(Tuesday May 4th)(Since no one specified a location I'll just go with the basic stone ring.)

Raem slowly made his way to the ring. The crowd was getting restless, and yearning for bloodshed.
"Get on with it!"
"We want blood!"
"Start the massacre!"

"Hmph... These monsters want a bloodbath eh? Well I suppose we'll just have to wait and see..."

As he hopped into the ring, the cold dry wind blew through his light brown hair, causing it to rustle in the breeze. He wore a black ninja garb with the pattern of a light blue dragon sewn into the back. Roughly 6' 4," he stood confidentally in the ring staring at the crowd around him. The entire audience was nothing but a mixture of demons and monsters. Hardly the kind that he wished to surround himself with, but in a place like this good company was difficult to come by. Unfortunately this company in particular did not seem very pleased to see him either.

"He's a fighter?"
"No way!"
"He probably can't even lift that sword let alone fight with it!"

Calmly Raem looked down to the katana sheathed at his side.

"If every thing goes well I won't even have to lift it." He said to himself confidently. After tightly pulling up his fingerless gloves, he began to hop up and down from foot to foot.
"Heh. Whoever my opponent is, he won't know what hit him."
A smile spread across his face as he eagerly awaited his opponent.

Rimorati stepped through the enormous doors and into the ring that was prepared for his next massacre. his white hair fell just below his shoulders and outlined his thin face so that he looked ghast and diseased. "Pitiful swine" he muttered as he stared forward at his opponent. He threw off his duster and revealed his clothing. Black jeans split up to the knee and no shirt. His body was thin but muscular and very pale. He sprinted toward his adversary and jumped into the air much higher than any human possibly could. The sun shone upon his back and shileded him from his opponent's sight. He landed with his back to Raem, merely inches from him. "You should be more careful. I could've killed you already. But I like a challenge." He spun and attempted to wrap his left arm around Raem's throat while he drove his long fingernails toward Raem's back, trying to break his skin so he could excrete his poison directly into raem's blood.

Raem was shocked. He had not expected to face an opponent such as this. Both Rimorati's appearance and abilities caught him completely by surprise. Sensing the oncoming attacks from behind, Raem knew that he had very little time to react. Quickly sinking to the ground while spreading his legs apart, he was able to accomplish a full split. As his opponents hand drove forward, Raem was just barely able to dodge the attack by a hair.
...Literally.
As he rolled out of the way he noticed a few strands of his hair float softly to the ground.
"Oh don't worry." He replied confidently. "If there's one thing I can give you its a challenge. It's what I can take away from you that you should be worried about."
Gazing at his opponent he was able to get a better look at what he was fighting. Carefully he studied the pale figure before him.
'Man. This guy looks like a ghost. What the hell is he. He thought silently to himself.
'Well I suppose there's no use worrying about it. It's time to get things started.
Quickly he charged his ghostly opponent. Without unsheathing his blade, he jumped into the air and aimed a high kick right towards Rimotari's head.

RImorati was in no way surprised by Raem's dodging. he had made it this far on his own skill and that had merit within itself. Raem's kick landed on the side of Rimorati's head, he had made no attmept to dodge or block it. He flew sideways throught the air like a baseball freshly smacked by a bat. He positioned his left arm towards the ground and stuck out two fingers. They touched and ground and he used them as a platform for pressure. Pressing them into the stone he nimbly forced his entire body upward, perofrming a backflip in the air and landing on his feet. One thing RImorati knew must've caught Raem's attention was teh fact that he weighed basically nothing and would be easily thrown about. With his eyes half shut he stared at Raem with extreme pleasure plastered on his face. "A challenge you say? I've yet to find it." He began running at raem and bent just as he was about to reach him, he cartwheeled toward him in the last step, with his feet positioned to slam directly into the back of Raem's head.

'This guy weighs practically nothing!... And yet my kick had no effect at all.'
Once again, Rimorati had managed to get behind him and was wasting no time with his attack. His speed was simply astounding. His looks would never give anyone the hint that he could move so swiftly. However, as Raem was soon realizing, looks could be very deceiving. Unfortunately for him, this deceit in particular had left him in a very compromising possition. Quickly Raem's eyes darted toward the blade at his side.
'No. Not yet...'
As fast as he could manage, Raem tried to sidestep out of the way. He was able to avoid a direct blow, but Rimorati still clipped the side of his right shoulder. The impact of the blow pushed against him and caused him to twirl a full 180 degrees. While still in mid-spin he began to gather energy into his right hand as he curled it into a fist. An aura of electricity surged down his arm and surrounded his clenched fist.
"So you don't see me as a challenge yet do you? Well that's your first mistake! We'll just have to wait and see if you have time for a second one."
As hard as he could, Raem swung his fist down towards the white haired warrior.
"This is for the 'Pitiful swine' remark!"

Rimorati landed on his feet and turned his back to Raem. Raem's attack slid neatly between Rimorati's side and his arm. "Agility is the ultimate weapon." He threw his left arm back in an attempt to elbow raem in the throat while his right arm clasped Raem's punching attack. Raem's momentum was all forward and it would be nearly impossible for him to shift it quickly enough to dodge the attack that was now flying at him in the opposite direction.

Raem's eyes widened in shock.
"NO!-"
But it was too late to react. Rimorati's elbow connected and drove itself hard into Raem's throat. The attack sent him sprawling backwards. As he landed hard on his back, the cement began to crack beneath him. Quickly getting to his feet, Raem grasped his neck in pain. After a moment of profuse coughing, a small drop of blood dripped from his mouth. It lightly splattered against the pavement leaving behind a small stain. Raem lowered his eyes to stare down at the drop of blood for a moment before raising them towards his opponent.
'I can't afford to underestimate him again. I must win this. losing is not an option.'
"Well now. It seems that it was I who made the mistake after all. A mistake which I don't plan on making again! You may be fast, but lets see you dodge the speed of light... Or the speed of lightning if you'd prefer."
Slowly he brought both of his arms out in front of him. He focussed his eyes solely on Rimorati. To Raem nothing else existed any longer. It was just the two of them, and the unforgiving ring. A large amount of electric current surged through him and focussed into the palms of his hands.
"Try to dodge this!"
Immediately intense bolts of lightning fired from his hands aimed in Rimorati's direction.

((Come on Sean, its the last day to do this fight. We've already had a day of nothingness. Post something))

Rimorati leapt into the air, attempting to frog hop over the bolts of electricity but he wasn't quite agile enough. They caught his legs and the shocks forced his body to convulse. His hair smoked as he hit the ground. "God damn boy. That was one hell of a shot." He rolled onto his back and propped himself up with his arms. Pressing his barely noticeable weight he climbed back to his feet. "I wouldn't be ashamed to lsoe to you...but unfortunately you won't have the pleasure of defeating me." With that he curled into a ball and began rolling toward Raem, once he was mere inches from him he sprung out of the ball form with a double kick directed at Raem's throat where he had already connected with a tonfur.

'Doesn't this guy feel any pain?' Raem asked himself in shock.
Though his lightning attack had made contact, it seemed to do little to affect the tough skinned light-weight. In another surprise move Rimorati had endured the attack and curled into a ball before unleashing his next assault. His abillity to harness his strengths and weaknesses gave him a huge edge in battle. Rimorati's unique style of fighting left Raem completely off-guard. In previous battles, Raem was able to overcome his opponents by studying their style, and being able to predict their moves. Unfortunately, Rimorati's style was so unorthidox that Raem remained unable to properly counter any of his attacks. If he was to win this fight, he would need to develop a new strategy on the fly.

With great force, Rimorati's feet connected with Raem's already aching throat. The arachnid warrior followed a tactical strategy of focussing his attacks on one body part in what was most likely an attempt to cripple his opponent. Unable to keep his footing, Raem was knocked into the air by Rimorati's attack. As he began to feel the intense pain surging into his neck, time itself seemed to slow down. Soaring through the air, Raem tried to regain his composure. By leaning his head backwards, he performed a backflip and landed on his feet. However, he did not stay still long. As more blood dripped from his mouth, he leapt forward while grasping the hilt of his blade.
"Now's as good a time as any!" He yelled defiantly.
Finally unsheathing his blade, he quickly performed a downward slash. Focussing an enormous amount enrgy into his blade, he cried:
"LIGHTNING SLASH!!!!!"
The powerful attack was aimed directly at Rimorati. If luck was on Raem's side, lightning would indeed strike in the same place twice, and he would be one step closer to the finals.

Rimorati being already injured from the prior attack had no way of dodging this next assault. The blade and lightning crashed directly on his head, driving him into the ground. His shelled skin would not protect him this time has it split down his back. "AAAAAAAAAHG!" He cried out in terror and pain. "This can't be! This can't be my end!!!!" He reached out his right arm in a last ditch effort to take Raem out with him. Latching onto his ankle he hoped to use his body as a conductor of electricity into Raem's. "I may not live, but I know you won't!"

(((That should probably be the end, i'll get the judges)))

who are the judges anyway?

Sean: Your posts were somewhat short, but otherwise I liked yours alot. You stayed away from the normal elemental attacks, which I think it made it more interesting. You'res were fun to read.

Derek: Your posts were rich with detail, but your style was very basic. I think, "writing wise" you would win, but I go more by creativity. The lightning thing has been done a million times before. Ironically, frequently by myself.


So, Sean gets my vote. Sorry man.

While I may not be the best person to judge (considering I think that conceding to your opponent on purely plot-based terms is not a good method of conducting an RP duel, and I know Fezzod agrees with me on this that Gekitou-style [or positional specifics, writing-quality over drama] drastically improves the quality of a fight's description and lay-out, without interceding on any plot you want to put in), I will try and give a fair and impartial movement here, based on my standards excluding typical Gekitou styles.

Sean

Pros: Arrogant evil villain attacks and then does self-sacrifice in the last few seconds of battle. Not bad, not bad. Decent description, tolerable concession, and good physical position

Cons: Characterizations were failing about... post two. Also, the posts seemed a bit... convoluted, shorter, and strained more than Slade's.

Slade

Pros: Good guy with lightning powers. Good power to invoke creativity in dodging, some decent characterization, tolerable concession, and length in description was significant.

Cons: Ah... Bad physical positions, a lack of creativity in utilizing such an ability, a few grammar and spelling errors that stuck out blaringly, but I don't count that for much against you, being that i'm a stickler for that stuff...

My vote goes...

Hm. I think I honestly have to go Sean for the last ditch plot-related shebang, despite the ineffectiveness as the match ended, because of his attempt to score brownie points by combining plot with position.

BR's vote: Sean.

I liked Sean's character a bit more because it was more original than Slade's generic hero type. The overall quality of posting was pretty good on both ends. Even though Slade wins the battle I need to vote for Sean for liking his character more. And also, Slade called out his attack as he did it, how lame is that?

Well, that settles it, Sean goes to round 2.