A (Nan)Knight and a Dragon

Jack felt like he was in for a hell of a fight. And he's been in a lot of fights recently.

Seriously, how many spars has he been in the last couple of weeks? There was Miyu, Melody, Isamu...ok, maybe it wasn't that many, but it was all in rapid succession. It made Jack's blood pump, getting him more and more excitable as the hunter in him started to come out. As such, he's been going higher and higher up the chain, and, considering that they have butted heads before in the past and now was a good chance to blow some steam, he asked Meara if she wanted to spar. And she gladly accepted.

He quickly got into his sparring and training gear and headed out, this time flying out as a small dragon. He swore, every time he used that ability the more confused he got about it...he could turn into a huge dragon, change limbs, fire literal plasma energy, change into a smaller dragon...it all seemed like it was kind of a lot, yet it remained within the realms of what made sense for his Quirk, he supposed? He was pretty sure the plasma thing was from his mother, who could do the same thing, but otherwise...he's got nothing. Not that he was going to complain, so long as he didn't lay any eggs. That would just be weird.

He promptly arrived at Ground Alpha relatively gracefully, at least for a tiny dragon. "Hi hooooooooooo!" he called, shaking himself off and transforming back into his normal state. He seemed a lot more cheerful in real life compared to how he was in the chat...though that could easily be because he partially felt the need to hide, as was most of his childhood. He swore, the way the world was... Nonetheless, he put on a bright, sharp-toothed smile as he greeted Meara.

The hot-headed girl was quick to get to the point. It was a friendly spar, but don't hold back, etcetera etcetera. The standard pre-fight speak. It made Jack feel like he was in an anime, though he just wondered if Japan just had that effect on people. He swore, everyone talked a lot during a fight...it was almost like it was supposed to be a free action. Even he did it on occassion, though he tried not to do it too much.

Jack whistled a bit in appreciation as Meara transformed, covering herself in armor that looked futuristic yet organic at the same time. It looked oddly familiar to the boy...did he see it in one of those old games his grandfather left behind for him before he was born? He shook his head, getting his head back in the game. He at least had that advantage over most other transformation Quirkers...he could actually partially transform, versus how most others have to fully do so. If she didn't know how to manage her stamina, then this fight would be a hard one for her.

"Aight," he said simply, getting right to the point. He swore, Darren was starting to rub off on him with some of his attitude. Or was it more of his own attitude shining through? Nonetheless, he transformed his arms into their more draconic state. He had to be wary of his hands, since he couldn't really punch with paws, so he made sure to at least make sure they got the strength from his Quirk, even if only part of it.

He rushed towards Meara at top speed, acting like he was going for a punch to her jaw. However, he quickly switched up his attack, acting as if he were going for a kick to the gut instead, before swiping her legs with his tail in a single, mostly fluid spinning motion. He was at least knowledgable in martial arts, so he knew how to do certain tricks, but he also knew how to improvise with his more unnatural body parts.

Assuming his initial attack worked, he would attempt to then grab Meara by the leg, and then proceed to pull her forward and knee her right in the back, transforming his knee at the last moment, intending to send her flying. It wasn't at full strength, of course; not yet, at least. His initial rush was to show his initial hand, and to see how Meara would respond. He had high hopes, honestly, considering this was a Second Year he was fighting. This time, though, he was a bit more confident in his own strength, so he was eager to see whether Meara could keep up, if not surpass him.

Jack smirked a small bit as he managed to knock Meara down for a moment, though Meara was fairly decent on her feet as she attempted to move back. However, Jack wasn't one to try and let his opponent think things out, and he quickly charged back in the moment she backflipped, aiming to get the jump on her and land a full-powered punch to her gut, hopefully leaving a lasting impression as at that point, he'd let her catch her breath as he studied her as well.

The fact that he held the speed advantage was clear enough. However, the rest remained unclear, for the most part. He was still unsure of Meara's combative limits, so he made sure to remain wary of what she may do next. She apparently took a direct approach to start, firing energy balls at him from her cannon. He dodged a good few of them as she charged at him, though a couple of them did manage to hit the boy, though it didn't seem to affect him to an extreme degree, the boy making sure that his upper body and tail were covered with scales and hardened. The lad was a tanky one, to say the least.

As Meara got closer and closer, she then fired a rather large energy ball. Jack instinctively backflipped out of the way, even though the attack seemed more aimed towards the ground itself, creating a dust cloud. A clever tactic...but not one he was unfamiliar with. He quickly took flight as Meara attempted to hop right onto his shoulders, promptly attempting to kick her back the moment they got near each other.

If successful with that attack, he'd go up a bit higher, deciding to use a technique that he initially tried on Miyu a while back, though this time to a stronger degree. He formed his own energy balls in his hands, and began firing plasma ball after plasma towards the ground, covering the majority around the space of which she stood. The balls trailed like comets as they hit the ground, once again, of course, on a much smaller scale than the attack it was based on, but it definitely used a fair amount of power on his part, so he hoped that it didn't go to waste.

If that managed to do a decent amount of damage, Jack would then fly down towards her at top speed, hoping to finish his current assault with a fist covered in black and white plasma energy, hoping to punch her right in the face and send her flying. SHe had a helmet, so she should be fine for the most part if she took the hit. After that, he'd remain on the move, ready to dodge whatever she had to throw at him. Her energy blasts definitely packed a punch, to say the least...

Jack promptly smirked with satisfaction to see how effectively his attack worked. Of course, it didn't cause any real damage to the arena they were in; he knew how to hold back, to say the least. However, the attack more than did what it needed to, trapping Meara in an essential cage of energy, with no real way out. She got hit with a couple of the dozens of smaller energy blasts he fired, unable to escape the dragon's wrath. For that moment of Meara hopelessly trying to dodge, Jack wondered for a moment what he should call that move. A lot of cool heroes name their attacks, right? Jack pursed his lips, then shrugged, pushing the thought aside for now. He currently had bigger fish to fry than that.

As the attack began it's climax, Jack was quick to fly back down at top speed, energy coating his fist as he attempted to sock Meara square in the face. However, Meara managed to dodge right in the nick of time, dodging like...what was that one movie? The Nexus? Jack blinked a little in surprise, partly at how she managed to dodge, and partly because he wondered if she was a fan of those older nerdy things too. Hey, at least that meant they'd have more to talk about after the fight. He wasn't about to complain, and was impressed by the movement. 

That said, she attempted to blast him as he flew by her. From here, Jack was quick to try to get clear from her, flying up to avoid the good dozen of energy blasts that were fired at him. He showed off just a little bit, flying in loops, twirling around in the air like an acrobat with wings. However, at one point a couple of energy shots came a bit closer to home than he would have liked, one of them nicking Jack in the shoulder, and another clipping his tail, sending a jolt down Jack's spine. He grimmaced a little, knowing that he'd most likely have to take a different approach from here.

Deciding to abandon his more defensive capablities for a moment, Jack would suddenly begin to shift into his much smaller dragon form. Sure, it made him a practical glass cannon, if even that, but at least he retained his ability to shoot and dodge. After all, a smaller target was a harder one. With that, he managed to dodge the remaining few blasts, all of this transpiring in a matter of seconds. He dropped to the ground quickly, already on the move. It seemed that Meara was also going on the defensive, so Jack decided to keep his distance as well for the time begin. He smirked at her as much as a tiny dragon the size of a husky could, anticipating how she'd be able to handle him as he was right now.

Jack ran quickly on all fours, his entire style suddenly changing into something much more animalistic, as befitting of his form. He would wait to see what Meara herself would do, and wait for an opening. If one presented itself, he would fire his own plasma ball from his mouth at full strength, aiming to break her guard momentarily for another blast that came from his tail. He would make sure to watch her warily, as this form lacked the proper strength and durability it normally came with, he only real weapon right now being his plasma. 

Jack snorted in amusement as Meara was surprised by his sudden, smaller transformation. "What, didn't expect me to get even more adorable~?" he teased, immediately going on the move afterward. He wasn't necessarily faster in this form; he was just a much smaller target. Which, of course, proved to be a nice tip in the scales, dodging the girl's blasts gracefully. He hip-hopped to and fro, even rolled around in a ball a few times.

As he did this, he quickly returned fire, waiting for an opportunity to strike at full power. Meara dodged his initial strikes skillfully, much like the rest that she did, in all honesty. If Jack was being honest, fighting her was a good time so far, her skills matching his for the most part. If Jack could sweat, he definitely would be at this point; instead, he just panted as he ran all over the place, being a bit of a pest to hit.

Once Jack found an opportunity to strike, he took it, firing a powerful plasma ball right at Meara. However, he didn't anticipate it hitting her square in the face. Jack skidded to a halt, worry suddenly filling the dragon boy's whole body. "O-oh my God, are you ok?!" he yelped, not anticipating that level of damage to be dealt.

Once the smoke had cleared, Jack could see that he had completely blown her back, the top half of her helmet completely destroyed by the blast. Jack quickly shifted back, though small horns and scales still appeared all over his body, mostly due to anxiety than anything else. He was about to approach her, before Meara slowly got back up, sounding more impressed than anything else. However, even he could tell that she may have a concussion, due to the way she swaying around.

Despite that, though, she didn't look like she was about to give up. She gave Jack light praise on how strong the attack was, before stating how she was going to return the favor. Jack grimmaced slightly, already knowing this probably wasn't going to be good. Meara then suddenly fired off twice as many energy blasts compared to before. However, this time Jack didn't dodge a single one of them; instead Jack simply crossed his arms, blocking the torrent of blasts that came his way.

The force of the blasts actually tore at some of his clothing, even tearing off the majority of his shirt, where patches of scales covered parts of his well-built upper body, save the big scar over his heart. It wasn't so much that he was taking pity on her for causing the damage he did, it was more him wanting to even the playing field a bit. He gritted his sharp teeth, bearing through the pain across all of his body, breathing heavily as he uncrossed his arms.

"Yeah...I think I deserved most of that," he replied, grinning lightly. He honestly respected her persistance, despite the obvious head trauma she had. He partially wondered if she wanted to continue past this, despite the damage they both have caused one another. "...That all ya got for now? Or you think you have one more left in ya?" he challenged, partially testing how far she was willing to go here. He waited patiently for her response, black and white plasma crackling around him like lightning, his tail swaying from side to side in anticipation.

Jack snorted lightly in response to Meara's initial taunt as he bore the hits that she fired at him. Bold of you to assume that I did, he thought calmly, the dragon boy more than ready to keep going if Meara decided to keep pressing him. He was admittedly getting worn out by all the doubting his classmates seemed to do. Sure, he was a cuddly bitch at times, but when it came to a fight...Jack most certainly stuck true to his draconic nature. 

He then promptly rolled his eyes a little as she continued to taunt, saying that there was no such thing as a fair fight. While he supposed that was true, he didn't like how she seemed to assume he was out before the dust had even cleared yet. A low growl emitted from his chest, the first sign that he was by no means out for the count. He then smirked slightly, especially as the dust began to clear, and the dragon boy was still very much standing. He then relented that he may have deserved most of those hits just now, rolling his shoulders a little, letting the pain in his body sink in. He exhaled lightly, releasing steam from his mouth.

"Yeah, you can say that," he replied simply, his eyes narrowing as Meara's helmet fully fell off her head, her hair spilling across her shoulders, the blood from her head wound flowing down her face. Jack couldn't help but whistle through his teeth. She definitely knew how to pull off the 'tough warrioress' look. Even so...Jack knew well that he had to incapacitate her before she got into even worse shape. She already probably has a concussion; god knows how much worse it could get if they kept going. 



Thus, Jack suddenly issued a taunt of his own, seeing how much she had left in her. A plan was formulating in his mind, predicting how she would react to the taunt. As expected, she reacted with bravado, laughing and calling him cocky. "No...just confident," he replied flatly, letting the plasma roar around him as he prepared an attack. Considering her main weapon was her cannon...and considering how she fought as a whole, there was easily only one way this was going to go.

And, as expected, Meara's arm cannon suddenly seemed to flare up, black and blue energy coursing around her arm wildly. Jack's hands began to flare up with white and yellow energy himself, the sunlight beaming across the two fighters as they prepared their finishers. "Bring it," he growled, facing his arms and hands in front of him, ready to meet whatever she threw at him with equal or greater force. He had to time this right...lest either one of them gets seriously hurt.

Meara then began to fire a large, black and blue energy beam right towards him. It was easily bigger than Jack had ever seen up to that point; which means there was no going back at this point. Jack dug his feet into the ground, gritting his teeth, and fired back with a massive white and yellow beam of his own. It was almost poetic in scenery; the darkness versus the light. He didn't know what kind of darkness Meara was holding in herself right now, but...Jack was the light that would combat it. It was almost fitting, given his hero name.

As the two beams clashed, sparks of energy flew all over the place. Jack grunted in exertion, putting almost everything he had into the blast. Keyword being almost, though. He took a deep breath and began to press forward, trying to close the distance between the two students. Every step was like walking in ten times Earth's gravity, the strain being almost unbearable on his body. Despite that, though, he pressed forward, keeping his breath even.

Then, if he was able to close enough distance, Jack would suddenly take one hand off of the blast, holding back Meara's beam with only one hand for a second. Of course, Jack only had one shot with this; the end result could potentially mess him up bad. But, gritting his teeth, but still having on a confident smirk, the dragon boy would suddenly move to the side, using the energy still on his hands to grind against the remaining energy of Meara's blast.



If Jack was successful in his maneuver, he would then aim for an uppercut to Meara's blaster arm, aiming to either stop the blast or at least send it upward before it caused any more damage. His other hand, meanwhile, would aim a plasma ball right at Meara's face, the smaller boy having a deadly glare as he looked up at her. He would be completely silent, and still very much on his guard, but his demeanor said it all:

Checkmate.