Round 2: Kayla Croft vs. Mikaela Bryson

Ah... Finally. For the first time in a long time, she could smile. After the last few weeks, months, and everything that'd happened, being back here made her feel alive again. This was easy. There weren't any complicated emotions, any awkward run-ins, any stupid people. Just her and a target. She tapped her foot against the tile, listening to the sound bounce off the walls and marble pillars. Sculptures, paintings, the whole works. Kayla had never been in a museum before, but she hadn't come to take in the scenery.

The wait had been unbearable. She flexed her fingers, sparks crackling in her palm, drawing in a deep breath as she stared down her opponent. Ready.

Mikaela took a deep breath. She'd never met her opponent, but her reputation was known school-wide. The Summer was lucky enough to make it past round 1, and now she had to face one of the most dangerous students in the school. Just her luck. She looked around, noticing that they were in a building. She could probably use this to her advantage. But it would a last resort, as it would take an immense amount of energy. She also eyed the girl, who seemed to be ready for the fight. Neither of them had weapons; their powers were enough.

She'd never seen the other girl before, but she did her best to measure her up in the early silence before the battle. Taller, but only by a couple inches, skinny, about her age, had a bit of a punk look. It wasn't obvious at first glance what her power was, but she expected she was about to find out. What was her name again? Mikaela? Kayla watched her, drinking everything in from the color of her hair to the way she stood to the expression on her face as she glanced around the museum.

That was the signal. Without missing a beat, Kayla straightened her arm, holding up her wrist. Snap! A crack rang out through hall as a vivid blue blast of lightning went streaking down the corridor toward her opponent.

No restraints, no stress, just adrenaline. She'd forgotten what she'd loved about this tournament.

Mikaela had no time to prepare as she got struck and was sent backwards, sliding on the polished floor of the museum. She sat back up, her hair and clothes smoking slightly. 'So this is how she's gonna play?' she thought. She ran at the girl, letting her power take over as vibrations went through the floor, causing the ground to shake. Before she got to the other girl, she wheeled to a stop and sent a massive wave of vibrations at her. That alone took a large amount of energy, but all she needed to do was catch her breath. "Let's see how she handles this..." she mumbled to herself.

Man, things would've been a lot simpler if that was enough to drop her for good. Kayla pulled her hand back, getting ready to follow up with another bolt while she was down, but the girl got to her feet and broke into a run. Tremors ran through the floor, shaking the walls, and Kayla stumbled, electricity whipping around her. "What the f—...?!" Could she cause earthquakes or something?! The other girl came to a stop, but the shockwaves still surged toward her, bigger now, and Kayla went spilling to the ground.

Agh, fuck! There was a flash of pain as she came down, elbow first, on the hard tile, rolling across the floor. A marble bust of some philosopher fell off its podium and smashed against the ground, a foot away from her head. She grit her teeth as she struggled to find balance again, pulling herself onto one knee. Anything too intense and she's going to bring the whole fucking roof down on top of us... Maybe that was her plan. They never made things easy, did they? She couldn't underestimate her.

Mikaela smirked as her attack worked. But the original adrenaline of Kayla's lightning bolt was beginning to wear off and she felt pain in her back, where she landed on and slid across the floor. She took a few breaths, then began walking towards the girl, grabbing a vase that was teetering on a pedestal next to her. She threw it at her opponent and shattered it midair using minimal vibrations, sending shards towards Kayla. She leaned against the wall for support as she regained her breath after those attacks. She needed to start fighting smart.

A crash. It exploded like a bomb, raining shards down at her. Sparks popped around her like firecrackers as she threw her arms in front of her to guard her face, but it was only a marginal defense. Ceramic shards sliced at her arms, her shoulders, her leg, her waist from her kneeling position, leaving a dozen cuts across her bare skin and tears in her clothing. She bit at her lip, swallowing a growl of pain, and sprung to her feet, electricity coiling around her wrists.

Kayla held out her hand, light flickering across her fingertips, and a small bronze statue the shape of angel went flying into her palm. The distance wasn't great anymore. She charged forward toward the girl leaning against the wall, swinging it like a scepter, electricity rippling across the polished metal surface.

Mikaela saw this coming, but didn't manage to get completely out of the way in time. It grazed her shoulder, causing electricity to flow through her again, tasing her. However on her fall down, she managed to send a small blast towards Kayla's chest. She writhed on the ground. It wore off and soon she was just breathing heavily on the ground. She rolled over onto her back, groaning, trying to look at Kayla. What was the Autumn going to do next?

The angel smashed into the wall, bending from the force, but she managed a grazing blow that made the other girl collapse from the sheer voltage. Kayla yanked it from the wall, turning, but that's when it hit her. A concussive pulse blasted her backwards, hitting the floor with a choked gasp of pain. The impact knocked the air out of her, the statue flying out of her hands and clattering against the floor. Get up, get up... She sucked in a deep breath and rolled, pushing herself back onto unsteady feet.

She couldn't waste any time. Through the haze of pain, her eyes landed on the girl on the ground. Kayla lifted her foot, electricity snaking up her leg, and stomped down.

Mikaela was sitting up when the girl stomped her foot down. Electricity snaked from her foot and onto the Summer. She jerked and the electricity left her as quickly as it had hit her. Her clothes were smoking again as she fought not to pass out. Struggling to her feet, she smirked at the girl before putting all of her strength into one last attempt at a fight. She jumped, and as she came down she put all of her energy into the vibration that shook the entire building, causing all the paintings and everything else to fall and shatter. And with that she collapsed onto the ground, accepting whatever fate came to her, death by collapsing building, or death by Kayla.

Kayla stepped back, and the girl jumped.

Boom! A rumble shook the building, making all the picture frames slide off the wall to break against the ground, loose debris raining from the ceiling. Chunks of concrete the size of softballs fell and broke against the ground as the museum began to collapse around them. Kayla fell with the other girl, tottering off balance from the last massive burst of energy. Damn it... She grit her teeth, clambering to her feet as the ground vibrated beneath her. This wasn't going to save her. She'd learned enough from her first tournament that it didn't matter if they both died a millisecond apart as long as someone died first.

She stepped over the other girl, raising her foot again, and stomped down on her neck.

It all crumbled around them.

Mikaela, looking at a last act of fight, caught the foot before it could crush her throat and pushed on it, sending Kayla sprawling. She staggered her way to her feet. They were going out together, she wasn't going to give up anymore. She picked up a semi-heavy piece of wall and walked over to the Autumn. She held it up over her and brought it down as hard as she could towards her opponent's head.

This girl was just full of surprises. There wasn't any time for the surprise to register in her head; the girl grabbed her foot and pushed, sending her twisting as she fell to the ground. Her head cracked against the tile to make stars flash across her vision. What...? A blurry shape loomed over her, something clutched in her hand. She couldn't think. There wasn't any time for that. It was all just instinct as her enemy smashed the rock down toward her face.

Kayla rolled, only hearing the crash of the rock against the floor, and shot out her hand.

The bronze angel statue, still bent and broken on the ground behind her, quivered and launched into the air. It didn't fly into Kayla's hand this time; it went shooting towards the back of the other girl's head.