Back in the arena, Vitel stood ready, holding her five stones, each one shaped differently from the others.
Meanwhile, Nuke kept walking, still trying to wake up her arm. When she finally managed it, she felt ready and charged straight at Vitel.
Vitel took off running across the arena, trying to keep her distance while Nuke chased her.
"She's a little faster than me… or maybe she's just less tired somehow to be running like that." — Vitel
Just as Vitel was about to hit the arena wall, with Nuke right behind her and almost catching up, Vitel used the momentum from her run to take three steps up the wall, vaulting over Nuke. As she passed over Nuke's head, she even used her hand against it for support, launching herself behind her opponent.
As she came down, Vitel landed first on the tips of her toes, then her soles, bending her knees and throwing her body backward into a roll across the sand. Before her head touched the ground, she planted both hands and pushed herself up, stopping in a crouch facing Nuke's back, one of her five stones already in hand, while Nuke was still turning toward her.
"This stone doesn't have a very good shape. Right now I can probably get about eighty-five percent accuracy, since the weight seems off to one side and the shape is uneven." — Vitel
She finished thinking and immediately fired the stone from her hand with all her strength toward Nuke.
"She aimed at eye level to block my vision. That way she can keep me from knowing where the next attack is coming from." — Nuke thought as the stone rushed toward her too fast to dodge. "Wait… if her idea is to block my vision and force my attention onto the stone, then it's a distraction. The real attack must be coming from… below."
Nuke finished her thought just as the stone was about to hit her eyes. She reacted by striking the stone with her wrist while already throwing another punch downward.
But Vitel didn't come from below with a second attack aimed at Nuke's chin. Instead, she came along with the stone she had fired, using it as cover to stay out of her opponent's sight.
The moment Nuke deflected the incoming stone with her left hand while punching downward into nothing, Vitel had already completed a sequence of forward handspring flips, landing a flying kick with both feet striking slightly above Nuke's stomach. Nuke somehow tried to lessen the impact by tightening her abdomen and planting her right foot forward while bracing her left against the arena wall, leaving the left side of her body free to throw Vitel into the wall as soon as she absorbed the full force of the blow and grabbed her feet.
And it almost worked. If Nuke had managed to grab Vitel with both hands instead of just her right, the impact against the wall would have been equally heavy for both of them. But the collision wasn't as harsh for Vitel. As soon as she absorbed part of the impact, she latched onto Nuke's arm, wrapping both her arms and legs around it.
Nuke only realized this when Vitel uncrossed one of her legs to kick her near the ear.
As Nuke tried to retaliate, Vitel spun around her arm, launching herself upward again with a full-body rotation that started from her arms and flowed into her legs, finishing with a kick to Nuke's back.
Nuke dropped to her knees, clutching her back. Vitel, however, lost her balance upon landing and fell onto her back, lying there for a few seconds before rolling aside and getting up.
"Stop using Nuke as a trampoline for your fancy jumps and fight properly." — Nuke grumbled angrily, her face already showing signs of fatigue.
Nuke rushed her again, throwing multiple punches, now even mixing in surprise elbow strikes that Vitel could barely predict. Some grazed her face, others landed cleanly, making her bleed. Dazed and stumbling, Vitel managed to dodge a few, until suddenly, from her blind spot, Nuke attacked with a grounded spinning kick, sending Vitel flying, her small body unable to hold its ground.
She managed to get up quickly after the fall, but barely had time before Nuke was already on top of her, ready to throw another full-force punch.
"I need to create some distance so I can shoot again." — Vitel
Vitel dodged by performing a low backward handspring, touching the ground with her hands. Her left foot struck Nuke's chin, while her right pushed against her chest, creating distance between them.
As soon as the gap was enough, Vitel quickly reached into her pocket, pulled out another stone, and fired her second shot—this time differently, to avoid being predictable. She gave the stone spin.
The stone rotated through the air, appearing to travel in a straight line toward Nuke, who prepared to defend. But its trajectory suddenly curved, catching her off guard from the left and striking her face hard, leaving a mark that threatened to bleed. Without wasting time, Nuke immediately searched for Vitel—first in the direction the shot came from, then around her—but couldn't find her and ended up taking an aerial attack.
The moment Nuke was distracted, Vitel had used the wall to climb higher, delivering a heel kick to Nuke's shoulder. Nuke dropped to her knees, grabbing Vitel's foot after a shout of pain. Her weakened grip allowed Vitel to climb onto her back, trying to choke her while immobilizing her arms with her legs.
"Get off me!" — Nuke shouted, struggling to stand while being choked with Vitel still on her back. As soon as she found the strength, she threw herself backward onto the ground, causing Vitel to take two hits: the weight of both of them and the impact against the floor.
Both lay on the ground in pain, while Vitel crawled away to regain distance, knowing that was her only chance against someone strong in close combat.
As soon as Nuke got back up, she assumed a stance similar to boxing, but still carrying pieces of her own style.
Vitel stood as well, quickly drawing her third stone and weaving it between her fingers.
Seeing that, Nuke advanced again, moving side to side to make it harder for Vitel to aim. But Vitel tightened her grip and pressure on the stone before firing.
Just as Nuke thought she would dodge this time, the stone struck her throat hard, injuring her internally, making her bleed and struggle to breathe.
"Why are you fighting like this?... Why are you fighting in a way that doesn't suit you at all, my dear?"
Struggling to swallow her own blood and breathe again, Nuke became distracted, searching for that voice.
Vitel appeared in the air and punched her in the face, sending her rolling until she stopped on her hands and knees.
"Daughter."
"Mo… mom…" — Nuke