You know, this whole dancing around is cool and all, but really feels like nothing's really changed from when you started.

The one-eyed metal creature and Nugget stared each other down from different sides of the hallway. The area around them was covered in scratches. They varied from deep to just shallow marks. While the two of them looked the same as when they first started. Nugget wasn't actively bleeding, but she was covered in cuts from her struggles against the orbs. While the defender of this place was just covered in various stages of rust.

Nugget tilted her head slightly as she eyed up her opponent. She took a single step forward, and then a second. The one-eyed creature didn't move, but kept its yellow eye focused on her. As she took her third step she set her talon on top of a small pebble that had come loose. She spread out her wings and flapped them once. She flapped them a second time. As she started to flap them a third time, she held her wings out in mid air.

This time, Nugget dashed towards her opponent. As she flung herself forward, she gripped the pebble in her claw.

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Oh hey, Death commented, She hasn't initiated yet. At least that's different.

Nugget did not seem to be doing the best. She was much slower than she normally was. It seemed her wounds were starting to wear her down.

It would have been easy enough to dodge, but instead, the creature lifted up its arm to block. As Nugget flew closer, she kicked her foot against the creature's arm. Surprisingly, it had a forceful impact despite her small frame and knocked the creature back several feet as she pushed off of its arm. While she moved back, she flung her closed talon forward, and released her pebble towards it.

The stone flew past its arm as it was knocked back. It flew straight towards its eye and it was going so fast that there was no time to really react. It tried to tilt its head out of the way, but the pebble still hit its yellow eye.

CRACK!

The pebble bounced off and towards the wall, but as it hit the eye a crack spread across it. Like a pebble slamming against a windshield, it started as just a small divot, but quickly branched into a large crack across the entire eye. It formed a sort of "y" shape.

Nugget casually landed on the ground with her back facing towards the one-eyed creature. Slowly she turned her head around to look over her back at the creature.

Bro, it seems like she's kind of got you here, Death chuckled. Might be time to cut your losses.

Slowly, the creature put its hand up and gingerly touched its cracked eye. "Curious..." It murmured.