Jake seemed to have changed. He didn't seem depressed or anything, if anything, he seemed a lot more arrogant. Perhaps when Catsy had healed him, she had returned him to his usual self.

"Let's do it then," he smirked.

Joey felt like being annoying at this point. While she wasn't really following the battle *too* well, sometimes, she just had to be Joey.

"Hey, wait! Can she do that? You know, flirting and all? I least, that's what I think she's doing. Is she?" Joey held her head, she had confused herself again.

"Nah, she isn't," Ryan assured Joey, taking another lick of the popsicle that he had stolen from Pluto.

Joey turned to Ryan, "I see. So, who is this girl anyway? I mean, I really haven't seen her around that often. You know about her?"

"She's some warrior-person that was created by Neo. I haven't seen her around, except for occasionally in here," he admitted, "and no, I don't know that much about her."

Joey nodded. With only a small amount of information under her belt, she didn't know who to root for. She just hoped it wouldn't turn to bloody.

...Or, did she?

...No, no she didn't.

"I'm guessing that Jake probably doesn't care whether or not he dies--he never really has," Ryan remarked, looking between the two of them, "they both seem pretty powerful, so it might get a little violent."

Joey nodded and smirked, "I say, bring it on."

Ryan nodded, "While Jake really does enjoy battling, I'd say that he's probably in this battle for an entirely different reason altogether."

Sometimes, Catsy was like her friend, she liked appearances to be not as they appear to be. For the crowd, she was sure they believed something more going on with her than what was really going on. Her naturally glossed lips contorted to a frown upon seeing the arrogant change of Jake's aura though it was really smile upside down.

She put one finger on the side of her tanned face as she looked up to see Neo in the stands... with a poster saying 'GO Jake!'... she took the finger away form the side of her face and allowed a piece of fire to come form one finger and then appear right on Neo's poster board. "Baka-kun needs to learn a lesson on taking up for his own characters..." She mumbled then looked at Jake. "Your aura has changed," she said loudly to him, "some people might find your arrogance sexy..." she added in a playful tone, "like Joey!"

She put her hands out in the air as two daggers appeared in her hands, "I wonder how sexy some will find you: burnt?" She said sarcastically then threw the daggers close to him and missed on purpose allowing the daggers to make four in the floor and make a fire hurricane in front of him and disappearing a second later. She blew a kiss in his direction, knowing he figured full well... he knew it was a sarcastic movement. "Just trying to prepare you..." She said then using her telekinesis to knock him three feet away form that spot and then jumping to where he was at. "Let's get this on!"

Jake stood up again, cursing under his breath.

Recalling an earlier battle--one that had occured many months ago--one that most had forgotten, he decided to pose a question. A question that might decide the outcome of this battle.

Or something.

"How well can you ice skate?"

Ryan turned to Joey, after having realized something, "Either way the battle goes--Jake wins."

Joey was suddenduly thrown off guard when Catsy made a certain comment. "Excuse me?! Me? Find...find...*him* sexy? Oh, no no no no no! Say that again, and I may throw my own two cents in this battle!"

Then, when another comment was passed along, Joey's head was filled with another thought. "He isn't going to freeze this place, is he? Becuase, that won't be too good. And what do you mean, 'he always wins?'"

Ryan shook his head, "No, he doesn't always win. I was referring to this particular battle. If Jake wins the battle, he wins--obviously, and he likes winning. Who doesn't? Anyway, if Catsy defeats him, and he dies--and that's assuming that she kills him--he's reunited with Q'aadara and now a cheesy song is playing in my head...ah, crap."

Jake smirked. "--denial is the first step."

Catsy frowned upon hearing his question. Could she ice-skate? She was very good at ice skating... but she didn't see why she was being asked this question. Flipping her hair in annoyance, she smiled and said in an arrogant tone, "Do you think asking me on a date is appropiate on this occasion? And, yes, I can skate very well..."

She waited to see what he was going to do... he must've had ice powers! It was clear, now, she had no clue of what type of powers he had and why he had said earlier that she probably thought it was going to be an easy battle. She knew Neo had no clue either... he was always more clueless than she was. "Fire and Ice... thsi would make an interesting battle!" She smirked.

He must've been planning on freeezing the place... that wouldn't be good, not for her, at least. "I guess you truly are in a win-win situation... at least, you believe you are, eh?" She thought about Haji and when she found out the news about his death... his arrogance killed him. She didn't know why she felt like fighting would release the pain, the anger, the frustration inside of her even though it never pleased her. It was just something that she had to force herself to do since being a child.

Maybe, she was more like Jake than she had believed. Maybe, she, too, wanted to die so she could be Haji... her friend, wherever he was at... this battling wasn't right. She knew it... but she didn't care. "My corpse could ice-skate circles all around you." She wanted him to make the place full of ice.

"Well, I must admit, that's very impressive," Jake said, "most people can not ice skate very well at all."

It became apparent that right after he said that, ice was beginning to cover the ground.

Jake was right. For, as soon as the ground was ice, Joey had fallen down. She never really bothered to learn how to skate. It always seemed to be a waste of time for her. Now, she was starting to rethink that.

"Ow..."

Just then, a thought came to her. "Who's denying what?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "It's kind of obvious."

3...

2...

1...

"Hey!"

...Yes, she was that slow.

Jake rolled his eyes, wondering why he had even bothered to insult her in the first place. She wasn't worth his time, so he forced himself to concentrate on the situation at hand.

Ryan took a sip of his soda, before saying, "Don't ask."

Catsy smiled at Joey's slow response and Neo's even slower knowing of what Jake was talking about as she began to notice the ice that was slowly covering the arena. 'I hate him,' She thought to herself, not truly meaning her words.

"It's alright Joey; he is kinda sexy..." Catsy joked, not bothering to turn around to speak with the girl. "Who wouldn't find a man like Jake sexy? He even rolls his eyes in an attractive way." She wtached Jake as she waited for the whole stadium to become a glacier basically... he must've forgot that even if she didn't know how to ice-skate, she still had the ability to fly for awhile or use her telekinesis as a way to skate on ice.

Permafrost? He was powerful, very much so. Gawd... she didn't have ice-skates... that baka! Catsy tried to see if her wings would come out but it was much too cold for one thing and her healing him caused her more grief than anything else. "Phoenix's sacred Fire!" She opened her arms and a bird with a lwide wing span came out of her body with fire covering over its whole body and flew into the ground... there was silence.

Hopefully, this power would work... she didn't know how long she would be able to be here... it was much too cold for her. Glowing red, her body suddenly became that of a large cat... a tiger to be exact with a red outline. She could deal with the cold much better in this form.

The temperature was dropping rapidly, affecting not only Catsy, but everyone else in the stadium. Except, of course, Jake. He continued to stand where he was without showing that he was even the slightest bit effected by the cold.

"Shapeshifting, eh? That's new," he admitted.

She didn't bother to speak or go on with ehr sarcastic movements or remarks... she wanted this battle to be over and quick. She jumped onto the walls quickly and moved forward to him in a raging motion... and then jumped onto the ice but her speed kept her from falling even though she was far form having the skates.

The bird that was sent into the ground earlier made its wary appearance known through the ground's heating up and the red glow ... and its ability to even melt permafrost... at least, a little but of it.

She stomped the ground casuing an earthquake to go throughout the stadium and releasing the beast from its imprisonment and coming from behind Jake and then flying through his body in a quick motion. It, then, returned to its originator as she returned to her human form. 'I won't let him die.' She said to herself as she put her hand out and caused him to fly to the wall, once again, as she used her telekinesis. The fire of the bird hardly did much of anything to most of the ice; it only melted a small radius of ice around her.

She frowned... realizing that she had to step on the ice especially now her long range attacks were no longer of use nor could she fly. She stuck her claws into the ground and began to try to get to him as fast she could... being in a human form and on all fours.

He stood up, a little out of breathe, "You're slowing down," he said, "you can't take the cold for much longer."

He thought for a moment, before placing his hands on the outside of what appeared to be a giant circle. Upon closer examination, there appeared to be a strange design on the ice.

He had summoned an ice bird. It roared, flapping its wings that flickered like diamonds in the light of the stadium.

Fear... it became evident upon catsy's face, seeing the large bird's appearance and here she was no longer able to use most of her powers. Her hands were numb and he was right, she was slowing down... and being in the cold might make her pass out or worse die.

Wait, the bird did return to its originator and that would be her. Still, she needed that bit of energy and if she would release it again... it would do her less of what she wanted or needed so she poreferred to keep it inside of her for now.

She couldn't be afraid. She was Catsy, the Guardian of Hope and Desire... all she needed was to have more hope or preferrably, since she didn't find herself having any hope, get the energy of teh sun. However, when he froze the place, the energy seemed to not get in as easy as before. She needed to get past that bird... she sped faster t try to get to Jake before the bird would do something would cause her to lose this battle.

'Will I make it?'

For a few seconds, it didn't seem as though the bird would do anything. Then, all of a sudden, it moved so that it was in front of Jake, protecting him.

It spread out its wings, creating a sort of barrier between them.

It was protecting him. Fine, if it was going to protect him then she'll send her bird to fight that creature, that wretched creature. With her eyes glowing, the bird, that was slightly smaller than his, came out in a rampage, sending fire fire around the area then looking at it's enemy.

The warrior part of her awakened for a moment. Grabbing onto her daggers, she slid across the ice and went under the bird's body and stopped right before Jake, holding her daggers of eternal fire. "Now, we can ahve a close range battle!"

Squwaking terribly, the bird had begun melting. But, was it defeated yet?

Jake smiled, "Whatever. I win regardless of what happens. Catsy, tell me, how much damage do you think a harpoon can do to a person's body?"

Wait, if that bird died... would there a harpoon that would come out if it were destroyed and kill her immediately? Or, was he bluffing? "You would try to kill me with a harpoon... little ole Catsy Wildfire?" She asked in a sexy voice with a model-like pout as she pulled her body closer to his... where their bodies were touching. "You're such a cold person... to kill a girl like me..." She whispered into his ear, her lips almost touching his earlobe, though seeming as if she was letting go of her guard, she had not.

"You believe you will win either way," She whispered again as she took his arms and wrapped them around her to make people in the stadium to believe more was going than it was, "don't you?" She asked but she kept a small amount of telekinesis going on so she could control his body slightly but allowed his mind to be free of her control.

Because of her telekinesis, it made his body language to those watching as if he enjoyed being that close to her as she made him hold her closer, warming herself up. "Don't you know... I'll never let you win even in my moment of death, I wouldn't allow you to win... I would find a way to make you lose someway. Whether it'd be knocking you out unconscious and then allowing myself to heal so that not only will you have lost... you would still be alive." She made him look in her eyes as she spoke quietly but her expression seeming as if she had said the most romantic words to him in the world.

Her bird began to carry what was left of the other bird away... she was hoping to get it as far from there as possible. More than likely, however, it was probably going to be him that'll make the harpoon come and take her life. She released the telekinesis slightly and kissed his lips slightly for the entertainment for others.

Sometimes she, even she, liked the spotlight. She took out her bow and arrow after stepping away form him and releaing the telekinesis completely. "I'll humiliate you."

"Whoa!" Ryan had just dropped his popcorn due to the what was happening in the stadium below.

"You already did," he stated, "but you can certainly attempt to do worse."

"I did?" She asked as if she didn't know that already, "little sweet Catsy humiliated you? No! Impossible..." She took a hankerchief from her pocket and wiped her lips, disgusted and seeming as if the battle had no worries on her soul.

Neo ran down to where Ryan was and gave him some new popcorn, "way surprising, huh?" He said, watching the battle with his newly made poster that looked as if it were bought. 'Jatsy 4EVER!' it read with a picture of the two kissing in the background.

'That baka!' Catsy screamed to herself and now she was unable to burn that poster form here... and if she didn't get her mind straight, that poster would annoy her all day. "You're not much of a kisser, Jake... how'd your lover like your kiss?" She asked, not even knowing whether they kissed or not.. nor caring.