Lorissa has always gotten along at the PCA with a "good enough" mentality. Content to make average grades on a less than average team, she's always been one of those people who managed to coast by on talent without putting in any real work. She never really stood out and just seemed to be one of many students who was just 'passing through".

But there comes a time when 'good enough" just isn't anymore, and for the muscle of the beleaguered Team Doom, the announcement of the S.E.C.T. would be that time. Faced with something to prove and fed up with a team that's done nothing but hold her back, the first step toward something greater isn't a pretty one.

Jimo appears courtesy of

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"That's it, I QUIT!" bellowed a loud, angry voice, the sound echoing off of some of the larger boulders strewn about the quarry-like training field. The source of the noise, a well-built lairon with a furious expression on her face, glared at a houndoom in a long coat and a tall blaziken dressed in black. The pair of fire types glared back with a mixture of anger and surprise while a bored-looking dewgong sat on a nearby rock, lazily picking at something between her teeth.

“What?” stammered the houndoom, yelling back and dusting some dirt and dust off of his coat. “You can’t quit, Team Doom is a covenant forged in-“

“Oh shove your Harry Potter crap Marcus!” snorted the lairon. “Only reason I joined you idiots was as a favor to this douchebag ,” she snarled, gesturing toward the blaziken. “But I haven’t said anything to him that didn’t include the word ‘dumbass’ in months, and I’ve had it!”

“You tryin’ to start somethin’?” growled the blaziken, stepping forward. “I’ve been sick of your attitude too. Ever since I kicked you and that pachi kid outta the band, you’ve been mad ‘cause you can’t ride on my tail feathers anymore,” he scoffed. "Never were metal enough, kinda ironic isn't it?"

“Kicked out?!” shot back the lairon angrily. “We dumped your punk ass Faran, ‘cause all you ever did was bitch and moan! I only put up with you morons ‘cause you somehow managed to make passing grades and that was good enough for me, but even still I end up doing all the work! I’m tired of being on a joke of a team, if I’m gonna bust my ass in battles, it sure as hell won’t be for your benefit!”

Faran tensed up and leaned forward, getting in the lairon’s face. “You need to shut your mouth Lorissa, and learn some respect,” he spat, accentuating his last word. “Or do you need me to teach it to you?”

Lorissa reared a fist back to answer when Marcus’s voice interrupted them both. “That’s enough!” he yelled, his normally brown eyes alight with a fiery glow. “I lead this team, this pact, and my word is binding! I’ll not have this-“

“Shut up Marcus!” yelled the blaziken and lairon in unison, neither taking their eyes off of each other as the houndoom shrunk back. The brief staredown was ended when Faran shoved Lorissa, though the effort forced him to take a step backward while the lairon barely budged. Taking it as a cue she started to throw a punch but they were both interrupted again, this time by another voice from the side.

“Somethin’ goin’ on here?” asked a buizel with tribal markings and a distinctive saw-like design on his forearm fins, wearing climbing gear over his shorts and tank top.

Faran and Marcus both scowled at the buizel, about to tell him to shove it, but were cut off by Lorissa. “Yeah Jimo, you could say that,” she muttered. “Hey you’re a student ref right, you can call battles can’t you?” she asked, turning her gaze back to her former teammates.

“Huh? Oh yeah sure,” he replied. “Just gotta get all the paperwork an‘ stuff done, make it official-like. Why, you and your bros wanna hook somethin’ up?” he asked, looking the trio over.

“They’re not my bros,” scowled Lorissa, the tone of her voice and tension between the trio now obvious. “Can you do me a favor and handle an application for that SECT thing?” she asked, still not taking her eyes off of the fire types in front of her.

Jimo tilted his head curiously, trying to figure out where she was going with this. “Uhh... well usually applications are turned in at the booths, but I‘m pretty sure I could help out, get it turned in where it needs to go for ya. Why?”

“I wanna make an audition,” answered the lairon. “Right now, a battle, against them. All at once,” she snarled, sweeping her hand by Faran, Marcus, and the dewgong. Faran and Marcus just looked at each other with offended looks on their faces while the dewgong suddenly perked up with a look of surprise and fear.

“Aw no, count me out!” she interrupted, holding up her hands. “I ain’t havin’ none’a that, you two’s on your own!” she barked before returning to picking at a tusk with a claw.

“Fine, just those two then,” growled Lorissa, determined look on her face. She turned away from her former teammates just long enough for her expression to tell Jimo that she was serious. The buizel pondered for a moment, looking the trio over, before answering with a shrug.

“Well, if you wanna do this, I’ll ref it,” he said, looking over to the houndoom and blaziken. “Challenge is made dudes, and this rock trainin’ field’s as good a place as any for it. I can tell there’s a lotta bad blood here, better get it settled before it starts harshin’ on everyone. How ‘bout we make it first side out, nothin’ fancy, all terrain legal. Everyone cool with that setup?” he asked.

“Bring it,” spat Faran, taking a step back and gesturing the lairon forward. “Been wanting to kick your ass for a long time now,”he snarled. Jimo cast him a disapproving glare but said nothing, he was familiar with the blaziken and his rude, obnoxious behavior, so it came as no surprise. Still he made a mental note to himself before turning his attention to the houndoom.

“So be it,” he answered sternly, taking a step back along with his teammate. “Sad that it had to come to this, but so be the will of the dark ones,” he said with a slight shrug. “With one condition - since you seek to gain something from this, we want something as well. If we win, you rescind leaving this team, properly recognize me as leader, and quell any further... dissention.”

“Yer gonna get yer ass kicked, ya dumb skank!” yelled the dewgong from her perch on the rocks, though any further remarks were preemptively silenced by a threatening glare from Lorissa.

“Whatever Marcus, I’m gonna drive your nerd ass into the ground anyway, and you?” she said, pointing at Faran. “Likewise, believe me.”

“Alright then!” yelled Jimo enthusiastically. He promptly followed up with a loud, sharp whistle, getting the attention of the other students training among the rocks. “All of ya, clear the field, we got a battle here!” he said, motioning for everyone to move back. “Oh hey dude, do me a huge favor?” he asked, pointing to a honchkrow standing nearby and watching the argument.

“Who, me?” he said, pointing to himself with a puzzled expression.

“Yeah you brah,” repeated the buizel. “Grab my video camera from my bag over there,” he said, pointing to the side of the training field. “Gotta make sure we get a good recording of this, I’m gonna be too busy keepin’ an eye on things, it‘ll be worth your while if you‘re cool with it,” he explained, the honchkrow nodding and flying off. “A’ight you three, enough with the trash talk, take your sides,” he ordered, his voice taking a more serious tone now that he was on duty. Lorissa just glared at her opponents who returned the gesture in kind, an eerie silence washing over the normally loud and noisy training ground. After a minute or so the honchkrow returned with the camera, taking a perch on a high rock to record the action. “A’ight, everyone ready?” asked Jimo from his own position on the raised edge of the training field where most of the other students had gathered. He took the tense silence on the field as a yes, yelling for them to begin.

Marcus acted quickly, holding a hand out with flames licking over his fingertips. “Bands of Belial, hold my foe!” he yelled, eyes igniting with a fiery glow. Across the field of rocks and boulders flames erupted around the lairon’s feet, a pentagram of fire tracing in the dirt beneath her before spitting flames into the sky, caging her as the pentagram began to slowly spin.

Moving quickly as well, Faran made a short dash up a couple of the nearby rocks and launched himself into the air, leaping high over the obstructing terrain to come down on the immobile lairon. Bracing herself against the flames, Lorissa crouched down a bit, the armored plates on her back shifting and steel skin hardening in anticipation of the blaziken’s impact. Faran’s foot came down through the flames only to be deflected by her forearm. Paying the flames no mind he rolled away, not really surprised at having so little effect. He knew how tough his former teammate could be, he just wanted to close the distance quickly.

As the blaziken got to his feet Lorissa raised her foot up and stomped on the ground in the center of the flaming pentagram. The impact shook the surrounding rocks and sent a cloud of dirt, grit, and small grains of shattered stone flying, disrupting the pentagram and putting out the flames. As she took a moment to concentrate the sand and small rocks began to whip around her, quickly dispersing and flitting through the battlefield. Faran winced and recoiled as the sand and dirt pelted his face and got in his eyes, though his teammate stood on the far side of the field, taking little notice as he held his hands together and chanted, the fire in his eyes intensifying and a dark aura manifesting around him.

Taking a step backward Faran stepped on a fair-sized rock and grabbed it with the talons of his foot. His leg erupted in flames which washed over the rock and ignited it as well. He swung his leg at the lairon, using his leg strength to throw the flaming rock at her, which bounced harmlessly off of her forearm as the metal plates shifted and her steel skin reinforced itself again. “That supposed to hurt?” she asked as she stepped toward the blaziken.

“No, distract,” answered Marcus from the other side of the field. Holding his hands out with a strange gesture, he sent a large blast of flame rushing through the boulders and rocks toward both Lorissa and Faran. The flame bounced and deflected against some of the rocks and dispersed some in the whirling sand, losing some of its potency as it blazed toward them. Lorissa had just enough time to take some partial cover behind a large boulder, gritting her teeth as her right side was seared by the flames. Faran tried to dodge as well but took most of the flame himself, an angry expression washing over his face.

“Watch it, ass!” he yelled, trying to shrug off the worst of the flames. Undaunted he rushed forward, throwing a roundhouse kick to Lorissa’s midsection. Though her armor was thick and heavily reinforced the energy of the attack still found its mark, causing her to groan and double over even as the sand continued to pelt the blaziken. Keeping up his momentum Faran spun around again, launching a second kick at her head, though his second attack went too high and only connected with the nearby boulder. The impact broke pieces of it off and sent rocks flying as the crowd of students began to get into the battle, cheering and taunting.

Cursing at his poorly-aimed attack Faran renewed his efforts, his fist igniting with flame as he regained his balance and reared back for an uppercut. His flaming fist caught her under the chin with a loud clanging sound, sending sparks flying, though it was hard to tell who caught the worse end of the exchange as he winced and shook his hand. Moving in closer he wrapped his arms around her neck and used the leverage to drive his knee into her gut with another loud clang. “All you ever did was get in the way,” he snarled as he reared back for another hard kick.

Faran’s words seemed to invigorate the lairon, an angry scowl washing over her face. Lunging forward with a surprising speed for someone her size she wrapped her arms around the blaziken and hefted him up. Faran was strong in his own right but no match for Lorissa, especially taken off his feet. His legs flailed wildly as she lifted him up high before spinning him around and slamming him down onto the unforgiving stone, leaning to the side to drive her weight down onto him from above. Several of the spectators let out sympathetic groans as the impact shook the ground, rocks coming loose and falling on both of them. “And all you ever did was hold me back,” growled the lairon as she stood up, the blaziken groaning and trying to catch his breath.

Taking care to keep an eye on Faran as he recovered Lorissa focused on her other opponent, having lost track of him among the rocks. The overhead sun was bright and served to contrast the dark shadows cast by the larger rocks littering the battlefield. Lorissa kept a close eye on them, all too familiar with how Marcus fought. Her suspicions would prove correct as some of the shadows began to writhe in an unnatural way, taking twisted, distorted forms resembling her former teammates and shuffling forward. “This the best you got, Marc?” yelled Lorissa as the figures closed on her, attacking with outstretched claws of pure darkness. The dark figures clawed at her as she tried to fend them off, scratching and scraping at her armor to minimal effect. She was able to dispatch the shadowy clones easily but knew they were just another diversion. “This trick sucks, Marc, you just use it ‘cause you think it looks cool!” yelled the lairon, trying to provoke the houndoom into giving his position away. Looking over and seeing Faran getting to his feet with an angry expression she knew she had to find the him quickly before they could double team her. It didn’t help that the sandstorm she had whipped up was dispersing and she was about to lose the advantage it had bought her.

As luck would have it her former leader seemed all too happy to oblige her. Marcus was standing on a ledge above the rocks with the hood of his coat pulled up, his horns sticking through holes in the back and face shrouded in shadow so that only the glowing embers of his eyes could be seen. The imagery might have been intimidating to anyone who didn’t know any better. “I know better than to stand toe to toe with you,” said Marcus from his perch above, trying to make his voice sound ominous but really only making it sound comical, like a bad cartoon villain. “I didn’t come to lead this team by being a fool,” he said as he made some more odd gestures with his hands, darkness flowing from them as though he were painting on the sky. “Suffer in darkness!” he yelled as he thrust his hands toward the lairon, the darkness coalescing and pulsating towards her. The inky blast of dark energy blew through the remnants of the sandstorm to strike her in the chest, though between her own resistance and the sandstorm soaking up some of the energy it had little effect other than to annoy her, which caught Marcus by surprise. In his mind he imagined her being blasted by his nightmarish power and thrown screaming across the battlefield, the reality was something of a rude shock to his delusions.

“Oh shut UP!” yelled Lorissa as she simply lowered her head and charged, the lairon slamming head first into the rocky wall of the quarry with a loud crashing sound. The impact shook the entire field, some of the cheering students falling over and a number of rocks cracking and breaking off, tumbling onto the battlefield. The impact also shook Marcus from his perch, the houndoom flailing comically as he tumbled off the ledge and onto some falling rocks, getting caught in a surprise avalanche. The rock slide carried him over an embankment and out of sight as Lorissa muttered to herself. She was hoping to knock him down at her feet but as luck would have it he fell the other way, once again out of sight.

Not far away Faran managed to get to his feet, his brow furrowed in anger. His back ached from the impact against the rock and the pain was slowing him down but he was still going, spotting an opening with Lorissa's back turned. He quietly readied himself before charging toward her, letting out a loud scream as he threw a powerful kick at her head. Faran never did understand the concept of subtlety and it would cost him in this case, his war cry giving the lairon just enough warning to brace herself and throw up her arms to block. Despite her efforts the kick still carried plenty of power, breaking through her defenses to clip the side of her head, knocking her off balance. Faran stumbled a bit on the loose stones as he readied a follow up attack, spinning around to kick her in the midsection though his poor balance and the rocky terrain resulted in far less power than he would have liked. "Girls can't fight," he spat as he ignited his fist and reared back for another punch.

It was an attack routine the blaziken was all too fond of and Lorissa was all too familiar with, and his predictability would cost him again. Spurred on by anger at both his attacks and comment Lorissa threw her considerable weight into a hard and fast kick to Faran's stomach. In truth she was aiming lower but either Jimo didn't catch it or, knowing Faran's reputation for being an infuriating ass, pretended not to. Though the claws on her foot dug into his stomach her heel still found its mark, doubling the blaziken over with a loud and painful groan as some of the spectating males groaned in sympathy. Not letting up she grabbed two handfuls of his long hair and rammed him head-first into one of the larger nearby boulders with a loud cracking sound.

To his credit Faran reacted quickly, though whether it was through a clear head or desperation was debatable. The flames licking his fist coursed over his forearm as he drove his elbow into Lorissa's ribs, the flames roaring over his arm and erupting from the point of impact. The explosion of flame drove her back a bit, enough for Faran to stand up and throw another flaming punch that found its mark, clanging off the side of her head with a loud echo and putting more distance between them. Though his punch struck her hard he was feeling the effects of the punishment she was dishing out as well. He staggered backward and leaned against the boulder, blood tricking from the corner of his beak and a gash over his eye washing his eye with red, blurring his vision. Faran growled fiercely, the flames wreathing his fist picking up in intensity as he regained his balance and charged forward with another punch.

The lingering pain in his back from the hard slam onto the rocks slowed his pace and cost him though as Lorissa dove forward and drove her own fists into the ground, sending more rocks flying. By the time Faran finished his swing it was too late, the lairon diving into a large hole in the ground. His flaming fist hammered into the boulder behind her, sending more rocks splintering off. “Coward!” he yelled into the hole, glaring down it angrily. Rearing his hand back he hurled the flame wrapping his fist into the hole, the light bouncing around harmlessly but lighting up the darkness enough for Faran to see a tunnel heading west, toward his teammate.

“Marc, heads up!” he yelled over the small embankment separating them, though the houndoom didn’t seem to notice. He was standing amidst a large pile of rocks of with his arms outstretched, a thick, acrid cloud pouring out from the sleeves of his coat. He knew the smog couldn’t harm his opponent, but he was hoping the thick cloud would hide him from her sight should she come looking. His plan may have worked had she not been tunneling underneath both him and the cloud, not even aware of its presence. With a sudden buckling of the earth the houndoom was thrown off his feet, the smog trailing wildly as he tumbled to the ground, pelted with rocks and dirt as Lorissa emerged from the ground beneath him.

Marcus tried to catch his breath as he slowly got to his feet, the impact from her attack knocking the wind out of him. He braced himself against another large rock to get his bearings and squinted his eyes against the sun. He caught sight of the lairon climbing out of the tunnel and rearing back a fist, angry expression on her face. “You never did have a clue, Marcus,” she growled as she threw a powerful punch at him. In desperation Marcus flung himself to the side, just as her fist smashed into the rock, sending more shards of stone flying. “Never could think on your feet!”

On the other side of the field Faran climbed up the embankment and glared at the pair over the top of it, breathing deeply and concentrating, his muscles tensing and enlarging as he gathered his strength. Marcus was unaware of his presence, laying on the ground and looking up at the lairon with a panicked expression, coughing and choking on his own smog. Holding up a hand he traced a symbol in the air, flames igniting in his wake. “Ignis Maxima!” he yelled, thrusting the flaming symbol at her. The symbol struck her in the chest and expanded, the flames crawling over her and flaring up as she grimaced.

“Son of a-“ she cursed, rearing her foot back and kicking the houndoom. The metal claws on her foot hit him hard in the stomach, causing him to double over and groan, the combination of the impact and her anger strengthening her. She reached down to grab him but Marcus, showing an uncharacteristic toughness and quickness of his own, scrambled to his feet and tried to escape. He wasn’t quite fast enough though, her hand grabbing his pointed tail as he yelped in pain. Some of the observing students laughed at his misfortune but Jimo just watched from his vantage point. He wasn’t sure what to call that, but inwardly found it amusing and let it slide.

At the far end of the battlefield Faran was unusually quiet, watching intently from his perch on the top of the embankment. He took another moment to focus his strength and energy, tapping his foot behind him and engulfing it in flame before taking off in a dash, bounding down the near side of the embankment and around the obstructing rocks. Lorissa pulled on Marcus’s tail, yanking him against a large boulder. He snarled and reacted quickly, a dark aura manifesting around his hand as he threw a weak punch at her gut from a crouching position, intending to pay her back for the attack. All he managed to do though was wince as his hand connected with a painful-sounding clanging sound to no real effect, physical combat having never been his forte. Undaunted Lorissa leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, lifting the houndoom up and flipping him over onto her shoulder. “Should have done this a long time ago,” she growled as the flames continued to lick over her body. She'd spent the better part of a year dealing with the overbearing, delusional houndoom, ever since they were juniors. Her frustration and aggravation steadily grew during that time, and now it was about to boil over.

A low, subtle shaking rippled off of the lairon as she hefted Marcus up followed by a faint wave of force that rippled through the ground under her feet as she lifted him onto her shoulder. A look of panic washed over the houndooms's face as he knew what was coming but knew there was nothing he could do about it. "Put me down!" he screamed as he feebly tried pounding his fists on the heavy armored plate on her head but she didn't even take notice. Lorissa took two steps toward a large boulder at the side of the training field, each footstep shaking the ground beneath her. With a loud roar she used her great strength to hurl Marcus directly into the boulder back first, a wave of earth-shattering force emanating from the point of impact. The powerful quake tore through the training field, sending rocks plummeting to the ground and knocking spectators off their feet. A loud, thunderous sound echoed throughout the quarry and cracks splintered out from the rock where Marcus slammed into it.

Though he wasn't anywhere near the epicenter Faran felt the impact from the powerful earthquake as well. The tremor ripped through the earth and knocked him down as he sprinted toward the lairon, the blaziken tumbling head over heels over the rough rocks. Faran winced and swore loudly but managed to roll to his feet, though his momentum was broken. Trying his best to shake off the lingering pain in his back he started to run for her again when he felt a low aftershock ripple through the ground. Not wanting to take any chances he made a short jog up a couple rocks and took to the air again, leaping toward Lorissa, his extended foot once again igniting with blazing flames.

The crowd above roared in approval as the honchkrow also took to the air to keep the camera steady and focused on the lairon and houndoom. To everyone's surprise Marcus was still up, enduring the earth-shattering attack but staggering, barely clinging to consciousness. "You can beat me," he coughed in a hoarse voice, laying back against the rock. "But not both of us," he whispered as flames roared to life over his body, the last vestiges of his power threatening to overheat and detonate in Lorissa's face. The lairon recoiled and shielded her face as the flames ignited. She quickly looked around to see if there was anywhere she could dive for cover but found nothing suitable, her earthquake having shattered most of the larger rocks in the immediate vicinity. Her attention suddenly snapped to the sound of Faran screaming from above as he came rocketing out of the sky with flaming talon outstretched.

Team Doom was founded by Marcus in an attempt to create an elite team that would terrorize the academy and rule with an iron fist, but from day one they had been nothing but a joke. Marcus was clueless and Faran and Lorna, the dewgong sitting on the rocks, were idiots. Lorissa always knew this, and always knew people laughed at them, but she never cared. She never really wanted to attend the PCA, her mother pushed her into it. Being on a team, even one that barely passed, freed her up to focus on other interests, so she just got along by ignoring them.

But recently something had changed, suddenly the jokes and laughter began to grate on her. She looked at her teammates and instead of rolling her eyes and ignoring them she began to feel resentment. Something inside her finally woke up and told her that she deserved better than this. It was this feeling that spurred her into action, driving her to prove something to herself and everyone else, especially the team she had just left. Gritting her teeth and moving with uncharacteristic speed Lorissa lunged toward Marcus, stepping into the flames engulfing his body to grab him. Lorissa roared with a combination of rage and pain as the intense flames washed over her, turning and using her great strength to hurl the houndoom into the sky.

Marcus howled as he took to the air, losing control of the flames erupting from his body. Faran's eyes went wide as he descended and he began flailing wildly in a futile attempt to dodge. The two collided with a fiery explosion that lit up the sky and knocked some of the spectating students back, small licks of flame washing over them as another group cheered wildly. Two forms fell out of the fireball, one of them landing in a heap, his long coat a smoldering ruin and body laying limply over some rocks. The other was bashed against the wall of the quarry, bouncing off some of the rocks and landing roughly as flames rained down from the sky.

"Marcus Hellbourne is out!" yelled Jimo after taking a moment to regain his composure, the force of the attack catching him off guard. "Get 'im outta there!" he commanded a kadabra student who was climbing back to his feet, brushing some flames off of his clothes. The kadabra was in a state of some shock himself but shook it off, nodding his head and concentrating, a phantasmal image of an unblinking eye appearing on his forehead. A moment later Marcus floated into the air and over to Jimo, courtesy of the kadabra's psychic powers. Though the flames hadn't harmed him he was badly battered. Jimo took another look into the ravine, wondering if he should call the battle, but saw Faran somehow rising to a knee, furious look on his face with Lorissa ready to meet him. The buizel took a deep breath but remained silent. Sometimes you just had to let them fight.

"That metal enough for you?" snarled Lorissa, facing down Faran through the flames even as the fire continued to lick over her steel skin, searing her though she tried not to let the pain show. Faran said nothing but rose to a knee, roaring in anger as he thrust his hands forward, a large gout of flame rushing forth. Lorissa wasn't quite expecting him to attack from range but was nonetheless ready, holding her own hands out and projecting a stream of sand and debris from the surrounding rocks to meet the incoming wave of flames. The two collided at the midway point, mostly dispersing each other, though some of the flames got through even as the rush of sand intensified, quickly forming another sandstorm. "All out of insults?" she growled. "Pissed off you're gonna get beat by a girl?"

Lorissa's taunts provoked the blaziken easily enough, Faran screaming with rage and getting to his feet. He charged toward her but stumbled as he did, one of his legs not wanting to support him. He gritted his teeth and powered through the pain and the whirling sand, letting his rage fuel him. The blaziken planted his foot on the rocks in front of the lairon and threw a hard and powerful kick with his other leg. Intense flames roared over his leg and foot as he made his attack, the pain and punishment he had endured adding strength to his kick as though he had something to prove as well. He had wanted to kick her in the face, if only to shut her up, but his injured leg just wouldn't stretch that far. His blazing kick caught her square in the chest, where she was heavily protected, but the attack still carried plenty of power.

The kick sent a small explosion of flame erupting from the point of impact even as the sharp talons of Faran's foot raked across Lorissa's steel skin. The flames and ripping talons caught the tank top she was wearing, which barely survived to cling on, and the impact knocked her back against a large boulder, the wind knocked out of her. Faran lost his balance after the powerful kick, staggering back as Lorissa breathed heavily, leaning against the rock. He couldn't believe she was still standing, he had seen her take plenty of hard hits before but never from him. What he didn't realize was that while he had sheer rage and hatred driving him, she has something more than her physical fortitude holding her up.

A determined expression washed over her face as Lorissa stood up and focused on the blaziken. "I'm done with you Faran," she growled, her breath hoarse. A wave of energy began to well up inside of her, collecting the force of Faran's kick and amplifying it through her steel body. Faran, as usual, was clueless, readying himself and preparing to mindlessly rush forward with another attack. "And your whole stupid team!" yelled Lorissa, holding her hands out and projecting a burst of powerful energy at Faran. The blaziken led with his chin as he rushed forward, catching the reflected energy square in the face. The burst of energy upended him and knocked him back, the blaziken making a narrow furrow in the rocks as he slid backwards head first.

Faran crashed into one of the larger rocks, sliding up it and bashing the back of his head against the surface. He staggered forward, more on instinct than anything else, and fell to his knees, glazed look in his eyes and clothes tattered. "But girls can't..." he muttered before falling face first onto the dirt, no longer moving even as the sandstorm continued to pelt his unconscious body.

The crowd of spectators began cheering and issuing taunts of their own as Jimo leaned over the edge of the ravine to survey the damage. He shook his head in some disbelief, he expected the fight to be intense, but nothing quite like this. After a silent three count he yelled loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "Faran Kane is out! The winner of this battle is-"

Jimo's announcement of the victor was cut short by a large gush of salty water arcing from behind some of the rocks at the other end of the quarry. The blast of water struck Lorissa in the back, causing her to drop to all fours in pain and forcing her to call upon her inner reserves of endurance to withstand the surprise attack. Fortunately for her at least the spray of water extinguished the flames that had been roaring over her body, a small cloud of steam hissing off of her back. "HEY!" yelled Jimo as he saw the dewgong from earlier sliding down the rocks on the edge of the quarry down to the ground where Lorissa was laying. "That was NOT cool, what’re you doin‘?" he yelled, moving in that direction.

The dewgong answered his protests with an extended middle finger as she approached Lorissa, the sandstorm rapidly dying out as a gentle rainfall began to fall over the quarry, picking up in intensity as she drew closer. "You think I'm gonna let you treat my boyfriend like 'at?" she growled, nodding her head up to where Marcus had been carried. "Told ya you were gonna get your ass kicked ya stupid skank, shoulda listened to me," she snorted, holding her hand out as a long spear of ice materialized in it, frozen from the falling rain. She stood in front of Lorissa, twirling the icy spear around in her hand and looking down at her with a smug expression even as Jimo ran down the ravine to catch up to her.

Suddenly Lorissa sprang to life, reaching up to grab the front of Lorna's shirt much to the dewgong's surprise. Lorissa yanked Lorna down by her shirt as the lairon quickly stood up, the heavy steel plate on her skull violently meeting the underside of Lorna's chin. Lorna's jaw snapped shut to the sound of clanging, cracking, and ripping as the crowd began to cheer and whistle. The dewgong was lifted off her feet by the impact, hovering a good six feet in the air for the briefest of moments before crashing down to the earth in a heap, laying still and flat on her back as the ever-present camera phones from above began their distinct chorus of clicking mixed in with the cheering. Lorissa just stood over the dewgong, panting, grimacing, and ready to stomp her into oblivion if she so much as flinched. “Not by you, not ever,” she growled in a low voice.

Jimo caught up with the pair, blinking and doing a double take as he looked down at Lorna who was stirring slightly, moaning in pain and starting to curl up. The buizel quickly pulled off his own tank top and laid it on top of her, the crowd above booing his impromptu censorship. "So much for havin‘ to disqualify ‘em for that cheap shot," said Jimo with a shrug. "Winner of this battle, Lorissa Fernacio!" he yelled, raising up Lorissa's hand as the crowd, quick to shift moods, began cheering. "Dang, you sure don‘t mess around, chica," he said quietly.

"Needed to be done," answered Lorissa in a low, tired tone. "Sometimes the only way to escape from a past that's held you back is to stomp it into the dirt," she muttered as Lorna curled up into the fetal position, holding Jimo's shirt to herself and whimpering, like she wanted to scream but just couldn't move her jaw. "And make sure it doesn't follow."

Jimo just quietly nodded in understanding. "S‘pose we better get the medics down here. You sure did a number on ‘em, they‘re gonna need some serious patchin‘ up," he said, looking down at Lorna and over at Faran, who started to stir and groan. "And I‘d say the same goes for you too, Lori."

"I'll be fine," sighed Lorissa, leaning up against the edge of the quarry. "Actually, I think I'll be pretty damn good," she said with a slight smile as she turned to climb out of the quarry. She hurt all over and truthfully had never wanted a hot bath more in her life but right now just didn’t seem to care, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Despite the falling rain, she couldn't help but think things were looking pretty bright. For the first time in years she had battles to actually look forward to, and knew this one was just the beginning.