Psycho Duel Chapter 49: Gloves Off

The Skeletal Hulkbeast, a grotesque titan backlit by the moon, raised its bone fists over its head and brought them down on Mr. Fang and his wolf mount. There was a thunderous boom that cracked across the ground and the Bloodhound was thrown from his mount with the shatter attack.

But, then to Walt’s surprise, his gauntlet flared and then a neon pink card streaked from the Bloodhound, spinning like a shuriken.

[Examine]

[Killshot]

Killshot. Spell. Set: Kit of the Bloodhound. Rarity: Common. For when a simple trap isn’t enough, activate the Killshot to finish off those pesky enemy minions.

Destroy an Enemy Minion.

Cost: 3 Vigor Stones

The card elongated into a neon pink arrow of energy and it pierced the Skeletal Hulkbeast through the neck. The confused giant, stripped out of its flesh, grasped at the Killshot arrow protruding from its throat. But then the arrow exploded in a burst of energy that irradiated Walt’s Skeletal Hulkbeast, removing the minion completely from this reality.

A warning chime sounded from Walt’s gauntlet. He gazed down at it and saw that the edge of the Skeletal Hulkbeast card protruding from the slot blackened, turning to ash. The ash flew out of his gauntlet, scattering into the wind. He got a Slaynami system notification.

Skeletal Hulkbeast card destroyed…

“Shit,” Walt said. He shook his head, wishing he had used something more expendable.

Mr. Nose, still on his goat mount, turned to look up at Walt who was hovering in the air. “What do you wish to accomplish with this?”

“To stop you,” Walt said.

“There’s two of us and just one of you,” Mr. Nose said. “Just let us go, and you won’t get hurt. Then you can settle your matter with Calix fairly, in a duel.”

Mr. Fang rose from the dirt, wiping himself off. He went to inspect his wolf mount. It had survived the Skeletal Hulkbeast’s shatter attack. He stroked the creature’s face and then climbed on top of the mount.

“See, that’s a problem,” Walt said. “I can’t have you telling him where I am.”

“You’re right,” Mr. Nose said. “That is a problem. Using lethal force against us would be against tournament rules.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to find a way to circumvent the rules.”

Walt’s Wand of Green Skulls appeared in his hand and he shot a flaming green skull towards Mr. Fang. The skull exploded into his Cawraithian Wolf mount and the creature went up in green witch flames. Mr. Fang rolled away from his dying mount. His gauntlet dinged as the card was destroyed.

Walt shot another green skull at Mr. Fang. It him and exploded and he flew into the brush. So, it seemed like in normal combat, the cards weren’t subject to some of the restrictions they had in duels. In a duel, he would have had to wait a minute before he could use it again. However, on his HUD he noticed he only had two charges left. He wondered how resetting it would work. Did he just have to cycle it back into his gauntlet to and then redraw it to refresh it?

He’d find out soon enough. He caught the card ejecting out of his gauntlet. He flicked it upwards and it spun, forming into a small humanoid. His hands and legs were tied and there was what looked like dynamite stuffed into his mouth. His eyes were pleading for mercy. Gnome Grenade was one of the cards from the Vaulted Deck.

Gnome Grenade. Weapon. Set: Slaynami Vault. Rarity: Common. Explore the aerodynamic potential of the common gnome!

Blind: Blind target for 1 Turn

Deals 10 damage to target.

Cost: 2 Vigor Stones

Walt pointed at the two Bloodhound. The Gnome Grenade was trying to speak, but his voice was muffled with the explosives stuffed in his mouth. He dropped out of the sky and swerved like a heat seeking missile, exploding of Mr. Nose. Walt turned away from the blinding flash at the last second and a disembodied gnome foot whizzed by his face.

Mr. Nose was blow off his goat, Black Phillip, who was bleating in distress, turning in circles, blinded. Both Bloodhounds were shaking their heads, trying to clear their vision.

The plan here was to anger them so much that they’d finally challenge him to a duel. He knew that since they were not just brothers, but twins, that one wouldn’t leave other during a duel. They would want to be there to witness the outcome.

“You’re testing my patience,” Mr. Nose said.

“Good.”

The next card Walt played was called Tragic Pit.

Tragic Pit. Object. Set: Slaynami Vault. Rarity: Common. Oops! Looks like somebody tripped and fell into the wrong hole!

A pit opens up underneath target, trapping them for 1 Turn.

Cost: 2 Vigor Stones

The card hit the ground at Mr. Fang’s feet. A hole in the earth opened up underneath him and he collapsed inside.

An ornate bow appeared in Mr. Fang’s hands. He nocked back an arrow that seemed to be crafted from celestial light.

[Examine]

[Elen’Ruse]

Elen’Ruse. Weapon. Set: The Faewild’s Remnants & Relics. Rarity: Legendary. A bow crafted by Aegnor himself, The Star’s Fury harnesses the power of fallen stars.

Star Fury Arrow: 12 Attack, 3 Bleed Damage Per Turn, Cooldown: 1 minute

Charges: 4

Cost: 4 Vigor Stones

Mr. Fang let the Star Fury arrow loose. It streaked into the night like a reverse shooting star and hit Walt in the thigh. He cried out at the hot stab of pain. The arrow had gone through the meat of his thigh, missing the bone. It was a warning shot. In addition to the red haze of the pain in his head, a series of system notifications dinged.

Gauntlet Integrity…90%....

Bio-Protective Shield…95% Operational….

Restorative Vigor…95% Operational….

So, the more damage from cards he took, the weaker the gauntlet became. Which meant his personal shield to non-card weapons weakened. Restorative Vigor was probably an indication of his ability to heal. If the Gauntlet Integrity dropped low enough, would that mean he wouldn’t be able to heal from the damage he took?

No wonder Slaynami made it illegal to kill a Psycho Slinger outside of combat. It meant the gauntlet could be damaged and destroyed. There must be something about the Duel Mode that protected the gauntlets. It’s like they would overheat outside of a duel or something. Now the question was, if the integrity was compromised, how did one repair the gauntlet?

It was a question whose answer he would have to figure out later. Because a minion flew out of the pit and attacked Walt. It had black leathery wings and a horrific, scrunched up face with long sharp teeth the size of short swords.

[Examine]

[Batzilla]

Batzilla. Minion. Set: Guardians of the Red Keep. Rarity: Common. Bred in the dungeons of the Red Keep, this bat has an insatiable appetite.

Flight.

Bite: 10 Attack, Cooldown: 10 seconds

Health Points: 15

Cost: 8 Vigor Stones

Walt fired off a green skull at Batzilla and then unloaded the rest of the charges of his wand into the pit at Mr. Nose. The Bloodhound disappeared in the exploding green flames, his tortured screams rising from the pit.

Then Batzilla was on him. The massive bat collided into him and they went flying into the tree tops. As he fell, the bat bit him, taking a chunk out of his forearm. He hit the ground, scrambling away from the monster.

Another Star Fury arrow hit Walt. This one bounced off his gauntlet, but his whole arm throttled from the impact. He could feel his forearm all the way up to his shoulder go numb. Then a third Star Fury arrow pierced through his left arm, prying between his ulna and radius. He almost passed out from the pain.

Walt saw red. At this point, he didn’t care if he killed these Bloodhounds. Everything after this point was a pure reaction to the pain he felt.

He played his next card. What looked like a stegosaurus, blue lightning crackling off the plated spines on its back, appeared in front of him.

Horatio the Harbringer. Minion. Set: Slaynami Vault. Rarity: Common.

Whenever you cast a spell under 3 Vigor Stones, you receive a copy of that spell in your hand.

Lightning: 8 Attack, Cooldown: 20 seconds

Health Points: 15

Cost: 8 Vigor Stones

As Horatio engaged Batzilla, Walt played his next card. It was Eldritch Bolt. A card that dealt seven damage to its target upon cast. And more importantly, its cost was under three vigor stones.

The purple card formed into a purple bolt of energy and flew into the pit, striking Mr. Nose. At the same time, a copy of the card appeared in front of Walt. As Horatio zapped Batzilla with its lightning attack, destroying the card, Walt found himself in a loop of hurling eldritch bolts into the pit.

He lost county of the flurry of bolts he was sending at Mr. Fang. But he knew it was bad when his system blared with a notification.

Warning: In Danger of Breaching Tournament Rule #9

It Is Forbidden To Kill a Psycho Slinger outside of a Duel

Casting Spell For Last Hit Forbidden

Walt bellowed and turned away in frustration, clutching an Eldritch Bolt card in his hand. He looked between Mr. Nose and his gauntlet. The Bloodhound in the pit was lying on his side, grievously injured by all his wounds from the cards. His bio-protective shield was crackling around him.

Mr. Fang, realizing what was happening, played Killshot, exterminating Walt’s stegosaurus minion and eldritch bolt generator.

That’s when gunfire erupted from his side. Rick appeared, walking towards the pit, firing automatic fire from his assault rifle into Mr. Nose. The personal shield imbue from the Slaynami gauntlet crackled, weakened.

Then it gave away completely and the Bloodhound danced like a doll on marionette strings as his body was riddled with bullets. Bullets ricocheted off the Slaynami gauntlet, but it was no longer protecting him.

The gunfire stopped. Smoke curled from the barrel and Rick stared down at the Bloodhound. The air was rife with the odor of gunpowder.

At the bottom of the pit, Mr. Nose gasped, his eyes full of surprise. Blood poured out of his mouth and his hands limply explored his body, finding all the wounds on his chest and torso. He coughed up more blood. Then his eyes dimmed and he fell back, his hands settling. His last breath escaped his throat as his chest fell and never rose.

Rick had delivered the last blow to the Psycho Slinger, the bullets somehow hurting the duelist in his weakened state.

On the other side of the pit, Mr. Fang was crouching, peering over the side, unbelieving. He jumped in and cradled his brother’s head.

“So they can be killed by normal weapons after all,” Rick said. “They just have to be weakened by another Psycho Slinger first.”

Walt was in shock. His brother-in-law had just killed a Psycho Slinger. One he had softened up with his cards. “You’re still in the military, aren’t you?” Walt said.

“I’ve worked in the civilian sector a long time now,” Rick said. “I’m something of a free agent these days.”

What the hell did that mean? Was Rick some type of CIA operative?

But before he could ponder this more, a minion landed on the edge of the pit. It rose to its full height, blocking out the moon. Six heads on long necks serpentined about, gnashing their teeth. It was a hydra minion of some kind.

[Examine]

[Hydraxadon]

Hydraxadon. Minion. Set: Serpents of Yseros. Rarity: Rare. The Devourer of the Autumn Sea.

Bite: 10 Damage, Cooldown: 10 seconds

Devour: 60 Damage, Cooldown: 2 minutes

Health Points: 25

Cost: 10 Vigor Stones

The gargantuan serpent was heading straight for Rick. Its multiple heads reared back on its neck to prepare to devour Walt’s brother-in-law.

A card ejected out of Walt’s gauntlet. As he was grabbing it, a Star Fury arrow hit him in the right side of the chest. The head burst out of his back and he looked down at the glowing arrow sticking out of him. Every small movement was now agony.

Gauntlet Integrity…50%....

Bio-Protective Shield…55% Operational….

Restorative Vigor…55% Operational….

Walt threw the card and a figure erupted out of the center, pulling itself out of the card. It was a humanoid but it was comprised entirely of what looked like raw hamburger meat and sausage links. More and more mass kept coming out of the card until the size of the minion rivaled that of the Hydraxadon. There was a yellow smiley face plastered to the head of meat.

Gary the Overprotective Meat Shield. Set: Slaynami Vault. Rarity: Common.  Gary is like an overprotective mother, he just wants to protect his master with his voluminous body.

Provoke: Causes enemies to attack this minion.

Meat Fist: 10 Attack, Cooldown: 10 seconds

Flesh Armor: 50

Health Points: 10

Cost: 10 Vigor Stones

Gary elongated, moving between Rick and the Hydraxadon. When he spoke, he sounded like a stuffed mascot from a kid’s show. Friendly but goofy. “Not so fast, Mr. Ugly Serpent Heads. You wanna get to my friends, you gotta get through me first.”

Walt’s minion collided into it, protecting Rick. Walt yelled at his brother-in-law. “I think now would be a good time to hide again!”

“Message received.” Rick was already disappearing into the forest.

The Hydraxadon roared, trying to pursue, but Gary’s mass was in its way. The hydra activated its Devour attack, and all six heads struck into Gary, their jaws snapping at him and tearing away huge chunks of flesh. Trees splintered and fell as the two beefy minions battled.

Walt ducked, barely dodging a collapsing tree, when he received another system notification.

[Mr. Fang Wants To Duel You]

[Accept Y/N?]

Walt turned and the surviving Bloodhound twin had crawled out of the pit. His hands, gauntlet and face were streaked with his brother’s blood. He couldn’t speak, but all he had to say was visible in his eyes. And they said one thing.

Revenge.