"Contest," Mirror shrugs as she watches the feed, "Of wills."

Silence, just long enough to be awkward. She fills it worrying at her hair with a quiet desperation, as if her ability to offer commentary relied on not looking like an overworked slob even though nobody other than Maelia was actually watching her. Delay. Delay. Stillness. Silence. Her eyes look nowhere other than the match feed.

"The inevitable result of being handed research on your opponents: tendency toward Finishers in the opening seconds of a match. This was a pair of gambits by two equally matched minds. Opening position versus a misdirection attack. Neither will result in a decisive blow; they are too dangerous to each other to commit. Counteraction, dissipation. Like the lasers fired into the water."

Mirror leans forward, as if she's just noticed something. She frowns in thought. Another long pause, cut off one more time at the exact moment Maelia opens her mouth to rescue her junior.

"[The Spear That Grows Inside The Reeds]. [The Serpent That Hides Inside The Spear]. Every move in a fight can be turned around. Jacinta can use the curtain of water to build a wall of steam; opportunity to crush two of three attack vectors. Hide the direction of her main ordinance. Dala can break off her assault in the confusion, return from an unconfirmed angle. Continued redirection of her power source to buy time for her deathblow. Whoever. Whomever..."

The broadcast suddenly catches a sharp 'click' and a crunch. Mira watches Maelia wince at the way she bites her own thumb-claw down between her teeth.

"The one who reaches for the spear first will be the loser. Thus. Contest of Wills. We are watching. To see. Who will hurt themselves more. To bury their teeth inside. The other's neck."