#cerisebcm

There are many other men in this world. What is one less? Destroy them without remorse.

Retson gracefully levitated down from his spot on top of the irrigation tower, the dirt and rocks on the ground below shivering when his boot-clad feet landed. Will Bonnett, across from him, with the Blackclaw at his back, just gave Retson a cold, one-eyed stare.

“Well, Bonnett, I see you won’t back down. Save yourself the embarrassment before you lose your OTHER eye!”

Will grit his teeth as a chorus of concerned, uneasy grunts and noises of worry sounded off from the Blackclaw behind him. “I’m not backing down this time, Retson. You’ve gone too far.”

“What NERVE you have! I spare you, and this is the thanks I get?” Retson narrowed his eyes, spreading his arms out with his palms wide. “I’ll have to teach you a lesson... in respect!”

The scar-faced mercenary tilted his chin up and clenched his fists, the air around him erupting into a flurry of dust and crackling red energy. He bulked up, instantaneously, putting on a full foot of height, his eyes glowing red and his veins bulging beneath his now leathery skin. The various Blackclaw had to squint and cover their faces to see the display.

“I’ve been training since our last encounter, Retson. This won’t be so easy for you...” Will threw off his Blackclaw training gi to reveal the trenchcoat underneath, settling his arms to his sides and concentrating hard. “...Especially when I take your EYES!”

The dust kicked up again as Will let out a loud, prolonged yell, his muscles bulging and his single eye dilating sharply. The ground shook beneath everyone’s feet and the hunter’s trenchcoat did a good imitation of an angry bat as he gathered more and more power, drawing upon the holy rage of friendship and liquor within himself, pulling it out and suffusing his body with it.

After what seemed like hours, there was a flash of golden light and, as the dust settled, there stood Will, muscular and tall, his now spiky hair dyed bright gold. Yellow energy crackled around him, whipping his coattails about. He directed a long-faced, stoic scowl at Retson.

“Nice hair dye, Bonnett-- but it’s not going to be enough. I’ll rip the meat from your bones and make furniture out of them! That’s if any are left in one piece!” Retson narrowed his eyes and suffused himself in another wave of red energy, cracking the ground beneath his feet.

“You’ve taken people’s lives and body parts again and again. Soon you’ll turn on the Claw. I’m not about to let that happen-- not yet!” Will clenched his fists and a bright flare of energy erupted around him.

“IT’S OVEEEERRRR, RETSOOOON!”

Then, in a brilliant clash of red and gold, they rushed at each other, their blows shaking the earth and forcing the spectators back. Retson struck with animalistic ferocity, pummeling the ground with every missed blow. Will moved with more precision, countering raw power with finesse, but his blows found no purchase on Retson’s hide.

The hunter leapt back against the irrigation tower as Retson delivered a spinning axe-kick to his forearms, resting there only a moment before leaping off when the engineer-turned-brute charged him. Retson’s fists tore into the foundation of the tower, shattering it clean at the base, but instead of letting it fall, he grabbed it in one hand, twirled it around, and hurled it like a javelin at Will.

Will bared his teeth and, in a flurry of yellow energy and skin, let his fists fly, pulverizing the tower at lightning speed as it ricocheted toward him, sending off a shower of stone, dirt and debris that Cerise only barely managed to stop before it machinegunned the Claw. This sent Will into a fury, and he leapt at Retson again. “YOU CALLOUS FREAK!”

Retson grinned and moved to parry-- but Will was too fast. He slammed his fist into Retson’s stomach, eliciting a spray of blood from the other man’s mouth. He brought his fists down again and again, punching Retson higher into the air before momentum kicked in and the other mercenary went flying across the field, kicking up a plume of dirt. Will grit his teeth and reached up to grab at his eyepatch.

“WILL! DON’T!” yelled Nora, eyes wide and face pleading, “YOU DON’T HAVE THE STRENGTH FOR THAT!”

“I HAVE TO TRY!” barked Will, and he tore his eyepatch away, settling into a fierce stance and cupping his hand in a circle around his empty socket, which began to blaze with bright golden energy as he gathered his power.

Retson pushed himself up from the ground in a spray of stone, eyes narrowing dangerously as he saw what Will was doing. “You want to play it THAT way, hm? Well, then, you’ll go out with a BANG!”

The scar-faced brute set his feet wide and brought both hands to his gut, cupping them around each other. A whirling, apple-shaped nimbus of energy quickly manifested, and arcs of red lightning surrounded him as he, too, gathered his energy, letting out a ragged yell as he did. Behind Will, Chessi gasped and Dezigrar grimaced.

“He’ll destroy the whole planet if he’s not careful-- everybody, back up!”

The Claw began to retreat as the two points of light, red and gold, grew brighter and brighter, Retson’s hands moving further and further out to accomodate the energy-apple and Will’s face contorting as he struggled to properly channel his power through his eye-hole. Their combined yelling reached epic proportions, splitting ears as easily as it split the trees and the ground. The clouds grew dark above them, and lightning arced down from the sky.

“ARE YOU READY TO FACE OBLIVION, BONNETT?”

“I’LL SEND YOU TO THE AFTERLIFE, RETSON!”

“VERY WELL THEN!” Retson compressed the energy-apple and then tilted his body to the side, gathering all the energy with his hands by his hip. Will leaned forward and widened his eye-circle, his aura flaring up brightly in anticipation.

“THIRD APPLE RELEASE: GALA GUN!”

“LIQUOR TECHNIQUE: OPTICAL OBLITERATION! FIRE!”

There was an alimighty roar as Retson thrust his palms forward and sent an apple-shaped wave of crackling red energy hurtling towards Will, who, in kind, let out a stream of scalding yellow life force from his eyesocket, phantasmal beer suds bubbling around it as it arced forward and met Retson’s blast head on, carving a steep crater on the round below the point of impact. For several minutes the two fought, pushing the beams back and forth, until, at long last, Will’s own beam started to press on steadily. This angered the Retson.

“No! You’re-- not going to beat ME!”

“You’re burning through power too fast to handle, boy! I’ll carve you like a Wintersday moa! For my friends! For Blackclaw! For my eye!”

Retson’s muscles bulked up once more in time with an almighty scream, and another surge of energy pulsed forward, tearing into Will’s beam and forcing it back. The hunter, gritting his teeth, knew he couldn’t match it-- so he took a third option.

He tilted his head upwards, directing his beam away from Retson’s and right at the other man’s head, letting the Gala Gun hit him full force.

And then, everything went black.