Team Dual Paradox VS. Raging Storm

Part 2

   Victor threw his wand once more and teleported out of the way of Rida's gunfire, catching the wand as he rematerialized. There was distance between the two now. He drew his G-12 service pistol and fired twice at Rida, who quickly avoided the shots in a backflip. Victor launched the wand at his opponent again, teleporting to deliver a series of quick jabs with his dagger while Rida defended herself using her armored limbs. Smaller though she was, Rida kept that icy calm as she parried Victor's strikes.

   Across the pillar, unlike the fluid dance of assassins that were Rida and Victor, two mighty tanks clashed thunderously. Titus relentlessly slashed at Anora with lightning quick slices, but each time, her shields found their mark and withstood the attack. Every few blocks, Anora would use a shield and slam it into Titus' armored form, hoping to cause a dent or injury. Each time she reared back, she was disappointed to see not so much as a scratch. Titus didn't even look phased by the shield jabs, but kept up his attack, pushing Anora toward the edge of the pillar.

   As Victor blocked a pistol whip strike from Rida, he suddenly noticed an increase in energy around him. It hadn't been like this before the fight started, and its source wasn't coming from Rida. As she threw another strike, Victor caught her wrist in an iron grip and delivered a knee strike to her stomach before shoving her to the ground. He turned to look as Anora and Titus fought. The energy was rising all the more, and it was coming from Titus. Victor could see sparks starting to arc from Titus' blades and body as he fought. Victor knew something was wrong.

   "Annie! Keep your dist—" Victor's warning was cut short as Rida jumped on his back and held him in a choke hold. He gasped and wheezed at the surprising grip.

   "Did you f***ing turn your back on me, Tetran?" Rida hissed into Victor's ear.

   "Yeah...that—that was my bad. Next time I'll just put you down," he croaked as he struggled to keep her from putting a pistol to his head. Her strength and resilience momentarily stunned Victor, but he retaliated by jumping up and tilting backwards, slamming Rida on the floor.  The sudden impact made her groan and her grip loosened. He yanked himself free and got to his feet, delivering a hard kick to Rida's stomach while she was down. He pulled his pistol, ready to shoot Rida right between the eyes and end her, but the rise in energy made him stop. He turned back to Anora.

  The energy was audible now to Victor. He could see bolts of lightning cracking from Titus as he fought. Victor couldn't tell if he'd been strangled too hard, but Titus appeared to be glowing! Alarm bells were ringing in Victor's head as he shouted again, "Annie! Get outta there!"

   The warning came too late. Titus suddenly arched his neck and stared straight at Anora, tanking another strike from her shields. As Anora heard Victor's warning, a blinding flash of electricity and light beamed from the slits in Titus' dome piece. The attack sent Anora sprawling, clutching her eyes and her body spasming. Her shields moved defensively over her as she struggled to collect herself, but the flash had stunned her greatly. Titus paused momentarily before beating down on her shields with his blades, attempting to crush her with her own defense.

   "Damn it all," Victor growled, launching his wand at Titus full speed. As he teleported, Victor clutched one of the two mage stones currently attached to his gauntlet, drawing strength from its stored power. He materialized close to Titus' right side and lunged at him, voicing his spell. "Borstaba Balat!"

    A powerful concussive blast of magic shot from Victor's palm, striking Titus square in the dome. The giant cyborg stumbled to his side, caught off balance by the sudden bombardment. He attempted to steady himself, but was struck again by another blast, almost knocking him off his feet. Any other man would've been blasted asunder by such a torrent of magic, but Titus was no mere man.

   Titus lunged, swinging wildly at Victor's neck. The blades fell upon nothing as Victor teleported out of sight. Titus paused, glancing around for movement. 

   "Behind you, T!" Rida shouted from across the pillar. Titus wheeled around instantly, realizing that he hadn't finished Anora off. He caught sight of Victor, kneeling over his stunned teammate.  Titus advanced on his two opponents, ready to cleave them both in one strike.

   From the other side of the pillar, Rida caught her breath and took aim at Victor as he kneeled over his teammate. Twice now, her opponent had been distracted from their fight, and the anger of being ignored coursed through her mind as she fired three shots. The bolts of energy streaked across the field, passing Titus as he readied his blades. Each one found their mark into Victor's back. Victor stumbled over from the impact. "Gotcha!" Rida huffed satisfied, but her smirk was suddenly replaced with a scowl as both of her opponents teleported from view. She looked around, readying for another ambush, but none came. All that stood now was Titus, lowering his blades and attaching them back to his waist. Rida holstered her pistols as she walked up to her teammate.

   "Are you well?" Titus asked his comrade.

 
   "I'm fine. Pissed off a bit, but I'll manage."

   Titus nodded before glancing upwards to the floating islands above them. "They've retreated to another pillar. That must be the only reason they let us come to them. They were prepared for this. I will begin scanning for them."

      

    High above, Koobla continues to monitor the fight, catching an excited breath as he faces the camera. 

   "And it looks like we've reached a short intermission with Dual Paradox VS. Raging Storm, Show-Man! After witnessing what could've been a double knockout from Titus, it appears that Dual Paradox had an escape plan if things got bad for them."

   Show-Man, or rather ShowCaster's voice answers Koobla back, "Indeed, good thinking on the part of Dual Paradox, because it seems that Raging Storm has brought their A-Game here in the first round. Raging Storm looks like they had a short close call between Victor and Rida, but it looks like we caught Victor taking a couple blaster shots before Dual Paradox escaped, did we see that right, Koobla?"

   Koobla nods and responds, "You got that right, Show-Man! Victor took three blaster shots to the back before Dual Paradox was able to teleport away. I am about to reposition for a better look, see if we can't get an update on Dual Paradox's condition, but its looking strong for Rising Storm so far in this first round! Rida and Titus are looking formidable on the field today, and Dual Paradox is gonna have to change up their tactics if they hope to come out on top here!"

   "Thanks very much and keep us posted, Koobla", ShowCaster answers back. "Ladies and gents, I am ShowCaster, your humble broadcaster for the Tournament of Two Souls. We'll get back to Raging Storm and Dual Paradox shortly, but now lets get an update from Miss Pecan, who is currently monitoring the fight between Team Overdrive and Swarm & Krake!"