Choose your destiny! Flawless victory! [Inevitable Tournament Arc]

[meat_mooks]

No sooner did the Obs Deck descend to Arena Planet LXIII, and the crew allowed to disembark, than they were met by a veritable cloud swarm of cameras. Sleek, elegant things that might have been living, might have been machines, maybe were even magical... but were definitely nuisances as the swooped around to capture video of the crew at all conceivable angles, close up and far away. Their every move from this point on would be on camera.

In front of a small crowd of retainers stood what appeared to be a great circular orb whose only distinguishing features were a nose, and what appeared to be the most overblown mustache ever, which actually appeared to be supporting that two-foot-diameter orb at shoulder height to a tall man. Then the orb took a couple of steps forward,revealing that no, those were actually just really, really hairy legs. A seam cracked open on the creature, and in a voice loud enough to echo across the broad open plains without any need for amplification, it bellowed, "AND NOW! STRAIGHT FROM THE TRANSMIGRATION NINE VESSEL! OUR NEWEST COMPETITORS! FRESH TO THE STAGE OF BATTLE, BUT NO STRANGERS TO WAR--"

It went on like this for some time.

Under cover of this introduction, a small man that to all appearances seemed to be the love child of Richard Nixon and a particularly aggressive Furby stepped forward, and in a bored businesslike tone recited, "Welcome to the tournament. There will be one battle per day. The arena in which you battle will be determined by random draw. Our medical crew will perform all healing necessary and ensure no deaths so feel free to not hold back. Please refrain from accepting any bribes or favors from on-planet spectators--"

"--ARE YOU READY?!" the orb bellowed even louder than before, completely swamping the smaller man's recitation. "THEN STEP THIS WAY!"

And so saying, the orb and its procession began a clearly well-choreographed procession towards a large, medieval-looking fortress that hung dramatically just on the edge of clear vision. (Conveniently, this procession passed several large advertisements.)

Comments

[meat_mooks]

Her opponent was right in front of her. Though until he moved, he might have been easy enough to mistake for a statue.

"Welcome, friend! You have the distinct honor of testing out my latest and greatest creation! Now before you change your mind, remember that your participation in this battle is a binding contract!"

Two segments of the bridge swiveled open, and from the gap in-between, a platform rose up, bearing on it the Leviathan Mark II. The mechagnome leaped up onto its top, dove into the hatch... and then the might machine roared to life.

[dragonspooker]

Him speaking was startling enough, but once Lina realized what the little guy said, she started stalking toward him. "Hold on a second, I only signed up to fight here! What kind of contract are you on about?!"

And then she found herself face to face with a big tank. Great, this guy was like Jillas...

She'll take a moment to jump back away from it.

[meat_mooks]

No sooner did she begin moving than napalm rocket burst out of a launcher array on the rear of the turret, arcing its way towards her. At the same time, the main cannon began overtly charging, energy coalescing around the barrel as it gathered for a mighty assault.

[dragonspooker]

WHOA OKAY yeah that's dangerous - time to put more distance between herself and this thing - and see what the old standbys do.

"FIREBAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!"

With a fair amount of speed, a...well, ball of fire streaked toward the Leviathan.

[meat_mooks]

The Leviathan was too powerful to be taken down by one mere blow! As fire washed over it, the main cannon unleashed a massive column of energy at the poor innocent sorceress.

[dragonspooker]

Guess she'll need bigger guns for this - namely to take care of HIS big gun!

"RAY WING!"

For now, time to avoid it! Lina shoots up, then swoops around his side. "Let's see if I can't gum up the gears a bit! FREEZE ARROW!" A trio of icy bolts launch from her hands at the machine, aimed for the moving parts.

[meat_mooks]

The ice smashed into the tank, catching in the turret's joints -- but it wasn't swiveling anyway.

"Hmm!" Mimiron said, abruptly leaping out of the hatch of the tank, though the device continued to hiss and rumble. "Wonderful! Positively marvelous! Hull integrity remains at ninety-eight point nine percent! Thoroughly resistant! Moving right along..."

The tank abruptly roared backwards along the bridge as Mimiron hopped off. Where it has stood, the lift that had raised it up shot upwards a good twenty feet, revealing itself to be a solid box. A moment later, the ceiling and sides of the box folded up and retracted, revealing another weird machine!

"Behold!" he said, leaping into the cockpit. "The VX-001 anti-personnel assault cannon! Mind the backblast!"

No sooner had he spoken than the multiple guns roared to life, swiveling to target Lina and unload a hail of bullets, while a rocket burst out of the top to race for her.

[dragonspooker]

Landing on the bridge after the tank retreats, Lina's not quite sure what to expect. Then that box shows up, and shows a thing with arms?!

"Oh come on! Surely there's rules against this!" She'd protest more, but now that thing's pointing at her. "CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Lina rolls and darts for the edge of the bridge and jumps off. Another Ray Wing, and she's hovering just out of sight underneath. "Really gotta bite some heads off about these guys' choices in matchups and venues when I get outta here...!"

[meat_mooks]

A moment later, from up atop the bridge, a really, really ominous noise sounded out over this hiss and clatter of machinery.

[dragonspooker]

"..."

Lina's not sure she wants to check. It could be a trap where she'd get blasted yet again, or it could be a valid thing in need of checking.

However, curiosity will get the better of her, and she will peek out - after moving to what she's fairly certain is behind the thing, and on the opposite side of the bridge that she went under.

[meat_mooks]

By popping up, Lina would discover two very alarming things.

First, it could track her, even underneath the bridge. The machine had swiveled on its mounts so that as she flew up it was pointing just to the left of her -- it had gotten that far before it had to stop to charge.

Second, it was charged. The awesome, sun-nova power of the P3Wx2 vaporized the air itself as burst out of the main cannon, close enough to graze her cape. All well and good that it missed, but a moment later the mount interlocks disengaged with a hiss and the cannon began to swivel, the sustained beam tracking towards her.

[dragonspooker]

Well, crap.

After much scrambling, Lina's darting through the air again, rather panicked by the fact that it could follow her underneath the bridge. However, she must remain vigilant!

And get that jerk back for getting her cape.

As she flies, trying to go in an erratic circle overhead, she begins to make motions with her hands and speaks an incantation - "Wind, crimson flame. Grant the power of thunder to my hand! DIGGER BOLT!" A crackling beam of lightning fires off once the incantation is finished.

[meat_mooks]

The cannon, in fact, tracked relatively slowly -- enough so that she could fly behind it. And it didn't go up very far.

The blast crackled through the machine as it completed it sweep. The side guns swiveled upwards, unloading bullets at her as another rocket burst out of the rear mounts towards her.

[dragonspooker]

What, MORE projectiles?!

This couldn't go on, not like this. It keeps up, she'll expend all her magic flying around!

She pulls in closer, and flings a fireball, readying another as soon as that one had let fly.

[meat_mooks]

Flame engulfed the cannon, and even as it dissipated the side walls of the ledge were already unfolding to snap around it once more. Mimiron leaped out as the roof shut over it and the transport began to subside to bridge level once again.

"Thank you, friend! Your efforts have yielded some fantastic data! Now, where did I put... oh, there it is!"

For a flying machine was descending from the sky as Mimiron looked up. It swooped down to scoop up the mechagnome.

"Isn't it beautiful? I call it the magnificent aerial command unit!"

[dragonspooker]

Seeing the box fold up around that cannon thing, Lina swoops in to land on the bridge again, only to see this little fellow pull out another machine.

She ruffles her hair with both hands, and sputters. "JUST HOW MANY STUPID TOYS DO YOU HAVE?! HOW MANY THINGS AM I GONNA HAVE TO BLAST DOWN, YOU LITTLE--OH, FORGET IT!" Her hands cup close together, and a red orb grows between them.

"DRAAAAGOOON SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!"

[meat_mooks]

Mimiron started to say something, but the Dragon Slave engulfed the ACU in a massive blast that pretty much annihilated its main offensive systems. Only the alloy armor protected it from an instant kill -- but it was protected! (Also not actually incanting the Dragon Slave properly helped it out a little.)

"Well! That didn't provide much in the way of data! I see it's safe to play a little rougher with you, though, friend!"

The platform shot upwards, rotating violently as it did so, then abruptly retracted its roof. The VX-001 dropped onto the Leviathan Mark II, steam hissing as the parts interconnected, and then the ACU dropped atop the whole mess entirely. No longer three separate parts, it had become one glorious whole.

"Gaze upon its magnificence! Bask in its glorious... erm... glory! I present you with... V0-7TR-0N!"

[dragonspooker]

Lina's jaw drops as the prior components come together, and her already boiling-over temper hits a very, very flustered peak...then she oddly turns calm. That unhinged grin on her face might be something to worry about, though.

"Rough?! You wanna play rough, then I'm gonna pull out all the stops!" Lina puts a bit more distance between herself and the beast of a machine, then begins an incantation as the talismans on her arms, belt, and neck glow.

"Lord of Darkness of the Four Worlds, I call upon you; grant me all the power that you possess!" Wind and a powerful magical aura kick up around the girl as the spell is cast, but it seems she's not quite done...

[meat_mooks]

Heedless of this incantation, the three parts of the massive robot swivel to track her, then start letting the ordinance fly!

[dragonspooker]

Handy thing about winding up the Dragon Slave is that aura it kicks up is useful for deflecting stuff thrown at Lina to protect her during the casting!

"I'll show you some real firepower!" Her hands pull close together, and a glowing orange ball grows as the incantation is recited. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows; buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hands! Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!"

Once it's finished, the spell goes off as a beam-like fireball, and when it impacts, well. It's gonna be one hell of a big boom.

[meat_mooks]

And so it was! The detonation engulfed the massive mecha, which vanished in the expanding ball of lethal light, and Lina you were on a bridge which is no longer structurally sound, did you really think this one through?

Hopefully she has enough juice left for at least a levitation spell.

[dragonspooker]

Maybe!

...not really.

No.

As the ground crumbles away from her, Lina sputters and flails, but quickly works out a Levitation spell, and looks around.

"...great, now where am I supposed to go?!"