vs. Cassandra

There she was, Cassandra.

The huntress.

Of course I would take this battle seriously, but to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t that worried.

Cassandra was no doubt very crafty, but the fact that she had no intention of actually winning the tournament did not earn her much respect in my eyes. Neither was the fact that she allegedly takes part in fixed matches.

The fight against Fisti yesterday was one of trickery. I was quite capable of countering any such tactics. And even if the matches where fixed. There where limits to how blatant they could be with all the arena watching.

Cassandra will smoke me? Yeah right, I can’t wait to throw this black box back in Beatrice’s face and gloat how much she struggled in her own fight.

“Round Two Bracket A Fight 2 Huntress Cassandra vs. Amber Assassin Mari”

“Begin!”, Ben shouted and just as yesterday I immediately rushed my opponent.

Cassandra did not even attempt to shoot at me. Instead she fell back, a confident grin on her face. I saw her release some mines and deftly avoided them as we danced around the area.

Yeah, I figured her plan out.

She want me to lose sight of the mines. Her mines are capable of moving, as such keeping track of them would get more and more difficult as the fight progresses.

As if I will let it come to that!

I accelerated my tempo and closed the gap between me and her. Cassandra shot, she was fast, but I was faster I deflected the arrow with one dirk and slashed at the huntress with the other. She barely managed to avoid a lethal cut to her throat by jerking her head around

“Ho...most impressive, boy.” Cassandra discarded her bow. A blood red scar now adorning her cheek.

I pushed the attack further. As long as I stuck to her, the huntress would be unable to detonate her mines. I was so close to her, I could smell her. A pungent odor of sweat and perfume. She was exerting herself. Meanwhile, I had stamina to spare. Yeah, not to jinx it, but I have this one in the bag.

Finally, Cassandra grew tired of avoiding my attacks. She procured a small dagger and quickly slashed me with it.

However, trying to outdo me in a knife fight was foolish.

I deflected her dagger with ease, spinning it out of her hand in the process. Simultaneously I used my second dirk to aim for her throat once more. She narrowly avoided that one but fell to the ground in the process. There was a loud explosion behind me as a mine detonated. An obvious distraction. I paid it no mind as I mounted her.

“Fuck!”, she screamed, losing her composure for the first time. I would make sure it was her last as well.

My dirk was on her throat.

I won.

I could kill her right now, but decided otherwise. “Surrender”, I commanded.

For a few seconds Cassandra merely blinked at me in apparent confusion. “You want me to become your ****, boy?”

“Do it.”

“It would be wiser to just kill me. My mines...”

Instead of letting her speak I stabbed the right arm of the huntress. Cassandra let out a defiant grunt of pain. “As I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted me, I can just use my mines to kill us both.”

“Do it then”, I urged her on. Of course, the huntress did no such thing. That would count as suicide. And that is viewed the same as surrendering.

“My...someone who knows the rules. Impressive, boy”, she smirked. “We both know you don’t have it in you to **** me.”

“Don’t test me”, I put the blade towards her open wound and applied pressure. “Surrender.”

The huntress hissed in pain. “Why?”, she asked instead. “What have I ever done to you? Can’t recall I ever even met you.”

“I know all about you. You are a slaver and in cahoots with criminals. This will end now. You will never again ruin the life of an innocent.” I coughed.

Cassandra laughed at that. “How noble of you. I fucking hate guys like you the most. Kill me. I won't surrender to you, boy.”

So she doesn’t even deny it. No need to hold back then. I stabbed her in the right arm again. This time Cassandra cried out in pain. “We have plenty of time”, I coughed. A few spittle's of blood dotted her face.

Cassandra’s pained face transformed into a smirk. “That we have, too bad yours is up, boy.”

I realized my error too late.

Suddenly, a sharp pain assaulted my stomach and I coughed up blood. It splattered on Cassandra's face who grinned and gave me a kick to the groin. The surprise gave her just enough of a window to wrench herself free from me.

I quickly rolled to the side and got back up on my feet.

“Wow! You are a bit of an idiot, aren't you? Didn't even realize I was stalling for time.” She winced and flexed her bloody arm, seemingly testing how useful it would still be. “Impressive that you can still stand, though. After inhaling that much poison most would already be on the ground.”

“P-Poison?”, I managed to press out, barely suppressing another coughing fit.

Cassandra laughed. “Did you seriously think I have just one way of bringing down my prey?”

I shuddered. Her perfume. She coated her entire body with poison?

“Now...I believe it is your turn to surrender, boy.”

This could be bad. My body was in pain. It wasn’t unbearable but whatever that poison was clearly caused internal bleeding. I was still capable of moving but I probably would not be able to keep this up for long. Naturally my mind floated to the black box, my final trump card. But I had no idea what that thing does. Could I really use it?