Round 1: Noah Wayley vs. Charlotte Phonaea

Noah scoffed as he took in the sight of the arena. Mud, eh? Well, that would certainly be bad for his clothing, but it wasn't like it was going to pose a major problem for him. the arena could have been a pool and it wouldn't have been an issue. He was fast enough that he could run right over it without sinking. Unless his opponent was Ed or Barry, he expected that this would pose a problem for them.. Of course, there were bigger problems than the mud to worry about. Noah wouldn't hold back against whoever it was. He had his eye firmly fixed on the prize.

The Autumn stretched his arms over his head as he waited for his opponent to appear.

Charlotte stood still in her spot, surveying the arena with calculative eyes. Mud was everywhere and she scowled, upset by the surroundings. She looked at her feet and her brow furrowed deeply. One of her feet was placed on hard-packed ground, yet it still seemed as if it could sink through at any moment. Her other foot was even worse; nearly ankle-deep in a cloudy puddle. Thankfully this is just a simulation, otherwise Charlotte would've had a hell of a time trying to get the muck off.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself, and looked across the way at her opponent. He seemed to be taller than her and he looked somewhat relaxed. She had no idea what he was capable of, and his looks revealed nothing that could hint to what he can do. Charlotte tensed up, shifting a little so her stance was stronger. Her knowledge of self-defense was extensive and her power supplements it well.

After adjusting her scarlet-framed glasses, she raises her fists, though she doesn't intend to land the first blow. Perhaps she can get her way through this purely by depending on her power. It's not likely, but it could be possible. As long as his gift doesn't overpower her immediately, she can find a way to get the upper hand. Always know what you're doing, the number one rule of fighting. And of course, she'll need to use her power a lot.

This is gonna hurt like hell for the both of them.

"Hope you're not afraid of getting muddy," Noah called over to Charlotte as she appeared, twirling a sweatband in circles with one of his index fingers. The left end of his lips twinged upwards. He didn't know what sort of gift she had, but if he could easily outrun a fighter jet, it didn't really matter what it was. She couldn't keep up with him. As the shout to commence the battle ran out, Noah sniffed, and cracked his knuckles. "Shit's gonna get messy."

With blinding speed, Noah was already behind his opponent. He tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Think fast." He turned and leapt, aiming a roundhouse kick at Charlotte's midsection. No mercy, even for someone as small as this. She'd signed up for this tournament - She knew the risk of injury.

Charlotte frowned at his cockiness. Clearly, he thought he was going to win. She couldn't let that happen and she was ready to fight her hardest. Her golden eyes focused on him and she waited for him to make the first move.

She blinked once, and he was gone. Her mind began to think quickly, trying to deduce his ability. Invisibility, perhaps? In an instant, her thoughts were cut off by a light tap on her shoulder and Charlotte heard the other student speak to her. However, before she could process what was happening, a sudden pressure slammed into her torso and she was knocked back a few feet into the mud.

Instantly, she projected the burning pain onto her opponent, and she felt her own pain lessen slightly. Standing up, she pulled off her cardigan and tossed it into the swampy ground. He must have some sort of teleporting power. She wiped mud from her face and realized her glasses had fallen off. But now was not the time to look for them. Instead, she resigned to fighting him without full use of her vision; her farsightedness was going to be more of an issue than she had anticipated.

Noah gasped as his skin began to crawl with a fiery burning sensation that seemed to worsen as seconds passed. As a child, he'd accidentally fallen into a fire ant nest during a game of tag with his friends. To this day, he could still feel the sting of every bite that each individual ant inflicted on him. It'd hurt like all hell. The feeling overcoming him now was of a similar intensity. He ground his teeth together and shook his head, as if trying to forget about the burn. It would be difficult, and painful, but he could shoulder aside the condition she'd placed on him. He was in this to win it, and that was all. He'd felt worse pain. Noah managed a dry laugh, and looked up at Charlotte, who was covered in mud already and seemed to have lost her glasses. "You'll pay for that one."

Noah stood straight again and took off. He ran in zig-zag patterns around the arena, too fast for the naked eye to see, and then zeroed in on Charlotte. He rammed into her midsection shoulder-first.

Once Noah began to run, Charlotte knew she had to act as fast as she could before he came at her again.  He ran around in a confusing blur, seemingly in a random pattern.  Immediately, she pitched herself forward and ran, trying to avoid him in any way possible.  Her feet slid and stuck and she only managed to move a few feet before her opponent rammed into her torso again.  Charlotte managed to only stumble a little, not falling as terribly as she had before.  Her midsection ached furiously and she tried not to double over with the pain.

Looking down, she found her foot stuck in a slowly sinking patch of watery mud.  She yanked her foot as hard as she could and managed to free it, losing both her shoe and sock in the process.  This was the literal worst.

"You shouldn't be so sure of yourself," She finally spoke up, trying her best to intimidate Noah with her thick New York accent.

Charlotte had only actually tried to project pain on someone else once before, and despite the stellar results, she never really tried again.  Mostly her projection was just reactionary. Well, now was as a good a time as any to try new things.  Angling her head and readying her fist, she punched herself in the jaw as hard as she could.  She concentrated on the aching pain in her teeth and focused on projecting the ache onto Noah.

So the pain of every attack she inflicted on herself would be projected onto him. Hm, interesting. She was like some sort of life-size voodoo doll. A slight pain plagued Noah's jaw as Charlotte punched herself, but it wasn't like it was very easy to punch yourself enough to break your jaw, or something. If he could just barely shrug off the burning sensation, he could shrug this pain off, as well. He'd been punched in the jaw harder before. A guy with an abrasive personality like his was bound to be punched more than a few times.

"I could say the same to you," the Autumn retorted, rubbing his lower jaw. "You lost your glasses already and you're getting stuck in the mud. What exactly are you so confident about?" Noah sprung off again and dashed in a wide circle around his opponent, skirting the border of the arena and running across the deep mud without issue. He skidded to a halt behind her at one point, but only for a second. "You can't keep up." He took off once more in an arc, and was then running at her from the front. His right hand curled into a fist. Reeling his arm back, the redhead aimed his fist at Charlotte's face as he neared her.

This guy was really getting under Charlotte's skin. She was definitely struggling right now, and he made sure to let her know that. She gritted her teeth, her jaw still aching just a little. Her eyes strained to make sense of what he was doing; his figure was close enough to be blurry and out of focus. A bit of confidence filled her chest when she saw him rub his jaw as he spoke. It was working, if only a little.

When Noah began running in circles, she tensed up and tried to focus on pinpointing his location and approximating how fast he could go. The run showcased the ease with which he could dash across the muddy arena. He moved too fast for her to keep up with her eyes and she felt him stop behind her. Before she could turn, he was gone, and she had a bitter taste in her mouth from his comment.

"Don't tell me what I can't do," Anger seeped into every syllable as she searched the arena for him once again.

She finally saw him, going at full speed towards her. She knows running is pointless, so she raises her arms, trying to protect herself from a blow. Charlotte had no idea where he was aiming, and his punch managed to land on her left cheek, knocking her back.

She let herself fall on the mushy ground. Her face was burning and she tasted blood. If she had brought a weapon, this would've gone much smoother. But she didn't and now she had to find something, anything, she could use to incapacitate her opponent. Her golden eyes roamed the far side of the arena, searching for her scarlet glasses.

Charlotte spotted them, half sunk into the ground. Immediately, she stood up and dashed towards them, her feet quickly becoming tired from the strain of the muddy earth. But she continued, as they were her last hope.

"What, so you thing you can keep u with me? Okay then, keep up with me." His tone was a mocking one. She had a lot of confidence for somebody who was, by the looks of things, losing the match. Noah sniffed drily. This was getting boring. She was just sitting there, groping around in the mud for her glasses. She wasn't even attacking him now. It almost felt a little unfair to come at her again.

Almost. Not enough to stop him, though.

Noah disappeared in a flash, skimming over the mud as if it were solid ground, and then a second later, he was aiming a kick at her side once more.

ooc: shitty short post is shitty

Charlotte managed to grasp the frame of her glasses just as she gets kicked in the side by Noah. Her grip tightened on her scarlet glasses as she tumbled to the side, an aching feeling spreading through her torso. Exhaustion began to creep up on her and her eyes closed for a moment.

I could just give up and it will all be over, the pain will be gone... she thought to herself. After a moment, her eyes snapped open and determination filled her. Even if she was going to lose, she'd do it fighting, with as much dignity as she could manage. If nothing else, this fight would be a great story to tell.

The glasses were still clutched in her pale fingers and Charlotte held them close to her chest. She popped a lens out and wiped the mud off it before tightening her fist around the glass oval. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard a snap and felt the glass separate into two pieces. Holding it out, she inspected the sharpness of the edges. This will have to do.

Aiming for an important muscle, Charlotte sliced the jagged glass across the backside of her left ankle, tearing open a gash nearly two inches deep. She couldn't stop a small shriek from escaping as she concentrated on projecting this wound onto Noah. Hopefully, this could slow him down enough to make it a fairer fight.

"I think it's about time you slowed down," Her golden eyes stared at his blurry face, tears from the pain rolling down her cheeks and washing streaks of mud away. She smirked at him, trying to seem confident despite her sad, defeated status.

Noah cried out in pain as a sharp pain bit into his heel and he immediately faltered downwards, clutching at his leg as if to quell the pain. He hadn't been expecting that. No, no, no.. His speed was his advantage over everyone. As long as he had that, he didn't have to worry about anything. Now his ankle throbbed with pain, and hurt even worse as he put pressure down on his foot.

But there was a more powerful force at work in his mind than agony - Rage. It hit him as quickly as the pain had come. His speed was everything to him. It consumed his whole identity. He was Noah, the kid who always won all the races and all the sports games single-handedly. Losing his mobility was his greatest fear. Even though the Autumn  knew there was no actual wound, the fury pumped hotly through his veins nonetheless. He would not let this little voodoo kid take his chance at glory away from him.

Forcing himself upwards, the pain in Noah's lower leg inflamed and he barely suppressed a gasp from passing his lips, but forced it away. It hurt like all hell - Like somebody was holding a flame to his heel - but in the back of his mind, he knew his heel wasn't actually torn. There was no blood, no cut. It was the worst pain he'd felt in a long time, but it was some semblance of comfort in knowing he wasn't really injured. He lunged forward and gripped the collar of Charlotte's shirt, pulling her small frame closer to him. Luckily he'd been standing close to her and not twenty feet away. "You slimy little bitch," he spat down at her bloodied face, voice dripping with venom.

Putting all his weight on his good foot, he swung his free arm upwards, aiming to hit her with an uppercut.