I'll ask for forgiveness in advance. If there is anything you wish to clarify let me know!
After Jima had released him from her grappling hook and delivered such a passionate speech, mimicking his own mocking gesture, no less, there was only one thing Mogan could do.
He started to laugh but regained his composure soon after and closed his laugh by smashing his right fist into his open waiting left hand, all while keeping both arms parallel to the ground, in a gesture that universally meant that he was ready to fight seriously.
All that was left on his scarred face was only the most obnoxious cocky grin imaginable. His eyes, meanwhile, kept scanning Jima critically, examining her stance that was so full of openings that he had trouble deciding how to best approach it. It was like going to a restaurant with a 20 pages menu.
"I'm glad you noticed! I kind of have to strategize, given my careful approach to combat. As for the talk... as a matter of fact, I not only did notice the unusual amount of words we have exchanged, but I'm sorry to say that those have been part of the fight too. I mean... I literally cannot believe that worked. My Oum, Jima! Didn't I just tell you not to trust me? And yet you threw away the only advantage you had gained from your first surprise attack just because I fed you some half-truths!? Sure, in my opinion, you could have used the element of surprise better, but you still got what you wanted, no? You could have used the grappling hook to limit my movements and influence my choices, yanking it at any moment to create openings. Sure, that could work both ways, but with the aid of the retracting mechanism, you could have exerted more power than me without giving me any warning and/or time to react in the best possible way. That said, considering that this is a form of training and that the Vytal tournament is approaching, I hope you'll remember whatever you're learning today, as will I. So I hope you won't regret asking me to "beat you to a bloody pulp", when you'll be in one of the infirmary beds, looking at the ceiling and revaluating your life choices."His semblance had finished warming up, so he now had to be careful. Being hit hard could spell disaster, but he was confident that landing even one hit on Jima could bring a chain reaction that would leave her unable to react. With a series of mechanical sounds, the armor on his right arm rearranged itself into a cannon with a muzzle at both extremities, while from his left forearm the hidden blade emerged, extending itself over his hand to extend his reach.
So Mogan did what he could do best: bamboozle, distract and confound his opponent, blinding him (or her, in this case) to the real menace. He had revealed all his aces at once, sure, but what he had gained was an opponent that had no way of knowing what Mogan would use and in what way and that had to be on the lookout for each and every weapon in his arsenal.
What better way to deal with a semblance that "enhanced" the senses? Give Jima too much to worry about and she wouldn't be able to keep track of everything. Or at least that was the theory he wanted to put to the test.
Mogan dashed forward: no need for subtlety or elusive maneuvers when your opponent literally had detached senses.
Three things happened during the aforementioned sprint.
The first was that Mogan's right hand was kept open with the palm towards the ground, the cannon aimed squarely at Jima's chest. Said right arm was extended protectively before his body, the hand approximatively at the height of Mogan's stomach. It's purpose, besides using the cannon at the right moment, was to intercept Jima's mace (or grappling hook) when it inevitably would be used to strike him. The moment that the mace moved up to strike and not to defend would be the right time to fire basically point-blank the cannon at an unprotected target. If instead, the mace came up to defend head and torso against the incoming assault, the cannon would work wonderfully as a potential threat too dangerous to ignore, and that would leave open areas for the other two weapons that Mogan had deployed. And he could fire a shot anyway just to bring her teammate the pain she so clearly wanted inflicted upon herself.
The second was that Mogan's grappling hook fired again from his left hand, this time aimed at the upper thigh beside which dangled Jima's mace. An easy enough place to defend with the mace, a much harder one to move out of the way without upsetting one's balance unless the dodge was flawless. After all, Mogan knew that Jima knew that he could electrify the hook/whip, so she would not risk being hit directly by it (because he could and would electrify it if it managed to hit the intended target). She could try to kick it or stomp on it, but with the other threats coming could she really afford such a time-consuming and opening-creating maneuver? Raising that leg would surely impede the movements of the mace, wouldn't it? Anyway Mogan didn't care, because the third thing that happened was that he thrust his left arm, the hand angled sideways in order to have the palm pointing away from the rest of Jima's form, forward in a stabbing motion aiming at the shoulder opposite to the one at which the grappling hood had been aimed at the start of the dash.
All these moves would leave him with his left arm stretched above his right one, in a perfect position to defend against a counterattack by crossing his arms before him, or by bringing the right arm low to block kicks or the mace.
The best case scenario for Mogan, and conversely the worst for Jima, was that she would use the mace to defend against the hook, and only then bring it up to try and stop the blade. At that point he would have fired with the cannon, likely hitting her in the chest. But even if she managed to bring up the mace in time that would not matter, because the cannon shot would surely push the mace with enough force for it to hit her chest anyway because of the recoil, leaving the way open for the blade, no? Well... not exactly. Because you forgot that Mogan's semblance is now active.
That means that if Jima's thigh is hit by the hook, she has one countdown on her, while if she uses the mace the countdown will be on the mace. Keep this in mind because it will be relevant later.
Nothing happens at first in any case, so Jima can bring the mace up to attack or defend without problems. Let's say she tries to put the mace between herself and the cannon as any sane person would when following one own instinct of autopreservation, at this point the cannon shot hits either her directly or the cannon. If the hook has hit her before, and the cannon hits her now, then the effect of the hook will appear (likely making her stumble because of the sudden impact and subsequent pain) and a new countdown will be applied on her, only for it to be activated once the blade hits its mark. If this sequence of events happens as described here, once the blade makes contact Jima will feel the impact of the cannon and the countdown for the blade strike will be applied to her.
But what if she manages to intercept the cannon shot with the mace? The grappling hook doesn't make enough difference to influence the mass of the mace and is only useful as a distraction and to make Jima waste precious instants. Well, in this case, a countdown is applied on the mace, but nothing happens and so the mace can continue its travel to block the blade.
At this point, various things can happen.
1) Jima intercepts the blade before it strikes her, intending to damage it in some way, and in so doing activates a countdown on the aforementioned blade without stopping the countdown on her mace.
2) Jima intercepts the blade before it strikes her, without intending to damage it but only to protect herself, and no counter is applied to the blade.
3) Jima thinks she will manage to intercept the blade, only for said blade to violate all the rules and move abruptly and quickly horizontally towards the other side of her body in what can be considered for all intent and purposes a slash and no longer a thrust, evading the mace and applying a new countdown. It would look like someone had pushed the blade laterally by applying a sudden force. And that is exactly the case: do you remember Mogan's gesture before his last speech? He sure does, and his internal clock, honed by countless fights, practice, and experiences (some less successful than others etched into Mogan's skin) is very precise.
"Be careful what you wish for... punk."Attack log: I've no idea where to start. So I'm going to take the cowards way out and leave it all to you.
Mogan combat stats:
Aura: 93%