Cameron waited until the very last moment before he activated his boosters, dodging hard to the right, watching as the cleaver whipped past him, disappearing into the sickly green haze.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” He said, blinking as he looked back between Red and back towards the empty, foggy space.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Sugar,” Thelma said, her soothing tone barely heard above the warning blare of an alarm, “Unidentified object approaching quickly on your six.”

“Wha- Oh shit,” Cameron said, looking behind him just in time to see the spinning hunk of death rebound back, spinning just as fast as it had when Red had initially let it go. He dove out the way, combat rolling to his feet quickly, before sighing in frustration as he watched the spinning axe arc and curve its flight until it was barreling down on him once again.

“Oh this is some bullshit!” Cameron cried, dodging the axe over and over, before he finally gave up and turned, taking off into a sprint, causing the axe to follow him without so much as a second of reprieve.

Riordan cackled loudly, quickly pulling out two more axes, spinning them rapidly, and tossing them in Cameron’s direction, “Run all you want, little Alpha! These axes are locked to your mechanical signature. They’re not going to stop until they’ve buried themselves into your spine! Lets see how long you can go without making a mistake that spells your death.”

“Logan! Some help here would be fucking nice!”

“Working on it!” Logan called, turning to see Cameron utilizing his jet boosters to leap into the air, spin over two axes the passed over and under him simultaneously, bringing his blade up to block the third, causing it to ricochet away for the briefest moment, before spooling back up to begin pursuing him once again.

“Well can you work a little faster?!” Cameron called, sounding slightly short of breath, “This is starting to get annoying!”

Logan couldn’t help but smirk at the absurdity of the situation, shaking his head as he stared down Red and his Cleaver unit, widening his stance and banging on his shield with his mace to get Pirate Captain’s attention.

“Alright big guy,” he said, taking a couple of tentative steps in Riordan’s direction, “You got us alone now, as per your plan I take it. Let’s do this.”

Another shrill torrent of laughter came from the Cleaver’s speakers as its head nodded rapidly, before Riordan spoke, “My my, aren’t you a perceptive little insect. Yes, I think you can entertain me for a moment or two. Let’s dance shall we? I’ll lead…”

With that, Riordan blasted forward, his Cleaver unit eating the distance in a heartbeat until he was right on top of Logan, blade held high and poised to attack. Logan leaped back, narrowly avoiding a rock shattering slash that buried Riordan’s weapon into the ground up to his wrist. Logan prepared his counter attack, stepping forward to deliver a powerful swing in order to sever the Cleaver’s other arm, but what he thought was a disadvantage turned out to be a ruse, as Riordan free his hand with a mighty yell, spraying a large stones into the air and pelting Logan with a shower of rock.

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“Gotta be better than that if you wish to entertain me, Crusader,” Riordan said, spitting out Logan’s mech model like a curse before dashing in to deliver a salvo of slashes and swipes. Before he could even orient himself to the Cleaver’s fury, alarms started to ring out inside the Crusader’s cockpit as injuries to it’s body and appendages began to quickly mount.

“Enough!” Logan bellowed, raising his shield, putting his mace behind to brace it, and blasting forward with all the force his thrusters would allow. His shield caught the Cleaver right in the center torso, forcing it back and knocking it off balance, leaving Riordan arm swinging wildly as he tried to stop his fall. Logan pressed his advantage though, dashing forward and cracking Riordan in the helm with a vicious shield smack before following up with a hearty mace swing towards his damaged arm socket, separating the arm at the joint and eliciting a blood-curdling scream from Riordan. Metal and oil gave way to flesh and blood, spraying both liquids wildly before, with a hiss of pressurized air and steam, the opening in the arm socket quickly sealed tight, preventing any such contamination from the deadly gas outside.

“Vic,” Logan said, breathing heavily as he watched Riordan writhe in pain, “What’s our hull status?”

“Structural integrity of leg and torso armor are sitting at approximately forty-five percent integrity,” Vic began, “Arm and hand armor is at approximately sixty percent. Helm armor is at ninety-five. Well done on protecting your most important appendage Sir. I believe it’s safe to say you are still very much in this fight.”

“I appreciate the compliment, Vic,” Logan said, his tone void of sarcasm, “But I know intend to win this fight, not just prolong it.”

“Then if I were you Sir… I’d be a bit more concerned as to the laughter that is coming from the enemies speaker.”

“What?” Logan said, eyes going wide as Vic muffled the surrounding ambience from coming through the audio sensors, focusing intently on the raucous cackling that was indeed from the Cleaver’s speakers. Logan felt his heart beat faster, as he swallowed, his mouth gone dry and scratchy as he watched Riordan Red work himself into a frenzy of maddening glee.

“Ah! That was a good one Crusader,” Riordan said, sounding like he was fighting back tears as he spoke, “That’s what I get for underestimating you.”

His laughter stopped immediately, almost like it was cut off from some unseen force. Logan watched as the Cleaver dropped low, leaning forward and planting its remaining fist on the ground, fingers wrapped tightly around its deadly weapon. When Logan heard Riordan’s voice this time, there was no mirth or humor. Instead, what left his lips could only be described as the growl of a predator closing in for the kill, “So… How about I start taking this seriously?”