Lance vs. Gwharr: The Tunnels

This was the chance Lance was waiting for, the creature was out of his wits and badly hurt. It was time for The professor to continue his torch like blast. Hoping to push more fear into the monster, and make him run. I wonder if he will ever give up The thought went through his head. Looking at the poor giant he almost felt pity, but then remembered the harsh blows to the concrete, This thing wont stop unless I stop him , he thought with a sigh. He didn't want to hurt him. He almost felt sorry for entering his 'kingdom' but he didn't have a choice. People going missing is a problem, hobos or not.

Lance first lifted his right hand, filling it with a bright blue ball fire, and throwing it at Gwharrs wounds. Hoping that they would get sever enough that the best would lose consciousness. Then he lifted his left hand and did the same. Throwing it with as much force he could muster.

Gwharrs thoughts where slowly becomming clearer, but he didn't need all that much brain to recognize the blue ball that had hurt him earlier. As it formed in the mans hand, Gwharr remembered the pain with disturbing clarity, the way his very flesh had bubbled and pour away like wax of a cheap candle. The way his skin had shriveled up and turned black like a sheet of paper. It was a sensation he was not willing to experience once again. However, fortunately for our hero, the plan he had devised to protect himself from the blue ball of pain and horrible burning was fairly easy to execute and probably worked quickly enough for our hero to actually had time to prepare before the ball had reach him.

He quickly, almost instinctively shoved his fists into the roof, his fingers boring holes into the concrete itself, as if it was nothing more than mere wet cardboard, and then, with disturbing ease he proceeded to pull down a massive, crumbling slab of concrete straight out of the roof, accidentally crushing one or two of the pipes runnign along the corridor. However, this seemed to have no effect, since most of the pipes in these parts of the tunnel where out of commission anyway. As the ball was fired, Gwharr crouched down and held the slab out in front of him as a shield, waiting for the ball to colide with the slab. He was happy to note that his thoughts where growing clearer by the moment, and his left cheek seemed to have regrown completely. Soon he would be entirely back to normal. The blue ball hit the concrete, and Gwharr could feel the heat through his hands, and quickly pushed, hurling the massive slab, blue ball of flame and all back towards his opponent, attempting to give him a taste of his own medicine. Gwharr did not pause to see how his attack was going, but rather pulled down two additional handfulls of gravel from the gaping hole in the roof, to use as a weapon against his enemy if his first attack missed.

He had been pushed aorund for too long now, it was time to push back a bit, make this "son of the sun" understand that he had picked a fight with the wrong hominid today. It was time to teach him fear!

The ball collided with the concrete slab. But suddenly it started to fly toward him. Lance's thoughts where going by like lightning, the attack had him on edge, he liked it. Before his thoughts where complete his body moved. All of the martial training kicked in and his body reacted without having to think about it. Lance stepped to the side and put his back to the wall, there was just enough room, this allowed the flying deathtrap to pass by him. Luckily Lance had complete control over the passing flames, if he didn't his face would have been scorched.

He watched as Gwharr prepared to throw another concrete plate. A thousand pounds He thought of how much pressure it would take to reverse the projectile. Then, still with his back to the wall, he slammed his foot to the ground, focusing on the space between the concrete and the floor.

Out of nowhere a huge ball of fire appeared and smashed against the end of the concrete slab just as it left Gwharr's hands. The two barriers, the slab and the floor, caused the flame to compress and explode. This was nothing Lance didn't think of, in fact, he planed it. The explosion was intended to flip the concrete in the air, causing the slab to hit the ceiling and create a fragmenting blow to the caveman at point blank range. Lance dived behind the small pile he was behind earlier, his leg throbbing.

Gwharr was feeling somewhat triumphant as he hurled the second slab of concrete at the hated foe. After all, he owed the man a shit-load of pain with extra agony and some freshly cut anguis at the side, because of what he had done to him earlier. With his bum leg and small, frail, easily tired body he couldn't keep on dodging forever. A thought that Gwharr found exceedingly enjoyable. A rather bloodthirsty grin appeared on Gwharrs face, becomming slightly distorted as it was not entierly regenerated at that point in time. However, his glee would be short-lived due to the way his opponent always came up with ways to ruin his attacks!

Our primitive, pissed off cavemans eyes widened with surprise as the sudden fireball explodified his second projectile, but closed them quickly as he noticed that the fragment of his previously loyal projectile turned against him, betraying both their lord and their kingdom. (If slabs of concrete could be considered to be citizens of a kingdom that is.) He was bombarded with rocks and gravel, but it did not bother him much, since it was not nearly tough enough to hurt him, Instead bouncing harmlessly away or breaking to pieces as they impacted with the now fully-regenearated caveman. Gwharr smirked condescendingly, his eyes narrowing slightly, as this happened, just to make a show out of how little this attack was bothering him.

He then took off, hurtling towards the fire-man, throwing a double-punch, trying to utilize the fact that the corridor was cramped and as well as the injury his opponent had sustained earlier. Plus, even though the man was faster, Gwharr had a rather large edge when it came to range. He was more than one foot taller than the man, and his massive arms reached him almost to his ankles as he stood up straight. If he managed to get close enough, there would be no way the annoying little firebreather could dodge away from his attacks like he had been doing thus far.

The beast rushed toward Lance. He was surprised that the impacted didn't even phase him, after all it was an explosion. But the cave man could heal in gigantic leaps, giving him a slight advantage. "man, just give up! he yelled within his head. Every step the monster took shook the ground with anger it seemed. Lance raised his hand and quickly fired a shoot of torch like blast at the creatures face, before he could recognize them move. He was aiming for his eyes. He just needed a second.

After the blast hit, the creature would flinch in pain, at that time lance would fill the tunnel with fire. Every inch of the concrete floor and roof would be covered in a blaze of red and blue flames. The fire and heat wouldn't bother lance a bit, the only space that wasn't in a blaze was a foot around the Professor. The Flames where too hot to produce smoke, so lance didn't have to worry about that, but the beast had everything to worry about. The ground shoot up fire that was four feet tall and the ceiling was not a place to run. The room hit 300 degrees and was climbing fast.

Just in case lance started to continue the torch like blast directly at the caveman's face.. hoping to hit brain.

Gwharr roared in pain as another fireblast was sent forward causing painfull blisters to appear all ove his skin, as well as burning away all of his hair yet again, rendering him bald. He did not like to be bald, as he considered it a sign of weakness and fading virility. Luckily, hair would quickly reemerge, but for some reason his hair grew slightly slower than the rest of his tissues. It could take it up to half an hour to reach its previous length, and even though most humans would scoff at Gwharr being concerned over this, it was a mighty long wait when you saw it from our heroic cavemans point of view.

The blast instinctively made him shield his eyes, and the sneaky professor then took the oppurtunity to start to raise the temperature of the room to the mild degree that pretty much everything burst into flames. This did not sit well with out heroic caveman. He would simply not have this! He almost immediately started panting as the raising tempererature made him uncomofortable. However, thanks to his enhanced durability, he did not immediately turn into an extra-crispy chicken-wing. However, this new attack did not dissuade him, in fact it only strenghtened his resolve! If he killed the evil fire starter, the thrice accursed, stupid, horrible, painful flames and the awful, uncomfortable heat would go away!

Gwharr roared in rage as the man was once again trying to burn him with his little beam of hot fire! Once again aiming for the eyes, although Gwharr manage to tilt his head slightly, just in time. before once again putting up an arm to protect himself. He could not really understand why the fire starter felt like he had to invade Gwharrs kingdom and try to kill him! He had never met the man before, never thought ill of him or tried to steal his belongings and yet here he was, trying to bloody well kill him for no reason! This was unforgivably cruel and would be given fatal reprecussions to show others that had the same idea that they wouldn't succed. Gwharr roared in rage yet again as he kept aproaching the interloper, raising his hands as he took the final few steps, reaching the evil firestarter, using his superior reach to attempt to clasp his arms around the firestarted, catching him.

Lance watched as the large man roared and began to come after him. Lance stepped back, not making to much ground compared to the rushing beast, but the pain in his leg was getting worse. The temperature of the room was now well over a thousand degrees, and it was still raising fast. A thought of the tunnels structure flashed in his mind. I wonder how long this place is going to hold up he thought, then rushed backward.

He wasn't fast enough, the pain of his leg increased and the caveman wrapped his arms around Lance. Pain rushed through his body. Thoughts of torture crept in and all Lance could think of was an explosion. If he couldn't get out of her alive then neither can the creature.

The fire in the room roared. It was about a thousand, five hundred degrees and still climbing. Lance was about to lose conciseness, then several explosions went off. Etch right next to the caveman. One behind him, and the other two on his sides. it would cause some trauma to Lance, but it would burn and tare away the caveman's skin throwing him around like a doll. Hopefully making his grip loosen.

Gwharr laughed like a madman as he grabbed ahold of the fireman. Finally he had his hated opponent in his grasp! Finally he would pay him back for all the pain he had endured at his hands! He'd get his payback with interest! The primitive, primordial primate squeezed the fireman with as much strength as he could muster, hopefully breaking him enough to make him stop with the fire. The heat was unbearable now, and Gwharr could feel his skin loosening up and peeling off, like old and particurlarly cheap housepaint. He wouldn't stand much more of this, but once the other man was dead this could not continue could it?However, the explosion behind him caught Gwharr entirely by surprised, and as it exploded, he could feel the skin on his back break because of the violent explosions. He was sent flying forwards, falling on the ground, tumbling but he did his best to hold on to the fireman, it was him who was doing this, he knew it! He couldn't let him go! He mustnt. . . He couldn't . . .

. . . Withstand this anymore! It simply hurt too much! He had to get out, he had to leave! Gwharr Shrieked in pain, with all his strength he hurled the fireman into the corridor, hopefully causing him to become a wet stain on a wall somewhere, although, that was not the motive behind his action most of all he needed to make sure that the man was too far away to interfere with anything the caveman wanted to do. To make sure he woudln't turn up the heat even more. Gwharr was hurting all over now, and he was tired of pain. He did not want to do this anymore.

The caveman leapt up, his leg kicking him off the ground with such for the floor cracked. The roof was already so weakened from the battle, that it did not take much strength to penetrate it, and leap up on the street above. There was not too many people out today, and most watched the visibly flaming, half-skinless giant ape-like caveman with a mix of horror and surprise. Gwharr was in so much pain, he barely felt going through the roof. He quickly located a firehydrant, easily ripping the top of with a hand, causing the cool, clear water to burst up through the hole, showering him with sweet relief, causing steam to rise from his body. Gwharr gave a cry of relief and joy as he spread his arms looking upwards to let his face feel the sweet touch of the icy water as his skin started to regrow. He felt better already.

The beast seemed to stumble forward and was about to lose balance, but the pain finally got to the caveman. Lance almost smiled but then he found himself gliding toward the back wall of the tunnel. The beast had thrown him, lance was happy that the grip was loosened, but now he had an entirely different problem. The wall was coming quick, but before he collided head on, Lance formed a massive ball of fire adjacent to the mass of concrete. He quickly condensed it, causing a small explosion before he hit the wall, cushioning his blow. The trauma wasn't anything he wasn't used to by now, and he didn't have to worry about heat. Lance's body still ended up hitting the floor pretty hard, but nothing compared to smacking against the wall full force.

He shook his head as he looked up. The flames that filled the room made it difficult to make out the beasts body, they where four feet tall and the heat that radiated off of them blurred the space above them. All Lance could see is a dark figure through the blaze, then he suddenly heard aloud scream. "Has he had enough? The question pulsed through Lances mind as the caveman burst throw the ceiling. Lance could feel the tunnel shake. He quickly looked around and questioned the structure, 'Will it last long enough?" He thought, then extinguished the flames.

The floor and ceiling where now a bright smoldering red. His leg ached as he stood, then wobbled toward the entrance. The ground seemed to give in with every step, giving a hint that the tunnel was about to collapse, "The ground is on the brink of lava"Lance thought, then picked up speed. His leg ached with every step, more and more, but he finally made it to the exit. The light of day made the bright glow of his flames seem like they had been nothing. Lance's eyes had to adjust to the bright sun, shielding his eyes he didn't even notice the roof of the tunnel cave in. It wasn't a sudden thing, instead the ceiling seemed to cave in slowly as the almost liquid roof gave in to the weight from above.

"That was close" Lance thought. He looked toward the beast as he sat by the fire hydrant. "Not my problem He concluded. The people where paying him because hobos where disappearing in the tunnel. Now there was no more tunnel. He knew he might run into the Caveman again in the future, but Lance's leg ached and throbbed. Thoughts of a nice bed filled his mind, He didn't want to continue. The thoughts of the people around him soon sunk into his head as well. The only attack that was effective would probably kill hundreds of normal people.

"Have a nice life beasty... " He thought then began to wobble away. Next destination, Siberia.

Gwharr closed his eyes where he sat, focusing on the subsiding pain. He was already started to feel better, and the horrible, burning pain of the powerfull, flesh-melting, allconsuming flames where already dissapearing. Now, they had turned int o a dull ache, and the ache was getting smaller and smaller as the the flesh and skin grew back over his exposed muscles and flesh. He could feel his temperature lowering, as the steady stream of steam that rose from his body whenever the water touched it subsided. He felt cold again, and it felt marvelous. He rose from his position and howled in sheer relief! The pain was leaving him, no more burning, no more melting flesh, no more watching your own slowly skin turn into crusty flakes of ash!

He put his face to the hydrant and swallowed greedy mouthfulls of the water. He had not realized how thirsty he had been, what wit hthe fighting and the burning and the way he had felt about the fool invading his kingdom. He snorted in contempt when he thought about it. The next time he met the fireman he would cook him over his own flame before eating him up! But untill then he had work to do. He had to restore the tunnels in his kingdom to make sure they did not. . .

A great big rumble could be heard as the tunnel collapsed onto itself. From up here it looked almost like a sinkhole appeared in the middle of the road. The asphalt just crumbled up and collapsed into itself, down into the earth, making it look like a giant trench ran along the busy street, like in one of those war-scenes from foreign lands that sometimes appeared on the news. The people on the streets looked mighty surprised, forgetting about the bloody, showering caveman to look at the new, strange trench running across their streets. At occasion the odd flame shot up through the cracks in the trench, signalling that the filames of their underground onslaught was still burning, but judging from their size and colours they where already subsiding.

Gwhar leapt up onto the nearest building, running away to find another way down into his tunnels. This tunnel may be lost, but the beauty of having a kingdom of caves beneath the city was that the word "Caves" was plural. He had never really liked this particurlar tunnel either, since it was particurlarly dank and moldy. He briefly stopped to think about what happened to his combattant. He had not followed him up when the tunnels gave in, and with his bum leg he wasn't the quickest runner in the world, so he might have ended up buried and dead beneath the city. A strangely comforting thought. Buried alive under tons of lava, forgotten about forever. Despite all the injury, insult and invasions Gwharr felt sorry for him. He had been buried in lava for a very long time and he had not liked it one itty little bit.

Right now he did not want to think anymore of the man, of flames or of molten rock He had definately had enough of hot stuff today. Right now he only wanted to go home, eat some of the dog-meat he had stuffed away from his hunt last night and have a nice bit of a liedown, putting this experience behind him, letting the sharp, loud pain sink in and become just another memory. Just another mental battlescar amongst thousands.