Toxic Maleficence, Throw Honour Out the Window (Open to 2 Students)

To be blunt, this class had come about as the Goddess wished to assert her dominance. There was no rampant plague of honesty or honour in combat present at the school, very rarely were such textbook warriors observed, but with such slander Eminence P. Haze knew she could act freely and vindictively. The feeling of crushing the meek under her heel, taking stride in dealing blows to her opponent's eyes; she longed for it more than most anything. This was likely brought on by the Goddess recent training, having briefly returned to isolation over summer to further hone her already perfect body; to surpass perfection was to surpass all after all possible opponents.

Arriving at the training area, prompt as ever, she was dressed not in her combat attire but her usual clothing; a perhaps unknown insult to whoever she drafted into this class. She had not sent out her usual scroll based, randomised, drafting for this class... rather she wanted to beat those who thought themselves aspirational, those who wished to train and become strong as she has. She would allow no person to follow the same path she had taken.

She stood in the centre of an arena, a rectangle measuring eight meters long and four meters wide. To the right of the entrance was a weight set and treadmill, to the left was a line of basic training dummies. The walls were painted grey and cleaned daily, formed of some heavy metal coupled with stone; the floor was similar. She would stand staring at the door, handbag over her left shoulder and twirling her golden mace in her right hand; the first to students to walk in this room would join her class. Whether they wanted to or not.

As usual, Maestus was left bored and alone, the only thing occupying her would be the constant wandering around the campus, looking for anything that could possibly entertain her.  However, it was starting to seem like this wouldn't be the case.  She had been walking around for hours, and was now just walking through places she had already been to before in hopes that something would change.  Despite this, she would press on in hopes that maybe she'd find someone new or be given a task to complete. After some more hopeless searching, Maestus gave up and settled on some training, although she wasn't sure what she would do or what she would gain from training at all.

Upon entering the training room, she immediately felt some extreme discomfort as she made eye contact with someone who seemed to be waiting there for another person.  For a moment, she didn't recognize her.  Maestus couldn't remember ever having any interaction with her before, be it a class or even bumping into her on the grounds.  Somehow, her eyes felt intense.  Threatening, almost.  Refusing to back down, Maestus stood where she was and didn't even think about looking away.  "Is... this a staring contest?  I'm going to win if it is."  This wasn't so much to break the awkward silence as it was an honest question.  The android wasn't really sure what to do in a situation like this one, or if talking at all was the right move.  Suddenly, she remembered.  This was that one creep that called herself a goddess! "Oh, I remember you now... You have quite the ego, Haze."  After saying this, Maestus would cross her arms and hold a bit more of an uncaring stance.  She hated people that thought too highly of themselves for their own good.  Even though Maestus was quite the fighter and had beaten enough people to deserve some amount of bragging rights, she never really boasted to people that didn't ask about her achievements.  Unsure of what this teacher would do next, Maestus would stand there until told to do something or be dismissed.  Even if she didn't like the person, she had to respect that a teacher had more authority over her than most people she met.

The Goddess' eyes narrowed... how uncouth. One student, only one student had arrived... and they had decided to insult the Toxic Goddess. Alas, to have a staring contest eyes are a prerequisite. I don't know how or why you're wearing such silly armour but to think such a silly thing would grant you power over me is ridiculous, you may as well shed it now lest it prevent the medics from healing you." Not only was Haze unaware this pupil was an android, Haze was unaware of androids existing period. She had seen one or two rather peculiar looking individuals, wrapped in metal and with strange proportions, but she had simply thought it to be armour rather than skin.

Her mace began to slowly twirl, at it's head a red heat began to manifest. She took a moment to debate, as she did so the heat appeared to elongate...or was it separate from the staff. A red ball of heat had formed atop the mace's head, expanding the longer she twirled the mace. "Since you're the only one here I won't be able to go all out... such a shame... I know what we will do. I am going to give it sixty more seconds, that is how long you have. Sixty second to prepare, unless another student walks through that door you will face my power alone. This class was going to be a more combative one regardless, I suppose you must think yourself lucky to be receiving this private tutelage. Fufufufufu."

Maestus tilted her head to the side for a moment.  It seemed that Haze thought the android was a living being, her chassis appearing as armor to her.  After going over her thoughts for a moment, Maestus spoke up.  "I think I'll take that risk, Haze."  She began to walk towards her teacher as she was receiving her instructions, watching her opponent's mace as she went.  She wasn't sure what the object at the end of it was, but she had to assume it was either Haze's semblance or some dust on the weapon.  Maestus wasn't really one to use dust, she never really felt comfortable using anything but her own limbs to damage things.

As she listened to the instructions given to her, the android started to realize just how much she disliked this woman's personality.  As her instructor mentioned how lucky Maestus should feel, an audible laugh could be heard from the bot.  "Well, I am oh so honored to have you focus your valiant efforts on lil' old insignificant me."  Any respect she had for this teacher was gone at this point.  After hearing how highly Madam Haze talked about herself, it seemed only appropriate to let her know how Maestus wasn't planning on speaking to her properly.  Walking towards her opponent, she spoke again.  "Anyways, I don't need sixty seconds.  I'm as ready as I will ever be, and as ready as I have always been.  Y'know, something tells me this will be a learning experience for both of us."  As Maestus finished her last sentence, she slowly extended the claws on her arms and feet.  "But something tells me that you'll have more scars than me after this is over."  Maestus now stood directly in front of Haze, claws out and expecting the first swing.

"Cockiness doesn't suite you dear, you should be silent; like the husk that is your armour." The flaming ball at the head of Haze's mace continued to grow, all the while she reached her free hand behind her back. Behind her, tracing along her spine and amassing potently, she was setting the trap that was her poisonous cloud. As the final seconds ticked by Haze gave no warning; the spinning of her mace ceased and with it the deafening roar of flames sounds as the fireball rocketed toward the walking suit of armour. This sound was entirely intentional, the orb was roughly three meters in radius and would force some distance between the two if nothing else. As it went forward Haze herself would jump backward, directly through the miasma she had created, and with that it would rapidly spread. It was like an explosion, expanding outward in all directions; an impermeable mass of purple fog had formed. It's initial expansion would grow quickly to create a roughly five meter radius from it's centre but with each passing second the miasma would expand until it reached a range of seven point five metres.

Haze hadn't been so simple as to stand still upon entering her smog, goodness no. This was how she fought, a style based most entirely in her semblance and dust; she had trained with it throughout her entire career. Upon entering the miasma, before landing, she had performed two actions. The first was allowing her high heeled shoes to fall from her feet; reducing the sound she would make within the miasma; next she had pressed the button on her mace and switched from fire dust to water. Water had began to materialise on the mace's head. Around the point of her landing, unless the girl had some creative ways of dealing with it, the fireball's roar would have ceased and the combatants would be the only ones making noise. Upon landing, elegantly and barefoot, the next step was simple; she leapt backward and left this time but cast the dust beneath her; making a sound not dissimilar to her landing as it met with the ground to the goddess right (around the centre back-end of the cloud relative to the android's starting point). Before Haze could land it would thin and spread over the inner five meters of the circle and coat the floor in numerous thin lines; not unlike a spider's web. The water itself would not spread any further regardless of the miasma's further expansion.

As she landed Haze would immediately crouch to low; crossing her mace over the left side of her body defensively. Things were set up according to plan, by being low even if her movements had been tracked actually hitting the Goddess was made so much more difficult. Immediately following taking this position she would flick her mace lightly, with it the water on the far right would lightly rupture before reforming; as though she had leapt and landed upon it. Following this she would shake her mace twice more, this time lighter and resulting in lighter ruptures. The first would be closer to the centre, the second to the android's far left near the edge of the cloud. Haze's current position, relative to the girl's initial standing, was toward the mid, bordering on far, right side in a low crouched position. She was three metres in depth from the centre of the cloud; though due to the expansion she would only grow more distant from the outer rim.

This style of fighting, a style of Haze's own, was based on that of a rattlesnake. It made the opponent pay more attention to sound while limiting sight, mirroring the rattlesnake's camouflaged nature and warning rattle. It took advantage of that sound wherever possible, intent on creating a sense of dread in Haze's opponents while keeping sound itself as her ally. After all she had trained in these conditions, others had not. The water-webbing itself served useful both in creating sound and in offence. For you see the cloud was so dense that an individual could not see their feet when walking, every step was a stumble into darkness, and upon contact the water would condense and spike upward into an individual's foot; dealing dust damage. Unfortunately, as she had done so much, it would take time to reinforce the dust and allow it to create more than one spike. If it had caught the android girl in it's initial expansion to fire meters however it would have generated a spike then rather than ignoring her.  The miasma itself, though in holding it like this she could not so freely force it into an individual's lungs breathing would deal internal damage and potentially poison a foe.

Now Haze just had to lie in wait.

HP/AURA/Damage:

Like Maestus expected, the red ball thing on the end of Haze's mace was definitely something to worry about.  Expecting some form of danger, the android quickly jumped straight into the air, almost landing on her face when she tried to do a backwards flip in the 'heat' of the moment.  The one thing she wasn't accounting for when it came to the fireball was the sound.  The sound of such an intense flame was too distracting to completely focus on Haze at the moment.  Maestus looked back at the impressive show of power.  Although she was expecting something dangerous to come from Haze as soon as it was time to fight, she wasn't expecting things to get this serious the instant the fight started.  Would her instructor really be able to keep this up?  As Haze produced a thick poison cloud, Maestus finally brought her attention back to the matter at hand, irritated that she let herself get distracted in the middle of a fight.

The android wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation she was faced with.  Haze had to have known who she was inviting to this fight, didn't she?  Did she just decide to invite someone random to this lesson without even finding out more about the student?  Maestus is an android, she doesn't need to breathe.  In fact, Maestus can't breathe.  If she needed to breathe, she would've died a long time ago when she went on a fishing trip with her 'father.'  Happy to use her opponent's ignorance against her, Maestus stepped into the cloud and yelled out.  "Oh, god! What even is this?"  The thing is, even if Maestus planned on saying this to throw Haze off, she actually meant it as a spike stabbed her right in the foot, probably making it sound more convincing.  As Maestus stood in the cloud for a moment, a rather unsettling realization came to mind.  She couldn't see a foot in front of her face right now, and Haze probably knew that.  Correcting her mistake, the android stepped backwards out of the cloud and began walking around the area, keeping an eye out for the enemy.

Maestus was a bit confused as of what to do if she was to actually rip apart Haze like she had planned.  I mean, how was she supposed to even hit the woman if she couldn't see her?  As Maestus thought, she came to realize that if she couldn't see Haze, then Haze couldn't see either.  Turning to the wall behind her, she broke into a sprint towards the wall, jumping onto it and digging her claws into the walls, climbing up towards the ceiling.  Using her claws to push her further and further up the wall, she finally reached the ceiling, going from sideways to upside down, climbing across the top of the room like a spider.  Her only regret, definitely having to pay for the damages to the building after the fight.  Maestus crawled her way across the ceiling until she was just above the center of the poison cloud, watching as it expanded.  Haze's hiding spot couldn't last forever, eventually her cover would get thin, and Maestus would rocket down on top of her opponent to tear her up.

Only one thing bummed her out about this fight.  She didn't get to hit this over-confident, poor excuse of a teacher right as the fight started.  However, as long as Maestus didn't get impatient, she'd have the perfect chance to prove Haze wrong.

______________

HP: 185/200
SP: 110/100

Actions taken:  No attack attempts, jumped over first dust attack, got hecking goofed by the water trap, climbed to the ceiling in an attempt to get the literal drop on Haze.

Haze couldn't help but smiler as she heard her trap go of, the slicing of a water jet into the armour plating... how delightful. Reinforcing her dust with a flick of the wrist it became became apparent that the girl had left the cloud; hearing her metal footsteps ring across the floor before the sounds of stabbing and rending scaling the area around her. Silencing and steadying herself, to the point that the Goddess could hear only the girl and her own heartbeat, she began to make approximations about the girl's location. She was in the rough area above her, granted the hall wasn't particularly big so that wasn't much aid. She had been able to hear that the girl was ahead of her rather than behind her, greater limiting the potential outcomes. She supposed that she had a rough idea but it was best to be safe.

First things first, certain the girl had left her domain, she lessened her focus and with it the inside of her cloud began to hollow. Haze would maintain a purple density, around half a meter thick, around the edge of the semi-sphere; that way there would be no visible change from it's prior full state. She could see within her purple cloud, the low light permeable through the night-vision faunus were afforded, and thus plan more freely. She had a rough direction to attack, upward and toward the forward right, and oh so many ways to do it. She'd start with something basic. She thrust her sceptre in the approximate direction she thought the girl, still shining with it's teal glow, and with it the water would part from the ground and break through the cloud barrier! It emerged as a foaming jet of water, measuring roughly three meters across and around circular in a shape. It wasn't particularly large but there was a force behind it. As that water was jettisoned Haze would begin to materialise more water still; casting it toward the centre of the dome as it made for the middle Haze would duck down further to the point where she was almost lying on her stomach.  The mass of water would continue to expand until it filled the upper three quarters of the dome.

This would not damage on contact, most certainly it wouldn't, but the surprise to her opponent should she enter would be devastating. Not only would they find the cloud layer thinner than before but, especially if they chose to jump in, they'd be soaked and surrounded in said darkness. This would create a perfect opportunity to strike. The sound of rushing water would have been heard from within, though just what form it took would have been unknown to those on the outside. Should she not enter briefly following the jet blast Haze would coo; "I thought you were going to take risks~"

Hp:200/200 SP:90/120 Dust based damage; Tier one dust, 25 not accounting for defences. Mace damage Tier 2 mace, 35 damage per hit. Semblance damage, 20 for 20 with chance to poison non androids.

Only one dust based attack taken.

Maestus instinctively threw herself to her right, across the ceiling, as Haze's water crashed against the area she was in just a moment ago.  This was irritating.  Maestus expected something normal.  A fight to see who has the better technique, skill, strength, etc.  She didn't expect this fight to take much thought, and she wasn't exactly a fan of thinking things through in the middle of combat.  Although it was a bad habit, Maestus did take some enjoyment from losing control in the middle of a fight.  The thrills were enough to keep her happy for a week.  She landed on the floor with a loud thud, quietly stepping away from that spot, seeing how Haze had to have detected her with sound just now.  How else would she have known to attack upwards?

As the room darkened, Maestus's sensors took just a moment to adjust before she planned her next move, silently walking along the walls in the search for Haze.  A thought came to mind when she thought about how the fight had been going.  Haze seems to use sound to locate Maestus and prevent her from attacking.  A plan began to form in her mind.  Androids don't have actual vocal cords, the just produce sounds in different ways.  For her, she just imagines how she'll sound saying something, and that's how it comes out.  What if she didn't imagine a voice?  And if the noise she made wasn't a voice, how loud could it get?

Maestus silently approached the middle if the room, where the water was coming from and where she assumed Haze was.  As soon as she assumed she was close enough to really damage someone's ears, especially someone listening closely, she made the loudest sound she could've.  If Maestus could feel pain, her sensors would be experiencing quite a bit of it.  What was this deafening sound?  It was the song "Wham Bam" by Silver, played from Maestus as loud as she could manage, which certainly felt loud enough.  This sound was probably either disorientating or deafening, depending on how close Haze was.  Speaking of which, Maestus couldn't see her.  What with the water and darkness right in the way.  Luckily for her, she was dense enough to not be slowed down too much in water, being made of metal.  Maestus began to swing wildly through the water (definitely above Haze, seeing how she ducked down already.) before doing a broad leg sweep around her.

She wasn't sure exactly where Haze was, but hopefully, this was going to give her some idea.  Haze might even have been hit by that.

_________________

HP: 185/200
SP: 100/110

Actions taken:  Attempted to deafen/disorientate Haze with music that's way too loud, swung wildly with her hands (one attack) and did a wide leg sweep (another attack). Both of these attacks were not buffed.

Haze watched curiously as the girl entered her domain, the water breaking around the girl's lower thigh with each of her steps. Despite this noise, and the obvious difficulty hearing through the water mass, Eminence kept her breaths shallow and remained still for now. She couldn't risk some form of mass attack, if she'd dared walk into water... could this girl manipulate it? Was she able to generate electricity, send it through the water, and thus shock Haze on a whim? The Goddess held her mace tightly, knowing that if she moved it a light would be cast by the dust within it.

As the girl came to a halt Haze debated approaching, she was a couple meters away and to the right of Haze... her actions were not indicative of her being a faunus; if she were then she would have rushed Haze... right? This was troubling... the girl's actions bordered on nonsensical despite her previously sensible choice to-

There was a sudden blaring of music, deeply muffled by the water that surrounded it's emitter. The blare did not disorientate Haze, though it did surprise her. She took a step backward in shock and, though she lacked shoes and water did limit the girl's hearing (atop that the sound was still blaring further covering Haze's actions) the goddess did not want to deal with whatever kind of nonsense this was. As the girl threw her first punch through the water Haze began to crawl her way back and pointed her sceptre toward the girl, causing it to glow and thus gave an indication of Haze's location; however the immediate shifting of water should have been enough to prevent chase. By pointing the mace Haze had created a strong current, around two meters in diameter, which would race from one side of the water dome to the other; charging though the "woman in armour" with a thunderous force.

As the current went forward Haze went back and exited the cloud, immediately releasing the her semblance thus brightening the area surrounding the girl. Haze would not stop at this however, her eyes would take a moment to adjust to the new light and so she jumped back; waving her mace more as she flew. The mass of water, moments following the current attack, would drop to the ground and spread thinly. Following this action three spears of water would manifest in a line  between Haze and the girl. This was both intended as an attack, to perhaps catch the girl should she manage to give chase, or create a barrier between the goddess and the droid.

As Haze landed she would press the button on her mace, the teal glow being switched out for that of red. She raised her sceptre (grasped tightly in her right hand) to point downward, crossing her body in a defensive manner. "Now do you see why I head combat strategies? Fighting me was bound to be difficult and you dared walk directly into my trap not once but twice. In revealing your semblance, whatever that music thing was, you've given up the element of surprise!" Haze still had no idea this girl was an android despite her ability to enter the water, make sound, and seemingly not breathe.

-

Hp:200/200 SP:90/120 Dust based damage; Tier one dust, 25 not accounting for defences. Mace damage Tier 2 mace, 35 damage per hit. Semblance damage, 20 for 20 with chance to poison non androids.

Four dust attacks made, one current-blast and three spears.

Maestus's frustration grew immense as she was hit with multiple attacks yet again, water crashing against her side and a spear colliding with her shoulder. Suddenly, her vision went black near immediately after being hit those two times, falling underneath the other spears. She was conscious, but she could do nothing, see nothing, and hear nothing. Her frustration began to replace itself with fear. Did she really get hit enough times to get knocked out? No, this was different. What was it? No, this can't be the end, that disgustingly overconfident woman didn't bleed nearly enough for this to finish.

As quickly as it was taken from her, Maestus's vision and hearing came back, but not her mobility. "Hey, play dead for a minute. I want to see what she does." A familiar voice from a previous incident spoke through her head again. The android was angry she didn't think of this earlier. Of course it was her again, this only ever happens when it's her fault. However, she did give Maestus a pretty fun idea. Waiting patiently for a reaction from Haze, she lay still, like a corpse.

_________________

HP: 155/200
SP: 100/110

Actions taken: Technically none, but she's laying completely still now.

Haze, eyes now adjusted to the light, scowled at the unmoving body. Two thoughts entered Haze's mind, the first was that if this girl was going to become a huntress she should have been much stronger than this but the second was somewhat of a narcissistic realisation; that Haze was simply too strong and perhaps should have held back more... though naturally she already had been holding back somewhat. She strut her way toward the body, pressing the first button near the head of her mace and dispelling the dust from it.

She approached without caution, quite certain she had knocked the girl out or... though unlikely she thought she might have killed her. Mace in hand she lent over her frame, looking to her neck... and could see no latch to detach the helmet. Audibly sighing she flipped the mace in her hand, gripping it by the head rather than the pole, and attempted to poke at where the girl's chin met with her neck in a halfhearted attempt to pry the face off the helmet. "Honestly, if you'd only taken off your helmet as you should then I'd know what to do with you. This inelegant armour might have served as your coffin, such an ugly design; I can hardly fathom how you put it on... perhaps it opens from the back?"

If the girl had moved Haze would naturally have stoped, but assuming she hadn't Haze would attempt to use her mace as a lever and flip the girl over. "If you have died, honestly, you shouldn't have even come here. To spar with the Goddess in faulty equipment, without preparing yourself, you knew you were putting your life on the line."

Like a bomb just waiting to go off, Maestus lay still until Haze began to try and use her weapon to flip her over.  The android's arm became a blur as she put all of her effort into grabbing hold of the mace.  She grabbed for her arm or her weapon, attempting to pull her to the ground or at least closer to each other.  If she succeeded, she would hold the weapon in an iron (or whatever she happens to be made out of) grip.

Fury exploded within her, a molten glow resonating from her claws and 'crown.'  How much of an idiot was this teacher, really?  Was there a limit to how confident one could be in oneself?  Refusing to think at all from this point forward, Maestus began her assault on this disgusting excuse of a human being.  If she grabbed hold of her opponent's weapon, she would only swing with her right hand's claws, tearing at Haze four times, each attempt more savage than the last.  If she didn't have a grip on the weapon, she'd pounce at her teacher, swinging wildly at her if she managed to pin her down.

"You woke the wrong dog!  Come here! Come closer! Poison me again! Fill me up with the fog that's as toxic as you are!"  She hated her.  As far as she was concerned, she wasn't fighting another person anymore, she was putting down an animal, an animal with no hope of learning it's lesson.  It was nobody's fault except for Haze's.  She deserved no mercy, and she would, of course, get none.  "If you scream loud enough, I might just forgive you.  Maybe. Maybemaybemaybemaybemaybe. Yes! No!"

________________

HP: 155/200
SP: 90/110 (Semblance used)

Actions taken: Four buffed attacks, trying to hold Haze in melee range, yelling.

(60 damage each, not including defense)

As Haze saw the girl begin to move she attempted to lurch back, only to find her mace had been gripped by it's thin shaft. It was fortunate that Haze had decided not to use the head in her investigation; otherwise she'd have been able to blow away the girl there and then. Quite shocked, pulled toward the ground, she stood just above the grounded girl. As the first swing made contact she was pulled from her shock, she knew she had to fight back but her weapon's head was reversed! She realised she could let go but this... this child, this fool! As the second swing made contact, sparking against the aura that coated Haze's body, her plan was put into action. She took a leap backward and as she did so ran her hand across the mace's shaft; eventually coming into contact with the lowest of it's three buttons. As Haze flew backward through the air a jet of water would push her further still away, but the force behind the jet was having more effect than that alone...

The mace was rocketing toward Maestus chest, shaft first, with the force of the Goddess' water dust. It was like a rocket, intended to dent or pierce the centre of her chest-plate, but this was getting off lightly compared to what could have happened. If only she had held her mace the other way around... she could have engulfed the brat in a ball of fire. As it was, without mace to turn off the mace, it would continue to rocket until the water dust within simply ran out. If it left the girl then it would rocket into a wall and embed itself. Landing on her bare feet, drenched and enraged at having been fooled something rather unexpected happened. The Goddess Eminence Purple Haze was a proper lady, she dabbled in high society and drank wine from golden goblets... and to see her lower jaw descend more than twice that of a normal human must have been rather surprising. Four fangs, two above and two beneath her tongue, housed behind her front row of teeth shone white.

There was a low hiss, her arms spread, and from them a massive cumulus cloud formed and rapidly expanded before her. There was no hesitation; rather than allow the cloud to linger around her she launched it into the quadrant of the room the android stood in and brought her hands together. The entirety of the cloud would shrink down toward the girl's location; a concentrated and potent dose of poison intended to enter through any hole rather than requiring to be breathed in. Having done this she would continue to move backward, throwing a much larger and less shaped poison cloud around herself. It looked more traditional rather than the dome she had created earlier. As she began to circle and jump around within the large cloud (quickly growing to it's maximum size of ten meters by ten meters, filling the far half of the room). "You have desecrated what was once a fair duel! You will leave now!"

She would step around within her cloud a little longer, proceeding to the back and right... not quite in the corner before lowering herself... forcing her jaw closed with her own hand. Her blood had stoped boiling... in her heart lay only self loathing and disgust.

---

Hp:110/200 SP:60/120 Dust based damage; Tier one dust, 25 not accounting for defences. Mace damage Tier 2 mace, 35 damage per hit. Semblance damage, 20 for 20 with chance to poison non androids.

One dust based attack made. One semblance attack made, 20 damage unresisted, it would be with intent to poison but that is impossible.

Maestus held fast against the mace, digging the claws on her feet into the floor, holding it in place, and thanking whoever built her for making her maybe a bit too strong.  She was dissapointed that Haze didn't get completely torn apart by her surprise attack, but hitting her for once... actually causing her to panic for a moment... This all felt so perfect, so satisfying.  What made it better was how she reacted after she moved herself out of harm's way.

Such a beautiful, glorious demonstration of anger.  Maestus could hardly believe what she was seeing from someone who acted so formal and superior to everyone else.  Haze was a faunus, a snake faunus, and her mouth just gave that away.  She would have to get a better look at this later, because now it seemed that the fight was going to continue.  A could of that familiar poison that Haze was so fond of using began to envelop the android, who thought that because she didn't need to breathe, she'd be fine.  She was wrong.  It didn't feel like anything, but she could tell that it was definitely not healthy to stay in this cloud any longer than necessary.  However, she wanted to prove a point.  Maestus took her time, and casually walked out of the cloud, allowing it to damage her, pointing the mace straight into the air.

Although she couldn't see Haze hidden in her own poison, she could certainly hear her.  A fair duel? Fair?  "You're joking, right?  Are you an idiot?!  If this was an honorable duel, we'd be in the middle of this arena and you wouldn't be hiding from me! Do tell how setting traps and hiding from an opponent who had no time to prepare is fair, and I might consider leaving."  Maestus held the mace in both of her hands now, possibly spraying the area to her left with water, depending on how much dust was being used.  "If you can convince me that what you did was fair, I'll leave..."  An awful, hilarious idea grew in her mind. "But I'll only give you your mace back if you spar with me.  Fair.  Honorable."

After waiting for a moment, if Haze didn't come into clear view, Maestus would aim the mace into the cloud close to ground level.  This would either be a fun way to waste Haze's dust, or a way to annoy her into coming out of the cloud.  Either way, it'd be at least a little bit funny.

________________

HP: 135/200
SP: 90/110

Actions taken: Pretty much bathed in poison, spraying water into the cloud.

As Haze continued to wait, housed deep within her miasma, she began to observe and feel the water flowing into her Haze. The powerful jet was easy to sound and feel out but, in her current state, she thought it best to be accurate. She released the back layer of her cloud and found the direction the water was flowing from, then without hesitation she zoned in on the area and once again condensed the cloud upon the girl's location with intent to penetrate through any hole or grate in her armour. It would come toward the girl as though a book was being closed around her; thus continuing to obscure Haze from view until she had escaped it's grasp. But a moment after it was cast however Haze would dispel it, standing on the other side of the room facing her. As she did this the mace would splutter before running dry of water dust.

Haze hadn't listened much to what the girl said, only her last lines... she was enraged yes but she wasn't stupid. "Do you realise what the consequences would be for stealing from a lecturer? The threat alone could see you heavily sanctioned if I so will it, the action could see you expelled, do not mistake the blows you have dealt as being representative of any power over me. You only gained them as I took pity on you having thrashed you..." There was a feeling at the back of her head... probably just some wetness, maybe tiredness... she drew a gloved hand across it. I want this over, she thought to herself, I want to go home and bathe... I-I'm tired. I'll just do this to get it over with. This was her internal attempt to rationalise her next words, not to the girl across the room... but to herself. "You misunderstand, the point of this class; it was not to fight with honour as I just suggested to you, it was specifically to throw such mortal notions out; in battle there is no place for honour or chivalry or anything of the sort but... in my moments there I displayed it myself and called for it... Was it out of value for my position, did I fear losing it as I threatened to remove yours just now... The beneficence of a mortal... how unbecoming of a Goddess."

She seemed to muse to herself more and more, in her eyes the fire of anger shown most recently and that arrogant stare... it was not gone entirely but it was... waining and in it's place was, of all things, self-conemplation? She quickly shook her head, as though attempting to remove such thoughts and returned focus to the girl; "You will return my mace and leave, you have exceeded my expectations in this class; albeit in a manner not applicable to many formats. In an actual tournament or duel such a thing would not be accepted; you would have been disqualified as medics rushed the field. In the wild, facing grimm, it would be of no use. They would tear that shell open and eat you, you must look to desecrate honour in ways more befiting of a hunter. Only when facing... those who would show kindness would it work. And honestly, is it worthwhile fighting them?"

Seeing the clouds of poison quickly make their way towards her again, Maestus prepared for the worst yet again.  She tossed the mace in the air and caught it, holding it one handed over her shoulder, getting ready to hit a home run on Haze if she got too close.  However, what she didn't expect was for Haze to start yelling at her instead of attacking again.  At first, she wasn't surprised at Haze's anger towards Maestus.  Anybody with this kind of ego would be pretty pissed if they were harmed in any way at all, wouldn't they?

The thing is, Maestus has had enough of Haze's ego at this point, so she did her best to pretend she was distracted and not listening to the snake woman's rant, crossing her arms and looking off to the left of the room while tapping her foot.  This ended the second Haze's tone changed.  Her full attention was given as Haze actually seemed to be admitting an error.  Was she dreaming?  Did she get knocked out a while ago and was just imagining this happening?

Well, she did call herself a goddess again. "You know what?  You're much easier to respect when you admit your mistakes.  Even more so when you give one of your students a compliment.  At least, I think that was a compliment."  Maestus held the mace upright towards Haze, allowing her to take her weapon back.  "But still, I'm still kind of mad at you.  Calling my body ugly like that, how rude.  I mean a teacher openly insulting a student? *Gasp* Perish the thought!"

Maestus laughed at herself for a moment in an attempt to show that there weren't any... well, there were some but not many hard feelings between them.  She pointed at her face before speaking again.  "I'm an android, Haze.  This isn't armor, it's really my body."  Haze watched her not struggle for breath in the poisonous clouds and the water, and she's heard her play loud music without any other devices, and she still didn't figure it out yet?  Maestus sighed and stretched, still thinking about what her teacher had been saying.  "Oh, don't worry.  I've only used this on you specifically.  I've never played dead when fighting grimm, I've always just sorta torn them apart."

"Also, you're only half right."  Maestus crossed her arms at Haze.  What a psychopath.  Being kind isn't a flaw.  This android wasn't the best at making friends sure, but even she realized that one could only get so far alone.  Allies provide support in many ways, and most of them seemed like something Haze would find helpful. "Fighting people who are kind and willing to show mercy isn't worth it at all, but your reasoning is flawed.  Fighting someone who is kind to you is not only illegal and unprovoked, but also painful.  In fact, the only reason I was fine with hitting you a couple times is because in that moment, you were grimm to me.  If you were one of my friends or my roommate, I wouldn't have hit you at all."

I'm not admitting any mistake, I'm showing you the ones you made foolish girl. I don't want your respect I want to go home and rest. Haze internally seethed. It was then that the girl claimed herself to be an android... Madam Haze had never encountered the idea that machines lived among them and frankly, in her current state, wasn't prepared to believe in them. Rather than focus upon the bombshell of robots living among humans she simply approached, took her weapon and stated; "That's Madam Haze, do not call me any less."

She would then go on to frown at her; "You can absolutely legally fight someone who is kind, if you had ever been in a tournament you would know this. There are those who fear their own strength and so hold back, practically regret every injury they deal you. There may come a time you will have to face your friends in open combat, likely on such a stage. Do you additionally think you'll never spar with such people? Those closest to you are the easiest to arrange such practice with, naturally though yes; the pain may go both ways. It is however important, you'll only grow stronger by training and to train you must find partners to spar with. Ergo your friends will be the easiest."

"If you truly wish to argue I were grimm to you, you wouldn't have used that strategy which would not have worked on them." Haze smirked; "Being brutal is fine, but you can't have this cake and eat it to. Regardless this will do for today, I have other matters to attend to." And with that, clicking her mace once to change the dust silo, she would make her way out and head toward her car... a long bath ahead of her.

Maestus sighed, shaking her head and leaning backwards a bit, tired of having to deal with such a stubborn being for so long.  "Come on, I was starting to appreciate you a bit.  Alright.  First, I'm not going to call you something special.  You're Haze."  She brought up her hand, holding out two fingers.  "Second, I meant that I wouldn't be too violent with friends.  Sparring is one thing, but fighting to me is brutal and hostile."  Now, she held out three fingers.  "Third... Nevermind.  You wouldn't accept any answer.  You're just one of those people that never opens themselves up to new ideas."

Turning away from Haze and towards an exit, Maestus would begin to listen to music in her head again.  Today was a stressful day, and dealing with such a "toxic" individual was taking it's toll on her.  Get it? Toxic?  Maestus laughed at her own joke before continuing to walk, humming a tune the whole way. "See you later!  Maybe next time, we can fight in a forest, eh?  Unless you're afraid to fight someone who hits as hard as I do!~" A final taunt for the snake woman.

As the girl began to talk to the Goddess back, at the refusal to name her properly Madam Haze did stop. There was a moment of pause, the third line Maestus spoke was to put a toe over the line. Her final taunt and threat was to take a step. This Haze could not abide, she could not allow such words to go without challenge. She took a half step, now side on to the girl and turning her head to face her. She turned her head and pressed a button on her mace; a red ball of fire forming at the head and quickly swelling to surpass being eclipsed by the Goddess head. For but a moment she debated throwing it, a crackling ball of flame could have melted this "Android" if she so desired, but with a second click the dust was shut off and the orb dissipated.

"I'm not here to learn new ideas, you are child; one of us is the student and the other the teacher. You will refer to your superiors as they wish lest you be cast from their good graces and plunge into the abyss. Do not forget the only attacks you successfully landed were due to my own mercy." She thought back to her prime, though she'd never admit it was such, how brutal she had been and how hard she had trained. She'd have never "held back" on the likes of "friends." "If you refuse to fight to your fullest in a safe environment such as this, even if it's with these friends of yours, your improvement would be stifled."

She was done, she would no longer listen. Recollecting her shoes as she walked she would make her way out and reach her car, this time heading home regardless of what empty taunts the girl would throw.

[exit]