"「Taijutsu - Awaking Beast」" Magic begins to overflow from Shosuko's body in the form of an aura like red mist.
"「Taijutsu - Awaking Beast」" The same happens with Nanako, only instead of red, her aura is a hot, burning, pink.
"Heh." Shosuko's smile widens. "Looks like this is going to be interesting."
"Shall we test the speed of our rush attacks–"
Shosuko doesn't give Nanako time to finish her sentence. She launches a lightning quick jab but it's parried by a jab of Nanako's own. Shosuko rolls with the momentum, letting her punch be repelled back into a 'cocked' position before she 'fires' another punch at Nanako. Their fists clash like fencing blades, meeting, thrusting and slashing at each other. Every time their knuckles collide, the air seems to ripple from the sheer force of their strikes.
"You're not half bad." Nanako manages to say in between blows. "But you're gonna have to do a lot better if you want to beat me."
"Shut up and fight." Shosuko's not having it. Already, she's closing in for another full-frontal assault.
"Heh." Nanako puts up her dukes. "I like that spunk."
Again and again, they fence with their fists. They both parry and are parried, riposte and are riposted. Instead of sparks, beads of sweat fly in concentric circles when their fists clash.
There. She sees it. A tiny hole in Nanako's defenses. Shosuko's eyes take on an almost predatory frenzy. She wastes no time, immediately slipping a haymaker through the hole and guts her right in the solar plexus. "Got you!"
But Nanako is unfazed. If anything, her smile seems much wider than before.
"I bet you're thinking that you got me good." She grabs Shosuko's wrist before she can break away.
Nanako yanks Shosuko closer to her before lifting her over her shoulder and slamming her down onto the canvas. Pain erupts all over Shosuko's body. Her arm goes numb. It's probably broken. With hazy eyes, she looks up and confirms that every single joint in her right arm has probably been dislocated.
Oh great. She's seen enough wrestling matches to know what comes next. Sure enough, Nanako's climbing onto the top rope. She taps her elbow twice before jumping. Shosuko has just enough sense to know she needs to roll out the way, but not enough strength left in her body to actually follow through. Surely an elbow to the gut can't be that bad.
"「Taijutsu - Comet Drop!」"
She's wrong. She's so, so wrong. It feels like a hole just opened in her stomach. The pain is harsh, electric, and grinding all at once. Shosuko starts coughing up blood.
"…you disappoint me." Nanako sighs as she removes her elbow from Shosuko's stomach. She dusts her hands off and rests her fists at her hips. "Here I am, pulling out all the stops for you, and you won't even honor me by doing the same."
"What are you… talking about?" Shosuko rolls over to her side and starts getting back up.
"Awano intel says you've got six Jutsu under your belt… and all you've shown me is a single one. You've been going easy on me."
"You should kill me while you have the chance." Shosuko stands back up. She wobbles a little but still, she stands. "I can't guarantee you'll walk out of here alive or in one piece if I do. But I can guarantee that this is going to hurt. A lot."
"Let me tell you right now, there's nothing that gets my blood pumping more than knowing something's gonna hurt." Nanako licks her lips excitedly. "Make this hurt good or else I'm going to be really really disappointed."
"Well… If you insist..." Shosuko lowers her stance until her knees are wide apart. She extends her splayed left hand towards Nanako, and lifts her splayed right hand next to her face. She wiggles her head as if shuddering, has her eyes dart around, then freezes. "「Taijutsu - Beast Dramatic」"
Her aura explodes in a tsunami-like wave of red miasma. Shosuko adjusts her posture as she takes a deep breath, as if filling herself with air. She takes a pompous step towards Nanako. Her ears, shoulders and hips are aligned perfectly and her chest is puffed out.
"Taijutsu… Beast Dramatic?" Nanako tilts her head. What a strange name.
"Prepare yourself!" Even Shosuko's speaking voice has been altered, she speaks as though she's announcing and her voice comes from the base of her throat. She takes one stomp, two stomps towards Nanako, then strikes.
Nanako quickly ducks out of the way. "What's the point of announcing your attack before doing i–"
Just as she says that, an explosion of sparks erupts from where Shosuko's fist touches the cage. The mesh that should be nigh indestructible is warped into the form of a gigantic crater.
Holy shit! That's the only thought inside of Nanako's mind. She knew that she was holding back, she didn't realize just how much she was holding back.
Shosuko slowly, dramatically, pulls her fist back, extends her splayed left hand towards Nanako, and lifts her splayed right hand next to her face, resetting her stance. Shosuko stares at her with a tilted head.
"I don't really get it but…" Nanako's smile returns to her face. "This is starting to get reaaaal interesting."
Nanako charges straight at Shosuko, body lowered in a grappling stance. Shosuko leans down to receive but at the last minute, Nanako slides between her legs. She brakes using her arm, reverses her momentum, and wraps her arms around Shosuko's waist from behind.
"「Taijutsu - Seraphim Suplex!」" Nanako lifts Shosuko up above her head and keeps going until she slams Shosuko into the floor. The sheer explosive force of the suplex alone should be enough to incapacitate any normal magical girl, if not kill them by breaking their spinal cord in two. But Shosuko's head doesn't move an inch. It's almost like she's made of solid stone.
"Wh–... What the hell? Gah–!"
Nanako's arms are pried apart and Shosuko gracefully tumbles back onto her feet, as though it were all choreographed. She's unshakeable.
"I have you cornered. Surrender now or this is gonna hurt." Shosuko stares at Nanako, still cross-eyed.
"Were you not listening?" Nanako wipes her mouth. "The fun's just starting."