4.27

“What an amazing round folks. That fight was truly something to behold. I’m loving my job more and more with each fight. Can the next two fighters please approach the ring.”

Hunter, Jimena and Freja all looked at each other, all unsure of what to do. They looked over at Guul’s Team and could see Guul was getting ready.

“Let me try,” said Jimena. “I wanna show him he has to take us seriously.”

“Are you sure? He looks pretty dangerous,” asked Hunter.

“Yeah.” Jimena stepped up onto the slate. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Guul approached the slate but suddenly, the person buried in the cloak jumped up onto the slate.

“Hey, this was my fight,” growled Guul. He clenched his fists and backed away from the slate.

“It’s mine now.”

“Hey, no fair, I was wanting to fight him.” Jimena pointed at Guul.

“I’m your opponent now.” The cloaked figure pointed at Jimena.

“One of Guul’s teammates has cut him off. The fight is now between Quagmire and that member of Guul’s team. Sorry, but they never gave a name. Ready? Go!” Once again, the usual thunderous cheering crashed around the stadium.

Jimena immediately shot some of her slime balls. She didn’t want to drag out this fight any longer than it had to be. If they were on Guul’s team, they were going to be tough.

The cloaked figure easily dodged the attacks. They lunged forward and were upon Jimena in a flash. An arm came forward and grabbed her costume. The cloaked figure pivoted and threw her back in the direction from which they came.

Jimena noticed the arm was covered in short, black hair. Almost like it was furred.

Jimena hit the slate and brought herself to her feet. She prepared a big slimeball and watched her opponent.

The cloaked figure rushed Jimena again. Jimena waited till her opponent was on top of her before she shot the slime. It was a heavy hit, right in the gut of her opponent.

The cloaked figure barely budged and grabbed Jimena again. This time, something long, furry and grotesque shot out from within the cloak. It punched Jimena in the face. It stung and a red welt immediately popped up.

The cloaked figure hit Jimena a few more times up and down the body and then again threw her across to the other side of the ring.

“Did you see that?” Freja asked.

“See what?” replied Silas.

“A big hairy leg shot out from the cloak. I don’t like this.”

Jimena pulled herself up from the slate yet again. She eyed her opponent and frustration grew within her.

“Strange tactic,” said Jimena.

“It works.” The cloaked fighter rushed toward Jimena yet again, but this time she shifted into her slime form. Jimena moved forward and her opponent passed straight through her.

Jimena turned and watched as her opponent braced to stop. A hairy leg shot out from the cloak and struck at Jimena. The impact did nothing in her slime form.

“Why don’t you come out from underneath the cloak?” Jimena asked.

“I don’t think that would be wise. A lot of people might be upset.” The cloaked fighter chuckled, and another leg shot out and struck at Jimena.

“Why do you keep trying to hit me? You know it won’t work.”

“I can’t always control myself.” The voice had taken on a strained tone.

Jimena released a flurry of slimeballs at her opponent. She immediately followed up her attacks and shifted back into her normal form to punch her opponent.

Burning hit pain shot up her arm as it felt she punched stone. This time, two legs shot out and grabbed Jimena. They lifted her up by the arms.

“That won’t work.” Jimena smiled and shifted back into her slime form. She sloshed to the ground and rose up. She remained in her slime form and unleashed more bullets at her opponent.

The slimeballs impacted the cloak. They refused to dodge this time. Jimena slid back and kept firing.

“I can sense you can’t stay in that form for long. I watched your fight yesterday. And I can see you’re reacting a touch slower the longer you’re in that form. Its only a matter of time.” The cloaked figure allowed all of Jimena’s attacks to hit them.

The cloak had begun to tear slightly. Jimena could see mottled skin and fur underneath.

“I may as well show you. But be warned, its not a pretty sight.” The cloak ripped in half, revealing what was underneath.

A human stood there, covered in ripped clothes. Mixing with the flesh was black fur. Protruding from their back were eight legs that looked like they belonged to a giant spider. The face was a fusion of a human’s face and a spider. A mandible stuck out from one side and a messy mix of multiple eyes on one side and a single human eye on the other.

“You happy now?”

“Yeah. I wanted to see what my opponent looked like before I could beat them.” Jimena watched as her opponent tilted their head slightly.

“You aren’t afraid by the way I look?”

“No.” The announcer hadn’t said anything with the reveal. It was like he could sense the feelings of the fighters. The crowd was silent for a moment before they cheered once again.

“Looks like they aren’t either,” said Jimena.

“All my life, people have been afraid of the way I look. My parents locked me away in a basement, they pretended they only had one daughter. The only one who would visit was my little sister.” The spider legs flexed and swayed.

“What’s your name?” Jimena asked.

“Sylvia. What’s yours?”

“Jimena. Now Sylvia, let’s have a fight.”

The two clashed in the middle and exchanged a few hits. Jimena would shift her form and slide away and shoot more slimeballs at Sylvia. Sylvia’s legs would strike at them before they hit her.

It wasn’t long before Sylvia’s legs grabbed Jimena once again and raised her up. This time, Jimena couldn’t shift forms. Sylvia’s other legs struck at Jimena with a flurry of blows before they flung her out of the ring.

“And the win goes to Sylvia. What an awesome match, wouldn’t you agree?” The crowd roared in response.

Sylvia jumped down from the ring and helped Jimena stand up.

“Thank you,” she whispered.