The Endless Hourglass

Chapter Twelve

"Tha...That's not..."

"...is that true?" Howzer's opponent asked, covering her chest. Pandora laughed, not because of the situation but because Howzer was the one in the situation. The entire time Pandora's known Howzer, he was always extremely respectful of women.

"Hell no! I dislike hurting women, that's all! No matter how strong they are!" Howzer kept attacking the woman and she kept dodging. He eventually cornered her with two tornados, giving her nowhere to run. He was about to send another tornado her way but she simply grabbed his hand, stopping the attack. She quickly hit him in the face. Howzer started to get more and more frustrated. He wasn't used to losing. Pandora watched in horror as he kept trying to attack the girl, sending some pretty serious attacks her way. He finally released a 'Super Cyclone' and Pandora was staring forward in shock. What on earth had gotten into him?

She couldn't see a thing until the storm ended. Howzer lay on the ground, holding his stomach in pain, and the girl stood next to him. His opponent rushed over to him to make sure he was okay. Pandora couldn't make out what they were saying but she didn't care. She was disappointed her friend took the fight that far. Howzer eventually pulled himself off of the ground, walking slowly over to Pandora. She put on the hat, hiding her hair. She walked to the edge of the ring, ignoring Howzer who was standing next to her.

"Come on, Pandora. You can't really be mad at me."

"I'm not mad, just disappointed. But I think you already know why that was too far so I'm not going to lecture you."

"Sorry, Mom."

"Hey, shut up! I'm still in my prime! I don't look a day over twenty."

"You do realize you look like a teenager, right?" Howzer asked, making fun of his friend.

"I'm not that young either! You're so mean!" Pandora hit her friend on the shoulder. Without another word, she removed her cloak and handed it to Howzer. Loud whistles erupted from the crowd and Howzer looked like he wanted to beat everyone up. Pandora laughed and patted his head. "I always forget how chivalrous men are." She laughed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's fine. Don't kill anyone okay?" Howzer grumbled a 'sure' and Pandora laughed. Even though she was so much older than him, he treated her like a little sister at times. Pandora turned and walked into the center of the ring, stopping in front of her opponent, Taizoo.

Even though most people were taller than Pandora, her opponent was no exception. He had to be at least a few feet taller than her.

"I'm not actually gonna have to fight her, right?" Taizoo asked the announcer. He shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with the situation. "Come on! She's practically a kid! She can't be over a hundred pounds." The announcer ignored him and announced the match had begun. "This makes no sense! She has no chance of winning. She's going to get herself killed!" Pandora was furious. She was a Holy Knight of Liones yet here was some guy assuming she was weak. Taizoo picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She played along for a second, weakly struggling to free herself. He started walking towards the side so Pandora grabbed his arm and effortlessly flung him to the ground. She pinned him, face down, on the ground and put a knee in his back. She moved so fast that the audience barely saw what happened. She held his arm behind his back, pulling it harder and harder.

"Give up." she told him in a low voice.

"No. I'm not going to lose to a child."

"This is ridiculous." Pandora mumbled to herself. "If you aren't going to surrender, I'm gonna have to push you out."

"I'd like to see you try." He smirked at her for a split second until it twisted into a grimace of pain. She pulled his arm, it released a loud snap as it broke. She held onto his forearm and pulled him to the edge of the arena and effortlessly threw him out of the arena and off of the large rock where the festival was taking place, only using one hand.