Flora lunged across the floor at the Aqueenian princess. Fiona zapped away once again, but not before Flora grabbed her by the arm.

As Fiona reappeared safely out of the calico Bentulousian's grip, she shook her head as she focused on her opponent.

“Your teleportation is a nice ability, but I have defeated many garku types before,” Flora mused as she closed her hand into a fist. She lunged at Fiona again but at the same time grabbed one of the unconscious guards Fiona had knocked out by the leg.

Fiona zapped to safety as Flora smashed her fist into the ground, but the Aqueenian princess was not prepared to be hit with the flung body of the bandit guard as soon as she reappeared.

She was knocked to the ground and had to roll to the side to avoid Flora’s next blow. The calico Bentulousians fist smashed in between the heads of the unconscious guard and Fiona.

“Princess!” Adan yelled from the hallway. He shakily stood up and took several steps to the fighting opponents.

“Stay back!” Fiona shouted as she teleported to safety.

Flora stood up from her punching pose on the floor and began to stretch her arms.

“That wasn’t a lucky throw earlier; I’m starting to figure out your patterns. It’s only a matter of time before you go down, little princess,” Flora said in a snide tone.

Fiona gritted her teeth and zapped behind her opponent. She kicked Flora squarely in the back, but the Bentulousian was unfazed.

Fiona tried to take a step back, and Flora quickly spun on her feet and grabbed the princess by the collar of her shirt.

Before Fiona could get away, Flora brought down her fist like a hammer at the princess’s head. A hardhat-esk helmet suddenly appeared on Fiona’s head before the blow was made. Fiona teleported away to behind Flora, and the dented helmet fell from Flora’s fist onto the ground. It made an echoing thud as the calico warrior turned to Adan. He stood from beyond the spiked barricade with one hand outstretched to the dueling duo.

Adan was breathing heavily as he slowly began to walk to the barricade. All the while, his Needaimus shouted in his mind that he was overexerting himself. Adan simply shook his head.

“While I can still stand, I ought to defend my town,” the Aqueenian safety officer answered his Needaimus.

Flora chuckled.

“I suppose you might be a little bit of trouble,” she said with a smile.

Flora leaped across the room in the direction of Adan. Before she could make it across, she crashed into a safety railing that appeared suddenly in front of her. Flora grunted as she grabbed the railing and threw it back at the Aqueenian princess. Fiona quickly disappeared from her spot and reappeared next to Adan.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“What are you doing!” she shouted to the Aqueenian that could barely stay on his feet.

“Fighting,” he answered as he made an enclosed helmet with a visor, similar to something used for welding, appear on Flora’s head. She began to pull on it but quickly realized it was Aqueenian sized and stuck on her head backward. “I’ll support you, princess,” he added.

“Your clearly overexerted!” Fiona shouted back.

“Don’t worry; I can keep up with you!” Adan replied as he wiped beads of sweat off his forehead.

Flora ripped the helmet off her head and leaped over the barricade. A loud stomp echoed through the halls as she landed in front of the duo of Aqueenians. Fiona instinctively zapped away, but Adan was left to feel the brunt of Flora’s fist in his stomach. He let out a gasp and fell to his knees, but he remained conscious.

Fiona opened her mouth to shout out, but no words came out. She began to tremble as it dawned on her that she might watch Adan die, like with her father.

“I can’t win,” Fiona finally said through her trembling.

Fiona! Sun shouted in her mind. It was so loud that Fiona could not help but jump. If you want Adan to be saved, draw your opponent’s attention to you! If you want to win this fight, think outside your usual box! Whatever you do, breaking down here helps no one! Sun added in equally loud mental shouts.

Fiona shook her head.

“But… I can’t win.”

What did you come here for if you did not come here to win? I do not believe someone as annoying and troublesome as you would give up so quickly!

Fiona took a deep breath and looked at Flora, who had Adan lifted in the air with one arm. The other arm was held back as the calico warrior readied her next blow.

“I’ll have some strong words for you after this fight, Sun,” Fiona said.

I look forward to it. The yellow Needaimus answered with a chuckle. Fiona picked up a discarded piece of the welding helmet and zapped above Flora. The piece of the helmet was dropped over the Bentulousians head, and Fiona appeared by the feet.

The chunk of helmet hit Flora in the head and caught Flora’s attention for just a moment. At the same time, Fiona swept the warrior's feet to be knocked off balance and began to tumble.

Adan was freed from Flora’s grasp, and Fiona quickly appeared behind him. She grabbed him by the arm and teleported them both into the open space behind the barricade. Flora caught herself before completely crashing on the floor and stood back up straight. She turned to the duo as Fiona rested Adan against a wall.

The Aqueenian princess had a self-satisfied smile as she had never managed to use her ability on another before.

“Alright, little princess, you have my attention,” Flora said before leaping over the barrier and sprinting at Fiona.

Fiona stood up and faced her opponent. She disappeared in a flash of light just as Flora’s fist sailed through the air. Fiona reappeared behind Flora and kicked her opponent in the back of the leg where the knee would be on the front. Flora stumbled, but she did not fall.

The calico warrior quickly swung her leg around before Fiona realized what was happening. The blue princess was kicked out into a hallway different from the one she had entered. She quickly began to push herself up and looked back to Flora.

Flora stayed in place and watched the princess with careful eyes.

“She’s not coming this way,” Fiona said as she looked behind her. In the distance, the beginning of the building's central staircase could be seen.

Fiona made a friendly wave to her opponent then ran down the hall to the staircase. Flora gritted her teeth and ran after the princess.

Adan stayed leaning against the side of the wall; he opened communication and gave a short message.

“We managed to move into the auditorium. Barricade was taken down. Fiona has engaged Flora, and they are headed to the staircase. I’m… going to be out of commission for a while….” Adan lost consciousness as he finished his report.