X-P0N3 waved her hooves in the air to build up the crowd's cheering. "Well, we've had an amazing tournament so far, and I just know you're all looking forward to what's going to happen next!" she shouted into the microphone, even then struggling to be heard over the roars of the audience. "Now, let's meet our competitors for the next round, shall we?" As the audience cheered, she made her way to the first Robot Master.
This robot was clad entirely in blue and white medieval armor, with a large shield on one hand and a spiked ball and chain extending from the buster on the other arm. X-P0N3 grinned as she approached him. "Care to introduce yourself?" she asked, holding the mic out to him.
"Verily!" he proclaimed proudly. "I am Knight Man, fair lady, and I shall prove my valor in yonder arena, and achieve greatness in my name, the name of my maker, and thee!"
X-P0N3's eyes went somewhat flat as the crowd laughed. "Another one, huh?" she muttered, remembering Magnet Man. "Just don't go all Black Knight on us."
"But of course!" Knight Man promised. "As thou canst plainly see, I'm blue!"
"Da boo dee, da boo dye," X-P0N3 offered jokingly
Knight Man stared at her as the crowd laughed. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
"Yup!" X-P0N3 proclaimed happily as she made her way to the other combatant. This one was also humanoid, colored black and chrome with silver highlights. He had a black pack strapped to his back, an incomplete ring of optics around his head, and his hands, elbows, shins, and feet showed signs of additional reinforcement as he hopped from foot to foot. "And you are?"
"Jinks Man!" the robot replied. "But you can call me Twitch-it's good to be here to-how are you feel-when do we start?" He continuously interrupted himself mid-sentence, his pack sparking as he constantly shifted into different fighting stances. "You're shiny!"
X-P0N3 stared at him, unsure how to respond. "Well, Twitchy-"
"Just Twitch-but Twitchy's okay-no it's not!"
"Well, somebody's overclocked their CPU," X-P0N3 muttered nervously.
"But I don't smell burning-do you mean me-I'm not fast, I'm just programmed that way!"
X-P0N3 chuckled nervously. "How about we start the match before we have a forfeit due to Twitch's head exploding from standing still too long?" she called out to the audience, getting both cheers and laughs. She shifted on Item 2 to above the arena, watching as the two contenders entered. "Ready...FIGHT!"
Knight Man immediately braced himself for combat as Twitch rushed forward, closing for melee distance. As he got close enough, Knight Man lifted his ball and chain, ready to swing.
"Temporal Veil!" Twitch shouted. The air around the two Robot Masters rippled.
Knight Man's flail hit the ground, as everything around him moved too fast to react to. Twitch seemed to blur around him, punching and kicking from front and sides, unleashing his full barrage.
The bubble broke, and Twitch leapt back as time returned to normal.
"So...thou possesses some mastery of time," Knight Man murmured. "A distinct advantage in melee combat. And yet you show honor in its use, that you did not strike my back."
"That's cliche!" Twitch shouted out, hopping from stance to stance. "Not to mention rude-are you alright? I hit you quite a few-you're shiny!"
Knight Man blinked, unsure how to respond. "Uh..."
"No damage? But I thought-should I hit harder or-throw time!"
As Twitch closed in for more melee combat, this time with Knight Man swinging his flail defensively, X-P0N3 continued her announcing. "Well, it looks like we've got the irresistible force against the immovable object! Twitch's time manipulation and processing power means he can avoid everything Knight Man can aim at him, but Knight Man's armor is durable enough that Twitch can't do any damage to him! It looks like we're going to have a long match here, folks!"
Knight Man frowned as Twitch prepared for another assault. "It seems the lady is right. We shall be here into perpetuity at this rate..."
"I see your aim-I'll dodge forever-you can't fool me!"
Knight Man's eyes narrowed as he thought about Twitch's words. "Hmm...perhaps you have a point." He closed his eyes. "Come at me."
Knight Man listened to the foot falls, waiting for his moment.
"Temporal Veil!"
At that shout, Knight Man began jerking his entire body randomly, lashing out with shield, feet, and flail, ensuring there was no readily discernible pattern in his movements, not even trying to hit anything.
"Yip-Yow-Wowza!"
As Knight Man opened his eyes, he discovered Twitch across the arena from him, one of the robot's optics gouged out.
"It's amazing, folks!" X-P0N3 proclaimed as cheers rung out. "Somehow, Knight Man's managed to damage Twitch! What an upset!"
Twitch stared at Knight Man for a time...and all but two optics shut off. "I forfeit," he said calmly as he stood neutrally.
"What?" Knight Man asked, confused.
"I can't damage you," Twitch explained calmly. "My strikes can't penetrate your armor, and you are too heavy for me to lift and throw. At best, I can focus on a single point on your armor and try to repeatedly punch my way through to damage your inner circuitry before your auto-repair functions can fix you, but only your joints provide that level of vulnerability, and I can't aim at them accurately when you lash out as you were. And as clearly demonstrated, even a single strike from you will cause immense damage to me. I have not yet analyzed you enough to accurately predict your attempts at random...meaning the odds are heavily in favor of me taking a finishing blow before I'm able to do anything to you...especially as each blow from you drastically reduces my functionality.
"I...see," Knight Man responded. "You seem...different."
"Once I realized I had no way to win, I shut off all but one of my processing units to explain myself," Twitch replied. "It was a good fight."
"Indeed it was," Knight Man confirmed. "I had not before considered the advantages in a deliberately unaimed strike before."
Nodding to each other, the two Robot Masters met in the middle of the arena and shook hands.
X-P0N3 played to the cheering audience. "Let's give these two noble warriors a big hand! The winner by noble surrender is...KNIGHT MAN!"