Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer

Heidi stumbled a bit over his foot, though she didn't fall. She drew out the stumble a bit, deciding to let Luke get some space again. She'd go easy on him.

Luke hurled a throwing knife into the ground in front of her, one of the ones that had a cable attached to its pommel, and moved around, trying to use the rope to trip Heidi properly since she was stumbling. He had learned to fight without his Flow before, he could god-damn do it again.

Heidi cursed under her breath as the string managed to wind its way around her foot. She kicked up, hoping to dislodge the knife and not cut herself with it when it flung up. In retrospect, that action probably wasn't a good idea.

Because Luke's arm was still underdeveloped after five years of pretty much never being used, the knife was easy enough to dislodge, something which irked him now he got the chance to think about it. He moved forward, trying to use it as a distraction to get close, where he grabbed her spear arm and tried to disarm her.

When Luke grabbed her arm, she dropped the spear, trying to grab onto his shirt or something instead while her left hand pulled one of her own knives out of her pocket.

His loose shirt was successfully grabbed, his rather skinny and weak body unable to pull away from her grip. He opened his mouth, firing another painfully weak blast of fire from close range, hoping she'd drop the grip to escape and not be able to dodge from that range.

Heidi jumped back, wincing slightly at the burns on her right arm. That was definitely going to sting later. She let her spear lay on the ground, switching her knife into her right hand and grabbing the other one with her left. "C'mon, Two-Face, you c'n do better than that," she egged, although the nickname didn't really have any relevance anymore.

"From where I'm the standing, you're the only one what's got hurt," Luke replied, circling her from a safe distance. He hoped she wasn't referring to his lack of firepower, as he really didn't have a comeback to that, or that she wouldn't notice he was keeping his distance.

Heidi chuckled, starting to glow a pale red. She reached out, aiming to take control of Luke's blood and slow it down.

Erika had gone back to the Heidi's house where she thought Elena and Simon would be after the meeting, telling anyone who hadn't already heard the message about the fighting to pack up.

Elena was shuffling around Heidi's house. The funny blonde haired kid had left a while ago, though she wasn't sure why. And she didn't really want to go back to her house without Erika, and she wasn't sure if Simon needed anything from here, anyway. She wasn't entirely comfortable with leaving, but if Erika and Simon were coming with, it would probably be okay.

"You want me to make a general announcement for you?" Neo asked from behind Erika.

"No comeback? Heidi, I'm-" he trailed off ere, starting to feel a little woozy as the effect of Heidi's control started to take hold. He lashed out, sending two weak fire attacks her way, hoping to make a difference. A thought occured, and he realised how much trouble he'd be if her alter-ego took hold now. He was suddenly quite vulnerable. "But I-I'm not cut!"

Heidi jumped to the side, getting grazed by the first one and completely dodging the second. She dropped her control on Luke's blood, feeling a bit calmer now anyway. "I turned eighteen over the winter," she explained. "Cuts still make things easier, but they're not really necessary."

"Oh, lucky you, another person stronger than me," Luke grunted irritatedly, sending another jet of flame at the girl, and advancing, realising she could fight just as well from a distance as he could, maybe better. His best bet was to distract her with fire, and use the sword to get her to submit.

"Can it, hothead," Heidi retorted, Luke's irritation fueling back up her own. She grabbed her spear, dodging the fire in the process and turning it into a shield to block future attacks.

Luke ducked low, sending a swirl of fire along the ground, aiming to make Heidi lose her footing. He also took hold of a handful of dirt, figuring it might come in handy as a diversion later.

Heidi jumped up, pushing her blood upward to give herself more momentum. A small point formed in the center of her round shield as she aimed it downwards to slam down on Luke.

Luke slammed his sheathed sword against it, holding it with one hand of the hilt and one on the top. The point formed a notch on the scabbard, but he managed to stop it long enough for himself to charge under and skid to safety.

Heidi fell to the ground a bit unsteadily, taking a moment to relocate Luke, before charging for him.

Luke waved his hand, spreading his weak jet of fire out to make a wall in front of Heidi. He didn't reckon he could dodge her, since she appeared to be faster and stronger than him in his current rusty state.

Heidi frowned, backing away from the fire, before figuring what the hell, and pushing through it. She came out definitely burned, but it seemed like if Luke was going to get any power behind his attacks, she'd have to push him.

Luke couldn't see through fire, Flow or no Flow, so Heidi bursting through cane as a shock to him. At full power that should have burnt her to a crisp, but since it was just a weak attack spread out, it did only minimal burns, albeit burns nonetheless. He ducked back, rolling away and firing another pathetically weak attack at her.

"C'mon, why am I not burnt to a crisp?!" Heidi demanded, though she was coughing a good deal. She managed to block the attack with her shield, glowing pale crimson and quickening Luke's pulse slightly.

Erika gave a small start, before turning around. "You like to pop out of nowhere, don't you? And yes, that would be appreciated."