A Fantastical DOUBLE CHALLENGE

"The tournament?" the young man hadn't expected to hear tell of the tournament again; at least not after two months after it had happened. It had been too long ago for it to matter to most people who knew of it, but not long enough for it to come back as a point of nostalgia. Nonetheless, this stranger, met in a backwater no man's land had recognized him. Not only that, but it seemed to be the same people behind the tournament that had orchestrated what was about to go down. And apparently, by the jeering voice from a veiled figure on the far side of the range and the awkward stranger's banter, he was in for another battle.

It wasn't what had wanted, or even expected from a place like this, but it was relieving to know that he could take his frustrations out on someone other than himself and the pillars. "Looks like we'll have to team up to get through this one," he said as he watched the battle commence. The jeering figure had made the first move, throwing fire at the awkward stranger. A second person, no doubt partnered with the fire thrower had begun to move across the pillars. "Glyde Savian," he said to the stranger. It wasn't the time for true introductions, but he felt it best to at least give his name, in case there was need for communication. He then shifted his attention to the second enemy, who was en route to his position.

He watched with great interest as the enemy that had been designated to him charged forward. His initial reaction was one of sheer astonishment at the grace with which they moved. It was an inhuman prowess with which they bounded across the plane, spanning the gaps between the pillars as though they were mere stepping-stones in a shallow river. More riveting was the confidence with which that swift movement was made. It went without doubt to him that they were more than assured in their grace and footing, even in such odd conditions as what they were in. As they drew closer, the reason for this animalistic movement became apparent: they were an animal of sorts. It was a point most evident in the shape of their head.

So it’s a hunt. As the wolfman's bounds brought him ever closer to him, Glyde summoned forth his weapon of choice. Marksman, the rifle-like Keyblade that had gotten him through many tight spots, was clasped firmly in firing position. He dared not open fire on his target while they were still in motion. Odds were that with the way they were moving, he wouldn't be able to place a good enough shot in; not enough to please his own expectations of himself anyways. So instead, he traced the wolfman's across his or her path. The minute the creature was close enough for a close strike, he figured, he'd be able to put in a damaging shot.

However, his plan was not to see proper fruition. The minute the wolfman had reached a pillar in front of him, they took a leap into the air. Glyde saw that something was coming o the bold maneuver. It wasn't his idea to take the risk of putting a shot against what might have been something too big for a single shot, and in any case, be wasn't up for another brush with death. Rather than take the shot as planned, he made a run for it. In his own dashing bound, he cleared his way to an adjacent pillar, where he would land crouched down on one knee after a quick, low-centered turn around. Now facing the direction, he raised Marksman, and taking an expedited aim, placed his shot as the wolf thing finished its descent to its pillar.​

 

Glyde’s face fell into a look of disgust as his shot met with the blast of light, dispersing both energies. The shot had been perfect; the range had been close, and his aim right and true. Yet his canine con’s response proved not merely efficient, but in fact superb at keeping him well out of harms way. Perhaps if he had fired sooner, if he could have fired sooner, he would have been able to land the hit.

But what was done was done, the past being the past. As much as he detested the need to drag on such an unexpected conflict, he knew he had to press on, and keep his focus while doing so.

With his attentiveness as strong as he could hope it to be, he put himself back into his defensive mindset. He watched with both care and interest as the wolf, with that same speed and dexterity, bolted from pillar to pillar all around him. It took very little to tell him what their intentions were though. With each of the creature’s bounds, an orb of light energy was left in wake. One of them would have been no issue to deal with, nor would two, or three. But as more orbs appeared, the situation grew clearer, and he knew that he was being surrounded for an attack on all sides.

He needed little thought as to how to respond. There was only one spell up his sleeve that could even be considered. Anticipating, and predicting the movements of the orbs as the canine finished its preparations, he worked his magic, casting a Reflect-based spell. In a near instance, he was encased within a dome of his own light-based energy, which spanned the circumference of his pillar and acted its role as a shield with utmost effectiveness. The orbs, stripped down into such thin spears, were block by the dome’s tough, dense protection.

Glyde used this same moment, during which the two conflicting powers were meeting to prepare his next offense. The wolf creature was very direct in their combat, as it seemed. It was an honorable method, but rightly foolish in true practice. Battles were not wonby mashing a foe into the face. They were won through tactics and guile, which in their essence opened the floor to foul play. His tactic was a simple one, and one that he hoped would work well. It was all about taking away the one thing the wolf had over him: the speed and the dexterity.

With the ensuing flashes of light let off by the collision of the spears against the shield as his cover and distraction, he placed a spell circle down upon the pillar, one that covered the entirety of the platform. It was a dormant one, inactive, and thus, invisible, and impossible to detect by any means outside of magical sensitive magical sensory. Charged within that circle was what he believed to be his clincher: a gravity spell. Only when he activated it would the spell trigger.

“Come now!” he shouted, with his an evident hint of rage sounding in his voice. He turned around, pinpointing his opponent’s location, and working to meet their eyes honestly. “If you’ve any spin or heart, you’ll come over here and fight me like a true warrior.”​

 

((Hey Denki, I’m not gonna be too much of a stickler about it this time around, but five flagpoles, assuming it’s full sized flagpoles is well over 100 feet high, and you don’t seem to have don’t anything to facilitate such a leap without aid).

That’s unfortunate, Glyde thought. He knew his strategy was useless if he couldn’t bait the wolf man to his pillar. But what are the odds of that? He had to ponder that idea for a quick second. The truth, he concluded, was that something like that wasn’t going to happen. It wouldn’t happen without him being left a sitting duck, trying to coax the foe over his way to spring the trap. It was an option, and he knew that, but he didn’t want to use that as a crutch or anything. Staying put would only be a liability. Trying too hard to pull him into the trap would make him all the wiser to the ploy. And I can’t have him knowing what’s up my sleeve. But then… how to get him into it?

The answer came to him about as quickly as his question when he realized the wolf creature was on the move again. Airborne, they had leaped some distance above the surface of the pillars. First thing being first, he took a bound back, hoping over to the pillar directly behind the one he laid his trap upon. With the security of being out of the line of fire reassuring his next move, he cast upon himself a zero gravity spell, altered in terms of the the force with which it was packed. It was still a quick rise, but only spitting him up a bit over fifty feet in the air. From the peak of his ascension, he peered down over the span of pillars, keeping his attention partially upon his rigged pillar, and counted as best he could the pillar around it leading out to the nearest edges.

Confident in his estimates, though not in the prospect of shifting the battle enough that way anytime soon, he descended, landing in a relatively safe sprawl over his new pillar. He looked over to his “partner” who had taken the liberty of abandoning his opponent for a trade off. “Scruffy for Torch?” he said, with a sarcastic grin. “Sure. Why not? I could use a change of pace. This guy, thing, is about to get pretty boring over here. Maybe you can get him to gnaw on a good chew toy long enough to make something happen.” In haste, he jumped a few pillars before calling back, “just be careful over there. Wouldn’t want to get in your way, you know.” Finally, he turned his attentions to the fire wielder.

He cut his way around his new target, steering clear of the spinning blade before taking a moment to line up his next shot. With his opponent in a pitched motion, and the likelihood of instability after the fact, Glyde spent a more meticulous amount of time and effort to take aim. A clear shot at him, he thought, placing, and taking his shot, aimed at the lower portion of his torso, around the where the groin was. It wasn’t the most savory of places to aim, but it could get the job done, even only for a moment.​

((Clarification: The hop back onto another pillar would, if I read Denki's move correctly, place Glyde out of the line of fire of the weapon barrage. And of course, the quick burst of zero gravity was just to give him enough of vantage point to make an accurate account of where his trap pillar was. He hasn't move much since the start of battle, which makes it more reasonable a strategy, considering he started off at the edge of the pillar formation)).