Jake gritted his teeth to control the pain. He had been injured before but nothing like this. Mostly it was the sheer shock that he had been wounded that made it worse. Even in agony with a limb severed he retained enough sense to notice neither of the shield bars had lowered. It was as if they cut right through his shielding. Now they stepped up over him and drew back that slender sword.
It had been a while since he was back so far into a corner. The thought that his Survivor's Fury would give him a second chance wasn't sure reassuring. It gave him overwhelming power but no control. What if they were right? That brute force wouldn't be enough against them?
Time seemed to slow as he watched them drawing back that slender blade. Then it started to thrust down, aiming somewhere at his chest. He saw the thrust hesitate at the same time he felt the living metal beneath his hand where he clutched his severed limb go wild. His eyes flickered to see the dark burnt wood looking material flailing around as dozens of slender tendrils. The metal on his severed limb nearby did the same before with explosive speed they stretched out. The tendrils from his stump and his severed arm stretched then wound together. Like a stretched rubberband they snapped tight pulling his severed limb back to him. It returned to place and the metal returned to its previous smooth texture. Looking up at the Dame he couldn't see their expression within their helmet. But they resumed their thrust.
Jake's previously severed arm darted up as if to catch the blade. The point hit his palm and pierced it as easily as before. With a soft hiss, the blade sank into his arm as if being slid into a sheath. Jake kicked out and smashed into their leg but it was like kicking a mountain. To his horror, they flicked the blade forward splitting his arm all the way down to his elbow. Blood sprayed then more tendrils of the living metal his gauntlet was made of stretched to pull the arm back together. Jake Rift Jumped to the farthest end of the arena and appeared. Time seemed to catch up and he again heard the wild screams of the crowd.
"What ability was that? That was like no regeneration I have seen." The Dame's voice reverberated from her helmet.
Jake wanted to know as well. His arm burned and throbbed with pain. He was pretty sure it was still cut up. He flexed his hand and was certain. It wasn't his finger moving but the gauntlet itself moving them for him. "No matter. It just means I can further exact my revenge. You are still helpless before me." They slashed their blade sending a few droplets of blood to splatter on the smooth stone flooring. Then they just stood there shield slightly raised and sword at the ready.
Jake watched and waited for their attack. Instead, the two figures stared off as the crowd grew more and more impatient. "Come at me Demon." They shouted.
Jake ignored them. The searing throbbing pain in his arm was lessening with every second and his health continued to restore. Not only did he regenerate the longer they waited he still didn't know what to do about them. Somehow they had caught him coming out of his Rift. All while their weapon seemed to ignore all his defenses. He couldn't risk rift jumping, the split second he was blinded while doing so seemed to be enough for them.
Even as he recovered the knight continued to spew insult after insult. Jake ignored them as he plotted before giving up. There just wasn't enough information about their abilities. But if they weren't willing to come to him. He just needed to attack them without getting close.
The Dame paused her insults as a new sound reached her ears. Crackling and sizzling were faint, barely audible but all her senses were hyper sharpened. Then the glow became visible as the Demon's arms lit up slowly with orange specks. Every few seconds more spawned into existence until both of their arms from their fist to their shoulders glowed like an ember before bursting into flames. Fire rose up like twin pillars on each side of him.
Around them, the pitch of the crowd's excitement changed. This didn't look like a normal Tech based power. It appeared elemental and magical in nature but how was that possible? Were they always a Magic type? But their equipment so far looked Tech type. Instantly, new theories were born. A few even touched on the truth.
None of this mattered to Jake. Instead, he punched out at his enemy and a wave of flame launched from his fist to wash over the shining armor of the knight. As it passed Jake cursed. A glowing barrier covered the armor, the sign of an elemental barrier. They were a magic type after all. He let the flames flicker out rather than let them seep more of his health away. His ownly range option was flames which their armor would protect again. He had no doubt their armor could suppress his flames. Perhaps he could turn them white again but the cost to his own health would be substantial.
Neither his only ranged option nor his melee seemed viable. Were they really a perfect counter for him?
"Was that your trump card Demon? Pathetic." Their tone carried a mocking sneer.
Jake started to think long and hard about a plan before just saying. "Fuck it." Before throwing himself forward. His right arm thrust out intent on smashing into them but he wasn't too surprised when it was cleaved mid way through his forearm. The metal of his gauntlet was already stretching out to reattach his arm as he smashed his left fist into their side. Or that had been the plan. Instead, it smashed right into that heavy shield. From within that helmet, he heard a squeak of surprise as they were knocked to the side. No, that wasn't right their upper body bent under the force but their feet stayed planted solidly where they were. It made them bend back at an odd angle before they snapped forward trying to headbutt him.
Jake danced back and flexed his arm again. It still worked but in the same manner as before, he was moving his gauntlet not his hand. More importantly, he had gotten a few bits of information. They were obviously using a skill that rooted them in place. They hadn't moved since they had stepped over him when he was down. Was it then they activated it? On top of that, the follow up slashes hadn't come. They had only made a single attack each time and then not followed up. Even that last attack hadn't used the sword. Was there some kind of cooldown on their sword attack? Then he just needed to survive that first attack.
Finally, when he had struck them there had been no physical damage barrier meaning that unlike him they were only protected against elemental damage. Still, that shield had stopped his attack completely.
Again, Jake kicked off rushing up on them his eyes fixed on that sword. Instead of the big telegraphed punches, he had always used he kept his arms in close until the last moment. His fist snapped out while he watched that blade. When he saw that sword move he twisted his body and changed the direction of his punch. It lost much of its momentum landing only a slight blow but avoiding his arm being cut off. He was excited for a moment before the ringing sound of their shield smashing into his head a second time send him tumbling. Rift Jumping away expecting them to follow up he appeared still slightly dazed further away. But realized it had been a moot point, they hadn't moved from that spot still.
**********
In the stands, Xavier watched the fight below with great interest. The Dame was their trump card against the Demon. She possessed only one offensive ability, Pass Thru. It was a passive that allowed her attacks to ignore most defenses. It was powerful enough that in all the years Xavier had known her they had met only a few enemies with defenses her ability couldn't nullify. That combined with a large number of defensive abilities meant she was a wall one couldn't easily get through. Originally they were not to meet until much later in the tournament but he wanted to demoralize the boy. But the boy had more tricks than he expected. An elemental attack? Perhaps even more impressive was his growth as a fighter. It was obvious they had relied on overwhelming power until now. But even in the short duration of the fight, Xavier could see them growing as a fighter at an impressive rate.
"That regenerative power isn't biological in nature. I wonder what The Artist did to give his equipment such an ability." The breathy monotone voice from beside him drew his attention back. Xavier looked down at the tiny scientist, started to ask why she was wearing only a button up man's shirt, then thought better of it.
"That isn't an ability? His EQUIPMENT is doing that?" Xavier suddenly had a greater interest in this Artist person.
"Yes. His body does not have an ability like that." She breathed out.
"So you got to examine them? Are they what we need?" Xavier asked, his tone hungry.
"They are. But they won't work with you." She breathed out while watching the fight below. "Oh, I have agreed to leave with them. So here is my resignation." The tiny scientist put a piece of paper in his lap.
Xavier's eyes went wild. "WHAT?"