39. Part B

"Do you feel any more confident in your chances against her?" Albert asked Rayne as they stood in the thick crowd.

There was a fight going on between two telepath guys. Rayne didn't know either of them, but she did her best to study their form. Any insight into their power she could gleam from watching them, she welcomed. So far she hadn't learned anything. She kept thinking back to the day in her room when Sheree tried to push her and she resisted it. She never figured out how she did it, but the fact that she had, helped her remain calm.

"I'm just gonna go in there and kick ass like I always do," she said and shrugged.

"That's my girl," Albert said and put his arm around Rayne.

The fight in front of them ended when one of the telepaths threw the other off the mat.

"Hey, how come they can use their powers on each other, but you and Caree couldn't?" Rayne asked Sheree.

Sheree slowly shook her head side to side as she thought about why that could have happened.

"That question bothers me a lot. I also feel like my powers haven't been the same since that fight," Sheree said as she stared at the empty mat.

"Oh I've been meaning to ask you if you would like me to train you to fight with your hands.Just in case another lookalike of you shows up, or something like that," Rayne said.

She expected Sheree to turn her down, or need further convincing, instead she nodded eagerly.

"Yes please, I hated feeling that weak. I definitely need a plan b if that ever happens again," Sheree agreed.

The announcer called Sheree and her opponent to the ring next. She gave Rayne and Albert a weak smile and walked casually to the mat. Rayne found herself too anxious to stand still and followed Sheree to the front of the crowd. She knew she couldn't help her in the match, but if this went sideways she was going to act quickly. Sheree was going up against a tall, chunky, black woman with blonde dreads. Her name was Jackie Rose.

"Wow, that linebacker is a courser? She's two of me," Rayne said to Albert.

"Yeah, but I would much rather be tackled by you," Albert said and pinched her butt and caused her to flinch from the unexpected touch.

"Knock it off, before you start something we don't have time to finish," Rayne said and swatted at him.

Albert's distraction was exactly what Rayne needed. She became less tense as Sheree's match started. The match ended just as fast as it had started. The announcer told them to start and Jackie sped towards Sheree. Sheree, in turn, stepped aside and pushed her in the back. Her own momentum carried her off the mat. Rayne and Sheree let out a long breath in unison once Sheree was announced the winner.

"Well, that was easy," Rayne said to her as she came and stood next to her again.

"Yeah, I needed an easy match," Sheree said and took another deep breath.

The three of them stood together and watched match after match, until Albert was called for his. He was going against a courser as well. A short, thin, hispanic boy with wavy brown hair named Enrique Salvo. Albert also dispatched him quickly. The boy raced at Albert and smashed him in the face with a right hook. Albert, to everyone's surprise, took the punch and grabbed Enrique. He then tossed him over his shoulder, into the first row of the audience. Albert left the stage rubbing his jaw as the announcer named him the winner.

"Did that hurt as bad as it looked like it did?" Sheree asked with a grimace.

"Yeah, my face is on fire right now," Albert said through a clenched jaw.

"You think it's broken?" Rayne asked as the announcer called her name.

A look of desperation settled on her face as she studied Albert's, now swelling, cheek. She looked over at the mat but didn't move, not wanting to leave him.

"I'm good, go win your match," Albert said, his pronunciations were slightly off since he wasn't moving his jaw.

"We can just go to the infirmary instead, I can beat that bitch bloody another time, " Rayne said.

Albert smiled and then winced.

"I'm not moving till you win this match," he said and crossed his arms.

Rayne stared at him and impatiently looked back and forth from Albert to the mat, where Caree now stood.

"Fine, but if he gets dizzy or something like that, force him to the infirmary," Rayne said to Sheree and stormed off toward the mat.

The announcer was saying her name again when she stepped onto the mat. When he saw her he directed them to begin fighting. The look on Caree's face went from bored to manic when she saw Rayne. She locked eyes with her and refused to look away. Rayne returned the stare, refusing to lose even a staredown with her.

Rayne suddenly heard Caree talking to her in her mind.

"Which of your bones am I going to snap first?" She asked with a childlike giggle.

Rayne shook her head and ignored the mind games.

"You're so strong and proud, I'm gonna make you squeal like the pig you are," Caree said and giggled again. The sound of her voice infuriated Rayne even more than the actual words she was saying.

"Get the fuck out of my head!" Rayne screamed aloud at Caree.

Caree stumbled a step to her right and blood trickled from her nose. She touched it and looked at it in disbelief. Rayne had seen this happen before when Meyers Walters had attacked her with his mind. She didn't fully understand how she had fought him, and now Caree, off, but she wasn't going to stand around and wait for Caree to try again. She advanced on her, moving at a pace slightly slower than a jog. She wasn't taking a chance on running so Caree could throw her off the mat. The closer she got to her though, the more confident she became. The blood had completely preoccupied Caree. Or possibly she was simply trying to understand how Rayne had forced her out of her mind, either way she was completely oblivious to Rayne's approach.

"My turn, bitch!" Rayne yelled as she threw the right uppercut at Caree's exposed chin.

Caree looked up just in time to take the full impact of the punch. It lifted her off her feet and left her flat on her back.

Rayne smiled at her good fortune and moved forward to continue her attack, but Caree was too fast. She reached her right arm up and took hold of Rayne's entire body. Rayne's motion completely halted, leaving her completely at Caree's mercy. Caree's eyes darted side to side as she considered her next move. She and Rayne both knew this hold was only temporary. Rayne smiled on the inside when she realized Caree was afraid of her. She decided to play some mind games of her own.

"What's wrong, you're scared this pig is gonna hurt you some more?" Rayne said.

Caree didn't respond, instead she quickly moved her arm toward the crowd and attempted to throw Rayne off the mat. Rayne felt the force of Caree's power on her body. She saw the audience getting closer and felt herself moving toward the edge of the mat.

"No,no, no stay on the mat. Stay on the mat!" Rayne said as she landed on a guy in the first row.

"Sorry about that," she said, embarrassed to have landed on him.

The guy's reaction was a little too extreme for Rayne's liking. He looked at her with wide eyes and then pulled away from her as if she was covered in slime or something. It was only when she hit the ground and tried to stand back up that she realized something was wrong. She looked down at where her feet should have been and saw only more legs. Her legs had somehow stretched far enough to let her top half be in the audience while her feet stayed planted on the mat. She looked up at Caree, and she was just as shocked as everyone else that had witnessed it.

"Go back to normal," Rayne repeated aloud.

She felt herself moving back toward the mat as the audience's silence turned into gasps and whispers. She was standing on her feet in front of Caree in less than a second.

"Hello, again," she said before clubbing Caree in the face with a right hook. Caree fell and slid toward the edge of the mat. Rayne didn't wait for her to recover, she ran at the fallen girl and kicked her in the ribs. Caree let out a scream that was more like a roar, when the blow landed.

"Who's squealing now," Rayne asked before slamming her right knee into Caree's nose.

Out of pure instinct Caree reached toward Rayne with her right arm. Rayne grabbed three of her fingers and gave a sharp twist, feeling the bones in them snap. Rayne lifted the broken girl up and looked into her face.

"Get out of our lives you fake ass Sheree," Rayne said and launched her as far off the mat as she could.

Caree hit the ground in the aisle between the rows of seats. There was a slight pause and then the audience roared to life in approval of Rayne's victory. She looked down at Sheree and gave a subtle nod as the announcer proclaimed her the winner. Sheree floated up to the mat beside her and threw her arms around her.