HunterD_Raven had been taken into a small room near the castle's center. It appeared to be a dressing room of some sort. General Stax_ had Hunter sit down on a nearby bench as he retrieved some various pieces of equipment and dropped them in front of Hunter."Put them on," Stax_ said.
Hunter examined the gear. Shoulder guards, knee guards and elbow guards. Hunter wondered if he was going to be in some weird sporting event. He stooped over and put the various pieces on.
"What's all of this for?" Hunter asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Stax_ replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." Stax_ left the room and left Hunter alone with a few guards. He sat and waited, and waited, and waited some more.
"I don't suppose you guys keep anything in here to read?" Hunter asked the guards. He didn't get a response back. If Queen Slider_Sarah's idea of revenge was boring Hunter to death, she was doing a hell of a job.
As Hunter was about to drift off to sleep, he heard a noise coming from his left. A large door he hadn't noticed was sliding open, filling the room with sunlight. The guards began moving and motioned Hunter to stand up. Hunter stood and walked outside into a large courtyard area.
The courtyard wasn't too big, only about half the size of a soccer field. Hunter walked out towards the center of the field and looked around. At the other end was a similar gate.
"Oh shit," Hunter said. "I know what's coming now!"
A loud mechanical noise came from Hunter's left. He turned to see a small observation platform rise from behind the fence about twenty feet into the air. It carried BritSlider, who stood on a crutch, some unrecognizable people and of course, Queen Slider_Sarah. "OH ho ho ho ho ho ho! I see you're ready, Mr. Raven. I hope you're able to entertain!"
"You call me being slaughtered entertainment?" Hunter yelled, suddenly thinking of the irony, considering he was a pro wrestling fan.
"No, not at all, Mr. Raven," the queen replied. "I want to be entertained by seeing how long you'll last!" Hunter braced himself for the inevitable laughter. "OH ho ho ho ho ho ho!"
SS raised Hunter's sword in her hand. "Here you are," she said, tossing the blade to Hunter. The tip jammed into the ground. Hunter walked over and pulled the sword from the dirt.
"Do you have anything more to add, Mr. Raven?"
Hunter thought of a way to stall, but he couldn't come up with anything. "No," he said.
"OH ho ho ho ho ho ho! Then let's begin, shall we?" SS raised her arm. "Open the gate!" she commanded.
The gate at the far end of the field opened up and thirty soldiers armed with swords and decked out in full armor entered the courtyard.
"Oh boy!" Hunter winced. "Here goes nothing!"
Hunter charged at the thirty soldiers and began fighting them, trying to take them on one at a time. These weren't like the mooks he fought during the assassination attempt. These guys had skill! Slowly, Hunter cut his way through each soldier, cutting through the areas where the armor gapped. After a good ten minutes of fighting, Hunter managed to round it down to one soldier.
The two charged at each other with blinding speed. The swords clashed together and the two combatants pushed with all their strength against the other's blade. Finally, the soldier's blade shattered from the pressure and Hunter cut the man down.
Hunter turned and looked up at SS, who was so giddy, she'd probably burst out screaming with laughter if prodded. Hunter wondered what it was she was so nuts about. After all, he just wasted thirty of her best soldiers.
Queen Slider_Sarah couldn't contain it anymore and burst out laughing for a good minute and a half. "Open the gates!" she cried.
"Again?" Hunter asked. He turned towards the gates and saw none other than Stax_ enter the field, wearing extremely bulky armor that appeared to be partially steam powered to help mobility.
"What the hell?" Hunter yelled. Stax_ pulled a broadsword out of a sheath and stood at the ready. Hunter picked his sword back up and readied himself for another battle.
Stax_ burst forward with surprising speed. Even though his armor looked massive, it made him faster than a normal person, and from the look of the sword, a lot stronger as well. Hunter dived off to the side to avoid Stax_, the two just barely missing each other by inches. Hunter stood back up and started running. Stax_ turned around and followed, gaining ground quickly.
Stax_ caught up to Hunter and grabbed his sword arm. Hunter dropped his sword as Stax_ picked him off of the ground. Suddenly, Hunter found himself face to face with the steam powered double.
Stax_'s armor lacked a complete faceplate. Sensing his only opportunity, Hunter quickly pulled back and popped Stax_ in his right eye. Stax_ dropped Hunter to the ground and backed away. Hunter rolled away and picked up his sword.
As Stax_ began recovering, Hunter saw the small steam engine on Stax_'s back. He ran around Stax_ as fast as he could, leapt up and slashed the engine. Steam poured from the crack as Stax_ tumbled downward, managing only a few nondescript sounds as he collapsed.
After a brief pause, Stax_ struggled to stand up, but without the engine, he couldn't maneuver the suit. Stax_ sat back down. "I concede," he said loud enough for everyone to hear.
A group of soldiers came out of the gate and helped Stax_ from his armor. He turned and bowed to Hunter. "Congratulations! You are the first one to get this far!"
"Really?" Hunter asked. The question went unanswered, as Stax_ was already on his way off the field. He turned his attention back to the queen, who seemed to have been enjoying herself far too much. By now, a light breeze could have knocked her over. When she finally came to her senses, she laughed so hard everyone thought she would bust a lung.
"Now what?" Hunter thought.
"So," SS began. "You really ARE a worthy opponent!" With ballet-like agility and grace, she jumped from her platform and landed on her feet. She then pulled her sword out of its sheath.
"Now comes the really fun part!" the queen cried.
"What, like you weren't enjoying yourself before?" Hunter cracked.
"En guarde!" SS yelled, running forward. The two swords clashed together repeatedly. Like last time, neither combatant seemed to have a clear advantage. Neither was able to scratch the other. However, Hunter could feel himself tiring from the previous fights.
Nearby, behind one of the fences, Brand_S and TemporalFlux arrived on the scene. S peeked over the fence.
"What do you see, S?" TF asked.
"Hunter and Queen SS are fighting again."
Although TF wasn't watching, he could hear the clashing of swords and the occasional laughter from the queen. "Yep," he thought, "That's them."
"How much time is left, TF?" S asked.
"About a minute and a half," TF replied. "We were lucky we made it this far!"
"Yeah," S agreed. "Who knew a place like this would have an Indiana Jones Giant Rolling Ball trap?"
"Hey, you two!" A voice cried. "Don't move!" S and TF turned to see soldiers running full tilt at them.
"Shit!" S shouted. He and TF scrambled up the wall and climbed over it just before the guards could catch them.
"Hunter!" TF shouted. "We got the timer back, we have to go now!" He activated the vortex.
SS was unphased by the portal this time and kept her mind on Hunter, seemingly off in her own little world enjoying the duel. Hunter backed away as fast as he could, attempting to reach the portal.
"You won't get away this time!" Slider_Sarah shouted.
"Just watch!" Hunter replied. He took three quick steps and jumped backwards into the vortex. TF and S dove in after him.
Slider_Sarah stood frustrated as the vortex closed after the Sliders. "BritSlider!" she called. "Has the portal tracker been fixed yet?"
"Almost. We'll be able to get them as soon as it's done."
"After you finish, wait on it," Slider_Sarah replied.
"I'll finish my duel with Mr. Raven later. I think I should get around to conquering France now!"
Queen Slider_Sarah walked off of the field. One day, she thought, she'd be able to finish her fight without those twit friends of Mr. Raven's interrupting.
![[ BBSA ]](bbsa.gif)
![[ Vortex ]](rockwall.jpg)
![[ Back to Gate Haven ]](pv.gif){kind=small}