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The result of his maneuver was not what Jonah had in mind, and now he was too close to his opponent as was judged by his comfort zone. Jonah preferred to stay away from his opponent while he was fighting, finding long range techniques to be his favorite. Never in his bending career had he seen a firebender out maneuver an airbender or an earthbender, and this one was truly surprising.

Since Jonah had it figured that the firebender was used to taking attacks coming at him from below, he figured he would innovate a little. There was one technique Jonah had hesitated to use, since it was one that he had only recently used. But since this was a seasoned bender, Jonah figured it was worth a shot.

Jonah decided to go through with his technique, putting his hands on the ground in a jack knife formation and flipping forewards. In his landing of his arch, the ground underneath him and the firebender had turned into one big sand pit. Now Jonah felt more like a waterbender, bending liquid earth.

He stood ready for his opponent's fiery attack, facing his opponent in the sand pit.

Jonah never expected to be surrounded by flame, especially in a sand pit. The instant he turned the earth to sand, he felt himself rising through the air rapidly on a glass disk; a side effect of fire and sand. However, as the object Jonah was riding on was a refined bit of sand, he couldn't bend it. With nothing to bend, Jonah had to contend with being blasted out of the sand due to a clever use of firebending from his opponent. The effect was quite surprising.

A few seconds later, a sharp crash could be heard a few feet from where the column of fire was initiated. Dull shards of glass could be seen spread about from a high-impact fall, all centered around one earthbender burned on 45% of his body. He felt like he was way in over his head; a firebender wasn't supposed to be that strong in his mind.

".....Ouch....." Was the one word uttered from Jonah's lips as he heaved himself upward, regaining an uneasy balance. His front arm hung low, while his back arm balance himself out in a foreward Hun Gar stance. It was evident that the burns Jonah suffered took a heavy toll on his ability to focus, but it didn't shut him out entirely. A light stomp foreward brought up a few flat plate rocks from the earth, Jonah holding them in a defensive position with his curved front arm, making them act as a shield.

"I can't go on like this. Just try to out last him..." Jonah held his position, focusing on the rocks in front of him in case something ghastly came from the firebender he faced. If need be, he could reinforce the stone to hold off some serious flame, but Jonah's energy wouldn't last much longer.

Jonah took the offer into consideration, finding it to be a way out, but the idea given by firebender made it sound like cowardice. He was not one to swallow his pride, so Jonah wouldn't walk away on those terms alone. Jonah would have to amend those terms so he felt a little comfort or satisfaction either way.

"You have nothing to lose? Unlikely, but no wonder you are such a pain to people..."

"Swallow your pride and I'll just walk away and give you the win, plain and simple. Incinerating someone isn't something to be proud about, especially when there is nothing of moral value to be gained..."

Jonah let his rocks fall back onto the floor, staying his defense. In case the firebender wanted to attack, and forfeit his honor, Jonah could summon the rocks again to defend himself, and to use a last-ditch attack.

"Ungreatful b*****d. I gave him a chance..."

Jonah would not take kindly to the threat he had just received, especially at the end of two blades, even under the condition he was in. The katana's looked vicious, but Jonah was accustomed to holding them off with the backs of his gauntlets, and his armored boots. But for this case, he would need an earthbending technique. With a new life in his eyes, Jonah came around, standing strong.

Hearing the firebender state his name was something new. Jonah had never known an enemy to reveal his name in case they were captured.

"I'm Jonah."

"Earthbending isn't about running away, especially against one like him. What doesn't kill me will make me stronger in the end..."

Using the earth at his feet, Jonah brought up a chain of segmented rocks 50 ft. in length, all bound with earthbending to a stone handle. This was known, or generalized as a Rock Whip, something Jonah had just got the hand of using a while back. He had been wanting to test it, but he was unsure how well it would fare against the steel of a katana.

"I'm gonna have to go down fighting in that case..." With a wide arc swing of his rock whip making scrape contact with the ground, Jonah uphevaled the earth in front of him into a series of depressed rocky platforms, all of them having jagged edges facing the firebender named Sanada. Now it would get interesting.

If there was one thing earthbenders were used to, it was taking a beating, and waiting for the right moment to strike. Jonah left the whip in motion from his previous attack, changing motion around Jonah as its center to come back around, setting up a trap for close-quarters range. It might have seemed like Jonah was planning on letting himself being hit; but he was used to that. Back in the Earth Kingdom where he had to live, he was used to encountering muggers and other blade users. This one merely posed a tougher challenge.

"You talk big for such a scrawny firebender, and a sword is just a sword..."

Then Jonah let the katana come for him, but he was ready. Due to his tall frame he couldn't entirel avoid the blade, but he moved himself into a position where the blade would make contact with his rough backside, mainly his shoulder blade. It cut through clothing, flesh, and only a minor bit of muscle as the blade made contact with the shoulder blade spine, stopping any further damage. The pain that came with the cut was surely troublesome, Jonah groaning with a few grunts to show the pain's presence, but the absence of blood left him asured that he wouldn't slip.

"That's gonna hurt for a few days, but now's the time..."

With the window of opportunity he had, Jonah put his plan into motion. In a complicated motion, Jonah put the handle of the rock whip in his mouth to keep it moving during his duck/dive motion, clenching the handle between his teeth to ensure a solid grip. Then with his un-damaged free hand, Jonah went down low, sweeping his long legs along the ground, aiming to break the firebender's foundation and contact with the ground.

"You're not that superior; you're still human....."

Planning this ensured Jonah that his motions would have one of two possibilities. One would be that the firebender would come off of his feet, with a broken foundation and yield another chance for Jonah to launch an offense. The other would be that the rock whip would come around and bite the firebender in the back, either the spine or the neck. Jonah had taken enough burns and cuts from one firebender for a day, and his defensive karma would soon pay off.

Even if Sanada was a good swordsman, Jonah would take no more hits from either a blade or foul play. He had taken enough of anything from one firebender, and now he was ready to come back and use a bit of his own foul play moves.

Seeing as though he was trapped in between two blades, Jonah decided to take the lesser of two evils, but in the true eyes he wouldn't take either strike. He made it seem like he would complete the sweep motion, but instead of going for Sanada's foundation, he went right for the blades with his metal boots. In the halfway sweep, Jonah redirected his feet into a split motion, one bootheaded for the right katana and the other headed for the other katana's carrying hand.

"Later, loser..."

As Jonah merely went through with his kicks, his semi-hindered hand went through with something else. He rotated it vertically around his horizontal torso, so it was underneath him, then went through with an earthbending technique that could be considered foul play. As the hand made a formation like it was clenching a spherical object, Jonah liquified the earth underneath Sanada's feet. If the technique was broken in any way, the earth would re-solidify and leave Sanada stuck and unable to move his lower legs.

Then Jonah would have yet another opportunity to do something else.

It seemed that both of the benders in the ring had made some bad choices; Jonah by meeting the firebender in close range combat, and the firebender having the intent to kill while the match was nothing more than a duel in the tournament. The match would end soon; both Jonah, and he was sure Sanada as well, could feel it.

In his attempt to dislocate the blades of Sanada, Jonah was caught unprepared by the lightning maneuver. Drawing from past knowledge, since he read lightning to be known as the cold-blooded fire, Jonah didn't have to worry about being massely burned. But rather, he saw an opportunity open up for him. Jonah's leg physique was the key.

As waterbenders could redirect lightning through body flow, a technique passed down through words and scriptures, Jonah had theorized another way for earthbenders, using his own toughness of electrical muscle stimuli instead of body flow; thus, the lightning would be attracted to each muscle flexing and could thus be redirected. Jonah's legs were the most developed part of his body, and thus he had something ready he was willing to try with the lightning. However, he was not in the position to redirect the flow at the speed he was going.

As one foot made contact with the lightning charge, Jonah began to feel the effects of the lightning charge. Nevertheless, Jonah's legs would continue in their move to try and kick away the katanas. As he went through the kick, the lightning rushed through his muscles, shocking every organ except for the heart. Even though it was a minor shock, it was enough to repel Jonah quite a ways away from the point of the charge.

Even if his kick went through, Jonah would lose consciousness with the knowledge that he went down fighting.

Winner [Komm Kayriel] Sanada, Xio

Loser: [Royoka] Ryft, Jonah