Mini Arena 3

[etcircenses]

The kids are picked up from the daycare bright and early, but by the Capitol instead of their parents. It's just like old times in the arenas, with only children to contend.

25 - 24 - 23

Stylists are starting to get used to the mini-arenas, though it doesn't mean they've been allowed to dress tributes in whatever they want. All the tributes will be dressed as proxy copy of a respective video game character. All tributes are reminded about the ticket rules for this round.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The platforms lift them up, and there is no cornucopia to be seen. The only way tributes will be able to help and protect themselves is if they go out of their way to harm another tribute and get the tickets, which will be tallied by their watches. The lights of the games flicker and glow within the dark. Classic video game fight tunes play overhead. Before them lay a great and stretching obstacle course, filled with animatronic enemies and various other hazards.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned, don't step off your pedestal early. They have also been warned to put on a good show. That's all this is about, a good show. None of them have been told that there can be multiple winners this time around.

5 - 4

3

2

The sound of the gong plays crystal clear across the opening. The games have begun.

[OOC: Remember, this is forwardated by a week.]

Comments

[iphigeneia]

"I can fight in anything," Fee snarls in reply, narrowing her eyes as she sized Terezi up. She didn't know the trolls too well, except for Karkat she'd avoided them mostly. She wasn't entirely certain what she was up against in Terezi. She would have to be very careful. "I can fight in anything and I won't show any mercy. Are we quite clear, girl?"

[pythianjudgment]

"Crystal clear. Human." Terezi adds the last bit on for emphasis. A little tit for tat with Felicity referring to her as a girl. That is almost like calling her a child, which she might take actual offense to, after everything she's been through. She doesn't appreciate being labeled as some incompetent wriggler based on her age alone.

She holds her staff lengthwise across her body for a moment before shooting out the tip towards Felicity's feet, aiming to strike her ankle or the top of her foot--something that would injure her footing. Immediately afterward, the other end snaps around to aim a blow at her chest.

[iphigeneia]

Felicity is able to side step the jab at her foot, but unfortunately she walks right into Terezi's staff, stunned by the blow to the chest. She staggers backwards, gasping in an attempt to regain her footing and take a cleansing breath. Everything hurts, but she knows how to take a hit. All that training with the huntress and with Nasir and Jet will surely help her now. Before she's even fully ready again, she charges forward with her knife, darting to the side at the last minute in hopes of sneaking around and behind her opponent.

[pythianjudgment]

Ten points, Terezi thinks smugly to herself when the blow lands. It's her over-confidence that works against her in this moment. Any other time, she wouldn't be so concerned with keeping a mental score. It would have been fine to let the ticket counter do the tallying, if she knew to keep her focus on the fight. But she doesn't expect much out of this human girl, and it shows when Felicity darts to the side--avoiding what would have been Terezi's next blow against her kneecaps.

Instead, Terezi finds herself jerking to the side, trying to to keep Felicity in front of her, where she can more easily deflect a blow with her staff.

[iphigeneia]

Felicity uses her momentum and the confidence she's gained to take what she hopes will be a clean shot with her dagger. She thrusts it toward Terezi, hoping for a quick in and out, praying that she'll rightly predict the troll girl's next move. But the staff stops her again, though this time she's halfway expecting it and decides to get in especially close and knock the other girl down if she has to.

[pythianjudgment]

Mentally, Terezi is relieved when the staff blocks what might have been a nasty blow. Countering a bladed weapon with a blunt weapon isn't the easiest thing in the world--especially when you're trying to not knock the other person's lights out.

She already got her one mandatory kill, she doesn't really want another if that isn't the goal of this arena. The thought does cross her mind, though, and that should probably be her most obvious clue that she's not thinking right.

Either way, she expects the girl to back off again and take the safe route--but once again, she doesn't. She comes in close, and Terezi makes a panicked swing with her staff just as they collide and she tumbles backwards.

[iphigeneia]

The opportunity arises and Felicity seizes upon it, pouncing at Terezi like a lioness at a gazelle. This could be her one shot to take the girl out, her chance to actually win an arena. She isn't about to blow it, not this time. She only needs to be mindful of the staff and Terezi's proven fast reflexes as she launches herself toward the tumbling troll, knife ready to claim the kill.

[pythianjudgment]

This level of aggressiveness in some human girl was not anticipated. Terezi lets go of the staff, useless to her at such close quarters. The wooden weapon goes clattering away from the scuffle, rolling slowly to a stop, while Tezeri makes a grab for the girl's wrist. She might be stronger than an average human, but her hands are bare and unequipped to grab at someone wielding live steel.

The blade cuts across one of her palms, leaving a teal gash in its wake before she's able to latch onto Felicity's wrist. It slows her momentum, but doesn't stop the blow--at least not before hitting it's mark.

The blade slides in just below her ribs, metal grinding against bone until the guard hits flesh. The pain is immediate and consuming. Terezi gasps in a breath, only to have it caught in her throat. Her eyes are wide, staring blindly up at Felicity in shock and horror as a single thought sets in: She's going to die. She's going to-- No. No no no.

Her hand clenches around the girl's arm, unable to release her grip for the pain, but she can dig her claws in and bare her teeth. She can still draw blood. There are no holds for an injured animal. She'll claw this girl's face off, if that's what it takes to get her off.

[iphigeneia]

The teal blue blood scares Felicity. Sure, she's heard all about the trolls and their strange customs regarding blood, but to see it in person is another matter entirely. She freezes momentarily, surprised by what she sees, and is only pulled back into the moment when the pain in her arm becomes unbearable.

Shrieking, she lashes out, fight or flight setting in. All Fee wants to do is free herself and run, but she can't with Terezi's claws in her flesh. "Let go! You're dead! Let go of me!"

[pythianjudgment]

As soon as the shrieking and pulling starts, Terezi lets go. She doesn't have the reserve of strength to hold on for too long. She has to be careful. She can't strain herself and rush the blood out of her wound. She has to.. She has to...

Her thoughts spin in a circle, gaining no traction. She has to survive, she has to, she has to, she has to. Her hand goes instead to her wound, clamping her hand over it, and hoping against hope that the screaming means she won't find the knife at her throat instead to finish the job. Words are beyond her amid the pain; but even prone on the ground, Terezi's lip still curls, flashing sharp white teeth at her would-be-murderer.

[iphigeneia]

Those teeth, so jagged and white, so like a wounded animal... it's plenty enough to make Felicity turn tail and run. It's too late for Terezi anyway. The deed is done. No need to stick around and see it through. Too much teal, too much of it everywhere. Hissing and panting, the blonde stumbles backwards and then runs away.