Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oh gosh... this thing loves me, haha! Welp... let's do this. Both Bobbi and I agreed to fight at our present levels at the Coliseum.

However, I will be fighting as if my summon, Odin, has awaken and I've received his abilities. I've posted them below.

Anthony's Level 3 Stats:

• Attack Strength: 11 (10+1) [7]
  
• Attack Speed: 6 [3]
  
• Magic Strength: 4
  
• Magic Defense: 7
  
• Guard Strength: 9 [7]
  
• Evasive Reflexes: 7
  
• Outright Speed: 5
  
• Constitutional Endurance: 10 [7]
  
• Energy: 5 [3]

Attack Abilities:

• Son of Odin- Due to Odin's Lightning Element, Anthony has access to an assortment of Thunder-related abilities.
  • Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga - Anthony is capable of causing lightning to either rain from above as an area of effect attack or shoot it out of his hand at a single target.
    
  • Lightning Fist – Anthony uses Lightning Coat on one of his fists and delivers a lightning punch to his opponent.
  • Lightning Pummel – Anthony uses Lightning Coat on his fists and delivers multiple powerful lightning punches to his opponent.
  • Lightning Strike – Anthony uses Lightning Coat on his sword, making it pulse with lightning, and strikes his opponent.
  • Chain Lightning – Anthony swings his sword and releases a chain of lightning along the ground directed towards opponent

Support Abilities:

• Son of Odin- Due to Odin's Lightning Element, Anthony has access to an assortment of Thunder-related abilities.
  • Lightning Coat – Anthony is capable of coating his body, body parts, or his weapon with lightning to deliver more powerful attacks.
  • Lightning Blade – Anthony’s sword becomes completely engulfed in electricity, increasing the amount of damage it is capable of doing

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

As the dust around the coliseum cleared, a hooded challenger in red, black, and yellow stepped onto the platform in the center of the stadium and began to look around for his opponent. "Hmm... I guess he's not here yet," the young man said, confident that his opponent was indeed male. He raised his hands to his hood and lowered it, revealing himself to be none other then the bearded swordsman Anthony. He look around at the empty coliseum, placing his hands in his zip-up hoodie pockets, then began rocking back and forth on the heels and balls of his feet. "Neither is anyone else..."

Figuring he was alone, the warrior-knight lifted his hands and cupped them around his mouth, then began to make chanting and cheering noises, as if imitating an audience. "Here comes Anthony with a powerful blow! He swings his sword! It connects! Anthony has defeated all the challengers of the arena!" Anthony shouted loud enough for his voice to echo throughout the stadium as if some sort of announcer. "He's the new champion of Olympus! The crowd goes wild!" Once again, he began to cheer and impersonate an audience. "Haaaaaaaaaa! Haaaaaaaaa!"

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

Completely oblivious to Bobbi's presence, Anthony continued to cheer for himself until he had that feeling. That gut feeling of embarrassment that builds up when you suspect someone is watching you make a fool out of yourself. As he cheered, he gave the bleachers another scan. This time around, he spotted the archer seated on one of the benches, laughing. He mentally scolded himself for not noticing the girl the first time around before quickly dropping his hands to his sides and staring at the girl like a deer caught in the headlights. The young man began shifting his eyes left to right and playing with his fingers nervously, obviously feeling a little embarrassed.

Using one of his abilities, the young man leaped from the arena and into the bleachers, landing beside Bobbi. "So...," Anthony began as he crouched and rested his arms on his knees. "How long have you been watching?" he asked a bit sheepishly, his face still slightly flushed from embarrassment. He leaned back into a sit, his left knee up with his left arm rested on top, while his other leg rested in the leg room provided beneath the bench and his right hand pressed against the bench to support himself. "Or the better question would be: what'cha doin' here? Are you here to fight someone, too?"

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

Anthony was suddenly taken back by Bobbi's challenge. Was she serious? Him? Fight a girl? That's absurd! ...he'd totally lose... However, they were both in the coliseum. He cannot avoid that fact that the archer is most probably his opponent. They had to duel, even if society frowned upon a man hitting a woman...

"Ugh... why did it have to be a girl?" the warrior-knight thought to himself.
"Doest thou truly desire to battle with yon maiden?" asked his summon.
"No, of course not. But I don't think I have much of a choice."
"There is no shame in forfeit."
"Er... there kinda is... Backing out of or accepting a fight against a girl has the same end result: ridicule..."
"Whatever thine choice, you have my sword."
"Thanks, Odin."

"As mush as I don't want to," Anthony finally said, "I shall accept yer challenge, fair maiden!" The young man rose to his feet, placing both hands on his lower back, then leaning as far back as he can until he heard an audible pop, then proceeded to crack his fingers and neck. "That's better!" The warrior-knight extended his arm out to his side, summoning Odyssey, his giant sword, then rested the weapon over his shoulder. "So... how do you wanna do this?"

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

"Improvise? Ugh... I totally suck at impro--HEY!" Anthony was forced to cut his sentence short as he mimicked Bobbi's movements and leaped backwards away from the spire of ice as well. "You could've at least told me we were starting!" the young man shouted across the bleachers, flailing his arms. "You could've killed me!"

"Is that not the point?"
"Touche..."

The young man figured Bobbi was attempting to create space between them. After all, she needed to keep a distance in order to attack while he needed to be close. Clever...

Anthony sighed. He now had to figure out how to get close enough to attack Bobbi without being impaled by a swarm of arrows. ...or ice. "This totally sucks..." Until then, his best bet is to avoid all attacks and try to get as close as possible. "And so it begins..." Suddenly, the swordsman dashed forward as fast as his legs would allow him, zigzagging as to make targeting him much more difficult. If allowed to get close enough, the young man would swipe at Bobbi's legs in order to knock her down and prevent her from getting away.

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

"Oh, that's good to know!" Anthony shouted back in response as he suddenly jerked his body and dashed in the direction Bobbi leaped off to. "'Cause I'd hate to die so early in life...," he continued, not sounding confident in his abilities at all.

The sudden appearance of ice was uncomforting, especially since none of them were directed at him but rather summoned at random behind the archer as she continued to make her way to the arena. "What is she planning...," the young man thought, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Whatever she's planning, it would be best to avoid touching her icy spikes-o-doom." The warrior-knight kept rushing at his opponent; however, he found it difficult to keep up his speed as he maneuvered around the spikes and the distance between the two grew greater. That's when it became evident to him she was trying to stall.

Annoyed at the sudden realization and how much his speed had decreased, Anthony, amidst his frustration, once again leaped into the air without giving thought to his vulnerability and, clearing the spikes of ice, flew towards Bobbi with his sword over his head, ready to bring it down on the archer.

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

As Anthony came crashing down, the veil of frustration lifted from his eyes and suddenly morality sunk in as he realized what he was about to do. He was about to hit a girl! At the speed he was descending at and his higher attack strength, he would surely break through her shield and injure the girl. With no time to spare, the young man did all he could, within the short period of time, to lower the impact of the blow without making it seem intensional.

Lowering the amount of power used and slightly changing the angle of his attack, Odyssey clashed with (rather than shattering) the ice shield and for a moment the young man stayed suspended in the air before gravity slowly planted his feet onto the ground. The two remained locked in stalemate, pushing one another back and forth as they both attempted to gain the advantage over the other.

"You're pretty strong," Anthony stated through gritted teeth, continuing his charade. "...you know... for a girl." He smiled at Bobbi, making known his innocent intent behind the last part of his sentence, before increasing his strength once more and shoving the girl back and away from him. "But not strong enough--GU-DOOSH!" Once again, the young man teased, hoping Bobbi would catch the Family Guy reference, as he flexed and goofily posed.

"Is this how mortals engage in battle?" asked Odin innocently enough.
"No... this is how we joke."

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

She snorted... Good. She's not offended.

Anthony sighed in relief, happy to hear Bobbi snort instead of chewing his ear off about playing the "gender-card." However, his facial expression quickly changed to that of disbelief when the girl seemed confused about his Family Guy reference. "You mean to tell me you haven't seen that episode of Family Guy where Stewie is obsessed with Lois, but then she punishes him and feels bad about it, so she turns to Brian for comfort who tries to impress her by flexing?!'" the young man asked, shocked, his mouth slightly agape with his arms to his side. "That... kinda saddens me..."

Anthony paused briefly for dramatic effect, then lifted and pointed his blade at Bobbi before shouting, "YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!" Once again, the young man dashed forward, his sword held in both hands at his side with the "business" end of his blade being dragged across the floor, tearing through the stones that made up the bleachers like a knife slicing through butter. Suddenly, streaks of electricity began to flash around the blade before a more constant flow of electricity encircled it. Once close enough, the warrior-knight would swing the blunt end of his sword at Bobbi's side in hopes of knocking her down and causing some lightning damage.

[Anthony ~.~ Olympus ~.~ Coliseum]

Toonami sure brought back some good memories for Anthony... mostly of the young man ignoring his homework as a youth and watching Dragon Ball Z immediately after returning home from school. Those were the days... ...not that anything has changed since. Before Earth was destroyed, Anthony would still rush home from college and watch cartoons, avoiding any school-related responsibilities he most probably had.

The warrior-knight's trip down memory lane was soon interrupted by the cool, burning slice of Bobbi's ice-arrow as it skimmed his arm right beneath his shoulder. The sudden shock of pain was enough to cause the young man to fumble as he sloppily swung his blade a few inches too short just as the archer ran off. The pain also caused the sword-wielder to lose his concentration, causing the lightning that encircled the blade to dispel.

Anthony grunted as he quickly grabbed his injured arm, feeling the jagged crystals that had already formed around his wound before his clothes mended itself due to the power of the dress sphere. He closed his eyes and began to take in a few deep breaths, inhaling through his nostrils and exhaling through his mouth, as he fought back the pain, allowing his adrenaline to take care of the rest.

Once the pain became bearable, Anthony's eyes shot open and he leaped from the bleachers, overshooting Bobbi, and landing in the center of the arena, his back turned to the girl. The young man looked over his shoulder at Bobbi as she made her way to the arena, then quickly turned, extending his arm out, then shouted, "THUNDER!" Immediately, lightning began to flash about his arm until it gather at the palm of his hands and shot out in the direction of the young lady.