We keep on fighting. Round 2: Blackout vs Forcewave

Here we all were in the second round of this tournament. Forcewave had successfully advanced past the first round by defeating that one man who had been rather tough to defeat due to his overall toughness and healing factor but it just was not enough for him to win. Now he was left to wonder just who his opponent for this round would be. A fighter of a similar caliber or a different one entirely. Forcewave did not know since he had not caught even a second of the match that his next opponent had engaged in. The start of the next match was steadily approaching. Forcewave still had some time before he had to head out to the arena and decided to spend it wisely. Making the best use of his remaining time before he went off to go to the arena just provided him with little to nothing.

Minutes later he was off to the site of the second round match. That teleporter just left him with the most nauseous of feelings. "Why do they have to use those things? Think I'm going to puke at this rate." Seriously, they were annoying. The battlefield this time was just outside an abandoned power plant near a canyon with a river nearby. Forcewave surveyed the area to formulate strategies that might involve use of this place in the fight. His last match had not provided him with much to use in the surrounding area. That was until well, the place did get rather wrecked during that match. Though that had little to do with his own actions. He saw the robot referee fly in signaling that the match would be beginning shortly. Forcewave was now just waiting on his opponent to arrive and spending that time relaxing a bit before the big fight to determine who goes on to the semifinals begins.

Black took a deep breath to try and steady himself. He was about to face another immense challenge and he was not totally sure he was ready for it. Rubbing his temples gently he looked up and faced his challenge. The teleporter sat there smugly daring him to step through it and deal with the punishing side effects that it brought along with it. Black grumbled and clenched his teeth tight as he stepped into the machine.

With a flash he was at the site of his second round fight, and once again he found himself suffering the side effects of the instant travel. "Man was never meant to travel like this." He said to no one really in particular as he stumbled about for the few seconds after his arrival. "It's unnatural."

Black took another deep breath regaining his equilibrium and footing. He did a quick scan of the locale for this fight and he was glad to see that they were an immediate improvement over what he had been forced to out up with in the last round. It was an abandoned, or at least what appeared to be an abandoned power plant. BlackOut smiled it was a fitting location for him to fight, though he wished that the plant was still in working condition, but perhaps that would be too much of an advantage for him.

Then he noticed that his opponent had already arrived. BlackOut straightened his mask and brushed out any wrinkles from his costume as he got a feel for his adversary. The fighter seemed to be quite a bit smaller than he was, and younger as well, though that was certainly no reason to underestimate him. The kid made it through the first round that had to say something about him. "Oh hey there. So I guess it’s you and me for this round.” He said amicably to his opponent, there was no reason not to be polite.

The floating robot that seemed to serve as the referee swooped down between the two fighters and raised its arms high. “Fighters get ready. Three… Two… One… Fight.”

Black raised an eyebrow the abruptness of the whole thing but shrugged it off and rolled back his shoulders in anticipation for the fight. “Well I guess we may as well get this show on the road. We certainly can't leave our adoring fan's waiting." he said a smile spreading across his lips. “You got the first move kid, let’s see what you got.”

Forcewave continued to look around the battlefield. Turning about, shifting himself around in order to scan everything he considered an important detail in the vicinity. He certainly would have to avoid entering the power plant itself for he could not tell how its internal layout might be designed or anything. It may or may not be a good place to seek shelter at some point during this fight. All depends really on what each combatant is truly capable of. He of course knew what he was truly capable of but had yet to fully show it. Perhaps this fight would force him to do so. Perhaps not. Eventually this tournament will probably cause him to resort to doing so if he wanted to win. The later matches would have to wait however. He needed to focus on this current match. In fact he started doing so right now for his opponent had arrived.

As he was surveying the surrounding area that was the battlefield he heard the sound of the teleporter bringing somebody in. Forcewave turned around and there stood his opponent, also seeming to suffer from the teleportation device's effects. It was not a pleasant one for anyone apparently.

"Yes it is." he said in response. "Good luck to you." he told him in all honestly before the match came to an official start. It just seemed proper and respectful for him to at least say that. Instantaneously after having said those rather polite words to his opponent for this round the robot signaled that the fight was about to start. Forcewave readied himself for it in all the ways he had planned out ahead of time. The countdown was initiated and soon it was officially underway.

Forcewave for whatever reason had been expecting his opponent to attack the instant the start signal was given. Instead no attack came. His opponent was inviting him to take the initiative and attack first. This was unexpected for him but nothing he would not be able to handle. Letting his energy channel its way through every part of his body in preparation for immediate release he stepped forward a few steps in order to close the distance between the two of them before suddenly turning his slight walk into a fast paced charge in the timespan of less than a quarter of a second. In extremely quick fashion he bridged the distance gap that had been previously present and struck at his torso with a right jab while positioning his feet for something else he had planned.

Black gave his opponent the first move, and the kid did not waste the opportunity. The fighter picked up speed to close the gap between them. “Your pretty fast kid, but I can guarantee you that I am faster.” Black said while he raised his hands he felt electricity surge up through his body toward his hands. Jumping from his body the electricity formed a wall in front of him, protecting him from the other man’s incoming strike. Black grinned nonchalantly but he knew that he did not want to fight this fight up close, he had been doing this long enough and he knew his limits. He was not built for that type of encounter.

Black left the force field up for a moment to give himself an opportunity to put some distance in between himself and his adversary. Black lifted himself a few inches off the ground and propelled himself backward a maybe a quarter of his speed. He gotten himself about two hundred feet away from his opponent and now with some breathing room to operate Black released his hold on the electricity that made up his wall. The force field burst apart with a snap and an extremely bright flash of light as the electrical energy searched flowed toward any type of conductor, including the other fighter.

This was just Black’s opening move, his prepared his follow up as he braced his left arm with his right hand and let a another burst of electricity flow out of his body. This one was an offensive strike though it was not nearly a true showing of what he was truly capable of. He did not know what this other fighter was capable over and Black felt it best to feel him out first rather than Black depleting himself right out the gate. The beam of electricity flew toward his opponent dangerously and BlackOut watched the developing action carefully. He wondered how much he would have to turn up his intensity if he wanted to win this match.

The second round battle had begun. Forcewave had been offered to take the initiative and did just that. He had charged forward towards his opponent and struck at him. It did not prove to be of any success. As he drew closer a wall of electrical energy appeared in front of him. Forcewave stopped dead in his tracks and quickly dodged away from it as his opponent suddenly took off flying away from him. Now he was quite the distance away from Forcewave. Way too much for a few options. It seems he preferred the range option in combat. All that he was left with was a large gap between himself and his opponent. "So much for that." he thought. The direct option had proved to no avail. Time to try out something else.

Forcewave took a few steps in a diagonal pattern to shorten the distance between them by a small bit as part of the idea he had in mind for what to do next. The electrical energy barrier that had been used to block his direct attack had suddenly split apart and flying about. Along with this was another electrical blast that was heading directly towards him. Forcewave easily dodged this incoming energy and made a quick dash forward to reduce the distance between them yet again. Now it was down to one hundred and seventy feet. Still far too great of one for his liking. Even though his powers would suggest him to also be a long range fighter he very much so preferred to keep things in a close range basis. He found it provided a few more strategies through such a tactic.

"Hm, wonder how far the actual battlefield extends." he thought. After seeing just how fast his opponent could move and the fact that he could fly it looked like he may have to use the long range style after all. Before launching any form of attack however he channeled forth his energy to create a barrier just barely outside of him that was completely invisible. Immediately following that he fired forth over a dozen spheres of psychically made lightning that spread in various directions heading generally towards his opponent but not actually going for him. The main purpose was to limit his area of movement. Forcewave then fired a blast of energy directly at his opponent and charged forth behind it in hopes of closing that gap again.

It wasn't regular electricity he could tell that immediately, and he couldn't absorb it he knew that as well for if there was one thing in this world that he knew it was electricity. Whether or not it would hurt him, well that was up in the air. What he knew for sure was that the blast that his opponent had fired would certainly hurt him. Black smiled and shrugged as he floated there. "Spheres it is then."

Black charged his body and flew upwards through the makeshift minefield. He avoided the direct attack and gracefully looped and twirled his body around the spheres, well most of them at least. On his way out of the sphere field he got careless and caught his leg on one of them. The shock made him seize up and he felt a burning sensation spread through his lower body.

He spun out losing quite a bit of his control over his flight pattern; he began to feel himself falling. As he was falling he was able to angle himself in such a way that he would still have space between himself and the other fighter. Once Black was able to take back complete control of his body he slowed down his pace and out stretched his hands. As he hit the ground he sprung off of his hands flipping and twisting in the air to face his opponent who he was now behind. He looked down to see his costume burned and he could feel a shooting pain still in his leg.

"So that's what it feels like to be on the other side of that huh?" He yelled out to the other fighter. "Kinda makes me feel bad for all those villains I've beat up on over the years. That was cute by the way." He said looking away from his minor burns and at his opponent. "I'm gonna tell you right now you are going to have to bring it harder than that if you plan on boxing me in. I pretty damn spry." Black smiled and shook the remaining twitches from his leg.

The kid was good, that much he was sure of just from his first few attacks, but Black had gone up against some pretty nasty opponents in the past and he was far from intimidated. “But now my friend, it's my turn." Black grinned, put out both of his hands and fired another burst of electricity out of his body. This one was a bit larger.

When the attack was about half way in between the two of them Black assumed control of it. The hero gracefully began to swing his hands through the air like a conductor of an orchestra. This action was in tandem with the activity of the electrical pulse that he had just fired seconds ago. The burst of electricity broke apart into two streams. He then separated them again, and again, and again.

There was sixteen of them sixteen separate beams of electricity that streaked around his adversary's position at such a speed that the seemed to be nothing more than falling blue and white blurs; orbiting like planets about a star.

BlackOut continued to sweep his hands through the air a display that was entirely unnecessary as he had complete control over the electricity mentally. The bit with the hands was simply for the audience. "Now let’s try this again." He shouted as he swung his hands out wide causing the orbit of the beams to relax a bit before he swung his hands together with a clap. At the same time his beams of electricity streaked inward flying straight at and around the other fighter.

A bunch of energy spheres floating around and about wherever he so chose followed by one solid blast directed at his opponent and chasing after it to get closer to him. That there was a pretty basic description of Forcewave's last series of attacks. Would they work? Well here comes the answer. Forcewave continued to run forward behind his own blast as he saw take to the air to dodge it. Forcewave reversed the course of that blast and had it return to him and was holding it in his left hand for future use. He then focused on all the spheres he had created and saw that his opponent had hit one while trying to escape the area. That would work well enough for him for now. Some damage was better than none. Hopefully he too could not just regenerate any minor damage away. If this was not the case then he would have more strategies available to him.

After his opponent took that small hit he seemed to have lost control of his flight pattern. He propelled himself past where Forcewave had been down below and eventually landed away from him. The distance was not nearly as great as before but still present. Not even the damage that was done, even thought it was minor, was enough to make his opponent any less cocky. His talk continued even though he was not faring well in the slightest. Whatever it was that was making him this confident of victory may or may not wind up deciding it. Forcewave was, of course ready for it.

He sent the spheres spreading about again this time so that they displayed no pattern in their ongoing paths. Their movements so erratic that nobody could ever hope to predict or prepare for where they may go. They simply went wherever Forcewave needed them to go. Where that would be exactly would remain a mystery for the time being. They would help with what he was about to try. Until then he would do something else. He would figure out how to deal with this attack now being fired at him by his opponent.

The long range method continued to be what his opponent used. Another attack was coming his way and this one was clearly greater than the last. Somebody had obviously stepped their game up. As it approached it made contact with his previously used energy and the two combined into one attack. "Oh, I see what you're doing." he thought. This was certainly interesting. Forcewave in response to this redirected three of the spheres he had flying around. One flew directly to him and the other two flew towards his opponent from above and behind while he was focusing on his attack. The two spheres near his opponent suddenly each split in two and flew directly at him. As for the one he had called to him he brought it forth and merged it with the energy in his left hand and pumped up that power even more so than that in order to counter this incoming attack. As it approached even closer it was not one but sixteen different attacks coming at him. This was certainly made to be near impossible to dodge. Then again that was not what he was trying to do. He had something else planned for him.

The sixteen beams suddenly came down upon him. At which point his two spheres launched at his opponent and Forcewave initiated his method of countering this attack. The sixteen flew in at him and Forcewave unleashed a mighty pulse to reduce the beams to nothing and leave him completely protected from the attack. He then called forth another sphere to him and moved three more to join with the two near his opponent and formed beams of light between them that formed a cage of sorts around him to keep him from flying away. Forcewave then sent a wave of energy at him and dashed at him from behind it.

Black to action quickly to counter the first part of the attack. He choose to block the incoming orbs by producing another shield in front of himself. Timing the impact Black pushed another pulse of electricity through his body into the shield. Once the orbs struck the shield he released the built up electricity and vaporized the orbs. BlackOut smiled and was about to make a snappy remark about how that the fighter would have to do better than that when he realized that he had apparently been trapped in a cage made of energy.

Black stared out through the energy field that had been formed around him and watched his opponent charge him again behind his burst of energy. The other fighter wanted to be in close, this was the tird such time he had shown this. He also did not want him moving around; the cage was a clear an indicator to that sentiment.

Black pursed his lips and went over his options quickly, could he block the incoming attacks? Certainly. Could he escape the cage? Probably and it would probably hurt like a bitch too if he choose to just fly through it like he had last time. Could he do them both? We he was about to find out. One thing he was sure though was that he would not fight this fight on the other fighters terms.

Taking a cue from his opponent’s tactics BlackOut discharged a heavy blast of electricity outwards from his body at every angle shorting out the cage that the man had formed around him. Giving him a small window to dodge the oncoming attack by going over it. That would have been the better tactical choice. Instead Black chose to try and black the energy blast; which he managed to do for the most part. Nevertheless some of the energy got through deflecting off the shield and searing it way up is arm with a glancing blow; that burned away most of his sleeve along with the agonizing pain. Black gritted his teeth in pain but keep his shield steady, he did not need to be punched on top of that. What he need to do was get out of there.

Black shot into the air at breakneck speed and left a trail of dirt swirling his wake. He came to a stop fifty feet or so above his pervious position and stared down at the other fighter. If he wanted to win this he would have to make it his type of fight, and to do this he would have to utilize the biggest advantage he had over the other fighter. His flight. The other fighter want to slow him down and to keep him close, but Black would not be beaten this way. If the other fighter wanted to win he would win on BlackOut’s terms, and that meant he would have to catch him.

Black grinned down at his opponent and was on the move again. Black soared over head at nearly half of the speed he was capable of, he looped, twirled, banked and cut at erratic nonsensical angles. He would not make it easy for himself to be hit by choosing a simple pattern of flight; he would make himself hard to pin down. Black formed a sturdy electrical bubble shield around himself; for a little extra precaution.

Black then unlashed the attack he had been working on. A terrifying large blot of lighting shot down from his speeding body into the earth. The ground quaked and finally gave breaking under the immense amount of energy that had just been thrown into it. Though it had not been absorbed by the ground as normally would occur as BlackOut still had control of the wild amounts of electricity. He had it swirling underneath the ground radiating out around the other fighter’s position. The ground continued to shake until the geysers of electricity erupted from the ground around the battlefield. Columns of volatile electricity stood stark against the darkening sky, it looked like a reverse lighting storm. Black’s grin faded into determination as he acrobatically twisted and turned in flight. He realized that this friendly bout had just taken a turn. Things were going to escalate rather quickly from here on out.

That last attack that his opponent Blackout had sent at him was quite impressive and showy and all that other spectacle like stuff, but it had failed in the only objective that actually mattered. Helping him along the way of achieving his goal of winning this fight. Forcewave nullified that circus extravaganza of an attack and proceeded to go on the offensive. His opponent may be putting a lot of effort into impressing the audience but as for him, he would settle for just winning this thing and advancing to the next round. This time he tried somethign a little different in order to deal with this guy's speed and ability to fly. Those spheres he had created earlier were being put to good use for now.

He used three of the spheres to try and form a cage in order to contain him. He had tried to use them as a sneak attack but that was unfortunately to no avail. He was not out of options yet however as that was merely a part of what he had going for him strategically. He then blasted a wave of energy that he ran behind as his attack. It was impossible for him to determine how well that cage would hold up against his opponent's power with how little energy was being put into it. His opponent put forth his efforts into destroying the cage. The spheres were unable to hold out against the energy onslaught that came upon them and were destroyed. He was unfortunately free to fly again. He also tried to block Forcewave's attack but it still managed to do some damage. Forcewave charged forward and aimed to strike when he got airborne again. "Oh, so close. He just flies around and around and around. This fight is going to take forever." he thought as his reaction to this. If it were not for his opponent's ability to fly Forcewave felt he would be far closer to having won this match. This round was not tougher for him as much as it was annoying.

Forcewave suddenly thought of something and fired what was essentially a lightning straight up into the air not even close to where his opponent was located that just flew up into the sky and into the clouds. He then watched his opponent, tracking his every movement as he charged up energy again in preparation for what would probably be a defensive move. This long ranged approach that his opponent maintained was whatever. His previous opponent had continued on with the utilization of the same strategy despite it proving to be not very effective and that had not worked in his favor. Even from down here he could still see the evidence of the damage he had managed to cause so far. Forcewave could not blame the guy for preferring the long range method really. It did tend to reduce the likelihood of getting pretty banged up in a tussle. As his opponent flew all around the place in preparation for whatever it was he was planning to do Forcewave not only watched him carefully but studied the terrain once again to see if there was anything around he could immediately use to deal with this. "Wonder how long he's just going to fly around like a drunk bird up there." he wondered with how long it seemed to be taking for his opponent to even try anything. Forcewave continue to formulate ideas and prepare during this wait.

Finally whatever his opponent had in mind revealed itself. He fired a lighning bolt right into the ground that struck the dirt below. The energy was causing the ground to shake beneath him as it approached. "Shockwaves again huh? This never gets old." he thought in response to this new attack. This shockwave thing was just getting boring to him. Shockwaves were now meta. Everyone is doing it for whatever reason. He was starting to think that his opponent had not known how Forcewave's previous match went or otherwise he would not be trying this considering how ineffective it had proven for his last opponent. Electricity started coming out of the ground so at least something was different. Forcewave formed a powerful energy barrier and pulled out his clawshot and fired it. It hooked onto the upper parts of the canyon wall and he quickly pulled himself away from the target area and to safety. From there he simultaneously climbed up the canyon wall and onto the cliff itself a sent eight waves of energy at his opponent that swirled around and around to disguise there trajectory. After a few seconds of this one suddenly went right for him. He then brought forth two of the spheres from earlier and was now holding one in each hand as he ran forward to a spot closer to where his opponent was in the sky and sent another one of the waves at him.