No matter what Diane tried, she was unable to break free of the immobilising effect of the red aura that surrounded her. She tried to force her way out of it but to no avail. The hooded man slowly circled his unmovable self before saying something else.
"Get Ready,"
The aura switched from red to yellow. Diane felt as if her Revel was slowly being drained into the aura.
"You have more Revel than I was hoping," The figure commented. "But that doesn't matter. Go,"
The aura changed colour once more from yellow to green. As soon as it changed, Diane continued her charge. She tried to turn the direction she was running towards but she might as well have been a runaway train on a shaky track. Once the aura finally disappatted, she could tell a sizable amount of her Revel had been consumed.
The hooded figure looked at her with no clear intention to move. Diane went in for another charge, moving faster than before. Just as she was a mere inch away from the figure, he spoke once more, halting her in her tracks in his crimson aura.
No, it would be more accurate to say her crimson aura. Though the figure was able to manifest the auras that manipulated her movement, the Revel being called forth was Diane's. The dark-haired woman was not sure of how he was doing it but figuring it out was simply a matter of time.
The figure uttered his other command words and Diane was sent flying into a wall. She could not help but notice whenever she was frozen, the figure began moving until he said his next command word. It could have been a coincidence but when it came to fighting a Revel User, nothing could be taken for granted. Diane went in for another attack, her hand brimming with Revel. This time, the figure took a step back to evade instead of freezing her in motion.
The hooded figure did his best to hide his fatigue. The woman had more Revel than he had anticipated, putting a toll on him and his technique. He was unable to see Revel when it was not in use, preventing him from being able to accurately gauge how much Revel his opponent had left. From his perspective, Diane's right palm shone bright with a white light. The blinding shine of the light was more than enough of an indicator to avoid getting touched by it. Once he was ready again he said his first command word again.
"Stop,"
The figure could not help but clutch his throat after saying the command. However, he could not afford to stay still or his immobilising aura would be dispelled. Slowly, he circled Diane's frozen and said the second command word once he was behind her. His Revel began to drain rapidly as it imposed the same drain on Diane. Before the drain could be detrimental, the figure said the final command word and let loose the woman.
Despite his attempts the figure's fatigue did not go unnoticed. Due to this, Diane realised how the figure was manipulating her Revel. When his second command was active, the figure could stockpile her Revel on her to extend her action during the third command by depleting his own Revel. Despite her figuring out this correlation and effect, it meant nothing if she could not do anything to stop the figure from using his ability.
As soon as the green aura vanished from around her, Diane reinforced her feet with Revel and dashed towards the figure again. At that moment, the figure had his eyes closed due to his sweat getting into them. Just as her hand was about to touch him, the figure opened his eyes and uttered his first command word.
"STOP!" He yelled.
Once again, Diane was halted. The figure was unable to get moving again and the aura around the woman faded away almost as soon as it came. He said the command word again but his mistake had already been made. Diane was now aware the figure needed to see his target for him to affect them with his commands. If that was not the case, he would have stopped her with his eyes closed.
The cycle of commands was repeated, leaving them even more drained than before. Once she was free, Diane switched her targets from the hooded figure and rushed towards the closest wall. Before he could realise what was going on, Diane punched a hole through the wall. She dragged her hand through the concrete, reducing it to dust and filling the hall with a grey cloud.
With his vision obscured, Diane made her charge again. Though he could not see clearly, the figure could still make out the glow of Diane's Revel-charged hand. As the light drew closer he quickly ducked under it and kicked the woman in the back. his attack missed as the light zipped across the hall before coming at him again. The light drew closer and closer until it suddenly vanished. The figure braced himself for an attack from anywhere and everywhere, but none ever came.
The light appeared again. It was farther away than it had been before. Out of nowhere, another light appeared a few feet across from the first, confusing the figure. The space between them was too far for them both to be the woman's hands. Suddenly, another light came forth. Then another. And another. Soon, the fog of dust was illuminated by several star-like lights. The figure was overwhelmed by the sudden emergence of lights, unsure of which one was truly Diane.
Before he could come to a realisation, a palm wrapped around the back of his neck. As soon as it touched him all of his nervous system was overwhelmed by an influx of Revel. Due to the sudden intake, he was rendered essentially paralyzed. The dust in the air began to settle, revealing Diane and the figure to the light. The figure watched as the lights faded away, unable to comprehend how she had been able to manipulate her Revel to such a degree.
"Now," Diane said. "You are going to take me to the bomb, or I am going to take your life away,"