11-05-2017, 01:51 PM
Quote:"Speech."
Thoughts. (if on its own line)
'Telepathy.'
Clearing his mind, Dane focused, waiting for his foe to make even the slightest movement. Guns were scary. He wouldn't die from a single shot, but he had to track movements and dodge the bullet before it was fired. Which wouldn't be too different from dodging crossbow bolts, if not for the fast rate of fire. The difference is speed was negligible in small distances, given most of the reacting was still done prior to the projectile flying through the air. He had some grazes on his face from the near hits, and some deeper ones on his chest, but nothing that served to cause anything more than pain.
In other words, Dane had to be careful with closing the distance. Luckily, he could teleport, but that was tiring, mentally and physically. While fights tended to feel fast, the generally lasted a lot longer than one might think, and blowing it this early wasn't particularly a good idea. Part of him wished he'd simply stabbed the guy in the back, but that was missing the whole point of this skirmish. Dane wanted to practice, and he'd found himself the perfect test dummy - at least of footwork and movements, maybe not physical prowess.
He smirked, ignoring the faint pain of the burns. Now he knew the substance wouldn't stick with him upon teleportation, he figured they wouldn't be so hard to deal with.
"You could just... let me kill you. You've got nothing to lose man. You'll come back in a week or so, maybe longer, maybe not. And I get paid regardless. Ain't it great?" Dane sheathed his shortsword, switching it out for a shield.
"Or, you could just accept my offer. Let me go, and gain much, much, more."
"Y'see kid, I got no insurance on that. And killing people is fun. So I get a double win."
A lie. This was practice with a test dummy, nothing more. But playing the "bad" guy was exhilarating.
Adrenaline rushed through Dane's blood. It had been a while since he'd felt this alive.
Tilting his head back, he laughed, maintaining just enough attention on Jzall to teleport away from the spree of bullets he unleashed. Inaccurate, but hard to dodge all of them. Luckily, he already had the thing prepared.
The guy can't touch me.
Nor could he see Dane in his hidden spot, perched on a tree branch while sending a quick text to his friend.
'You're dead, kiddo. Accept it.'
He reached out with his mind, carving the words into Jzall's head.
Fear. Worry.
He felt both of them for a fraction of a second, before it cut out abruptly.
Did he block me?
No.
Dane could still sense inside Jzall's mind, at least. Faint glimpses of tactics, just no emotion.
Lame.
'Pretending you're not scared isn't gonna change anything, dude. Let your fear drive you - it's like chugging caffeine, sorta.'
Jzall glanced through the trees, still catching no sight of Dane.
A faint breeze ruffled the looser shrubbery, causing Jzall to immediately turn and fire two shots into an empty bush.
'A bit jumpy, are we? I can fix that.'
Focusing, and grabbing hold of, Dane reappeared in the sky, holding his shield under his bent legs and letting gravity do its work.
Slam!
Wood and metal crashed into the top of Jzall's head, splinters flying through the air. The makeshift weapon split, cracking straight down the middle, each half falling along a side of Dane's target. Dane himself slipped onto the collapsing man's back, pinning him against the ground. "Now, hold still for me. Or squirm, it's more enjoyable that way."
13 grunted, coughing small specs blood while reaching out towards his gun.
Quickly drawing his shortsword, Dane laughed. "Nice try, mate." He flicked the revolver away, pushing it out of reach.
Muscles heaving, the criminal pushed against the ground, trying to shove Dane off to the side. He made good progress, but it was quickly halted as Dane drove a knee into his back.
Yet, the slight freedom, even if temporary, was all Jzall needed to reach a glass canister from his waist, tossing it behind him. The glass shattered on Dane's right shoulder, powder spilling on both him and 13.
Not wanting to get hurt unnecessarily, Dane focused, teleporting to one side as Jzall rolled to the other. Dust ignited the grass between them giving, giving Jzall the freedom to recompose himself.
Paying no notice to the flames, Dane used the quick rise of smoke to hide once more, channelling all his mana towards his strength.
Jumping, Dane flipped over the fire, landing on the ground behind Jzall with a loud thump. By the time bullets were fired, Dane was already to the side, following up with two quick sword slices.
"Try harder kid."
Quote:799 words according to wordcounter.net
Form change from 1/2/3/6 to 5/0/6/1 (former has leather armour, the latter is just a normal shirt) near the end. Feel free to write him using either form if you feel it's appropriate.
A fire has started and may spread. Dane is stealthed. Dane's shield is broken so he is now using a longsword + shortsword combo.