Kapitel 11: Friendly Duel

"I'm not fighting you, it wouldn't be fair." reiterated Vincent, seemingly becoming annoyed at his friend.

"So you don't have a bullshit ability granted to you by a literal god that allows you to defy multiple laws of physics and I do. That doesn't mean you'll definitely lose..." replied Eddie with a sly smile "it means you'll almost definitely lose."

"You cut me off Mr Mans," answered Vincent with his own smirk, "I'm not fighting you because it wouldn't be fair on you."

Eddie laughed, waving a hand dismissively.

"You talk big for a guy that doesn't want to fight. How about you prove it with a friendly duel?" questioned Eddie, knowing that Vincent would say yes regardless.

"Sure, old man." replied Vincent.

"I'm only three days older." huffed Eddie.

"Old Man." replied Vincent, smirking once again.

Both of the two old men, Eddie and Vin, had duelled each other on numerous occasions. Being best friends - and each other's biggest rival - they thoroughly enjoyed competition. Whether it was board games, videogames, sports, duelling, or something else entire they always had an excellent time. Eddie was the more skilled of the pair, with more experience with technical know-how in most areas. He also had extraordinary luck when facing Vin in any competition and always seemed to one-up Vin who in turn had such bad luck at times it was almost comical.Thus Vincent, despite often being bested by his friend, had much greater endurance and tolerance than his friend. He was simply used to the hard way whereas Eddie avoided many difficulties with planning and luck. Regardless, the duel ahead would be interesting for both of them.

Standing in the main hall of the British Museum, the pair readied their sparring weapons. Brandon stood to one side as adjudicator of the duel. Eddie had ingeniously constructed melee weapons out of PVC pipe and foam for sparring and training purposes. Naturally Eddie boasted the better weapon - a full size poleaxe complemented with a buckler shield. In stark comparison to Edgar's weapon choice, Vincent chose two simple foam swords. He excelled at dual-wielding melee weapons - even more than Eddie himself - and tended to fight more unconventionally than his friend. However Vincent's greatest weapon was really no weapon at all, he was strongest when unarmed. Although that was against the pair's duelling rules.

Brandon walked out to the middle of the hall.

"Okay so uhh…" began Brandon nervously. Vin smiled and waved encouragingly with his hand. "The duel ends when one party either admits defeat, is restrained, incapacitated or knocked unconscious. You can only use the foam weapons that have been selected prior to the duel. Uhhh and you can steal your opponent's weapon. Non-lethal martial arts is permitted too. And uhh…" Brandon looked at both the old men "Good luck to you both."

Both Eddie and Vin took up their usual combat stances, just outside each other's weapon range.

Brandon then backed away, halfway up a stairwell before shouting "Begin!".

Initially neither of the old men moved an inch. They both stood perfectly still, eyes locked in a mental game of who would strike first. Several seconds passed and Brandon awkwardly called out "Hey uh.. You can start now" while the pair studied each other. Several more seconds passed. Brandon was about to call out again when Eddie made the first strike. Eddie suddenly darted forwards and thrusted his polearm towards Vin's torso. Vin in turn swiftly swung his sword, redirecting the attack and parrying it - rendering the strike useless. Eddie grinned. [Vincent is already fighting defensively,] he thought [He's unsure how to counter my new ability].

"What are you waiting for?" queried Eddie as he stepped forward and swung his poleaxe in a wide arc at Vincent.

"For you to fuck up like that." replied Vin smugly. He leaped upwards, over Eddie's sweeping weapon, while bringing down one sword on his friend's head and stabbing his chest with the other. Eddie managed to barely block the first blow with his buckler, but failed to counter the second which partially winded him. However the very force of the first strike sent Eddie stumbling backwards despite his somewhat successful block. He panted, catching his breath, before looking up at Vin.

Edgar mimed taking off a hat towards Vincent, nonverbally saying "hats off to you". Vincent smiled, glad that his combo had worked effectively. This is why he enjoyed wielding two weapons - because it allowed one to attack in two different ways simultaneously. Which is often difficult to block and counter. However despite his success, Vin was still wary of his opponent. Eddie had not yet used his newfound ability yet. Vincent imagined it could be used in a number of useful ways in combat. Eddie had always been a master at using his advantages to their absolute maximum - especially in unpredictable manners. Naturally this worried Vincent. Thus Vin was expecting Eddie to utilise it for some bullshit move that would be incredibly effective. But even expecting such fuckery is not enough to win; one must fully understand it in order to counter it. Sadly, in this case, Vincent was still unaware of exactly how Eddie's ability worked or what its capabilities truly were.

[I'll keep fighting defensively,] thought Vincent, [Counter all his strikes and wear him down].

Now it was Vin's turn to attack. Rushing forward in a powerful sprint, he swung his first blade forcefully into Eddie's polearm - causing it to collide with his shield. Then, with Eddie's guard wide open, Vincent lashed out with his sword at his friend's torso. However his second strike never found its mark; instead the sword passed through the space where Eddie had occupied only milliseconds ago. Vin quickly realised what had happened, however it was too late. The momentum of his attack had already moved him too far forward. He had now passed through and left the space Eddie had been moments ago. Now, technically, Vincent had his back facing Eddie and was also unbalanced.

Almost immediately, Eddie reappeared out of his pocket dimension behind an unguarded Vincent. Smiling, the old man swung his poleaxe with a tremendous amount of force at Vin's legs. Already unbalanced, Vincent was quickly knocked to the ground. Eddie then stepped forward while swinging his polearm down in a powerful arc at Vin's head. Vincent rolled to one side. He swiftly discarded a sword and grabbed onto the staff of the polearm. Eddie tugged with both hands to free his weapon. However it was no use, Vin was simply too strong.

Vincent ripped the polearm backwards and spun it in a clumsy arc towards Eddie. Eddie, now unarmed aside from his buckler, ducked below the attack. If only he had seen the sword in Vincent's other hand targeting his knees. The result caused Eddie to duck into Vin's devastating attack, sending him sprawling against a wall.

"Come on Eddie! Where's that fancy footwork of yours?" demanded Vin, using the polearm to launch himself to his feet. Eddie only smiled in turn as a second polearm materialised from the shadows into his hands.

"You know me Vin, always a plan B." teased Eddie as he also jumped to his feet.

The two old men then stalked each other into the centre of the hall. Nearby Brandon sat on a stairwell, attempting to take notes while watching the match.

"Brandon?" called out Eddie, not taking his eyes off his opponent.

"Yes, Sir?" responded Brandon. He closed his notebook and stood in attention.

"The rules never specified how many weapons did it?" asked Eddie with a smirk to Vincent's absolute horror.

"No Sir" confirmed Brandon "and uhh.. nor what kind of weapons either actually..."

"Excellent" replied Eddie, summoning a second polearm.

Vincent sighed heavily and stepped back into a defensive combat stance.

"Ready?" called out Eddie, calmly spinning both polearms in his hands.

"Ready." responded Vincent solemnly.

Eddie rushed forward, scissoring the polearms and striking both high and low at Vin's body. Vin blocked with both of his two swords. One blade pointed up and the other down, he slowly parted Eddie's polearm scissor attack. Grunting with effort, Eddie tried to push back. However once again Vincent was too strong for Eddie and the polearms parted, leaving both of the pair vulnerable for attack. Wasting no time, Vin stepped forward and unleashed a powerful kick towards Eddie's solar plexus. It would have been a critical blow if it actually hit.

It did not hit.

In fact Eddie had completely vanished, leaving Vin stumbling forward from his failed kick with arms flailing behind. Eddie quickly materialised out of the shadows in the same spot as previous, however facing the opposite direction. With Vin unbalanced and his back turned, Eddie had an easy target. With two sharp blows from his polearms he knocked Vincent down - pinning him against a wall.

"Eddie wins!" called out Brandon, pumping a fist in the air. Vin threw a sideways glare at Brandon, immediately extinguishing his enthusiasm.

"That was bullshit and absolutely brilliant!" exclaimed Vincent. He had expected Eddie to use his ability to somehow disarm him, not to temporarily vanish completely. Despite only being a starting ability, it already seemed that Eddie's newfound powers would only grow exponentially. What would he be capable of in the future? Teleportation? Light manipulation? Who knew?

"Yeah, I already know." answered Edgar in reply, unusually modest "But you were also very fucking good. Your first attack, the leaping one, damn that got me. In an actual fight that could have killed me, although I'm starting to get the hang of transporting myself into a pocket dimension now."

Vincent nodded, agreeing despite the situation's unfairness towards the man.

"Fair enough." he remarked before continuing "Since you won, I'll make dinner tonight."

"But we only have 2 minute noodles left..." sobbed Eddie.