Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

Even as the first shot sent Eve staggering backwards, Oliver didn't hesitate to pull the trigger again and again. All he had to go on when it came to vampires were movies and myths... And all of those agreed that vampires were supernaturally tough. While he figured destroying the brain with a solid head shot may be enough to put her down for good, he wasn't willing to bet it all on getting lucky. Especially since her arms were raised to protect her head from exactly that.

So he went with a simpler plan: Catastrophic, irreparable damage. Regardless of how tough or strong a vampire was, it was still based around a human body. If he could do enough damage to at least temporarily incapacitate her, there was a chance he could put her down permanently.

'Probably by setting her on fire.' He thought as he fired the last round in the shotgun. With a thought, he tossed it back in the warehouse and pulled out the FAL he favored. A flick of his thumb on the safety as he tucked the rifle against his shoulder, and he was firing again almost without pause. The heavy crack of the gun echoed through the large open room.

Oliver took the time to aim more carefully with the rifle, now that he had driven her back and opened up some space between them. The first couple of shots slammed into her torso, continuing to keep her on the back foot. Then he began to alternate his shots between her chest and different joints, hoping to impair her in some way.

A shot to the hip, then one to the chest. One to her shoulder as she staggered, then another to her stomach.

He cursed silently as the shot aimed at her knee only grazed her before ricocheting off the concrete floor and disappearing into the depths of the building. He would have to be carefully he didn't accidentally hurt himself with an unlucky bounce.

Oliver nearly growled in frustration when he ran all thirty-one rounds loaded into the FAL and Eve was still standing. He clothes were practically shredded, with holes and gouges ripped through her flesh. But still she stood.

The mocking smile he could see plastered across her face caused a thread of worry to worm its way into his heart, but Oliver ruthlessly suppressed it. He quickly threw the FAL back into the warehouse and retrieved the AK he had held on to.

But as he went to shoulder it, she made her move.

Eve was fast, almost ridiculously so. As her figure flashed across the open space between them, a thought flashed across Oliver's mind: 'She makes Olympic sprinters look slow!'

Oliver's fingers went numb for a second as she slapped the gun from his hands, and he started to hurriedly back pedal away. Before he made it two steps, she seized him by the throat and, in a clear display of her strength, lifted him off the ground.

As his feet dangled several inches off the floor and he clawed at her hand, trying to get loose, he could see the wounds he had caused slowly closing one-by-one. While it wasn't instant, it was obvious that it wouldn't take long for her fully recover. A half hour, maybe an hour tops, and it would be like he had never even touched her.

“I have to say, Oli, no one has managed to surprise me like that in a while. I'm a little impressed, honestly. How did you make those guns just appear and disappear? Some sort of gun magic? That would be a first for me; I've never heard of a Gun Mage before.”

Her hand tightened slowly around his neck, cutting off the blood flow. Oliver could feel panic trying to rise in him as he struggled against her grip. For a moment, he felt almost helpless. What did it take to put her down? His hardest hitting guns did some damage, sure, but she just shrugged it off and came right back at him. He still had a few pistols, but didn't see the point of trying them after what he had just thrown at her.

At least she was close enough for him to try his backup plan... Or, as he had more aptly named it, his 'Oh shit' plan.

Thanks to the practice he had put into it, the whole process went faster than his first attempt. Oliver pulled a thread of Psi from his mind and wounded it down his arm, then out through his palm. The vaguely purple energy wove a hilt, a cross guard, then the blade of his Psi Blade. In a blink, he held a glowing purple arming sword in his hand.

And immediately swung it at her neck.

Eve was almost a foot shorter than him and, with him being held up off the ground by her extended arm, that put her too close to dodge.

Or so he thought.

Somehow, despite the lack of warning and the close proximity, she leapt back more than a dozen feet, and the blade completely missed her neck.

But it didn't completely miss her.

Oliver felt the blade bite into her flesh, and a vicious grin spread across his face as he saw the results. It was clear from how much damage the bullets had done that she wasn't invulnerable, just resilient and possessing an incredible ability to recover. But he hadn't had a decent chance to test how effective the Psi Blade really was.

So he was pleasantly surprised when it cleaved through her elbow and out the other side of her arm, sending the offending limb tumbling through the air.

“What the fuck is that!?” Eve screeched as she cradled the stump of her left arm against her chest and backed away from him.

Oliver took an experimental step towards her and smiled as she took a hurried step back. The guns hadn't put her off at all... But this? Something completely unknown to her that could cause serious damage? She wasn't quite afraid... But it clearly worried her.

With two quick steps, Oliver reached the lost limb and plucked it up off the ground, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. A small smirk flashed across his face as he waved her own hand at her before tossing it into the system warehouse.

“I wonder... Can you regrow an arm? Or a leg, for that matter...”

Fury raged in Eve's eyes, nearly overriding her worry after the damage he had done. “Give. It. Back. Now!”

Oliver chuckled softly as they circled each other, the point of his blade aimed at her chest. “Does that mean you can't?”

She remained silent for a moment before snarling at him. “Give it back now or I'll kill your friend.”

Oliver's smile faded instantly, his whole demeanor going cold. “He's in the office, isn't he?”

After all their banter, he could read her expression well enough to confirm it. Before she could answer, he stopped the wary circling they had been doing and started to advance on her. “You can try it, but then you'll have to decide if you want to fight me in that tiny office or if you want to jump out the window and run.”

“And those windows are small enough that even you will have trouble getting through one before I can cut off another piece of you.”

He ignored the shocked look on her face and lunged at her. She side stepped his thrust and tried to close on him, only to immediately jump back as the blade cut across at her. A swift chop at her head drove her back again, only for him to shift it into a stab that nicked her shoulder.

Despite her greater speed, Eve found herself being pushed back and chased across the warehouse floor step by step. Several times she found herself pushed back into shelves or tables, forcing her take small cuts as she desperately dove out of the way to avoid worse wounds.

Surprised was written across her face at the simple, yet brutal and efficient, attacks aimed at her.

Who the hell actually fought with swords anymore?

As if reading her mind, Oliver spoke softly, his words hammering on her growing fear. “I'm actually better with a sword than a gun. Comes from being a geek, really. Practicing with the SCA people, going to LARPs, and just generally screwing around... Because swords are cool, though honestly I prefer something with a little reach. Like a halberd.”

Eve's mind raced. She knew she could kill him. She was faster, stronger, and could take a lot more damage... But she wasn't so certain she could still take him alive and complete the job. Not with that weird sword he was swinging at her.

And it was possible he would do a lot of damage to her before she could finish it, which was a major concern for her.

He was right that she couldn't regrow the arm. At least not yet. The next job she planned to take would give her a power to regrow limbs... But, until then, the best she could do would be to reattach the lost arm and spend a couple days recovering. And that was assuming he didn't cut anything else off as the fight goes on.

With a growl of both reluctance and frustration, Eve leapt straight up. Grabbing a nearby shelf, she awkwardly clambered up while cursing her lost arm. Once securely perched out of his reach, she turned to glare at him... Only for her eyes to go wide as he started hacking at the metal frame supporting her. Even though the steel was holding up, she could see that he wouldn't stop until he brought it-and her- down.

“Wait! Just... Wait a second and lets talk, ok?”

He barely glanced at her as he continued to hack at the shelf, though he did respond after a second. “You better talk quick.”

Throwing her remaining hand in the air in frustration, she suppressed a curse. “Look, maybe we can make a deal.”

Oliver paused for a second to glare up at her. “I'm not a fan of leaving enemies alive to fuck with me again in the future. The last time I made that mistake... The asshole hired a vampire to kidnap one of my friends.”

Eve growled loudly, her fangs flashing in the dim warehouse. “Don't think I can't kill you, Oliver. The only reason I'm offering a deal is because doing so would cost me too much. And I would still fail the job. If the job is fucked no matter what, there's no point. You know?”

Oliver slowly stepped back from the shelf, staring up at her. When the sword suddenly disappeared, she let out a small sigh of relief... Only to curse quietly as a gun appeared in his hands again, which he quickly reloaded.

“Seriously? Haven't you shot me enough already? Fucked up my clothes so much I'm half naked as it is...”

His eyes raked across her body for an instant before he smirked up at her. “Well, you're cute at least. But, unlike you, my girlfriend is fucking terrifying when she wants to be. Now, what sort of deal are you offering? And it better be good.”

Eve grumbled to herself at the implication she wasn't scary. She was a vampire! How the hell wasn't that scary?

“Fine. I'll keep it simple. You give me back my arm and I'll leave and report the job as a failure. The fucker undersold this damn job anyway. They said you were just some college brat! 'Kid wants to be a music teacher or something. No military experience, nothing to even worry about. How hard can it be?' Fucking idiots had no clue...”

“So, how about it Oli?”