Unlike Mint, Skyler makes no attempt at subtlety. She stalks past rock formations and winding caves with the unspoken kind of confidence that purposefully invites trouble. Her gaze sweeps sharply past the surrounding landscape, no doubt searching for any Rocket operatives - but ultimately fails to acknowledge the hidden Beast.

So her surprise is genuine when her feet are swept from under her, and the world tilts on its axis right before a sharp pain slices across her ribcage. 

Has she been fucking stabbed again?! 

The thought is underlined by furious indignation. She nearly expects the explosion of venom across her nerve endings, the darkness creeping in at the edges of her vision wanting to drag her under.

When that doesn't happen, what is left is a delightful opportunity for violence.

Snarling, the blonde rises to her feet and whips around. Her hand snaps forward in an attempt to catch mint frost 's wrist - the one that holds the knife. Murkrow needn't have bothered with the Pursuit, not when Skyler's lips twist into a savage sort of glee. 

"Well, well. Someone wanna play, huh?"

Her other hand coils into a fist, and there's no hesitation before it sails forward into Mint's gut. Simultaneously, a jet of water arcs in perfect mimicry of her punch, aiming to slam against mint frost 's ribcage.

mint frost

☉

What was it with Rocket and giving her the weirdest nicknames? So far she'd been called hag, grandma, fish breath, saggy tits (that one she'd taken to heart) and now captain crunch? She supposes it might be the best of the bunch, but still.

"Out of breath already?" Skyler rocks on the balls of her feet, instinctively falling into a fighting position with bloodthirsty glee. Circles of Aqua Ring engulf her for a moment, knitting flesh together and adding a healthy flush to her cheeks.

Entirely healed.

With her eyes on him, it becomes easier to read his movements. He barely telegraphs his kick however, and it manages to catch her off guard. Skyler stumbles back onto the floor, but she's been in enough bar brawls to know how to play dirty.

A jet of water slams into his back, and Skyler's foot hooks around his leg in an attempt to bring him down with her and gaining the upper hand. She's at her best in close quarters.

Unfortunately, she's also utterly unaware of other daggers in the Rocket's possession.

mint frost

☉

The knife rips into her arm, but Skyler barely acknowledges it. Adrenaline and healing powers mute the pain long enough for the gash to knit itself back together, leaving a small pool of crimson behind. The descending elbow is caught by a calloused grip, muscles coiling tightly in preparation. Too many bar brawls had started this way, and quite a few by Skyler herself.

The captain grins savagely up at mint frost  in that sliver of time between one breath and another.

"I do tend to have that effect on people."

Planting her feet on the ground, Skyler shoves Mint off of her, following through with the momentum to swing herself around so she's on top. A fist would close around the fabric of his collar, pushing him roughly down onto the ground, while the other coils into a fist that she promptly attempts to ram into his throat.

Like before, a jet of water arcs around Skyler's body and sails through the air. This time, however, it ignores Mint to instead slam against the flying Murkrow.

mint frost

☉

The constant stabbing is, Skyler acknowledges, starting to become an issue. This is the fourth time she's gotten a knife stuck in her. Not to mention the several poisonings, being shot in the shoulder and - ah yes, being crushed under rubble. Most of those had been entirely due to her own reckless disregard for her own safety.

Ah, details.

It doesn't help that Skyler's able to bounce back from those situations impossibly well - physically, at least. Any therapist would have a field day with the captain; but then again, isn't that true of most Hoenn residents?

She curses when her fist hits the ground by mint frost's head instead of his throat, snarling with frustration. Pain blooms across her knuckles, just one more atop a collection of previous moments.

"Not really ass kissing," Thick thigh muscles tense around Mint's body as she speaks, keeping him caged, "when it's an established fact, hm?" 

Glowing circles unfurl into existence around the Rocket's body, much like the ones she'd used to heal herself - but that couldn't be right, could it?

Her finger hooks under the edge of his LED mask, starts looking for a latch of sorts. "Move, and I'll have these lil guys explode." 

mint frost

☉

She'd nearly forgotten all about the Arceus-damned bird, but the cutting edge of a Night Slash quickly reminds her.

Pain blooms over her back and it knocks the breath from her lungs.

The impact has her lurching forward, and in doing so would allow Mint the opportunity to slip away from her grip. The Aqua Rings fade away instead of exploding, and a hissed curse bursts from the woman's lips instead.

"I'll make a chicken nugget out of you," she snarls. Numbness comes with another bout of healing, but this time the avatar doesn't step closer to the Rocket for another round of hand-to-hand combat.

No, this time a colossal shadow rises over the makeshift battleground.

Kyogre's gaping maw opens into endless rows of razor-sharp teeth behind Skyler's back. And infernal hues flicker to life in markings over the woman's skin.

That's all the warning mint frost gets before a titan-sized Water Spout cracks open the bedrock, shattering the very ground they stand on and quickly advancing in his direction.

mint frost

☉

Admittedly, the Kyogre thing might've been a little overkill.

In Skyler's defense, this conflict had stretched into long hours and her already volatile temper was hanging on by a single, fragile thread. The gloves had been taken off earlier that day, and they weren't coming back.

When the odds are in your favour, you don't seek fairness. You milk it for all that it's worth and don't look back. 

"All's fair." 

mint frost gets thrown somewhere Skyler can't really see from her current position, and the only thing standing between her and the Rocket is a single noisy Murkrow that keeps screeching in her ears. It squawks in a sarcastic tone that has Skyler blinking confusedly, fearless in the face of a titan and its avatar.

Truly, it was the bravest - or most oblivious - Murkrow Skyler had ever known.

An eye swivels in the bird's direction, pupils shrinking into pinpricks of ravenous intent - acknowledging its presence for the first time. 

Kyogre's approach is a deceptively slow one, a creeping leviathan that casts the entire battleground in shadow.

No one expects the lightning-fast surge of its shark-toothed smile clamping around the Murkrow, the dagger-like spikes of ice (Sheer Cold) that spear the ground around its mouth and creep towards mint frost .

Yeah, Skyler thinks, definitely a bit overkill. 

mint frost

☉