Showdown - The Burning Will
Sasha jumped into the ring, and Orochi's heart skipped a couple of dozen beats. She opted for a simple black tank top to avoid hindering her movements or sweating too much on this occasion.
However, she found herself sweating bullets, and her mouth tasted like toothpaste chemicals gone wrong. Facing Sasha was expected, but Orochi anticipated her to be the last opponent.
The Hydra girl's system worked on overdrive, with heat and cold clashing inside her body. Orochi fought desperately to maintain a poker face as Sasha approached her.
“I’m here to take Rui,” Sasha spoke with a calm and peaceful demeanor unbefitting of the situation. Sasha didn’t exude any particular scent. She was clean and didn't spoke with the usual fast pace or energy she overflowed with.
Sasha was calm. It was all Orochi needed to know about their impending fight. From the taste of toothpaste, her mouth shifted to the sourest, bitterest spice. Orochi's heart turned cold as she saw Sasha closing in like a predator, an enemy.
Steam and heat exhaled from the Hydra girl’s body, going up without stopping. The wounds on her ribs and arm healed quickly. Orochi's body was steaming hot, but her soul and heart felt cold. “Take good care of her. I may have gone overboard.”
Her tails moved excitedly behind her back, especially her left one, which was no longer under her control. What she once considered extensions of herself, her extra three limbs, were now disconnected, able to take instructions and but act as they pleased.
They could act on their own. Like her hydra heads, Orochi's heart begged to go out of control, its pulsations making Orochi feel her limbs, her muscles throbbing with fear and energy.
The excitement and the anxiety of looking forward to something she wanted were similar feelings but opposite. Orochi felt sick at the thought of losing control and causing serious harm to her friends.
She didn’t know what to do, or how to stop this heat that seemed to take control of her.
“She knew what she was getting into.” Sasha got close, picked up Rui from her arms, and carried the much taller girl on her small shoulders. Back then, Orochi was the one who would carry everyone who got hurt. How ironic that she is now the one putting them out cold.
“Benkei, you could’ve at least cleaned the battlefield for me. Tsc.”
As Sasha took Rui and walked away from the ring, the next challenger was not Umi, but rather the new girl, Kaka. Her ace had the faintest trace of emotion, before it died out, her face like a porcelain doll, beyond what could even be called a poker face.
She blinked and opened her eyes immediately, like one who tries to not fall asleep. “Now, it is time to set the tune right.” A strange-shaped sword jumped from inside her arm, with blue cables connected to the blade’s handle, linking the girl and her weapon.
She swung the blade, and a sickening guitar riff echoed. Half of the battlefield changed as an invisible destructive force cleaned the sparks and cleaved the terrain, swiftly altering the ring’s shape. She couldn't destroy or cut all the hazards, but the monochromatic-haired girl cleared an area where she would have no problem moving.
“You know when they said they would face their old boss,” Her blade moved slightly, and another riff came from the blade. Orochi knew what to expect; she couldn’t see the invisible attack, but she could plan accordingly.
“I expect their old boss to be some kind of monster. You look very lacking in that regard,” An air slash came at her, a gash opened on the right side of her midsection, and an “oooh” came from the crowd. Orochi felt the blood flow, and her flesh stitched itself together to stop the bleeding and mend the gash quickly.
She knew her body could take a beating, but how far she could go while regenerating against Sasha and Umi were questions she would avoid and not have answered.
Orochi's eyes widened, but she had no time to check the damage done. Her attention focused on her apathetic opponent. “You appear to be just another college girl who can take a nice hit. Why don’t you go to your boyfriend or something like that? Leave the gang work for those who can handle it.” Orochi gritted her teeth.
Was this girl, who knew nothing about Orochi's past and her connections with Rui, Suzuka, Umi, and Sasha, telling her what to do? Dictating how she should live her life? Orochi's blood pressure rose, and her body pulsated with anger and anxiety over this fight and the foe who could attack with shockwaves or something similar.
“Oh? You are angry? But you have no words to argue against my point. Live your life away from this. You are not cut for this job.” Her tone was emotionless and apathetic, resembling the cruel kindness of a disappointed teacher addressing a child they think has no potential to be a “productive member of society.”
Orochi's Hydra heads hissed and whined, directed at her foe, who stared with vacant and bored eyes. “Let’s deal with this already. You are not as special as you believe.” She moved her sword twice.
Air was projected forward, the pressure advancing against Orochi like a deadly cold breeze. With little room to think, the powerful attack advanced fast— “That is it.” Orochi gritted her teeth. Sasha and Umi were on the backline, and she couldn’t afford to push her regeneration too much in this fight, just like in Rui’s match.
Orochi didn’t try to run or dodge; the muscles of her abdomen clenched painfully, the wound on her side steaming hot. Digging in her heels, Orochi grabbed the floor before her and ripped it out, throwing it against the air lashes coming in her direction.
Air and earth clashed, and an explosion of dust clouded the battlefield, drawing another reaction from the onlookers. With her leader knocked out cold, they received confirmation that this was a spectacle to see and feast their eyes on—many of them were new, so it was the first time they saw Orochi in action too.
Orochi used the cloud to move further towards the girl, instructing her right Hydra head to move towards the wound and bite it, drinking in and storing the blood inside its mouth. Orochi felt a sharp pulsation as the suction drew in strong pressure and pain over her wound, her regeneration kicking off faster to cover the damage done by the head’s teeth.
She used the dust cloud to cover the ground towards Kaka. ‘Throw it at her.’ She said, and the right Hydra head obliged. It spat the blood from left to right towards the girl. Orochi advanced in the opposite direction. “Where you are.”
Her tone was nonchalant as another cutting wave came from right to left, aimed at her previous position. By this point, Orochi was no longer there, and the wave hit an empty spot. “What—” Orochi landed a punch on the girl’s face.
She didn’t react in any way, her face free of emotion, but her guitar made strange noises, like the beating of a drum. Orochi didn’t know what was wrong with that girl, even Kaylee would react to a punch in her face.
Her right fist landed straight on her left cheek, the pale flesh swelling because of the punch. Kaka’s body almost launched forward, but for Orochi, it wouldn’t do—before she could use the punch’s momentum to fly away, Orochi grabbed the girl’s hair with her left hand and yanked her upward.
Orochi’s forehead clashed against Kaka’s, a smack loud enough to make the others wince and flinch. Blood dripped from the girl’s forehead, but she stood silent.
“Before you say anything about me,”
Orochi raised her left fist to hit the other side of Kaka’s face. “You!” Yet, before Orochi could do anything, a sharp, wet, and gritty sound came from her belly. Orochi’s adrenaline died out, a familiar, nightmarish sensation resurfacing in her mind.
Orochi looked down to see a blade embedded in her belly. Blood rushed to her mouth, spitting onto the apathetic face of Kaka. “Umi said for me to filter you. Girl, you may have determination and guts, but this is no easy job. Go back, live your life away from this shit.”
A pulsation rang inside Orochi’s ear, drowning in Kaka’s words. It grew louder and louder, deafening any and all outside world noises. Blood came from the sides of the blade—thick, viscous, and poisonous blood.
Her blood. Kaka frowned. ‘Umi said it isn’t enough to stop her, but because of her trauma, her run-in with a villain or something, she won’t react. Guess you are done.’ Kaka retrieved her sword.
Orochi stood paralyzed. A cold grasp enveloped her, similar to when that creature pierced through her chest. Her attack was lower than the creature’s, but in her mind, the parallels were too much, too alike to ignore.
Words, feelings, everything died in her; the sight of blood flowing from her belly left her still as a statue. The heat of her body slowly died out, her shoulders shook, and even the Hydra heads were filled with despair.
The memories of that day were too much even for them.
“As I said. You are not fit for this job. People won’t go easy on you because of your regeneration. Go. Back. Home. Don’t waste your life away.” Kaka sounded tired, her porcelain-like features crumbled away slowly, and her eyes twitched with pain.
Kaka sighed with closed in melancholy. “I don’t know if you will hear these words. This is a world for those without a home or a way out. Don’t throw away everything you have because you think it will make you strong. It is a flawed reasoning.”
Orochi felt like her eardrums were bleeding, her whole body trembled with a cold that shouldn’t be there. The world she viewed was painted a deeper shade of red. Yet, the calm and emotionless words of her adversary reached her.
They breached through her stupor as if Kaka knew the right tone to reach out to Orochi. Was she really not fit for this world? Would she be paralyzed when faced with overwhelming odds and wounds? For all the things that happened, Kaka was weaker than Rui.
Her actions didn’t account for a tenth of Rui’s. Yet, why was Orochi freezing over this small wound? One that didn’t compare to the fall of a hammer to her sides. Kaka’s hollow eye stared at hers.
The questions that plagued her mind for weeks now—Was she weak? Was she a coward? Why does she always duck when under pressure? Running from danger? From the bigger picture? Let the responsibility fall on others’ backs?
In the end, against Feral, she left her friends to fight against her; she was dying on the ground. When her mother tore apart her old life, she let it happen. She was a fraud who got paralyzed under pressure, the best she got was one right swipe against her mother.
No better than the ones she judged, the tinted lens she used to put Rosethorn under… people who don’t what they should be doing, or those who ran away, only caring about their skin and problems in the end.
Parasites. She was a goddamn parasite, in the end, carried by others.
“It is game over. Give up now, go home. You defeated Rui, I don’t think she can chain you to us.” With her remaining strength, Orochi bit her lip.
Sharp teeth sank into tender flesh effortlessly. Why was she freezing up? Would she let a newcomer who didn’t know about her life and past go over her so easily? Make her an oath breaker by making her go away?
‘My entire life I was pushed by others. Pushed by my mother, by my desire to make her proud, to be a hero like my father. What I did because I wanted was this gang. I said I won’t run away anymore. To make the hurt I forced upon my friends worth. For it to have a reason.’
There was a way for her to try and push herself over the ledge. See for once and for all if she would always run away if she should stop trying and accept the fraud she was. Orochi felt her heart inflame with spite and disgust aimed at herself.
She was a weakling who took a big title. Hard to destroy Lizard. It is easy to be Hard to Destroy when she never took dangerous gambles in her life. This will change that.
Before her enemy could go away, Orochi grabbed her sword by the blade. Sharp scales clashed against the edge, and Orochi brought the blade up. “Should’ve… aimed higher.” With trembling hands, Orochi plunged the blade into her own chest, where Feral stabbed her. before
A sundering earthquake tore through her whole being in a single second. The memories and pain washed over her like a flood of pain. The small girl before her was replaced by the sight of a beast, a demon. A monster. The nightmarish revving of chainsaws and the image of that demon permeated her mind.
The blade was replaced by a clawed arm, the red in her view cascading like an endless waterfall. Her body felt covered in blood, a hallucination, yet it didn’t weaken the cold grasp over the body, like the tight hold of death.
She relied on her regeneration as a last resort. To play safe and not get hurt by her adversaries. Despite it being what she was made for. To withstand hits. She gritted her death, her heart beating with pain, flesh tried to mend but the blade stopped it.
Even against Bobby, she played it safe because she trusted her regeneration and endurance to not let the damage be too much. What is a bruise or broken tooth in comparison to the aching steel of a blade or the fall of a hammerhead?
Blood filled her lungs and mouth, filling with fluid, and both the crowd and Kaka stood silent. Orochi felt her eardrums ring so loud they felt like bursting.
Her being trembled in overwhelming pain. The phantoms of nightmares came to haunt her in this waking moment. She was weak because she wanted to play it safe. She was a coward to try and take the shortest path, “not be hit and win”.
Rui betted everything in a risky move, she wasn’t playing it safe, she was playing to win. She can’t achieve anything if everything she will do is play safe.
She was a fool for wanting to withstand attacks but refusing to accept the pain brought with them. Anyone can withstand a child’s punch, but how many can stand the tearing teeth of a chainsaw?
She was trying to be a headstrong snake, a hard-to-destroy lizard, without earning the right to this name. What did she withstand? What pain did she overcome? She was running in circles, her entire life.
“You are right. I’m a fraud. I’m not special. I’m not completely fit for this either— honestly, I’m a half-baked thing that tries to spread too far to be good at everything, without exceeding in anything. A bland existence.” Words came out flawlessly despite the blood filling her lungs.
Her body from the last strand of hair to the deepest core of her being felt on fire, a burning sensation soaring through every fiber and drop of blood.
Orochi was scared. The last time something like that happened, her spine was severed, her lungs and heart had a hole in them, and she was hospitalized. It was the only time she was close to death.
The only time she had been placed in a situation where her regeneration NEEDED to keep her alive. She hadn’t stuck herself without fear or by a whim. No, if she wants to move out of Feral. If she wants to be strong one day, strong enough to defeat that monster, she has to grow past the wound.
Past what Feral did. Grow bigger than the shadow over her soul. Orochi was scared, rightfully so. Her feet trembled, barely able to keep her straight. She was fearful of what consequences this stupid action could have on her.
But she is done running away just because the situation becomes slightly unpleasant. Orochi pushed out the blade. Blood gushed like a fountain out of her chest. Before Kaka was coated in it, she leaped back.
Orochi felt the yawning gap in her chest pulsates without the blade’s presence. Yet, she didn’t buckle or kneel, losing strength like what happened to her against Feral.
Even her body mocked her, mocked her that she hadn’t pushed herself to the limits of the unknown. She never yearned to break her limits. Orochi felt her body heat skyrocket far beyond what was considered “healthy” or “safe” to others.
Instead of the gradual but fast regeneration she had, something natural, her wounds closed up. Flesh stitched up, releasing unbearable heat out of her body. A red and white steam fumed from Orochi, the wounds on her chest and belly almost completely closed, in seconds.
A mockery of her weakness, of how long she took to realize to be a Hard to Destroy Lizard, she has to endure the trials and responsibilities of life. Her life. Endure true trials and hurt to grow. There is no such thing as a “safe bet” in life.
A glimmer of recognition shone in Kaka’s eyes; “I forfeit this battle. You are crazy. You stabbed your own heart and lungs… you are fit for this insanity. Sasha, your turn.” Kaka retracted her sword back into her arm.
The fuming Orochi saw a brown-haired blur jump into the arena. Ready to start their fight. “Glad for you to open your eyes, ‘Chi. Now is the time to put your spirit to the test.” Sasha clenched her fists. Orochi braced herself for impact.