Station, стр. 72

choice, a challengethat he knew The Krown could not shy away from, lest he loses thefaith of his minions.

Ego Rounds was going to win or lose the Riser Warhere and now. Hadder's stomach churned. Whether from anxiety or adesire to join the fracas, Hadder was unwilling to ask himself.

The Krown, although half as girthy as Ego Rounds,towered over his enemy. While Ego was tall himself, he was dwarfedby The Krown, who came second to only the Caesars in terms of bodyintimidation. The Krown let the size discrepancy sink in for amoment before he spoke. "Ego Rounds! You know you are beaten; theselast weeks have shown you the futility of your resistance. Anyonecan see that this is a desperate attempt to steal victory from myjaws of defeat."

Ego Rounds shot back. "You sound frightened, mymelatonin-deficient friend. Does The Krown fear a fair fight with astrong black man?"

The Krown laughed again. "Not at all, Ego. Justpointing out that I see the cause of your newfound bravery. This isthe final card you have to play. Unfortunately for you, it's notthe one you need."

"I tire of your words, you pale muthafucka. Acceptor fuck off. Let all your men see who you are when you aren'thiding behind them."

The Krown's green eyes flared. "I accept.Happily."

"No weapons. No assistance. Just you and I."

The Krown grabbed ahold of one of the spikes juttingout from his head, pulled at it for effect. "These don't come off,Ego."

Ego held up his battering ram hands, showing hismetal knuckles to The Krown. "These don't either. We'll call iteven. You ready?"

"I've been ready. Tell me, when I open up that fatchest of yours, will blood or gravy come pouring out?"

"I'm going to rip those ridiculous rods out of yourhead, white boy. Maybe melt them down and fashion my own crown fromyour memories."

The Krown began to pace. Hadder could see the angerwelling up in him. "You won't take my crown! But you will kiss it!Come now! Come kiss it!"

The Krown's army roared to the heavens, and EgoRounds' minions, although fewer in number, matched their foes witha savage scream of their own, followed by chants of "Ego." Hadder'sheart threatened to punch a hole in his chest as he watched the twotitans face off.

Ego Rounds, finally tiring of the posturing, tookoff in a sprint towards his pale nemesis. Although massive, Egomoved impossibly fast, his light feet a blur against the Rising'sbroken ground. The Krown smiled wickedly, took five giant stepsforward, and dug in. Ego came on like lighting, slamming into thetaller man, and releasing a thunderclap that stole the air fromeveryone on the battlefield.

Although he was forced back, The Krown refused tofall, eventually holding his ground against the boulder that wasEgo Rounds. The first attempt foiled, Ego separated and squared up,his metal knuckles waving threateningly. The Krown followed suitand initiated fisticuffs with a looping left hook that caughtnothing but air. Two jabs also failed to find their target, and astraight right was blocked by Ego's left arm protecting hishead.

Now it was Ego's turn. He immediately followed TheKrown's blocked right with a right hook of his own, catching theman in the ribs and drawing a pained grunt. The Krown's arms fellslightly from the blow, and it was all Ego needed to launch afull-scale attack. A high left hook passed above The Krown'sdefensives to catch him on the temple while a straight rightshattered his nose, sending a river of blood to cascade over theman's mouth and chin. Aided by his metal knuckle Elevation, Ego wastenderizing The Krown and wouldn't need many more clean shots toend the fight.

The Krown staggered back, wiping his messy face, andreset. Concern dotted the monster's visage as he began to trulyunderstand the might of his foe. As Ego danced towards him again,preparing another vicious combination, The Krown clearly realizedthat he was no match for his dark-skinned competition on the feet,and took a new approach.

The Krown darted forward, getting inside of Ego'sdangerous hands, and slammed his head down, looking to send hiscentral spike into the South Rising leader's face. Ego anticipatedthe move, however, and caught the metal skewer with his meaty lefthand. For a long moment, progress was halted in either direction,the massive men's muscles tense as they waged a war of attrition.Slowly but surely, The Krown's head began to lower, lance inchingcloser to Ego's exposed face.

With a primal yell, Ego twisted violently to hisleft, turning The Krown's weaponized head away from Ego's face andinto the perfect position for what came next. Not only did thefrantic maneuver, place Ego's face out of harm's way, it also freedup his right arm that had been previously contained by The Krown'sleft. Still controlling The Krown's head via his iron grip on thecentral head spike, Ego Rounds threw the hardest right hand of hislife at the immobilized target, connecting squarely with the NorthRiser's jaw and sending him reeling backward. As The Krownstumbled, Ego moved in for the kill, fainting right and throwing atextbook left hook that caught the wobbly man on the tip of thechin with the metal knuckles, sending him to the ground,unconscious.

Both armies were shocked into stunned silence as theseemingly invincible Riser leader fell. Ego Rounds, shaking withadrenaline, lifted his hands to the sky in a sign of victory,sending his men and women into a frenzy. His people urging him on,Ego stalked towards his unconscious foe, his crazed eyes glazedover in bloodlust. "I told you," he yelled to the body at his feet,"That I was gonna rip those goddam spikes off your goddamhead!"

Ego kneeled at The Krown's head, ready to finish thebattle in gruesome fashion. Reaching for one of his foe's cherishedElevations, Ego stopped suddenly, seeing a wicked grin on TheKrown's face. Recognizing the ruse for what it was, Ego lurchedforward to grasp those deadly points.

But he was too late.

The Krown opened his evil jade eyes and thrust hishead forward in a blink, his too-thick neck sending the centralspike through the air like a spear to pierce Ego Rounds' enormousleft knee. Ego roared in pain and fell back to land hard on hisbackside.

The Krown was up in an instant,