The greatest in the Multiverse
Round 5: The Molten Guardian vs the Red Fiend
"LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND EVERYONE ELSE ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE, WELCOME BACK TO THE ACTION!"
After a 1-hour break, the re-energized crowd once again filled the subspace arena with roars and cheering. It had of course taken a while to get over 250.000 people back to their seats in a somewhat orderly manner, but once that had been accomplished the wait was over. Everyone was ready to see some more fights take place, and the Plasmoid announcer up in his booth was no exception.
"THIS IS YOUR HOST, GOOGLORP, ALL SET TO GIVE YOU ALL THE BEST NARRATION POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT ALL THE UPCOMING RUCKUS! WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH 4 EXCITING ROUNDS, WHERE CONTESTANTS GOH'JI, ROOT, OWEN AND PRIME HAVE SECURED THEIR SPOTS IN THE QUARTERFINALS! AND NOW, IT'S TIME TO DECIDE THE 5TH ONE! WHAT DO YOU SAY WE STOP DELAYING AND GET GOING?"
More roaring from the audience. They were clearly having the time of their lives.
"IN THE BLUE CORNER, WE HAVE THE MOLTEN GUARDIAN OF UNIVERSE 12!
CONSTRUCTED IN THE NAME OF PEACE AND SECURITY, AN UNFORTUNATE CAVE-IN LEFT THIS FIERY SENTINEL WITHOUT A HOME TO SERVE! AND SO IN THEIR 10 YEARS OF BEING ACTIVE, THEY HAVE WANDERED THE GLOBE IN SEARCH OF A NEW PURPOSE! BUT TODAY, THEY'RE HERE TO FIGHT! WILL THEIR BOILING SOUL BURN THEIR OPPONENT TO A CRISP, OR WILL THEIR FIGHTING SPIRIT HARDEN AND BE LEFT EXTINGUISHED? LET'S FIND OUT AS WE WELCOME: MODEL AUTA MAGICA NR. 54, BETTER KNOWN AS: CONTESTAAAANT INFERNO!"
The red-hot automaton lumbered onto the battlefield with heavy, steadfast steps. Inferno didn't even bother to address the loud audience all around them, instead slowly pulling out their back-mounted greatsword. The construct dragged the heavy blackened blade behind them with their right hand, their blank face not flinching in the slightest.
"AND IN THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE THE RED FIEND OF UNIVERSE 7! THIS 22 YEAR OLD FLEDGLING BOUNTY HUNTER HAILS FROM HER SMALL FAMILY FARM, AND DESPITE HER IMPOSING EXTERIOR IT'S CLEAR THAT HER HEART STILL RESIDES THERE! BUT DON'T LET HER KINDNESS AND SENSE OF JUSTICE FOOL YOU: HER SKILL WITH ALL SORTS OF WEAPONS, HER INTENSITY AND HER SHEER DETERMINATION IS NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED! WILL THIS RUSTIC GRIT BE ENOUGH TO OVERWHELM HER OPPONENT, OR WILL THIS TIEFLING END UP PUSHING UP DAISIES? ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT! GIVE A BIG HOWDY TO: CONTESTAAAANT ASHES!"
At this point you would be forgiven for thinking the audience automatically cheered whenever they saw literally anyone do literally anything, but cheer they did as Ashes made her way towards the arena centre. The brawny Tiefling still had a hard time wrapping her head around the sheer amount of people rooting for her - basically a city's worth of people, all so excited about little old her? The humble bounty hunter warmly but awkwardly waved towards the roused masses, until she was face to faceplate with Inferno.
"Howdy there, big fella! I don't think we've had the pleasure? I'm Ashes, pleased to make your acquaintance!"
Ashes reached out her hand towards the still Inferno, although the robot didn't take it immediately. Instead they simply gazed at it, as if analysing it. Nevertheless, they eventually shook it with a firm, ironclad grasp.
"Designation: Model Auta Magica nr. 54, codename Inferno. My current parameters dictate that I shall eliminate you from this competition to advance my own ranking, however I do anticipate that no matter what occurs, the results will be satisfactory."
Ashes was left numb, speechless even. Not because she was shocked or intrigued by Inferno's statement, but because she had understood absolutely nothing of what they'd said. Too many big words for her simple country mind.
"Uh… yeah, same to you, partner. Let's just make this a good one!" she eventually answered with. And with one more mutual nod, the two fighters backed up a bit as the tense crowd went practically silent. Up in the announcer's booth, Googlorp slowly raised his pseudopod. And one sentence later he swept it downward to declare the start of the match.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"BEGIN!"
Another explosion to announce the incoming action, and the fight was on.
Ashes, being the faster of the two, launched the first attack. Her hand reached for the sleek rounded weapon fastened to her belt at a very impressive speed, and less than one second later she had fired two lead bullets from the revolver. Inferno had been starting to move forwards as Ashes had pulled the trigger, and was struck right in their iron chest. To very little effect. The armour had absorbed most of the shock, resulting in nothing more than a simple stagger and two dents where the bullets had hit. Inferno didn't even give the attack any notice as they raised their greatsword to their side, rushing towards the Tiefling as fast as their clunky legs could bear them.
"Well, so much for the ol' six-shooter," Ashes thought to herself. "Guess we'll do this the old-fashioned way".
The gunslinger sheathed her weapon as quickly as she had drawn it, before firmly grabbing ahold of her black longcoat. And with one powerful motion she threw it to the side, revealing her extremely muscular frame to the onlookers in full. Perfect, now she could move unhindered. Inferno was steadily approaching her with blade in hand, so she would answer them in kind. Ashes reached for the opposite side of her belt as to where her gun was sheathed, pulling out a clearly well-used shortsword from its scabbard. With her other hand, she grabbed the round shield made of iron and wood that had been mounted on her back beneath the spacious longcoat. And as Inferno raised their heavy blade and swung it towards Ashes, it collided with the sturdy shield instead of flesh and bone.
"CONTESTANT ASHES STARTS OFF THE MATCH WITH GUNS BLAZING, BUT THE STURDY PROTECTOR FROM UNIVERSE 12 TAKES IT LIKE A CHAMP! AND NOW THE DUEL HAS SWITCHED FROM LONG RANGE TO CLOSE-QUARTERS COMBAT AS THE COMBATANTS PREPARE TO LOCK BLADES! WHO WILL TURN OUT TO BE THE SUPERIOR SWORDFIGHTER: THE BULKY AUTOMATON OR THE BURLY TIEFLING?"
The bulky automaton pressed their blade down towards the burly Tiefling with as much force as they could muster. But to no avail. The shield was too durable and Ashes was too strong to give in, and thus Inferno wasn't getting anywhere. In fact, they could feel themselves being pushed back. It was their double-handed overhead slash against her simple shield, and the shield was winning out. The construct quickly formulated a tactical calculation: Break the clash, now. Without warning, Inferno took a big step back. The beefy farmgirl was taken off guard and lost their footing as she found herself pushing with all her might against thin air, which the living lava tank capitalised on. Iron met flesh as Inferno's shoulder slammed into Ashes, sending her reeling backwards.
"Actuation: Switching to offence protocols. Diverting lava flow to arm hydraulics." With these words, Inferno charged towards Ashes with their sword in full swing. And with a lot more strength behind it, this time the blade cleaved through the air much faster than before. But luckily for Ashes, her quick thinking saved her. The Tiefling leaned backwards as much as she could just before the greatsword would've hit her, and as she reared herself back upright she blocked the follow-up slash with her shield. With her other hand, she struck Inferno's left leg with her own sword. And unlike the two bullets before, this attack seemed to hit home.
"Yeah I don't really know about all this protocol or hydraulics stuff. All I know is that you're slower than molasses in January!" Ashes proclaimed. Unlike the marvellously advanced Prime or the soul-infused Bastion, Inferno did not possess the ability to feel pain. Which, given the notable gash in the thinner part of their leg armour, was probably a good thing. The conflagrant contraption looked down towards their wounded leg, as if scanning it. Before turning to face Ashes, their previously orange glowing eyes now coloured a burning bright red. Inferno lashed out with their blackened greatsword again, which was once again blocked by the wooden shield. Ashes countered with her own sword, both combatants' blades clashing. Then they clashed again. And again. And again. Before long, the match had turned into a fierce swordfighting duel.
"WHOA MAMA, SEEMS NEITHER SIDE WANTS TO BACK DOWN! IT'S NOW A CLASH OF WILLS AND STEEL BETWEEN CONTESTANTS ASHES AND INFERNO, SO: WHO'S GOING DOWN FIRST?"
Both sides were not only remarkably strong, but notably very skilled and experienced swordfighters. In fact, they seemed to be more or less evenly matched. The duel had been ongoing for a solid two minutes, and it was clear it would continue until one side made a mistake. Despite this, the crowd had their eyes glued to the skirmish the whole time. But eventually, it happened. One fighter got ahead of themselves.
Ashes had slipped up. One forceful sweep had missed Inferno completely, leaving her wide open for attack. Inferno's bright eyes briefly flashed as they slammed their blade into Ashes' smaller one. The blow connected, with the desired effect. The sheer impact knocked the shortsword straight out of Ashes' grip, sending it flying towards the arena wall. Now all the Tiefling had was a shield and an ineffective firearm. This Inferno capitalised on; their heavy greatsword crashed down right beside the alarmed farmgirl. Another sweep followed right after, forcing her to jump back. Ashes was at a disadvantage, and she knew it. And thus her uneducated mind fell back on its one strong suit. In the midst of blocking and dodging the dense greatsword, she started to form a new battle plan.
"I need to knock that (whoops!) big hunk of iron out of their grip," Ashes thought to herself, "But they ain't gonna give me any opening. And that big ol' armour is (whoa!) too tough to pierce with a bullet. But they gotta have a weak point. Everyone does."
Despite her train of thought being continuously interrupted by Inferno's assault, Ashes retained her focus. And right as she blocked another overhead slash with her shield, her head jolted in realisation. She flashed a confident grin as the plan she had been searching her head for revealed itself. As soon as Inferno pulled back their sword, Ashes turned around and bolted. She ran as fast as she could away from the bulky robot, before turning around in a flash. Her gun was drawn, but as Inferno chased after her she simply pointed it at them. The Tiefling took deep breaths as she adjusted her aim carefully. And then she pulled the trigger.
[BANG!]
The bullet struck Inferno's more lightly armoured right shoulder joint, and unlike the earlier two shots this one was enough to make the automaton recoil backwards. Not wasting a single second, Ashes pointed her weapon towards the other shoulder. With another loud bang piercing the air, Inferno staggered again as their other joint was hit. The gunslinger kept up her pinpoint offensive. Another bullet hit Inferno through a gap in the lower part of their armour, the attachment point for their left leg to be specific. The fourth and final bullet did not hit its intended target however. Ashes' aim was ever so slightly off; the projectile struck Inferno's armoured thigh to very little effect. With three shots landed and one miss, the firearm was out of ammunition. But the look on Ashes' face was not one of worry or alarm. Rather, she sported a subtle smile as she put the weapon back in its holster.
The same could not be said about Inferno. A quick damage diagnostic revealed that the bullets hadn't caused any apparent major harm, but the fact that the Tiefling had landed several hits on them while they had only landed a single shoulder bash had started to get to them. In fact, their cranial unit reported a feeling of steadily rising annoyance. Said annoyance was about to reach its boiling point though, as Ashes made a gesture with her outstretched open right hand. A gesture that could almost universally be translated as "bring it".
"Query: Your lead projectiles have failed to cause any lasting damage. You are also disarmed of all your offensive tools. And yet, you stay in the fight. How and why do you maintain a level of confidence this high? The odds of your victory are… low."
Ashes simply laughed. She clutched both of her fists as she put up her arms in front of her, answering Inferno in a tone teeming with both glee and determination.
"Hun, I ain't about to dust off the boots yet! I still got my fists, and that's all I'll really need! So put 'em up, buttercup! Let's settle this with a good ol' dustup!"
Inferno's artificial brain was comparable to human level, despite their robotic mannerisms and actions. Despite this, they hadn't been created to feel strong emotions. But everything that had happened over the last couple of days - the professor and his lack of personal space, the loud volume of several of the other contestants and the fact that this simple-minded Tiefling just would not stay down - had started to change that. Their previously suppressed emotions had started to boil over, just like the lava powering their systems. They were about to unleash their rage.
"Outburst: Yes, let's. This has gone on for much longer than it should have."
With that, the two powerhouses charged towards each other. One still armed with a heavy greatsword, the other with nothing but a shield and her own two hands. No more tactics or analyses, just an all-out slugfest.
"WHOOO! Go, Inferno! Burn her to a crisp!"
Over in the contestants watching area, another robotic warrior had his eyes glued to the action. Prime leaned as far over the railing as he could, craving to be as close to the clash as possible. Even watching the fights was enough to fire him up. And he wasn't alone in this regard.
"Give it your all, unreasonably big Tiefling! Show them your full strength!"
Whereas Prime had taken a shine to the fellow robot Inferno, Goh'ji had instead opted to root for Ashes. Her sheer guts and skill was very inspiring to the Dragonborn warrior, not to mention her proficiency with a weapon the likes of which he'd only ever seen in his own fight with John. She was yet another addition to the list of people he just had to fight. Although to be fair, between him and Prime that list covered pretty much every single contestant at this point.
"Aaah, now this is what life's all about! Two fighters going head to head, with nothing but the thrill and thought of victory mattering! Right, buddy?" Prime asked his blue friend. While he would much rather be out there actually doing the fighting, watching it from the sidelines was the next best thing. He just couldn't get enough of it. Goh'ji flashed a wide grin in response.
"Exactly! That's the mindset of a true fighter!" Goh'ji replied enthusiastically. His eyes turned from the ongoing fight over towards Prime, the metal warrior still beaming with excitement.
"Say… speaking of which, wonder who will win this contest in the end?"
"Well, I'm gonna make sure it's me! You and I are gonna duke it out eventually, and then whoever wins will just end up winning the final round!" Prime exclaimed with his usual confident tone. Until he paused before continuing in a calmer voice, as if he was pondering something.
"Then again, that giant Half-Orc was no joke. Not to mention those two going at it out there, neither of them are to be messed with. Or maybe that other white Dragonborn, he looked to be almost impossibly strong. There's a lot of competition, that's for sure! All the more reason to give it our all!"
"Heh, you're right. I suppose we'll find out soon enough!" Goh'ji exclaimed. The blue-scaled martial artist turned around to the figure tucked away in a corner behind him, trying to bring them into the conversation as well.
"And what about you friend, who do you think will end up winning?"
John wasn't exactly here watching out of his own desire. Ever since losing in the first fight of the whole tournament in front of hundreds of thousands of people, he had mostly just wanted to go home. There were currently only two things keeping him here: The fact that he couldn't go home even if he tried since the big fancy dimensional gates were closed, plus his respect for Goh'ji who'd shown him how meekly he'd been acting. And since he couldn't steal anything without the scary wall of muscle known as Ashes suspecting him, he had even less reason to be here. So while said respect towards the Dragonborn led him to start answering his question, the still fresh fear of the bounty hunter prevented that answer from leaving his throat. He didn't really want to admit out loud what he thought about Ashes' odds of winning.
"...I don't want to talk about it, '' he eventually muttered. Goh'ji quizzically tilted his head. Was something bothering his former foe? He decided to not follow it up, instead turning back to Prime. And then turning to face the ongoing battle upon seeing his metal rival almost jumping out over the railing. Something major had just happened down there. John felt a shiver going down his spine as he did at least hint towards an answer to the question he'd been given.
"But I think you can take a wild guess."
So far the fight had been pretty uneventful after Ashes had been disarmed. Ashes had landed a haymaker or two, while Inferno had gotten in a couple minor slashes with their sword. The rest had been mostly blocks, misses and dodges from both sides. Until now. Ashes had managed to land a double axe handle on Inferno's shoulder, right where she had previously struck them with a bullet. And this blow had a very clear effect. The impact caused the automaton's whole arm to stagger; enough so that they unwillingly opened their right hand. In other words, their main sword hand. The moment their heavy greatsword clattered to the ground, Ashes ran up and kicked it away as far as she could. Now they were even, just as the Tiefling wanted.
"A SOLID HIT! CONTESTANT ASHES EVENS THE ODDS WITH A PRECISE DISARMING BLOW! NOW THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO DO FOR EITHER SIDE THAN TO SETTLE IT WITH THEIR OWN TWO FISTS, AND I FOR ONE AM AT THE EDGE OF MY SEAT! LOOKS LIKE THE BATTLE IS ABOUT TO REACH ITS FINAL STAGE!"
But Inferno had had enough. Their frustration and rage had officially hit its breaking point. They were going to pull out all the stops to end this once and for all, no matter what happened to either them or to Ashes. Suddenly, smoke started to billow from every orifice in their armour. A simmering bubbling noise began to sound inside their chassis, and the air around them became distorted from the steadily rising temperature. And as soon as the hatches and outlets around their body opened up one by one, said temperature skyrocketed. The sizzling construct took a step forward, the very ground beneath them softening from the immense heat.
"Assessment: You are done for, Ashes of Universe 7. With the safety protocols deactivated, the surrounding area will soon reach exactly 85 degrees celsius. Within moments, you will collapse from heat exhaustion. I advise you to give in, before the last bit of my patience does."
"Sorry to disappoint you, partner, but I never really learned how to give in!" Ashes retorted, her fists still raised in front of her.
"So I'll do you one better: Within moments, you'll collapse from the slogging I'm about to give ya! Let's settle this, big fella!"
And so, the well-trained farm girl rushed up to the molten automaton right through the superheated air. Red knuckles struck dark grey iron with the force of a smaller cannonball, enough to cause Inferno to stumble a couple steps backward. Not to be outdone, the robot lunged back with a backfist delivered to Ashes' side. The forceful blow elicited a pained grunt from her, but her strained expression quickly turned into a fierce scowl as she put all her strength into an immense uppercut. Her fists throbbed in pain after all the hits she'd delivered right into solid metal, but right now she didn't care. The whole fight had come down to this, and this was no time to let up. Not in the slightest.
The audience held their breaths, with the only sounds from them being occasional gasps whenever either fighter took a big hit. Blow after blow, the slugfest raged on. But eventually even these two living mountains were starting to wear down. Inferno's eyes flickered and parts of their armour plating had begun to hang loose, while Ashes was bleeding from the mouth and was breathing very heavily. Both fighters were covered in bruises - or in Inferno's case, dents - all over; neither side could go on for much longer. This had to end now. But for Inferno, their decreasing power and beaten-up armour was not their biggest priority. One question burned brighter in their computerised mind than all the lava in their body.
"Query: The current air temperature is 85 degrees Celsius. A standard human would have collapsed from heat stroke by this point. So why haven't you succumbed? How have you not even FELT THE EFFECTS?!"
Even the automaton's artificial brain was starting to lose it. Ashes looked tired for sure, but she only showed symptoms of being exhausted and physically wounded. There were no excessive amounts of sweat, no wobbly movements, nothing. Other than the wounds and ragged breathing she looked just like before Inferno had turned up the heat. The farmgirl looked taken aback for a moment, before a smile started to creep up on her face. A small burst of laughter escaped her tired lungs, and just as she started explaining the stumped robot realised it as well. It was all so obvious now. They had missed one crucial detail about their foe.
"Oh partner, seems you missed just one little detail. Ya wanna know why I ain't all sewn up from the heat? I'll tell ya. I'm a Tiefling, you goney! My great-great whatever hang out with the devil in the fire and brimstone of hell, and you think a little blaze like this will do anything? This is nothing but a summer breeze!"
Inferno almost shut down right then and there. They had felt many more emotions over the course of less than 15 minutes than they usually did during an entire day; first frustration, then full blown anger and now overwhelming embarrassment. They - a robot built to employ lava as both fuel and as a weapon - had failed to take into account the Tiefling's innate resistance to fire and heat. The automaton's mind raced all over the place. They had failed as a warrior. They had failed as a protector. They… had failed to notice Ashes' fist until it struck their faceplate with full force.
"FOLKS THIS LOOKS TO BE IT! CONTESTANT ASHES IS COMPLETELY UNFAZED BY CONTESTANT INFERNO'S FIRE AND FLAMES, AND NOW THE FEROCIOUS FARMER IS GOING IN FOR THE KNOCKOUT! IS THIS IT FOR THE MOLTEN GUARDIAN?"
Taking advantage of her opponent's shocked state, Ashes launched an all-out barrage of attacks. A hook to the head. A jab to the jaw. A backfist to the back. Her knuckles were scraped and her body was almost out of steam, but she didn't care. As long as she had even a speck of adrenaline left to fuel her she would keep wailing until Inferno fell. And eventually, she saw her opening to deal the finishing blow. The construct was stunned and wide open; in no position to stop a clean blow to the chest. The bounty hunter reared back her arm, her aching muscles tensing up to their limit. And as the crowd around her eagerly awaited the finale, she threw the punch.
"AAAARRGGHH!"
The audience collectively gasped as Ashes' bloodcurdling scream filled the arena. The Tiefling had fallen to her knees, clutching her arm as her smoking fist smouldered. Inferno had regained their senses at the last possible second, and had instinctively turned to avoid the farmgirl's finisher. Resulting in her fist careening right into one of their body's open outlets. Right into a pool of lava. Now the tables had turned once again; Ashes was now the one wounded and at a disadvantage.
For anyone else, punching lava would result in them losing their entire hand. But thanks to her thick skin and great fire resistance, Ashes had kept hers. However, the hand was completely charred and blackened. Not to mention in agonising pain. She wouldn't throw any more punches with that hand, that much was certain. Seeing this, Inferno stumbled over to the downed Tiefling. They raised their fists with what little power they still had left, addressing their opponent before the final blow.
"Summary: It is over, Ashes of Universe 7. You put up an impressive performance, but in the end my calculations were correct. You will fall here. But I will always store the memory of you and this battle in my memory banks. Initiating final blow now."
But before the robot could deliver their strike, they were interrupted by yet another heavy blow to the stomach. Moving with speed she didn't even know she could still muster, Ashes' huge ridged horns slammed into her looming opponent. Her mind was just about to shut down from the pain and exhaustion, but her body still moved almost on its own. She slowly stood up on shaking legs and staggered over to Inferno as quickly as she could. Before the automaton could react Ashes had grabbed their right arm in her own huge forelimbs. Her grip was far from as strong as it normally would be, but it was enough to keep the drained robot restrained. She planted her left leg on Inferno's hip, revealing her intent with a low, growling tone.
"Ya wanna know why I pumped your shoulder full of lead earlier? It wasn't to create a weak spot, or even to wound you. It was so, if push came to shove, I could do THIS!"
With all of her might, Ashes started to pull. Her hand was searing in pain and her bulging muscles ached tremendously, but she kept pulling. Inferno could do nothing but fruitlessly attempt to get free. And finally, a noise could be heard as the construct's badly beaten shoulder joint started to buckle and rattle.
[Crreeeeaakk- CRACK!]
Tons of metal shards and a small stream of lava hit the ground as Inferno's arm was explosively separated from their body. While the artificial guardian couldn't feel pain, the sheer shock and the complete devastation of their systems had sent them into full damage report mode. Their orange eyes blinked rapidly and irregularly, and the only words coming out of their voice box were mangled error announcements and glitched hardware briefings. Their opponent took full advantage of the construct's broken state, quickly rising to her feet after falling on her bum thanks to her momentum. Ashes wrapped her arms around Inferno's remaining one, pulling with all her remaining strength. It didn't take long for the second metal limb to meet the same fate, violently detaching from its busted socket.
[CrreeaAAACK!]
By now Inferno's mind was as broken as their body. The loss of two arms, coupled with all the damage already taken during the fight, was too much for their systems to handle. It took all the remaining power they had just to try and calculate said damage, leaving things like motor skills and movement in the dust. It was over. The audience knew this. The announcer knew it. Ashes knew it. Once more, the arena fell silent.
The weary Tiefling slowly trudged towards Inferno, then continued right past them. Without looking she lightly slammed them in the back with her large tail, causing the busted construct to crash face-first into the ground. As she dragged her feet towards the arena wall to sit down and rest against it, one of the tournament's fairy referees fluttered as close to the smouldering battlefield as she could. The audience anxiously took in the scene before them as the countdown began.
"10!"
"9!"
"8!"
"7!"
"6!"
"5!"
"4!"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"K.O!"
"GAME SET AND MATCH, PEOPLE! THE FINISHER HAS BEEN DELIVERED, AND WHAT A FINISHER IT WAS! NEITHER SIDE WERE WILLING TO GIVE IN TO THEIR LIMITS, BUT THE ONE WHO FINALLY DID SO WAS CONTESTANT INFERNO! THE WINNER WAS THE ONE POSSESSING THE SUPERIOR STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE: CONTESTANT ASHES!"
The thrilled crowd erupted as the results were announced. Ashes could do no more than smile and raise her left fist in response, her battered body too exhausted to move. Inferno had ceased their stutters and damage reports; as a matter of fact, they had ceased everything. Call it mercy or call it a shame, but it looked like they had finally run out of power. Luckily for both fighters, their worn down states wouldn't bother them for much longer. Once again the shimmering white light covered the arena, restoring them both back to full health. Ashes' many bruises faded away, her blackened hand regained its regular healthy texture and her sore arm muscles regained their strength. Meanwhile Inferno's shattered arms pulled themselves together as they reattached to their sockets, their armour dents evened out and their depleted power levels filled back to 100% capacity. As the light dissipated, the healed contestants rose to their feet and walked up to face each other.
"Phew, that was a close one! But you're one hell of a scrapper, partner! I sure had a hog-killing time, so thanks for the match, big fella!" Ashes exclaimed. Her face was beaming with joy and satisfaction, not just from her victory but also from the brawl itself. All the pain she'd been through and the fact that she'd spent long parts of the fight on the backfoot had only made the fight better in her eyes. Kind and good-natured, but equally fierce and relentless. That's just who she was.
Inferno however did not smile. They merely stared blankly towards the joyful Tiefling, both fists clenched. Until they turned around to walk away, responding to Ashes' gleeful expression of gratitude in a monotone stern voice.
"Mission report: There is no victory here. My generated directives for this event was to defeat you and advance further in the tournament, so as a result of this loss my mission is a failure. I have failed as a protector. I offer congratulations for your success, but I cannot express pride or joy in my own performance. Goodbye, Ashes of Universe 7. May you continue to advance further."
With that, Inferno picked up their greatsword from the ground and lumbered towards the exit gate. Ashes was left a bit stumped at all the complicated words coming at her, but she did understand the meaning behind them. She understood it meant that there was an unhappy soul in need of some reassurance.
"Hold your horses there partner, you haven't failed anyth-"
"AND WITH THAT, LET'S ALL HEAR IT FOR CONTESTANT INFERNO'S HEATED EFFORTS AND IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE! AND LET'S ALL CONGRATULATE CONTESTANT ASHES FOR A SOLID VICTORY SNATCHED FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT! BUT DON'T GO ANYWHERE FOLKS, ROUND 6 IS COMING RIGHT UP! AND I'M CERTAIN THIS ONE WILL LEAVE YOU… INVIGORATED!"
Googlorp's sudden narration drowned out Ashes' attempt at cheering up the gloomy automaton, leaving her alone on the field as Inferno went through the gate and out of sight. With a worried sigh she went to pick up her discarded coat and weapons, before heading out through the opposite gate. She'd clutched the victory and had a great time doing so, but Inferno's dejected reaction had left a sullen feeling in her mind. Definitely something she couldn't just leave be.
"Urgh, finally. Another minute cooped up in here and SOMETHING would've ended up smashed!"
The scarlet Dwarf had spent the last few minutes impatiently walking around the small waiting room. So the sight of the silent Inferno coming out from the corridor to the arena left her quite pleased. Molly Mineshaper of Universe 8 was nothing if not fiery, although this apparently came at the cost of anything resembling patience. The fact that the moody robot did not seem to pay her any attention was also welcome; right now, Molly didn't have any desire to waste time exchanging pleasantries with some burning bloke. So instead she cracked her knuckles and headed towards the battlefield, following the loud cheers from the insatiable crowd. Grinning widely all the while.
"Hope you're ready for me, big girl. 'Cause I'm gonna fuck your shit up hard!"
In the other waiting room, the "big girl" was in fact ready. Abigail Harlow of Universe 6 had taken these moments of calmness before the storm to go through all her gear. Weapons? Spotchecked. Tools? Accounted for. Fortitude? In tip-top shape. So now after exchanging brief greetings and congratulations with the passing Ashes, there was nothing left other than heading out there. But as she stood up and took a deep breath, she felt something behind her. Something very quickly coming her way.
"HAH!"
With surprising speed considering her bulky frame, Abigail turned around to catch the ironclad punch thrown towards her backside. She simply flashed a knowing smile towards her assailant, not letting go of his fist.
"Nice try buddy, but I figured you'd try to test me. Don't worry, I've got this!" she told her friend, releasing her grip on his hand. Her creation wiggled his hand as if to shake off the pain; Prime might have been made of metal, but Abigail's grip was frighteningly strong. The robot simply nodded with enthusiasm, his lack of facial features doing nothing to hide his backing of her.
"Of course. Just wanted to make sure, you know?" Prime responded. The metallic warrior raised his fist towards his creator as a final encouragement.
"Now get out there and kick her ass, Abby!"
Abigail did not leave Prime hanging, answering his fist with her own. She turned around and started heading for the arena, but not without confirming Prime's request.
"Thanks, I will! I'll try not to make this look too boring!"
With these words, the large Half-Orc made her way to the fight. When she'd come here to this strange alternate dimension, she'd been mostly dismissing the whole fighting aspect and been more into the whole "different universe" thing. But now, after witnessing the previous 5 heated bouts, she was about as eager as most of the other contestants. This could end up a lot of fun after all.
The largest competition in the multiverse raged on, and the winner was far from decided.
