His pistol roared as Jaeger fired, hitting the orc in the throat. Crusher did not slow his charge, and as he got closer, Jaeger realized why. The orc's throat and jaw were covered in a hard metal guard, giving the impression of a larger metal jaw replacing Crusher's own. Jaeger recharged his pistol and fired again. This time he aimed for the orc's leg. Even with his body covered in armor, if Crusher fell, it would give him the opening he needed to strike. The pistol ball hit Crusher's leg and he stumbled.
Jaeger shot forward, his axe gripped tightly, slashing at the supporting leg. But Crusher blocked his blow with his metal-covered hand, using the motion to fling him away. Wincing as his tender ribs were jarred, Jaeger reacted quickly, calling for The Chains That Bind. Holding one end in place, he wrapped the other around the orc's head. With a jerk, he pulled himself toward Crusher, axe ready.
“First ya got a wand an now ya’ve got magic chains? You humies just don’ know when ta quit. I’m gonna kill ya an rip the chains from ya body!”
Crusher grabbed the chains around his head and pulled on them as well, bringing Jaeger to him much faster than before. All according to plan, he thought. Moving his body, he hit Crusher feet first, bending his knees to keep a tight purchase. For a moment, he stood horizontally on Crusher's chest; stunned, the orc just stared for a second. Then Jaeger slashed down on Crusher's right arm. With a rending blow, Jaeger brought the axe right through the upper arm.
Releasing the chains, Jaeger pushed off the orc and rolled to his feet, putting some distance between himself and his one-armed opponent. Crusher's arm was firmly wedged between the two of them. As the orc looked at the space where his arm had been and where it now lay, he roared again.
“I won’t forgive ya humie, that was me second favorite arm.”
Crusher attacked Jaeger again, even as blood gushed from his wound. Jaeger watched, studying his moves. He used the chains to swing at Crusher's legs in an attempt to knock him down. Unfortunately, the reckless charging orc simply crashed through them. But as he trampled the chains down, the bounty hunter was pulled forward, off balance. The big orc seized the opportunity and slashed down with his choppa. Jaeger didn't have the balance to dodge, so he tried to block the weapon with his axe.
There was a resounding crack as the weapons collided. Crusher drew back his choppa and prepared for a second swing as Jaeger kicked his feet under him and ran under the orc's missing arm. As he ran, he looked down at his axe and saw a crack running down the middle of it. He hoped the axe would last a little longer, he couldn't imagine fighting the orc without it.
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Jaeger was beginning to worry, for when he took a moment to look, he noticed that not only was Crusher bleeding less, but he seemed to be less and less bothered by the wound. It seemed that the orc had some kind of healing or regeneration, either way he had to finish this quickly. As he considered his options, an idea came to him, it had a lot of moving parts, but it might work.
Rushing past the orc, Jaeger slashed at his knee as he passed, drawing a snarl of pain from Crusher and barely dodging a blow in retaliation. When the orc turned to face him, he turned quickly and whipped his chain, his axe tied to one end. His idea was to whip his axe around the orc's body, he'd worked with a bounty hunter who'd done something similar. Well, they'd used a grappling hook to loop around a tree, but the idea was similar, plus Jaeger's chain was magical.
As he let go of the chain in an overhand throw, the axe whistled out. As it flew over the orc's shoulder, he laughed at the bounty hunter.
“Ha, ya must be goin’ crazy n ya missed. Ha!”
The laughter was cut short as his chain whipped the axe down and around the orc's chest. It whipped around the orc before slamming headfirst into the metal throat guard. Crusher had stopped laughing, but started again when the axe failed to penetrate.
“Nice try, but I’se gonna kill ya now.”
As Crusher slowly approached, certain of victory, Jaeger drew his pistol. He pumped more and more mana into it. His runes burned with the overcharge, and when he felt it was enough, he aimed it at Crusher, who began to move faster, raising his choppa over his head. Focusing his sight, Jaeger pulled the trigger and a beam of light shot out of the barrel. The beam hit the knee he'd hacked earlier, but unlike the hack, this shot shattered the knee and the orc began to fall.
Dropping his pistol, the bounty hunter grabbed the chain with both hands and yanked down. With all his strength and the chain's magical command, he pulled the orc down even faster, and like a falling tree, Crusher crashed to the ground. Exhausted by his low mana, Jaeger felt the chains dissipate and waited for the orc to move. As seconds turned to minutes, he smiled and walked toward the orc.
As he approached, he held his pistol loosely and carefully rolled the orc over. It was hard work, the orc in his armor weighed more than a tree. With a good amount of cursing, he turned Crusher over and exposed the front of the orc. When he'd fallen, the flat of his choppa had been between him and the ground, so his face was battered, but that was the least of his damage. The flat of the choppa had also pushed Jaeger's axe deeper and past the metal protector of the orc's armor. Crusher's head was half decapitated, hanging on mostly because the back of his armor hadn't broken.
“Mrrw. A masterful and above all entertaining move, my dear contractor. I knew I had made the right choice in you.”