D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

As Kat was being knocked backwards she slowed her mind as much as possible to get over the shock. *I… I can't believe it. I mean, I really SHOULD believe it… but… I just… huh…* Kat let the silence of slowed time wash over her. It wasn't really silent but sounds were far enough apart and thoroughly distorted acting like a similar environment anyway. *Why did I think punching the bear person, or rather, meeting her fist to fist was a good idea?*

*Have I really gotten so used to being a powerhouse? I mean, Thyme exists so I should KNOW that I'm not the strongest person around.* Kat was of course ignoring the fact that while she was mindful, she was the biggest kid in the orphanage, or at least the oldest, for quite some time before becoming a demon. She was also one of the more fit and physically skilled people in school, especially considering she didn't do sports.

The idea that 'punching the problem' would fail so spectacularly against someone she had intellectually considered a 'peer' instead of just beyond her was shocking, but also something that was bound to happen sooner or later.

*I suppose I shouldn't be surprised… Nell is at least twice my weight, maybe more, depending on if fantasy bullshit means as a bear girl she weighs even more then that. I might have dense muscles, but I'm also a rather lithe individual. Nell has muscles on top of muscles and metal gauntlets that looked like they'd crack a table if she casually dropped them after a day's work.

I'm not even sure if I can blame the bracelet for this. I mean maybe I can, but it seems to affect my speed more so then anything else. And that's another thing. What am I doing trying to use brute force against someone who looks like the queen of brute force. I might know how to throw a punch but I need my speed behind it more so then my body weight. Nell put EVERYTHING into that punch, more as a matter of course and practice, then the need to do so. I… I didn't. I couldn't. I'm tied to an elf that feels more useless by the moment…

Though I suppose this situation is my fault. I thought I could fight Nell without issue. Fight a strength fighter using my superior manoeuvrability… or well no I just thought I could duke it out with her. Trade a few punches, fight around a bit and I guess come up on top.

I mean, what was the point of learning to use my fans if I just keep defaulting to punching things? I shouldn't have taken Nell's punch as a challenge to throw my own back at her. She was even using her weapons too. It wasn't my fist against her fist it was my flesh against a massive metal gauntlet that can double as a shield for her team. What was I thinking?*

Kat didn't have time to think anymore though as her as her feet touched the ground and she also realised that because of just how slowed time was, it was really burning through her energy. With the recent regeneration thrown in and the slow drain from making sure to keep pace with Kevin, Kat was down around a quarter of her reserves, closer to forty percent of useable ones considering her body didn't like dropping below around ten.

Kat grit her teeth as she tried to keep a balance of mental speed. It was faster then before now that she was in a fight, but slower then she would really have liked. While Kevin was recovering from the sudden movement Kat took the chance to flick both her fans at Nell to try and slow her down somewhat.

Nell just raised a casual hand, letting the fans deflect of her gauntlets with ease and no damage to them. Kat wasn't even surprised at this point and summoned the fans back before they hit the ground. That was when Five shot another bolt, this time very much at Kevin. To Kat's luck, or perhaps 5's impatience, the bolt was aiming about knee height to Kevin's left leg. Seeing this Kat pulled with her right foot, the one tied to Kevin, to move it out of the way, letting the arrow wiz through his legs and clatter off into the distance.

Nell advanced, and One was coming up behind her. Kevin seemed to manage getting jolted out of the way quite well because he was already sending a spear strike straight for One, using his superior range to reach past Nell. She on the other hand looked ready to intercept so Kat did the only thing she could think of in that moment.

She tried to punch Nell a second time.

Now, Kat wasn't under any illusions as to how this was going to go. Kat could already see Nell adjusting form 'menacing looming' and 'about to crush this spear' to 'so this little girl thinks she can punch me? Again?!' in the span of a moment, but Kat was ready for it this time. Fist met metal, and Kat didn't put up any fight at all. She let Nell's strike carry her first backwards as if there had been no power at all, rotating her upper body and letting her other hand come in for a second strike.

This too, was easily blocked. Nell just lazily raised her hand up to meet Kat's second fist, simply letting it strike the gauntlets covering her forearms, barely putting any energy into blocking the hit. Kat's strength was mostly coming from Nell's own punch in this instance so Nell wasn't afraid.

That's what Kat hoped for. Because she didn't have two limbs for dumb plans. She had at least three. Kat's tail strike, faster then Kevin's spear, faster then both of her hands. It was packed with as much power as Kat could manage, all zooming straight for Nell's neck.

Kat could see it in Nell's eyes, the moment she realised what was going on. There was a widen of her eyes, and a light that flashed through them, but not a single speck of fear. Nell didn't try to lean away from the attack or dodge it in anyway. Kat was up too close and personal at this point, there wasn't the time. Her neck was fairly wide, at least in the context of distances at these speeds. So Nell did the only thing she could. Nell bent her heard forward.

Kat's tail made contact with a mouth full of teeth and Nell's head snapped back. There was all sorts of uncomfortable cracking sounds and Kat hoped that was teeth and not Nell's neck despite the situation. She also desperately hoped Thyme could fix it. She was sure she could, but Kat was feeling a bit of regret for this move already.

Kevin on the other hand wasn't doing all that well. Kevin had managed to land a solid hit… on the full plate mail wearing dwarf. One tanked the blow as if nothing had happened, and Kevin's wobbly spear had bounced back off. Kevin did manage to use that momentum, somehow, to make three other attacks, but the armour was well made and none of those did anything more than dull the shine on the armour.

Back to Kat, she could feel some pain in her tail, but she didn't actually have as much time to worry about that as she might have hoped. Nell was flailing, not quite wildly, but certainly not as accurately as before. It was more a way to make Kat step back, heavy sweeping movements to cover her front. Kat did in fact, follow Nell's lead in this because she saw no way to stop those hands and she wanted her tail out of that mess before it got caught.

As Kat stepped back, Nells head managed to bring itself forward. Kat was expecting a few things. A bloody grin full of broken teeth and blood was never on that list. Somehow the bear girl didn't even make it creepy. This wasn't the smile of a villain trying to tell the hero how much trouble they were in. This was the smile of a woman that lived for combat and had finally found a good challenge.

For Kat, it may not have been scary, but it was certainly more intimidating. Of course, Kat was completely ignoring the parallels. The fact that she walked off having her insides opened up a minute earlier like it was nothing. Or perhaps the repeated destructions of eardrums as a painful annoyance rather then something to never happen ever again? Kat was intimidated that was true, and that was what should would say she was feeling to anyone who asked. Unlike Nell, she didn't enjoy combat, not like that, and she didn't want to.

But Kat was hear for adventure. She was hear to do cool and interesting things, and she wanted to enjoy herself.

So really, the only proper response to something like Nell's smile? Well, it was to smile right back.