Chapter 20

I climbed into the ring and watched as Bella Donna walked around the ring holding up the cards. Round one Hel V Ban. With a smirk she winked at me and I turned to face Helvetica. She was tall and slim, not as tall as me but was above average. Watching her jump around as she warmed up I frowned. She didn't have any obvious weaknesses and her punches actually made swooshing sounds as she through them.

I stretched and heard the ref beginning to recite the rules as he got closer.

"No killing and no weapons. Anything else goes. Now I want a clean-ish fight girls!" I nodded and saw Hel give a brief nod as she glanced around to someone by the gate. The ref began the count and I focused.

As soon as the bell sounded. Hel darted forward with incredible speed but I was expecting it. I twisted and brought a fist forward hard catching her on her left cheek. She reeled backwards as blood gushed from her mouth and she spat a few teeth to the side of the ring. I began to circle around as she glared at me and brought her fists up. As I took a fake swing at her she jumped back and I saw her hands move.

'Strange… how come her left hand doesn't open like it should.' My pondering was cut short as Hel came at me and fainted towards my left. I raised my arms to block her then kicked up to intercept her left hand. She grunted and jumped back as I winced and felt blood trickle down my shin. I didn't hesitate and launched myself into a full force attack bringing all my years of Kung-Fu out. She blocked and avoided most hits but I managed to land a few on her hips and one to the shoulder. She was fast and I was beginning to work for each strike.

Hel twisted and her Vampire reflexes took her around to land a low kick to my right leg. I grunted slightly however her hit lacked power, but many of them in the same spot would cause trouble. She twisted fast and this time managed to punch my right leg with her left hand and it stung more than expected and what felt like a battery zap rocked through my leg.

The scent of blood filled my nose. She had somehow managed to split the skin on my thigh. I landed a good hit to her head as she failed to retreat in time. She was fast but I was still faster and was beginning to push myself to the limit of my human ability's.

Hel looked dazed for a second but quickly snapped back. We through more punches and I could see the panic begin to rise in her eyes. Something wasn't going the way she thought it should and I was beginning to overpower her. I caught her hard in the stomach and she staggered back then fell as I tackled her and launched a volley of blows to her head using my elbow.

Suddenly I was flying through the air and stuck to the stool at my side of the circular ring. I looked around and the ref was there his hands held up.

"Dam girl. You didn't even here the bell did you?" I shook my head and took the water Rodger gave me. "How the fuck did she hurt your leg?" I grinned.

"She's got some sort of brass knuckles on her left hand under her wrappings." I finally looked to my leg and saw a strange cut. It looked like someone had stabbed me with an X-shaped cutter. I wiped my hand over the wound then sniffed at my blood. "What does that smell like to you?" Rodger sniffed my bloodied hand.

"Silver…" He looked at me and his eyes widened. "Are you going to be ok? Do you want me to cancel the match?" I shook my head as Bella handed Rodger a cotton disk soaked in antiseptic.

"Fuck no, this is just getting good. I want to push her to see what's she's made of. And it's not the first time someone has used silver against me. It itches if it gets into a cut but nothing more." He nodded as he wiped at the wound then sprayed a bottle over it.

"That should stop the bleeding… It would hamper any full werewolf, Vampire or Fay…" He smirked. "No one knows what exactly you are baby girl, it seems Hel… or someone else is trying to figure it out." I shrugged.

"She'll already be way off the mark now." He chuckled and took the empty bottle.

"Keep your guard up and watch out for her teeth. Punching her cheek to take out her jaws was smart but it's the fastest healing point on those blood suckers and she still has the other side." He patted my shoulder and jumped out the ring. I felt the weight begin to rise and I got to my feet watching as Hel dropped an empty blood bag out the ring. We made our ways to the centre of the ring and got ready as Bella Donna walked holding out her board.

The bell for the second round rang out clear and sharp. I immediately prepared to swing but Hel did not come at me recklessly. Instead, she backed off and circled around as she looked me over. As her eyes kept going back to my wounded leg I smirked as I realised she was trying to see if my condition had deteriorated. She got a little closer fainting a few punches.

I made my move and charged her aiming a punch for her head but following it through towards the ground. She ducked trying to avoid the blow, but it ended up glancing her temple and she rolled backwards. Instantly she tried kicking out but hit nothing but air. I hadn't followed through on the punch but this proved to me she had a few years of training under her belt.

Hel jumped to her feet then backed away again as I advanced on her. I was known for being aggressive, relentless and deadly accurate in my attacks. Once I had figured out my opponent they were usually done for. Tonight, I didn't have a clue. She was a good all-rounder with a solid base but she wasn't as fast or as strong as me. Unless she was hiding something we shouldn't have been paired up. The Crusher could have swatted her. Although, if she had managed to get a few bites in at the beginning this could have gone another way as Vampire bites don't scab over and I would have lost a lot of blood.

I needed to push her to see if she had more she wasn't showing. With a burst of speed I charged forward to test the waters and what she would do. Was it fight or flight. Hel freaked, she jumped backwards going on the defensive then jumped up onto the railing. I grinned. She was scared of me. I leapt up onto the walls and chased after her on all fours my movements smooth and unhindered by the change in angle.

Her eyes seemed to bulge out of her scull as she saw me running on all fours across the bars like a wild creature. She tried to swing away but her movements were jerky and awkward as she struggled to manoeuvre on the bars. With a last desperate attempt to escape me she leapt from the bars to the centre of the ring.

'Now' I thought and twisted then lunged off the bars in an animalistic way catching Hel by the waste mid-air and winding her. We landed in the ring and she squished under my weight as I rolled away. I got to my feet and she flicked around kicking out but not getting up. She was glaring at me and breathing heavily. I circled around and she used one hand to grip the ground and turn to keep her feet pointing at me. Quickly I glanced at the timer. We had been fighting for five minutes already.

'She's trying to drag this out… why? We don't end a match until one of us is out cold and every round gets that little longer.' I grinned 'I don't want to wait.' I fainted forward and twisted then grabbed her leg as she tried to kick me. With a grunt I twisted her around and through her into the railings. She hit hard and crumpled to the ground. With a few jerks she used the railings to get to her feet.

I approached and saw the frenzied panic in her eyes behind her mask. Enough was enough I was going to finish this. I swung a finishing blow forward but someone in the crowd by her gate caught my attention. It was a strange tall man wearing a suit with a green shirt. He snorted and turned away.

Suddenly Hel seemed to shift and pulled together whatever reserves of strength she had left and slipped close. I felt her weight come down onto me and she bit down onto my neck. I yelped and used all my strength and speed to push her away before she could lock her jaws. Hel was sent back hard and hit the railings again. In a slump she hit the floor and stayed there. The ref ran in and gave the count.

"One," he slapped the ground. "Two" He hit the ground again. "Three!" He stood up and raised my hand in the air. "The Banshee wins!" and the crowd went nuts.