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Glaring eyes peered sharply at the entrance to her opposite. The determined soul that could not rest had waited since hearing the story of her defeat for this very moment to redeem herself. A powerful gust of wind briefly shifted the path of the falling rain, but the sudden change was not enough to break the straight face of the youth. Her thoughts were focused on a single thing. She was going to come out of this as a victor. It did not matter how hard she would have to try, or how big her opponent would be, she was going to be triumphant on this day. It was already decided by her, and she would dare anyone to say otherwise.

But there may be a slight hindrance to her plans. Her body was being aided with a crutch on her right. In her left her fingers curled tightly around the leather wrapping of the aluminum bat. The wind and rain began to pick up in its ferocity again, the long ends of her coat blowing about to reveal the stitching job of her pants leg. And then a flash of lightning to illuminate her stone face in the encompassing darkness. The weather did not bother her. The weather would not stop her. She was on a mission that she simply could not fail.

And the crowd watched on, but she paid them no mind. Their concern about her health not the bit sincere, but it stemmed solely from their desire to see an entertaining fight. A flashy fight would be the last thing they will get on this day. Rachel, fueled by a burning desire to succeed and by the rage which kindled that flame, was here to make a statement. Quickly, brutally, she would show no mercy. She would deliver a message to the world that she was not some joker to be bested by a bum. She was going to bear them witness to greatness.

God have mercy on the b*****d that kept her waiting.

The coincidental flash of lightning did not sway our young heroine from her focus. Her sharp eyes remained on the entrance to her opposite as a figure became apparent. The rain and the rather dark attire made it difficult to discern who the approaching person was, but that would quickly change. A face was not something easily forgotten, especially if it were a face that one did not particularly care for. And as the man approached her in the center of the ring, something had clicked. In that instant, like a roll of film, several images flashed in Rachel's mind.

Memory usually never could be exactly as the past actually had happened. The pieces that disrupted it were filled by images that would make the story make sense. But this man, Rachel did not need to add much filler to understand why she did not like him. The memory of a pain in her back from being struck with a sword. The memory of her first fight in the big leagues, which would have otherwise been flawless, ruined. And how did this man do all of that? It wasn't by his hands.

And that connection her brain was processing from the not so distant past to the present made her angry. Far more agitated than she had been just moments ago. Like the opponent before her, this man possessed some ability to manipulate things with out his hands. How did not matter, even if it were not the same process it still pissed her off. But knowing this gave her a bit of an advantage compared to the last round. She wasn't going to simply give her opponent the chance to land a critical strike with her being unaware.

Closer the man came, and there was no denying who he was. And then his lips moved. Was he trying to taunt the troubled teen? He had not yet let her name escape his lips before she had let loose of the crutch that held her weight. The right foot planted on the ground and the distribution of her weight equalized. There was no pain present, there was little difficulty in moving. Rage had pushed those considerations away from conscious thought. The past few days she had worked hard to recover to the point she did. The fighting spirit the primary cause for much of her progress.

He would mention the fight that he had ruined. His words echoed in a clear mind. It only brought her to a higher level of frustration. Her fingers reaffirmed their grip around the handle of the bat. Her right brow twitched and breathing increased. A prudent man would recognize the fire that burned in her eyes, that burned in her soul. Intuition would tell him that this was not a battle who would wish to engage in. That probably would not be the case here on this day.

There was something in the man's voice that caused Rachel to tick even more. Was it the arrogant tone she perceived from him? Possibly it was the expression of his face, the posture of his body. It could be the word choice that stirred her, on a rather informal, disrespectful tone. Could this man honestly not understand just what this young woman was capable of? He had seen her before. He had seen her destroying a teammate he had to bail him out of. Did he think that lowly of her potential? It would be his mistake, and at this very moment, a mistake that would show its consequences.

Her attentive glare on the man caught the first signs of movement with the shifting of his footing. And on that impulse, like snakes of the West, she would burst into action. A minimal amount of movement was all that was needed. Her left foot took a wide step forward to move the left side of her in a forward direction. And as the torso swung, so did her left arm. Not a wide and slow swing, but it moved in a quick and subtle way much like the rest of her left half. A powerful blow was not needed to accomplish the immediate goal she held.

Her body moved with such speed in such a fluid like way. She too had her own training since her appearance in the HoH tournament. Consistently fleeing from those who sought to harm her with guns and the sort improved her overall speed and reaction, and it was clearly going to show. As her left foot completed its step and her left arm swung in, the barrel of the bat would be guided towards the psion's forearm. To strike at the inside or the side of it as he were bringing it up to the saber like position to complete his stance.

The quick movement of her accompanied by a sudden gust of wind would push the tail of her long coat away from her, shifting the loose contents in the pocket with it. And with the masterful dexterity of an experienced pick pocket, Rachel's right hand would follow the direction of the pocket. Her fingers quickly and easily finding a tube like object inside against the back edge of the pocket. Her thumb pushing at the cap and covering the opening. And similar to the sleight of hand used with her criminal activity, she withdrew the hand from the pocket and kept a clenched fist on the right side of her body. Hopefully her opponent did not possess extra vision, as Rachel would think the pocket and quick motions of her right arm would be concealed from view by the position of her body relative to his line of sight.

It seemed that everything Rachel had wanted to occur was happening. And to make it all the better, she didn't even really have to put much effort into it. Her opponent saw her attack coming, as expected, and he reacted accordingly. Even though landing the blow against his forearm would have been favorable because of the stunning effect it could inflict, that was not her primary goal. No, the attack was a feint, she was baiting her opponent into something much worst and he seemed to have bitten. Her goal was accomplished, he dropped his guard, and it was an effective time to try and capitalize on him.

But it seemed that the psion was not going to simply stand there and let her continue with an assault. Instead he pulled his arm back to return it to its previous position, and from there he would try to turn this into a favorable exchange. Rachel noticed his arm pull back and away to fully evade the bat while he began to move his move closer to her. Rachel's ability to consider several outcomes before entering a fight would be what would allow her to react in the way that she would, as if it were from instinct.

When deciding over what kind of bat she could steal for a weapon, there were a few variables she had to consider. A wooden bat was heavier and harder to control, but could deal considerable amount of damage based on this. A major con to that would be its durability and tendency to splinter or shatter. Though it may be good when striking an opponent, if it were not to keep them down then she would be lacking of the weapon. The aluminum bat was the more expensive choice for obvious reasons, but since she was simply taking it that was not an issue. Some of its advantages came with its lighter weight, on average around .9kg, its much higher level of control, and less recoil with impact. Not to mention the much higher level of durability compared to the ash alternative, the choice was obvious.

With the light weight and ease of control inherent in its design, and the nature of the attack, the bat would not simply keep swinging out of control. With the clenching of her muscles, she was able to stop her arm nearly on the dime, before the bat would have made contact with the psion's arm. After all, she was easily able to see him move it out of position, her goal was already met. But after that point it seemed like things weren't exactly going her way. Her opponent was moving towards her, and to her outside. Although not a huge problem, it was evident that he thought he saw some kind of opening.

And while her right hand quickly made work to find and pull out the object from her pocket, the psion would successfully manage his way to her side. Her eyes followed him, her thoughts processing what was happening at a phenomenal rate. And as her head turned with her eyes focusing from the peripheral, she noticed that the man too left himself open for an attack. Her wrist accordingly, her fingers held tightly around the upper end of the leather wrapping on the handle. And then she quickly pulled her arm back behind her.

As the psion lifted and aimed his right arm, Rachel would be once again rotating her torso while pulling the arm up and back. Her knees slightly bent to maintain balance, her body leaned back just a bit to assure her aim. And at the same time the psion would be releasing his blade of energy, which would produce a very fine cut along her cheek just under the eye if the ability were still to go off, the butt of the aluminum bat should be impacting with the left side of his face at jaw level. Enough force behind the attack to maybe knock out teeth, it would be nice for him to choke on one if that were the case. If she were lucky, maybe an instant knock out was possible. His body still moving in the direction of the incoming bat not going to do much to let him roll with it should work to her advantage as well.

Possibly her opponent left his guard down for that moment because he entirely underestimated her ability to react. Perhaps it was just an honest miscalculation. Possibly he was allowing her to strike him to try and assess the limits of her capability. Regardless of his reason, Rachel, focused through her anger, was going to punish him.

Alrighty! Judge time! As both fighters have contacted me to resolve this issue, I will make my analysis and judgment.

The contest is between Kamiha's bat swing and Damon's Psi Blade.

Kamiha swung the aluminum bat with her left hand as Damon took stance. The bat swung and missed his forearm since he lowered it, then he rushed in. At this point, he basically just entered past Kamiha's swinging distance, meaning when she tries to bring the bat back around, she'll be hitting him at best with the bottom end, if she's really retorting quickly. Normally, swinging a bat would be hard to control, especially using just one hand. But since she does have ki powers at her disposal, she is wielding the bat as if it's just another weapon, thus she has control to bring back a quick speed.

But, this doesn't help the distance, which is closed to close range by Damon. Because of the way both of you would be swinging here, it's likely that Kamiha's left hand/forearm would be clashing into Damon's bicep, thus stopping both attacks from happening. At best, her bat would just touch against his shoulder (hardly doing anything), and Damon's psychic blade would be steered off course, though Kamiha can still be cut somewhere on her face since it was a hooking motion. Just a "nick" though.

So, this is your position: Damon's arm is lowered as if he missed a large punch, and Kamiha's grip of her weapon is against Damon's right bicep/ shoulder. You're both paused in this close range melee, so whoever's next, make your post responding from this situation.

*rattles mallet....wait, rattle? oO *

WWWWWOOOOOOO

A sudden gust of wind pushed between the two fighters after the bat swing misses and a line of blood touches Kamiha's face. As the gust overwhelms both fighters, they are suddenly pushed back to the point that now six feet exists between them.

This will be your continued position.

Also, because it was my fault for letting Kamiha enter with the Pepper mix, she doesn't get penalized for it. This goes for judging. However, she is no longer use it for the duration of the tournament.

*slams mallet*