(The title is not funny, btw)
'All the best, go!' Kane pushed her, and he continued. 'So next up, we have our third duo- Mabel, yes the only female in this whole campus, if you have any doubts about that- and Blaise Quill!'
Alexandra's opponent was tall, hefty and just looking at him made Alexandra want to shout, "Unfair!" Why didn't she get someone like Tristan Pendrick to duel?
Now, there was no crying over spilt milk. Alexandra readied herself, the Bull-strategy wouldn't work here. No, she needed to observe Quill from the start. The way he walked... Alexandra noticed, he didn't move his arms. He didn't use up his whole body, and it felt almost like he was dragging himself.
Nice observations, but she had no idea how to use them to her advantage. And knowledge without application was like a human body without life. It was useless, and nothing more than a corpse.
They got ready. Alexandra's mind still working furiously to find some weakness. Master George showed his green flag, Kane's words bounced of her head, none making any sense. But, nothing happened. None of them charged.
Alright, so he believes defense to be his strong point. Good, very good. So, we just have to see whose is better.
Alexandra smirked, and she charged. Blaise had been almost dragging himself- one possible reason to do so was that he was uncomfortable in his body.
Interesting.
Alexandra would make him even more uncomfortable, in that case.
As she charged, Blaise got ready to parry. But Alexandra switched her direction when she was a foot away from him. And when she did that, when she didn't strike, Blaise lumbered backwards. Almost as if she had struck. Observation Number two: Blaise Quill was slow.
From there Alexandra turned herself, as he trudged backwards, she pushed herself upon him. In an effort to push him down: but the man was hefty, and not completely a dunce. He swatted Alexandra away like a fly. As he did, she almost flew to one side. But Alexandra steadied herself.
Fine, he was not totally unaware of his own strength.
But the real question was, she had told the boys the previous night, that every person fought like an animal. Definitely, Alexandra agreed. And that, they didn't have to defeat a person. They only had to control that animal within them. But unless she knew which animal it was, what could Alexandra do, other than play around? And in fact, if the playing around lasted for more than half and hour, the duel would be announced a tie and she would get another opponent.
No, Alexandra had read him enough. She was fine with Blaise Quill. Getting an entirely new opponent, a fresh battle to fight from the very beginning, was not what she wanted. Alexandra had to end this the way she wanted it to.
Everything felt like it happened in slow motion, because she was thinking so hard. But finally, watching Blaise Quill's big eyes, and wavy hairline, she was reminded of an animal. One which was somehow very closely related to... cattle.
A cow?
An ox?
A ... a buffalo!
It kept wallowing slowly, if something troubled it, it swatted the thing away. But... how could you defeat someone who didn't react at all?
Alexandra would have to make him attack. What could anger buffaloes to the point of attacking? Maybe, the thing they loved the most was their comfort. So, of course, taking away their comfort would antagonize the creature. Alexandra had to pull Blaise out of his comfort zone. Which perhaps, was his idleness. She had to get him to move.
But how?
She stood there, for a second, calculating. Hefty... right? So he must be weak somewhere. And that place, most probably, was his face: the skull. Alexandra had to be careful to make no serious injuries. But a simply smack on the head was impossible because of his towering height.
Maybe, when the hands couldn't be used, that was where the legs came in. Alexandra moved backwards, her eyes crossed in concentration. She then sprinted forward and leapt up, twirling once in the air and landing a kick right on Blaise Quill's head.
Quill looked like he'd been pulled out of a good dream. He caught Alexandra's leg and pulled her over, lifting her other feet off the ground as well. And then, he dropped her carelessly. Alexandra got a mouthful of dust as she landed down, on her stomach. Spitting it away, she got back up in a second. She'd done her Step One well.
And after that, whatever else happened, Alexandra aimed at his head. Smacking - if possible - otherwise kicking, enraging the man further with each passing second. It was a good thing that Quill was not offensive. Had he been so, things would have been much tougher to handle for Alexandra - who was not even half his expanse. Though a little afraid, she kept pushing him back and back and back, until they were at the edge of the ring.
Blaise Quill's patience snapped.
Maybe he had realized that his opponent was a puny eighteen year old, or maybe that Alexandra barely came up to his chest. In any case, he finally did what Alexandra at once expected, wanted and feared: he decided that ditch defending. He decided to actually combat.
Blaise Quill whirled around and halted right behind Alexandra, putting his arm around her neck and gripping her in a possibly fatal choke-hold. She gasped as a warm, suffocating feeling spread through her chest. Alexandra elbowed the hefty person in the chest - in an unsuccessful attempt to get free. But it was of no use, his parts below the shoulder-blade were too strong.
Finally, Alexandra did the most desperate thing of her life. As her eyes began feeling droopy and her head swam, she opened her mouth and bit into his arm.
'Aaargh!' Blaise snarled and let go. Spots danced in front of Alexandra's eyes as she pulled free. But she also got the chance she had needed. Alexandra hastily turned a hundred and eighty degrees around, slightly infuriated. She indiscriminately delivered blow after blow - first in the gut, then on the neck, on the head and as the finisher, launched up and kicked him right onto the chest.
Blaise looked almost defeated and dazed.
Just one blow more ... a single well-aimed strike.
Alexandra knew that. She moved a step back and then sprinted forwards, leapt off her feet and brought a two-handed punch upon his skull.
Blaise's knees buckled and he finally collapsed.
And Alexandra's ears then automatically opened to the commentary. Kane was yelling, 'THERE YOU GO, AGENTS! SECOND SECOND-YEAR WIN! AN UNCONVENTIONAL DUEL, HIGHLY LOP-SIDED, ALL IN TERMS OF WEIGHT, TRAINING, GENDER! BUT HERE WE HAVE OUR WINNER: MABEL! THIS GIRL DESERVES A SPOT IN THE INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING SQUAD!' Kane was standing upon his tiptoes and almost falling over the commentary box.
'MASTER GEORGE? THE END OF THIS DUEL, IF YOU PLEASE?!' He then asked.
Master George's Red Flag went up. Alexandra sighed, finally it was over. 'Sorry,' she muttered to the fallen senior and first ran to the water stall to entirely drain two jugs of water. Then she ran up to the commentary box once again.
Alexandra was mightily glad that her duel was over. She could strap the dagger to her waist from the next day, as she had officially passed. And now, it was just watching and enjoying: she would love to watch what Watson did in his turn. That fellow was too up to the brim with conceit. Reading between the lines, he appeared to Alexandra like a person who didn't at all know what suffering was. Or how challenging life could be. The laidback joker personality that she so despised. A person had to be balanced. If they were too reserved, like Austin: no, Alexandra certainly wouldn't like them. And if they were too open and thoughtless, like Watson: no again, Alexandra expected people to have some depth. Shallowness was not a quality she appreciated.
I know this chapter's real short, I think the one before was short, too. Please bear with me, I've got no idea when to stop or where to start. It's just a feeling which comes - "'kay, that's enough for this chapter!" And I stop at it. On a completely unrelated note: Blaise Quill has a good bit of me.
In case you're wondering, that does not mean I'm a buffalo... it's more like this: comparing me to them will be an insult.
To the buffalos.