Saewoo stood on the arena, as the crowd roared below. They were waiting for the match to begin. Saewoo waved his hand, addressing the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman, welcome back! I introduce to you, the semi finals of the Martial Arts Tournament! Our contestants this match are.. Finn and Selena!"


Saewoo then hopped off the arena, allowing the contestants to come up.

Standard site-wide combat rules apply. Post participants have 48 hours to initially post in this thread, then 24 hours every post after that. Should a participant take any longer than this, they should be disqualified. In the event neither post within that time, both are disqualified. The first post should be both participants entering the arena, and starting the match on the second post. The arena is of solid stone, and circular, with a 20 meter diameter. Ring outs, however, are not in effect. The arena elevates off the ground roughly 2 meters, and has stairs leading up to it. All other tournament rules as detailed in the event page apply. Good luck, and have fun.

Finn made his way up the steps onto the arena again. By this point, the crowd knew who all the contestants were. They had seen each and every person who had made it this far, and they knew what to expect. Tensions were high- Excitement at its peek. Everyone wanted to see what would happen next, and Finn was one of those people.

His mind was not on the crowd. He hadn't come to be in the center of these excited people. He had come to fight, to see others who were both strong and who would be able to press him to his limits. Every fight thus far had come down to split second decision making- That was how things were when elites came together.

Here, now, he'd be putting his all on the line for the semi finals. Standing in the exact center of the ring, Finn looked straight ahead to where his opponent would be entering. Selena, hm? The name rang a bell... What were the chances?

Selena stood at the base of the steps, her eyes closed. Her nerves were at her more than ever. Deep breaths now. Come on relax. She told herself. Shaking out her hands to remove any pins and needles she thought back to their last meet. Finn, that name and smell was hard to forget. The first person she had lost to in Crocus. He would be a strong foe that was for sure. But Selena knew that she had become stronger since then, but as for him, she was not sure. Regardless she was going to give the Fight 110%.

Selena walked up there stairs and waited at the very edge of the arena. "Good luck Finn! Thing's won't go the same as it did the last time!" She called to him across the arena. Selena was now ready. She wasn't going to loose again. So as she waited for the bell to ring she activated her Seated Aura, to give her punch an extra umph. Selena stood there ready as she waited for the bell to ring. Her nerves were gone, her head was clear. She was ready to kick some ass!

As Selena made her way into the arena, Finn saw that she was waiting at the very edge of the arena. Would that be her plan during this fight? Right before she spoke to him, Finn walked forward and made the distance between them six meters. The act may have been odd- But it wasn't something that was explicitly against the rules. Judging by the fact that the judge did nothing to state otherwise confirmed that it was allowed.

At that distance, Finn prepared his fighting stance. Both arms in front of him, hands formed into fists with his dominant non dominant leg forward. His right arm was bent, his right fist about parallel with his shoulder while his left fist was slightly forward, approximately the same height as the right one. His legs were shifting weight between them in an even bouncing pattern, making sure he'd be light on his feet without committing to a distance.

And with that the bell had rung. Finn had finished taking his stance as she had finished her sentence, his walk having been a brisk one and his stance having been taken immediately. The bell rang with her at the edge of the arena and him now six meters away from her. Finn assumed she would have improved from last time- That being said, he was still Finn. He'd give it a moments rest- But soon he'd be pouncing.

He was raised to be a predator. In this ring, he would reach the apex.

As Selena spoke Selena kept a Heavy eye on Finn. He walked until he was 6 meters from her. Selena kept her breathing under control. She was going to do this. She wasn't going to panic. that was her downfall last time. Selena took her stance too. She stood with her palms open, fingers slightly curled in, her left arm held to her left side and her right out in front with a slight bend of the elbow. Selena kept her legs waist length apart with a slight bend in her knees to be able to move when ever she needed to. She was waiting to see if Finn would move first, and if he did, she had a plan. Selena made sure to bring her right foot back till it was at the edge of the step. Her foot was just enough over the step so if she wanted to. However she would See what Finn would do before acting.

Activating Seated's aura:

Finn grinned as he looked at her. It was the memories of their last run in that did it for him- Their altercation had ended after they dealt with the other mage Shin. However, that last fight had involved Finn doing all the running. As he thought about it- A lot of his combat involved that. Finn liked being in control. He liked leading the pace. He liked being the one who forced others to react to him. There were exceptions- There had been in this tournament. But could he do that regularly?

As Finn's eyes glanced into hers for a moment, he allowed them to fall back to their previous spot- Her shoulders. With that, Finn gently nudged his head backwards. It wasn't enough to force him to look away, instead it was an invitation- Or was it a dare? Still, the message was clear.

Ladies first.

Selena smirked back at Finn. He wasn't going to budge either was he? Selena's thoughts were confirmed as Finn motioned a head backwards. Was he serious? He clearly wanted Selena to go first so he could counter, but judging from the distance Selena knew Finn would have adequate time to react to what ever she did. This would be a tricky foght. Tactics were going to have to play a bigger role that was for sure.

Not even a moment before finn made his head gesture Selena jerkd her head and shoulders forward but retracted them instantly. It was a kind of a feint to see how Finn would react. Selena still did not budge from her place however, even after she had pretended to act. She still kept her body on guard and ready to act while keeping and eye on Finn.

No sooner than Finn nudged his head up did Selena try to buck forwards at him. His eyes had widened, body tensing for a mere moment before she began to reset her stance. Finn decided that was her way of telling him that she would not be moving- That was fine too.

So Finn acted. Leading with his non-dominant leg again, he began taking half steps forward. Every step ensured that at least one leg was on the ground at all times, and unlike before his eyes were now watching her waist. As the meters were wittled down bit by bit, the distance between them would slip away. One meter- Two meters- Three meters- Four meters. Eventually, the distance between them would be two meters- That is, assuming that Selena had not acted to change this progression of events.

If she went to act at all, however, he would know. Her knees were slightly bent, arms kept at the ready, and her center of gravity was kept high. His eyes never left her hips for this closing of distance- However, the rest of her body was kept into check by his peripherals. If nothing had happened, the distance between them would now be two meters.

luckily Finn had acted after Selena had tried her feint. She was silently thankful for it as she could feel the audience's boredom as they waited. Selena watched as Finn tool half steps towards her. Finn moved rather slowly too, giving Selena more than enough time to formulate a new strategy. As Finn whittled the distance down slowly, she kept her original plan on the back burners. Selena remembered how Finn reacted when she had pretended to act. So as the distance was 4 meters between the two, Selena would move. Leading of her left foot, Selena would run at 15 m/s the same speed she had run the last time her and Finn had fought. Her plan was to lead Finn into a false sense of security. Of course she could not tell weather he would be doing the same thing, but Selena thought it best to make him think she had not gotten stronger since their last meeting. Although she ran at that speed, once she had reach one meter while running, she would spring off her right foot to jump to her right. If all went to plan Finn would have ran towards Selena too, at that speed if she remembered correctly. And again remembering from past experiences he would run towards her as well and try to catch her off guard. If he did, he should not be expecting her sudden movement. If this was the case Finn's left side would be open of a quick attack. Selena's original jump to the right was enough to dodge anything Finn would do from that distance, but not launch her so far that she couldn't then run up and give a quick jab to the left side of his head, then proceeding to make some distance between them. The edge of the arena, near the steps, the opposite end to where she had just entered, was where she would aim to do after she would attempt her jab weather she hit or not. However Selena would only attempt this if Finn had run towards her, other wise it would just of jumped to the right as she ran the 1 meter, while keeping her guard up and watching for any other sudden movements then retreating to the edge of the arena near the steps up to the arena on the opposite side again.

As Finn's eyes were on her hips, he could tell she was going to begin running before she even started. Her hips dropped, her center of gravity dropping to allow for a quick burst of speed. She had begun to move as the distance was four meters. Finn's own center of gravity sunk down as well, ready to act at a moments notice as the distance would close- This included both closing the distance between them, or attempting to maintain it, as well as potential counters when she got close.

Then, something odd happened. Selena had accelerated to fifteen meters per second within a single meter. Her forward momentum was drastic, and she'd only been accelerating. That said- She then tried to dig her right foot in and leap to her right. With her forward momentum only increasing due to the fact that she would have had to be accelerating that whole time (as to go 0-15 m/s within 1 meters distant was incredibly tolling on the body), she would attempt to leap to the right. This leap would continue forward, but also bring both her feet off the ground.

That being said- Such a thing was not able to do instantly. She'd have to push off harder with her right foot at the very least, attempting to move to the side. She could not completely redirect momentum like that. She'd be leaping to the right, while also moving forward. If she had pushed off with her left foot, such a move would be able to make a drastic angle of change- At least potentially. Leaping with her right foot and attempting to go to her right, however, she'd still be going relatively straight.

Finn had already begun to move. As her foot had slammed into the ground, Finn stepped forward with his left foot- which had been leading. As she began to leap, Finn would be lifting his right foot off the ground. As she went airborne and forward, Finn's right foot would be coming up for a front kick, aiming at what had been her face. However, with her going airborne, his foot would be lower- It would be hitting her on her sternum.

His own body would be grounded, unlike hers. Despite her forward momentum, he'd be hitting her high. Regardless of if she got her arms in the way (which would be unlikely as they were likely used to aid her momentum for the jump), she'd be pushed backwards in mid air. Slamming his foot down as he made momentum, she'd then take the added damage of him stomping onto her and slamming her in the ground.

With that action done, unless the fight was immediately called, Finn would drop on top of her, leading with his right knee. This knee would be aimed at her sternum- Adding to the already building damage to her ribs and likely starting to now fracture or break ribs. As his right knee would land, assuming he landed on top of her again, Finn would twist to slam his left elbow down onto her face. His elbow would be following the same momentum as his knee. His elbow would slam into the side of her head, into her temple. With her air knocked out of her, her back aching and re-securing the fact that she had no air in her body, there would be nothing she could do.

Likely already out of breath and seeing stars, her consciousness would be ripped from her. Having been airborne, there would be nothing she could do to dodge it- And with the near instantaneous meeting of his foot and her chest, there would be little to no chance of her getting arms or hands in the way to block. This would be the fight.

As Selena jumped she realized her mistake. She thought she would have been gone more to the right but she had just gone straight. Luckily Selena's hands had never left their positions she had run. Just before she had ran Selena had noticed Finn Raise his left  foot and place it outwards, as he moved his hips. To this Selena raised her left leg in a straight kick towards his chest and trying to raise her other arm to her chest. Although Selena's right forearm was in front of her chest, Finn's heel Still made contact with it, pushing it into her chest, although the blow was heavily softened. As soon as her arm was touched with his foot, She then kicked out with her left foot which she had raised to try and kick him in the chest, aimed for his sternum. Since Selena's legs were slightly longer than Finns, it should hit him. If the kick was successful and not blocked Finn would be slightly winded and unable to continue with his actions, leaving Selena on the ground and able to retreat to the edge f the arena in a dash towards the edge of the arena. She would retreat by getting to her feet quickly and dashing backwards. However if her plan was not successful she would take all of Finn's blows and unable to act any further, giving Finn the game.

OOC:

OOC:

Finn's elbow would connect with her head, being raised and brought down again repeatedly until the fight was called or he was physically dragged off of her. With the fight ended, he stood over the broken and bloody opponent, a triumphant smile on his face. The crowd had gone almost silent- Was he really from Blue Pegasus? Such brutality, such ferocious behavior. He was more of a predator than he was a fighter, surely.

Still- In his own way, this was the beauty he brought to his guild. There was beauty in his fighting, a pureness that could rarely be found. He did not fight for the honors, nor the rewards. He did not bring himself against an opponent with a weak heart or little ambition. He strode forward with the intent to take on someone who was always perceived to be an equal, with the goal of coming out the victor. He fought the only way he knew how, which was the same for everyone man or woman. Indeed- He was a true Pegasus.