Camila tried to keep from staring as space twisted next to her. She felt distance twisting into impossible shapes three different ways, and it was overwhelming. It was magical girl time, not get confused by weird nonsense time. She had to take out this guy. In ten minutes or less.
She regained her focus just as Kilduff stepped forward and called out their target. “You going to come quietly, lad, or do I have to dump this holy water on you?”
Jiao jabbed a finger at Kilduff and a bolt of black energy flew at the man. A white glow enveloped the missile as it hit and sparks flew as Kilduff stumbled back.
Camila flew forward. “Bastard! I want a word with you.”
The other jiang-shi sneered at her. “Oh, the traitor puppet. Well, I suppose I can clean up this mess before helping my brother. Don’t worry. You won’t notice when you become truly dead.”
“Big words. But, a few kicks should make them small enough so you can eat them.” Camila hesitated. She was supposed to issue the challenge now, but Helena’s formula felt off. Then it came to her. She needed to present herself right? “I am capoeirista Pixundé of Brazil. Your evil ends here, ‘Undead Dragon’.”
It was really uncool, but her opponent paused. “Very well. I am Long Jiao Han, the Undead Dragon. I will consume your life for my own.”
As soon as the words were said Camila felt an odd tingling at the edge of her senses. It wasn’t like the connection between her and Helena but something magical had gone off. Too bad she didn’t know the details.
What she did know is that she needed to get in close and break Jiao before he turned her into a toad or something. With a single thought she triggered the capacitor spell. The stiffness in her muscles became overwhelming, and so she stretched. Relief flowed through her as every joint in her body popped.
Camila immediately cartwheeled to the side. She’d sacrificed the initiative, and that meant the wizard was probably gonna try to kill her.
Lightning crackled in front of her eyes, just as she’d guessed. The flash made her blink, but she could still see the chi in the room. The attack should have frightened her too, but she didn’t want to be afraid. Now was magical girl time, she could be afraid after the fighting. She spun around and faked a swipe at the man’s head.
Her arm slammed into Jiao’s wrist as he blocked. The man used the movement to stab his left hand at her like a knife. Camila flipped backwards then changed her momentum into a spinning heel. This time she felt only air as Jiao squatted then hopped up and threw a flying drop kick.
Camila whirled away, but the man kept swinging at her. She needed to get control of the tempo again. Either that or to get him to make a mistake. She was aiming to land a solid hit, not make fancy combos like her enemy.
That was going to be hard. Jiao’s attacks somehow worked perfectly with his rigid body. And she had to stay close otherwise he’d blast her with magic.
Then Jiao hopped on a crate. His martial arts might be perfect for his undead body, but he wasn’t thinking about the power they had. She dropped onto her back, then put all her force into a roundhouse strike. As she watched Jiao’s kick sail over her, her own kick slammed right into the box.
The blow plowed right through the wood into Jiao’s knee. That resisted just a moment before breaking with a satisfying crack. Then momentum kicked in and sent the other jiang-shi flying into a pile of crates. The mess collapsed on top of Jiao with a thunderous crash.
“Yes!” Camila pumped her fist and started looking over towards where Helena and Long Zhou Di were fighting. Scratch one in record time! Now on to-
“Look out, lass!”
Camila ducked. A dark orb blew the machines in front of her into a rain of scrap metal. She spun around and saw Long Jiao Han floating in the air surrounded by five pulsing red spheres. How did he recover so fast? “Starting to sympathize with video game heroes,” she muttered as she looked for an opening.
Kilduff rose up from behind an old conveyor belt and emptied his pistol at the man. Jiao contemptuously held up his hand and the shots bounced off a shield of light. But that gave Camila an opening. She cartwheeled up into the air then dropped down on him with a heel kick.
It whiffed through the air as Jiao dodged. The orbs around him spun off in random directions and exploded. That was good. She didn’t want any of this Street Fighter fireball nonsense.
But she still had a problem. Jiao’s leg had already healed. She needed a stronger strike to put him down for good. But a strong strike required footwork and balance. She could dance through the air all day, but without a solid surface her kicks would depend on her flying speed.
A flash of movement forced her back into the fight. She leapt over Jiao’s kick and stomped on his face before spinning away. At least she didn’t need to worry about landing on the floor. The floor was wherever she wanted it to be while flying. Something that guy didn’t seem to understand. Weird for a magician.
“Annoying insect,” Jiao muttered as he drew back and started summoning another magical attack.
Camila swung a fist at his eyes then dropped down and kicked him in the stomach when he dodged. It felt solid, but the other jiang-shi just stumbled back a bit. “Pretty good whining Undead Dragon. Won’t win you the fight though.”
Jiao snarled and flicked a glowing knife at her. She moved to the left and the blade jerked to the side and hit her square in the chest. “Silence dog.”
Camila looked down as the knife vanished. It hurt less than a dart gun. “That’s what I was afraid of getting hit by?” It looked like his quick attacks weren’t good enough to hurt her.
She dashed forward ignoring his weak shot and kicked him in the arm, sending him flying. A series of shots rang out and he staggered in the air. Seemed like Kilduff was still helping.
But they weren’t winning. She needed a strong hit! But how could she get in that hit while they were in the air? How could she catch him with a power shot?
Wait, hadn’t she had this problem before?
She switched to the defensive, dodging Jiao’s attacks at impossible angles while trying to remember. She’d only had one fight in the air. The fight against Helena. And she’d landed a solid blow on the woman there. One that had rattled the magician enough to send her running.
I just need someplace to plant my feet. Why shouldn’t there be a floor there?
It was a ridiculous idea. Floors didn’t just appear. But this whole fight was ridiculous. And she was a magical girl now. Trust your instincts, right?
She ducked low, cartwheeled up in the air then planted her feet perpendicular to the ground. There’s a floor there, because I say so!
And there was.
Her balance foot glowed green as she kicked with all her might. Her leg shivered as Jiao blocked with both arms, but she followed through. She pushed his arms right into his face, then sent him slamming into the floor with a massive crash.
The blow was so hard Jiao actually bounced off the concrete. She stepped forward on her ‘floor’ and unleashed another spinning kick. Then another, and another! Her leg throbbed as she kicked him like he was a training bag. But like a training bag he kept rising back up. “Stay down damn you!”
“You can’t-” A kick to his face interrupted him, “-can’t stop me you brute!” The man’s hands started to glow with a black light. Camila changed her tactics and stomped on his chest full force, the concrete shattering under her power. But he didn’t stop! This looked bad-
A chime ran through the air. The sound echoed in her brain. Forming words. Thoughts. “You are dead,” it said. “You should be still.” She froze in place. It was a lie. She knew it was a lie. But her body obeyed.
The chime rang out again, proclaiming its terrible message, and then Kilduff was there. “Step aside lass.” He pushed her out of the way, then unstoppered a bottle of water and poured it on Jiao. The man screamed as the water struck his chest. Smoke began to rise as Jiao burned.
The ringing in Camila’s mind finally faded and stumbled back. Her body was screaming at her to flee from the deadly liquid. But Kilduff beckoned her back. “Sorry lass, I need you to drive this home.” He pulled out a wooden grave marker. “I can’t do it fast enough. We need your strength.”
Camila clenched her teeth, ignoring Jiao’s screams. She didn’t want to be afraid, so she wasn’t afraid. She grabbed the grave marker. It burned like a kettle, but she forced herself to ignore the pain. She was a magical girl, right? She lifted the marker up and with a swift move slammed it through the Jiao chest.
Jiao froze, then his arms collapsed to his sides. He looked just like a corpse now.
“Well that was fun,” Camila gasped as she took a step back. She felt pretty beat up for a dead girl. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
“Aye. Let’s hope this is a once in a lifetime thing,” Kilduff muttered. He drew his pistol again as he stood. “You did good though lass. Gave me time to get close so I could ring that bell. Now let’s go save that daft witch and call it a day.”
Camila jumped to her feet. “Right!”
She had two minutes of movement left. Time enough to save her friend.