VI – Super Soldier

"Oy! Over here, ugly!" Fang yelled, taunting the beast that howled a few feet in front of her. The creature turned to her with glowing red eyes, snarling and salivating at the thought that she had dared challenged it. There were few that would willing face such a beast head on—even fewer that dared taunt it with a grin like the one the Oerban warrior standing before it.

The beast roared, rearing back on its hind legs, morphing into a more humanoid form. Its muscles strained with the raw power that was pumping through them. Eventually it stood at full height, grasping a whirling weapon half it's size. It towered over the Pulsian woman, somewhat mimicking her and assuming the same combat-ready position. The two beings of Pulse faced each other. Both were poised and prepared to strike yet were waiting for the other to attempt it first. It was hunter versus prey.

But which was which? From an observer's point of view it was hard to tell. For Fang it was clear as the sky above her: She was the hunter and the enormous behemoth king that loomed over her was the prey—her prey. The intensity that emanated from her eyes and the tautness visible in every muscle of her body was not from fear but from anticipation. The warrior was waiting, watching for the slightest change in her opponent's stance, ready to react accordingly.

A feral grin reappeared on the Pulsian's face as she noticed her opponent's weight shift to its back leg. Anyone who had any less experience in battle would have missed it. The creature was readying for a strike. Fang gripped her staff and watched as the behemoth king swung its massive saw-blade and brought it down on her. Anticipating the force of the blow, Fang took up a Steelguard stance to reinforce her defense as she blocked the attack. While she was confident in her battle-prowess, there was no denying that her opponent had incredible power. The Oerban warrior grunted as she felt her feet sink into the ground beneath her as saw-blade and staff collided.

"Aw c'mon! S'that all ya got?" Fang huffed, sidestepping. She swiped aside the massive saw-blade, ignoring it as it crashed into the ground, burying itself deep, "I've had chocobo chicks hit harder!"

As if gravely insulted by it's monstrous strength being compared to a critter the size of its eyeball, the behemoth king bellowed in frustration. It gathered both its physical and magical strength for another attack. Its opponent stood smiling, pleased that the creature had let its rage consume itself—clouding its judgment—so soon.

Fang readied herself for another onslaught of bestial rage, choosing this time to take up a Mediguard stance. She knew that though she may have succeeded in weakening her opponent's senses, the next attack would not be as easy to defend against. Her signature grin masked the gritting of teeth and the tension of muscles fortified by magic summoned by the cursed gift given to her by a god of Pulse.

But the blow never came. Instead it was replaced by a howl of unexpected pain. The saw-blade indeed swung out but it was far from on target. It sliced into the ground a few feet away from the warrior who, while keeping her guard and adjusting her position, looked on confused.

The beast growled, its jaws snapping wildly as it threw its head back and whirled around clawing at its back. Fang couldn't help dropping her guard as the cause of the unforeseen action came into her view. With her strawberry blonde hair and crimson half-cape, half standing atop the huge beast was none other than Lightning. The Cocoon soldier's gunblade was buried deep in the creature's back, serving as the only hold her had to steady herself while her target thrashed around violently.

"You shouldn't play with your food." Lightning's voice tickled Fang's ears—something she had yet to get use to despite the number of times it'd occurred. The Pulsian warrior watched as the soldier deftly pushed against the behemoth king's back, extracting her gunblade and landing a perfect back flip a few feet away.

"Ya can't blame me for wanting to have a little fun, Sunshine." Fang said, preparing her guard again as she noticed the beast regaining its stance out of the corner of her eye. She found it hard however; to keep her gaze off the other woman who whipped her gunblade back, discarding the thick blood that coated it, in one movement.

"Who says I was talking to you?" Lightning added with the faintest of smile. Fang could barely let out the surprised chuckle that rose in her throat, she was too focused to imprint the soldier's lips in her mind. But the Pulsian proved to be too slow. As swiftly as she had entered the battle, Lightning folded the gunblade and let loose an array of bullets into the behemoth king's neck. Earning a staggered roar, the soldier deftly unfolded her weapon and ran at him, no doubt to continue what she'd started.

Fang was too engrossed in watching the other woman she almost didn't notice the staggered beast tighten its grip on the saw-blade, "Ooooh, no ya don't!" She jumped at it, impaling her staff in the ground, locking the saw-blade in place against the ground. She felt the somewhat desperate tugs of the behemoth king but grasped her staff tightly, denying the creature its weapon.

Another bellowing roar as the beast's entire right side had been left open for the unrelenting attacks from the ravager who had stepped into the battle moments before. Fang could barely see Lightning, she was moving so fast. Flashes of red, silver and pink darted from left, right, above and below the behemoth king. Each precisely calculated blow earned another roar from the massive creature. While undisputed in her greater strength between the two of them, the Oerban warrior could only stare in awe and wonder at the soldier's speed. Over a dozen blows to her target in the span of mere seconds, Lightning was like an army of one when focused enough.

With one last slash to the behemoth king's neck, Fang felt the beast's grip on the saw-blade loosen, and its enormous body fall to the ground. It no longer howled but snarled through ragged breaths. Judging that its weapon was no longer a threat, Fang pulled her staff from the ground and made her way around the dying creature. Lightning came into view just as the soldier folded her gunblade and skillfully holstered it with a grace that only she could pull off. Not a single muscle in Lightning's body gave away that she'd just done what many would have considered impossible. The soldier had a way of seeming totally and completely relaxed without lowering her guard.

"You never fail to impress, Sunshine." Fang found herself saying instead of voicing the admiration and respect that filled her mind after watching the other woman fight. She decided to go with it and grinned as Lightning jerked her head toward her, eyes glowering at the repeated use of the Pulsian's nickname for her. Fang would never grow tired of the fact that with one word she could earn a glare from the soldier, that's intensity was matched only by the one she wore while in the heat of battle.

On occasion, Fang couldn't tell the two apart, having been able to induce both at the same time during intense sparring sessions in the past. This proved to be a similar occasion—though with more dire consequences, for when she realized, it was too late. The Pulsian barely registered Lightning yelling a warning, her gunblade being re-drawn and that her heated gaze was not directed at her but past her, before it hit her. Even if Fang did have Lightning's speed, she wouldn't have had a chance to react before she couldn't see, feel nor hear anything. Nothing but darkness; an indescribably intense burning sensation flooding across her back; and the sound of tearing flesh masked by a scream that she found hard to believe resonated from Lightning.

"FANG!"

A/N:
Nothing from FFXIII is mine.
Was Army of One spamming for quite a while after I finally realized how to use it =_=;;; So pretty!
Light distracts Fang, bad things happen =[