Shaking his head in disappointment, shoulders throbbing from his futile attempt, Ned roamed away from the hideout, wearing a ghillie suit and a gas mask while a dozen dead dafas waited to be cooked behind his belt.

The building’s sturdy door crashed, startling him. Dust arose and a figure stepped through.

Tenner, with the help of his outfit and some posturing, looked like the most dangerous of foes, a wild west sheriff keeping order amid chaos.

You dare intrude on my gas station? Interrupt my crafting?! The axe of justice will decide your punishment!

Ned stood for a moment, scratching the back of his head. “Anything I can help you with, buddy?” he said, warily walking a few meters back. “By the looks of that axe in your hand, you’re in need of a new door… Or a reward from a bounty. Which one is it?”

Wanted dead. Tenner grinned. Yet his legs held him in place, making him observe the target.

The ghillie suit covered most of Ned’s body, the long sleeves hiding even his hands. A gust of wind could’ve revealed something--if he had any hidden armor or weapons--but the air remained still like the duel, the clouds a few meters above unmoving.

Can’t see a thing, but it doesn’t matter -- I’ll still win. Tenner realized. I’m standing here and it’s scaring the shit out of him, but it’s not what I’m about. I can’t hesitate. He raised his axe. Then before he could make another move, Ned spoke.

"Not answering, eh? That's an easy way to tell a fella he might die today. Darn."

"Yes, you can hear what I'll say before I say it," Tenner said, "like I can see what you'll do next."

Ned looked at the dirty clouds, scratching his chin. "Before we go at it, Seer-O-What-I-Do-Next, Imma tell you something: ain't no peace in this world. Not in the warlord-lands, not in the waste-lands, not in the cities. Thought I'd find some in the myth-lands. Now I'm not so sure if I'm making it there."

"Where are those myth-lands and cities?"

Ned laughed. "Fuck you, bounty hunter." He drew a pistol from a hidden pocket and fired. The roughed-up weapon released a haunting screech as a couple of lasers flew by both sides of Tenner’s head.

Adrenaline kicked in, focusing Tenner's mind on killing. He swung.

Not a second later, a shot hit the side of the axe’s blade, melting off a small chunk.

Ned dodged out of the way, froze to aim and fired three times. Each laser hit Tenner’s weapon, turning it pink from the heat.

He only knows how to shoot in one position, but couldn’t hit the sky while flying, Tenner thought, swinging relentlessly. I just need to keep the pressure up and he won’t be able to do anything.

One, two, three times the axe went centimeters off Ned’s head. At the same time, barely one of his lasers came close to a hit. He was weak--far weaker than anticipated--and kept Tenner away by constraining his movements with accidental shots on each side. After a moment, his finger stopped tapping the trigger and he backed off.

Tenner used it as a signal to push further, blowing Ned back with the axe’s handle and pummeling him with fists.

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Ned fought back with whips from the barrel of his pistol, put his second hand on the handle and started aimlessly firing. Most of the lasers came nowhere close to their target--going through the clouds or into the dry ground--but one hit the middle of Tenner’s chest.

[Warning! Damage: -10 to health]

Tenner’s entire upper body burned, like with the CHEK, each vein and nerve feeling as if hellfire had been set inside. Visually, the damage was minimal: a small burn on the coat.

That gun has to leave that fucker’s hands. Fuming, he stomped on Ned’s foot, smacked his forehead with the axe’s butt and went straight for the pistol.

The man let go of the weapon for a second, knocked Tenner in the jaw and--grabbing both his shoulders--pinned him to the ground. He’d gotten angrier than Tenner. So angry, in fact, that the redness of his face seeped through the mask’s eyeholes.

[Warning! Damage: -6 to health] [3x]

Tenner could only watch as his health drained, more dazed with every punch his face soaked up.

Ned had a higher level and higher stats. No matter how awful he was, they gave him a terrifyingly unfair advantage.

To start, Tenner had to get the pistol out of Ned’s hands without going straight at him, and do something instantly afterward else he’d end up pinned down again.

Damn level hasn’t caught up with my true skills.

“I was just minding my own business, buddy!” Ned screamed. “I made a small mistake! Years ago! If you bounty hunters cared about anything except money, you would’ve left me alone!”

“I know what you did, Desertlegs,” Tenner said, struggling to breathe. “Someone foolish enough to accept this contract without following you for ages could maybe forgive, but me… I think if you really call that a little mistake then death is what you deserve.”

[Warning! Damage: -9 to health]

[Being’s HP: ++]

The man stopped the beating with one strong punch and stared Tenner straight in the eyes, dumbfounded. Their gazes connected for a moment, trying to figure out each other’s secret.

Tenner kicked Ned in the side, rolled and pinned him down. He really fell for it. Laughing, He punched, then, having done enough damage, jumped away, grabbed the axe and grunted.

I should’ve taken the pistol, but he distracted me!

Ned realized that sooner -- he sat, gun in hand, aiming straight at Tenner.

The distance between them was a few meters. Even if his aim was awful, Ned would certainly hit Tenner and Tenner couldn’t tackle him. If Tenner didn’t do anything, his chance of dying would be in the triple digits.

As a last resort, he turned off his mind and let his instincts do the job. A moment later, he found himself throwing the axe with all his strength.

The weapon soared through the air and sheared the bounty’s arm off. A grueling screech came and blood shot out of Ned’s lonely shoulder. He got to his feet, face in shock. A puddle of crimson had formed under him.

Raised fists, Tenner approached.

Like the reasonable person he was, Ned left the gun behind and fled for his life.

Tenner stopped, took a look at the escaping bounty then crouched beside his fallen arm. One by one, he unclenched the fingers and took the blood-covered pistol.

[Weapon: Laserpistol

Damage: min. 15]

In the meantime, Ned ran like never before. He’d rather die from bleeding out very slowly than very quickly from getting chopped by my axe, Tenner thought, puzzled at the logic. Drenched, shivering and aching, the bounty had to realize the series of mistakes he’d made that led to this point. Tenner patted himself on the back for bringing such doom despite his low level.

Tenner finished aiming. The distance between had gotten to the length of a Stardestructor match. Tricky, but not a guaranteed miss. Confident, he fired.

Four lasers shot: one, two... every shot went wide.

As the lasers disappeared now kilometers ahead, Ned stopped, turned to Tenner and took his mask off. His eyes were wide, plump jaw -- dropped.

“Was… was that divine intervention?” he uttered, putting out the wisps of smoke coming from his shoulder. Not only had each laser missed, but all by a centimeter or less.

Tenner’s mind blanked out as well. How? This gun literally fucking with all its users! He couldn’t help, but start laughing. Ned grinned in an “I fell for your deception, now you shall fall for mine” manner and kicked the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Instead of clearing, it formed into different figures: a pair of legs, odd creatures and fireworks.