The greatest in the Multiverse
Round 1: The Scale-clad Thunderer vs the Interstellar Lawbreaker
"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE, ARE YOU ALL READY TO RUMBLE?!"
The wait was finally over. The opening ceremonies were all done, the tournament rules were crystal clear and the contestants were all as ready as they could possibly be. Round one of the Multiversal Tournament was about to begin, and the excitement was just about tangible all around. It could be felt in the arena stands, where the audience roared and eagerly awaited the first combatants. It could be felt in the contestants waiting room, where they could watch the upcoming clash first hand. And it could be felt in the corridors on the left and right sides of the arena, where the first two warriors waited for the gates to open up and let them out.
Goh'ji hadn't moved from his calm meditation pose on the floor for almost 10 minutes now. He had to keep his focus out there if he wanted to win this, and he wanted to win very badly. His thoughts lingered on his and Prime's crushing defeat at the hands of Alva Morrison the day before. Even together, Goh'ji and his new rival couldn't do a single thing to the monstrously strong Half-Orc. But that's exactly why he needed to win here. He needed to face her again, in a real fight where neither side could hold back. He needed to overcome this massive wall and prove that he wasn't a weak pushover. And after that, after toppling this wall, he wanted to face Prime in a full-power clash. Goh'ji opened his eyes, his body and soul in perfect balance. He rose to his feet and started heading towards the arena.
But the lean purple tiefling in the opposite waiting room was anything but focused. John had been clutching his head and loudly muttered several curses for almost 10 minutes now. Why in the nine hells had he agreed to this? He was a spaceship pilot and a burglar, not a gladiator! His plan had been simple: Accept the invitation to join the tournament, find an opportunity to sneak away, grab the prize and go back home. What he hadn't counted on was the not so insignificant fact that until the tournament had concluded, there was no way home. Keeping those interdimensional wormholes open required a ton of energy after all, so they were only authorised to be opened at the tournament's beginning and end. Not only that, but the actual prize wasn't even a physical object. And he couldn't exactly just walk up to security and say he wanted to go home because he hadn't been able to nab the prize and escape, now could he? And thus he was stuck here, about to go out and be beaten to a pulp by a big lizard in front of hundreds of thousands of people. John was, to put it shortly, panicking. What in blazes would he d-
"Mister, is everything okay?"
John tensed up. He had been so stuck in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed the little genasi woman walk into the room. He looked over to see a young girl wearing simple green clothes and with small plants growing out of her entire body. Root of universe 15 walked up to the shaking tiefling, not hesitating in the slightest.
"You looked so nervous earlier, and I just wanted to see if there's anything I can do to help," she continued. John simply stood there, his mouth almost gaping in bewilderment. Why was this… childish stranger here to check on him? Was it out of amusement? Pity? Or did she have an ulterior motive?
"Yes, everything is okay and why do you care?!" he eventually answered, his words practically stringing together. Root didn't even raise an eyebrow. She just walked up to him and looked him earnestly right in his yellow eyes.
"No, you aren't. Your entire body is tensed up and your words are filled with fear."
She briefly paused.
"You're scared, aren't you. I can tell, and I know how it is. All these people watching you, the possibility of getting hurt… I get it. But I promise that it will be okay. All you have to do is get out there and just do what you can. Just be who you are."
John had stopped shaking, still baffled by this complete stranger's pure sincerity and caring words. He knew how people worked, and he especially knew when they were lying. And Root meant every single word. She truly did wish for his well being.
"Thanks…" was all he could whisper back. As soon as he did, Root's worried frown instantly turned back to the beaming smile she had been sporting more or less since she got to this dimension. Without warning she walked up to John and grabbed his hand. The conflicted tiefling would've normally pulled it back before she could even get close, but now he was too stunned to shy away from her soft, almost dirt-like hand.
"Here, as a wish for good luck. I'll be cheering for you from the waiting room, so just remember what I said and it'll be fine!"
Root turned around and almost skipped out of the room, leaving John behind feeling all warm and fuzzy all of a sudden. He looked down in his hand to find a small red berry, as fresh as if it had just been picked. He looked behind him down the corridor leading out to the packed arena, a small hint of a smile appearing on his face.
"Well, if a random stranger believes in me that much then the least I could do is to show my face" he thought to himself.
"Besides, these people are from like a million different universes. I doubt they would recognize the Devilman of Vocrorth".
So despite his still quivering legs and sweat-covered brow, he slowly started to make his way to the battlefield.
"AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE THEY ARE: OUR FIRST CONTESTANTS!"
The excitement in Googlorp's voice never seemed to wane even in the slightest. The little blue Plasmoid was a born expert in keeping the crowd riled up, especially one of this size. As soon as the words had left his… mouth?... all the lights in the arena went out. Except one spotlight beaming towards the gate on the left side of the field.
"IN THE BLUE CORNER, WE HAVE THE DRAGONBORN THUNDERER OF UNIVERSE 2! A FIERCELY DEVOTED PRACTITIONER OF THE WAY OF THE OPEN HAND, AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 20 THIS WANDERING WARRIOR HAS ALREADY MADE MANY ENEMIES: PREDATORY DINOSAURS, HORDES OF GOBLINS AND DEVASTATING STUDENT LOANS, AND CONQUERED ALL BUT THE LAST ONE! BUT WILL HE BE ABLE TO OVERCOME HIS INTERDIMENSIONAL FOE AS WELL, OR WILL THE BLUE MARTIAL ARTIST FACE CRUSHING DEFEAT? LET'S FIND OUT AS WE WELCOME: CONTESTAAAANT GOH'JI!"
Goh'jis' entrance on the battlefield was met with even more cheers and roaring than usual, which was saying a lot at this point. But he clearly didn't mind. He raised both of his arms to wave back to everyone as he made his way to the centre of the field. And if his grin was anything to go by, he was eager to begin.
"AND IN THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE THE TIEFLING SPACEFARER OF UNIVERSE 3! HIS PAST HAS BEEN REQUESTED TO REMAIN UNMENTIONED, BUT HE AND HIS SMALL LITTLE CREW ARE SURELY DESTINED TO PAVE THE WAY TO A GLORIOUS FUTURE! THE 24 YEAR-OLD IS MORE THAN JUST A PILOT THOUGH: TODAY HE BRINGS HIS GREAT AGILITY AND OBSERVANT MIND TO THE FOREFRONT! WILL HE BE ABLE TO OUTWIT HIS WARRIOR FOE, OR WILL HE BE DROWNED OUT BY THE THUNDER? EVERYONE, GIVE IT UP FOR: CONTESTAAAANT JOHN!"
Despite shakily staggering onto the field, John was still met by loud cheers. But for every step forward he took, he lost more and more of his nerve. Eventually he could barely even hear the crowd over his own beating heart. This was such a horrible idea. He should just run. Turn back around, back to the waiting room… aaaand the gate was closed. He was stuck here with this blue scaly gym rat, just moments away from being beaten into a pulp. One could almost say that John wasn't feeling particularly optimistic.
Goh'ji didn't seem to notice his opponent's very clear discomfort, although even he saw that John's silence and laboured breathing didn't seem to be healthy. He simply brushed it off as regular nervousness. So he tried to break the ice with some pre-fight banter like he always did.
"Greetings, friend. Let's make this a good, fair fight to remember, shall we?"
No answer. John was too busy listening to his own internal screaming to hear Goh'jis greeting.
"The focused, silent type then? I understand, best of luck to us both. And may the greater warrior win", he followed up with. Now the arena fell silent for the first time since the tournament had started, as everyone eagerly awaited the start of the match. And up in the announcer's booth, Googlorp took the equivalent of a deep breath for a Plasmoid.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"BEGIN!"
A loud explosion could be heard far above the arena, and with that the first round had begun.
It was now that John finally regained his senses, and realised that the round had started. There was no turning back at this point, and now he only had two options. Either he would fight, and be guaranteed to get destroyed immediately. Or he could employ a hidden weapon of his: His sharp tongue. It was worth a shot.
"W-wait a moment! Are you sure you want to do this? What if one of us gets seriously hurt? You wouldn't want to risk a game-ending injury, would you? Let's just skip out on this, hm?"
Not his best speech ever, not by a long shot, but hopefully good enough to cause the Dragonborn to let him go. But Goh'ji just looked him in the eye and smirked.
"Ah, a self-imposed challenge? I knew you were a real warrior despite your meek appearance!" Goh'ji replied. And then he went straight for John, merrily skipping right up to him. See, there was one little factor that completely demolished John's plan. Despite his sophisticated language, Goh'ji was astonishingly literal-minded, not being able to understand even the simplest metaphor.
In other words, he was an idiot.
The idiot was now right up in John's face and struck him square in the chest with a swipe of his tail. The tiefling only had about half a second to feel the pain before he was sent backwards, tumbling to the ground. As he hurriedly rose to his feet, he realised he only had one option after all. And that was to run. John quickly dashed over to the arena wall, trying to get as far away from Goh'ji as possible.
"CONTESTANT GOH'JI STRIKES FIRST AS CONTESTANT JOHN IS SENT FLYING! BUT THE TIEFLING SPACEFARER QUICKLY GETS BACK UP AND HAS NOW CREATED SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN HIMSELF AND HIS OPPONENT!"
John pulled out his weapon from its holster: his trusty Tennova-Model Mk. III ray gun. If this thing could shoot a planet-bound shuttle out of the sky then it could at the very least keep Goh'ji away from him. He fired towards the Dragonborn, who was still skipping closer and closer.
[FZZT FZZT FZZT!]
Goh'ji stopped dead in his tracks and threw himself to the side. The three orange bolts of solidified light struck the ground where he had just stood, leaving three sizzling scorch marks. Despite his general lack of brain cells, he had a combat awareness that few could match. And he quickly realised that this weapon was bad news. He quickly put his hand in his back pocket and pulled out a weapon of his own, but not one that anyone watching would have expected. He pulled out a thin wooden flute and put it to his mouth.
"It seems I underestimated you, mage! But I will not let you use that wand to conjure any more magic blasts!"
And after a deep breath Goh'ji blew hard into the flute, letting loose a thundering loud sound. The magically enhanced "music" took the form of a shockwave, pushing John into the wall and causing him to drop his ray gun. Goh'jis time in the Bard's course at his old school had paid off; the Thunderwave had disarmed his foe. But by now John completely lost any remaining cool he might have had. His breathing was so quick and laboured that he almost choked, and he could feel something stirring within him. Something was about to come out.
"N-no, this is… no, s-stay…"
Suddenly the tiefling pilots' body started to glow orange, as if it was burning. His yellow eyes started to darken until they were completely black. And a burning red aura began to flare up from within him.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
The red aura coalesced around his arm and let itself loose towards Goh'ji. The Dragonborn warrior instinctively crossed his arms in front of him to protect himself, but the searing orange and red flames seemed to go right through him. It was as if his very soul was engulfed in a ravaging inferno. It only lasted about four seconds, but the pain was enough to cause Goh'ji to fall to one knee. The Hellish Rebuke had struck another victim. John himself felt the burning feeling dissipate, and as his eyes regained their yellow colour he felt his previously dimmed vision returning. Usually he didn't care much about his inborn defensive reaction, but right now he was grateful for it. He quickly picked up his gun and began running again. Goh'ji was already getting back up, and John did not want to be close to him when he regained his senses.
"WHOA! BEING CORNERED BY CONTESTANT GOH'JI HAS SEEMED TO TRIGGER A FEARSOME FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT ABILITY IN CONTESTANT JOHN, AND IT SURE LOOKED LIKE IT HURT! BUT HOW MUCH LONGER CAN HE AVOID THE RAGING REPTILE?"
It was at this point that the ground started to tremble lightly. Several hatches opened up to reveal the defensive concrete walls built into the floor, and for John this was like a gift from above. He quickly jumped over the closest one, cowering behind it to stay out of Goh'jis sight. He was safe here, at least for a moment.
But by now everyone had started to get fed up with the lack of actual fighting. The crowd had slowly put together the truth: John wasn't creating distance between himself and Goh'ji to gain a strategic advantage; he was just running with his tail between his legs. Literally. Slowly, one individual boo turned into a wail of disappointed, angry shouts. Even the previously so excited Goh'ji had started to get frustrated.
"What are you doing? All you've done in this battle is to flee. You've shot me with a few magic spells, but only so you could run again. Was I wrong about you, mage? Are you nothing but a pathetic coward?!" Goh'ji shouted. But for once John had a clear answer.
"YES, dammit! I don't want to get beaten down in front of thousands! I don't want any attention or glory or whatever! I don't want to fight! When some dangerous shit is going down I'm not gonna run right up in its face! I'm gonna save my own skin and let my friends handle it! They can take care of it. They're the strong ones!" At this point tears were running down John's face, as he finally had a moment to process everything from the last minute. This was a part of himself he despised. He wanted to help, he really wanted to be of use to those he cared about. But there was nothing he could do about it. He was a coward, yes. And that's just who he was.
But Goh'ji didn't care. He continued his frustrated speech.
"I don't know how poop can be a danger, how it can have a face to run into and why you would focus on saving specifically your skin and nothing else of your body, but I do know that you're letting everyone down with this! Yourself, your friends that you speak of, me and everyone here watching!"
For a brief moment, John seemed to come to a realisation. But it was just that; one moment of clarity. That feeling disappeared almost as quickly as it had taken form, and he once again tried to defend himself.
"Didn't you listen? I just said that fighting isn't my responsibility! Why do you keep saying that it is?!"
Goh'ji wasn't done yet. He had one more answer to give.
"Because sometimes you have to fight, no matter how scary it seems! Tell me: what happens when your friends aren't there? What happens when you are the only one who can fight?!"
Something inside John fell in place, as his entire body froze and his ray gun fell from his hand. Goh'ji was right. He couldn't just keep running, because if he did his loved ones would eventually suffer. And that was the only thing stronger than his fear; his attachment to his beloved friends. If he couldn't fight for himself, then he had to fight for others. The previously all-powerful fear that had consumed him started to dissipate, and a stern burning dedication began to take its place. John was done running. He was gonna face his problems head on, starting with this one. He grabbed his ray gun again and stood up, looking his opponent dead in the eye.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but… turns out you're right. I can't keep running forever. If I do, the danger will just keep following me. It won't go away unless I make it go away. I need to face it if I want to overcome this fear. I'm still terrified, I am, but… I will fight you as well as I can. So… you ready to go? For real this time?"
Goh'jis snarling frown slowly faded away, until it was replaced by an expression indicating sheer excitement. Maybe even a bit of pride. His arms tensed up as he took a fighting stance. This was what he had been waiting for. This was when the real fight would begin.
"FOLKS, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! CONTESTANT JOHN HAD GIVEN UP ALL HOPE, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE CONTESTANT GOH'JIS WORDS HIT HOME! HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS EVERYONE, BECAUSE NOW BOTH SIDES ARE FIGHTING FOR REAL!"
And in the contestants waiting room, one face smiled brighter than any other. Root looked at the now revitalised tiefling and nodded towards him on the viewing screen.
"I knew you had it in you, mister."
Goh'ji ran up towards John at full speed, not bothering with the merry skipping anymore. John simply watched him, waiting for his moment. Goh'ji went in for an uppercut, but hit nothing but air as John nimbly dodged to the side. John quickly dug through his front pocket and pulled out two round handles connected by a thin metal plate, and as he pulled the handles away from each other the plate seamlessly split into two sharp daggers. He thrusted the left dagger towards Goh'jis side, but the Dragonborn's reflexes were too fast. He took a step back, just barely avoiding the blade. He tried to launch a counterattack by striking John with his tail in a spinning motion, but John saw this coming and leaped above the tail like a jump rope.
"WHOA NELLY! BOTH FIGHTERS ARE KEEPING UP A FIERCE ASSAULT, BUT NEITHER OF THEM CAN SEEM TO HIT THE OTHER! WHO WILL GET THAT CRUCIAL FIRST HIT IN?"
Goh'ji saw his chance; John was wide open after jumping over his tail. Without stopping, the Dragonborn thrusted his black-scaled head towards John. And this time the attack connected. The headbutt knocked John to the ground, a sharp pain taking root in his stomach. Johns' mind hurriedly tried to form a plan, and after only about three seconds he had one. He searched his jacket for something, and he found it as Goh'ji was coming closer. A small red berry, admittedly a bit mushed from all the action. But it would do just fine. He tried his best to ignore the pain in his lower torso and reared his hand backwards.
"Hey, Goh'ji!" he shouted. Goh'ji briefly stopped, trying to anticipate Johns' next move. Johns' hand suddenly erupted with magic, streams of pure darkness erupting between his closed fingers.
"LIGHTS OUT!" John threw the mushy berry towards his foe. As soon as it left his hand the very light around it dimmed and was eventually snuffed out completely, until it had turned into a rapidly expanding sphere of pure darkness. And since Goh'ji was just about 5 metres away from John it didn't take long until the tiny berry hit him in the chest, dropping to the ground as it bounced off him. Goh'ji now found himself in a large sphere of pitch black magic. The other innate Tiefling ability that John possessed. But before Goh'ji could get a hold of himself he felt something. A sudden searing pain in his chest.
"ARE YOU SEEING THIS, FOLKS? CONTESTANT JOHN HAS SURROUNDED CONTESTANT GOH'JI IN A DARKNESS SPELL, AND NOW THE LATTER IS LEFT WIDE OPEN! THE TIEFLING SPACEFARER IS STARTING TO MAKE ONE HELL OF A COMEBACK!"
The crowd had started to loudly cheer for John as he blasted the blinded Goh'ji with his ray gun. But even though he fired shot after shot, far from every blast hit. The sphere was fairly large and John couldn't see through it himself, so all he could do was to fire blindly. But given the occasional pained grunts he heard from the sphere, it was enough. And now the previously so terrified pilot began to feel very excited. Maybe, just maybe he could actually win this. Just a few more hits and it would be over. What he didn't know was that he was about to find out just how true that statement was.
"Enough! Your magic is impressive, mage. But you'd better prepare yourself, because I will not hold back any longer!"
As soon as the words had reached Johns' ears, a blue flash erupted from the dark sphere. It took only a couple seconds for the singed and bruised Goh'ji to reach John, both of his fists crackling with lightning. And only a single second for a scaled electrified palm to strike John straight in his solar plexus. The blow knocked the wind out of him completely, and the Tiefling couldn't do anything but drop his gun and clutch his chest. His vision dimmed as he struggled to take even a single breath.
Goh'ji leaned his head back, lightning starting to crackle around his maw. It was time to finish this, once and for all. His throat, his mouth and even his eyes started to glow light blue as bioelectricity began to overflow. And then he opened his mouth. Three huge streams of lightning erupted from Goh'jis jaws, all of them quickly converging into one massive beam. The blast hit the stunned John at point-blank range, and all he could do was try to scream. But all that came out was a strained gasp. And five long seconds later the beam fizzled out, and on the ground was John. His charred and burned body laid limp with the only motion being the occasional twitch, and if it weren't for his barely audible whimpers you would've been forgiven for thinking he had kicked the bucket. It was over.
A small fairy man, dressed in the same cap, black shorts and striped shirt as the rest of the tournament staff, fluttered down to check on John. As he did, he started the countdown, his voice echoing throughout the arena via his microphone.
"10!"
"9!"
"8!"
"7!"
"6!"
"5!"
"4!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"K.O!"
Goh'jis mouth, still crackling with lingering sparks, hung open as he breathed heavily. This was not an attack he could use often, due to the amount of energy used in it and the damage it did to his throat. But right now, it didn't matter. He had not only convinced his opponent to give him the all-out fight he craved, he had decisively defeated him. The audience clearly shared his positive feelings if their loud cheers were to be believed.
"AND WE HAVE OUR WINNER! CONTESTANT JOHN FOUGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO WIN, BUT IN THE END IT'S CONTESTANT GOH'JI WHO ADVANCES TO THE QUARTERFINALS! IT WAS A BATTLE OF SKILL AND GRIT VS AGILITY AND TACTICS, AND WHAT A BATTLE IT WAS!"
As Googlorp narrated as only he could, the concrete walls were lowered back into the hatches all over the field. And as soon as they closed back up, the field was suddenly surrounded by a pearlescent white light. The light reached up and covered the bruised and wounded fighters, and slowly but surely the damage they had taken was undone. John's charred body regained its smooth purple texture, the small flames in his short messy black hair snuffed out and his open wounds closed up fully. Even his clothes were returned to the state they were in prior to the fight. Likewise, Goh'ji felt a surge of relief as his burn marks disappeared, the soreness in his throat fizzled out and his depleted stamina was restored.
The defeated John slowly sat up, clutching his head all the while. It was strange, he thought. He had been expecting to get absolutely steamrolled by Goh'ji and had been doing everything he could to avoid fighting him. But as soon as he had decided to face his fear and fight for real, he had actually had… fun. Not only that, but he even managed to get Goh'ji to fight him seriously. But the fun was over, and John was the first contestant to lose the tournament. He didn't really mind though. He'd never expected himself to win even a single round. His thoughts were eventually interrupted as Goh'ji walked over to him.
"That was a great fight, mage. I'm really happy you decided to fight for real, because you definitely forced me to give it my all for a moment there. Thanks for the great match!" Goh'ji put his fist to his open palm and bowed towards John out of newfound respect. John just shook his head, smiling all the while.
"You're thanking me? Buddy, you're the one who forced me to see reason. Or well, you and one more person." John looked over to the other contestants' area to see Root, jumping up and down right where she stood. She was so visibly proud of him, a person she had never even met before.
"But anyway, here's where I drop out. Just one more thing… why do you keep calling me a mage?" John asked, puzzled. Goh'ji tilted his head as if he didn't understand the question.
"You are a mage, are you not? You shoot glowing magic out of that big clunky wand, not to mention that dark flame spell." Goh'ji replied. John simply shrugged to himself.
"Doesn't look like I can convince you otherwise, huh. Well, that's not important. Thanks again for the match, and good luck in your next one!" John said. The two fighters grabbed the others' hand, shaking it as a sign of a new friendship. The audience still roared as Googlorp signed off the first round.
"AND WITH THAT, WE THANK CONTESTANT JOHN FOR HIS PERFORMANCE AND CONGRATULATE CONTESTANT GOH'JI FOR HIS STUNNING VICTORY! BUT WE'RE NOT DONE YET FOLKS, BECAUSE IN MERE MOMENTS ROUND 2 IS ABOUT TO START! OUR FIRST TWO CONTESTANTS LEAVE THE ARENA, BUT KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED ON THOSE GATES! THE NEXT ROUND WILL GUARANTEE TO LEAVE YOU UTTERLY… SPELLBOUND!"
Both contestants were now heading back to their respective waiting room. But one of them was met with a friendly face.
"Ohmigosh mister, you were amazing! I knew you could do it, I just knew it!"
John looked up to see a young Genasi run up to him. Root was grinning from ear to ear like usual, her energy and positive aura being almost tangible. John closed his eyes and smiled back.
"Well, you clearly saw clearer than I did. You and Goh'ji were right to believe in me, 'cause that helped me believe in myself. Thanks a lot for that, little lady."
He chuckled a bit to himself.
"Heh, I can't believe how cheesy I'm sounding. Guess that's a side effect of realising your own guts huh."
"Anyway, why are you here? Did you come in just to see me?"
Root shook her head, the vines attached to it swinging around wildly.
"Well, partly. But it's also my turn, silly! I'm going up against this Tortle guy, Gema… uh, no, Gamera… no… oh right, Gameron was his name!"
The scatterbrained Root had never been good with names. John gave a small chuckle as he held his fist downward to the little Genasi.
"Well then, you go out and show this fighter in a half-shell who's the boss. And since you believed so hard in me, it's only fair that I'll cheer for you as much as I can!"
Root answered the wish for good luck and the attempt at a fist bump by grabbing Johns' hand with both of her own, shaking it up and down wildly. The Tiefling stumbled a bit as he clearly didn't expect this, but nevertheless he went along with it. As the two walked past each other, they waved one more time. And as John went back into the waiting room, he suddenly jolted. He had been struck with a realisation; all of this could have been avoided. He had been panicking so much that he hadn't realised he could have simply surrendered. But while he was glad he hadn't, he still felt like a massive fool for not realising this. Enough so that he had to loudly exclaim his frustration.
"SON OF A-"
And in the other corridor, a Dragonborn grinned. He had won his first bout, and was thus one step closer to his goal of rematching Alva Morrison. Or even better, his ultimate clash with his new rival Prime. He was so engulfed in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the large Tortle walk past him, nor did he hear his greeting. Gameron looked after Goh'ji as he passed by, his fully black eyes briefly closing as he scoffed to himself.
"Hm. A bit of a rude fellow, isn't he."
He turned his head back and kept walking, following the inexhaustible roar of the crowd. And so did Root in the other corridor, clutching her staff as she let out a small gulp. Round one was over, and round two was just about to begin.
The battle for the title of greatest would only heat up from here.