"Bullseye!" she exclaimed aloud. Kupura blinked and rubbed his yellow eyes while Leela jumped to her feet. I've got you right where I want you, she thought, and moved in closer to administer a crotch kick.
Before her foot was even off the ground, a colossal fist smashed into her jaw.
The spectators gasped with alarm. "Oh, Leela!" cried Amy.
She awoke in the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Gilded clouds hovered in the azure-blue sky. Winged cherubs fluttered this way and that, plucking melodies on their zithers. Then two suns broke through the clouds, and a towering figure blocked out the suns.
Oh, that's right, she remembered. I'm fighting for my life. Dazed but not deterred, she clambered to her feet. Kupura was upon her, throwing left hooks and right hooks with such speed and power that she could scarcely dodge them. The sand didn't blind him at all, she realized. It was a bluff. He's smarter than I thought.
"Go, Leela!" Amy cheered. "Get in there! Do him some damage!"
"Amy, we don't want her to win!" said Hermes.
"It looks like nothing short of a deus ex machina will end this fight," remarked Delta.
All this rage is only clouding my mind so I can't think, Leela told herself. Maybe that's why the Chalnoth keep getting beaten back. I need a strategy. Come on, girl, think of a strategy…
All she could see were Kupura's fists pummeling the air around her. All she could think of was getting out of their way. Seconds passed. Gotta calm down, gotta think…
Wait…what was it Master Fnog always told me about using an opponent's size against him?
Hermes and Amy chewed anxiously on their nails. "He's going to wear her down," said Delta. "She's not accustomed to the climate. Well, at least I'll be spared an unpleasant duty."
Leela suddenly backpedaled. As soon as she had put four yards between herself and the giant, she stopped. Kupura waved his fists and braced himself for the unexpected.
"What's she doing?" Amy wondered.
"She's gonna charge him," said Hermes. "But that's suicide! It's like charging a wall!"
Leela let out a frightful whoop and dashed forward, kicking up volumes of wet sand. Kupura, his gaze fixed on her nose, readied his left fist to deliver a killing blow. When the girl was close enough, he let loose.
His punch missed entirely. Like a blernsball player trying to steal second base, Leela was sliding on her legs and posterior, far below the reach of his deadly hands. The instant her rump was even with his ankles, she raised both legs, bent both knees, and fired both feet into Kupura's exposed scrotum. Yes! Target achieved!
The stunned silence of the crowd was more silent than any silence she had ever not heard.
Leela scrambled to her feet, certain that a counterattack was on its way. To her astonishment, Kupura was frozen in mid-punch, his face trapped in a contorted expression of pain. He didn't move or blink. Another trick, she suspected.
After swaying in the wind for a second or two, the mighty native fell over forwards and landed with his face in the dirt. It's no trick, thought Leela with horror and relief. He's dead. I killed him.
"Uh, what just happened?" said Amy.
"Incredible, mon," marveled Hermes. "All it took was a kick to the jewels. It must be fatal to them."
"That might explain the remarkable amount of equality between the sexes enjoyed by this society," said Delta, rising slowly. "Now, if you'll pardon me, I have a task to perform."
"Grab her, Amy!" cried Hermes. He and the Chinese girl made an attempt to pin Delta to her seat by the arms, but her strength proved too much, and she shrugged them off with ease. By the time Hermes and Amy finished tumbling down the bleachers, the fembot had already marched onto the field of combat.
All the spectators gaped, not knowing what to think of this development. "Is the armored woman challenging Zogax?" some were heard to whisper.
When Leela saw the determined robot approaching, she ran. Seeing her vanish into the training room, Delta made chase, hopping over Kupura's prostrate form. Her heavy feet made perfectly rectangular imprints in the sand. Into the chamber she rushed, passing by the suspended beanbag and the hanging weapons. In the last corner Leela waited for her, gripping a large iron sword and glaring fiercely.
"I'm doing this because you asked me to, Leela," said Delta, taking small steps forward. "Now put down the sword."
"You won't take me without a fight!" the curly-haired girl snarled.
"Then fight you I will," said the fembot, "though it hardly seems a fair fight, you having a sword and I not."
"Then pick yourself out a sword," said Leela. "I'll wait."
"That's generous of you," said Delta.
Turning about, she scanned the variety of blade weapons attached to the wall of the training room. Long swords, short swords, cutlasses, rapiers…it was very difficult for Delta to decide, especially after Leela had crept up behind her and sliced off her head with one stroke.
To be continued
