The calm before the storm: The first encounter

Hyacinth:

Hyacinth's head was pounding when she entered the gym. The same words kept circling in her head: Break Cicilia De'Reignhardt, beat her down. She groaned softly and held her head, she just wanted the voices to stop, but then, through the window of one of the private rooms she saw her. Her prey was in there training for who knows what reason, but she didn't care. She looked down at her hands and giggled a little before she put on the surgical mask she had taken from her match with Juno and headed inside. She hadn't been noticed as she opened the door and walked inside, closed the blinds and watched her as the door slammed shut. She stood there for what seemed like an eternity with the voices now gone, replaced by the soothing words of her mistress, "Beat her down until she stops moving." Was all she could hear now and she couldn't help but giggle, "I won't let you down mistress." she whispered and grinned behind the mask. Her eyes wide as she waited for the right moment to strike. This feeling, it was almost surreal to her. She had stumbled in here by accident and by some dumb luck, she was already about to complete her mission. She began thinking of the rewards Juno would give her once she had taken care of this woman, but she couldn't help but wonder...why? Why this woman? What had she done to earn the wrath of someone so gentle and kind? No matter, Juno demanded her execution and she would carry out her orders without question or fail.

This was one of those days where Cici was feeling... better than normal. Second day in a row where things were looking up. How about that? She felt like she had more energy in her this day, Sayumi was looking more and more beautiful every time she had the pleasure to have her in her line of sight, colors were brighter and people were nice...er. She almost felt like she walked into a parallel reality, one that would've been classified as the "bright side." She had been keeping to her therapist's advice for at least a weak now... and she had to admit, her moping had almost completely gone away. Granted, things were NOT always easy! Balancing the budget was always a pain, making sure she's eating healthy all the time was a lesson in restraint atop lessons of restraint...

...But she was being rewarded for her patience and dedication... and she had spread that to her girlfriend this day... Before going out, the German gave her girlfriend one of her longest, softest hugs, thanking her for EVERYTHING she had ever done for her... If there was one person in the entire world that kept her going, that made it worth getting up in the morning to live her hell-hole of a life... it was Sayumi... Her smiles, sweetness, words of encouragement... Her mere presence gave the Juggernaut the will to keep going. She wasn't JUST her girlfriend... but her best friend... She made her smile when she felt her face would be locked in a permanent frown. She left her alone when she wanted to be and held her when she needed it... Sayumi had been a true angel through all of this and for her grace and generosity, she would have the german's eternal and undying love.

But even with that love stronger than ever. the boxer had to go out and train... And hey! Nobody tried to start anything with her this time! ...Not yet anyway! Cicilia had been in the Gym for at least an hour, beating down bags and she had been left to her own devices... Huh. She wondered what she did to deserve this kindness from the universe.

Hyacinth watched the woman's flurry of strikes with shock. She was impressed to say the least, but she had a mission and she wasn't about to let her mistress down. The thought of bringing this woman to her, broken and defeated, got her giggling. Her giggles grew a little louder with all the possible rewards she would receive from Juno for the completion of this mission and she stepped silently towards her, getting herself psyched for the fight of her life. She had never been in a full on brawl before, but she was sure that it was no different than a wrestling match other than that there was no ref to call the match and bring in paramedics...good. Cicilia would suffer and there would be no one else to help her. If she wanted help, she would make her beg. She was certain that Juno would like that when she told her the story, but until then, she needed to put this insect down for good. When Hyacinth was no more than a few feet away, she would stop, discard the mask before rushing towards the woman, stopping just before she got to her and whirled around, throwing a spinning hook kick towards Cici's face...the same move she used to down Juno before becoming her "friend." If it were to connect, Hyacinth would then walk to her and press her foot down on the woman's throat and begin giggling again as she enjoyed every second of cutting of this woman's oxygen and the thought of her mistress praising her for her work sent a tingle down her spine. Her now blue eyes stared down at the woman as an inhuman smile spread across her face, trying to press her foot down as hard as she could before she spoke, "My mistress sends her regards...Cicilia De'Reignhardt." she laughed and delivered a vicious stomp to her chest.

Cicilia couldn't help but dwell on some things as she pounded out that punching bag. She wondered if the people she was dealing with were truly as bad as they seemed to be, considering almost every evil they did was right in the open. Juno's insane stalking outside her apartment, attacks on the Juggernaut in the Gym, all of which having cameras on the outside and inside of the place. Whether or not they cared about being caught and thrown in prison was the question likely that needed answering to discover the secrets of her first question... Bah. Why was she even thinking about this? Cicilia was having a good day and she needn't ruin it by brooding over things she couldn't control!

...Speaking of which...

Just as the German was about to pull away from her bag and go back to the lockers, Cicilia was suddenly SMASHED in her temple with a devastating blow out of nowhere, her body sent HARD on it's side! She had been completely blindsided! With her defenses down, not one speck of a guard risen, Cicilia had left herself completely open to anyone who wanted to stick a knife into her ribs... or in this case, a heel to her head! The boxer rolled over on her back, eyelids fluttering just a bit as her scrambled mind desperately tried to make sense of the situation! There was nothing to run into, the weights on the other side of the gym... Hardly anyone was here except for the attendants so...

Who was attacking her!?

Just as the world came back into focus, a boot STAMPED on Cicilia's throat, the woman's hands SHOOTING up and LATCHING onto the woman's ankle, trying to RIP it from where it blocked her air! Her sanguine eyes stared up at a figure she had never seen before, let alone fought! What... What the hell was HER problem!? What had she done to piss her off!? What in the...

"My mistress sends her regards...Cicilia De'Reignhardt."

Instantly, the boxer's eyes exploded with anger, flames of reactive rage flashing and spreading from what once was a state of peace. Hyacinth attempted to pull her foot back for a stomp... only to feel her leg raising higher and higher than she had intended it too, the boxer pushing back against her foot... and with one mighty HEAVE attempting to throw the woman OFF of her!

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Cicilia roared, PULLING herself up to her feet... doing her best to ignore the vertigo that came with being kicked in the fucking head. Her sanguine eyes BURNED as she glared down her mysterious attacker, her arms shooting up in their instinctive boxing guard, her blood BOILING...

As Hyacinth's boot rose up to deliver a stomp to her chest, she felt herself flipped back, but somehow managed to land gracefully and she got down low to the ground on all fours, her glowing blue hues never leaving the Juggernaut as she watched her and emitted what almost sounded like a low growl. Slowly she stood and cocked her head to the side at a sickening angle and began to laugh a cold, evil, crazy laugh as her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face, "It seems I underestimated my prey...good, my mistress will want to hear all about this once I've finished with you." she grinned and slowly circled the German Juggernaut, trying to gauge any weak spots she could wear down before she moved in for the kill. Her eyes darting back up to those burning sanguine eyes and she giggled, "I've been waiting a long time to meet you Cicilia, I've heard so much about you." she giggled again, the bones in her neck cracking as she finally came to a stop and watched her, the sounds of her giggling seeming to fill the gym, "Though I do wish it could have been under better circumstances, but you gained the ire of my mistress and for that she has ordered me to...how you might say...take you out." she smiled a sadistic smile as she stared daggers into the woman that stood across from her, "Don't worry about anyone coming to interrupt our playtime. They've been...taken care of." she giggled again like a little school girl who just shared her crush's name with a friend.

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me..." Cicilia hissed as her attacker just started LAUGHING and LAUGHING, remarking how she'd FINISH OFF the German, How she's heard SO much.... but it was her time to go... Oh boy, was the boxer glowering right now. She wasn't even freaking out or anything just... disappointed. When so many crazy idiots come at you, there comes a point when the terror and fear for your own safety just goes away... She wouldn't say it gave her a thicker skin... but it stopped hurting as much when someone claims to be after your head.

"Oh, for the love of god, put a sock in it..." Cicilia rolled her eyes, her eyes narrowing and her lips curling into a snarl. "I've had enough with your stupid, villainous monologue. Shut up and try to do what you came here to do. I'll kill you first." She didn't care about anything... She didn't care if she had just threatened this girl's life! As far as she was concerned, if this woman was coming to take hers away, she had the right to do ANYTHING to keep that from happening. ...Even if it meant bashing this girl's head into the floor until she stopped moving.

So, she couldn't even count on someone from the outside to see this shit and try to stop it? She'd taken care of everyone? What was this, a fucking turn-based video-game where the fight takes place in a separate pocket-dimension outside the world...? Ugh... She hated this... She was tired of it... but she didn't have a choice. This was now a fight.

Not willing to give Hyacinth a chance to actually follow up on the German's challenge, Cicilia's fist SHOT out like a bullet, intent on NAILING the woman right in the nose, hopefully CRUSHING it under her fist in the process! Whether or not it connected, the boxer would follow up with more, quicker, stronger combinations of hooks, uppercuts and jabs, her fists like flashes of light, like cannon-balls of iron HAMMERING into her target with precision AND might! All of her relentless training had come to a head this day... and she would show off her skills to her attacker!

Hyacinth was slowly beginning to move in closer to her when suddenly she was seeing stars. Cicilia's fist had connected with her the corner of her jaw as she was moving her head to the side in a vein attempt to dodge. The strike forced Hyacinth to stagger back and a small trickle of blood dribbled down her chin and she snarled a bit, looking back at Cicilia with death in her eyes, but was quickly smashed in the side of her face and forced down to her hands and knees as she spat some more blood on the floor, but all this did was fuel her rage. Hyacinth was slowly making her way back to her feet when she felt another fist slam into the side of her head, sending her back down to the floor and seeing stars as a strange bright green liquid dribbled out of her nose with the blood that was now leaking from her like a faucet that had been left on slightly. She coughed a little and rolled to her side, spitting more blood and some of the liquid down on the mat and she froze. Juno's gift was leaking out of her and this pushed her over the edge. She suddenly stood and unleashed a frenzy of punches and kicks in Cici's direction like a hail of bullets from a machine gun before she jumped up and threw out one of her signature flying side kicks towards her face, intent on sending her flying back before she began to recover from her foe's brutal assault. It was a miracle in and of itself that she hadn't been knock unconscious and the fact that she was able to absorb so much punishment from such a hard hit just left her speechless. It had to be the gift...she had to find a way to thank Juno for giving her such power, but for now she needed to direct that power in Cicilia's general direction.

Some people didn't know how good they had it when they fought the Juggernaut. When they battled her in the ring, most women didn't know how much the girl was pulling her punches in order to make sure no permanent damage was inflicted. She didn't want to leave them a mangled mess, after all! No matter how angry or frustrated she was, Cicilia never actually tried to put down her foes with her full, almighty strength.

...This was different. This was survival.

Hyacinth was put on the floor in just two punches, coughing and spitting up blood as the boxer's punches ripped through her being. Cicilia's pure-strength approach displayed its rewards to the woman before her, cracking her sense of reality and ruining the confidence the girl had brought with her ambush! Where Hyacinth's surprise attack had left little more than a sting on the Juggernaut, the boxer's straight-forward attack completely decimated her target... and the German wasn't the least bit apologetic. If anything, Cicilia felt anger that, for all her tough-ass talk, Hya could only put up THIS much of a fight on her own! How fucking sad. She threatened to end her... and this is all she could give? She expected something that'd make her sweat, at least.

As the woman climbed to her feet, struggling for ground, another punch SLAMMED her back down into it, blood now streaming from her lips and nose down onto the floor... but some green shit too mixed in... It looked almost like some kind of glowing ooze with the way it caught the light... Something that shouldn't have been in the human body...

She didn't have much time to dwell on this, however as Hyacinth came back at her with a flurry of punches and kicks! Instantly, the boxer fell behind her defenses, letting the other woman's attacks bounce off her arms and stalwart guard, her kicks being as easily discarded as her punches. She was wild, undisciplined, easily defended against... As the boxer's emotional state... cold. Detached. As if this was something she just had to do and nothing more. As her attacker's foot came up in a massive high-kick, the boxer with deftly duck under her strike as her foot barely grazed the top of her scalp, lunging in to GRAB the woman's shoulders and DRAG her into an ugly knee-strike before pulling her BACK in for a crushing headbutt, forehead to forehead! If these blows connected, the Juggernaut would then lift up her boot... and move to shove her to the floor with a simple step-kick to her chest... hopefully putting her down.

Hyacinth was in trouble as soon as her final kick missed its mark. She was operating on pure rage now and was completely undisciplined with her strikes before suddenly being slammed in the face by the woman’s knee, sending her staggering before she was seeing stars again and finally put down by the woman’s foot. Hyacinth grimaced and clutched the woman’s foot as it held her down on the floor and crushed her chest, more blood spilling from her nose and mouth as well as more of the serum. Hyacinth was close to beaten and she knew it, but suddenly she remembered Juno’s other gift...the mask. She had forgotten about the other mixture she had put into the mask, saying it would help her in this fight with Cicilia. Weakly, she began reaching out for the mask that had been discarded earlier on.

Cicilia watched as Hyacinth fell to the floor, the German juggernaut glaring down upon her, teeth clenched TIGHTLY with rage! Damn her... Damn her for making her fight like this, for feeling this AGAIN! She had been at peace for the first time in what felt like a lifetime... and it was just TORN from her! She could feel it all swell and flood her veins from her heart, burning, energy-filled blood pouring through her body with every inclination to be used! Her arms and body twitched as her anger built upon itself, escalating, rising, transforming into something more ugly and twisted with each passing second.

The German's attacker reached out weakly for something, fingers grasping for some object... at least, until a boot STAMPED upon it with unyielding force, the Juggernaut GRINDING it against the floor and the sole of her shoe!

"I... have had enough...." Cicilia hissed through her teeth as she lifted her boot up again... and BROUGHT IT DOWN upon the woman's arm! "...of people like you attacking me..."

Quickly, she would bend down, grabbing the woman by the center of her top, YANKING her to her feet and GLARING dead into her eyes! With one single hand, she held the weak, practically beaten woman up to eye-level, air around Cicilia appearing to warp and twist as her emotions BLED out into the world! Heat flooded into the room, the atmosphere becoming sharp and cruel, biting at the lungs who breathed it, the German's eyes as sharp as the edge of a knife... and as jagged as the teeth of a saw.

"Where's that fucking smile, DOG!? Where's that fucking confidence!?" The German's fingers DUG into Hyacinth's clothes, threatening to rip RIGHT through them her bared teeth... like the fangs of a demon! "I'll......... I'll........."