by Ryan Tang
There was another awkward pause as The Tooth Man searched for information on his opponent.
Lonely felt a strange stab of anger. He knew the Familiar and Aspects of every member of every House. He should have been the one blessed with a powerful Familiar, not The Tooth Man. His enemy took his powers completely for granted.
"Dowser. I accept your challenge."
The yellow and black machine raised its scepter.
"I've brought friends and seconds to aid me."
That was the ceremonial line Drowsy had to speak before Lonely and the others were allowed to help him. Anything else would be considered an ambush. From here, The Tooth Man could call his own seconds or refuse the challenge. But from long experience, Lonely already knew what The Tooth Man was going to say. In two of his previous six battles, Lonely had fought alongside allies, though he'd never planned out his team as meticulously as he had for today.
The Tooth Man sneered.
"Of course you did. You wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise. I will defeat them all at once! I'll show everyone their place! I'll make all your friends behave!"
White teeth flickered in and out of The Tooth Man's machine as his Pride surged at the thought of defeating many opponents at once. Familiar outbursts were uncouth and the mark of a weak mind, but seemingly nobody had told that to The Tooth Man. Being strong enough to singlehandedly destroy a Castlecraft usually stymied criticism.
Drowsy struck as soon as The Tooth Man accepted his challenge.
Battles between Nobles always fell into two separate phases. The first was when both pilots struck each other with their most potent attacks. The abilities were called Finishers, but in truth, they usually began and ended a fight all at once. The key was to overwhelm the other person's Familiar as soon as possible. Even the weaker Familiars offered access to the obscene speed and durability of Liquid State Eternium, a strength that Lonely would never know.
Drowsy managed to land his spell first.
"World of Doze!"
It was almost a painfully unambitious name. The word "doze" told everyone just how weak Drowsy thought he was. The ability to put opponents to sleep was immeasurably strong in single combat. The only problem was Drowsy's weak will and lack of confidence. Drowsy needed Gallant's bravado. His little sister's will was too strong for her Paragon. She was so enthusiastic the metal would exceed its Liquid state and simply dissolve into Gas. She looked stupid whenever that happened, but more training would fix it. If Lonely didn't mess things up too badly, Gallant would restore their House to repute the day she became a grown woman at thirteen. The Nobles matured far faster than the Ignorants.
The Tooth Man reeled, and his machine visibly slowed. Even the flames the thrusters spat out seemed to weaken. But the top-tier pilot still managed his counterattack. He confidently shouted the same words as before, even though his voice dragged through every syllable.
"Thousand Teeth – Punch Supreme!"
The stark white teeth appeared again, and he slowly charged forwards.
Lonely prepared to launch. Drowsy wouldn't survive on his own.
"Forever! How much more time do you need?"
She giggled and giggled.
"I'm so strong! I'm so strong! I've never felt so strong in my life!"
"How much more time do you need until you can destroy him?"
"Fifteen minutes! Just fifteen minutes!"
Scry True let out a massive sigh of relief. Fifteen minutes meant that the thin man didn't have to go outside and fight.
Lonely's disguised machine charged out from its hidden nook, streaking forwards at breakneck speed to intercept The Tooth Man's ultimate attack. He could angle himself from his hiding space so that he'd block the fists where they were weakest. He'd used the same technique during his last duel with The Tooth Man, a narrow fight that'd lasted for full forty-five minutes until his machine was too damaged to go on.
There was an enormous crash.
Lonely grunted as his Paragon spiraled back toward the asteroid. The impact had jolted him so hard it felt like his stomach had burst from his chest and flown into space. The Tooth Man was strong even under the ideal circumstances.
But his gambit worked.
The gray and indigo machine flew uselessly over Drowsy's yellow and black Paragon.
The teeth flickered and faded, just as they'd done the last time Lonely had fought against him. Being deflected by a mere shield - a mere shield without even the power of a Familiar behind it - wounded The Tooth Man's overflowing Pride.
That was the first step.
"You! You! Who do you think you are?"
The Tooth Man turned around and let out a roar of rage.
The blue and gray machine charged again. Lonely was ready for him.
Scry True's voice rang out.
"Thirteen more minutes."
Lonely smiled behind his cold mask. Thirteen minutes was easy.
____
Familiar Nullification.
As the first Noble born without a Familiar, it was Lonely's only hope.
Wards could harm or even kill the holy companions, but that would only guarantee a quick visit from the Namers.
Sometimes, violent encounters between two Familiars could temporarily injure the creatures, ending the link and exposing the relatively vulnerable Paragon. Had Lonely not interceded in the clash between Drowsy and The Tooth Man's Finishers, that's what would have happened to Drowsy's snake.
But there was another way to nullify the Familiar too - attacking a pilot's Aspect and breaking the link between Noble and companion. For all of his other flaws, The Tooth Man was very closely tied to his Aspect. He was an incredibly prideful man, and no matter how hard Lonely tried, he couldn't break through the combination of never-ending teeth and Liquid State Eternium. During the brothers' ambush, The Tooth Man's machine had survived a point-blank explosion.
Link severance was Lonely's best and likely only angle of attack. He and Gallant had spent hours experimenting, and the last time he'd fought The Tooth Man, he'd noticed quavers in the sea of sharp white.
Lonely feinted to the right, and then fell back right as the white fist barreled past him. By now, he was so familiar with The Tooth Man's style that he even knew how to bait him into attacking in a certain direction. The Tooth Man's technique was better than Lonely wanted to admit. His swift punches and careful guard were reminiscent of an Old Earth boxer. But his burly design kept his machine from changing directions quickly. Even after Lonely dodged an attack, it took The Tooth Man time before he could prepare his next blow.
With careful predictions, Lonely's machine could even outspeed Liquid State Eternium.
Lonely rapped his opponent sharply on the head with the poleax. When The Tooth Man turned, he used the flat to smack him in the ass. Without Liquid State Eternium, swinging as hard as he could would only cause the weapon to shatter against The Tooth Man's countless teeth.
This way was better.
Lonely laughed, and The Tooth Man bellowed.
"What's so funny? What's so funny?"
The fist swung up in the air, a devastating uppercut that Lonely only managed to avoid because he'd known it would come. The liquid Eternium rippled as the muscular arm surged past. The blow was so powerful that the young pilot shook in his cockpit even though the punch hadn't come close to hitting him.
Lonely responded by smacking the tank-like machine in the cockpit with the flat of his blade. The white teeth sprouted to shield the pilot, so Lonely simply slid the ax across to make the loudest noise possible.
He made himself laugh again.
"I thought you were supposed to be strong? If it weren't for your shark, you would have died there!"
The Tooth Man roared and swung again. Lonely dropped straight downwards, falling into empty space as the Tooth Man's haymaker went wide. The brutish man was turning sloppy very quickly. That attack had been an amateurish mistake. In a fair fight, the Tooth Man would have fallen then and there.
&n
bsp; Lonely rapped him in the knee three times. That was how the Surgeon had beaten him. She'd skewed his vulnerable joints with her whisper-thin blade and left his Paragon a crumpled pile on the floor. But Lonely wasn't the Surgeon. He couldn't call forth Liquid State Eternium, and even if he could, the joints were protected now.
"It seems like I don't even need to call my Familiar."
That line could have been a giveaway if only The Tooth Man were smart enough. Lonely had told a similar lie to his allies, claiming that if he fought without a Familiar, it would hasten The Tooth Man's shame. Fortunately, it was his first time using that excuse, so they fell for it well enough. People would soon catch on if there were a mystery pilot who persistently refused to use his Familiar. Or maybe they wouldn't. A lot of the Nobles were dumb as hell.
Lonely forced ease into his voice. He needed to sound like he wasn't even trying. But it was hard to keep out the fear. In their past fights, he'd smacked The Tooth Man bloody, but because both sides knew just how frightened Lonely was, the shark Familiar's strength never faded.
But this time, The Tooth Man was embarrassed.
And soon, The Tooth Man would be scared.
A fist whistled by, and Lonely kept up his confidence as he continued to taunt him. His throat gulped as he swallowed the fear whole. The fists whirled around him over and over again. If it weren't for all his hours studying the film of The Tooth Man's fights, Lonely never would have survived. Even a single blow empowered by those teeth would destroy him.
A haymaker whistled painfully close to his cockpit, a hasty strike might have killed him - intentional killing was illegal, but accidents always happened in tight battles like these. The Tooth Man would have claimed innocence and Lonely's partners would have been too scared to contradict him.
The masked pilot jammed his shield on The Tooth Man's arm, deflecting the blow just enough so that the teeth merely scratched his machine instead of shredding it to bits.
Lonely cursed.
He had to stay careful.
The Tooth Man's strength was the stuff of legend.
In their last battle, Lonely must have hit The Tooth Man over a hundred times. The Tooth Man only had to hit him twice. A single blow would immobilize Lonely's machine. The Tooth Man's beloved Punch Supreme would follow shortly after.
Lonely made himself laugh again.
"What Way are you using? I don't recognize your style."
The Tooth Man's roar became a shriek, and this time Lonely's laugh came naturally. It was funny how stupid his rival sounded.
"The Way of the Shark! The same as my noble Familiar!"
Two more overloaded swings. Two more easy dodges by Lonely. Anxiety tightened in his guts. He shook his head and whispered a curse. The moves were simple on the surface, but the knowledge that defeat lurked behind every corner put relentless pressure on his mind.
"The Way of the Shark?"
A few more scrapes across the teeth over his enemy's cockpit, just to show him how easy he'd kill in in a fight without Familiars.
Three more strikes at the knee, another reminder of the woman who'd crushed him the last time they fought.
A deceptively casual backhanded blow that dented the fin on The Tooth Man's head.
The teeth were fading, although Lonely knew better than to try and go for the win himself. It was far too much of a risk, and he doubted he had enough power. He would use Forever to land the finishing blow.
"How much longer?"
"Eight minutes. Eight minutes."
He turned his focus back on The Tooth Man.
"The Way of the Shark? I'm familiar with it. Although it seems like the true form is a little different."
The Way of the Shark was relentless and explosive. It embodied the single-minded ferocity of the king of Old Earth's sea, the greatest predator the sinful gods ever made.
It'd only taken a few insults for The Tooth Man to forget how to fight. He was nothing more than a fake tough guy, a loser the gods had blessed in their capriciousness.
The fists barreled towards him. By now, the teeth were flickering in and out so quickly it almost hurt Lonely's head to look at them. A sidestep. A deflection with his shield. The fist struck again from behind, but Lonely simply dropped straight down, leaving the thick machine spinning comically.
"I seem to recall a different Way of the Shark."
He struck forwards with a sudden strike, careful to hold back his power. His ax clanged against The Tooth Man's teeth. He feinted and then slipped his weapon through The Tooth Man's clumsy guard. He landed a third strike and a fourth. Before long, The Tooth Man gave up blocking. He swung his fists in a mad whirl in a desperate bid to reclaim the offensive, but he didn't come close to landing a blow.
Lonely struck, struck, and then struck again, all while using a sneering teacher's tone.
"There's no need to work yourself into a frenzy if they aren't vulnerable. That's not the Way of the Shark at all. That's just the Way of the Moron."
A tap. A tap. And yet another tap. He played The Tooth Man's cockpit like it was a drum.
"If I were actually trying, you would have died any of those times!"
A scratch appeared on The Tooth Man's cockpit. The Liquid State machine stopped rippling. The metal gradually returned to Eternium's usual solid form. The stocky machine moved slower and slower.
Lonely's taunts were succeeding more than he ever would have imagined, but he couldn't get overconfident. Even a loose blow would shatter his Paragon, or worse, kill him.
"How much longer?"
There was an awkward pause.
After taking in so much power, Forever was virtually lost to the world. She simply giggled and giggled. But Scry True should have responded.
"Drowsy? Drowsy? How much longer?"
His ally cursed.
"Let me check with them."
The fist whirled towards him again, and Lonely ducked back, tapping The Tooth Man on the head twice in rapid succession on his way out. The second strike cut a wide gash across the shark's snout.
"What's the Way where you miss all your attacks?"
The Tooth Man let out a choked scream.
"Thousand Teeth: Punch Supreme!"
The jagged teeth reappeared all at once, and he charged forwards with blinding speed. He was putting everything into this attack.
"World of Doze!"
Drowsy interceded and saved Lonely, just like Lonely saved him. His Finisher slowed The Tooth Man just enough for him to duck around.
The masked pilot let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected The Tooth Man to lash out so suddenly and so powerfully. His enemy was far from done.
The Tooth Man hooted, but Lonely could hear the fear and confusion in his voice.
"What was that? Needed your friend's help? Remembered your place?"
The teeth slowly reappeared.
Lonely sneered.
"I just wanted to show you that even a low-level Noble could hold you down. I was afraid if I called on my Familiar on someone like you, the Namers would come after me."
The teeth disappeared again as The Tooth Man fell into a sullen silence. Lonely let out a sigh of relief. How much time was left? It couldn't be much longer.
"Scry True! Scry True! How much time is left?"
Forever continued her useless giggling.
Scry True's voice was still flat despite his fear and surprise.
"Someone's coming! Someone's coming! I don't know who it is, but I just realized someone is coming! What if she's here to help The Tooth Man?"
Lonely frowned.
That couldn't be. The Tooth Man never fought with allies.
Who could it be?
Yet another fist came, and Lonely pushed the thought out of his mind as he dodged it. They'd deal with whoever it was when they arrived. Once Forever was ready, she'd eliminate The Tooth Man. They could deal with his ally four against one when the time came.
"Just focus on the fight! Don't worry about who it is! Once they c
ome, we'll be able to win!"
The ax whirled and chopped as Lonely went back on the offensive.
"This is the real Way of the Shark!"
His ax clanged and clanged. More and more of his cuts were inflicting real damage. Lonely could see the thin white scratches on his enemy's machine. There must have been over a dozen of them. Soon, the burly machine's arms and legs were entirely solid. When Lonely slashed at his limbs, the marks stayed put instead of boiling away. The Eternium had run out of energy, and the Paragon no longer had temporarily lost access to Liquid State Eternium.
Forever's high-pitched voice echoed in their communications link.
"It's coming! It's coming!"
It was hard for Scry True to ignore a new vision, but he managed. He stopped paying attention to The Tooth Man's ally and continued reporting on Forever's charging time.
"One minute! One minute!"
It was time to lead The Tooth Man into the trap.
Lonely threw the ax aside, and then he threw the shield away as well.
He made himself giggle. A giggle would bother The Tooth Man the most.
"These punches are weak! Let me show you what a real punch is like!"
That was the line that would offend him the most, even more than Lonely's mockery of his Way of the Shark. The Tooth Man couldn't abide a challenge to his beloved punches.
The enemy ace roared as he streaked after him. Lonely had to lead The Tooth Man right into Forever's line of sight. She couldn't aim her fully charged attack. She had to get Scry True to turn her machine.
Lonely would bring The Tooth Man in line. Then Drowsy would cast World of Doze on him to temporarily incapacitate him. Then Forever would deliver the final blow.
Lonely smiled.
He could taste his upcoming victory. His hated foe would finally stop tormenting him.
"Get back here! Get back here! Let me teach you your place!"
Lonely continued flying backward as fast as he could, jilting to the side, twisting his body, turning his shoulders, doing everything he could to prevent The Tooth Man from hitting him. He feinted a couple of punches, but he didn't dare to strike. Landing a hit might break The Tooth Man's Pride for good, but it was more likely than not to bring Lonely into the tank-like machine's massive grasp. If The Tooth Man got ahold of Lonely, the fight would end in moments.