Chapter 47
“After a long long pause, we are back with the start of round three!” Flavio bellowed into the mic as I walked out into the arena, our names having already been called.
“And what an exciting opener for round three! We have Shane Beltosh, a very exciting and fun contestant who is the only one to not kill his opponents! How respectful and noble of him!”
I just shrugged as I approached the woman who would be my opponent, taking my spot across from her.
‘Challenge for this round?’
“No challenge, just survive,” Rosemary said, actually looking a bit worried. “I do not like the look of this one.”
“His opponent however is a favorite of the great Galben himself. Vicky Optus! The Halwen with a Thorn so crazy, it makes me even sweat! And I’m invulnerable to physical damage! Wowza! She’s slain every person she’s fought today, will Shane follow suit? Or will we see a turn around?!”
“Hey, Flashy Man,” Vicky said as she stared at me, a needle like rapier in her hand.
“Flashy Man?” I laughed, liking the nickname. “Is that because of my sexy armor?”
“No, it’s because you are a show off,” she deadpanned, causing me to just flex on her.
“Damn right I’m a show off, kinda happens when you’re this fucking hot,” I threw back, enjoying my self. The fact my identity was hidden really helped me be my normal confident self.
“It’s a shame you’re about to die,” she commented as she flashed her rapier around in front of herself, eyes locked on me, “otherwise I’d enjoy talking strategy with you. You are clearly a very knowledgeable and smart individual, based on your last two matches.”
“HA!” came Domitor’s distant laugh, causing me to raise my hand in his direction and flip him off.
The bell rang as she began to walk towards me casually.
Okay, so imaginary attacks, what exactly does that mean? Will she throw a lot of faints? If so I’ll just watch her body movement and wait for the real attack.
“Let’s end this quickly,” she said in a casual tone. “I respect you enough to not draw this out.”
“Well thank you for that,” I said back, grabbing the hilt of my sword.
Then it happened, she suddenly dashed forward, her rapier going for an atack on my face. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I drew my sword and went to block her attack, but my sword passed right through her blade as the attack soared right for my face. But it just passed right through me, as if it wasn’t actually there.
The image of Vicky faded away as I suddenly felt something jab right through my chest.
“Shayla!” Rosemary exclaimed in panic.
“Fuck! SHAYLA!” I heard Domitor yell, but to be honest, my focus was a bit more on the thin blade suddenly piercing through my chest armor and out my back. My sword fell from my hand as I stood there in shock.
“Sorry for this,” Vicky said as she placed a hand on my chest and pulled her sword free. “A pierced heart means death, I’m afraid.”
I stumbled back, feeling a cold feeling wash over me as I heard my friends still calling out to me, but my eyes snapped up to hers, narrowing.
“Bitch, you think that little needle dicked sword is enough?” I spat out, blood pouring out of my mouth.
This seemed to shock her as she stared at me, a small grin sliding onto her face.
“She missed by a literal hair,” Rosemary said as she examined the damage. “I think we can chalk this one up to your body being slightly different from a normal Kejtdra’s body. Otherwise she’d have pierced the center of your heart.”
“So wanna try that shit again? Because I figured you out now,” I bluffed, still not sure how to actually counter her without using my new ability. Which I was going to have to abuse the hell out of to win this one.
“Careful, that new Perception Field ability you created is dangerous, it’ll burn your body out if you use it too many times at once,” Rosemary warned.
Great. Just my luck.
“So you’ve figured me out?” she asked, smirking at me. She then took off running, leaving me behind.
“What the fuck are yo-” I began, but the feeling of a blade stabbing through me again interrupted me. She slowly faded into view right in front of me, her rapier stabbed right through my stomach area.
“Yes, you’ve for sure seen right through my Thorn,” she mocked, ripping her rapier free and taking a step back as I fell to my knees.
“Fuck me,” I growled, punching the ground as I reached over and grabbed my sword.
“Her Thorn is creating false images inside your head, Shane,” Rosemary said as I stood up and faced the Halwen woman.
“How do I counter this?!” I yelled out loud, causing her to laugh at me.
“I’m not telling you. Maybe I gave you too much credit in the beginning,” Vicky said, raising her sword and seeming to think of how to finish this.
I’ve got seconds to figure this out.
Then I punched myself, causing a bit of yellowish gold blood to spurt out of the new holes in my body. I knew what to do.
I lowered myself as I put my sword back in its sheath, taking it by the handle and preparing to strike when I was ready. A little ring appeared around me as I stared her down.
If her imaginary attacks triggered my ability, then I was really screwed.
Taking this as her que to attack, Vicky launched herself forward, her rapier coming in from the left. As it passed over my Ego ring, I felt nothing, meaning that had to be a fake attack! And I was right as it passed right through me.
And at that same instant I felt something coming for me, followed by me seeing a predictable path of something unseen coming for my face.
My sword flew from its sheath as I swung it upward and made contact with her rapier as it seemed to materialize right before my face. The force of my blow sent her attack high as it flew over my head harmlessly.
Her eyes went wide as I reached out and grabbed her by the throat.
“Gotcha ya!” I yelled as I began to squeeze, hoping I’d be able to end this here. Her sword began to move, but I dropped my sword and grabbed that hand, holding it firm as she used her free hand to try and break my grip on her neck.
But it was clear I was far above her strength level as I held firm like a solid statue, her desperate pries doing nothing but wasting energy.
Her free hand shot out as a hammer appeared in it, and she swung it for my face, but I just rolled my shoulder to block it. Only for it to pass right through me harmlessly.
Shayla you idiot.
Something hard slammed into the side of my face, causing me to drop her as I stumbled to the side, my mask no longer on my face as it’d been thrown clear with the hit. Thankfully it seems it took the majority of that blow, but now I was exposed, as the hood had fallen away as well.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“This is not looking good for Vicky! Shane has her in a death grip! Is this over already?!” Flavio exclaimed excitedly over the radio.
“See? Shane came out on top,” Spark said, but saw that the other two still looked to be intensely listening to the radio.
“It’s not over till it's over,” Scamp replied calmly, her focused gaze on the wall ahead as she listened carefully to the radio.
“Vicky attempts to fight back, but Shane takes control of her sword hand! Spaztabiclale! The Halwen has brought out a hammer! Shane goes to dodge… and is unsuccessful as Vicky’s Thorn tricks the stronger man!”
“There it is,” Mallogory said, chuckling a bit as she winked at her wife.
“Damn it, Shane, one job,” Scamp grumbled, feeling that this was probably over. Vicky just had to land a hit here and it’d be game.
“What’s this?!” the radio suddenly blared. “It appears that Shane is not a man at all! But a woman! Unexpected turn of events! What a strange sight, folks! This Kejtdra is not like any Kejtra I’ve ever seen before! If only you could see what I mean! He’s the definition of mean looking though! Face of fury and covered in piercings!”
The three of them sat in silence, a strange feeling falling over them.
“Shane is back up and engaging with Vicky, but it seems the hit to head has left him a bit weak in the knees! She goes for the jab! Oh hubbltoco! Shane takes a hit directly to the chest yet again! And another, and another! He’s getting filled with more holes than a strainer basket! But he’s staying up! What a guy!”
“Something feels off about this,” Scamp muttered, not liking the feeling in her gut right at that moment.
“He’s backing up, going on the defensive! Vicky has shredded his armor, leaving him topless! The muscles on this guy could crush a mountain, folks! Wait a moment! Are those wings on his back?!”
“Shayla!” Scamp suddenly yelped, putting everything together at once.
“No, that can’t be!” Spark said, not wanting to believe it, since it seemed Shane was on the losing side of this battle.
Mallogory didn’t speak as she sat there, eyes wide as she continued to listen.
“Vicky continues her relentless pursuit of Shane as he keeps her at bay, seeming to be trying to gather his energy for another of those amazing beam attacks! But she won’t allow him a moment's breath as she pokes away at him! This looks to be a battle of attrition as Shane surely could not keep this up for much longer!”
“That can’t be Shayla,” Spark said again, seeming to be more trying to convince himself than the others. “Why would she be at this tournament?!”
“Because she’s our daughter and an idiot,” Scamp answered, looking a bit pale as she listened.
“It appears that Vicky is about to perform some kind of special attack! This may be it for our plucky little Kejtdra, folks!”
Scamp slammed a hoof through the wall of the cabin, her eyes locked on the wall ahead. “Come on… Come on…”
“What is this?! Vicky has split into multiple images of herself, all attacking at once! Shane is struggling to gather his energy in his hands, but it looks to be too much for him! Oh no! Folks I think that’s it, Vicky has pierced the face of… Wait, I spoke too soon! His faceplate seems to have stopped the attack!”
ooo000<^>000ooo
“Shayla you’re fucking dying!” Rosemary cursed as I continued to dodge backwards, struggling to avoid the real tip of her rapier as she dashed after me. I was starting to get the hang of her attack patterns at least, so I could keep dodging out of the way of her. But I couldn’t keep this up for long.
My body was screaming at me to stop, as she’d apparently hit a few major organs. My spin took a direct hit, but thank God I have Egonetic’s, or that’d finished me off right then and there.
I was trying to gather my Ego into my hands to finish her off, but she kept jabbing right for them, causing me to have to start over.
“Okay, this is boring,” Vicky suddenly said as she stopped attacking me and backed off, holding up her hand with the Stomata on it.
“Shit,” I muttered as I forced more Ego into my hands, taking this moment to try and win this.
Right before my eyes she split into multiple images of herself, followed by all of them sprinting for me immediately.
“Double shit,” I groaned as I tried to pick out the real attacks among the wave of fake ones.
This proved impossible as I realized even with my field up I couldn’t pick out the real one as there was too much going on at once. But my Ego was almost ready!
Then my head jerked back as her sword tip suddenly crashed right between my eyes.
I swear I heard my friends scream my name, but my ears were ringing from the pressure of the impact. But to my great relief I realized my Ego infused faceplate had saved me!
There wasn’t enough Ego in my hands to do a full on blast like I wanted, but there was enough for one thing.
“Should’ve went for the throat,” I growled as I snapped my head forward, catching her retreating blade in my teeth. She yanked as hard as she could, but I held firm as I put all the energy into one hand and reached out with the other, taking her by the wrist of the hand that held her Stomata.
She tried to break free as she took her other hand and materialized a dagger into it. But I focused as I threw my Ego covered hand forward, engulfing her trapped hand. The dagger came flying for me, but I kept going forward as I screamed in rage, my Ego exploding out of my hand and into hers, completely obliterating it.
The dagger still slammed into my shoulder, but she began to scream in pain as I let her go and took her rapier in my hands.
The Halwen stumbled back, holding the stump where her hand and Stomata used to be. It’d grow back, but that didn’t mean much right now.
I dashed forward and stabbed her rapier right through her right knee. Then with an expert's grace I swiped her legs out from under her with my tail and slammed a fist right into her unguarded face, sending her body spinning like a top in front of me. Just to add a bit of flair I then threw another punch, right into her midsection, sending her flying straight into the stands beyond.
“Out of bounds!” Flavio roared along with the fake crowd. “I don’t believe it! Shane has come out on top, despite the clear disadvantage!”
Raising my hand, I gave him a shaky thumbs up as I spun and walked towards the exit. But each step I took got more and more shaky, as I could literally feel my body ripping apart from the inside out.
“Ah fuck me,” I grunted, looking at my three friends as I lost my footing and collapsed.
“Shayla!” I heard Domitor yell as the three of them seemed to be coming down here.
“Idiots,” I grumbled, everything starting to lose focus. “Don’t call me that…”
“Whoa whoa, let’s not just up and die out here after an amazing show like that!” I heard the voice of Flavio said as he seemed to be floating down to me.
“Trying not too,” I grumbled, my eyes fluttering a bit.
He landed next to me just as my friends reached us.
“Well let’s get you back in shape!” he exclaimed as his hands began to glow.
Within moments it felt like the whole fucking sun was suddenly being pushed through my body, causing me to jump up with a yelp.
“Bro, what the fuck was that?!” I yelled as I patted at myself, realizing the holes that had riddled my body were now closed over. Additionally, I felt better than I had before the match had began!
“Just a little groovtastical flavor from me to you,” he said in a smooth voice as he struck a little pose momentarily. “Consider it a thank you for the amazing performance!”
“Well,” I began, frowning at him as I just wanted to cover back up now. “Thanks for that then.”
“You are welcome!” he said as he snapped his fingers, causing my armor to fly from where it lay on the ground and land before him. “Now you four, I have some good slash bad news. Thanks to the two from earlier, we’re going to be postponing the last two matches till tomorrow.”
“Great,” I muttered as I placed my foot on my piled up gear, using my menu to pull it back into my personal inventory. It looks to be too broken to re-equip, so I’ll have to wait till the system repairs it.
“Are you alright now?” Domitor asked, but I ignored him as I stared at Flavio’s smiling face, staring at my reflection in his sunglasses.
“Thanks though, for real. For healing me,” I said, forcing myself to make an effort to apologize to him.
He just strikes an exaggerated pose as he points a finger at me, placing his other hand against his face. “Don’t even mention it, honeymomma!”
“What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at his antics.
Flavio just relaxed his pose as he stood up fully, giving us a confident smile, “now for that sweet sweet good news! Galben has allowed all those who wish to use the luxury suites of the city next door! You four can head on over now if you’d like. The rest of the matches will continue in the meantime.”
“Luxury suites?” I asked, looking at my friends. Floria just shrugged while Domitor didn’t really have a reaction. Vanilla just looked pleased as she stood there, hands behind her back.
“Nah, we’ll sleep here. No need to-”
“No!” Vanilla suddenly yelled, scaring the shit out of me. She then cleared her throat and resumed her normal posture. “I’m sorry. I mean, let's not spit in the face of his hospitality, Shane. It is rude to turn down luxury accommodations.”
I just roll my eyes as I shrug, “then I guess we’ll take them.”
“Make yourselves at home over there! Take any building, they’re all empty anyways!” he laughed, striking a different pose as he began to ascend into the sky back towards his platform. “If you need to speak with me, I will be out and about after tonight's matches!”
Turning to my friends I saw they were looking at me expectantly. “Floria,” I suddenly said, getting her attention. “Do you have another jacket? I don’t want to walk around with my upper body exposed.”
She chuckled as she began to pull something out of her Vacuole.
As she did that I looked myself over. My lower armor was still good to go, so I didn’t have to worry about that. But my chest and face were exposed, and that was way too much. I might be okay making a quick joke with these idiots using my muscles and shit, but I am DEFINITELY not walking around exposed for others to see.
Floria tossed me a dirty jacket similar to hers, but had a hood on it. I slid it on quickly and threw up the hood, feeling a lot better.
“Here,” Vanilla said as she stepped forward, holding a scarf. “You may use my scarf to hide your face if you so wish.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I took it and wrapped it around my head, hiding my face from view. “Now come on, assfuckers, let’s check out our digs for the night.”