Trials

Night has fallen and my heart beats faster. I grin though, excitement pouring through my body. Tests hmmm. My eyes open as I sit in my room, staring at my armory. My strife deck is empty, my weapons all sitting in front of me. Harbinger of Doom, my scythe, lies against the wall, the black aura somewhat subdued. In front of me are three shotguns and two pairs of gloves.

The three shotguns are various alchemized designs, useful for different things. The weakest is a spread shot that runs on energy. It's the only one that can be used one handed. The next one up is a pump shotgun that fires heavy slugs. Good for midrange, but likes stopping power at long range, and accuracy at close. The final shotgun is the only one with a name. Dragon's Breath. It's a long barreled incendiary 10 gauge shotgun. Anything it hits catches on fire and burns brightly, making it the most powerful gun I have at the moment.

The two pairs of gloves are meant to make my fistkind more powerful. One pair is called giants gloves, giving me extra strength, while the other pair are a twist on brass knuckles. When a punch is thrown, spikes come out at the point of impact, impaling the target on hit. Otherwise they look like a pair of regular black gloves. The Impaler.

I grin and take the small shotgun, the scythe, and the giants gloves, leaving the rest out so I don't have to worry about which item I take. With that I head to the basement, the new one piece outfit from Kanaya worn. At the thought of the beautiful troll my face falls, worried about her reaction.

I shook the thoughts from my mind and step into the training room. There five trolls are waiting for me. Karkat, Equius, the cerulean blood, the female sea dweller, and finally Kanaya.

"Welcome asswipe," Karkat says, and I roll my eyes at the name. "We are going to test your combat prowess to see if you'll be of any use to us. Assembled here are several of our best fighters to test your strength." He grins and nods at the cerulean blood. "This is Vriska, the most unconventional of our fighters."

She steps forward and chuckles. "Ready kid? You don't stand a chance. I have all the luck after all. All the luck." I smile and step forward as well, pulling out my scythe in the process. "Oh pretty weapon, let's see if you can wield it human." Suddenly one of her eyes opened wider and her pupil in that eye split into seven. Vision Eightfold.

My face broke into a snarl. I could feel her trying to push into my mind. "No!" I snarl, and dash forward, slamming the back of the scythe into her chest. No blade, just the metal rod. "Stay the fuck out of my head."

She slid back a few feet, but kept herself up. With a grin she gave up the mental attack. "You have quite the resistance there. Looks like I just have to kick your ass the old fashioned way. But I should warn you, I have the strength to beat an omnipotent being, I doubt you can even hit me again. With that, she rolled her dice. All eights. My eyes go wide as blue lightning surrounds her and suddenly she is wearing a blue coat and holding a sword. Then, she disappeared.

"Well fuck me." I growled and felt something slam into my back. My face hit the floor and she laughed. Blood pooled from a small cut in my side, where the majority of the force had been concentrated. Whatever this fabric was, it had just saved my life. I made a mental note to thank Kanaya later, then stood. "Damn you're fast…" I grinned then. "Good, if you were slow, this would be boring." With that, I began to spin the scythe above my head, creating a wind through the room. My eyes closed and I listened carefully. I could just hear the sound of a coat scraping the ground. With a quick spin I slammed my scythe, catching Vriska in the hook, and catching her against the wall, blade digging into her arm and tip stuck in the wall. I followed up with a quick punch to the jaw, and pulled out my scythe, waiting for round two.

The cerulean blood chuckled and turned back to normal. "Good work kid. But if that were a real fight, that first blow would have killed you."

She headed over to the sea dweller, who proceeded to do a lifey thing and heal her wounds. Karkat approached and nodded. "Good work. Vriska is perhaps our most powerful fighter. Even getting a hit on her takes skill, but she has no specializations. Next, you'll fight Equius."

He stepped back, and the big muscular troll with sweat pouring down him stepped forward. "Let us have fisticuffs." He said, sounding strangely condescending. "Not that you can hurt me." He laughed a bit, a weird rough sound, and swung a fist right at me.

I ducked back, just managing to avoid his hand, but the force of the wind coming off his fist hit me and caught me off balance. "Holy shit, how strong are you!" I spun back just as a foot came down where my head was. My scythe was gone, kicked across the room and I growled. "Fine then, fisticuffs it is!" I switched to the giants gloves and grinned.

"How dare you use such language in my presence you mutant blood!" He growled, seeming to forget I was a human, he threw another punch at my face. Even with the gloves, I couldn't take the blow head on, it would shatter my arms, even if I was strong enough to stop it. So, I ducked down and slammed a fist straight up, intending to damage his elbow, maybe snap it. But he stopped my fist easily with his other hand. Then he squeezed, and I felt the bones in my left hand snap some.

A scream of pain came from my throat, before I punched him straight in the bone bulge. He let go, and I sweeped his legs out from under him, bringing my elbow down on his temple, stopping just above. "That's game, Equius." I stepped back and he stood.

"Yes, it is. Equius, you were beaten." Karkat said, as Equius began to charge.

The blue blood stopped, stared at Karkat, and then simply nodded. "Yes sir." He left, sweatier than ever, and I swallowed, the pain in my hand still throbbing horribly. Kanaya looked at me with some sympathy, and the sea dweller began to come over, but Karkat stopped her.

"Feferi, he must face all the challengers before he can be healed. That is why it is a test." Feferi seemed like she was going to argue, but then she nodded too. Man, this guy had the rest of them whipped. "I will be your opponent next." He grinned, and his tone changed. "Eh, grub dick?"

With those words, two sickles appeared in his hand, and he charged. I grimaced and ducked down, intending to slam a foot up into his stomach, but he disappeared, appearing behind me. "What?" I gasped and rolled, just barely avoiding a would-be lethal blow. Then, the pain was gone, and I was smiling. This was a fight! I smirked and the gloves disappeared, along with some of the pain in my hand. I grabbed my scythe just in time to block his next strike.

At that moment I was glad I was used to using the weapon one handed, or I would have been screwed. With a quick motion I twisted the blade, knocking out one of the sickles and then he was gone again. "Damn nub horns, your one fast fucker." Then my arm with the broken hand was screaming with pain. There was a streak down the arm where blood was flowing. My eyes went wide. I hadn't even seen it happen!

"I AM THE LEADER OF THIS GROUP! YOU WILL RESPECT ME!" he had his second sickle back, and he was in the air in front of me. I smirked and brought the blade across, slamming him with the rod and sending him flying.

"Check." I said simply, holding my bleeding arm. He nodded and stood. "You were in the air and announced your attack… You held back on me also." I said, a statement of face.

He nodded. "Aye, we all have been. The test would be to see if you could take advantage and exploit open weaknesses. Now, your last opponent is Kanaya." He stepped back and the rainbow drinker stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Elliot…" She whispered, then slammed forward, a fist hitting my stomach before I could react. She wasn't as fast as Karkat, nor as strong as Equius, but was still stronger and faster than I. It made for a combination as deadly as Vriska. Then her green eyes went rainbow colored and I swallowed.

"Shit…" I jumped up, out of breath, and avoided her next attack. "Shit shit shit!" I dodged again, then once more, only to get hit again. Then she brought out a stick of lipstick… no it's a chainsaw. "Oh hell…." I stood again and just barely managed to stop the chainsaw with the scythe. If it hadn't been legendary it would have given. I quickly sweeped her feet, but then her chainsaw disappeared and I fell on top of her.

Within moments her teeth were in my neck, and I panicked. This was not pleasurable, it hurt. A lot. I brought my fist back, and slammed it into her cheek, but she didn't stop. So, I put both my hands together, screaming as the pain of my broken hand broke through the adrenaline, and slammed into her temple. With that she let go, and I fell to the side of her. But she was not moving. It was over.

"Oh god…." I turned to her, and sighed with relief when her eyelids fluttered. Then, I passed out cold too.

Hate writing fighting scenes. More complications to the relationship. Btw, the trolls are all older than even end game, so changes to say karkats constant yelling are due to maturity. :P

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