Good, the shield was down. Freaking finally. Jack slowed his momentum just enough not to smash bodily into Blancard and cut loose, his strikes meant to disorient and confound, not cripple. The palm strikes, at least, the kick was another matter entirely. He was ready for the surge of speed and power that came with facing an aura user, something he intended to master himself one day. What he wasn't ready for at all was the sudden lax behavior from his opponent, something so unexpected that he wiffed an otherwise flawless strike and allowed Blancard to stagger away after some aura use put him out of range.
He paused, staying in a loose guard in case this was some sort of diversion, even if it wouldn't exactly be like the famed tourney fighter to pull a low-blow. Jack himself wouldn't even pull something so obvious and stupid. The explanation was forthcoming enough. Inwardly, he seethed. Sure, it wasn't like Blancard had chickened out, he understood completely...it wasn't the guy's fault at all, so no beef between them there. He was just beyond pissed he hadn't had the chance to win in a fair fight, to beat Griz Blancard with all of Remnant watching, just like he'd beaten Murk and Skunk. Instead of letting his crushing disappointment get the better of him, he went right on being the hero.
Jack blinked over to where Griz had thrown his jacket and pants, snatched them up, and blinked next to the man as he walked, throwing the jacket over the exhausted man's shoulders. He gave him a shoulder to lean on and waved over a medic with water as they neared the exit. "Man, it's okay. If you're not 100%, then I've got no reason to wail on you anyway. If I'm going to fight a dude, it's when he's good and ready. Take care, bro."
The crowd watched in near silence, the edge-of-the-seat match they'd been hoping for now an impossibility. Ember chuckled to herself, passing it off has bemused laughter at how sweet Jack was. Really she was just tickled to death that Orabel would get no trophy this round, and be unable to strut about like she was actually something special.