Sell you a Bridge chapter 124

Blackgate Penitentiary November 11th 2010 3:30 PM EDT

I  can't exactly explain how I knew this woman was so dangerous. It wasn't  just the aura, or my experience with the Warlord in my Outer Body  trance, though both of this contributed. I just got this sort of  horrifying sense of danger from her, and I was not at all happy about  it. I'd beaten the Warlord in the dungeon, but it had taken everything I  had, and my teleportation powers had played a huge part in that.  Without them I was stuck with pure sword work and a few magic tricks and  I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to defend myself.

Unfortunately  I doubted she was going to give me the option. Granted I'd been  learning like crazy from the Warlord so I'd be a much bigger challenge  than last time, but it had only been a few weeks and even with my memory  and reflexes I hadn't come close to digesting the literal millennia of  combat knowledge that ancient bastard had possessed. That said I  couldn't help but salivate a bit. If she really was at the same level  that would be another source of training, a completely new style of  combat to learn and combine with the Warlord's skills.

Despite  how exciting that was I decided to do my due diligence and try to talk  my way out of this first, even if I was almost positive it wouldn't  work. I put my hands up placatingly. " Miss, there's no need for that  kind of violence. I am but a humble retrieval specialist, sent by the  lady's employers to escort her to their tender care. This isn't a  kidnapping or some kind of coerced extraction." Behind me I heard soft  sounds as the other members of the team dropped into the room and fanned  out behind me, getting ready in case the Amazons attacked.

The  brown eyes Amazon gave me a bored look. "I don't care. I didn't ask if  she wanted to go, or if you were here to rescue her. I want her to come  with me, and that means it's going to happen. Since you're here with the  stated goal of preventing that I'll just kill you so that you can't get  in my way." She bared her teeth at me in a vicious smile. "The fact  that I get to slaughter one more despicable man is just a bonus." She  drew her sword casually, the leaf bladed diphos a longer version of the  short swords wielded by greek hoplites. "But feel free to keep talking,  it'll make this quicker."

That  was all the warning she gave before she lunged at me. Now when I say  lunged, that gives the impression of someone winding up their whole body  and hurling themselves forward. The process involves a shifting of many  muscles, a setting of the feet, and a surge of explosive force to drive  them towards the enemy. With my reflexes tracking that kind of motion  is easy enough, and normal lunges aren't something I really worry about.  That wasn't what this was. The Amazon went from standing perfectly  relaxed to mid stab in a single, absolutely instantaneous movement that  even I could barely track.

She  combined every one of the aforementioned steps into one singular  movement that she had clearly polished to perfection. Not just in terms  of execution either. She activated every muscle, cascading them along  her body in the perfect sequence to build the force needed, and going  from a state of relaxation so deep I was surprised she could remain  standing to complete tension like the crack of a whip. I should have  died honestly. If I hadn't had my training, my enhanced body, my  reflexes, and my King's Sword of Haste, I probably would have.

Luckily  I was more than used to fighting absolute fucking monsters who defied  convention after so many matches (most of which I didn't survive)  against the Warlord in my trance. My highly trained muscle memory mixed  with my high dexterity and my triple speed reflexes enabled me to draw  my sword and deflect the blow. I extended my wings and slipped the bonds  of gravity as it hit, and the force propelled me up and back into the  corner of the room, bleeding off most of the impact from the strike as I  landed in a crouch at the top of the wall with my back against the  ceiling.

The  absolute shock on the Amazon's face was almost worth it, and every other  person in the room was clearly just as stunned. The other Amazon's were  openly gaping at me, their auras surging with disbelief that I'd  survived the strike from their monstrous leader, and most of the others  were just shocked she had tried to murder me without more than a word of  warning. Her brown eyes, previously bored and cold, were alight with  fire, and her slack jawed expression shifted into a grin as I floated  down to the ground, not seeing a need to stay up on the ceiling since  she wasn't rushing me.

She  cocked her head at me consideringly. "That...was unexpected. Few are  the warriors who can withstand such a blow from me." She bowed her head  slightly in respect. "I am Myrina of the Black, Slayer of Echidna, Tamer  of the Griffin. Your death will be a worthy one, and you have earned  the right to know at whose hands you fall. Should you wish, you may tell  me your name so that I might add you to my list of achievements if your  skills prove worthy. A warrior who manages such skill with such  juvenile bone structure is worthy of accolade."

Huh,  so she could tell I was young from my bone structure? That was odd, but  it was hardly the end of the world. Still, I liked this respectful  warrior code stuff better than the casual murder threats, even if she  was still going to try to off me. No reason not to keep it civil. I  nodded back at her as she had to me. "Call me Random, apprentice to  Gentleman Ghost, Slayer of the Warlord of Blood." For some reason  mentioning the Warlord here felt right. None of my other fights really  felt earned that same way, but the Warlord was a true monster, and I  felt like it was only right to carry his title with me into this battle.

Without  taking my eyes off her I addressed Ivy. "Miss Ivy, it seems like I'll  be staying behind to hold them off. My boss, Gentleman Ghost, will  escort you and your friends to safety while I deal with this, then I'll  meet up with all of you once this battle is settled." This was actually  perfect, the urgency and danger of the situation meant Robin couldn't  pitch a fit about bringing along more people. I didn't really have time  to focus on that though so I could only trust Jim to handle it. I was  sure that Zee and Artemis would contact him when he was out of range of  Miss Martian anyway.

Without  bothering to pay much attention to how the rest of the team or even Ivy  took that I took up a sword stance and faced Myrina. Given my focus on  reflexes I decided to take up the defensive, my skills showed their  value more reacting than acting. Myrina, clearly seeing my stand my  ground, began to close in slowly, not lunging like before, but taking  her time, treating me like a legitimate threat. Which on the one hand  felt good but on the other hand would make this way harder so I was torn  on how I felt about her new respectful attitude.

Much  like before her attack was instant. Complete mastery of her body  enabled her to shift from total relaxation to extreme speed. The energy  that muscles produce is generated by the force of them snapping taught,  so the more relaxed a muscles is to start and the faster it contracts,  the more explosive force is generated. In a single muscle the benefits  of being slightly more relaxed before you act is minimal, but for  someone like Myrina who was not only already super strong but used all  her muscles perfectly, the cascading effect allowed her to use monstrous  amounts of power even compared to other Amazons.

The  resulting combat style was a sort of stop motion tapestry of viciously  fast nearly imperceptible strikes and perfect serene stillness that was  jarring to say the least. To add insult to injury the state of  relaxation she kept herself in when she wasn't striking allowed her to  disperse the force of my own attacks, sort of like how drunk people  usually get less injured in a car accident. Without my reflexes being  what they were I was pretty sure I would have been bleeding out on the  floor of that prison.

It  was such a huge different from the combat style of the Warlord, who  attacked in a sort of constant unceasing wave of polished skill. Where  the Warlord has sharpened his technique to the absolute limit, Myrina  had mastered the use of her body more than her weapon in general. I  could see why she was considered so dangerous. The other Amazons had  been stopped by the justice bros and it was just me and Myrina, but even  one on one I doubted I would be able to beat her like this. She was  slower than I was technically, but stronger, and her combat style  exponentially increased the speed of her attacks in a way I was barely  able to counter.

Oddly  it was those moments of relaxation between attacks that let me reset  and adjust to her insane jarring pace, and I knew that my reflexes were  the only reason I could even manage that much. I projected a thought to  Jim, having him relay the mental command to Miss Martian, who relayed it  to the others in the worlds quickest game of telephone, and they all  began to give ground, letting their opponents force them back toward the  rear of the room where Ivy and the others were taking on a small group  of weaker Amazons so they could escape.

Once  they had retreated enough that it was me and Myrina in the middle of  the room alone, I manifested a shadow blade alone the edge of my sword  by burning some points and started lashing out with a series of slashes  that cut through way more space than a normal blade could. Sort of a  projected energy slash. Myrina of course was less than impressed, easily  dodging the attacks, but even at a point a piece I was able to toss out  easily a dozen of the attacks and she waited suspiciously, trying to  figure out what my plan was as she dodged, clearly expecting me to pull  something.

Which  was fair, because it was becoming increasingly clear over the course of  this fight that I couldn't beat her. Now with my magic so heavily  nerfed. Next time would be different sure, after some time studying her  fighting style with Outer Body and maybe with some serious stat buffs,  but I absolutely wasn't a match for her in a fair fight right now. So I  decided not to have one of those. The shadow edges I was shoot out may  have been missing her, but they were hitting something. Specifically  they were hitting the walls and ceiling as I steered the constructs to  specific weak points.

The  cutting attacks tore through already damaged supports and cut through  crumbling stone over the course of a few minutes, and once the others  were all out of range I took another shot from Myrina, using that same  trick with my wings to propel myself back as far as I could go. She  sneered at me for a second as I retreated, but her narrowed eyes widened  in realization as she heard a grinding sound. I saw her mouth a silent  curse as she looked up at the cuts I'd been making, and I have to admit,  I smiled a bit. There's nothing quite as satisfying as dropping a  building on an opponent.