Chapter 48: Afternoon

Mica twisted back and forth at the waist before bending forward and dropping her upper body down so that she could touch the toes of first one foot and then the other.

Once again tied back into a multi-banded ponytail, her raven-black hair was shimmering with its almost unnatural looking dark blue color in the sunlight as it bounced about with her movements.

Rising back up to her full height she clasped her hands together and lifted her arms up above her head before curving herself into a backwards arch and stretching her entire body until it was as taunt as a bow.

Fiona was biting her lower lip as she stared transfixed at the stretching shinoccubus. Her eyes moved about freely as they followed the flowing motions of the curvaceous little creature that was happily dancing back and forth in front of her.

Noticing the hungry looking glow in the dark elf’s eyes, Anton smirked and followed her gaze as he too continued to enjoy the little show.

Having now risen herself up into a handstand, Mica continued her stretches by pointing her legs straight skywards and then slowly spreading them out to her sides.

With her back facing the watching group, she was unknowingly giving her audience a clear and very generous view of her very round bottom. Curling her legs in and bending herself backwards, she them gave them all a presentation of just how overtly flexible her spine really was, as she bent herself in half and flipped her upper body forward so as to come back to a standing position. Now facing the group, she blinked in surprise as she found them all intently watching her.

“ ... Wha, what!?” she cried as she looked from one grinning face to another “Why are you all staring at me!?”

“Because you are sexy as all Hell!” exclaimed Fiona “Gods alive girl! You have got a great body!”

Mica’s face and ears immediately took on a bright red tone as her large, emerald colored eyes widened in embarrassment. Turning away she mumbled unintelligibly as she glared off into the distance.

“And you’re bashful as fuck!” laughed Fiona as she clasped her hands together “Which just makes it all so much sweeter!”

Mica continued to face away from them as she stretched her arm out and pointed her raised middle finger at Fiona who merely laughed teasingly at the flustered action.

“ ... That seems almost like some kind of practice routine?” mused Anton as he rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner “I’m going to guess that maybe you were a cheerleader while you were in school?”

“Uh, no. They did invite me to join their squad, but I never really wanted to do that.” explained Mica as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head “I was actually on the gymnastics team.”

“Oh, really?” nodded Anton “And how long did you do that for?”

“Well, I started in grade school, and then competed all 4 years of high school.” boasted Mica “They told me I’ve got some scholarship options too! But I haven’t really looked into that yet...”

“I see. That’s interesting! Though, I’m a little surprised they actually let a shinoccubus compete. That honestly seems a bit unfair.” said Anton “How often did they just hand you the win right away?”

“Uh, that did happen ... But it would go the opposite way sometimes too.” mumbled Mica as she began to bend sideways at the waist “Like this one time, this bitchy little tit-less cat girl thing, tried to get me disqualified because as a shinoccubi I had an “unfair advantage” like her bendy little feline ass didn’t!”

“Hm. She probably figured you were her only real competition and tried to take you out early.” mused Anton as he grinned in amusement “Kind of ironic that she would essentially try to assassinate a natural assassin.”

“I know right!” laughed Mica as she twisted herself in the opposite direction “Didn’t work out either. And the best part was she got so pissed off that they told her no, that she lost all her focus and ended up in 4th place! That was such a awesome day!”

“I bet!” chuckled Anton.

“Yeah ... Hey, wait, fuck you!” cried Mica as she straightened herself back up “Don’t try to get all buddy, buddy with me you ass!”

Anton blinked and chuckled again.

“Right, still enemies I guess.” he mumbled around a smile.

“Yeah!” said Mica as she narrowed her eyes at him “And that’s never gonna change!”

“Well, we’ll see about that.” said Anton “Are you about ready to get started yet?”

“Yes!” cried Mica as she began to hop sideways from one foot to the other “Let’s do this already!”

“Alright then.” said Anton as he nodded and stepped towards her “Come here real quick.”

Mica froze mid-hop and took a step back and away from him.

“Why!?” she cried as she raised her wrist “I’ve got your stupid cuff on already!?”

“Yes, you do...” drawled Anton as he stopped his advance “You’re also still wearing the manabinder. So if you’d like me to take that off then come here for a minute.”

Mica hesitated for half a moment before with a grimace on her face she crossed the distance that separated them. Looking away, she tilted her head back and raised her chin to expose her neck and the ring of metal that hung there.

Anton reached forward and took hold of the ring with his thumb and index finger. As soon as he touched it the seals etched into its surface gave off a faint glow. He then gave the ring a gentle tug, and it immediately popped open and slid off of Mica’s neck.

The shinoccubus made a small gasp and began to blink rapidly as she was instantly reconnected to her mana pool. She suddenly disappeared from in front of Anton and reappeared standing back where she was before.

“Yes!” she growled in excitement as she held her clenched fists out in front of herself and smiled broadly as her tail whipped back and forth behind her “You are so fucked now!”

“Oh yes, how the tables have turned.” mumbled Anton with a smile as he folded the ring down into a quarter of its original size and slid it into his back pocket “How could I have ever make such a mistake? What a fool I must be!”

“Laugh all you want!” cried Mica as she pointed at his chest “But that key is as good as mine now!”

“Yes, the key ... You know, I honestly expected you to make a grab for it as soon as I took the manabinder off.” said Anton as he gave the key a tug “I’m actually impressed that you didn’t even try.”

The excitement drained from Mica’s face as she continued to stare at the key.

“Yeah, well ... I thought about it.” she grumbled as she lowered her arm “I almost did it...”

“Why didn’t you?” asked Anton.

Mica ran her tongue over her teeth as she looked away from him.

“ ... I don’t know!” she grumbled as she crossed her arms over her middle “I just decided not to!”

“I see...” said Anton as he nodded his head thoughtfully “Do you think that maybe you just didn’t want to win that way?”

Mica glanced at him before quickly looking away again.

“ ... Maybe, I guess.” she mused as her eyes looked towards the floor and her tail looped itself around her body “ ... I don’t know!”

Anton tilted his head as he watched her for a moment.

“Would you like to know what I think?” he asked.

Moving only her eyes, the kiochi looked back at him and waited.

“Hm, I think, that you’re actually pretty excited about all this. You have an opportunity here to prove yourself in a real way.” said Anton “And I think, that you do want to beat me. But you want to win for real, and in a way that is impressive enough, that I will acknowledge you as the winner and commend you on your victory.”

“ ... Dude.” mumbled Mica as she narrowed her eyes at him “Don’t get so full of-!”

“You want someone to finally see you win.” continued Anton “You want someone to see what you can really do. To know what you can really do ... You said they never took you seriously. Because no one was ever there ... Were they? No one ever actually saw you when you won ... Did they?”

Mica froze as she stared back at him. After a moment her eyes darted to the dark elves before she quickly looked away at nothing.

“Fuck you! Stop trying to mess with me!” she said as she tightened her shoulders “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Anton nodded slowly as he watched her for a moment.

“You know ... I kind of want to let you win now.” he said as her eyes shot back to him “Just so I could see what you look like, when you do.”

“ ... Don’t! Don’t do that!” said Mica as she set her jaw “Don’t you dare just let me win!”

“Why not?” asked Anton as he kept his eyes locked to her’s “You wouldn’t still want your freedom? Even if it was given to you as a gift?”

Mica stared at him for a moment.

“ ... No.” she declared quietly as she looked down at the ground “Not like that. I would rather just lose.”

Attempting to determine her honesty, Anton remained silent as he gave her a long assessment.

“ ... I like that answer.” he said as he slowly nodded his head “You might actually have a bit more integrity in you than I thought you did.”

“Fuck you!” exclaimed Mica as she continued to stare at the ground while her tail whipped back and forth behind her “Stop messing around, and let’s just do this already!”

“Right, yes! We did get a little off the rails there, didn’t we.” said Anton as he tilted his head playfully “About time we got back on track I guess.”

Mica grimaced as her whole being seemed to tighten up.

“Don’t worry about it, Mica. It was an interesting idea. But nothing more than that. I have absolutely no intention of letting you win. So if by some miracle you do, then it will be your victory.” said Anton as he leaned towards her and let his aura flair outwards to engulf the area around them “That being said...”

The kiochi stiffened as she was surrounded by the unseen force of Anton’s aura. Steeling herself, she raised her head and locked eyes with him.

“Don’t hold anything back. Give it absolutely everything you have.” said Anton “Because this is it, Mica. This is your one and only chance.”

Mica’s tail slowed to a crawl as it made another loop behind her.

“ ... That’s fine.” she muttered as the barbs at the end of her tail began to slowly flex outwards “That’s all I need.”

“Good to hear.” smiled Anton as he released his aura “Kianna!”

“Yes!” chirped the dark elf from where she had taken a seat next to her sister on the fallen tree.

“Could you set a timer on your phone for thirty minutes, please.” said Anton as he moved into position and faced Mica “I think Mica’s about as ready as she’ll ever be.”

“Damn right I am!” declared Mica as she twisted her head back and forth to crack her neck and squared her shoulders “Let’s get this over with!”

“Alright then.” said Anton as he loosened up his own shoulders “On Kianna’s signal, we begin!”

Mica leaned forward into a runners stance as she locked eyes with Anton and waited for the signal.

“Okay!” cried Kianna as she held up her phone “3... 2... 1, go!”

Disappearing in an instant, Mica immediately reappeared in the air above Anton’s left shoulder, and moving forward in a controlled fall, she reached for the key as she sailed past him. Anton reacted by grabbing her outstretched arm at the wrist and pulling her downwards towards the ground and away from the key. Unfazed, Mica curled into a rolling somersault as she landed, rolled and sprung back up to a standing position before twirling around, refacing Anton and teleporting back into the air above him.

This same series of events continued several times over as Mica kept up a nearly constant, harrowing bombardment against a calm and focused Anton.

When it became clear that merely snatching the key away from him was not going to be as easy for her as she first thought, Mica began to actively attack Anton by twisting her body in midair circles and kicking at his head and face.

Utilizing both sight and sound to gauge the incoming attacks, Anton would react by letting his torso bend freely at the waist and dropping his head and shoulders out of the paths of Mica’s flying kicks.

The two watching dark elves couldn’t help but to be impressed as for nearly a solid four minute span, Mica neither stopped moving nor touched the ground as she teleported from one point in space to another and attacked Anton from every direction.

Though Mica’s assault was certainly fast paced, judging her intentions and countering her attacks was still fairly easy for Anton to do, as the kiochi was not only unrefined in her movements, but was also inexperienced enough that she would become legitimately surprised when her attacks failed to land, and rather than move right into another attack, she would instead hesitate and break her own flow by trying to reposition herself to repeat the same maneuver over and over.

Another point in which Mica’s lack of experience became obvious, was in that she had become so focused on striking at Anton with both punches and kicks, that she seemed to have completely forgotten about her own tail.

This was something that Anton had noticed early on and as such was quick to register now.

Mica had shown, time and again, that she had no issue with using her tail during her threat displays, but she was clearly hesitant to actively attack with it. This didn’t appear to be an actual conscious decision on her part though, and seemed to be more inline with his theory that having been raised in modern society, she had been conditioned to refrain from ever becoming violent with her natural weapon.

This conditioning was something that she would definitely have to overcome, but this was an issue that could be addressed at a later date.

In the meantime, Anton was beginning to feel that it was time for a change of pace. And so, as Mica came in close for another attempt at snatching the key, he grabbed her by the wrist and, pulling her downwards to give himself a good angle, used his right fist to give her a quick pulled punch to her exposed belly. Although he held back against her, the punch was still just strong enough to send her flying off to the side.

Falling akimbo now, Mica disappeared and reappeared higher up in the air a short distance away and, using the extra falling time to right herself, landed on her feet facing Anton.

Shocked by the suddenness of Anton’s counterattack, she grunted and hunched herself forward as she held her stomach and glared at him. As her tail curled about angrily behind and above her head, she let her eyes dart back and forth as she planned out her next attack. Disappearing, she made two teleporting jumps behind and away from Anton to give herself some space.

Anton nonchalantly twisted his head back as he looked for her. Spotting her behind him, he turned to face her and planted his hands on his hips as he waited for her to make her next move.

Having apparently settled on her next strategy, Mica went still for a few moments as she watched Anton watch her. Standing up to her full height she began to walk slowly in a large circle around him. Using her bladed spade, she let her annoyance show itself by swiping at and cutting down the larger weeds that were directly in her walking path. Her attempt to be intimidating was obvious as she did this while keeping her gaze locked to his.

Anton couldn’t help but to smirk as he casually twisted himself at the waist as he followed her with his eyes.

Mica suddenly vanished and reappeared as far from Anton as her range would allow. Diving into a full sprint, the kiochi raced towards him at top speed. As she reached a mark that was about a dozen feet away from him, she launched herself headlong into the air and rolling forward into a flying somersault, she made as if to crash right into him.

Anton remained unfazed as he watched the now spinning kiochi make her quick approach and failed to react as she disappeared just before reaching him.

Mica reappeared high up in the air above and behind Anton and using the momentum she had gained, she sailed straight towards him at a high rate of speed as she twisted herself into position to give him a downwards kick to the back of his head. She was too surprised to react when Anton turned to face her, and moving to quickly to respond or change her path, she did nothing as he reached out and caught her outstretched leg at the ankle.

Using her own momentum against her, Anton twirled the kiochi around his torso before tossing her off to his side. Moving quickly, he then reached out and grabbed hold of the end of her tail, just before the spade, as it sailed past him. Bracing himself, he pulled back as hard as he could on the tail and yanked the hapless kiochi downwards.

Mica screamed out in anger as the elasticity of her tail was painfully stretched to its limit. With her limbs flailing and unable to teleport away due to her tail being held, she found herself being slammed to the ground where she landed in a haphazard heap. She laid still for less than a second before crying out again and rolling to the side.

Fiona covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh as Mica raised her arms up in front of herself and curled her hands into clawed shapes as she cried out though her clenched teeth.

The poor kiochi had landed in a patch of thorny weeds and her arms were now covered in the piercing spines of the offending plants.

“Oh! Oh, that’s too bad!” exclaimed Anton as a grin spread across his face “Sorry! That wasn’t part of the plan!”

“You...! Fuck! Ow!” cried Mica as she frantically began to pull the needle-like spines out of her arms.

“Seriously! I did not intend for that to happen!” laughed Anton “I am so sorry about that!”

“Mother, fucker!” muttered Mica as she got to her feet and continued to pull out the last of the spines. Turning to glare at Anton she rubbed at her sore limbs and set her jaw.

“ ... Do you need to take a break?” asked Anton.

Mica vanished and reappeared just in front of Anton. In a fury she reached for the key but was blocked when Anton grabbed her wrist and spun her around. Disoriented by the sudden reversal the kiochi didn’t respond in time and was given a quick kick on her butt which sent her stumbling forward. Disappearing again she reappeared up and above Anton’s left shoulder and reached for the key as she moved passed him in another controlled fall.

Anton quickly tilted his torso to the side and moved out of her reach as she fell forward. Disappearing again, Mica tried to follow his movements by continuously reappearing in front of him but Anton simply took one step backwards after another to avoid her sudden attacks.

Frustration clear on her face, the kiochi dropped to the ground, threw herself backwards and high kicked straight upwards in an attempt to strike at Anton’s face.

Catching her at the ankle, Anton lifted the seemingly weightless kiochi up into the air before flipping her over herself.

Now hanging upside down in midair, Mica disappeared and reappeared even higher up in the air nearly twenty feet away. Righting herself mid-fall she landed on her feet facing Anton.

Eyes full of rage and tail swiping at the air in anger, she rubbed at her arms as she again began to stalk around her target.

Anton merely watched her as he rolled his right arm to loosen up the joint at the shoulder. He turned to the right as soon as Mica vanished and grabbed her arm as she attempted to reappear behind him. Twisting her around, he bent her arm back behind her and planted it at the small of her back. The kiochi grunted in pain as he gave her another kick to her butt and sent her stumbling as he released her arm.

Mica vanished and once again reappeared some distance away.

“Dammit to Hell!” she cried out in anger as she kicked at the ground “How!? How are you reading my mind!?”

“ ... I, what?” questioned Anton as he stopped short.

“Is it this!?” exclaimed Mica as she held up the locked cuff “Does this let you in my head!?”