The smell of death was still in the air as Pain made his way from pike to pike inspecting the skulls one by one. The area which used to be a lush grassland oasis was now nothing more than a barren wasteland stained with the blood of battles long past. He made his way to one skull in particular which still had a spine attached and removed it from the pike.
"This isn't it either..." Pain sighed and threw it over his shoulder.
"Why did you throw me away?"
Pain turned around to find Grega holding the skull he had previously discarded.
"What did I ever do to you?" Mocked Grega, still holding the skull pretending to make it speak.
This wasn't the first time someone had followed him around. Newbies did it all the time, but Grega was no newbie. "You'd better have a good explanation for following me out here, this is personal business." Pain spat out.
"What better reason then," Grega took hold of the skull by it's spine, "I want your job!"
Grega quickly swung the skull in attempt to catch Pain off guard. With a swift step back, Pain caught the skull and effortlessly crushed it in his hands.
"You should know," Pain reached for his sword, "you'll have to try harder than that,"
But Grega was already on top of him preventing him from unsheathing his sword. Pain looked at the darkened sky and grimaced as he realized he would be severely handicapped, exactly what Grega wanted. As he wrestled Pain to the ground he began to reach for Pain's BanSabre. Suddenly everything went dark.
"Wha--?!" Grega was cut off by a swift knee to the gut and tumbled off of Pain. As the darkness lifted Grega scrambled to his feet. "Nice parlor trick, but that second rate magic act won't stop me, not by a long shot," Grega said as he looked around trying to find Pain again.
"I'm over here."
Grega turned to see Pain standing there, smiling at him. He rushed in ready to attack, only to pass right through the figure he thought to be Pain. As the illusion vanished he was greeted by a pike angled at thirty degrees towards him. Grega easily leapt over the pike, frustrated that Pain had fooled him.
"Damn you, fight me like a man!" Grega said, fuming he was chasing shadows. He drew his sword prepared to dissipate Pain's next illusion. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash. Needle thin rays of light came tearing through the air straight for him. Grega turned and laughed as the light was drawn to his sword and absorbed. "Thanks for the charge, now show yourself."
Pain appeared, copies of himself surrounding Grega, again with a smile on each face.
"I thought I told you these tricks won't work?" Grega raised his sword above his head as all of the figures were drawn into it. The sword glowing even more radiantly than before.
"Well, it seems you've left me with little choice." said Pain as he materialized several yards away.
Grega was already running full speed towards his crafty opponent, using his sword to make sure it wasn't another illusion. As he drew nearer he leapt upward, sending a laser slash towards his stationary foe. Pain simply raised his hand and sent the attack back to its master as he was still airborne. Grega twisted in midair at the last second, nimbly avoiding his own attack. Pain and Grega smiled at each other, they both knew their abilities would cancel each others out. This fight would come down to fighting prowess alone.
Pain drew his sword and swung hard. Grega just barely avoided the large blade and managed to force it into a nearby pike while quickly lunging towards Pain, delivering a painful blow to the face. As Pain stumbled backwards Grega instantly spun around and connected with a roundhouse kick to the neck, reversing Pain's momentum, finishing off with an axe-handle to the back, forcing him hard into the ground. Pain could hear his ribs crack from the sheer force of the hit. As he tried to get up he was met with another kick to the ribs, sending him soaring several yards.
"Uugh..." groaned Pain as he spit up blood. "Not bad... but like I said, you'll need to try harder than that to replace me." he said, as the grip on his sword tightened.
Grega was still raging on the offensive, coming at Pain full force. He was met with another hard swing from the gigantic sword.
"SOLAR SHIELD!" shouted Grega.
Pain dissipated the shield before Grega could even completely form it. He had no idea Pain could react that fast as he quickly ducked under the swing. He saw his opportunity to sweep Pain's feet out from under him as Pain was still in mid-swing with his sword. He took it and Pain fell flat on his back, his sword sliding away as he let out another loud groan, his injured ribs taking another hit.
Suddenly another figure appeared as if out of the light itself, slashing at Grega ferociously. Just as quickly as it appeared it was gone the next instant, leaving him baffled as to what just transpired. He looked back at where he left Pain, who was already back on his feet, mid-swing with a pike in his hands, complete with a skull still on it. Grega had no time to react, he could only brace himself for what would surely be a gruesome hit. The pike connected hard, knocking Grega over and shattering the skull.
Pain clutched his ribs, stumbling away from Grega, desperately looking for any way to buy himself some time. But Grega was already up and saw his opportunity. He swiftly ran over to Pain and punched him hard in the ribs, focusing on the area that would cause the most harm. Pain stumbled forward and let out another loud groan as more blood spilled out of his mouth. Hit after hit, Grega pummeled his ribs relentlessly. Pain fell to the floor in horrible agony, he could hardly breathe.
"Where's your big talk now, moderator boy?" Mocked Grega, "You're pitiful. I should have done this ages ago."
Still clutching his ribs, Pain stood up, shaky on his feet. "You think you've been fighting the real me?"
Grega instantly unsheathed his sword and raised it above his head, dissipating any illusions in the area, looking around him for where the real Pain might be. Satisfied that he was not surrounded, he turned back to see Pain still standing there, with a smile on his face. He punched Grega in the throat hard, followed by a kick to the chin, throwing Grega backward violently. Furious, Grega quickly regained his footing and saw a pike just behind Pain at the right angle with which to impale him. He rushed in fast and threw Pain into the pike, piercing him through the stomach.
"AARRRGCHH!!" bellowed Pain as he looked down to see a pike where it should not be.
"This fight is over," laughed Grega, "You've lost," Grega kneeled over, positioning his ear near Pain's mouth, "Got any last words?"
Pain threw his hand out and found Grega's face. Instantly there was a blinding light from between his hand and Grega's face as Grega was thrown hundreds of feet backward into a rotting pile of bones.
"Oh **** this is nasty!" Grega screamed as he scrambled out of the pile of death. "And ****... what the hell was that?" thought Grega, "It feels like I got hit by a truck... but it doesn't matter now... I guess I'd better go back and claim my new BanSabre. He sure as hell won't need it anymore," he laughed.
As he made his way back to where he left Pain's broken body he daydreamed about all the things he would do with his new moderator status. He would be able to order people around now, and close threads. He was in no rush though, and after all, he needed to give Pain time to bleed out. When he finally reached his destination, he was astonished to find nothing but a pike with fresh blood on it.
"Like I said."
Grega looked over in horror as he saw Pain, completely healed. The dried blood still at the corner of his mouth and stomach.
"You'll need to try harder than that."