FINAL ROUND: Bob vs Kismet

[Kismet]

Someone certainly had a poor sense of humor, even if it was oddly fitting. Iskra stared out at her dilapidated surroundings, smirking. She appeared to be deep within the bowels of some decrepit star ship, filled with flickering lights, loose wires, and a color scheme composed gray, grey, and gun metal varieties of both. Pleasant. An expansive window revealed thousands upon thousands of stars, burning brightly against a backdrop of blackest pitch. A dull red computer screen on the wall caught her attention, and she focused on it as warnings flashed across its surface.

“CAUTION: Large areas of the ship without power. Beware of gravity free zones, unlit corridors, and airlocks. Audience viewing cameras remain online in all rooms.”

Sounds fun. Iskra turned away from the warning label, and back towards the center of the small room. A circular device lay on the floor, which she recognized to be a holographic display. As she approached, it flickered to life, straining to display an image. Slowly, a figure took form. Her opponent, stashed away in some other corner of the ship.

[Tony Redgrave]

Well, of all the places he envisioned to have the last battle, this was certainly the most unusual now wasn't it? Both Nouri and this other person were trapped within a little spacecraft that had long since lost its purpose and from what he could sense, there were many dangers waiting for him as he made the journey to victory.

The power supply was clearly running out based on the lights flickering all about the room he was in, some sections of the wall appeared to have taken a bit of damage from means he had no idea about, and finally, off to his right hand side, there was a small window from which he could gaze out into the dark abyss that was outer space. Plenty of stars shined through the darkness, and gave him a small sense of relief as he always did enjoy looking at the stars at night.

But, there was no time to get too cozy. This area was a bit too unpredictable for his tastes and staying in one spot was obviously not such a good idea. Time to get the lead out and finish this up so he could go home with some prize money or.. whatever this tourney was gonna shell out if he came out on top. Reaching into the side of his coat, he drew his prized possession. Though he didn't get a chance to use it in the last two rounds, a caster gun could prove quite useful at a time like this just in case his opponent really was an excellent fighter.

"Hm.. and one more thing before I trudge along.." he spoke in quite the boisterous voice. Out of nowhere, the witty little thief pointed the barrel of his firearm up at the for left hand corner of the room, towards what he could now see to be a small extendable camera that had been peering out at him for quite a bit of time.

He fired directly into the lens, shattering it into pieces and destroying the function of that little device. Sure, this was a live event that people were watching... but if this ship had cameras, it was safe to assume that there was a control room to watch all corners of the ship from. Anyone could be there and if it so happened that was the case, having his opponent look at him was most troubling.

He advanced forward after finishing that task to what seemed to be a door. As he approached, the door simply rose up, allowing him to pass through into from what he could see to be a lounging area. Still the same old drab and dull color scheme of gray with everything but the tables and sofas. In the center of it all was a white marble coffee table with quite a few love seats surrounding it, each of them red in color. Spooky how quiet it was but in all the same, he had to move. He crept quietly throughout the room, observing his surroundings carefully as he went.

[serraskai]

"The hell's this sh**?"

Kreese Kreely growled as he shot to his feet, pounding on a monitor. "How're we supposed ta commentate if we can't see the damn competitors?" His face was red with how angry he was already, to the point that his co-commentator, Howard "Buckshot" Holmes, considered laughing, but he managed to restrain himself in favor of keeping his face un-bruised from Kreese's fist.

"Come on now, Kreese. The fight hasn't even started yet. And besides, we can still see one of them." He spoke calmly and slowly his hand barely drifting towards another monitor, which displayed Iskra.

"Well this fight'd better be damn bloody or I'm blowing this whole place to hell!"

"You can do that?"

"I'm sure I could find a way to do it."

[Kismet]

Iskra watched as her opponent disposed of the audience’s camera and exited the room. Oddly enough, the hologram did not disappear with the camera’s destruction, and she was able to watch these events unfold. It appeared this device was linked only to its double in her opponent’s starting chamber, and nothing else. Perhaps a way to communicate with her foe before the match started?

Shrugging, Iskra pulled her mask over her face and left the room behind. Once more, the Smart Cells of her Battle Uniform sprang to life, perfectly mimicking the color and patterns of her surroundings. Her Suppression Field Generator began emitting antisound to silence any noises she might make, and her Nix ability granted her true invisibility, so long as no one looked directly at her.

The corridor outside was as dreary as the room she’d just exited. The dark passageway stretched ahead, disappearing into shadows as the lights failed halfway down its length. Moving forward warily, Iskra entered the darkness, scanning the area for any signs of movement. The dark was not actually a problem for her, however. Aided by her Oculus lenses, she was able to peer through the shadows with cat like ease, and even see ghostly outlines of objects through the walls. On her right, the vast emptiness of space stretched into infinity. To her left, the faint outline of bunk beds stacked to the ceiling glimmered through the wall. On either side, all was still.

Presently, she found the corridor blocked by a large gash in the floor, leading down into what appeared to be a kitchen. Dirty dishes stacked high, and the tables were covered in old grease and filth. After a quick scan, Iskra hopped down onto a counter, then onto the floor. The bones of rats crunched silently under her feet as she crouched low beneath the islands, disintegrating into dust.

Rats in a maze, Iskra thought. That’s what we are.

[Tony Redgrave]

"Putting aside how I have no idea where my opponent is, I'm in a pretty fragile environment that seems as old as my grandparents, and that this place actually gives me the heebie jeebies and the skeeves as once, Its going rather well."

Oh who was he kidding? He was shaking like crazy as he looked about this area, everything seemed so tightly packed together and close with the lights flickering in and out around here and it was then that his deepest fear began to awaken. Yup, the seemingly unflappable and light hearten adventurer had one weakness and that was claustrophobia. Ever since that day in his youth when a group of children trapped him inside of a laundry hamper and sat on top of it to prevent his escape, he always got like this in places that seemed closer together in his mind.

As he moved around, he shook at what he thought was to come. Enclosed and narrow corridors, small pathways and if fate so happened to force him into it, ventilation shafts too. It got so bad for him that he could barely keep a solid grip on his revolver and quickly, he just decided to put it away all together. He couldn't fight like this and move about in this condition and if something where to happen, he would be in a serious disadvantage. With both of his arms, he hugged himself close, trying with all of his might to stop the shaking.

Looking about frantically, Nouri took a few deep breaths and thought back to the one thing that brought him comfort in times like this. Back when he was first starting on his path as a rogue and he was receiving special training in the back alleys at home with his master. Scaling the roof tops, pickpocketing unsuspecting people on the streets, there were good times to be had indeed and times when he learned quite a bit from that silly old coot.

Hm.. speaking of which, there was something Master always said..

"So what is fear to a rogue or a martial artist for that matter Nouri?" words he remembered so clearly, he even heard it in Jack's tone of voice. He remembered now.. this was a question he always had the wrong answer too. Back in those days, Nouri simply thought that he was saying that fear was nothing and it should be gotten over promptly. Yet, that wasn't it.. Jack's answer to that question was always the same, no matter what happened.

"Fear is simply a detection system. Anyone who knows this can use their fear to help them avoid attacks and use it supplement their own bravery. Get used to your fear as it will become your greatest weapon."

It was times he needed to keep that teaching close to his heart and put it into practice and what better time then now! "Stop shaking!" with that shout, he clinched his fist tightly and did something that could be seen to be quite unusual. With all of his might, he punched himself square in the forehead which as one would think it would do, actually dazed him for a few moments. His body rhythmically rocking back and forth and from his expression, he seemed to be in a state of bliss though maybe he had lost consciousness.. couldn't be too sure

"Ok.. the shakes are gone..." his voice now a little slurred and off key but his movements were quickly returned to him, along with a sounder mind. He was still afraid and a little edgy, but he wasn't going to let it get in his way too much now.. he had a fight to get too after all so mental breakdowns could await him after he beat the mess outta this person!

Now, he was quickly moving about the dusty floors around him and glancing at every little bit of space around. He couldn't feel any danger or something on the way so.. good sign. All that was left was to find the exit.. which was on the other side of the room. A few swift strides and he was there, but the door didn't seem to want to open for him. The power must be out on the other side.. but no problem.

Energy steadly began to pool into his right hand, giving it a hue of a lighter shade of pink and quickly, it shaped itself into a stable rod of energy and shifted from there. The top portion of it shifted into a long and slander blade, etchings and marks that from a glance appeared to be tempered and crafted by a swordsmith appeared before it and soon, a hand guard followed, the ray skin to wrap around the blade took hold and soon, he was holding a perfect replica of a katana in hand.

He raised it up into the air at a high arc just as the finishing touches were being made. Excess energy had begun revolving around the blade itself and the ray skin was tearing and tattering here as if it was a sword that had seen some use. He brought it down in a half hearten swing and sliced right through the door like a hot knife in butter. This act caused both metal sections to fall down to the floor and exposed a darker room on his end, his blade being the only source of illumination. He shown the light a bit throughout it and took notice of what he saw.. counters and sinks with dishes piled to the top.. that and a really foul odor was in the air.. decaying food no doubt. "So.. I'm in a kitchen now.. how lovely is this." he spoke to himself. Still, He felt very uneasy in this type of situation and it looked pretty "close together" in there. Mustering all of his bravery, Nouri took a deep breath and tip-toed inside

[serraskai]

"Whaddya think the kid's problem is?" Kreese said anxiously, trying just to earn his keep.

"Dunno. Maybe he's claustrophobic."

"Hey is it to late to put down a thousand on the chick?"

"Do you really think something that small is gonna make a difference?"

"I heard your wife said to you once."

[Kismet]

“Stop shaking!”

Iskra froze at the sound of the shout, surprisingly close by. By the sound of it…just beyond the kitchen. Iskra strained her ears, curious. Her opponent-for that’s who it surely was-seemed frightened already. Glancing around the filth encrusted kitchen, Iskra closed her eyes and nodded. I can sympathize. This arena was a place of death and nightmares, of claustrophobic halls and lightless passages. A perfect little hell hole where no one would here you scream.

Just like back home.

Iskra was brought back to a bombed out school her family had taken refuge in, back in the old country. The abandoned cafeteria had been similarly deserted, food left to rot and disease left to fester. Only the rats and the crows were left to profit. But that was then, and this was now. Iskra had been dead for a long time now, so what did it mattered if she had to crawl in the dirt, the slime, the filth? What did it matter if her last battle in this tournament was inside a spaceborn grave? They said Revenants became stars when they died. So let it be here in this vat of refuse that she shined brightest, here at the end, surrounded by death and the stars.

Faintly, just barely audible, Iskra heard mumbling, as if her foe was talking aloud to herself. Why, she had no clue. It certainly helped to clear the mind, but bullets attracted by the noise would do that as well. Permanently. Slowly, she withdrew a concussion grenade and pulled the pin. She had five seconds.

One.

As he approached the door from the other side, her opponent’s pale outline slowly became visible to Iskra. He seemed hesitant but composed, his shouting and inward prep talk finished.

Two.

Her foe tried to open the door, but it was sealed. The lack of power in the room was apparently keeping it closed.

Three.

Extending his right and clenching it into a fist, Iskra watched as a blade began condensing into his hand. Materia Psionics? Interesting. So he’s a psychic as well as a gun slinger. Iskra thought, recalling the video footage from earlier. Leaning out slightly from behind the center island, she rolled the grenade toward the door. The layers upon layers of grime and dust on the ground muffled the noise of it rolling along until it stopped just before the door. Iskra withdrew back behind the island and drew her pistol.

Four.

With a single, lazy movement, her opponent sliced clean through the door, causing it to cave inward with a resounding boom, landing atop the grenade. Iskra watched through one of the many center islands as he warily stepped forward, using the glow of his blade to light the way. The door lay on the ground before him, its bottom held a few inches above the ground by the explosive hidden underneath. While most grenades relied on shrapnel to deliver their killing blows, Iskra’s were of the concussive variety. Physical barriers, such as the door the grenade now lay beneath, were much less of an issue when the force of the explosion was able to pass right through them.

Five.

The grenade exploded.

[Tony Redgrave]

Not even a second in the doorway, he felt an intense surge overtaking the base of his skull, almost to the point of pain. This could only mean one thing when it came to him.. danger and threat to his life right here and now! In the midst of his sudden bout with his own fear, his senses must have been trying to warn him of such a thing but distraction had gotten the best of him. It was in that split second that control over his powers had completely taken over his own mind and motor functions

His heart began to race, his pupils dilated, and his neural synapses fire increased to levels unfathomable to increase the speed he could notice danger in his midst. A simple psionic nudge alerted him that something was under the door he had quickly cut down and he had much less then a second to react to it. Though Nouri himself would have stalled and been stuck on what he should do, instinct guided him to the best course of action he could take.

Instantly, the blade he was holding had vanished and a translucent veil of energy had covered his entire body, ust in time to shield him from whatever it was that was coming. The surprise that lay hidden had detonated right under the broken door piece and sent the two halves of the door flying towards Nouri had break neck speed. But, for some reason, Nouri seemed largely himself. The reason being that the grenade didn't affect him as much as it should have thanks to the handy defensive shield he had used.

Waves of force that should have liquefied his insides were reduced to nothing more then pressure you would feel on your body as your going down a roller coaster and he was still on his feet to boot! As for those troublesome metal plates, they slammed into his body with little force. A tad painful but they weren't enough to take him off balance.

After the effects had cleared, control of his body quickly came back to him and the veil of energy simply ceased to be. But this was a situation he could use to his advantage. If it was a grenade, the person that threw it couldn't be but so far away. The standard time from the pin to be taken off a grenade was close to five seconds last time he checked so, hidden in this dark and smelly cess pit, there was someone. Ideal for just one of his abilities. The crafty little rogue closed his eyes and atoned himself to sensing his environment. His mind sharpened and his consciousness expended outward to the world around him.

Using this sixth sense to his advantage, he could now "see" his surrounding environment psychologically and for 50 meters, he could sense everything around him. The shape of the room, the counters.. the dishes in the sink. He could count them for that matter if he wanted to but something was already catching his third eye. He sensed a human shape behind the center counter and felt her movements down to the breath she was taking.

It wouldn't be long before she noticed her attack didn't have the desired results and since he was using his abilities in rapid session, there was no need to just keep it up. He needed to get in close and take this fight at a distance he was comfortable with. Tensing the muscles in his right arm, a blade promptly ejected from the sleeve of his trench coat and he rushed past over to the right side of the counter in front of him and charged toward her position. A blitz so it appeared but he was completely on guard and ready to see just what his opponent could dish at him.

[serraskai]

"I wonder if the sound from that blast cleared his hearing!"

"What, out of material already? The fight just started!"

"Cut me some slack, will ya? They don't pay me enough to be funny."

"You're getting payed for this shit?"

[Kismet]

Iskra knew immediately that something was wrong. She did, after all, know how grenades usually affected people, and it was generally messier. As such, she was not remarkably surprised by the ensuing charge. She didn’t know, however, how her attack had been thwarted, and this concerned her mightily. She already suspected her opponent was a psychic, but her psionic inhibitors should have rendered her invisible to such powers. Similarly, the very nature of her state of being rendered Prescients blind to her presence. It was also apparent that he had not simply entered the room with his defensive field already in place. A flash of sudden realization had crossed his face prior to the grenade’s explosion. He’d known what was about to happen.

But how?

And furthermore, how was he able to locate her with such ease? These subjects required inquiry, but it would have to wait. Her foe was upon her, blade drawn, and that was all that mattered. Iskra had already drawn her pistol, and she had watched his charge through the kitchen towards her crouched position. As he rounded the island, Iskra reactivated her Active Camouflage and leaped forward to greet him, lunging to his left and forcing him between her and the row ovens along the kitchen wall.

Extrasensory means of detection often took a back seat to traditional senses once the latter could be comfortably used, even if the transition was subliminal. The left arm of Iskra’s uniform blazed neon white, glowing incandescently in the dark shadows of the deteriorating ship, transforming into a giant “look here” display. It was her right hand that actually held the pistol, and it was from that which she wished to draw attention away from-even for an instant. Her opponent was obviously gifted with abilities she did not understand, but simple sensory overload and misdirection were among the most effective tools a fighter could employ, triggering the most innate of human reactions. Against the unprepared and unsuspecting, such as her opponent, it was almost impossible not to take a quick glance, even knowing it was a trap.

Still, Iskra didn’t believe in unnecessary chances, and hedged her bets accordingly. Her blazing left hand shot towards her opponent, a knife springing into her hand from some concealed location on her wrist. Now both hands were equally deadly, regardless of which one his vision was drawn to. Simultaneously, she fired her pistol twice from her still quasi invisible right hand, aiming for his chest the first shot, and the exposed oven gas pipe to his right the second time. With Iskra blocking his left, the only way he could dodge would be farther into the kitchen and towards the ovens, which were about to turn into a giant fireball. A brazen rush to the left or directly toward Iskra would do him no good either, as her lunge positioned her perfectly to follow through with a quick kick, should her foe move into position. That normally wouldn’t be such a bad option, except for the blades hidden in the toes of her boots. No defensive field would save him either now. A Qi powered thrust or kick would penetrate all but the most powerful defensive barriers.

Even if you can sense the attacks coming, it won’t help you if they come from everywhere at once.

[Tony Redgrave]

Little did his opponent know, as an Esper, Nouri's natural gifts were highly unusual. He wasn't born with much offensive potential, he didn't have the ability to use telekinesis, see into the future, or control others actions. Combat in general really isn't something that suits him at all but where things he was better at then a lot of others and one of them was sensory enhancement. Enhancing normal senses and feelings gave rise to the abilities Nouri used in his everyday life for that matter.

His prowess and mastery of his abilities had unknowingly aided him in moving past his opponents defenses against psionic detection. His ability to sense objects within the space around extended to 164 feet around his person and his opponent was perhaps no more then 30 feet away which, considering his range of perception was still quite close and enough that his energy could pierce through it. Depending on the distance, he could lose track of his opponent or.. not.

As he rushed forward, Nouri began to use his own abilities for something he had been dying to try since this tournament had started but never got around to until now. Now psychically communicating with his own brain, he issued an mental order that instantly took effect.

~Shut down all electric impulses that enable the senses of sight, touch, taste, and smell. Using the energy that would go to putting those senses in use, augment my bodies extrasensory perception. Also increase the rate my body creates psionic energy for use, and open up my pathways to take in more information and respond to my environment based on that.~

As he rushed forward, he lost those senses, but his body was not shaken or disrupted by it for two reasons. The first being his unnatural sense of self awareness by psychometric means. Upon instinct, his body adjusted itself to experience without a problem and often functioned as a sense of touch that was beyond his very own. Eliminating his traditional sense of touch wouldn't impair his performance. Since it was linked to his extrasensory powers which he had increased by taking away four other senses, it was at least four times as powerful as normally.

Now the second phase could be put into play. He halted the use of his proximity sense and instead expanded his own aura out from his body. Normally, it would reach 15 meters but now, he stretched out for 60 meters. The purpose of expanding ones aura was to expand touch in a sense. It was with this that he could use abilities that required him to touch something and he had just the power in mind..

By utilizing his psychometric sense and adding to his aura, he could sense and feel out his environment to a degree he could not before. His mind took in information about the material of the room was made of, what type of food was staining the plates piled in the sink and so many other things. It would be overwhelming normally but he made sure that mental fatigue wouldn't set in with those orders he gave early on.

But more importantly, he "felt" his opponents movement perfectly and he could feel just what he was aiming to get out of this. Muscle tension, ignition, and breathing all at once, it was perfect and just in time too. Now, his foe had stepped out in front of him with just the row ovens lining the kitchen wall. Dangerous? Maybe.. but sooner or later, it was going to come to something like this.

With a quick contraction of the muscles in his wrist, blade he had revealed from his sleeve had retracted back from wince it came and Nouri simply raised his shoulders and positioned his forearms directly in front of his face, keeping his hands open and lax. His body had already begun psychometrically align itself with his opponents body, which would not only aid in sensing muscle tension, breathing rates, and the like, he would be able to in a sense, know what his opponent was about to do and have enough time to shut down or halt that action

Blindness prevented him from being distracted by the visual cues of the opponents armor, allowing him to not only notice his foe had released a knife from the left hand, he also sensed the tiny movements just before the left arm was to come from the right. At the same time, his left hand quickly swatted away that nasty little firearm of hers, which made both the first and second miss. The right hand simply gave her "blazing left" a little tip upward to to misdirect her aim and make it miss its mark. Now with both hands up and away, she should be open. Now all that was left was that tension he was feeling at the legs which.. no doubt was a kick on the way.

"Go ahead and try to kick me." Nouri spoke to his invisible attacker. Words he said just as he advanced forward, his legs in just the right position to defend against attacks to the groin or the legs themselves. "This is the range where one can shut down the power of a kick.. so amuse me" Both hands in unison lowered to the level of his shoulders and he jabbed towards her chest with his right, twisting his wrist in the motion to give his punch a bit more power.

[Kismet]

Iskra was momentarily surprised that both attacks had failed, but she soon saw why. At this range, she could actually see the blood vessels slowing around his sensory organs, shutting off his physical means of perception. The bastard hadn’t even seen the optic display. Fortunately, his defensive movements had used very little energy, deflecting her attacks with only as much force as was necessary. This, coupled with Iskra’s own superb control over her body, meant that her physical orientation was largely unaltered from her original attack state. Simply put, as her opponent lowered his hands to shoulder level and struck, her left hand remained only inches from his head and above his arms, completely unguarded. Her left hand, which held the knife.

As her opponent opened his mouth to speak, Iskra snapped. She was gripped by a Hyper Reaction Impulse, shattering the neurologic barriers between her senses and her muscle control. The very environment, her opponent, became her stimulus, bypassing conscious thought completely. All biological functions between perception and reaction ceased to exist, erasing her previously established biorhythm.

Moving faster than conscious thought permitted, Iskra stabbed to the right with her left hand, already only inches away from her opponent’s head. As she stabbed, she pivoted her left elbow downwards, forcing his outstretched right arm down and away from her body, simultaneously checking his punch and positioning her arm to correct for any movements his head might make. Iskra raised her right arm into an open guard position, releasing her grip on her pistol and causing it to fling through the air behind her. There was no sense in being careless, even if her foe now had to dodge an attack at almost point blank range-that he’d set up himself, and though she didn't know it, detect coming-that literally cracked the air with its speed.

[Tony Redgrave]

~Stay focused Nouri.. focus on your opponents posture, mannerisms and the environment and use this enhanced perception to notice what needs immediate attention...~ His thoughts were in clear order at this time and rapidly, he was noticing things he had not just moments before this abilities activation. Mostly, he felt an increase in his psionic abilities beyond just the radial sensory aura that psychometric power enabled. Nouri's mental state and reaction times were increased and he could understand his environment and respond to things way faster then he could before. He felt his opponents emotional state clearly, feeling out her not only her surprise but the level in just how calm she was in this situation. She calm in the sense that he couldn't feel a speck of fear within her.. not even the normal level of fear that any experienced warrior generally felt. It was odd and in a sense, a bit unsettling. But unlike who he was up against, he was very afraid.. the most frightened in quite some time to be exact.

In all honestly, he feared his own death in this fight, he feared.. even the space he was in.. Everything was so close from what he could feel and not as wide as he would like it to be. If this was just a normal day, he would have been more visually unnerved and his heart would be racing as fast as fast could be.. but it wasn't. As soon as he rushed forward into this mess, he tried his best to take his masters words to heart and use all that fear to enhance his performance. As of now, his body was completely "still" in the sense that he was subconsciously keeping his body in a state of calm. The fear factor that came mentality was simply channeled into his aura as well, Nouri simply using that uneasiness to help him notice threats and avoid them, supplementing that natural boost in reflexes with his own psionic powers.

Moving forward with that right jab of his, his aura kept him aware of his opponents position and the adjustments that were made in that the second they began. This instant enlightenment allowed him to notice how his opponent had managed to keep from getting even the slightest bit unbalanced by his parries, a feat that impressed him. But along with this, he noticed the dangerous position he was in and along with it, a sudden tingle at the back of his head.

He was sensing danger once again but, this ability was enhanced with his earlier augmentation. With his body aligned with his opponents perfectly, he could feel his senses directly attention to that left arm he batted away and automatically, his body responded to it and fast. Though it would most likely go undetected by his foe, he was using his inner energy to summon extra-dimensional mass right beside the two of them and at the same time, his body began to undergo an unusual adaptation.

The moment his opponent snapped, he felt her mind go completely blank.. and his body had started to adjust itself to the force that would be delivered from her reflexive attack, and with his right foot in front of him, he began to move forward. His opponent would have stabbed in right in the noggin but he didn't take that blow. For when she began to move, something appeared right out of thin air to his right and stopped her attack before it could strike at Nouri's head while another copy had appeared to her own right side. If his opponent would look at both sides, an exact duplicate of Nouri himself was holding her arm by the wrist with one hand for that matter. Just how could he stop that attack's and so quickly? The answers were simple.

Nouri had created from psionic energy, a clone of him that was for the most part, indistinguishable from him at all, perfect as far as appearance went. Each of this quasi clones he could form in a number of ways and one of them was to simply will them into being. With his powers enhanced, he could will them instantly in his radius to block and resume attacks if need be. As for how this clone could stop the attack. Whats more is that these clones could use Nouri's abilities freely and they were produced in a state identical to his current one.

By using Nouri's power of adaptability, his clone had juxtaposed its own strength to equal the attack and with his minds eye to guide the hand, an aura that could sense movement and based on position, predict the arc of a motion, andbeing willed into the right place and time, catching that arm as it neared him was easy enough. While this was happening, the real deal was moving forward, riding with the fact his arm had been pushed down the moment it happened and his other arm lowered the moment the hit was checked to line up with it again.

There was one more surprise that was in store as well.. and that was Nouri's simple unpredictably. He was unique in the sense that his movements could not be predicted by anyone or any known force in existence and he was resistant to the forces of fate. Luck, natural or unnatural did not effect him nor could any form of luck manipulation. But more importantly, his movements could not be foreseen.

No one could use Precognition, Psychometry, Telepathy or Divination to predict his actions. His normal movement in general is simply hard to keep up with and determine without the power of omniscience. What did this mean? Well, his opponent would soon find that though he could track and keep up with her perfectly, she would be having a hard time keeping up with his pace and determining where a punch would come from, where he would step or anything for that matter. With his own powers and his skill in hand to hand combat, he wasn't to be taken lightly at all.

Nouri made small circular movements with both of his hands and now beginning to step forward with his left. As he did, the crafty little thief had brought his hands, now open palmed to his right side and pushed forward with all of his momentum with both hands, hitting the ground with the left foot at the same time. It was Hakkyouken's Sōtenshu step used to push back an attacker with pure forward motion and power and he was aiming to push her right into the counter in back of her. With him completely within her arms length, she wouldn't be able to get a good kick in and it would be troublesome to try and defend when he was so close to her.

To further aid him, he used his power to manipulate kinetic energy to create an of "airy" aura around his hands. With his powers increased, the kinetic energy he could force out increased with it, giving him in a sense, superhuman strength. if he was stopped somehow, the fists he had created would shoot out anyway and push her.. and either way, the force could do some decent damage and send her back if not topping over the table, perhaps into a wall. The duplicate that stopped the attack had hung onto her hand but the other stood in a ready stance for what she was going to try with that empty hand. Now.. it was getting interesting.

[serraskai]

((Sorry for the lack of commentary guys, had a slight problem with my innenet))

"I wonder how someone learns to fight like this."

"You start with killin' someone."

"Uh huh."

"Then you kill a lot of someones."

"Uh huh."

"Then you kill a SH*T TON of someones."

"Uh huh."

"And eventually you just get good at it."

"Wow, that's a surprisingly simple process."

"Yeah, most people try to over complicate it but let's face it, it really comes down to kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, that sort of thing."

"Wow Kreese, that was surprisingly insightful, coming from you."

"Hang on, I got a poop joke that'll ruin that notion."

[Kismet]

Bullshit.

A glimmer of anger and bewilderment sprang to life inside Iskra as her attack failed yet again, stopped this time by the random appearance of a doppelganger. Being able to detect and react to that blow would have required virtual omniscience, and this duplicate seemed real enough. For the first time in the tournament, the gnawing worm of doubt appeared in her stomach. Fear too, but not for her own life. She was, after all, already dead, but disgracing the Emperor was unthinkable. And what was more, she wanted to win, God damn it. Maybe she had something to prove after all. Maybe all of life’s little miseries leading up to this point, maybe all those terrible things did need to be justified. Maybe she really did want it all to have been worth it, for the terrible strength it had forged in her to validate it all, to give a purpose to everything. Maybe that was it.

Stop thinking like your weak.

No. That was not, could not be it. The past was terrible and filled with horrific things, because sometimes, shit just happened. It did not make her special, it did not justify selling her soul and becoming a killing machine. Iskra stood here now, locked in battle, because she had made that choice of her own free will. If Iskra needed a purpose, she would forge it herself with her blade, her resolve, and her own two hands. The past would not dictate who she was, or what she felt obligated to do.

The Emperor did not and would not benefit from this tournament. Kirmizi matters of state would remain unaffected. There was no real point to any of this. So she would win, and she would win because she wanted to.

As her opponent twirled his hands and began his double handed thrust, his doppelganger released her left hand in anticipation of the flight she was about to take. While her bladed hand was now free, her foe had stepped well inside her range, and though she drew it back as quickly as she could, she would be unable to bring it to bear on him. Fortunately, she had brought her right hand into a neutral guard position as she’d stabbed, and retained its use. How fortuitous.

As her opponent began his assault-still only stepping forward and twirling his arms-Iskra submerged herself into a meditative trance, something any Revenant could do at will. This reduced her consciousness to a pseudo-Impulse state, her body responding solely to action-reaction stimulus response. Her body relaxed, her muscles fluid and loose, and her balance equilibrated, utterly composed. It was only when her opponent slammed his foot down on the ground and thrust with his aura imbued double handed palm strike, fully committing to the act, that she reacted.

Slipping into full Impulse state again, her right arm lanced downward to meet the attack with a hammer fist strike, an inward explosion of Qi powering the thrust to even greater heights of speed and power. But as her fist approached her opponent’s palms, the true aim of the attack was revealed, the years of multilayered attacks and deceptions within deceptions culminating in multistage unconscious attacks. In the span of an instant, the summoning charms on her palm and short sword blazed with fiery light. Instantaneously, the weapon would appear in her hand, its blade taking form in the space already occupied by her opponent’s hands in mid thrust. Her Qi would flow through the blade, piercing and dispelling the offensive aura (Not to mention his limbs) he had crafted around his strike. Again, all in the span of an instant, and from point blank range. Her opponent had overcome only slightly lower odds before, and who knew, maybe he could do it again. But Iskra was beyond forming such thoughts.