Standing Still

“YUKI!” It seemed as though the volume of her voice alone made the ruined building around her crumble, rather than the fact that her fall weakened it. Saki screamed until her voice ran out. Every part of her body suddenly stopped feeling any pain. Everything was still.

Her eyes focused solely on Rheia, the one that stood as the wall between her and Yuki. Everything that Yori told her ran in repeat through her mind. Each time it added a new wrinkle around her dark cast eyes.

The ground crumbled under Saki’s feet. Sparks and dust jumped from around her. She stared up at Rheia. “Get out of my way if you know what’s good for YOU!”

“O—“ Rheia couldn’t even utter a whole word, even one so small as “Oh”, before Saki slammed into her with a fist straight to her face. The force of her entry cracked more of the ceiling. Her impact destroyed another section of the under city’s roof.

In less than a fraction of a fraction of a second, Saki had jumped the thirty-meter distance. The immediate frame that followed sent Rheia speeding through the earth. Forcibly punched through the earth, Rheia eventually popped out to the surface inside the city just a little away from the inner wall. Her new entrance exploded rocks and earth everywhere to the open street.

Following her own path, the jump Saki made put her more than two hundred meters into the sky before she started to fall once more. When her body rotated to point out the problem of gravity her eyes snapped back to reality. “Crap! Crap! Crap!”

Chapter 267 – Standing Still

Smashing several buildings along her rocketed path out of the Capital, Rheia came to a stop a few seconds later out in mid air. “She’s gotten much stronger suddenly,” Rheia commented, rubbing her cheek. A bruise started to develop, ruining her smooth complexion. She grinned with the notion of the newfound strength from Saki. “She just keeps getting better and better. You definitely don’t disappoint.”

In the distance, a new puff of smoke jumped up from behind the walls. Rheia jumped off the air moving quickly to the wall. By the time she arrived, Saki already started to dig herself out of the earth. “Keep it coming! You still have more in you that you’re holding back, right?”

Saki knocked the dirt off her head, staring up from her new crater. “Damn, you can still move.”

“It’s going to take more than just one good punch to stop me.”

“I have somewhere more important to be now! I don’t have time for you anymore!”

A little confused, Rheia looked down at Saki, getting more upset with the situation. The notion made her feel very happy. It immediately transitioned to a benefit for Rheia. “So that means you’re going to use all your strength then?” She suddenly appeared down on the ground just outside of the crater.

Annoyed by the unflinching tone in Rheia’s voice, her foot slid back a little. “Right, I won’t be pulling my punches anymore! I hope you can keep up!”

“That’s exactly what I want!” Rheia jumped immediately into her fighting stance wanting the fight to continue already. “Bring it all!” A battle-loving grin painted over her lips.

Exploding behind Saki before she even moved, large chunks of earth flew away. The moment that Saki jumped out of the crater all of the earth cracked, falling down further increasing the size of the hole to the under city.

Even faster than the last time, Rheia couldn’t even react before she found herself crashing through the wall once again. It already started to look like swiss cheese with the number of times they punched each other through it. Behind the wall, a massive explosion completely pulverized the building Rheia crashed in.

Not even waiting for Rheia to settle, Saki burst through the smoke throwing down a vertical spin kick. Rheia’s body screamed through the smoke and rumble of the building, still trying to collapse. Her body cratered the neighborhood raining in all of the surrounding buildings on top of her. Still continuing, Saki pushed off a ruined building, sending it flying through half of the Capital like a cannonball, to throw herself into the pile.

Her fist smashed everything into dust to meet Rheia at the bottom. However, her hand caught the punch. Excess energy broke away as a shockwave shook the whole area. Caught off guard from her combo, Saki didn’t have the time to block the counterattack. She flew through the remains of the neighbor raining down chunks of the homes she blew through.

Rheia jumped up to the top of the crater checking on Saki’s progress before chasing after her. “You’re the one!” The grin of excitement widened more as she looked forward to the next exchange.

“Oh wow! Do it again!”

“Sure!” Rheia, five years old, ran up the side of the ruined wall and did a perfect backflip over to the opposite building before landing back in the same spot she started. A proud look covered her face as all of the kids gathered around her.

“I bet you can’t grab that!” a reluctant believer dared. He pointed up to a torn bit of cloth caught at the very top of the ruins of the building they used as their playground. The distance easily passed more than five meters. It was impossible. Everyone knew it was.

Rheia grinned with the same confidence. “I can do it!” With feline-like grace, she ran and jumped up the length of the walls grabbing the cloth as her reward. It was just long enough to act as a scarf, which she promptly wrapped around her neck to display her achievement. She gained applause and cheering from the children below, convincing all doubters.

She jumped back down landing with ease. “Let’s go!” Rheia ran off to another site they liked to play in. All of the children followed her. Their eager eyes looked on to her back in the distance.

Blows exchanged between Saki and Rheia. Each round brought down another building. They tossed each other around. Bruises became more common on their bodies. Even a little blood began to dot their dirt-caked skin. It didn’t stop either of them from continuing. Both motivated to see the end of the fight, even if for different reasons.

“Bet you can’t beat me!” A tough looking eight year old, new to the neighborhood, boasted. “You’re the one I’ve been hearing about everywhere from the other weaklings.”

Rheia grinned, stepping up with no hesitation. “I bet you won’t be standing in ten seconds.” He had height and size, but none of it mattered to her. She believed she could beat him. She could do anything she wanted when she put her mind to it.

In a blur, it was over. The five year old stood victorious over the eight year old. A new follower gained her ranks.

‘Yuki…I’m coming soon,’ thought Saki, after she sent Rheia flying again. They had a pattern of mirroring their positions. It alternated, but Saki couldn’t see the pattern. Her eyes remained locked on rescuing Yuki after defeating Rheia. A single obstacle stood in her path.

Breaking free from the most recent ruins she created, Rheia disappeared from Saki. The knee to her stomach sent her over her leg before flying through the building behind her. “Don’t stop now! We’re just getting started!” She grinned happily, as she bolted after Saki.

Saki pulled back her arm already ready for the next strike and Rheia prepared herself as well. However, a meter apart they came to a stop. A heavy rumbling distracted them coming from an unknown position. It gave them both an odd ominous feeling.

The first to recognize it was Saki, since she heard a voice. They screamed out a familiar name. “Yumi?! What’s she doing?” No more than a few seconds after her question, the answer came or arrived perhaps.

Stone and rock exploded around them as a massive force broke through. The familiar glow of Yumi’s barrier telegraphed her appearance. However, Saki felt a little shocked seeing Yumi’s face. ‘What’s wrong with Yumi?’ The longer she stared and listened to Yumi, she understood all too well. She didn’t take the news from Yori very well. ‘She’s going after Ayumi and Yuki.’ When it all fit, Saki turned a little blue realizing the expression on her face.

Once their interruption disappeared through the rest of the Capital, both women stared at the other for a bit. It wasn’t exactly what they expected to happen. They paused to see what the other would do.

Saki could see that Rheia remained set on their fight rather than Yumi. ‘Yumi looks pissed off for the both of us and still has some left over. I’d prefer not to leave it on her, but judging from how things are going with my fight. I don’t know when I’ll get to Yuki, so someone is at least. I trust Yumi.’ She turned her head to the wake left behind by the vengeful woman. ‘I’ll catch up to you when I’m done here…’

Taking the opening, Rheia closed the rest of the distance to strike Saki, but Saki actually caught her fist. “Not so distracted then,” she said, pleased further.

“No, we’re in a fight without rules, so I expect such tactics.”

“Well said!”

Throwing the next punch, Saki tried to breach the woman’s defenses. Yet they seemed to have suddenly become even faster. She couldn’t believe the woman still had even more left in her. Saki pushed her body with everything it had. She never felt her body at such extremes.

Rheia countered immediately only to be blocked as well. They had settled into a stalemate. Both sent their fists and feet flying around the tiny one-meter area they never left. Blocked or deflected, nothing reached either. They only kept the intensity rising.

“Damn it, where’d she disappear to?”

“This girl’s more trouble than she’s worth, Second Lieutenant.”

Rheia softly giggled to herself. She perched herself out of sight, but still allowed herself to watch. “They’re so silly, no one can catch Rheia.”

Slipping between punches, Saki managed to break her foot through the thick defenses of Rheia. She disappeared in the next instant to convert the momentum into a throw. Saki followed Rheia to pin her into the Capital’s walls once more. “Gotcha!” she shouted, actually cracking a small smile, which she immediately corrected when she realized it.

Rather than trying to break free through strength, Rheia smashed the both of them into the wall. A new crater formed, breaking the hold. Stunned, Rheia took the opportunity to lay in a barrage on Saki undefended. The last of the punches shattered the wall knocking her through it again. She jumped into the hole watching Saki fly away. “You’re going to have to keep trying!” The smile on her face just kept growing.

Rheia scowled up at the obnoxious structure. Her captors pushed her forward into the gates. “…Omega…”

They presented her before the Head of Omega, the only normal human in the entire building. It made them feel better after having the previous Head being a MP user, the current General of the Army. “You should feel lucky. Everyone else has to go through the Academy and years of practice just to be allowed inside these grounds.”

“I don’t feel lucky,” she retorted, keeping the scowl on her face. “Your little walls can’t hold me.”

The man behind the desk laughed a little at the child’s defiance. “You may be surprised to find that you aren’t as peerless as you seem to think.”

Barely a break, Saki returned, striking back even harder. The two women danced around the hole in the wall. Stray punches sent cracks up the wall. Each second ticked with a flurry of nearly invisible blows. The force shook the wall bringing down dust and bits of stone over their heads. Yet it never interrupted them.

Even when the wall started to fall in larger pieces, their fight just crushed the chunks before they could even touch them. Further flashes of grins came across Saki’s face, but disappeared just as fast. As the area became too unstable, they jumped up through the broken wall. They continued their fighting on the top of the wall once again.

“Who are you?”

Wild eyed and angry, Rheia stared the teenager down across the palace courtyard. “Commander Rheia, I’ve come to challenge you, Eudokia Ismene!”

Requiring a moment to think, Eudokia grinned a little at the notion of being sought out for a duel. “You’re the new leader of the Titans. I’ve heard stories about you. Completely peerless in Omega.” Accepting the challenge, she activated her Field. “I’m curious how strong the Wild Child of Omega is.”

The arrogance and cockiness of the teenager, much younger than Rheia, annoyed her to no end. She couldn’t stop her anger. Nothing managed to calm it. “I’ll put you in your place!”

Five seconds was all it took for Eudokia to end the fight. Rheia laid on her back unable to move or even keep her Field. Shock filled her eyes. A complete loss. She stood no chance against the teenager. However, a deeper emotion settled into her mind. The one that shaped her future.

After all of the other fights came to a close, Rheia and Saki continued their battle on the wall. Time left them alone to continue. Nothing could stand between their fight.

Even as their strength started to finally drain, the two women continued their battle. Neither was willing to stop. They kept throwing punches. Defense started to lose any meaning to them. Their bodies wanted to stop, but their arms kept flying. Not even their bodies could stand between them.

Clashing in strength, they gripped their hands vying for position and dominance. Saki smashed her head into Rheia, who returned the favor. Dull ringing did nothing to slow them down.

Rheia grinned happily. ‘I finally found them. I’m not alone…’