Duel of the Songbirds

"You made me hurt Enshiron!" Knavus charged at Thalamoid with his crescent-tipped rapier. "I won't let you hurt Mivangeline too!"

Thalamoid twisted his arm and chucked him away. Mivangeline swiped a tab for her kunai, but Thalamoid sliced them into pieces with her scythe.

"What's the matter, little girl?" Thalamoid laughed. "Can't fight without your weapons?"

Mivangeline shuddered.

"Pathetic. I was hoping for more of a fight. This is the girl the UICA put their trust in?" Thalamoid raised her scythe. "It's time to die!"

"Get away from Mivange! Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Shien slashed Thalamoid's weapon down with a palm strike.

He closed a tight fist at Thalamoid. "Avian Form: Shoebill Thunderforce!"

"Avian Form: Riflebird's Wingbeat!" Thalamoid swiped her palms forward, summoning wind that blew Shien back. "Isrina taught you well."

"You know the Avian Form? Only my mom and I know it!"

"Or so mommy told you, Little Chickadee."

Shien widened his eyes. "How do you know that nickname?"

"Ah, yes. Isrina and Jinhai loved you more than me. I was the center of your parents' love until you were born all those decades ago."

"Stop confusing me!" Shien pulled his hair in frustration. "Who are you? Answer me!"

"Oh, me? Jinhai named me Thalamoid when he created me," Thalamoid placed a palm and fist together.

"That's Bao Quan Li. Are you challenging me to a duel?"

"Aw, is this your first?" Thalamoid swiped a duel request tab to Shien. "Did Isrina tell you that if someone challenges you to a duel, backing out is considered dishonorable?"

Shien clenched his teeth, then placed his palm and fist together.

"Qing!" Both combatants said in Mandarin.

As Shien accepted the duel, a ten-second timer counted down as the two combatant profiles emerged, blocked with Contour Haze.

"We shall see whose Avian Form tactics reign superior!" Thalamoid bent arms in Wu Sao. "Once you're dead, Isrina will realize I'm her true offspring!"

"That logic doesn't make any sense!" Shien swiveled his elbows in Bong Sao. "If my dad created you as a machine, how can you be my parents' offspring in the first place?"

"Shut up! Your life is a mistake! Avian Form: Peregrine Landing!" Thalamoid stomped her foot to smash fissures into the earth.

"Avian Form: Blackhawk Missile!" Shien jumped into a cyclone over the fissures. "Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!"

"Avian Form: Cardinal's Talon!" Thalamoid knocked Shien's palms away with a helicopter kick.

They're so fast! Mivangeline watched the two martial artists battle. My eyes can't even keep up with them.

"Avian Form: Hummingbird's Tongue!" Shien and Thalamoid slammed their bone-crushing finger strikes onto each other's index.

Knavus shook himself awake beside Mivangeline. "Hey, uh, I don't know how to explain myself. Thalamoid promised to log me out if I helped her. She told me that she'll log you guys out too, but that was a lie. I'm sorry."

"Sure," Mivangeline nodded as Shien and Thalamoid circled each other in a standoff.

"Isrina and Jinhai should've been happy to have me!" Thalamoid barked. "Yet, they decided to pop you!"

"But you're a robot! How can you be a biological child in the first place? You're delusional!" Shien held his palms in Wu Sao.

Thalamoid raised a palm and leg in Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg. "You took their love from me! Now, I'll earn Isrina's love back by killing you!"

"Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Both combatants parried each other's flurry of metal-slicing palms.

"Alright, time to cheat!" Thalamoid's left arm unsheathed long nails that clawed Shien's face.

Shien screamed as Thalamoid's poison-drenched claw scratched his face.

"Avian Form: Parotia's Guillotine!" Thalamoid aimed the beheading kick at Shien's neck.

"Avian Form: Toucan's Mace!" Shien toughened through the toxic pain and blocked the lethal kick with a tough elbow. "Avian Form: Chickadee's Touch!"

He shoved a two-finger strike into Thalamoid's other leg to weaken it before shoving a devastating punch. "Avian Form: Shoebill Thunderforce!"

Thalamoid screeched when her mechanical leg shattered into pieces, leaking puddles of purple fuel.

"How dare you!" Thalamoid hollered in a ball. "You little rat!"

"Looks like I win," Shien huffed as the duel timer beeped in his victory.

He then fainted with the poison coursing in his body.

"Shien!" Mivangeline ran to care for him.

"Isrina! Why did you give birth to that smelly baby who needed to be fed and cleaned?" Thalamoid squealed with insanity, scaring Mivangeline and Knavus. "I'm better than him! Was I not enough for you? It's not fair!"

"I'm Isrina's offspring! Not you, Shien! You're the misfit. You're an accident!" Thalamoid swiped her tab to activate Zeruqkchiyion to log out safely. "I swear to venture into the depths of hell to see you dead!"