Tournament Arc! Forrest Waldstein vs Al Ciendra, the Rematch

[Forrest Waldstein]

Of all the possibilities, this one spelled disaster...

Although Forrest managed to eke out a win last time, Al knew exactly what to do this time. The sinking feeling wouldn't fade away, Forrest was certain he was about to meet his maker this time. He did, however, have one more trick up his sleeve. One thing he had yet to do with his Semblance was to experiment with Dust applications. Such an idea would greatly diversify Forrest's arsenal, especially in this fight. On the bright side, Forrest managed to make amends with Al between the last match and now. At least he'd be fighting a friend rather than a rival.

Even then, it doesn't make a difference... Forrest pondered. He knew Al was competitive, and given a second crack at a fight like this, there was nothing he could do this time. His luck had to run out eventually.

Maybe I could catch Al by surprise with that... No, she knows not to let up at all. I'm going to be under constant, fiery pressure until the end... Forrest despondently thought out possible strategies, all roads seemingly ending on the same path. Despite the loudest cheers and overwhelming support from the audience, Forrest never felt so powerless before. He stood in his corner of the arena, disheartened, awaiting for Al to arrive...

[Al Ciendra]

Al entered the arena with a smile on her face, sure it was hidden behind her mask but the way she carried herself into the ring, with a jovial pace and lightweight ease made it obvious she was looking forward to this fight, she always did like rematches, just fighting open-handed no real surprises, both knew what the other could do and all it came down to was strength and skill.
Forest may have her beat in the latter category, she learned to accept that after their recent conversation, but she also knew she was more powerful than him.

Yet, as she saw her pal on the other end of the arena her heart sunk a little, right...Forest was a tactician, he needed the element of surprised and a hidden hand to fight at his full potential and now that he didn't have that...he knew he was at a major disadvantage, even Al could recognize that.
She sighed, as she waved to him.
"Hey Forest!"
She greeted him as she closed the distance, standing before her pal, as she pulled her mask up a little to show him a smile.
"To a good fight and...the winner buys the other some ice cream, hows that sound?"
She offered him her hand to shake, just like last time in their previous match, Al was being as friendly and cordial as she could be.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Hey Forrest!" Al called out as she jovially strode into the arena, waving to Forrest. He waved back and turned his attention to her as she got close. She lifted her mask slightly, enough for Forrest to see her smile. Al offered for the winner to buy ice cream as she extended her hand to shake. Noticing this, Forrest couldn't help but smile at her warmly in return as he nodded to accept her terms.

"Thanks Al, you're sweet to offer... To a good match." Forrest replied, shaking her hand. The now-familiar passive warmth of Al's hand enveloped his own, no longer catching him off guard. They both knew what to expect of each other, their strengths and weaknesses, their approach to battle, and so on.

Maybe there is a difference after all, between fighting a rival and a friend... thought Forrest bittersweetly as they both took their respective positions in the arena, waiting for the klaxon to sound...

[Al Ciendra]

Al giggled as she lightly punched Forest's arm.
"To a good match, buddy!"
Al said before she strode back to her side of the ring, pulling down her mask along the way, as she took her stance, Gladio being drawn both in axe form with a stylish twirl of the axe handles as Al stood there rather casually, sure she ready to start dashing and her axes ready but sides that she looked rather relaxed.
Which...was important as Al took a deep breath and just let her head go as blank as she could make it, overthinking was what broke her back last match, this time she'd leave it to good old instinct, no worries just fighting!

As she yet spoke up.
"Ready or..."
The gong sounded and fire immediately surrounded Al in a radiant glow, her silhouette barely visible under the roaring flame now coating her body, as brighter flames formed the shape of a demonic face complete with a wide grin.
"...not, here I come!"
Al launched herself forward as an explosion went off that shook the arena and Al shot towards Forest at breakneck pace, but this time she was smart, she had prepared more charges to correct her momentum should Forest try and dodge, her axes would be hot on his tail regardless.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest chuckled a bit as Al playfully punched his arm, obviously not dealing any kind of damage to him. As Al turned to make it to her corner of the arena, it at least gave Forrest time to strategize a game plan...

I'm not a betting man, but Al is gonna charge at me, isn't she?... Forrest thought, wondering how he could counteract a charging Al. Just then, a spark of inspiration hit him. Dust bullets and crystals were allowed for use, and Forrest had yet to experiment with combining his Semblance with Dust.

Would Fire Dust grant any resistance to Al's flames? Water could work too... he mused.

"Ready or... not, here I come!" Al spoke as the gong sounded, her form being enveloped in flames as she shot forward rapidly.

I knew it! he thought. Thinking quickly, Forrest inserted a Water Dust crystal into Grashalm, intending to channel his Semblance through it. Swiping his sword upwards from the ground, he channeled Sylvan Anthem through it. Forrest watched as a deeply saturated wave of wood sprung to life in front of him, dripping with water. There was something different about these plants, he could feel it innately. Forrest hoped the wall of soaked wood could at least buy him some time to dodge Al's incoming barrage of attacks.

[Al Ciendra]

And there was response, vines in her path, she could destroy these easily!
AL raised her axes for a cross slash, that should allow for an easy path through and she did hit...but, there was no fire, the flames coating her axe just went out, while her axes still did their job and cut into the vines this was not nearly fast enough.
Yet, Al noticed water leaking out of the vines, oh, Forest had infused his semblance with dust!
Well, that was cool, but water was a very, very poor choice.
Al grinned as her flames went blue and with a mighty roar Al released a mighty shockwave of flames that ripped apart the vines and evaporated the water within them, as Al now stood in the cloud of steam and smoke, while, she could not see in it, she could breathe fine as her mask got to work, filtering out the smoke, and she could hear Forest, his steps and fast breathing, as with her new cover Al created multiple orbs of flames hovering in the cloud.

Al then shot out of the cloud, hovering in the air as she slashed her axes forward twice and then another cross slash, creating two fast waves of flames flying towards Forest and a slower yet stronger one following up, when Forest responded, Al snapped her fingers and the rays of fire shot out from the cloud towards him.
With a smirk, Al ended her pincer attacks as with another explosion shot herself towards Forest like a cackling axe wielding meteor.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest's face went from surprise to worry as he noticed Al immediately start using her blue flames when she realized her normal flames wouldn't be enough. Steam rapidly flooded the arena as Forrest replaced the water Dust crystal with one of gravity Dust. If he couldn't quench the flames with water, he'd have to create vacuums with gravity to snuff them out. Before he could make his way out of the cloud of steam, Forrest was caught by surprise by a wave of blue fire. A second one followed shortly afterwards, but he was prepared for this one. With a wide slash of Grashalm, the gravity dust left a vacuum in the wake of the attack, effectively removing part of the wave of fire. It mitigated the damage a bit, but the pressure was still being put on Forrest.

When Forrest made his way out, he was followed by two rays of fire. Forrest was able to snuff out one with a swing of his weapon, but he ended up taking the brunt of the second ray of fire. Forrest could hear her cackling as an explosion as the fiery orbs and Al herself lunged towards him, trying his best to defend himself with parries and deflects against Al's attacks.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was relentless, while Forest was skilled and they were on relatively even ground normally Al had literal explosive power pushing her towards Forest, her first strike which he did parry making their blades sing with a loud CLANG, sending vibrations through their arms.
Al kicked off Forest, quickly blasting herself forward again for another rapid flurry of slashes against her opponent, her aggression was predictable, so Forest could most likely lend another parry but, Al was ready for it, stomping her foot on the floor to create a shockwave of flame to knock Forest back and stop him from capitalizing of his counter, following the knockback up with an exhalation of fire breath towards him, which disguised her next follow up, a heavy-handed uppercut slash powered up by a rocket boost with both her axes, aiming to knock Grashalm out of his hands with a roaring battle cry, as the force of the attack was straining both Al's muscles and her semblance.