Heais stepped forward, “Good morning all. I hope you had a good rest. Let’s finish this bloodsport today. The next round will be a no rules two on one because let’s face it, these are the all stars you guys are interested in seeing today. Zora and Sai versus…” he discussed with his crew before coming back, “Leithan.” He went to sit down in his big boy chair, Alabaster sitting at his right hand.
‘Leithan’ jumped into the arena first, bowing to the crowd and waving his makeshift blade around. He smirked confidently as Sai jumped mechanically in. “Where is the show stopper? I don’t want to beat a doll around until it breaks.”
“Behold!” He looked at a nearby window as the sun rose through it. The woman held an odd pose that it was clear required extreme balance to maintain, “When the world is shrouded in darkness, I am the rising sun on all things good!” The woman leapt from the window, landing an oddly menacing pose. “I am Zora! Warrior of the Dawn! Maiden of Light!”
The robot struck a pose back to back with her, “I am Sai, the Emerald champion of-“
‘Leithan’ laughed, “About time. I guess I can get serious then.” His eyes shone bright scarlet before a dome of scattered flames surrounded them. “There, now we can put on a show without diversions.” He pointed his blade at Zora, “I came here hoping to fight you. Let’s see what you can accomplish, Firebrand.”
Sai flashed green for a moment, seeming to snap from location to location as he tried to land blows. As each attempt seemed to hit nothing but air, he backed away as Zora fired her gun. His shoddy blade took on a golden hue as he deflected the shots to either side of the arena, rocking the temple’s foundations. As they regrouped, Sai stated, “I was right. This man is using quantum locked movement. I know these tactics.”
“Oh please, Scraps, lecture her about just one of many tricks that I know. I assure you that I know everything you know and more.”
“My suggestion? He likes to talk. Keep him talking.”
“Good. Now run along, Dummy. Go upload your data to a data port.” He laughed, “That said Zora, I’m not necessarily your enemy. We have the same goal.”
She tossed her gun high into the rafters and stated, “I highly doubt that.” She ran at him full force and aimed a kick for his temple. He blocked it with his blade, stepping back as she tried to kick him in the chin with a backflip.
He laughed, “It’s true. Saving the hostage, bringing Heais to justice. Reforming the Falos Empire into a society free from oppression. If we worked together we could have it all.” He snapped behind her, the same as he did his previous foe. When Sai blocked his blade swing, the Emperor swept his blade to the side and launched the bot into the side of the arena.
She looked at his callous treatment of her crewman as she got some distance, “You can’t fool me. With brutality like that, you could only reform it for greater barbarism. After our talk last night I thought I saw a kind man. You reminded me of a man that I once knew.”
He laughed, “He is a cheap copy. Easily replaced.” His tone then dropped, “You are lying to yourself. You want to be this great hero who can save everyone. But that road will never get you what you want. All it will do is make you a monster. You think I’m brutal? Honey, I’m showing mercy. And you should know. You still see the blood on your hands.” He could tell even through the helmet that he had rattled her. Good. A little more uncertainty. Just a few more seeds.
“So, you are the one. The saboteur. The one from The Before.” The Emperor turned as he saw the Emerald Warrior stand, seeming to glow, “Makes sense. Only an arrogant jackass would think they can change the world through manipulation.”
“Oh boy, the toy soldier is coming back to-“
“Change of plans, Nisa. I’m going to kick his ass.” He seemed to shine a bit brighter than before.
“Oh boy, taxing that artificial crystal and bo-“ The Emperor was taken off guard completely when Sai snapped to the location behind him. When he turned to face a new location, he got kicked hard in the head by a pure steel boot. Reeling from the unexpected attack he didn’t have time to breathe before the warrior was on him again. He tried to use his knowledge to predict his next moves, dodging many times until he felt a kick to the back of his head by Zora.
As the man slid across the arena looking more annoyed than hurt, Sai growled, “You may think you know what’s best for everyone and who is worth noticing, but no one asked. I’m tired of you mistaking me for some program. I’m a person, dammit. So show me something new or shut the hell up.”
Zora spoke firmly, “How did you know about that? Because I don’t remember you at all.”
The Phoenix rose, his eyes shining gold, “Of course you don’t. That’s the whole point. But don’t worry, you and I will be working to save the cosmos at some point. Like it or not.”
Sai and Zora continued their organized assault, The Phoenix taking it seriously for the first time in awhile. He was both excited and frustrated. He hadn’t had a fight this good in ages. Leave it to a replica to put him on his toes. As they lured him into what they thought was another trap, he allowed himself to be covered in flames as he seemed to disappear from the world. They barely managed to avoid colliding as he appeared in flames elsewhere in the arena.
“There you are. A new trick, replica. And I’m not a pyrosapien, nor did I teleport.” He readied his blade to take them on when a series of shots from the rafters rang out. It startled and confused him so much his flames vanished. When they did, Zora and the robot vanished. When he looked where everyone else was, he found himself completely at a loss. He had let this situation get too far away from him.
