Sorry about not updating, I woulda done it earlier but the PC was formatted
when I was almost done and it took a while until I could be bothered to re-
write this chapter, but after playing FF: crystal chronicles (its not even
out here yet ) I feel a lot better and so, here is the chapter.
Tatsu stared at his opponent, and Chimpus stared right back, neither one moved. Then the klaxon sounded, the match was officially underway. Tatsu summoned his brand to his hand and slashed at the air. There was something different about his weapon, what was it? It was pink! Bright pink! Damn it! This was the last time Crimson ever got to touch any of Tatsu's weapons.
Chimpus chuckled to himself, so Tatsu had a buster? Nice weapon, not that it would do him any good at all. He pulled a control device from his pocket and flipped the clear plastic lid to reveal a single, red button. He pressed it and a deep rumbling emanated from beneath the arena almost shaking the two combatants from their feet. Sand poured into a rectangular hole that was steadily expanding. There was a clunking of gears and from the hole rose a beast unlike any Tatsu had ever seen before.
The thing was huge, at least 14 feet tall and it looked to be truly fearsome. Light glinted off of its polished hide and an eerie glow radiated from its eyes and mouth. Miscellaneous weapons were strapped to its huge arms and a few other unrecognized objects were seemingly fused into other parts of the creature's body. It was then that Tatsu noticed something odd. Its stomach was hanging open and Chimpus was climbing into it. This was no organic creature. Tatsu scanned his memory. Crimson was obsessed with these things, what were they called? Oh yes, Mechanical Armored Suits. But they didn't exist. Nobody had ever built one and yet here one was, pointing the barrel of a heavy machine gun at him. Oh...damn.
Tatsu ran as fast as he could and dived behind a rock photon fire impacting upon the ground where his feet had been just moments before. Chimpus' voice taunted him as he hid.
"So Tatsu? How do you like RX-12? A rather useful little gadget wouldn't you say?"
"There is no way that thing is legal." Tatsu yelled from behind his rock
"You'd be surprised what you can get away with" Chimpus' tone was smug "Believe it or not, this counts as a weapon."
With that, he fired a round globe of photonic energy, which all but vaporized the rock that Tatsu was using for cover.
Tatsu ran to the next likely area of cover, his MAG deftly catching any photon fire that came his way. As he reached the relative safety of the next rock he heard a mine activate right next to him. Tchwing
With the fast thinking that had saved his life on more than one occasion, Tatsu stood up and grabbed the mine from where it floated and hurled it at the giant mech'. He ducked down again in order to avoid the return fire.
"So you like to play with bombs do you?" Chimpus once more mocked his opponent "How about you play with this one?"
There was a dull thud as something was fired, followed by a clang as a metal ball, approximately 10 inches in diameter, landed 5 foot away from Tatsu's position. He attempted to kick it away and was rewarded by a sharp pain in his toe. This thing was heavier than it looked! But Tatsu was stronger than he looked, thanks to the cyborg arm that was hidden under his clothes. He picked the ball up, even though it caused some pain as it pulled on the connection between the robotic limb and the flesh of Tatsu's shoulder. He bowled it underarm and it rolled across the ground, coming to a stop by the foot of the armored suit. It detonated, causing a deafening bang and a small fire. Not to mention damage to the mech'
"Left foot is damaged, mobility reduced 20%, turning reduced 40%" A pleasant female voice informed Chimpus. He already knew that, stupid computer. With another globe of photons he destroyed Tatsu's new hiding place. As an after thought he fired shots at the other large rocks in the arena. This also removed a lot of mines.
"Caution, heat level exceeding recommended levels." The computer stated in its annoyingly calm way. How could it be so calm? This was not the way it was supposed to be going, this was meant to be an easy victory.
Tatsu noticed that the mech' was not firing upon him, despite the fact that he was open and vulnerable. He looked around to see if he could spot more shelter, but every likely site that he saw was struck by a cannon blast and was rendered useless. Something caught Tatsu's eye, the mech's left foot was sparking, it was damaged, so maybe? He ran towards the mech' and dodging the incoming fire, he sprinted to the left side of it.
What was this hunter doing? Chimpus smashed his fists into the panel in frustration. If Tatsu would just play fair, this would be a snap, just like all the other matches before this one.
"Ready all weapons" He ordered the computer "I want all missiles loaded and the gauss rifle charged."
"Affirmative"
This will sort that little bastard out, Chimpus thought to himself. Actually, where was Tatsu? He couldn't see him anymore, was he hiding somewhere that the photon cannon hadn't destroyed? Chimpus checked the radar. What? That couldn't be right! According to the radar, Tatsu was right on top of them.
Tatsu slashed at the already damaged foot, intent on causing as much damage as he could Admittedly this was not much, as his weapon was only cutting long furrows into the metal. But still he hacked away, remembering Crimsons bitter complaints about the impracticalities of a mech'
"Sure they look cool and can blow a lot of things up, but take out either leg and the things are useless."
The buster was striking deeper and deeper with each slash. He was almost there, the pneumatics and the wiring that made up the center of the huge limb. Suddenly the foot was drawn back. Tatsu groaned as he realized that Chimpus had located him and Tatsu was certain what was going to happen next.
Chimpus smiled to himself as Tatsu flew across the arena. Football really was a fun game wasn't it?
Tatsu landed on his back, the impact knocking the wind out of him. He raised his left arm defensively in a feeble attempt to ward off the incoming fire. Three shots buried themselves into the cybernetic arm. Strictly speaking, Tatsu felt no pain, but he thought he did, simply because he was expecting it to hurt. The mech' began to move from its position. It very definitely had a limp, Tatsu noted with a smile. It stopped mere feet away from him, one foot raised, ready to come down and end Tatsu's life. Thoughts flashed through his mind as his death approached.
Alice was waiting for him, she said she would. What would happen if he didn't come back? Would she cry at his funeral? He had a sudden image of Alice dressed in black, crying beside a coffin. No, this wasn't allowed to happen.
If he were out of the tournament, Alice would be alone with Crimson for the weeks it would last. She already liked him, everyone liked Crimson. Another image, this one was of Alice in white, standing at an altar. No, he couldn't let anyone steal her.
And then he thought of Alice as an old woman, living alone, her once beautiful face drawn and haggard. An aged picture hanging on the wall of four hunters in their prime and a buster left unused on the mantelpiece. No. No. NO! None of this was going to happen! Tatsu Littlewing would not be defeated this day or any other! His eyes flashed an angry red and he leapt to his feet.
With inhuman speed he dodged the falling foot of RX-12 and drove his buster deep into the side of it. His efforts were rewarded with a leaking of pneumatic fluid that pooled within the machine. Gathering his fury into a tight ball, he expelled his wrath through the palm of his hand. The foie technique ignited the fluid and destroyed the circuitry inside.
"DAMMIT!" Chimpus was furious, "We had him!"
"Left foot has been destroyed, mobility is at 0%" The same calm voice
"We can't move?!?" Chimpus once again smashed his fist into the panel in front of him "Lock all missiles on target "Tatsu" Fire on my mark" Chimpus sat back "Mark!"
Tatsu could see the missiles hurtling towards him, they didn't matter. He was unstoppable because he couldn't afford to lose. His future with Alice depended on this fight. Instead of running away from the missiles, Tatsu did the unexpected and ran towards them. He'd picked this trick up from Elisel. One of her interminable lectures on how to survive on the planet.
"Garanz" her voice was as clear as if she were right next to him "They look big and tough, but they aren't. The thing is, their own missiles can be used to hurt them! Just run round the other side and the stupid thing shoots itself. Tatsu? Are you listening to me? Good, next, the sinow blue."
Tatsu heard the satisfying noises of explosions upon metal and smiled inwardly. He never thought he would have been grateful for his lengthy and somewhat painful tutelage at the hands of Elisel, but for today, he was.
"Warning! Warning! Critical damage, critical damage." The computer still wasn't panicking at all
"ARGH!" Chimpus screamed at nobody in particular "What is the status of the gauss rifle!"
"Gauss rifle is fully charged"
"Lock target "Tatsu""
"Target "Tatsu" is too close for the safe firing of the Gauss rifle"
"Just fire the bloody thing!"
"Affirmative"
A high-pitched keening filled the air. Tatsu looked around, searching for its source. The armored suits right arm was glowing and particles of energy were being drawn towards it. The glow increased in intensity. This time Tatsu did run away from it, not that it would help.
Sturdy girder-like struts erupted from the mech's back slamming into the ground and the right arm locked into place, all that remained moving was the wrist.
"Charge sequence completed, Support sequence completed, Target locked. Gauss rifle ready to fire upon your command."
Chimpus rubbed his hands together "FIRE!"
Thousands of tiny electro magnets were activated and a single, minute ball bearing was released, It struck the first magnet, knocking a slightly larger bearing into the second magnet. The chain reaction reached its ultimate end and a sonic boom threatened to burst the eardrums of everyone in the stadium. A vast cloud of dust hovered in the air and Tatsu was nowhere to be seen.
The mech' toppled over, the damage caused by the short range firing rendering it incapable of standing and Chimpus emerged from the cockpit with a look of elation on his face.
"I did it!" he exalted "I won!"
"Oh really?" a quiet voice issued from behind him. Chimpus turned around slowly.
"How could you still be alive? You should have been obliterated." Chimpus gaped.
Tatsu's eyes blazed red and a yellow aura surrounded him "It's amazing what a MAG can do if you treat them well." Rudra chirped in agreement "Now draw your weapon and we'll finish this like real hunters should."
Chimpus drew his Gigush and charged forwards, jumping into the air and bringing the weapon down with a heavy swing. Tatsu blocked the blow with two fingers, using the forearm of his left hand he snapped the blade cleanly in half. The gigush fell from nerveless fingers.
"Wha-what kind of freak are you!" Chimpus stammered, eyes wide with fear.
Tatsu advanced on his foe and grabbed him by the throat "The kind you shouldn't ever be screwing with."
Chimpus drew a mechgun and fired a volley of shots directly at Tatsu's face, it didn't even faze him. Chimpus felt a sharp pain in his gut and looked down to see a photon blade sticking through his midsection. Tatsu let him go and he collapsed to the floor. The emergency teleportation device activated, warping Chimpus directly to the medical center.
"And after this electrifying battle Tatsu Littlewing is victorious! What an upset! And an amazing display of power! Tatsu has passed his preliminaries and now the true face of the tournament awaits him, will he be as successful?"
Tatsu heard none of this, as his MAG's power was drained by the strain placed on it in the final moments of the fight. Without Rudra's support to keep him going, Tatsu collapsed to the sand. The last thing he heard before blacking out was the wild cheering of the crowd.
He regained consciousness in the med center. Every muscle in his body was on fire and his head was throbbing. A familiar voice intruded upon his pain.
"You complete and utter bastard!"
Tatsu looked over to the bed next to his. It was Chimpus, his middle heavily bandaged.
"I won because I'm the better fighter, even with a huge robot thing you couldn't beat me."
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"No, not really" Tatsu shrugged his indifference
"My girlfriend is going to kill me! Just one more fight and I would have been guaranteed a prize! But no, you had to come and ruin it."
"You entered in the tournament because your girlfriend made you?" Tatsu was surprised seeing as Ryzada was close to tears because of Crimson entering.
"Well yeah." Chimpus sounded a little embarrassed "But you don't understand at all, she's very high maintenance. I mean if I stop giving her all the things that she wants she'll just find somebody else who will."
"Chimpus" Tatsu said pityingly "You have been totally and utterly whipped by an absolute gold digger."
"I've been thinking that myself for a while now." Chimpus admitted, "Why did you enter the tournament?"
"Oh you know, big prizes, public adoration, lasting fame, that kind of thing."
"Really?" Chimpus sounded dubious
"No" Tatsu confessed, "I entered to try and impress a girl."
"What's she like?"
"Small, pretty, smart, an amazing chef and she can handle herself in a fight too" Tatsu sighed "She's always happy and she has a smile that lights up the room."
Chimpus laughed, then clutched his hand to his middle at the pain laughing caused "You have it bad Tatsu, you have it really really bad. I'm guessing she is the cute little schoolgirl type?" Tatsu nodded "Well at least you have better taste in girls than I do"
"If you don't mind me asking" Tatsu said tentatively "Why don't you look for a new girlfriend?"
"Well umm, I, uhh" Chimpus struggled to find a reason "Screw it, you're right, I'm going to find myself a new girl! One who doesn't steal my money, shirts and razor blades and who doesn't throw away my porn!"
"What?"
"Uhh ignore that last past would you?"
"Be happy too" Tatsu muttered and rolled over to catch some sleep. He suddenly noticed the clock beside the bed. 1am? Oh my god! Was Alice still waiting for him to come back? She'd be so worried about him. Tatsu leapt out of bed and ignored protesting muscles as grabbed his equipment and raced off out of the door, Rudra struggling to keep up.
He finally arrived at the hotel room exhausted from the long run. He opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped inside. Alice wasn't there to greet him. He knew it, she'd got sick of waiting for him and had gone to bed, she was going to be pretty mad at him. Tatsu sighed and neatly deposited his things in the small area he had set aside for them.
He stepped into the kitchen to grab something to eat, he was hungry after that fight and hadn't eaten in almost five hours. This was a long time as far as Tatsu was concerned.
There was a small figure asleep at the table. Alice. She had waited for him. All night by the look of things. Even in her sleep she looked radiant, but there were small hints of a worried expression on her face. Tatsu placed his hand on her shoulder and gently roused her from her slumber. Alice opened her eyes and with a sleepy smile looked up at Tatsu.
"I knew you'd be okay." She leaned across and hugged him. Tatsu flushed a light shade of red and after a moments hesitation he hugged her back.
"You really stayed up all night waiting for me?"
Alice broke the hug and nodded in response to Tatsu's question "Of course, I was really worried about you Tatsu."
"But you weren't when I went to my other matches." Alice looked down "Well umm I knew that this one was going to be really tough for you."
"How?"
"Well it was your qualification match so of course it was going to be hard"
"Wait a moment. Qualification match?" Tatsu was confused
"Well, umm you see, up until now you weren't really in the tournament, but now that you have got this far you are an official participant."
"So what's the diffrence?"
"Well now you're guaranteed to get prize money no matter what happens, a loss doesn't mean that you are instantly out of the tournament. Oh and you aren't allowed to leave now."
"WHAT!"
"Shhh not so loud, you'll wake Crimson up" Alice leaned in and whispered conspiratorially "and he is really grumpy if you wake him up."
Tatsu smiled "Well I guess it won't be so bad, being stuck here with you."
Alice giggled "You're lucky, you have me for company. Who do I have?"
"You could always make friends with the wall" Tatsu suggested
"Well at least the wall won't be gone all night and leave me here to worry about it!"
"I'm sorry okay! Really I'll make it up to you."
"You're so sweet when you're being dumb." Alice giggled again. She rose from the table and standing on tip toes gave Tatsu a peck on the cheek "well goodnight, it's a busy day tomorrow so get some sleep. We have to cheer Crimson on in the pit fights remember. She swept out of the door and went to bed.
Tatsu stood there for a few moments trying to make sense of what just happened. She thought he was sweet! She even kissed him! He felt like composing a small song and dance in memory of the event, but instead he kept his celebrations on the inside. How could he have possibly worried about her ending up with Crimson? He was on top of the world, and yet that annoying little voice known as pessimism spoke in the back of his mind "Now all you have to do is not screw this up like you do everything else."
But this time pessimism was drowned out by confidence. There was nothing that could possibly go wrong. A girl actually liked him back, he was on his way to becoming a minor celebrity and nothing really bad had happened to him all day. This was everything he had ever wanted.
Next chapter is with Ryzada Psilo and Kilili (with Asrith making an appearance) Sorry that Raven has disappeared (I tried to talk to him about his matches and how he was doing in general, but he refused to talk to me) but don't worry, he will be back. And updates should return to their normal spacings, sorry to make you wait a week for this one. Won't happen again I swear.
Tatsu stared at his opponent, and Chimpus stared right back, neither one moved. Then the klaxon sounded, the match was officially underway. Tatsu summoned his brand to his hand and slashed at the air. There was something different about his weapon, what was it? It was pink! Bright pink! Damn it! This was the last time Crimson ever got to touch any of Tatsu's weapons.
Chimpus chuckled to himself, so Tatsu had a buster? Nice weapon, not that it would do him any good at all. He pulled a control device from his pocket and flipped the clear plastic lid to reveal a single, red button. He pressed it and a deep rumbling emanated from beneath the arena almost shaking the two combatants from their feet. Sand poured into a rectangular hole that was steadily expanding. There was a clunking of gears and from the hole rose a beast unlike any Tatsu had ever seen before.
The thing was huge, at least 14 feet tall and it looked to be truly fearsome. Light glinted off of its polished hide and an eerie glow radiated from its eyes and mouth. Miscellaneous weapons were strapped to its huge arms and a few other unrecognized objects were seemingly fused into other parts of the creature's body. It was then that Tatsu noticed something odd. Its stomach was hanging open and Chimpus was climbing into it. This was no organic creature. Tatsu scanned his memory. Crimson was obsessed with these things, what were they called? Oh yes, Mechanical Armored Suits. But they didn't exist. Nobody had ever built one and yet here one was, pointing the barrel of a heavy machine gun at him. Oh...damn.
Tatsu ran as fast as he could and dived behind a rock photon fire impacting upon the ground where his feet had been just moments before. Chimpus' voice taunted him as he hid.
"So Tatsu? How do you like RX-12? A rather useful little gadget wouldn't you say?"
"There is no way that thing is legal." Tatsu yelled from behind his rock
"You'd be surprised what you can get away with" Chimpus' tone was smug "Believe it or not, this counts as a weapon."
With that, he fired a round globe of photonic energy, which all but vaporized the rock that Tatsu was using for cover.
Tatsu ran to the next likely area of cover, his MAG deftly catching any photon fire that came his way. As he reached the relative safety of the next rock he heard a mine activate right next to him. Tchwing
With the fast thinking that had saved his life on more than one occasion, Tatsu stood up and grabbed the mine from where it floated and hurled it at the giant mech'. He ducked down again in order to avoid the return fire.
"So you like to play with bombs do you?" Chimpus once more mocked his opponent "How about you play with this one?"
There was a dull thud as something was fired, followed by a clang as a metal ball, approximately 10 inches in diameter, landed 5 foot away from Tatsu's position. He attempted to kick it away and was rewarded by a sharp pain in his toe. This thing was heavier than it looked! But Tatsu was stronger than he looked, thanks to the cyborg arm that was hidden under his clothes. He picked the ball up, even though it caused some pain as it pulled on the connection between the robotic limb and the flesh of Tatsu's shoulder. He bowled it underarm and it rolled across the ground, coming to a stop by the foot of the armored suit. It detonated, causing a deafening bang and a small fire. Not to mention damage to the mech'
"Left foot is damaged, mobility reduced 20%, turning reduced 40%" A pleasant female voice informed Chimpus. He already knew that, stupid computer. With another globe of photons he destroyed Tatsu's new hiding place. As an after thought he fired shots at the other large rocks in the arena. This also removed a lot of mines.
"Caution, heat level exceeding recommended levels." The computer stated in its annoyingly calm way. How could it be so calm? This was not the way it was supposed to be going, this was meant to be an easy victory.
Tatsu noticed that the mech' was not firing upon him, despite the fact that he was open and vulnerable. He looked around to see if he could spot more shelter, but every likely site that he saw was struck by a cannon blast and was rendered useless. Something caught Tatsu's eye, the mech's left foot was sparking, it was damaged, so maybe? He ran towards the mech' and dodging the incoming fire, he sprinted to the left side of it.
What was this hunter doing? Chimpus smashed his fists into the panel in frustration. If Tatsu would just play fair, this would be a snap, just like all the other matches before this one.
"Ready all weapons" He ordered the computer "I want all missiles loaded and the gauss rifle charged."
"Affirmative"
This will sort that little bastard out, Chimpus thought to himself. Actually, where was Tatsu? He couldn't see him anymore, was he hiding somewhere that the photon cannon hadn't destroyed? Chimpus checked the radar. What? That couldn't be right! According to the radar, Tatsu was right on top of them.
Tatsu slashed at the already damaged foot, intent on causing as much damage as he could Admittedly this was not much, as his weapon was only cutting long furrows into the metal. But still he hacked away, remembering Crimsons bitter complaints about the impracticalities of a mech'
"Sure they look cool and can blow a lot of things up, but take out either leg and the things are useless."
The buster was striking deeper and deeper with each slash. He was almost there, the pneumatics and the wiring that made up the center of the huge limb. Suddenly the foot was drawn back. Tatsu groaned as he realized that Chimpus had located him and Tatsu was certain what was going to happen next.
Chimpus smiled to himself as Tatsu flew across the arena. Football really was a fun game wasn't it?
Tatsu landed on his back, the impact knocking the wind out of him. He raised his left arm defensively in a feeble attempt to ward off the incoming fire. Three shots buried themselves into the cybernetic arm. Strictly speaking, Tatsu felt no pain, but he thought he did, simply because he was expecting it to hurt. The mech' began to move from its position. It very definitely had a limp, Tatsu noted with a smile. It stopped mere feet away from him, one foot raised, ready to come down and end Tatsu's life. Thoughts flashed through his mind as his death approached.
Alice was waiting for him, she said she would. What would happen if he didn't come back? Would she cry at his funeral? He had a sudden image of Alice dressed in black, crying beside a coffin. No, this wasn't allowed to happen.
If he were out of the tournament, Alice would be alone with Crimson for the weeks it would last. She already liked him, everyone liked Crimson. Another image, this one was of Alice in white, standing at an altar. No, he couldn't let anyone steal her.
And then he thought of Alice as an old woman, living alone, her once beautiful face drawn and haggard. An aged picture hanging on the wall of four hunters in their prime and a buster left unused on the mantelpiece. No. No. NO! None of this was going to happen! Tatsu Littlewing would not be defeated this day or any other! His eyes flashed an angry red and he leapt to his feet.
With inhuman speed he dodged the falling foot of RX-12 and drove his buster deep into the side of it. His efforts were rewarded with a leaking of pneumatic fluid that pooled within the machine. Gathering his fury into a tight ball, he expelled his wrath through the palm of his hand. The foie technique ignited the fluid and destroyed the circuitry inside.
"DAMMIT!" Chimpus was furious, "We had him!"
"Left foot has been destroyed, mobility is at 0%" The same calm voice
"We can't move?!?" Chimpus once again smashed his fist into the panel in front of him "Lock all missiles on target "Tatsu" Fire on my mark" Chimpus sat back "Mark!"
Tatsu could see the missiles hurtling towards him, they didn't matter. He was unstoppable because he couldn't afford to lose. His future with Alice depended on this fight. Instead of running away from the missiles, Tatsu did the unexpected and ran towards them. He'd picked this trick up from Elisel. One of her interminable lectures on how to survive on the planet.
"Garanz" her voice was as clear as if she were right next to him "They look big and tough, but they aren't. The thing is, their own missiles can be used to hurt them! Just run round the other side and the stupid thing shoots itself. Tatsu? Are you listening to me? Good, next, the sinow blue."
Tatsu heard the satisfying noises of explosions upon metal and smiled inwardly. He never thought he would have been grateful for his lengthy and somewhat painful tutelage at the hands of Elisel, but for today, he was.
"Warning! Warning! Critical damage, critical damage." The computer still wasn't panicking at all
"ARGH!" Chimpus screamed at nobody in particular "What is the status of the gauss rifle!"
"Gauss rifle is fully charged"
"Lock target "Tatsu""
"Target "Tatsu" is too close for the safe firing of the Gauss rifle"
"Just fire the bloody thing!"
"Affirmative"
A high-pitched keening filled the air. Tatsu looked around, searching for its source. The armored suits right arm was glowing and particles of energy were being drawn towards it. The glow increased in intensity. This time Tatsu did run away from it, not that it would help.
Sturdy girder-like struts erupted from the mech's back slamming into the ground and the right arm locked into place, all that remained moving was the wrist.
"Charge sequence completed, Support sequence completed, Target locked. Gauss rifle ready to fire upon your command."
Chimpus rubbed his hands together "FIRE!"
Thousands of tiny electro magnets were activated and a single, minute ball bearing was released, It struck the first magnet, knocking a slightly larger bearing into the second magnet. The chain reaction reached its ultimate end and a sonic boom threatened to burst the eardrums of everyone in the stadium. A vast cloud of dust hovered in the air and Tatsu was nowhere to be seen.
The mech' toppled over, the damage caused by the short range firing rendering it incapable of standing and Chimpus emerged from the cockpit with a look of elation on his face.
"I did it!" he exalted "I won!"
"Oh really?" a quiet voice issued from behind him. Chimpus turned around slowly.
"How could you still be alive? You should have been obliterated." Chimpus gaped.
Tatsu's eyes blazed red and a yellow aura surrounded him "It's amazing what a MAG can do if you treat them well." Rudra chirped in agreement "Now draw your weapon and we'll finish this like real hunters should."
Chimpus drew his Gigush and charged forwards, jumping into the air and bringing the weapon down with a heavy swing. Tatsu blocked the blow with two fingers, using the forearm of his left hand he snapped the blade cleanly in half. The gigush fell from nerveless fingers.
"Wha-what kind of freak are you!" Chimpus stammered, eyes wide with fear.
Tatsu advanced on his foe and grabbed him by the throat "The kind you shouldn't ever be screwing with."
Chimpus drew a mechgun and fired a volley of shots directly at Tatsu's face, it didn't even faze him. Chimpus felt a sharp pain in his gut and looked down to see a photon blade sticking through his midsection. Tatsu let him go and he collapsed to the floor. The emergency teleportation device activated, warping Chimpus directly to the medical center.
"And after this electrifying battle Tatsu Littlewing is victorious! What an upset! And an amazing display of power! Tatsu has passed his preliminaries and now the true face of the tournament awaits him, will he be as successful?"
Tatsu heard none of this, as his MAG's power was drained by the strain placed on it in the final moments of the fight. Without Rudra's support to keep him going, Tatsu collapsed to the sand. The last thing he heard before blacking out was the wild cheering of the crowd.
He regained consciousness in the med center. Every muscle in his body was on fire and his head was throbbing. A familiar voice intruded upon his pain.
"You complete and utter bastard!"
Tatsu looked over to the bed next to his. It was Chimpus, his middle heavily bandaged.
"I won because I'm the better fighter, even with a huge robot thing you couldn't beat me."
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"No, not really" Tatsu shrugged his indifference
"My girlfriend is going to kill me! Just one more fight and I would have been guaranteed a prize! But no, you had to come and ruin it."
"You entered in the tournament because your girlfriend made you?" Tatsu was surprised seeing as Ryzada was close to tears because of Crimson entering.
"Well yeah." Chimpus sounded a little embarrassed "But you don't understand at all, she's very high maintenance. I mean if I stop giving her all the things that she wants she'll just find somebody else who will."
"Chimpus" Tatsu said pityingly "You have been totally and utterly whipped by an absolute gold digger."
"I've been thinking that myself for a while now." Chimpus admitted, "Why did you enter the tournament?"
"Oh you know, big prizes, public adoration, lasting fame, that kind of thing."
"Really?" Chimpus sounded dubious
"No" Tatsu confessed, "I entered to try and impress a girl."
"What's she like?"
"Small, pretty, smart, an amazing chef and she can handle herself in a fight too" Tatsu sighed "She's always happy and she has a smile that lights up the room."
Chimpus laughed, then clutched his hand to his middle at the pain laughing caused "You have it bad Tatsu, you have it really really bad. I'm guessing she is the cute little schoolgirl type?" Tatsu nodded "Well at least you have better taste in girls than I do"
"If you don't mind me asking" Tatsu said tentatively "Why don't you look for a new girlfriend?"
"Well umm, I, uhh" Chimpus struggled to find a reason "Screw it, you're right, I'm going to find myself a new girl! One who doesn't steal my money, shirts and razor blades and who doesn't throw away my porn!"
"What?"
"Uhh ignore that last past would you?"
"Be happy too" Tatsu muttered and rolled over to catch some sleep. He suddenly noticed the clock beside the bed. 1am? Oh my god! Was Alice still waiting for him to come back? She'd be so worried about him. Tatsu leapt out of bed and ignored protesting muscles as grabbed his equipment and raced off out of the door, Rudra struggling to keep up.
He finally arrived at the hotel room exhausted from the long run. He opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped inside. Alice wasn't there to greet him. He knew it, she'd got sick of waiting for him and had gone to bed, she was going to be pretty mad at him. Tatsu sighed and neatly deposited his things in the small area he had set aside for them.
He stepped into the kitchen to grab something to eat, he was hungry after that fight and hadn't eaten in almost five hours. This was a long time as far as Tatsu was concerned.
There was a small figure asleep at the table. Alice. She had waited for him. All night by the look of things. Even in her sleep she looked radiant, but there were small hints of a worried expression on her face. Tatsu placed his hand on her shoulder and gently roused her from her slumber. Alice opened her eyes and with a sleepy smile looked up at Tatsu.
"I knew you'd be okay." She leaned across and hugged him. Tatsu flushed a light shade of red and after a moments hesitation he hugged her back.
"You really stayed up all night waiting for me?"
Alice broke the hug and nodded in response to Tatsu's question "Of course, I was really worried about you Tatsu."
"But you weren't when I went to my other matches." Alice looked down "Well umm I knew that this one was going to be really tough for you."
"How?"
"Well it was your qualification match so of course it was going to be hard"
"Wait a moment. Qualification match?" Tatsu was confused
"Well, umm you see, up until now you weren't really in the tournament, but now that you have got this far you are an official participant."
"So what's the diffrence?"
"Well now you're guaranteed to get prize money no matter what happens, a loss doesn't mean that you are instantly out of the tournament. Oh and you aren't allowed to leave now."
"WHAT!"
"Shhh not so loud, you'll wake Crimson up" Alice leaned in and whispered conspiratorially "and he is really grumpy if you wake him up."
Tatsu smiled "Well I guess it won't be so bad, being stuck here with you."
Alice giggled "You're lucky, you have me for company. Who do I have?"
"You could always make friends with the wall" Tatsu suggested
"Well at least the wall won't be gone all night and leave me here to worry about it!"
"I'm sorry okay! Really I'll make it up to you."
"You're so sweet when you're being dumb." Alice giggled again. She rose from the table and standing on tip toes gave Tatsu a peck on the cheek "well goodnight, it's a busy day tomorrow so get some sleep. We have to cheer Crimson on in the pit fights remember. She swept out of the door and went to bed.
Tatsu stood there for a few moments trying to make sense of what just happened. She thought he was sweet! She even kissed him! He felt like composing a small song and dance in memory of the event, but instead he kept his celebrations on the inside. How could he have possibly worried about her ending up with Crimson? He was on top of the world, and yet that annoying little voice known as pessimism spoke in the back of his mind "Now all you have to do is not screw this up like you do everything else."
But this time pessimism was drowned out by confidence. There was nothing that could possibly go wrong. A girl actually liked him back, he was on his way to becoming a minor celebrity and nothing really bad had happened to him all day. This was everything he had ever wanted.
Next chapter is with Ryzada Psilo and Kilili (with Asrith making an appearance) Sorry that Raven has disappeared (I tried to talk to him about his matches and how he was doing in general, but he refused to talk to me) but don't worry, he will be back. And updates should return to their normal spacings, sorry to make you wait a week for this one. Won't happen again I swear.