Alex clenched his metal fists as he looked up at the massive skeletal form Mister Deadman had taken on. It was the second time he faced down the chimera form Mister Deadman took when activating the second level of his curse. The last time, he had the benefit of being in a metal room, which let him exploit his magnetism.

This time, he only had the weeks of training and his experiences since Death's Yard.

"You're really going to do this again?" Alex asked, holding up his arms with his hands like a boxer. "I already beat you like this once!"

Click. Click.

"I let you off easy last time, Ortega!" Mister Deadman's voice echoed from above. "You tricked me last time in a very uncool way. I won't let that happen again, you hear?"

"I doubt that," Alex whispered.

Crack.

The roof below him was bending under Mister Deadman's massive weight. Alex didn't know how long it would hold. He needed to end the fight fast.

Well, 'needed' was a strong word. With the gems scattered in the building around them, Alex wasn't sure that Mister Deadman could break anymore. So long as he could keep his head on straight and out of a memory, he stood a better chance.

Whoosh.

"Steel Wall!"

Bzzt. Clang.

The claw came for his head, and Alex instinctively raised one hand. A metal wall as tall as he was burst into existence, intercepting the claw before it could reach him and deflecting it away. Mister Deadman wasn't going to give him more time to think.

"Empty Vault!"

Alex jumped using the wall, throwing himself into the air with a magnetic push against the wall and jumping over the second claw with only centimeters to spare. He was up in the air above Mister Deadman in moments, and the island below began to pull him back down.

He raised a fist as he leaned into his descent, embracing the gravity as it pulled him faster towards his target.

"Acceleration Piston!"

He came down like a cannonball, and the man had nowhere to run, thanks to the small space of the roof relative to Mister Deadman's larger form. Alex slammed into him with his fist, hitting one of his legs as the scorpion's body skittered to evade.

Crack. Thud.

Bone broke from the force of his fist. Alex slammed into the ground, his body shaking from the vibration but otherwise whole. The bone leg fell beside him, and the fight paused momentarily.

"You'll pay for that!" Mr. Deadman yelled before skittering to the side and away from Alex.

Click. Click.

He turned his massive body, pincers snapping as he regained his composure. Alex stood to face him, dropping his arms as he focused on an image in his mind—a massive metal ball, large enough to clatter through Mister Deadman like a bowling ball.

"Rail Cannon," he said, raising one arm as electric lights burst around his arms.

Bzzt.

Blood ran down his nose as the image formed, and a cracking pain shot through his skull. Though he had time to train some, manifesting too many objects with his curse still put massive stress on his mind. Alex pushed through, sending the ball careening for Mister Deadman's legs with a magnetic push.

Thwoop.

It shot out at the charging scorpion's body, making a beeline for the legs. Alex hoped he could knock out a few of them. His punch had done the job for one, but experience told him that Mister Deadman's body wouldn't go down with just one hit unless he were willing to go for the central controlling body.

A sharp stinger and two claws were all he needed to know not to rush headlong into that death.

Twap. Crack.

Like a bad-ball hitter, Mister Deadman lashed out with one claw, catching the ball at an angle and bunting it to the side and into the top of a nearby building. It faded with a crackle of blue light as it rolled out of range.

"Great." Alex sighed, holding up his arms again. "We're going to have to do this the hard way. Step."

He disappeared, charging for Mister Deadman in a blur of movement as his feet hit the ground in a flurry of kicks. He crossed the distance between them, appearing a little more than halfway between them before he jumped. He brought his hands together, focusing on an image of a large staff as a blinding light cut through his skull.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Steel Staff!"

Bzzt.

Blue lights crossed his fingers and extended out along his metal arms. A massively long and wide pole appeared as he swung down. Magnetic force flowed along his body. The pole twisted down, the end snapping faster than Alex could with just his junk arms as he came down on the scorpion's left side.

Crack.

Bone snapped underneath the slamming metal staff, and a wave of dizziness shook through Alex's head. The staff stayed in his hands for a few more precious seconds as he floated in the air, suspended by the end of the staff that had slammed on Mister Deadman's body.

Bzzt.

The staff burst into a blast of blue light, and Alex fell. His mind wavered, and his vision blurred as he fell toward the roof. He was only vaguely aware of Mister Deadman's scorpion form, scuttling away in a limping motion. His attack had managed to take out an entire side of Mister Deadman's legs.

Thud.

Alex hit the rooftop and rolled. A shock of fire ran down his legs and arms, but he stayed conscious despite it. He hit the edge of the roof and used it to force himself back on his feet. Across from him, Mister Deadman leaned on one set of good legs, his others broken and his scorpion body useless.

"Got you," Alex gasped, stepping forward on shaking legs. "Now, let's end this. You're not getting away this time."

"That's where you're wrong, you hear?" Mister Deadman hissed. "How could I be cool if this wasn't my final form? Bone Compression!"

Crick. Crack.

Alex shook his head as Mister Deadman's form shrunk down. Bones folded in on bones, all wrapping around the center body that rested on the scorpion's head. Claws merged into Mister Deadman's arms, and a long tail arched out of his back.

Thud. Crack.

Mister Deadman stepped forward, a bone-white helmet forming around his head. His hat fell away as he advanced step by step toward Alex. Alex understood what the form was immediately. He'd have to be an idiot not to.

Mister Deadman was compressing the power of his giant chimera form into a smaller body. The bones' defenses were folding in on themselves and flattening—strengthening and hardening with each fold. It was a good idea. He couldn't do anything with it at the moment, but the idea had some application.

Hiss. Thud.

"Now, you hear that you're not the only one who can learn new tricks?" Mister Deadman breathed a hiss of steam from his mouth and all across his back as he approached Alex. "My body may be frying, but even you have to admit this is cool, you hear?"

The roof shook beneath him with each step, and Alex realized he hadn't given up any weight when he took this new form. It was the full weight of his scorpion form, compacted into the size of a man.

Power.

"Looks costly," Alex said, blinking slowly to help ease the headache that rambled across his forehead. "You're barely standing up."

"Hah." Mister Deadman tried to shake his head, but he could barely move it due to the bone encasing him. "You're not wrong, Ortega. But I think this form will be enough to beat you down."

"Step."

Alex leaped forward, instantly crossing the distance between them and appearing behind Mister Deadman. He swung one metal arm at Mister Deadman's back. He counted on the slower movement he saw to allow him to get a few solid hits in.

Thud.

Mister Deadman didn't budge as his fist slammed against his back. Alex paused for an instant, his eyes widening as he took that in. Then he noticed the tail curving around faster than Mister Deadman could turn and racing for him. He threw up his second arm, catching the point with the palm of his metal hand, which was thankfully removed from his real palm.

Crunch.

Metal broke under the sharp tip of the tail. It pierced through like it cut through butter. Alex wrenched his hand free and jumped back. He dropped his hand beside him and heard the steady hiss as a dark green liquid fell from the pierced palm.

"Poisoned," Alex said.

"Always has been." Mister Deadman turned, still slower than before. "You're not going to be able to break through my bones, and I will win this fight eventually."

"What are you going to do if I just run away?" Alex asked.

"You'd be giving up everything if you did that." Mister Deadman smiled. "So long as I'm still here, with these gems in my pockets, you won't be able to free your crew, you hear? So, go on and crawl away! Lose your cool!"

He had a point. Alex knew he was down to just one or two gems, but even leaving one behind would be like killing one of his crew. He may have been an outlaw, but he wouldn't do that.

"I could wait for your form to run out," Alex said. "There's no way you can maintain something like that forever."

"I can keep it long enough for one of the other Fingers to notice. Do you think your crew is ready to take on Miss Malone right now? That's pure fantasy, you hear?"

So, the only option was to fight. Alex's body had already been pushed by the objects he had conjured. Combined with calling on all the coins to kill the spiders, he didn't think he could fight on much longer without a break. He had to figure out how to break Mister Deadman's bones and take him out for good.

The only good news was that he had a plan.

"I don't know about that," Alex said, raising one fist high. "You've made a good defense. I'll give you that. But it isn't unbeatable. I just need to get you on the right level."

"And how are you planning to do that?" Mister Deadman laughed. "You barely moved me with your punch earlier, you hear? Face it, you can't put a scratch on me."

"Might."

Thud. Crack.

The rooftop beneath them splintered as Alex gave the beams supporting the roof one final blow. The wooden beams below couldn't take the weight, and a critical failure spread across each beam. What had been solid ground gave way, and Alex dropped down into the shadows of the building below.

However, he wasn't alone. Mister Deadman followed him, slamming down hard on the floor and going straight to the bottom floor. He didn't end there, though, crashing down one final time through that floor into what should have been the building's stone foundations.

Each floor now had a massive hole where Mister Deadman had landed, and Alex, standing on the second floor, was surrounded by the debris from the roof. The darkened light of the sun behind the mist illuminated the second floor, and Alex cast about with his senses to find the tool he needed.

He didn't think he could keep going at Mister Deadman by conjuring more metal constructs. He had already pushed his curse far enough for the day. However, that didn't affect what he didn't need to create. All around him, by the hundreds, were the coins he had shot at the spiders. Some had missed, and others had pierced the spider's abdomen and crashed through the windows. On the first and second floors, he had plenty of ammunition.

"He reached out with his mind, grabbing hold of as many coins on the second floor as he could before approaching the hole in the first floor. Once he jumped down there to fight Mister Deadman, he knew he wouldn't be coming back up for more ammunition.

"Time to pay to win." He smiled deliriously as he jumped in the hole, all his coins following behind him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.