Chapter 34: Lesson
Slava's movements were quick and precise, but when they reached their intended target they either missed or were deflected. For some reason, this felt familiar. He wasn't fast enough; he was starting to feel the strain on his joints. He could fight with ripped muscles, but if his bones were affected he didn't know for how long he could go on.
She was using his own strength against him. It was frustrating, she knew his fighting style and she was replicating it perfectly. As if to mock him, she was slowly wearing him down. But that should be impossible, his style was based on movement… Ah! As his arm was deflected in an unnatural way, his eyes flashed in realization.
Her style seemed to combine his and Kolya's, focussing on using her knowledge of human physiology to disable him. If she had tried to kill him he'd already be dead.
"Why are you even here aunty?" He groaned trying to distract himself from the pain. Seeing her ignore his taunt, Slava pushed further.
"You've always been so serious and gloomy, could it be that the famous Blood Queen still hasn't gotten over her sister's death? Even…" Before he knew it, Slava's breath was taken out of his lungs. His back landed on the ground, cracks spreading from the impact.
"Don't," she said coldly, stepping on his face. So it really was it, he smiled. It was true, the story of the fall of the first Blackcoda and the birth of the name Death Demon. "It must've been hard," he grunted, trying to resist.
It was quite the tale, a kind pure-hearted girl slowly becoming more and more corrupt until she became a monster. A mad dog to be put down, by none other than her own sister.
"Why are you even here? Fighting for those who drove her to her doom." As he finished his words, he saw something moving up from her back. Instinctively, he moved the chain wrapped around his left arm. Gritting his teeth from the pain, he looked up at her. Her suit was seemingly glowing red as her eyes burned with hatred. His chain was wrapped around what looked like a mechanical spider leg.
Against his expectations, she didn't say anything. Instead, she closed her eyes, sighing.
"I can't believe you almost made me lose my cool. You seem to have a gift for irritating people." Slava was stunned, he thought he'd found her weakness, he just needed to scratch it. Right? As this thought passed through his head, he momentarily lost focus.
Aria didn't miss the opportunity. Another leg sprung from her back, stabbing into Slava's now vulnerable left shoulder. When the blade penetrated his suit a flurry of warnings flashed before his eyes. Shit! Those weren't legs! They were unbelievably sharp scalpels, precisely curing into his arteries, releasing…
"Now, calm down kid, and come with me." Saying this, she leaned in. His eyes grew heavy… No! This… what would happen if he got caught? Sacha… Kolya… He couldn't let it happen! This thought was like a hammer bursting through his head. I need to find a way to… His thoughts moved faster than he could formulate them. His now almost white irises dashed around at incredible speeds.
Momentum… redirect: no, too skilled… terrain: no, too swift… chains: no, scalpels… shift: yes, reverse momentum. At this moment, his brain was like a computer, analyzing the situation and establishing the best course of action in a fraction of a second.
As the second scalpel was about to reach his skin, a shockwave spread from his back launching the Blood Queen back.
Through a cloud of dust, a sizzling Slava slowly stood back up. His suit was vibrating infrequently, sometimes showing patches of skin. Paying it no heed, he dashed forward unleashing his now vibrating chains.
"You…" said Aria, stabilizing herself in the air. "You turned back time?" If only it were that simple, he could go back and save his sister.
"Not quite," he smirked through his torn suit as it struggled to keep its form. His connection to it had faltered, he'd have to work on that. He'd tried it once before, but not to this extent. By reversing his body's momentum he was able to recover at the cost of… ah, shit. He could already feel his head ringing. He would have to end this quickly. The longer this battle went on, the lower his odds of winning became.
Aria tried to use her scalpels to intercept him, but his chains simply wrapped themselves around them. He changed his fighting style completely, swinging around her, never letting himself get too close. She would try to strike him down, but his chains, like puppet strings, slowed her down.
"You're impressive, to be able to adapt this fast, but…" not finishing her words, she let her suit cover her face. When Slava swung by he was met with a familiar fist. What? But how? Loosening one of the chains restraining her, he used it to move out of the way, barely escaping the blow.
"You're still too young," she continued, rushing towards him. Fuck! He was getting slower. This wasn't the time to falter. His limbs were shaking, his chains seemed to be shifting unpredictably while his suit now struggled to cover most of his body. Despite all of that, he kept up with the Blood Queen, but he was getting pushed back. Wall after wall, building after building, he didn't have a choice. If he wanted to keep his distance, he sometimes had to push through obstacles.
What should he do… he was being cornered. How was Kolya doing? He wondered when an object flew past him. Following its trajectory, his eyes fell on the Blood Queen now holding a severed head.