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Psycho Duel Chapter 26: Palaver
🕑 Added 2022-11-18 02:36:22 +0000 UTC“Well?” Richard said.
“Well what?” Walt said.
“Is it too much of a detour?”
“It’s along the way.”
“So…”
“Yes, Richard, we are going for the card forge.”
Richard punched the ceiling and laughed, giddy. “I’ve so many cards I want to dust! I also want to see which cards I can upgrade or combine. Do you think there’s a way to combine my Bloodshed card with my Falcata Sword to make it a vampiric weapon? So whenever I strike someone with it I can gain Health Points?”
“I don’t know,” Walt said, eyes on the road as he drove. “I’m curious to see what the card forge can do myself. Hopefully it comes with a tutorial.”
“Hot damn, son,” Richard said, “I feel like I’m a kid again on the night before Christmas, unable to sleep! A card forge! Can you believe it?”
Walt side-eyed the old man. This strange apocalypse seemed to have returned some youth and purpose to the older gentleman. “I don’t want to squash your enthusiasm, but we should be expecting opposition. I know it seems like we’re in the middle of nowhere, but we should prepare for the worst. We can’t be the only ones who know about the forge.”
“You mean Psycho Slingers?” Richard said. “I say bring it. I only have one win. I need another to catch up to you. And two more wins so I’m no longer a Trial.”
“Dueling doesn’t scare you?” Walt said.
Richard looked at him. “Scare me? No, you got it all wrong, kid. I’ve lived a long life. I was married to a beautiful woman. I had the best kids and family a man could ever ask for. But the past five years? I’ve been ready to move on and see Gloria in the after. The prospect of death doesn’t scare me. I welcome it! The way I see it, this tournament is bringing some much needed excitement in my twilight years. I’m happy to die defending this world.”
Walt didn’t know what to say to that. He sat there in silence, acknowledging Richard’s new lease on life but also his lack of fear. He found himself respecting the man.
“What did you do before you retired?” Walt said.
“Well, after I got out of the Navy,” Richard said, “I was a nuclear engineer. I worked for Bechtel at the Savannah River Site for a good portion of my career.”
Walt knew Bechtel. They had been interested in employing him at one point. They were a defense contractor.
“I worked on the GMD,” Richard said.
“What’s that?”
“Long range missile defense system. I have a feeling it actually destroyed a few of the Psycho Slinger pods when they arrived here.”
“So you know a bit about disaster response to an event like this?”
“Son, there are no events like this. Nuclear attacks that trigger the start of World War 3? A global pandemic? Hell, the government is probably more prepared for a goddamn zombie outbreak or the moon crashing into the earth than what’s happening now.”
“So you don’t think there’s a group of scientists out there who have been experimenting with inter or extra-dimensional travel? Or even technology?”
“If there is, then they’re just brushing the surface. This is advanced technology way out of anyone’s wheelhouse. It’s the type of invasion where we don’t even have the weapons or systems to be on the level. We’re having to use the invader’s own tools against them just to survive.”
“Seems to be working.”
“There’s one wild card the invaders may have not prepared for.”
“What’s that?”
“The stubbornness and creativity of the human spirit.”
#
The Johnny Cash Rest Area was a small rest stop consisting of two buildings positioned at a right angle with each other to make an L-shaped structure. It was about sixty miles outside of Nashville.
There was a green park-like area with picnic tables and grills. Waist-high wooden fence posts were flush against a side walk leading to the buildings that contained the rest-rooms and showers. There was a roofed outdoor area with vending machines and bulletin boards.
A tree line of poplar, ash and pine trees ran along the edge of the rest area and to the west there was an overpass for another road. It wasn’t yet midnight so the darkness was illuminated by the sodium buzz of lamp posts. Mosquitos still buzzed in the humid air.
When Walt pulled in they were the only vehicle in the parking lot.
“Well, here we are,” Walt said.
“Seems quiet.”
“Too quiet.”
“I don’t like it either.”
Richard’s card gauntlet hummed to life and a glowing card ejected into his hand.
“What are you doing?” Walt said.
“Putting my legs on,” Richard said.
He dropped the card at his feet. A cloud of smoke filled the bottom of the passenger seat, making Walt cough. When it cleared, a pair of armored boots were on Richard’s feet, reaching halfway up his calves. There were segmented metallic buckles and an exhaust grill on the heels glowed red. Tendrils of smoke drifted out of the grill.
[Examine]
[Rocket Goblin Boots]
Rocket Goblin Boots. Item. Set: Goblin Artificer’s Workshop. Rarity: Rare. A pair of rocket propelled combat boots designed by the goblin artificer, Regulus Crankshaft.
Charge: Charge at an area or thing at a rocket-propelled speed. Once per Turn.
Duration: 4 Turns
Cost: 4 Vigor Stones
“It allows you to walk?” Walt said. “You don’t need your wheelchair?”
“Yep,” Richard said. “If I had extra copies of the card I’d have ‘em on all the time. But I don’t want to risk losing them.”
“Do me a favor,” Walt said. “If you equip a sword, wait until we’re outside of the van.”
But Richard had the right idea. They should arm themselves and have some minions out as a precaution, should someone try to get the jump on them.
Walt exited the vehicle and he drew the Wand of Green Skulls, equipping it. And just for the heck of it, he equipped the Boots of Nemora. The wings on the boots flapped, lifting him into the air.
He almost fell sideways, but he used his abs to hold himself upright. The things required balance to get used to the movement and sway. It was an invigorating feeling, hovering in the air above the van.
He couldn’t help but grin.
“Oh, I’d like me a pair of those,” Richard said.
Richard willed the boots to return him to the ground. He lowered and touched ground again. “Whoa.”
“Not ready to go for a flight, yet?” Richard said.
“I think I’ll wait until we have the card forge and we know we’re safe,” Walt said.
“Do you notice the recall icon next to the card symbols on your interface?”
Walt concentrated on his inner face and saw the corresponding symbols on his HUD. “Yep.”
“So just hit recall if you want to re-gauntlet the card,” Richard said. “I wish I knew this beforehand. Could have saved me a Squire.”
Then Richard tossed a card into the air and a massive Falcata sword appeared in his hands. His rocket boots clanked across the pavement. “This place looks empty. Let’s go get the card forge.”
At that moment, the sound of something crashing through the brush came from the woods on the edge of the rest area. As a frantic precaution, Richard drew his Hiborian Chieftain and the large minion appeared in front of him as his bodyguard.
A beast and rider came barreling out of the pine trees and onto the green.
The large mount resembled a wild hog. But it was the size of horse and had a pair of wicked tusks curving off its mouth. It had a Mohawk and a white stripe running down its back. Hard ridges of armored skin covered its spine and vitals.
And it was dragging the body of a man in a sheriff’s human form behind it. He had been tied with leather straps to the back of the porcine beast and had been dragged for who knows how many miles. The man’s facial features were unrecognizable and his sheriff star glinted in the moonlight in its bed of shredded cloth and flesh.
[Examine]
[Razor Tusk]
Razor Tusk. Minion. Set: Porcine Kill Squad. Rarity: Common. A powerful wild boar of the Razor Tusk clan.
Pointed Tusk: 8 Attack, Cooldown: 5 seconds
Health Points: 15
Cost: 4 Vigor Stones
A lank and muscular Psycho Slinger in furs and chains was riding the beast. A red card gauntlet glowed on his left arm. His face was smudged with dirt and his hair was green. It had the neon green glow of the Psycho Slingers. His teeth were filed into points.
He piloted the Razor Tusk dragging the corpse of the sheriff so that it blocked Walt and Richard.
“Lo there!” the Bloodhound said.
Name: Jacob Maseria
AKA: HunterX
Psycho Slinger
Record: 2-0-0
Class: Bloodhound
Walt’s hand tightened on his wand and Richard raised his sword.
The Bloodhound raised his gauntlet. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Let’s not be so hasty. Could we at least have a word first?”
“I doubt you can say anything that’ll change our minds,” Walt said.
The Bloodhound sniffed. “I knew I smelled NPCs on the wind. And here you are. NPCs. Which means you don’t know the rules of engagement.”
“I think we’ve got the general idea,” Walt said.
The Bloodhound focused on Walt and smiled. “You look familiar. Are you sure you’re an NPC?”
Walt didn’t respond to that. He just mad dogged the Bloundhound.
The Bloodhound laughed. “Killing another Duelist outside of a duel is forbidden. The announcer didn’t tell you that?”
“The announcer must have glanced over that rule,” Richard said.
“It’s true,” the Bloodhound said. “The consequences can be worse than death.”
“For you maybe,” Walt said.
It was a Mexican stand-off of sorts. The atmosphere was tense. The warble of cicadas and the chirping of crickets set the soundtrack.
Sweat trickled down Walt’s face. Richard was chewing on his lip. The Bloodhound just sneered.
“You do realize that card gauntlet can kill you,” the Bloodhound said. “You think you’re in control of it, but it’s the other way around. Break such a rule, and someone at Slaynami presses a button and poof…that’s the end of you.”
“Does the same rule apply to our minions?” Richard said.
The Hiborian Warchief drew his weapon and advanced on the Bloodhound.
Suddenly, a figure materialized behind the Warchief. It had a blade positioned at the Warchief’s throat and it pulled back, slicing through the neck. Arterial spray decorated the air and the Warchief fell.
The figure with the blade turned, revealing a woman in a Menpo mask and dark leathers. She was wielding daggers.
A Silentblade.
She had a satchel on her back, that weighed heavy with an object. A blue glow came from the bag.
“Did you get it?” The Bloodhound said.
“Gotten,” she responded.
Richard looked in horror at his disappearing warchief. His gauntlet glowed grey as the card was destroyed.
“Wait,” the Bloodhound said. He was pointing at Walt. “I know who you are. You’re that NPC who beat Simmons.”
The Silentblade looked at Walt, recognition flashing in her eyes. Then she looked back to the Bloodhound. “We should go. We got what we came for.”
“Do you realize the clout and followers we can get right now?” The Bloodhound said.
“Let’s think about this –“ the Silentblade said.
But the Bloodhound cut her off. “The Voidlock is mine.”
[HunterX wants to Duel You]
[Accept Y/N?]
Richard looked from his gauntlet to the Silentblade. “You destroyed one of my cards.”
The Silentblade faced him.
“You destroyed one of my cards!” Richard said. “And I demand satisfication!”
Walt exchanged a look with Richard.
Here we go.
Two blue battleboard barriers shot into the sky in the middle of rural Tennessee.
Comments
Thomas Downing
“I demand satisfaction!” With your head!!!
Brandon Baier
Double dragon time
