The bottom of BRUTE's metal foot came in contact with Gurk's chest. Itzel had her finger ready to press the Surrender button until she heard she heard the crocodile attempt to call out one of his Special Techniques.
"Gla...cier!" Gurk's voice was weak and strained but a small cloud of frost did come out of his open mouth. On the display, a small sliver of BRUTE's stamina had gone down. Gurk was then able to lift the foot off his body completely before giving the robot a shove. It hopped back on its other leg, struggling to move the bent knee that had frosted over from Gurk's ice breath.
The crocodile rolled to the side, setting himself upright in the process. He hunched over, taking in deep breaths as he watched BRUTE shake its knee. Within seconds it had full function of its leg and faced Gurk once more.
"I stand corrected," Horace remarked. Janus peeked at Itzel and saw that her hand was away from the Surrender button. He then looked back inside the cage, his heartrate skyrocketing when he saw Gruk advanced towards BRUTE.
"Slash!"
Gurk spun around, swinging his ice-tipped tail towards BRUTE's head. With a swift raise of its hand, the robot parried the frozen section of the tail, cutting the attack short just inches away from its face. Gurk quickly spun around, setting himself straight again so that he was facing the robot.
"He can't just attack that thing head on," Itzel said quietly. "Its reflexes are too fast to just strike it without a proper follow up. Either he'll have to come up with some kind of combination or catch BRUTE in the middle of an attack."
"You think Gurk is going to do that?" Janus whispered back.
"I don't know. But if he wants to win, he'll have to."
Janus couldn't help but notice the massive disparity in the stamina meters of both fighters. "Looks like the only thing he's got going for him right now is that his EV meter is almost full."
"Let's hope he makes good use of it. You know how Gurk can be with his spending. If he uses it all up trying to connect his Signature Technique, Frigid Fissure, and it misses..." Itzel bit the lower portion of her as she tilted her head down towards the screen.
"What else would he use his EV on?"
"Enhanced Variants of his Special Techniques. Individually they might not be as powerful as Frigid Fissure, but he'll be able to use more EV moves. Not to mention that they're more effective in a wider variety of scenarios. Sometimes they come out faster or they have enhanced properties. Either way, it's more strategic to use those instead of hoping for a bit of luck that BRUTE is just going to let that Signature Technique of his hit."
The two fighters continued to trade blows, but BRUTE always came out on top with each exchange. For every slash that Gurk attempted, BRUTE was there to block and counter with one of its own. Gurk's stamina meter had been drained to less than one fifth, but all of his EV blocks were full and his Signature Technique ready to go.
"Come on, Gurk. Try to play it smart!" Itzel said quietly as her face moved in closer, being mere inches away from the screen. BRUTE lowered its body, extending one leg while balancing the center of its weight on the other foot. The machine's torso spun, propelling its extended leg and swung it at Gurk's feet in a half-circle sweep. With a short hop, the crocodile was able to jump over the attack and lunge his weight at the robot. His mass allowed him to bring it down the grown. Now on top, Gurk clawed away at the head of his opponent. The robot's metal face jerked from side to side with each swipe with BRUTE's stamina meter depleting in unison.
"Nice job, Gurk!" Janus called out, pumping one fist into the air.
"It's a start. But he's still got a lot of damage to make up."
BRUTE grabbed Gurk's arms, one wrist in each of its cold metal hands, and twisted the upper half of its body via the pivot in its torso. The pulled Gurk off it, placing him by its side. They then tugged at the other’s arms, struggling to overtake their opponent. BRUTE then spread its arms apart, prying Gurk's defense wide open and exposing his chest. The crocodile angled his neck back, and like a hammer he slammed his mask into the sleek black metal chest of the robot. The pair slid apart. BRUTE released its hold on Gurk's arms as it skidded across the mat of the ring. Parts of the mattress tore up as the edges of its metal plating cut into the soft material. Gurk stood to his feet before BRUTE did. Even those his stance faltered, Gurk took no time to regain his composure. He placed one foot in front of the other, took in one deep breath and pointed his mouth straight up.
A thick mist could be seen getting sucked into his nostrils. Gurk's chest expanded as his lungs took in more air. He then lowered his head, pointing his mouth towards the ground as he exhaled a blue column of gas at the ground, making a prolonged grunt as he spewed the fog. The rush of gas hit the floor and the bounced off that mat towards BRUTE. The robot was soon engulfed in the dense azure cloud. The sound of crackling ice rang out as bits of hail buffeted the robot's exterior.
"No!" Itzel shouted as she ran her hands over her scalp and through her hair. "That's exactly what I was afraid of!"
"Looks like the attack connected!" Janus squinted, trying to make out what was going on through the two silhouettes that moved through the opaque gas that had inundated the arena.
"It didn't. I was watching the Broadcast. BRUTE was back on its feet by the time the mist of Frigid Fissure reached. A second is like an eternity for its computational mind. It had more than enough to prepare itself."
The fog dissipated. Both fighters stood upright. The difference in their demeanors drastic. BRUTE remained still, standing completely upright in its default stance. Save for the few nicks in its outer plating, the robot looked identical to when it first started the battle. Gurk, however, was exhausted. His arms hung low by his side. His breathing was deep and slow. His upper body lurched forward. The crocodile's bright yellow eyes had lost their glow as his eyelids slowly covered them.
Brute ran forward, and using its speed, flew at Gurk with a flying roundhouse kick. The crocodile couldn’t raise his hands fast enough to defend from the attack. Like an arrow, the heel of BRUTE's metallic foot slammed into Gurk's gut. He was launched back, splatting against the wall of the cage with his arms spread out. The impact made the other four walls rattle and shake. The crocodile slowly slid down, the wall propping his back up as his upper body slumped over.
On the display, all Gurk's Stamina Gauge had been depleted. "I guess there's no point in pressing that cancel button." Horace called out. He got up from his seat and began to unlock the entrance to the arena.
"Think Gurk's alright in there?" Janus asked of Itzel. She had turned her screen off and was looking into the fighting area. Gurk's head moved slightly while BRUTE returned to an upright and idle pose with its arms dangling at the side.
"He's fine,” Itzel said with a slight huff. “At least physically. Emotionally might be a different story."
"He put up a good fight," Janus replied as he followed Itzel on her way to the entrance of the caged arena.
"But what's really important is whether or not he learned from the experience." They both stepped inside the ring. Standing over their friend, they could see his head drift from side to side. Gurk made a low groan as he placed of his hands over the area of the stomach where he had taken the brunt of the mechanically enhanced roundhouse kick.
"How you feeling, big guy?" Itzel asked, her hands on her hip as she looked down at the crocodile.
He remained quiet. Instead of replying, he adjusted his metal mask with his other hand.
"I think he got hit too hard," Janus whispered.
"Just give him a second. He just got splattered against the wall like ripe tomato. All he needs is a moment to breathe."
"Hurt," Gurk mumbled. Itzel and Janus both went on one side of the crocodile and hoisted him upwards by lifting him the underside his arms. Although shaky, Gurk was able to stand up with the help of the other two.
"Would you want to do that again?" Itzel asked. "I think I have enough for one more—"
"Noooo..." Gurk said in a long and drawn-out manner while shaking his head as fast as he could.
"Alright. Let's go ahead and head out. I think we're done in here." Janus and Itzel acted as crutches for the crocodile, easing him out of the arena and towards the main room of the exit.
"Hey you three," Horace called out as he fastened the lock to the door. Itzel turned around to address him.
"Yeah?"
"When Gurk regains his senses, don't forget to let him know that if he checks his inbox, he'll have a replay of the match that he can watch at any time!"
"I'm pretty sure he already knows that Horace."
"Just wanted to make sure. And feel free to stop by here again, whenever! I'm more than happy to put BRUTE back into use."
"Sure, Horace. We'll try not to let too much time pass again."
Still keeping Gurk upright, Janus propped the door open. All three left the back room and headed straight for the gym's exit.
