Corvayne just stared at Argyle, maybe a quarter of a mile down the track, backlit by fire that was oozing smoke and steam that mixed with low clouds over Cascadia. The man was walking slowly, perhaps the same pace one would stroll through a park, as if he hadn't just gotten caught in a city block sized explosion.
Nyxion was next to him. “What's the plan?”
Corvayne glanced backwards. “We wear down his stamina while I do everything in my power to piss him off and keep him on me.”
Lady Blood Claw stared at him. “You're going to make him... mad?”
Corvayne spun his spear then handed it to his shadow hand, flexing his fingers. “Our only hope to beat him is to tire him out. One good hit up close and we are dead.” He had a plan for that, too. It just was going to really hurt right at the start of the fight. He picked up his cleaver.
Argyle finally vanished, moving forward a good five hundred feet.
“Back up, next jump is on me.” Corvayne called and readied his spear.
Nyxion readied his mace and Lady Blood Claw cast a spell on herself, then moved quickly back. They formed a wedge with Corvanye at the front. His stomach was in knots. One hit, and someone died. Him included.
Argyle appeared before him, steel staff swinging right for his arm. Corvayne swung to parry, activating [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] as he chopped at the steel rather then try to hit Argyle or dodge. His cleaver blasted right through the stave but the loose bar hit his shoulder like a cannon and broke it as he was flung spinning into a train car. He hit it and felt something snap in his back. He forced his good arm to move, even as he was gasping in pain and feeling cold move down his back. He pulled a potion out of storage and into his good hand, vision swimming for a moment as he forced the stopper open and downed it. His arm and back made cracking noises and he found he had dented the thin steel wall of the train car.
He got up, pain throbbing through his back almost a relief after the numb feeling and he saw Argyle was fighting Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw, hitting Nyxion in a blow with the halved stave that connected with his mace, sending the noble flying. Oddly, the monk used his time stop to chase but only got a few feet, looking hesitant. Lady Blood Claw used the opportunity to slice Argyle, hitting his arm and drawing blood, then pulling back and crouching under a retaliatory swing. Corvayne started to run forward as Argyle teleported and Lady Blood Claw turned the duck into a roll forward. Argyle's overhead swing was short, clearly expecting his longer staff.
Corvayne used [Power Thrust] and darted forward, jabbing his spear into Argyle's leg in what should be a crippling wound that instead had the monk twist and bring his metal bar around, forcing Corvayne to step back. Argyle's next attack forward forced Corvayne to roll on his back, but he was too slow to realize that the monk had vanished as he rolled to a knee, and a moment later he was sent flying again, his side screaming in agony before he landed badly on a leg and rolled, hitting a hand on a metal track. He was screaming in pain, and through tears he saw Argyle's outline appear close to him.
He tried to stab out but his arm wasn't moving quite right and his spear fell and Argyle grabbed him and picked him up by the neck of his shirt. The collar ripped out from under his armor and he dropped on the ground, the impact refreshing the agony he was feeling all over. What washed over him then was that he already had lost. They couldn't beat Argyle. He couldn't protect Wick. Again. Ever.
Argyle snarled. “What is WRONG with you? You fucking pile of garbage! This hasn't even been a fight! I've never, ever had someone insult me so bad, so many times then just... it's PATHETIC!”
Corvayne was woken up a little by Argyle breaking his nose, the agony mixing with hot blood pouring down his face. “Wake up. Here's what's going to happen. You are going to call Anastasia, now.”
Corvayne blinked. He tried to talk but he felt sluggish at the same time the agony lanced through him. “I dunno who she is.”
Argyle rolled his eyes. “For GODS sake you know who I'm talking about. C'mon. This is what I mean! You are totally unsatisfying!” Corvayne felt himself getting shaken, which caused every part of him to ache and new pains to flare all along his torso and arm.
He had a moment of hope when he saw Lady Blood Claw coming up, bloody but holding her two handed sword high, but Argyle turned and held Corvayne out as a shield, which forced her to alter her swing. She was totally open with her sword point on the ground and Argyle smoothly kick out, disarming her and sending her rolling over train tracks.
“Look at this! I was hunted by The Trio! I had to build a fucking helicopter out of an air conditioner in an hour to escape. And this? It hasn't been five minutes to kill you all! Do you fucking get how pathetic it is that I'm here?! Call fucking Iana or White Flower or Anastasia. The PRINCESS. Call the FUCKING PRINCESS!”
Corvayne looked at him confused. “I... Don't... know...”
Argyle gently set him down, and crouched, and looked him in the eye. The monk touched his face. “You... you are not fucking lying? REALLY. So you did all this and you have no idea, NOT a SINGLE clue...” He rubbed his face. “This is exactly what I'm talking about! It's so unsatisfying! I was sitting on this planet, looking for SOMETHING. Anything to stop guard duty. At least don't look at me like a fish. Spit in my face! Tell me you'll never let me have her. You are so FUCKING boring. When you were lying your ass off at that breakfast table, I was like 'Maybe, maybe there's something here! A person!' Then I saw your names light up on the bounty list. A hunt! A job! Interplay! Let me clear something up, I don't like killing people. Setting up an escape route and sitting there waiting for prey to come to you? It's a chore. I honestly don't hurt people because it's fun to me. It's a job. Wake up Corvayne or whatever your name is. I'm talking here. I was saying, this is a CHORE.”
Corvayne was very confused... maybe the nuclear battery fried Argyle's brain. “So why not just... let us go?”
“Because you idiot, you have two things I need to possibly BUY my way out of the hole I'm in. The 'Nugget' and the 'White Flower'. You waved it in my face. Nyxion was trying to sell it for what, a few million? No... Half a billion? That sounds better. Half a billion! He has no idea what it's worth, he bluffed so low I knew he was clueless. The Baron would give you planets, plural, for it. It's freedom for me. It's worth more then Anastasia.”
Corvayne coughed and the pain and wet choking feeling gave him a sense that he had blood in a lung. “Who is Anastiza?”
The monk sighed and started walking over to where Lady Blood Claw was trying to get up, dragging Corvayne by an arm to continue speaking to him, ignoring that Corvayne was screaming as his battered legs got pulled across an iron bar. He did everything he could to try to stumble along with the iron grip. “The girl with the green hair you were with, whatever she calls herself. She's the run-away royal. So call her, or I'm going to start crushing your alien girlfriend's limbs.”
Corvayne heard Lady Blood Claw say something at the same time he croaked “We are not an item.”
“Fine. Your friend's limbs. Crush them.” He used two fingers to mime snapping limbs.
Corvayne summoned his phone. “What...” He had to spit some blood out. “What do you want me to say?”
Argyle sighed. “Just get her to come out here. I haven't decided if I'm going to take her alive or dead, the more you hurry...”
Corvayne pulled his phone out of the ring, and dialed it to the group line. Argyle reached over with his free hand and tapped speaker.
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“Corvayne, what's going on?”
Argyle cleared his throat. “Your clueless friends are all on the ground. Maybe not dead yet, but close. So you have two options: Tell them you are going to abandon them and leave them to die, or come to the train yard next to the burning building, with the core.”
“Don't...” Corvayne croaked.
The monk beamed and nodded at him.
“Don't come here, Wick. Trap.”
There was silence on the line. “Counter offer: Put Corvayne down, step away from Lady Blood Claw, and we'll let you go.”
Argyle laughed. “Fine, I'm breaking her neck first. Then your body builder, then your little would-be emperor.”
He turned to line himself up with Lady Blood Claw, then stumbled a little. Corvayne felt a little drowsy too. Possibly because he was dying.
Argyle had to take a moment to clear his throat and wipe the grin off his face. “They are acting brave, but letting three of them die? Painfully? Slowly? Shameful.”
“This is your problem, Argyle. Whatever it was that pushed you to be a perfectionist in your early days, it left when you got your powers. I read the report. Even Goule knows you're sloppy. You underestimated his forces and escaped through dumb luck, right?”
Argyle ripped the phone from Corvayne's hand, then unceremoniously dropped him to the ground to yell at it. “You papered bitch! Have some fucking dignity! Unsatisfying! I was half tempted to spare you, you know. I'd do it if I thought there was something MORE to you. I keep looking for it, there's NOTHING MORE. It's endless, and meaningless and stupid!”
A pause. “Are you done? Argyle? I know you won't spare me. I read your reports. All of them. You can't control your temper at all. Why chase us? Oh, I mean aside from pissing off Stabby so you'd have to wait for backup. That isn't coming, is it? We know what's going to happen to me if I was spared. You know. You know about me.”
Argyle looked right at Corvayne. “Fine? You don't get it? Fine. Nobody gets it. I fucking hate this universe. Ok. Fine.” He cleared his throat, going back to his cold predator voice with a slight change in his bearing. “I want you to say it. Just tell your friends you're leaving them to die. I'm doing this because I love hurting people so much..” He stepped forward and put a boot on Corvayne's back, dropping him to laying on the ground, face in gravel. “He's helpless, trying to get up. Tell him you don't care. Do it.”
Wick started laughing over the line. “That's your game, right? You can't stand it. Your power, the clones, it's because you HATE being alone. Since you were abandoned as a kid. You HATE yourself too.”
Argyle pressed down on Corvaynes back, and he could feel his already cracked ribs stabbing things inside him. He schooled himself to not cry out. It was better to die not giving the man what he wanted. Argyle sighed. “They are dead now. You could have saved them. Maybe begged me to let them live. Coward.”
Argyle turned, spinning his half-staff then gripped it like a knife. Corvayne cried out a little despite himself as he knew Lady Blood Claw was about to die.
His heart turned to ash as he heard Wick waver and cry out, “Wait!” It was his fault. He had just doomed her. He had needed to stay silent, and he couldn't do it.
“Too late.” Argyle drawled, then stumbled back, blinking. Lady Blood Claw looked up and smiled, blood covering her.
Argyle froze, as Lady Blood Claw pushed herself to stand, and staggered over to Corvayne. She crouched and shoved a potion in his mouth.
“He's asleep. One minute maybe. Had to keep breaking the protection from his beads. Make this shot count.”
She lowered herself to the ground as her skin shifted to pure bleached white, only stained with grit and blood. Corvayne felt his pain start to fade and his cracked bones start to pull themselves out of place as he pushed himself to his feet, picking up his spear. It didn't hurt as much as clawing his way home had.
Corvayne also grabbed his phone. He heard Wick crying, said “It will be okay.” and turned it off. “Lady. Thanks.”
Corvayne picked up her sword, then turned to Argyle.
He walked around behind him, hurting from every hit but starting to feel things shifting into place, his blood pumping. Both hands on lady's two handed sword, he held it near the back of Argyle's neck, then pulled the blade back. There was no ambiguity of supposing he might survive this, no buffer of saying 'the cage killed those gang members'. If Argyle woke up with his head still on, he and Nyx and Lady Blood Claw were dead. Wick probably too.
Corvayne swung, activating [Cross Skill: Execute] as his blade slammed into Argyle's neck.
There was a spray of blood as the blade sliced into his neck and somehow it got caught on the spine instead of just shearing right through him. Corvayne pulled back for another blow as Argyle's eyes popped open and he roared.
[Cross Skill: Thresh] was his only option, spraying a wave of shadow under Argyle's feet as the monk clutched the back of his neck.
Argyle vanished, but Corvayne felt his position shift a little as a fist sped past his face, his shadow limbs jabbing the Monk's leg, aiming for the gash his spear strike made there. One handed, Argyle tried to curl his arm into a grab, and Corvayne stepped with it, the gesture not having power behind it. Still touching Argyle, he summoned as much gravity as possible and dumped weight into the monk, then directed all his shadow hands into pushing himself away. Argyle kept a hand on his neck, blood streaming down his back in amounts that should have left him dead. But the man vanished and appeared three steps closer, eyes narrowed in rage.
He reached with his free hand to his beads crushed one, causing the entire chain shattered at once as it fell away. Argyle took his hand off his neck, and Corvayne felt something push his gravity power back into him.
“Better! BETTER! Cmon!” Argyle rushed forward, fists flying at Corvayne, who simply grabbed the arm and used [Judo Throw] to flip the monk, pushing gravity into Argyle as he slammed him into the gravel and tracks, rocks flying out. Corvayne stepped away as Argyle spun his legs into a sweep and hopped to his feet, grinning despite his wounds.
“Well boy, can you win? You can't run. If you do, Nyx and your alien bride are dead.”
“Wick is my girlfriend. Can you die so I can go find her?” He swapped his two handed sword for his spear. He needed distance. Maybe he should have busted out his trump already, but spear against unarmed was the fight he was closest to beating a master at. Argyle vanished and Corvayne felt his shadow hand touching something and used [Juxtapose], swapping with the monk who was trying to use a full roundhouse on Corvayne, who stepped back and then rammed his spear into Argyle's wounded leg, using [Cross Skill: Backstab] to force the wound open more. It felt like trying to shovel nearly dry clay, the muscles as hard to cut as steel cable. Argyle spun and tried to advance, but Corvayne feinted with a blow that Argyle grasped at, hissing as his hand closed around the black tip of the spear rather then the incoming shaft.
“Too slow.” Corvayne felt himself grinning as he punished the attack with a second spear strike, grazing Argyle's torso. Before he was death. Now, he was fighting unarmed, and Corvayne had a spear. The monk kept moving forward, stopping time to get right in front of Corvayne, inside his spear's range. So Corvayne just dropped it into his shadow hands and used his own arms to deflect and counter, the monk faster and stronger but sloppy, his movements letting Corvayne get in an elbow to the chin then step into a kick to hook his leg around Argyle's and push the monk backwards onto his back. He did a quick kick downwards, doing almost nothing to Argyle's leg and nearly getting his foot caught but he was riding high on momentum. Lady blood claw had shifted the fight and he was going to ride the wave as far as he could take it.
Argyle just got up and rushed him again. Corvayne forced himself to keep going through flares of pain as the monk tried to teleport to his side again. Once more his shadow limbs seemed to be tracking the man even when he wasn't aware time had been stopped, and he used [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] to guide Argyle's fist past his head so he was at his back. This time Argyle was fast enough to elbow Corvayne away, but didn't connect more then a glancing blow on his armored torso. Corvayne started to move back, then had to charge to follow Argyle who started running away, perhaps aiming for Lady Blood Claw or Nyxion.
Argyle shifted away from Corvayne when he had nearly caught up, popping next to where Lady Blood Claw was sitting against a train. Argyle pulled back a fist then slammed his hand on a shield that appeared moments before he struck, bouncing him back. Nyxion followed up by slamming his two handed mace into Argyle's raised hand, then diving out of the way as the train car that LBC was against half melted, rusting enough of the sides that the roof of the car started to creak.
Nyxion was already was running away, wailing “Corvayne! Protect my belt!” As he turned it off and dove for a train car. Argyle didn't have time to fire as Corvayne pressed into him with spear attacks, using [Cross Skill: Thresh] to lay down a line of shadow that stuck to the monk. He struck twice, only scoring small cuts on Argyle's legs before the monk was stomping his way, shadows in tow. Corvayne backed away, using his spear and shadow hands to slow Argyle's advance.
When the monk vanished again, Corvayne was already moving to Lady Blood Claw, using his [Juxtapose] on Argyle's side, diverting a barrage of attacks into the weakened train car while Corvayne scooped her up. Argyle roared as he turned and Corvayne pushed himself past exhaustion by focusing gravity to lighten him and letting his boots run him along the tracks, leaping to the side as he felt sure that Argyle would appear there, trying to trip him. His shadows were still sticking to Argyle too, the threads from [Thresh] letting Corvayne keep a step ahead as he ran from the entrance to the yard towards lines of parked boxcars, heading into the gravel between rows that hedged him in. He saw an car open on both sides and pivoted and jumped into the empty boxcar, mentally starting to feel a rhythm to the fight and leaping in low gravity and letting his shadows hold him against the roof for a moment. He could see the shadowy threads pop into being under him, trailing Argyle who was running out the other door under Corvayne, who dropped and ran back the way he came, weaving between cars a few times before running down a row, his shadowy limbs checking for seeds and finding one planted on him and another on her that he tossed into a box car he was running past. Sneaky fucker! Corvayne crouched in a car after a few more zig zag movements, setting Lady Blood Claw down. She looked half dead, her skin a faint green of fear. He squeezed her hand.
“I'll get him away... I can't fight him if he can kill you two.”
“Where's everyone else?” She asked.
Corvayne shrugged. “I don't know. I'm going to pull him down into the streets and try to finish him off there. Wick's still at our second fallback.”
“I was useless.” Lady Blood Claw looked down, her skin turning a dark shade with ripples that he couldn't quite see in the gloomy car.
“No, due to that wound he's slowing down. You helped lure most of his clones into one spot. I'm going to draw him out and finish this.”
Corvayne pulled the serpent whip out of his storage ring, as well as the strength potion he had stashed.
“Corvayne.” Lady Blood Claw looked at him, face suddenly stern. “I'm going to catch up to you some day.”
He smirked back at her, told her “I know.” then hopped out of the boxcar and started walking down the row, rolling his shoulders to get some of the healing stiffness out. He breathed in and out, pushing away the desire to hide and lay down. The constant use of powers and weapon skills and fighting through injuries made it feel like he was stepping through mud. Argyle was just as wounded, he was sure. He wasn't sure how long the potion would last, nor if it would let him really fight toe to toe with Argyle, but the monk wasn't fighting at the same level he expected. He could risk using a whip, unless the monk had been really sandbagging his reaction time. Crap, he hurt. Next adventure he was going to avoid getting mauled by everything.
He stepped out of the end of the row, walking towards where the tracks merged into curves off the hilltop and onto the elevated tracks. A spotlight was on, shining down on the end of the rail yard. It outlined Argyle, a dark shadow. He was missing a sleeve he had turned into a makeshift bandage around his neck. Despite his own fears, Corvayne uncapped his strength potion and stepped into the light.
Corvayne threw back the potion, feeling the peppery liquid slide down his throat, and tossed the bottle to the side, wiped his face, then put his spear on his back and gripped his whip. He forced himself to grin, the fire of desperate struggle, having something worth fighting for, all of it running through his veins, pushing him to be a warrior, the kind that The Watchers had hoped to mold him into, and in staring at Argyle with crazed eyes he saw it, very subtle but he was sure of what he had seen like a flare in the dark, and it made the smile he had on real, his steps more sure. He had not imagined it.
Argyle had flinched.