Isabelle was most definitely ready - but even so, found herself adjusting plans on the fly.

[i]Melee charge - optimal response is to drop grenades and disengage, use ranged weaponry to ...[/i]

She tosses the autocannon aside, drawing her sword. Meeting the charge with one of her own.

[i]No. Not this time. I'm not making the same mistake again.[/i]

This won't be like the match with Ksharta. [i]This [/i]time, Isabelle will give Kiriala the fight she deserves - one of blades and wills, not one where she's just picked at from range. It's with that burning resolve that Emberlight blasts forward across the grass. Her sword tip sparking as it parries aside the blade of the Ginger Tiger's spear. A perfectly executed turn and strike that forces Kiriala to block with her haft. Precision jet blasts to strengthen each follow up hit - lighting up the ground around them with flashes of blue and flame as the two trade blows. 

Kiriala might have the best tech her nation has to offer, skills that surpass any of her peers and a confidence that many would find enviable. But - and this is the important thing - [i]Isabelle has all of those things too[/i]. Perfect form? Speed? Precision? It's like you're fighting a mirror image, distorted only by the galactic fluctuations of chance that brought this spirit up in a different body to your own.

This fight will be different. It already [i]is [/i]different. The Isabelle you face isn't the cold, detached and - frankly, foolishly arrogant - opponent you might've seen in her previous matches. What had once been ice has melted. What had been robotic precision, detached and cold, is now being powered by something more. Something that shines through with every word that comes over the comms.

"I don't think the coffee thing is dumb" Isabelle says, genuinely, in a moment where you both lock blades. "I mean, remember who you're talking to here - I don't actually [i]know [/i]what my wish would be either. Not anymore. And if you like a thing, then why not wish for it? I mean, I was a bit tempted to wish for all the books on Zaldarian and Hybrasillian tech that I could ever read. Would that have been dumb too?"

Pirouette away, flourish, jump and strike. The dirt around the Ginger Tiger erupts as Kiriala lunges forward. Isabelle meets the strike, talking again once they've locked their blades.

"I'm curious though - where'd the thing about being a detective come from? Is that something you'd be interested in? That'd be pretty cool."

[Roll to figure out a person: 5 + 1 + 2: [b]8[/b]. What are your feelings towards this tournament? How could I get you to find a different goal than winning? And, because this is a combat situation: What do you hope for your future? Kiriala can ask one in return]