The Brazilian Rainforest

         This morning, Orchid’s greatest concern was whether or not her department would be able to turn in their weekly report on time.  Now, she was standing only a few feet away from Fulgore-X, perhaps the single most deadliest force mankind has ever seen.
         Funny, how a day goes.
         To make matters worse, it was raining hard, and the sun had long since set.   Except for an occasional, almost blinding flash of light from a stroke of lightening, the atmosphere was extremely dark.  Orchid could barely see Fulgore-X, but she knew he could see her perfectly.  And as if things wouldn’t get any worse, she was standing on a tree branch some 200 meters above the ground.  Orchid wasn’t worried about her own weight, but when added to Fulgore-X’s 500 pounds, the possibility of the branch breaking was great.
         Orchid and Fulgore-X continued their staring match on the branch.  Orchid hadn’t wanted to make the first move before, when she was unsure about whether or not she was facing Fulgore-X or his “alter-ego” Kain.  Now that she knew it was Fulgore-X, perhaps making the first move wasn’t such a bad idea.
         “He’s bigger than me,”  Orchid thought, “he’s stronger than me, and he’s faster than me.  And I can barely see him.  I’m completely overmatched.”  She looked behind her.  “And I’m standing on a tree branch.  Jumping is risky at best,  dodging is out of the question, and if I get knocked down, I’m as good as dead.  But maybe, at least, I can get the jump on him.”
         Orchid, still staring at Fulgore-X, took a deep breath, and wondered if it would be her last.  Then, she charged at Fulgore-X at full speed.  Fulgore-X waited for her to close in, then he caught her fist as she threw it at him.  He crushed her fist in his hand; Orchid wailed.  Another flash of lightening lit the sky.  Orchid buried a short kick into Fulgore-X’s chest, but its only effect was to loosen his grip on her fist.  Orchid backed off, giving Fulgore-X a death stare.  Fulgore-X assumed his previous stance, looking as if he had never moved.  This time, Orchid cautiously approached.  She faked a lunge; but Fulgore-X didn’t fall for it.  She stood on the branch somewhat nervous, hoping that somehow, something would distract the cyborg.  Miraculously, she got what she was wishing for.  Lightening flared across the sky, accompanied by a crash of thunder.  Orchid threw a swinging sidekick at Fulgore-X, connecting with his head.  His head turned abruptly, and Orchid launched a flurry of punches into Fulgore-X’s chest.  Suddenly, Fulgore-X punched Orchid in the chest, causing her to back off.  Fulgore-X advanced slowly.  With each step, Orchid looked down at the tree branch, fearful of its break and her subsequent death.
         Fulgore-X launched a rapid series of attacks at Orchid.  She blocked the majority, and ducked the rest.  Her defense forced her to back away, further along the branch.  Fulgore-X raised his leg in an ax kick attempt.  Orchid was tempted to back away, but she knew that if the kick missed her and hit the branch, it would surely break.  Instead of moving, Orchid caught the foot as it came down upon her.  The power behind the attack forced Orchid down to a knee.  Fulgore-X bent his knee, dragging Orchid forward a bit, then shot it outwards, sending her flying back, closer to the end of the branch.  Instead of let Fulgore-X come onto a weaker portion of the limb, Orchid charged at him.  She plowed into the cyborg, pushing him backwards, until his back slammed into the tree.  Fulgore-X had just been backed into the tree when he lowered his forearm forcefully into Orchid’s back.  Orchid, still holding onto Fulgore-X, slid down the cyborg, now holding onto his thighs.  He took the base of his palm and drove it into the back of Orchid’s head, causing her to fall down to all fours.  The cyborg then tried a swift low kick, but Orchid somehow rolled backwards, out of the way.
         “There’s no way I can win up here.”  Orchid thought, as she stood.  “I can’t do half of my moves, and I can’t dodge anything.  I have to get off this branch.”  She looked behind her quickly.  There were more branches protruding from the tree under the branch she was on.  Orchid noticed one that was particularly close, only five meters down, and three across.
         Fulgore-X abruptly brought Orchid back into the fight.  He threw a fierce roundhouse kick at her; she managed to get a defense up in time, but the kick was so powerful that Orchid’s torso twisted, and she nearly fell off the branch.  Orchid corrected herself quickly, and threw a series of punches at Fulgore-X.  He blocked them all easily.  Orchid tried a standing sidekick, but Fulgore-X jumped backwards to avoid it, landing perfectly on the branch.  He extended his right hand at Orchid, which confused her for a moment, until she realized what he was doing.  She ducked, just as Fulgore-X’s plasma storm shot flew over her head.  It hit the branch behind her, and with an explosion of sparks, that part of the limb broke and fell down to the ground.
         With the length of the branch reduced to half of what it was, Orchid decided that now was a pretty good time to leave.  Especially since Fulgore-X kept his hand outstretched towards Orchid, and she could see energy already beginning to discharge from his palm.  She leapt to her right, reaching out towards the branch below.  She caught it in both hands; and although her right hand slipped, her left managed to hold on.  She swung back and forth a few times, gaining momentum, until she let go, sailing forwards a bit, landing roughly on another thick branch.  Orchid then dropped straight down to another branch.  She finally felt comfortable enough to drop down to the ground; she hit the ground sharply, but rolled forward to take the edge off of the impact.  She turned around quickly and looked up; Fulgore-X descended down slowly.  He touched the ground softly with his head bowed, but he soon afterwards looked up, his red eyes igniting the night sky.  The rain started to come down even harder, if that was possible.  Another lightening bolt streaked across the sky, hand in hand with a deafening thunderclap.
         “This is the end of the line.”  Orchid said, confidently.  “Only one of us is going to leave Brazil alive.”
         Fulgore-X tilted his head.  “Well, if you insist.  I was content to just knock you out, but if that’s the way you want it.....”  This time, Fulgore-X charged at Orchid.  He threw three powerful jabs at Orchid, which she blocked, but then he threw a swinging backhand which connected squarely.  With Orchid stunned, the cyborg moved in.  He connected with three quick punches in her gut, then sent Orchid reeling backwards with a forward kick.  Fulgore-X rushed in again with a punch, but Orchid sidestepped it.  With Fulgore-X running past, Orchid hit him solidly in the side with a short kick.  Wasting no time, she hit him in the head with a roundhouse kick.  Fulgore-X backed away slightly, hoping Orchid would pursue.  She did; subsequently, Fulgore-X struck her in the face with a left hook.  Orchid backed away, and Fulgore-X wasted no time in pursuing.  He went for a jumping roundhouse, but with Orchid already reeling from his left hook, it took little effort to duck the kick.  She sprung up and retaliated with a jumping roundhouse of her own, which spun the cyborg around.  Upon landing, Orchid ducked again, stuck out her left foot, and kicked Fulgore-X in the back of his ankles, causing him to fall to the ground.  Orchid sprung up with renewed energy.  She let Fulgore-X get back up to his feet, then she charged into him with her forearms.  Fulgore-X stumbled backwards for a few steps, then threw a hasty right cross at Orchid.  She deflected it easily, drove the base of her palm into the cyborg’s neck, then, using the same arm, punched Fulgore-X into the chest, then, with the other arm, pushed her elbow into his stomach.  To finish off the short combo, Orchid jump roundhoused the cyborg, knocking him down.  Orchid felt good, but something still felt wrong.
         “This is a rather weak showing for a Fulgore cyborg.”  she thought.  “He should have blocked all of that.  Something’s wrong with him.”  Orchid smiled.  “This is my best chance and I’ve got to capitalize on it!”
         Orchid watched Fulgore-X slowly get back up to his feet.  He held his head in his right hand, but from frustration, not pain.

_activate system first aid; diagnose martial arts program
_WORKING......MARTIAL ARTS PROGRAM IS CORRUPTED
_repair program
_REPAIRING.......PLEASE WAIT

         Fulgore-X backed off.  Feeling aggressive, Orchid charged.  She threw a flurry of punches, all of which Fulgore-X blocked.  He tossed a sidekick at Orchid, but she backflipped out of the way.  Fulgore-X launched a plasma storm at Orchid, but she sidestepped it.

_47% OF MARTIAL ARTS PROGRAM HAS BEEN RESTORED; THE REST IS IRRETRIEVABLE

         “Good enough.”  Fulgore-X said.  His eyes narrowed.
         Orchid charged at Fulgore-X with her right fist extended, but the cyborg caught her by the wrist.  Orchid threw her left fist, but Fulgore-X caught that one too.  He shoved his knee into her stomach twice; then, he let go of her arms and used his free hands to hit Orchid in the back of the neck with an overhead smash.  Orchid used her hands to keep from falling onto the ground.  Orchid jumped up and backed off, but charged in again, flying at the cyborg with a short jump kick.  Fulgore-X let her leg make contact with his chest; when it did, he caught it by the ankle, and used his free hand to strike Orchid in the chest with his open palm.  This time, Orchid fell to the ground sharply.  Still holding onto her leg, Fulgore-X spun around and tossed Orchid at least twenty meters away.  She had barely stopped skidding backwards when Fulgore-X started to close in on her.  Orchid managed to spring up quickly, to meet the cyborg’s advance.  He launched a barrage of rapid punches at her; somehow, Orchid blocked, dodged, or parried them all.  After ten or fifteen attacks from Fulgore-X, Orchid was able to start throwing her own attacks.  The two warriors dueled fiercely; attacking, blocking, attacking, parrying, and attacking again for a few minutes.  The standoff continued until Fulgore-X threw a jab punch which, thanks to the darkness of the night sky, Orchid couldn’t see.  Fulgore-X spun around and nailed Orchid with a spinning sidekick.  Before Orchid could recover, Fulgore-X charged into her with his right shoulder, plowing her backwards.  She landed roughly on her back.
         Fulgore-X didn’t wait for Orchid to get up before charging in.  Orchid caught sight of him, then pushed herself backwards until she was upright and upside down; the back of her head and her shoulders supporting her on the ground.  With Fulgore-X within range, she opened her legs slightly, planted her hands into the ground, and spun her around quickly.  Her helicopter kick made contact with Fulgore-X’s head at least ten times before Orchid lost her rotational inertia.  Orchid put her feet together, then hit Fulgore-X in the chest with a horse-like shovel kick.  She let herself tip backwards until her feet hit the ground, then she straightened herself.  Fulgore-X was still reeling from Orchid’s kick.  Seeing a potential opportunity, Orchid charged at the cyborg.  When she was only a few feet away from him, she pushed off the ground with her right leg, and lifted her left leg until her knee was at chest height.  Orchid jokingly called this move the “airbuster”, because it was particularly effective in derailing airborne opponents.  However, she was hoping it worked just as well on a grounded fighter.
         Fulgore-X let Orchid fly at him with her airbuster until just the right moment.  Then, he squatted down as far as he could go, and turned his right shoulder towards Orchid, his arm bent upwards and fist pointed towards Orchid.  With a swift motion, he pushed off the ground with a slight twist as he rose, and he extended his arm upwards.  Fulgore-X drove his fist into the base of Orchid’s chin, and carried her up as he ascended.  He took her about a foot up with him; then, he pushed his fist off to the left, continuing with his mid air spin.  Orchid began to sail backwards, but before she was out of range, Fulgore-X completed his revolution and grabbed Orchid’s jumpsuit top with his right hand.  He immediately started to descend, taking Orchid with him.  As soon as his feet hit the ground, he turned his right shoulder to the left, swinging Orchid overhead, slamming her back first into the ground.
         It was incredibly painful.  Unfortunately, Orchid wasn’t given any time to recover.  Her eyes had been closed after the uppercut, but were knocked open with the slam.  This allowed her to see Fulgore-X standing over her, his right hand extended towards Orchid.  Knowing what was about to happen, Orchid bent her knees, put her hands on the ground, and crab walked away as fast as she could; just as a plasma storm shot barreled into the spot she had just left.  When she was a safe distance away, Orchid crawled back up to her feet.
         She was hurting all over, and could taste her own blood in her mouth.  Her nose might have been bleeding as well, but she wasn’t sure if it was blood or rainwater.  To be sure, she wiped the back of her right hand across her face.  Orchid was breathing hard, and standing shakily with a tilt to the right.
         “Damn, he is a tough fight.”  Orchid thought.  “That’s okay, I’m not out of this just yet.”
         Fulgore-X stood about ten feet in front of her, arms to his side, eyes narrowed.  The sky lit up once again from a lightening bolt, briefly illuminating both warriors.  Orchid didn’t know if she should go on the defensive and wait for his attack, or charge him and hope her offense was strong enough.  As she was pondering it over, Orchid noticed a change in Fulgore-X.  His eyes widened, and he seemed to be arching backwards.  Strangely enough, a few bolts of plasma energy raced up  and down his body.  Suddenly, Fulgore-X’s eyes turned white, and he collapsed forward, his face striking the ground.
         “What the hell?”  Orchid said.  No sooner than she asked the question, Orchid suddenly jerked backwards.  Her eyes rolled back into her head, her jaw dropped, and veins popped out on her forehead and neck.  Identical to Fulgore-X, small bolts of plasma energy ran around her.  She too tipped forward, fully unconscious well before she hit the ground.
 
 

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