Chapter 58 Reagan vs Lincoln III: On Cue

“Take this!” Reagan screeched, digging her starry tail deeper into Lincoln’s back.

Thompson did a double take in the commentary box.

“Holy smokes!” she exclaimed. “Despite looking like she was cut in two, it seems Reagan is in perfect health! Heck, she’s even managed to strike first blood!”

Lincoln looked down, eyeing Reagan over with care before letting out a great sigh.

“Thank God,” he spoke with relief, “I truly thought I did you in with my attack.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me,” Reagan replied, tightening her claws around his waist, “you should be worrying about yourself!”

“Oh, I’m alright,” Lincoln remarked as blood dripped down his sides. “If anything, I’m grateful I can feel the full force of your fiendish attack right now.”

He gave a warm smile.

“After all, that means you’re no mere illusion.”

Reagan widened her eyes. She released her claws, leaping away just as Lincoln lifted his axe.

“Executive Power,” Lincoln bellowed, “Abolition!”

Lincoln’s axe instantly struck into Reagan’s body, slamming her into the arena wall. Lincoln rested his axe atop his shoulder, letting out a hearty belly laugh.

“Now that,” Lincoln chuckled, “that was a clean hit!”

Reagan rose off the ground, her hand clenched around her injured chest.

“It was a decent strike,” she muttered, looking to Lincoln’s bleeding sides. “But don’t forget…our scores are still tied at one hit each.”

“Don’t be so fixated on keeping count…”

Lincoln waved a hand over his wounds.

“…for scores have a way of correcting themselves with time.”

As Lincoln moved his hand, the injuries covering his body vanished as if they were never there to begin with.

“Executive Power,” he exclaimed, “Abolition.”

Reagan gave a sour click of her tongue.

“So much for equality…”

Reagan came back to focus, lifting her guard as Lincoln prepped another swing from across the arena.

“Executive Power,” Reagan screeched, causing the starry lights around her body to whirl around, enlarging the claws along her hands and transforming the scorpion’s tail on her back into a wide shell centered on her torso. “Star Wars; Cancer!”

“Executive Power,” Lincoln boomed as he appeared in front of her, “Abolition!”

Lincoln’s axe instantly swung forth, smashing into Reagan and slamming her into the wall behind her.

“Now I get it!” Lincoln exclaimed, instantly reappearing in front of Reagan with another swing. “You must have activated this defensive crab form of yours at the start of the match, shielding you from my attack!”

He slammed his axe into her without the slightest delay.

“Let’s see how long you can keep it up!” he spoke with cheer.

Lincoln let forth a continuous maelstrom of attacks. Not a millisecond of time passed between each of his heavy swings, and with each of his blows, Reagan’s body was pushed deeper and deeper into the wall behind her.

“Jesus!” Thompson remarked. “Lincoln’s unleashing a devastating infinite combo against Reagan! He’s not even giving her the chance to breathe, let alone to counter!”

“I gotta admit,” Truman added on, “Reagan put up a better showing than I thought she would. But in the end, it seems Rushmore was just too steep of a mountain for her to climb.”

Reagan gave a frustrated scowl.

You think I’m here to play a mere minor role? My script begs to differ!

Reagan peeked between her guard as Lincoln lifted his axe, readying another killer blow.

“Abo—”

Lincoln stopped talking, stumbling slightly as nausea rushed over him.

“Right on cue…” Reagan spoke, then pounced ahead.

The stars around Reagan shifted back to her scorpion form, her beaded tail aiming straight for Lincoln’s neck.

“Executive Power: Star Wars; Scorpio!”

Lincoln tightened his face, jerking back and raising his arm up in front of him, causing Reagan’s needle to pierce through his hand and stopping the momentum of her attack. Reagan flung forth her arms in response, clamping onto Lincoln’s sides with her starry claws.

Lincoln gritted his teeth and raised his axe with his uninjured hand. He swung with all the force he could muster, but his body wobbled, giving Reagan enough room to evade the attack.

Something is wrong, Lincoln thought as he jumped away, wiping at his eyes as his vision started to blur, terribly, terribly wrong…

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Star Wars. Ronald Reagan advocated for an anti-ballistic missile defense system which critics called the “Star Wars” program after the movie franchise. The astrological element of the EP is based on Ronald’s Reagan’s wife who would regularly consult with an astrologer to find out what changes she should make to husband’s schedule in order to keep him safe.