It took nearly a month but eventually, Cameron was finally able to get the Headsman under control. Three and a half weeks of near eighteen-hour days, some of which done through lack of sleep and food had drilled into him the rhythm and flow of A.R.M.S. movement. Now, not only could he confidently walk, run, and jump without worrying about a possible accident of balance, but thanks the Headsman, he could perform more advanced evasive maneuvers. Sharp carving banks to get around tight corners, short burst dodging maneuvers, boost enhanced leaps to clear near fifty meters in a single bound, and even the ability to use the Headman's boosters to adjust his trajectory mid-air. Cameron was proud of himself, happy for the first time in weeks, and more than confident in his combat abilities.
That was until the day when Logan’s voice boomed out over the arena as he banged the head of his mace into the ground, “Alright Kid!” He said, instantly drawing Cameron’s attention, “Looks like mech school is over… for now. Time for your final exam.”
“Final exam?” Cameron asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Crusader about fifty meters away.
“Yep,” Logan said, the head unit of Crusader nodding, “And I know just the thing to put you to the test.”
“And what’s that?”
Cameron could hear the smile on Logan’s face as his voice crackled out through the speakers.
“Tag.”
Cameron’s own lips turned upward spreading across his face, “Tag, huh? You ain’t scared of losing for a second time?”
“Two things kid,” Logan said, “First of all, we didn’t reach a conclusion to our first little game. Second, I was going easy on you.”
“Oh easy on me eh?” Cameron said, nodding slowly, “If you say so… boss.”
“Don’t believe me?” Logan asked, cocking his head to the side, the helm of the Crusader mimicking his gesture, “Think you’re hot shit now just cause you have a fancy ass Assault-type now?”
“Pfft, no” Cameron said, chuckling for a moment at his mentors words, “I know I’m hot shit.”
“Alright… let’s see it then. I’ll be it.”
“Oh you will hu- oh shit.” Cameron didn’t have time to finish the statement, as Logan took a boosted leap high into the air, flying through the space until he was directly above the Headsman. Then, with the twin jet cannons on the back of his Crusader roaring at full blast, he plummeted to the ground like a meteor, crashing into the floor, mace first.
Cameron jumped back, the boosters in his feet cushioning his landing and keeping him mere inches off the ground. He dropped low and banked hard to the right, blasting forward and circling around the backside, in Crusader’s blind spot.
“Gotta be quicker than that boss,” Cameron said, in a smarmy smug tone, leaning back and creating a gap of space between himself and Logan.
“Don’t get cocky,” Logan growled, silently cursing his Crusader’s 6.4 speed stat as he turned, dashing forward in an irregular zig-zag pattern, slowly pushing Cameron near the back of the arena. As he chewed up the distance between them, he reached out, lunging in wide arcs with his mace.
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“Not cocky, just confident,” Cameron said, easily ducking and weaving through the strikes. He bided his time, counting and memorizing Logan’s attack pattern, waiting for his moment. It was when Logan tried to level his next strike at Cameron's head, stepping into a backhanded swing that Cameron made his move. He ducked low, reaching back for the handle of the massive black sword that was magnetically holstered to center of his back. He knew he’d found it when he felt the humming warmth of a physilight proxy form in his hand. With a grin, he gripped it tightly and ripped it loose, aiming a slash of his own towards Crusader’s midsection.
“Gotcha,” He breathed.
“Do you?” Logan shot back, twisting his body sideways to reduce the size of his silhouette as he brought down the heavy tower shield close to his body, reaching his waist just in time as Cameron’s blade bit deep, cutting across the shields length, nearly shearing it off with one blow. An unfortunate turnout, but one that Logan could work with. Before Cameron could free his blade from the thick shield, Logan twisted his arm hard, putting Cameron at an awkward angle, bent low forward and off balance.
Now it was Logan’s turn to smirk, speaking softly, but just loud enough to be broadcasted over the speakers of his Crusader, “Gotcha…”
With the power of Crusader’s reinforced hydraulics, Logan brought a foot up and buried it into the Headsman’s stomach. With a considerable grunt, he kicked hard, and whether it was due to Crusaders hydraulics, or the Headsman’s lightweight chassis, he sent Cameron flying thirty meters and impacting into the wall. Looking down, he smiled, as he kicked Camerons sword outside of his shield, sending it clattering to the floor.
“You really need to hang onto that kid,” He said, walking towards a now collapsed Headsman, happy to see it hadn’t phased out, meaning that Cameron was still conscious, “It’s kind of the first rule of warfare isn’t it?”
“You… fucking… dick…” Cameron wheezed out, getting to his knees.
“Don’t know why your mad at me,” Logan said, approaching the Headsman, “I told you not to get cocky. No one told you that you needed to attack me, but you were the who decided to send it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
He walked up to Camerons side, planting a food onto his ribs and kicking him over, violently rolling him on his back.
“Stop milking it and finish it already,” Cameron said, looking up at the towering Crusader, “Let’s get this shit over with.”
“As you wish kid,” Logan said, giving a shrug. He raised his mace high, knowing it’s massive size blocked out the light of the arena from where Cameron was laying.
“Tag.”
The last thing that Cameron saw, was the massive spikes of Logan’s mace tearing through his cockpit, before everything went black.