The Monster shrieked out in pain and anger once more, letting out a cry of its troubles—though, to a Human, its troubles were little more than trivial. To us, those who sought to hunt it down, its roars were pitiful excuses for an apology, and would only serve to fuel the anger that burned in our hearts.

And so, the first move was made, as the Monster took its first step onto the battlefield—

Connie: "HYAH!"

With a signature kickoff, Connie flew from her previous stance and towards the Monster; slightly bent down, Connie prepared for any kind of attack that would come her way, and sure enough, something did.

Connie: "Gotcha!"

The only thing that was necessary to dodge—the Monster's two-and-a-half fingered right hand—swung much too high for the flexible woman, as she easily ducked below the beast's swipe, following it up with a tackle to the Monster's leg.

Pushing all of her force into its balance, the Monster fell forward with little to no resistance, leaving the perfect opening for me to rush in and prepare a swipe of my own. Though my legs moved much slower than Connie's, the time between the Monster's fall and my own weapon being raised into the air was quicker than it should have been able to avoid. 

Quicker than it should have been able to avoid...and yet, a Monster like this would never be as intelligent as to attempt to avoid an attack. No, instead, the Monster swiped around at my side, just as I closed in, and I was knocked harshly into a nearby tree, leaving me unable to follow up with anything else.

Down for the count, it was up to Connie to finish the job, and so, she launched herself onto the Monster's chest, latching around its neck and preparing to swipe down with what little blade she had. And yet, that too would never be enough. Retaliating once more, the Monster pushed itself onto its back with its only functioning arm, trying to crush Connie beneath its wait.

Monster: "GHRAAAAAAATHAAAAAAA!"

But its screams of terror did nothing to deter the fiery woman. Even being crushed under its weight, Connie continued to hold tightly onto the Monster, reaching around with her shattered blade once more, trying to swipe down on the weak point even faster than before—

Monster: "SHAAAAAAAAGHLAAAAAA!"

Its claws embedded into the dirt, the Monster pulled itself and lunged to the side, reorienting its body right-side-up, finally able to stand on its two feet again; with Connie shaken off by the sudden momentum, the Monster's eyeless holes fixated on my injured visage, leaning helplessly on the tree I had been flung into. 

John: "Uh-oh—"

It dug deep into the dirt once more, and as it took aim, the Monster prepared for another high-powered lunge. But, I can't move! And if I couldn't move, I would become the perfect feast for the Monster—easy prey to the predator.

Connie: "Dammit!"

Connie's kickoffs released faster than the charcoal Monster's could, allowing her to pull me out of the danger's line of sight just moments before my death. In those same moments that followed, any and all trees that would have been behind me had now been decimated completely, taken down by the powerful leap of a true Monster. 

Connie: "Up there!"

In a moment of desperation, Connie hopped up into the tree canopy, bringing me along with her. It was a risky move, but now the only way the Monster would be able to track us was by sound. The shrubbery of the canopy left little to be seen, as any light that would have helped to see into the canopy would instead have just been beaming directly into one's own eyeballs.

No matter what, we were concealed by the surrounding nature—though, only in visuals.

As the Monster made it back to where we leaped from, it began to sniff into the air, and peer into the silence with its ears. Still, a move had to be made by us, or we would be forced to dodge and deflect attack after attack, endlessly suffering the fate of getting not a single jab in.

Connie: "Over here!"

She called out to the dimwitted Monster, grabbing me by the shoulders and quietly leaping away from the compromised position, into a new set of shrubbery. Just as expected, the Monster mindlessly swiped away at our last location, and went it found nothing, it moved onto a new plan.

It stomped its way over to a tree that fed into the canopy, and with one singular swipe, tore it from the roots and brought down an entire chunk of what would have been our hiding place.

Connie: "This is bad...it's learning too fast."

Another tree has fallen.

John: "What do we do?!"

Connie: "Whatever we do, we can't afford to leave it alone anymore.

And another...

Connie: "If it somehow teaches any other Monster about what it's learned—"

One more...

Connie: "—Then this entire Barrier could become infested with intelligent Monsters, far more capable of slaughter than we could handle."

The next one follows...

John: "This is bad...this is really bad!"

Connie: "I've got a plan."

How many trees even feed into this canopy?!

Connie: "I'm gonna bring you the opportunity you need. When it happens, just take it!"

John: "Right!"

Connie: "YAHHHTA!"

The Monster brought down another tree from the canopy, and as it mindlessly rushed to the next one, it found itself intercepted by an intense force to its skull. No, more specifically, a pair of high-speed shoes had flown from the above canopy, and directly into the weak point of the Monster.

Monster: "GHAAAAAYGHAAHTHHHHHAAGHATAAA!"

The beast collapsed, shivering and shuddering on the ground as its mind was wracked with pain and shock, awaiting the moment where it could move again. First the fingers, then the hand, then the arm, and as it raised its arm to the skies to deflect against the next strike, it found itself falling just short of the strength to defend itself.

John: "I've got you now!"

At a slower speed, but still effective enough to do damage, my tiny body dropped from the canopy along with a blade of blackened glass, sticking directly into the Monster's throat as it clambered for a sense of life. But no life would find its way to the Monster. Not now, and not ever.

With my left hand, I forcefully pried its head to the side, leaving the weak point wide open for a final swing; although the Monster fought against me with all of the strength left in its body, it appeared too weak to do much about the circumstance. And so, it eventually submit to the will of its killer.

John: "May you find peace in the next life..."

A blade of blackened glass was raised high into the sky, where only the moon would be able to see it...

John: "...You Monster!"

...And then, it dropped from the heavens, into the soft cushiony meat of death.

Battle of the Smack Palm - Results: Victorious

John Ordano - 1

Opponents - 0

Looks like you won after all. 

What, did you expect me to die there?!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A little girl sat alone by a tree in a dark forest, awaiting the inevitable change of her situation. She hadn't been sitting here for very long, but under the stress that she had endured just minutes prior, it felt like far too long to be alone. She clutched something in her clasped hands, clinging desperately to the only thing that was sure to keep her safe.

It was a small green crystal, in a strange shape and size, that appeared to have no other function than to simply glow. Still, the boy with white hair said that it would protect her, and so, she held onto it. She didn't do so out of hope that she would be praised, or because it was meant to be returned to the boy at a later date. Her reasons for holding it so tightly were purely selfish—she wanted to live.

It was a wish made possible by the gift given from the boy, and so, when he returned later, she would be sure to thank him heavily for it. Perhaps with a tea party?

John: "Over there! She's there!"

Boy: "Ira!"

Connie: "I see her!"

The girl excitedly turned her head to the shouting voices which closed in on her position. There, she saw two familiar faces, and one that had been engraved into her mind since their first meeting. There was a boy with white hair, a woman with fiery red streaks, and the one whom she called "brother", and was held in a higher regard for life than her own. 

Such regard was so high, in fact, that upon their arrival at her position, her first instinct was to hand it off to her brother, rather than return it to the boy.

John: "Wha—Hey! That's mine!"

Truly, this was an act of heroism bestowed to her by the young boy with white hair. He made a promise to her, and he kept it with all that he could. For that, he would surely be rewarded.