“Beatrice, I really don’t think this a good idea. They’re going to kill themselves… And over some… training? It doesn’t even make any sense.” Evan spoke while standing next to Beatrice on a wooden platform.
“Everything is going to be fine. I know all of them have pent up emotions against each other, one way or another.” Beatrice’s folded hands tightened on the platform. “This is the perfect way to make them fight each other, and therefore, train.”
The wind blew through the grass of the open field, which was a giant circle in the middle of the forest. All four hybrids stood as corners of a square, looking towards the general and their caretaker, who both watched them from a stage made out of old logs.
“Listen up, my experiments. I have already spoken to you about the incident that happened a couple of days ago, but now is the time to redeem yourself out of the situation.” The hybrids looked back and forth at each other before Beatrice went on.
“And so, here we are. All four of you are going to fight. The first to pin the other down for more than ten counts is the winner.” She remained stagnant with her words for a second, then smirked devilishly.
“And you know, I meant to mention this—but from my reports it looks like Bucko, Lily, and Ramen were the only ones to lay a hand on the dog boy.” Everyone’s eyes shifted to focus on Vanessa, who was standing in shock. She looked to the side nervously, quickly fleeing into her thoughts.
T-They’re right… I never did touch Dagger… I only called for backup… oh no…
“Well, congratulations. Looks like Vanessa will be fighting Ramen then.” Vanessa and Ramen both flinched, gazing back at each other after Beatrice made her statement.
“Wait, what? I don’t want to fight her… it’s… not fair!” the shapeshifter paused, looking to her teammates for back up on the matter. Lily started to sweat, while Bucko rolled his eyes. Ramen’s blank face continued to stare at the shapeshifting girl.
“She… She doesn’t even have control of her powers!” Vanessa exclaimed wildly. Ramen blinked for a few seconds, then frowned. Remaining speechless, Ramen walked up to her, her long dress catching in the soft wind.
Her hair let out a loud stinging sound, allowing her hand to immediately become charged up with electricity. She quickly threw a punch at Vanessa, creating a small gust of wind in the process. Everyone gasped, taking a step away from the starting fight. They—even Beatrice—didn’t think that the fight would start as fast as this.
Ramen gasped, feeling another hand wrapped around her own, as if they had merely caught the jab. She saw herself in front of her, an evil simper displayed on the opposing face. Ramen tried to back up, but the other tightened their grip and flung her overhead, and then back down again.
Ramen groaned as she spat dirt out of her mouth, rising to her feet once more.
“Alright. Let’s do this,” she spoke, launching herself at the shapeshifter.
“So why exactly did you decide to pair those two together?” Evan questioned Beatrice again, who was staring intently at the duo fight.
“What Vanessa said was the truth—Ramen doesn’t have control of her powers yet. She disturbed the whole city’s electricity unit just by being in the area,” she halted her words to block her eyes from another gust of wind.
“And by Vanessa shapeshifting into Ramen, she’s able to use her powers in a completely different way—which might be more refined than how Ramen is using them right now. Ramen’s creating those wind breezes with those powers, and not Vanessa. Did you notice that? In a matter of seconds, Vanessa had already adapted to her opponent’s powers.” She leaned against the podium. “Now she has to do the same with Dagger’s.”
“Hehehe… now what? Am I supposed to fight the weak frog girl now? Perfect.” Bucko looked at her joyfully. Lily gulped, getting herself ready.
“I am not weak!” Lily cried out. Bucko smirked and sprawled out his wings, shooting towards Lily’s face. She luckily backed away before he could get any closer.
“You’re weak enough for me,” he let out a chuckle. Lily gritted her teeth and swung her leg, kicking him swiftly in the face. Bucko coughed, blood sliding out of where the bottom of her boots had scratched him. He grunted and lunged towards the girl again, grabbing one of her hands and taking off into the high air.
Lily panicked, flailing her legs around greatly. Bucko relentlessly soared up and down, not letting the frog girl go while he did so. Lily let out a grunt of her own and turned around in his grasp, putting her legs on his chest and straightening them. Noticing this action, Bucko’s head faced hers, which was met with a purple ooze that covered and stung his face.
“AGH!” Bucko shrieked in horror, slinging Lily towards the ground. He quickly landed as well, rubbing his face continuously while cursing loudly. The frog girl zoomed back down to the ground, touching it to only hop back up into the air and back down again.
“You… you…” Bucko couldn’t bother to finish his sentence. Lily grinned at him slyly, holding up two fingers in joy.
“Looks like I win, yes? Seems to me you’re all steam and no kettle,” she snickered, and then laughed. Bucko screamed out in anguish yet again. Lily’s eyes jerked back to him, but he had already flown over her. She reacted quickly by extending her tongue and wrapping it around him mid-air, nodding her head to slam him back into the field’s dirt.
The girl then scrambled onto him, making Beatrice jump up. “START COUNTING!” A cry could be heard from where Lily and Bucko were fighting.
“One… two… three… four… five!” At the number five, Bucko was starting to thrash inside the mound of dirt. Lily stiffened her grip, starting to struggle with holding him as well.
“…eight! Nine! TEN!” Beatrice exclaimed while Evan gave her a nervous clap. Bucko was released from Lily, immediately flying off towards the city. The other two girls remained fighting while Lily scurried to the platform. Evan gave her a high five, and surprisingly received a head-pat from the general.
“Well done, Lily. I’m very proud of you. Is that acid new?” Beatrice asked. Lily nodded, feeling a bit hazy about the match that she had just won.
Bucko couldn’t have been that weak. Eagles are known to be strong and vicious animals. And even Beatrice said that he was going to be violent… He couldn’t have been going easy on me, especially if we were training…
“Lily.” Beatrice snapped a finger in front of the frog girl, making her blink and look up at her.
“Ahaha, sorry,” Lily respond nervously, putting a hand behind her head. Beatrice nodded and looked back to the ongoing fight.
“Man, those girls can really hold out, huh? They must be absorbing each other’s shocks in some way if they’re able to fight for this long. Not to mention that they’re using electricity,” Evan slowly commentated, taking a peek at his phone. Beatrice offered up a small “mhm” in response, while Lily sat down on the platform and continued to watch. After a few moments, she noticed in the corner of her eye that Beatrice would peek at her ever so often.
“Lily, I want you to join in the fight,” the general ordered. Lily stood up, but refused to move after that.
“Sure, but why exactly? And how am I supposed to know who is who?” Lily crossed her arms, waiting for a proper answer while continuing to look at the fight. Maybe that would give her a few hints to figure out who was the real Ramen.
“Usually in a fight, you’re going to have more than one opponent. In our case with Dagger, it’s just one. However, this would still be training nonetheless for you. It’ll help you, trust me.” Beatrice scratched her arm.
“As for deciphering who is who on the battlefield… I honestly can’t tell you that. Just pick a person and fight alongside them. Now go—before they get tired and give up.” Beatrice ordered again. Lily bobbed her head up and down, fleeing off into the battle ahead.
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