Author's notes: Apologies for the delay, but after those last two massive chapters I needed a bit of a break, and so I return with this short chapter to tide you over until the next. This chapter was checked before upload, so it should be error-free, courtesy of GothicCheshire. In future most chapters will have someone besides myself check them before being published, as to reduce silly mistakes.
Chapter 28: The Tenth Class
"...from one Angel of Death to another, let us demons dance once more!"
As simple as that, the battle begun, neither man playing heed to the chaos around them as the mercenaries fought their mirror images. But to call it a mere battle would be to understate the situation, for it was more than a mere clash of steel, an exchange of attacks, a violent confrontation. There was an intensity and a strange undercurrent to it, a contrast of fire and ice.
Isaac struck fast and hard, for all his rational mind was telling him to go easy on this old man, something more primitive, more primal, urged him to strike with all his might. Some other part of his mind, quiet in thought, mused that there must be more to this "Gentleman" than met the eye. This suspicion was proven, not through careful observation, but in an instant flurry of blows.
The Engineer had boosted forward on his thrusters, sword drawn and at the ready. But for all his strength, for all his speed, for all his burning drive, he left not a single scratch on the suited foe. Not once showing any surprise or even any effort on his features, the Gentleman blocked, deflected and gracefully dodged every strike with nothing more than his umbrella at the ready. This in itself was a bad sign and Isaac should have taken the time to get of range and maybe try to quickly change strategies. Indeed, the thought passed through his mind, but he was too slow to capitalise on it.
Instead he found himself caught in shock when his fiery assault was stopped by the cold touch of the Gentleman. Both arms gripping his sword, raised for a powerful overhead slice that would have split his enemy in two...but the arms had been halted by a single hand, the Brit having moved in close and now holding the strike at bay with minimal effort, umbrella held loosely in his other hand.
"Perhaps you should consider attacking with a clearer mind, whilst your form didn't slip that much, winding up for stronger attacks just leaves you vulnerable, Sir Howard. Now if you are quite done...?"
Struggle as he might, the Engineer could not shift out of the position and before he could attempt to counter with a kick to the Gentleman's knee, his foe had raised his umbrella and his only sensation was that of being flung backwards from the force of the blow. Skidding painfully on his rear over the rough ground, Isaac came to a stop and slowly brought himself up, sword still in hand.
"...I believe it's my turn."
The former RED had no time to prepare himself, for as soon as those words were spoken by his foe, the supposed Tenth Class was in front of him, striking swiftly and efficiently with his umbrella. The motions were quick, controlled, calculated. There was great strength behind each strike, but not overly so, not once did the Brit overextend himself or leave himself vulnerable to a counterattack. It was all Isaac could do to evade the assault, and that by itself was becoming quickly tiring.
He would deflect a blow to the side with his sword only for the Gentleman to easily redirect his umbrella's movement with little more than a twirl of the wrist, changing the battering attack into a forwards thrust for the torso. The sword could not be moved fast enough to block, so instead Isaac twisted his body and raised his arms anyway, the piercing strike hitting his gauntlet and causing minimal damage. The Gentleman, noting the block, quickly stepped back and then performed a sweeping blow to the legs that almost brought the Engineer to the ground. Another strike, coming to his unprotected side, a quick drop of the weapon into a one handed stance, deflecting the blow from one side as it almost immediately then came in for the other, his robotic arm shielding himself from the blow at the last moment.
And so the assault continued at an incredible pace, Isaac's reactions and observations tested to the limit. Any blows that did break through his defences struck hard, but not enough to cause considerable damage in themselves. Instead it was the wearing down that was the problem. No doubt if he was wearing less in the way of protection and didn't have the LFD soothing his accumulating injuries he'd have succumbed to the Gentleman's tactic by now. But even with the healing rays quickly fixing any damage and his own fighting spirit, the tactic was certainly tiring him out and left him unable to do much.
The rapid attacks prevented him from drawing another weapon, trying to escape from the blows or from having time to think for a proper plan. He could not try to dodge round, get any closer or leap away from the Gentleman, as no doubt the old man would be on him in an instant. Wait...can't go forwards, can't go back, can't go around and can't go under...but there was nothing stopping him from going over his foe, was there?
With a sudden grin and burst of energy, the Crimson Demon bared its fangs and parried the latest thrust with enough intensity to catch his foe off guard for but an instant. And an instant was all he needed. Muscles tensing in his legs, sword gripped in both hands and thrusters primed, he launched himself off the ground, blade swung beneath him in an upwards arc that the Brit was only just able to block by holding his umbrella horizontally. Still, as Isaac finished the arcing attack and flew over the Gentleman, just out of reach, he was satisfied to see that the old man had been caught off guard by that one and was slightly off balance from his hasty block.
Quickly landing some distance behind the Tenth Class, the Demon raised his left arm, now a chaingun and unleashed a storm of bullets towards his foe, even as his other arm sheathed his sword and prepared his shotgun, should he need it. Even as the lethal barrage of custom incendiary ammunition made its path towards their target, the target had other plans. Whipping around, umbrella still gripped before him in both hands, the Gentleman thrust his apparent weapon of choice forwards and clicked a button on the handle.
The bullets found themselves impacting the now open umbrella, and for all their velocity, they were unable to penetrate the large canopy that now served as an effective shield. Apart from a slight shuddering from the impacts and a growing frown on the Gentleman's face, hidden behind his brolly barrier, there was no sign that any bullets or shrapnel had made it through or that this old veteran was uncomfortable in any way.
Noting that his attack had done little besides add a few scorch marks and scratches into whatever crazy material that umbrella was made of, but that the Brit was still on the defensive, Isaac made his choice. Halting his fire, his arm transformed and he brought his shotgun up, the mighty weapon carried in both hands as he launched himself at his opponent. Blocking his chaingun's rounds with minor aesthetic damage was one thing, but shielding himself from the fury that Vengeance would unleash was a whole other matter.
The gap was closed faster than the blink of an eye and with his heart thumping; the Engineer's finger pressed the trigger, arms and body already bracing themselves for the incredible knockback. Not for the first time, the wrath of Thor himself was made known on the battlefield, charged buckshot exploding into the air with all the caution and control as an earthquake. The blast halted the Demon's charge forwards and disorientated him for but the briefest of moments as his eyes and ears both adjusted. It was then that he saw, despite all the speed in which he had closed the gap and fired, despite the man being behind his barrier the whole time and not seeing his approach until it was too late...
The Tenth Class crouched on one knee, his umbrella closed and held limply in his right arm, his left reaching over to where a single piece of buckshot had just barely skimmed over his dominant arm, instantly shredding through clothing and skin alike. The veteran civilian-turned-mercenary had somehow sidestepped the entire attack faster than it could reach him and had avoided all but the most glancing of blows from it. Nursing his wounded arm as red blood trickled down the sleeve of his black suit; the Brit looked the Texan in the eyes and slowly rose to his feet, his weapon still held loosely in his right hand.
Isaac found himself just standing there, looking at this man who had turned out to be so much more than he expected. He couldn't shake the feeling that despite his dark goggles his opponent could see into his eyes just as easily as he could into his. Those eyes...fire entrapped within ice, and now the fire seemed to burn brighter and brighter...until it dulled, returning to a controlled presence once more. Monocle still covering one eye, the smallest of smiles graced the former civilian's lips.
"I am most impressed, Sir Isaac Howard, your reputation is certainly most deserved. Had I been any slower you would have no doubt torn me to pieces in a most spectacular fashion, I can see why one such as you would be able to best Mr Hale in the art of combat."
The former RED found himself quiet and still tense, but something told him that he could take a step back, and relax the hold on his weapon ever so slightly. This "Gentleman"...he was proving to be quite interesting. Finally, after a few painful seconds of silence, Isaac replied, voice small and calmed, even as his heart still raced a little.
"...It wasn't just me that defeated that Australian monster. It was the team...it was all of us. Me? I just landed the last blow."
The smile on the Brits face grew a little and he chuckled gently.
"Ah, but of course. It is good to see that you understand the contributions of your comrades, but all the same, if I may say so, you certainly did more than merely finish the beast off."
The strange veteran sighed for a moment and slowly, carefully, placed his umbrella down, all whilst under Isaac's confused gaze. Producing a first-aid kit, he glanced back at the Engineer.
"I understand that as enemies engaged on the battlefield that this is somewhat improper of me to ask, but I may suggest a brief break? We are both tired and could no doubt use a little...refresher."
The Engineer merely looked suspicious at this, in all honesty he didn't know why he hadn't just shot the man again and gotten this over with. But...this man wasn't like the others he had fought, he was strangely polite, didn't seem to particularly want to kill him and...he couldn't explain it, but something about the mysterious Tenth Class felt trustworthy. The Brit quickly wrapped his wound and sat down cautiously on a nearby rock, procuring a cup of hot tea from seemingly nowhere.
"I have my refresher here and I dare say that the marvellous invention on your back should suffice for you, correct?"
Slowly, still unsure of himself, Isaac nodded, lowering his weapon. His muscles relaxed, but only a little. He was still ready to leap into action should things turn south quick.
"...that portable dispenser of yours is no doubt why my earlier assault was not as effective as I'd imagined. A poor lack of judgement on my part, but such cannot be helped. I do apologise for the rough treatment, but I have my orders and holding back too much would not have allowed me to gather the proper test data I require."
"Test data? Wait, you were holding back!"
At this the Brit merely sipped his tea for a moment, relaxing and savouring both the warmth and the flavour, before turning his gaze to his adversary. Removing his hat and monocle, his eyes and grey hair fully exposed. He reached into his breast pocket as he spoke, retrieving an expensive-looking silver pocket watch on a chain from within.
"Indeed. Awfully sorry for the deception, but just as you were not harnessing your better abilities, neither was I. It hardly seemed fair after all, and as much as my Master would like you dead, killing you at this stage would be somewhat counter-productive to both my own goals and my Master's, whether they realise it or not."
The Gentleman seemed rather causal and detached from the whole business, looking at his pocket watch for a few moments before glancing at the Texan, who was unsure of how to react and was struggling with his emotions. That the two were causally talking after almost killing one another and as the other mercenaries were unleashing general madness on one another was...unsettling to say the least.
A rocket came flying towards the unlikely pair out of nowhere, its trajectory including the former civilian directly in its line of fire. Barely paying the wayward explosive any mind, in an instant the old man had his umbrella, swung it at the incoming projectile and with a perfectly timed release combined with the swing and a little thrust, the rocket was deflected back into the sky, where it vanished and left only an explosion behind. All this was performed in a motion Isaac could barely track with his eyes before the increasingly dangerous man was sat down once more, tea and watch in hand. He raised the latter up, letting the Engineer's gaze fall upon its well-polished and stainless surface.
"After all, when one has some degree of control over the very passage of time, even your own terrible power hardly seems sufficient to ensure a fair fight."