A breeze drifted between the two.
Deadpool stood on the left side of the central bridge, watching as the man opposite him struck a pose like a Western cowboy.
"Come on! I'm ready! One shot will settle this! Wait—where's your gun? You didn't bring a gun to a duel?"
Deadpool suddenly realized Watson didn't have a gun in his hand. With a shrug, he pulled out his spare and tossed it over.
Snap! Watson caught the gun, weighed it in his hand, then casually tossed it aside. "Forget it. I'm just not the kind of guy who can pull the trigger on himself..."
Deadpool caught the gun midair, then suddenly turned to the empty space beside him and muttered, "Okay, now, I need an Angel of the Morning moment. Thank you."
"Alright! I'll count to three... Three!"
Pap! Pap! Papap!
Bullets one through six flew straight at Watson's head. Meanwhile, Deadpool was already inhaling the gunpowder smoke like it was some kind of narcotic.
Then—a flash of white light. Sparks erupted as the Fire Dragon armor materialized onto Watson's body.
Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!
"Whoa—cool!" Deadpool turned his head to see Watson clad in the Fire Dragon set. He cradled his own face with both hands, sighing enviously.
Then, without hesitation, he holstered his guns, drew out his twin katanas, and charged forward. "F***! S***! Why the hell do you have badass dragon armor?! Shouldn't you be in tights too?! Why don't I have that?! I swear, after today, I'm having a talk with the writers! I need a damn suit like that!"
Derick watched Deadpool charge forward. His right leg slid back into a bracing stance, his right fist clenched. A small flame flickered into existence at his knuckles.
Boom!
Watson shot forward like a cannonball, the ground beneath his feet exploding in a web of cracks.
His right hand, wreathed in fire, smashed out.
Peng!!
A deep, fist-shaped dent appeared on Deadpool's chest. His body, now charred black in spots, flew backward at speeds several times faster than before.
Splash—
He crashed into the water below.
Derick glanced down at his hands, then back at the cratered ground. So this is what an intermediate physique and speed boost feels like? Damn, that's cool.
He walked to the edge and peered down at the rippling water. Does Deadpool even know how to swim?
Derick thought for a moment, then shrugged. Eh, whatever. He won't die anyway.
"I'm counting to sixty! If you're not up by then, you're officially mine! One...!"
"Two... Three... Four..."
Pffft—!
Deadpool's head popped up from the water. "Wait—hold up—please, gimme ten more seconds! I need to count how many bones I broke so I can decide how many times I'm stabbing you in the a** later! Ten times! Minimum!"
Watson rolled his eyes and kept counting. "Five... Six..."
"Fifty... Fifty-one... Fifty-two..."
Click! A katana suddenly hooked onto the bridge's edge right beside Watson's feet.
"Pause! I'm up— I— wait—blegh!" Deadpool pulled off his mask and wretched. "Ugh—blegh—!"
Poof! A small fish plopped out of his mouth.
"That's disgusting." Watson took a step back. "How the hell did that get in?"
"Right when I hit the water! I went to lift my mask and take a deep breath, but this—" he pointed at the fish, "—slid down my throat. And I thought, hey, maybe it could be dinner... but then I wanted to take a closer look at the first fish to ever enter my stomach. F***, it's ugly."
"Okay, shut up. Also, your face."
"Oh... right, sorry! Did I scare you?" Deadpool sheathed one sword and, looking suddenly dejected, said, "You know, I used to be better looking than you. And now... I'm only almost better looking than you. F***! Almost!"
"... You look like a flattened Emmental cheese."
Deadpool's head snapped up in delight. "Really? Oh my god... That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my face!"
Then Watson smirked. "Yeah. Cheese that got eaten by a rat and then sh** out again."
Deadpool yanked his mask back on and drew his swords once more. "Alright, that's it. You're going to die, and I'm gonna use your shoes to play hacky sack with a bunch of hobos!"
With that, Deadpool lunged forward, eyes locked onto Derick's right hand. "I'm not letting you punch me this time!"
Watson moved just like before, stepping back, fire swirling around his fist.
Then—he feinted.
A sideways whip kick—!
Peng!!
Swoosh—Splash!
Derick walked to the edge again, peering down at the rippling water, then crouched and started counting. "One... Two..."
Swoosh—Splash!
Derick instinctively tilted his head, but he was still a step too slow.
"Hah! I got you this time! Just wait till I—blegh—!" Deadpool gagged mid-sentence. "You—blegh—you just made my naughty list! And you're—blegh—number one! Blegh—!"
He scrambled up onto the bridge, using one hand and both feet. His other hand—still numb from getting kicked—wasn't much help.
Watson glanced at the katana embedded in his left shoulder. He barely felt any pain. Maybe just a dull ache. Not bad. The game mechanics are working. It even drew a little blood?
With a grunt, he pulled the sword free, examining the pristine silver blade. "This should be an Adamantium alloy katana... It went through the Fire Dragon armor way too easily. So it's not the armor's fault... but—"
He looked down at the wound, a clean puncture made by the blade. Watson frowned. System, is my armor breakable?
Ding! Monster Hunter armor has no durability attribute. Damage taken in battle will slowly repair itself, but only for the host's personal armor. Gifted armor does not have this function. Weapons are indestructible, but only for the host.
Good. That means my Dragon Sword is unbreakable too, right? Watson glanced at his HP bar.
"So that stab to the shoulder just now... took 5% of my health? First time I've taken actual damage. I wonder how much it would've been without the armor. Probably a lot more. If he'd hit a vital spot, it wouldn't have been just 5%."
As Watson muttered to himself—
Click!
"Alright, I'm up! And now—"
"Another fish got in your mouth?"
"NO— I just— Ugh— I drank too much water! It's messing up my—blegh—performance—!"
"Okay, okay, get on with it."
Deadpool wiped his mouth, straightened up, and declared, "Alright! Round three! The great Deadpool is launching an all-out attack! And after I win, I'll fulfill all the promises I made before!"
Then he charged again.