The Conflict

by PaulAsaran

The Conflict

The rain pounded down as Aria stepped onto the school’s roof. The padlock dangled from its chain under her left arm. She immediately set her attention to the other side of the building. Even in the darkness, there was no mistaking Lightning Dust’s figure, if only because it could be nobody else.

Lightning was leaning against one of the large air conditioning units, baseball bat at her side. Her head came up, fingers brushing her soaked blond locks away from her face. As soon as she saw Aria’s figure in the downpour, she slung the bat onto her shoulder and stepped forward. Her sneakers were quiet on the concrete ceiling. The clopping of Aria’s combat boots could barely be made out over the storm.

Aria’s eyes narrowed against the rain. She began to swing the padlock and chain in a vertical circle. Thunder rumbled over their heads as they approached one another.

They paused some ten paces apart, close enough to properly see one another’s features in the rain. A hard wind blew Aria’s pigtails wildly about, but she made no move to stop them. The padlock made a quiet whistling sound as the chain spun in her hand.

Lightning took a couple practice swings with her bat. “Before we begin,” she called over the rain, “I just want to say that you’ve got the coolest room ever.”

Aria reached out her free hand. The padlock landed in the palm with a resounding, wet slap. Her face reflected nothing but stoic stone. “I’m gonna knock your teeth out with this thing.”

“Straight to the point?” Lightning held the bat low behind her, ready to swing. “Fine.”

And so they stood. In the dark, as the rain filled the air with its hiss, as winds pushed at the two of them, as the sky growled in anticipation. The chain began to spin its circle again, a siren’s song of imminent brutality. Tense hands squeezed the bat’s handle as if to crush the breath from a throat. Two pairs of eyes held one another, neither woman budging, neither advancing, neither retreating.

The wind died down. If one listened hard enough, they might have heard Lightning’s slow, carefully controlled breaths over the ambient noise.

Not a soul would have heard such things from Aria.

A bolt cracked the sky.

By the time the flash had passed, Lightning Dust had closed half the distance.

She swung. Aria leaned back, not so much as blinking when the bat flashed an inch from her nose and splattered water across her face. A reverse swing, another dodge, this time with a backstep.

On the third swing, Aria caught the padlock low in her right hand, stepped forward, and blocked the bat with her chain. As soon as the bat’s momentum faded, she let go of the padlock to try a backfist. Lightning reverse-stepped with a grunt, tried to line up another swing—

She fell to the ground on her back, just escaping an upward swing of the padlock. Her sideways roll was barely enough to dodge the improvised weapon as it swung back down, crunching into the concrete right where her head had been. On one knee, she pulled the bat up just in time to block the jagged bottom of a boot aimed at her face. Eyes wide, she ducked down, the metal padlock rustling the hair atop her head. Pushing up and forward while Aria’s arm was still recovering from the swing brought her shoulder-first into the former siren. Aria, the slightly smaller of the two, stumbled back with a snarl.

The bat reverse-swung. It was an awkward attack from an awkward position, and Aria was able to block it with her chain-wrapped arm. She countered by throwing a punch that landed squarely on Lightning’s cheek, but it too was awkward due to their close, unbalanced positions, and hardly did any damage. Lightning shoved Aria back, tried to get some distance, had to bend backwards to avoid the padlock swinging in from her right.

Aria spun with the swing of the padlock, using its momentum to throw a circling kick at Lightning. She didn’t quite have the reach, but it kept Lightning back. She came around low to one knee, arm stretched as far as it could go as the padlock whistled through the rain, sending droplets flying in a circle.

Lightning reverse-swung again. The bat cracked into the padlock with enough force to send tremors up her arm. Amidst the endless raindrops, splinters flew. Wood and metal canceled one another’s momentum, and Lightning charged in close once more. Instead of a full swing, she attempted to bash Aria’s face with the butt of the bat’s handle. Aria dodged sideways, only to get caught in another shoulder-first shove that knocked her on her back. Now it was her scrambling to roll away as the bat struck concrete with a resounding thwack and a splash.

She came out of her roll with another spin, trying to make distance. Lightning, snarling through her teeth, took a follow-up swing. Aria, arm raised high, swung the padlock vertically. The chain caught the bat, wrapped around it. She jerked the chain taut and nearly took the weapon out of Lightning’s hands.

Another bolt tore through the sky.

The combatants stood in the rain for a couple seconds, weapons intertwined. With the bat gripped tight just above her shoulder, Lightning used her tensed arm to brush hair and water from her eyes, never letting go of her weapon. Across from her, chain-wrapped arm raised close to her face and tense with effort, Aria did the same with her free hand. There was nothing but darkness and rain beyond either of them; no sign that an outside world existed at all. The wind kicked up, harder than before.

The boom of the bolt hit them, and they resumed their dance.

Aria caught the end of the bat with her free palm and pushed. The handle thrust past Lightning’s shoulder, forcing her to twist with it or lose her hold. Chain-arm pushed wood sideways, and Aria came in with a vicious punch. There was no awkwardness this time; the hit jerked Lightning’s face sideways. She stumbled, tried to retaliate, only for the bat to be ripped out of her hands. She caught her balance and, barely managing the time to look at her opponent, charged with a war cry against the roaring gale.

Aria had swung the chain – and thus the bat – behind her, but the two were still tangled and she had no chance to fix that before Lightning slammed into her. They hit the concrete, and Lightning wasted no time smashing her fist into Aria’s face. Her second attempt was blocked by the chain-arm, the metal digging into the flesh of her fingers. Lightning used her other hand to grab the arm and pin it against Aria’s own throat, then punished her with another punch to the nose. Aria grunted through clenched teeth.

On the third punch, she twisted her neck so the blow hit hard concrete. Lightning hissed as pain clawed up her wrist, forced to pause for the split second of another lightning flash to let the shock pass.

By the time she could see again, Aria’s mouth was wide open. From her throat erupted sound, a screech of a tone that visibly distorted the air and sent water droplets spraying from the two of them. Lightning reared back, hands over her ears, her own cry inaudible against the sudden onslaught. The noise stopped, Lightning blinked away her tears—

And then Aria’s forehead slammed into her nose. A second later and she’d been shoved off the once-prone Siren.

Sticky blood seeped from Lightning’s nostrils as she hit the concrete on her side. She allowed herself just enough of a pause to release a cry of pain, and then she was hurrying back to her feet. Sneakers slipped in the water that now ran across the roof in small rivers, stealing from her a precious second. A clatter of wood called her attention to Aria, who had just freed the bat from her chain. Now the siren, her lips dark from the blood dripping from her own nose, turned to face her with padlock once more swinging circles.

Metal swung wide. Lightning gained control of her feet and managed to dodge, droplets flying from the padlock and into her face as it darted past. It came again, and again, and again! Sometimes high, sometimes low, Aria spinning and dropping to one knee and back up. Though water cascaded off her clothes and body, she moved with the surety and grace of a ballerina, pigtails flying like ribbons, every motion sending the padlock whirling like choreographed, blunt death. Lightning dodged, jumped over a low swing, backed up as another swing aimed for her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed in concentration with every spin, every splash of water slapped against her, ever careful step.

The padlock passed. Her hand whipped out and caught one of Aria’s pigtails.

She jerked, and Aria let out a yelp as her spin was halted, neck twisting. Unbalanced, one leg held out mid-spin, she stumbled, tried to correct, landed one one knee with a hand to the concrete. She saw the attack coming and tried to dodge. Lightning’s knee, aimed for the face, instead got shoulder. It was more than enough to send the siren sprawling.

Lightning attempted to stomp Aria’s stomach. The siren rolled away, only to get hit in the side by a follow-up kick.

“Stay down!” Lightning’s foot slammed into a black puddle, barely missing Aria’s face. Holding her side, Aria tried to get on her feet only to be met with a powerful left-handed hook to the side of the head that toppled her sideways. She rolled with the landing, came up facing Lightning who was already almost on her again! Still one one knee, she grasped the chain with both hands and blocked the second attempt at a knee strike.

Lightning tried a straight punch. Aria moved into it, wrapped her right arm around so Lightning’s was caught between her arm and shoulder, then pushed forward and up. Lightning’s free hand struck her side. Aria grunted, teeth grit, and countered with a blow that landed under Lightning’s armpit. The woman let out a strangled cry, caught the second attempt.

Another lull, this time with the two of them up close and holding one another still. Both were breathing hard, blood mingling with the rain that dripped from their chins. Aria's breath hitched, but only the tiniest flick of her lips hinted at any related pain. Lightning tried to pull her arm free; Aria held fast. Aria tugged her own arm; Lightning’s grip was like iron. A bruise was already forming on the side of Aria’s face, visible even in the dark. They held one another’s glares for a second. Two. Three. Lightning’s drifted to the ground. Thunder rumbled over the rain, and as if in unspoken agreement, both let go and shoved the other away.

Aria wasted no time trying for a swing. Lightning charged forward, ducked under the padlock, and slammed shoulder-first into the siren. She didn’t knock Aria down this time, only to the side, and she kept going past the siren. Aria stumbled, recovered, turned and twirled her chain. Lightning scooped up the baseball bat and swung as she spun.

For the second time, wood hit metal. There was an audible crack rivaling the lightning that lit up the sky, creating a ghostly image of splinters and the bat bending sharply. Raindrops froze, reflecting unblinking flames of brilliant gamboge and mulberry like sparkling stars in a midsummer sky, two blazing pyres sharing a singular glare of ferocity, determination, and harmonious destruction across the wet, glittering aether. A pair of souls connected by a bridge of oak and steel and passion and purpose, the quintessential picture of violence given life.

The flash passed, and the rain fell.

Lightning launched her assault, every swing wild and accompanied by a shriek, the bent bat no less dangerous for the damage it had received. Aria dodged again, even as the padlock swung circles. Step, scream, swing, dodge, again, again, and again, water splashing against skin and wood and metal as they danced through the renewed darkness.

Aria caught the padlock, dropped down to one knee under a swing, and threw the metal weapon with straight precision into Lightning’s lower leg. It hit hard enough to unbalance her foe, and Lightning had no time to brace when the chain-wrapped arm flashed forward in a punch that got her in the chin. The second punch was in the gut, a third in the chest, then a two-palm push nearly sent her sprawling. An unbalanced step, two, eyes wide, arms seeking out the right position to stop the backwards momentum. A spiked boot swung out high, and Lightning moved to block, only to have the bat knocked from her hand. Sneakers slipped on wet concrete and she went down. The whistling of chain and metal filled her ears. She went for the bat, caught it in both hands, turned to face her opponent as she rose.

Padlock impacted cheek.

Teeth flew.

Lightning spun, hitting the concrete face-down in a puddle. For an unearthly second, the rain and thunder was masked behind a high-pitched ringing in her ears. Blood dribbled from between her lips as she moaned. The dark world blurred. All she could do was watch the rain pound against the wet cement.

The padlock smashed the ground an inch from her face, sending water splashing into her eyes, her mouth and its throbbing pain, her aching nose. Aria straddled Lightning's back, grabbed her arm, pulled it up in a straight-armed lock. It wasn’t until she felt the nails clawing at her palm that Lightning realized what the woman was going for.

The fact jolted her out of the pain-induced stupor. “No.” She squirmed. Aria held fast. “No!” Red light began to glow out the corner of Lightning’s vision. “No! You can’t take it from me! I need it, I need it!”

Aria said nothing. One arm held Lightning’s tightly in place, the other carefully dug into the palm. Her lips curled with fierce concentration, her eyes shining red as the light glowed both from within her jacket and the ruby before her eyes. Lightning tried to close her hand into a fist. Aria rewarded her by punching the back of her head, sending her already pained face into the concrete. Fingernails began to dig between ruby and skin.

“Please. Please!” Lightning’s free arm swung, twisted, grasped at nothing. Her legs kicked against the ground uselessly. Tears melded with rain and blood. “I’m in control! I’m finally in control! You can’t do this to me!”

She screamed. Aria screamed back. The roof was alight in a brilliant red glow, the drops of rain sparkling like bloody diamonds.

The ruby came free in Aria’s hand, leaving behind little but a faint red mark in Lightning’s palm.

Her prize acquired, Aria released Lightning’s arm, which fell limp. Hand on her side, hissing through her teeth, she moved off the prone teen’s back and sat down facing away from her. That done, she held up the ruby between forefinger and thumb, examining it closely. She touched it to her head, and it gave off a faint pulse that brought a smile to her lips.

Only then did she look over her shoulder at the unmoving Lightning Dust. “You done?”

Lightning, cheek to puddle, offered no response. She only stared blankly across the rooftop. The water her face lay in was stained red with swirls of blood still dripping from her nose and mouth. Were it not for the steady rise and fall of her back as she breathed one might think her dead.

Facing forward again, Aria pocketed the ruby inside her thoroughly soaked jacket, then used the back of her hand to rub blood from her own lips. She felt her face, wincing. Clenching her jaw, she gripped her nose and, with a crunch of cartilage, reset it, her eyes clenching tightly shut as she grunted.

She began unraveling the chain around her arm. As a roll of thunder sounded off overhead, she eyed the dark roof and its many puddles and small rivers. “You know, if we looked hard enough we might be able to recover those teeth.”

Lightning said nothing. Her wet locks clung to her face, obscuring one of her eyes.

Aria shot her an annoyed frown. The last of the chain came loose from her arm, the skin red from all the scratching of metal against flesh. She tossed the improvised weapon aside. “Fine, then. Don’t talk to me.” She gingerly got up, turned away.

“I was in control.”

She paused. Turned back.

Lightning spat out blood, but didn’t try to get up. Her arms remained limp where they lay. “That was all I wanted. To finally have some control over my life.” Her visible eye, wet with something other than rain, drifted up to Aria, questioning, pleading. “Why does everything I try go so horribly wrong?”

The two stared at one another, one broken in multiple ways, the other victorious yet solemn. The world remained black, existing only for the two of them. Neither spoke for some time. Aria’s pigtails, heavy with water, dangled almost to the concrete, water sleuthing off them in a steady stream. Lightning sniffled, her eye turning away at last.

A crackling bolt across the sky stirred the siren from her staring. She eyed the sky, sighed, then got down on one knee to grab Lightning’s wrist. With a moan of effort, she got Lightning’s arm around her shoulder and hefted the woman up. “Come on, before we get struck by lightning or something.”

“I tried striking,” the woman muttered without emotion. “It didn’t work.”

“Hah.” Aria looked around, frowned. She started limping in a seemingly random direction. Lightning allowed herself to be dragged, more stumbling than walking. “This would be a lot easier if you used your legs.”

Eyes on the concrete, Lightning whispered, “Why do you even care?”

Aria smiled. Lightning didn’t see it. “That was the best throw-down I’ve had in decades. Nobody fights that hard without a reason.”

Lightning raised her head to look at Aria. The siren didn’t return the look, her peering gaze focused ahead. The tiniest of smiles drifted across the teen’s lips. She began putting some weight on her legs as she let her head hang once more. “Y-you really do have the coolest bedroom. I want a bedroom like that.”

“Maybe you can have one someday.” Aria brought them to a stop. They could just make out the edge of the roof ahead. She scowled. “But first, we gotta figure out where the door is.”

Above them, the rain only came down harder.

Somewhere’s behind them, a door clanged open. “Aria!”

The siren’s eyes went wide. “Aww, nuts.” Slowly, she began turning them around.

By the time she’d pulled it off, Sonata was in front of her, sporting an umbrella and lighting the way with her cell phone. She got one look at her beat up sister and let out a faint gasp. “By the Great Song, are you okay?” Then she noticed Lightning and promptly took a step back, face going pale. “R-ria, do you know who that is?”

“Sonata!” Adagio’s voice sounded in the distance, presumably from the roof access doors. “Get back in here with that umbrella before you get struck by lightning!”

The youngest siren spun around. “Dagi, it’s Aria! She’s hurt!”

A pause. “How hurt?”

Aria and Lightning shared a glance. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” the former weakly suggested.

“Speak for yourself,” Lightning groaned, gingerly touching her bloody lips.

Aria winced. “Yeah, definitely want to get that looked at.”

“Come on, Ria, just leave her.” Sonata shot Lightning a scowl, hands going to her own stomach.

“I’m bringing her home.”

The sheer incredulity in Lightning’s face was almost a match for Sonata’s. “You’re what? But Ria, she stole our stones!”

“Yeah?” Aria freed her arm from around Lightning’s waist so that she could reach into her jacket and pull out the freshly retrieved ruby. “And I got them back. You’re welcome.”

Sonata stared at the gem, eyes wide and jaw dropped. She reached up as if in a daze, taking the stone with reverent care. “It’s… It’s fixed. You fixed it. Did you…?” She touched the ruby to her forehead. It emitted a faint pulse.

Sonata dropped her umbrella. Tears were already falling down her cheeks.

Wrapping her arm back around Lightning’s waist, Aria tilted her head at her injured companion. “Thank her. She’s the one who fixed them.”

Sonata lowered the gem to stare at Lightning. The blonde shifted, coughed, glanced away. “I, uh, had no idea what I was doing.” Aria reached out and caught the umbrella just as it was being blown away.

Then Sonata came forward and embraced Lightning, forehead pressed against her shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

Lightning hissed. “I’m in a lotta pain, kid. Your sister kicked my ass.”

“That’s okay.” Sonata stepped around them and added her support to Lightning’s opposite side. “We know a good nurse.”

“Sonata! Aria! What’s going on out there?”

“Speaking of, we better get going.”

They limped for the access door, now visible in the distance thanks to Adagio using her own phone to try and see them. The going was faster with Sonata’s help. Aria tried to hold the umbrella over them as best she could, but it wasn’t easy being at the end of the line. “How did you know we were up here, anyway?”

“We tracked my phone, just like you said,” Sonata cheerfully replied. “Then we saw the red flash from the parking lot.”

To that, Aria could only smile.

Adagio was waiting for them at the door, clutching her own gem against her chest and Sonata’s bag hanging from her shoulder. A long, heavy sigh escaped her as the three made it inside the door. She looked at Lightning, then at Aria. Her expression was a complex mixture of concern and exasperation. “Really, Aria?”

The smallest siren's smile turned wry. “I found a stray. Can I keep her?” Lightning snorted a laugh, only to cringe as blood seeped from her nose.

The eldest siren pressed a hand over her eyes and heaved another sigh. “We can barely afford us.”

“I know.” Aria’s expression turned serious. “I’ll help.”

Sonata looked from one sister to the other, still holding Lightning’s other side up. When Lightning shot her a quizzical expression, she only shrugged helplessly.

“Damn it, Ria,” Adagio muttered, “why is it all the medical inventory is always used up on you?” She turned away, waving a beckoning hand. “Well, come on. Here’s hoping she’s better house-trained than you are.”

Comments

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

one of the best fight scenes i've read