23 - Skirmish

The warriors continued to challenge each other to see who would establish control of ring center, neither one backing down. Of the two, the Nova Striker appeared somewhat more mobile, keeping a lower profile in her fighting stance while darting in and out to fight around the Iron Mountain’s range, the larger fighter choosing instead to reorient herself around her opponent’s footwork while largely staying put for the most part.

After recognizing another flank attempt around to her right, Felicia stepped in on her left foot, widening her stance and cutting off Jessica’s move before she could slide around, swinging a strong right hook to her side instead. Although Jessica originally intended to attack Felicia first and was in the middle of preparing her own low hook mid-step, Felicia’s sudden advance forced her to shift to defense instead, tucking her elbow in on that side just before Felicia’s glove rammed into it. The hook connected with a solid smack, halting Jessica’s sideward momentum and even reversing it very slightly. While Jessica’s arms were lowered to guard her body however, her upper right side was left temporarily undefended, a fact Felicia would swiftly capitalize on.

Before Jessica could raise her guard or step back to create a buffer, the disciplinarian rotated at the hip to send a big overhand left hook crashing down across the nurse’s right eye and upper cheek. Jessica grunted as she took the hit, her sweat and saliva flying as her head violently turned to the side, her entire upper body following it. Felicia had put enough into the punch to disrupt Jessica’s footing, forcefully restarting her left-moving momentum as Jessica had to take a wobbly sideways step to compensate.

Biting down on her mouthguard, Felicia grunted with force as she threw a followup shot, a stiff right cross meant for Jessica’s nose. However, Jessica quickly regained her balance and resumed control of her own movement, ducking down while using the momentum she was struck with, moving with it to dash underneath and around. Once again Felicia only managed to catch a few strands of Jessica’s hair as the Nova Striker zeroed in on her target: Felicia’s temporarily wide-open right side.

As she caught wind of Jessica’s intention, Felicia attempted to respond the same way Jessica had earlier in the exchange by bringing an elbow in, but the nurse was a little faster, successfully bashing her red glove into Felicia’s side with a thud. Felicia grunted again as the punch landed, wincing in pain as her body was pushed back slightly from the impact. Not wasting a breath, Jessica twisted in place, raising back up some in her stance with a jutting short right uppercut. Before it could reach her chin though, Felicia drew in a sharp breath, flinging her arms up quickly to barricade herself behind a sturdy cross-armed block.