[03] Arctic Sector FIGHT

[DA 2009]

VINCENT VS. ASHE

Runrunrunrunrunrun, her mind screamed frantically. She squeaked as an energy shell rocked the snow beneath her feet, causing her to trip. Chancing a look behind her, the girl could see the menacing eliminator hot on her trail, his ki rifle poised and aimed in her direction. Her eyes widened even further, if that was possible, as she scrambled up and jerkily ran towards the entrance of the cave. Although it was entirely the wrong time, a random movie quote popped into her head: “A true Ninja is a master of himself and his environment.” Sadly, she wasn’t a turtle, and she definitely wasn’t a ninja, so hopefully her cave plan would suffice, even if the quote didn’t completely apply…like, at all.

Vincent hounded her mercilessly, firing relentless ki shells, but her awkward movements made her trajectory far less predictable, and the element of surprise was already used up.

Ashe vanished into the cave, not bothering to watch where she was going. A few slippery paths spider-webbed from the entrance, and she picked the first one she saw. The pink-and-blonde-haired girl didn’t get very far before she realized she’d selected the wrong damn one as she slammed head-on into a dead end.

“Oh crap,” she cursed under her breath. She turned around, hoping to have enough time to reroute to a much better course, but Vincent proved to be an excellent tracker, and the student could hear his footfalls approaching steadily closer. Panic settled in, and she flapped her hands uselessly about as she frantically tried to think of an alternate plan. Uh, okay, okay, I can do this. I can do this. Pie? No wait, why I am thinking about pie? Strategy! Think of strategy!

Vincent saw a shadow moving along the wall and blasted in its direction. The shadow ended up being a red herring, and an innocent bat was fried against the rocky cave wall.

Oh god, I am so fucking dead, Ashe wailed internally.

It was at that moment that she noticed a tiny ledge in the wall that connected her cavern with another. Seizing the opportunity impulsively, she tried to hoist herself up, slipping a bit as she did so, but she managed to claw her way upwards and she settled herself in the tiny space. Ashe briefly toyed with the idea of using it as an escape hatch, but that idea was brutally rejected when she found she couldn’t crawl all the way through. Instead, she turned around so she could watch the dead-end, and prayed that Vincent would overlook her hiding spot. Maybe she could wait out the combat.

Vincent finally reached the end of the pathway, and was completely surprised that his quarry was nowhere to be seen. He was absolutely sure he’d heard her walk down this path. He leveled his gun in all directions, even checking the ceiling to make sure she wasn’t handing overhead and waiting to drop in on him. A fantastic epiphany overcame Ashe, and she quietly eased herself onto the end of the ledge, waiting until Vincent’s back was turned so he wouldn’t see her devious plot.

“YAAAHHHH!” she screamed as she launched herself like a flying squirrel at her opponent’s exposed six.

He yelped in surprise as her arms latched tightly around his neck and her legs wrapped around his midsection. He fired the gun reflexively, although the shells bored uselessly into the rocky walls. The furyian stumbled around as he tried to pry the petite teenager off of him, and met with little success. Ashe freed a hand and craned her head over his shoulder to get a better look at his neck. She fumbled along his collar, searching for a very specific button. This task was made all the more difficult by the fact that he was flailing around, and he eventually just slammed his back up against a wall, giving her the full brunt of the attack. However, the girl refused to yield. After all, if she could stay conscious in the face of a full, helpless beating, what was that supposed to do?

“Aha!” Ashe cried triumphantly as her fingers eventually located what the thing for which she had so frantically been searching. “Sucks to be you!”

With vigor, she pressed the “Game Over” button.

Second passed.

Nothing happened.

In confusion, she pressed it again, and again, and again, wondering just why in the hell it wasn’t working. Vincent eventually figured out what she was trying to do.

“Don’t be stupid!” the eliminator laughed. “That’s not going to work. The button only works inside of a bunker, you idiot!”

He stopped long enough to turn his gun at himself, pointing it directly at Ashe’s head. She stared in horror down the end of the barrel, seeing the glow as it formulated in the firing chamber. So much for her plan. Vincent squeezed the trigger. An explosion burst along the side of Vincent’s face as he felt the recoil of the blast. When he turned around and focused, he could see a scorch mark on the cave wall. He looked down, and saw, much to his disbelief, the girl sitting on her butt at his feet. Somehow, she’d managed to let go in that split second. Her ki wand was poised up at him. Her aim, unfortunately for the eliminator, was far more true than his. A single shot fired from the tip of the wand, and bored straight through the space between his eyes. The eliminator slumped to the ground, and Ashe scooted herself away from him, as completely in shock as he was.