Duelling Dungeons

“Oh, coming to fight me directly? I’m so scared,” Luka laughed as he danced around his little platform.

“My friends can fend for themselves,” Luther replied as he and his decoys floated over. He passed a hand over his mask, changing it to a cheeky smile. “It’s not like this is going to take long.”

“Ohhhhh… scary,” Luka cackled as he reached into his robe. “Does the big bad poltergeist think I’ll be an easy target because I can’t use my poison against him? Come then! I’ll teach you, I’m far from a one-trick pony.”

As Luther and his duplicates created a loose semicircle around him, Luka drew a long metal whip. With a flick of the wrist, the wicked weapon shot out and wrapped around one of the duplicates’ rapiers. Before it could react, Luka yanked the whip back, ripping the weapon from the dummy’s hand and sending it flying across the room.

“Sloppy. This’ll be easy!” Luka declared.

“One blow does not decide the battle. Let’s find out if you’re truly skilled, overconfident, or just cocky,” Luther declared.

While the one duplicate flew across the room to retrieve his weapon, the other eleven simultaneously raised their weapons into a swordsman’s salute. They held this position for just a moment before three of the bodies broke formation and dived down upon their opponent.

Luka frowned as the trio swooped, passing within inches of each other before splitting up and attacking from three different directions. The angle of approach meant he couldn’t keep track of all three of them; one would always be in his blind spot, so he didn’t even bother trying. Instead of fighting defensively, he rushed the one approaching from his left.

The whip flicked out, attempting to intercept the duplicate, but Luther wasn’t going to fall for the same trick twice. His rapier flashed out and clashed with the whip, knocking it away.

While Luther was distracted, deflecting the whip, Luka slipped underneath the dupe and away from the other two attackers.

As he rolled towards the edge of the semicircle, the two nearest dummies dropped to the ground to intercept him, slashing with their blades.

Luka just barely managed to halt his momentum and avoid getting skewered by the pair. He growled in irritation and brought the whip around in a wide arc, trying to take advantage of his superior range, but before the weapon could connect, the pair shot into the air to avoid him.

“Are you having fun yet?” Luther asked. “You said this would be easy, right?”

Luka bounced through the gap left by the retreating mannequin and immediately twisted towards Luther. The group of duplicates had already shifted, keeping the merman hemmed in. Despite this, he smiled. “I appreciate a challenge.”

“Good, then you'll really enjoy this,” Luther replied.

Five of Luther’s duplicates left their position this time, dropping down to the ground and taking up an aggressive stance as they surrounded the merman.

The whip shot out multiple times, keeping a couple of the dummies back, while letting the rest close in. Once they’d approached close enough, Luka swiveled and went on the attack. He pressed the closest two attackers, rapidly snapping his weapon between them.

Even though he was forced to fight two-on-one, soon to be five-on-one, Luka fought viciously, holding his own. Just as the other duplicates were about to get into range his whip managed past Luther’s blades and wrap around one of the mannequin’s arms.

With a twist, he ripped the limb loose, forcing the body to retreat, but as he did, the second dummy stepped in and managed to slice him across the back.

The merman grimaced in pain, but managed to push between the two bodies and once again escape the encirclement.

“Very impressive, you’re very adept at running away,” Luther chuckled.

“I’m managing to give as good as I get, despite the odds,” Luka growled. “At this rate, I’ll slowly wear you down!”

“Are you sure?” Luther asked, using the damaged mannequin. The mannequin stepped over to its severed arm, grabbed it, and then, with a large, exaggerated movement, slammed the limb back into the socket. There was a faint pop as the two connected, and as soon as it did, the duplicate stood up straight and did jazz hands. “Tada! I’d like to see you do that!”

Luka turned towards Luther’s main body, gritting his teeth, and glared.

“What? Not impressed?” Luther taunted. As he passed his hand in front of his face, his mask changed to one of mirth. “I’ll have to try harder from now on.”

Luka stared at the floating puppet, and as he did, a smile slowly bloomed across his face. “Oh, you have some impressive tricks. How about I show you some of my own?”

Luther extended his arm. “Feel free! I look forward to your performance.”

Luka immediately sprinted directly towards the group of dummies that had landed on the ground, swirling his whip around his head like a flail. One attempted to block the whip with its blade, only for the weapon to wrap around and still smash it in the head. As the head bounced loose, the others backed off slightly.

Once he created enough of an opening, Luka darted through the gap, ignoring the shallow cuts he received from the squad, and headed right for Luther.

Seeing this, Luther passed a hand in front of his face, and the mask changed to a smirk. He slowly sank to the floor and raised his blade, preparing to catch the attack. As soon as he was close enough, Luka wound up and unleashed the strongest strike he could.

Luther caught the tip of the whip with his rapier, but was pushed back by the strength of the strike, and before he’d fully recovered, another strike came in.

Luka pressed forward, swinging like a madman, but every time the whip came down, Luther parried. As the two pushed closer, Luka’s range and strength advantage grew smaller, and Luther’s speed became more advantageous. When Luther lunged forward, trying to disarm the enraged merman, Luka immediately let his whip go, let Luther sink his rapier deep into his shoulder, and clamped down on Luther’s sword arm.

When they were locked together, Luka reached behind his back and grabbed a wicked-looking knife. “I win!”

“You been embibing on your own supplies?” Luther asked curiously, and without fear.

“Enough to get rid of my pain and fear,” Luka grinned. “Enough to defeat you. All I have to do is eliminate your main body, and I win.”

“You’re correct, destroying my main body would indeed eliminate me from the match. But pray tell… what made you think this was my main body?”

The merman cocked his head to the side. “I watched you talking to your siren friend, and commanding your other bodies, of course, this is your main body.”

“Ah, yes, but you forget,” Luther said. A moment later, his words were continued directly behind Luka’s back. “I’m a little bit of a showman, an actor.”

Before Luka could react, a rapier was plunged directly through his back. Luther leaned forward and placed his head right next to Luka’s ear. “Did you enjoy the show?”

His opponent only managed to gurgle and spit up a little bit of blood before his body exploded into a million motes of light.

Luther stood up straight and wiped off his rapier. “Do you know how difficult it was for me to make myself incompetent?” he whispered. “Oh well, it was worth it for the performance.”

With his opponent vanquished, he looked around the room. The Mimics and constructs had broken through the enemy’s defensive line and were now falling upon the alchemists. Both sides had taken significant losses, but his forces were definitely going to come out on top.

When he glanced over to where he’d left Calliope, all he saw was foul-looking water. He sighed and turned towards where the floor exit was supposed to appear. “That’s unfortunate, but still within expectations,” he muttered. “I guess my time on the stage is finished, time to make way for a new act.”