"So, what? It was too dangerous
for me to fight against Iron Man
and Black Widow last year because
I was too young and it was too
dangerous, but now some alien dude
wants to destroy the planet and I'm
suddenly totally cool to fight?"
Sequel to...
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CHAPTER FOUR | WAR GAMES
__________
i am stuffing your mouth with your promises and watching you vomit them out upon my face.
-the complete poems // anne sexton
__________
Bella fell to her knees, gasping for air. Sweat rolled down her arms and dropped onto the mat. Her muscles ached and screamed for just a moment of reprieve.
"Get up!" Ashara commanded.
Despite giving birth only two weeks prior, she gave no indication of such a thing as her true form of Nike, The Goddess Of Victory shone through.
"I just need a break," Bella huffed.
"You said you wanted me to train you to be the best, no?" Ashara asked. "In the real world, there are no breaks. Battle is relentless and uncaring. You want the fight to be fair, but it will never be fair! Do you understand me?"
Clenching her jaw, Bella nodded. She braced her shaking arms against the mat and shot her leg out. Her bare foot made contact with Ashara's thigh. Ashara fell, but landed in a fighter's position. The light in Ashara's dark eyes glinted viciously, telling Bella that she had, in fact, done well. Ashara struck out, but Bella dove over her and tumbled to the floor. She was not so graceful, and fell to the floor with a loud bang and a probably pulled muscle.
"How long do we need to do this for?" Bella asked, dodging a punch thrown her way.
"You should be capable of doing this all day," Ashara said, throwing her knee into Bella's stomach.
Bella somersaulted over Ashara's knee and fell hard on her butt.
"I can do this all day," she insisted, raising her fists. "Doesn't mean I want to," she muttered in an afterthought.
Ashara laughed harshly. "Pin me for three seconds," she commanded. "Then we stop."
The idea of a shower dangling in front of her face sent Bella into the second wind she needed. Adrenaline shot through her veins and her mind buzzed. Her molecules screamed out, begging her to teleport. With a smirk, Bella did just that.
She landed on Ashara's shoulders and sent them both to the ground. Bella held one of Ashara's arms in her hands as she used her thighs to keep Ashara pinned. There was a muffled struggle for a moment until the number 3 tumbled from Bella's lips.
"Yes!" Bella exclaimed, rolling back and jumping up. "I did it!"
[ ... ]
Bella's entire back was soaked from her drenched hair as she laid face-down on the couch in the Compound. Her muscles were on fire, completely strained from sparring. Her phone was on the coffee table, buzzing up a storm but Bella wasn't sure if she couldn't gotten it even if she had cared to. All she wanted was sleep; nothing else, no one else.
