Villainous

Lina didn"t react, but Li Mei felt like she"d just kicked a solid metal pole! She swore colorfully, dropping her guard long enough for Lina to land a hit of her own. The copy"s staff smashed into her ribs, sending Li Mei flying once more into the nearest wall. Before she could get up Lina closed the distance between them and aimed a flurry of blows down on her body, a repet.i.tive yet unpredictable rhythmic pattern of ferocity like rain during a thunderstorm.
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As a perfect copy, Lina"s abilities weren"t any better or worse than Li Mei"s. Her blows occasionally missed just as Li Mei"s did, and the staff left dents in the metallic floor as evidence of inaccuracy.

Snarling, Li Mei kicked out against Lina"s ankles again and again, each blow a bit stronger than the last. Lina was a copy, but she was able to utilize strength Li Mei didn"t even know she had!

Lina spun on her heel, sweeping the staff against the ground before slamming it into Li Mei"s body and flinging her into the wall once again.

No matter how Li Mei tried to escape, Lina would just appear in front of her again, raining down blows before flinging her against the wall.

Again, and again, and again.

Li Mei tasted pennies in her mouth. She spat a mouthful of blood and saliva, blocking her face as she watched Lina"s movements. Every gesture, every flex of muscle, every breath. All observed with perfect clarity.

Li Mei was infuriated. Lina really was a perfect copy!

It was her body, her skill, her ability! How could a copy be so much stronger than herself using the same set of moves?

Unforgivable!

Where was the difference? Where!?

Was it really something so simple as her past life"s biases locking her down?

Was she truly limiting herself subconsciously?

Li Mei grit her teeth.

Someone as clever as herself... Hadn"t noticed she"d been holding herself back?

Something as lousy as personal bias keeping her from further improvement?

Really unforgivable!

Through sheer force of will, fueled by spite, the invisible chains wrapped around Li Mei"s body gave a sharp crack. The next kick she landed on Lina"s leg was enough to make the copy crumple in surprise and pain, giving Li Mei enough room to jump up and bury her elbow in the other girl"s face.

CRUNCH!

Lina"s nose shattered from the blow, and the copy touched the blood flowing down her upper lip with her tongue. Then she smiled and backed away out of Li Mei"s range. "There we go. Not quite there yet, but better. Look." She gestured toward the floor around the room, dented from missed strikes, and the damaged walls still bearing suspiciously Li Mei-shaped damage. "You bore that much force with your bare body. How do you feel?"

"p.i.s.sed off!" Li Mei snarled, but still looked down at her hands gripping the staff. Not even a bruise on her bare arms. She ached, but nothing that wouldn"t go away with a hot bath.

Blows strong enough to dent metal weren"t enough to damage her body. Li Mei"s mauve eyes flickered as a new emotion sparked in the deepest, darkest depths of her heart.

Satisfaction.

Li Mei was already a proud person. She was proud of herself and her accomplishments, even if she sometimes had to do things that she found distasteful. But satisfaction was a little different.

One could maintain their pride yet lose their satisfaction. Likewise, one can be satisfied with themselves while having not a sc.r.a.p of pride to speak of.

Satisfaction was fulfillment of one"s wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived thereof. Pride was confidence and self-respect, consciousness of one"s own dignity. They often went hand in hand, but it wasn"t necessary.

Li Mei was proud, but she never felt satisfied with herself before that moment.

She liked it.

She was strong. Really strong. Stronger than she even realized!

And it felt amazing!

"You worked hard," Lina said with a smile. "Good job."

Good job.

Words she"d never heard from anyone else before. Li Mei"s eyes felt hot. Her body trembled, and she clenched her fists tightly around the staff and sank back into her fighting position. "Let"s keep going."

"Oh?"

"You said I was better, but not quite there yet. So let"s keep going."

Lina grinned and snapped her fingers.

The room melted away, changing in an instant from a confined metallic s.p.a.ce to an alien outdoors vista. Pillars of bright purple rock stood as far as the eye could see, jutting up from a neon green sea. Each pillar was a different height and thickness - the thinnest were like young bamboo, while the thickest were barely big enough to hold both girls if they were hugging each other close. Some were very close together, while others had a respectable gap between themselves and the other pillars.

While Li Mei was stupefied by the sudden change in surroundings, Lina closed the distance between them by hopping from pillar to pillar until she was close enough to hit Li Mei in the shoulder with the staff. Startled, Li Mei flailed her limbs to regain her balance.

Whack!

Lina prevented her attempts at rebalancing by striking again and again at different parts of Li Mei"s body in rapid succession. Even the Acrobatic trait couldn"t save her from eventually losing her footing. Li Mei felt her stomach float into her throat as she fell toward the neon green sea, cool wind whistling past her ears.

Her body was enveloped in viscous acid that burned through to the bones. She was still screaming in pain when Lina transported her back on top of the rock pillars, mercifully choosing one large enough for Li Mei to collapse on. Only after she realized her body was entirely undamaged and even her clothes were untouched did the girl calm down and take deep breaths.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?!" Li Mei snapped, leveling an accusatory glare on the innocently whistling copy.

"So you"d learn not to fall."

"You couldn"t have just told me?"

"Experience is the best teacher."

Li Mei snarled and jumped toward Lina, flailing her arms a little as she landed on a more narrow pillar.

She practiced all sorts of acrobatics in the forest, but a forest environment was very different compared to where she found herself now. Trees, roots, vines, even sometimes large boulders or jutting cliff faces. Finding safe landing points was easy, and even if she missed there was always a way to catch herself, or at least Bao would save her at the last second.

Bao wasn"t around though, and there were no dangling vines or thick clumps of moss to grab if she landed poorly. Only a long plummet into a sea of acid was awaiting her failure.

That knowledge made her moves hesitant. Lina rolled her eyes and hopped over, smacking Li Mei back down into the sea.

"d.a.m.n you!" Li Mei swore as she appeared once more on another pillar some distance away, gasping for breath.

"Aren"t you supposed to be clever? You have so many tools at your disposal yet you"re afraid of failing here?" Lina"s voice turned mocking as she shook her head and sighed. "What have you been doing with your life until this point, knitting sweaters?"

As though to prove her point, Lina made several barriers in the gaps between the pillars. Then she ran forward across them, once more knocking a furious Li Mei into the sea.

When Li Mei appeared again, she didn"t waste time reorienting herself. Lina"s words cleared the fog of confusion that arose when suddenly faced with an entirely new environment.

The surroundings were unfamiliar, and her friends weren"t around to act as support, but Li Mei"s most vital and important tool was still around.

Herself!

Regardless of whatever situations she found herself in, Li Mei could always rely on herself. Getting rattled by the unexpected and forgetting her own ability, no wonder Lina mocked her!

Li Mei hopped across the pillars with no more hesitation, summoning barriers when her feet slipped or she missed her initial target. Cyan light flickered across her eyes as she periodically activated her new ability, Parkour. Certain pillars shone in her field of view - the brighter the glow the easier it would be to land on.

Though her movements were slow and clumsy compared to the copy, there was huge improvement in both speed and confidence with each leap she made. Li Mei steadily closed the distance between herself and her copy, clenching the staff tight in her hands.

Lina smiled, twirling her staff around her shoulders with a lazy shrugging movement. The girl really was a fast learner. This was going to be fun!