Titans Clash

Tom watched her rush toward him, sword ready to stab into him. Activating his Tattoo of Strength, Tom parried the attack to the right and struck Shandra in the face with a fist. She whirled around and fell to the ground. Attempting to rise, Shandra spit out blood from the blow and turned her head to look up at him.

"You think you're so great. Better than everyone else." Shandra gasped, her head still spinning from the blow.

"I never once thought I was better than anyone else. I just didn't want to join your tyrannical guild. We could have been allies, but your complete disregard for reason meant you had to be in control." Tom replied to her, hoping she could see reason.

"There can't be an alliance between us. We are too different. One must be in charge of making the decisions. Split leadership was never an option." Shandra breathed out, disappointment plain on her face as she looked down at the ground while she stood back up. "So, this clash was inevitable."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Peace should always be an option, but it only works if both parties want it." Tom said shaking his head and then taking a fighting stance.

"I admire your idealism. It resonates with human nature. But reality shows us that those fantasies can't be. And that is why this world has never known peace." Shandra said just before leaping to attack again.

Tom blocked the blow, his increased Strength more than a match for Shandra this time. They exchanged blow after blow as they both fought for their beliefs. Hack, slash, stab, parry, their blades ringing out with the force of each strike. Tom reached to stab and overextended himself as Shandra moved right. She slashed at his arm and Tom hissed with pain as the blade sliced his arm.

"I don't want to have to do this, Shandra. We can still work this out." Tom pleaded with her.

"Nothing you could ever say would deter me from my destiny! I will have the order that is necessary!" Shandra said swinging in a wide horizontal arc which Tom blocked with his greatsword.

A look of sorrow came over Tom's face, "Then I'm so sorry for this,"

Tom activated his Tattoo of Life Absorption, and Shandra's health began to drain away from her slowly and into him. His wound began to close, and he reveled in the power coming from her.

"What is this?! You fucking dog!" Shandra yelled as she realized what was happening.

She jumped back and began to form a spell in her hand. Tom activated his Tattoo of Magic Nullification, feeling a strain on his body at activating three tattoos at the same time. The spell that had been forming in Shandra's hand, fizzled out and she stared down at it in shock.

Suddenly a shot fired out from beyond the barrier and both combatants turned to see what happened. A man standing on the sidelines fell over.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Shandra screamed as she leaped across the duel field to try to reach him.

She ran into the barrier and banged on it, unable to reach him. She suddenly whipped her head around and her visage of rage gave Tom a moment of pause. Tears began streaking down her face as she let out a primal scream and charged at him again. With a heavy heart, Tom equipped his second greatsword and prepared to receive her advance.

Her swings became erratic as she rained blow after blow on him with her sword. Tom blocked each one as her movements became easy to read in her fury. Finally, having enough, Tom slashed at her leg with one weapon as he blocked Shandra's sword with the other.

She cried out in pain, but her fury was so overwhelming that she still managed to reach out and punch Tom in the face, letting go of her sword with one hand. Tom staggered back from the blow, but recovered quickly, the energy rushing from Shandra to him helping to rejuvenate him.

Tom suddenly heard shouting coming from outside the barrier and turned to see what was happening. The visible members of the guilds were yelling at each other, and Derek was holding back some members from his team while another man was doing the same for Shandra. Suddenly, a huge man with bulging muscles punched the man trying to stop Shandra's team from advancing in the face and he fell to the floor. They advanced on Tom's team.

Derek barely had enough time to turn around and block another punch from the giant man on his shield before a battle erupted between the two guilds. Tom's team was going to be overwhelmed by the number differences, but he saw more coming from behind other buildings to join the fray.

Tom quickly turned back to Shandra. He had to finish this now. His plan of showing Shandra she stood no chance and hoping she would give in was shattered. Her will to rule was unwavering. Tom advanced on her with both weapons. Shandra's face changed from one of anger to one of panic as he rained down blow after blow on her. She attempted to back up but was hobbled by the injury to her leg and was beginning to feel the fatigue of Tom's drain ability.

With a hard horizontal blow, Tom slapped Shandra's sword out of the way and stabbed with his other blade into her stomach. Her eyes went wide at the sudden pain, and she paused. Looking down at the sword jammed into her gut, she slowly raised her head to stare into Tom's eyes.

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Raising her sword weakly, she moved to swing at Tom with it. The slow clumsy attack was easy to block, and he swatted her sword completely out of her hand with the flat of his other blade.

"It didn't have to be this way," Tom said in a low voice as she stared at him wide-eyed, seemingly in disbelief that it would end this way.

"My...dreams....my ambitions. This has always been..." Shandra stopped as she coughed, blood spattering out of her mouth and onto Tom's armor and sword. "This has always been....a man's world. I just...wanted to see...a woman lead. We aren't less than you."

"I never thought you were. You projected your anger and hatred of someone who did on me. I wanted to be partners." Tom said, sadness filling him as his face softened.

Shandra looked at him again, staring into his eyes.

"I see now. I'm sorry. Lead well. Be the one they need." Shandra said.

She fell to her knees, gasping for air and grunting as the sword shifted. Tom pulled the sword out, letting the bleeding finish her.

Duel Victory: Tom of Vanguard

You have defeated your opponent in single combat. As per the agreement, your conditions have been granted.

Tom dismissed the prompt as he stood over the body of Shandra. The barrier glowed blue again for a moment and then burst out in motes of light that slowly winked out around them, making the battlefield appear as though thousands of fireflies were dancing through the air on a gentle breeze.

"Rest in peace, Shandra. I will keep leading them to be better." Tom spoke softly as he stared at her.

As Tom turned to see what was happening, the brawl between the teams seemed to have paused for a moment as everyone watched the lights and observed the outcome of the battle. Suddenly the large man who had led the charge to attack Tom's team began screaming.

"SHANDRAAAAAAA!!!!" He bellowed as his eyes suddenly began to glow red.

Tendrils of power began to radiate from him as his muscles began to expand even further, causing Tom to worry if the man's skin would split from the tension.

"Watch for the berserker's rage!" Kevin called out suddenly.

Everyone nearby began to back away as the large man charged at Tom. He was tackled from the side by Kirsten, who began to roll around on the ground wrestling with the brute of a man. Her Strength was no match for his though, and he tossed her off of him. He rolled to his feet and continued his charge.

Another shot rang out and there was a distinct ping sound as the bullet struck the side of the man's head. He staggered sideways before crashing to the ground. There was no blood though. Tom looked at the man in horror as he realized that Kiera's empowered shot hadn't done more than knock the man over, causing minimal damage.

The large man began to rise to his feet. Three more shots bounced off his body as he rose and threw his hands back while letting out a horrific yell that sounded like multiple voices were coming from his mouth at once.

"HOW DARE YOU KILL HER?! YOU MONSTER!" The man bellowed at Tom.

Tom summoned Bron and the Mastadonian looked around quickly taking in the situation.

"No!" Bron whispered as he saw the brute that was staring at Tom with a hatred so great Tom wasn't sure he could put it into words. "He's lost, we have to destroy him now!"

Launching from where he was with a single powerful leap the man dove at Tom. Rolling to the side Tom managed to get out of the way, rolling back to his feet as the monster crashed to the ground behind him. Bron slashed down into the man with a greataxe as he dove past, slamming him into the ground which cracked from the power of the impact.

A painful grunt that almost sounded like a cough escaped the brute as his eyes went wide from the strike. It still hadn't penetrated the man's skin though, leaving him gasping for air. He recovered quickly though and kicked out, taking out one of Bron's legs and forcing him to a knee. Tom rushed in, dismissing his Tattoo of Magic Nullification, and activating his sword's Dark Inferno ability.

Bringing the sword down in a powerful overhand chop, the berserker took the slash on his shoulder, smiling as he rose to his feet. His eyes went wide when the sword dug into his flesh about an inch and began to burn his flesh.

Howling with pain, the man swung an arm out, knocking Tom back and sending him sprawling onto his back. It was Tom's turn to cough now, the wind having been knocked out of him as well. Bron reached up and punched the man in the face. Unfortunately, this only seemed to make the man even more angry. He struck Bron, sending him spinning away to land on the ground.

Suddenly, Kevin, Kirsten, and Michael all jumped on the man from behind and began to try to subdue him. Letting out another rage-filled bellow, the man grabbed them one by one, ripped them off of him, and tossed them to the side as though they were dolls.

Energy began to pulse from the man as his muscles seemed to beat along to the rhythm of his heart. Each beat pulsed with power and veins bulged across every part of his body. He advanced slowly toward Tom, who was still working to stand back up. Grabbing him by the throat, the man lifted him into the air, holding him there.

"You will pay for what you have done. The hour of reckoning is now."