Chapter Text
"One more round?"
Kris looked down at where Susie's voice spoke, hunched in one of the corners of the Party Dojo's arena. She was out of breath and panting, using her coat as a sweat rag.
The two of them had spent the last hour practicing dodging, blocking, parrying, riposting, and dozens of other fighting skills they didn't know the names of. It was only when the two of them felt confident that they could avoid getting hit that Susie suggested sparring.
The idea was more for fun than for practice, since it wasn't like they typically fought darkners, and Kris was bored enough to agree.
Susie was almost certain she could wallop the little pipsqueak into next week if she wanted to, chuckling at the thought of Kris struggling to get a meaningful hit in as she gloated in their face.
Unfortunately, they were just as capable of a fighter in the dark world as she was. Her attacks relied on brute strength rather than any kind of strategy, wildly swinging her axe in their general area, and Kris was just to damn fast to knock away.
Annoyingly enough, between the openings they took to get some quick jabs in on her, they would smirk and mumble taunts to her. They could really get on her nerves sometimes!
Eventually, after the fourth or fifth round (Susie had lost track of the amount of times her ass was kicked), Kris called for a breather. As they took off their cape and breastplate, Susie followed suit with her coat.
While the both of them took turns pretending not to check each other out, Susie thought about why she lost... And then it hit her. Her mouth slightly curled into a sneering grin, her flawless strategy to finally knock that cheeky little shit on their ass.
She looked up at them and smirked, suggesting one last round.
"Alright," Kris relented, "but after this we go to the cafe."
Susie shot up and chuckled darkly as Kris walked back to their corner of the ring.
"Ready to lose?" She goaded.
"Ready when you are." They replied, coolly neutral.
The two of them locked eyes and rocketed forward, blade coming against blade as they took turns attempting to hit the other.
Kris was surprised she wasn't repeating her strategy from before, opting instead to follow their lead and focus on defense. Susie knew she needed to, all she needed was one hit, one they weren't ready for.
When their weapons locked, and a contest of strength ensued, Susie's opening was ready. While Kris was overly focused on fighting back against her brutal ax and brutal-er strength, they weren't prepared for the purple girl's boot to crash against their sternum, launching them backwards.
Susie let out a single victorious guffaw as she swung her ax down from where she stood, neon pinkish energy surged from her weapon and shot towards Kris, barely giving them time to raise their guard before they were launched against the arena's ropes.
The dragon girl's triumphant sneer fell as her closest friend and ally was knocked down and still.
"KRIS!" She shouted as she ran to their aide. Her hands searched their body for any serious wounds as they stirred from their daze.
Susie let out a torrent of guilt-stricken apologies now that she knew they were okay, her large hands gripping tightly onto their shoulders.
"That," Kris began to say, through clenched teeth, "was really cool. Nice hit."
Susie searched their eyes for anything else as they spoke.
"That means you won, you can gloat now." They smirked.
"Oh. Yeah, uhh... I won... or, uh..." She trailed off, "Nah, I forgot what I was gonna gloat about. Let's just go to the cafe."
She grabbed their hand and pulled them up, keeping their hand in hers for a second longer.
She looked down at it and scowled, letting it go and mumbling about making her worry about them, with Kris tagging behind her, teasing her about worrying as they marched off to the cafe.