Come At Me, Bro--Sis--You.

[Kenni]

Seeing as she knew about his abilities, maybe upfront backing into her could've been accomplished more discretely for the effect he was going for.

However, the girl wasn't without her own faults.
Because as if in his several encounters with the opposite sex during 'work' hours had failed to put him in the same situation, right?

A peck on the lips was often a shocker, but in this case, mouthguards blew away any hint of rising steam from the manipulative move.

In fact, it was less the contact and the realization that all these people had seen it, than the proximity she'd been in with him that made Tate flustered.
That, and her lips smiling sugar back at him afterwards, flipped a hormonal switch that the blindsided Dilettevole hadn't expected to see happen in the ring of all places.

So much in fact, that he couldn't see anything but those lips of hers for a good 15 seconds, even going so far as to shakily raise a gloved thumb and wipe off the slight red smear she'd attained on them from coming into contact with his injuries.
Ew, hopefully she wouldn't catch something nasty from this.

Yet the move might prove to be to the girl's detriment.

For following the uproarious laughter and hooting her latest move had inspired, the boy was so taken aback that he wished to be anywhere but there.

So he simply...
...vanished.

The laughter turned to a confused murmur, a few gasps of surprise from the less metahumanly-inclined, or newcomers to the gym who hadn't met him.

Paige's fist didn't fail however, to connect with his upper abdomen; a true double-knockdown of a play by the crafty combatant.

Knocked down..but not, knocked out.

As stars danced in his blurry, bleary vision, someone tentatively began the countdown.
But by the time they got to 5! it was more than apparent that the adolescent apparition was launching a return counter-attack, from the way Paige would flicker in and out of vision as well, based on if and when Tate struck her.

He kept in front of her for the most part, following a three-two, then one-two combo jabbing routine at her middle and shoulders, only pivoting for back-attacks twice within the volleys, and even then only to the same side.

She would have to get creative to K.O. an opponent she couldn't see.

Bet *you* don't *see* anything, smirked his author.
Tate wasn't done quite yet.

[Cuftbert]

As always, Paige couldn't dwell on her cleverness. Tate was back to his feet again, and before Paige could think of making him bite the mat a third time, he... he just disappeared. H-Hey! At least I was subtle about it! That internal whine only earned her a punched gut from the transparent gangster.

Though Paige tried as hard as she could, her blows either swiffed in the air or were intercepted, earning the heroine more punches to the gut and shoulders. Worse still, she felt the occasionally biff on the back, and turning around earned her more biffs on the back. In just a few seconds she was more tired, battered and bruised than she'd been a minute ago. I gotta think smart, gotta retreat... Paige raised her gloves in meek resistance as she backed up, but that wasn't too effective against a relentless foe like Tate.

Still, the hard sock to the gut that knocked her to the mat wasn't all that bad. As Paige staggered to her feet on the 7 count, she realized that she was in the corner of the ring. He's gotta come in one direction, here. So she stood in front of that corner and waited while occasionally throwing out a test punch to see if she'd get lucky. It wasn't a good plan, but it was the best she could think of at the moment.

[Kenni]

Tate's latest strategy wasn't winning him any popularity contests. Even one of his burly friends was tsking at him; the capable lady had taken something of a shine to Paige's tenacity. The other three knew less what to think of the boss' kid, but the other female bodyguard was staunchly on Tate's side, leaving the two males to barter and wager over who would come out on top in the struggle match between the two tired teens.

Paige wasn't giving up, even with her battered, bruised back to the corner.
The only dirty trick he was using was keeping his location a secret.
Her strategy looked desperate at first, but was actually a great defensive front; if she had a stable backing he couldn't pull anything too surprising, and had only to advance.

The fatigued fighter tried to make as little noise as possible in his approach, then decided enough was enough.
The booing from his special tactics was distracting enough, never mind the distraction from his conscience. Her random attacks were useless when he could see them coming, but he still had to get close enough to do any damage. One of her throws caught him in the gut, sure, but only because he had to close in eventually, invisible or not.

If those invisible gifts were unpractised and passive like hers, it wouldn't have made him feel as bad.

So, he steeled himself for any of her further possible 'personal' attacks, and let his clocking fade him back into vision.
At the same moment he took advantage of the cornerpost she was standing in front of.

POW! POW-POW!
With a two-three combo to first her right shoulder, then her face straight-on around her nose, he was aiming for a knockout aided by said cornerpost.

Failing that, he would take full advantage of the ropes for a little Paigehockey.

The possibilities were promising and interesting.
There was no way he was letting her leave her 'post', now.

[Cuftbert]

The impact of Paige's fist against flesh filled her with a sense of determination; she'd hit an invisible foe after all. She was starting to get exhausted, and the longer the fight went on, the harder it was to find the energy to punch. Fortunately, her wild swing made Tate reappear, now she just--

The rapid-fire jabs came out of nowhere, giving Paige absolutely zero time to react. The first one connected with her shoulder, but the real stinger was the one-two punch right to her face. The impact stunned her, both in expression and in the sense that her guard dropped completely. Furthermore, her head snapped back, right into the steel pole she'd been in inches in front of. That was what made her eyes roll up into the back of her head, and with nary a sound, she fell forward as limp as a ragdoll.

Whether the crowd was wild or not, the count went steadily up to ten, making the bell ring resoundingly throughout the gym. The referee approached Tate and shook his hand...glove. Paige, meanwhile, lay unmoving on the floor; she was quite clearly unconscious.

[Kenni]

The sound was one he'd often been on the receiving end on, that dull clang of defeat.
But not today.
The only difference was that the countdown completed without anyone raising a glove in victory. He felt kind of bad about how things had played out.

The papyrokinetic slumped to the ground, and he went with her, a padded fist on her forehead to prevent a faceplant that could result in a sore premature wake-up call if painful enough. Tate's other mitt went lateral as his forearm propped her up by the shoulders, shooing his hand-shaker off and basically spitting his mouthguard at the ref' in misdirected irritation.

Where had this self-appointed intermediary been the whole fight, anyway? Probably didn't want to risk getting mixed up in the odd pair's odder-still attacks on one another, given they were powered.

"First aid, per favore," Tate mouthed to his huge friends, crawling slowly beneath the ropes and handing off his unconscious challenger. There would be no out-shouting the gym's occupants for another minute at least as excited roar dimmed to excited, well, din.

The woman rooting for Paige moments prior was now silent. She lifted Paige from the ring with great concern, gently supporting her limp frame and almost tripping over how light she was?

What had all that grimacing been when her young charge had been laying into this one?
There was paper!work to file on this one.

"You know you owe her a re-match sometime, capisce?? That cloaking was cheaper than what you pulled on her kidneys, Tot."
"You see everything, Ines."

Using his teeth to pull off a glove he checked for any bleeding, if he'd overdone it. Fortunately, his fingers came back dry, and they found their way to her bangs in a manner as unconscious as Paige was. 

"Next time I say wear your headgear..." he murmured, before the sleeping slugger was heralded through the small rabble of a crowd onto a cot in the infirmary.

OoC; -fistbumps for Cuftlinks- Nice fighting with ya! c: Later this day's a bonfire. I suppose I should get on that, haha. Unless you'd like her to wake up, for closing stuff, thread complete~|