WilliamDArand
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Overclocked -CH 23-
🕑 Added 2022-10-13 02:41:08 +0000 UTCAs the two Brawlers dove on Wrench he brought his hands up and readied himself.
His hand-to-hand was garbage but his System was most certainly not. He could supplement his lack of skill and ability with his over-powered super-power.
Cause fuck this shit!
Dropping himself into the slowed-down perception Wrench shifted forward a half-step as the men squared up on him. One had a rock held in both hands, while the other had a shattered length of stone that was three feet in length.
Moving forward as he did screwed up their approach and the track they were taking to him. Their line of approach was too sudden and soon compared to what they’d wanted.
Being new to fighting, they reacted as any would. They tried to adjust and shift so that the fight would be where they’d wanted it, rather than adapting to the situation they were presented with.
Both of them stepped away him to reset the distance to where they wanted it.
To which Wrench stomped forward to the man with the stone club, then lunged at the man with the rock. In feinting one way, only to dash the other Wrench baited them into action.
The man with the club swung upward from below, and the one with the rock moved toward him.
Closing the distance with Wrench inadvertantly.
Stepping forward Wrench shot out a straight. His right arm shooting forward at high velocity with his mind demanding an absolute response from the muscles.
Propelling his fist as if it were a rocket.
Though an unaimed one.
Wrench was just trying to hit him in the face without really anywhere specific.
Smashing into the left side of the man’s nose it rocked his head to the side and breaking his nose. It grotesquely bent and looked more like a curve from brow to nose tip, rather than a straight line.
Eeee!
Ah fuck, I just made that guy a work of art.
Abstract painting of a nose.
Not waiting, Wrench kept moving, though sideways. Going backward was a great way to get that stone club across the back of his skull. While he was putting Seventh and Mr. Happy at risk for a moment, there was no way Wrench could stay where he was.
Going down low in a crouch, just in case there really was a blow coming his way, Wrench spun with his steps. He reached down and touched the ground with one hand only to pop back upward after he confirmed the position of both his foes.
Broken-Nose had his hands covering the ruin of his face while the one with the club had forgotten they were fighting. He was rushing over to Broken-Nose now.
Uh… alright.
That’s good. You just… tend to him.
Cause this is one of those ‘spare them if you can’ moments I bet. If they want to pull themselves out of this fight, great. It’ll only be two-to-one then. Six versus eight.
Wrench let his thoughts bounce off along with his feet, carrying him back to Seventh and Mr. Happy.
Seventh had managed to club one of the men who charged her. He now had a new joint in his fore-arm, though it didn’t look like it was working very well.
Or so Wrench judged given that he was shrieking about it and running off into the distance.
Mr. Happy wasn’t faring as well though. The extra two people they were dealing with had joined in on fighting him. They hadn’t bothered to rush him in a melee though.
Arms full of rocks, they’d been throwing them at him.
Several had struck him in the upper-chest and head.
There was a gash in his forehead that had a great deal of blood that was constantly running down into his eyes. Causing him to use his left hand to wipe it away even as he tried to battle off the other-two who were rushing him with his pipe.
Glancing at the two who had charged him, Wrench felt like he could step in at this moment for Mr. Happy.
“Break off! Go!” shouted one of the enemby combatants. The speaker was unidentified in the frenzy of combat and Wrench could only watch as they sall scattered.
The two with rocks threw several more at Mr. Happy before fleeing as well. Dropping all the rocks they still had in their arms when they did.
Wrench quickly set his awareness to normal and eased off on the slow motion of the world. The headache that’d set up shop in his skull was quickly growing and was determined to settle in for the day.
“They fucking ambushed us,” growled Seventh as she watched them all bolt away.
At the same time a giant column of red light sprang up into the sky on the horizon.
Wrench couldn’t see where it was coming from, or what it was coming from, only the general direciton.
“Obviously you dumb bastard,” hissed Mr. Happy, using his left hand to wipe blood away from his face. His right arm was dangling at his side and it didn’t look to be in perfect condition.
Fuck. Did… he break it? I mean, you throw a rock hard enough and it breaks bones.
Shit.
Well… he’ll be giving himself a stranger in the future if he did break it. Unless a Tongsta heals him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think they’d do something like that. They’re supposed to be people who’ve never been in games, let alone fights. No experience at all,” Seventh complained. “I thought we’d be able to collect some weapons and then progress from there. Take it slowly.
“They… they fucked us and— I fucked up. I fucked up and I’m sorry. Shit.”
“It’s whatever,” Wrench interjected. “All we can do is recover, reform, and adapt. So let’s do that.
“Sitting around and planning a parade about how we screwed up won’t fix anything. Fuck only knows what the Tongsta will do to us. I know my own owner wants me to come back no matter what but I can’t speak for any of the others involved.
“I mean… it takes a certain Tongsta to bring their Hume to the games anyways. I wouldn’t really be wanting to bet on their mercy or compassion.
“So… let’s move ahead. What do we do next? Do we just go to that big ass red beacon over there? Clearly that’s where we’re supposed to do or they’re trying to signal that their Hab isn’t working and the filter needs to be cleared.”
Seventh and Mr. Happy were both looking at him. The latter still wiping blood out of his eyes as it constantly ran down his face.
Suddenly, Seventh let out a chuckle and shrugged.
“You’re right! Yeah, we go over there to the red light and take control. It’ll gradually turn blue the longer you’re in it. Once it turns fully blue that’s it,” explained Seventh.
Mr. Happy tore off a strip from the bottom of his shirt and began unwinding it so it was an inch wide and as long as he could make it. When he was done with that, he pulled it up, wrapped it around the gash in his head, and pulled it on tight.
Very tight.
“Fuck it, yeah. Not much else we can do but uh… I’m fucked,” Mr. Happy admitted with a shake of his head. He’d done his bandage job with his left hand primarily. His right only supporting when it had to, but it was clearly something he was avoiding. “Pretty damn sure my right arm has a break or something. Hurts to use it and it’s weak as piss.”
“Goodie,” Wrench offered and then looked to Seventh. “That means he’s just a body on the point and keeping people busy. With only you and me to do the heavy-lifting. I’m good. You? Didn’t seem like you took a hit or anything.”
“I’m fine,” Seventh agreed with a small nod of her head. “Alright… then that’s what we’ll do. Get what weapons we can, head up there, take the hill. Hold it.
“You just do what you can to keep people back or busy, Mr. Happy. Wrench and I will handle actually kicking people off the fucking hill.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Happy agreed.
Wrench only bobbed his head along to her words.
It wasn’t as if he had a better plan or anything. Wrench was most certainly not a planner or a thinker. There were no elaborate schemes to change or shape a world.
I’d have to have a shitty name like Ryker, or something. Or Edmund.
Those sound like asshole names that’d try to control shit.
Mr. Happy grabbed up the pipe that he’d dropped and held it out to Wrench.
“I can’t swing this for my damn life with my left hand. Would look like a little kid trying to play Brawler,” the man said with a sigh. “I’ll just duck dodge and keep’em busy.”
Wrench took the weapon and then looked to Seventh. He wasn’t going to naysay the man when it was obviously the truth.
However unfortunate it might be.
“We can wait a minute but nothing more than that. The longer we give them, the more time they’ll have to fix whatever might be wrong with their position. Get themselves put together,” Seventh growled. “I’ll not underestimate them again. Already made that mistake once.”
“Let’s just go,” Mr. Happy spat out.
“Yeah,” agreed Wrench.
Seventh didn’t say anything else and then began at a jog straight toward the red beacon.
Wrench fell in at the rear, though he did pause to pick up a particularly good looking rock. Given how effective it’d been for them, he figured he could at least return one of the rocks back to them.
Moving at a easy pace Seventh took them straight to the spot they needed to be.
A massive red beam was shooting up into the sky in a space that was a approximately a forty-foot wide circle, Wrench guessed.
In the center of it was a single story building in the middle of what had clearly once been a greenspace. With several benches around that clearly had been for sitting and simply enjoying the area.
Six of the eight enemies were there and on guard. Two were missing and Wrench assumed they were the ones who’d been injured. Likely hiding inside the building or elsewhere.
“Just get in there and force them to engage us. Let’s get on top of that building then hunker in the center. They can try to throw rocks from below if they really want. Though there looks like there’s a few things up there that could provide cover and limit their direction of attack. They’ll have to come up to fight us if they want,” Seventh ordered. “Mr. Happy, you’re the first one up since you’ve only got the one arm.”
“Okay,” said the man.
The trio rushed ahead, not bothering to say anything further.
Wrench didn’t really like the plan.
At all.
It assumed that the enemy wouldn’t be able to overwhelm them or do something else.
The primary asset that his group had was combat experience.
Trying to hide and force them to engage wasn’t leveraging that very well if the goal was actual fighting. For some reason, it felt like to Wrench that Seventh was trying to go about this safely.
To secure a victory and preserve herself at the same time.
Not that he blamed her, but in this case the enemy was feeling bold but shakey. That their morale was teetering but they had some ability.
Wrench felt like they needed to go all out and kill someone immediately. To stomp down the idea of resisting and get them to break and flee.
They’d already run once they started to lose ground, it was a given that they’d probably do it again. They were even more cautious than Seventh was, really.
She’s just stuck in her own head now.
Afraid to lose, but maybe also afraid to be bold enough to win.
Fine. I’ll help her launch Mr. Happy and then I’ll end this stupidity.
The enemy team didn’t move to engage them. In fact, they moved further away and spread out.
Moving right up to the building Seventh and Wrench set their shoulders to the wall and simultaneously made stirrups with their hands.
Mr. Happy stepped up onto them and was promptly flung upward as they pulled their hands up in tandem. Sending him right up to the edge and practically over it in the same motion.
“Okay, with me, Wrench,” Seventh said and darted away from the building.
Uh, what?
Unable to process the rapid change, he followed along behind her. Trying to stick close to her but keeping himself in a viable position to attack if he needed to.
“He wouldn’t have been able to help us in a fight, but he can help us up there. You and I just need to eliminate the others while he keeps his position. We’ll win by default as long as he’s there,” Seventh explained quickly, rushing straight at the group of six enemies. “Stay with me, fight with me, lay them out. You and I should be enough as long as we work together. If you see an opening, take it, I can cover you as well as you’d cover me.”
Ha.
Fun.
She sure can cover me. I bet it’d be fun, too.
Then again… getting another shot at Pretty-Girl would be nice. Damn was she lovely.
Wrench deliberately shunted his thoughts to the oncoming fight. His Systems were all primed right now. The only thing he’d have to do was re-activate his awareness.
The headache that was lurking behind his eyes was still there. Pushing at him and demanding that he take it easy, even if he couldn’t.
Seventh bull-rushed right into the left side of the enemy group. They practically melted away before her. One of them even taking to flight and simply running.
Before she could even land a strike, they were simply gone.
As one side evaporated, the other collapsed. Rushing in on Seventh and Wrench.
No sooner than it began than Wrench threw himself back into the slowed-down world.
Three foes were now within arm’s reach of himself and Seventh.
Whipping his arm around at a speed that was likely enough to tear muscles that weren’t empowered, Wrench slammed the pipe into the brow of the one closest to him. The weird ring of metal on bone sounding out as he planted his left foot down. Stepping forward he let his arm draw backward, then shot it forward.
The tip of the pipe zipped out and prodded into the shoulder of the brawler that was next to them. Their arm making a popping noise under the weight of the attack.
Wrench couldn’t do anything for the third attacker or Seventh. They were simply out of reach for him given the limitations of his weapon and time.
He needn’t have worried.
Seventh had reacted faster than he’d expected. Her body twisting out of the way of an overhead strike with a wound up club of what looked to be rebar. Packed back and forth on itself till it was bound up together.
It swished past her head and down behind her.
Her right arm flashed and the tip of the pipe she had was driven up under the man’s chin.
Then through it.
Going so far as to slam home into what could only be the inside of his mouth. Knocking his head backward with the force of the blow.
The Brawler Wrench had clubbed in the forehead had simply fallen backward and was laid out on the grass. Unmoving and looking quite stiff.
Two down, four to go? I guess?
No idea where the other two went.
Glancing over his shoulder he could see Mr. Happy standing on top of the building.
Watching.
He looked pained and nervous but didn’t move to join them.
At least he knows what he’s worth at the moment.
In his moment of inattention, Wrench missed when the side that’d bled away from Seventh’s attack, came back. Quickly overwhelming her with three people all rushing her.
The two unaccounted for members of the group had stood up as well and were in mid-throw with heavy rocks.
Wrench whipped his left arm back, did his best to visualize where he wanted the rock to go, then snapped his arm forward. In his reconstruction of his body, he’d spent the extra time to make sure he could use his left arm as well as his right.
Throwing with it wasn’t very complicated or an awkward process.
Zipping off the rock slapped into one of the two men’s chests, rather than their head as he’d been aiming for. There was a satisfying look on their face, but Wrench couldn’t spend anymore time on that.
Seventh had been struck twice by clubs, a rock, and was even now fending off a third blow.
They were concentrating on her so visciously that she had no time at all to put up a decent defense.
Yeah, no.
Fairy-tales where people just stand there and take on a group of people is bullshit. Unless you’re able to constantly regenerate the damage or have extra-sensory perception, you just die.
That means to save Seventh, I have to at least take out one. Or they’ll surround and drown me, too, when they’re done with her.
Skipping ahead Wrench threw out a quick jab. His hand connecting with the other man’s jaw and snapping it to the left and backward. He’d been damn near perpendicular to Wrench and gave him a great line of attack.
Seventh collapsed after her knee was struck with a stone-club. The force of it enough to knock out her center of gravity and send her to the grass.
Wrench stepped over her and lunged out with his pipe again. He caught the next closest brawler in the guts and they doubled up with the force of the blow.
Twisting his body, Wrench threw an uppercut into the downturned face of the man and sent him to the ground. His body splaying out in an odd way when he hit.
That left Wrench with one able-bodied enemy and two throwing rocks.
Using the pipe, Wrench looked to those distant from him and saw there were three rocks in the air now. Heading for him and most certainly to hit him.
Flicking his hand up, Wrench intersected each rock with the pipe. Knocking them aside and even batting one back at the two throwing them.
It missed them by a considerable distance but it gave them pause, halting in their throwing.
The last Brawler was panting hard and staring at him.
“Just pull her out-and let us win,” said the man with a shrug of his shoulders and holding his hands out at his sides. “It’s that easy. Otherwise-the three of us-will kill you.”
“You’re welcome to try,” Wrench offered with a grin. The headache was growing worse by the second, but he coudl deal with it.
It wouldn’t kill him, after all. It’d just make him wish he were dead.
He did dial it back a bit so the conversation wasn’t strange. He could always dial it back up in a flash if he had to.
“Or you could collect your friends and get gone,” suggested Wrench. “I’m not leaving and I’ll just have to fight to the death right here and now.
“I can’t really afford to let my Tongsta lose the bets she made. I’d rather… I’d rather go down doing my best for her. So… make your choice.
“Fight me, probably die, or just take your people and get the fuck out of my circle.”
Staring at him, the man was contemplating Wrench’s words.
He was probably a few years older than Wrench. With short-black hair and dark-brown eyes. He was handsome in a way, but not as eerily so as other Brawler’s he’d seen here.
“You’re not a Brawler,” he said suddenly, his eyes clouding. His mouth turned into a pensive frown and his brow came down lower.
“Fixer. I’m good at breaking Humes though,” Wrench said suggestively and waggled his pipe about. “Coming or going?”
As he more or less stalled for time, Seventh had been getting to her feet. Crawling out from under his protective posture over her and moving a step away.
She’d gotten to her feet slowly. It was obvious she was favoring the injured leg, but he didn’t doubt that she could probably fight like that.
Or at least to a small degree.
Behind him, he could hear Mr. Happy coming over.
Apparently the man had decided enough was enough and would help, even if all he could do was be there. Wrench wasn’t going to say no, as having more people, even injured, might cow their opponent.
“Going. If you really will let me get my people out of here,” stated the man. “I’m Thinker. I’m an Admini. We should have a conversation some-time.”
“Sure, whatever, great, you can buy me dinner, then I’ll ghost you because I don’t go that way,” Wrench declared while raising his eyebrows. He pointed with the pipe. “You should be going. Now. Before the Tongsta decide this needs to become a death-match.”
Thinker picked up the closest one of his people and began dragging them out toward the edge of the ring.
“Mr. Happy, Seventh, go away from here,” commanded Wrench. “Just in case. Make yourselves comfortable and be ready.”
Wrench didn’t move away. He stood there.
Staring.
There was no way he would look away at this point, nor would he back down.
Not with the end in sight.
Losing sight of your objective was a great idea to lose.
Comments
kir44n
Enjoyed the Edmund call-out, looking forward to his eventual series. But super enjoyed Overclocked
Peter
Agreed. I love the unexpected approach of using non-brawlers in gladitorIal games. Brawlers are toast against Wrench because they don't look to capitalize on his weaknesses. A thinking brawler like 7 has a better chance. Someone who can organize groups has the best chance. Nice to see some tongsta understand humes enough to capitalize on their pet's strengths.
Kyle Stitt
Man, lol can’t get enough
William D. Arand
Thanks! Some fights are simple and stupid. Some are a bit more of an issue.
Drew Risch
You're doing a great job of keeping the fights interesting. I know another reader was worried about that, but you’re nailing it 👍🏻
William D. Arand
My thanks for the compliment. :D
Alex Lindsay
I appreciate the chapter. It’s never quit what I was expecting.
