Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

24: Not So Different

Anxiety fizzled in her gut like a bottle of soda as Elise rocked on the balls of her feet. Ugh, if only I have a powerful ice-type with me. I could have used his own tricks against him.

It's alright, no use in lamenting what could have been.

Elise sighed and rubbed her face. Okay, so I'll transform into a Blaziken. Strong attack power and a good counter against ice. Prevents me from being trapped.

You can clear lots of ground by jumping. Don't stay in one place for too long.

Let him wear himself out first. He gets more sluggish the longer it draws on. If you come too close, it might warm him up and make it harder to fight him.

"Right, right, right..." Elise muttered to the empty air around her. "Todoroki can probably immobilize me if I stand around too much. We'll have to play a waiting game."

She shook her hands as if it would get rid of the trembling in them and began walking to the entrance. There was no point in fretting about this. Either she was going to win this or she was going to lose. Simple as that. Elise desperately hoped that she would be able to hold her own against Todoroki's overwhelming power and expertise.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the first match of our finalizer round! Both Todoroki and Wing have shown promising potential, but who will win this match and move onto the final round???"

Todoroki stared at her impassively. Elise gave him a small nod. "I understand you Todoroki," she said to him. "Knowing a person who doesn't consider you as their child. I'm sorry."

For a second his face twitched, a flash of anger shining through his eyes. "You don't understand anything."

"START!"

Todoroki didn't waste time sending a wave of ice at her. She transformed into a Blaziken just in time to cross her arms in front of her and light a fire. The ice slammed into her and steam rose up from where they came in contact with the fire on her arms. She put them down and readied herself to jump clear of the towering ice that blocked Todoroki from her view. Clearing the ice with a loud boom, she countered a blast of ice midair with a strike of fire. Elise landed solidly back on the ground, the air around her heating up as her internal temperature got higher.

Stay away from him.

Right, right.

A sharp spear of ice grazed her arm, a line of red bleeding through the feathers. Elise grasped it and used it as leverage to leap up high, landing on another large ice structure as Todoroki tried to attack her in midair. She had to leap off it onto another one as Todoroki armed another one at her. A well-aimed kick shattered the third attack as Elise realized that Todoroki was trying to cage her in. Taking in a deep breath, Elise allowed herself a moment of reprieve before she charged through the ice.

The ice shattered like glass as she burst out of it at full speed. The ground passed beneath her in a blur as she rushed to Todoroki, two fireballs forming in her claws. One of them was thrown at the wall of ice that Todoroki made and she crashed through the weakened barrier and tossed her other one at another burst of ice.

Todoroki dodged the flaming kicks that she aimed at him, backing away from each powerful blow. He aimed his hand at her and pain bloomed in her chest as she was thrown across the stage. Elise landed on her back just shy of the boundary line, ice encasing her chest and shoulders. She barely got to her feet before she found herself covered head to toe in ice. A surprised cry escaped her as she tried to break free of the frozen glacier. When that proved futile, Elise resorted to letting herself be covered in fire. She wasn't sure if it worked, but the sizzling of water told her that it did.