[Skylia]

”Hey hey hey everybody! Welcome back to the forty-first Biannual Vytal Festival tournament!” Hunter’s lively and fresh voice flowed through the arena’s sound system. ”This is our second to last match for the first round, and in this matchup, we have Juno Vert from Beacon Academy. Personally, trying to compensate with technology doesn’t work too well when you’re in Atlas. As for the other Beacon student, we have Coco-” A chair can be heard sliding back as the sound system suddenly had an echo filter put over it. First awkward pause. Suddenly, a loud and yelling voice echoed out, ”NUT NUT NUT NUT NUT NUT NUT NUT NUT NUT.” Second awkward pause. ”I refuse to apologize, because Nut-boi will cream every combatant in the tournament. Prim, do your thing.”

Motioning to start the spinner, Prim would add ”You know, I honestly can’t see how parents can be so irresponsible. Giving your child a name like Coconut is just asking for them to be made fun of as they get older. It’s a real shame too, he has so much potential. Good looking if he fixed that bedhead, nice clothes, and a stylish semblance to boot. Good luck Sir Nut, and consider coming over to Atlas!” Finally realizing how biased she was appearing, she also added ”Oh, and good luck to Uno...or whatever it was”.

A large holographic image of a lottery machine appears on all sides of the arena, with two spinners. The spinners spun so quickly, making it nearly impossible to make out the passing words. It ticked through the options slower and slower until it finally stopped on Swamp and Forest.

On Juno’s side,  the area would be difficult to traverse. Murky water would take up most of the arena, and what isn’t water is mud or trees. In the middle of the swamp, a small rectangular wooden dock would rise out of the water. ”He’d better hope none of that tech gets too muddy!” On Coconut’s side, several trees similar to the ones found in the Emerald Forest emerged. Nothing too special, really.

As the spinner finished its job and faded away, the doors on each side of the arena opened to signify the start of the match.

(A coin flip has decided that Juno will get the first post. The arena size is identical to that of the 1v1 arena in the show, however, it features scaled down biomes to fit the size. Good luck, and may the best combatant win.)

[Zwei Not]

Not long after the announcers had had their fun, Juno strode out onto the field, his posture somewhat relaxed as he made his way to the center of the arena. The swamp could make things a bit difficult for him; murky terrain made for a rough time rushing in to force hand to hand situations. However, Coconut’s biome was perfect for the two of them... provided Juno didn’t burn anything. Speaking of his opponent, Juno was rather confident. He had met Coco before, and he could assume that the kid wasn’t a bad fighter, by any means. After all, he has made it to the Vytal Festival tournament. However, at first glance, Juno could assume he simply had more optimal tools at his disposal, provided Coco’s kit wasn’t much more than it looked.

With his left hand resting on the hilt of his blade and his right thumb hooked on his pocket, Juno sized up his opponent, seemingly nonchalant as he awaited the other swordsman’s first move.

[Walter]

Coconut felt a bead of sweat roll down his back. He had never felt this nervous before in his entire life. Even CASA's initiation hadn't made him this giddy and excited - he had actually made it into the Vytal festival tournament, after all.

The announcers... Actually helped. His expression changed to his usual dumb, slanted grin as the woman complimented him, not really registering them poking fun at his name. Coco wondered if that female announcer was cute...

But finding that out would come later. It was showtime. Coconut sauntered onto the field, OTN in its long sword form on his back. The cheering crowd made his head spin - people were... cheering for him. A lot of them were girls, too. This was probably the best day of young Nut's life.

He shook his head to snap out of his own trance, looking across the field towards Juno. Right. His first opponent was fucking Juno Vert - last year's semi-finalist. People were expecting him to make it about as far or even further this year. Meanwhile Coconut himself was just a newcomer, no matter how nicely the announcers put it.

Coco gripped his sword and took it off of his back. Well, if that's how it had to be, then so be it - it was time for him to show the world what he was made of!

[Zwei Not]

A smile crossed Juno’s lips as Coco made his way onto the field. It was nice to see the guy again, despite their somewhat awkward initial meeting. He hadn’t seen the guy fight yet, either, so this would be a rather interesting experience, especially given his previous festival outing. Fighting someone who had a general idea of what you could do when you know nothing of their style... he might have to play it s little safer than usual.

Tending up a bit as Coco drew his blade, Juno awaited his approach... only for no approach to come. Frowning slightly, Juno relaxed again, pulling his hand from his pocket. Maybe the sword had some special properties? Certainly something he’d want to find out sooner as opposed to later.

”Are you gonna do anything, or...?” he mused, flicking his wrist, prompting a disk to form underneath his hand. While the guy was a bit too far from striking distance, he was close enough for the generator to work. Eyes focused on his opponent, Juno lobbed the disc in a wide arc, aiming for the boy’s chest.

[Aura: 100]
[Damage: 5% On hit]
[Active: 1|Standby: 4|Charging: 0]

[Walter]

And here we go.

Coco's tournament theme: 一心不乱 (Isshinfuran) - Reol, ill.bell, nqrse

Coconut was familiar enough with what Juno's hardlight was capable of - he had witnessed those discs in action last time. He'd remember if only because of how cool he thought they were. While he didn't know yet how he'd counter them if Juno sent several of them at him, one of them was just fine.

"You bet I am!" Cream ran at Juno as his opponent launched his attack - the wide arc he had launched the disc allowed him to avoid it without much trouble simply by moving forward. Coco's initial attack plan was simple - hit him hard.

The boy went for a wide slash with both of his hands on the hilt of his blade. With Juno in the middle of the field, Coco was hoping to either get a good hit in or force Juno to back up - possibly onto the swampy terrain.

(Slash: -5% stamina for Coco, 8% aura damage)

Coco's Battle Stats:
  Stamina: [█████████-] 95%
  Aura: [██████████] 100%

[Zwei Not]

[Grab permitted by Walter]

The young man’s brow furrowed as Coco abruptly ran forward, his disc sailing past and colliding with the ground before shattering. So much for testing the waters. As his opponent ran forward, Juno dropped into a defensive stance, both hands at his hip as he attempted to draw a hardlight sword...

Only for nothing to happen.

Juno looked down at his hands incredulously, stunned for a moment as he realized that he had gotten rid of that construct, and his attempt had just left him wide open for an incoming strike. Cursing himself for his mistake, as well as the need to show one of his aces so soon, Juno’s aura flared to life, enveloping in a brilliant violet light as Coco’s swipe struck him clean in the chest. However, safe for clenching his teeth and grunting in pain, Juno did not move, the force of the blade almost nonexistent past its impact.

Quick to capitalize on his opponent’s close range, Juno thrust his hand toward Coco’s ankle, prompting a grappling line to snag the boy before yanking his leg out from under him. With his opponent now off balance, Juno balled up his hand into a fist, and let loose with a vicious right cross to Coco’s jaw, aiming to knock him into the dirt as his semblance deactivated, the light of his aura dying down.

[Aura: 92%]
[Grappling line: 2%| Full Stop Punch: 11%]
[Active: 0| Standby: 3| Charging: 2]

[Walter]

[Grab permitted by Rush]

It's a hard kock life, for us

Well, that was unexpected. It appeared that since the last tournament, Juno had learnt some new tricks - the most notable one being that he didn't give a shit about being hit.

OTN bounced back as if Coco had struck a solid wall. The only good thing about that was that the boy had been prepared to switch to its short sword form on a whim - after all, he'd have to get up close and personal with Juno. Granted, 'getting up close and personal' ideally wouldn't involve getting punched square in the jaw - maybe that was a bonus.

Coconut was falling. This was not ideal, since being on the ground would put him at an even worse disadvantage than before. As such, his free hand grasped at the closest stable thing - Juno's own arm. His drop halted, Coconut realized he needed to make some distance again. As such, the boy brought up OTN for a jab at Juno's stomach before letting go. Coconut rolled backalong the dirt, his back against a tree.

Juno had used his semblance - that much was clear. Fact was, Coconut still didn't know what it was all about - and whether or not it had a weakness.

(-10% damage from punch. Stab is 5% aura damage for 4% stamina)

Coco's Battle Stats:
  Stamina: [█████████-] 91%
  Aura: [█████████-] 90%

[Zwei Not]

Juno grit his teeth as Coco unextepctedly grabbed him by his arm, bracing against his opponent’s weight as he anticipated a throw.

Such a throw, however, never came, as instead Juno was jabbed in the stomach it’s the boy’s blade. His hand flew to his gut as he stumbled back, barely missing the blade in an attempt to force it out of the boy’s hand. So the sword could change its length. Handy for switching between ranges, maybe, but it still restricted him to melee. His free hand reached for the hilt of his own blade, only to hesitate. He didn’t want to use it just yet, but any engagement right now had to be a sword fight if he was going to come out on top.

With his opponent’s back against the proverbial wall, Juno flicked the wrist of his free hand three times, prompting three disks to form, stacked one above the other. With a flourish, Juno lobbed all three at the boy, each travelling in a wide arc again as one approached from either side, with the third coming in from above. The second he had thrown the disks, Juno dashed forward, closing the gap to draw his blade and slash all in one motion, his finger resting on the red trigger as he aimed for center mass with a diagonally upward cut.

[Aura: 87%]
[Disc: 5% each on hit, Slash: 10%]
[Active: 3| Standby: 0| Charging: 2]

[Walter]

Well, that was a problem.

Coco had trapped himself without realizing it - it was all too hard to judge whether or not Coco was better of getting some distance or sticking close. A lack of proper ranged weapons was an issue he had to deal with on a regular basis - something Juno had no problems with.

If that's how things were going to be, then it was time to get dumb.

He did something akin to what he had done at the start of the match, choosing to dodge the discs by dashing ahead. With Juno going for an attack as well, Coconut did what he knew best - parried the blade. Juno's sword was much larger than OTN in its short sword form, and it was going for an upward strike - generally not an ideal position.

Coconut had to strain himself in order to not have the weapon launched out of his hand, but his intent wasn't to fully stop the sword anyway - he just needed to slow it down enough to move out of its path. Along with this, he went for a jab at the side of Juno's head with his free hand - it was not nearly as powerful as Juno's punch from earlier, but it was still something.

(-16% stamina from the parry and jab, jab is 4% aura damage)

Coco's Battle Stats:
  Stamina: [███████---] 76%
  Aura: [█████████-] 90%

[Zwei Not]

Juno didn’t intend on letting up his offense after the initial sword swing, however, Coco’s parry did complicate things. His brow furrowed as his blade was dragged away from Coco’s chest, all but forcing him to return to stance when his attack didn’t hit its mark. As he pulled his blade from the other, however, he caught Coco pull back, likely to strike at him in a moment of vulnerability.

However, Juno was far from vulnerable.

Quick to drop into a squat, Juno lashed out with his blade, aiming to strike the boy’s ankles before lunging into the air with a rising knee aimed squarely for his opponent’s jaw. Not willing to end his pressure in the air, however, Juno whirled around, attempting to kick the boy in the right side of the head to knock him down before he landed.

[Aura: 87%]
[cr. Slash: 5%+possible off balance| Rising knee: 8%| Flying roundhouse: 6%+knockdown]
[19% total damage]
[Active: 0| Standby: 1| Charging: 4]

[Walter]

The jab was a whiff, but Coconut's blade had now freed up. Well, mostly. The boy brought it up towards his chest as Juno ducked down. The boy was already in the middle of a solid stab at Juno from his midriff when he was struck in the legs. Still, he continued with the attack, hoping to catch Juno on his blade as he came back up.

In some ways it worked, in many ways it didn't.

Coconut felt the knee slam into his jaw, still sore from the punch earlier, followed by a kick to his head that made his ears ring. He fell down on all fours, having to roll back up on his feet again. His coat was getting all kinds of dirty here - but that was the least of his concerns. There was little he could do do defend against Juno when he could pull shit like that. Coconut had to go all out.

Not letting his opponent enjoy his momentary triumph, Coconut lunged at him again. The attack was more ferocious than before - a series of slashes, while imprecise, quick and effective. They were mostly aimed for his upper body - harder to block or parry with the reverse grip Juno had going on.

(Stab is 5%, slashes are also 5%x3; 3% stamina for the stab, 6% for the quick slashes)

Coco's Battle Stats:
  Stamina: [██████----] 65%
  Aura: [███████---] 71%

[Zwei Not]

The stab to Juno’s leg stung, but it was a necessary setback. With his opponent knocked down, Juno strode forward, depressing the red trigger on the hilt of his blade as he moved for the downed Coco. He was, however, not immediately prepared for his opponent’s incoming onslaught, as Coco lunged forward, swinging with abandon. While Juno had managed to lift his blade quickly enough to parry the first two, of the incoming strikes, the third slash struck deep, forcing a pained grunt through grit teeth. Parrying was harder than Coco made it look, especially given Juno’s own stance. He’d have to rely on hardlight more for defense.

A quick glance to his blade prompted a grin to spread across his lips as he refocused his attention to Coco, the air around the blade shimmering as the edge began to glow white. Soon enough, Juno returned the favor, lunging to the boy’s side and lashing out with a horizontal slash aimed for center mass, only for him to turn around and deliver a second, diagonal slash toward Coco’s hand, hoping to force him to drop his sword.

[Aura: 77%]
[Horizontal slash: 8%| Diagonal slash: 8%]
[Active: 0| Standby: 2| Charging: 3]

[Dr. Gustave]

Malina sat high above in the stands, now more toward the middle and missing one bubbly teammate. The two people next to her were both native Atlesian, they each had that air about them that had just a hint of condescension and money. Luckily for her, they pointedly were not interested in talking with her in the slightest. That was a blessing, the last thing she needed were chatty tourney goes trying to talk to her about the fight.

Her focus could be solely and entirely on the fight below. If she had her way, and... Substantially more money... She would have been able to see every fight but nooooo, she had to pay for food and living expenses. As it was, she could only afford seven match tickets and as much as she would very much love to sit in on her would-be opponents in the huntsmen bracket, she trusted her abilities to work under pressure enough to handle the lack of initial information. Instead, she would focus on watching the first year students matches.

She knew most of the students fighting, not all but the fact that all but one were beaconstudents certainly helped, and she'd seen some of them fight before but the actual fighting wasn't her focus. She watched their auras, how they flowed from them and encompassed them, their semblances and how they leveraged them against one another. She kept an especially keen eye on Juno.

It was nice to know the boy had taken her advice, it seemed he wasn't as completely bullheaded as he appeared. She kept watching for the Phi to pop up somewhere or a flash of blue light but all she got was the standard hardlight projections. No matter, she'd just be sure to keep an eye out during the rest of the tourney to see how he progressed.

[Walter]

Of course, Juno wouldn't stay on the defensive himself - Coconut could expect as much. Parrying the horizontal slash wasn't that much of a challenge, though Juno's attacks continued to have a good amount of force behind them. He knew a followup would come shortly, but didn't know what - the turn gave away the direction, but a bit too late for a parry.

Coconut could only raise his elbow to guard himself as the searing hot blade slammed into him. Coconut had a firm enough grip on O.T.N. not to drop it, at the very least, but had the strike hit his hand it could have been an entirely different story.

Coconut went for something similar to what Juno had done earlier, in a sense. With Juno's cleaver too close for Coconut to have a decent opening, he ducked down under the weapon, going for a pair of quick slashes at Juno's side. He rose back up on the other side of the sword - hoping that Juno would have to do another spin or pull back to attack the same way again.

(Slashes are 2x5% for 5% stamina)

Coco's Battle Stats:
  Stamina: [██████----] 60%
  Aura: [██████----] 63%

[Zwei Not]

Coco was slippery, Juno would give him that. It seemed as though almost every time Juno had him locked down, he would manage to find a back out of his pressure again. He’d have to find a way to put a stop to that, preferably sooner as opposed to later.

Coco’s first strike was, while expected, not adequately prepared for, as Juno was far outside of the proper position to parry. Despite the pain, however, Juno pivoted in time to parry the second strike, glaring daggers at his opponent as he adjusted his grip on his own blade, the searing heat radiating from the sword itself blackening the grass as the tip dipped toward the ground. After a moment’s analysis of the terrain, Juno dashed past Coco, letting loose with a quick slash to the young man’s ankle before running deeper into the forest biome, only turning around to face his opponent once he had found a clearing. Now facing his opponent, Juno adjusted his grip on the sword again, holding the blade with both hands in a more traditional fashion as he prepared for his opponent’s next attack.

[Aura: 72%]
[Quick Slash: 5%]
[ Active: 0| Standby: 2| Charging: 3]