Scaler/Arthur - Confronting a Tyrant

[fullmoonderia]

Things had been almost dull lately. With his rule almost fully secure, Scaler could really afford to just relax. His armies were plenty to squash the occasional rebellion...but that just meant that he had no fun of his own. As a result, he was lounging in his throne, counting the pile of gems from the last raid he had ordered. It wasn't fun anymore, but it was something.

It was funny. There was a time, when he was still a bright-eyed young hero, that the idea of just taking everything over would have been unthinkable. But things had changed. HE had changed, and the best way to make sure that there was any kind of order in his kingdom was to enforce his order. Two years of marching across the kingdom to claim more land, claiming this castle for himself, honing his powers and growing his army. Many were ambitious enough to take the power he offered, others were willing to gain protection and care for their loved ones...the latter he watched closely, and made sure he knew where those they cared for were so he could show the price of disloyalty.

He wasn't going to play the nice ruler. Those who didn't fall in line would be broken down, or burnt to ashes. It wasn't a hard thing to impose.

Comments

[regretfulsunflower]

Arthur hadn't been a fighter originally. He had been a mechanic and a tinkerer. That was all he had wanted to be before the armies marched in. Before his family and friends were forced to surrender or die. His home was nearly destroyed, all for the supposed order of Scaler. It forced him to change. His fear was still there but he had learned to pushed by it. He fought through the shakes to hold a sword. He trained to learn how to carry a shield, wear armor, and fight. He'd been training for this.

To stop an army, you needed an army. To topple a King, you needed one knight. Arthur was going to try and be that night. His metal arm held his sword in a welded grip, his human arm holding his shield. He snuck into the palace and up to the throne room. It was time.

He burst through the door and charged at the throne, bellowing his war cry. He raced toward the throne and slashed with his sword, hoping the surprise would let him end this with the first blow.

[fullmoonderia]

Unfortunately for Arthur, it would never have been that easy. As soon as the doors had burst open, Scaler had leapt to all fours, balancing on the arms and back of the throne. He grinned at the knight as he vanished from view, blending into their surrounding as he scurried off of the throne before the sword could connect. He laughed, voice echoing around the large room.

"I wasn't expecting company today, buuuut since I was pretty bored I think I'll humor your courage." He crept slowly along the floor, attempting to make the intruder lose track of him before he had to drop him camouflage for a moment. "So, to whom do I owe the honor, hm?"

[regretfulsunflower]

The sword dug into the throne and slice across it. Arthur's eyes scanned the room but the lizard was hard to see now. He pulled the shield close. He had a mirror on the inside of the shield and he looked around. He could watch behind himself with his peripheral vision while watching around him. The laugh echoing made him shiver a little. He's scared.

He knows he is but Arthur isn't going to give up.

"I'm Arthur Kingsmen. And I'm here to get rid of you!" Arthur spun when the camouflage dropped and readied his sword.

"Your reign of terror is over."

[fullmoonderia]

"Reign of terror?" Bobby asked with an almost innocent look. "The only ones terrorized are the ones who don't want to fall in line." He stood upright, long claws flexing as he sized Arthur up, seeing the fear in his eyes. Handsome, but clearly not the heroic type. It was cute really.

"What makes you think you can do the job anyway? You're practically shaking and I haven't even started yet."

[regretfulsunflower]

"The ones who don't want to obey and surrender everything to you!" Arthur snapped. He gripped his shield ties tighter. His metal arm couldn't hold the sword any tighter if he tried.

"I know I'm scared! But someone has to stand up and stop you. Someone has to do it. So I decided it would be me. If I beat you here, I can save everyone and things can go back to normal. So...so that's what I'm going to do!" Arthur yelled, his shaking still present but he pushed the fear mostly from his eyes. He could do this. He trained for this. He just needed a good clean shot and he could end this.

That or Scaler would end him.

He tried to not think about that.

[fullmoonderia]

"You mean the normal where people get hurt whether the cause is inside or outside of the rules?" Scaler scoffed. He glared at Arthur, locking eyes with him. "If you think that you can take me then come on! I don't need a sword or a shield to defend myself."

He spread his long arms wide as though he was giving Arthur a free shot, but he was really checking how rash or stupid this human was. How direct he'd be.

[regretfulsunflower]

Don't be stupid, Arthur. He's baiting you. Yeah, normal sucked too. People could get hurt, friends died, and things weren't always safe. They were free, unlike now. He did need his sword and shield and needed to figure out how to use that opening for just a moment. He ran toward Scaler like he was going to be all reckless but then he threw the shield at the conqueror as a decoy as he jumped up to try and slice down at the lizard as he was taking care of the shield.

Or that was his hope, anyway.

[fullmoonderia]

Scaler reacted fast, catching the shield and leaping backwards away from the follow-up strike. "Nice try, but I've been fighting since I was twelve." He grinned, brandishing the shield like a trophy. "And without this, you've got no protect if my claws find you now."

Dropping it at his feet, he vanished again, moving to the side of the shield and going still. Trying to make him panic.

[regretfulsunflower]

Scaler was too fast and too good. Arthur's heart was racing now that he had missed with both attacks. He swallowed and held his sword out in front of him. He needed his shield. He needed it back and the lizard's words were starting to echo. He's been fighting since he was twelve and Arthur only started to learn a year ago. He could imagine those claws digging into his flesh-no! He shook his head and tried to steady himself.

Arthur moved around the throne room, trying to circle the shield. He needed to get to it but his eyes darted everywhere, looking for a hint of where the lizard king was. Without his shield, he couldn't use the reflection to see behind him. His knees were shaking but he had to focus. He had to win.

Arthur darts forward, trying to scoop up his shield quickly.

[fullmoonderia]

Bobby moved with him, keeping his movements slow and deliberate to help keep from being easily tracked. This one was interesting. So scared, but determined, and kind of hot even. Maybe it would be a shame to kill him just like that. Maybe, he could be put to better use.

Just before Arthur reached the shield, Scaler's tongue shot out and punched him hard in the gut, trying to wind him if not just knock him off his feet. The attack broke his invisibility, but that was fine. He wasn't really the one in danger.

[regretfulsunflower]

Each movement, slow, and fast, all came to the end of pain. Arthur grunts as he feels the wind knocked out of him. He gasped and tried to keep moving, scooping up his shield. He needed it before he tried to back pedal and raise the shield in front of him. He just needed to focus and remember his training. Catch his breathe too. Breathe in and out. Gulping down as much air as he can to catch his breathe.

"You...are really...really badass." He wheezed between breathes.

[fullmoonderia]

This time, Bobby wasn't letting him get that distance, crouching and then pouncing on all fours to slam into the shield again, trying to take Arthur to the ground under the combined weight. This fight was his, and an idea was already forming...he just needed Arthur on the ground under him.

"Of course I am. I've already defeated armies with my bare claws."

[regretfulsunflower]

Arthur felt the crash into the shield and he let out a scared yelp. It slammed full into the metal and sent him stumbling back. He didn't fall though, not yet. He adjusted his weight and waited for the next attack, trying to get ready to counter.

"Too bad you had to go evil and take over the world! Makes you just an ass!"

[fullmoonderia]

The crash didn't come, as Bobby was clinging to and grinning at him over the shield. He wasn't light either, a human-sized collection or scales, claws, and wiry muscle. "See that's where you're wrong. I'm not taking over because I'm evil, I'm taking over because I'm tired of saving everyone from everything including themselves. Right now the reason there's strife is because there's still fighting. Like you right now, fighting a battle you can't win."

[regretfulsunflower]

The weight. How had he not realized? He was struggling to hold up the shield as he looked up at the lizard staring over him. The words made a sick kind of sense to him. Bobby was trying to save everyone? If there wasn't fighting, would it be so bad? He readied his sword, aiming it up at the tyrant's face.

"You...you don't have the right to tell people...what they can and can't do. You're a tyrant. Even if what you're doing, you're doing because you care so much!" He forced his arm to move and tried to stab at the lizard on his shield.

[fullmoonderia]

Bobby ducked, the strike clanging against the shield and the sound echoing through the empty throne room. Planting his feet on the ground, he used his grip on the shield to try and throw Arthur against the wall with an angry snarl. "You're a fool if you think that's not how the world already works!"

[regretfulsunflower]

Arthur didn't have the strength to hold his ground. He was spun around, his feet lifting off the ground. He spun around and around. The force and movement was too much and his arm came out of the straps on his shield. He flew back and crashed hard into the wall. Arthur cried out in pain as he slammed into the stone wall. He had to stab his sword down at the ground to stop from falling face first.

The blond tried to catch his breath after the air was knocked from his lungs. He looked up through squinting eyes, blinking the tears of pain away. That hurt a lot. Looks like he made Scaler mad.

"...Maybe it is...but...it isn't how it should work," Arthur wheezed out between gritted teeth.