vs. Bandit Boss

Unfortunately, Max won’t just stand around and wait.

I fling my whole wallet at him (1 damage) and he’s upon me. I throw myself to the side and his body smacks the far train door off its hinges.

Past the gangway in the other car, the conductor is sprawled out on the floor. Whether he's dead or unconscious I can’t say; the gruesome scene barely has time to register before I scramble for footing.

Panting, Max whirls, and an enormous fist hurtles just past my ear. The air from this near-miss stings almost as much as if someone had hit me.

I feint pathetically before leaping back. For what feels like eternity but is in reality just a handful of seconds, I dodge his vicious punches.

It takes all my focus to avoid being struck. Whenever I jump forward to strike, he winds up and I retreat before either he or I can follow through. It’s a back-and-forth, a desperate struggle, where I have to kick, bite, or claw five-ninety-one more times and he just needs a single punch.

Don’t think, just fight. Don’t think, just fight. If you die, what happens to the girl?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

The train blares, and my battle-trance breaks. There’s time for a single thought to cross my mind.

Why am I alive?

No, really - why am I alive?

I’ve been “dodging” his attacks by jumping away. But after each leap, I’m pressed against the wall with nothing but a window at my back. All he’d have to do to finish me off is step forwards and unleash another haymaker.

He’s not pulling his punches; in his eyes is a deathly hate. But he only attacks when I try to close the distance…

He swings at me, I step back, and then stand. I unfold the newspaper I have in my pocket as if to casually read.

Max cracks his knuckles; sweat oozes from his ruddy cheeks. But in the end, he just stands there too. Could it be…?

Max has an enormous, hulking physique. He’s so large that he can’t fit between these second class seats!

And while his arms are as wide and stout as tree trunks, they’re also just as stubby. As long as I’m back here, I’m beyond his reach.

“Come forward and fight.” He huffs and puffs. “Lazy coward.”

“Max Attaco, third-rank of the Diamond Syndicate…” I say, crushing his article. “Robbery and murder wasn’t enough for you. Human trafficking on top of all that? You’re the one who’s scum.”

I tear the article into paper bits and throw the scraps at him.

1 damage! 1 damage! 1 damage! 1 damage!”

“You misunderstand. We in the Diamond Syndicate are not bad people. I want the girl’s body for her organs, only that and nothing more.” Max lowers his false conductor’s cap before he continues:

“Let’s truce. There’s no sense brawling for a slothful stranger who doesn’t even know your name. You’ll let me keep the girl. I’ll forgive you, and tip you two emprientes for your troubles…”

“Like-” 1 damage! “I-” 1 damage! “Care-” 1 damage!

I speak again: “A peaceful smile, even that of a stranger’s, is worth far more than money. You won’t have her body, and you won’t break her peace.”

1 damage! 1 damage! 1 damage…

1 damage! 1 damage! 1 damage…

1 damage! 1 damage! 1 damage…

The cabin is completely quiet. Cla-clunk cla-clunk cla-clunk, the train goes, oblivious to the conflict within its cars. Little paper balls are scattered at Max’s feet.

“Like I said… bodies are very important to the Diamond Syndicate,” He frowns. “They call me the Head’s strong right arm. Do you know why?”

“You got big biceps and you strong-arm people?” I say.

The bandit inhales sharply and his breathing quickens, faster, faster. His nose twitches and twists, wrinkles waving and pulsating, his eyes flash red and a misty azure aurora swirls around him. A diamond tattoo on his right arm pulses, pulses, as he presses two fingers against it.

COMBAT ART - MAX STRENGTH.

[A gift from a malicious demon. Allows muscle optimization.]

Cost: 20AP

“GWAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

His muscles bulge, contort, and roil. They liquify into a horrible ooze, and slither to his pecs and biceps before congealing into hard muscle.

The red glow fades. His arms and chest are packed with superhuman strength - but his legs are scrawny and wobbling, like a teenager’s.

“A strong upper body at the cost of your calves; that’s not scary at all.” I murmur “I’ve seen people that look like this every day at the gym.”

Max doesn’t respond. He flails his stub-arms, completely missing me - and grabs the two seats beside me.

He grunts, and there’s a quiet, aching, tear. He rips the benches from the floor and tosses them aside. I’m completely exposed.

“Ah…”

Max grabs my collar, lifts me in the air and spins me around. He grunts, and his bloated fist slams into my chest. The blow’s so forceful that I fly to the other side of the train car, and I tumble into the sleeping girl’s lap.

It’s a deathly blow. It’s…

…1 damage.

Just 1?

Maru | Level 0 Journeyman

Shld 0/1 | Atk: 0 | Def: 0 | Agi: 0 | AP: 1/1

Exp: 0/20

SHIELD BREAK! DANGER! Damage from now on will be sustained by the body!

“Shld” must stand for Shield. And as long as I have shield points left, my body will remain intact.

So no bones have been broken; though I had thought that my spine had been bent many years ago, as I bowed down to bullies, teachers and bosses. It seems even a man like me can still find it within himself to be strong.

“Tch…”

In this lopsided battle, I refuse to run away. At least I know my death will have had a meaning; that’s much more than had I expected for me.

As I struggle to stand, I feel a hand push my head down - it’s a kind, gentle, softness, different than the brutal fist that had propelled me to the end of the car.

It’s the hand of that passenger, the blonde-haired girl.

“It’s okay…” She strokes my hair. “Thank you for helping me. But now…”

A single finger gently brushes against me. One long straight line, a light diagonal and another dash, for “Z.”

Then she rises, and her blanket drops. She wears a cropped bright-white breastplate, and draws a rapier from its sheath near her thigh.

ZORRO | Level 100 Hero

Shld: 700/700 | Str: 175+100 | Def: 55 | Agi: 70+40 | AP: 80/80 | Exp: 0/100

*Equipped Bright Armor, Scaling Sword.

“...Now it’s time for me to fight.”