[i]Fuck,[/i] thought James as his spike buried itself into Iava's leather armor. Some blood spurted out from the wound, but this advancement did not fill James with a sense of victory. It had taken the woman no time at all to become comfortable with the idea of dying and resurrecting. To so immediately use the effects of the arena spell to her advantage, confirmed that [i]she was[/i] as crazy as James himself. Careful what you wish for.

        He swiftly brought up his left baton to block her attempt to decapitate him outright. Then, he back stepped immediately out of her range. He may have gotten one point in, but staying that close would clearly be a mistake. Iava would just tank another non lethal hit and run him through to be sure. It had been some time since someone had stopped his pressuring so immediately.

        Despite an unexpected development, James was still well aware of each aspect of the fight. His bladed whip protruding from his shoulder continued to use it's momentum unpredictably. It wiggled and slithered in the air, evading Shiara's knife attack. Likewise, the eyeball on his shoulder bent cartoonishly out of the way of her throwing knife. James, as he was backpedaling away from Iava, bent his head diagonally back as well to avoid being stabbed in the eye by her thrown knife.

       Then, the bloody javelin decimated the thing entirely as it passed over James's shoulder. A small splatter of blood dispersed into the air as the weapon passed. James always designed his extra parts with as few nerve endings as possible. So that he could be aware of their movements, but receive as little pain as possible when damaged. This felt like a pinch, but an annoying one.

       "Better not get too reckless, mercenary. If you pass out from blood loss you're no help to these two," taunted James. Of course internally he admitted it was a good move, strategically. He wondered, however, what Iava's reply or justification might be. 

       So now while traveling backwards, when he was a single step outside of Iava's melee range, he opened his mouth. The tip of his tongue formed a hole, and a line of clear liquid shot out like a water gun directly at Iava's eyes. This liquid was spitting cobra venom, which causes burning pain, and eventual blindness. At the same time his appendage, now only directed by James's actual eyes, snapped several times at Shiara. WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, went the sound of the whip each time it ripped through the air. Once to slash her face, the next her left arm, and finally her torso again.