Hilary approached Jessica cautiously. Despite her earlier mocking, she figured that Jessica had to be tough to be invited to fight against her. Jessica had her weapon drawn and was keeping a short distance away from Hilary. They were both doing the same thing; sizing up the opposition. Hilary, being a predator, was naturally skilled at reading the strength of her opponents before a fight. For Jessica though, this was a learnt skill, meaning that she wasn't perfect. She had underestimated enemies in the past, nearly costing Jessica her life a couple of times. She was determined not to make that mistake with Hilary. Since she had no idea how strong Hilary was, she had to make a fresh judgement. She was out of range of any attacks from the Hyena but couldn't make any of her own. Hilary was being equally cautious. Although she was the strongest of the Wikas, she didn't let that get the better of her. She wanted to be sure that she could defeat Jessica and retain her title as champ. Jessica made the first serious move, attempting to catch Hilary off guard. She suddenly rushed forward and swung her sword at Hilary's legs. Hilary reacted by jumping into the air; Jessica had left herself open to one of her special moves early on. She put her fists together and raised them above her head.
"HILL SMASH!" Hilary shouted, bringing down both fists onto Jessica's head. Jessica was knocked to the floor and nearly knocked unconscious in one move. Remaining conscious, Jessica rolled away form the Hyena while Hilary gave chase. Hilary launched a rain of punches at Jessica's body, directed at several parts. Jessica used her sword to block as many as she could and dodged as many as she could, but still took a few hits. Jessica eventually found the strength to suddenly thrust her sword towards Hilary, forcing the Hyena to jump back in defence. This allowed Jessica to climb to her feet and focus a little.
"Recover." Jessica spoke, casting recover on herself to heal some of her injuries. She finished her spell just in time to notice Hilary launching another attack. Jessica leapt to the side and swiped at Hilary's side, scoring a hit to the Hyena's side and causing some damage. Hilary was pushed back by the blow and forced to take a defensive, allowing Jessica to perform a multitude of slashes at Hilary. Hilary was able to dodge most of the blows but suffered some injuries. She still had a lot of energy left though. Hilary stopped Jessica's attack by punching her in the gut, forcing her to take up a defensive posture.
"Wow, impressive rabbit, but you won't last much longer." Hilary spoke before rushing at Jessica. Jessica held her sword above her, having a sudden idea. She then began running at Hilary. It seemed like the two fighters were on a collision course. At the last moment, Jessica swung her sword downwards and used it like a pole vault to leap over Hilary's head and out of the Hyena's reach, being sure to take her sword with her. Hilary paused for a moment, wondering what Jessica had just done. By the time Hilary realised that Jessica was now airborne and behind her, it was too late. Jessica had aimed her free hand at Hilary while she was airborne.
"Fireball!" With that shout, Jessica shot a fireball right at Hilary. The spell found its mark and caused a good deal of damage, forcing Hilary to take another step back. This gave Jessica a chance to do a power up. "Sharpen!" Jessica spoke, focusing into her sword. Now that she had cast sharpen on herself, she could do even more damage. Trying to take the initiative, Jessica rushed at Hilary. Hilary stood her ground and waited for Jessica to get close. When she got close, Jessica tried a vicious sideswipe. Hilary evaded the attack by jumping. When she landed, she grabbed Jessica by the ears and began to spin on the spot, eventually throwing Jessica like she was a weight. Jessica flew through the air and landed on the ground with a thud and slid on the floor. She picked herself up and cast recover on herself, since she was getting a little worn out. She then noticed Hilary charging at her. Jessica decided to do the same trick she had done a moment ago. She rushed at Hilary and used her sword to leap over the Hyena. This time, before Jessica could cast an aerial fireball, Hilary removed her bracelets, turned around suddenly and threw her bracelets at Jessica, hitting the rabbit in the face, preventing her from using her spell and knocking her to the ground. The bracelets returned to Hilary's wrists like boomerangs and she now had an opening. She leapt high into the air and prepared another hill smash, raising both fists above her head. Jessica raised her sword to block the deadly blow just in time. Hilary's hill smash attack hit Jessica's sword, protecting the rabbit from the bulk of the impact. The force was still strong enough to create a small crater in the ground around Jessica's body. If it weren't for the armor, she would likely have broken bones now. Jessica swung her sword at Hilary's feet, forcing the Hyena to jump while she rolled out of range of another hill smash. Jessica then had an idea for a way of catching Hilary off guard. Jessica aimed her hand at Hilary quickly. "Bloody sphere!" Jessica shouted, casting bloody sphere against Hilary. Jessica took the brief opening to attack with a multitude of slashes at Hilary. Hilary escaped the attack before it could be used with a sweeping kick that tripped Jessica up, but the rabbit rolled away quickly. Jessica had realised now that Hilary could fight back any trick that has already been performed on her, so she needed to think of one. However, she could see a crucial advantage that she had over Hilary; speed. She decided to run around Hilary in a circle as fast as she could, in an attempt to disorientate the Hyena. She still kept a fair distance from the Hyena, since she was waiting for an opening. Hilary stood still and watched for a moment, a small smirk painted her lips.
"Speedy, but not good enough." Hilary prepared her Hill Smash attack. Jessica made another mistake; thinking Hilary was going to aim for her. Instead, Hilary unleashed her Hill smash straight to the ground. The result was a mini-earthquake that made Jessica lose balance and fall to the ground. Hilary took this opening like a lightning bolt, dashing to the grounded Rabbit and attacking with a rain of punches against her. Jessica was almost defenceless against the attack, having to do her best to block with the sword. Even so, Hilary had Jessica pinned to the ground in a relentless attack. Jessica had to fight back, and she was able to with a violent kick to Hilary's leg. Hilary had to stop the attack and turn defensive, allowing Jessica to back away a little. Jessica had taken a huge beating, while Hilary looked like she could go on for a lot longer. Jessica had to do something that Hilary hadn't seen yet, otherwise she would lose the fight. She could easily see that the Hyena wasn't going to let her use another spell. She then had an idea, a risky one, but it might turn the battle around. She slowly approached the Hyena, ready to do one move she hadn't yet used against Hilary. A smile painted Hilary's lips.
"So, you're coming so I can deliver the final blow are you?" Hilary spoke, before rushing at Jessica. This was Jessica's cue. The moment Hilary was close enough, she used the spinning attack she had used earlier, sticking her sword out to the side and spinning wildly. The new attacked surprised Hilary and forced her to back away, but she immediately saw an opening. She raised her fists into the air and prepared another Hill smash, but now Jessica saw the opening in Hilary's special attack. She leapt into the air and over the Hill smash before it was launched and then brought down her blade onto the Hyena's hands. Hilary had only one defence; to grab the blade and throw Jessica to the ground, even though Jessica's attack had wounded her. This gave Jessica another opening. While on the ground, she swung her blade in a circle on the floor in an attempt to trip the hyena up. Hilary saw the move coming and leapt into the air, but she didn't prepare Hill smash. She instead leapt backwards to play defensively for a moment. Jessica climbed back to her feet, even though she was now very worn out from the fight. However it was clear that Hilary was equally worn out by the battle. It seemed like there was only one way to settle the fight, and they both knew it. Both warriors began charging towards each other, ready to make the final attacks against each other. Just before they met to end the battle…
"That's it, five minutes have passed. This battle is a draw!" The referee spoke. There was a mixed reaction from the crowd. Many of the Wikas were talking amongst themselves about the fight. Hilary just smiled and approached Jessica while Jessica put her sword away.
"Great work Jessica. I completely underestimated you." Hilary said, offering her hand in friendship. Jessica smiled, thankful that Hilary showed no hard feelings, and accepted the handshake.
"I underestimated you as well. You were tough." Jessica said. Hilary chuckled.
"I didn't get the title of strongest Wika warrior by being a slacker." Hilary paused to look over at Jessica's group, who were all cheering and applauding. "I can now see how our warriors had a tough time against your group. The leader should allow you to head to our temple, and I believe I said that I'd be your guide if you survived the five minutes." Hilary chuckled again, and even Jessica smiled.
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In the stands, there was a mixed reaction to the result of the battle. Most of the Wikas were deadly quiet at the result. The only noise came from Jessica's group. Many of them were cheering. Zach was giving a huge sigh of relief at the outcome. He was so worried that Jessica would be beaten, or worse. Bonji had had her eyes closed for most of the battle, since she didn't want to see one of her heroes get defeated. She only opened her eyes when she heard the cheering. When she realised what had happened, she joined in the cheering. Bugs wasn't cheering; he was just relieved that Jessica was ok. While he was cheering, Daffy made a stupid mistake. He looked over at the Wikas and, rather unceremoniously, began to jeer at them
"Losers! Losers! Losers! Lo…" Daffy was silenced when an arrow flew from the Wikas' direction and slammed into his beak. The arrow went through the beak and forcible kept it closed, at least until Sylvester yanked it out. Daffy gave a sneer at the Wikas.
"Sore loserseth." Was the sneer from Daffy.
"Daffy, you'reth a soreth winnereth." Was Sylvester's comeback.
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Back in the battle arena, a medic had just healed Hilary and Jessica of their wounds with the same powder Danielabella had used when the group first arrived in the forest. Hilary had turned to face all of the Wikas in the stands. She clapped her hands together so she could get their attention.
"Everyone, let's give our challenger a well deserved round of applause for a great battle." Hilary spoke to everyone. At that line, the whole area erupted in applause from the Wikas. Jessica looked up with a smile, standing next to Hilary. The Hyena was right; the battle was tough but it was fun at the same time. Jessica glanced up at Hilary again. There was something troubling her mind that she decided not to say. She was wondering if Hilary would consider staying with the group for the whole adventure, not just up to the temple.
((Acosta, let me know if I made any errors in Hilary's fighting style. Thanks for your advice.))