Chapter 48

Mingxia dashed through the trees, eventually coming to the banks of a small stream; a stream peppered with several grey rocks, whose crowns were tall enough to breach the surface. Without hesitation, she lept towards one of these rocks, bouncing off of its surface and on to another using her right foot. The slim woman continued this pattern, springing off of staggered rocks with absolute ease as she traveled upstream in a zig-zagging fashion.

Within seconds, May burst through the trees dashing to wards the stream in an an attempt to keep up with her sisters kidnapper. She directly followed Mingxia's path, jumping from rock to rock, albeit in a much less refined manner; although she was able to keep up, the blonde ponytailed girl struggled immensely, repeatedly slipping on almost every other rock she touched. Despite her struggles, May managed to make keep up with Mingxia, with the only consequences being a soaked and soiled dress send minor cuts and scrapes.

After a few more bounces, Mingxia suddenly veered left, leaping back onto the shore and dashing back into the woods. Wasting no time, May followed, but not before sliding onto her side as she planted her foot on the final rock. She quickly rose to her feet, dusting herself off as she proceeded to follow Mingxia, maintaining a distance of around twenty feet from her sisters captor.

Mingxia dashed through the woods at a rapid pace, meandering through the trees as if she were performing the ski slalom; much to her surprise, the very much nimble May was able to match her pace. After a brief turn to ascertain May's position, Mingxia decided to add an extra challenge into the mix. She soon came upon a thin, somewhat decrepit tree; as she passed it, she delivered a small, graceful kick with the tip of her toe to the center of its trunk, apparently causing no immediate effects. However, as May may made her approach, the tree suddenly snapped in two, the top half falling in front of her and providing a barrier to her progress. While briefly forced to stop, the buck tooth girl quickly climbed over the fallen log, continuing on her chase.

After a few more paces, the deep forest suddenly opened and May found herself once again in a small clearing of sorts. The blonde girl came to a sudden stop as she observed her familiar surroundings; the clearing was in fact the same area where her confrontation with Mingxia had began. However, the fact that she had been lead full circle through the forest was the least of her worries; she had seemed to unfortunately lose track of Mingxia's position.

May, fueled by adrenaline and the need to find her sister, aggressively scanned her surroundings. However, her attention quickly drawn to the area behind her by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Deja Vu, is it?"

May performed an about face, spotting the familiar form of Mingxia, retaining the unconscious Marie in a fireman's carry as she gazed upon May with a smile.

Almost immediately upon laying eyes on the slender beauty, May decided to initiate an attack. She clenched her teeth, her face turning red as she darted full speed toward Mingxia.

"YOU COWARD!" yelled May as she made her approach, "GIVE ME MY SISTER!"

Upon coming within ten feet of Mingxia, May leaped into the air, adopting the stance of a flying kick with the intent of hitting Mingxia's knees. However, just as May's blue flats were about to make contact, Mingxia leaped into the air, bending her knees upward and avoiding the attack. She then immediately extended her right knee, delivering a swift, yet powerful uppercut to Mays face. This action caused the brace faced girl to fly backward, landing face-first around fifteen feet from Mingxia's position.

Mingxia emitted a small chuckle.

"I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that," said Mingxia in a bubbly voice.

Stunned, but not deterred, May quickly rose to her feet, emitting a small growl as she did so. She proceeded to launch another attack, a seemingly exact repeat of the previous one. Mingxia, as before, leapt into the air in an attempt to dodge; however, in lieu of aiming for Mingxia's legs, May dropped to the ground, performing a slide very much similar to those of a softball player, passing under her assailant as she did so.

Now behind her opponent, May quickly regained her footing, and attempted to deliver a powerful punch to Mingxia's back. As if anticipating the maneuver, Mingxia quickly turned, jumping into the air while twisting her body as if she were a figure skater performing an axle jump. As she did so, she extended her left leg, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick downward into Mays back, causing her to once again plummet to the ground.

"Interesting," said Mingxia as she landed, staring down towards May, "Incorporating your sporting talents into your fighting techniques is most definitely a sign of originality and critical thinking. Impressive but unfortunately, not enough."

At the conclusion of Mingxia's statement, May lifted herself off of the ground, spitting to remove a small amount of soil that had found it's way into her mouth. Immediately after, she sprung forward, once again attempting to attack while growling as if she were an enraged animal.

May once again approached Mingxia, throwing a flurry of punches and low kicks at the slim woman's ankles in an attempt to knock her off balance. As usual, Mingxia effortlessly dodged each one, lifting her feet alternatively with each strike, causing her to appear as if she were engaging in a graceful step dance.

After around ten strikes, Mingxia decided to put an end to the attack by delivering a kick in the direction of Mays jaw. However, in lieu of initiating a strike, Mingxia brought her foot to a stop just before making contact, avoiding a seemingly deadly strike, but bringing an end to a now stunned May's attack.

This action caused May to instinctively jump backward, once again putting around ten feet of distance between she and Mingxia. After regaining her composure, May placed her hands by her sides, bending her knees in preparation for another onslaught; however, just as she was about to spring forward, Mingxia placed her hand outward.

"HALT," yelled Mingxia in an authoritative manner.

The action prompted May to cease her attack, however it didn't stop her from holding her tongue.

"You be quiet!" yelled May, "How dare you tell me what to do, I want my sister, and I'm gonna take her from you one way or the other!"

Mingxia smiled

"Believe me Annamae," said Mingxia, "From what I have seen thus far, I have no doubts that you would do anything in your power to accomplish that goal, even if it mean giving your own life up to save hers. You most certainly have a gift not too many people posses."

Mingxia paused, staring into Marie's angry eyes as she continued speaking.

"But before we continue this little game, please allow me to point out a serious flaw regarding your combative strategy," said Mingxia, "I am currently in possession of one of your closest loved ones. She is quite safe right now, but that situation can change at the drop of a hat. Observe."

At that moment, Mingxia reached her arms upward, proceeding to reposition the unconscious Marie such that her back was now facing the ground, pressed against Mingxia's shoulders. After doing so, Mingxia took hold of one of Marie's arms with her right hand, and one of her legs with her right, pulling slightly downward as she did so.

This action seemed to instill an expression of fear in May, who instinctively decided to react.

"NO!" yelled May.

Mingxia giggled.

"I trust you are familiar with this technique," said Mingxia, "Then you realize that even at your current distance, telegraphing a direct attack would be foolish, as it would only take a second for me to rip your sister in half."

May froze, staring at Mingxia with an expression of helplessness.

"You are in a textbook example of a hostage situation, and have been from the moment I captured Marie," said Mingxia, "How you choose to react to this situation could spell life or death for the hostage. Unfortunately, you have reacted by initiating direct attack, without realizing that I potentially have the skills to quickly and easily end the life of your loved one. You have no idea who I am, what I am here for, and how I will react to being attacked, yet you blindly and erroneously began throwing punches upon the realization that I was behind you, making no attempt to analyze the situation. In other words, you have failed."

At the conclusion of her statement, Mingxia suddenly released her grip of Marie, repositioning her back into a standard and safe fireman's carry.

"Hand-to-hand combat is just one of the many weapons in a superb fighters arsenal, especially the variety you strive to be," said Mingxia, "We'll elaborate on that later, but for now let's continue this little exercise, shall we?

Mingxia suddenly jumped backwards, appearing to almost glide through the air as she did so. She landed near a small pile of leaves, at which point she kneeled downward, simultaneously lifting Marie off of her shoulders. She gently placed the sleeping girl on the leaves in a supine position and, after ensuring that her head was not contorted, rose back to a standing position.

The slim woman turned back towards a still angry May, smiling in her typical bubbly manner as she offered a proposition.

"I have taken the liberty to alter this scenario," said Mingxia, "In the interest of transparency, I stand before you an independent enemy. I am armed only with this."

At that point, Mingxia reached her right hand behind her back, drawing her signature staff from it's back mounted sheave. After gracefully spinning the weapon for a few seconds, she held it out for May to see.

"Do you like it?" asked Mingxia, "It once belonged to my maternal grandfather, my first teacher. While it is more than capable of being a weapon, it seems to function much better as a simple status symbol. Those foolish Pink Ladies you speak of are most easily controlled by my sheer notoriety, and instantly cower at the sight of this beautiful staff. Ah, the joys of being famous!"

Mingxia giggled as she removed the strap securing the sheave to her back. She then placed her staff back in its sheave, and placed it onto the ground adjacent to Marie.

"I am now completely unarmed," said Mingxia, "We will now commence a fair, one-on-one hand-to-hand fight. But be warned, the stakes are quite high! If you manage to get through me, you will leave this forest with your sister."

Mingxia paused, adopting a rather sinister expression.

"However," said Mingxia, "If you fail, you and your sister will unfortunately meet quite the different fate."

Mingxia snickered slightly, causing May to become irritated once more.

"NO!" yelled May, "I WONT LET YOU HURT MY SISTER! I WONT LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS! I WILL FIGHT AND I WILL WIN!"

"Then by all means, do try," said Mingxia, adopting a serious expression as she lifted her hands into the air, bending her knees slightly as she did so. She then formed her hands into the shape of knifes, angling them downward slightly in the manner similar to the crane stance, preparing for the inevitable assault that was to follow.