[i]Chapter Twenty: The Master[/i] Part Four “SUPLEX!” he bellowed as he hefted me up high and then fell backwards, smashing my head and shoulders into the ground. I rolled away and onto my feet as soon as Drew released me to push himself up, then managed to land a kick on the head while he was stooped. He stumbled backwards and was left open for me to punch him in the stomach a few times, the last of which I used to knock him onto his back with a small burst of Arc. Drew took a moment to get up this time, but the fact that he could at all made my jaw drop. Then I gawked at myself for actually attacking Drew like I had. The giant dusted himself off, and even with his helmet on I could tell he had on that smile that meant he was having fun and about to go all out. “Please don’t hurt me,” I pleaded as he put his fists up. “Wait, did William actually hit Drew?” Sierra questioned, “I can’t see you guys! Is William actually TRYING in a fight?!” “Hey, I always do my best in a fight!” I replied. “No, you hate fighting, coward!” Sierra snapped back. “He’s doing good!” Drew told Sierra, reminding me of his presence just in time for me to duck a sucker punch and stumble away from some other punches. An energy bolt hit my shoulder, finishing off what was left of my balance and reminding me of the presence of the Vex. I let myself fall onto my back and kicked Drew’s knee, making him fall next to me because of his momentum. Taking advantage of the moment of relief, I kicked with my feet again to propel myself along the ground with my Light and came to a halt in the sand next to a couple Goblins. Summoning my sidearm and auto rifle to my hands, I dispatched the two Vex before they could shoot, then hopped to my feet and killed a few more. Drew’s war cry got my attention and I threw my auto rifle at him, knowing shooting wouldn’t do enough against his shielding in such little time. It worked, and Drew was distracted for just a moment by the weapon bouncing off of his head; long enough for me to catch one of his arms and flip him over my shoulder using his own momentum. His shouting turned into a yelp of surprise as he found himself upside down and crashed into a Hobgoblin that was probably equally confused. Reloading my sidearm and retrieving my rifle quickly, I was ready in time to shoot down an approaching Minotaur and then pressure Drew behind cover before making my weapons disappear. Now I holstered both weapons and ran up to the block of Vex architecture that Drew was behind. The point of this was to use my Striker abilities, after all. Drew wasn’t ready for me to approach him so quickly and was busy with a few Vex, so when I vaulted over the short block and landed in front of him, he was taken by surprise. I swatted his rifle out of his hands and unleashed a barrage of kicks and punches. Drew was, to my surprise, able to move almost as fast as me, although his lack of strategy in his attacks made it easy to avoid any strike he made and land a few good hits. But Drew was like a tank; even with my Guardian strength I wasn’t able to do enough damage to put him down. One of Drew’s punches finally caught me in the stomach, picking me up into the air and tossing me back a couple feet, but I was able to stick the landing and wasn’t terribly hurt. Drew took some proper footing and we reengaged each other. Electricity began to ripple through the air around us as we both tried landing stronger blows enhanced with Arc energy, to no luck. The Vex were closing around us, but our scuffle kept us moving enough to be hard targets and any of them that got close were buffeted by small bursts of energy. I realized we were getting nowhere, so decided to take a new approach. After deflecting a jab, I performed a roundhouse that Drew caught, as expected. “Figured out a new trick,” I told Drew smugly. “What trick?” Drew inquired. A blue glow illuminated the two of us, and the Titan looked down to see a ball of Light in my hand. Taking advantage of his distraction, I jumped and flipped over to smash my other heel into Drew’s head, making him release my leg. As he stumbled back, I tossed the grenade at his feet and dove away. The grenade detonated with a flash and a loud slap, and when the field of Arc disappeared, Drew was fumbling around blindly. Flash bang, like I had seen Drew use before. I charged and landed a punch that tossed Drew away with an explosion of Arc. Several bolts from Slap Rifles hit me, and I faced the group of Vex that had formed while we had been sparring. Not giving them a chance to shoot me by being still, I sprinted straight at them and tried out a technique I had seen Strikers use in the Crucible. Arc began swirling in the air around me, but I focused it right in front of me until it formed a transparent barrier that stopped the Vex blasts in their tracks. I broke into the Vex like a boat through a wave and began tearing them apart. By this point in time I had grown used to fighting, even if it did bother me to kill. My fist busted off the head of a Goblin and my foot tore through the belly of a Hobgoblin. I obliterated a Harpy with an electrified punch and blew apart a couple Goblins with another. But in the middle of smashing a Goblin and Hobgoblin into each other to break their Mind Fluid containers, a heavy weight slammed into my back. Dropping the two Vex and shoving the dead Goblin off of me, I turned in time to witness Drew leaping at me with both fists raised in the air, his body pulsing with electricity. Having no time to try stopping him or getting out of the way, all I could think to do was put my arms up in front of my face, although there was no way that would save me. Drew’s feet touched ground, his arms swung down, and I scrunched my eyes shut in preparation for the pain. But nothing came. Cautiously, I peeked to find Drew standing in front of me, still glowing with Arc energy. Even the Vex had all paused, probably trying to puzzle out what he was up to. “Uh, what?” I couldn’t even coherently ask Drew why he had stopped. “Slap o’ Havoc!” Drew announced, then smacked me across the helmet. The explosion obliterated all the Vex, and me with it. I sat up in the sand to find Drew’s hand waiting. Sighing tiredly, I took his hand and let him yank me up to my feet. “What did you learn?” Drew asked. “Be unpredictable and take advantage of your opponent’s expectations?” I guessed. “What? Were you even paying attention?!” Drew exclaimed, “You should’ve learned that you still need to learn Fist of Havoc! Jeez, what a kinder-Guardian!” “Fair enough,” I grunted. “There’s a bunch more Vex coming,” Drew told me, “Try it on them.” “So…it’s like the punch but a lot bigger?” I tried getting him to give me tips or a description. “Yep,” Drew nodded. “Oh…” I should’ve expected as much. Feeling annoyed that I had basically done all the learning without assistance the whole time, I looked around until I spotted a new wave of Vex marching into sight around a wall of their design. I took a moment to focus, drawing out more Light and moving it towards my hands. Sparks came to life around my fists and forearms, but after a second it spread up to my shoulders and grew more intense. I was ready. When my foot moved, more electricity flickered around my foot and singed the sand. My other foot did the same, and by the time I had reached full sprint my whole body was wreathed in lightning. The Vex were unintimidated by my charge, but I knew they could do nothing to stop me. A Minotaur teleported a short distance ahead of the others and rushed to meet me with a mechanical roar. Red streams of energy zipped by, some hitting me and others not, but I did not slow. The Minotaur lifted its arm to pound me, and I leapt into the air with lightning crackling between my raised arms. [spoiler]One more part. Get ready for a surprise[/spoiler] Pt3: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/246287648/0/0 Pt5: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/246288097/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0