Doing his best to subdue the chorus of anguish echoing in his thoughts, Budonoki took that moment close to Janus to take full stock of his opponent. The wear and tear on the equipment told a story, as did the man's eyes -- he could only speculate on specifics, of course, but the
essence of "The Jet Knight" was clear enough to him. The old faunus had seen much of war and even more of warriors... and something told him that he was not the only one currently in pain. Oh, he took stock of other details as well -- the battle rifle on his back, for one thing, and the fact he could apparently
fly for another -- but Budonoki cared more to know the man than the arsenal. They were, after all, about to be "dance partners".
Handshake concluded, Janus withdrew to his starting point. Budo followed suit; though he couldn't fly the old man could certainly
jump, and since Janus had courteously disclosed his own mobility it would be poor form not to do the same. Springing into a back flip, he covered almost half the distance in one go and then traversed the rest with a medley mix of smaller flips, cartwheels, and windmill kicks. Between the crisp Atlas air and the brief warm-up, the surgeon-sage was starting to feel at least
somewhat ready for what lay ahead.
Yet, he knew this would not be easily fought. Janus almost certainly outclassed him in raw physical strength; the Jet Knight held an overwhelming advantage at long range as well, and the ability to go airborne could wrong-foot a martial artist like himself with terrible ease. All of this played through the faunus' mind as he took up a fighting stance, knees bent with one foot barely even touching the ground and metal staff held lightly in one hand. This was his obvious preparation -- less obvious, and likely to be overlooked by both Janus and the audience, was that during the earlier acrobatics the wooden staff strapped to his back had undergone a slight change. In places the bark had split open and greened, the first hints of bud-like growths peeking through the gaps.
The old faunus took a deep, steadying breath, letting it out as a chilly plume of haze. It was time to begin.
In an instantly, every muscle fiber in Budonoki's body came alive with purpose and intensity -- taking off like a shot, he raced towards Janus in a seemingly random zig-zag pattern. War had taught him much, and one thing about guns in particular: even if you are fast, even if you have
literally the reflexes of a cat on your side, and even with senses far sharper and more honed than any human's, it was a
fool's errand to dodge bullets. It could be done, certainly, but half of that was down to simple luck and intuition. Far better, truly, to not wait for the bullet; dodge the shooter's
aim, present no easy target, be
proactive instead of
reactive. And, of course, mind your surroundings. There was no telling how thick the rock layer was on Janus' half of the arena, and if the lava pools were any indication there was fresh magma waiting just beneath. Thus, if Janus let him make it as far as the halfway mark uninterrupted Budonoki would abruptly veer towards the center -- towards the volcano. He had ideas of his own for using the massive fissure, should the right opportunity present itself.
Action Tracker:
▫ [ACTION: High speed evasive charge.]
▫ [PASSIVE EFFECT: Verdant Sense ~ Nature Aflame] Due to ongoing fire damage to plants in the arena, Budonoki's focus is diminished. So long as this continues, he takes +2% Aura damage from any attack that connects.
▫ [The Vine has shifted from Primary to Secondary form.] This will generate fruit once every two turns (zero currently available; two turns until next fruit).
▫ [Aura Status: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (100%)]