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]

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?!"