Subjective Justice

Chapter Thirteen Part Two: Changes

Another two months went by with Akio training every day to regain her strength. Her body ached, and the cybernetics seemed to continue fighting against her, though it wasn't nearly as painful as before.

"Come on, land a punch, you're too slow," Eris taunted, bouncing from side to side in the sparring area.

Akio panted, placing her hands on her knees. They had been at this for hours now. Having five surges scattered throughout the sparring session certainly didn't help her energy levels. As awkward as it was, Akio needed to find Indra and have her scan the cybernetics.

"If you don't land a punch, it's five laps around the mansion for you," Eris stated with a wicked sneer.

Oh stars, not more laps.

Repositioning herself, Akio met Eris' gaze. "Bring it."

Akio dodged the first onslaught of blows by doing a shoulder roll to the side and then blocking with her arm, the side of her leg, and arm again.

The routine repeated until Eris had nearly pushed her off the edge of the mat with a side kick to the gut.

Coughing, Akio regained her balance, cussing at herself for letting a blow slip under her defenses. If she fell off the mat, it would be over, and she would be running five laps. Akio hated running.

She sprang forward, doing a shoulder roll to dodge another attack, and met Eris' next kick with her own.

She hooked the leg used for the block beneath Eris' knee, and propelled herself into the air with her standing leg, releasing, and delivering a spinning kick to Eris' ribs.

Not giving the LizzDraken a chance to recover, Akio turned around, leapt into the air, and delivered an uppercut, grabbed Eris' arm on the way down and threw her off the mat upon landing with the gained momentum.

"Ha! No laps for me today," Akio spat, her chest heaving from the effort of the fights.

One out of thirty? Better than yesterday. It wasn't a good score, but it was better than zero.

"Starshit, you didn't need to hit so hard," Eris groaned, still laying on the floor.

Did Akio hurt her?

Quickly rushing over, Akio stumbled over herself as her leg shut down, ending up on the floor beside Eris. "This damned cybernetic, stars!"

"Why haven't you fought that hard for the other rounds?" Eris asked, sitting up and holding her jaw.

Akio grimaced, the surge shooting up her side. "I didn't want to hurt you."

Eris punched her in the arm. "You've been holding back on me, that's an insult. I want you to fight full on everytime, if you don't that sours the victories."

"Fine. I promise to stop holding back, as long as you can take it," Akio said with a taunting smile.

Rolling her eyes, Eris huffed. "I'm the strongest fighter here, don't ever go easy on me."

Akio stood up after her leg finally started working. "Wanna go again?"

"Hell yeah."

The two sparred for another few hours, finally evening the score to thirty for Akio and thirty for Eris. After the final round, Akio's arm and leg shut off, their power flickering. Eris, helped Akio to the infirmary after contacting Indra.

Akio stared at the floor as a scan was run over her body, checking the fusion, the circuitry, and general functionality of the cybernetics.

"Nothing is showing up in the scans. It's fully fused, and reads normal. How long has this been happening?" Indra asked, her hands tracing over the brail readings of the screen. She paused over one section, feeling over it again. "Huh, that's weird."