The massive Tortimer turned to meet Chad's gaze, its movement sending more waves through the lake. It wasn't a turtle, not exactly. A closer look revealed spiky jaws and stalactite-like protrusions all across its body. It made the creature resemble something closer to a battleship crossed with a mine.

The first round of waves reached the edge of the lake. Despite the distance they'd traveled, they still reached at least two or three feet tall, crashing onto the rocky shore.

"Damn," Chad heard one of the soldiers mutter. "That's one big-ass turtle."

Well, at least I wasn't the one to say it.

"There it is!" Squawkers projected from his post. "Constitution's its strongest stat, dexterity is the weakest. It's got traits called Titanic Growth and Moving Fortress. Skills are... look out!"

Before the parrot could finish his report, the Tortimer finished its turn and began lumbering toward their position. The miniature tsunami that ensued sent them all falling back from the coast.

"Fire!" Major Geoffries called. "Bring that thing down!"

Rockets launched towards its head from dozens of different positions, streaming through the air toward the turtle. A moment later, Chad added in a boulder of his own, a simple but effective choice. He didn't even need Curveball to hit such a massive target.

But as the projectiles neared the Tortimer, something strange happened. Suddenly, they began to curve in midair, arcing past the turtle's right side in a cluster.

Chad hesitated, rubbing his eyes in confusion. The hell? Did we all just miss that bad?

The rockets and boulder continued curving until they were out of sight, hidden by the turtle's bulk. A moment later, they reappeared. Headed right back to where they came from.

"Shit -- take cover!" Major Geoffries yelled, shouting commands and getting his men into the trees at the sudden reversal.

Shit. We can't let those things land. No way we'll survive.

"I've got it!" Chad backed up slightly, reaching into his bag for a handful of gravel. He hurled it towards the incoming rockets, hoping to disable at least some of them.

The pebbles shot out in a cloud of deadly confetti. They met the missiles partway over the lake, sending balls of deadly fire into the sky. Waves of heat and flame rolled over him, their intensity obvious even from this distance.

A moment later, something careened through the smoke. The boulder continued to hurtle forward, headed directly for Chad's position.

Shit, shit, shit--

There was no time to grab another rock and shoot it out of the sky. He couldn't get away fast enough, either. Reacting on instinct, Chad raised up his tournament winner and did the only thing he could -- he punched it.

The rock atomized into dust, spraying everywhere. Flecks of stone stung his skin and face as momentum carried them forward. But most surprisingly of all, the impact hurt his knuckles. For the first time in who knows how long, his fist stung.

"What the hell was that?!" Chad yelled.

Squawkers called back a response. "It's got a skill called Gravity Well! I'm guessing that's what it used. Careful, it's also got more!"

As the parrot read out a list of skills to them, Chad frowned. "Splash? That doesn't sound so bad."

The turtle continued forward as thick streams of water began circling around it. They began to spin in tightly-controlled rings, faster and faster, until they seemed to almost stand still. Then, with a sudden shift, they shot toward the men with the force of a firehose.

They dove out of the way, narrowly dodging as the water pressure dug gouges into the earth around them. Chad tried to wheel himself backward frantically, activating Iron Skin as a backup. The blast impacted right in front of him, the impact sending him tumbling in a shower of earth and rocks.

He rolled for a dozen feet before slamming his fingers into the ground. The digits anchored him in place, bringing him to a sudden halt.

Well, this sucks, he realized. The hell am I supposed to deal with this?

He couldn't simply keep throwing things at the Tortimer -- not when it could hurl them right back. Getting closer wasn't an option, either. Even worse, the creature had halted its advance, seemingly content to assault them from afar. It, too, had realized its advantage.

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Thinking back, Chad recalled the attack on Gram Gram's house. He'd felt something when one of the druids tried to mess with his Curveball-empowered projectile. Maybe that meant he could fight this turtle's skill with his own?

Deciding to take a chance, he pulled out a pair of hammers. One to throw, and another to throw at the first if it decided to pursue its lifelong dream of being a boomerang. Activating Curveball, he flung it toward the Tortimer's head with most of his might.

The hammer spun so fast that it looked like a solid disk. It hurtled forward to the point where Chad worried he'd ruined it by throwing too hard. But he still felt a connection to the hammer with Curveball, guiding it toward the turtle's eye as much as he could.

The weapon headed unerringly toward the Tortimer until he felt something new. A strange sort of mental tug, trying to pull the hammer off course and to the side. He gritted his teeth and focused, stubbornly enforcing his will on the projectile. The tugging intensified rapidly, an insistent force that tried to rip his skill away however it could. A slight trickle of blood ran out of Chad's nose and onto his lips as he bit down harder.

This is nothing. I've felt worse.

A roar echoed across the lake, sending ripples across the water. Chad felt more than saw as the hammer finally hit home, plunging deep into the turtle's eye. It didn't continue through the rest of its skull -- the battle of wills must have slowed it down too much for that -- but it was a hit.

The turtle roared in pain, calling up another torrent of water. It soared at him with renewed vengeance, completely ignoring the others of his group. But this time, Chad was ready. He launched himself to the side with his arm, carrying him further away from his team.

He continued to dodge torrents of water, thinking about how to approach the situation. His main method of hurting the turtle was gone, and he didn't expect it would be patient enough to wait for it to come off cooldown. Even though he'd managed to distract it, that wasn't doing much good. The soldiers' bullets were getting shot right back at them when they weren't outright ignored by the turtle's defenses. Many of the shots just plinked harmlessly off of its shell and scaled face.

Looking around, there was no chance of them winning a long-distance fight. They had to get up close. Which meant there was really only one thing he could do.

If the Tortimer wouldn't come to him... he would have to go to the Tortimer.

Chad's stomach twisted. I don't like this. At all. There has to be a better way, right?

The turtle sent one last stream of water toward Chad, now at least twenty yards from his allies. Then, with a glint in its eye, it turned and heaved its front half out of the water. The creature went all the way up on its hind legs, casting a massive shadow on the lake above. Rivers ran off of its body and back into the water below.

"Splash! Run! It's gonna drown us!"

Squawkers's panicked screech pierced into Chad's head as he realized what was about to happen. If the turtle were to fall back down, it really would cause a splash. And not just any splash -- a tidal wave.

He swore inwardly. He was too far away to do anything. The dang thing had chased him off. Unless...

...I can do something.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet!"

Chad yelled at the turtle and triggered Duelist. Immediately, its eyes snapped back to the arm wrestler where he lay, shaking a fist at the creature. With a herculean effort, the turtle shifted its body toward him, away from the fleeing soldiers.

The good news was they would be safe. The bad news? He was about to get a face full of tsunami.

With a mighty crash, the Tortimer's body slammed back into the lake's surface. A massive wave rocketed forward, obscuring Chad's sight entirely as it towered over him.

Well, shit.

He had two options. Option one, run away and hope that the wave was smaller than it seemed. Option two...

...Well, you know what they say. The best defense is a good offense.

Trying not to think too hard about his actions, Chad waited until the wave was closer. Then, he pushed off the ground and launched himself into the air. He flew upwards, higher and higher, until he was well past the top of the watery wall.

It hit the shore beneath him, crashing into the trees and tearing some of the smaller trees out of the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief at having escaped one problem.

Then, he began to fall.

Chad suddenly felt gravity kick in once more, pulling him toward the ground with alarming speed. He angled his body toward the turtle, trying to control his descent, but his useless legs weren't doing him any favors on that front.

Even worse, one look at the Tortimer revealed he was in even more danger. There was still plenty of water in the lake -- water that the creature made full use of. Once again, it accelerated a stream around itself, gaze locked on the still-airborne Chad as he fell through the air.

He kept an eye on the stream, looking for the telltale sign that it was about to fire. As soon as the circle began to shift, he activated Ultra Instinct.

Please work.

The turtle froze for a moment, stunned by the skill's effect. A fraction of a second later, it began to move again, the stream of water shooting forward. But it was too late. Its aim had already gone astray, the pressure washer of doom arcing just above Chad's falling form.

He felt the wind tear at his shirt and hair as he fell, flapping his hand through the air to "swim" toward his opponent with some success. It roared at him, then tucked its head into its massive shell to take cover. A smart move, all things considered.

Alright. C'mon, ol' faithful. I really need you to pull through for me, buddy.

Chad charged up a Power-Up Punch as he fell. His fist began to glow with a bright golden light, strength surging through his muscles. It already felt souped-up from Ultra Instinct, but now? Chad felt unstoppable.

As the turtle's shell rushed up to meet him, he punched downward with all the force he could muster. His only hope was to cancel out the momentum of his fall with sheer force. At least, that was the idea. He was no physicist. But if nothing else, then he would make sure he'd take down this damn turtle with him.

With a roar of his own, Chad brought his fist down on the Tortimer's shell.