[Quarter Finals] Bandit & Kerrigan vs Skeletor & Kuzuru

[Kuzuru]

Warm blood ran down Renji’s chest like a river. He rolled onto his side and clutched at the gouge in his shoulder. A talon of glass had carved into his flesh and left a near-mortal wound. Sand filled his mouth as he watched the growing puddle of his own blood stretch across the floor. Using telekinesis the swordsman fumbled around the room, running a mental hand across every available surface. He threw open a desk drawer and wrapped his telekinetic fingers around a small cardstock box. Closing his eyes to concentrate he pulled the box closer and tore it open. A deluge of staples tumbled from the shredded container and were subsequently suspended mid air. Carefully he broke apart the rows of staples and began twisting them together. Unfettered by the clumsiness of physical fingers he was able to form several chains of twisted staples. He floated the makeshift sutures towards the open wound. With a grunt he sat up and used his two free hands to hold the wound together. Once they were lined up he plunged the three inch long staples into his shoulder. They burrowed through his flesh and pierced through the otherside of the wound before twisting themselves together and sealing the laceration.

Now no longer at the immediate risk of exsanguination Renji crawled to his feet. Slowly he began to retrace the path that his ragdoll body had drilled through the building. As he walked his mind scooped up every errant sliver of glass, pulling them behind him like a crystalline parade. His sandals, now soaked in blood, clapped against the floor and left behind bloody stamps. Outside he could feel the others waiting for him. He could smell the sweat on their bodies and the blood on their hands. The swordsman cursed himself for casting aside his sword, it was as if he had willingly lopped off a limb. Despite that raw sense of vulnerability he pressed forward. Combat was adaptation and if he couldn’t defend himself without Kuzuru then he deserved to die.

It was with a torrential explosion of glass that Renji emerged from the building’s innards. He said nothing as his tornado of shattered glass slammed into Kerrigan and Bandit. The ghost swatted away several chunks before becoming incorporeal and fading into a nearby building. Bandit, however, yelped as the shards sliced into her flesh. Blood sprayed into the air and a faint rainbow could be seen in the misty viscera. The vagrant dove behind a car and braced herself as another torrent of glass crashed against the battered Civic. Skeletor cackled madly and came up besides the swordsman.

“Good work Blade-man,” Skeletor said, “Now, stand aside and allow me to show you the terrible might of Skeletor!”

Renji shot a glare and him and commanded, “Don’t be reckless, keep an eye on the other one.”

Leaving the somewhat deflated Skeletor behind Renji pushed forward, focusing his tempest on the poor Honda. As he walked towards his quarry he reached out and grabbed a telephone pole. With the suit’s strength he easily ripped the pole from the ground, sending a shower of sparks cascading across the sidewalk. He lifted the pole over his head like a javelin. Renji’s body tensed and he launched the makeshift spear towards the car. Several of his stitches snapped free as the pole left his fingertips. With a horrifying crunch the telephone pole skewered the Civic deadcenter. The force of impact dented it inwards and pinned it to the nearby building. Renji’s glass storm halted and he willed the shards of glass into the sky. Slowly he approached the vehicle. Kuzuru would’ve been upset to end the fight in such a lame manner, but Renji was glad for the moment of respite.

This moment of relief was short-lived. The hair on the back of his neck snapped to attention and his heart caught mid-beat. There was no time to react and Renji squeezed his eyes shut. Bandit phased out from the ground below him, wrapping her hand with a chunk of asphalt as she did. In one glorious moment her reinforced fist sailed upwards delivering perhaps the most devastating uppercut to have graced the Omniverse. Bandit grinned and could practically hear the millions of Omniversians cheering at such a wild upset. Renji’s jaw all but exploded as he was sent soaring into the air. With a defeated thud he landed on the sidewalk next to the exposed wires from where he had uprooted his javelin. Renji’s grip on the shards of glass loosened and they plummeted, showering the two combatants in a hailstorm of sharp objects. Bandit flinched as a shard cut her shoulder, but smiled as a chunk of glass skewered Renji’s gut. She stomped towards the fallen swordsman, ready to bash his head in.

“It was a good shot,” she admitted, “But you’re messing with the best in the game.”

Renji tried to speak, but only a sloppy sputter escaped his decimated jaw. Bandit straddled him, blocking out the sun as she did and raised her weapon high. Renji wrapped his hand around her ankle and threw his other hand to the side. In an instant their bodies were lite up with electricity. Renji’s metal-infused hand was wrapped tightly around the bare wires next to him, sending several hundred thousands of volts through their bodies.