Duo flicked his wrists. The thin Luzid strings on his gauntlets tightened, and every blade hanging from the ceiling came screaming down toward Dwarven.
He roared, hammers flashing as he swung wild, deflecting steel in a storm of sparks. Dozens ricocheted away, but several drove home—stabbing into his thigh, his arm, and his back.
He dropped to one knee, blood seeping down his leg.
"Ouch," Duo drawled. "That looks like it hurts. Let's put you out of your misery."
He lunged, fist cocked, gauntlet humming, he swung ready to end it there but like a raged animal backed into a cage Dwarven bellowed, raising a Luzid shield. The punch slammed against it with a loud clap, his fist recoiling..
"CRASH!"
Dwarven swung into it detonating the shield, the shockwave sending Duo back but still on his feet.
"Resilient, aren't y—"
CRACK.
Dwarven's hammer smashed across his jaw, cutting him off mid-sentence. Duo staggered, then surged back, gauntlets flashing. The two traded punishing blows, but the tide turned fast.
Duo's fists found the embedded blades—he hammered them deeper, each strike ripping a growl of pain from Dwarven. The Grave Digger reeled.
Snarling, he swung wide, a finishing blow.
Duo smirked. His strings flared. The blades buried in Dwarven's arm shifted, stabbing deeper, knocking his strike off course. Duo caught the opening and flung him across the tavern, smashing him into the splintered timber of the bar.
"This is goodnight for you, Grave Digger."
Duo flung the rest of the blades into the air, strings whipping. He drew them down like a rain of steel—
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Bullets rang out. The blades spun, their aim thwarted as they flung to the ground.
Dwarven's eyes widened as he looked at the window where stood Jasper, revolver smoking.
She'd come back.
Duo stared—then burst into hysterical laughter.
"You were free!" he howled. "You could've run. But you came back for him? Are you some kind of idiot?"
"Run!" Dwarven yelled, forcing himself to his feet. "Get out of here! You gotta escape his range—"
"Get over here." Duo cut in, smirking.
A shimmer traced the air. A thin Luzid string ran from Duo's gauntlet—straight to Jasper. Duo's Mechanica gauntlets allow him to mark objects and connect strings to them that he can manipulate. However, there is a range to this ability. These marks can only last a day and the number of marks isn't infinite but more importantly is the range, no matter how far you go, you're still marked until the day ends.
Before she could react, she was yanked through the saloon wall, dragged into his waiting fist.
WHUMP.
His punch folded her to the ground. In an instant he used the string to hoist her back into the arm where he had her locked, one massive arm crushing her against his side, her arms pinned useless at her ribs.
Dwarven staggered upright, blood dripping down his arm, hammer clutched tight at his side.
"One more draw, Duo."
Duo cocked his head, amused. "Really? I've got the courier. You're leaking like a busted pipe. How do you plan on winning?"
Dwarven wiped the blood from his mouth, lips curling into a grin. "Still got one of the fastest hands in the west."
Duo barked a laugh. "Hah! I love the spirit, kid. I'll keep your name alive—as the bastard who gave me a run before I cyc'd him." He slid a dagger free from his holster, raising it beside his head, ready to throw.
Jasper squirmed in his grip, then froze when her eyes locked with Dwarven's. He winked.
In the same heartbeat, they moved.
Duo's dagger whipped back, then lashed forward on a tight Luzid string. Dwarven's hammer left his hand in the same instant and whistled past Duo's cheek, close enough to shear a lock of hair.
The blade struck —burying into Dwarven's shoulder, pinning him against the wall. He roared, blood soaking his shirt. Duo laughed, wild and breathless.
"Fastest hands in the west, my—"
The floor shattered as Duo's face slammed into the wood, his body yanked forward as the hammer came back and buried itself in the back of his head. Jasper went tumbling loose from his grip, flung clear into the air.
She landed hard, scrambling to her knees, stunned.
Across the room, Dwarven wrenched the dagger free, blood running down his arm. He rolled his shoulder and stepped forward, smirking.
"Okay," he growled, "maybe not the fastest. But smarter than you."
Duo lifted his head from the ruin of the floorboards—just in time to catch Dwarven's hammer in a brutal upward swing.
CRACK.
The impact launched him off his feet, smashing him headfirst into the ceiling. His legs dangled there, twitching above the wreckage.
Dwarven collapsed back onto the splintered floorboards, one arm draped over his knee. Blood pooled beneath him, dark and steady.
"Damn," he rasped, chest heaving. "You got me good."
His breath came ragged, vision swimming. He turned his head, eyes dragging toward the two heavy bags of Luzid Metal that had tumbled beside him. He reached, fingers trembling—then groaned, falling short.
Jasper stepped closer, hesitant. Her crimson eyes swept over him, then the wounds. It was bad. Too bad.
Dwarven looked up at her, lips cracked with a weak grin. "Looks like I won't be going to the Luzidterrarium after all."
Jasper waved her hands, eyes narrowing, demanding without words how he had pulled off what he did.
Dwarven smirked. "Oh, you're wondering how I got him?"
He squinted, then pointed past her—back toward the smashed tavern door.
She turned, following his finger. There, half-buried in the splintered frame, hovered one of her floating bullets.
"You were probably gonna use that to put a hole in him before he grabbed you," Dwarven said. "Sorry—didn't mean to steal your shine. But it nearly saved my life."
He rubbed his shoulder, still raw from the dagger. "I'd been thinking about your trick. How you made those ricochets bend the way you wanted. Then it hit me."
He tapped his temple.
"Intent. As long as you've got intent when you strike a floating bullet… it'll go where you want it to, won't it?"
Dwarven's grin faltered as a cough wracked his chest. Blood spattered across his hand.
Jasper froze, her crimson eyes widening. For all his bravado, the man was still bleeding out.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist, smearing red across his cheek, then chuckled hoarsely. "Guess… figuring things out doesn't count for much if you're coughing your guts up, huh?"
Jasper stared, unsettled—not just by his wounds, but by how quickly he had grasped the language of her Mechanica. For someone she'd pegged as a brute, he was disturbingly intuitive.
He bowed his head. "Maybe it's better this way. When I looked through your camera… I saw your family. You looked close. Happy. I remember what that felt like, once."
His voice softened, breaking. "You shouldn't die in a place like this. Not without them."
He forced his eyes back into focus, staring at her steady, silent face.
"What are you doing? Go. Before they come back."
Jasper didn't move.
"Hey." His voice cracked. "You hear me?!"
Instead of fleeing, Jasper dropped to her knees and pulled him into a sudden embrace. He froze, stunned, as her arms tightened around his bloodied frame.
Then she leaned back, pressing something small and luminous against his chest—a stone glowing faintly with Luzid light.
Heat rushed through him. The wounds along his arms and legs hissed as the glow spread, sealing ragged flesh, knitting torn muscle.
"What the—" Dwarven blinked at the glow searing through his wounds. His eyes shot to Jasper. "That's a Luzidstone?"
She nodded once, then pointed at him, herself, and finally toward the door.
A crooked grin tugged at his lips. "Got it. Looks like I will be going, huh?"
A smile passed between them.
Jasper stood, offered her hand. He clasped it tight, hauling himself upright with a grunt.
"Let's get out of here."
Together, they slipped from the ruined tavern into the streets of Tyla.
By the time they reached the base tier, the glow of the Aquatran station loomed ahead—so did trouble.
Dozens of Shriek's mercs crowded the entrance, rifles slung, eyes sharp.
Dwarven cursed under his breath. "Damn. They're still hunting you heavy here."
Jasper touched his arm, then tapped her watch.
He gave her a look. "Yeah, I know. Time limit." His jaw tightened, but then an idea sparked. "Wait… I've got it."
Not long after, a fist rapped against a workshop door.
It creaked open, revealing the old Onyxsmith. His red eyes widened as he spotted them—bloody, bruised, and standing side by side.
"Dear Saints," he muttered, exasperated. "What in the hell do you two need now?"