What Doesn't Kill You

It was, indeed, a good punch. Sin could partly blame it landing on her inattention, the fact that she just plain hadn’t expected the blow, but that wouldn’t be all true. Tae Kwon Do focused on kicks, but that didn’t mean it neglected the rest of the body. It was easy to forget that, sometimes. She’d even used similar tactics herself, though they were far from her bread and butter.

Cagey. Smart. Fierce. Zoey had just proved that had some real bite to her, which might’ve seemed like a good thing on the surface - but only there. For anyone else, it would’ve made her look competent. To Sin’s eyes, however, it made her out to be worthy prey.

No more hiding, no more pretending. It was time to feed.

Sin’s kick landed flush and clean, striking right where she intended to and getting the desired effect. She could’ve followed up on it, doubled up with a quick kick to Zoey’s face, but that would’ve been less interested. Instead, in the hazy half-second that followed, she took a step back, eyes locked on her opponent’s every expression. She’d have an inkling of what she was dealing with now, and that was where things started sparking. Would she retreat? Ask for mercy, want a timeout? Not that either tactic would work, but they could be fun in their own ways.

No, no, no. Sin saw the fury in Zoey’s eyes, that searing fire, and she knew what was about to happen, likely before Zoey’s body got the message. She came at her, arms wide, her face open, giving Sin so many options that she almost wasted the moment through sheer indecision. A simple snap kick to the neck would shut her down. She could drop back, open her legs, catch her in a scissorhold - that would be fun, but maybe it was better to save that sort of thing for later.

In the end, she decided the poetic approach was the best, as she spun about, shot her leg out, and sent her heel shooting towards the center of Zoey’s face, slicing through the air with a spinning back kick.

She stepped into it.

‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ Zoey didn’t really believe in karma, but she swore if that stuck-up bitch was listening, she was relishing every second that thought as it passed through Zoey’s head.

The lunge didn’t seem like all that bad a plan on paper. Sin was quick on her feet, knew how to use the legs, and Zoey just so happened to have been put in a position that let her face that issue head-on. Even if she could stand, it’s not like her opponent was going to just let her. Whether she liked it or not, the heat was turning up, and the Korean-American had two choices. Leap out of the pot, or get boiled alive.

Leap Zoey did.

Down Zoey went.

Sin kicked her, got her flush, but the Zoey was only really aware of that a moment or two after it happened. The second her heel smacked into the bridge of her nose, the entire room carrying the fleshy echo from corner to corner, everything went black. Her body folded back like an accordion, slinking back at a horrible angle before falling right flat on her face. Still. Not moving.

But luck did her a solid, and she was able to keep some amount of consciousness with her. She clung on to it, bit down hard and did her best not to let it slip through her fingers for a precious few seconds before the world slowly came back into the light. Her cheek was pressed to the ground and everything seemed a bit hazier than before. Her head weighed a million tons as she tried to raise it, but could only muster the energy to roll onto her forehead instead, looking at the blank canvas. She didn’t need her fingers to tell that she was bleeding. The cut had opened and left a nice smear on the canvas and her face. She could feel it sticking to her skin. She flicked her tongue over her lip, and the taste of iron complemented what felt like a running river inside of her nostril. She could still breath through it though, so by some miracle her nose hadn’t been broken.

That sort of deduction probably would have warranted the end of things. A hand raised in surrender. At least a break.

Zoey’s body didn’t let her do that. It ignored the danger signals, the terror seeping through her veins, and started to push with shaking hands and wobbly arms against the canvas until she was up to one knee. Once she got there, she’d go to rise again, stumbled, then keep going.

And she didn’t even know why.

In the instant that her foot collided with Zoey’s face, Sin had an instant regret - she should’ve recorded this. She could’ve set up her phone on that little table by the door, propped it up with a book or something, and gotten as much of this as she could for posterity’s sake. A way to immortalize it. If for no other reason than to record that sound.

How many people had Sin kicked in the face? Hundreds. Maybe thousands. She could probably remember them all if she tried, but counting them up would’ve taken far more time than she cared. She couldn’t remember any of those impacts making a sound nearly as sweet as the sonorous crack that came from Zoey’s face.

So crisp. So loud. So sharp. It was a shame that echo was the last she’d hear of it - but there would be other chances.

Sin stepped back, canting her head to the side as she watched Zoey, studying her, a cat with her struggling mouse. This was usually the part where they started begging, asking her to let them take a break, call an ambulance, that sort of thing - not that she ever went along with it, but she’d grown accustomed to the pattern. Zoey, however, was different. Maybe the kick had just left her too loopy for coherent thought, maybe she didn’t have a penchant for that to begin with. Whatever the case, she was rising up as if she was ready to fight. As if she still had a chance.

Stupid. Senseless. Sexy. As Zoey tried to rise, Sin stepped forward, pressing her body up against her rising opponent. She reached up and took her fellow Korean by the head, caressing her skull, running gentle fingers through her hair as their eyes met. A dark, hungry gaze to meet a dazed, pale stare. Seeing all the life and determination this woman had. Her potential. Her strength.

Sin dipped her head, just enough to press her lips against an ear, lashing at it with her tongue before she spoke. ”Do you know what you are, Zoey?”

Before she could get answer - if one was coming at all - Sin pulled her leg back and shot it forward, sinking her knee deep into Zoey’s stomach, seeing just how hard those abs were. A move to knock the wind out of her, to maim, but keep her conscious. She wanted them both wide awake for all of this.

This worked out fine in Zoey’s head. There wasn’t all that much to it after all. Seemed pretty harmless.

Oh, not her attack. Not that, in hindsight, really stupid ass attempt at turning the tables.

She meant the spar. In general. The whole thing. Even now, she could hardly piece together how things had turned this fucked up.

Sin was quicker than her, smarter than her, more relaxed. Zoey understood all of that from their tiny exchange and didn’t expect it to change between the ropes. But they were also from the same school, cut from the same cloth. Unlike her other opponents, she figured she should have been able to at least read what was coming her way, understand it. She was coming into this with an advantage. She always stepped into the ring to win, but at worst she saw a draw happening here. A hard stalemate between two students of the same school with the vague promise of a rematch one day. No matter what happened, she could take Sin.

So what the fuck happened?

Even Zoey’s own brain was finding trouble piercing that answer together. Mostly because it was going haywire as she sputtered and stumbled on her uneasy ascent from the floor. Drops of blood fell from the tips of her nose leaving a head full of air. She felt weightless, unsure, only vaguely aware for a brief instant that she was still in a match. The second that feeling passed, she blinked once and took a deep breath, only stopping in her rise for a second. Already, her head was coming up with some excuse to keep going. She already knew. The second Sin saw the blood, she was going to have a fit. Maybe scream, maybe pass out. She was going to say they should stop, that she should go to the nurse, get it looked at, take things easy, postpone until later.

Fuck that. A rookie was not taking her out of the game, and Zoey sure as hell wasn’t letting her leave feeling sorry about it. They were finishing it. The failing Korean-American had no idea how, still plenty glassy-eyed and sluggish. Maybe appeal to her good nature, maybe feign injury, play dumb and chalk it up to training, but it was going to happen. She was the master here. The fucking master.

And the world, in all its endless cruelty, let her keep on thinking that. Right up until Sin pulled her up, and got real close.

Like...really fucking close. Zoey’s first instinct was to lean back, get some space from that minty-fresh breath she felt washing over on her. She opened her mouth to say something...but then she saw the eyes. Those eyes. Purple and wide, chaos incarnate, bearing down on her with a hungry gaze that thickened the air like a morbid bog. Her dreary eyes slowly sparked with a hint of life as she stared back into those malevolent orbs. She tried to look away, but she couldn’t. Her eyes wouldn’t move. Not an inch. Not a twitch. She was caught. Spellbound. Wriggling in the spider’s web as the heated word against her ear sent a chill down her spine and sapped the freedom from her body, every slight movement, every defiant twitch of the finger reduced to nothing.

Was she still on the ground? Was her mind playing tricks?

The knee to her gut gave a harsh response. Zoey collapsed like a folding chair, instantly hitting the ground at the woman’s feet completely breathless with one eye shut tight, the other staring at the hazy ground beneath her. It had to concentrate on something. Her body curled up beneath her as her hands wrapped around her stomach and her forehead pressed to the ground, wheezing and rasping in some jumbled mix of speech and near hyperventilation.

“S...st…” She gagged and coughed. Another word and she might throw up. She thought to raise a hand, give Sin a sign to stop, but her body wouldn’t let it leave her stomach.

There it was. There was the fear. For a moment, Sin worried if it had really taken hold - oh, she was sure that Zoey had the primal fear going, that same fight-or-flight experience that everyone picked up in moments like this. That was simple enough to get, it was where most people went to when they were getting kicked around. Simple, yes, and tasty enough, but it was almost too easy to get. A cat could get that sort of fear from a mouse.

No, the best fear came when her prey was coherent enough to think, to ask themselves questions. Why were they here? Why was this happening to them? What was she going to do next? It was that sort of fear that could build on itself, grow worse without her doing anything. That was the fear she treasured, and Zoey was rife with it.

The scent of blood was growing, mixed with the sweat, creating that heady, enthralling scent that she’d been without for too long. Did she lock the door when they came in? Maybe. She couldn’t remember, but it wouldn’t matter at this point. Nothing was stopping this.

The knee sunk in deep and did its work, folding Zoey over like a deck of cards, cutting through her core. Then came all the expected sounds - the gasping, the gagging, the unfinished pleas that Sin would be ignore. Humming a random tune under her breath, Sin strolled around her friend’s failing, fallen body, striding on the balls of her feet all the way, dainty and graceful and without a care in the world. Lifting one of her long, lean legs up, she stood above Zoey’s waist, only taking in the view for a moment before she dropped down.

Sin draped her body over Zoey’s like’s a cape, wrapping her arms around the woman’s neck and her legs around the woman’s waist. It was a soft caress, loving and warm - but firm. Strong. Growing stronger.

”You’re weak.” She whispered into Zoey’s ear, her hushed voice echoing through the room. ”You’ve always been weak. You talk a big game, but I’ve seen you fight. Power, potential, skill, you’ve got the tools - but a tool’s worth nothing if you don’t know to use it.”

Her grip tightened now, bringing out her power. Her legs surged, bearing down on Zoey’s ribs, threatening to break them with every squeeze. Her arm closed in on the throat, wringing it tight, making her work for every breath - but not too much. Keeping her right on the edge. Just conscious enough to realize what was happening, but not enough to do anything about it.

”You’re tough, but so is a punching bag. That’s what women like me use you for. That’s why doing this is so satisfying. You keep fighting, keep surviving, like you buy into your own bullshit. It makes proving you wrong so…” Sin slid her lap along Zoey’s backside, enjoying the curve with a long stroke. ”...so satisfying. You’re the gift that keeps on giving.”

She ran her tongue along Zoey’s neck as she continued to squeeze, then dug in with her teeth, nibbling here and there. ”But it doesn’t have to be that way, Zoey. You know that, right?”

Zoey wasn’t stupid, contrary to public opinion.

She was Salutatorian back in high school. Wasn’t exactly top of her class in university, but made the student council, kept well above the rest at the bottom. She knew people, knew how to read the room, and, most importantly, she knew when she was being played.

The sirens weren’t there at first, of course. She was getting her ass kicked up and down the ring, and it might have shamed her to admit she’d been growing something of a tolerance to the feeling, but that was what fighting was. Took some and gave some. Pick yourself up, dust off, kick their ass harder.

That’s not what this felt like, not after Sin nearly kicked her off in one fell swoop. Her body fell like a sack of bricks, her limbs turned to jello, and everything wouldn’t stop bleeding. But the worst part was her “partner.” Sin didn’t seem to give a single solitary fuck about how Zoey was doing, didn’t voice an ounce of concern for her fallen friend or whatever head trauma she may have suffered. No, if anything, she seemed to enjoy it. She circled the Korean-American like a hyena on the savannah. She met Zoey with a voice dripping in malice and ecstasy, two things Zoey had become uncomfortably familiar with since joining AFW.

Whatever this was, whatever Sin was up to, she wasn’t down for it. Zoey had to pull the plug.

She had just found the strength to move her hand away from her stomach, raising it high above her head to make it clear she was tapping out when her body suddenly snatched control away from her. It had bigger problems now, like the arm around her neck, like the steel cables clamping around her ribcage, and her mind couldn’t decide which to tackle first. Zoey went into a slight frenzy. Her hands went everywhere, smacking all around her body in a panic. She gasped and choked, sputtered and reeled. Blood squeezed out from her body dripped from her nose and pooled to the floor. The fear set in and only then could she wrangle back some control over her body. Her hands went to pulling the arms away from her throat, pouring every inch of energy she still had in her to get free.

But that was almost impossible to focus on with the hushed words being whispered into her ear, interrupting her thoughts, fucking with her head. She was hearing more in them now, the sound of Sin’s true colors coming unraveled. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Zoey knew something like this was in store. She knew what AFW was like, what fighting really meant to these people, but above all, she knew herself. Why would she listen to this woman? Why would she accept this spar? Why was she even here right now?

This wasn’t her. She didn’t rely on people. She didn’t 'need guidance'. She was Zoey Jae Oh. She should have told this bitch to fuck off. Stick it where it fits.

Nope. She got lured by honeyed words and a pretty face. She hadn’t even realized. She’d been defanged. Humbled.

So fucking stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Zoey shivered, feeling that tongue at her neck now, a chilling reminder of just how long she’d gone without any real sexual contact. Not since...well, that doctor. But reliving that memory was the last thing she needed right now. She gritted her teeth and pulled against the arm at her neck.

“...fuck….fuck are you...talking about?” She pulled down on the arm again, trying to muster some more breathing room, but if anything she just made it worse for herself. Sin’s arm tightened closer around her. Their warm bodies only came closer and closer, slowly molding them into one. “Just...get off me…”

Sin’s legs surged around Zoey’s body, flexing and chewing away at her like they had a mind of their own, grinding those tender bones between her thighs. In a way, they were their own beasts. Her mind could drift off with the sinews snapping and the muscles tearing between her thighs, lose herself in ecstasy as a warm body shuddered and squeaked and begged and prayed for a savior that was simply never going to come.

She almost did it here, too, but she was able to restrain herself, keep from going over the line. She had to remember - Zoey was a toy to be broken. She was a special kind of project.

As her prey reached up in a futile attempt to pull her hand away, Sin dipped over and gave those prying fingers a little lick, giggling at the struggle - it really was one of the best parts. She wouldn’t clamp down too hard, wouldn’t cut off all the air. With practised ease and precision, she’d allowed Zoey to take in just enough to stay conscious, more or less, feeling the heartbeats through her chest. Her legs chewed away at the innards, allowing just the right amount of breath to circulate through the lungs.

Zoey’s most vital functions, at her control. Her entire life, dangling at her whims. The ultimate high.

It was easy to get lost in the moment, but Sin found some focus when Zoey spoke up, enough to center. ”Get off you?” She wormed her tongue into Zoey’s ear, giving it a good, thorough cleaning. ”I’m a little hurt, Zoey. I thought we were connecting. But if you’re really not enjoying our time together…”

Sin ground her hips down hard and long against Zoey’s backside, letting out a lewd sigh and savoring the contact, panting as the sensations ripped through her. After the moment passed, though she suddenly disengaged, crawling away on all fours, hunched raised and eyes gleaming through the strands of her hair. She never lost sight of Zoey, not even for a moment, kept her eyes locked nice and tight on the woman.

”You want to go?” She leaned forward, ever so subtle, the slightest tilt. ”Go.”

Sin was a crazy fucking bitch.

Granted, she was reaching that opinion fast on her own. The signs were all there, slowly peeking their way out over the course of their session. Even when she was too blind to see them, she couldn’t help but feel this entire thing was weirdly off. Just like always, she made a choice and couldn’t tell it was the wrong one until it was too late. She didn’t need much more confirmation, but Sin was more than happy to give it to her anyway.

No, she wasn’t overthinking that shiver she could feel from the woman’s body, the warmth from between her legs as she rubbed it all up and down her bare back. No, it wasn’t her imagination. Sin was honestly, seriously, genuinely getting off on all this.

She was far from the first person to get some kind of sadistic pleasure out of knocking her around, but the rest were at least done under this guise of showmanship that may or may not have actually existed now that she thought about it. There was an audience, a referee, a show with money to be made. There was a reason for all of it. But this? The act? The look? Going out of her way to make sure they had the privacy she needed? Whittling her down bit by bit until she couldn’t fight back? She didn’t know what the plan was here, but like fucking hell if she was going to be a part of it.

While Zoey was pretty sure Sin couldn’t read minds - though she was definitely getting that impression from the look in her eyes - it only added to the confusion when she suddenly let her go, pushing the Korean-American away and leaving her to roll onto all fours. She spun about quick, getting on one knee to face Sin as fast as humanly possible. Staying on the ground hadn’t worked for her so far, but the attack she was expecting never came. The Korean just watched her, stared into her, through her. Spellbound. The command drilled into her skull and Zoey almost moved subconsciously forward into the spider’s nest before she caught herself, fighting back with a jerk of her head.

Yup. Crazy bitch.

Fuck this.

For a second, an honest to god second, Zoey’s eyes went straight to the door. She just wanted to gauge the distance, check out her escape options if this all went south. It wasn’t like she was in peak fighting condition. Her stomach still felt like a rocket got punched through it, all after getting caught between a pair of human-sized pliers. But when actually she looked it was way closer than she realized. Not far, just off to their side, maybe twenty or so feet?  Sin was quick, but it looked like she was expecting a fight. For Zoey to jump when she said how high like she’d take that easy bait. She was quick. She could make it. She had to, even. But...

I know what I am...

But…

I’m weak…

But…

I’ve always been weak…

Her eyes shot back to Korean crouched in front of her. The scowl of Zoey’s face should have said more than enough. Burning fire and a singular hatred made manifest. Fuck her stomach. Fuck the fact she felt like vomiting, like her lungs were getting stabbed with each breath. Running wasn’t fixing that, but she knew damn well what would.

“You fucking go!” Zoey came sprinting straight out of the gate, closing the distance with a single burst of speed. Her leg swung back and shot forward, aiming to clip the bottom of the nimble Korean’s chin in its low trajectory. Once her foot came high enough after that, Zoey would swing it straight back down in the same motion with a follow-up axe kick flat on top of Sin’s head.

Zoey was never going to make it to that door.

At the least, she was never going to get through it under her own power. For all her whims, Sin didn’t have any desire to kill the waif, even if she couldn’t make this work out. Not out of any mercy, mind you, but simply because she didn’t want the hassle that would come that sort of thing. Going that extra step brought on complications and risks that she wasn’t about to deal with.

But the human body was capable of taking more damage than most realized. Beating Zoey around, breaking bones, stomping her face into an unrecognizable pulp? Oh, that was right up her ally. Years of experience had taught Sin how far was too far, and if Zoey tried - tried - to make it for the door, she would apply that knowledge with glee. She would drive her heels into the little bitch’s kneecaps until she couldn’t walk, and then

For a second, just a second, she thought it might come to that. It was a flicker, a twitch, but Zoey was looking to the door. The idea crossed whatever passed for rational thought processes in that scattered brain of hers. Sin tensed up, ready to move the second she went in the wrong direction, imagining the way it would feel to score a field goal on Zoey’s face.

But the second after that was the more interesting one. Sin’s head tilted to the side, only a few degrees, as Zoey’s face contorted in the most hateful, vile, seething stare she’d ever seen. It wasn’t a complete transformation, it was still the same woman on the surface, but there was something new bubbling under the surface, a fire that had just begun to flicker. Sin wouldn’t have to wait long to see it burn, either. She was rarely a woman caught off guard, but the burst from her pupil accomplished just that, as she moved with a sudden jolt of speed, possessed by her rage. In a normal circumstance, Sin would’ve been ready, dodged it without a problem - , here and now, the sheer alacrity of the change and charge took her off guard.

She was only standing up when the kick cracked her along the chin, whipping her head to the side. A solid blow, the kind she’d given thousands of times but rarely received, and it wasn’t coming alone, either. With a flawless shift of weight, Zoey brought that same leg up and over, crashing down on Sin’s head with an axe kick worthy of the name. It landed flush on the top of her skull and dropped the taekwonista down to a knee, her quivering palm pressed against the mat.

Good. Better. Everything she’d wanted. Panting, sweating, chest heaving, Sin stared up at Zoey through the wild strands of hair, her gaze wide and manic. She had only one word to say, but it was one she laced with so many things. Desire. Longing. Raw fucking hunger.

”More.”

Ah fuck. That was her bad leg.

Zoey felt the bolt of pain rush all the way up to her hip the second her foot came back down to the floor. Sin may have just been playing with her, but she worked it something bad all the same. It was barely noticeable, but once Zoey tried to put it back into action, the feeling came at the worst possible time.

She hopped back a step like her foot had caught fire, not letting it touch an inch of the ground. For the first and probably only time tonight, her attention wasn’t on Sin. That probably was a mistake. A serious mistake. If anything

And then there was that fucking look again. Those nightmarish eyes that gripped her heart with a violent pinch. Zoey froze on the spot. A deer in headlights. A dumbass camp counselor staring down the psycho killer’s machete. It seemed like no matter what she did, Sin kept finding a way to stay fully conscious and aware of what was going on. Like the shock didn’t even matter. She could nullify it, redirect it, hell, even absorb it and use that rush of energy as some kind of fucked-up sex enhancement pill.

What was this? Why did fighting this woman feel so...wrong?

Zoey blinked and brought her scowl back with a fierce shake of her head. What did it matter? Who cares what Sin thought or said, how she felt right now? All she had to do was knock this stupid bitch out. She wanted more? She’d give her it all.

She looked down and snorted at the demand, feigning a bit of pity in her voice. The taekwondo girl straightened and took a step back. For an instant, the sight seemed everything Zoey wasn’t. Formal, practiced, even a little posh. A ballerina taking their pose before a beautiful, slow, and delicate dance. What came next was anything but as the Korean-American snapped forward and leaped straight into the air between them with a fierce spin. Through the intense motion, she winced noticeably from having to use her injured leg to step off, but the end justified the means. After a few twirls that tore up the air between them, Zoey’’s leg kicked out with enough force to take Sin’s head clear off.

A tornado kick. She hadn’t done it before, only seen it once, and by someone whose level she’d never dreamed of reaching. But right here, at this moment, in front of this twisted sicko that thought she knew all the shit there was to know...

No more mind games. Finish her quick. End it now.

Come on Zoey.

What the fuck? Come on! Reach!