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Oddball -> RE: =WPC 2022= Field of Petals (2/12/2022 23:50:56)
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“I couldn’t agree more!” Came Suraeko’s frenzied response, the woman taking no time at all to rush towards, what would possibly be, the pair’s final clash. One last time, the knives flew, the first to Serihl’s left, causing her to instinctively dodge to the right. This would then be followed by another quick step to her right, with Serihl cautiously taking note of where the knives would land, just to make sure she could counter if Suraeko tried to recall them.
This last one, however? This one she would show off on. Twirling her own knife in her hand, she waited with baited breath for the right moment, swinging diagonally upwards and to the right just as the knife came into range. Satisfied, she dared not wait to watch where that one landed, swinging her attention back to her opponent and realizing the mistake she had made.
The Glaive!
Serihl was too far away to contest at this point, only being able to close half the distance before Suraeko had reclaimed her prized weapon, knuckles dyed white as she gripped it tightly.
Now? Now Serihl had to think, and do so quickly. Her chest wounds were still open, and her vision was starting to blur slightly, hinting at her possible collapse.
Still, she wasn’t just going to sit quietly and let Suraeko finish her off.
The first swing came, and to the mob bosses’ surprise? It was slow. Slower than she had previously witnessed from her dance partner…
Could she, too, be ‘running low on steam’, as her elementally attuned co-worker would say it?
The blow would arc wide as Serihl took a half-step backwards before taking two forwards, clenching her fist and thrusting her arm towards Suraeko’s jaw once again. With a solid enough impact, Serihl had forced Suraeko to take a couple of steps backwards as she recoiled from the blow, Serihl’s eyes sparking briefly as she saw her opening to finish it.
Chasing after her opponent, Serihl stepped to the left of the, briefly, stunned Suraeko, swinging in with her left in hopes of catching her in the side of the head for a good, clean, knockout.
But, to her surprise, Suraeko had recovered much quicker than expected, and had managed to bring the glaive up to shield herself from Serihl’s might.
As she pulled her hand away, however, she noticed she had left a small indent in the side of the weapon… Maybe a couple more like that, and she could gain a monumental advantage.
Seemingly as a last-ditch effort, Suraeko pushed forwards, slamming the frame of the glaive against Serihl’s form, perhaps an attempt to create distance so she could use the weapon to its full effectiveness?
Fine.
If she wanted to play like that, Serihl would respond in kind.
She pushed off from her back leg while turning her body slightly, putting all of her weight behind her shoulder as it came crashing against Suraeko’s form, causing the warrior to stagger backwards. Her grip was true, however, and her Glaive was held firm in her grasp.
It would come as a shock to Serihl when the Glaive suddenly lit up, several runes glowing with a feverish intensity. She could only watch on as Suraeko raised it skyward before slamming it into the ground beneath her.
Something… Felt off.
It was wrong, all wrong.
It was like something was under her skin, begging to be set free, and Serihl was left clutching her arms, mumbling under her breath. She was so distracted by this alien feeling, that she wouldn’t hear Suraeko whisper, nor see the Glaive heading towards her until it was too late
Tir sighed as the last section of the wall locked neatly into place, her shoulders suddenly feeling a lot lighter now that her sudden guest had left.
Once again, she slumped down into the chair, alone in her dimly-lit office, simply waiting for something, anything, that could help them track Serihl’s whereabouts.
Waiting was all she could do.
She would lean forward, clasping her hands together and resting her forehead against them. She wasn’t, exactly, a religious person, but desperate times do call for desperate measures after all.
“Come on… Please, please be safe…”
Serihl’s eyes widened as she felt something foreign enter her body, her eyes slowly arcing down until she found the root of the problem… Which happened to be most of Suraeko’s glaive piercing through her chest. She went to speak, only to cough blood towards, and over, Suraeko, who would respond in, well, the only way she knew how.
Laugh.
She would break out into a maniacal cackle, believing herself to be the victor, thinking that Serihl had been bested.
By a wound like this? Maybe even the mighty Serihl O’las, who had seemed impervious to pain, had finally reached her limit.
Stuck in a state of half-awareness, Suraeko would be much too slow to react to any movement from Serihl, who would bury her knife into the back of Suraeko’s hand, and into the side of the Glaive that she had previously damaged. The mob boss held it tightly, her knuckles staining themselves white and, try as she might, Suraeko couldn’t escape.
“What. In the goddamn Hell. Is so funny?
Despite everything, her voice stayed firm, almost as if Serihl was managing to ignore the effects of the hole that had just been put in her chest.
Truth is, she was bordering on that threshold that she was terrified of and was fully aware. But, rather than the dread that she had come to know so intimately, she felt strangely energetic. Something was coursing through her veins that was allowing her to make one, final, action.
Was… This adrenaline? It felt like lightning was coursing through her entire body.
If this was to be Serihl’s final moments? Well. She had promised the Family that she wouldn’t go down quietly.
Bringing a shaking hand up to a still, stunned, Suraeko, Serihl’s grip found the collar of her shirt, pulling the woman closer to her until their foreheads were almost touching. Both of her eyes were sparking with that same intense, purple, lightning now, as Serihl stared a hole through Suraeko.
“You fell… Right into my clutches.”
With one last grin of her own, Serihl outstretched her arm, pushing Suraeko as far away from her as the length of her arm would allow while still gripping at her collar, before pulling her back in with all of her might, clashing the pair’s skulls together.
Not giving the Warrior any time to react, or even brace, Serihl began to repeat the process. Over, and over, hearing cries of pain coming from the one she had grasped, the one she had locked in place. The horrible sound of bone crunching would echo across the battlefield like a horrific metronome.
Serihl stopped, feeling the body of her opponent go limp as she would finally stop struggling to break free. With this, she finally let go, watching as her opponents’ head would loll backwards as she fell.
“...For good measure, one more.”
It took every ounce of whatever energy she had remaining to raise her hand and bring it down across Suraeko’s throat, sending her flat against the ground on her back. Serihl herself didn’t take too long to join her, only managing a single step before collapsing.
Vision blurred, she reached out towards Suraeko, finding her hand and grasping it tightly.
A rare, warm smile found its way onto Serihl’s features, as her vision went dark. It was too difficult to keep her eyes open right now.
Maybe…
Maybe a little nap would do her some good.
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