YURI

“Fuck you!” Simon yelled, extending his palms forward. Another two beams of liquid acid were discharged.

Yuri leaned into his shoulder, the acid hit his shoulder instead of his face. It stung across his back as it ran down it, but at least his face was not stinging.

Simon leaped forward again. Yuri caught Simon with the lightning rod and slammed him down into the floor. A lightning bolt thundered from the rod into Simon’s barrier. But his barrier was too strong.

“You have gotten yourself a new set of teeth.” Simon smiled through his dreadlocks.

Yuri slammed his mace down. But Simon was too quick, sliding under the lightning rod and leaped at him, leading with punches.

Samuels and his combat suit zoomed by, and didn’t even look in Yuri’s direction. He wouldn’t lend a hand.

Lightning bolts slammed into the floor around them from the storm in the ceiling. Simon’s barrier held firm against the repeated attacks.

“DIE!” Simon yelled. “Traitor!”

Yuri turned and pushed off the floor, Simon was launched off him, the action provided a moment of rest, a moment to think. Beth was entangled with Tom. Rahgon and Ezlrig plowed through groups of combat suits. Claire flew through the air, battling off with Lori. Milo was still fighting with Saif, the former was starting to look tired, more tired than the latter. Samuels was lying on the floor, convulsing and trying to scream, but no scream came. Smoke billowed around his combat suit, fighting him, killing him. It was Dust.

Simon came running back at Yuri again, roaring on top of his lungs. Filled with relentless violence, saved just for Yuri. He leaped.

Yuri discharged a lightning bolt, before slamming both the rod and the mace down at the same time, aiming for Simon. But Simon was too quick, too relentless, to be hit by Yuri’s attack. Simon was on him again. Punch form the left, from the right. Thick drops of acid flew off every incoming fist and clung to Yuri’s marble, stinging through it.

Yuri shoved the rod inside Simon’s barrier, the trick was to move it slowly unless it was completely stopped in its tracks. He squeezed the trigger. The lightning bolt sent Simon away from him. But Simon was on his feet again.

How would you win against someone this relentless? By being as much as relentless.

Yuri hooked with his honor, snapping the blood deposits into distinction. He tore into it and the taste of iron rushed into his mouth. His pebbles were transformed into malachite rocks with black, obsidian edges. Rocks moved up to the mace’s lump, making it triple it size and weight, but that was no issue for him. More rocks moved along the rod, making it look as if the rod had grown out from his body.

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Yuri roared as his power rippled through his body, invigorating him.

Simon roared and leaped.

Yuri pointed the mace forward. Malachite rocks shot away from the lump, striking one, two times straight at Simon’s barrier. Cracks grew along it and Simon displayed a face of fear. A lightning bolt from the rod and one from the storm in the ceiling both struck Simon at the same time, making him stumble backwards.

“Your teeth are sharp, Yuri. I will give you that,” Simon said, moving a dreadlock away from his face. “You think you are the only one who has new teeth?”

Simon’s barrier exploded, sending torrents of acid over Yuri. Yuri threw himself to the floor and rolled a lap before getting back up, most of the thick acid had stuck to the floor.

A new barrier came online over Simon, its green color was sickly and it swirled with a much greater speed. Simon was blood fueling. Simon leaped.

By pure reflex, Yuri tried slamming the rod and the mace down again, trying to catch Simon in the air. But he was too slow, and Simon was on him again, They rolled across the floor, exchanging punches, discharged rocks and acid beams.

They bumped into a group of combat suits, toppling them to the floor with them. Simon was caught underneath one and Yuri rolled away from the local chaos, getting some breathing room.

Brute force was not working. How would you win against someone this relentless? What had Birgitta said, bait, feint, turn around and counter? Simon always went for any given opening, no matter how obvious the feint was.

Yuri placed his feet weird, feinting being worn out, which was easy since he was it for real. He dropped the mace to the floor. He held his fists in a guarding position, but a little too low, providing Simon with a pleasant and easy access to his neck and face. He even forced parts of his marble skin away from his face, flowing those patches into human skin again.

Simon leaped and reached for Yuri’s face.

Yuri leaned to the left, grabbed Simon’s arm and slammed him into the floor, and pinned him down. Yuri raised the stone leveraged mace and smashed it down on Simon’s barrier. Cracks shot out across the barrier. He slammed it down again and the barrier shattered. He dropped the mace to the side and a stone formed in the hand, it had the distinct green rings and coloring of a malachite mineral but with the added dashes of obsidian black edges.

“No. Please, no. Mercy, please,” Simon said.

“You never showed me mercy.” Yuri shoved the piece of malachite rock at and into Simon’s eye socket. The vile person convulsed one last time before his body went inert and dead. Yuri stepped back from the corpse. He had killed Simon. He had killed somebody. A disgusting feeling rose inside his gut. He wanted to throw up and fell down on his knees.

Samuels was still having problems away from him. Dust was killing him.Who deserved to die and was it really up to him to decide it?

“Beth! Samuels need help. It is Dust. The smoke manifestation,” Yuri said.

Beth nodded, but she was locked in battle against Tom. They fought fiercely and any mistake would lead to the other side winning the struggle.

“Rahgon, fire!” Beth pointed at the convulsing Samuels.

A torrent of liquid fire lit up the training field and covered Samuels and his rig. The convulsions stopped, followed by a sharp scream as the last remaining trails of the smoke trying to escape the burning fire went into flames. Dust’s corpse fell to the floor, half transformed.

“Thank you,” Samuels mumbled through the mental channel.

Yuri grabbed his lightning rod and mace again, making his rocks create leverage for him, before going back to the battle.