She ducked and spun forward under his right arm, turned around to face him as he stumbled past. She hadn't even needed to fast forward to avoid the opening move of the challenge. As he turned back to her, she thought about ignoring Flow's advice and finding out what Squat could do first hand. The bear hug had been a poor tactic, almost as weak as Squat's choice of words. She figured he wouldn't be bright enough to know how to use a gift of such strength.

He came in with a second attempt to wrap his arms around her and she spun out again, still at normal speed. But he stopped short this time and swung a wild backhanded punch at her. She ducked most of it, and cursed her distraction when it connected and nearly opened up the stitches on the top of her head. She spun in an involuntary cartwheel and was only saved from being tossed from the ring by the wall of pins. They bent outward, but she stayed in the ring. If she'd been thrown out, she would have lost the match--for the first time ever.

The crowd, even her fans, roared approval. Twister stood and stepped forward as Squat gloated. "How's that for going to the dance?"

"You should have apologized earlier," she said.

Then she switched herself into fast forward and everything around her slowed. First, Squat lunged toward her at half speed, then quarter. When she was fully cranked up, his movements were barely noticeable. She stepped casually around him and watched as he toppled forward in slow motion.

She had never told anyone the details of her gift, though she thought Ju Ju might have some of it figured out. The dolls that had seen her fight thought she was simply very quick, but that wasn't what she did at all. Instead of something so basic, Twister could do much more.

She sped up the world around her a bit more, so the fight wouldn't take hours for her. Squat stepped up again, but this time threw a punch straight at her. She looked at it from both sides as it oozed forward. Then, she stepped to the edge of the ring and pulled a single pin out, hid it behind her back with one hand.

Once again, she adjusted the rate that time flowed, to about one quarter normal. She could jog around, hurry a bit from place to place during the fight and she would still look like a blur to the audience. Squat swung again, a better-looking punch than anything he'd thrown so far. She let it come close and then leaned her head back out of range. As she did, she saw Ju Ju and Sticks trying to warn Squat. She smiled at their too little, too late moment.

All it took to bring Squat in again was a slow, inviting wave of her hand. He charged at her before she could even finish the motion. She circled one foot behind her to clear a path for him, then slammed her weight down onto the pin. She finished the move by skittering back, out of the reach of his arms. At the sound of ripping fabric she looked up.

Squat was frozen in place, but not by her ability to manipulate time. He stared down at the pin that went straight through his foot into the ring floor.

In a moment, he might figure out that all he had to do was pull the pin out, Twister knew. If he did that, then she'd be as good as beat. He'd catch her eventually and squash the stuffing out of her. She rolled to the side of the ring, picked out one more pin, then hurried around Squat's back to his other leg.

She grunted as she slammed it straight down, deeper than the last one, trapping both his feet. Squat didn't even try to swipe at her as she stood. "Uh...listen," he said.

She reset time to normal, looked at him for a moment. "Too late." She turned her back on him and scooped up a handful of pins. Without another word, she jumped at him, bent her knees up and drove them into his chest. He toppled backwards, and Twister landed on top of him. More fabric in his feet ripped. If he'd had human bones in his ankles he would have broken them.

Before he could recover and grab her, she slammed a pin down in each of his biceps and one in each wrist. She wasn't aiming for any particular meridians, didn't know where the energy he used for his power flowed. Instead, she focused on simply pinning him down flat to the ring floor.

Done, she sat back on his chest and looked down at him. She thought about what to say while the crowd screamed its approval. She flipped one last pin in the air, caught it. "Janey's got her faults, I know that. Bad taste in boys seems to be paramount among them." She pointed the pin at his face. "But you know that itchy feeling you get when your human gets all worked up? I really hate that. Makes me kinda pissed off. Besides, she's my girl."

To the side, Ju Ju and Sticks both leaned against the ring and shouted together. "Apologize. Just say you're sorry!"

Squat turned his buttons to them, then up to Twister. "I'm sorry, okay. My guy's kind of a dope sometimes."

"Yeah," Twister said. "Still too little, too late." She left one knee on his chest, pivoted on it until she faced his side. Her hand, pin held steady, stopped over Squat's groin.

She swore the size of his button eyes grew. "Okay! Okay! I'll work on him...I'll work on him."

The crowd roared again and she saw a wave of doll fists turn their thumbs downward. She raised the pin higher and Squat screamed, a falsetto tone with a good vibrato. She arched her back and threw all her weight and strength into her arm as she brought the pin down. It sank down through the floor of the ring almost to its head.

She stood, nodded down at the pin buried between Squat's legs, just below his groin. The intentional miss had proved her point. She let herself cool down for a short moment, then smiled at him. "That's a lovely singing voice you have." Around her, the crowd quieted down and she heard a few grumbles of disappointment. It was typical, she thought as she stepped over Squat, the dolls weren't so different from their humans. They just wanted a good show.

Sticks and Ju Ju stood quietly as she approached. "See ya," Twister said.

"See ya," Ju Ju said.

"Nice moves," Sticks said as the two climbed up to un-pin Squat.

From the edge of the ring, she waved at Strange Hat and Scarf. They jumped up and down as they waved back at her. Last thing she wanted was more people acting like fans, but they had said she was nice. That was better than what most dolls seemed to think of her.

She jumped down and saw Flow nearby. "Thanks for the warning." He nodded back as they passed each other.

Twister stopped. She reached back, caught Flow by the arm and pulled him back. He stumbled and she caught him, dipped him, leaned over and kissed him.

The crowd around them was silent, then screamed its approval again. After a long moment, the two stood and stepped apart. "Your guy is Curtis, right?"

"Yeah. He and Janey have a few classes together."

Twister nodded. "I think he should ask her to the dance."

"Huh," Flow said. He cocked his head for a moment, then Twister watched as he began to shake his hands. The space between them began to glow and the light solidified, twisted and bent itself into a folded piece of paper. He turned it over in his hands. It had Janey's name printed on top.

Twister smiled at Flow before she walked away.

The trip back through town was quick. As she passed by the old folks section of town, one geezer in a purple leisure suit asked her who she was going to kiss next. He scampered back to his rocking chair circle of friends when she glared at him.

The manhole cover was closed when she reached the top of the ladder. "Bounce," she said, trying to project her voice through the thick metal. No reply came.

She grumbled to herself as she shoved up on it with a shoulder. Slowly, it lifted enough for her to squeeze through. It clattered back down into place as she stepped back onto the street. Over by the bush, the tiny lawn chair sat empty.

"Bounce?" she asked. He was there every night. She didn't know where he would have gone. She raised her voice again. "Nice time for a bathroom break."

But no answer came.

She looked around once more, then started home.

The cat slunk away when she turned into the yard and Twister jumped into the tree, started climbing. Once inside Janey's room, she hopped onto the bed and sat down. "All right, little sister. Let's see how tomorrow goes." She patted Janey's hand. "I know it can suck, but don't give in, okay? And wear a shirt with buttons tomorrow." Janey grunted in her sleep and Twister slipped down, walked under the bed.