Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead down to his chin, as he clutched the dagger in his right hand. He gulped down a chunk of saliva in response to the unnerving silence which had ensued for close to a minute now. He tried really hard to concentrate and remain focused at the task at hand. Losing focus for a single second could cost him dearly.

“Kill or be killed”

The short sentence uttered by his opponent, not long ago, still rang in the back of his mind like a broken record, forcefully sharpening his senses and increasing his awareness to the maximum level he could afford to reach. His entire being, every fiber of his body and soul was fixated on one particular or rather on one particular person, his opponent. His opponent, who was about a hundred meters away, stared back at him with a condescending look etched on her ebony, beautiful face. Her dainty hands were deep in the pockets of her black, baggy shorts, which exposed her slim, straight legs. It was like she wasn’t even taking this seriously at all, but he knew that she was absolutely dangerous in every sense of the word. A grin comparable to the grin of a malevolent demon from hell, sizing up its prey appeared on her face, sending shivers down his spine and causing him to perspire the more on his on his forehead. If this was a battle of composure, he sure had lost a hundred times over, because his opponent wasn’t even breaking into a single sweat while he was resembling a fountain. The fight hadn’t begun yet but he was beginning to have cold feet.

He clutched his dagger tighter, as the unnerving silence ensued longer. He couldn’t control his nerves for much longer, so he diverted his attention to his only source of comfort standing close beside him, his partner. She, his partner, unlike him, was calm and composed, totally giving her undivided attention towards the opponent before them. Her clenched fists, which were an inch or two apart from each other, were slightly raised below her small round nose, ready to counter any sort of surprise attack thrown at her.

‘Perhaps this is just another routine to her.’ He thought to himself, knowing his partner was always that way, especially when it came to combat. She was always calm and collected, strategizing and determining the best possible course of action that would bring about the best result. That is who is partner is. That is

who is sister is.

He was nothing like her. As for him, he was more of an “act first, think later” kind of fellow and that had always found a way of getting on his sister’s nerve, whenever they were out on a mission together. She always complained after every mission about how he almost screwed the whole thing up, whereas they completed the task without exerting much effort. Of course, he understood her point of being more calculative and not just jump foolhardy into situations, but still, where’s the fun in that? Besides, he behaved that way, because he believed that even if anything were to go wrong, his sister would always have his back. She would always be there to give him cover and support, imbuing him with the confidence to charge wildly at his opponents without putting much thought into strategies. Why bother about plans and what not, when he has his sister by his side to do all that? His work mainly was to act as a distraction, while his sister applies the finishing touches. He believed that she simply won’t want to admit it, due to her standpoint of taking less risky moves, being more calculative and all that, because it worked perfectly against their opponents. Opponents they defeated in a manner of minutes. Opponents they hardly broke a sweat over. Opponents which are hardly comparable to the woman before them.

She was a different ball game altogether. She was ten times, maybe even more, stronger than any opponent or adversary they had ever faced. Hell, even a pack of giant gorillas wouldn’t dare to step in a ring with her after confirming her capability. And he sure knew her capabilities. She was freakishly and insanely strong. Strong to the point of bending the rules of heaven. His “act first, think later” disposition would definitely backfire if he dared to try, for his sister wouldn’t even have the chance to save his sorry *** from getting whopped. This time around he had to think and act smarter, calculate his next course of action and more importantly, be in complete sync with his sister. That way they might at least have a slight, meager chance of winning this.

Ddiiiiinnnnnngggggg!!!

A deafening noise which resounded out of nowhere reverberated across the hall, causing him to shiver a little. He knew what that sound meant all too well. It indicated the commencement of the fight. He returned his attention back to the opponent, readying himself into a combat stance, only to get shocked and alarmed. His heart literally skipped a beat, as he discovered that the opponent was no longer in her previous location. It was like she had suddenly vanished.

“Where did she –“

Before he could complete his rhetorical question, a fist flew squarely, at breakneck speed towards his face. Instinctively, he closed his eyes and rose his arms to guard his face, forgetting about the dagger in his hand.

‘If that fist hits me, I’m a goner.’ This was a woman who could punch holes through a wall without exerting much effort. Just imaging what would happen if the punch imparts his face was enough to send shudders down his

spine.

‘Something is wrong.’ He thought to himself, as he was expecting to feel the impact of the punch on his arms. He opened his eyes wide, only to discover, at the last second, a malignant kick hurtling its way towards the left side of his ribs.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, but there was nothing he could do to save himself from his fate. The kick landed squarely, the impact flinging him across the hallway like a kite cut off from its string, now at the mercy of the turbulent wind. His hands flailing in the air, trying to reach for any means of support, but all was to no avail. He slammed into a nearby pillar, leaving a dent, bounced off the pillar before clattering on to the cold, hard floor ungracefully.

"Urrhh!"

He moaned in pain, as he crouched up from the floor. He wiped off the trail of blood trickling from the corner of his lips. His back throbbed with pain, but the pain was inequivalent to the pain he felt from the left side of his rib, which bore the full brunt of the malignant kick. A normal human should have passed out and probably have some bones broken from the onslaught he just received, but he wasn’t just some normal human. The hellish and gruesome training he received since he was a toddler had strengthened and toughed every flesh, tendon, muscle and bone in his body to an insane and exaggerated degree. But still, he was lucky he didn’t smash head first into the pillar. That would have been a different story altogether, because at the speed in which he was hurled across the hall, the best outcome, if he had smashed head first into the pillar, would have been suffering a concussion. Anything worse off than a concussion, then he might-

He vigorously shook his head as he didn’t want to continue down that train of thought. Feeling the pain subside a little, he struggled to stand using the pillar, in which he bashed into, to support himself up. He bent his body backwards to stretch out his backbone, which made a ‘crack crack’ sound, alleviating the pain on his back a little.

“Yeah, that’s better.” He whispered in slight satisfaction from the relieve he received. “Now, where is that dagger?”

He searched for a little while and found his dagger, lying on the floor some few inches away from his current location and he strode forward to flick it up.

“Urhh!”

The loud, painful moan of his sister resounded through the spacious hall causing him to stare towards where the action was taking place. His sister was barely holding her own against the malicious attacks raining down upon her, as she was mostly on the defensive. The opponent wasn’t giving her a single second to breathe, as she, the opponent, kept coming at her with insanely rapid and fast paced combinations of kicks and punches, which kept her on her toes. His sister could barely dodge and defend herself properly, talk less of having the chance to hit a counter. He knew clearly that if he didn’t rush over to his sister’s side to aid her, it would only be a matter of time before she would tire out and the consequences would be dire.

“Damn, this woman is a monster.” He mumbled to himself. He was beginning to regret the decision of giving his assent to pick an actual fight with this monstrous woman. This fight was his sister’s crazy idea to begin with and in order not to seem like a weakling, he stupidly agreed and decided to join in too. And now what has been the result so far? The fight hadn’t even progressed for close to two minutes and they were already having their asses handed to them. He was even almost knocked out just at the start. What was the point of fighting a battle you know deep within yourself you have zero chance of survival, much less talk about winning? Wasn’t that just madness and pure idiocy?

“Fuuuu.”

He let loose a breath of hot air from his mouth, clearing all distracting thoughts from his head, as he clutched the dagger in his hand tighter. There was no way he could back out now since the fight had already begun. Besides, he and his sister were a crazy pair of sick, *** fighters who had a lot of faith in each other’s combat abilities. There might actually be a slim chance of coming out victorious, if things were to go right for them. That’s all he had to believe in right now. He had to believe that luck would actually be on their side.

With that in mind, he mustered up enough courage and dashed full speed ahead towards his opponent’s location. In only a matter of seconds, he reached his destination, which was the opponent’s blind spot, who was already preoccupied with handling his sister and he swiftly swung at her with his dagger, which he held in reverse grip, aiming for her neck. The opponent, however, was very much aware and conscious of his arrival, as she arched her body backwards with the intention of ducking the attack. He grinned slyly, as he abruptly stopped his motion. The attack was a feint meant to throw her off balance and it worked perfectly. He came at her for real, this time around, with a fierce kick to the left side of her rib. The move the opponent used on him not too long ago.

Ddduucckk!!

The kick didn’t connect with the intended target, as opponent parried with her left arm, deflecting his kick away. Although his kick was parried off, he wasn’t flustered. Instead, the grin etched on his face grew even wider. His plan was coming to fruition. He was just the distraction.

Kkpppaaa!!!

His sister’s fist connected squarely on the opponent’s face, causing her, the opponent, to totter backwards like a drunken fellow, almost losing her balance. Then, his killer instinct kicked in immediately. Sensing a rare opportunity in which he couldn’t miss, he launched himself towards the opponent, who was still off balance, and swiftly swept his dagger horizontally with all the speed he could muster towards the left side of her neck. This time around not as a feint, but as a killer move meant to end the fight. He believed with no doubt in his mind, that there was no way the opponent would be able to duck the attack, no matter how sharp her reflexes were. But he was dead wrong, for just at the very last second, the opponent, though flustered, slightly arched her neck backwards, dodging his onslaught before retreating a great distance backwards rapidly.

He abruptly stopped in his tracks, not giving pursuit to the opponent. He couldn’t hide the look of flusteration that instantly emerged on his face. What the hell kind of reflexes was that? He was so sure that he had her cornered like a rat and he didn’t expect such cat-like reflexes from her. He was a hundred percent positive that if it were him in such a situation, he would have been a goner by now, for there was no way in hell he could perform such a feat.

Drip, drip

The soft sound of drops of a liquid substance dripping onto the floor beside him, didn’t escape his sharp senses. He traced the sound to his dagger, only to find, to his surprise, that the liquid was actually blood. The blood of his opponent. The sly grin from earlier replaced the look of flustration that was plastered on his face. It appeared to seem that the dagger slightly nicked the opponent before she fully ducked. He turned to stare at his opponent, only to find his opponent glaring menacingly back at him with a hideous frown etched on her face. Her dainty hand was placed on the area of the cut, as blood trickled down her neck onto her black tank top. She had the upper hand right from the beginning of the fight, but in the blink of an eye, the roles were reversed and she had to retreat for safety.

"Senro, you fucking bastard, you almost killed me!” The opponent angrily yelled at him. Her hand was still placed on the area of the cut on her neck, in order to stop the bleeding.

“Weren’t you the one who condescendingly stated before this fight began, that if we were to ever have a chance against you, we should come at you with everything we’ve got?” He, no, Senro said with a cocky smile etched on his face.

“I know what I said, Senro, but I didn’t mean we should start killing each other! This is not a do or die affair!” The opponent yelled again.

“Ohhh, it seems someone is down with a case of dementia, because I explicitly remember you stating that this fight would be a kill or be killed situation.” Senro said, while placing his hand on his chin.

“I, only said that in order for you guys to take this fight seriously and not slack off! This is not a death match, you bastard! ” The opponent yelled yet again, this time around gritting her teeth in anger. She was totally pissed off right now.

Honestly, Senro had no intention of killing her, nor, inflicting grave damage on her, but he couldn’t just control his killer instinct. His instinct, which was honed through the gruesome training he received since he was a toddler and his experiences out on missions, would never let up such an opportunity, especially against an opponent who was extremely difficult to defeat. At that point in time, the opponent in his mind, became a target he had to conquer by all means and all rational thinking just flew out the window before he advanced on her. He really didn’t mean to assault her in such a manner. She was right, this wasn’t supposed to be a do or die affair. But because he never meant it, doesn’t mean he was going to apologize to her and own up to his mistake. On the contrary, this was actually good. No rather, this was perfect. This could tip the whole dynamic of the fight to his and his sister’s favor. This would make the opponent to subconsciously focus on her defense more and she would have to think twice before charging at them. In her mind, she would believe that a single second of letting up could cost her dearly, just as it almost cost her and she would be more conservative and careful. If he and his sister could then be able to break her defenses, they might just actually have a shot at winning this thing.

“Then, why don’t you give up and declare us the victors of this fight, if you are so scared of dying?” said Senro, as his confidence intensified.

“No way. Not a chance in hell.” The opponent replied, after she calmed down. She slowly removed her hand from the cut, which had stopped bleeding. “This is just a scratch compared to what I have experienced. I am just surprised that you have the balls and the effrontery to assault me in that manner with no hesitation whatsoever. Honestly, I am impressed.” Then, the opponent sighed, stared at Senro and his sister for a while and said “I guess I will have to take you guys on seriously from now henceforth.”

“So, what, you saying you were just playing around and going easy on us before?” Senro inquired as he believed she was bluffing.

“Oh Senro darling, I haven’t even shown half of what I can do.” The opponent said while exposing a malicious grin on her ebony, beautiful face. Then, she took up a combat stance. Her two fists raised slightly below her chin, with her left fist slightly in front of her right. “What are you bozos waiting for? Come at me!”

Senro clutched his dagger tighter, as he tried to hide the fearful look that threatened to emerge on his face. A part of him believed that the opponent was only bluffing in order to shatter the new born confidence that begun growing inside of him, but another part of him believed that she was hiding her true strength. No, **** that other part of him. He just had to go with the part that believed she was bluffing. There was no time to be second guessing himself. He had to leave no opportunity or opening for doubt to creep into his mind, less this fight would be over for him.

“Hey, Sasha, you good to go?” Senro turned to ask his sister, Sasha, who had been breathing heavily ever since she punched the opponent in the face. The aftereffect of simultaneously dodging and defending the opponent’s flurry of punches and kicks, when Senro was out of commission, was really telling on her.

“Yeah, I am good.” Sasha replied after taking in a deep breath of air.

“So, how are we gonna go about this?” Senro asked for his sister’s opinion. She was the better strategist and they need a damn good strategy if they were to have a shot or chance of defeating the opponent.

“We fan out, take her simultaneously from both sides and just like how we did before, we mustn’t give her a chance to breath and we must always be in sync, that way she will always be on her toes and be on her the defensive. Also watch out for counters. She hits harder than both of us combined. We hit her hard, we hit her fast.” Sasha quickly relayed her strategy.

“Alright sis, I will keep that in mind.” Senro already understood what Sasha meant by the opponent hitting harder than both of them combined, as the pain he still felt, which hadn’t fully subsided, from been hurled across the hall and smashing a pillar, was a clear reminder. A clear reminder to stay sharp, stay focused and avoid any sort of attack thrown at him by the opponent.

“You go left and I go right.” Sasha said before she dashed towards the opponent’s location. Senro followed closely behind her. When they got to about ten meters of the opponent’s location, they fanned out and attacked the opponent, who was on her guard, simultaneously from both sides, with Senro, from the left, swinging his dagger horizontally towards her and Sasha, from the right, with a kick, which tore through the air, as it hurtled towards her.