The Greatest in the Multiverse

Round 4: The Drakewarden vs the Metal Ranger

"THE MULTIVERSAL TOURNAMENT RAGES ON, FOLKS! AFTER THAT EXPLOSIVE FINISH TO THE PREVIOUS ROUND, WE NOW MOVE ON TO ROUND 4!"

First onto the field was Morgan, and like everyone before him he was heralded by loud cheers and chants. His face was locked into a wide open smile just like always, or at least as close to one as you could get with a set of massive reptilian jaws. The Mosasaurus hybrid waved back with one of his flipper-covered arms; He was clearly enjoying being the centre of attention.

"IN THE BLUE CORNER, WE HAVE THE DRAKEWARDEN OF UNIVERSE 11! THIS 30 YEAR-OLD AQUATIC WARRIOR HAS SPENT HIS ADULT LIFE PROTECTING HIS HOME AS A MARINE CORPORAL, AND THANKS TO A FORMERLY SECRET MILITARY EXPERIMENT HE HAS GAINED THE TRAITS OF THE OCEANS TOP PREDATOR! BUT WILL HIS MILITARY TRAINING AND POWERFUL JAWS BE ENOUGH TO TOPPLE HIS UNPREDICTABLE OPPONENT? HERE HE IS: CONTESTAAAANT MORGAN!"

Even more cheers. Morgan had clearly become a bit of a favourite among the audience, in part due to his outgoing personality and in part due to his unique profile. They wanted to see him, and he was happy to comply.

"AND IN THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE THE-"

Googlorp's excited introduction was interrupted by the subject of his speech practically leaping out from the right corridor, swords in hand and green scarf flowing behind him. And before the somewhat taken aback Plasmoid could continue, the orange-plated fighter did it for him. Prime's metallic filtered voice echoed throughout the entire arena, clearly amplified with some microphone of his own.

"WHETHER FIGHTING AGAINST THE FORCES OF EVIL OR ENGAGING IN FRIENDLY SPARRING, THIS IRON WARRIOR NEVER LETS UP! IF THERE'S AN ENEMY, I'LL BUST THROUGH THEM! IF FATE STANDS AGAINST ME, I'LL DEFY IT! ALL WITH THE BURNING PASSION FUELING MY SOUL! AHN-001, BETTER KNOWN AS: PRIME! THE METAL RANGER!"

Prime's passionate speech was capped off with a big explosion behind him, the lack of impact and heat instantly proving its holographic nature. And then, silence. The crowd simply stared at him, dumbfounded and attempting to process the scene before them. But finally the silence was broken by a sudden outburst of loud cheers and roars. The audience had not been prepared for this abrupt entrance, but right now they were eating it up. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

Googlorp, understandably stunned at having his work done for him, hastily regained his composure to fill in what Prime had neglected to mention.

"Y-YOU HEARD IT YOURSELF, FOLKS! HAILING FROM UNIVERSE 6, OUR YOUNGEST COMBATANT - LESS THAN ONE YEAR OF BEING ACTIVE, IN FACT - SUMMED HIMSELF UP VERY CLEARLY! BUT HOW WILL THE METAL RANGER HANDLE THE PATROLLER OF THE DEPTHS? WILL HIS BURNING SPIRIT BOIL THE OCEAN AWAY, OR WILL IT BE EXTINGUISHED BY THE CRASHING WAVES? ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!"

Prime was answering the roaring audience with even more over-the-top poses that didn't seem to serve much purpose, but as far as he was concerned it didn't matter if hundreds of thousands of people were watching or not. He'd pose anyway, because to him it looked really cool. The fact that the crowd seemed to share that thought was just a bonus. Eventually he stopped so he could address his enthusiastic opponent.

"You're called Morgan, right? Nice to meet ya! Oh man, this is gonna be a blast, am I right?"

The robot warrior practically pumped his fists up and down in excitement, not too unlike a hyperactive child. It was clear that among all the participants, he was definitely the most thrilled to be here. To him it wasn't about the prize waiting at the end. It wasn't about proving a point, or to learn more about other universes. It was all about the fight. All about the thrill and fun of it.

"Bwahahaha! Well, aren't you a flashy one! But you're right, my boy! I can tell that this will be a really good ol' classic brawl!"

Morgan wasn't too far behind Prime in terms of eagerness. He had been in his fair share of rousing bar brawls in his time, and while he didn't live for it like Prime did he still found great enjoyment in it. So a tournament like this, a good-natured competition to see who among the contestants was truly the best, was almost like a dream come true for him. Both sides were certain of it; there would be no regrets in this bout. Only a whole-hearted thrilling clash between warriors.