//------------------------------// // Round 6 // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Mr. X once more took over his duties as FART announcer, floating over the arena. "Sounds like we've had a couple of intense matches these last couple of rounds!" he called out happily. "I'm sure all of you enjoyed that. Here's hoping this next round is as exciting, especially since it seems we're getting mythical!" As cheers roared out, Mr. X lowered down to the first combatant. "First up is...Centaur Man!" Centaur Man was, as his name proclaimed, a centaur. His body armor was mostly green, with yellow, red, and blue highlights. A brown horsetail hung from his equine hindquarters, and three large horns rose from his helmet. He let out a snort as Mr. X approached. "Happy ta be here!" he proclaimed happily, his voice somewhat slurred as he waved to the crowd with his right hand, the buster on his left arm shining. "What can you tell us about yourself, Centaur Man?" Mr. X asked. "There's really not much ta say, Wilbur," Centaur Man replied, blowing a raspberry between his lips as several of the older members of the audience laughed. "A horse...is a horse." Mr. X groaned as he facepalmed. "Of course...of course..." "Say hi ta Carol for me!" Centaur Man asked, gesturing to his opponent at the other end of the ring. "...I'll do that," Mr. X replied, quickly moving to the other end of the ring. "And over here we have a steel angel of an opponent..." He examined the paperwork. "Experimental Space Compressor And Physics Enhancer...ESCAPE?" "That's me!" the robot proclaimed happily in the high pitched voice of a little girl. Her body was very angular, plainly designed for speed and flight, with sharply pointed shoulder pauldrons and points at the end of her legs instead of feet. Two metallic angelic wings stuck straight out of her back, and a sword was attached to her right wrist. Her body was mostly blue, with an optic visor rather than an actual face. Despite being humanoid, she was most plainly robotic. Her joints and hands were gold, and her belly was bronze. She was plainly designed as a combat model first and foremost. "So what do you hope to accomplish here in the tournament?" Mr. X asked. "I'm gonna make my Daddy proud!" ESCAPE proclaimed proudly, retracting the wrist blade to pose with her legs spread and hands on her hips, thrusting out her chest, every inch a determined child. Mr. X paused to wipe a tear from his eye. The way she acted reminded him of X-P0N3. "Alright then!" he proclaimed, raising his chair up to over the arena once more. "Combatants...prepare yourselves!" Centaur Man climbed into the arena. ESCAPE flew over the boundary to hover in the air above the floor of the ring. "Ready...FIGHT!" Centaur Man lifted his buster to begin shooting, only for ESCAPE to vanish. Hearing a sudden surge to his side, he spun, only for ESCAPE to strike with her wrist blade as she reappeared, slicing his buster arm clean off. He gritted his teeth as he clutched the sparking stump, spinning to try and kick out, only for ESCAPE to warp away again. When she reappeared, she began opening fire with wrist guns. They weren't very powerful, but she'd already disabled his only ranged weapon, so she could take her time wearing him down. Quickly realizing that this would eventually lead to him being taken out, Centaur Man decided to close the distance with a charge, aiming for an intercept course. Before he could get there, however, ESCAPE once more vanished, surging back into uncompressed space at the other side of the ring. Centaur Man spun to face her, now focusing on evading her assault while planning his next attack. ESCAPE continued to circle, focusing on sniping. While this was taking a long time, she preferred to play it safe with one quick, debilitating strike before the opponent knew what she could do, then holding back at a safe distance and taking her time. She'd yet to lose a match this way, and she could always deliver a more solid strike later if the opportunity presented itself. Clenching his teeth, Centaur Man tried for one more charge. When ESCAPE started to compress space again, Centaur Man activated his Centaur Flash. Unlike previous 'Time Stop' weapons, this one worked by creating a bright flash which put robotic brains into temporary sleep mode, freezing them in their actions but letting normal time and momentum still flow. As such, ESCAPE was locked up as she reappeared, her back to Centaur Man. Charging her, he delivered a double hind-hoof buck to the small of her back, sending her rocketing into the elastic boundary of the ring. As she started to regain her senses, Centaur Man unleashed another Centaur Flash, sending her flying back towards him on recoil from the ring boundary in a locked position. Rearing up, he delivered the double hind-hoof buck again. He repeated this pattern three more times, keeping her paralyzed and pressing his advantage. As the last kick hit, however, ESCAPE broke along her narrow waist, her torso passing over Centaur Man and her legs passing under him. The entire audience winced at the devastating blow...but ESCAPE floated up, her broken waist sparking as she pushed her systems. "I'm...not beaten...yet!" she insisted, drawing her wrist blade. A towel fluttered down into the ring. "And it seems ESCAPE's designer has thrown in the towel!" Mr. X proclaimed, stunned. "From what he's sent me, he apparently doesn't consider trying for victory worth ESCAPE becoming further broken!" "But Daddy!" ESCAPE whined, despite her voice erroring from the damage she'd taken. "While they may be dropping from the competition, let's give this pair a round of applause for a full understanding of what this Tournament is supposed to promote...the bond between humans and robots." Mr. X led the audience in applauding as ESCAPE and her designer left the ring, carrying her legs along with. "And let's give a big hand to our winner, Centaur Man!"