"OUUUUCH!" I cried out in pain after being on the receiving end of one of Kazuya's deadly drop kicks. Right in the stomach, too!

The kick sent me rolling out to the corner of the stage like a tumbleweed drifting across the desert. "I'll be feeling that one in the morning..." I thought to myself as I desperately stumbled back onto my feet. What a crazy way to start off the round!

"N-not bad, Mr. Mishima..." I told him, but he seemed to ignore my compliment. He was too focused on conjuring up deadly laser beam with his intense gaze, ready to unleash its deadly power upon me.

But I was prepared. As the yellow beam came for me, I set up my reflector wall to send it right back at him.

This clearly caught my opponent off guard, as he'd already been zapped by his own beam before he even had a chance to react to it.

"Ha!" I shouted in triumph in unison with his distressed howl. He'd been shot back to his corner of the battlefield. We were now staring each other down from our respective sides. He was floored, but I felt like I was too far away to push my advantage.

"Didn't expect that, did you?!" I bellowed from my corner to rub his mistake in his face. "You know, maybe you shouldn't dish out what you can't take!" I called out as a sly, confident smirk crept onto my face.

I was provoking him to keep up the pressure from afar, and it was clearly working. I saw his fists clench up in frustration as I mocked him. Unfortunately for him, he'd have to get up close to do anything to me now that he knew I had a reflector. Him and I both knew that. So, now was my chance to pellet him with my own projectiles as he tried to rush me down.

With a scowl on his face, Mr. Mishima strode towards me menacingly.

Meanwhile, I set up my avalanche of projectiles.

I first casted an explosive flame in his direction, but he sidestepped it without breaking a sweat. His reaction time was scary, almost inhumane!

"Autoreticle!" I then called out, sending a trio of swift light bullets in his direction. But alas, he skillfully sidestepped all three shots without breaking a sweat.

Okay, now I was a little scared. The muscular man had now advanced decisively into the center of the battlefield, while I was still stuck in the corner. "Who IS this man!?" I remember thinking to myself, feeling frustrated that I couldn't seem to land a hit on him.

But I wasn't ready to give up just yet. With a mischievous grin, I aimed high and fired a celestial firework in his direction, a rocket brimming with explosive potential, just waiting for the perfect moment to erupt into a destructive firework display upon hitting its mark.

But as my projectile streaked toward him, I couldn't help but spot a mischievous glint in his eye. In a split second, he raised his right leg with an air of practiced nonchalance, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "What is he doing...?" My thoughts were left scrambled, but before I could even piece together a strategy, he did something completely unexpected.

With a swift, almost balletic motion, he sent my projectile hurtling back towards me, using nothing but the sole of his foot. I was left wide-eyed, scrambling to evade my own attack, but it was already too late.

KABOOM!

My own fiery explosion had turned me into a rocket, launching me off the stage. I let out a scream of both shock and anguish as I flew dangerously close to the blastzone.

I couldn't believe what was happening. Who on Earth was I up against!? Was this dude secretly made of boulders? Maybe he's an alien bodybuilder on vacation? His power level felt so... inhumane! But then again, I'm also not human, so I guess that made two of us.

Thankfully, I wasn't knocked out just yet. I managed to swiftly recover by drifting back to the ledge where Mr. Mishima was standing, watching my every move. Thankfully though, I managed to teleport past him to cross him up, landing myself back in the center of the battlefield.

This seemed to have caught him by surprise, and I couldn't resist the chance to give him a taste of my trusty shield. I bashed it into his arm, leaving a sizeable bruise on him.

From thereon, We continued to trade blows up close. I figured that it was best for me to fight him head-on, considering we both had reflectors to deal with each other's projectiles. Not only did I have my shiny blue shield to deflect his punches, but I could also outrange him with my staff.

We traded blow for blow. While I did manage to get in a few more hits than he did using my superior range, he more than made up for it with the sheer power of his attacks. I'm not exactly built like a brick wall, so his fists were taking a toll on my physically, but I could tell that he was also getting burned out himself.

We eventually traded big blows in the center of the stage. My shield slammed into him while his punch found my chest, creating a spectacular collision that launched us to opposite corners of the battlefield, leaving both of us bruised, gasping for air and struggling to get back on our feet.

...and this was the first time I had seen him show any sign of fatigue and weakness. This was my chance to take advantage. I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip through my fingers!

But I was also burnt out myself, struggling to breathe and panting like crazy. That little frenzy between us had left me completely exhausted. I didn't have the energy to run at him again.

However, in that moment, a brilliant idea dawned on me. I swiftly devised a strategy to exploit his weary state, even from a distance...

Without hesitation, I decided to suck up my fatigue and assume a dominant posture. I stood tall with my shoulders squared, my legs confidently apart, and my hands resting assertively on my hips. I feigned an air of unwavering confidence as I fixed a piercing gaze upon my opponent, who was still struggling on his knees.

I took one last deep breath to muster up all the energy that I could in an attempt to mask my fatigue. Then, I took a few strides towards my opponent before returning to my dominant stance, continuing to exude a confident aura.

"Is that all you've got, Kazuya?" I challenged from afar as I wore a mischievious grin. "All bark but no bite, aren't you? How disappointing."

I noticed his eyes lock on to me as his eyebrows narrowed deeply in response to my taunt. He wasn't very happy.

"What kind of man are you? What kind of macho man loses a fight to a little lady like myself, a woman dressed to the nines in high heels and a fancy dress!?" I questioned him as I continued to smirk at him tauntingly.

I could sense his rising frustration. I was pissing him off, I could tell. His now gritted teeth and clenched fists told me everything I needed to know about his emotional state.

Anger - that's what I wanted. I wanted to enrage him. I wanted to push his buttons, ignite the fire within him so that the fury would take over. Because if the fury took over, then he would be out of control. And if he was out of control, then he would fly into a fit of rage, and he would charge at me mindlessly in his blind fury despite his fatigue. Then he'd turn clumsy and reckless, leading to him making big mistakes for me to capitalize on.

...And what better way to elicit those feelings than with a playful prod at his masculinity?

"Come on, scaredy-cat." I goaded as I beckoned him with my finger. "Hehe, I'm getting on your nerves, aren't I? Well, why don't you come and teach this annoying little lady a lesson, hmm?"

I continued to wiggle my way deeper under his skin. I spread my arms and legs out openly to my sides like a human starfish to make myself appear more vulnerable, dangling the bait right in front of him, daring him to take it.

And it was definitely working. His breath grew heavier and more ferocious with each taunt I hurled his direction, and I could practically hear the steam churning out of his ears. All it would take was one more little nudge to tip him over the edge...

"Come on, chicken! Punish me, I dare y-"

But before I could even finish my sentence, the beast had unleashed a primal scream, and suddenly, there was an enraged, crimson-faced bull charging my way.

"Gotcha...!" I silently cheered, relishing the sweet taste of victory, knowing that I had successfully provoked my enemy into an animalistic frenzy.

He was running at me as fast as he could, but he was still... hilariously slow. He still hadn't managed to fully catch his breath, but my tactful taunting had him single-mindedly fixated on craving revenge on me. Granted, I was also struggling to catch my breath, but it was a lot more manageable now as I was making him do all the running towards me instead.

It took him a few seconds to get to me. Once he was just about in range, I withdrew from my starfish pose and readied up my shield for a counter attack. I knew that he was gonna go straight for a furious, tunnel-visioned punch to my upper body - his anger had completely hijacked his ability to think rationally.

In came the punch, and I parried it masterfully. While it was a brutal swing, it left him wide open to a counter attack, and so I harnessed all of his pent-up anger and unleashed it right back at him with an excrutiating kick from my high heels straight into his abdomen. I could feel the hilt of my shoe piercing into his exposed skin. The impact was so intense that it blasted him all the way back to his corner as he let out yet another scream in agony.

Perfect! He was floored once again, now in even greater pain than before. Now was a great opportunity for me to taunt him even further, make him rush at me despite all of that pain, and ultimately destroy himself in the process. I got back into my confident posture and let out an oh-so taunting laugh to humiliate my enemy.

"Ahahahahahaha!! Awww, what's the matter, sweetheart? Getting a little heated over there, hmm? Have I rustled those sensitive little feathers of yours?"

I could tell that my blatant sarcasm had touched his last nerve - he was practically simmering with frustration!

Despite being so wounded, he refused to give up. He refused to let me get away with mocking him like this. However, instead of charging me down again, I instead noticed his eyes glowing yellow.

That's right - he was about to try and zap me with his lazer eyes again! I could hardly contain my laughter when I noticed. What on earth was he thinking? Did he just forget what happened last time he tried that? He must have been so engulfed in his blind fury and so tunnel visioned on hurting me that he completely forgot about my reflector!

As soon as I saw him preparing to unleash his attack, I reacted swiftly by raising my reflector barrier, and it worked. The zap beam ricocheted right back at him and into his chest, delivering an astonishing blow.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" My opponent screamed in pure agony yet again as he collapsed to the floor once more. Sucks to be him. I'd already caught my breath at this point as I hadn't felt the need to move all that much, so I could have dashed in and ended things right then and there...

...But you see, there was this mischievous part of me that was really enjoying this little game of taunting. After all, Mr. Mishima wasn't exactly the nicest man you'll ever meet, so part of me felt like he deserved to be toyed with. Plus, I worried that even a single punch from him could still send me flying, even in his deteriorated state, so I felt as though I had to keep my distance at least a little bit longer.

And so there I was, back in the center of the battlefield, standing tall with all the confidence in the world. Shoulders back, hands planted firmly on my hips, and a cheeky grin on my face.

I couldn't help but burst into a mischievous giggle that seemed to be grating on my opponent's ears. "Ahahahaha! Ohhhh dear! Poor Mr. Mishima, whatever happened to you? Have you forgotten what I taught you earlier? You shouldn't dish out what you can't take, sweetie. ;)"

And before I knew it, my enemy's skin was flashing bright red with rage as he stared me down from the floor. The huffing and puffing was back too. Hehe, seemed like I'd effortlessly stirred the pot, getting his blood boiling once more.

His growls grew louder and even more aggressive, almost as if he were genuinely about to go beast mode on me. But he couldn't - not when he was struggling to even get back on his feet, let alone rush me down.

"I must admit, I didn't expect a macho man like yourself to be so, well, emotional! But then again, clearly you're not much of a 'man' when even women can best you in combat with ease. ;)"

My little wink was super effective. With a guttural, primal scream that shook the battlefield, he lost all semblance of control in that moment and charged at me with all of his remaining strength, which wasn't very much.

I waited patiently for him to meet me in the center of the stage, which took him quite a few seconds. He lunged at me with yet another predictable punch, so I promptly dodged to the side in a graceful pirouette motion. Now he was wide open, a perfect opportunity for me to counterattack. I lifted my right leg upwards at a perfect 180 degree angle, knocking his chest on the way uo and sending him flying upwards. Then, on his way down, I used my staff as if it were a baseball bat to whack him all the way back to his corner yet again.

It was oh-so easy to bait him now that he'd lost all sense of self-control. He was deteriorating fast physically, and even faster mentally! All it would take is one final taunt...

I returned back to my confident posture. "Ahahahahaha!!" I laughed out loud, grating his ears once more. "Oh dear, what's got you all worked up now, sugar? Is my teasing making you mad? Feeling touchy about that wounded masculinity, sweetheart?"

"GRRRRRRRAH!" He screamed in frustration. He couldn't even run anymore, nor could he walk, so instead, he limped towards me as menacingly as he could. It wasn't very scary.

I had a plan in mind, and for it to work, I needed to lure him over to my corner of the stage. So, as he walked towards me, I started to walk backwards, playfully beckoning him with an outstretched finger to keep his blood flowing.

He was now getting so unbelievably angry that his skin had turned from red, to purple. I could see his veins popping out of his skin. I couldn't tell if I should have found that frightening, concerning or just downright hilarious.

I continued to smirk at him. "You should really look into some anger management classes, you know." I prodded. I wasn't sure if he could even hear me. His breathing and growling was so heavy that it may have been drowning out my voice. "You don't wanna strain those oh-so mighty muscles with all of that rage, right?"

It was like his anger had transformed him into a living embodiment of wrath. His skin's purplish color was matched only by the intensity of his enraged gaze.

I maintained my composure, and the smirk on my face. "You know, they say anger is just one letter short of 'danger,'" I quipped, my voice carrying a hint of amusement. "But I suppose that's a lesson you'll learn the hard way!"

It was supposed to be a threat, but I think that his angry-filtered perception twisted it into feeling like yet another taunt, fuelling his rage further.

I was finally backed into the corner. Meanwhile, be had only made it halfway across the stage. I decided to perform one final taunt in hopes of getting him to hurry up. Grasping the ends of my dress, I twirled it around in spontaneous little dance. This was my way of subtly reminding him that he was losing to a lady.

And my taunt was clearly taking effect, that's for sure! His stride had almost doubled in pace since I started dancing. He didn't seem to appreciate me dancing right in front of his own deteriorating corpse. What a shame...

Once in range, he predictably lunged at me once more, but this time, he seemed to be wanting to grab me? Hehe, I could tell he was desperate.

I ducked right under his clutches, and retaliated by grabbing him instead, using my magic to give myself superior range. Then, I performed another 180 degree kick, only this time, I scooped him up with my foot and tossed him right over my head and straight off the stage!

I was sure that he didn't have any energy left to even attempt to recover, but just for good measure, I unleashed my angelic wings and fired a gust of wind in his direction to push him even further. He didn't last much longer. "Toodles!" I called out to him in triumph, but before I knew it, he had already fallen to his demise...

"GAME!"