The Warrior's Way (Victoria)

Still dazed a bit by the expanding energy wave she had been hit by, Victoria tried to will herself to attack while Blondie could not respond, but that was just not happening. The brunette could only watch as the angry blonde recovered after a short time and went on the offensive again. The blonde mage led off with a blast of lightning and Victoria was able to dodge the blast thanks to her left leg deciding to work with her this time instead of against her. Victoria was not sure how long that would last, though.

Victoria turned to face her enemy as her left arm got its feeling back and her left leg seemed like it was trying to recover. The brunette dodged another blast of lightning by jumping to the right, but the timing was so close that the electricity almost hit her left arm again. The next bolt of lightning was sent her way and Victoria was forced to dodge yet again... this time she narrowly avoided taking a bolt to the left leg again. The blonde was throwing a lot of lightning around and showed no signs of stopping, which could be used to Victoria's benefit if she could figure out how to exploit it.

The brunette was finally getting some brain cell activity going again because she was able to think somewhat clearly. Her thoughts turned towards how to best attack her enemy. Kalama had seen a good deal of Victoria's weapons and bullets were of limited use when that fancy red sword could just deflect them with the same effort it took Kalama to breathe. After the blonde had seen it once a particular trick just did not work on her anymore, so Victoria would have to dig deep into her arsenal to find something to attack Blondie with.

Victoria's first impulse was to throw a regular Grenade, but Kalama had already seen the Stun Grenade, so she would likely counter it by running away or by kicking it back to the brunette. If Blondie was feeling particularly bold she could just pick it up and throw it back. Victoria quickly moved on while dodging another lightning blast by jumping right just in time. The constant lightning was making a counterattack difficult, but that was something that could be worked around. Then Victoria had an idea.

Why bother with a Grenade when she could make another attack instead, one that could not be so easily returned to her like a grenade could?

That led back to the difficult question of which one to use. Victoria still had a few spells she had not used yet, but some of them were just variations on spells she had already used. There was one spell she was saving for later, but now might be the best time to use it before something bad happened and she was unable to use it. Victoria decided to take a risk and use the spell while she still could, but she would have to act fast because the lightning was not letting up.

Victoria took two leaps back and once she landed on her feet after the second leap she jumped left to avoid more lightning. Once she landed on her feet she stopped and formed her right hand in the shape of a gun. The end of Victoria's right index finger sparked gold until the spell was ready. Shen then aimed carefully at where Kalama was and fired the Taser Spark spell in the direction of her enemy, hoping to hit Kalama in either the torso or the shoulder with the golf ball-sized ball of golden magic. Just moments after firing it Victoria tried to dodge another bolt of lightning and managed to dodge by running to the right but flopped and fell forward onto the ground thanks to her left leg going numb, making her scramble to get up before Kalama could capitalize on that weakness.

Victoria got to her feet and spun to face her enemy. She was not holding out much hope for the Taser Spark spell because it lacked the punch of her other spells, but maybe it could be the first step in starting a serious counterattack. That was what Victoria was hoping would happen, but Kalama was not going to make a counterattack easy.

[Post Word Count: 720]
[Victoria's Word Count: 9,686]
[Total Word Count: 18,474]

Spells Used:

Her head clearing from the grenade at this point, Kalama simply resumed her lightning barrage for the time being. It was not the most powerful of her spells, of course but the ease with which she could fire it made it one of her swiftest. Victoria, however, seemed to have learned to evade it though and not once had the blonde warrior been able to hit her opponent with her latest barrage. Irritating, considering the brunette’s difficulty with moving but Kalama once more simply let the annoyance increase her powers. There was only so much that her foe could dodge and while the dark mage was on the attack, it at least kept Victoria on the backfoot until the lightsaber wielding warrior was ready to plough forwards again. She still had a few tricks in her arsenal but if she were honest, her magic was rather light when it came to spells. Drawn out encounters were not usually what she indulged in, even if she desired them. Today was a rarity indeed.

She was wrong in her assumption that the brunette could not attack either, as Victoria managed to move around and launch an attack back at her. An odd hand gesture but not one that looked all that different from the Sabertooth mages other spells. A bolt of golden energy shot towards her and Kalama tried to move out of the way but to her surprise, her legs did not respond, still affected by the grenade and her injuries, resulting in the attack grazing the left side of her neck. It felt like an electric shock, which was amusing in a way considering her own most recent form of attack. A noticeable gash formed where the spell had struck and Kalama knew that she had been lucky, as had she been hit in the throat directly then the damage would have been far more severe.

Her wounds were becoming more and more of a hindrance, her legs not quite moving as efficiently as before. She needed to put Victoria down soon and that was a thought that began to break through her rage and plant itself in the forefront of her mind. It was strange but for the first time, her common sense was actually battling against her more carnal instinct and she was not pleased in the slightest. Indecision and doubt were no good to her now. Had she not rid herself of such emotions when she had indulged down the dark path?

Shaking her head slightly to get the cobwebs out and focus herself. Her gaze would fall upon Victoria, who seemingly was having leg trouble of her own. The sight invigorated the dark mage somewhat, giving her that extra push she needed to fight on and win this. She was still seething naturally and seeing the brunette suffer did bring her a great amount of satisfaction, even if that was tainted by the begrudging respect that Kalama reluctantly felt.

Performing a twirling motion with her left hand, the blonde would unleash a whirlwind of force energy which soon enough would start moving from her position and towards Victoria. It was not a pleasant spell and if it made contact then could well disorientate her foe. There were two reasons for casting that spell, one was to naturally deal damage but the second was something else, for as her whirlwind spun forward, Kalama would tap into her magic again and take a breath, trying to heal herself and repair some of the damage dealt. It felt wrong to do such a thing in the midst of battle but it was a necessary evil. She needed to be able to move freely again.

(615 Words)
(9402 Kal WC)
(19089 TWC)

Victoria was not counting on Taser Spark to hit, let alone do anything, but she was not going to argue with it. She had needed to hurt Kalama a bit and it had done that, but now the trouble that had been plaguing her throughout the fight began anew. She was running out of spells that Kalama had not seen before and as time went on the Sabertooth mage would have to recycle them with all the risks of diminishing returns that came with it. At least Kalama was taking hits too, which made the brunette's life a little bit easier since the murderous blonde was not in her face just yet. That was not the only good news, though.

Victoria felt her left arm finally regain feeling and return to normal use, which meant that she could wield two-handed weapons again and not have to worry about her shots going too far off the mark unless Kalama hit her while she was shooting. It was time to bring out her Grenade Launcher and use one of the cards she had been saving. Victoria raised her hands above her head and brought the Grenade Launcher into being, then felt it drop into her hands. Now she was loaded for bear... or for one very dangerous blonde mage. Victoria would like to see Blondie try and deflect a high-explosive grenade to the face.

Then again, that might not be such a good idea.

Kalama had demonstrated the ability to deflect the Sabertooth mage's shots time and time again, so being able to deflect a high-explosive grenade was entirely within the blonde's ability. Victoria did not want to fire an explosive projectile only for it to be deflected right back at her. While with a normal spell she would just hurt herself, having a grenade be sent back to her could inflict a nasty enough wound to end the fight in Kalama's favor then and there. She was already having enough difficulty fighting back as it was and losing a leg or other limb to an explosive blast was the last thing Victoria wanted to suffer. She would play it safe and use a specialty round instead.

At least that was the plan before Kalama made her move. The blonde began moving her left hand in a circle and after a few revolutions had produced a whirlwind that began heading for the brunette. Victoria turned around and began running as fast as she could go, but after fourteen running steps her left leg chose to give out on her once again at the worst possible time and forced her to stop, leaving her unable to dodge the incoming attack. Victoria was hit by the whirlwind and felt a sudden and intense dizziness that made her so disoriented that she was having a hard time telling right from left.

The dazed brunette turned to face Kalama but due to the loss of equilibrium almost fell on her right side trying to make the turn. She managed to stay on her feet, but just barely. Once she was steady again Victoria tried to aim her weapon but was unable to do so because her lack of coordination caused her hands to wobble too much. Therefore she could not hold the weapon steady enough to use one of the specialized rounds.

Victoria would have to wait until the dizziness wore off, but by that time Kalama could be right in her face. Fortunately she had a specialty round for that possibility in the form of the Bean Bag Grenade, but in order to use it her hands had to be steady enough to aim the Grenade Launcher. Not firing now was a smart thing to do as well as a calculated risk because she would only have one shot with the Bean Bag Grenade before Kalama caught on to the trick. This whole fight had been a series of calculated risks and the Sabertooth mage had was going to take yet another. She would wait until Kalama closed in before firing her weapon.

When the opportunity to use the Bean Bag Grenade came, she had better make it count.

[Post Word Count: 694]
[Victoria's Word Count: 10,380]
[Total Word Count: 19,783]

Requip Weapons Active:

With her whirlwind giving her the time needed, Kalama could feel her wounds start to repair themselves. Her spell was not all that potent and she had never truly bothered to master the art of healing but in a pinch, it was enough to at least do enough to keep her mobile. She had to remain still while casting it too, another downside which the blonde considered incredibly annoying and irritating. Yes, she had no other option and the effects of the grenade were disappearing. The bounce in her legs were back and she felt as though she could move properly again and about damn time too. Her swarming strategy was useless if she could not move fast enough and the thought of giving Victoria a lot of space was not one that she particularly enjoyed thinking about. Most of the brunette’s attacks against her had been with relatively small arms but Kalama fully expected more powerful ones, hidden in the woman’s magical arsenal.

An expectation that was soon proven true as Victoria summoned a grenade launcher into her hands. That was most certainly capable of far more damage and Kalama knew that being hit by that would do some severe damage to her but she also knew that if she could just get in close then surely the brunette would be unable to fire. It seemed a sound theory and as Kalama’s cloak activated once more, she would try to move in close again, her lightsaber humming once more. Her feet and legs were definitely responding better due to her healing and although her speed was not quite at its maximum just yet, it would be enough to hopefully give Victoria more problems. She sure as hell did not want to have grenades flying at her, as they were more difficult to deal with. Hitting a grenade with her lightsaber could result in an explosion, if she were not careful.

Her rage ability was still in effect and the blonde believed that at this point, she was starting to get a grasp on it. The overwhelming power that it had granted her was wonderful but to lose herself completely to it was something that had been difficult to handle. Yes, even now it still fed the fires of hatred within her but the blonde was forcing it to obey her rather than her becoming a slave to her emotions. They fuelled her but would not rule her and that was what she had begun to come to terms with. To master her darker powers, she needed to become the rider, not the horse. It was an important lesson for her and one that she might not have learned had it not been for the brunette. The force did have a stupid sense of humour sometimes.

As she closed in on the legal mage, her yellow eyes would bore into the green hues of her enemy, wanting nothing more than to start battering her into submission once again. Victoria had proven to be a far more sturdy foe than Kalama had expected, as very few could take even one slash from her saber, let alone multiple. The brunette was tough and at this point, the dark mage did not even mind admitting to herself as such. Respect was rarely earned from her but the Sabertooth gunslinger had put it on quite the display of toughness. There was a moment where Kalama even pondered that if she and Aoi had joined Sabertooth rather than Dies Irae, all those months ago, just how different their lives might have played out. Too late for that now though. Far too late.

(607 Words)
(10009 Kal WC)
(20390 TWC)

Victoria saw Kalama getting ready to get in her face and give her an even harder time than she was already giving the brunette. That meant that it would soon be time to play every card she had been saving up to this point. The brunette had been thinking about that to the point of wearing it out, but soon it was going to be now or never. Kalama was a close-range nightmare with that fancy sword and simple but effective attack pattern of getting in Victoria's face and staying there.

This was the time to consider using Claymore Blast, the Bean Bag Round, her Beam Cannon spell, even the Tear Gas Grenade if things got bad enough. Victoria would be caught in the cloud of tear gas and would be affected by it, but unless Blondie could somehow withstand a lingering cloud of tear gas she too would be affected by it. That was the last resort option Victoria had saved for a truly desperate situation when using it meant the difference between "get hit with tear gas and possibly live" or "don't use it and definitely die." Victoria hoped that the situation would not get that bad, but Kalama was tough enough to warrant considering that option.

Kalama went invisible again and Victoria frowned. That meant the Sabertooth mage would have to play "Guess Where Blondie Is" if she wanted to attack, but she had done it before. Instead of revealing her Bean Bag Round too soon she would settle for a standard Grenade instead. That would send shrapnel in a radius instead of having to hope she hit the target dead-on like she would with a normal projectile. With little left to lose Victoria moved the Grenade Launcher to her left hand, then held out her right hand and channeled magic into it until a dark green ball of magic that was roughly the size of a baseball formed in her right hand.

When the Grenade was ready Victoria threw it in the direction she believed Kalama to be in... once it landed in the blonde's approximate area Kalama would have three seconds to get clear or take other measures to avoid the blast. If she could not escape the blast radius or neutralize the projectile the Grenade would go off and send shrapnel in a 360-degree area. However, just like with the Stun Grenade, the Grenade could be kicked away or picked up and thrown back at its sender, giving the blonde a couple of ways out... if she was bold enough to pick it up and take the risk of it exploding near her feet or exploding in her hand.

Victoria was not holding her breath on the Grenade really doing anything since Kalama had already seen the Stun Grenade and the Grenade operated on a similar principle, only sending out shrapnel instead of a blast of light and noise. At this point she would take any opportunity to deal damage to Kalama that she could get. It was worth a try.

After throwing the Grenade Victoria took the opportunity to take a few big steps back to give herself some space to prepare before Kalama moved in. Once she had taken five big steps back she began to think fast about what she could use next. It was too soon to use the Claymore Blast spell, the Bean Bag Grenade, the Tear Gas Grenade, or the Beam Cannon spell. It was too soon to use any of those spells or special Grenade Launcher rounds... Victoria needed to save them for when she had as clear a shot on Kalama as she could get.

Not sure if she had put enough space between her and the murderous blonde, Victoria did five more big steps back before stopping because of her left leg deciding to go numb. She wished that it would start working again, but she had probably used most of her luck getting the use of her left arm back right before Kalama made another big push. For the time being she would have to continue the fight where she was with what she had. Taking the Grenade Launcher into both hands again, Victoria took a deep breath and watched for the phantom menace to appear any time now. Once Kalama appeared the Sabertooth mage would start using what she had been keeping in reserve up until now to try and swing the momentum of the fight in her favor.

[Post Word Count: 746]
[Victoria's Word Count: 11,126]
[Total Word Count: 21,136]

Spells Used:

Her focus once more on getting in close, the recovered blonde would continue to stalk the brunette, her healing spell having done just enough to allow her to move properly. She was rather unconcerned about Victoria attacking in return for the moment, as Kalama had by now seen the majority of her opponents' attacks and knew that if her blade could not block them then she had the speed to evade them. That being said, the blonde did not have an awful lot of additional attacks to use either at this point, her own skill set being somewhat limited. She did not have dozens of different force attacks at her disposal, instead relying on her blade for the most part. Yes, she still had a few up her sleeve but did she truly want to use them all? Not yet.

Soon enough, Victoria threw another grenade in her direction, seeming to know where she was. It was rather annoying but at this point, Kalama was no longer surprised. The hum of her blade always tended to give away when it was activated and the brunette definitely had the sense to realise that. A necessary evil though and nine times out of her time, her opponents were not fast enough to escape from her anyway. The brunette was in the other camp. With her movements no longer hindered, Kalama had numerous ways to avoid the grenade but in a moment of clarity, that was not what she did. Instead, she raised her left hand and launched a force push, which sent the grenade back towards Victoria. It seemed a prudent move and one that would hopefully keep the pressure on her opponent. She would not need too long to get in range, after all.

Regardless of what happened with her grenade, the dark mage would waste no time in pressing forwards, her blade vibrating with power as she tried to get into melee range, wanting nothing more than to cleave her opponent in two. Begrudging respect aside, she still desired to destroy the stout foe before her and nothing else that she felt was stronger than that want. Her mind was still ravaged by hatred but Kalama could start to feel the after effects of her rage ability. It could only remain active for so long and the longer she continued to access it, the more of a drain it had on her mental state. For a second, her vision blurred, forcing her to shake her head but still, she would fight until either Victoria was beaten or the blonde herself could no longer move. It was as simple as that.

The grenade launcher in Victoria’s hands was a slight concern and since she had yet to fire it, Kalama assumed that she was up to something with it. The woman continued to move backwards to make space and all the dark mage could do was continue to press, her blade swinging repeatedly, targeting the various weak points that her earlier barrage had created. She knew that the brunette was not in top shape at this point but how many more strikes would it take to take her down? She dismissed the question after a few moments. The numbers did not matter and she would simply keep slashing until the end. There was no other path forward for her and if Victoria wanted to win, she would have to have the same willpower as Kalama had. It had become a real war of attrition and probably the toughest fight that the blonde warrior could remember having, much to her annoyance and in a way, joy.

(604 Words)
(10613 Kal WC)
(21730 TWC)

Victoria saw that the Grenade had been deflected back at her before it went off, which was exactly what she was afraid would happen.

"Damn!" Victoria remarked as she quickly scooped it up with her left hand and hurled it to the far right, then turned away from where she thought Blondie was and began to run. She made it only eight running steps before the Grenade went off and sent shrapnel everywhere. She felt a few pieces of it lodge in her left arm and some pieces graze her left leg and felt quite a bit of pain. Victoria had cut it close with the grenade toss, but she had bigger things to worry about, namely Kalama's approach.

Victoria turned and found that Blondie was practically in her face with that fancy sword of hers swinging. The brunette tried to step back and avoided a few of the strikes, but her left leg refused to work at a critical time and she was left stranded in place. Victoria took two hits from the sword on her left arm and three on her left leg before mustering the strength to jump back three big leaps. She had taken quite a few hits on that "exchange" and was able to remain on her feet because if she gave in to the pain now she would be killed and the people of Ace Of Spades would be in deep trouble.

Victoria had to stay on her feet for their sake as well as her own. Quickly thinking of how she wanted to try and retaliate, Victoria knew what she wanted to do. She was going to use the Bean Bag Grenade she had been saving for this moment because the fight had reached the "now or never" point and if she did not use it now she might never get a chance to use it. Thankfully her left arm was still working or using the Grenade Launcher would have been an exercise in futility.

Aiming for where Kalama was at the moment, Victoria held the Grenade Launcher steady for a few moments before firing the Bean Bag Grenade in the blonde's direction. Kalama would see a clear grenade fired from the weapon, then the grenade would open up in mid-flight to release a large bean bag towards the blonde. It could be dodged or it could be redirected, but the Bean Bag Grenade was not explosive, so the worst either Kalama or Victoria would get was a nasty bruise from the impact. Once the Bean Bag Grenade had been fired Victoria hung onto the Grenade Launcher because if things got really bad she might have to use the Tear Gas Grenade.

Victoria was not sure whether to follow up the Bean Bag Grenade with the Claymore Blast spell. With the angry blonde in her face Victoria needed to quit holding back already. However, she did not want Kalama to pick up on that trick just yet. The brunette decided to use it now because if she did not use the spell now she might not get another chance. Victoria quickly moved the Grenade Launcher to her left hand and raised her now-empty right hand into the air as it glowed gold, then dropped to one knee and punched the ground, releasing a 360-degree blast of steel ball bearings in Kalama's direction.

Kalama had experienced the effects of steel ball bearings after being on the receiving end of Victoria's Claymore Burst spell. If she were fast enough Kalama could dodge them or perhaps even send one or two back in Victoria's direction. It remained to be seen how Kalama would react to the one-two punch of Bean Bag Grenade and Claymore Burst. Maybe Victoria could convince her to back off... or maybe the blonde would push the attack anyway after seeing blood in the water several times during their fight.

Victoria still had a couple more cards to play, but she was running out of them fast. The next ones had to be used to the greatest effect because she would only get to surprise Blondie with them once.

[Post Word Count: 686]
[Victoria's Word Count: 11,812]
[Total Word Count: 22,416]

Spells Used:

It would be fair to say that the blonde had been successful with her latest strikes, scoring multiple blows on her opponent, not to mention Victoria being struck by her own previously thrown grenade. Kalama was rather pleased by the result and the smell of blood was becoming stronger, seeping from her foes' multiple wounds. How she was still moving so well was beyond the blonde’s understanding but the dark mage had to admit that it was rather impressive. The brunette was not falling, no matter how many times Kalama struck her but the warrior was not put off by that. No, it simply encouraged her to attack even more ferociously, attempting to push Victoria further and further back until there was nowhere left for her to go. Her own wounds did not feel quite so bad, the sting of her earliest ones now little more than a dull ache although she did start to feel perhaps just a touch of fatigue.

Her rage ability was drawing to a close now and that would result in a loss of magical power. She could attempt to reactivate it again when it did but was it worth the price? The weakness of rage was the inevitable depression that set in soon after its use and Kalama knew that if that struck her mid battle then she was going to end up being the one to suffer in the end. Her will to fight would be sapped away, as would any other sensations that she felt. In a way, she would be as she was before becoming a full blooded dark mage, an unhappy and grim warrior that felt nothing at all. Not something that she desired to experience again, now that she had finally started to embrace her anger and hatred. The depression was not permanent and would eventually pass but regardless of length, she could not afford it now.

Following Victoria as she jumped away, a pale eyebrow would rise as the brunette aimed and fired something from her grenade launcher. It was an accurate attack and moved swiftly enough that there was little time for the blonde warrior to evade but dodge she did by leaping into the air and over the strange looking projectile. Just what had that been? It looked like a beanbag but surely not? Who would fire such a thing in the middle of a fight? “An unusual attack.” She uttered aloud, her first words for quite some time. Her tone was not one of mockery but there was the slightest hint of her surprise.

It appeared that Victoria was not done either and smashed one of her fists into the ground, releasing a blast of those annoying steel bearings. There was not a lot of time for her to do anything and reluctantly, she raised one of her hands and created a sphere of force energy around herself, protecting her from the majority of the projectiles. Kalama did not enjoy using defensive techniques and in truth, this was the only one she had but it was formidable enough and useful in a pinch.

The more problematic issue was that it stopped her from pursuing her quarry and such was her irritation with that fact that she ended up channeling energy into her lightsaber and threw it with the force towards her enemy. Victoria knew enough about it by now to know just how powerful it was and if it made contact, the pain would be as severe as ever. The brunette was covered in burns by this point and Kalama desired for nothing more than to cause a few more.

(605 Words)
(11218 Kal WC)
(23021 TWC)

Victoria was visibly surprised by the swift and graceful leap Kalama took to avoid the Bean Bag Grenade, but the surprises did not stop there. After raising a timely shield dome to stop the incoming steel ball bearings, Kalama took her fancy red sword and hurled it directly at the Sabertooth mage. Victoria looked at the weapon flying towards her and blinked.

How was Blondie able to do that?

Swords were not the most aerodynamic weapons, but throwing one could be done by someone with the proper training. Kalama obviously had the proper training. The brunette saw the weapon heading for her and took evasive action by jumping to the right side, but she had waited just a bit too long to dodge because she took a glancing hit to her left side from the blade and felt an intense burning sensation that literally took her breath away. On the bright side, her left leg had finally decided to work with her... for now.

As she recovered from the unexpected attack Victoria tried to think of something else to use against Kalama. She had tried the Bean Bag Grenade and that had not worked. Neither had the Claymore Blast spell. The Sabertooth mage had held back her Beam Cannon spell and the Tear Gas Grenade, but she ran into the familiar problem of being unsure if now was the best time to use them. However, she would need to make a decision soon.

Kalama was tougher than any other opponent Victoria had faced up to this point and had landed a lot of hits on her, so the brunette would need to use a healing spell to help her go the distance. The brunette had just the spell. Channeling golden magic into her right hand, the Sabertooth mage then placed the hand over her heart and cast her Hard To Kill spell, healing herself on the spot and causing the golden glow coating her right hand to disappear. The spell would not heal the pain from her burns or make sure that her left leg would not betray her at the worst time yet again, but it would heal Victoria enough to keep her on her feet. Kalama had hit her multiple times with powerful strikes and the brunette had need of that healing.

Once Hard To Kill had been cast Victoria turned her mind back to the issue of what offensive spell to use against Kalama next. She still had the Tear Gas Grenade and Beam Cannon spell in reserve, but she then thought of another option. Maybe she should use her Rocket Launcher against Kalama. A Heat Seeker rocket might pack enough of a punch to give Blondie a serious problem, but Victoria swiftly decided against using it.

Kalama could send the Heat Seeker right back at Victoria with explosive results.

However, the Rocket Launcher was an option if nothing else worked.

Deciding to put that option aside for now, Victoria opted to use what she had. She leaped back two big leaps to give herself some space, then dispelled her Grenade Launcher for the time being. The Sabertooth mage needed to attack Kalama somehow, so she decided to use another one of her weapons from the past and brought out her Shotgun. It had served her well in the past and it might be able to help her out of this situation.

Victoria brought the Shotgun up to her shoulder and aimed it in the direction she believed Kalama to be in, then fired a round of Big Shot. The Big Shot would appear as a dense cloud of shotgun pellets flying towards Kalama. The blonde mage could either dodge them with her speed or use her shield to protect herself. If she somehow got her fancy sword back in time she could even deflect them.

[Post Word Count: 640]
[Victoria's Word Count: 12,452]
[Total Word Count: 23,661]

Spells Used:

Active Requip Weapons:

Active Requip Abilities Used:

Another successful hit with her blade and Kalama simply raised her right hand after it had struck her foe, resulting in the red lightsaber flying back towards the dark mage. Telekinesis was a bread and butter ability for those who used her magic, allowing her to retrieve her weapon without any chance of her being cut by her own weapon. Her saber spun towards her briefly, before coming to a perfect stop in the woman’s weapon hand, ready to be used once again. It had not always been that way and Kalama had initially struggled to master it to begin with, such was her longing to simply bash her foes from close range instead. Hitting someone from a distance just did not have the same appeal. Still, that was all in the past now and she was wise enough to know that there were times where she would be unable to fight from her proffered range, no matter how hard she tried. Up until now though, it had been successful and the damage that had been dealt to Victoria’s body and limbs was plain to see. Not enough to defeat her though and Kalama was under no illusion about the difficulty of the task that was in front of her. Victoria was as hard as she was and the dark mage had finally found someone with the same desire to win as she had, which was oh so refreshing.

To her slight surprise, Kalama would begin to notice that her opponent's wounds would begin to heal, resulting in an eyebrow raise from the blonde haired woman. That was troublesome but the weapon wielding mage could not truly knock her opponent for doing such a thing. Had she not already done so herself? To see her hard work be undone was slightly frustrating but that only inspired Kalama on. If Victoria still had a few tricks up her sleeve then that could only mean that the fight would continue, much to the yellow eyed villain’s joy. She would remember this battle for some time and a brief smile crossed the features of the normally stoic figure. The blonde still had a few tricks herself although she was uncertain as to just how effective they would be.

Victoria soon had another weapon in hand and fired a powerful blast of buckshot that forced Kalama into action once more. Spinning her saber around, she would perform a defensive maneuver that she called the Circle Of Shelter, sending the buckshot all over the place as she did her utmost to defend herself from the attack. It would appear as though her weapon was everywhere, countering each projectile and shielding Kalama from harm. Only a pellet or two would actually travel back towards Victoria though as it was impossible even for Kalama to deflect everyone in the direction she wished. In fact, one or two actually penetrated the blonde’s defense and struck her, resulting in a loud grunt from the warrior.

Her previous healing and defensive spells somewhat took the sting out of the bullets but they still made their mark. God, was she getting sick of bullets and Kalama made a vow to herself that if she ever saw another gun mage then she would decapitate them before they could even start shooting.

Once the pellets ceased, Kalama would make an odd gripping gesture with her left hand and after a few moments, a spectral version of it would travel towards Victoria. It might have looked unthreatening and meek but if the brunette was struck by it then it would feel as though it was Kalama’s hand around her throat, attempting to choke the life out of her. It was not a pleasant spell at all, anything but.

(624 Words)
(11842 Kal WC)
(24285 TWC)

Shortly after firing the Big Shot at Kalama the Sabertooth mage witnessed Blondie somehow regain her fancy sword without having to run and get it. Victoria frowned when she saw that. That meant that any time Kalama threw it she could get it back moments later, which was something Victoria had not anticipated. Kalama was tougher and more clever than Victoria had expected, but the brunette was no pushover herself. The outcome of this fight was still up in the air.

The Big Shot was deflected by a skillful display of swordsmanship from Kalama, who deftly parried a lot of the pellets and sent them in every possible direction, including back at Victoria. The brunette showed visible surprise but managed to duck under the few pellets that had been redirected to her. Victoria frowned and took a deep breath. While she had managed to hit Kalama with a few pellets, that minor hit was nowhere near enough to swing the momentum of the fight in her favor. It was time to bring out a bigger weapon, but whether that "bigger weapon" was her Light Machine Gun or her Rocket Launcher remained to be determined.

Victoria watched Blondie to see what her enemy was going to do next and she was surprised by what happened next. Kalama raised her left hand towards the brunette and then partially closed that hand. The brunette blinked.

What kind of nonsense was going on here?

Victoria saw something even weirder happen after Kalama had done the unusual gesture. A ghostly hand was fired towards Victoria and the brunette saw it too late to avoid it thanks to her slow reaction. While Hard To Kill kept her on her feet, it did nothing to eliminate the fatigue that was starting to slow the Sabertooth mage's reaction time. The ghostly hand hit her and her throat immediately began to close up like someone was strangling her. Victoria dropped her Shotgun and began to visibly struggle against what was happening to her.

It was not making any sense... Kalama was not physically gripping her throat but the brunette was still being strangled. It was hard for the brunette to think while the pressure was being applied to her throat. Her Shotgun was lying at her feet and the brunette was afraid that Kalama would go for an ironic death and shoot her with her own weapon, but she was in too much pain to think straight enough to dispel it right away or otherwise try to keep it out of Blondie's reach.

As tough as the brunette was she was not immune to being strangled nor was she immune to the effects of her own weapons, which was why she had held back the moment she learned that Kalama could deflect shots from her weapons. That was also why Victoria had held back on employing the Stun Grenade and the Grenade. It was also why she had not brought out the Rocket Launcher... if Kalama could deflect bullets, it was likely that she could deflect rockets too. The last thing Victoria needed right now was for a redirected rocket to go off near her.

Victoria had a few options left. She had her Beam Cannon spell and she had her Tear Gas Grenade. She also had her fists if all else failed, but that was the absolute last resort because resorting to fists would put her in range of Kalama's fancy sword. Victoria hoped that she would not have to use her fists because she would not last long against Blondie and her sword at close range.

However, before Victoria could even think of retaliating against Kalama she had to recover from the intense pain of the strangling.

[Post Word Count: 620]
[Victoria's Word Count: 13,072]
[Total Word Count: 24,905]

Choking the life out of Victoria with her magic was most certainly a pleasurable experience although Kalama knew that it would be nowhere near enough to kill her opponent. It had been used as a way for her to close the distance once again and even though she could not sprint without losing concentration, she was able to slowly move towards her foe while Victoria was being strangled. Her enemy had truly seemed to have been taken aback by her choking spell which Kalama supposed was only to be expected. Tekenisis seemed to be a rather rare form of magic in Fiore and besides herself, Kalama had never come across anyone else who seemed to share her own abilities. The blonde knew that there were others who wielded her magic out there or at least versions of it and one of her goals was to wipe them out completely. As long as there were others out there, she would always be vulnerable to them.

Soon enough, her choking spell would run out of time and it would fade away. It would no doubt have done some damage though and Kalama knew that now was a fine time to strike once more at her foe but there was something else that briefly stopped her. Her rage ability had run out and her eyes reverted back from the crimson red that they had been to their typical yellow. The benefits of the spell also faded away and she felt a decline in her magical powers. A frustrating time for her to have the ability wear off and already she could start to feel the void of sadness and depression that tended to be the result of the spell. It would become more overwhelming over time and Kalama knew that she would not be able to fight it off forever. The after effects were just a natural part of the spell, ones that she could not avoid, the sacrifice that she had made by using it.

Deciding that it was best to keep on the offence in order to not only pressure Victoria but keep her own emotions in check, Kalama would move forwards again, her legs now having fully recovered from the damage caused to them previously. There was a little fatigue starting to creep in at this point and the blonde was uncertain as to how much longer she could continue to fight but she was not going to quit, not as long as there was breath in her body. She had come to the Ace Of Spades in the first place for blood and the warrior would not rest until she had satiated her need to splatter it all over the ground. Victoria had obviously taken her fair share of damage as well which inspired Kalama onwards, her lightsaber moving up in front of her face, in case of any more projectiles being fired at her. Soresu was the name of her defensive style of combat and never had she realised before today just how useful it could be. Normally, she shrugged it off as a cowardly technique.

Sparks would soon be seen being fired from her left hand as she fired another barrage of lightning towards her foe, trying to once more send waves of agony through her opponent's body. Victoria knew the effects of such an attack by now of course but that did not stop using it. Her opponent was recovering from being shocked after all and it would take a little time for her to recover fully. Things seemed to be coming to a head or at least that was what Kalama felt.

(607 Words)
(12449 Kal WC)
(25512 TWC)

Victoria was slowly starting to recover from the strangling the spell had inflicted, but she did not recover fast enough because Kalama was already back on the offensive and was clearly bent on finishing the fight. Victoria bent over and ignored the pain as she scooped up her Shotgun, then prepared to send some more lead in Blondie's direction. Using Big Shot again was not such a good idea and Solid Slug would probably not work either because Blondie was clearly anticipating both. Well, maybe not Solid Slug in particular, but bullets in general. If Kalama listened she could probably hear the sound of gears turning in Victoria's head.

Since bullets might not work, Victoria had another idea. She could sling another grenade in Blondie's direction, the Sticky Grenade. As the name implied it would not move from where it was thrown, ensuring that Kalama could not easily return it to its sender. The idea was tempting, but the chance of Kalama redirecting it in midair was too great a risk to take. Victoria would just have to use something else.

But what could she use?

Bullets had to be used sparingly because no matter what weapon they came from or what rate of fire the weapon boasted most of them operated on the same principle. Kalama had already seen the Submachine Gun, the Light Machine Gun, the .44 Magnum Revolver, and now the Shotgun. Using the Sniper Rifle would be pointless because it too fired bullets and it fired too slowly to inconvenience Kalama. The Tranquilizer Rifle was similarly pointless to use for largely the same reasons. All of their rounds could be deflected, so they were not a surefire means of inflicting damage.

Victoria saw Kalama fire another blast of lightning from her left hand and knew what would happen if she got hit by it, so she hurried to the right and did a diving jump. The Sabertooth mage just narrowly avoided it and by "narrow" it was such a slim margin that her left foot was almost hit while she was airborne. When the brunette landed she made sure to keep the barrel of the weapon pointing away from her head so that an accidental firing did not have messy and lethal results. She quickly scrambled to her feet and faced Blondie's general direction.

Victoria looked in the direction she believed her foe to be in and had an idea. Kalama's fancy sword could deflect shots. That much had been established from the get-go and had been proven multiple times. What if Victoria aimed somewhere other than Blondie's upper body?

What if Victoria went for the legs?

Kalama would likely be able to see that coming and either use her fancy sword to redirect the shot, jump out of the way of it, or even jump above it. If Kalama did not predict that then the brunette would have landed a hit. Either way it was worth a try. Victoria raised her Shotgun to her right shoulder, aimed in the direction she believed Blondie's right leg to be in, and fired a Solid Slug at Kalama's right leg. The shot was a single round instead of a cloud of buckshot and thus could be deflected or dodged, so there was no guarantee that the projectile would hit the target.

Not content to let her Shotgun do all the talking, Victoria lowered the weapon, raised her left hand, shaped the fingers of her left hand into a gun, and aimed for where she thought Kalama's left leg was. She then prepared and fired a Derringer spell at the target. Again the shot could be dodged or deflected, but Victoria was playing for time to think of something else to use and getting a feel for the degree of protection Blondie's fancy sword gave her from attacks aimed at places other than center mass or the head. Maybe Kalama was unaccustomed to dealing with projectile attacks that were aimed at her legs.

[Post Word Count: 664]
[Victoria's Word Count: 13,736]
[Total Word Count: 26,176]

Spells Used:

Active Requip Abilities Used:

There was still some life left in Victoria considering the athleticism she used to dodge the blonde’s lightning, if only by a fraction. Kalama was not overly surprised though, given how often she had used the spell during the fight. Still, it was a handy and useful little spell to keep her foe on the defence and did not require an awful lot of magical power for the warrior to use. All it took was the right amount of hatred to fuel it and Kalama still had that in spades. Anger not just at Victoria but at the world in general. She had suffered so much in her time and now it was only fair that she spread it around to those she encountered. Either they would perish or become stronger for it, there were no other alternatives. Victoria though was definitely in the latter category and Kalama suspected that should they fight again, her foe would be far more prepared. The blonde would have to develop some new abilities or even tap into her magic in order to keep up with her, which was not something that she was against doing as such. Relying solely on her force powers was rather limiting and she had yet to tap into the magic that she had used before turning to the dark side of the spectrum.

Victoria had the shotgun in her hands again and as Kalama brought her saber close to her body in order to use her Soresu properly. The attack was directed at her right leg, resulting in an eyebrow raise from the warrior and a rather desperate swipe from the blonde as she tried to block the blow. It was rather more difficult to protect her legs and her sweeping defence unfortunately missed the slug, resulting in her taking a rather nasty shot that knocked her backwards a bit. It stung a fair bit although by now Kalama was adapting to getting shot, despite her attempts at protecting herself. She was definitely rusty with her defensive technique and would most definitely need to dedicate herself again…or…use a slightly more aggressive form.

Her opponent was not finished though and fired another Derringer shot towards her other leg but fortunately for Kalama, she was prepared for this one. Starting to move towards Victoria again, she would switch her stance, a more aggressive one which allowed her to start pressing forwards, while still able to block effectively. Shien was its name, a style dedicated to creating openings rather than merely defence and more useful in redirection. Kalama would capture the shot well, sending it straight back towards Victoria at considerable speed. Defence was not going to win her the fight at this point. Time was short and even her cloaking ability was starting to fade away. Oh, she would persevere but even her endurance was not unlimited. Victoria would no doubt be in the same boat though, which gave her a nice boost to her slightly waning wrath. The after effects of her rage spell were becoming stronger by the minute.

Summoning the force once more, Kalama would suddenly emit a powerful shrieking sound from her mouth that would release a cone of magical power in front of her. The damage would be reasonable but the sound was just as much of an issue, able to disorient those who were not strong enough to fight off the spell's effects. The reason for her using this spell was simple, hopefully allowing Kalama to move into lightsaber range again to batter the Sabertooth mage even more. Her movement was a tad restricted by the slug but her previous wounds had healed by now.

(611 Words)
(13060 Kal WC)
(26787 TWC)

Victoria saw that her Solid Slug had managed to hit Kalama in the leg. That was good for Victoria, who was starting to grow more fatigued with each big expenditure of energy such as running, jumping, or diving out of the way of an incoming attack. Kalama was obviously far from finished, but each hit Victoria made boosted her confidence that she could go the distance with the murderous blonde mage. Kalama had sprung a lot of surprises on Victoria, but chances were good that the brunette had given Blondie a few unpleasant surprises too.

The Derringer shot had been deflected, but Victoria was not terribly concerned about that. Her lack of concern nearly proved to be her undoing when the deflected Derringer shot hit her in the left shoulder, causing her to groan loudly. Not only had she been hurt, but technically she had hurt herself. Again. Again the shot had landed in her left shoulder, causing the Sabertooth mage no small amount of pain, distress, and humiliation.

That had to be at least the third time in this fight that she had been hit in the left shoulder by one of her own deflected bullets.

Shoving down a rising feeling of humiliation over having hurt herself yet again, Victoria clenched her teeth and faced Kalama, who was not content to stand back and let Victoria continue to technically hurt herself by deflecting the Sabertooth mage's shots. For her next attack Blondie did something that Victoria did not expect and performed a powerful scream, projecting a visible cone that was aimed directly at the brunette. Victoria's reaction time had been slowed by a combination of fatigue and the pain from the most recent bullet wound to her left shoulder, so she was hit by the cone and heard the sharp sound of screaming ring in her ears. The brunette visibly wobbled in place due to the sonic attack and had visible difficulty staying on her feet.

Victoria began to step backwards to try and put some space between her and Kalama and made it three slow steps before her legs wobbled too badly to enable her to move backwards without the threat of falling onto her back or backside. Victoria stopped moving and faced what she thought was Kalama's direction, but the Sabertooth mage could not really be sure she was seeing her enemy because of the state of her vision. One moment she thought she could see clearly and then the next she could not. Being unable to see Kalama was a bad thing because both her offensive and defensive ability suffered while she was unable to see straight.

There was nothing Victoria could do about the disorientation but to wait out the effects. That was a luxury the brunette likely did not have, so she needed to at least try to defend herself while she recovered from the worst of it. Victoria dispelled her Shotgun and brought out her Submachine Gun for a second time. Its rapid fire would allow her a reasonable chance to defend herself at close range, but Kalama had deflected its rounds before, so Victoria was not going to rely entirely on the Submachine Gun. It was more a means to keep Kalama on her toes until Victoria could get over the disorientation and aim better.

Since her vision was currently too bad to even consider shooting at Kalama, Victoria decided to not shoot until she could see somewhat straight. That was a risky move since Kalama could close in without much risk, but it was better than firing wildly and looking desperate. If Victoria was perceived as becoming desperate, that perception would likely make Kalama even more aggressive. Victoria would take a chance and wait for the worst of the disorientation to pass.

[Post Word Count: 632]
[Victoria's Word Count: 14,368]
[Total Word Count: 27,419]

Active Requip Weapons:

Her scream spell had been effective, judging from the state of Victoria after using it and Kalama wasted no time in starting to close in again. The brunette’s gaze was all over the place and even without the warrior's cloaking abilities, Kalama doubted that her foe could see her properly. It was an irritating ability that she had used, one that the blonde did not use all that often and Kalama’s throat had dried a little just by using it. Still, it was worth it and the dark mage was rather pleased with the results. She did not expect her foe to be out for the count due to it but it gave her an opening to exploit. Her eyes were drawn briefly to the left shoulder of her enemy, a spot where Victoria had been struck multiple times and a massive bullseye for Kalama to aim for. Victoria had taken many strikes from Kalama’s blade, as well as bullets from her own weapon by now and the blonde could not help but wonder just how much she had left. Neither of them could keep this up forever and something would have to give.

Unfortunately for Kalama, her cloak chose that moment to finally fail completely, revealing her form for the world to see. An exasperated sigh left her lips but it was to be expected. She had managed to keep it active for an incredibly long time and it was more than due for a recharge. The blonde would have to fight normally again and it was that thought which caused her to go straight back onto the offence again. Once Victoria’s eyes had cleared, she would be able to aim far easier and the last thing Kalama wanted was to get any more bullets lodged into her body. Yes, she could deflect some but as had already been proved, her lightsaber was not infallible.

Again, Victoria tapped into her powers and summoned her sub machine gun, resulting in a frown crossing Kalama’s features. A rapid fire weapon, which would no doubt force her onto the defensive again if she was not careful. She was not going to let that happen though and with her Shien stance active, the statuesque blonde sprinted forwards, prepared to send any bullets fired towards her directly back to their sender. The idea of the stance was simple and the complete opposite of her previous, to aggressively stalk the opponent rather than merely protecting oneself.

To her surprise though, no bullets came her way which caused her to become suspicious. Was the scream truly that effective or was Victoria up to something? Either way, the blonde was not going to find out by simply hanging back. She had done enough hanging back during the fight already and the warrior keenly desired to be on the front foot once more, where she thrived.

Should she actually succeed in reaching her opponent, Kalama would begin to lash out with her blade, her attacks ferocious and aggressive, keenly aiming for the many weak spots that Victoria was sporting. Her rage and cloak spells may have faded but that did not take the sting out of Kalama’s anger nor attacks and each strike would feel as brutal as ever. However, her body was starting to scream with pain too, as fatigue and tiredness began to take their toll upon her. This battle had been drawn out to such an extent that the blonde felt as though she was being drawn into deep waters, which was not a place that she was all that eager to explore. What was for certain though was that the fight had been an excellent test for her abilities.

(615 Words)
(13675 Kal WC)
(28034 TWC)

Victoria was so dazed by Kalama's latest spell that she did not even know where to begin looking for her opponent. Her ears were still ringing and her vision was still wobbly. Her equilibrium was also disrupted, so much so that she was going to have a bit of trouble moving at any speed faster than a walking pace without the risk of falling to the ground. At least Kalama had turned visible again, meaning that the brunette would not have to guess where her opponent was before firing in her direction.

However, hitting her was still going to be a problem.

Kalama was almost as skilled on defense as she was on offense and that fancy red sword had blocked a lot of bullets that had been sent Blondie's way. Some of the returned rounds had even found their way into Victoria's left shoulder. However, being able to at least see Kalama for the time being was a blessing and Victoria was in no position to turn down any blessing no matter how small it was. She would need every benefit she could get as Kalama charged towards her with the fancy red sword.

Victoria knew from experience that shooting at Kalama's head or chest would not work very well because of the blonde's defensive abilities. Shooting at her feet or legs might work better, but making such a shot with any consistency would be difficult for two reasons. First, Kalama was on the move and she was moving fast, so Victoria would have to line up the shot. Second, Kalama had already been hit in the leg once, so she was likely going to be watching for Victoria to try that trick again.

Victoria still had to fight back, so she began to think of spells or weapons that did not require much precision. She already had her Submachine Gun in her right hand, but she needed something else, something to throw at Blondie. Deciding to back up a few steps to give herself a bit more room to work with, Victoria backed up seven big steps before her equilibrium threatened to betray her. She stopped there and moved the Submachine Gun to her left hand, then prepared another Claymore Blast spell with her right hand.

Once it was ready the brunette dropped to one knee and punched the ground, releasing another blast of steel ball bearings that shot out in a 360-degree area around the brunette. That spell did not require much precision to use because of the number of projectiles fired and the fact that they fired in all directions around her. Kalama would see the steel ball bearings headed for her and could either jump over them, dodge them, or send them back to Victoria. Victoria stood up from casting the Claymore Burst and wobbled for a moment... dropping to one knee so quickly had been a bad idea.

Once she had recovered from the casting motion she moved her weapon back to her right hand and began to aim at Kalama, bringing the weapon up to her right shoulder. She aimed as carefully for Kalama's legs as her wobbly vision would permit and fired a Three-Round Burst at the blonde's right leg. Kalama would likely be able to see the bullets heading for her and would be able to jump over them, deflect them with her weapon, or avoid them with a well-timed dodge. If Victoria was particularly unlucky the shots would miss entirely thanks to the awful state of her vision. Shooting at someone who had proven themselves able to defect bullets time and time again was not the best idea, but it was all Victoria could do right now until her vision recovered and she could move fast enough to try to dodge attacks or move back without the risk of falling over thanks to her disrupted equilibrium.

[Post Word Count: 646]
[Victoria's Word Count: 15,104]
[Total Word Count: 28,680]

Spells Used:

Active Requip Abilities Used:

The legal mage was still able to evade her despite her lack of vision and Kalama did feel a pang of frustration regarding that. Clearly the brunette was made of sterner stuff then to just start panicking but the blonde had expected her to just slow down a touch. Still, she kept her irritation from crossing her features and the dark mage simply began to prepare her next attack. Drawing the brunette in was still her preferred method and she knew that the more time she spent in the Sabertooth mages face, the more difficult it would be for her opponent to fight back. She and Victoria were so different when it came to magic and were polar opposites when it came to range but somehow it was balancing out. They had both taken roughly the same amount of damage from what the dark mage could tell and it seemed to be a relatively even contest. Kalama knew that once the adrenaline wore off, she was going to be in for a world of pain and misery but that was the sacrifice that was willing to pay in exchange for a good fight, one that Victoria had provided for her. It had certainly brought her more pleasure than just beating up those peons in the Ace Of Spades.

Her opponent all of a sudden decided to plant their fist into the ground, a move that she had already used in the fight and Kalama brought her saber up to try and parry the barrage of ball bearings that came flying towards her. She had felt the sting of those annoying damn things and the blonde mage had no interest in having them embedded in her again. Her red blade would cut through the majority of the projectiles and did not have too much trouble this time around. She kept pressing forwards, not allowing herself to fall back onto the principles of Soresu, instead continuing with Shien. Her focus was on closing the gap, which the latter was superior at doing. That was not to say that it was perfect and the blonde almost received a nasty shot to her already wounded side. The only reason she was not hit was due to Victoria’s attack being a little off centre, possibly due to her disorientation. Kalama would take any advantage she could exploit.

Victoria was not finished though and soon enough, she would raise her sub machine gun and fire another burst at the gold eyed mage. This time, Kalama was far more aggressive and clattered the majority of the spell back directly at Victoria, trying to clip her in that damaged shoulder of hers. It was the weakest point from what she could tell and the blonde knew that her foe would have little chance of even being able to hold a large weapon if she could keep striking at that specific spot.

Her aggressive stance had aided her greatly and Kalama wasted no time in sprinting towards the brunette, preparing to unleash a barrage of saber slashes, her goal crystal clear. She desired to return to her swarming tactics that had worked so well during the early part of the fight and the blonde knew that considering the toll that the fight had taken on her enemy, it would be difficult for Victoria to fend her off. Yet, despite her confidence, she could feel the ever increasing pull of fatigue, both to her body and mind. The Force was a massive source of strength but even it had its limits and the warrior was beginning to realise that perhaps it was reaching that point.

(605 Words)
(14280 Kal WC)
(29285 TWC)

Victoria stood her ground against Kalama and watched as her Claymore Blast attack did not do anything other than mildly inconvenience her opponent. The Three-Round Burst did not even slow her down... instead she redirected the bullets right at Victoria, who felt all of them hit her in the left shoulder. That was not good. She had already taken several hits to that area and now she had taken three more. She was starting to feel a wave of pain that threatened to hamper her ability to meaningfully fight back.

Victoria clenched her teeth. Kalama was already too close for comfort and the Sabertooth mage was running out of viable options for attack. Kalama was too close to safely use the Grenade Launcher against, even if Victoria fired the special Tear Gas Grenade. The only Grenade Launcher round that was safe to use at this distance was the Bean Bag Grenade and Kalama had already seen that particular specialty round, so the chances of it working a second time were not very good.

Kalama had already seen most of what Victoria could do. Victoria had brought out most of her weapons and most of them operated on the same principle, so once Kalama had seen one she had seen almost all of them. The only difference between most of her bullet-firing weapons was the rate of fire. Event then rate of fire would not be enough to save Victoria because Kalama would only deflect them and send them right back at the brunette.

At this point Victoria would be better off throwing rocks at Kalama.

Or if all else failed Victoria could try closing in with her nemesis and punching Kalama in the face.

Fists could work when all else had failed. The brunette was seriously considering that course of action because she had tried her usual approach of hanging back and firing various weapons at her target until they either died from numerous wounds or were too badly hurt to continue fighting and her usual approach had had mixed results. Victoria had made some hits on the murderous blonde, but she had not made enough of them thanks to Kalama's skill at deflecting projectiles with that fancy red sword of hers. It was clear that a different approach was needed.

Victoria began to give some serious thought to the idea of rushing up to Kalama and trying to punch the blonde in the face a few times.

On one hand, it would be a very good surprise attack. Kalama might not be expecting Victoria to do that after the latter had been hanging back while shooting and slinging spells the entire fight. The surprise factor might be just enough for Victoria to close in and try to land a few good punches on Blondie.

However, there was a major problem with that approach.

Once the surprise wore off the brunette would be standing dangerously close to Kalama. She would be close enough for Blondie to hurt her badly with that fancy red sword of hers and that was just if Kalama did not feel like using some of her spells to hurt Victoria even more. Besides, considering how fast she moved and how adept at dodging Kalama was, there was no guarantee that Victoria could land a punch even if she got close enough to take a swing or two. Those factors made closing in for a slugging match an option of last resort, but having to fight with her fists might become a necessity if she did not start trying to fight back soon.

But what could she use?

Victoria had only a few viable options left, but for some reason she was hesitant to use them. She blamed the fatigue and the pain from her left shoulder wounds. She needed to find a way to overcome those difficulties if she wanted to stay alive, but being shot several times in the left shoulder would make combat and logical thought difficult for all but the hardiest individuals. Victoria was going to have to dig deep if she wanted to get out of this alive.

Victoria dug deep and activated her Bullet Time ability, causing her body to suddenly gain a gunmetal gray outline that would be visible to the approaching blonde as well as giving her spells a little more power. Victoria should have used it sooner, but hindsight was always 20/20. Bullet Time was one of the measures she had been saving for just the right moment and she was pretty sure that "the right moment" had arrived. The ability would only last a short time, so Victoria would have to make that time count. She already had an idea of what spell to lead off with when she started attacking.

[Post Word Count: 794]
[Victoria's Word Count: 15,898]
[Total Word Count: 30,079]

Active Unique Abilities Used:

That shoulder of Victoria’s was precisely where Kalama had hoped that the deflected bullets would strike and her senses were now keenly focused upon that point. Further damage to that spot would surely make her foes larger weapons impossible to use and they both probably knew it. The warrior was slowly but surely removing her foes arsenal and the warrior’s confidence was at an all time high. The weariness was becoming more and more difficult to handle though and the dark mage was aware that the fight probably would not go on for much longer, regardless of the result. The after effects of her rage were also adding to her fatigue and there were just the inklings of unhappiness that were starting to rattle against her rage. It was most definitely a concern as it would eventually sap her will to fight completely, a fact that she knew all too well. It had happened before and was a natural part of the rage technique. The next few days were going to be horrible for her emotionally and it was going to take time for her to return to her usual self. A price that she was willing to pay though.

To her slight surprise, Victoria would start to glow with a gray light, causing her outline to shimmer. Kalama cocked an eyebrow but made no verbal comment, curious as to what this ability of her enemies was and why she had been hiding it until this moment. The Sabertooth mage almost looked as though she was surrounded by magical energy and her aura was increasing in strength. An ace in the hold perhaps? Whatever it was, the blonde was not going to allow herself to be overwhelmed by the increase in her foe's strength. She would respond as she always did and slowly began to tap into her own powers once more. After a few moments, pulses of force energy would begin to appear from her position, spreading out and harmlessly vibrating. They did not cause any damage or negative effects at all but what it did was focus Kalama’s own power, increasing both her physical and magical might, turning her body into a finely tuned weapon. Her wounds would start to heal once more too as an additional effect. Battle Meditation it was called and a safer option than Rage.

There was a grave risk in her still trying to pressure her foe, now that Victoria had unleashed her new ability but Kalama would not be deterred. There was no fear, no hesitation and for now at least, she was able to strangle the inner demons that were beginning to stir and use them as fuel. She would not allow them to take control, not while there was a fight still to win. Charging forwards, she would attempt to swarm her foe once more, her lightsaber clearly aiming for that wounded shoulder of the brunette’s. She wanted to cleave the woman’s arm off and if that was beyond her then simply another strike to it would suffice. The dark warrior had few tricks left although her strongest ability was still in her locker but it was not one that she wished to use just yet. Not until the time came for the killing blow. It was not an ability for the faint of heart and made her lightning look like just a static shock. Such was the way of the Force. There was always a more twisted ability to learn if one sunk low enough into the darkness and tossed aside their weakness. Most would call them unnatural but Kalama just thought of them as the opposite. Using one's anger and fury was the pinnacle of human nature.

(619 Words)
(14899 Kal WC)
(30698 TWC)

Now that her Bullet Time ability was working Victoria had only a short time to hit Kalama with as many spells as she could throw at the latter before the ability wore off. The trouble would be hitting Blondie to begin with, but that was an obstacle that would have to be overcome. Victoria did her best to ignore the pain in her left shoulder as she dispelled her Submachine Gun and focused on what spell to begin attacking Kalama with. Victoria's vision and equilibrium were starting to recover, so there was that small blessing. However, Victoria noticed that Kalama had started emitting visible pulses, which was something that made the brunette wary because she had no idea what that meant, so she would have to be very careful.

She had a few viable options with which to start her attack. Her first impulse was to lead off with Claymore Burst and follow up with Derringer, but then she decided to reverse the order. She was going to lead off with Derringer followed by Claymore Burst. She was going to aim the Derringer at one of Blondie's legs so that there might be a chance that the shot would not be redirected into her left shoulder... again. She did not know how much more her left shoulder could take before it gave out on her.

Speaking of her left shoulder, Kalama was charging right towards Victoria with that fancy red sword slicing through the air right towards it. The brunette was unable to react in time to completely dodge the blow, but she sidestepped one big step to the right just in time to avoid losing the arm to Kalama's sword. Victoria clenched her teeth as the pain went through her left shoulder again... one glance at the arm showed her that her left shirt sleeve had been so badly cut and shot to pieces that it might as well not even be there. The numerous bullet holes and the bloody wounds meant that this shirt would have to be trashed as soon as the brunette got to safety.

She had really liked this shirt too.

Ignoring both the pain and the tattered state of her shirt, Victoria jumped back two big leaps, then landed on her feet and formed the fingers of her right hand into the shape of a gun and aimed the "gun" at Kalama's left leg before firing a small gray bullet at Blondie's left leg. Kalama had seen the spell several times before, so she could either dodge it or deflect it. Or it could go off course entirely because Victoria's vision had not yet fully recovered. Once the Derringer spell had been fired the brunette jumped back two big leaps to give herself a little time to think about her next spell.

Victoria landed on both feet after the second jump and had to take a moment to recover from the pain coursing through her left shoulder. In between the technically self-inflicted gunshot wounds and the other hits Kalama had landed on it the shoulder was just barely holding out. Victoria had a hard time moving it, but she would have to move it if she wanted to use Claymore Burst and the spell she had been holding off on using, Beam Cannon. Using larger weapons was all but out of the question, but they would not do her much good even if she could use them.

Victoria focused gray magic into her hands, then once the spell was ready pushed outwards, casting a Claymore Burst at her enemy. The spread of steel ball bearings could be dodged, redirected, or they could miss entirely because of a small wobble in her vision, but Victoria was not terribly concerned about that. Instead she was focused on keeping her enemy busy while she planned when to use her ace in the hole, her Beam Cannon spell. It was too soon to use it, but the Sabertooth mage needed to use it soon before her left shoulder either gave out on its own or Kalama took it out with a spell or her sword.

Victoria decided to hold off on casting a third spell. Her left shoulder was giving her trouble and she needed to save using it for when she cast Beam Cannon. Adding to the pressure was the fact that Bullet Time was going to run out soon, so she had better use her most powerful spell if she wanted to benefit from the power boost Bullet Time offered. Victoria would need the power boost because Kalama had proven to be a very tough opponent and normal-strength spells just were not doing the job at this point.

[Post Word Count: 782]
[Victoria's Word Count: 16,680]
[Total Word Count: 31,480]

Spells Used:

Just what her foe was made of was a mystery to the blonde warrior as the woman’s shoulder still remained even after another powerful blow from her crimson coloured blade. Still, the damage had been good enough and Kalama was not expecting much from Victoria’s left arm for the remainder of the fight. The brunette had already shown that she had a variety of one handed spells but they were not particularly concerning for the dark mage. It was the larger ones that were the issue and entirely why she had focused so intently on her enemies limbs. For all Kalama knew, Victoria might have had a missile launcher or something, which even someone of the warrior's abilities would have struggled to deflect back. One wrong gesture and the whole bloody thing might have exploded in Kalama’s face. No, her method had been far more prudent and was paying off in spades.

That grey aura remained around her foe though and the blonde reckoned that it was most definitely a power boost of some kind. Given Victoria’s lack of defence, Kalama assumed that it was more likely to be an increase in her offensive capabilities to give her bullets even more punch. Kalama’s yellow eyes narrowed slightly but she was hardly afraid at the thought. She could still get her blade to them and that was all that mattered. Her opponent looked a complete mess at that point and a slight sneer crossed her features for a moment. Perhaps she should derobe her completely and humiliate her in front of her guildmates? An amusing thought and it was hardly beyond Kalama to do such a thing.

Victoria was on the offensive again and Kalama easily recognised the gesture, having seen it multiple times. It was one of her enemies most common spells apparently and not all that difficult for Kalama to bring her lightsaber blade around to deflect. There was something slightly amiss though and the amount of energy that was required to deflect it was higher than before. The bullet did indeed have more power behind it, confirming her suspicions and the sneer of Kalama’s face darkened into something more hostile. She still sent the bullet flying but it was a warning to the blonde, one that she took on board. It appeared that her foe was playing the last of her cards and the warrior knew more than most that she would have to be particularly wary. The brunette was not overly bright but she was stubborn enough to go for something risky, that much Kalama was fully aware of by now.

Her opponent was not finished and soon enough, Victoria unleashed another wave of ball bearings to come forwards towards her. Kalama hissed and reluctantly started to swing her blade around again to try and defend herself but unfortunately, her reflexes were just a little off and she took a few of them to the body. The pain was horrible and the damage of the attack had definitely increased. This new ability of her enemy was fuelling all of her abilities and since the blonde had no idea of just how long it would last, she had no idea as to whether this boost would become the norm.

Blood was starting to form through her battle outfit and Kalama’s irises flashed red with anger at the sight. This was not what she needed, not when her stamina was already draining away. She would not concede or slow down however and channelled her pain in order to increase her own powers. It was another weapon to be wielded and she clenched her fists as she remembered that lesson, which had been taught to her in the most painful way possible. Her healing abilities were fading away too and she knew that the effort to restore them would not be worth it. They were just not natural to her. Damage was her forte, not restoration.

Summoning the power of the force into her left hand, Kalama would then slam it into the ground, resulting in an earthquake-like event to burst from her position, spreading outwards. It was not an ability that she had shown up until now but honestly, she was coming up short when it came to new abilities to use. Should Victoria be unable to evade the quake then she would find herself becoming struck by another wave of disorientation, as Kalama’s spell was naturally made to mess with her opponents footing.

If that was not enough, the blonde would then raise her lightsaber and throw it towards the brunette once again, in an attempt to strike at her from a distance. Her crimson weapon of destruction darted towards Victoria, harnessing the killing intent of its wielded. There was no time left for feeling out with just simple attacks. It was time to raise the heat to the maximum.

There was time for Victoria to evade Kalama’s spells but could she in her current state?

(828 Words)
(15727 Kal WC)
(32308 TWC)

At this point Victoria was barely hanging on. Her left shoulder was threatening to give out and it showed because the brunette was not using her left arm very much, something that Kalama was likely to pick up on. Her shoulder had taken too many hits for her to use her larger weapons and it was all she could do just to move it now, but time was running out for her to use her big spell, the one she had been saving this entire time. She had forsaken the use of her other weapons just to have a chance to use this one, but before Victoria could use Beam Cannon she had to weather Kalama's counterattack.

First she saw Kalama deflect the Derringer shot and was not surprised... Blondie had proven herself adept at deflecting gunfire. Victoria knew that at this point Derringer shot had a low chance to hit her enemy, but that was OK. The whole point was to keep the blonde from rushing her with that fancy sword of hers and doing her best to cut the brunette to pieces.

The Claymore Burst had a little more success than the Derringer shot. Victoria was actually surprised when a few of the projectiles hit her opponent, but the brunette grew concerned when she saw the blonde's irises unexpectedly flashed red. As far as she remembered this was the first time an opponent had ever done that, but it did not take a rocket scientist to know that someone's eyes flashing red was never a good thing. The brunette was not sure what to expect from her enemy.

Victoria watched Kalama closely and saw Blondie slam her left fist into the ground, creating a seismic disturbance that was centered around her but expanded outwards. Victoria did not expect her opponent to be capable of such a feat and was thus caught flat-footed. She was hit by the seismic disturbance and her footing took a big hit, but that was not all she had to worry about. She spotted that fancy red sword flying towards her and only had a short time to dodge it before it made contact with her.

Victoria's balance was affected by being hit by the disturbance, but she needed to dodge the sword unless she wanted to be hurt even worse than she already was. With time running out Victoria made a judgment call. She stepped right and felt the sword graze her left side, causing a good deal of pain and also losing part of her shirttail. The brunette visibly grimaced in pain from the glancing blow.

She faced Kalama and quickly ran over what spell she would start out with. Claymore Burst was a good option because it was not as reliant on precision as some of her other spells, but she would have to strain her left shoulder to use it and since her equilibrium was thrown off she might not even hit Kalama. It could not be helped. If she did not use Claymore Burst or any of her other spells while Bullet Time was active she would likely not get another chance to use them.

Victoria raised both hands outward and channeled gray magic into them, then pushed outward with both hands to fire the Claymore Burst. Kalama had seen the spell several times before, so she could either dodge or deflect the steel ball bearings. There was also a chance they might miss thanks to Victoria's disoriented state. Her left shoulder ached a little, but this was not the time to stop.

Victoria raised her right hand and formed it into the shape of a gun while grabbing her right wrist with her left hand and channeling magic into it. When the spell was ready she aimed for Kalama's left leg and fired the Hand Cannon spell at the limb. Kalama could deflect or dodge the projectile if it did not miss entirely thanks to her disorientation.

Next Victoria channeled golden magic into her right hand, then punched the ground and cast a Claymore Blast spell, sending another wave of steel ball bearings towards her enemy. Kalama could dodge or deflect the steel ball bearings with somewhat greater ease than those sent out by Claymore Burst; the Claymore Blast spell sent them out in a 360-degree area around Victoria instead of focusing them in a narrow area like with Claymore Burst. Thanks to that dispersion and her less-than-solid footing there was a chance that none of them would hit, but that was a chance Victoria was willing to take if it meant keeping Kalama at bay.

Victoria took a deep breath and steadied herself. The time had come to use Beam Cannon. This was her most powerful spell and she would have only one shot with it before Kalama would learn how to deflect it. Victoria ignored the strain in her left shoulder and raised her arms for one last big spell.

Victoria put both hands together in the shape of a gun and channeled golden magic into both of them. At the end of the "barrel" a golden ball of magic that was approximately the size of a marble formed. When Beam Cannon was ready Victoria fired a visible pencil-thin beam of golden energy aimed at Kalama's chest. The blonde could dodge or deflect the beam or it could miss altogether thanks to Victoria's equilibrium issues.

Victoria had chosen that location because she did not have time for fancy trick shots and needed to fire the spell before her left shoulder gave out completely. Center mass was a lot easier to hit, but that part of the body was also a lot easier for Kalama to defend. Firing Beam Cannon at Kalama's center mass was a gamble, but it was one that had to be taken.

After firing Beam Cannon Victoria's left shoulder gave out and her left arm hung uselessly at her side. Bullet Time also ran out, causing the gray aura that had been surrounding her to disappear. Victoria was going to be in for a rough time when Kalama eventually struck back.

[Post Word Count: 1,018]
[Victoria's Word Count: 17,698]
[Total Word Count: 33,326]

Spells Used:

Two more successful hits and still Victoria fought back. The dark mage had long accepted the fact that the brunette was going to be her toughest foe and nothing that she was seeing should truly have surprised her any more. Kalama’s body was wracked with pain and exhaustion, her breathing becoming more laboured the longer the fight went on. The Force was keeping her in the fight and it was only with its strength that she was still capable of fighting. She could almost feel it surrounding her, penetrating her and keeping her damaged body together. In truth, it had never felt like this before and the blonde pondered if a fight of this difficulty was what she had needed all along, to truly understand her powers. She had thought of it as simply a source of strength and power to be…well forced to obey her will but now, she wondered if perhaps there was more to it. A discussion for another time of course and as she prepared herself for the inevitable counter attack from her powerful opponent, Kalama brought her blade up again to defend herself from whatever Victoria threw her way.

First of all was the familiar ball bearing barrage that she had encountered several times by now. The weary warrior simply took a breath and fell back into her original saber stance. As much as she desired to go on the offensive again, it was becoming more difficult due to her stamina. Her defensive style was far easier on her and as her red blade swang around before her, the ball bearings would easily be sliced and diced by her. A cowards stance maybe but against Victoria, it was incredibly effective and the perfect counter to a projectile firing foe. Her movements were certainly not as crisp as before but she was able to handle the attack, protecting herself from the annoying bearings and stopping herself from taking any more damage.

So focused was she on defending her body from the bearings that she did not quite see the brunette already firing another projectile towards her. Again, it was an attack that Kalama had previously seen but her reaction time was just not fast enough to quite get her blade down to it. The bullet went straight through her leg, resulting in an ear splitting roar to escape Kalama’s lips as a horrible wave of pain flooded her system. Her left leg was a bloody mess and the eyes of the dark warrior flashed red once more, as she tried to protect her injured limb from further damage. Any chance of her being able to swarm her opponent from close range was gone but she would not allow herself to suffer the indignity of giving up. She still had options, even if they were not ideal. The fight was not over yet.

It was difficult to get back into position after the bullet to the leg and the blonde’s left leg gave out from under her, leaving her in an awkward kneeling position which certainly did not help with the pain. She was purely on the defensive now and as Victoria once again fired another powerful barrage of bearings in her direction, Kalama could do nothing more but try and deflect them once again. Her current position made it easier in a way as she was a smaller target but her defensive swings were all over the place, lacking precision and sending the bearings all over the place. Still, she at least did not take any further damage.

At that point, she thought that perhaps Victoria had finished with her spell combination but that was not the case and a weary eyebrow rose as her enemy performed another odd gesture, before firing a golden beam of light in her direction. It was incredibly fast and although she tried to stop it with her blade, she was once more too slow. The attack caught her square in the chest and threw her backwards, resulting in a rather painful landing due to her leg.

That attack had been something else and she could not recall having been hit with anything as powerful as that. Was that Victoria’s ace? It certainly had enough power behind it to be and as she struggled back to her feet, planting her blade into the earth to aid her in getting to her feet, the Force wielding woman’s expression was grim. Her wounds were adding up and there was a nasty burn where Victoria’s light spell had struck. It had been no bullet and as Kalama glanced down to look at the wound, she realised just how fortunate she had been. The attack had almost struck her in the heart. That thought only caused her anger and rage to build once more but it also brought an odd sense of joy. To have been pushed so far was such a thrill for the blonde warrior, one that would be difficult to top. Massacring weaklings would just not have the same appeal after this.

After a moment collecting herself, Kalama would tap into her Rage ability a second time. She knew that the risks would be enormous but that did not matter to her any more. The Sabertooth mage was in hardly any better shape than her by the looks of things and the dark mage knew that if she pushed a little more than victory could well be hers. The red tinge from her eyes spread down once more, with veins of the crimson colour appearing all over her body, keeping her together. Never had she used the ability twice in one battle but when had she ever needed to until now? Her enemies had never been powerful enough to challenge her up to this point. Her Rage skill would allow her to move around a little batter and repair some of the damage but they were only the side effects. The main one was the immense increase to her spell power, which she would use to bury her enemy once and for all.

Leaving her saber sticking up in the ground for the moment, Kalama would then take a breath and channel the power of the force once more, forming a jet black coloured mass of energy, before firing it in the form of a beam in the direction of her wounded foe. In terms of damage, it was the most powerful spell that Kalama possessed other than her lightsaber and should it strike, then not only would it likely stun but would also lower her enemies physical and magical damage for a long period of time. Force Judgement it was called and it was time for the brunette to receive exactly that. A black beam, a perfect reply to Victoria’s golden one.

(1131 Words)
(16858 Kal WC)
(34457 TWC)

Victoria was surprised by the outcome of her last series of spells that she had cast while still able to use both her Bullet Time ability and her left arm. Claymore Burst had not done much, but Hand Cannon had hit its target, a modest success which was surprising to her. When Kalama deflected the steel ball bearings from Claymore Blast that had headed in her direction the brunette was secretly impressed by the blonde's defensive skills, which were almost as good as her offensive skills. No one had ever given Victoria this much trouble and the brunette had some degree of respect for Kalama's tenacity... not that Victoria would ever say that out loud.

The biggest success that came out of the sequence of spells was hitting Kalama with Beam Cannon. That was Victoria's most powerful spell and if that had missed or been redirected then the brunette would have been out of options. Well, she had already run through almost all of her options, but Beam Cannon was her last throw of the dice if she wanted to really hurt Kalama. Now that Beam Cannon had been fired and had hit the target the brunette had used her strongest spell against the blonde.

After casting that spell Victoria's left shoulder had given out and her left arm was now useless. Kalama, far from defeated, had dug deep and found the will to keep fighting. Victoria watched with visible surprise as Kalama rose to her feet with glowing red irises and glowing red veins that appeared soon after her irises began to glow. Whatever was about to head Victoria's way was not going to be good.

At this point Victoria had played all of her big cards. She had used the Light Machine Gun. She had used the .44 Magnum Revolver and both special rounds for it. She had used her Grenade Launcher's Bean Bag Grenade. She had used Claymore Blast. She had even used her Bullet Time ability to make Beam Cannon a little bit stronger than it usually was and Beam Cannon was already her strongest spell.

Kalama had survived it all.

As a result Victoria had nothing left to use that Kalama had not already seen. Victoria could not make use of her stronger weapons and spells since her left arm could not be used. She did not have anything left that was strong enough to do anything more than mildly inconvenience Kalama. Kalama, on the other hand, obviously had a few tricks up her sleeve. She used one of them to prepare and fire a beam of black energy at the brunette.

Victoria saw the attack heading for her and knew she had to dodge, but the dark beam was moving too fast for the brunette to take evasive action. She barely had time to think about turning to run before she was hit by it while standing still and facing Kalama. Victoria felt the power of the beam as it hurt her quite a bit, but she felt something else too. She was feeling weak... well, weaker than she already felt.

The brunette was starting to run out of steam because she had been giving the fight everything she had since it started. Victoria had dug deep twice in order to keep going, but she was not sure if she could rally a third time because the beam she had just been hit with really hurt her and threw off her concentration. The pain from the beam was so intense that it threatened to send the brunette falling to the ground. She visibly wobbled on her feet and then staggered backwards for five steps before she regained her footing; she stayed on her feet while her left arm hung uselessly at her side.

Fighting back was currently not possible for a variety of reasons. The first was that she had already used everything that could really hurt Kalama. The second was that the fatigue that had been building up was starting to creep over her. The third was that being unable to use her left arm made using her powerful spells and weapons impossible. All of those handicaps meant that Victoria was a sitting duck for whatever Kalama wanted to throw her way next.

[Post Word Count: 710]
[Victoria's Word Count: 18,408]
[Total Word Count: 35,167]