Li hurtled through the Crimson Woods, her body enveloped in a magenta hue as the terrain buckled at her feet. Omizen wasn't far behind, his path leaving devastation and crackling residue in its wake.

  The girl's pn, however short-sighted, was to draw the Shipmaster away from her friends till the trial was over. Whatever insecurities she might have had about that idea were cut short when Yrix entered her mind.

  "Two hours left, my student," the Arch-Fyer decred. "Oh, and you're nearing the border again. Keep going in that direction, and I'll squash your skull, all the way from here."

  Li grunted in response, making a wide turn as she headed back towards the mountain she once scaled with Ivy. But by the time she had completed her maneuver, Omizen had caught up. The Earthling soon found herself cruising through another tree.

  "You know, credit where credit is due." Omizen pranced about elegantly, his high heels scraping against the grass as he spoke. "I thought you'd be dead already."

  Li didn't respond. She breathed heavily, using her opponent's monologue as a chance to recover.

  "Oh, please, don't act like that other girl. The freak who thinks she's hard to read. You're the loudmouth. Like me."

  "Seriously?" Li broke her silence. "The 'we are not so different' speech?"

  Omizen would have smiled if he had a mouth. "Oh, don't mistake my intent. We are different. I'm a high-ranking warrior of the Consortium, the cornerstone of civilization in the universe. You're a barely evolved ape from a backwater pnet where your biggest challenge to overcome is your inability to recycle."

  "Should've given Ivy that whole me and you talk." Li scoffed. "What with the racism and all that."

  "You're funny." The shipmaster crossed his arms. "Keep amusing me, and I'll make sure your corpse doesn't end up in Imura's clutches. Sound like a deal?"

  That name, whoever it referred to, was delivered with a cold fringe. Li made a note of it.

  "Keep wasting time," the Earthling bantered. "And I'll try and convince Yrix not to kill you."

  "What?" Omizen snarled.

  "You're not the only one who can read minds. Not that I'm an expert. But, well, you kind of project. Makes it easy for even a novice like me." Li teased.

  A bit of Ivy rolled off her tounge. It was almost as if the heiress's verbal audacity had actually inspired her.

  Li liked that.

  "Oh, I take it back. You're dead, cupcake. And I'll hand over your face myself."

  "No takesies backsies?" Li continued her rambunctious taunting. "How about an extended warranty on my joke. Ya got those in your empire?"

  Omizen reached up towards the sky, calling down another give that slipped into his hand with buttery smoothness. He spread his legs before spinning his weapon in a circle, ending his wind-up with a ssh so immense it cut apart everything in its wake for a mile.

  Ever swift and agile, Li jumped over the lightning-quick ssh, trying her best to form a bde of her own. The best she could manage, however, was a blob of indecipherable energy. Omizen braced, half expecting to be faced with a real assault, only to barely flinch as a soft, almost pillow-like projection broke upon him.

  "What?" The Shipmaster paused, genuinely amazed by Li. "How is it that such unbridled maneuverability could be paired with the meek and pathetic strength of a child?"

  Omizen shrugged, looking away as he hurled his give at Li as if it were a javelin. Such was the propensity of his arrogance that he would entirely ignore what happened next.

  Li grabbed onto the javelin mid-air, and after allowing it to tug her along for a brief moment, enveloped its blue aura in her own energy field. By the time Omizen had bothered to turn his attention towards the enemy once more, he was unable to avoid his own weapon as it came sailing back at him.

  "Holy shit." Li gasped, suprised by her power.

  Omizen reeled backwards, almost losing his bance as his own weapon burst into a sea of magenta. The blinding rage that would soon follow granted him enough strength to pull Li in, tching onto her with a Psionic grasp.

  He began to squeeze.

  "Aah!" Li screamed, levitating in front of Omizen. "Let go!"

  Li blinked forward, escaping the grasp and kicking the Shipmaster in the eye with a flurry of kicks. The speed of her onsught was so great her legs blended togethor in a mess of color. By the time she finally touched the ground again, she was free.

  "I can do this." Li thought to herself. "If Ivy can give me a weapon. One that I can't hope to craft on my own. This can work."

  Li sped off before she could observe Omizen's reaction.

  "Sonera and Lunae could hold him down. We just need an opening." The Earthling continued, her mind racing with possibilities.

  Yrix chimed in, nosey as ever. "Good idea. I like it."

  Omizen remained in hot pursuit, inching closer to Li by the second. Pride and a sense of duty had consumed him more than they already did.

  "Bey all bombardment," Omizen ordered, sending a signal to his ship. "I want their bodies intact. I made a promise."

  - - - - - - - -

  "Sonera!"

  "Sonera!"

  Lunae screamed, trying to pull her friend away with all her might.

  "Please! Stop!"

  Sonera's ears were ringing, and her eyes flushed with a crazed mania. Beneath her vision and serene concentration, she had begun to tenderize the flesh of her fallen enemy. The Psions were all dead. But she kept swinging.

  Once her whip had dissipated, she had switched to her bare hands. But unlike before, when a bout of rage had been responsible for her after-battle carnage, she felt a sense of calm. It was almost as if unnecessary brutality was a day job to Sonera.

  "Sonera!" Lunae screamed, louder than before, horrified by her friend's actions.

  Ivy approached from behind, pulling an unconscious Rena in tow. And with a complete ck of tact, she threw her baton at Sonera, striking her in the back of the head.

  That got her attention.

  "There." Ivy smiled. "Pay attention.