Contest of Champions

36

The blast hurls me into the back wall of the casino, knocking the air out of my lungs so violently I think I'm dead. I collapse onto the floor and it takes a moment before I realize I'm still alive.

Shoving myself up onto my feet, I look up to see three large, automated pods hovering in the new opening. As soon as they notice me, their guns open fire. I dive out of the way, rolling back up onto my feet and drawing my daggers.

I need to buy some time.

Creating an illusion of myself, I send it across in the opposite direction of me, catching the attention of the pods. Hidden from the pods' sensors momentarily, I dart for the exit while the pods tear through my illusion with their lasers.

Everything is going just fine until my boot kicks a piece of rubble, hurling it into the wall and creating enough noise to attract the pods. They spin toward me and I sprint out of the building and down the path, looking for another hiding place as I project another illusion, making it run several feet before me. The pods fly after me, firing. I can feel the shrapnel from the metal planks beneath me striking my skin as the lasers streak past me, blowing holes in the ground that I have to jump over. The metal flakes bite at me as I twist sideways, slamming into a door and stumbling inside the building.

Next time I'll have the illusion run behind me.

I crash to the floor and roll to the side, away from the doorway. Pressing my back up against the wall, I hold my daggers and wait for the sound of firing to fade away.

The pods fly past my hiding place. I can hear the sounds of the lasers moving away from me and the tension in my muscles relaxes somewhat. Then the firing stops suddenly. My illusion is gone.

Holding my breath, I don't move as I strain to hear the whirring of the pods' engines. It takes a moment for me to catch the quiet sound, but instead of growing more distant, it grows louder.

The pods are coming back.

Please don't find me please don't find me please don't find me....

The doorway lights up as lasers streak through, marking up the back wall. I jolt up onto my feet, daggers ready. But the pods keep firing, blinding me as their lasers light up the room. I can't risk not doing anything. I don't want to die today. I don't want to see what kind of weapons I'm impervious to at the risk of finding out what kind I'm not.

So I jump, right at where the flashing lights are originating from. I feel something pelt into my side, forcing me off track, so that my daggers just catch the edge of the pod instead of landing further towards the center. I jerk out of my fall and swing wildly, gripping on to the hilt as tightly as I can. My ribs throb and I grit my teeth against the pain. There's nothing I can do for it now.

The other pods cease fire, as if they're deciding whether or not to shoot at the one I'm hanging on to. I use that time to pull myself up on top of the pod, yanking my blade out of the hull, and I begin to run towards the back of the pod.

Lasers streak past my head and pepper the tail of my trench coat as the other pods open fire. I reach the end of the pod without sustaining any real damage and jump, propelling myself onto one of the other pods. I land in a crouch and slide off the top into the crook of the pod's upraised wing, granting myself a moment of protection.

I need to get out of here and defeat these pods. But I'm not sure how to do that. The only viable weapons I have on me are my daggers, and I will need to throw them with much force in order to take out the pods.

Well, then.

I leap off of the wing, hurling my dagger at the last pod with as much strength as I have. Go. Go. Go. My mind lends what power I can muster to the dagger and it pierces through the sheet of transparent material over the front, cutting off the automation.