Chapter 43 (Patreon)

Beyol spun out of the way, the woman’s sleeve barely grazing the surface of his nose. He took a quick step back and watched her rocket past him. Her fist ripping through the air so fast he could hear the sound of the displaced air popping back into place an instant later. His eyes narrowed as she kept going, only stopping after gaining some distance from him. His fingers twitched around his knives as the others began to orbit around his head. The first time surprised him, but it wouldn’t happen a second time.

She doesn’t fight people very often, He thought, analyzing her stance as she turned to face him, her armored fists up. He took a step to the left and lowered his right arm while raising his left, the blade held up and at the ready. If she hits me unarmored, it’s over, there’s enough force behind those punches to turn me into paste. She’s nothing like the others, just as I thought, He frowned and twirled his knives again, considering her. She didn’t move a muscle, her eyes fixed on him as well.

Skill versus Power, then. He reasoned and with a mental gesture two knives floating around his head pivoted and launched in her direction, aimed at her right side. She was stabbed in the head and didn’t die, but does she still feel pain? He thought, darting to the left and to where she’d move. He zipped into position just as the blades hit, slamming into her arm. He didn’t have time to blink or think, he compensated as she turned in slow motion to look at him as her shoulder moved back faintly from the hit. He dipped low and swept his leg out.

Hit. Her foot moved forward a few inches but it was enough, she spun and he raced up to drive the knife towards her back. Her foot stretched up to the tip and she pirouetted like a ballerina, spinning fast enough to face him as his knife was driving up towards her. Her fist was already in the air again. Her eyes wide with absolute focus, he could see it coming like a slow moving truck though and he darted to the right, landing on one hand and throwing his foot out again to kick her in the side of the head.

She took the hit again, her face pressed against the heel of his shoe as she shifted and reared back for a kick of her own. He pushed off the ground and somersaulted back, landing on his feet and throwing out another barrage of knives at her face while using his telekinesis to pull the first two out of her. He darted back in as she was raising her arms. It had taken her a few seconds to get up after being stabbed in the head, she’s not unstoppable, I just have to disable her. He thought grimly as she swept her arm out in a wide arc with enough force to create a small burst of air pressure. His knives spun away and she kicked off the ground.

One moment she was there, the next, she was in his face again. He dipped low and rolled under her, throwing to knives up at her back. In the air she had no room to maneuver, nothing to kick off of, the blades wedged near her spine and she staggered forward with a grunt, trying to reach around to grab them and pull them out of her back. He grinned, Got you. He sneered, Guess I didn’t need my armor. He held his hand out and more knives lanced towards her back, melting and merging with the two that had stabbed her. With an effort of thought they formed into long blades, stabbing fully through her gut.

She let out a gasp and took a step forward, looking down at the silver weapons protruding from her abdomen. He twisted his hand, getting ready to cut her in half when she did something… terrifying. She reached down and grabbed the blades with her gloved hands and pulled. What the fuck? He knew she felt pain, he could see it, What is she, insane? He reeled as with a terrible scream she pulled the swords, hand guards and all, through her back and out through her abdomen. She gripped the swords in both hands and turned to look at him, the hole in her gut already starting to close.

Fucking monster! He howled internally and melted the knives in her hands and those floating around him, No holding back then. He snarled and the liquid metal formed into claws on his hands. His heart rate increased, new blood forming as more pumped out and onto his skin. He reached up and cut deep furrows across his own chest, grunting as the metallic armor spread faster, coating his entire body in a matter of seconds. She didn’t even move as he equipped himself, going as far as to cross her arms.

Mocking me now too?! He narrowed his eyes within his helmet and launched himself in her direction, moving far faster than he had before. His telekinetic control over the metal let him basically launch himself and control his body even better than when he wasn’t wearing it. He moved at the speed of thought, darting low again to force her to prepare for another trip only to bounce back up and go for her face. Just as he completed his feint he looked up into her eyes and saw her fist coming. She didn’t buy it.

WHAM!

Her fist connected for the first time and he was sent hurtling back across the room, skipping over the ground and rolling a few times before slamming into the nearest wall. He coughed, his body creaking a little as he pulled himself out of the indentation he’d left behind, he hopped onto the ground and cycled his metallic blood, his wounds healing but not as fast as hers did. The armor protected him from the worst of it, but- she was there in front of him again. His eyes widened as her fist drove him up into the air, folding him and launching him up. She grabbed him by the arm and spun, slamming him again into the wall.

Pain exploded across his body, a scream erupting from his lungs. He gasped and coughed, Bitch! He snarled and grew needles across his armor, launching them in every direction. He heard a grunt of pain and threw himself to the right before rebounding back up at her. Giving her any kind of distance was a mistake, it seemed like her acceleration was part of her strength. Those blitz attacks needed to stop. He created a knife and drove it into her throat as she plucked a needle from her eye, turning on him in time for it to pierce her from the front.

He shifted out of the way, slashing and cutting as she grasped at him, drawing deep gashes across her thighs, abdomen, and one even across her face. He danced behind her and kicked, striking her in the back. There has to be a limit, pain is her weakness, it’s got to be. He reassured himself in time for her to turn around again, one eye regrowing in its socket as she stared him down. He felt something in his chest shake, something cold wash over him, and saw the fist coming but he couldn’t move.

Fear? Huh, it’s been a while. He thought dumbly as the blow connected with his chest, sending him much farther this time.

He dazedly watched her grow more distant before suddenly being in front of him again, her new eye boring into his own as she grabbed him by the throat and followed him through the air, slamming him into the wall. He gasped, blood dripping from his lips as he connected and more pain exploded across his body. He reached up to try to dig his claws into her wrist only for her to start moving, dragging him through the concrete and along the wall before throwing him again across the room. I can’t even… react.

He looked up at the ceiling just as he felt her grip around his ankle. She spun and threw him to the ground before he even had a chance to reach the other side of the room, all the air driving out of his lungs. He coughed, feeling his broken ribs having grown worse even with the desperate effort of his far inferior regeneration. He looked up at her, standing over him, with a foot raised into the air above his head. Damn it! He screamed internally and rolled out of the way in time for a meteor to land where his head had been. 

He forced himself to his feet, Calm down, idiot. He commanded himself, She’s just throwing her weight around. You have skills, use them! He looked up at the light hanging above them, it was the only source of illumination in the room. He looked back at her as she slowly turned to face him, it was like she was taking it easy. Then she smiled. He clenched his fists before letting out a hard breath and letting his shoulders slump. She’s far more powerful than me, and here I was thinking I was invincible with these powers. God damn fool. He sighed and with an effort of will tightened his armor around his chest, securing his ribs.

He took a steadying breath, I called myself a fucking professional. It’s obvious how it turned out like this in retrospect. He created a knife and she shifted a bit. He let out another breath, Cool down, calm, He felt the terror that he had only barely been able to comprehend begin to fade into the background. He fixed her with a stare and set his jaw before throwing the knife up into the air, no telekinesis. He didn’t need it. The lightbulb shattered with a burst of sparks and they were plunged into darkness.

He willed the metal on the bottoms of his feet to pull away, tightened the metal more around his body, and streamlined it. He could hear her getting ready to move, every shift of fabric, every small step of her powerful body. He was a ghost, though. He darted to the right, soundless, She favors right hooks. He thought and dashed past her, one of his knives dropping into his hand. He stabbed, driving it into where he knew her shoulderblade probably was. She grunted and he heard her start to move, he threw himself into the air and kicked her in the head before landing past her, snapping out another kick to the back followed by three more knives.

He wondered how long it had been since he felt the chill in his blood. Had it been the flash that had warmed his blood and fogged his mind? How many screw ups had he made since then? The cabbie was sloppy, He chastised himself as he threw needles at her legs, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. They knew about me since then, leaving the bodies of those thugs was another issue, I should have just fled, He frowned and darted out of the way as she threw herself in his direction.

The door’s locked, I can’t get out, that woman wants me to prove something, then I’ll give it everything I have. He thought as she passed him, he drew his knife along her throat before stabbing another into her back. He left them in there, the pain of movement slowed her, obviously. You’re not invincible. You can’t be killed, clearly, but I’ll paralyze you eventually. It’s only a matter of time. He thought coldly, Slow her, build up wounds until she can’t protect herself, then go for a head strike to disable her.

He darted around her, throwing in light attacks, quick movements, anything to avoid her attacks. He felt his ribs grinding beneath his armor and forced himself to keep going, even as blood bubbled on his lips. He’d heal eventually, but he needed to get away first. I can take the pain. He snarled, Can you? He thought back to training as a member of the night society, weeks of torture to inure him to the pain, months of killing his fellow aspirant to inure him to the act of murder, years burning cold logic into his very being. All lost because of a fancy power.

This power is mine, not the other way around, He reminded himself. I won’t make the same mistakes again.

Blood, darkness, and silence filled the room, broken only by the grunts of pain as she endured every hit he landed on him. She was slowing down, occasionally gasping for air as she ripped another weapon out of her body only for him to pull it back into his armor soundlessly. With his knives in her he knew exactly where she was, he could feel their presence. He didn’t need to see, he didn’t even need to listen for her. He simply followed where a part of him was, cutting and stabbing and striking as he drove her further and further towards what he knew had to be some kind of limit.

That was when he felt it, a moment of hesitation, a flinch, her body tensing as a particular wound in her lower back set her off. A cold smile spread across his lips, Now! He darted towards her head, the blade in his hand turning into a sword. He drove himself forward with every ounce of strength he had left and felt the blade pierce flesh, drive through bone, and penetrate gray-matter. He followed through as she fell back, landing on top of her with a grunt. He took a deep, ratting breath as she felt her go still beneath him.

Skill always-

Her hand snapped up and grabbed his wrist.

What?

She felt her grip tighten, bones creaking beneath his armor as it struggled to maintain shape. No, let go! How are you even thinking with a blade in your head?! He tried to pull his arm away but it wouldn’t move, his bones creaking louder until a terrible snap drove white hot pain into his mind, he let out a scream as she reached up and grabbed him by the neck. He reached up with his good hand, grasping at her fingers. He couldn’t breathe, she kept squeezing, she was going to break his neck! 

Let go! Let go! He snarled, drawing the last of his knives down into her body from above him. He slammed his fist into her face, dug the sword in her head around, anything to get her to release him. Fucking… monster… He tried to think as he felt a faintness wash over him. Bloodflow cut off… can’t get it… to my head… I can’t… breathe…

Beyol fell into darkness.