"What the heck is this?"
The last time the Legendary Warriors locked horns with the Evil Warriors, Ranamon had managed to slip away before things got heated. Before leaving, though, she'd slipped the annoying one, the one who always upstaged her, a message. When she'd gotten a moment to herself, Zoe looked the message over. All it was, was a set of coordinates and simple instructions.
'Come alone. I'll be alone, too. We'll settle things when you get here.'
Zoe was confused at first, but after thinking things through, she decided to go along with it. Sure, chances were pretty good that it was a trap. Better than pretty good, actually, but if it meant getting at least Ranamon to leave them alone, then it was worth it.
The question came from the sight waiting for her when she arrived: a boxing ring, sat in the middle of what would otherwise be a pristine, untouched beach.
"...this is either the lamest trap in history, or Ranamon's lost it."
The moment the words left her lips, a plume of water shot out of the ocean nearby. Zoe jumped on reflex, taken by surprise, though she'd become conditioned to reach for her Digivce whenever trouble was near.
And if the blue mermaid Digimon standing on top of the pillar of water was any indication, trouble was extremely near.
"Well, well," Ranamon called out, putting a snobbish tone in her voice, "look who actually manage ta show up! I didn't think you had it in you, honey."
"Whatever," Zoe shouted back, making sure Ranamon could hear her, "Finally decide to give up the Water Spirit?"
"You're funny," Ranamon giggled, "But nah, I'll be takin' that Wind Spirit off yer hands soon, sugah. This is fer somethin' else, though."
"And that is…?"
Ranamon huffed for a second. "I'm sick'a you always stealin' the spotlight from me! Every time you Digivolve, everyone's eyes go right to you, and I'm tired of it! I'm gonna ruin that pretty face'o yers right here, right now!"
Zoe glared at Ranamon's words. "Not my fault people think I'm cuter than you! You wanna fight about it? Fine, I'll kick your sorry butt!"
Ranamon grinned. "Alright then, let's do this," With that, Ranamon's hand began to glow. Zoe's eyes went wide as she recognized it as a piece of Fractal Code. Before Zoe could ask about it, Ranamon tossed the ball of code to the human girl. Zoe caught it, giving Ranamon a questioning glance, "Don't worry, It ain't anything bad. Just scan it."
Zoe took a second, staring at the code, before hesitantly bringing her Digivice to it. She ran the scanner across it, and let instinct guide her.
"Execute! Sparring Evolution!"
When her Digivolution finished, she took a look at herself. For the most part, Kazemon felt pretty much the same. She noted, however, that her new appearance was much different compared to her usual self. Instead of the open top, she now wore what appeared to be an athletic top. The shirt maintained her same color scheme, stopping just shy of her belly, leaving that much exposed. She gloves she normally had were now replaced with thick-padded boxing gloves, again matching her usual coloration. Even her boots had been altered, now shin high with the front of them now made of a tough-looking plastic material. The back of the boots were now completely open, save for the two straps over her calves. She also felt another strap covered her soles, though there was nothing covering the toes, balls of her feet, or heels. A quick flex of her glove revealed a mouthguard in her fist.
She could taste the confusion now coming over her as she looked to Ranamon. The mermaid Digimon had also Digivolved, so to speak. Her appearance was similar to Kazemon's, from the top that matched her own color and boxing gloves. Kazemon noticed that the...ankle floaties, for lack of a better description, Ranamon normally had were now gone, having shifted into the kick pads she now wore.
"What the heck is this?"
"Oh, nuthin'," Ranaman said, "just some code that'll keep things fair between us. I wanna give you a fightin' chance, sugah."
Kazemon looked herself over one more time. She took a second to think things over.
"Fine. Let's do this."
Ranamon grinned, "Perfect. Let's go then."
As the two Digimon entered the ring, Ranamon found herself struggling to keep her cocky look.
'What the heck am I doin'?! Half her moves are freakin' kicks! Why did I think this was a good idea?!'
Even as both women slipped their mouthguards into place, Ranamon's inner panic attack wracked her.
"Alright," Ranamon said, fighting to make sure none of the nervousness she was feeling came through, "Quick rules. No knees, elbows, or low blows. Either of us hits the ground, the other stops and lets her up. Standing chokes allowed, but nothing else."
Kazemon nodded, agreeing to the ruleset when Ranamon finished. Both Digimon tapped their gloves together and, without a word, the fight was on. The two circled around one another, watching their opponent to try and figure out a gameplan.
'Okay, what do I do?', Ranamon thought, 'She's probably gonna kick me if I try ta get close.'
Testing that theory, Ranamon took a hard step forward. Kazemon, just as unused to the idea of shoot boxing that the Mermaid was, took a step back in response.
'Huh.'
Ranamon did it again, though this time she shot a fist forward in a quick jab. Kazemon stood her ground, bringing her arms up to block the strike. Ranamon quickly stepped back as Kazemon brought a foot up to try and catch her in the midsection.
'Gah! There it is!'
Before Ranamon could try again, however, Kazemon quickly rushed in, firing punches of her own.
'Yikes!'
Ranamon brought her guard up, trying to block as much as she could. She kept her arms far enough apart to allow her to see the Wind Warrior's fists come in, which gave her the ability to react and deflect the punches. A brief moment came when Kazemon stopped her jabs, which gave Ranamon a chance to-
'Kaah!'
The Mermaid winced as the Fairy's shin connected with her knee, causing it to buckle very briefly as the plastic popped with the impac. She winced with the strike, though she tried to return fire anyway with a straight punch. Kazemon, going for her low kick, left her defenses down when Ranamon struck.
"Gah!"
Her head snapped back a bit as the padded fist crashed into her face. Luckily for the Fairy Digimon, the punch wasn't very hard, but she backed up a bit anyway.
Just in case.
Ranamon did her best to hide her pain, her knee twitching a bit from the kick. Instead, she rushed forward again, trying to follow on her spacing strike. She pushed in, throwing wild punches anywhere she thought she saw an opening. Kazemon managed to defend against most of the blows, though one managed to buffet against her midsection and another on the side of her head.
'What the heck?' Kazemon thought as she stood against the assault, 'Where'd she even learn to fight like this? Ranamon's never gotten hands-on like this before!'
"Whipping Waves!"
Kazemon only had a fraction of a second to process what she'd heard before a leather-clad fist crashed into her cheek. This particular cross wasn't any different from the others that Ranamon had fired off, except for the jet of water that was gushing out from her opponent's elbow. The impact was much greater than before, causing the entire side of the Fairy Digimon's face to explode in pain. Ranamon's follow-through forced Kazemon's head to turn with the punch, the impact parting the Wind Guardian's lips. Lines of spittle flew from Kazemon's lips, tiny droplets of sweat were flung from her, and as the strike forced her to turn her head with the punch, it was all her mouthguard could do to keep itself in place.
The blow rocked Kazemon, staggering her for half a step. The fairy being off-balance gave Ranamon just enough time to act on instinct, firing a hard round kick into her enemy's midsection. Kazemon, still dizzied by the cross, had no chance to defend against the kick, allowing the smaller Digimon's shin to crash into her. The kick slammed violently into Kazemon's exposed belly, forcing a few droplets of sweat to fly into the air. Any witnesses to the fight could've been able to attest to the sound of the impact, the plastic of Ranamon's shin guard popping loudly on impact.
"Kuhhh…."
The sound that came from Kazemon's mouth drew a surprised look from Ranamon. It was as if she couldn't decide whether to let spit fly from her mouth, or to let the air out from her lungs. Ranamon moved in, hoping to finish the fight quickly. What she wasn't ready for, however, was Kazemon's arm wrapping around her own and the back of her neck. The Fairy clinched with her in a standing arm triangle, while Ranamon's momentum forced the two women against the ropes. They stood there for a moment, Kazemon applying some pressure to the hold, but not enough to really do any damage. Ranamon only had a small amount of difficulty breathing in the hold, her opponent's shoulder barely pressing into her throat. Before long, the two women shared a silent agreement. Kazemon released the hold, letting Ranamon back away.
'Wasn't ready for that,' Kazemon said, frowning under her visor, 'But if she wants to play that game…'
Kazemon stepped forward, causing Kazemon to bring her guard back up.
"Tempest Twist!"
Kazemon threw herself onto her hands, spreading her legs out wide and rapidly spinning in place. Small jets of air burst from her heels, increasing the speed at which she spun. Ranamon tried to defend against her opponent's sudden surge forward, but the first foot to reach her harshly slammed her arms away. The second foot slammed directly into the Mermaid's cheek, her eyes going wide as the side of her face rippled with the impact. A line of saliva flew from her mouth, and her upper body was suddenly forced to the side along with the momentum.
Kazemon couldn't help but grin as she saw her attack land, and continued her assault. More kicks landed on Ranamon, each strike spinning Ranamon around just a bit more until she eventually made a full circle. Kazemon ceased her attack, pushing herself back onto her feet.
Ranamon's mind spun after the assault, stumbling around until she eventually hit the ring ropes. She leaned against it heavily, panting in exhaustion from Kazemon's attack. The world went loopy around her, and she couldn't help but groan for several seconds. Kazemon herself smiled at the result of the attack, seeing the Mermaid struggling to keep herself standing. She backed up to the nearest corner, watching Ranamon try to collect herself.
Ranamon took several seconds to recover, shaking her head as she did.
'The world stop spinnin', yet? I wanna get off this ride…'
"You wanna call it here?" She heard Kazemon ask. To anyone else, it sounded like a genuine question. To Ranamon, however…
"Mockin' me, huh?" she growled to herself. Once she was stable enough, she glared at the Fairy, "I'll teach ya ta show some respect, Darlin'."
Kazemon sighed, but brought her fists up as Ranamon did.
'Better end this quick. Still feeling the kick to my gut.'
The Digimon stepped forward, each of them launching jabs at the other. The jabs were quickly defended against, with Ranamon trying to push forward with each attempt. Kazemon threw a quick kick into Ranamon's midsection, digging the ball of her foot into the Mermaid's abdominal muscles. Ranamon coughed as she took the impact, but she did her best to not let it phase her. She threw hard hooks toward Kazemon's head, forcing the Wind Warrior to protect against them. She let Kazemon's push kick force her back, and as she settled onto her back foot, she quickly fired her front one toward Kazemon's chin.
Kazemon was unprepared for the sudden shot, and felt her jaw click violently as the ball of Ranamon's foot cracked into her. The kick reared Kazemon's head back, sweat arcing in to the air from the attack.
'What just happened? When did Ranamon get this good?'
Ranamon blinked for a second, realizing what had happened, before she rushed in. She took a couple of shots at Kazemon's midsection to force her to bend back down. Kazemon coughed with each impact, bringing her head back down for Ranamon to do what she wanted with it. Unsure about what she wanted to do, however, the Mermaid did the one thing that came to her: she wrapped an arm around the back of Kazemon's neck, with the other going around her arm. She wrapped her wrist as much as she could with her gloved fist, and cranked.
In the back of her mind, Kazemon panicked. She felt her face begin to burn as her air supply was cut off.
'What do I do? WhatdoIdo?! How am I supposed to get out of this?!i'
Ranamon strained into the hold, not sure if it was even working. She increased the pressure as much as she could, hoping she was doing anything at all. It wasn't until she felt the leather of Kazemon's glove rapping against her side that she got a sign of anything. This time, however, this wasn't an act of defiance or combat.
It was a surrender.
Ranamon let the hold go, allowing the Fairy to drop to her knees on the canvas. Kazemon coughed violently as air quickly filled her lungs again, and Ranamon stepped back, panting in exhaustion.
'I did it,' Ranamon thought, looking down at the woman in front of her, 'I actually did it!'
A grin crossed her lips for a split second, before a round of raucous laughter burst out from her.
"See?" she taunted, kneeling down to Kazemon, "See what happens when ya mess with a Legendary Warrior! You get yer butt kicked!"
Ranamon couldn't see the glare behind Kazemon's visor, though the curled lips were enough for her to tell it was there.
"Tell ya what, sugah, I'll let you off this time," Ranamon said, "That was more fun than I thought it'd be. I'll let ya go so I can do it to ya again some other time!."
The Mermaid didn't give Kazemon time to respond, running to a corner near the edge of the beach. She leaped high into the air, until she dropped into a deep enough spot in the water for her to swim away as fast as Digimon-ly possible.
'Gotta get outta here before she gets up!' She looked back toward the ring as she swam, 'it was fun though.'
Kazemon watched as Ranamon made her escape. A second later, she felt herself shrink significantly, and in her place sat Zoe. The young girl glared at the path she assumed Ranamon took. She couldn't believe she'd been beaten that quick, by someone who didn't really fight.
"Can't believe she actually won," she said, grumbling to herself. She pulled her Digivice out from her sweater pocket. "Can't let the boys find out this happened, or they'll lose their minds."
A few seconds passed before her frown shifted to that of a confident smirk.
"At least, not until next time. Then I'll kick her butt."
