Round 2; Spark vs Esme

Being ushered into a taxi, it was a short drive for the two competitors through the south of the city. Natural light was overtaken by the artificial, as neon signs and disco spots shone out from the different buildings in the area. It was becoming clear that one of these buildings was going to be their destination - in particular, a casino.
Well... sort of. Whilst the place was a casino thematically, the first thing anyone would notice as they entered would be something which... many would consider not usual for the venue. Taking up the centre of the room, was an enormous roulette wheel, built so that it dipped slightly into the floor. It took up the majority of the centre of the room - acting as a small spinning mini-arena of it's own for the two competitors to brawl inside. Directly above the wheel? A chandelier, high enough to be out of the way, but low enough that with enough reach and jumping power, it was entirely possible to grab onto and clamber up.

Of course, the room was more than just it's centre-piece, as evidenced by the reception desk both competitors passed by on their way in, a small queing area entirely skipped by those who would stand as the only real presence here today. Diverging just before they reached the spinning centre of the arena, each competitor was guided to an opposite side of it.
Behind Esme was a series of slot machines. These were of course, props - but props rigged to react. A quick tug on one of their levers would send the reels inside spinning, and chips pouring out of their bottom. Of course, this not being a real casino, said chips were worthless, but could potentially have some... unique uses, in the right hands.
On Spark's side meanwhile, stood the dealers table - a large heavy wooden piece of furniture, with a green felt top. Laid out across it were various cards and decks, along with some more chips - seperated into nice seperate piles along the table's edge. Similar to some of the previous arenas, a basic robotic unit had been used to set the scene. He seemed to be stood in the place of the dealer at one side of the table, clad in a simple bow-tie as he repeated the programmed motion of waving around his dice stick. It looked pretty loose as it wobbled in his hand - probably easy enough to snatch out of the machines hands and put up to all sorts of uses, should the want arise.

Opposite the reception over the roulette wheel - currently to the side of each competitor as they took up positions - was a low stage, knee high at most. On said stage, where a couple of circular platforms - from each a pole extending vertically and connecting up the roof. It seemed for this particular feature, the hosts had opted out of using any robots to further set the scene.

As the officials exited the arena, soon it was just Spark and Esme, left to face each other across the big wheel. Suddenly, with a loud pop, a banner fell down at the back of the stage, a single big bold word emblazoned across it;
FIGHT!
As confetti slowly began to descend on the stage, it seemed that the battle was ready to begin.

-----

(Sparknish, you're up first. You two have until the [slightly extended time of the] 1st January to go on without interference. We'll only step in if you call on us to do so - so off you go!)

It was about time. 

Spark had waited inside his room to just gather his thoughts. He held his head down near his shoulders with his eyes closed, his hands were balled into fists. He was leaned against the wall breathing quietly and sat there for a few moments thinking to himself before opening one eye. He opened his right fist before letting a current flow through his arm and discharge out.

He was smirked then kicked open the door. A giant grin on his face. God, it was a long time he felt this excited. He tightens his bandages and scans the room but had to cover his eyes so they could dilate properly. The artificial lights blinding him for a short moment. He took in the sights and noting the places of interest. This place filled with electricity with plays to his advantage. He relaxed his muscles and breathed deeply and... waited.

This is going to be fun.

(asss far as I can tell, they're not in seperate rooms yo. They're on the opposite ends of a giant room)

Esme grinned, tucking her hands into the large pocket at the centre of her hoodie. 'Man, I didn't relalise casino's were still a thing! Like, I haven't been in one of these in yeaaaars.' She says, speaking more to herself than her competitor. 'This is like, goin' to be waaaay more fun that that lame-o skate park.'

She pauses for a moment, experimentally pulling one of the slot machines arms. She squeals in delight as a handful of chips tumble out of the bottom, and she stoops to pick them up. 'Haha, sweet... sure has hell beats punchin' stuff for shrapnel..' She stuffs a few into her pockets, before experimentally flipping one.

'So!' She shouted out, hoping her opponent was listening 'Come to places like this often, cutie~? Shame we didn't get to talk much during the taxi ride, huh?'

(Oof my bad.)
"It is a shame isn't it? I appreciate the compliment don't think it'll help you out much." He moved his right foot out and cricked his neck and got into a fighting stance. 

"We are fighting after all." He smiled.

'Mmm, fightin' doesn't mean we can't have a friendly conversation. After all, this is probably the only chance you'll get to speak to lil' old me~' Esme called out, slowly beginning to walk down her side of the room. She decided approaching someone like him head on would be stupid, since he clearly knew something about fighting, so she'd need to try and play this in her favour... and for that, she'd be better off knowing her environment.

After a moment, she extracted one of the chips from her pocket, and a thin layer of a crackling red substance spread over it. She took a deep breath, and lobbed it in the direction of the rooms centre. Upon clattering to the ground, it exploded... violently. Hopefully, that had caught his attention.

"I'm fine with talking to you after. If you're up for it~" He moved to his right still maintaining his stance. He didn't know anything about her so he had to stay alert. He saw her pulled out the chip and throw it into the center as he braced himself for impact.

He noticed it was nowhere him and during the explosion raced to the left and headed toward the ends.

Esme opted out of responding, instead choosing to watch which way he moved. She pursed her lips slightly, noting that he'd opted out of charging directly at her, like she expected he would. Still, this left her a lot more room to work with, since he'd have to move all the way around the room to reach her. That either meant he didn't have any space-clearing techiques, or was trying to hide his skill set from her.

After a moment, a predatory grin split across her face as she pulled out a handful of chips. After a moment, they were each coated in a small coat of that odd red energy again. She pitched forward, keeping her eyes fixed on where she thought he was heading, and began a mad dash towards the center of the room.

He had some distance between him and her and had some downtime to think.
She's been using her explosives to try and distract him and get his attention, he needed to keep focus on her whenever she's using any of her gadgets.

He looked around as he was by the dealer's table and the robotic servant dealing cards to empty players. He ignored the sight as he then saw the dice stick in his hand and took it from his clutches and carried it in his right hand. He's not going to use it for a weapon, Moreso a tool.

She blinked, a slight frown marring her face. It was throwing her off slightly, the fact he was making absolutely no attempt of approaching her. In fact, he was being incredibly passive about this whole thing, which meant she didn't know exactly what she was dealing with.

Still, that meant she could go ahead with the plan she had in mind.

Getting close to the rim of the giant roulette, Esme sprung forward, pulling her legs up slightly. She twisted her torso slightly, throwing the last of the explosive chips in Sparks direction, hoping to catch him unawares as he poked around the building. As she clattered down onto the ground, a keen observer would notice her feet had become coated in that volatile energy she had been using.

A loud crack filled the air as she was launched skywards, using the cupped power of the explosion mixed with the bowl of the floor to propel herself, screeching in pain as she went. She flung her arms out, barely catching ahold of chandelier as she flew, blood dripping from her feet as she swung for a moment. 'That... wasn't as elegant as I hoped it would be...' she mumbled, slowly beginning to drag herself up, trying to put herself out of grabbing range.

Spark turned just at the moment the explosion finished and the cloud pointed upward to see Esme clamber ontop of the chandelier and blood dripping from her feet. 

"That's odd." He remarked.

She already drew blood on herself and she's ontop of a chandelier that can easily come crashing down with enough force applied to it. So he thought about his options for the moment and then decided.

a(play this)

And with that in mind he summoned a current and golden lighting came rishing from his body and formed a circle around his arms and legs. He levitated up of the ground and rose up to the top of the chandelier and was about to cut it down with a small zap before he looked down at Esme hesitating.

Esme blinked, watching as Spark approached, his intent to remove her lovely highground obvious on his direction. A curse escaped her lips as she noted his electrical manipulation, and flying capabilities - an unusual mix, but that wasn't what worried her most. What DID wss the fact they'd stuck an electric user in a room with mechanical props. If he was capable of drawing power from them... She shuddered slightly at the thought.

There was only one obvious flaw in his plan, and that was the distance he had to travel - he had, after all, never directly approached the centre. She reached into her pocket, and extracted the last three chips she had claimed. Energy crackled as it spread itself across each of them, and Esme took aim. She waited for him to get close, before throwing all three of them towards him.

However, she missed, and soon found the hedgehog within melee range. She noticed him hesitate as he glanced towards her. A thin, charming grin spread across her face. 'Come on cutie, you know you don't want to fight lil' old me' she said, a small purr infecting her voice... before jabbing her leg out suddenly, aiming a kick at his crotch.

Happy New Year! This topic is now closed!
Thank you for participating in Round 2 of The Tremendous Tribulations Tournament! Judging shall commence soon to decide a victor for this battle!

Unfortunately, Sparknish has withdrawn himself from the competition due to an inability to be in attendance and compete in further rounds. As such, the winner for this round has automatically been assigned to...

Esme!

I know not exactly how you'd want to try and win, but still, congratulations on making it through to the next round.