I stared at the giant troll as he hefted both of his massive war axes, and started sprinting towards me. “Do you think you can handle that hag, and her entourage?” I asked Bella, without taking my eyes off Ugoki.
“Probably. Are you sure you don’t want my help with that psycho?” She replied, floating down to my side.
Honestly, I considered it for a moment. Having Bella backing me up would make a fight against Ugoki safer, but it would also allow the hag to intervene if we weren’t fast enough. “No, I can hold him long enough for you to finish the hag, probably.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see her glance at me, a doubtful look on her face. “George wouldn’t let anything happen, would you buddy?” Behind me the big spider reared up, and growled.
Bella didn’t even turn. “Yes, yes, very fearsome,” she said, waving her hand in George’s direction. The spider dropped down, and made a sad noise. “If you think you can hold, I’ll leave you to it. I doubt our fanged friends will last long without backup. I spared just a momentary glance over at our vampire friends, who were dancing around the mangrove monstrosities. They were doing their best to keep the creatures occupied, while staying out of range. It didn’t turn out super well for one of them, as one of the massive piles of rot burst forward, caught the man by his leg, and then repeatedly picked him up then slammed him back into the floor. I counted six repetitions before he de-rezed.
“Go, I’ll hold,” I told Bella. She nodded once, then flew off to assist.
Ugoki didn’t even glance Bella’s way as the banshee passed by, he just strode up to my arena, eyes locked on my location. “Spider. I will end you now.”
I just stared at him, in disbelief. “Do you really talk like that? I thought you were imitating an uncultured barbarian as a gimmick.”
Ugoki’s eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared, and he gripped his axes so tightly that his knuckles went white. In the blink of an eye he took a single step forward, and launched one of his axes in my direction. I turned sideways, narrowly avoiding the axe, then took a step back, carefully keeping an eye upon both the troll and his weapon. I needed to, because after a few moments the blade turned, made a sharp turn, and returned to Ugoki’s location. I casually ducked under the returning blade, before shooting a cocky smile in the troll’s direction. “You missed.”
Being able to throw your weapon like a boomerang wasn’t exactly a rare skill, but very few people could carry two handed axes in one hand, and still throw them with enough force to kill someone. If Ugoki was smart, he’d stay outside of my arena and either throw axes until I stepped out to engage him, or I died. I couldn’t allow that, I needed to enrage him.
“Nice trick, I give it a four out of ten. Impressive, but not very original.”
The troll didn’t reply, instead he snatched the axe out of the air, used its momentum to spin himself around, and launched both axes at me simultaneously. He let out such an animalistic roar while doing it, I hesitated dodging for just a moment, and almost got clipped by the blades. At the very last moment I stepped forward, slammed my glaive into the ground and turned sideways again. Both axes slammed into the shaft of the weapon, bouncing just far enough away for the blades to miss me, but the impact sent me sliding right back into the orchestra stage. I couldn’t keep this up for long, that single blow sent such a shock through my arm that it went partially numb, but I couldn’t let Ugoki know that. As the two axes returned to their owner I looked him right in the eyes, “Fine… five out of ten.”
“You think you’re so smart,” the troll snarled, as he caught his weapons, “I will end you!”
“You said that already,” I replied casually. I skipped to the side, casually spinning my glaive like a staff, “If you’re so strong, prove it already.”
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The troll snorted, staring at me from the edge of the arena. For a moment, I thought he’d kept his head, and was going to keep throwing his blades, but he stepped forward, activating the mechanisms. The trap doors behind him fell away, trapping him in my area, so there was no going back, for either of us. As I stepped forward, George jumped down beside me, purring. “If you want to get involved, that’s fine. Just watch out for those axes, even you wouldn’t survive a direct strike,” I mumbled to the spider. George danced back and forth for a moment, then started stalking to one side.
“Can’t fight me alone? Need your pet to help?” Ugoki spat, as he slowly stalked forward. To his credit, he was familiar with my mechanic, and avoided the falling panels. Even though I enraged him, he was still wary, it would be difficult to drive him into a pit. He watched me, like a predator stalking prey, while I continued hopping about.
“Not everyone is blessed with the ability to lift oversized weapons, or recall thrown weapons like eager puppies. Some of us have to defeat people the old fashioned way.”
He grunted in reply, paused for just a moment, then ran forward a few steps and launched himself across the arena. The massive troll came down, axe first, mere inches away from me, and as soon as he landed, he came up swinging. I brought all my left legs forward, catching the axe with my vambraces. Even though it was a glancing blow, it still pushed me back, forcing me to leap across a nearby trapdoor or risk taking the second axe to the face. I might not have made the jump, if George hadn’t used that opportunity to strike. He rushed up, attempting to flank the troll, but received a massive backhand to the face as soon as he got close. The troll half turned, and we both watched George tumble away, bouncing across a few panels, before disappearing into an open trap door.
Ugoki just grunted, then turned back to face me. I poked at him with my glaive, as I slowly retreated. The troll casually batted each attack away with one hand, while winding up with the other. As he brought the axe around, letting it fly, I rushed forward ducking underneath the flying blade and pressing my attack. Ugoki concentrated on parrying my glaive, so I stabbed at him with my vambraces, leaving numerous cuts and punctures along his body. As I danced away, he caught his axe again, and stared me down. “You act so smart, yet you expect these trivial wounds to stop me?” he asked, “trolls are known for their regeneration.” Even as he said it, I watched his wound close, within moments he looked untouched.
“That’s true,” I replied, hopping away, “but they’re not known for their poison immunity.” He stared at me for a long moment, trying to gauge if I was lying or not. I just smiled, and moved even further away. With a grunt, Ugoki lifted his axes, and tried to follow me, but he stumbled after a few steps. “It’s unfortunate that you have resistance, otherwise this would be easier.”
The troll stared at me, a mixture of surprise and hatred in his eyes. “You're a filthy cheat.”
I just shrugged. “It’s always been a part of my gimmick, it’s not my fault I wasn’t pressed enough to need it until now.” I danced forward, attempting to spear the troll, but he lifted one axe and batted my glaive away, while supporting himself with the other. I made half a dozen strikes, each one repulsed, before Ugoki stood up. “You shrugged that off a lot faster than I expected,” I said, which drew a small smile from the troll. As he once again lifted his axes, I sighed.
“I didn’t want to expose two tricks in the same fight, but I can’t allow you to fully recover,” I mumbled, poking at the troll, “George!”
The troll looked confused for half a second, but then the trap door behind him swung open and George erupted out of it. His front legs struck the troll in the back, forcing him to his knees, giving me enough time to swing my glaive and remove one of Ugoki’s arms. The troll staggered back in surprise, and pain. “How?”
“Did you think George would be defeated so easily? He’s probably as tough as you are. As soon as you knocked him through that door, he grabbed onto the underside of the stage. He’s been stalking you this entire time.” The troll stepped back, trapped between George and myself, swinging his axe wildly. I casually walked forward, staying out of axe range, and poking at Ugoki occasionally, while George stalked him from the other side. “I didn’t think it would come to this," I sighed as the troll stumbled back.
The troll glared at me, his eyes locked on me instead of the actual threat, as I darted forward, slashing with my glaive. He blocked my attack with his axe, only to get rushed by George. The massive arachnid headbutted Ugoki, sending him staggering back a few steps, right into an open door. I could see the realization of what was happening appear in his eyes just a moment before the troll toppled down into the abyss below.
I stared into the abyss for a moment, before the stage reset and all the doors slammed shut again. “Guess he was less wary than I thought.”