Chapter 4: Round 1, Week 3
Author's note: Sorry if this is a little late, a few things came up last week. With that out of the way, LET'S BEGIN!
We once more start off in the commentary box of the Iaconian Super Bowl, only this time an extremely grumpy looking humanoid like chicken Autobot is there. The lights shine off his gold and purple armor as he glares at the camera sourly. He is Fowlmouth.
Fowlmouth: Hello, all you *BEEP* fight fans. I'm Fowlmouth, you're extremely reluctant host for this series of matches. Just for a change I'm gonna cut out the *BEEP* and go straight to see who's qualified for Round 2.
*****
Qualifiers for Round 2
Optimus Prime
Blitzwing
Soundwave
Ratchet
Waspinator
Devastator
Megatron (Predacon)
Bludgeon
*****
Fowlmouth: And now, with further ado, let's go to our tournament referee, that complete *BEEP* Emirate Xaaron.
*****
Match 9: Galvatron vs. Snarl
Xaaron: In the red corner: GALVATRON!
The wall next to the red gateway is demolished by a fusion blast. Galvatron steps through the smoking hole.
Galvatron: BWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Xaaron: And in the blue corner: SNARL!
A metallic stegosaurus lumbers out of the blue gateway. He transforms into his robot mode and waves his energo sword in the air.
Xaaron (nervous glance at the obvious homicidal Galvatron): BEGIN!
Snarl (thinking): Ok then, here it is, my big chance! I beat ol' Galvy here and I can win myself fame! Fortune! And –
Snarl's thoughts are cut off by Galvatron lunging forward and ripping his left arm off.
Snarl: AUUGH! You bastard!
Enraged, Snarl buried his energo sword deep in Galvatron's chest. The crazed future Decepticon leader seems not to notice however as he proceeds to beat the Dinobot with his own arm. The beatings are so rapid and savage that Snarl is soon beaten into the ground. Only his head remains above ground. Dazed, Snarl tried to focus his eyes and was horrified to see Galavtron run at him. Swinging his leg with all his might Galvatron kicked Snarl's head clean off his shoulders and into the crowd, where it landed on Sludge's lap.
Sludge/Slag/Swoop: SNARL!
Galavtron: BWAAAAAA! Once again the…mig…
Galvatron collapses to the ground from his chest wound. Xaaron and a medic rush to him and take a few tests. After concluding that the wound was not fatal Xaaron raised Galvatron's arm.
Xaaron: The winner: GALVATRON!
Match 10: Wheeljack vs. Depth Charge
Xaaron: In the red corner: WHEELJACK!
Wheeljack emerges into the arena on top of what looks like some sort of mechanical cat/spider/hedgehog hybrid. Sounds of surprise and horror were heard from the crowd. Wheeljack gave the creature an affectionate pet.
Wheeljack: Now don't you listen to a word they say, Krytie. I happen to think the dark blue brings out your eyes perfectly.
Wheeljack disembarks off Krytie, who immediately vacates the area.
Xaaron: Um…and in the blue corner: DEPTH CHARGE!
The Transmetal manta ray glides into the arena with an almost eerie silence before transforming into his robot mode.
Xaaron: BEGIN!
Depth Charge: All right, let's get this over with. I've got more pressing matters to attend to.
Wheeljack: If you mean Rampage, you're too late. He's already dead.
Depth Charge: WHAT?!? How can this be? I can still detect his immortal spark in the vicinity!
Cut away to Ratchet, who's watching the match on a monitor in the resting rooms. He looks slightly worried. Cut back to the fight.
Depth Charge: Gah, no matter! I shall still defeat you and take my rightful place in Round 2. All you can do, my good engineer, is beg for mercy.
Wheeljack: Oh really?
Moving with a speed Depth Charge wouldn't have guessed at, Wheeljack went into a handstand and spun, his legs whacking into Depth Charge with enough force to knock the giant Maximal to the ground. Stunned, he looks up to see Wheeljack doing a dance of sorts, his feet lightly hopping back and forth, his arms following a similar rhythm.
Wheeljack: A little while before I entered the arena I ordered my computer to find me a fighting style that would offer me the best chance of success in the tournament. The technique it chose for me and the one I downloaded into my neural net is the Brazilian martial art known as Capoeria.
Depth Charge managed to get as far as raising himself to one knee before Wheeljack knocked back on his back with an incredibly graceful and fluid roundhouse kick.
Wheeljack: Normally it's more of a dance technique in Brazil but with a few modifications it can become quite effective in the art of causing pain.
Back flipping himself upright Depth Charge aimed an uppercut at Wheeljack, only for him to lean away slightly and avoid the blow. A double fisted hammerblow was met with nearly the same result, only now Wheeljack went into a one handed handstand and executed an overhead kick which connected with the top of Depth Charge's head. Immediately taking advantage of the giant Maximal's stunned state Wheeljack, in one quick motion from his previous attack, swept Depth Charge's legs from underneath him. Seeing his chance to finish the fight once and for all Wheeljack leapt into the air and aimed his foot at Depth Charge's head. Timing his moment to perfection, Depth Charge waited until Wheeljack was at just the right height before raising his left arm and tensing it. An energon spear ratcheted out of a cavity on his wrist, causing Wheeljack to fall on it. The Autobot gasped in pain as the spear struck his spark, which ground down to a low sigh as his life essence was extinguished. Getting back to his feet after retracting the spear, Depth Charge raised his arm in triumph.
Xaaron: The winner: DEPTH CHARGE!
Match 11: Megatron (Decepticon) vs. Inferno (Predacon)
Xaaron: In the red corner: MEGATRON!
The original Decepticon leader walks out of the red gateway to an unbelievable wall of cheering, which he acknowledged with the slightest of nods.
Xaaron: And in the blue corner: INFERNO!
A giant fire ant emerged from the blue gateway to an equally unbelievable wall of cheering which he acknowledge by transforming into his robot mode and shooting off a few blasts form his flamethrower.
Xaaron: BEGIN!
Inferno: Hold! Did I just hear that you're name is Megatron?
Megatron: Yes.
Inferno (enraged): INFIDEL! YOU DARE USE THE NAME OF THE ROYALTY AS THOUGH IT WAS YOUR OWN?!?
Megatron: It IS my own you idiot! I am the one true Megatron! It is that second rate dictator who has usurped it for his own!
Inferno goes white with rage.
Inferno: You have insulted the Queen! BUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNN!
Inferno sets the flamethrower to its maximum setting and fires it at Megatron. A sheet of super hot flames engulfs the tyrant, obstructing him from view. His cries of pain cause a smile to form on the Predacon's face. A smile which quickly vanished when a badly melted Megatron leapt out of the blazing inferno, his face contorted in rage and pain. Inferno just managed to transform into his beast mode when Megatron managed to grab him in an inescapable bear hug. Trying desperately to escape, Inferno felt Megatron puncture his chest with his fist and his spark about to crushed out of existence. Realizing that this was the end for him, Inferno activated his self-destruct mechanism and smiled.
Inferno: For the glory of the Colony!
The explosion was a sight to behold; a violent display of light, sound and pyrotechnics. As soon as the blast died down Xaaron rushed out to see if anyone survived. After surveying the mess of broke and melted metal that lay on the ground Xaaron was about to call the fight a draw when an arm snaked out and caught his leg.
Megatron: W-wait!
Startled, Xaaron glanced down to discover Megatron, badly damaged (he was only a head, half a torso and his left arm, the one without the fusion cannon), but remarkably, still alive.
Megatron: I…ssssssssstill fun-function…!
Xaaron stared for a moment longer before summoning the medics over.
Xaaron: The winner: MEGATRON!
Match 12: Rattrap vs. Fortress Maximus
Xaaron (looks at the name card with confusion): Um…are you sure this is right?
From the sidelines Impactor shrugs.
Xaaron: Okay then…in the red corner: SNARKY, THE MOUSE WITH PMS!
Rattrap (coming into the arena): WHAT?!?
The Transmetal rat walks up to Xaaron and grabs the name card. He stares at it with a look of anger etched on his face.
Rattrap: Dis handwritin'…it looks familiar…
He looks up suddenly and spots Dinobot's Spark hovering above his head.
Dinobot's Spark: Heh heh heh…(disappears)
Rattrap: Grrr…curse you Chopperface!
Xaaron (grabbing the name card back): And in the blue corner: FORTRESS MAXIMUS!
The blue gateway opens up, allowing Spike Witwicky to stride into the arena clad in his bio-armor.
Rattrap: What the…? Dis is the great Fortress Maximus?!? HA HA HA! Oh man, dis is gonna be a breeze!
Rattrap's laugh is cut short as the headless body of Cerebros walks out of the gateway. With a small smile Spike leapt into the air, transformed into the Autobot's head and joined up with the body.
Rattrap: Ok, ok, so now it's a fair fight. I can handle dat.
What happened next made Rattrap's jaw nearly touch the ground.
What he had assumed to be a nearby city started to transform itself into a massive robot body. Once it had finished, the headless behemoth stepped over the Super Bowl's walls and stood a few feet away from Rattrap. Activating his jet pack Cerebros flew into the air, transformed in the head of Fortress Maximus and joined up with the body.
Rattrap: Ah geez, this is really kicking a rat in the happy sacks, ya know?
Xaaron: BEGIN!
Smiling cruelly Fort Max's leg cannons (two cannons to a leg) dropped down and aimed themselves at Rattrap. The rat's optics widened as he realized that each cannon was larger than he was.
Fortress Maximus: This is the end, rodent.
Quickly transforming into his vehicle mode Rattrap barely managed to dodge the first volley of lasers and was lucky to dodge the second. It was then that Rattrap noticed that the cannon ports were large enough to crawl into. Revving up his engine, the Maximal quickly sped up towards the cannons and managed to slip into the port before Fort Max could fire off the killing shots. Inside the giant Autobot Rattrap gazed in awe at the mild long circuits and giant microchips that made up his inner workings, thousands of things to nibble on. The Maximal put his paws together in prayer.
Rattrap: Oh Primus, I thank you for this bounty I'm about to receive.
And with that, Rattrap went to work. A second later Fort Max doubled over in pain, as his left leg began to twitch sporadically.
Fortress Maximus: Wha…what's happening…? (eyes widen as he realizes what's going on) Oh…NO!
Trying to find a way to expel the Maximal who was eating him from the inside out, Fort Max desperately tried to transform into his city mode. Unfortunately, Rattrap had already gotten to the circuits which help control and co-ordinate his transformation process and he got stuck half way through the transformation as Cerebros disengaged from his body. Soon the city/robot began to smoke and small to medium sized explosions began to occur all over his body.
Xaaron: He's gonna blow! Eject the body!
A giant spring built into the ground activates, hurtling Fort Max's body into space but not before Rattrap manages to escape through a hold he nibbled out of the back of the Autobot's leg. Cerebros watches his old body's destruction in a massive explosion, not noticing Rattrap preparing a pair of belly bombs.
Cerebros: …Well, at least it took Rattrap with it…
Rattrap: Hey head boy!
Cerebros: ?
Rattrap: Catch!
Cerebros catches what at first appear to be two plain spheres. Once he's realized what they are, Spike leaps off of Cerebros' shoulders, just as the bombs annihilate his body. The force of the blast sent the human flying to the feet of Rattrap.
Spike: Um…hi!
Rattrap (raising his foot): Hi!
*SQUISH!*
Xaaron: The winner: RATTRAP!
*****
Fowlmouth: Well, that was an absolute waste of my time. You can have a look at the voting for this batch of matches while I hunt down those *BEEP* Vegiticons. (picks up a chain gun from behind the desk and stalks off)
*****
The Voting
The voters: LunarFormer, Albedo, Scizordramon, Snarl, FusionBlaster, Bladewing, MeRlin, firewalkr21, aotrs.commander, Soundwave, Matt Smith, Cyberfrost, Extreme-Kup88.
Match 9: Galavtron vs. Snarl
Galavtron: Votes: 10
Snarl: Votes: 3
Match 10: Wheeljack vs. Depth Charge
Wheeljack: Votes: 3
Depth Charge: Votes: 10
Match 11: Megatron (Decepticon) vs. Inferno (Predacon)
Megatron: Votes: 10
Inferno: Votes: 3
Match 12: Rattrap vs. Fortress Maximus
Rattrap: Votes: 12
Fortress Maximus: Votes: 1
And now, this week's matches:
Match 13: Optimus Primal vs. Bumblebee
Match 14: Nightbeat vs. Mindwipe
Match 15: Starscream vs. Scorponok
Match 16: Triggerhappy vs. Astrotrain
Happy voting! The final four matches of Round 1 will be published this Sunday so be sure to be quick!