caused Melorn to raise an eyebrow. "Or many Menis will get it done." A loud cheer could be heard coming from where Manus and the demon were sitting. "Thats right Menis! Show them what power looks like!" The older black feline shouted as his brother devastated the enemy team yet again.
As the destruction subsided, and Tom emerged from the ruined forest with the help of his barrier. He locked eyes with the tranced Thyverian, who was all but daring him to come closer. Their short stare down would be interrupted by footsteps, from both Kiara who ran up from behind Thyverian, and more Rune clones that came from behind Tom. Kiara wasted no time in bringing her big gun to bear, and firing at the white male's back. He quickly turned as the thunderous blast erupted from behind him. Shimmering eyes catching sight of the destructive projectile that roared in his direction. Quickly adjusting his stance, the redhead took a quick vertical slash at the shell, quickly and cleanly splitting it in two his his blade. The two halves would move around him before crashing at Tome's flanks. Sending the orange male to the ground as the clones behind him were obliterated. "How's that even possible!?" He shouted as he stood up. Thyverian, as usually had absolutely nothing to say in his trance state, just an uncharacteristically cold expression with those shimmering eyes.
Some ways away, Rune and Menis were engaging in their own duel to the finish. Rune came rushing in, just as Menis knew she would. He sprung his trap, transforming his new bow into a longsword. She managed to duck his first attack, but he would give her a quick lesson in reach. Before she got close enough to slash him with her short blade, he was to twist his wrists around, striking at her a second time. He was not the best swordsman, but he knew to attack with his wrists, not his arms so he could strike quickly and keep his guard up. His blade biting into her shoulder as she slid along it, deepening the cut further as she responded with her machete. He bit back the pain long enough to turn with her as she went by, slashing his blade up her back giving her a second deep cut. He was proud of himself, he managed to trick her into taking cuts for just one. His hand moving over his bleeding gut as her readied himself for another attack. Though once he saw her collapse in pain, he lost his nerve. She wasn't his enemy, not really, she was his friend, or so he thought. Dropping his sword, he rushed over to her, intent to help her before she sent her blade into his chest. As she scolded him, he gasped her neck, looking at her with his confused, pathetic eyes before collapsing infront of her.

"Even in a magical arena, he can hardly stand to watch a friend suffer..." The demon mused, and Manus sighed. "Yeah, he had her, but his compassion might have just cost them the match..." Shaking his head, Melorn would also sigh, "That boy..."

As Rune seemed to relish in the slaughter of Menis, she would hear a loud voice cut off her trip down memory lane. "You bitch!" She would looked up to see a rather enraged Seylian rushing toward her. Pulling her blade from Menis, she moved to intercept his attack, and just managed to block his weapon, though the force of his attack would knock her off balance. "How dare you talk down to him like that!" He shouted as he pushed his strength against her, slamming his elbow into her face and sending her to the ground. She would managed to just avoid the killing glow from his sword, rolling away onto her feat as she drew her rifle against him. Though he would get in under the barrel and push it away before stabbing her in the gut. "Just because hes not a heartless butcher like you!" Pulling his sword out, he would knock her to the ground again. "He didn't hesitate, he was trying to help you, because he made the mistake of thinking you were his friend, and even in a mock battle like this, could not stand to watch you in pain." He said as she bled out under him, his spiteful eyes watching hers as they finally started to close. It was one thing to rain magical arrows on people from a distance not having to watch them as you slaughter them, something completely different to see someone suffering infront of you.
 
Kiara stayed near Tom as they fought Thyverian. As they kept him busy, the clones surrounding them would disappear, and she would flash a concerned look towards Tom, knowing that Rune was gone. She motioned to him, quietly, making a fist which was her hand sign for her explosives, and then slapping her chest with her open hand, Tom snarling as he caught her drift, although he didn't like it. He moved back, and she grinned, as she began channeling her power inwards, unseen by anyone.

Outside of the arena, Rune materialized, gasping for air. She closed her eyes at the tears that threatened to fall, hardening her exterior as she also didn't want to look over and see Menis, who she could hear and scent nearby. She sat up, and refused to look at Menis, rage bubbling within her. She knew she was a moment away from blowing up.

Once Kiara had amassed enough energy within her, she nodded at Tom, and she winked, letting him know this was her way of making sure he would take out Seylian. He nodded in turn, and then leaped forward, as Kiara could back away, hefting the large almost cannon like gun forward into attack. She grinned, and aimed at the large mass that was Thyverian, and started shooting. Now her gun was special, it used her own energy to create the bolts it shot. And it was fast, not needing too much time to reload. She twirled around him, searching for any opening, and shooting at him, keeping him on the defense. Thyverian's focus was solely on her and she grinned, Tom stepping back. She moved back also, keeping distance for her weapon in hand. It enraged Thyverian, as he couldn't get closer to Tom without a cover of bolts. He roared at her and jumped towards her, slicing into her body from her shoulder down, cutting her down with his sword. Kiara grinned even as she died, and the little bomb she had within her went off as Thyverian stood over her body, blowing him to bits in seconds.

Now it was down to Tom and Seylian.
 
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Menis would not be paying too much mind to Rune at the moment, his attention glued to the battle going on in the arena. "Go Thyverian!" He shouted to himself mostly as he watched his white furred friend put multiple foes on their backfoot through sheer dominating ability. Tom was forced to use his cheetah protocol just to try and keep up with the red head to little avail as he only managed to avoid being killed outright by the beast he had become in his trance. Somehow he was fast enough to avoid or deflect fire from Kiara and multiple ranged clones while cutting down melee ones and making Tom fight in a totally defensive manner. With the storm gone, it was clear Menis was dead, but what of Seylian? Could Rune have defeated both of them? That felt like their only hope at this point. This hope would be quashed when the clones all died out at once, and they had to assume that Seylian had gotten the best of the Leopardess.,
Now it was just Tom and Kiara against this monster, and Seylian was more than likely on his way, if they did not stop Thyverian now it was over. Tom kept his distance from Thyverian, watching him cautiously, there were so many question in his mind about this 'trance' he said nothing, made barely any noise and showed little in the way of emotion. He noticed Kirara behind the red headed monster making signals, they had not used signals in forever. Not since they had Devaln to give them telepathic communication. He was not entirely sure what she was trying to say, but he knew that she had a plan, one he probably wouldn't like knowing her. With no other option, Tom would end the lull by drawing a pistol and firing on Thyverian. He easily deflected each shot and advanced on the orange male without much in the way of difficulty. Dropping his gun, Tom went on the offence, or pretended to before suddenly taking up a defensive posture when Thyverian replied. It was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but Tom managed to not die horribly. However things took another dire turn when his cheetah protocol died out and he lost the adrenal surge to give. As soon as that happened things fell apart for the ginger feline and the best he could to was avoid taking a fatal strike by in doing so ended up on the ground and disarmed before the tranced male.


Behind Thyverian shots would start ringing out as Kiara rejoined the fight, Desperately trying to protect Tom from Thyverian. The white fured male had little difficulty in avoiding and cutting down her shots. Tom would scramble away to gather his weapons and avoid the explosions of Kiara's desperate attacks. Finally, despite her attempts to kite him, Thyverian would close the distance enough for a sudden strike. Zipping through the air, he closed on her poorly defended stance much like he did in the first round. His blade slicing through her gun before cutting her in half diagonally. Cutting through and igniting all of her stored up energy causing her small form to explode brilliantly, taking Thyverian with her as they were both obliterated by the sheer power of the blast.


Not long after this, Seylian would make his return to the battlezone. Seeing the aftermath of his friend's death, he would turn a set of spiteful eyes to the last man standing from team black. "Just you and me now, Tom." He said as he entered his guard stance, pointing the nip of his weapon at his orange foe. The fires starting to close around them, it would not be long before their movements would be affected by a wall of flame. Entering his own guard stance, Tom would answer, "Wrong, there's just me." He said before rushing to Seylian, who attempted to score a quick win by thrusting at his charging foe. Tom would twist his body to the side, thrusting an open palm into the flat side of the sword, knocking it out of alignment as he spun to strike his foe's leg. Lifting this leg, Seylian avoided the strike and answered with a quick front kick to knock Tom off balance as he brought his arming sword against him.

As the dual of the two teams' best fighters, excluding Thyverian's unexplained superfeline state. began, both Kiara and Thyverian would be sent to the loser's booth. Thyverian would shake his head rather quickly as he groaned. "What even happened?" He asked, holding his throbbing head. "Kiara blew you up." Menis replied, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, concerned for his well being. ""Did she blow Tom up to? Last thing I remember was being surrounded by Tom and some clones then.. here I am!"
"Oh, no you went into your crazy mode and almost killed Tom, but she managed to blow you up along with herself." Menis said, tilting his head at the other male.
"Oh... well.. that sounds awesome, I sure wish I could remember it.. Who won?" THyverian asked looking over at Menis.
"No one yet, its down to Seylian and Tom."
"Well fuck, guess we lose then.."
Seylian's kick would knock Tom off his footing, but the orange male managed to parry his followup attack. Using the momentum of this attack Tom would roll backwards, creating some distance so he could correct his footing before going back in. Coming in with a quick inside swing, Tom tried to exploit his speed advantage. Seylian's response was to step outside, avoiding the swing altogether as he tried to bring his sword down on Tom with a strong overhead swing. This was a mistake, the half a second it took Seylian to raise his sword and begin the attack was all the time the veteran Thomas needed to respond. Adjusting his footing, Tom lunged up at the opening between Seylian's arms. His helmet coming into contract with Seylian's with a sickening thud at the larger feline staggered back. Bringing his sword to bear, Tom tried to finish the fight with a thrust. Seylian managed to avoid it by jumping back on pure instinct, still stunned by Tom's attack. Unwilling to let this advantage fade, Thomas closed in, hoping to put an end to this fight before the flames became a real problem. Seylian quickly sheathed his arming sword into his swordsheathe, clicking it into place and creating his greatsword. Using a quick spin to creating a horrifyingly powerful swing that could cut into all but the heaviest of armors with the sheer momentum and weight of the blade.
This situation is where Tom's experience and ability set him apart from others. Where most quick footed fighters would avoid this danger all together, some more bold ones would duck under the blade to counter like Cylesta did against the demon. Tom's response was one that only a few would think of, and even fewer would attempt due to the sheer danger involved and skill required. Tom would leap over the blade, placing his left hand on the side of Seylain's sword for only a moment to align himself launch himself forward and he dashed by Seylain with a threatening grace so very few were capable of. As he landed behind Seylian, he sheathed his sword. "You're good." He said as Seylian's head fell from his shoulders and onto the ground, soon followed by his body. "But I'm better."


With that the arena died out and applause rang out over the stadium. Tom and Seylian would be sent back to the booth shortly after. A look a pure disbelief on the grey feline's face as he sat there silently for a moment. Finally he would move, shaking his head as he asked. "What the hell even happened?" He asked, provoking a grin from Tom as he sat on the opposite side. "Black team won, thats what happened."
"Holy shit Tom, that was amazing, how did you even do that?" Thyverian asked looking over at the orange male who just shrugged. "Years of practice and training. If you are dedicated enough, you will be able to do things like that someday. Maybe even more, given how dangerous you arein that trance of yours."


"I'll give him this much, Seylian lasted alot longer than I expected him to, hes got good instincts, they just need to be honed with skill and experiance. We need to figure out what Thyverian's weird mode is and how to harness it if possible." Melorn said as he began to stroke his chin in thought.
 
Kiara rematerialized in the booth and searched for Rune, not knowing exactly what had happened, but Rune had disappeared. She looked around questioningly, then turned to Thyverian and Menis. "Does anyone know where Rune took off to?"
At their shakes of their heads, she shook her head and sat down near them, a little concerned about Rune.

Rune had rushed out of the booth, blind with rage and tears, her body shaking from the effort of keeping herself together. She slid into a dark room, slamming the door behind herself and curled in on herself as the memories assaulted her senses. She relived each painful moment from her past, from when she had hesitated against her best friend, to when he had betrayed her, to the torture and pain she had been in. She coughed, her body wracked with seizures from the memories, as she tried to tell herself that she was safe.

Outside, in the arena, the battle had been finished, hard won by Tom. It reset itself, and the team was given time to recoop from the hard battles they had already fought. Tom and Seylian rematerialized, and Tom looked at Kiara, who was at the door, checking outside of the booth.
"Where is Rune?" He asked, Kiara answering him with a shrug.
Not quite sure, she was gone when I got here, but she had to have been killed before me..."
 
"I got here when you did." Thyverian said to Kiara with a shrug, she must have left before they dropped in. Menis looked over at the door, then back out at the vacant screen. "She came in after I did, but I didn't really notice her, I was too caught up in the fight." He said with a shrug, she did not really do anything to get his attention, so he did not so much as look at her. Though the tone of his voice carried with it an air of disdain that is very rarely heard coming from his lips. He did not appreciate the little lecture she decided to give him after their battle.


"She probably ran out of the room crying cause I kicked her ass." Seylian said with a small chuckle. Looking over to make eye contact with Tom afterward. "Wait, you killed her?" Thyverian asked, provoking a nod from the grey male. "It was pretty one-sided, she didn't stand a chance." Rolling his eyes, Thyverian would deliver a light smack to Seylian's arm. "Who could blame her for leaving, who could handle losing to this insufferable prick?" He said teasingly, prompting a glare from Seylian as Menis began to crack up.


"Welp, the outcome was as expected, but they put up more fight than I thought they would." Melorn said to Cylesta, as he turned away to heard toward the command level. "I have to go make preperations for the next set of matches, I figure they have a few hours before then, let them know would you?" The old cheetan male said as his made his way to prepare for the latter matches. Below the arena came to life as more matches from other groups were about to begin.
"So what do you thinkk?" The demon asked Manus, who leaned forward, resting his head in his hands in thought. "Hard to say, both sides relied pretty heavilly on gimmick skills to tip the matches in their favor. The leaopard chick's clones, and Thyverian's trance being the main two. Though in terms of raw skills, black team definitely has it. I think without Thyverian's trance, Tom could probaably take all of gold team on his own, with whether or not he can take Menis out quickly being the main factor. Not sure about the cute fluffy girl, but I would also but the leopard over most of gold team, Seylian being the only exception. He completely destroyed her, it was probably the most onesided fight in the whole set, excluding Thyverian's trance. What about you?" Manus asked, looking over at his brother who shrugged. "Not much for me to say, you covered most of it, though I will add that I think the leopard lady was distracted by whatever went on with Menis, so I'm not sure I would put Seylian over her just base don that fight."
"I guess thats fair." Manus said as he leaned back, to watch the next fights, waiting for his brother's next appearance.
 
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