I darted forward. Kemi backed away. Then she was on me again. She hit my ear and caught me under the ribs. I kept my arms close, trying to fend her away. I sprung towards her, jumping through the air, leading with my fist. She blinked in surprise before throwing herself under me to avoid the blow.

“What the hell, Peri?” she said as she scrambled to her feet. “What even was that?”

Shrugging, I said, “Just getting creative. Trying different things. You know, seeing what feels right.”

“It certainly was unconventional,” Stone commented from the sidelines. “Though in a real fight, I’m not sure how helpful that movie stuff would be. Taking your feet off the ground leaves you vulnerable to losing your balance.”

“Sure thing, boss,” I said. To be honest, I didn’t expect my attack to land. I just wanted more time and space to recover. Feeling a surge of recovery, I started towards her. Now I had a plan.

She didn’t miss a step. Kemi threw punch after punch at me, pounding me brutally. I could barely keep up with her, and she landed more hits than I blocked. They were just too fast. But I ignored it. Step by step, I came at her. The pain burned through me, flaring stronger with each blow. I let it. I surrendered to it. It didn’t stop me. It kept me going.

Kemi must have seen I was just taking her hits. So she got creative. A shove followed a punch, pushing me away. But I came right back at her. She tried to sweep my legs but I was too rooted to move. My shin screamed from the kick, but I ignored it.

Kemi danced back, dangerously close to leaving the mat. I dropped my guard by ‘accident’. And she took the bait. Another spin kick to my side. The pain was excruciating as she slammed my abdomen, almost knocking me off my balance.

But now she was mine. The agony in my body was the price I was willing to pay for victory.

I snapped my arm around her leg, catching her unaware. She blinked, then tried to pull away. I wrapped my other arm around her leg, holding her tight.

Then I shoved.

Unable to keep her balance, she slammed onto the mat with a cry. I followed her down, elbowing her chest as I fell.

We hit the mat with a bang. Kemi’s eyes bulged and her mouth opened like a dead fish. The rage had me lifting my arm again to keep her down for good.

“Enough!” Stone shouted, grabbing my arm.

I spun on him, my anger and pain howling for more.

His face was red and his muscles bulged as he tried to hold my arm back.

Kemi was gasping for air, slamming her hand on the mat.

The rage faded, thankfully. I let them both go and rolled away.

Adrenaline coursed through me, but I started to come back to myself.

“Fuck, Kemi, are you okay?” I asked in between ragged breaths.

She was curled in on herself, holding her chest, but she gave me a shaky thumbs-up.

Stone and the other soldier bent over Kemi and checked her out to see if I’d broken anything. After gasping several times, she finally took a deep breath.

“I...think I’m better? I mean, it still hurts like a bitch, but I can breathe again. What the hell Peri?”

Panting, I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”

“You could have really hurt me pulling that stunt,” she said, rubbing her chest.

I flopped back on the mat. “Sure, but fuck, do you know how sore I am from what you were doing to me?”

She didn’t say anything for several moments. “Well, I think you still might have taken things a bit far.”

The soldiers finished checking her. Stone said, “You seem okay.”

“Okay, just let me lie here for an hour or two, okay?”

“Ms. Delaney, are you okay?”

Was I? Bruises bloomed across my arm, but already they’d turned greenish and fading. I pulled up my shirt and saw where Kemi kicked me. As with the other injuries, it looked days old, not minutes.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice shaking. “I think so.”

I started to stand, but after wobbling, Claire jumped over to help me up. I threw my arm around her shoulder, thankful for the help.

Kemi was still on the mat, covering her eyes with her hand. I realized that, yeah, maybe I had taken it too far. Not beating her, not even the way I beat her. But I knew that I’d lost it there at the last moment, and I probably would have hurt her given the chance. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so good about my win.

“Sorry I lost my cool there, Kemi.”

“It’s fine,” she said, waving her free hand about. “Just, you know, don’t do that again?”

A rough laugh escaped my lips. “I’ll do my best.”

After a few minutes of rest and some water, Stone looked at Claire and me. “All right, best of three.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Why not. You two are in good shape and you’ve both been in a fight. Seems like a good time to pair you off.”

We glanced at each other. Claire’s eyes widened and glistened in the light. “You want to do this?” I asked her.

“Not really,” she said quietly. “But I will.”

I chuckled, “Fair enough.”

We stood and faced each other. What a sight we must have made. Me, just a tad over five foot nothing, and Claire only a couple of inches taller. Tiny things in our sparring gloves and padded headgear. I shook my head, laughing at myself.

“What is it?” she asked as we circled each other.

“Just thinking about how silly we must look right now.”

She shook her head. “Don’t think like that. This isn’t about appearances.”

“That’s true. Still, we must be the tiniest super-heroes.”

That brought a smile to her face. She was quite pretty when she wasn’t glowering or hiding, I realized. I wondered if people thought that about me.

We tested each other, attacking and withdrawing. Neither of us wanted to commit, having seen what the other could do.

But that wouldn’t do. Best to end it quickly, I decided and changed tack. I came at her and she backpedaled immediately. I pushed hard. Get her off the mat and we could probably call it a day.

At the edge, she stopped and met my charge.

Her punches were awkward, wild. Nothing like Kemi’s controlled attacks. But where Kemi hit like a baseball bat, when I caught Claire’s first punch on my arm, it was like a sledgehammer.

I swung back. Her face snapped to the side as I caught her cheek. Then she turned back towards me, her eyes narrow. I wondered if I looked like that when I was losing it.

Claire leaped at me. I was too close to back away, but I tried. She wrapped her arms and legs around me. Unbalanced, I fell back with a thud.

I tried to escape. Frantic, I pitched sideways, but couldn’t shake her. “I’ve got you,” she breathed, our faces almost touching.

I twisted my left arm till it hurt, but managed to break free. When I swung at her side, she took the first few hits then caught my wrist and pushed it down, until she had it pinned. I screamed in frustration, I even tried to headbutt her, but she pulled her face away.

She was stronger than me. I couldn’t believe it.

Stone was at our side, slapping the mat. But I could only see Claire’s brown, dilated eyes and the twitching of her lips as she fought to hold me down. She used her whole body to hold me. Though her weight meant little to me, the awkwardness of my position prevented me from pushing her off effectively. She slid and slipped against me, stopping any momentum I might gain.

“It’s over,” Stone’s words finally fought their way into both our brains.

Claire sagged down on me. We both lay there, unable to do more than pant.

“You okay ladies?” Stone asked.

“Gimme just five more minutes,” Claire murmured into my neck.

I was stunned. I thought I was the strongest Changed. Was I still weak after the fight with Kemi? Had Claire just not pushed herself until now?

Her warm breath across the nape of my neck sent chills down my arms.

“All right, all right, get off you big cheater,” I said, pushing her away.

Claire rolled on her side. “I didn’t cheat,” she said with a frown.

“Well, you’ve certainly been hiding your potential,” Stone said. “You were pressing about 650 pounds, max.” He offered hands to help us both up, which I took.

She looked at me, cheeks red from exertion. “I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was just the adrenaline?”

Rubbing my wrist to get the tingles out, I said, “Yeah, maybe. I felt that when I was fighting Kemi. Maybe you are just stronger than me. Maybe you are holding yourself back on the bench.”

Claire licked her lips while running her fingers through her hair. “Maybe.”

“Anyway, good job everyone. This was impressive. Your natural abilities are compensating for your lack of training. Just imagine how well you will be able to fight when you know the proper techniques.”

I could imagine it. I could imagine smashing Mercy down on the ground.

I could imagine hitting her until something broke.

It brought a smile to my lips.