The hivemind is conquering for me?

Valerica ignored my defensive posturing and took off her sports bra. " Apollo, come here." She said motherly, causing my previous weariness to vanish in a moment. I walked over to Valerica as she took the top of one of the gallon drums.

Sure enough after taking a look inside, I was greeted to a translucent green coloured oil and before I could ask again what it was for, my towel was suddenly snatched from my waist and torn in half by Valerica as she proceeded to dip the, now, towels into the oil.

She then passed me one of the towels before removing her hot pants and proceeded to pick her towel out of the drum. I believed I understood what was happening from the blatantly obvious subtext and placed the towel against my skin only to be yelled at.

"No! Not yourself. We wash each other. It is a sign of respect and a purifying ritual to show we are only focused on the upcoming event." Valerica then strode forward and placed her towel against my chest and began rubbing.

As I followed in kind and began lathering her chest region in the oil, I asked. "So what? Are we going to wrestle?" Valerica's intense gaze as she performed her duty did not dart away, but still she tutted in disapproval.

"Tut, Wrestling? What are we, college girls? No Apollo, we are going to engage in pankration." As I lifted up Valerica's breast to begin working her underboob, I asked curiously. "And what is pankration?"

"While wrestling is an aspect of Pankration, there are ultimately little to no rules. We are going to fight one another, we are going to hurt one another and we are going to grow because of the experience. Now, the only actual rules to follow in the upcoming fight are no ear pulling, hair pulling, nipple pulling, eye gouging, biting and hooking." Valerica declared, prompting me to ask.

"What is hookin-gaah!" To visually demonstrate, Valerica placed her oiled up finger into my mouth and pulled towards the edge. "Got it." I said after she removed her finger and I proceeded to get back to covering her.

As Valerica suddenly cupped my balls and began oiling my little buddy, she spoke with a calmness. "Now, I know you are strong Apollo, so I apologize if you take offence to this, but I will be holding back against you, not by much though as I know you can take a blow. Now in return, I simply ask you to use no Psionic powers during our honourable fight, which includes your Gyrokinesis, does that sound fair?"

I nodded my head while coating her arms. "Yes, of course. Orchid and I don't use Psionics during most of our training together as her Psionic power is quite dangerous and when either of us use them in training, it sort of tilts the power scales into dangerous levels that are not suitable for simple training.

Valerica looked up at my face for the first time since the ceremony began and asked curiously. "What is Orchids power by the way? I have never thought to ask, she is quite the prickly one."

"Orchid doesn't really like her business being put out there for others, even my family, but she basically has the ability to immobilise me if she chooses. Valerica nodded her head in appreciation.

"So some type of paralysis Psionic ability? Quite the deadly pairing considering her talent for the blades. Now Apollo, stop beating around the bush, literally, my upper body is fully covered, get down there while I do your back."

...

After fully oiling each other up, I was pleasantly surprised that I had no wandering thoughts during the entire time and they only occurred now as I stared at Valerica's oiled up abs. 'Lick them!' A dark urge ushered from deep within my mind, but I drowned the voice out and watched as Valerica began moving the oil drums to the edge of the room.

As she placed them down, Valerica then dipped her hand in the opened drum, scooped out another double handful of oil and draped it all over her torso and began rubbing and massaging it in as she walked over.

Distracted again by how the oil was dripping down her abs, I only came to focus when Valerica grasped the sides of my head and brushed my face gently. "Now son, I do not want you holding back your physical strength against me at all. Ok? I will be very upset if you hold back a punch because you don't wish to hurt your mama. This Pankration is an honourable event and I expect your all, do you understand?"

In response, I pulled Valerica close and gave her a hug. "Of course, I promise, I respect you too much not to give it my all. I promise if I get the chance, I will bop you square in the nose." Valerica giggled and hugged me back, stroking the back of my neck with her hand as she replied. "That is the attitude of a good son. I am proud to be your mother. Now."

Valerica then pushed me away and made some distance before taking a slight crouched stance. "Get in position and we will begin." As I lowered my centre of gravity to face Valerica, I suddenly felt a chill across my body as I looked at the previously very loving woman.

In an instant, her entire personality changed, her eyes grew cold, her breath silent, calm, composed, like a predator about to spring upon its prey. I suddenly recalled the first time I met her and the danger I felt from the punch she threw at me and even back then she was holding back much more than she was planning today.

Valerica made the first move, a simple step forward, causing the two of us to begin circling one another slowly, looking for an opening. As we circled, we slowly grew closer together. Valerica extended her arm out to probe for reach and in a moment I donkey punched downwards towards her hand.

My hand made contact with her skin, but she retreated in a way that caused no damage to her. "Very good instinct Apollo, your entire opponent is your target, not just the vitals. You damage your opponents arm enough, it becomes useless, giving you advan-"

I took advantage of Valerica's tutoring to get close and engage a grapple. With my Gyrokinesis not affecting my body, It was a miracle the floor wasn't creaking underneath me and I could use that weight to my advantage if I could get her on the ground on my terms.

However, if one thing about all her sudden outbursts of love told me, it was that Valerica was fast. Incredibly fast. As I reached out to exert my force upon her, Valerica grabbed my arm before sliding between my legs, with my arm and yanked upwards, causing me to flip at the sudden change in my centre of gravity.

Before I could even begin to comprehend the concept of recovery, Valerica had pinned both of my arms with her shins and struck me square against the jaw. I swear my brain tried to escape its helmet at the sheer force behind the blow.

And before I knew it another blow struck me on the other side of the jaw that felt somehow even stronger than the last blow. Before the flurry of strikes could continue, I tapped into my bodies strength and incredibly strong legs to thrust myself upwards, catching Valerica off guard by the sudden jolt that allowed me to free my arms and punched her as hard as I could squarely in her left ribs. while using my other hand to clasp around her leg.

The oil made this tricky, but it gave me enough time that despite her attempt to dodge, I stuck true. Valerica rolled away, using my blow's energy to create more distance and stood up immediately.

I also rose to my feet, briefly feeling my jaw, checking it was still attached. Valerica also checked her ribs for a moment. She was breathing heavily, though not due to fatigue or injury.

As she looked up at me, I subconsciously took a step back. Her eyes... They were fanatic. Bulging wide, an unquenchable delight peered through them as she glared at me. Her smile was wide and open, almost as wide as Jinx's smile with her mutation.

Having not had a proper fight since becoming a guardian, the simple process of training her kitten was not nearly enough to spark a good fighting spirit within her. She couldn't remember the last time she felt such a blow? Perhaps when she smashed the head in of that Drakoshi warlord?

But this? That blow? Not only was Apollo able to take two strikes that would have had many respectable individuals she knew out cold, but he even counterattacked her and injured her slightly!

Valerica licked her lips as she stared at her most perfect child. He had unleashed a creature that had long been in slumber and she was ready to fully try out the prey in front of her...