Round 3: Kayla Croft vs. Connor Delvin

Connor raised his arm to shade his eyes from the burning sun. His green eyes scanned the surroundings, untouched sand blanketed the bedrock as far as the eye could see. The only thing that contrasted against the sand was the tail of an old airplane. It was faded with time; the sand seemed to have consumed the plane and was slowly breaking it down. The plane was metal, so that was a plus. His cocky attitude was growing more serious, if he wanted to advance to the finals he needed to have the correct mind set for the third round. Connor gripped his steel jo staff and waited for his opponent to arrive.

What the hell was this place?

Kayla stared out over the endless expanse, the gentle sands that stretched out in every direction. The wreckage of a plane, half buried in the earth, juxtaposed against the open sky, towered over the both of them. She curled her fingers into fists, tearing her gaze away from the metal leviathan to focus on her opponent. These arenas get weirder every year... Shit, she knew they were running out of ideas, but there was something surreal about being in a place like this, almost otherworldly... As if the Island wasn't bad enough on its own. Even for Beata, she found it hard to adjust.

It didn't matter. She raised her hand in front of her, poised to strike at the first signal. Her last match had been too close for her tastes, and she wasn't going to take anymore chances.

Connor pointed his staff at the girl, that was the direction he was going. His foot left an imprint in the ground and the soft sand was disturbed from its slumber. While he was racing towards the girl he made sure to run in zig zags, it would be an easy hit if he ran in a straight line. The ground did not provide an easy footing and he could easily slip without intentions. Once Connor was close enough he extended one of his legs and slid across the sand aiming his jo staff towards her feet to knock her off balance.

That was it. Kayla held her ground as the boy rushed her, hand held in front of her. She couldn't get a straight shot, not with the way he was weaving... Come on... It was too little, too late. He closed the distance, sliding, and Kayla went spilling to the ground as the staff swept her legs from under her. As soon as the metal touched her skin, almost by reflex, electricity flared around her in all directions, coursing through her body like a conductor. "Oof!" She rolled as she hit the ground, scooping up a handful of sand as she pulled herself onto one knee.

They'd met before. Once. Sorta. Up close, she recognized his face from the rooftop a few months before, but she couldn't have told anyone his power, his name, even his House. She grit her teeth, bracing for the next flux in the flow of the battle.

Connor got a direct hit, the girl quickly toppled to the ground but before he knew it shocks of electricity ran through his body. He felt it first enter his staff and traveled into him, each volt shocking his nerves. He gripped the sand with his hands and pushed himself up. Metal and electricity. Not good. He ran his hand threw his hair and stood back up, this was going to be harder than he thought. His greatest weakness was put into a person and forced to be his opponent. Connor let out a cough and picked his staff out of the sand. He needed to think of a plan and fast, if not he would quickly lose to the battery.

That small window was enough. Kayla sprung to her feet, flinging the sand in his face. "Think fast!" she shouted, scrambling backwards to put some distance between them. Electricity flickered down her arms, rippling down her legs. She didn't have any plans, any sort of strategy, but she wasn't going to let herself slip-up like last time. Thinking too hard about it would just trip her up. It was all just instinct.

Connor staggered backwards his hand over his eyes. The damn battery got sand in his eyes. He raised his shirt and used to collar to brush away the remaining particles, his eyes stung but he was still able to see. When he looked up the girl was lit up with bolts of electricity. Wait, he has seen this before. Somewhere in the past, a fight or something was going down. Realization came to mind when he remembered the roof top. It was his first time going up and a whole parade of students were trying to kill each other. Her name, what was her name...? He remembered looking it up later that day, amazed by her power. He never thought he would be paired up with her for the tournament.

Once his senses returned to normal he remembered the giant pile of plane metal that laid not to far away from the students. He turned to focus on the metal for a moment until a chunk of it, no bigger than 1-2 dinner plates, was in front of him. He could use this as a shield, but if he wanted to avoid getting electrocuted he would have to keep it floating so the metal wouldn't come into contact with him. Now that Connor was prepared he waited for his opponents next move.

A shield... Was that his power? Magnetism? She grit her teeth, narrowing her eyes at the plates of metal that gravitated between them. They'd just have to see how well they held up. Kayla snapped her fingers with a crack! as loud as a gunshot. Blue lightning streaked through the air from her fingers, a shower of sparks flying from her nails. She broke into a run, trying to circle around him. Snap! Snap! Snap! Three more blasts of electricity, alternating between each hand.

Connor bended the airplane metal into an oval shape, he could feel it's weakness. He would need to support it as much as he could, but he couldn't be on defense the whole time, attacks were needed. He planted himself in the ground when the loud bang came from the girl, she was ready to test his shield. Blue bolts came straight at him, the first one ran through the shield, the second came awfully close to him and caused him to turn to dodge it. The last bolt was faster than he thought and pierced him in the hip, electricity running along his left side.

Connor let out a grunt of pain and leaned against his staff for support to keep standing up. The shield was a distraction. For him and for his opponent, so he would have to use it cleverly. Connor threw it on the ground, he would use it when necessary. His steel jo staff was going to be of little use for him with close combat, so he would have to change it into a long range weapon. The staff split in half and with one half created five balls about two inches in diameter. He returned with his own attack and threw two of the balls on Kayla's right side and one on the left which was a bit faster than the other two. They were meant to stun the opponent and give him an opening.

The staff changed. Steel rounds, like pinballs, went flying back at her. She sidestepped to the left, avoiding the first ball that went zipping past, only for the next two to smash right after another into her waist. "Agh...!" she choked, her hand flying over where she'd been hit. That'd bruise... Kayla clenched her teeth, stumbling backwards from the pain shooting through her abdomen. Metal manipulation... But he wasn't the only human magnet here. She held out her free hand, electricity flitting around her fingers, pointing toward the metal balls in the sand. They rose again, levitating, and fired back at him.

What the fuck. Connors metal ball flew back at him and shot him right in the stomach, sparks burning a hole into his t-shirt. The autumn coughed as he waited for the power to stop surging threw his body. Before the other two balls came close to him he stopped them in mid air. There was no way he would be threatened with his own power. Connor clenched his eyes shut and put the staff back together. He was going to have to do this another way. Earlier when he swiped her off her feet she still got hit by his metal, but at the same time he was shocked. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage.

The staff split into two once again, but this time they changed into daggers. Not very sharp but they would definitely do the job. The extra metal he left on the ground and returned his gaze up to his opponent. This was going to hurt like hell.

The autumn sprinted towards Kayla, in zig zags like before. He put his leg out once more to close the distance by sliding. Connor held one of the daggers out by her thigh ready for the electricity to run through. She probably wouldn't be fooled with this technique again, but it would allow him to get close.

This again?! Kayla staggered backwards as he charged again, but not fast enough to keep him from closing the distance. Closer, closer, with steel blades flashing in his hands. Daggers. That wasn't something she could just brush off like a thwack to the leg, even with her body acting as a lethal conduit. She paused, digging her heels into the sand and coiling up like a spring. Closer, closer, closer... That isn't going to work twice! He slid through the dirt, and she sprung, leaping over him and the slice of the knife. Kayla landed, planting one foot in the sand, and twisting where she stood to bring the other down toward him on the ground, electricity coursing down her leg.

Well, he missed. It wasn't like the same trick would fool her twice. Connor twisted around, sand flying behind him. Kayla was right there in front of him, his struggled up, the pain from where the electricity hit still shocked him at times. He darted at her, his right dagger was aimed towards her chest and the left was ready to pierce her in the back in case she dodged the right one. He was finally close enough and raised his daggers for the attack.