Control

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Rin gripped Sting's wrist with both hands in an attempt to pry his choking grip from her throat. Her nails dug into his skin but he didn't even flinch. He was nothing but a lifeless robot.

"Sting," she croaked. "Please―" He squeezed harder, making her head feel dizzy. She felt as if her whole body was losing its weight like she would float into the atmosphere any second now. The brunette tilted her head to the side as much as she could to look at Ajeel who seemed helpless and lost. Her eyes pleaded with him to stop the fight. How could he refuse?

"Alright, weirdo!" His odd nickname for the enemy made Rin's eyes roll to the back of her head. "Guess I'll play hero today!" Using his sand monsters, he attacked the woman, successfully moving her away from the scene to give Rin and Sting some space.

The female looked deep within her mate's eyes, hoping to find any glimmer that he was still there. To no avail. There was only one choice now, and that was to fight him herself.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled out of breath. She used her full strength to kick him in the groin, figuring it was the most pain she could cause him to get him off of her. She was definitely stronger than him when it came to magic, but his muscle mass was beyond hers. What can she say? She has good taste.

Sting tumbled beside her with enough time that she could stand and catch her breath. She took a glance at her body, finding her attire in tatters, her creamy skin showing through the rips in her dress. She felt exposed but figured there was no use in fretting over it since it was just her and Sting (plus a clueless redhead trying to find her bounds).

The blonde scrambled to his feet and stared her down like a predator. His eyes glowed dangerously and his fangs protruded slightly. She gulped at the animal in front of her. She hated the way he looked at her, comparing it to the one from nights before when he had a similar, hungry nature. But this was so different from them. It wasn't tempting or sultry. It was scary. He really wanted her dead. "Sting, please..."

The blonde charged at her with Holy Nova ready on his fist. Rin barely had time to dodge his blow. It's like his power was set at full throttle when he was fully intent on killing someone. However, Rin just couldn't find it in herself to take the offense and attack him. Her eyes began to water as he leered at her. It seemed like he hated her. "Sting!" The two spun around, facing each other once again. A low growl emitted from the blonde's throat; the rumble startled the female. It's like she was finding it hard to believe that this battle was live or die for her. Any fights they'd had before were purely for entertainment, so this shook her entire world.

Rin watched him jolt at her again, this time becoming a bit more frustrated with the male. She retaliated after dodging his claws, throwing a heavy punch to her abdomen, followed by a left hook to his cheekbone. "Snap out of it already, dammit!"

She took into account that her magic could easily restrain him, but she felt as if she'd need to save her energy for the boss battle. With Sting, close combat wasn't a problem. However, with Miura's power of controlling people after a single point of contact, Rin knew she could only fight her by keeping her distance. Plus, she didn't know how strong this woman actually was. She'd have to keep her match with Sting the physical type.

"Rin." His familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts. His gaze was the same as before, but it seemed as if he was trying to soften his tone behind the robotic voice that spewed from his mouth. "I miss you."

The brunette took hesitant steps away from him. "If you join us, we can be together for the rest of our lives."

"We can do that if you snap out of it, idiot!" Rin glared at her mate. She was absolutely over this fight. She wanted her fucking boyfriend back. "I'm sorry, Sting. I wanted to be gentle, but I see now that that's a waste of time." Rin knew the weight of her situation and needed to put her emotions to the side and worry about Alakitasia, its people, and its leader. After all, that was the point of the treaty they signed. "Don't worry," she grinned, "I'll get you out of there."

Her eyes met golden ones that narrowed as they stared her down. Sting charged forward again with another punch aimed at his lover. Rin waited and waited until he was finally close enough to her. Rin used her lightning-quick reflexes to her advantage and gripped his arm tightly at the forearm and bicep. In a quick spin, she pressed her back up against his chest and used his momentum to throw him over her shoulder with a hard slam.

Sting's body hit the ground so hard that it bounced before finally landing. He coughed in pain at the impact and stared up into the cloudless skies of Alakitasia. However, his view was cut off by a wall of brunette waves and leering violet eyes. He stared into them with furrowed brows, not realizing that she had pinned all of his limbs down until he strained to have them released.

"Let go of me!" She didn't even blink as she stared him down.
"I'll make this quick, okay?" Rin reared her fist back, knowing a simple punch wouldn't knock him out. She clenched her fist tightly and reared it back. Sting's limbs were suddenly locked down by purple shackles of her magic and he could only watch in fear as five black rings appeared behind her arm. Sting knew from experience―brainwashed or not―that her favorite move was not one to be messed with. Everyone who had faced it had gone down immediately after―in immense pain, might I add.

Pure fear rushed through him. He questioned for a moment if she was trying to break him out of his trance or straight up kill him with a blow to the head. To be fair, she didn't particularly know the outcome either. However, she had faith that Sting would come out unscathed. Afterall, Minerva had and she didn't plan on beating him to death as she did with the tiger woman that night.

His breath caught in his throat as he watched the rings move. He knew he'd be out like a light in mere milliseconds and he was terrified. For all he knew, he might've just drawn his last breath.

Rin made it quick and easy. His eyes fell shut immediately upon impact and his body stopped struggling against her magic so she let him go. She stayed put, straddling his waist and simply watching him. He looked ever-so-peaceful. It bothered her. He clearly hadn't done any of the real fighting, yet he was the one who was getting to relax in the middle of a fight? Not on her watch.

Rin gripped his shoulders tightly and began to shake him awake, however it proved more difficult than the younger girl from before. "Come on, Sting! Wake up!" The blonde continued to revel in his slumber while his mate frantically tried to force him awake, her nerves slowly growing on her. Her hands moved from his shoulders and turned into fists. "Wake up!" With one hard pound on his chest like bongos, he shot awake with an "ouch".

"Rin?!" He winced and shot a hand to his aching head. "What is―" The female tightly clung to his body and tucked her head under his jaw while his arms fell limply at his sides. "Rin?" All remained silent as she held herself close to him, not a single point of her body away from his.

"You're an idiot," she mumbled while lightly punching him on the back, "running into danger on your own... Then managing to get caught!" She punched him again, a little harder this time. She leaned back and tilted her head up to look at him. "You know I love you, right?" Sting's sapphire eyes caught on her the water that threatened to overflow from the dam of her lids. He couldn't help but blush in endearment. A hearty chuckle escaped Sting's sore body as he pulled her back into his chest, finally returning her embrace.

"Yeah, I know." He planted a firm kiss to the crown of her head. "I love you, too; much more than I've shown you."