Chapter 44: Draw

"For the Skull!" The Skull gangsters shouted back in reply to Alan’s rally cry.

The Skull gangsters had by now retreated into their former campsite and could now funnel the attacking Mad Dogs into one spot. The collapsed portion of the wall was the only entrance to the camp on this side of the street. So, they were able to fend off the huge numbers of the Mad Dogs gangsters by forcing the fight between this gap. All they needed to do was hold on until help could arrive.

Alan was at the front of the hole fighting alongside with several of his men, while fending off Darius and a dozen other Mad Dogs. Everyone else that had made it inside were gasping for breath and recovering their strength. Every time a Skull defending the gap was injured or appeared to be weakening, they would fall back inside, and another would gallantly take his place.

Alan, however, was an exception. If he left the front Darius would inevitably break through the tiring defensive line. So even though wounded and slowly losing his strength, he had to battle on. The Skull gangsters battled on with fire in their eyes on either side of Alan. It seemed that no matter how many Mad Dogs they hit or wounded, could ever stop them. They just kept coming.

From the right side of the street the barbaric yells grew louder. The Mad Dogs were ready and waiting for these new attackers. They had split their forces in two at Hugo's command and had formed a defensive line in the street. Meanwhile, the remainder kept attacking Alan's forces. The footsteps pounding on the road from the newly arriving Skull forces were felt by all, and feeling it, Alan felt a surge of hope. Stealing a glance, Alan saw what happened next. Men and weapons rang out as the new Skull reinforcements collided violently with the large Mad Dogs defending force. The result was like an ocean wave crashing on a jetty.

At first the initial impact of the charging Skull gangsters forced the defensive line back several steps. At the center of it all, it seemed as if the attackers had broken through. However, the sheer numbers of the Mad Dogs quickly forced the Skull reinforcements to come to a halt. A gridlock battle now ensued as the Mad Dogs fought now on two fronts.

Grabbing a jabbing spear and flinging it and owner away, Alan was able to catch a quick glance at the one leading the reinforcements. It was Steel Fist. His outrageously tall body appeared to be wading into the people swarming near him. In his hand he carried the most insane handheld weapon anyone could imagine, a huge club made out of the top of a curved streetlight pole! Nearly all the downtown streets were lined with such polls and if the one he held broke; Steel Fist would simply uproot another to replace it.

The monster of a man was practically unstoppable. No one was ever able to block such an outlandish attack. The Mad Dogs tried keeping their distance as best as they could, but a few unlucky souls had already been crushed.

Laughing with bloodlust in his eyes, Steel Fist was able to clear out a path towards Alan's campsite for his own men to move in. He used the light pole to easily push away Mad Dog gangsters like a scythe would cut wheat. The newly arrived Skull forces were able to provide temporary relief to their exhausted allies.

"Quickly, get all the wounded out of here and cover their retreat to our base!" Alan yelled to Steel Fist as he locked weapons with Darius once again.

"Don't think that you can escape me, Bone Flayer!" Darius yelled into Alan's face. Though the situation had now changed for the worse, he was not about to throw in the towel just yet.

"You are starting to get on my nerves." Alan growled turning his attention back on his opponent.

"Ha-ha, keep talking tough! You'll soon be rotting on the sidewalks soon enough!" Darius said applying double the amount of pressure to his harpoon.

At this point most of Alan's men had already started to escape from the building and were jogging slowly away from the battle. Some however, didn't retreat but stayed to continue fighting. Steel Fists forces were no larger than Alan's had been at the beginning of the battle. The fifty or so new fighters couldn't hold off the Mad Dogs for long in this wide city street.

Alan knew he had to change the flow of this battle. He could hear Hugo calling out orders to focus on the new arrivals, and it was now or never. The only thing he could think of was to separate Darius from the rest of his men and settle the score. He leaned back slightly from the pressure Darius was putting on him. Then giving a sharp twist, he used Darius's momentum to cause him to fall forward. Darius stumbled past him through the gap and into the building.

Alan called out once more to his men that had stayed to fight. "Join up with Steel Fist and fight there. I'll be back soon!"

The men heeded his command and started to move in that direction. The attacks from the Mad Dogs were exceedingly difficult to defend from, making any movement risky. The battle, once again, shifted away from Alan and Darius's position in the building. Alan quickly turned to follow Darius. Darius had just gotten his footing and was already waiting for him in the middle of the room, harpoon in hand.

Looking past Alan, Darius noted that the battle was moving away. "Well now, Bone Flayer, it's just you and me now. Time to end this."

At these words he reached behind his back and grabbed the handle of a weapon sheathed under his belt. The weapon contributed to his name, Hacksaw. The hacksaws blade had been modified to where the blade was now five times the original width of a normal blade. Something like this could rip through flesh and bone easily and must not be underestimated.

Alan smiled gripping the handle of his tactical hammer. "There it is. Finally, you're taking this fight more seriously. I was wondering if you still could make me excited!"

Darius sneered and jabbed out with his harpoon. The weapon glinted in the noon light that spilled into the room. Like a silver bullet, the light shot into Alan's eyes for just a brief second. The suddenness of the light made him hesitate and step back. If he hadn't, the harpoon would have torn off his left arm entirely!

The sharp edge of the harpoon blade neatly carved off a chunk of Alan's shoulder muscle. Alan let out a yell of anger and pain. Hearing it, Darius grinned and let out a laugh. He then slashed viciously with his hacksaw in a furry of strikes.

Alan raised his hammer in an attempt to block the saw’s blade. The blade pinged and sparks flew in every direction with each repeated hit. Alan was forced to retreat backwards to the far end of the room. He was cornered now and couldn't keep his footing while taking the heavy-handed blows. His ankle rolled awkwardly on some broken flooring and he lowered his hammer for a brief moment. Seeing it, Darius went to land a decisive blow with his harpoon aimed for Alan's head!

Yet Alan was far from finished! Using the hooked end of his hammer, he somehow caught the blow as he desperately tried to regain his footing. Darius then slashed at Alan middle with the hacksaw, attempting to gut him. Alan, however had recovered and neatly stepped to the side causing the attack to cut only air. Alan then twisted his hammer to the left and struck the back of Darius's hand. Which sent the hacksaw clattering across the floor and out of reach.

Darius snarled and swiped again at Alan, swinging out with the harpoon. Unfortunately, the harpoon he was stuck into the nearby wall, throwing off the attack. All that resulted from his actions was wooden splinters being tossed all around as the harpoon was completely stopped. At this chance to create some distance, Alan stepped back and into the entrance of the stairwell going to the second floor.

"That's the spirit!" Alan retorted. He placed a hand on his wounded shoulder. Then looked at the deep red blood covering his hand. "Now we are even. I wounded you, you wounded me back. Now we can let the real fight start!"

"Shut up!" Darius yelled.

He then yanked angrily at his harpoon, fully freeing it from the wall and sending dust and splinters flying everywhere. Taking some heavy breaths, Darius dashed backwards and scooped up his hacksaw. Twirling around he faced Alan, who was waiting at the foot of the stairs.

Darius then charged at Alan, jabbing at him again full of furry. "Just die!"

Alan merely stepped up the stairs avoiding the strike. The confined space of the staircase limited the attacks of both men. Darius attacked solely with his hacksaw and Alan could only block with the large hammer. They battled heatedly up the confined stairs, causing no real damage to each other. Only upon reaching the top was Alan able to suddenly turn the tide of the fight.

As he had reached the top first, Alan was able to attack properly in the open space of the room. He first made a heavy blow, swinging downward at Darius's head with the hook end of the tactical hammer. Darius raised the harpoon up just in time and caught the blow. He was then nearly dropped to one knee upon absorbing the impact.

Jerking backwards, Alan snagged the hook onto the harpoons handle and pulled hard. The action almost tore the weapon from Darius's hand. Yet he stubbornly held on and was instead sent stumbling into the room. Alan didn't give him a chance to recover.

Swinging sideways with a wide golf swing like arc, Alan's hammer smashed into Darius's shoulder. The impact crushed his bone, like a twig getting stepped on by a bull. The impact also sent Darius's body rolling across the rotting hardwood flooring, before coming to a stop. He had stopped right in front of a large window overlooking the road below. Darius let out a moaning gasp and glared angrily upwards at Alan, though has was unable to get up from the pain.

"It's been fun." Alan said resting the hammer on his good shoulder. "But I can't play around too long. My men are going to get to far away."

The sound of the battle was now getting much further away now. Alan could tell that the Skull were successfully retreating back to their territory. From his vantage point, Alan could see that his sides numbers had increased. Apparently, a third Skull force had thankfully joined up in the fight.

Darius struggled to push himself up with his good arm. The other was smashed so badly, it looked like only the skin was holding it together. Darius gritted his teeth while speaking, "It's not over yet!"

"Ah, yes, it is." Alan corrected coming even closer.

Darius shakily stood up to face him head on. Despite his crushed arm, Darius had managed to still grip the hacksaw and with the other he held the harpoon. He desperately stabbed upwards at Alan to skewer him.

However, Alan was to close now and simply deflected the weak attack with his hammer aside. Then Alan planted his foot into Darius's chest, kicking him backwards. Darius went flying out of the window, shattering what remaining glass there was and went tumbling to the ground!

Fortunately, a car was parked below, and he landed on the cab, bounced hard and collapsed to the ground. Alan stood in the broken window and looked at the crumpled body below.

He started to laugh. "Ha-ha, revenge? Kill me? You are going to have to try much better than that!" Alan stepped off the window ledge and jumped to the ground. Landing lightly on the sidewalk, Alan tossed his hammer onto his good shoulder and started walking towards the receding battle.

Just as he did, he heard a weak cough. Glancing behind him, Alan saw Darius was turning his head to speak at him while still lying on the concrete.

"You’re still alive?" Alan said indifferently. He took a few steps towards Darius's destroyed body. Then Alan knelt to hear what Darius was attempting to say.

Darius spoke weakly as small trickle of blood was coming from the corner of his mouth as he spoke. "At least… I nearly… killed you…"

Alan started to laugh again as he stood up to leave again. "No, not at all. I didn't even need to use my Inducement! If you live, you better fight me so well that you force me to use my Inducement. Otherwise, you can just die quietly now."

With saying that he left, leaving Darius to bleed out. Alone.