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More from Zeydaan and Isabella Jem
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Hawkmoths vs LoRI - Act 1
A special event crossover with EmilyRees (story by her) -
A chance encounter between our characters' wider groups prompts the question of 'who would win in a fight'?
The event is announced and we see the build up to and entirety of Round 1. Our competitors pull out some of their aces first. Will it work out for them OR force adaptation later on? Only time will tell.
Are you on #TeamHawkmoths or #TeamLori?
Live Broadcast – 1:00 PM EST
“What is transformation?” William Shatner narration began over a montage depicting scientific discoveries, natural phenomenon and shapeshifters in action. “Is it an action, a state of being or a lifestyle? As we find ourselves questioning the essence of transformation, we face changes of all kinds. Established notions challenged, the impossible tamed and the very nature of ourselves in flux. The last five years have introduced strange new worlds, new forms of life and gone beyond what we thought was the Final Frontier. We now present a battle from the fringes of our dimension: a fight over the figurehead for the Transformation Age. Let’s meet our commentary crew.”
The camera feed changed over to the room where Ripley, Sombra and Marie sat at commentary. Ripley’s outfit now consisted of the t-shirt she bought earlier and F-35 patterned sleep pants. “Thanks, Captain Kirk.” Ripley took the lead on introductions. “I’m Ripley Rees alongside ‘Sombra’ Colomar and Marie from the hit act, The Squid Sisters, to oversee this event that’s shaping up to be something special.”
“Some of you are used to sporting events having multiple matches on the card. However, things are going to be a bit different here because we want to leave no margin for error. Our competitors are going to endure the shapeshifting equivalent of a triathlon in the three matches to come.” Sombra was clearly reading from a holo-projection of a prompter. “Why don’t you tell us about the combatants, Marie?”
“Emily Rees will be taking on another shapeshifter that we have yet to receive final confirmation of.” Marie held up a piece of paper at random. “I’m getting confirmation that the fighter is indeed a wolf named Zeydaan and they are in the building right now. We’ll have the first direct video of Zeydaan in segments to come. Don’t touch that dial!”
“In the meantime, we’ll discuss the rules that were agreed upon.” Ripley cut to a feed showing a slideshow from earlier. “Rule 1: No killing or maiming each other. Round ends when one combatant is unable to continue. Rule 2: No outside items or non-medical interventions. Rule 3: Starting region is picked at random and, upon the end of the round, is taken out of rotation. Finally, Rule 4: Since this is a show of transformation ability, the competitors aren’t allowed to transform each other. Their transformed states are allowed to engage in direct combat.”
“That’s a pretty big change in rules from the last televised transformation event, isn’t it?” Marie chimed in. “What changed?”
Ripley brought up the CBS Sports memo to read the exact wording. “Ahem. CBS Sports views itself on the cutting edge of Transformation sporting events and tailored this event for non-stop excitement. No squash matches or tournaments in this collision of shapeshifters.” Ripley audibly cleared her throat. “There are also a few additional rules meant to force the competitors to…” She leaned towards Marie. “Marie, what’s the line?”
“Oh, stay fresh!” Marie overreacted in a frantic version of the corresponding pose. “Once Emily or Zeydaan use a form, that form becomes locked out for the remainder of the match. We’ll have exclusive interviews between rounds. In terms of banned options, she isn’t allowed to use any current or former idols from Splatoon. The judges determined that idol ink is just different enough that replication would be an unfair advantage.”
“We go to the hologram for the regions in play, chicas.” Sombra kicked the hologram unit. “We are currently in the staging grounds located to the far west of the pocket dimension. The fighters will make their entrances to the ring here to allow the live audience to see the competitors. There are eight regions in play: Toy Town, Winter Wonderland, Soleanna, Manhattan 1984, Summertown Mall, Inkopolis Outskirts, The Cloud Sea, and The Fae Wilds. We’ll spin for the starting location in Round 1 shortly.”
“Wasn’t Soleanna the city from Sonic 06?” Ripley checked her notes. “Let’s read the official description. Soleanna is an Italian-inspired city-state located around water. Although known for its long waiting times, the physics here are considered unreal. Assets provided courtesy of SEGA.”
“Oh, we’re just reading these descriptions now?” Marie took a card at random. “Greetings from Toy Town! The ToYBoX Corporation invites you to a former ghost town repurposed into the Hoffi’s personal playground. Three distinct lanes of travel make this neighborhood great for all types of fun!”
“Isn’t that just Nuketown?” Sombra zoomed in on the sign that had been graffitied to read ‘POPULATION: FUN’. “Can’t beat a classic, I suppose.” She read from the next card. “Manhattan 1984 covers that distinct gritty feeling of New York from the 80’s. Content ranges from Raging Bull to Ghostbusters II and everything in-between. This is the New York City your dad or grandfather wishes he could forget.”
“Gee, who do you think influenced that area’s inclusion?” Ripley rolled her eyes. Mom’s insistence on referencing Ghostbusters was pretty much an obvious marker at this point. “Summertown Mall was local teens’ favorite hangout from 1980 to 2005. Combat would take place in the off hours to avoid colliding into teen drama. Stay out of the backrooms unless you want Darcy on your tail.” She put down the card. “Who’s Darcy?”
“Dunno, chica.” Sombra shrugged. “You’re the one who inexplicably knows everyone. Who did you get to spin the wheel, by the way?”
“Oh! I almost forgot to announce the spinners! We cut live to my sister Claire interviewing members of the LoRI at the location board.”
Stage Select Venue
Claire, wearing a tacky copy of Marie’s performing dress, finished her microphone check. “Thanks, Rip. I’m here with DM, leader of the LoRI, and the member to blame for this event: Razor. Which precautions have been taken to ensure the Hawkmoths aren’t another Salem-tier threat?” She held the microphone up for DM to comment.
Razor grabbed the microphone. “What a great question! We can’t exactly say who or what is where, but let me show something to those of you in the stadium and at home.” He whistled in a strange pitch. A solid-mass projectile knocked Claire’s hat off. “I didn’t know until earlier that Em knows so many snipers! Who wants to see them spin the wheel with bullets?”
DM abruptly grabbed the microphone back. “What Razor is trying to say is that we’ve taken major precautions in the event area, in Manhattan, in New Haven, along the coasts and even in space. If my word isn’t enough to put you at ease, let me show you an overnight package from the UK.” A crew of Hoffi’s brought in a large shipping crate that was already opened. DM dipped his free hand into the crate, pulled a broadsword from the container and let the cameras have a moment to capture the weapon’s elegance. “If it hadn’t been for that ‘only Ruby can kill her’ prophecy, this would have slain Salem.”
“Excalibur is nice, but you bring up a very valid concern.” Claire leaned in towards the microphone. “Where is Ruby Rose if Zey were to do something as tasteless as transforming into Salem?”
“Yo, switchboard jockeys! Give us Rocket Number 9.” Razor blurted out. The video feed on the hologram map showing the locations changed to a live feed from somewhere in space. Ruby Rose was enjoying a double chunk chocolate cookie until she noticed the camera was on. “Rubes, show the viewers where you are.”
“Hi, Mark! Hi, Razor! Hi, watchers!” Ruby positioned her webcam towards a viewing port that showed the Earth down below. “I could be anywhere on the planet in…” She turned to ask someone offscreen. “Weissy, what was our best time? Was it seventy or seventeen? Oh, ok. I got it!” She positioned the webcam in selfie position. “Seventeen seconds.”
“Anything you want to say to the fighters from space, Ruby?” Claire asked.
“Everyone knows my dynamic with wolves. Why wouldn’t I be #TeamLori? Most of us are apart from Blake. She’s still mad at Razor over him owing her. How much money was it, Blake?” Razor gestured for the feed to be cut.
“So…” Claire tried her best to play off the banter. “Apart from the sniper options, do you know which of you is going to spin?”
“Yeah, me!” Razor smugly spun the wheel. Two full rotations brought the result of ‘Toy Town’ for the starting area. “Round One will happen in Toy Town.”
[SPONSOR BREAK]
Grey Ryder stood in front of a massive pile of money. “You wanna win a lot of money? Then you got to take big risks!” She held up a folded piece of paper. “Before taking a big risk, I had to toil away in a cannery. Now? Now I have a giant pile of money! Buy my secret to success for only $59.99 weekly for two bloody years. You’d be daft not to buy! Call now, wanker!”
Back to the Studio
“For those of you just tuning in, we have our first stage rolled. Toy Town is where our competitors will first meet.” Ripley led the segment. “#TeamHawkmoths is the highest trending topic in the Western world. In a far off second place is the New York Jets firing another major employee. CBS News will cover that story later.”
“Can we begin to speculate on what their battle plan is going into this fight?” Sombra brought up holograms comparing the known physical factors of the two fighters. “Ripley’s personal bias means she can’t give you the real deets. Emily and Zeydaan are both leaner builds who rely on unorthodox transformations to compensate for deficiencies in their base forms. I’m going to give the unadjusted speed advantage to Zeydaan because we don’t know if they’re capable of Mobian speed and even a natural wolf’s top speed in the 30 mph range outpaces Emily’s unaugmented speed. Emily’s main advantage going into the battle is her fundamentals. People on the #TeamHawkmoths tag have shown countless videos that show just how comfortable and easily she shifts between forms. Zey’s technical prowess remains a big unknown in this matchup. What do you feel about the matchup, Marie?”
Marie channeled her radio show act. “If I’ve learned anything from Tokusplatsu [pun on Tokusatsu], it is that we can’t gauge how a battle will turn out from the start. Zeydaan’s the hot trend this week, yet there’s nothing saying they aren’t just the ‘monster of the week’. If Emily has the taste to imsquidsonate me for so long, she has a game plan already. Charger and brella mains in Inkopolis need to be three steps ahead of opponents if they want to survive against the current ‘meta’ weapon.”
Ripley cleared her throat to cut the Splatoon talk short. “We are just minutes away from the fighters making their entrances. Emily Rees has opted to enter second because she promises an entrance that will make the most of this dimension.” Sombra changed the feed to give a drone view of the audience. “The 50,000 people in attendance are waiting to see whatever Zeydaan and the Hawkmoths have in store for their next public appearance. Before the festivities begin formally, we must hear the safety presentation for this venue.”
The feed changed to a view of Kikai in a stewardess outfit within the arena itself. “This arena has a multitude of safety systems in place for your protection. In the event of a fire, walk towards the nearest exit for immediate return to the hub area in Central Park.” Kikai demonstrated the path towards safety. “If an incursion should occur, pull the cosmic ejection seat tabs under your seat. Be aware that departure via cosmic ejection will not allow you to return to the arena. Additionally, if you see something suspicious, tell a member of staff. We’ll do our best to resolve issues with overwhelming force.” Kikai brandished a gun much larger than her body. “On behalf of the League of Random Insanity, the US Space Force and New York Athletic Commission, we hope you have a safe viewing experience. Thank you.”
1:25 PM
The area surrounding the arena took on an artificial impression of night to maximize the effectiveness of the lighting tricks and pyrotechnics. “The following contest is your main event for the evening.” Ripley’s voice echoed through the speakers positioned within the arena. All of the technical crews preparing the ring made announcing from that location impractical. “Scheduled for two fall, the next challenge is a three round match to determine the Figurehead of Transformation. Entering first is the challenger, hailing from parts unknown, Zeydaan.”
Zeydaan and the Hawkmoths walked down the entrance ramp while an original track played. People in the crowd sounded almost disappointed at the lack of theatrics. Zey grabbed a microphone from a fixed position and began to talk. “I want you all to listen to me. There’s a lot that I want to get off my chest. I don't often make public appearances, nor speeches. In our world, we are seen as monsters, deviants, terrorists. But form and transformation allows me to look past that- experience joy and catharsis. I am here to prove that this feat myself and my opponent share is not to be overlooked” Zey sprouted wings to fly above the audience.
“But, I'm not above putting on a show. As an official invitee, I will show you things you can hardly believe and have you thank me by the end. And I will show you my way." Zey hovered far enough away from the ramp that the other Hawkmoths were able to make their way into the crowd without drawing too much attention. “I’m going to show you things that you hardly believe and have you thanking me by the end.”Zey buzzed the arena; the crowd a flood of camera flashes. Eventually, Zey swooped down to the middle of the ring. Bean was clearly struggling to not focus on the lights.
“You have it there, folks. Zeydaan is in the ring and already making a huge impression.” Marie said over commentary. “We’ve seen confirmation that they can fly. Will that factor into the battle or was the flourish to make a strong impression?”
“Time will tell. Zey and Em’s morning meals were strictly regulated to give them a similar amount of Calories to pull from. Showolfship like that may cost Zey in the first round.” Ripley interjected. “Doctor Voss informed us over the break that Emily was in deep meditation up until a few minutes ago.”
Ripley’s voice rang through the arena speakers again. “And their opponent...” A ‘jumbotron’ straight out of the 1990’s floated down from the night’s sky to above the ring. “Is your reigning Queen of Transformation, from New Haven, CT… Emily Rees!” The TV turned onto a vintage on-air recording from MTV. The sample ‘I want my MTV’ from “Money For Nothing” played over the classic channel logo. The music video for “Rock You Like a Hurricane” by the Scorpions began to play on the massive television. No sign of Emily on the entrance ramp made the audience and cameras watch the music video. Something was off… The lighting was too good for something from the 80’s and the ‘alluring cat woman’ was sporting an appearance vaguely resembling Emily’s attire. It was then that the screens unfolded: the multi-dimensional nature of the venue meant that Emily was able to pull The Scorpions via 1984 for a live performance. The song went as planned until the band held the note right before the chorus.
The lights focused on the entrance ramp. “HERE I AM.” Emily emerged wearing an entrance outfit taking major inspiration from female Alear [Fire Emblem Engage]. “ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!” Emily spun around to accompany the lyric in the song. Pyrotechnics went off in rapid succession. The pink and blue smoke billowed out in the sky above the arena. “My body is burning, it starts to shout.” Emily held her title belt over her head in the ring. “The wolf is hungry, he runs this show.” Emily shook her head at the lyric. “The octo’s hungry, she runs this show.” She nodded in approval as she handed the belt to the referee.
Emily and Zey locked eyes from their respective corners in the ring. Both combatants opted to remove their entrance attires during the second half of the song. Zey opened their adventuring outfit's pockets to give the judges a chance to check for any banned items. Nothing proved to be out of regulation. In contrast, Emily had opted for an entirely non-transformative outfit. She removed the red and blue wig, tossed it into the crowd, and revealed an entirely different outfit underneath the entrance jacket and leggings. Ripley let out a small gasp on commentary. “It appears that Emily is wearing her old outfit for this fight. Those of you from Columbia University might remember that Emily wore this look daily throughout her undergraduate program. She’s hungry to prove herself again in this matchup."
"Sorry about this whole thing becoming a media circus." Zeydaan felt one of the judges check their tail for smuggled items. "Handshake?" They held out their hand for Emily to shake.
"Yeah." Emily returned the gesture. "Humor the coin toss because the Network demanded it."
Patrick Stewart and a Hoffi wearing a Star Trek costume entered the ring. Patrick Stewart took a microphone from a technical roadie. “Both combatants were informed of the rules in their locker rooms. Number One Hoffi, present the briefcase.” Hoffi pulled out a briefcase from a pocket dimension, pulled a novelty coin from the case and held up the coin towards Patrick Stewart for inspection. “Fighters, what we have here is a coin sporting two sides.” He checked the coin to make sure Hoffi hadn’t altered it. “Professor Rees, it will be yours to call in the air. Are you two ready?” Emily and Zey nodded. “Number One, make it so.” Number One Hoffi flipped the coin.
“Heads!” Emily called in the air. The coin landed on Heads.
“Will you transform first or let Zeydaan transform first?” Patrick Stewart held the microphone up to Emily.
“Zeydaan will get to transform first.” Emily adjusted her glasses to maximize reflective glare. “That is what people on social media want. I am no stranger to giving the Internet what they want.”
“Very well.” Patrick Stewart returned the coin to the briefcase. “Without further ado, set a course for Toy Town.” A large portal opened at an unoccupied corner of the ring. “Engage.” Emily and Zeydaan ran through the portal to the first battle arena.
‘Toy Town’ – 1:38 PM
Zeydaan emerged first on the ground level of a cul-de-sac. Two similar houses were positioned across the street and multiple vehicles were parked on the road. Zey heard footsteps from one of the house already. An assortment of grinning mannequins positioned around a grill gave Zey an idea how to demonstrate the elegance of shapeshifting. They didn’t quite care for the 50’s Americana aesthetic, yet opted to blend in. Hovering drone cameras captured all the angles of Zey shrinking down into a dog mannequin positioned near the doll that was sunbathing. Total immersion in the environment!
Emily emerged from the nearby house shortly after Zey’s adaptation to the environment concluded. The drones gave away the general location of where Zey was, but the small nature of the map already left few hiding spaces. “Hm, I wonder where my opponent might be?” She acted like the hostess on a children’s show. “The thing about ToYBoX toys is that they’re optimized for rough play.” Without any warning, she kicked the head off from one of the mannequins. “They take a hit and just keep smiling.” One of the drones captured footage of the rolling head. “Let’s see if the sunbather has any clues.” Emily’s bluff had made the ‘new addition’ scurry into the other house. “That house has never had a door before.”
Emily's suspicions about Zey's movements had forced the wolf to adapt on the fly. Assuming the form of a door on one of the houses proved the safest option in the moment. "Hmm..." Emily slowly approached the door. "Here I was thinking that we were on a toy version of Nuketown. How would I be able to quickly get through that lane if there's a door?" She put her hands on the doorknob, turned the handle and pulled. Much to her surprise, the door was no longer Zey's form.
Rustling across the street brought her eyes towards an archway positioned in front of the open garage. "Ok, how did they do that?" She was getting tired of the prop hunt already. Rather than head over to the new archway, she returned to where the sunbather was. She figured that a feint would make Zey engage her soon enough. The addition of sunglasses to the mannequin made it look somewhat like a character from an animated short. "I know some toy that's going to sunny Miami." Emily looked back towards the garage to find that the archway was gone. She readied herself for the shift to come.
Zeydaan ran up the stairs into the section of the house that overlooked the small neighborhood. Emily was taking her time styling the sunbather to resemble something from a Pixar short. She was, lack of a better term, toying with Zey. Going off instinct, Zey began to transform into a familiar form that rarely let them down. The purple from the adventuring outfit took on a yellow color sporting a ribbed pattern. Leg fur changed into brown stockings that left little to the imagination. The wolf’s ears elongated to a height only practical for ceremonial purposes. Bits of fur on Zey’s face fell off to form a trio of ethereal blades. Light silver hair framed Nia’s face. “Let’s see Emily outdo a queen.” Nia emerged on the windowsill. Emily didn’t break from styling the mannequin. “Are you daft? I have the high ground!”
“Good, you’ve transformed and brought a sword.” Emily grinned as she tore a stop sign from the pavement. The metallic pole and sign effortlessly reformed into a sword in her hands. She skillfully flipped the weapon into a rifle form. A single bullet fired from the rifle narrowly avoided Nia’s ears. “It’s also a gun.” A drone circled overhead to give commentary a chance to process what was coming. “You have your preferred sword and I have mine, Zey.”
“I don’t believe it!” Ripley shouted. “Emily is going to use Lightning! She’s paying tribute to her partner from the Second Battle of New Haven. The Grimm Butcher is in play!”
“We’re seeing Emily take full advantage of the isolated fighting stages. No worry about civilians means that she can truly unleash the force that let her kill a hurricane!” Sombra winked towards Ripley. “Nia may be a queen, but Lightning is on a whole other level. You’re about to see the fury of goddess.”
The crowd was eating up the hyped transformation before it even happened. At least they were apart from the original Nia in the crowd. She hissed against the cheering. "You're not even reacting to Zeydaan being me! Where's the balance in the coverage?"
Back to the Combat
“Are you going to fight or what?” Nia [Zeydaan, to make it clear] attempted to strike during Emily’s attempt at intimidation. Thunder cracking overhead sent Nia back into the security of the house. Her ears rang from the almost point-blank thunder. Emily silently held the sword up towards the sky. Lightning bolts fired so intensely that the blade would act like a lightning rod quickly. A single bolt connected, unloading the whole storm’s energy into Emily. Her glasses shattered from the magnetic discharge. Nia peeked from behind the couch. “Is she dead?” Emily wasn’t moving.
“3… 2… 1….” Emily muttered. An EMP rocked the whole stage and fried the drone. “I don’t know who or what exactly put you up to this.” Her words sounded strained. “As a mother and a guardian, I am obligated to do whatever I must. The Big Bad Wolf must be made an example of.”
“Ye know I'm not just a wolf.” Nia rolled her eyes. She had fought enough monsters and demons to not let a little trash talk throw her off-guard. “Also, call yerself a mistress of transfermation, but you've already gotchaself a nasty bit of Butterfly Syndrome [Fictional disease where someone loses themselves in a transformation] there, EMILY."
“I'm done talking. Lightning will shut you up.” Emily waited for the replacement drone to arrive before letting the changes become apparent. Her blue dress faded into a shade of white accented with tan and brown leather. The tacky fingerless gloves became blue ballistics gloves sporting bullet holders for impromptu hand guards. Bones crunched loud enough for the drone’s microphone to capture. Emily wasn’t bothering to smooth out the transformation or even dull the pain. She wanted to feel every painful moment. Taking the tip of the sword to her ponytail let the hair fall down to her back. Almost instantly, the hair became Lightning’s crimson scarf/cape. The rest of her hair settled into a perfect version of Lightning’s hair style. “We need to give the people what they want, Nia!” Lightning threw Nia against the wall. “They want a fight!”
Nia took a hard slash towards Lightning’s torso. Rather than make Lightning pause, the cut only exposed a L’Cie brand [The in-game excuse for Lightning and the playable party having magic attacks in Final Fantasy XIII] on the chest. Lightning’s retaliation blasted Nia across the street into the second house.
“For those of you left confused, Nia just made Lightning even more powerful.” Ripley explained over commentary. “Lightning is truly capable of living up to the moniker ‘Army of One’.” Lightning’s stoic expression faded out any trace of Emily left. Viewers with a keen eye might have noticed Lightning’s muscle definition and height increase on the way across the street. She magnetically pulled the filming drone behind her. “It would appear that Lightning is staging the camera for a potential finisher. This has been a dominant showing so far.”
“You have an Ouroboros-lite form?” Nia stood her ground from the corner of the second living room. “I’ve faced worse odds many times!” Lightning placed the drone atop a bookcase facing towards the far corner.
Lightning readied her sword in a low swing position. “Time to end this.” She slashed at Nia’s legs, kicked Nia into the wall, took three more slashes towards center mass, fired a pointblank rifle round, flipped forward into two more kicks and cast an explosive spell well within Nia’s personal space. The blast sent Nia into the semi truck parked between buildings. Lightning bolts from the sky rendered the vehicle and trailer into a smoldering pile of debris.
“Remember, kids! Realistic violence is a-ok if there’s no blood!” Marie couldn’t believe this feed remained live on secondary Nickelodeon feed. “Do we know if Nia is able to continue fighting? Lightning is running out of things to slam her into.” Lightning remained in a combat ready position. “Someone call the round already!”
“The match doesn’t end without a pin or a competitor tapping out, chica.” Sombra controlled one of the drones to focus on the debris. There was movement underneath the melted steel. “We’ve got movement.” An emerging angel wing flung a metal panel at the drone. “Nia appears to be transforming. Try to get another drone for a clear view.”
“Good to see you finally taking this seriously.” Lightning watched Sephiroth materialize from the debris. The Masamune was practically half of the block length. Noticing this inconvenience, Sephiroth floated three meters into the air. An uneasy silence was only broken once more drones were in position to capture the fated encounter from more angles.
“It would appear that Zeydaan is fighting Emily on her level.” Ripley quickly scrolled through search results to see if Lightning and Sephiroth had ever fought outside of the Dissidia games. “Take comfort in knowing that they are in a pocket dimension and any ‘end of the world’ attack would only shatter that reality.”
“We didn’t expect to see a final boss this early in the competition.” Marie commented. “They’re simply staring each other down. Neither fighter wants to give the other an opportunity to strike.”
“Where’s your bravado now, Lightning?” Sephiroth taunted. “You’re probably not accustomed to opponents actually adapting to your fighting style, are you? It would almost be a pity if we don’t use this area for its intended purpose.” He began the summoning process for Supernova. A physical charging gauge appeared underneath.
“There’s one thing you forgot to factor in, Sephy.” Lightning triggered her anti-grav unit. He didn’t seem all that intimidated by Lightning’s own hovering. “That’s experience.” Making the most of Sephiroth’s locked animation, Lightning moved behind him, hoisted him onto her shoulders, pulled his head down towards her torso and deactivated the anti-grav. Sephiroth’s head hitting the pavement caused enough of a flinch that the summoning was cancelled. It was in that moment that Sephiroth finally took notice of the discrepancy in their levels. He was locked at 50 while Lightning was 99. Lightning laid him down on the ground, turned her attention to the school bus and suplexed the vehicle onto Sephiroth. “That’s my bravado, loser.” She pinned Sephiroth to the pavement.
“Unbelievable!” Sombra gasped. “She comboed Kenny Omega’s finisher against the original One-Winged Angel and then suplexed a school bus on top of that!”
“Sephiroth is unable to continue fighting.” Riela Marcellis, one of Claire’s borrowed alter egos, appeared on the battlefield in referee attire. “Lightning wins the round!” She hoisted Lightning’s right hand up towards the drone.
Sarah and other medical staff entered through a portal into the combat zone. The trauma team attempted to put Sephiroth onto a stretcher, but the efforts only angered him. Nia ran through the portal, smacked Sephiroth across the face and hissed. "What was that? Makin me look like a daft fool?" The berating was enough to revert Sephiroth to Zeydaan's default form. Mercifully, Sarah intervened through leading Zey and Emily to the ready area between rounds. "Oi, I was just getting started!"
“That concludes Round One in favor of Emily Rees.” Ripley sounded quite relieved. “We will be back after these messages to find out where Round Two will take place.”
A chance encounter between our characters' wider groups prompts the question of 'who would win in a fight'?
The event is announced and we see the build up to and entirety of Round 1. Our competitors pull out some of their aces first. Will it work out for them OR force adaptation later on? Only time will tell.
Are you on #TeamHawkmoths or #TeamLori?
Live Broadcast – 1:00 PM EST
“What is transformation?” William Shatner narration began over a montage depicting scientific discoveries, natural phenomenon and shapeshifters in action. “Is it an action, a state of being or a lifestyle? As we find ourselves questioning the essence of transformation, we face changes of all kinds. Established notions challenged, the impossible tamed and the very nature of ourselves in flux. The last five years have introduced strange new worlds, new forms of life and gone beyond what we thought was the Final Frontier. We now present a battle from the fringes of our dimension: a fight over the figurehead for the Transformation Age. Let’s meet our commentary crew.”
The camera feed changed over to the room where Ripley, Sombra and Marie sat at commentary. Ripley’s outfit now consisted of the t-shirt she bought earlier and F-35 patterned sleep pants. “Thanks, Captain Kirk.” Ripley took the lead on introductions. “I’m Ripley Rees alongside ‘Sombra’ Colomar and Marie from the hit act, The Squid Sisters, to oversee this event that’s shaping up to be something special.”
“Some of you are used to sporting events having multiple matches on the card. However, things are going to be a bit different here because we want to leave no margin for error. Our competitors are going to endure the shapeshifting equivalent of a triathlon in the three matches to come.” Sombra was clearly reading from a holo-projection of a prompter. “Why don’t you tell us about the combatants, Marie?”
“Emily Rees will be taking on another shapeshifter that we have yet to receive final confirmation of.” Marie held up a piece of paper at random. “I’m getting confirmation that the fighter is indeed a wolf named Zeydaan and they are in the building right now. We’ll have the first direct video of Zeydaan in segments to come. Don’t touch that dial!”
“In the meantime, we’ll discuss the rules that were agreed upon.” Ripley cut to a feed showing a slideshow from earlier. “Rule 1: No killing or maiming each other. Round ends when one combatant is unable to continue. Rule 2: No outside items or non-medical interventions. Rule 3: Starting region is picked at random and, upon the end of the round, is taken out of rotation. Finally, Rule 4: Since this is a show of transformation ability, the competitors aren’t allowed to transform each other. Their transformed states are allowed to engage in direct combat.”
“That’s a pretty big change in rules from the last televised transformation event, isn’t it?” Marie chimed in. “What changed?”
Ripley brought up the CBS Sports memo to read the exact wording. “Ahem. CBS Sports views itself on the cutting edge of Transformation sporting events and tailored this event for non-stop excitement. No squash matches or tournaments in this collision of shapeshifters.” Ripley audibly cleared her throat. “There are also a few additional rules meant to force the competitors to…” She leaned towards Marie. “Marie, what’s the line?”
“Oh, stay fresh!” Marie overreacted in a frantic version of the corresponding pose. “Once Emily or Zeydaan use a form, that form becomes locked out for the remainder of the match. We’ll have exclusive interviews between rounds. In terms of banned options, she isn’t allowed to use any current or former idols from Splatoon. The judges determined that idol ink is just different enough that replication would be an unfair advantage.”
“We go to the hologram for the regions in play, chicas.” Sombra kicked the hologram unit. “We are currently in the staging grounds located to the far west of the pocket dimension. The fighters will make their entrances to the ring here to allow the live audience to see the competitors. There are eight regions in play: Toy Town, Winter Wonderland, Soleanna, Manhattan 1984, Summertown Mall, Inkopolis Outskirts, The Cloud Sea, and The Fae Wilds. We’ll spin for the starting location in Round 1 shortly.”
“Wasn’t Soleanna the city from Sonic 06?” Ripley checked her notes. “Let’s read the official description. Soleanna is an Italian-inspired city-state located around water. Although known for its long waiting times, the physics here are considered unreal. Assets provided courtesy of SEGA.”
“Oh, we’re just reading these descriptions now?” Marie took a card at random. “Greetings from Toy Town! The ToYBoX Corporation invites you to a former ghost town repurposed into the Hoffi’s personal playground. Three distinct lanes of travel make this neighborhood great for all types of fun!”
“Isn’t that just Nuketown?” Sombra zoomed in on the sign that had been graffitied to read ‘POPULATION: FUN’. “Can’t beat a classic, I suppose.” She read from the next card. “Manhattan 1984 covers that distinct gritty feeling of New York from the 80’s. Content ranges from Raging Bull to Ghostbusters II and everything in-between. This is the New York City your dad or grandfather wishes he could forget.”
“Gee, who do you think influenced that area’s inclusion?” Ripley rolled her eyes. Mom’s insistence on referencing Ghostbusters was pretty much an obvious marker at this point. “Summertown Mall was local teens’ favorite hangout from 1980 to 2005. Combat would take place in the off hours to avoid colliding into teen drama. Stay out of the backrooms unless you want Darcy on your tail.” She put down the card. “Who’s Darcy?”
“Dunno, chica.” Sombra shrugged. “You’re the one who inexplicably knows everyone. Who did you get to spin the wheel, by the way?”
“Oh! I almost forgot to announce the spinners! We cut live to my sister Claire interviewing members of the LoRI at the location board.”
Stage Select Venue
Claire, wearing a tacky copy of Marie’s performing dress, finished her microphone check. “Thanks, Rip. I’m here with DM, leader of the LoRI, and the member to blame for this event: Razor. Which precautions have been taken to ensure the Hawkmoths aren’t another Salem-tier threat?” She held the microphone up for DM to comment.
Razor grabbed the microphone. “What a great question! We can’t exactly say who or what is where, but let me show something to those of you in the stadium and at home.” He whistled in a strange pitch. A solid-mass projectile knocked Claire’s hat off. “I didn’t know until earlier that Em knows so many snipers! Who wants to see them spin the wheel with bullets?”
DM abruptly grabbed the microphone back. “What Razor is trying to say is that we’ve taken major precautions in the event area, in Manhattan, in New Haven, along the coasts and even in space. If my word isn’t enough to put you at ease, let me show you an overnight package from the UK.” A crew of Hoffi’s brought in a large shipping crate that was already opened. DM dipped his free hand into the crate, pulled a broadsword from the container and let the cameras have a moment to capture the weapon’s elegance. “If it hadn’t been for that ‘only Ruby can kill her’ prophecy, this would have slain Salem.”
“Excalibur is nice, but you bring up a very valid concern.” Claire leaned in towards the microphone. “Where is Ruby Rose if Zey were to do something as tasteless as transforming into Salem?”
“Yo, switchboard jockeys! Give us Rocket Number 9.” Razor blurted out. The video feed on the hologram map showing the locations changed to a live feed from somewhere in space. Ruby Rose was enjoying a double chunk chocolate cookie until she noticed the camera was on. “Rubes, show the viewers where you are.”
“Hi, Mark! Hi, Razor! Hi, watchers!” Ruby positioned her webcam towards a viewing port that showed the Earth down below. “I could be anywhere on the planet in…” She turned to ask someone offscreen. “Weissy, what was our best time? Was it seventy or seventeen? Oh, ok. I got it!” She positioned the webcam in selfie position. “Seventeen seconds.”
“Anything you want to say to the fighters from space, Ruby?” Claire asked.
“Everyone knows my dynamic with wolves. Why wouldn’t I be #TeamLori? Most of us are apart from Blake. She’s still mad at Razor over him owing her. How much money was it, Blake?” Razor gestured for the feed to be cut.
“So…” Claire tried her best to play off the banter. “Apart from the sniper options, do you know which of you is going to spin?”
“Yeah, me!” Razor smugly spun the wheel. Two full rotations brought the result of ‘Toy Town’ for the starting area. “Round One will happen in Toy Town.”
[SPONSOR BREAK]
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Back to the Studio
“For those of you just tuning in, we have our first stage rolled. Toy Town is where our competitors will first meet.” Ripley led the segment. “#TeamHawkmoths is the highest trending topic in the Western world. In a far off second place is the New York Jets firing another major employee. CBS News will cover that story later.”
“Can we begin to speculate on what their battle plan is going into this fight?” Sombra brought up holograms comparing the known physical factors of the two fighters. “Ripley’s personal bias means she can’t give you the real deets. Emily and Zeydaan are both leaner builds who rely on unorthodox transformations to compensate for deficiencies in their base forms. I’m going to give the unadjusted speed advantage to Zeydaan because we don’t know if they’re capable of Mobian speed and even a natural wolf’s top speed in the 30 mph range outpaces Emily’s unaugmented speed. Emily’s main advantage going into the battle is her fundamentals. People on the #TeamHawkmoths tag have shown countless videos that show just how comfortable and easily she shifts between forms. Zey’s technical prowess remains a big unknown in this matchup. What do you feel about the matchup, Marie?”
Marie channeled her radio show act. “If I’ve learned anything from Tokusplatsu [pun on Tokusatsu], it is that we can’t gauge how a battle will turn out from the start. Zeydaan’s the hot trend this week, yet there’s nothing saying they aren’t just the ‘monster of the week’. If Emily has the taste to imsquidsonate me for so long, she has a game plan already. Charger and brella mains in Inkopolis need to be three steps ahead of opponents if they want to survive against the current ‘meta’ weapon.”
Ripley cleared her throat to cut the Splatoon talk short. “We are just minutes away from the fighters making their entrances. Emily Rees has opted to enter second because she promises an entrance that will make the most of this dimension.” Sombra changed the feed to give a drone view of the audience. “The 50,000 people in attendance are waiting to see whatever Zeydaan and the Hawkmoths have in store for their next public appearance. Before the festivities begin formally, we must hear the safety presentation for this venue.”
The feed changed to a view of Kikai in a stewardess outfit within the arena itself. “This arena has a multitude of safety systems in place for your protection. In the event of a fire, walk towards the nearest exit for immediate return to the hub area in Central Park.” Kikai demonstrated the path towards safety. “If an incursion should occur, pull the cosmic ejection seat tabs under your seat. Be aware that departure via cosmic ejection will not allow you to return to the arena. Additionally, if you see something suspicious, tell a member of staff. We’ll do our best to resolve issues with overwhelming force.” Kikai brandished a gun much larger than her body. “On behalf of the League of Random Insanity, the US Space Force and New York Athletic Commission, we hope you have a safe viewing experience. Thank you.”
1:25 PM
The area surrounding the arena took on an artificial impression of night to maximize the effectiveness of the lighting tricks and pyrotechnics. “The following contest is your main event for the evening.” Ripley’s voice echoed through the speakers positioned within the arena. All of the technical crews preparing the ring made announcing from that location impractical. “Scheduled for two fall, the next challenge is a three round match to determine the Figurehead of Transformation. Entering first is the challenger, hailing from parts unknown, Zeydaan.”
Zeydaan and the Hawkmoths walked down the entrance ramp while an original track played. People in the crowd sounded almost disappointed at the lack of theatrics. Zey grabbed a microphone from a fixed position and began to talk. “I want you all to listen to me. There’s a lot that I want to get off my chest. I don't often make public appearances, nor speeches. In our world, we are seen as monsters, deviants, terrorists. But form and transformation allows me to look past that- experience joy and catharsis. I am here to prove that this feat myself and my opponent share is not to be overlooked” Zey sprouted wings to fly above the audience.
“But, I'm not above putting on a show. As an official invitee, I will show you things you can hardly believe and have you thank me by the end. And I will show you my way." Zey hovered far enough away from the ramp that the other Hawkmoths were able to make their way into the crowd without drawing too much attention. “I’m going to show you things that you hardly believe and have you thanking me by the end.”Zey buzzed the arena; the crowd a flood of camera flashes. Eventually, Zey swooped down to the middle of the ring. Bean was clearly struggling to not focus on the lights.
“You have it there, folks. Zeydaan is in the ring and already making a huge impression.” Marie said over commentary. “We’ve seen confirmation that they can fly. Will that factor into the battle or was the flourish to make a strong impression?”
“Time will tell. Zey and Em’s morning meals were strictly regulated to give them a similar amount of Calories to pull from. Showolfship like that may cost Zey in the first round.” Ripley interjected. “Doctor Voss informed us over the break that Emily was in deep meditation up until a few minutes ago.”
Ripley’s voice rang through the arena speakers again. “And their opponent...” A ‘jumbotron’ straight out of the 1990’s floated down from the night’s sky to above the ring. “Is your reigning Queen of Transformation, from New Haven, CT… Emily Rees!” The TV turned onto a vintage on-air recording from MTV. The sample ‘I want my MTV’ from “Money For Nothing” played over the classic channel logo. The music video for “Rock You Like a Hurricane” by the Scorpions began to play on the massive television. No sign of Emily on the entrance ramp made the audience and cameras watch the music video. Something was off… The lighting was too good for something from the 80’s and the ‘alluring cat woman’ was sporting an appearance vaguely resembling Emily’s attire. It was then that the screens unfolded: the multi-dimensional nature of the venue meant that Emily was able to pull The Scorpions via 1984 for a live performance. The song went as planned until the band held the note right before the chorus.
The lights focused on the entrance ramp. “HERE I AM.” Emily emerged wearing an entrance outfit taking major inspiration from female Alear [Fire Emblem Engage]. “ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!” Emily spun around to accompany the lyric in the song. Pyrotechnics went off in rapid succession. The pink and blue smoke billowed out in the sky above the arena. “My body is burning, it starts to shout.” Emily held her title belt over her head in the ring. “The wolf is hungry, he runs this show.” Emily shook her head at the lyric. “The octo’s hungry, she runs this show.” She nodded in approval as she handed the belt to the referee.
Emily and Zey locked eyes from their respective corners in the ring. Both combatants opted to remove their entrance attires during the second half of the song. Zey opened their adventuring outfit's pockets to give the judges a chance to check for any banned items. Nothing proved to be out of regulation. In contrast, Emily had opted for an entirely non-transformative outfit. She removed the red and blue wig, tossed it into the crowd, and revealed an entirely different outfit underneath the entrance jacket and leggings. Ripley let out a small gasp on commentary. “It appears that Emily is wearing her old outfit for this fight. Those of you from Columbia University might remember that Emily wore this look daily throughout her undergraduate program. She’s hungry to prove herself again in this matchup."
"Sorry about this whole thing becoming a media circus." Zeydaan felt one of the judges check their tail for smuggled items. "Handshake?" They held out their hand for Emily to shake.
"Yeah." Emily returned the gesture. "Humor the coin toss because the Network demanded it."
Patrick Stewart and a Hoffi wearing a Star Trek costume entered the ring. Patrick Stewart took a microphone from a technical roadie. “Both combatants were informed of the rules in their locker rooms. Number One Hoffi, present the briefcase.” Hoffi pulled out a briefcase from a pocket dimension, pulled a novelty coin from the case and held up the coin towards Patrick Stewart for inspection. “Fighters, what we have here is a coin sporting two sides.” He checked the coin to make sure Hoffi hadn’t altered it. “Professor Rees, it will be yours to call in the air. Are you two ready?” Emily and Zey nodded. “Number One, make it so.” Number One Hoffi flipped the coin.
“Heads!” Emily called in the air. The coin landed on Heads.
“Will you transform first or let Zeydaan transform first?” Patrick Stewart held the microphone up to Emily.
“Zeydaan will get to transform first.” Emily adjusted her glasses to maximize reflective glare. “That is what people on social media want. I am no stranger to giving the Internet what they want.”
“Very well.” Patrick Stewart returned the coin to the briefcase. “Without further ado, set a course for Toy Town.” A large portal opened at an unoccupied corner of the ring. “Engage.” Emily and Zeydaan ran through the portal to the first battle arena.
‘Toy Town’ – 1:38 PM
Zeydaan emerged first on the ground level of a cul-de-sac. Two similar houses were positioned across the street and multiple vehicles were parked on the road. Zey heard footsteps from one of the house already. An assortment of grinning mannequins positioned around a grill gave Zey an idea how to demonstrate the elegance of shapeshifting. They didn’t quite care for the 50’s Americana aesthetic, yet opted to blend in. Hovering drone cameras captured all the angles of Zey shrinking down into a dog mannequin positioned near the doll that was sunbathing. Total immersion in the environment!
Emily emerged from the nearby house shortly after Zey’s adaptation to the environment concluded. The drones gave away the general location of where Zey was, but the small nature of the map already left few hiding spaces. “Hm, I wonder where my opponent might be?” She acted like the hostess on a children’s show. “The thing about ToYBoX toys is that they’re optimized for rough play.” Without any warning, she kicked the head off from one of the mannequins. “They take a hit and just keep smiling.” One of the drones captured footage of the rolling head. “Let’s see if the sunbather has any clues.” Emily’s bluff had made the ‘new addition’ scurry into the other house. “That house has never had a door before.”
Emily's suspicions about Zey's movements had forced the wolf to adapt on the fly. Assuming the form of a door on one of the houses proved the safest option in the moment. "Hmm..." Emily slowly approached the door. "Here I was thinking that we were on a toy version of Nuketown. How would I be able to quickly get through that lane if there's a door?" She put her hands on the doorknob, turned the handle and pulled. Much to her surprise, the door was no longer Zey's form.
Rustling across the street brought her eyes towards an archway positioned in front of the open garage. "Ok, how did they do that?" She was getting tired of the prop hunt already. Rather than head over to the new archway, she returned to where the sunbather was. She figured that a feint would make Zey engage her soon enough. The addition of sunglasses to the mannequin made it look somewhat like a character from an animated short. "I know some toy that's going to sunny Miami." Emily looked back towards the garage to find that the archway was gone. She readied herself for the shift to come.
Zeydaan ran up the stairs into the section of the house that overlooked the small neighborhood. Emily was taking her time styling the sunbather to resemble something from a Pixar short. She was, lack of a better term, toying with Zey. Going off instinct, Zey began to transform into a familiar form that rarely let them down. The purple from the adventuring outfit took on a yellow color sporting a ribbed pattern. Leg fur changed into brown stockings that left little to the imagination. The wolf’s ears elongated to a height only practical for ceremonial purposes. Bits of fur on Zey’s face fell off to form a trio of ethereal blades. Light silver hair framed Nia’s face. “Let’s see Emily outdo a queen.” Nia emerged on the windowsill. Emily didn’t break from styling the mannequin. “Are you daft? I have the high ground!”
“Good, you’ve transformed and brought a sword.” Emily grinned as she tore a stop sign from the pavement. The metallic pole and sign effortlessly reformed into a sword in her hands. She skillfully flipped the weapon into a rifle form. A single bullet fired from the rifle narrowly avoided Nia’s ears. “It’s also a gun.” A drone circled overhead to give commentary a chance to process what was coming. “You have your preferred sword and I have mine, Zey.”
“I don’t believe it!” Ripley shouted. “Emily is going to use Lightning! She’s paying tribute to her partner from the Second Battle of New Haven. The Grimm Butcher is in play!”
“We’re seeing Emily take full advantage of the isolated fighting stages. No worry about civilians means that she can truly unleash the force that let her kill a hurricane!” Sombra winked towards Ripley. “Nia may be a queen, but Lightning is on a whole other level. You’re about to see the fury of goddess.”
The crowd was eating up the hyped transformation before it even happened. At least they were apart from the original Nia in the crowd. She hissed against the cheering. "You're not even reacting to Zeydaan being me! Where's the balance in the coverage?"
Back to the Combat
“Are you going to fight or what?” Nia [Zeydaan, to make it clear] attempted to strike during Emily’s attempt at intimidation. Thunder cracking overhead sent Nia back into the security of the house. Her ears rang from the almost point-blank thunder. Emily silently held the sword up towards the sky. Lightning bolts fired so intensely that the blade would act like a lightning rod quickly. A single bolt connected, unloading the whole storm’s energy into Emily. Her glasses shattered from the magnetic discharge. Nia peeked from behind the couch. “Is she dead?” Emily wasn’t moving.
“3… 2… 1….” Emily muttered. An EMP rocked the whole stage and fried the drone. “I don’t know who or what exactly put you up to this.” Her words sounded strained. “As a mother and a guardian, I am obligated to do whatever I must. The Big Bad Wolf must be made an example of.”
“Ye know I'm not just a wolf.” Nia rolled her eyes. She had fought enough monsters and demons to not let a little trash talk throw her off-guard. “Also, call yerself a mistress of transfermation, but you've already gotchaself a nasty bit of Butterfly Syndrome [Fictional disease where someone loses themselves in a transformation] there, EMILY."
“I'm done talking. Lightning will shut you up.” Emily waited for the replacement drone to arrive before letting the changes become apparent. Her blue dress faded into a shade of white accented with tan and brown leather. The tacky fingerless gloves became blue ballistics gloves sporting bullet holders for impromptu hand guards. Bones crunched loud enough for the drone’s microphone to capture. Emily wasn’t bothering to smooth out the transformation or even dull the pain. She wanted to feel every painful moment. Taking the tip of the sword to her ponytail let the hair fall down to her back. Almost instantly, the hair became Lightning’s crimson scarf/cape. The rest of her hair settled into a perfect version of Lightning’s hair style. “We need to give the people what they want, Nia!” Lightning threw Nia against the wall. “They want a fight!”
Nia took a hard slash towards Lightning’s torso. Rather than make Lightning pause, the cut only exposed a L’Cie brand [The in-game excuse for Lightning and the playable party having magic attacks in Final Fantasy XIII] on the chest. Lightning’s retaliation blasted Nia across the street into the second house.
“For those of you left confused, Nia just made Lightning even more powerful.” Ripley explained over commentary. “Lightning is truly capable of living up to the moniker ‘Army of One’.” Lightning’s stoic expression faded out any trace of Emily left. Viewers with a keen eye might have noticed Lightning’s muscle definition and height increase on the way across the street. She magnetically pulled the filming drone behind her. “It would appear that Lightning is staging the camera for a potential finisher. This has been a dominant showing so far.”
“You have an Ouroboros-lite form?” Nia stood her ground from the corner of the second living room. “I’ve faced worse odds many times!” Lightning placed the drone atop a bookcase facing towards the far corner.
Lightning readied her sword in a low swing position. “Time to end this.” She slashed at Nia’s legs, kicked Nia into the wall, took three more slashes towards center mass, fired a pointblank rifle round, flipped forward into two more kicks and cast an explosive spell well within Nia’s personal space. The blast sent Nia into the semi truck parked between buildings. Lightning bolts from the sky rendered the vehicle and trailer into a smoldering pile of debris.
“Remember, kids! Realistic violence is a-ok if there’s no blood!” Marie couldn’t believe this feed remained live on secondary Nickelodeon feed. “Do we know if Nia is able to continue fighting? Lightning is running out of things to slam her into.” Lightning remained in a combat ready position. “Someone call the round already!”
“The match doesn’t end without a pin or a competitor tapping out, chica.” Sombra controlled one of the drones to focus on the debris. There was movement underneath the melted steel. “We’ve got movement.” An emerging angel wing flung a metal panel at the drone. “Nia appears to be transforming. Try to get another drone for a clear view.”
“Good to see you finally taking this seriously.” Lightning watched Sephiroth materialize from the debris. The Masamune was practically half of the block length. Noticing this inconvenience, Sephiroth floated three meters into the air. An uneasy silence was only broken once more drones were in position to capture the fated encounter from more angles.
“It would appear that Zeydaan is fighting Emily on her level.” Ripley quickly scrolled through search results to see if Lightning and Sephiroth had ever fought outside of the Dissidia games. “Take comfort in knowing that they are in a pocket dimension and any ‘end of the world’ attack would only shatter that reality.”
“We didn’t expect to see a final boss this early in the competition.” Marie commented. “They’re simply staring each other down. Neither fighter wants to give the other an opportunity to strike.”
“Where’s your bravado now, Lightning?” Sephiroth taunted. “You’re probably not accustomed to opponents actually adapting to your fighting style, are you? It would almost be a pity if we don’t use this area for its intended purpose.” He began the summoning process for Supernova. A physical charging gauge appeared underneath.
“There’s one thing you forgot to factor in, Sephy.” Lightning triggered her anti-grav unit. He didn’t seem all that intimidated by Lightning’s own hovering. “That’s experience.” Making the most of Sephiroth’s locked animation, Lightning moved behind him, hoisted him onto her shoulders, pulled his head down towards her torso and deactivated the anti-grav. Sephiroth’s head hitting the pavement caused enough of a flinch that the summoning was cancelled. It was in that moment that Sephiroth finally took notice of the discrepancy in their levels. He was locked at 50 while Lightning was 99. Lightning laid him down on the ground, turned her attention to the school bus and suplexed the vehicle onto Sephiroth. “That’s my bravado, loser.” She pinned Sephiroth to the pavement.
“Unbelievable!” Sombra gasped. “She comboed Kenny Omega’s finisher against the original One-Winged Angel and then suplexed a school bus on top of that!”
“Sephiroth is unable to continue fighting.” Riela Marcellis, one of Claire’s borrowed alter egos, appeared on the battlefield in referee attire. “Lightning wins the round!” She hoisted Lightning’s right hand up towards the drone.
Sarah and other medical staff entered through a portal into the combat zone. The trauma team attempted to put Sephiroth onto a stretcher, but the efforts only angered him. Nia ran through the portal, smacked Sephiroth across the face and hissed. "What was that? Makin me look like a daft fool?" The berating was enough to revert Sephiroth to Zeydaan's default form. Mercifully, Sarah intervened through leading Zey and Emily to the ready area between rounds. "Oi, I was just getting started!"
“That concludes Round One in favor of Emily Rees.” Ripley sounded quite relieved. “We will be back after these messages to find out where Round Two will take place.”
Category Artwork (Digital) / TF / TG
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 2231 x 3717px
File Size 9.71 MB
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