Hunter and the elder circled each other slowly as the shed burned nearby. Hunter only chance of victory was if the elder made a major mistake. Not a very likely scenario considering the elder's skill and experience. Hunter decided the best thing to do was to try and buy time for Leon to get away. The elder moved first and charged. Hunter found himself facing a whirlwind of blades as the elder moved at speeds that was hard even for his eyes to follow. It took all of the hunter's ability to block what he could and deflect the remaining blows to simple scratches to his skin and armor. The serrated wrist blades easily carved niches into the armor as it slid across. Hunter ducked a blow meant for his head and rolled past a downward thrust. Hunter quickly spun around to a knelling position, facing the elder. The elder stood in a defensive posture. He was aware of Hunter's attempts to delay his hunt for Leon and the girl. The elder chuckled to himself. It would make his hunt more enjoyable. Hunter retracted his wrist blades and pulled a small needle device from his belt. The needle was small and the elder failed to notice it.
"Have you accepted your fate already? Thou duels between are kind are rare, I expected far more."
Hunter injected himself in the side of his torso. It was a combination of enhanced steroids and adrenal boosters. A duel of honor required the two opponents to be on an equal level. The elder was stronger and faster. This injection insured the hunter would be able to keep up with his opponent for about five minutes. After that, he would be lucky to remain awake.
"I am simply changing the battlefield."
Hunter charged forward faster than he had moved before. The elder was caught unprepared for just a second at the speed of the younger hunter. Hunter slammed into the elder and picked him up. Hunter kept running and rammed the back of the elder into the doors of the shed. They caved under the impact and the two hunters fell into the burning building. The two separated and Hunter activated his wrist blades. The fires burning around them interfered with their thermal vision. Both changed the helmet visors to an electrum spectrum scan that allowed them to detect technologic devices with high power signatures. Luckily, both carried plenty. Because of the change of vision, they couldn't see as precisely as with their normal. It greatly reduced the advantage the elder had over Hunter.
"Cleaver! But it will not save you from my blade."
The elder moved on the offensive. The wrist blades shown brightly in the vision spectrum as they received power to vibrate at high, unnoticeable speeds. This allowed them to cut and rip through materials with little trouble. Hunter blocked more easily and moved on the offensive himself. The two moved and danced around the shed as they swung and lunged. For nearly a minute, neither had claimed a clear advantage. As the fight continued, Hunter knew his ability to keep up would slowly diminish. Hunter dodged to the left and leapt onto the upper level of the shed. The elder turned and looked up to his opponent. The upper level was a simple walkway that ran along the edge of the shed. The elder couldn't make it to the upper level without leaving himself up to an attack. He retracted his blades with full knowledge he could reactivate them in less than a second.
"I know you have injected yourself to help elevate you to my level. But soon your body will tire from the pressure you have put it under. Come down and die with honor."
Hunter had every intention of dieing with honor. But he preferred to wait a few hundred years if it was possible. The electrum spectrum was narrowing his vision, he switched it off and activated a new vision mode that let him see things in the human visual range. A length of rope dangled from the roof that was all but hidden because of the surrounding heat. The hunter jumped and grabbed the rope. He swung across the shed and landed near the smashed doors. The elder spun around and began to charge. Hunter stood ready, but stopped as he spotted a small trail of fire snake its way to a trio of untouched barrels. He had little need to scan the contents.
"Run!" Hunter turned and sprinted out of the shed.
The elder stopped and looked behind him as he switched to his normal thermal vision. He spotted the fire and the barrels that were getting hot. He cursed as they exploded.
Hunter fell back as the explosion knocked him from his feet. Hunter watched as the shed began to collapse. The victory was bitter as it had not ended as it was meant to. The elder had died because of an accident and Hunter had survived due to luck. Not an acceptable end to a duel. A figure walked out of the burning wreckage. The elder's exposed skin was covered in burns, but he didn't show any signs of pain. The elder activated his wrist blades as he approached the hunter. Hunter stood ready, but another figure came from the flames. A large manlike torso creature with large insect like legs jutting from his back. The fire had temporality blinded the elder to all but was in front of him. The creature landed on the elder's back and slammed two of his insect legs into the elder's back. Green glowing blood gushed from the holes as the elder fell to the ground. The creature that had been Mendez looked at the blood and found himself compelled to drink it. The hunter for the first time in his life, was horrified by the site before him.
"Stronger!" Mendez grew and another pair of legs shot from his body to join the other four. His single eye became bloated and took over the top half of his face. The lower half was dominated by a razor filled mouth. He wipped some green blood from his mouth with one of the human arms. The creature roared and leapt at the hunter.
Hunter ducked to the side and activated his plasma casters. The duel was over and all of his weapons were available for use. Mendez jumped high to avoid the two plasma bolts. He landed several feet away. His clawed human hands grabbed several rocks and flung them. Hunter ducked the rocks and fired both casters again. The creature ducked and charged. He reared up on his back four legs and tried to pierce Hunter with the two insect legs. Hunter dodged one and had to grab the other with both hands. Hunter was forced to a knee as Mendez pushed down, trying to impale Hunter's head. Hunter's vision slowly blurred as the booster shot began to ware off. His time and enhanced strength were beginning to run out. The insect leg hit his helmet and the pressure grew. Mendez's jaw grinned as he readied to bite into the struggling hunter. The jaw vanished as a plasma bolt ripped it off of his face. The elder was standing and his left shoulder caster was smoking. Mendez turned as he pulled his leg free from Hunter's grasp. He leapt up into the air.
"Take my ship!" The elder drew his sword. "Continue the hunt!" Mendez dropped onto the elder as the sword was driven through the torso of the creature. The sword burst through the back, but Mendez continued to claw at the elder. The elder laughed as his left gauntlet beeped. The gauntlet exploded and both Mendez and the elder were incinerated. The yield of the self destruct had been set to low.
"For our people!" Hunter stumbled into the woods and activated his cloak as he collapsed. Rest was needed so his body could recover from the boosters. Darkness over took the hunter and dreams of the hunt filled his mind. Success was the only solution to make up for the elder's sacrifice.
"Hunnigan, what happened? The transmission got cut off." Leon's voice fills the hunter's sleepy head. An insane laugh issues from his wrist computer. "Salazar! How'd you...?"
"We've jacked the line. We didn't want you telling everyone any unnecessary information." The voice was unknown to the hunter as he managed to sit up.
"Where's Ashley?!"
"Aw... So she fell into one of our wonderful traps. We'll make sure we find her. Don't you worry about her. Oh, yes. I let out miserable insects out for some exercise down in the sewer."
"Thanks. That should keep me company. Cuz boredom kills me."
"I look forward to our next encounter... In another life."
The transmission ended as the hunter stood up. His muscles screamed in protest to the movement, but Hunter forced them to move. Time had past since the hunter had pasted out. He cloak was functioning, but was at greatly reduced power. His cuts he had sustained in the fight had long stopped bleeding. He looked around and found the shed a pile of smoking ruins. The spot where the elder had destroyed himself was clean save for a round scorch mark. Hunter shook his head to clear it as best as he could. The girl had gotten lost and both Leon and this Salazar were looking for her. From the information gained from the Sat-Com link, this Salazar might be the one controlling the parasites. He would have to see to confirm it. Hunter switched on his wrist computer and found the location of the elder's ship loaded into the map he had downloaded. No doubt transmitted before the elder self destructed. Hunter pushed that image from his mind and moved at his best speed he could muster towards the ship. He needed to return to the hunt
Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews. At first I wasn't sure this story would be any good. Thank you for proving me wrong. I look forward to future reviews and if you have any of your stories you would like me to read, I would be honored to do so. Thanks again.
