Guns & Roses

Chapter 48

[Hank]

Another explosion of stone. A moment of pain as something shape pierced his arm, before it numbed away. He knew he wasn't in good condition - his bones were probably shattered by now, but as long as Tricky was here, Hank wasn't given the chance to feel any of it.

The gravity thing was fun at first, with his sense of falling being changed every minute or so, but it quickly wore off. Now, it was obvious Tricky was just fighting dirty. At least they were giving him plenty of platforms, without them he would've probably been 'falling' for hours now.

Speaking of - Hank dashed across, landing on the next one as a sign blazed past where he was standing a moment ago. The rock was blown to pieces, but it didn't seem like it caused any serious damage this time.

How long had it been anyway? Hours? Most likely. Despite not feeling pain, it didn't make any damage go away, leaving his arm completely unresponsive to whatever he needed from it. More concerningly, he wondered why Tricky wasn't bored yet.

Usually they'd only go for about half an hour. Hank could only fight so long before his body failed him, and the clown was almost always bored by that point, and left him alone. This time was different though.

Again, he leaped for safety as Tricky destroyed yet another platform. One of his legs buckled, but recovered after a moment. Was his body really failing him this much?

How strange would it feel, he wondered, to die without any pain? According to his brain there was nothing wrong with him, nothing he could feel, anyway. Would it be considered death by natural causes?

No. Obviously not. He was delirious. But, was he really, if he was aware he was going delirious? Probably. Either way it didn't matter. His main goal was to make it out of this fight.

Another leap. Another platform gone. Although he didn't have many options, he was bitter that he was reduced to just trying to survive, instead of actively fighting. Who would ever enjoy just trying to escape? This was miserable.

No. He refused to be beaten down this badly. Maybe most of his body was finished, but he wasn't. The sign came hurdling toward him again. He dodged past it, jumping up and grabbing Tricky with his good arm.

Instinctive he tried punching with his other arm, but nothing happened. Right. It was responding anymore. How fun. All he could do was glare as Tricky grabbed him and threw him against another stone. Once again, the gravity changed and that rock became his point of reference for 'down'.

At this point, most people would pat themselves on the back, saying that at least they tried. Not him. If he were really trying he probably could've fought still. But no, nothing came of his attempt, so he mustn't be trying hard enough.

"FRIEND SEEM TIRED." The clown had stopped, standing on the ground - which was vertical to Hank at the moment - leaning against their sign. "CLOWN HEAL??"

As much as he'd like it, he refused to be granted pity. Instead, he simply glared at Tricky, whose expression dropped into disappointment. Or, Hank thought it was. With how mangled the clown's face was, it was hard to tell.

Tricky groaned, the platforms sinking back into the ground as gravity returned to normal for Hank, as he slid to the ground, still leaning against the rock. "FRIEND NO FUN."

Tricky sunk into the ground, their sign still poking out, before it began zigzagging away into the distance.

As soon as Tricky disappeared over the horizon, the pain that had been previously hidden from him came back. At first, it was a dull ache under his skin, before turning into a wildfire of pains everywhere along his body. Most notable, his unresponsive arm felt like someone was tearing him apart, nerve by nerve.