The greatest in the Multiverse
Round 2: Flower power vs Turtle power
"AND NOW, PEOPLE OF THE MULTIVERSE: OUR NEXT TWO CONTESTANTS ARE ENTERING THE ARENA!"
The spotlight drew the excited audience's attention towards the calm and collected Tortle on the left side of the field. He was neither as excited as Goh'ji nor as scared as John from the previous round, instead falling in somewhere in the middle. He put his flipper above his squinting eyes as he slowly but surely adjusted to the brightness of the spotlight.
"IN THE BLUE CORNER, WE HAVE THE TORTLE TRANSMUTER OF UNIVERSE 1! DECADES OF WANDERING AND ADVENTURE HAVE LEFT THIS 46 YEAR-OLD WIZARD WITH A MULTITUDE OF EXPERIENCES, AND DESPITE HIS YOUTH BEING BEHIND HIM HE HAS CONQUERED BEASTS, DEMONS AND THE VASTNESS OF THE OCEAN! BUT WILL THAT EXPERIENCE GRANT HIM VICTORY HERE TODAY, OR WILL HE BE SURPASSED BY THE NEXT GENERATION? HERE HE IS: CONTESTAAAANT GAMERON!"
The roaring and applause kept on going, although Gameron wasn't too enthusiastic about that part. He waved back like he had done during the opening ceremonies, but his stiff motions and forced smile hinted that he wasn't too comfortable with all the attention. Nevertheless, he grabbed his messenger bag and threw it to the side. He wasn't about to let some mild stage fright get in the way of the upcoming battle.
"AND IN THE RED CORNER, SAY HELLO TO THE GREEN THUMB OF UNIVERSE 15! AT JUST 18 YEARS OF AGE SHE IS ONE OF OUR YOUNGEST COMBATANTS, BUT THAT YOUTHFUL FRONT HIDES A FEARSOMELY POWERFUL CONNECTION TO ALL THINGS NATURE! WILL THE BUDDING WANDERER WEED OUT HER MORE SEASONED OPPONENT, OR WILL THIS FLOWER WILT? GIVE IT UP FOR: CONTESTAAAANT ROOT!"
The young druid's first couple steps onto the field were shaky and unsure, but as soon as the attention was aimed at her Root looked reenergized. She waved back enthusiastically, one hand retaining a firm grip on her wooden staff all the while. She didn't stop waving until almost a minute later when she had reached the middle of the battlefield, where she looked over to Gameron and greeted him with a quick curtsy.
"Hi mister, nice to meet you!"
Root held out her small hand towards the Tortle, who responded by raising an eyebrow. He was clearly a bit taken aback by her abruptness, but he took her hand in his flipper and shook it regardless.
"Pleased to meet you too, young miss. I do hope you'll go easy on me!"
Root laughed cheerfully.
"Hahaha, I will! But promise that you'll do too, okay?"
Gameron didn't answer, although he did smile at the Genasi's answer. Maybe this would be pretty fun after all.
Both sides took a step back as the audience went silent with anticipation. Gameron put his hands together as if to focus himself, and Root closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And up in the announcers booth, Googlorp uttered the words everyone was waiting for. Very loudly of course.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"BEGIN!"
Another loud explosion above the arena. The fight was on.
Root barely had time to blink before a sharp shard of ice rocketed towards her chest. Thanks to some quick thinking, she grew a thick vine from the ground to block it. The frozen blade hit nothing but plant matter, then it shattered and fell to the ground in melting pieces. But focusing on the shielding vine in front of her had caused Root to lose sight of Gameron. And as she made the vine recede back into the ground, she abruptly found out exactly where he was. Right beside her, with his right flipper surrounded by water.
"Hydro Blade!" Gameron shouted. He wasn't nearly as dramatic as Universe 6's Prime, but he still had a bit of flair to him. The swirling water took the form of a sharp blade around his flipper, and he thrusted it towards the unprepared Genasi.
[SSHINK!]
Root screamed out in pain as the cold aquatic blade pierced through her right side. As she was still fairly new to the whole adventuring business, she hadn't really been in a real fight before. And thus she had now learned firsthand the excruciating pain of being stabbed. The blade was swiftly pulled out, the magically transmuted water now mixed with red blood. Gameron quickly dispelled the Hydro Blade and flailed his flipper around to try and get most of the blood off.
"CONTESTANT GAMERON GOES IN FOR A BRUTAL FIRST ATTACK! WHILE CONTESTANT ROOT COULD BLOCK HIS ICE KNIFE, HIS SIGNATURE HYDRO BLADE PROVED MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE! HOW WILL THE NATURAL WONDER ANSWER?"
Slowly, Root began to understand just what she had gotten herself into. She needed some space to think. To come up with a plan. And to calm herself. She twirled her maple staff around and plunged the upper tip into the ground with one hand, while using the other to clutch her wound. And as Gameron started gesturing in preparation for another attack, he felt something latch onto his arm. And his other arm. And his legs. He looked down to see just what Root had done now, and upon seeing it he felt a mix between fascination and worry.
"Well damn, this could be a problem."
Gameron had been restrained by four thick vines, similar to the one that had blocked his Ice Knife just earlier. They had wrapped around all of his limbs, and while they didn't really hurt they did prevent him from moving. He was stuck. Root used this brief breather to cast another spell, this time on herself. Her right hand, still clutching the open wound in her side, started to glow a dim green colour. Tiny green light particles left her hand and entered her wound, and slowly but surely the wound began to close. Within 6 seconds her side was back to normal barring a small scar. But by now her shelled foe had begun to break free.
"Good thinking, miss. Unfortunately, it won't be good enough." Gameron had managed to form another Hydro Blade, and with a large amount of effort he had managed to move his right arm into position. With a few strained slashes he managed to cut vine after vine until he was able to move again. But Root wasn't planning to let him cut her open again. And so in front of thousands of spectators, she suddenly began to transform.
"S-sorry mister, but I don't wanna get hurt again!" Root, already petite to begin with, rapidly started to shrink in size. Smooth feathers began to sprout all over her body as her legs shrivelled up into thin clawed ones, and her arms morphed into elegant wings. Finally her head lost all traces of a mouth, a nose, hair and ears, and was replaced with a flat face adorned with a small beak and black beady eyes. Where the little Genasi had been, there was now a barn owl. She flapped her wings and without a sound, she took flight. She hovered a few metres above the impressed Gameron while trying to process everything that was happening around her.
"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, CONTESTANT ROOT HAS TAKEN FLIGHT! BUT HOW COULD TURNING INTO A BIRD HELP HER? OR DOES SHE HAVE A CLEVER PLAN IN MIND? ONLY TIME WILL TELL!"
Unfortunately, Googlorp had guessed wrong. A million thoughts did go through Root's now much smaller head, but none of them involved a plan. All she could think of was how little she wanted any harm to be done. She didn't want to feel that sharp pain she had felt from the Hydro Blade again, and she wanted to inflict that kind of pain even less. But the people watching wanted a fight. She didn't want to disappoint them either. Root was at a crossroads. Either she gave up and let the entire audience down, or she would fight and feel terrible about herself. But what if she cou-
[FFZZIIIIING!]
Her train of thought was interrupted as a beam of ice-cold magic particles just barely missed her. Gameron wasn't just going to sit there and wait for her to do something, he was taking advantage of her much frailer and weaker owl form. The wizard fired Ray of Frost after Ray of Frost, trying to hit the transformed druid. But none of the rays hit the small and nimble target. The barrage did put all of her focus into dodging however, which prevented her from thinking up a non-painful way to settle this.
Over in the other contestants' waiting area, most of the other participants were watching the fight. Some, like Prime and Goh'ji, excitedly cheered on one side to defeat the other. Others, like Pulse and Alva, watched every move intently to figure out strengths and weaknesses. And two of them discussed all this and more.
"Hmm, I'd say the small one. She's got guts, that one. Plus those vines and animal transformations don't look like they ought to be underestimated."
Owen Whitlock of Universe 14 stroked his lower jaw. The large Dragonborn was used to physical combat and the occasional divine backup from his deity, so Root's much more nature based magic had certainly piqued his interest. He looked down towards his somewhat smaller but similarly reptilian companion, whose attention was focused more on the spellslinging Tortle.
"Good point, but my money's on the Tortle. The nature girl is tricky, yes, but she's focusing way too much on defence. It's gonna be tough to get through that shell with just some grappling vines!"
Morgan Sarun of Universe 12 laughed, his rough voice doing nothing to hide his amusement. His jovial tone had stayed strong ever since the opening ceremonies. He had chosen to put his faith in Gameron, partly due to a sense of connection. They were both aquatic beings after all. Morgan and Owen had had quite a bit of time to bond over the last day, with their positive outlooks and similar interests having led to a fast friendship.
"Haha, perhaps! But then again, he doesn't seem to be able to land a hit on her either!"
Owen leaned back in his seat, the thin wooden bench creaking loudly under his weight. The seats hadn't been made with someone as big as him in mind after all. Then it creaked even more as he hastily leaned forward. One fighter had started to gain an edge, and Owen's focus jolted right back to the battlefield. Morgan just flashed the closest equivalent to a smug smile that his huge jaws could form.
"He isn't? Then what do you call that then, pal?"
One of Root's wings went numb as a cold beam of magic struck it. One lucky shot had finally managed to hit her, and as the pain coursed through her transformed limb her opponent simply crossed his shivering arms. Gameron's flippers had clearly taken a toll casting this many frigid blasts, his cold blood certainly not helping much. But given his confident smile, it seemed it was worth it. Root couldn't keep up her owl form any longer. Her tiny body began to grow back to its original size as her feathers retracted, her wings forcibly turned back into regular arms and her beaked face rounded out and regained its humanoid features. All while she rapidly approached solid ground. Call it luck or sheer determination, but she managed to force her body to slow the reversion enough to partly break her fall. But eventually she hit the ground, and it certainly didn't look painless.
"Ow ow ow ow…"
The druid had managed to avoid a serious crash, but she had still fallen on her bum from more than three metres up in the air. But Gameron wasn't going to let her rest even for a moment. He planted both of his flippers on the ground, and the ground beneath the fighters began to shake. The dirt started to heave and rumble, until it started to erupt right underneath where Root stood.
"Maximilian's Earthen Grasp!" Gameron shouted. Five small pillars of dirt and stone sprouted from the ground to form the rough shape of a humanoid hand, and this time Root was the one who had been restrained. The craggy hand squeezed down hard on her lean frame, and she could hear something crack. Whether it was a loose rock or one of her bones she couldn't tell, but what she could tell was that it was painful. Very painful. As she screamed out in pain a gasp went through the onlooking audience.
"CONTESTANT GAMERON HAS KNOCKED CONTESTANT ROOT OUT OF THE SKY, AND NOW HE SEEMS TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE STAYS GROUNDED! BUT, ONE HAS TO ASK IF HE'S NOT ACTING A BIT… BRUTAL? IS CONTESTANT ROOT GONNA BE FINE?"
"Sorry about this miss, but I'm not gonna take any chances with you. I don't know if you have any secret tricks up your sleeve, so I'm taking you out now!" Gameron grunted. He didn't take any pleasure in crushing Root like this, but he was nothing if not cautious. He wanted to ensure his win as quickly as he could. And so he did not lighten his magical grip in the slightest. But as he would soon find out, he was absolutely right. Root did have a secret trick up her sleeve.
It took all she could muster, but Root had managed to get her left arm free. But that was all she needed. Her entire arm suddenly started to give off a light purple glow, and moments later Gameron noticed that his entire body was covered in a very similar light. He quickly tried to tighten his grip further, but failed. His strength was rapidly leaving him. And suddenly he could feel himself shrink.
"(GASP!)"
The rocky hand began to crumble, and Root could feel the overwhelming pressure decreasing. Eventually she dropped to the ground, free from the crushing magical construct. The pain was intense and she could barely feel her right leg; she had definitely broken a few bones. But she could still stand. She was a lot tougher than her small frame would suggest. Root looked over to Gameron and shook her head as he crawled around on the ground. She couldn't transform just herself after all, she could also morph others into new shapes. And as for her opponent, he was now simply a tiny slippery critter on the ground. She had turned him into a newt.
"A NEWT? CONTESTANT ROOT HAS BROKEN FREE FROM THE STONY PRISON… BY TURNING HER OPPONENT INTO A NEWT? SUCH OUTSIDE-THE-BOX THINKING FROM THE YOUNG DRUID!"
Fortunately for Gameron, he got better. Root had to divert some focus from the spell to heal her broken limb, so he only had to stay an amphibian for a few seconds. And as Root cured her wounds and put her cracked bones back together, the wizard quickly morphed back. Seconds later he was a Tortle again. A very shaken one at that.
"Mister, that was very rude of you. That stone hand really hurt! Don't you have any manners where you come from?" Root pouted. She didn't seem able to spit out any angrier words than that, even though Gameron had almost crushed her to death just moments before. She was way too kind for that. It was just who she was. But Gameron didn't answer. His thoughts were somewhere else entirely, his eyes almost blank. Until he snapped out of it and his gaze turned from a vacant stare into a ferocious glare. He raised his right flipper into the air as it slowly started to glow brighter and brighter.
"Alright then miss, I can't take any more chances with you. It's time to, as the young people call it, go all out! LIGHT!"
Gameron thrusted his glowing flipper towards Root's face, and it gave off a radiant bright flash of white light. The Genasi was caught off guard as she was completely blinded by the gleam, covering her eyes with both hands. But as she slowly regained her vision, her ears picked up something other than the excited crowd around her. The sound of crashing waves. And as she looked upward, the expression that came across her face was one of fear and panic.
"I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU FOLKS, BUT THIS IS AWE-INSPIRING! CONTESTANT GAMERON HAS ANNOUNCED HIS INTENTION TO FINISH THIS QUICKLY, AND TO THAT END HE HAD SUMMONED A FULL-ON TIDAL WAVE! CAN CONTESTANT ROOT POSSIBLY FIND A WAY TO PREVAIL AGAINST THAT?"
Root shakily took a couple steps back. She was tougher than she looked, but not tough enough to survive a 10 metres tall wave of water. Especially not when she was this worn out. And there wasn't enough time to outrun it either. There was only one thing she could do, and that would take almost all she had. But she had no choice. And thus she hunkered down on all fours, both hands firmly planted on the soft dirt.
"Friends, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. Hope you can forgive me!
Almost as soon as the words had left her mouth, the ground erupted once again as several thick vines grew to form a wall between Root and Gameron. The shaking druid pressed herself against the massive plants as the torrent of water crashed against them. They bent and they tore, but the wall held. Barely. And on the other side, the Tortle wizard was visibly strained. This was his strongest spell after all. But he kept pressing the wave against the floral barrier, he was not going to lose this fight. Not against a naive beginner, his pride just wouldn't allow it. But eventually, after what to him felt like hours, the water wavered and the spell ended. And there were the vines. Broken and waterlogged, but still there. And so was Root. She was soaked and visibly bruised, as not even vines this large could block an entire tidal wave completely. But it was clear that something about her had changed. The young Genasi glared at Gameron, her eyes piercing right through him as her trademark smile had turned into an intense scowl. Her patience had finally run out.
"Mister, that is IT! You attack me with painful magic, you almost kill me with a rock hand and then you bring the same pain to my friends! I'm gonna teach you some manners, you big brutish meanie!"
Normally Gameron would question his opponent's childish choice of words or how it could possibly be his fault that the plants she had summoned specifically to block his attack had been destroyed, but right now he was just afraid. If he had had sweat glands they would be working overtime right now. Because his reckless use of magic had left him almost completely drained after all the Hydro Blades and Tidal Waves he had been throwing around. He had maybe two or three spells left in him, and that was it. He had no weapons to fall back on nor the strength to rely on melee. And here was his opponent, still having some heavy hits left to deal and all the motivation to do so. He raised his hand to try and launch one more spell, but as the ethereal particles began to swirl around his flipper he was halted. Another vine had grabbed ahold of him.
"AND NOW IT SEEMS THE BATTLE HAS REACHED ITS FINAL STAGE! CONTESTANT GAMERON'S STRONGEST ATTACK WASN'T ENOUGH TO BREAK THROUGH CONTESTANT ROOT'S DEFENCES, AND NOW SHE LOOKS TO BE ABOUT TO UNLEASH HER OWN TRUMP CARD! KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOLKS: THIS COULD BE THE GRAND FINALE!"
Four more thick vines slithered around both of Gameron's arms and both of his legs, but this time they hoisted him up in the air. No matter how much he struggled he just didn't have the strength left to break free. He was completely at Root's mercy. And now she was going to finish this. Her maple staff was firmly planted in the ground as shining white particles were pulled towards it. Eventually they had formed a dim ball of light, and before Root unleashed it she had one more thing to tell the struggling Gameron.
"I'm sorry, but you've been really really rude to me. So I will punish you, with a beam of the moon!"
The dim ball of light fired a thin silver beam far up in the sky. And just moments after it had disappeared from view, it came crashing back down. Far larger and brighter than before. And Gameron could only look on in terror as the Moonbeam struck him dead-on. The Tortle wizard was completely engulfed in the searing silver beam, and the only thing that could be heard beyond the roar of the massive spell was a scream fueled by intense pain. Even the crowd had fallen silent as they watched this fearsomely powerful attack, some of them wondering if this wasn't perhaps too much. But just a moment later it was over, as the beam petered out and the vines slowly lowered Gameron to the ground.
Every single part of Gameron's body was burning in pain. His arms and legs were covered in burn marks, his face was missing quite a few scales and his shell was almost blackened. It took all the energy he had just to stay standing. And then even that energy left him. His seared legs wavered and were about to give in, and with one final groan he tipped backwards. The Tortle laid on his shell, desperately trying to stand back up. But he was done. He had no strength left to help him stand up, let alone enough to keep fighting.
His opponent wasn't in much better shape. Between all the stab wounds and massive waves, Root had been left bruised and exhausted. Her legs had started to wobble, requiring her to support herself on her staff. But she still stood. As the dust slowly settled and the still silent crowd were at the edge of their seats, one of the tournament's small fairy judges fluttered down toward the flipped reptilian mage. The countdown had started.
"10!"
"9!"
"8!"
"7!"
"6!"
"5!"
"4!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"K.O!"
"AND THAT'S THE MATCH, PEOPLE! BOTH CONTESTANTS FOUGHT TO THEIR LIMITS AND SHOWED IMMENSE LEVELS OF POWER AND SKILL, BUT THE WINNER IS CONTESTANT ROOT! AS TOUGH AS AN OAK TREE AND AS STRONG AS AN EARTHQUAKE, THE GREEN THUMB OF UNIVERSE 15 PROVED THE TORTLE TRANSMUTER'S SUPERIOR!"
As soon as Googlorp had announced her victory and the crowd had resumed their roaring, Root stumbled over to the now still Gameron as quick as her tired legs could bear. She didn't even wait for the healing ward to activate, instead placing her hands on the beaten wizard's shell. The same green particles that she had used on herself before appeared around her hands, and slowly but surely Gameron's eyes began to flicker as his burn marks slowly went away.
"Huurgh… why heal me? You… you look like you're about to fall over at any moment yourself…" Gameron groaned. But Root simply shook her head.
"Are you kidding? I hit you with the strongest spell I had! I could've critically wounded you and you ask why I heal you? I'm so sorry about this, mister. I… I got so carried away!" Root stuttered. The frustration and intensity in her voice had completely disappeared and had been replaced by worry and shame. But Gameron put her negative feelings to rest, at least partly.
"Don't apologise, miss. This is a fighting tournament after all, and you fought very well. You did absolutely nothing wrong today, I assure you. This was a great fight, and you won fair and square. Besides, look downward."
By now the dim white light had covered the field again, just like it had after the end of the previous round. Both fighters could feel their exhaustion and wounds disappear, and mere moments later they were back to full strength. Gameron stood up and stretched his back, a deep sigh escaping his throat.
"Although I would lie if I said I don't feel bad about losing. I had hoped to get further than the first round after all. Huugh, I sure hope none of my friends are up there watching this right now…"
He closed his eyes as his beak formed a small smile.
"But I can't call foul here. You beat me, miss Root. And I sincerely hope your next rounds go as well as this one!"
Root's smile returned to her face, and it didn't take long until she was beaming again. She practically threw herself towards Gameron into a hug, and although the surprised Tortle didn't answer it he didn't shove her away either. He did internally question his opponent though.
"(Whoa, uh… okay then. Is she really that trusting and forward with everyone?)"
Root let go of her somewhat uneasy opponent and giggled loudly.
"Hehehe, thanks mister! I'll do my best to not hurt them this much!"
"AND WITH THAT, WE THANK CONTESTANT GAMERON FOR HIS BRILLIANT EFFORTS AND CONGRATULATE CONTESTANT ROOT ON HER VICTORY! 2 FIGHTS DONE, 6 TO GO BEFORE THE QUARTERFINALS CAN COMMENCE. SO STAY TUNED, BECAUSE IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS ROUND 3 WILL BEGIN! AND THERE WE WILL FIND OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL.. IF SIZE TRULY DOES MATTER!"
"Alright then, guess it's my turn. Do wish me luck out there, my friend!"
The Dragonborn known as Owen Whitlock stood up as he addressed his lizardlike friend. He stretched his massive frame before grabbing his giant greatsword that he'd left resting against a corner, before he started heading towards the right arena gate. His saurian friend Morgan raised his right fist into the air as he shouted after him.
"Haha, best of luck on the battlefield, big guy! I'll cheer for you as best as I can!"
Owen chuckled to himself. It had been too long since he'd had an actual fight, and he couldn't wait to see action again. He clutched his necklace - a symbol depicting a flaming sword - tightly. Hopefully his almighty lord would guide him to victory. And as he reached the end of the corridor, his heart filled with eagerness and vigour.
But this optimism was not shared with his opponent in the other corridor. The tiny robotic construct known only as Bastion had been sitting in the waiting room almost since the second round began, and if she had had blood vessels she would have been pale as a sheet. There was no postponing this, huh. She reluctantly began to move towards the cheering audience, each step notably forced. This was not something she was looking forward to. Not in the slightest.
The Multiversal Tournament was far from over.