Sarah Joins A Fite Club - Part Two

(Note to Dross: I've noticed your blog is private. Nobody else seems to have a private blog so I'm guessing this isn't some APRIL FOOLS thing, so can you shoot me an invite or something so I can read?)

Before Sarah could even begin a plan of attack, Electra dashed up and slapped her across the face hard enough to spin her around. She followed it up with a heeled boot to the back, and Sarah went down, wincing a bit from the impact. Electra then quickly sat down on Sarah.

Widow Maker blinked in shock. Sarah's going to be pinned already?! In disbelief, she nonetheless began the pin count.

The white mage stirred before flailing her arms and legs around to signify that she wasn't out of it yet. Electra snickered and hopped up off of Sarah, who scrambled to her feet and raised her hammer. Electra remained smug, idly spinning the end of her whip around with her right hand.

And then, Sarah moved in.

Putting on an impressive burst of speed, Sarah wound up for a hammer blow. In her subconscious she was revisiting the same techniques that had served her so well in the past - training with Alex, learning from Erebus, and the occasional workout on Jumpropeman's Christmas gift.

Sarah swung, the hammer impacting Electra just above her right thigh. Letting out a squawk of surprise, the dominatrix was flung clear across the ring, colliding into the arena ropes and rebounding, stumbling back towards Sarah. Sarah followed through with a second strike as soon as she was in range, and Electra flew backwards again. When she hit the ropes this time, her momentum carried her up and over the edge, and Electra fell out of the arena. Widow Maker pumped a claw in the air as Sarah grinned goofily and wiped her brow.

After a moment's pause, Electra's whip shot up and wrapped around the top rope. Electra leapt back into the arena, seething.

"So you managed a hit with your big toy! This is far from over!"

Electra began stalking around Sarah, keeping herself pointed at her at all times. Sarah kept her hammer ready to swing again. Electra smiled. What Sarah didn't realize was that Electra had a serious range advantage.

Time for her to find out.

Electra shot her right hand up, and at the same time her whip extended. Sarah was lashed across the face, crying out as her grip on her hammer loosened. Electra followed up with a downwards whip, then two more from side to side. As Sarah stumbled and pawed at her face, Electra got in close. She scooped up the flailing mage, held her over her head, and threw her down to the ground so hard that Electra's feet left the ground and the ring shook slightly. Widow Maker winced and looked Sarah over.

Sarah wasn't moving.

Electra, breathing heavily, flipped her hair. "She's not bad, Widow Maker, but she could really stand to get a little faster or build a little more endur-"

Electra's feet were knocked out from under her by a sweep. Landing on her rear in surprise, Electra saw Sarah, who had managed a half-standing position and gotten hold of her hammer again. Sarah staggered to her feet, wobbling a little before putting the hammer's head against the floor and leaning on it like a cane.

Widow Maker looked alarmed. "Sarah, don't do anything stupid! It's just a casual fite!"

"I'm fine."

Electra leapt up. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"

The dominatrix took a few steps back. The rod on her left arm began to crackle with electricity.

"I think it's time you find out how I got my name, Marshmallow."

Electra's whip retracted. Seconds later, she thrust her arm forward and the whip shot out again, straight as an arrow, with a ball of electricity at its tip. Plasma crackled along the length of the whip, and the impact electrocuted Sarah, racking her small body with powerful shocks. Sarah screamed. Widow Maker's eyes widened in concern.

The whip retracted.

Sarah fell to her knees.

As Electra moved in, Sarah tried to find some reserve energy. She was desperate not to lose her first ever fite club fite...

Electra slapped Sarah in the back of the head, knocking her down flat, and once again sat on Sarah for a pin.

Widow Maker began the count, slamming her claw against the ring floor. Once. Twice.

The explosion of light sent Electra flying and Widow Maker stumbling backwards in shock. Electra landed on the ropes, her arms flung around the top. She growled at the dissipating light energy.

Sarah was standing again, now surrounded by a dual-layered crackling yellow shield.

"You never... told me we... could use magic!" Sarah panted.

Electra didn't seem to have any idea of the Pandora's box she'd just opened, and went for another electric whip attack. The whip thrust forward, blazing with electricity...

And bounced harmlessly off of Sarah's shield.

"What the-?!"

Sarah grinned. "This... is NulShock! Prevents... electric attacks..."

Sarah raised her hammer and began stalking towards Electra. Electra stumbled back, then quickly brought her whip in again, this time without any electricity. The whip cut through NulShock like butter, but the second shield stopped it as it grazed against it, emitting magical sparks as it held back the blow.

"Protect," Sarah said. She looked beaten and exhausted, but also extremely confident, as she slowly walked towards her opponent.

Electra tensed herself. She jumped a little towards Sarah, landed, went into a spin, and shot out her right leg at full power. The Protect spell shattered, sending magical shards flying that quickly disintegrated. Sarah stumbled in surprise as Electra followed through with her whip, wrapping the tip around Sarah's hammer. The white mage's eyes widened and both girls began a tug of war over the mythril weapon. NulShock fizzled out as Sarah and Electra put all their concentration into this standoff.

(Tractor time...)




(21)

Sarah shifted her weight to one side, and Electra followed suit. Then Sarah jerked hard to the other side, spinning the hammer at the same time. Electra was reeled in, helpless and stunned. Sarah grinned, gripped the hammer tightly...

And yanked.

Electra spun like a top as Sarah pulled back on the hammer. Her whip lost its grip on the weapon, and for a few seconds Electra spun around at high speeds, unable to stop or slow down. Sarah raised her hammer high, and brought it down right onto Electra's head. Electra kept spinning.

A few seconds later, the spinning stopped. And without that momentum to keep her upright, the unconscious Electra collapsed to the floor. Sarah put down her hammer and pinned Electra by lying across her body. Widow Maker slammed her claw down once, twice, three times, then helped Sarah up and raised her hand.

"The winner... is SARAH TRIDEN!"

Sarah squealed in delight and absorbed the applause.

Wait.

Applause?

Widow Maker and Sarah both looked at Electra's prone form at the same time. She was out like a light.

So then who-

"Not bad, little girl. Not bad at all. You performed exceptionally well, thanks to that magic of yours."

How long had that man been here?

Sarah looked up at Widow Maker, and was about to ask if she recognized that voice.

But when Sarah saw that Widow Maker had gone completely pale, her limbs shaking and her eyes reduced to pinpoints, she knew the answer.

Still sarcastically clapping, the man emerged from the shadows.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Project 28?"