CHAPTER 175
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[Bucky POV]
One moment I was looking for a rune inside a cave, and the next thing I know a weird-looking man wearing a white tux appears, and says, the game must begin.
Then without another word, I find myself standing in the middle of what I could only assume was the north pole.
"What in the hell happened," I muttered, looking around.
This didn't feel right.
{Welcome players! To the Beyonder Games, now before we begin, you must know… you either win or die, there's no middle ground.
With that out of the way, let's explain the situation a bit.
This is a point tournament, each win, gives your team a point.
The highest score in total being 5!
On team A, we have Alex, Bucky, Yao, Thor, and Sif.
On team B, we have Morpheus, The Spartan, Solomon, Reinhard, and Dorothy!
For those that didn't understand, Team A stands for Team Alex!
And team B stands for Team Beyonder!
Now, each member will fight in a one-on-one match!}
~Alex!~I called in the voice chat.
~Bucky!~ Alex replied.
~What's happening?!~ I cursed under my breath.
And with that question spoken, Alex started explaining what was happening and that the one behind this was the one he had talked to me at that time.
He also explained that if we won, there was a slim chance we would get rid of him.
{Now, on the first match we have, The Winter Soldier, Vs The Spartan!}
I sighed, if that thing was so far beyond Alex, I had no other choice but to play, and hope the monster kept its word.
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[The Spartan POV]
I had been created for a single reason.
To win for my creator.
My desire was to please the one that had given me life, purpose, and meaning.
My enemy? The Winter Soldier.
{Let the fight! Begin!}
It shall be done, your will, my blade father.
BANG!
The mortal had shot me, a valiant attempt. Futile nonetheless.
Taking a deep breath, I kicked the ground beneath me, and rushed at my enemy, blade, and shield at hand.
Confident it would only take me one swing of my sword to end him.
I was the ultimate soldier, the epitome of a warrior, I had been created for that.
Super soldiers were beneath me.
"Die," I muttered, the distance between us, already gone, as I brought my blade down on him.
But instead of a flash of blood, I heard my blade shatter, as the mortal in question blocked the attack with one of his arms.
"Don't bring steel to a vibranium fight," The Mortal said with a small grin as I looked at him in mild shock, then without wasting a moment, the mortal punched me in the stomach with the same arm that had shattered my blade.
His punch was powerful and violent, and it sent me flying across the battlefield with a purple blast of light, that had seemingly originated from his fist.
Coughing a bit of blood, I looked at the human in a new light, his attack was way more powerful than it had any right to be, something was wrong.
"It wo-" I began to speak, but once again the mortal started shooting. Interrupting me. "You have no honor?!"
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[Bucky POV]
I had to play this safe, even the slightest mistake would lead to my death.
That much I was clear.
This Spartan, was stronger than me, his first attack had proved that much, with the only reason I had not been cut in two being my metal arm.
I had to avoid letting the fight play at his pace.
If this evolved into a close-range match-up, I would lose.
So I had to keep shooting until I thought of something.
"Enough!" The Spartan roared, blasting towards me.
I knew I couldn't dodge, so I had to make the best of it. So with that thought in mind, I positioned myself in a stable position to block his attack with my arm.
The impact was violent, and even with my arm absorbing the kinetic force of the attack, it pained my body.
My knees hurt, my back, and above all, my shoulder.
"Impressive," The Spartan blinked, once the dust of his attack had cleared.
I smiled, pretending I was okay.
Half of the battle was in the mind.
Make your enemy think you are unfaced by him, and he will believe it.
"I know," I grinned, holding my body together by pure and absolute will.
What little of the power my arm had not absorbed had hurt me, and bad.
I… I got it!
I can use his own power against him, but not like before, no, I needed more power, I needed my arm to absorb more. If one punch charged with his first attack had made him bleed internally a bit, I needed at least ten times that to blow his head off.
The only problem was, would my arm be able to stack up that kind of power, or would the limit of my arm and how much kinetic power could it hold before needing to be released be lower than what I needed.
"You are more than I expected," The Spartan admitted, "But this ends now,"
I looked at him, and for a second, I analyzed his behavior, what I knew so far. His name, his devotion, his honor.
He was like Steve.
A naive fool.
"How about a contest then?" Time to capitalize on his naivety.
The Spartan who was about to attack looked at me, and said, "What?"
"Each one will get some turns to attack," I started, so far, everything was going fine, he was taking the bait. "We can't dodge the attacks, only block,"
"You truly are a foolish creature," The Spartan replied. "Are those the only rules?" foolish enough to trick you.
"No," I shook my head, "We also must say where we are going to attack so that the other person gets the chance to block, after all, this is a battle of endurance, in the end, the most resilient one will win,"
The Spartan looked at me, giving me a long scrutinizing look before he nodded, "Who goes first then,"
I smiled, "You, you have four turns, then it's my turn,"
He had taken the bait, now, everything depended of how durable my arm was.
"Very well," The Spartan nodded, "I will punch you in the chest,"
"Ok," I nodded, getting into a blocking position.
Once again, the impact was powerful, and painful, this time forcing me to cough blood.
"That's turn one," The Spartan spoke, as I looked into my arm.
It had absorbed the impact, and it had yet to reach its limit.
"You still have three turns," I smiled, "Go ahead,"
"Very well," The Spartan nodded, honorable fool he was.
And so, the Spartan began to attack me, burning his turns, each attack, taking a heavier and heavier toll on me, destroying my body from the inside, by the end of his turn, I was barely able to stand.
"Your turn," The Spartan spoke.
I smiled, the moment of truth was near.
My arm had not reached the limit of the power it could absorb, but it had absorbed five powerful attacks, now it was all a matter of playing the spartan.
"I will attack your right leg," I nodded, positioning myself to kick him, this however was a feint.
"Ok," The Spartan nodded, and as I telegraphed my kick, making sure he was paying attention to it, then I swung my arm at his throat, the most vulnerable part in anyone's body. Releasing all the kinetic energy he had given me with this little charade, in that singular point.
The attack in question sent The Spartan and me flying across the field, the difference being, the Spartan was leaving a large trail of blood behind his wake.
Landing on the snow with a loud playful thud, I sighed.
I had done my best.
If that hadn't killed him, I was done for.
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[The Spartan POV]
I had trusted him.
I thought he was an honorable warrior.
And he had tricked me.
"You failed," My creator sighed, as I drowned in my own blood.
I wanted to beg for his forgiveness, but no sound came from my mouth, my throat was split open, my head barely hanging, if I moved, I knew it would roll down, the attack had pierced and severed a big part of my throat, almost destroying my spine.
Coward! DAMNED COWARD!
In anger, I cursed the Winter Soldier over and over again, as the cold nothingness of death embraced me.
Hoping the rest of my companions would learn from my mistake, this beings had no honor in battle.
{The winner is The Winter Soldier!}