“Serrated Gale!” Itzel’s attack hit the Ogre in the back, narrowly avoiding Enidri who was slashing away at the rear of the creature’s head. The sudden surge of wind pushed Enidri to the side. She clamored to hold on, gripping tight to the Ogre’s left shoulder so she wouldn’t fall to the ground.

“What did I say about using Serrated Gale?” she shouted. She turned to look at Itzel as best as she could while still maintaining her hold onto the creature.

“I know what I’m doing!” Itzel shouted again, running in a semi-circle around the Ogre to try and attack from a different angle. Gurk was in front of the monster, slashing at its chest with one of his claws. The attacks were unable to pierce the solid flesh of the Ogre. Using its left arm, the creature responded with an uppercut as a counterattack that sent Gurk stumbling backwards.

“Obviously not!” Enidri shouted, still barely hanging onto the monster. Just leave this-“ The Ogre’s right hand reached over its shoulder and grabbed at the swordswoman between its talons. Enidri slashed at the appendage with her weapon, sparks flying as each her swing of her blade cut into the creature’s flesh. But the small incisions created by her weapon wasn’t enough to stop the Ogre from wrapping its claw-like fingers around her. In a single motion, it hoisted Enidri high above its head and slammed her onto the pavement.

The creature pressed the swordswoman further into the ground with its arm. Enidri let out a weak squeal with the little breath she had in her lungs as the monster pushed its weight further down on her. The Ogre stared her down, its massive yellow eyes opened wider. It lowered its head, bring its shattered face over Enidri and let its long stream of saliva drizzle onto the pavement beside her.

“You two… gonna help?” Enidri struggled to say, groaning between every few words as the Ogre’s grip tightened. She looked towards her left and saw Gurk backing up and leaning his body forward. The crocodile sprinted towards the Ogre’s direction; using the battered remnants of a crushed carrier as leverage, he leapt high into the air, curled his tail inwards towards his body and came plummeting back down at a sharp angle”

“Spike!”

Gurk slammed into the Ogre’s chest with his feet and tail, knocking it down onto its back as he remained upright and standing on top of it. Enidri became free in the process and immediately wielded her Ion Blade.

I can’t let her land the killing blow, Itzel thought as she watched Enidri swing her sword at the Ogre from afar. She dodged a hammer-like slam from the creature’s right arm and slashed at it while it lay on the ground. The monster’s wailing became quieter, making it clear that it was running out of fight.

“Advancing Tempest!”

A vicious current of air surrounded Itzel as she charged forward shoulder first, the rush of wind slamming into the top of the head of the Ogre. Another painful cry came out. It exerted all its energy into setting itself upright; the Ogre straightened up its abdomen and sent Gurk tumbling off its chest. An arm swung backwards, too fast for Enidri to completely evade. A shadowy appendage clipped her leg as she tried to Air Dash away, making her spiral out of control and land arm first onto the ground.

Itzel’s heart began to race not because of the immediate threat of the rampaging beast, but rather at the realization that her rival was far from the dying creature. If we’re quick, we can seal this, she thought to herself. Gurk continued to wrestle with the upright creature, trying to pin it back to the ground.

“Keep it up, Gurk!” Itzel shouted to her partner. “It doesn’t have much life left in it!”

A few steps to the left and the positioning will be perfect. Itzel moved to the side a few feet as she watched Gurk grapple with the Ogre. Both had their arms wrapped around the other in a stalemate, unable to able to overpower their foe. Itzel stood directly behind the creature, making sure that her next attack wouldn’t hit Gurk by accident.

I hope this is enough to finish it. Itzel prepared to perform her Signature Technique. Inhale. Exhale. Her eyes focused on the target. She took one glance behind her and saw Enidri brush off the dirt that had gotten on the shoulder of her jacket as she staggered forward, Ion Blade dangling to her side in her right hand. Now or never, Itzel!

“Serrated…” she shouted as she lowered her right arm.

“Torrent!” Itzel performed a series of five uppercuts in rapid succession, with each one a Serrated Gale was sent soaring through the air at a high velocity. The sound of a tornado coursed through the area, sending loose bits of paper and dust whirling through the air. The first Serrated Gale struck the Ogre in the center of its back, this time leaving a purple gash in its flesh. Before the monster could even react to the attack, the other four collided as well, one after the other in a flurry. Once all had struck, the Ogre’s rear side was covered in deep, pulsating purple cuts. It let out another pitiful cry as Gurk tackled it to the street.

Itzel exhumed a sigh of relief once she saw the monster crash onto the street. Its arms tried to reach for Gurk, but the crocodile easily overpowered it with his weight alone. The monster became silent, its purple veins still pulsating as Gurk kept it pinned down by standing on its chest.

“Good job Gurk, we did-“

A hand smacked Itzel in the back of the head. She looked down and saw Enidri staring back at her, with her one eye giving her a vicious look.

“You almost got me killed back there!” she yelled, her Ion Blade pointing at the Ogre.

“You’ve got some nerve!” Itzel rubbed the back of her head where she was struck. “First you pull that dirty trick in the diner to rob me of a win in that Ranked Match. And now you’re blaming me because the monster pressed you into the ground like dirty little roach you are?” Itzel raised a fist, ready to strike Enidri back until Gurk put a hand between the two.

“Stop,” he said in a calm tone. He took in a deep breath, exhausted from the previous battle. “Please?”

“But Gurk! You of all people should hate Enidri! I don’t understand why I’m the one that always has to stand up for ourselves whenever she’s around.”

“Stop playing victim!” Enidri shouted. Her Ion Blade was still active as she used her other finger to point at Itzel. “It’s not my fault you don’t know when a Ranked Challenge ends. And it certainly isn’t my fault that you’re too ignorant to know when an Ogre is dead!”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Itzel’s tone changed from one of anger to that of confusion when she turned to look at the creature that was lying on its back. “But it’s not moving.”

“Flying Cutter!” Enidri threw her weapon at the Ogre’s head, lodging into the side of its face that had been shattered off. The monster’s muscles and limbs twitched violently for a moment as it let out one long whimper before becoming silent and motionless. “That Signature Technique of yours almost finished the job. Emphasis on almost.” The Ion Blade flew back into her hand as she pulled up a screen and began examining her banking information.

“W-what?” Itzel stammered as she stared at the motionless creature. “Even though we didn’t deliver the killing blow, we must have gotten something, right? It’s not like you could have done taken out that Ogre by yourself.”

“Nope,” Enidri replied with a shake of her head. “One, I have Payment Splitting turned off. Two, I could have taken that Ogre on by myself if you and your payment hadn’t jumped in to make things more complicated.”

“You have Payment Splitting off?” Itzel said with sorrow.

“Of course I do! For situations exactly like this.” Enidri turned off her weapon before latching it back onto her belt. “I’m not splitting any of that two hundred and twenty-two grand with imbeciles that throw a couple of projectiles around and call it ‘helping.’”

“We did more than that! All three of us deserve an equal split.” Itzel cried. Enidri’s eyes remained focused on the projection that her Implant had created, tapping around the options.

“Uh-huh, that’s what they all say.”

“If you’re not going to share, at least give me back what you took from me from that ranked match!” Itzel tugged on Enidri’s sleeve. She yanked her arm back and freed her jacket Itzel’s grip.

“Back off. I’m done here.” A floating object flew in over the destruction. As it zeroed in, what the object was became evident. It was Enidri’s personal carrier. It had a long, motorcycle-like shape to it despite the absence of wheels. It had an intricate curved silver plates on a black chassis. The vehicle stopped in front of its owner.

“You can’t go!” Itzel used both of her hands and latched onto Enidri’s arm. “After all that you’re really going to hold on to the entire payout?”

“Yes! Now let go!” Itzel fought to keep Enidri on the ground until Gurk came in and pulled them apart.

“Never would have thought a lizard that spoke in one-word sentences would have been the mature one.” Enidri straightened out the sleeve of her jacket and hopped onto her vehicle.

“What are you doing Gurk?” The crocodile had his hand in front of her to stop her from pursuing the fleeing woman. “She’s running off with our Tokens!”

“Janus!” Gurk said as he pointed towards the diner.

“Janus? But…”

The crocodile took no more time to wait. He made his way to the diner’s window and climbed back inside. Itzel kicked the motionless head of the Ogre as she followed her partner’s tracks.

“This is all your fault!” she said to the slain Essencima.