Apocalypsis 02 - Warpaint

everyone else. “Let them play it out!” I added, watching the drama unfold. I wanted to see how far Winky could and would go to win this thing.
    Bodo had gained his legs and scrambled over, almost gorilla-like, to come to Winky’s rescue. He threw himself bodily at Trip, giving him a flying Superman punch, slamming Trip onto his back, Bodo landing nearly on top of him. Trip lost his grip on Winky and she rolled away, stunned from the backhanding but still with-it enough to fight for her survival.
    I took that as an excellent sign. She wasn’t giving up, even when she’d had her butt nearly handed to her by a monster of a fighter.
    Winky got up on her knees, and then her feet, staring at Trip in a coldly calculating way, blood dripping down from her lip. She reminded me of a jungle cat, waiting for the moment to pounce. And she found it, right after Bodo rolled off. Trip was still on the ground shaking off Bodo’s superhero punch.
    Winky let out a serious warrior cry, the likes of which I’d never heard from a human mouth before, and launched herself at Trip. Her nails were out and she was not messing around. She reached him, slashing him on the face a few times before turning around and nailing him in the balls with her fist, coming down from two feet above in a terrifying hammer move.
    Trip froze, all of his energy now focused on the incredible pain I knew was shooting through his crotch, stomach, and legs. He was completely incapacitated.
    And Winky wasn’t done yet. She jumped to her feet and crouched down low, her fingers trailing in the dirt between her legs. Her head was down but her eyes were looking up, locked on Bodo’s prone form lying next to Trip’s.
    “Bodo, look out, man!” yelled Paci.
    Bodo looked up in time to see Winky growl and come after him. She looked like a woman possessed. I thought I’d seen it all, but even I was taken aback at her almost animalistic fierceness.
    Bodo moved faster than I would have thought possible, rolling away from the spot where she landed. It was clear that she planned to be a winner-take-all kind of girl, and she didn’t care that I was yelling out, calling off the match.
    “Game over! You win, Winky and Bodo! Get up!”
    Winky was pacing slowly sideways, never letting Bodo leave her sight. He circled around the other side of the ring, casting quick glances at me and then back at her.
    “Call off da crazy girl, Bryn. She’ss gonna kill me.”
    Paci was hooting. “Winky’s kickin’ everybody’s ass today!”
    Winky was completely oblivious to it all. I could see from the look in her eye that she’d gone completely off the range. I don’t know if it was the hit from Trip that had done it or the whole competition that had flipped the switch, but she was in assassin mode and Bodo was her target.
    She charged him and he ran, narrowly missing her clutches as she reached out to grab him. He arched his back and jumped aside, causing her to grip air instead of the shirt at his stomach.
    “Okay, Winky, dat’s okay now! We’re partners, remember? Ahh!”
    She came at him again, this time not missing him entirely. She left three long scratches along his arm.
    While she was occupied with him, three guys including Kowi snuck in and dragged Trip out of the way. He was too out of it to protect himself from the crazy fighter still standing.
    “Winky, shut it down!” I yelled.
    But she didn’t listen. She was circling Bodo again, waiting for her moment.
    Bodo was confused as hell. He was alternatively laughing and looking worried. I could tell he just want to call it a draw and walk away, but his inner survivor told him not to turn his back on her. She was dangerous and we all knew it.
    I decided I had to end this thing now, before it got too ridiculous. I took two steps forward, intending to grab her arm and snap her out of her trance.
    But she sensed me coming and spun around, lashing out at me with her nails, snarling at me like an animal. It was only my quick reflexes pulling my head back that kept me from having some ugly scratches across my cheek too.
    “Bodo, get out!” I shouted, not breaking my gaze away from her for even a millisecond. I crouched down, spreading my feet, stepping back and to the side so I could get in a better position. I felt the adrenaline pumping into my system, enhancing my instincts and getting my muscles ready for action. She was just trying to kill my boyfriend. The thought triggered a protective instinct in me that I