Chapter 1783 – The not-so-Small Tournament 5 – Mania-Mania-Mania
The silver spell landed between the opponents and died with a mild flash.
Tach sent his flaming axes flying, a whole three of them. Rave smirked at the sources of heat and dashed between to them. To John, the whole scene was clear, his first haremette’s speed traceable by his spellborne vision. Tach, on the other hand, was about to hurl his fourth axe when he stopped and gave the woman in front of him a slack-jawed stare.
“Yeah, I don’t get what you were thinkin’ either,” Rave drawled.
Swift as he could go, Tach swung the axe in his hand at Rave. A half step forwards and a raised arm were all that it took to stop the attack. The larger man could not even start to compete with Rave’s baseline power. Rave’s shoulder barely moved when their forearms met.
A smug, bestial grin flashed on the feline Lightbearer’s face. The glow of tail and ears surged, the complex, symmetrical pattern that covered her left arm glowed, and her fingernails extended as claws of hard light. When she had first quarter-fused with Copernicus, she had needed them to be unified in order to do that. They were leagues above that level by now.
Rave went for the man’s throat.
Her claws swiped, unleashing curves of burning, technicolour light.
Tach disappeared where he stood.
The entire arena was quiet, while Rave yawned and walked away. The remaining five axes slammed into the ground behind her. Each unleashing an explosion that the sashaying cat woman could not care less about. The First Lady of Fusion was strong, that much was commonly known. It must have dawned on the people slowly just how strong.
It was difficult to compare power scales from the outside perspective, John got that much. Last time the public had seen Rave fight, that had been in the Divided Gates tournament against somewhat equally matched opponents. Since they needed slowed down footage to follow that fight, they would not have properly grasped how much Rave’s fights against Karia and Singed had been above what happened here.
Tach, they had seen fight the day before. It slowly dawned on those watching that their First Lady had forced Fateweaving to activate in one shot. What Tach had done to the average Abyssal fighter, Rave had done to him. The chasm of power was deep enough to call it an abyss in and of itself.
The people in the arena burst out into cheers. Rave smirked, waved, and then leapt swiftly back into the warmth of their private viewing area. “Point made, don’t expect me in round 2!” she shouted, to jeers and whistles. All in good spirit, of course. “Ya look confused,” she noted when she plopped down next to John.
John combed through Aclysia’s hair. The dragon maid purred and nuzzled up against him. She had once again claimed his lap and he was of no mind to tell her to go anywhere else. “The average Abyssal mindset still is alien to me at times,” he admitted. “They were just shown that there are existences running around that could kill them with a stray gesture. Yet, all they do is chant and cheer. I’d expect at least a shred of existential dread.”
“Ya know how it is. If we froze up every time we might die, Abyssals wouldn’t be able to move at all. Ain’t worth it.”
“I understand, logically, I just am reminded that I come from a somewhat different world than you.”
“Ya may come from a different world than me, but now you’re all up in mine,” the feline Lightbearer purred.
“That I am,” John agreed and kissed Aclysia.
“Oy, why does she get kisses when I was talking to ya?”
“You get Master’s voice, I get his kisses,” the maid answered cheekily and claimed his lips again.
“Ya can listen!”
“And you can join the kisses,” Aclysia responded.
Rave leaned over to give the maid a piece of her mind. That took the form of the two women trying their best to make out while fitting in John’s lap. ‘I have to wonder if this is part of the reason why Romulus chooses to be so huge. I should ask him when we get a private moment,’ the Gamer thought. Such a moment was likely to come before night. For now, though, the exciting fight was about to begin.
Unswift entered the arena through the regular gate. Nothing unusual there in any form. The red haired man took position where he was supposed to and then, like everyone else, looked awaiting to the other gate.
“Mankind has always looked for answers…” a mysterious voice echoed from all around the arena. A quick glance verified that, somehow, Hypercrush had synchronized with the loudspeaker enchantments. “…in the stars, in the ocean, in the soil… mankind has searched for answers and they found them… they found them all over… and those answers were not written in the stars, in the ocean or the soil… THEY WERE WRITTEN INTO THE HEIGHTENED MIND!”
In an explosion of rainbow light and glitter, Hypercrush flew out of the entrance and into the arena. Like an Olympic long jumper, his heels dragged through the ground as he came to a slow halt. He raised both hands, showing the victory sign. In the gap between index and middle finger, the biggest blunts John had ever seen rested.
“My power is one with the glory of drugs!” Hypercrush slammed one blunt into the left corner of his mouth. It ignited magically. Before the eyes of everyone, the white-haired colossus of a superhero parody turned the entire blunt into an ash stick on one inhale. He puffed out a billowing cloud of deep purple and rainbows. “My thoughts are higher than any elemental plane, higher than comprehension itself!” He slammed the other blunt into the right corner of his mouth and repeated the spiel. By the second inhale the smoke surrounded him like a cinema-grade mist maker. “The rush is my lord and saviour! Allow me to demonstrate its blessings to all of you!”
‘It is every bit as funny as it is unhinged,’ John thought. Aclysia and Rave separated, the latter even getting back to her own chair, so they could actually watch the madness unfold. “Interested?” the Gamer thought, when Nathalia stepped onto the table.
“The hatchling’s screeches annoy, but his power promises to be amusing at least,” Nathalia answered and sat down to his left. She had grown out the usual amount of scales, which was just enough to categorize her as publicly presentable.
“My fists crackle with the power of exhilaration! Let this warm-up commence!” Hypercrush announced.
The star fell between the opponents. Unswift was a jolly fellow and he was smart enough to erect his defences with hurry. Parts of the floor rose up, the surface soil turning into the roof of two massive defence turrets that pointed rock barrels at Hypercrush. Hand rushing forwards, he gave an unspoken order to the semi-autonomous constructs to engage in coordinated fire.
Splinters of rock were launched like metal from a railgun. Hypercrush whipped his head around, his white hair leaving trails of rainbow shimmer. The motion was as impressive as the dodges were narrow. “A sacrifice on the altar of HYPERCRUSH!” the drug-fuelled superhuman declared and charged in.
Unswift stomped his foot down. Several more turrets spawned in, strategically spread out around a thick stone wall to create a killing field. Hypercrush moved like greased lightning and with all of the liberated weirdness of a drunkard. He laughed and battered into the wall face first.
His head punched through the obstacle. His shoulders did not. Stuck, he grinned at Unswift. “You are an odd fellow,” the red haired man said.
“The truth, I have seen it!” Hypercrush rambled. “All of the world’s creations have led us up to the creation of the hallowed substances! Now my very own fists allow the uppers and downers to speak through me!” Suddenly, the white-haired supervillain facsimile reached through the wall. The stone that had stopped a full charge was no obstacle whatsoever anymore. He grabbed the surprised turret mage by the shoulders. “Allow me to make you a fellow acolyte of the high!”
The multi-coloured aura of Hypercrush flared up. The purple haze that surrounded him entered Unswift’s nose and mouth on the next inhale. The eyes of the man turned red and glassy within a second. When the drug mage released his opponent, the red-haired man stumbled three steps back and then looked at the back of his own hand.
“Wooooooooooooooooow,” he said, swaying. “Woooow… uh… uhm….” He shook his head and exhaled, much of the purple cloud leaving him. His eyes cleared up, mostly, when he blinked. “I did not sign up to get zooted!”
“You reject the gift of the highness?” Hypercrush laughed maniacally. “Your loss, then, Un-cool! If you will not join me in my high, then I will have to put you low!”
All of the autonomous turrets had adjusted their alignment. A barrage of stone shards assaulted Hypercrush from all directions. The man roared, taking the hits without issue. Some of them drew blood, but none were enough to interrupt the drug-fuelled superhuman while he gathered his power.
“Just go down, please?” Unswift requested kindly.
“BLASPHEMY! I NEVER COME DOWN! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The gathering storm of power took Hypercrush off his feet. His long hair fluttered in the winds of his own power. “HERE WE GO! THE ATTACK THAT TOOK DOWN THE RAINBOW LUNGFISH OF LAKE VICTORIA! HYYYYYYYYYYPER-CRUUUUUUUUUUUUSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!”
An invisible force pushed Hypercrush forwards. Both fists raised, he came down on Unswift who, proving his name true, could only throw up stone walls in an attempt to stop him. All that did was make the drug-fuelled superhuman look cooler. Pieces of debris flew everywhere as he smashed through them with his pure presence, only for his joined fists to slam Unswift over the head.
The knock was not enough to activate Fateweaving instantly. It was, however, enough that Unswift threw his hand up. In his high, Hypercrush did not notice the surrendering gesture. Too dazed by the hit to speak the words, Unswift was about to be hit by a left hook when Aclysia came to his Aid.
The black-horned maid gripped the drug-fuelled superhuman’s wrist and forced him to a halt. “Chill presence you got,” Hypercrush spoke, still grinning. “Your hair is as beautiful as powdered cocaine!”
“Your compliments are odd and will therefore go ignored.” Aclysia released the man’s fist. For all of his oddities and that grin (a little too wide for comfort), he did not appear hostile. If he turned out to be, Aclysia could beat two of him on her own. “My Master has decreed this fight over. It is your victory.”
“OH YES!” Hypercrush clapped his hands together, then raised his fists into the air. “COKETIMUS PRIME WINS AGAIN! WHOOOOOOW!”
The crowd cheered and John could not blame them. It was entirely obvious that Hypercrush was more high than man. Like so often in these cases, reasonably everyone knew that they were looking at something that was wrong on multiple levels. Ignoring that, the monkey brain saw someone having the time of their life and that was infectiously fun.
Hypercrush threw up the devil horns with his left hand and began to wildly headbang. Rock music played out of nowhere. The crowd went wild. Aclysia went to help Unswift out of the arena. The man slurred what little words he managed to get out. He had a bad concussion, the kind that required swift medical attention.
“That was entertaining enough,” Nathalia remarked and retreated to the back. John followed her, since they were now in another break. “You missed the best part.”
“I’m not fucking here to watch bitches slam against each other,” Eliana cussed back. The pretty little psycho had arrived within the last five minutes. “You’re at the best part!” she said and waved the book around. “I fucking love the ghost army!”
“I found it rather dull so far.” Nathalia took the book, tossed it on the couch, then picked up Eliana. The pretty little psycho did not put up any struggle while she was placed in the goddess’ lap like a big cuddle toy.
“You’re fucking wrong!”
“Shush, little Eliana, I do not have enough investment in this book to argue.” A claw hooked into the leather strap that connected the bra of the blood mage with the metal ring between her breasts. Magically, the strap loosened itself. Nathalia pulled it off, then repeated the same for the thong. That left Eliana more naked than not, a harness made from black straps and metal rings all that joined the thigh high black boots. On another woman, the latter would probably have appeared like she was a dominatrix. Maybe height was the differentiating factor there, as John could only see the clinging legwear as an underline on how available her fat mons were.
“Imma go find Moi-moi,” Rave excused herself while John joined the two haremettes on the couch.
He gave his pink-haired first woman a goodbye wave, then asked, “Weren’t you hanging out with Siena and Undine today?”
“Yeah, but then those two musical geniuses had a stroke of ‘fuck it, we record’ and I had to bow the fuck out because what the fuck am I gonna do there? Paint on the microphone?” Eliana caressed Nathalia’s arm while the dragoness explored the details of her midriff. “There’s nothing interesting there, you stupid ass volcano!”
“You presume you can tell me what I find interesting twice in as many minutes, you really must be craving a punishment,” Nathalia pointed out. “Bored or guilty?”
“I’m always guilty of something,” Eliana grumbled.
“Bad girl,” Nathalia reprimanded. “You are worthy of more appreciation, adorable little thing.”
“Listen to her, she’s wise,” John said and joined in giving the pretty little psycho a tenth of the cuddles she deserved in any given moment.
“Stop, stoooooooop, fucking stooooooooooooop!” Eliana pleaded, getting snuggled into submission. “Pleeeeeeease just bend me over a table or something!”
They did not stop for even a moment.