Tiebreaker: Cloud vs. Yuffie

[Tasuke]

Kuraudo's approval to bypass the warm-up gives Yufi permission to take initiative. A few moments after he looks to his forward, Kisaragi slowly does the same. She dips her head in mental machination, pondering just how to get things going. Cat-and-mouse tactics were the meat of their last engagement; let unbridled power flourish in this one.

She unlocks the cage of her rambunctious spirit. From her oversized shuriken fumes a gorgeous, rainbow iridescence; the signs of an undergoing transformation into something he's sure to recognize once it's finished. Its four teeth become curved like a scimitar, each a unique, scintillating luster: red, blue, grey and green. When the chromatic shroud dissipates, the sparkling Conformer will make its encore appearance. Yet its craving is for a marriage of sisterly steel and only the Ultima Weapon is a suitable companion.

[Kuraudo]

The First Tsurugi is eased out of the harness and stationed before Kuraudo. He turns around swiftly as the whipping of his cloak dramatizes his actions. All awhile a spiritual allusion swallows the mainblade like a match flame. It is through this dextral twirl that the First Tsurugi undergoes a change. A white flash that rapidly condenses its aural cloak and crystallizes the mainblade.

Starting from the apex, the transformation runs through the sword like wildfire, and ends at the handguard with added facets. The newly formed Ultima Weapon wooshes through the air, heading for Yufi's left shoulder edgewise.

What Kisaragi wished for has come true. The ex-SOLDIER summoned the diamantine brand of might. But the manner of its arrival is not what she'd foresaw.

[Tasuke]

The subtle sounds of Kuraudo's drawing slow the heart of an eagerly expecting Kisaragi. She glances right, absently upon a straightaway maple's thick trunk and uses her peripheral to keep a wary eye. Yufi presumes a touch of formality from her friend, but he instead enacts an impolite action. An impromptu cleave level with her shoulder, intrusive and carrying a dazzling radiance. If undaunted, it'll hew her motionless figure in twain. Why then does the kunoichi not move as it sails toward her tender flesh?

His crystal cutter slices in unfettered, regarding her as a paper doll against its merciless edge. Kuraudo's Ultima Weapon divides her like a knife across muffin top as the upper third of her body slides in the course of the luminous sword. Arterial splatter gushes for just a moment, but the charade is exposed before a scarlet shower sprays. Instead whorls of white rose petals burst from the dismembering wound like confetti, perfuming the air with their stimulating fragrance. Her entire frame unfurls like a bloom until there's nothing left but swirling bits of alabaster that dance around Kuraudo whimsically before fading away.

The seconds to follow are ones rich with aroma, silent and something to ponder. Until a familiar voice cracks the quiet from above.

“That was pretty rude!” comments the onlooking Kisaragi. She's sitting comfortably atop the center of a sturdy rightward branch belonging to the same nearby tree she'd gazed upon, fifteen feet above Kuraudo, with her left hand gripping the limb several inches from her thigh and the other holding the perching Conformer flatly by its center. Yufi still conveys a friendly expression despite her annoyance. The manifestation of her weapon's rival is reason enough to remain content, and where the story goes from here is anyone's guess.

[Kuraudo]

The shout of the Ultima Weapon ceases when Spiky's strike culminates. It is held rightmost and still as the ex-SOLDIER looks for Kisaragi through a petaline haze. She warped herself to a tall spire, seated high on a tree limb. And from the height of the Wutainese pine, Yufi yells at Kuraudo. It wasn't out of rage but in a caper saying, "You've missed, dummy!"

Kuraudo looks up, now knowing where the White Rose of Wutai has gone. "I thought you wanted to fight?" It was a serious question though his tone suggest otherwise. Almost as if he's joking, nearly sarcastic in his deliverence. But this is the ex-SOLDIER having fun.

Their battle, despite agreeing to 'let loose', is a game of wits and lightheartedness. Though our hero hasn't discounted the sloughy danger headed his way.

[Tasuke]

A humored question makes Yufi smirk and cant her head, a bit to the right as she looked down upon Kuraudo holding his glittery brand. She cracks a partial grin and replies, “Oh, you know it!” Her arm lifted Conformer into a right-angled face with a bent elbow before she adds, “Just be gentle, sweetie!”

What may have led to a provocation for him to act must take a backseat to her own initiation. Kisaragi makes herself fall backward, off the branch and down like some test of friendly faith. But as she plummets, she launches her prismatic pinwheel into the air thru a delicate toss. It whistles left, going in a peculiar downward arc toward Kuraudo's right collar.

The materia hunter flips herself forward to secure a frontal landing, a low crouch from which she quickly recovers. Already she's jogging in to close the small gap and get more intimate, her tempo cadenced to the magical jingle struggling to escape her armguard.

[Kuraudo]

Like a dying leaf, Kisaragi descends from the branch. Her free fall sets about an assault. An aerial strike concerning the colorful Conformer. Its sprightly hues winds through the air with a distinctive screech, similar to a hawk. Kuraudo eyes the swooping spirals of the glaive and prepares to react.

Just before the Conformer could sink into his collarbone, the ex-SOLDIER lifts his sword. And to create a strong foundation, both legs are at shoulders' width to weather the impact. He has his left boot forward and the other in the rear. The Ultima Weapon, with both hands on the hilt, blocks the attack with the breadth of its body. He pushes and swings the brand into an overhead arc, carrying the Conformer with the momentum. It fiercely plows into earth, an area that's leftmost to Kuraudo.

These apt manuvers tarnishes the glint in Yufi's attempt, but the Ultima Weapon goes unsated. Mainly because its chance to absorb energy was missed. It's in Normal Mode, and while in this state, the Ultima Weapon cannot assimilate such power. But the ex-SOLDIER won't allow that to happen for a second time. Battle Mode is activated!

He'd rotated the base of the handguard and the mechanisms chimed. Both sides of the sword's broad frame widens, exposing an inner network of railed crystals. Kuraudo entertains Yufi's next move with the Ultima Weapon ready for lunch.

[Tasuke]

Conformer succumbs to a dinging deflecting, but its sticking in soil bestows a work of fortune. Its onyx-hued incisor chews into dirt and swirls with a rich silver gleam. A steamy sound heralds alteration, the swift formation of another sinkhole about its proximity greedily grasping his boots with pulling fingers. All the while the previously crafted quicksand is moments away from togetherness.

To make matters more dastardly, Yufi's secret materia is ready and its spell may make their time exponentially dire. She casts her guarded arm outward with open palm. Sweet shimmer wreathes her digits in release of secondary danger. About Kuraudo's frame, the transparent, white face of a clock is etched into existence. Needle hands whiz in reverse to a sound of ticking, only to crawl to a sluggish pace. This is the fruit of the Slow spell; a malady which makes his actions snail-like for several seconds.

If successful, the ex-SOLDIER will find himself in a bind. As for Yufi, the same extended extremity beckons Conformer back. It looses itself from the muck and sails toward rejoinder, the blade caked with mud while it whines and fumes its splendorous color trail. After the catch, she bounds overhead to prepare another inconvenience awaiting her comrade's solution.

What will be Kuraudo's uplifting to his sudden sinking feeling? Even the strongest find themselves swallowed by stress.

[Kuraudo]

Countering the Conformer wasn't in the least bit difficult. But when it touched the ground, a new trouble has been unraveled. Its uncanny ability to harmonize with the elements transmute the earth. What the ex-SOLDIER have been avoiding now has a sandy hold on his footwork. Gradually pulling him into a geotic abyss where escape is futile.

There's another detriment compiling onto this mishap. Kisaragi uses a materia that grants control over the flow of time. And with this power, the Slow ability is used. It halves the speed of his actions which debilitates her comrade even further.

If there's any good to come out of this situation, then there's two. When the Conformer morphed the land into quicksand, hints of its essence had been soaked up. The Ultima Weapon was close enough to feed on the elemental energy to gain a strength boost. It also ate a percentage from the chronological magic weaved upon its wielder.

Kuraudo doesn't have many seconds to spare. He's already knee deep in a trap that was guilefully placed.

[Tasuke]

The skybound Kisaragi beholds a fruitful spell that has Kuraudo feeling wound down. Over his head, she's ready to attack once more via a second, downward pitch of her Conformer. It sings for his crown like a saw blade, and unlike its target, it enjoys an unhindered celerity. Still, the chronological crest of Slow will have faded before it finds a mark.

Yufi thereafter gives a nod to gravity, falling shortly behind her splendiferous shuriken. Is her intent to join in his sandy dip? The proceeds hinge on the flow of time.

[Kuraudo]

From the waist down, half of Kuraudo's body is gripped in a dirty snare. If he stays in any longer then he'll lose more than this match. Though Yufi sees this as an opportunity to capitalize on her knavish work. She redeems the Conformer only to hurl it again. It slopes downward, cutting into the air as it targets the ex-SOLDIER. Its wielder, Kisaragi, is trailing behind the glaive for purposes known to herself.

He sees the splashy weapon, along with Yufi, heading his way and fast. The only thing he can do is to throw the Ultima Weapon in opposition. A righthander that sends the crystallitic sword flying like a javelin. It's arrow-like charge plows into the Conformer as they both deflect one another. The Ultima Weapon is sent whorling backwards, but it manage to siphon some energy. An extra four percent from their rough meeting.

Kuraudo takes this time to engage one of the cryst brand's abilities. The innate art to warp himself from the bondage of the land to the Ultima Weapon. They're directly tied to each other by spirit, and wherever they are, the ex-SOLDIER can use the Ultima Weapon as a transit point.

He reappears in midair with his right hand clasping the sword's haft. What will happen now?