The Best (Part 2 - Artemis)

After the exciting first semi-final, now it was time for the second semi-final which was between Yin and the reigning champion, who had not been defeated for the last 3 years. But, Yin didn't even bother to find out who she was, she was pretty confident that she was going to win.

When the little break after the first semi-final ended, the announcer entered the arena. She stood at the center and shouted, "Wasn't it a great fight?" The crowd cheered in response.

"Let us now begin the next match which I am pretty sure will be as exciting as the previous match if not more… The first fighter is the impressive Nami who beat all her opponents till now without breaking a sweat…and the second fighter is our own champion who is undefeated till now, Second Lieutenant Artemis." The crowd shouted like a group of a crazy fans on the announcement of Artemis' name.

Yin walked at the arena to face the champion without a hint of fear or intimidation on her face. While she was ascending the small stairs to the arena, she saw her opponent had already arrived there. Artemis was a brown-haired woman, in her late twenties. She had a well-toned physique like most of the women in the military, but she was slightly shorter in height than Yin. She was wearing a black turtle neck t-shirt and a military trouser. In order to hold her long brown hairs together, she had used a black hair clip.

Yin walked to the arena very calmly and stood in front of Artemis. Artemis looked at her and smirked confidently. "How a pretty face like you reached to the semi-finals?"

"You will soon find out." Yin smiled.

"Just to inform you, I don't regret after messing up pretty faces," said Artemis.

"Are you sure about that? Because even though you aren't as pretty as me, you might still run to hide your face after I break your streak," replied Yin.

Artemis went ballistic. The referee present there could see her angry face, and Yin was smiling back at her. "Are you alright, Lieutenant?" asked the referee while keeping his distance from Artemis.

"Just start the fight," Artemis growled while glaring at Yin.

"Yeah, just start the fight." Yin smiled while looking at Artemis.

The referee took a few steps back and whistled to start the fight. Both the fighters maintained some distance from each other. Artemis could see Yin smiling at her, which was making her mad. And within a few seconds, she lost her cool and charged toward Yin. She started raining punches and kicks, and Yin was blocking and dodging every attack from Artemis, but she was surprised because of the way Artemis was fighting. Artemis was moving her limbs very swiftly and the way she was moving her body parts could be compared to a mix of snake and tiger style, which was native to Xing only. But, it was more than just a Xingese style to Yin. While blocking and dodging the attacks, Yin asked, "Your fighting style…where did you learn it?"

"Why? Is my fighting style bothering you?" Artemis smirked while keeping up her attacks.

Yin then suddenly changed from defense to offense. The way she was attacking Artemis was almost same as how Artemis was fighting a second earlier, but Yin's attacks were more polished. Because of this, now Artemis was having difficulty blocking and dodging Yin's attack. Within a few moments, Yin found an opening and attacked Artemis' chest with her open palm. Artemis was pushed back to some distance due to the force of the attack. Drops of sweat were appearing throughout her face, and few of the drops were sliding down her chin to the floor. Meanwhile, Yin was standing quietly and glaring at Artemis. The crowd which was initially cheering for Artemis was now silent, they never thought that Artemis could be overpowered.

"Now tell me, who taught you that fighting style?" asked Yin.

"Seems like you have the same fighting style," said Artemis while panting. "Why don't you tell me who taught you?"

"My father," replied Yin very calmly, but her face was telling a different story. She was angry like the calmness before a storm.

Artemis slowly walked toward Yin. "Well, I didn't have a father, to begin with. So I can't say that." She smirked and started raining punches. She tried to deliver a roundhouse kick, but Yin dodged it. And then the kick was followed up by a punch directed at Yin's face. Yin blocked it with one hand and countered with a chop directed at Artemis' neck. But, Artemis blocked the chop before getting hit by it. While Artemis blocked the chop, Yin grabbed the wrist with which she was blocked and pulled Artemis toward her, then she fiercely attacked Artemis with her knees on the abdomen. The hit was pretty hard. It was so strong that Artemis spat blood, and fell on her knees.

The referee quickly whistled and stopped the match as soon as she saw blood, while the crowd was silently witnessing the brutal fight. The referee bent down to Artemis' level, and asked, "Are you alright Lieutenant?"

She could see that Artemis' lips were stained with blood. However, Artemis glared at the referee and replied, "Yes…and don't interfere before I teach a lesson to this woman."

"Okay, but remember, if I feel you are just forcing yourself then I will stop this match and declare Nami as the winner," said the referee.

Artemis stood up while the referee took a few steps back. She glared at Yin and spat red saliva on the floor. Meanwhile, the referee resumed the match, and the barrages of kicks and punches continued to be exchanged between the two women. While fighting, Yin said, "Just tell me who taught you this fighting style, and I won't hurt you."

Artemis couldn't believe that she was being dominated by an unknown woman who was also using the same fighting style, but better than her. "You haven't defeated me yet," she shouted.

Artemis was only a few feet away from the arena boundary, and Yin had noticed that. Yin punched straight with full strength, which was successfully blocked, and then within a fraction of second after her punch was blocked, Yin delivered a low spinning wheel kick. But, Artemis saw through the attack and jumped to avoid it. While Artemis thought she evaded Yin's attack, she was actually acting the way Yin was expecting. When Artemis was in the air, she had no ground to hold on for a grip and she was very close to the edge of the arena. So, Yin used both her hands to deliver a push attack with open palms to Artemis. Artemis successfully blocked the attack, but the force of the attack pushed her to the edge. Her feet didn't have enough ground to hold on. She realized that she lost the fight as she was falling from the edge, but suddenly she felt someone held her wrist and prevented her from falling outside the arena. When she looked at the person who saved her, it was none other than Yin. Yin pulled her back to the arena, and whispered into her ears, "See…I can beat you pretty easily."

The insult pierced through Artemis' heart. But, she didn't retaliate. She had realized that she was no match for Yin. She fell on her knees and lowered her head as tears were forming in her eyes. Watching that, the judges and referee were deciding whether to end the match or not, because none of the conditions had satisfied which could end the match. Neither Artemis fell outside the arena, nor she yielded, and she was fully capable of fighting. But, more than anything, the judges were afraid of Artemis' rage. They were afraid that declaring Yin the winner at that moment would definitely piss off Artemis.

In the meantime, Yin looked down at Artemis. "Now tell me, who taught you this fighting style?"

"I can't," replied Artemis.

Artemis was looking at the floor, very much disappointed with herself. The crowd was even silent looking at the scene. And the answer which Artemis gave to Yin, made Yin angrier. Yin positioned her fist to deliver a direct punch on Artemis' face. Artemis, on the other hand, wasn't even trying to block or dodge the punch. And everyone else there was petrified with their jaw open. But, before Yin could deliver the punch, she heard a familiar voice, "STOP IT… I TAUGHT HER."

It was Yang. Yin looked at her brother with pure rage, while she was breathing heavily. It was not only her who was looking at Yang, even Artemis' eyes were widened when she saw him. The action scene just turned into drama when Yang interfered and all the attention diverted toward him.