Round 3: Walker / O'Brien vs. Mallon / Bryson

Mikaela coughed from the smoke as she took in her surroundings. All the burning buildings and trees made her sad despite knowing full-well it was a simulation. She looked at her opponents, noticing that they were opponents she had no idea who they were, which meant that she had no idea what their powers were either.

Caine was ready for this round. They had made it through two so far. One, he had managed to shift. The drive that coursed through him seemed to set his teeth on edge. The Summer was ready. He would not be going down without a fight. Fire was certainly an interesting touch. Instead of shrinking away, he stared into the flame with the thoughts of possibility. It could be used in combat. Someone would be losing at least their hair today. He grinned at the thought. As he stared over at their opponents, the boy started sizing them up. If he could catch them and engage in close up combat there would hopefully be no problems.

"I'm not going down this round." Caine said lowly. He avoided his partner's gaze, but the comment was clearly directed towards her. This would be nothing like last round. If he could, Caine wanted to sink his teeth into the flesh of one of their enemies. This would be a fun one.

Ben, startled that he even made it through the second round, sat quietly, twiddling his thumbs and glancing around at the flames that was their stage.

His blue eyes gave his partner a concerned look. While she was strong, and his body was adjusting to her power, she still seemed uninterested in supporting her significantly weaker companion. Barry's quick and strong hits took a toll on him last round. Yet when he had called for help, Eliza was too concerned with trapping them than keeping her partner standing. Would they be able to work together better this round? Surely there wasn't another Speedster this round.

Eliza stood next to her partner, she wanted to protect him, she really did but she wasn't good at that.. She could only do so much.. She wasn't as skilled as Cadence.. If she was she would have been able to do so much more. Blind green eyes stared straight ahead. She would do better this time, she would, and she would prove to them she was better than Cadence.

"Well, shit." Caine muttered as soon as the round started. He realized he had no idea what the hell they were up against. It was impossible to strategize against people you had no knowledge. Oh well, it would be trial and error then. The Summer planned on holding off on the shift for now. Anything and everything he could do in human form would be done first, then it would be time to try and tear out some chunks of flesh as the beast. He had already managed to shift the first round and hoped to do so again. The one time against Gabe had been thrilling. There was no doubt the adrenaline and fire that pounded through his veins would boil over at some point during the match. When that happened, they would be back in business. He had vowed not to be as weak as last time and if he went down, Caine would at least take someone else down with him.

Instantly, his eyes darted to the flames that threatened to catch on everything. That could be helpful. Taking full advantage of what extra speed he had, Caine whipped out his dagger and raced over to the flames to stick the metal blade in, just enough to get it impossibly hot. The flames seared the hair on his arms and immediately caused sweat to form on his brow. But, it drove him on. Once it was to his liking, the Summer whipped around to focus on the girl. She would be his first target. Caine propelled himself forwards. It felt strange being able to move so quickly and precisely, but the more he fought with the enhanced abilities of his wolf, the better he felt. As soon as he was in range, Caine slashed out with the blade. While the attack seemed wild, each thrust was aimed at her side or throat, both good places for a deadly wound. His vision almost seemed to go red. They were reaching the final rounds, victory was almost palpable. A low growl resounded from his mouth as he slashed away, "If you think this is going to be easy, you bitches are dead wrong. I will fight you both until my body is still on the floor."

Since Caine was going after the girl, she'd go after the boy. Reaching both of her hands outward, she sent two waves of vibrations towards Ben, something to disorient if the attack were to hit. It was a test to see if his gift counteracted hers in any way. She needed to gauge the power level of her opponents before wildly attacking like her "partner."

Eliza's eyes seemed to widen with the realization that they were attacking first. Raching out with her hand she grasped Ben's wrist, and tugged him behind while moving her self in front. She would't let damage come his way this time. She would protect him. She would prove she was better.

Her dull green eyes narrowed as Caine got closer, he was no speedster. She instantly put up a barrier blocking his attacks and blocking Mikaela's accidentally. She let out a small growl. "No more mercy from me." She uttered to herself.

Benjamin yelped as he was tugged aside, Eliza stepping in front of him in the process. The gesture was shocking to say the least. Just before he was under the assumption that his partner was selfish in this tourney. As she put up the barrier to protect the two, Ben activated his gift, his wrist still held firmly in the pink haired girl's grip.

Within a few seconds, a large, stone wall rose from the ground behind his enemies. They would be stuck between a rock and a hard place if they decided to fight instead of run.

Caine let out a low growl of frustration as his attack was simply deflected with ease. He had to act fast if he wanted to try and get some sort of hit in while the blade of his was still searing hot. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the wall. That might make things a little harder for Mikaela. However, he had no intention of running. The Summer was only able to be effective in close combat. It occurred to him that him and his partner were a perfect pair power wise. He could handle the close up attacks, and she, well she could do pretty much everything else.

The desire to win was his only focus, but this strange girl seemed to be proposing a challenge. Caine quickly realized his brute strength and combat skill would not be able to do much without a plan. As he jumped back to create some distance, the gears in his head turned. Being the top of his class all throughout high school had to account for something. His blue eyes scanned over their opponents, searching for some clue. Then, it clicked. He had it. At least some inkling of an idea that could be useful to them. Wasting no time, Caine sprinted back to Mikaela. As soon as he was close enough to speak without their opponents hearing, he said quickly, "We have to get them apart somehow. Aim for the ground to try to shake them up a bit. I'll do what I can to be a distraction."

Before waiting for an answer, the boy turned and ran. The only part of his gift that he had managed to master was the slightly enhanced speed and strength. Even if this girl could create barriers, there was a change he could potentially out speed her to get something in right before she could react. It would be slim, this part of the gift only served to enhance the decent fighting skill he already had, but this was the only chance they would get. If Mikaela shook up the ground they stood on, it could help to create some confusion, that would help there cause. Thankfully, he had been able to briefly shake away the blinding impulsiveness that the wolf had brought upon him. Caine was normally such a calculated person, but this had changed him a bit. Now that he could think clearly, driven by his passion and desire to come out on top, Caine's head was truly in the game.

If he could shift, it could help with a distraction, but there was no doubt the wolf would take over. He was also far less confidant in his thought and fighting skills when shifted. Maybe it would come in handy towards the end of the match, now it would only be a detriment. His next actions relied heavily on the fact that his partner would react quickly. If they could work together and time their actions, this could really work. She would attack from the front, and he would attempt from behind. The boy struggled not to let his confident take over, but as he hurled himself towards Ben's back. Much like in the first match, his elbow lead, aiming for the dead center of the other students back. At the same time, he had chosen to take a risk. There seemed to be a flash of silver as the flames reflected off the dagger's blade while it flew towards the other student. This could fail horribly, or it could mean a chance for them. Either way, Caine found himself wishing for a miracle as he waited to hit something- be it the ground, or Ben.

Eliza's eyes narrowed. Two people for the poor blind girl to keep track of. This was going to be an issue. He eyes widen in realization. Caine was attack from behind she could detect it, but something else was flying her way. She couldn't tell what though. Quickly she put up a barrier to protect Ben from the incoming attack, but she left her gift slow to react to what was flying towards her.

The pink haired girl swayed, the knife cutting into her arm leaving a cut as it flew past her. It hurt like hell but she wasn't going to let it sway her. She gritted her teeth, dull green eyes turning and locking onto Caine. She made sure to stay in contact with her partner though. "Enough." She said using her gift to grab fiery chunks of of the buildings that had fallen already and launched them at Caine.

Ben felt a chill run down his back as Caine skitted around. Before he could react, another barrier shot up. This time it left Eliza unprotected.

Without a second thought, he turned his back to Mikaela and watched as his partner launched flaming parts of the building at the boy. He wondered how easily Caine could avoid this attack. As if the power read his thoughts, the ground beneath Caine began to shift, seemingly melting into a thick sand. On queue, it began to sink inwards.

The boy let out a huff and closed his eyes. He was exuding too much energy too early into the match. Hopefully, while he took a moment to catch his breath, Caine would be caught in his little sinkhole trap.

Mikaela took the opportunity presented to her to strike. Charging up closer to Ben, she sent a massive wave towards him. After that was sent out, She brought her foot up and as she brought it down the ground began to shake with her gift. Maybe the combo would be enough to weaken either of their opponents enough to allow for a more direct attack.

So much happened in those few moments. As he half-expected, Caine slammed into the barrier created by Eliza to protect her partner. However, he was quickly back up on his feet and darting away to recover before the next attack and try to regain his dagger. The ground shifted and swayed from a combination of his partner's move and Ben's. It tripped him up a bit, but he managed to to avoid the worst of it. If it weren't for the enhanced reflexes, there was no doubt he would have gone down from the chaos. Their opponents had managed to get something done though. With the distraction of it all, he was unable to avoid everything. Eliza threw a building and the entire state of Texas pieces of the burning building in his directions. Again, the unstable ground made everything worse for them all.

A particularly large chunk caught his right leg, causing him to stumble. Another his his shoulder. The momentum threw him to the ground, but in his state of being adrenaline driven, he gritted his teeth and quickly pushed himself up. They would not get him to the ground. He shook himself to rid his clothes of the debris. Everything was now singed where he had been caught by the attack. He could feel blood dripping down his calf where he'd been struck. Complementing that as the unavoidable bruising on his shoulder. It had been a heavy hit. Caine ignored the pain. With another low growl, he focused on Eliza. She was really pissing him off. How could a blind girl tell where he was constantly? And focus her attacks so carefully? It was beyond aggravating.

He felt the anger swelling and rising in his chest. All he wanted to do was tear her throat out and end the match. But, it would be impossible if he could never get a hit in. It took every ounce of strength to push away the desire to let the blinding rage over take him. His fists clenched as he raced to grab at the dagger once more. Relief caused the frustration to be pushed back as he felt the handle in his palm. Distance would be the key. She couldn't tell if he was further away, right? Silently, he tossed the knife in Ben's direction this time from a bit of a ways off. After, Caine went for Eliza. His entire weight was behind the blow as he built up speed charging towards her. She would most likely be able to catch it before hand, but this was all he could attempt to do. Tossing out two attacks at once, throwing in all his strength, hoping to distract them along with Mikaela's help. Something would have to work.