Annie and Virginia stepped into the arena, greeted by the angry shouts of the crowd. They come to hate them in a short span of time. The wolf hags refused to play by their rules, they refused to kill the slaves that were put against them. Even against the ones who were pushed into a rampage by the drugs, the wolf hags found a way to win and keep other slaves alive. They smiled and allowed the hate of the people on the balconies to sustain them. By denying these vile scums the spectacles they craved, the wolf hags honed their own non-lethal takedown skills.
Right now, this would not be the case, however. They were put against free people who once gladly took the lives of others. To be frank, Annie did not care to hold back on killing right now. She suspected that Virginia felt the same.
Hekanta brought eight fighters, six of whom wore black capes, one of whom wore a crimson cape and another wore a blue cape over her shoulders. Roll told them a bit about their opponents. Hekanta was only leaving the arena when Hilda gave the orders to capture some fresh new breeds. Black capes meant her fighters "tasted the blood", meaning that they killed someone. Hekanta assigned capes of the other colors at random to newcomers. One time, she was running an entire team of new breeds with powers, until she decided to challenge Palatine for the title of the strongest in the arena. Hilda bought the life of Hekanta, while Palatine claimed the rest for himself. Ever since then, Hekanta "lost the drive" as Roll explained, and the ambitious champion no longer cared about killing others and only fought one day a week to earn her keep.
Eight fighters stood before the wolf hags and the hill. Few fighters could have hoped to beat Hekanta, so to give slave owners a faint hope of winning, the goal of this round was to get the flag from the pole on the hill. Naturally, such victories were rare, no one in their right mind bet against Hekanta and her crew.
Annie smiled, walking calmly to the fighters before herself.
"Hello, sweeties," She smiled, while armored figures put their hands on the hilts of their swords, "In the spirit of a fair game, hear our proposal. Surrender peacefully and you will walk away unharmed and free."
"Honest, honest," Virginia eagerly nodded. Her jaws open wide, catching the tip of the sword when one of the fighters struck at her. Her opponent's visor became red, when Virginia rammed her claws through the chest plate of the armor, reaching all the way to the heart. Virginia spit out the blade and looked at the dying body on her paw, "Aw. What a pity."
Annie jumped back, evading two sword hits. One was aimed at her knees, another at her neck. With her claws, she grabbed the tip of the blade of a person who tried to behead her, dragging the foe closer to her. The woman let go of a massive claymore, allowing twin blades to come from her wrists. Annie beat one strike aside, before striking with her claws at the neck of the woman. She felt the metal coming apart before her claws and felt the flesh tearing. The black cloak tried to breathe, eyes behind the visor became two orbs filled with horror, when her trachea became pierced. Annie twisted her claws, increasing the damage area and moving the woman’s body in front of the next attackers. Two blades bit into the pauldrons of the dying foe, causing her to gurgle weakly. Annie let the black cloak slip from her claws, charging forward at the remaining foes while they struggled to get their blades off their ally's armor. It took her two strikes to pierce the side of the helmet and kill the woman before her. The body was still falling when Annie had to step back, pursued by the wall of steel made by the two remaining foes, one in a black cape and another in blue.
Nearby, Virginia grabbed the necks of two black capes in a hold beneath her arms, bending backwards and forcing them to lean forward.
"Drop your weapons and live." She snapped, seeing how the fighter in a red cape was closing in on her. Instead of dropping their weapons, both black capes tried to slice off Virginia’s tendons. The wolf hag only rolled her eyes, falling on her back and crushing the heads of her foes into the ground with all her might. Helmets endured the impact. The necks inside of helmets did not. The women’s legs twitched several times before their bodies went limp. Virginia rolled aside from the overhead slash of her last opponent, jumping back on her feet. She met the second hit with her claws, stopping the blade mid-strike and tearing it away. Her foe backed down, and the wolf hag grabbed the woman by her helmet, lifting her in the air. For a moment, Virginia looked like she was going for a headbutt. Instead, she fell on her back, playing with a struggling woman with all four of her limbs, spinning the foe like a ball above the body of the wolf hag.
Annie let out a laugh at this, backing down from the strikes herself. She was forced to block two blade strikes with her claws and evade the eight, waiting patiently for an opportunity to come on the attack. Her foes, while skilled, were too used to taking down helpless and frightened prisoners. They were too used to fighting against opponents who were too slow or too weak compared to them. To excel in fighting, one has to face true competition, for only during such times can one see the flaws in her or his style. These idiots preferred to fight not as a team, but as power-hungry champions, unwilling to share prey with others. And Annie was not planning to give them time to remedy this mistake. The foe in the blue cape made a feint with her sword, kicking at the knee of Annie and forcing the wolf hag to move a step back. The armored leg cracked the ground, but a lack of teamwork between the two did not allow the black cape to capitalize on this attempt, and Annie simply beat aside the next two strikes from her opponents with her claws.
She found that she was no longer being outdone by someone else. A monster cares not for speed, only the result matters. And Annie was about to show her foes just who they were dealing with.
Her chance came when the black cloak threw a worrying look at the screaming woman in Virginia’s paws. Annie beat aside the sword of the black cloak, moving forward. A strike meant to end the black cloak was blocked by the fighter in the blue cape. This left her wide open and Annie slammed the claws of her right paw into the abdomen of the blue cape. The woman screamed behind her helmet. Annie let her fall from her claws, turning to the remaining foe. She gestured to her to drop the weapon and was faced with an overhead strike instead. The eyes of Annie read the fluke, the woman stopped the descent of her weapon mid-strike, using the tip of her blade as a spear aimed at Annie’s eye. Had Annie sidestepped the initial strike, she might have been injured. Instead, her claws were now buried deep in the chest of her foe and the thrust of the blade went way off its mark. The tips of Annie’s claws were coming out from the back of the woman.
"Your own damn fault." Annie said, allowing the dead meat to slide from her claws. She shook off the blood from her claws, turning to the last foe. The woman was curled into a fetal position, holding the wound on her abdomen with both hands.
"What…" She gasped when Annie put her paws on her helmet, pulling the metal aside. She threw away the broken pieces of metal, looking down on the raven-haired woman with a small scar over her nose, "What…"
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"You wonder what will happen next? Beneath my paws…" She put her paws at the sides of the woman’s head, applying pressure, "…Your skull will be crushed like an eggshell. You will hear the cracking of your own bones and will see blood and cranial fluid in your eyes, you will feel a surge of intense pain like never before, right before the lights will go off."
"N..no…. Pleas…Please… St…op." The woman begged, gasping for air, feeling how pressure was tightening around her head. With but a minor twitch of her paws, Annie could have ended this life. She felt the blood running beneath the skin of her opponent, she saw the horror in the eyes of her foe and felt tears on her paws. This feeling was intoxicating and utterly unworthy of a soldier. The wolf hag wondered if Ravager felt the same when she was about to kill Mincemeat. But unlike Mincemeat, this foe was no longer a threat. And Annie’s monster was not this cheap to be satisfied by such a meagre offering. Annie let go of the woman’s head, spitting at the armor.
"And don’t you forget this fear, butcher. Keep it stored inside of you and never raise your hand on another living being." The woman cried, curling back into a fetal position. Her hands tried to stop the flow of blood. Annie turned her back to the enemy, uncaring whether she would live or not.
Virginia dropped her own enemy on the ground, and the woman tore off her helmet, sun-bleached hair fell on her shoulders, while she was vomiting on the ground. Virginia towered above her with a smile on her lips.
"I surrender, surrender." The woman barely managed to say anything in-between intense vomiting.
"Then abase yourself before me. Prostrate and beg, weakling," Virginia said in cold voice that surprised Annie. Normally, this idiot was far more composed. The woman in the red cape threw herself on her knees before the wolf hag, sobbing and crying. She pleaded for forgiveness, while Virginia smiled, "Yes, that’s…" The wolf hag stopped when blades slid from within the vambraces of the woman. She jumped up, aiming for Virginia’s neck with a scream. Her scream turned into a shout of pain when the paws of the wolf hag caught her wrists and the metal of the vambraces gave up a whining sound, crumbling beneath the pressure, "Too bad. Now I have to make sure you can’t stab me in the back." Virginia said, crushing the vambraces and the wrists of the woman. The enemy screamed from pain, feeling her bones shattering. Her legs gave out from the pain, but Virginia wasn’t done. The wolf hag caught her opponent by the collar, holding the foe with one paw and with another paw, tearing away pieces of the power armor from the screaming woman. She removed the ruined vambraces quite quickly, partly out of annoyance, partly out of pity, lessening the pain of the foe. Leaving the sobbing woman sitting in just the underarm next to the pile of ruined power armor, she threw the crimson cape over the ruined opponent and walked to Annie, shaking off dust from the paws.
"Time to win it." Annie nodded at the hill. Hekanta stood like a statue, clearly ignoring the death and maiming that fell on her team.
The wolf hags circle around the hill, making sure to leave the wounded foe out of the possible arc of enemy attack. This idea belonged neither to Virginia, nor to Annie. It was simply something that was drilled into their very core in all their training. Leave the wounded in safety for medics to pick up, any wounded, friend or foe, matter not. Dare not to break this simple rule, even if foe breaks it. Because you are a Reclaimer, the ones in charge of bringing civilization to the weak, the insane, the corrupted, and the innocent. If the Reclaimer chooses to compromise on the principles, then what sort of civilization will she or he bring? Rules were everything, rules and laws were the safeguards that ensured that Extinction would never, ever happen again.
Annie dashed up the hill, and Hekanta shifted. The spear moved, the tip of the spear was pointed at Annie. The wolf hag tried to read her opponent and jumped aside the moment her foe made a move. But this time it was not only she who was not playing around. With deadly precision, Hekanta changed the direction of her thrusting strike, adjusting it to point the striking air at Annie. Like a cannon ball, it slammed into the wolf hag, causing her to throw up her arms in defense. As she was flung back through the air, Annie heard the chuckle of Palatine even through the cheering shouts of the crowd. She felt unnaturally beautiful eyes looking at them, eagerly absorbing each and every movement, drinking these moments in like an aristocrat would taste a beautiful and gentle wine, slowly and inquisitively.
Virginia jumped back next, the air leaving a crater in the place where the wolf hag stood just a moment ago. Clenching her teeth, Annie charged forward. She felt bruises on the outer sides of her arms, yet this was something she could endure. Opening her left palm, she ran toward Hekanta, no longer feinting or trying to dodge. The foe raised her spear, making one more thrust, and the air screamed from pain as another piece was stolen from it. A wall of air advanced on Annie and she cut through with her left palm. Like a flame, pain engulfed her, burning her left arm like an acid wound. The skin on her fingers cracked. And yet she pushed forward. Her chop split the torrent of air in two, allowing it to push past her without slowing her run. Behind the visor, Hekanta’s eyes narrowed, while her arm moved to make another thrust with her spear. Virginia charged in front of Annie, punching the next wave like a boxer would punch the liver of an opponent. Annie's right fist connected with a raging wind and pushed it aside just enough for Annie and her comrade to keep on moving onward.
Hekanta was not done. Her spear was nothing more than a conduit for her power. Still holding a spear in one hand, she raised her second arm up, her armored fingers looking at the ceiling. Air trembled around each finger, rising up in a nearly perfect straight line. The air, visibly different, was rising and rising, while the crowd was cheering on. And once Annie was merely ten steps away from the hill, Hekanta moved her free arm, making a clawing gesture in Annie’s direction. Lines run from the hill, cutting through the stone of the arena, aiming at the wolf hag. Her previous attacks had a wide surface, but now Hekanta channeled her power into a far more narrow line, giving it far greater cutting ability.
Annie didn’t even try to block that. She weaved around the attack, sliding in between the cutting lines like a snake, dislocating her own bones to help herself move. All like her teacher showed her during the training. And yet she made a mistake and nearly howled when she was fixing her right shoulder and pinched a nerve in her shoulder between her bones. The wolf hag jumped up, covering the distance to the top of the man-made hill in a single bound, grasping the edge of the hill. The tip of Hekanta’s spear struck at her, leaving a single cut on her left shoulder. She intentionally allowed it to hit her, counting on the times that she saw how her opponent’s power worked before. A wall was coming at a strict distance from Hekanta’s body each time she made a thrusting motion. And Annie was correct this time, the wall of air formed harmlessly behind her body like a raging tornado .She grasped the spear with her left paw, struggling to not allow Hekanta to tear it away. The right arm of Hekanta struck, the index finger pointing at Annie’s head, causing the wolfkin to dodge. Almost like a bullet, the torrent of air left a bloody line across her scalp, narrowly missing the skull. She struck with her right paw, slashing across the enemy’s armor, and found out that her claws were unable to pierce the reinforced steel. Hekanta kicked, creating a wide torrent of air that flung Annie into the wall of the arena and caused the oxygen to leave her lungs.
"This match is over. Victory belongs to Ultis." Hilda’s voice cut through the sound in Annie’s ears, and she looked at the hill. Virginia was sitting on the pole, the flag was resting around her shoulders. She showed her tongue to Hekanta, while the woman in a purple cape was looking at a cut left on her power armor. Angrily, Hekanta threw her spear away, stomping away to the exit, uncaring for the members of her team still lying on the floor, sobbing and crying.
"Yes! Jackpot! Oh, I could kiss you, you ugly w…" Ultis jumped up, screaming in victory. She immediately hunched, coughing blood on the floor of her balcony. Her eyes widened, looking at something on the terminal, "What? Only fifty percent? But who else was betting against He…" She began coughing and spitting blood again, gesturing for Ulrica to bring her med kit to her.
Through the angry shouts of the crowd, Annie could have sworn that she heard how Palatine chuckled.