"Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are here tonight at Barbon's Fite Club and Tavern, currently scared out of our goddamn minds.""It's chaos here tonight! Entry 15, Tiamat, has eliminated four competitors with barely any effort!"
"Easy enough to understand - she's a hundred feet tall and has six heads and powerful wind magic. How do you stand up against that? You don't. Not in a Rumble."
"At this time we'd like to thank our many sponsors for tonight's entertainment, including Sharp-Dressed Sturge, home of the new Bouteille Boutique line of clothing for generously proportioned ladies! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"
"Anyway, the buzzer has just rung, but nobody is coming out."
"Guess they aren't interested in fighting Tiamat, and I don't blame 'em! OHOH-"
"Wait, hold on, someone's theme just started. Who is that?"
Sarah strode forward with purpose, her eyes set on the hydra.
"TIAMAT!"
Five of Tiamat's six heads swung around, gaping at the new entrant.
"...THE WHITE MAGE! THE ONE WITH THE WATER CRYSTAL!" one head shrieked.
The center head roared in fury. "KILL HER!!!"
Sarah began focusing her magic. If she could just dodge long enough, she had a plan...
Tiamat's jaws snapped forward, trying to bite Sarah before she could even reach the ring. Refbot quickly drove up to Sarah, driving back a head with a taser as he moved.
"Ms. Triden, do you have a solution for our current dragon problem?"
"I do, Mr. Ref. Gimme a sec, please..."
Tiamat sent forth green twisters of wind, but Sarah brought up a Shell. The draconic tornados threw her around but couldn't inflict serious damage, the little white mage keeping a strong grip on the white-and-red hammer she'd brought to the fight (picture notwithstanding).
While Tiamat was distracted by her all-consuming fury at a Warrior of Light, Skeiron led the other four entrants in an attack. Skeiron's bullets, Mecha-Sarah's lasers, Dr. Bulgrave's wrench and Widow Maker's claws struck the dragon from behind, catching it off guard. Tiamat roared, torn between ripping apart Sarah and destroying the other combatants underfoot. Ultimately Tiamat settled for focusing one head on each of the four, with the last two going for Sarah, including the largest, centermost head.
Fire, wind, and poisonous smog sprayed everywhere. Most of the crowd had fled the stands by now.
"Phew! I sure am glad that the announcers' booth is protected! I don't wanna miss a second of this! Don't you agree?
...Where'd ya go?
Aww. Well, folks, my partner seems to have gotten spooked! I expected better from her considering her big talk earlier tonight! HOHOHOHOHO!"
Sarah finally climbed into the ring. Her hands and hammer shone with white light. Widow Maker had to keep her eyes pointed away to avoid getting blinded. Dr. Bulgrave, thanks to his mask, was able to look directly at the little white mage.
"Whatever you've got planned, it'd better work!"
"Get ready, Mr. Bulgrave! Here it comes!"
"Doctor, please."
Sarah got into a battle stance, and the light reached a crescendo as she pointed her hammer's head at Tiamat's massive body.
"MINI!!!"
All the light streamed from the hammer, leaving Sarah and pouring into Tiamat. With six squawks of surprise, the Fiend of Wind began to shrink. Normally a Mini spell shrunk the target to one-fourth their usual size. But Sarah had poured so much magic into this one spell that it wound up having the effect of three Minis.
The end result was a very, very, very angry hydra that happened to also be two feet tall.
"YOU LITTLE WHELP! YOU INSECT!" Tinymat screeched in a tiny voice. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO THE FIEND OF WI-"
"FORRRRE!"
Sarah swung her hammer as hard as she could, and for a beautiful three seconds, a two-foot-tall Fiend spiraled through the air, shrieking curses until smashing hard enough into the stadium wall to knock all six heads unconscious.
KO
As the five remaining fighters and what was left of the audience cheered at Tiamat's elimination, Sarah noticed sparks spraying from her hands as her Shell spell fizzled out.
"Uh-oh... I put all of my mana into that..."
BZZZZZZZ
"Heh heh... Nice of you to eliminate that dragon, Sarah, but I think a little payback time is in order."
Electra's entrance involves lots of strobing lights to accompany the hyperactive club music. Widow Maker hisses and shields her eyes, while Skeiron begins doing his signature dance. Mecha-Sarah stares at Skeiron a moment, then begins to imitate him.
Dr. Bulgrave muses quietly at the fact that he is surrounded by idiots. And Widow Maker.
Electra prepared her whip and elegantly swung over the top rope to enter the arena. This was her domain, and she fully intended on cleaning house. She looked at the other assembled fighters. "Well! Ol' Wids is here... and that goofy robot... and even the 'good' doctor." She smirked.
"This is gonna be fun."
Electra starts with a strong kick to the still-dazed Widow Maker, then goes into a whip attack to drive back Sarah. The whip is then charged with electricity and thrust at Skeiron, rattling his system with a powerful shock. Dr. Bulgrave tried to sneak up from behind with his wrench, but Electra spun around, the whip wrapping around the wrench. She wagged one finger and then sent another burst of electricity up the whip and into the wrench.
Bulgrave wasn't affected.
Electra blinked in surprise. "Wha- You're like half machine! Why aren't you hurt?!"
"Well, I probably would be if you hadn't gone for my gloves!" Bulgrave chortled, suddenly grabbing onto the whip and tugging Electra into a punch to the face. He then leaned forward and his life support system sprayed a gout of smoke between the pair, allowing him to disengage and move elsewhere and leaving Electra coughing.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Widow Maker were looking at Skeiron and Mecha-Sarah.
"C'mon, fight your robot double! It'll be awesome!"
"But I don't have any mana!"
"Use your hammer! BE A MAN!"
"But I'm a g-"
"You know what I meant, now do it!"
Widow Maker shoved Sarah at her doppelganger before zipping towards Skeiron, raking one claw along his back, then hooking it around one of the cables sticking out from his upper back and, with a grunt of effort, swinging the WarMech up and over into a slam.
"Okay, that was decent."
"Oh, there you are!"
"I had to use the bathroom. Oh, look, the dragon's out."
"You're not fooling me, young lady! HOHOH-"
"Stuff it."
Sarah and Mecha-Sarah were locked in a sparring match, hammer clashing against plasma staff. Although Mecha-Sarah was the same height as Sarah, she was heavier and more physically powerful due to being made of metal, and so it was no surprise when Sarah whiffed an attack and Mecha-Sarah pressed her advantage, battering the real deal and driving her close to the ropes. Sarah looked around frantically for a method of escape...
BZZZZZZZ
"Okay, kobbers. It's go time."
Because "Lawrence" would be a terrible entrant, the eighteenth combatant to enter the Rumble is Gust, Swiss Arm and all. He climbs into the ring, looking around at his foes, before deciding to go for Electra. He raises his dark arm, and it morphs into a large boxing glove. He goes right for the kisser, but Electra manages to swing her head out of danger just in time.
Meanwhile, Mecha-Sarah is about to finish off Sarah, but the white mage goes for a new tactic by leaving the arena, slipping under the bottom rope. Mecha-Sarah immediately goes into a victory celebration, then runs off to rejoin Skeiron. Sarah giggles at her clone's stupidity, then jumps back into the ring.
Widow Maker is proving more than a match for Skeiron. He was the sixth entrant, and the extreme length of the Rumble was taking its' toll on him. Not only is she agile enough to dodge his attacks, she's also able to move in, attack, and get out of range before he can activate Nuclear. With few options, the WarMech has settled on random flailing. Widow Maker zips around and takes to the air, her claws snatching Skeiron by the large cables on his upper back again. The mantis drags her prey across the ring, then heaves him at the ropes. Skeiron's feet hook around the top rope, and he hangs there upside down.
"OW."
Mecha-Sarah leaps at Widow Maker, clotheslining the surprised insect. She scrambles to her feet and swings her claws down on the robot mage, making sparks fly. Widow Maker then pushes Mecha-Sarah at Skeiron, making them crash into each other. Skeiron desperately holds on to the ropes, now clinging with his arms as well as his feet.
Across the ring, Sarah is picked up by Dr. Bulgrave with a grunt of effort. The scientist carries his catch to the ring ropes and prepares to simply drop her over the edge. Sarah flails, making it hard for him to keep a grip, but he remains resolute.
Until Sarah kicks him in the crotch.
"Sarah!" Widow Maker laughs as Sarah regains her footing while Dr. Bulgrave stumbled. "What is it with you and groin-attacking old scientist guys, huh?"
Gust and Electra are grappling near the ring's center. Electra doesn't have room for one of her kicks or her whip, making the biker's job easier as he pushes to try and overpower her.
"It's grown very even in there now, and we haven't seen an elimination in some time... What do you think?"
"I think the winner hasn't entered yet. The guys in the late 20s are way more likely to win."
"It makes sense, but this is Manhattan!"
"True."
BZZZZZZZ
"S-sis?..." Sarah was trying mightily to suppress her laughter.
"What?"
"Y-your hair-!"
"OH GOD" Josephine tugged at her chemist's hat-hood-thing. "I got sloppy with the shampoo, okay?!"
"Okayyyyy~"
Blushing, the chemist hopped into the ring, pulling her Tribalman's Shiv out of her chemist's bag. The shiv had been layered in rubber to make it a bludgeoning weapon for this non-lethal contest. Immediately Josephine clobbers Dr. Bulgrave over the head with it, knocking off his top hat.
"What th-?! You do not mess with a gentleman's hat, young lady!"
"What's he going on about?"
"He must really like his hat!"
Josephine squeaked as Bulgrave grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust her into a corner. He charged, wrench at the ready, but Sarah dived between the two, Bulgrave tripping over her.
At the ropes, Skeiron swung at Widow Maker. Mecha-Sarah lanced forward with her staff. The mantis blurred out of the way, zipping back. She spread her claws wide and lunged forward, clotheslining both robots. Skeiron hooked onto the ropes again, but Mecha-Sarah's grasp fell short as she hit the mat outside the ring. Widow Maker pivoted 180 degrees and kicked backwards, knocking Skeiron to the ground seconds later.
DOUBLE KO
Meanwhile, Electra was still trying to deal with Gust, who was proving extremely unpredictable due to his constantly shifting hand. What was once a boxing glove became a garden hose, then a leaf blower. He even briefly mimiced Electra's prosthetic whip. He stepped back after whipping Electra, his hand shifting into a large metal claw. He darted forward and clamped the claw around Electra's waist. But rather than try to pick her up, the Storm Biker shifted his hand yet again, into a large pneumatic piston, and shoved Electra clear across the arena and over the ropes. She latched onto the rope like a lifeline, which it sort of was, and kicked as her legs came dangerously close to the floor. Refbot wheeled over for a closer look. One heeled boot came within inches of the ground, but Electra managed to haul herself back into the ring, anger in her eyes.
She thundered towards Gust, their eyes locked on each other, the tension fading only a little when Bulgrave stumbled into and out of their line of vision as the two mage sisters Irish whipped him around the ring.
Electra raised her hands above her head, and the air began to crackle-
BZZZZZZZ
"DE-NIIIIIED!"
"OOF!"
Electra stumbled and fell to the ring floor from Blade's sucker punch from behind. The leader of the Storm Bikers was the twentieth entrant, and with his arrival came a rush of confidence for Gust. The two quickly got close to each other, watching each others' backs. They slowly moved to a corner of the ring.
"We should get the Doc in on this tag-team action."
"Good idea. Hey, Doc! You wanna-"
Whoops. There he goes, over the side, courtesy of Sarah and Josephine running him to the edge and slamming him over.
KO
The two mage girls turn around to see the Bikers staring at them. They huddle together and back away from the street thugs. Josephine raises her rubber-encased shiv while Sarah hefts her White Hammer. Across the ring, Electra gets to her feet, notices the team-ups, and glances at Widow Maker. The mantis snickers and nods.
The three groups of two form a triangle of sorts - the Storm Bikers in one corner, the Mysidian sisters in the one across from them, and Widow Maker and Electra taking position on the opposite side, between the others.
Fourteen fighters eliminated. Sixteen could still win, and ten have yet to appear...
[TO BE CONTINUED]
THE GB ENSEMBLE ROYAL RUMBLE SO FAR:
#1 Garland enters
#2 Gamble Man enters
#3 Sakura Atari enters
#4 Little Brother enters
Gamble Man eliminated by Garland
#5 Big Brother enters
Big Brother and Little Brother combine into Constructor X
#6 Skeiron enters
#7 Gloria enters
#8 Cleptopod enters
Garland summons Antlion, Ultros, and Omega
Antlion eliminated by Gloria
Ultros eliminated by Cleptopod
Garland eliminated by Cleptopod
#9 Dr. Rabbit enters
Constructor X separates
Big Brother eliminated by Little Brother
Omega eliminated by Little Brother
#10 Clippy enters
Gloria eliminated by Cleptopod
#11 Mecha-Sarah enters
Little Brother eliminated by Mecha-Sarah
Dr. Rabbit eliminated by Sakura Atari
#12 Browny enters
#13 Dr. Bulgrave enters
#14 Widow Maker enters
#15 Tiamat enters
Browny eliminated by Tiamat
Cleptopod eliminated by Tiamat
Sakura Atari eliminated by Tiamat
Clippy eliminated by Tiamat
#16 Sarah enters
Tiamat eliminated by Sarah
#17 Electra enters
#18 Gust enters
#19 Josephine enters
Mecha-Sarah eliminated by Widow Maker
Skeiron eliminated by Widow Maker
#20 Blade enters
Dr. Bulgrave eliminated by Sarah and Josephine
Bulgrave did surprisingly well, being a frail human armed only with a wrench.
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