Taylor Hebert and James Barron vs. Lung. Round 2. Beta by Faria Lyton.
Boss Fights 3.4
Even though I couldn't even catch my breath, my control over my bugs was as strong as ever. Lung had destroyed most of my venomous bugs, but I still had fire ants. While keeping up the attack on his eyes and ears with less useful bugs, I directed flying bugs to drop my ants all over his body. I sent them after softer points like his armpits, behind his knees, inside his elbows, his navel, and his crotch. All across his skin I had lesser bugs: gnats, mosquitoes, fleas, and flies bite him. I sent stink bugs up his nasal passages and had them release their chemicals. It still wasn't enough.
I simply couldn't afford to just lie down on the gravel roof any longer. Merely breathing challenged me, and rolling to my feet was a struggle, but James needed me. Lung was growing stronger. I hefted my bat and returned to the fight. Lung's back was to me and he didn't seem to notice me. Given that he had moths buzzing in his ears, his hearing was probably shot. I announced my return to the fight with used an unvoiced «Rising Strike» from behind. This time it was Lung that went bouncing along the roof. He didn't stay down. He stood up and began throwing erratic flame blasts in our general direction. Fortunately, his aim still sucked. I distracted him with «Swarm Clones» and made sure there were always bugs attacking his eyes, so that his aim didn't improve. I didn't think my «Swarm Clones» looked that real, but Lung targeted some of them with fire blasts. I lost a lot of bugs that way, but better my bugs than me or James. I could hear the rumbling roar of a motorcycle approaching. Hopefully it was the Protectorate like Tattletale had foreseen what seemed like ages ago. We could really use the help.
While I circled to the right to get out of Lung's front arc, James veered slightly left and kept charging. He avoided the worst of Lung's blasts, but had to be at least slightly singed. It paid off when he closed with lung and leapt into the air and kicked Lung in the chest with a cry of "«Power Strike»!" Lung sailed backward and off the roof tumbling to the ground below.
Falling off a one-story building hardly fazed Lung. He pushed himself back onto his feet and leapt back up. As he sailed above our heads he let loose with twin blasts of fire from his hands that were growing stronger. He wasn't anywhere close to me, but one of my «Swarm Clones» and a helpless air conditioner unit died; the bugs biting his eyes probably had a lot to do with that. He landed on his feet and charged toward me throwing fireballs and screaming, "Cockshlucker!" Lung slurred. "I'm going – " His words cut-off as I took advantage of his open mouth to shove a few dozen flies down his throat.
The smugness that I felt from shutting him up was short-lived. I zigged when I should have zagged and Lung tagged me with a fire blast in my fake breasts. At least the extra padding actually came in useful, but I was still blown back and off my feet. I was able to turn that into a backward rolling breakfall that almost sent over the edge of the roof. Lung was still bearing down on me as I rolled to my feet, but in his eagerness to get me, he'd ignored James, or perhaps just hadn't seen him. James had the advantage of wearing black pants and soot stains instead of a glittery gold costume.
James let Lung run past him as he did a spinning kick and «Power Strike» to Lung's lower back. Lung went stumbling toward me off-balance. I was not missing an opportunity like this again, I dropped my bat, moved in to him and did an Aikido throw on Lung that sent him sailing up into the air and out into the street.
Of course, that didn't end it. Lung started to rise. From the sound of the motorcycle and the death splats of my mapping bugs, whoever was approaching was about to face an angry Lung. I scooped up my bat and charged. When I reached the edge of the roof, I stepped up on the low wall, and vaulted up into the air at Lung. The move had been reflexive, something I'd picked up from «Gymnastics», but my bat was all «Aikido» held with both hands forty-five degrees behind my head and poised to drop a «Finishing Strike» on Lung. However, as the air whistled past me, Lung leaped up to meet me, so I converted the overhead slash into a «Grounding Strike» instead. My bat connected with his face and sent him slamming down into the ground. I followed him down and followed through with a «Finishing Strike» to his head as I landed on him.
This time Lung stayed down.
«1315 XP»
«You've gained 1 level!»
«Your reputation with the Azn Bad Boys has decreased!»
«Your title of Novice Hero is retired»
«You've defeated The Dragon of Kyushu.»
«You've received the title [Dragonslayer]»
«+50% to reaction and intimidation rolls»
«Apprentice Hero»
«Obtained by reaching lvl 26»
«You have taken your next step on your journey as a hero!»
«Grow as a Hero and save the world!»
«10% increase in exp gained when mentored by a higher level character»
«10% increase in skill exp gained when coached by a more experienced character»
«Only available to level 50»
I didn't even have time to really consider those or the other pop-ups surrounding me because the motorcycle was here now. The rider pulled to a halt, and spotlit me with his headlights. Even with a light shining at my face, I could still make out who the new arrival was: midnight-blue power armor with silver trim, V-shaped visor covering his eyes and nose, neatly trimmed beard, big ass halberd – Armsmaster. While I was sure his armor was highly effective, it also worked artistically. Overlapping plates mimicked muscle groups, giving his armor a very human and masculine appearance. He even had separate segments on his abdomen giving him solid steel abs. That certainly made me feel better about my fake boobs.
«Fashion Rating, Impressive. +50% to Reaction Rolls, +25% to Intimidate, -30% to Stealth. Don't you just love a man in power armor?»
He was the leader of the Brockton Bay aka East-North-East Protectorate. On those posters with the Protectorate's best assembled in a wedge formation he was one of those guys in the wings. I'd once owned underwear with his emblem on it. He was probably the biggest single cape on the side of the good guys that called Brockton Bay home. And, he'd caught me smashing someone's skull in with a bat.
"Um, it's not what it looks like. This guy is Lung. If you don't hit him really hard he gets back up again."
Armsmaster parked his bike, grabbed his halberd and stepped off it. Damn, he looked huge in person. "That's true enough. Are you sure you didn't hit him too hard?" He had his weapon loosely in one hand with the shaft resting on his shoulder.
"He's still breathing." I stepped off of Lung's body and lowered my bat. I didn't really have any place to holster it. "He should be good eventually."
Armsmaster nodded like that made perfect sense. "I think I would have heard if there were any golden armor bat-wielding capes active in Brockton Bay. Is this your first night? Or, are you just new to the area?"
"First night." But, not my first fight. "I'm Lady Bug. My partner, Beetle Knight, should be joining us shortly." According to my bugs James was changing clothes. That was understandable considering what little was left of his costume, and about damn time he changed in privacy.
«Your reputation with The Protectorate has increased!»
«Reputation with The Protectorate has increased from 'Neutral' to 'Friendly'.»
«Your relationship with Armsmaster has increased!»
«Your relationship with Armsmaster has increased from 'Strangers' to 'Acquaintance'.»
"And the two of you took out Lung, by yourselves?" The tone of grudging respect in his voice was shaded with a little doubt.
Was he asking if the Undersiders helped us? "Well, Beetle Knight, me, and several thousand bugs under my control." I show off a little by calling upon a few moths that survived the fight to flutter about me. "That blow I just gave him wouldn't have put him down if his blood wasn't full of spider venom." And this night was turning into a clusterfuck. Taking out Lung should be a good thing. Almost killing him, probably not so good. Consorting with known villains, not something I wanted to be known for.
"Really? So you're a Brute and a Master then?"
I shrugged trying be nonchalant. When I pictured my hero debut it was taking out a few gangbangers not almost killing Lung. Despite the refresh from the level-up I really wanted this night to be over, yet I also wanted to make a good impression. "I'm more a Master than a Brute. I know the costume doesn't look it. I had a cape that sells the bug portion of Lady Bug, but Lung's a pyrokinetic."
Armsmaster didn't reply immediately. I couldn't see his eyes behind his visor, but I could see his head tip down slowly and then back up. Eww. Unless Armsmaster was dozing off in the middle of our conversation, he'd just checked me out. He was old enough to be my father. I crossed my arms over my fake boobs, letting my bent and bloodied bat fall to the pavement.
"You're telling the truth about that at least," he said as he approached closer. "Do you need a hospital?"
"No, I'm fine." Physically at least, and what did he mean about telling the truth? "Lung might. Hard to tell. He almost died, but five minutes later he was back up and fighting." Behind us, my bugs had discovered something I was pretty sure was another skill book. I really didn't want to have to explain that to Armsmaster. I needed to keep his attention. I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. "We both came close to dying."
"Sounds like you almost hit both extremes: too much force and too little. If you join the Protectorate, we can help you with that. You took down Lung, so you've obviously got potential. As a member we can help you focus that potential, learn to control your powers, and you'll have teammates to back you up."
"Wards." I said quickly. His gaze still seemed fixed on my chest. "I'm not eighteen." Whoa cowboy. Jailbait. Stay away. I had zero interest in joining the Wards. I already had a partner whose power was all about training up. James had his own virtual reality combat simulator. Why would I want to fling myself into a mess of teenage drama, adult oversight and schedules?
Our conversation was interrupted by the clattering of a metal ladder as James descended to the street and jogged over to join us. His costume had been awful before and after the fight it had been little more than rags, but now he was in his street clothes except for his helmet. I ran an eye over his outfit: bright green tee shirt, distressed blue jeans, old sneakers, and his glossy black helmet with the bug eyes and triple horns. He looked goofy.
«Fashion Rating = Cheesy, -30% to initial reaction rolls. Poor dear.»
I ignored the window and waved to James. "Come join us. Armsmaster, this is Beetle Knight. He's a…" Trump/Breaker/Brute/Thinker. Nope, that revealed too much. How had James said it? "Brute-Thinker combo."
"Humph." Armsmaster was clearly unimpressed.
James joined us and bobbed his head at Armsmaster. "Yeah, what she said. Basically I'm a half-assed Über with a little extra strength and durability. I acquire skills a little faster than normal through training."
Armsmaster turned his attention to James. "And what skills have you acquired?"
"A bit of Jeet Kune Do, some tricks with blunt weapons, and a few other minor skills."
We didn't really want Armsmaster to ask too many questions about James. "Knight, would you check on Lung?" This would give James a chance to pocket any loot as well as use «Observe» to make sure Lung wasn't dying again.
"Yes, m'lady." He threw me a salute and went off to Lung.
Armsmaster frowned. "Do you have any medical skills?"
"Why, yes I do," replied James smugly. "Just a bit of «First Aid», but enough to tell if he's breathing and check his heart rate."
When did James get «First Aid»? Must have been from helping Lung, but I didn't get it. Fuck, I'm maxed out on skills. I really needed to drop a few points into INT, but so not important right now. I stepped in front of James to try to block Armsmaster's view. As I did I had a firefly I'd landed on the suspected skill book flash once. "So when will someone be here to secure him for transport?"
"Soon, but not soon enough." His voice had a hard edge to it now that could cut glass, and he'd shifted his halberd so he was holding it in both hands and pointing it at me. "Move aside. I need to sedate Lung."
Eeep. So that's what it felt like to be on the receiving end of the «Intimidate» skill. I needed to stall… No I didn't. James had stored the book. "Sure." I stepped aside.
"Hey, no problem." James was behind me, but I had bugs on him so I could tell he'd gone so far as to raise his hands up to his shoulders in the I-surrender gesture.
Wait a second! "Sedate? I'm not sure that's-"
Armsmaster aimed his halberd at Lung. It made a pfft sound that registered at the same as James staggered backwards clutching his throat. "OW!" I turned around to see him pull a green-feathered dart out of the side of his neck. "Ow?" James looked blankly at it and blinked. "Ooh? I feel…" He took a few drunken steps, fell on his ass, then flopped on his back.
I whirled around at Armsmaster as thousands of bugs took to the air buzzing their displeasure. "What the fuck did you do to him?!"
Game Mechanics for Boss Fights 3.3 and 3.4
«Aikido +3», «Acrobatics +2», «Blunt Weapon Mastery +2», «Combat Mapping +2», «Dodge +3», «Fashion Design +1», «Finishing Blow +1», «Grounding Strke +1», «Intimidate +2», «Light Armor Mastery +1», «Mental Control Area +1», «Physical Resistance +1», «Rising Strike +2», «Sense Processing +1», «Swarm Clone +1», «Swarm of Doom +2», «Tactics +2», «STR +1», «AGI +2», «VIT +1»