phoenix ✦ k.takami (hawks)

Forty Eight

You shot up again to flip over and plant your heels firmly in his chest, fast and flawless—25%. "First Quarter!" Your legs go numb for a split second due to the iron soles of your boots being overwhelmed for the lack of give upon impact, 0%. A large limb smacks you out of the sky and you go flying once again.

Already your body is beginning to ache due to the blows it's been taking. You've been stockpiling in the background but used up almost all of what you had already as a first attempt at incapacitation; already up to 5%. The wind is starting to feel good against your seemingly blazing skin, but you can't think about how good that feels when the thought of what happened at training camp crosses your mind. You let your eyes close to gather your thoughts for a second before you can take in your surroundings, 10%. That thing that was attacking you may or may not be a Nomu. It looked similar to the one that was captured at the USJ incident early last year when the freshman first began, but different enough that it made you guess twice since this seemed like a hurricane in comparison.

You have to remember that this isn't time to think, only time to protect the citizens that have yet to evacuate and overcome your opponent, no matter the cost. You reach to your side to grab the staff that you had quickly become fond of, you weren't sure what you would do without it; 15%. You throw your hands out in front of you while extending the staff, digging it into the surface of a rooftop. Once you've come to a full stop you throw your head up at the sudden presence in front of you. You jolt backwards in a second, the knuckles of Nomu's fists just barely brushing against the rim of your visor. Your hair whooshes behind your head due to the speed. You stumble up to your feet while simultaneously moving backwards to avoid being hit. Each dodge and parry is a close call, you're pinned down and can't find an opening, 20%.

You just have to look harder while also prioritizing your survival. You're moving left, right, and backwards at this point to parry and slide millimeters out of the way of a flying right hook, eyes flitting around Nomu to find any sort of weak spot that you can take advantage of, 22%. You had become too accustomed to the pattern of punches he was throwing that you were totally unprepared for the left hook. The impact to the side of your head makes your ears ring but it also somehow gives you a chance to notice that when Nomu pulls both of his arms back, his right arm hitches before following a second after the left. You can feel enough power stored up for you to do First Quarter if you need to, but since it didn't work the first time you figured you needed to up the ante a bit. You step to the side to dodge his left arm before using your staff to block his right. There's a small hum of confusion from Nomu before he tilts his head; you're at 30% now.

This temporary lapse in overpowering you doesn't seem to phase him, though. Instead he puts his other hand on the staff as well, forcing you to mirror his actions to counteract the weight; 34%. He's still able to outdo you even now strength wise though you weren't sure what to expect when it came to fighting one of these things. You can feel the tread of your boots scraping for traction while you try to anchor yourself into one spot, 38%. You aren't sure how much time has passed before your back hits the wall and all the oxygen is knocked from your lungs. You still don't give in. Your arms are shaking and your body feels hot, like every bone in your arms is going to snap if you keep this up. It's getting harder to breathe when Nomu's face is inches away from yours, 42%.

You're so close to 45% that you can feel the adrenaline starting to rush in. The sound of your staff creaking alerts you to the intangible stress it's under, followed shortly by a small crack splitting across the material of your support item. Any more weight and it'll break. You don't want to have to wait for another one to be made if this one gets destroyed, so you don't want to give it the chance to. It was like a lightbulb lit up in your head at the same time as Nomu screeches. There's the sound of wind being sucked into his throat before a hot gas builds up in his throat. He's quite literally building a star, meaning a huge, burning ball of gas in his throat to spit at you. You were mere inches away from death and it excited you.