A fight

"Nice office..." you remark as you walk around in a circle. You hadn't completely thought out what you were going to do once you got to this point, and you're pretty much just winging it.

"Yes, it is," Carmen says, while you have your back to her, and you realize her voice is closer than you expected. You look over your shoulder, and see her fist about to slam into your face. Luckily, you're so used to using your magic rings by now that you reflexively activate the time control ring, freezing Carmen in motion. It takes you a few moments to compose yourself as you can still feel your heart pounding in your chest from the close call.

Then, you take a step back to admire Carmen's form. She looks calm and collected, and was no doubt intending to knock you out with 1 blow like in the action movies. It's actually not that surprising that this is the approach she would take, and you count yourself lucky. Who knows what would have happened if Carmen had knocked you out. While you don't think she would kill you, you're sure it wouldn't have been pleasant.

Again, studying the look of determination of her face, you come to the conclusion that it won't be easy to get Carmen to submit to you, and you'll need to get her to realize her circumstance. So, making sure that you're constantly readying to activate your time control ring, you get back into your original position, except you step to the side a little, just enough to avoid her punch, before you let time flow again.

Carmen's fist punches air, and she looks astonished. "What?" she utters, and then she's already pivoting on her front foot with a roundhouse kick with her trailing left leg. You use your magic ring again to dodge the attack again, without Carmen realizing what is going on. To her, it just seems like you have superior reflexes and reaction. However, Carmen is relentless and she's keeps attacking, varying her attacks with her fists and legs and you have to be careful to keep up appearances and avoid getting hit.

You let the "fight" go on for a few minutes in real time, until you decide to flip the tables and on her last attempt to hit you, you move yourself into position to dodge the attack and leave your own fist an inch in front of her face. When time resumes, Carmen freezes, stunned by your fist that she hadn't seen coming.

"Enough?" you ask.

"How did you... I couldn't even see your movements..."

"You have your training, I have mine. Mine is obviously better. Do you surrender? Or do you want to keep trying?" you ask.