The Greatest in the Multiverse

Round 3: The Verdant Protector vs the Hammer of Tempus

"NOW THEN FOLKS, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: IT'S TIME FOR OUR NEXT SET OF COMBATANTS TO MAKE THEIR ENTRANCE!"

The inexhaustible crowd eagerly observed the gigantic white-scaled Dragonborn confidently make his way to the arena's centre. As soon as he reached it, he planted his massive ornate greatsword into the ground as he calmly waved and nodded towards the audience. Humility was clearly nothing he lacked, that much was certain.

"IN THE BLUE CORNER, WE HAVE UNIVERSE 14'S HAMMER OF TEMPUS! AT 25 YEARS OF AGE, HE HAS ALREADY MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF BACK HOME AS A FORMER WEIGHTLIFTING CHAMPION! AND AFTER... UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCES FORCED HIM INTO A CAREER CHANGE, HE HAS SINCE BECOME DEVOTED TO SPREADING THE WORD AND TEACHINGS OF THE WAR GOD TEMPUS! WILL THAT DEVOTION BE ENOUGH TO TAKE THE WIN HERE, OR WILL THIS BE A REPEAT OF THE PREVIOUS ROUND WHERE NATURAL FORCES PIERCE RIGHT THROUGH SCALES? SHOW US YOUR STRENGTH: CONTESTAAAANT OWEN!"

Owen frowned a bit at Googlorp's introduction speech. Did he really have to include that part about his "career change"? He still had bad memories of that incident. Nevertheless, he shook his head and kept up his smile. That wasn't important right now. He had a fight coming right up, after all.

"AND IN THE RED CORNER, HIS OPPONENT: THE VERDANT PROTECTOR FROM UNIVERSE 10! FOR 31 YEARS SHE PROTECTED THE GROVE SHE CALLS HOME, AND FOR 114 YEARS SINCE HER SPIRIT HAS PROTECTED THE AFTERLIFE! BUT NOW SHE HAS GAINED A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE, AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO START THAT OFF THAN WITH A MULTIVERSAL TOURNAMENT? WILL HER ELEMENTAL PROWESS PROVE TOO MUCH FOR HER FOE, OR WILL SHE BE OVERWHELMED BY HIS SHEER DIVINE MIGHT? COMING UP: CONTESTAAAANT BASTION!"

The little frail robot didn't even address the excited crowd around her, instead steadily looking down at the floor. Even the moss covering her iron chassis seemed dim and colourless, and her thin arms of intertwined wood slumped towards the ground. As she reached the middle of the arena, she looked up towards Owen. A deep sigh escaped her voice box.

"Well, let's get this over with. Greetings and salutations and all that, but I really don't see what the point is here." Bastion's high-pitched, but mature voice echoed with a metallic philter. She put up her hand for a handshake towards Owen, who had to go down on one knee to reach it. He took it as gently as he could, but the wooden construct still visibly flinched as he shook her hand. The gigantic Dragonborn could clearly see that something was troubling his opponent, and tried to break the ice.

"How so, if I may ask? I can understand if the huge crowd seems unnerving, but as long as you think about something else then you won't even notice they're there!" Owen had never been good at reading people. Bastion harboured a lot of worries right now, but the onlooking audience wasn't even close to the top of that list. She simply shook her head.

"No, I... look, you're like 10 times my size and from what I've gathered a full-fledged warrior. I have a body the size of a dwarf and a limited pool of elemental magic. How, pray tell, would I stand even the slightest chance here?"

Bastion had more or less given up as soon as yesterday's opening ceremonies had concluded. The moment she had seen her randomly picked opponent, the artificial druid had been cursing her own luck. Why couldn't she have fought that red-headed Drow or maybe the Kobold with the glasses first? At least then it probably would've been somewhat even. Her soul had just been brought back from the dead, she didn't want to lose it again already.

Owen simply looked at her, his eyes hinting at a sense of pity for the extremely blunt construct with the crushed spirit. But his somewhat vacant stare, contrasting with his usual outgoing self, alluded to the gears turning inside his head. He clearly had gotten some form of idea. He simply held up a fist towards the sullen Bastion as he smiled confidently towards her, not even seeming to mind being left hanging.