An Underwhelming Start(38)

The tournament was held on a thirty-acre square of anhydrous kitchinite, the white square solidly shining under the bright sunlight. Huge stands that were able to contain 25,000 people each were built around each face of the square. Eight tall black Hatcchiyak's were stationed at the sides of each stand, in order to protect the audience from any stray attacks. A small building was also built on each side of the stage, housing the teams that would be fighting.

"Are you ready? Ladies and Gentleman! We have an absolutely magnificent lineup today! The Saiyans, the pinnacle of natural strength and agility, will be going up against Tsufurian technology! And a little bird told me that Dr Console, the ranked one Superstar Fighterz player, will be throwing in his very own robot in the mix! Are you excited??!!" Dr Announcer roared.

"Yeaaaaah!" the crowd shouted back.

"Then let's get started! Shall we?"

A huge black monitor emerged from the ground beside the stage and various names moved up and down the screen. There were 5 Saiyans and 5 Robots listed so that a robot would be facing a Saiyan each time.

"A fighter from one team will go against a fighter from another team, the team with the most fighters left wins! The time is indefinite for each match and the winner will be decided either by ring-out or knockout! Enough talking! The first match is starting! Mushro Vs Red!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as it saw the same robot that defeated the Great Apes all those years ago, it's familiar red colour sparking the emotions of the Tsufurians.

Broly and the other Saiyans were in a pre-battle room, a comfortable hang-out space built specifically for the fights. The Tsufurians who were controlling their robots also had their own version of this.

"Don't hurt yourself," Paragus said to Mushro as he walked out of the room and onto the stage.

"Yeah right!"

"Fight!" the announcer bellowed, the strange device around his throat shaking as he spoke.

[Red] - 34

State: Normal

Strength: 428,000

Agility: 150,000

Endurance: 25,000

Intelligence: 76,000

Battle Power: 591,000

Threat Level: S

[Mushro] - 47

State: Normal

Strength: 518,000

Agility: 425,000

Endurance: 120,000

Intelligence: 5000

Battle Power: 950,000

Threat Level: SSS

'Although his intelligence is embarrassingly low, Mushro could win this fight with his eyes closed' Broly thought, taking off his scouter after he checked both combatants.

Broly had seen his fellow Saiyans sweat in the last few years, they hadn't changed anything apart from how heavy the weights they were lifting and how many times a day they lifted them. This small change caused the Saiyans who had already matured to use up some of their hidden potentials.

'Hopefully, they'll be some interesting techniques I can steal!' Broly thought excitedly.

The only thing his Super Scouter was unable to cover was the use of techniques, this was a grey-area Broly hadn't yet mastered.

Mushro stood loftily in the centre of the square not moving a muscle waiting for the Hatchiyak to move.

The Hatchiyak after a few seconds was impatient and jumped towards Mushro, sending a flying kick straight to the side of Mushro's head.

CLANG!

'We really have gotten a lot stronger' Mushro thought, unable to believe that this was the same thing that had neutralised the great apes all those years ago. Mushro grabbed its leg and smashed it into the ground once, then he jumped a few metres into the air and drove both feet deep into its head.

"Omega Burst!" the Hatchiyak spluttered. A wave of red ki came out of the Hatchiyak but Mushro simply jumped back, his feet filled with ki and started charging up.

"Beam Barrage!" he shouted as he fired ki beams at the Hatchiyak, breaking the stream he sent every arm thrust.

The Hatchiyak clambered out of the line of fire sloppily, it had sustained visible injuries and was now trying to stay on the defensive.

'This is kind of sad' Mushro thought as he engaged the robot, Mushro gathered his strength and threw a right hook towards the robot.

The robot matched his attack, throwing his own at an equal angle and tried to match his power.

Mushro switched hands and threw another hook which the robot matched.

'This is finally getting fun!' Mushro thought.

The Robot and Mushro exchanged hands, throwing hook after hook and slowly but surely the Robot's arms began to falter.

CRACK!

Until it broke completely.

Mushro was absorbed in the action and ignored this occurrence, smashing his fist into Red's already dented head, sending it a few metres crashing onto its back.

"Well that was underwhelming," Broly said aloud as he watched the Hatchiyak crumble and spark in a broken heap.

"IT'S JUST THAT EASY! The royal consort! Mushro has defeated the first challenger so effortlessly, no wonder our Queen was smitten by such power!" the announcer shouted.

Queen Nana, who was seated opposite the announcer on a high throne, threw a strong glare at the announcer.

"A-Anyway! The next fight is going to be an absolute screamer! Next up is Aspa! He's going to be facing XLR8! The fastest droid in the land! This isn't any ordinary robot, it is going to be controller by Dr Systems! Global Ranked 7th in-"

'The announcer guy talks too much' Broly thought equipping his scouter again.

[Aspa] - 37

State: Normal

Strength: 298,000

Agility: 550,000

Endurance: 88,000

Intelligence: 6,000

Battle Power: 863,000

Threat Level: SS

[XLR8] - 47

State: Normal

Strength: 218,000

Agility: 650,000

Endurance: 35,000

Intelligence: 500,000

Battle Power: 825,000

Threat Level: S

"Now this should be an interesting matchup," Broly said.

"What makes you say that?" Celery asked curiously.

"The robot is faster than Aspa," Broly said matter of factly.

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Just a feeling," Broly said turning to see the fight on a monitor.

(A few moments earlier in the Tsufurian Pre-Battle Rooms)

A small energetic man with a strange device over his eyes approached another small man with strange electronic gloves.

"Dr Console? Are you trying to run a pre-match fight?" Dr Systems said excitedly.

"I don't think you want these problems, I'm in the zone today and I'm not going to take it easy on you," Dr Console replied.

"Tch! I'm only Rank 7 because Nana wanted me to work on a material reinforcement project, that coupled with the fact I have invested half as much time as you in Fighterz, you think I won't dethrone you?" Dr Systems said.

"Yes," Dr Console said confidently.

"Then let's run it!" Dr Systems said excitedly.

"Fine but do blame me if you get put in my combo video," Dr Console said, his solid grey eyes shimmering nonchalantly.

A holographic screen then seemingly appeared out of nowhere and two command boards were wired into it.

"Your robot's already downloaded onto it," Dr Console said passing him a command board."

"You can only go so far! How can you possibly assume that-"

Dr Systems then moved his character, doing the most complex inputs for his robot and lo and behold his robot did the special, the atmosphere in the background even being altered by his ultimate.

"How did you-"

"You said, you're trying to fight right?"

"Y-yeah, let's go," Dr Systems said caught a little off-guard.

(90 Seconds later)

[PERFECT! Player One Wins!]

Dr Systems was in disbelief.

"How? How did you-"

"Doesn't matter, just don't make the same mistakes in your fight with the Saiyans," Dr Controller said, wearing his headphones.

(Present)

Aspa looked at the Robot cautiously, it was a muscular animalistic thing, it had spheres at the balls of its feet, bendy plantigrade legs and sharp talons for hands. Its head was a strange shape, a layer of protective armour shielding it's head from damage. This kind of robot was built to fight.

"Fight!"

XLR8 dashed up to Aspa and thrust it's talon forward, blatantly trying to impale Aspa.

Aspa blinked for a second and the robot was already in front of him, Aspa jumped back and readied his arms, eager to deflect any strikes that came his way.

"No, you don't!" Dr Systems muttered, as his fingers tapped various buttons on his command board at once.

"This what we in the gaming industry call a 'super' move"

Ki buzzed at the edge of XLR8 talons, blood-red energy engulfing them completely as it swiped furiously at Aspa. XLR8 attacked in a coordinated sequence, swiping high and low then left and right then finally swinging at Aspa shooting energy at him.

Thick waves of sharp ki flew towards Aspa, who's own ki began to tingle in his body.

"I know I'm not as big as the other Saiyan men," Aspa took a simple step forward.

"But!" Aspa said, allowing the sharp waves of ki to slam into his body, a small cut appearing where the ominous ki blades hit him.

Doosh!

"I can still take a hit!"

Aspa capitalised off the recovery and rushed XLR8.

"Vanishing Drive!"

Aspa turned on his heel and shifted his body sideways while engulfing his whole body with ki.

The audience gasped.

"Incredible!" Broly said excitedly.

"How's he down that?" Paragus asked.

A brief smile appeared on Celery's face.

Aspa had completely disappeared.

[Narrator: Mushro cooked the same robot that overpowered him many years ago, no butter or oil while Aspa has showcased a brand-new technique at a crucial point within the fight! How will Tsufurian Technology fare against his Saiyan movements? Find out next time!]