Elf wants to ask Kammy if she truly likes him but sees several reasons why this is bad timing for that, most of those reasons being the people sitting or standing in the background. Instead, he decides to simply say, “It doesn’t matter who likes who. This is a fight for warriors, not a date. I’m going to beat you, just like I did your uncle, and you’re going to get a nice, reasonably timed handshake afterward to show we’re still pals, of course.”
“Ha ha, fair enough,” is the girl’s reply.
So, the bout begins, with Cat and Jo following the commands of their teenage pilots. With things just starting up, the two fighters ping pong between their stronger, signature attacks and sticking to the basics to ensure they have sufficient reserves as the match progresses. Also, it has taken a few moments to get over the visual barrier of fighting their teachers. Sure, the kids have trained with their parents before, but not with each other’s, so Elf isn’t used to the mental image of attacking Jo, nor is Kam used to fighting against the head teacher. Still, the initial anxieties soon fade away thanks to the coaching of the two girls who are loving this confrontation.
As the students are getting more comfortable with going full force, the excitement is too much for Jo. She eagerly says to Kam, “Hey, take my left hand off!” You can imagine the bewilderment at this command. “You heard me. Yank it off already!” SO, Kammy does as she’s told and Jo’s left hand is quickly turned into a blaster with which Kamron has no guilt about launching a fire storm to engulf her opponent.
“That’s so cute.” Duplica thinks Jo has lost her touch, no pun intended. “Our turn. Go ahead, Ent.” When Duplica removes her hand, it turns into a full collection of blasters and cannons, completely taking Elf off guard.
“MOM!” he says in amazement. “I never knew you had a cannon for an arm!”
With a huge irritated sigh, she cautions, “If I have to define an Infinite Warrior one more time, I’m going to turn this cannon into a large jelly donut.”
“Can do whatever you want, Infinite. Gotcha. Virtually anything.” With this, the kids fly around, firing missiles and torpedoes all over the place with the crowd casually lifting umbrellas to shield themselves from any wayward projectiles until Elfie stops and puts the blasters away. “Hey, Kammy, weren’t we supposed to be fighting for ourselves? Last I checked, I didn’t have a gun in my arm.”
“Hey, they said we could, and I love my new ‘bracelet,’” Kammy says as she lovingly examines her precious arm cannon. “In fact, after this, I’m going to bug Mom and Dad into letting me get a real hand cannon for myself. You don’t have to be an Infinite to be teched up, and I don’t see why such a minor surgery would be that big a deal.” Having said this, she turns her grandmother’s hand to normal and goes back to fighting with her own style. “Good job getting carried away, Granny and Lady Duplica, but Elf is right. We need to see how good of fighters we two are without your gadgets. Thanks for showing off though!”
And now, the two can get back to fighting as themselves, albeit still within the safety of their representatives. It’d probably be better to be piloting their respective dads to prevent the complaint of Elfie using his mom to hit someone’s grandmother, but give them credit for trying. Duplica and Jo even disconnect their sidearms with the holsters from the sides of their belts so the kids don’t reach for them in a desperate reflex and end up using weapons they normally don’t have. This way, whatever the fighters do is completely what they’d do on their own; no extra help.
“Focus,” Elf tells himself. “This is fun and all, but it’s distracting from my own fight here. Faye’s right about Kam, regardless of her emotional intentions. Whether she likes me or not, she’s a genius not to be taken lightly, so I need to make sure she is in a desperate disadvantage before I am comfortable enough to devise any schemes. Do it too soon and Kam will find a way out, and at the worst possible moment for me, I’m sure.”
Inner Man Theatre 