[Semi Finals] Thoma vs. Fireside

Thoma dropped down from the night sky and landed solidly on one end of the platform. It seems as if he was the first to arrive, both a welcome and a somewhat disturbing sight as this may give his opponent the chance to launch a surprise attack. Even so, he was plenty vigilant so the benefits of arriving sooner outweighed the losses that were attached.

The first thing he instantly noticed on his descent was, well to no small surprise, the heat of the area. As far as his opponents knew based on his previous fights Thoma was a fire themed character so in theory this temperature may prove useful... The next thing that caught his attention was the lava, the rules were explained to him before the match, lucky for him if he knocked his opponent out of the arena he didn't have to worry about them dying and him being disqualified while he himself had very little to worry about on that matter... Thoma then proceeded to take note of five more features of the area. One, it was completely isolated, unless his opponent could fly or hover they had no where to go. Two, the arena was not small but it was not large, due to this Thoma would make his way to the center of the arena. He has played the role of a ranged fighter up until this round and it has grown boring, not to mention that continuing to do so would likely reflect poorly on him in the judges eyes. Third, there was no shadow to be seen. Even though the moon was out in full, the light given off by the lava itself seemed to keep the dark figures from manifesting themselves on the ground. Fourth, though the it is night, just as their are no shadows, their is no darkness to slip into. Just as the lava has rid this arena of its shadows, so to has it stripped the night sky of its usual cover. Finally, the crowd has been replaced with cameramen, it isn't a wonder as to why but it is a little disappointing for Thoma. While he had his reasons for being here, one could say his source of enjoyment was seeing the smiling faces of all the females that came to see the fights... Still, that was a burden he would have to put up with, at least until the fight was over.

Thoma's eyes rested on the sky above him, the opponent had two, no, three methods of appearing. He could either appear from above, manifest himself in the arena, or arise from the lava. Thoma wasn't entirely sure on whether or not he would be allowed to use the later two, both would likely allow for an element of surprise which would mean the battle has already started by the point and both touching the lava and teleportation were not allowed in this tournament. As he waited he shuffled his sleeves allowing six smoke balls to drop into his hands and rest between his his fingers, three in each hand.

As Thoma heard the thunderclap, three possibilities entered his mind given that the night was clear... The first and by far the most likely was that it was caused by his opponent. The second and third options was that it was either caused by someone looking to mess with the tournament or the tournament host here to tell him about sudden changes to the battle or perhaps that his opponent couldn't make it...

Out of the three the last was the most preferable but since when do you ever get what you want like that? The best thing to do is assume the worst in these situations and... Well... Is it bad that the worst thing he could assume was his opponent? Nevertheless he didn't have to wait long to find out as his opponent quickly appeared in front of him with a 'Boo', you could never gauge someone right off the bat but this man left a good impression on Thoma. Hopefully he would continue to do so. When he pulled up his flame coat though, Thoma couldn't help but think of the characteristics of it... It looked the the flame was on his skin, did this mean he was immune to fire? Also, while most fire magic was easy enough to put out, with this being directly attached to the source, was this really possible? Well, there was one way to find out...

Thoma raised his left hand to the man in greeting even though it still possessed the three smoke balls making it almost look like some sort of Star Trek greeting, "Yo." Formal greeting weren't needed but to start a battle without acknowledging each other was just wrong... Still, with him saying, 'Yo' and his opponent saying 'Boo' it was time for the match to start. Directly following his greeting, he jerked the same hand down to the ground, throwing the three smoke balls at his feet, all of which were non flammable. Honestly, he kind of felt like it was a waste to have to use six of his smoke bombs but putting them away was to great of a hassle so he would just have to roll with the fact his opponent was closer than first imagined. Within less than a second his next action would start as he was engulfed by plumes of smoke to hide him from view. With a simple flick of his wrist, the other three smoke balls were sent towards the ground at his opponents feet, only leaving the cover of his own smokescreen for a fraction of a second due to the distance between the two. The only difference being, these smoke balls were flammable.

It was unlikely in the given time that the opponent would have the means to notice and avoid the attack, but what Thoma needed to gauge was if the opponent SHOULD avoid the attack... If this action neither harms the opponent or puts out the opponents flaming body due to a lack of oxygen then he would have to consider his approach differently... There was also, the off chance that the smoke would not be lit by the opponent and that their fiery body was just a ruse. If the flames did go off though, they would burn at extremely hot temperatures but disappear in less than a second, as is their nature.

Needless to say though, Thoma had no intention of staying in his own little sightless bubble, while he may have had a rough idea where the opponent was, his opponent had a rough idea where he was, both with a margin of error of about three feet and staying blind certainly wouldn't help him determine the effectiveness of his attack. Thoma would break right, staying close but not to close to the opponent, he had no intention of turning this into another long ranged battle but he also needed to be sure he could avoid almost anything his opponent would give him upon exiting the smoke screen.

Thoma laid witness to the effects of the smoke bombs... It seemed while they did manage to temporarily steal his flame coat, they did not manage to burn him... This likely meant that the man had a natural resistance to fire, whether or not he was immune though was still to be seen... Two more things caught Thoma's attention though, both words of his opponent... The first was an incantation, while he couldn't be certain about all of his opponents attacks, it seemed he was a mage and if that was the case there would likely be that obvious give whenever he launched an attack, or at least a powerful one... The second was when he said, 'Let me show you how to use fire...' Okay, if his opponent's name, Fireside, and his attacks to this point didn't confirm it, now Thoma could easily say that this mage professed in fire. Needless to say he seemed to be a weak fire mage, but Thoma likely seemed to be a weak ninja, all due to the constraints of this tournament...

Now Thoma found himself in quite the predicament, being closely chased by a stream of what might as well be called napalm... So what were his options...? He could maintain his distance and continue to sprint around the man, it wasn't a bad idea as it would likely be more wasteful of his opponents energy then his own. Even so, giving the opponent, a mage, time to think of a new strategy and set the spacing was simply put a bad idea. The next idea was to get farther away, the farther he was the easier it would be to avoid the mans spells, but even so Thoma was just acting like a ranged fighter the last two matches, doing so would only result in his opponent having the advantage in range. So his last option would be to close in which also posed several issues... The stream has proven to be faster than him, with no action soon it would quickly engulf him. The second obvious issue was the opponents fire armor, unlike last time it seemed to be slightly detached from him giving more room for defense... Quite the predicament indeed, but such was commonplace for a ninja and when none of the answers worked for you the obvious choice was to make your own...

Thoma quickly cycled over his equipment, his abilities, and what he knew of his opponent to help develop this "answer"... Four basic smoke bombs would fall into his right hand which would all be whipped to hit in an arch around Fireside. The first two would explode side by side between Fireside and Thoma while the other two would explode closer to Fireside's side, making a "U" shaped cloud of smoke around fireside allowing him to see away from Thoma but not at Thoma. This simple act would provide Thoma with a great deal of insight as well as a means of escaping the mans attack and launching his own... Thoma would slow slightly though not a lot to first see what would happen with the stream of fire, whether it would vanish, speed up, or continue as it was. Unless Thoma's smoke was somehow blown away before hand or the stream started behaving erratically, he would apply chakra to his feet to lead into a solid back flip over the fire stream of which Fireside should have no way of noticing at this point. The insight that Thoma would gain from the smoke would be one of two things, either learning of wind abilities from his opponent or more importantly, seeing if he can move with that fire armor on. Many people who conjure up such defenses are nailed down by it. Finally comes his attack... After landing, Thoma would pull out a flame kunai and throw it at where his opponents palm should be from gauging where the stream should have started, and even if it wasn't he would still likely get a good hit to the man's shoulder or chest in though it was thrown to low to his his neck. If all went well, the kunai would pierce his armor and also be set off by it. The flame tags only burned for two seconds, but they burned at one thousand degrees Fahrenheit which should be more than enough to cripple the mans hand if he doesn't have an immunity to fire.

~ooc~ Slight edit after small discussion on the flame stream

Hm, Thoma's actions proved to be quite fruitful. Although it is true that he failed to injure the man, it did show the power of the mans armor. It was quite the useful technique indeed, unlike basic armor it covered the entire body and seemed to somehow allow air to funnel or perhaps warp past the flame that covered him. It also seemed to not only allow him to move, but also not prove to be any hindrance at all. He would have to take it into serious consideration in his next attack...

The armor was far from the only thing he found out about though. He also was able to discover that his opponent was severely cocky, to not be able to see your opponent and foolishly continue a spell that would allow them to keep perfect track of your position was narcissistic indeed. Thoma would remain quiet and as Fireside exited the smokescreen Thoma would be nowhere to be seen. While it is true this didn't really mask Thoma's position all that well it would leave the man to think Thoma was hiding once more, and after but a second of Fireside finishing his speech, a flashband would exit the side of the smokescreen farthest from Fireside, it's blinding light shining as soon as it exited the smoke. This would be followed up by another smoke ball aimed below Fireside to offer another test. This smoke ball was flammable, the last time he did this, it erased the mans armor but what of this time? If fire had no air to burn then it naturally goes out, but at the same time this princible should leave Fireside with no air to breath so the armor may defy this natural concept of fire... Only time would tell.

Still, even if he couldn't pierce the armor the close game was the best game Thoma could use in this battle. He would quickly make his way out of the smoke, now standing about three feet behind Fireside if he never turned, though that would be highly unlikely...

It seemed Fireside just wasn't taking Thoma seriously enough, to stop and offer a comment when he was only three feet away and actually expect to get off a spell afterwards to defend himself with. With a flick of his wrist, a smoke bomb would fall into Thoma's right fist, but this was not meant to be thrown. As the 'you're' escaped his opponents lips Thoma would burst forward with amazing speed, using his left hand to slightly raise his right sleeve and before the opponent could even finish the word 'just' he "shield" that covered his head would be met with the powerful backhand of a ninja who wielded a lightning bracer. The electric affect of it likely would do nothing, as even if it made contact it would only cause a slight numbing and painful affect, but the fact remained that the bracer was still metal and that a true ninja was to be considered the apex of human capability so while the armor the man had would prevent death from the abilities it has shown, it would certainly still be a damaging blow. On the impact all momentum would stop as Thoma's muscles tightened and chakra at his feet caught the ground.

At the exact same time, the smoke bomb in his hand, another non flammable one would burst open. His left hand making it's way to left pant leg pocket. On his jump, he would use the smoke as covering once more between the two. Before landing his left hand would be fully in his pocket, his fingers fitting into slots giving him nails made of flint. As the fit into their slots he would dig into his leg slightly, enough to cause pain, but not enough to slow him down. Assuming Fireside would remain where he last saw him for the whole of perhaps two seconds this took, he would soon have a five barley noticeable crescent of compressed blood piercing through the smoke and aimed at his torso. The distance they traveled was three feet, Thoma had to ensure that he always keep that distance in mind because too close would result in a possible fatality, though when used with the finger claws their size helps reduce that risk, but when used too far away it becomes worthless. This however, was just another test of Thoma's on the armor which made approaching the mage so difficult. Each crescent had the power and durability of a cold steel katana...

Oh yes, Thoma's arm was in quite the ordeal of pain, but there was a reason Thoma pulled his right sleeve up. He wasn't so foolish as to actually allow his clothes to catch fire, at least not by his own actions. Needless to say though, he had found something very interesting out with that blow indeed, the fire may cover his entire body, but the armor only covered a portion. What was and was not armor was to be seen but at least now he had hopes of landing worthwhile blows, not to say that heavy blow to the mans head was not worthwhile, in all honesty Thoma was lucky the man was alive and kind of prayed that if he did die from head trauma they would blame him for not seeking medical attention immediately after...

Needless to say though, Thoma was not the type to allow his opponent to be out of his vision for any serious length of time. After all, what kind of person would allow someone who can fire death streams of what is essentially napalm at you out of your sight? After slashing with his left hand, Thoma would follow up by slamming his right foot down, his second flash bang would drop from his pant leg and bounce off the ground. Using his foot he would kick it up and to his left and grab it with his right hand as he himself began to sprint that way. At the same time, a smoke ball would drop into his left hand as it was rather annoying to use a flash bang without one... This would all take place right before and around the same time as Fireside got to his feet...

Now his intention was to throw the bomb down to provide cover for himself and throw the flash bang through the smoke cloud, his intentions and his actions weren't far off but they did require a slight edit once he caught sight of his opponent right about the time he began his rush... Nimbly, he tossed the flash bang up behind him as he himself sprang forward with all of his might, throwing the smoke bomb down to cover himself from his own flash bang as it went off. Assuming all went well, Thoma would barely manage to avoid the tackle and land in a roll before getting up to look back as pants escaped his lips. At this stage of the game he seemed to be ahead as all he had to deal with was a searing burn on his right arm and slight fatigue. While that was no small damage, in comparison to the head blow his opponent took it could certainly be considered as such...

That did not mean though, that Thoma was even slightly relaxed, or perhaps a better word his overly confident... His opponent held major advantages over him, while Thoma may have him matched, if not surpassed in physical capabilities as a mage his opponent didn't need to worry about such things. Honestly the tackle was a bit of a surprise and hopefully was a sign of frustration. Assuming the tackle missed, the opponent would be visibly past the range of the smoke screen which only covered an average standing humans position a piece. Also assuming he missed, he had better recover quickly or he will find Thoma to be not nearly as lenient as he may be thinking he is on downed opponents.

======================== Judge Call ========================

Wow, there are so many bad things happening here, I don't know where to begin. And that goes for both of you.

Fireside: I don't like the way that you're forgoing the charge bonus in exchange for "faster speed." It isn't meant to be altered like that. It's meant simply to empower fire spells, not speed them up.

Another is that shield of yours. Your flame shield is meant to punish people for fighting at close range with your character, not to protect against fire. When he was hit with that brief flammable smoke, he should have taken damage there.

And finally, the Gout Flame ability should hardly be covering the ground. And if it is, it's not covering by much. Your character was aiming the beam at Thoma's chest, so if anything, the edges of the flames would be touching the ground, and they won't be big enough to be creating any significant blockage.

Thoma: The things your character are doing are a bit worse, mainly because he's doing too much at once. As I said in last round's comments, these smoke bombs are meant to unleash small bursts of clouding, which last for a good couple of seconds. I would like for you to let this be more known to your opponent instead of having them seem like one-to-two post standing screens. They are temporarily there briefly to conceal his movements.

And that's where we get to doing too many things at once. He shouldn't be throwing down bombs and then attacking all at the same time. Throwing the bombs is a commitment itself, and primarily used to conceal your character. In this case, it's best used for repositioning or blinding the opponent, but as I mentioned before, because of their size, they're not as potent as normal smoke bombs. He shouldn't be using them, then attacking right away in the same post. Otherwise, his accuracy will be off considering your character only has two hands. No matter how skillful he is, a finger or two alone will not let you toss a smoke bomb so accurately, unless you're going for a spread shot, which then, you don't care about accuracy, just a general area. But your character has went for specific areas thus far, and that counts as a dedicated action.

And then the blood using. No. He must collect the blood first before he can use it. He's not going to be able to get the blood right off a person's body from that range. I want him to physically take some first before he can make any needles, and then he has to not be backflipping through some spears. Since the fire on the ground isn't as large as Fireside claimed it to be, there shouldn't be much blockade, so there's still the option of going toward the edge. But he if he even chooses to to try to dive through the spears like that, expect to get tagged by at least two or three of them. They won't be as potent as getting hit by all of them since it's just an instant cast ability. Verdict:

I want Okami to edit his latest post in response to these re-interpretation of things. And I want Sigil to know that his fire shield doesn't work against actually protecting him from fire. Even if it did, fire would still go through it unless it was specifically identified as fire resistance, but it wasn't.

Fireside grimaced as he realized that his command of the fight was slowly slipping from his grasp. The sticky greek fire was burning out, no longer dangerous, and he was rather banged up. Blood continued to drip off his brow, stinging his eyes, and the mild concussion from the blow to the head wasn't making things any better. He also became acutely aware, for the first time, that the flaming smoke from earlier had managed burn him across the back of his hands and his face, though he had barely felt it. A lifetime of dealing with fire made first-degree burns no more debilitating than a bout of eczema.

He spat in disgust as Thoma leapt through the spear wall, using his coat to shield himself. The energy of the central spears expended themselves upon the fabric and everything within, consuming it in a satisfying fireball that burned brightly where Thoma had tossed it. The other spears shuddered to a halt, flying into a different formation, as Fireside kept his gaze locked on Thoma, but with the area behind him still in the periphery of his vision.

And then the two men met. Perhaps Thoma expected Fireside to try and twist away from the blow, or perhaps he did not. Chaotic and unpredictable, like the whorls in a rushing flame, Fireside flowed into the battle in ways that he trusted were unfathomable and unexpected. His opponent had been given ample chance to study him, so the best way to confound his expectations was to throw away the book and play it by ear. Surviving the tortures of hell itself had made Fireside a dangerous and shrewd man. Arrogant, perhaps, but deservedly so.

As the ninja drew back for the strike, Fireside leapt forward into the attack. The windup there was unmistakable... the ninja was going for a crippling strike. There was no option for retreat... so Fireside met it head-on. Thoma was going for his right shoulder, so he leaned into a body check with his left shoulder, turning his torso so that the spirit blood claws scraped across the force chestplate with a metallic crash, their force expended into useless friction.

The purpose of the body check was two-fold. One, Thoma was an agile man, but slim, and Fireside, despite being a mage, was no weakling. He would use his body weight to slam the ninja's chest and throw off his balance long enough for his right hand to come up and grab onto the ninja's jerkin at the waist, locking him into Fireside's fiery embrace.

Behind the two men, the array of spears silently floated into a waffle iron, 4 vertical and 4 abreast, preparing to execute a broiling finish to the hellfire baker's trick.

If only Fireside's reaction time was as slow as Thoma believed it to be. Fireside had the grapple, and the weight advantage. For the ninja to draw his hand out of his own pocket while being actively grappled by a hellishly flaming man, let alone one that had knocked him off-balance, was wishful thinking. With the first grip established at the waist, Fireside could slide his left arm around Thoma and consolidate the hold without much effort, locking the man's arms at his side in a fiercely burning bear hug, with Fireside's entire body pressed against the man. Fireside even leaned his head in to Thoma's neck so that the flames there, would burn even that exposed area.

If indeed Thoma could still do anything with his hands, whilst being pinned and while his clothes were set aflame and the entire front of his body was being broiled alive, it would truly be an act of God.

There was bubbling in the lava just over the edge near where the two fighters were hugging one another on the ground. And then, a torrent of flame shot itself upwards. From the blast of this heated flow of rock came a diver's suit, the heavy set of metal clanking onto the rocky platform. But with the gracefulness of a coat, it was thrown off back into the lava, revealing...

"MR. REFEREE!"

This was one of those scenarios where a referee was needed. In fact, this was probably the first time in GTB history since one had ever showed their face. And thus, here one stood amongst what appeared to be somewhat of a stalemate. This was a very special case because this was the moment where actual examination of the fighters in case to see their physical conditions and whether a surrender will be had before either of them took considerable fatal damage. And if not, an official call will be made.

So first, he stood there next to them, watching to see what the chop does to Fireside.

"STOP THE FIGHT!"

The referee cried and a bubble suddenly erupted itself around the two, engulfing them within. The fire that claimed them suddenly went out after the spears hit into both of them (the post signified that the spears were coming to hit them, which seemed more logical as it was, so I'm keeping to the flow of things; Fireside wouldn't be able to get up in time to avoid them, so I'm calling this match a stalemate).

Within, time was stopped, ceasing all harm, and basically their sense of awareness. Only when the bubble collapsed did the two find themselves away from one another on the platform, the referee between them.

"This match has been stopped to avoid fatal injury to both fighters. As such, the fight will be judged as it was and be left solely to the scoring."