Rebellio vs Snake vs Metal Sonic (co-written w/ comic)
Metal was quick to act following Rebellio's reappearance, thruster flaring up as the robot moved to the side, guillotine blade falling to the ground below, Metal charging his chest laser to fire at Rebellio---but the Falcon was no longer on top of the blade. He'd leapt right over him, both the sun and the blade masking his movements, the thread covering his body preventing Metal from easily tracking him. A crimson scythe struck the back of Metal's head, chipping some paint off and knocking Metal slightly forwards, the robot quick to readjust, turning on a dime to fire his already charged laser at the Adept.
"He's tracking your current trajectory, throw him off by moving upward!" Kalmiya warned, Rebellio sticking an arm out behind him, firing a single string that quickly struck the underside of a section of Speed Highway, pulling the Falcon just out of harm's way. The overshields covering Rebellio depleted at that very moment, something he wasn't quite expecting. Oh well.
Metal soon gave chase, Rebellio shooting another string that struck the side of the main compound, pulling him closer to it and just out of Metal's melee range. He wouldn't be able to play keep-away for much longer, though. Metal was scarily fast.
"Rebellio,"
It wasn't Kalmiya's voice that spoke to the young man, instead the raspy and rumbling tone of Solid Snake, his voice crackling from where Kalmiya's voice had been.
"Your artificial intelligence is letting us communicate using my codec. Look for a patch of tall rainforest trees, partially obscuring a building with an orange metallic roof. I've lain a trap for our mutual friend. Help me spring it?
"Yeah, I guess so," Rebellio muttered, not exactly sure what a codec was, but this meant Snake was actually aiding him and not just leaving him and Metal to weaken each other. With that reassurance, Rebellio shot another thread to the ground, but it wasn't attached to him---instead, the tip stuck to Metal's left boot, catching the robot a split second before he was about to collide with the Adept. Rebellio wasn't one to waste any time, his halo flashing over himself, bursting his form into thread as he began to cover some distance, searching for the place Snake had described to him.
It took a little while, but he'd found it. The vegetation did a decent job of hiding the building, orange metallic roof atop it just like Snake said. The crimson halo appeared once more, moving upward to reconstruct Rebellio, who eyed the structure. Going inside was likely dangerous, so he opted not to, instead hanging around in front of it. Metal wouldn't be long, anyway.
Sure enough, Metal flew directly overhead, managing to spot the Falcon, firing three electric orbs in his direction, Rebellio diving to the side to avoid them. The robot soon touched down in front of him, red eyes glaring into the Adept's own. More electric orbs were fired his way, Rebellio sidestepping the first, blocking the second with a crimson shield---but when the Adept went to deal with the third, Metal had already zoomed his way up to him, throwing a barrage of punches directly to his face.
The Falcon raised his shield to block them, though it was quickly whittled down, Rebellio taking a few blows before pushing Metal back with his scythe, Metal flying back in for more, when the Adept slid beneath the robot, using his scythe to deflect an incoming swipe of his metallic claws, sending the doppelgänger barreling into the building.
A darkness was quick to swallow Metal Sonic, who let out a slightly irritated beep, slightly confused as to why he hadn't already dispatched of this clown. Hadn't he dealt with far deadlier far quicker before? What was so different about this obstacle? What was-
Metal turned to the sound of powering electricity, lights flicking on in the facility he'd just crashed into, hovering place for only a couple seconds, only to find his face a couple inches from a very large, very volatile tesla coil.
And then the energy burst from it, connecting to the robot in the same amount of time it took his systems to process what was happening. Paint was burned off, metal scorched, as dozens of bolts of electricity arced along Metal, refusing to dissipate, locking him in place as it threatened to overload him.
Body shuddering, Metal tried to move, but found his vent was quickly becoming the first system to fail, sputtering and sparking, smoke beginning to plume from it. He had to bust this trap and he had to bust it fast, or risk the fastest elimination the tournament had yet seen from such a powerful combatant.
As the electricity continued to assault Metal, Rebellio replaced his scythe with a Gatling gun, carrying it over to the building's entrance. The Falcon took aim at the vulnerable robot, firing a storm of string bullets at the metallic doppelgänger, adding to the assault. Some of the bullets were worn down by the electricity, but the majority still managed to reach their target, Metal's outer body being quickly pierced by them, the voltage preventing an easy escape. Rebellio just kept on firing, aiming to take him down here and now.
In an act of desperation, Metal decided that the need to vent didn't outweigh the need to escape, and a flash of crimson blinded Rebellio for a short moment, Metal's chest laser bursting forth to obliterate the tesla coil in a massive eruption of twisted metal and scorching flames, the electricity dissipating, allowing Metal to drop to the ground, landing heavily on a single knee despite his small figure.
Plates of armor lay scattered about, the tesla having weakened their integrity, and Rebellio's bullets having blasted most of it off, exposing Metal's interior of intricate wires and tubes. An exposed weakness.
"Well, looks like hacking him might be the harder option at this point," Kalmiya jokingly informed the Adept.
"Heh, seems that way," Rebellio replied, firing a couple more dozen bullets while Metal was still vulnerable, before he chucked his weapon at the machine---and the Gatling morphed into a spiked mace midair, rolling along the ground and towards Metal, who managed to position himself in a way that only one of his arms took the hit, though the impact was powerful enough to sever it from his body.
His venting was partially done by now, so Metal chose to counterattack by firing several electric orbs at Rebellio, an attack that wasn't too taxing, especially considering he had yet to move. Rebellio rushed right in, choosing to leave Metal with as little breathing room as possible, sidestepping the first orb, ducking under the second, leaping over the third, and sliding under the fourth, now right up on Metal's face.
Rebellio swung his scythe once more, aiming to stab through Metal's center, though the robot had managed to move just out of the way, scythe grazing his side, before the doppelgänger leapt up towards Rebellio, an electric field covering his body in a desperate move.
"He's using his V. Maximum Overdrive!"
Rebellio wasn't fast enough to react, however, Metal ramming into his chest, electricity arcing all over the Falcon's body as he was dragged backwards alongside Metal, all the way to the entrance, thread suddenly bursting from the Adept's chest, forming a spike to counter the robot's move. It was powerful enough to cancel the attack and send Metal flying backwards, rolling along the ground.
Ignoring the pain coursing through his body, Rebellio ran right back towards Metal, who was now venting following the use of one of his most powerful moves. This time, the Falcon's scythe managed to pierce Metal's body, before Rebellio swinging upwards from there to cleave the robot in half. Wires, tubes and chips all burst from within Metal, who collapsed onto the ground.
The red eyes blinked once, before they faded out, marking Metal Sonic's surprising defeat. Rebellio let out a huff, shaking his head. Without the advantages he'd been given, and this alliance, he feared that such a victory might have been almost impossible. Yet, standing over the corpse of one foe, Rebellio reminded himself that his alliance was temporary. Snake was now the enemy.
Almost as if on cue, a missile fired out from the darkness of the facility, where the light from the hole in the wall couldn't reach, the projectile spinning toward Rebellio, who slid to the side as he twirled his scythe, but the missile zipped around in the air, aimed for his back.
"Look out! He has guided missiles, dodging them won't be enough," the AI provided her advice.
"Got it," Rebellio replied simply, head turning to face the missile while he moved deeper into the facility, where Snake was hiding. A throwing knife manifested in his free hand, Rebellio performing a precise throw that struck the missile head-on, causing it to explode. With that done, his head turned back towards the darkness in front of him, eyes starting to adjust to it. Snake's thing was clearly stealth, so if he could just track him down...
"Kalmiya, think you can figure out where Snake's hiding?"
"He's quicker than I was expecting," Kalmiya admitted, "but I have an integrated threat radar system---basically, yes. Unfriendly IFF tag identified and tracking. There's some strange interference though... WAIT!"
Kalmiya's sudden shout was accompanied by a mine that erupted upon Rebellio's rapid approach into the darkness, a burst of fire and force that shot outward dangerously close to Rebellio's position.
"Crap-"
The blast blinded Rebellio, forcing him into his thread form for a brief moment. Photons, explosions, and the like were particularly effective against the Falcon, something only really used against him during his fight against Chief. Maybe taking Snake down would be a little harder than he thought.
After a few seconds, Rebellio took human form once more, shoulders heaving. "He's probably got this whole place rigged. Not good. Try and keep an eye on his position, alright?"
"Got it! Oh, and your overshields module is currently recharging, just hit fifty percent. They'll be reapplied once they hit full energy."
"Alright, thanks," Rebellio replied, resuming his trek into the facility, considerably more cautious this time.
"Swing left," the AI shot out.
Rebellio spun his scythe in the direction she'd indicated, and a tranquilizer dart pinged off the weapon. He was a split second away from charging right in again to try and cut the head off the snake, so to speak, before he quickly reminded himself of his opponent's strategies.
Bait and lure. Stealth. He couldn't just rush in and meet the man head-on, that played into Snake's hands too easily. He had to think, had to strategize, had to find a way to limit Snake's movements. If only he could just pin him down...
"Agh, that interference is getting stronger, I can't locate him," Kalmiya spoke, her voice sounding strained. "Snake has something that's blocking me out, I think it has something to do with that codec he mentioned earlier."
"It's okay," Rebellio told the A.I. “I'm sure we'll find him soon."
He knew heading straight into the facility would be risky. This place was massive, so he had to not just limit his opponent's moves, but also cover as much area as possible. Then, he had an idea. Sticking an arm above him, the Falcon slowly began to turn into thread, vanishing into the darkness.
The strings of fate that bind us together lead to the same end, in a sea of a red!
"Crimson-Death-Thread!"
All throughout the facility, crimson strings began to strike. Lone ones at first, but they were soon followed up by several more, aiming to cover every nook and cranny in the building. Any place Snake could possibly be hiding in. His Special Skill was his best move for covering large areas, alerting him of his foe's position once his thread made contact, so it was his best bet for finding Snake. Or at least for figuring out which sections weren't rigged with explosives.
The threads multiplied rapidly, firing this way and that, but nothing seemed to snag. The spider's web remained Snake-less, before one particular string met its mark, piercing cleanly through Snake's forearm and pinning him to the wall, the soldier having been diving and weaving expertly through the attack, until his luck ran out.
"Hagh!" he grunted, several more threads piercing into him to lock him into place, though he still managed to wiggle his way around several, conjuring his shock knife from its sheath, finger armed to activate the secondary ability when Rebellio would dart forward, hoping to deal some damage, aware of what this move entailed.
And there he was. Rebellio took human form in front of Snake, seemingly hovering midair, a criss-cross pattern of thread materializing before him, before the Falcon darted forward, the thread wrapping around him, taking the form of a ferocious drill---though not before Snake managed to swing his knife, a painful current surging through Rebellio, the Adept pushing on, drill dead-set on piercing through Snake.
An echo of a shout.
"Snake?"
"SNAKE!?"
...
"SNAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!"
The wall had been blasted through to the outside, concrete crumbling around Rebellio as he huffed, the currents that had just run through him having been a great deal more than he'd been expecting---but his opponent was lying atop the rubble, a hole in his chest, his teeth bloody and grit. While one of his eyes was hidden behind the eyepatch, the other was registering surprise, before the appearance shifted. Rebellio could recognize what that look meant.
Acceptance.
"Hah..." Snake coughed, his eye rolling to look toward Rebellio. "Hey, kid... you're... pretty good..."
And then the life vanished from his eye.
Winner: Rebellio!
Losers: Snake and Metal Sonic!
Rebellio's expression morphed into a sad smile. He'd probably never be able to live down all the lives he'd been forced to claim. Not just in this tournament, but back home as well.
"Rest in peace, soldier." He spoke, one hand drifting over David's lifeless eye, closing it.
"Rebellio..." Kalmiya muttered, though she didn't say anything else. The Falcon stood up, heading towards the newly opened gateway behind Snake---
When he was transported elsewhere. Some sort of void, it seemed. Looking around into the darkness surrounding him, the young man appeared puzzled. "What the..."
"Rebellio, behind you. That's..."
He turned around to see what Kalmiya was talking about. A statue. It depicted a mechanical monstrosity, much larger than Rebellio, sitting on a throne. Two glowing objects were embedded in it, attached to either shoulder. And on top of the mech's head was...
A small, familiar robot.
Metal was standing atop the statue, appearing hazy, almost like a ghost. The third key was in his hand, the robot glaring down at Rebellio. The three keys right in front of Rebellio... they were the ones Chief had mentioned earlier. It seemed they would come into his possession now.
Three crimson strings shot out from Rebellio's hand, wrapping around each key, when Rebellio pulled. He was met with some resistance, not just from the stone they were embedded in, but also what was left of Metal Sonic. Maybe he wasn't exactly willing to give it up.
After a few moments of struggling, Metal relinquished his hold on the key, and the two others were soon yanked out of the stone. Had Metal realized his powerlessness? Was he planning something? There was no way for him to tell.
And the moment the three keys reached Rebellio...
Everything went white.
...
The world had shifted once more, thankfully to a place Rebellio recognized. The lobby, Chief standing nearby. Rebellio examined his hands, realizing the keys were gone, the only items in his possession being his Falcon Quill and Kalmiya's A.I. chip. Pinning the former to his jacket now that he was back in his normal form, Rebellio walked over to the Spartan.
"I... got the keys," he began, still a little shocked by everything that had just transpired. "Great job beating Specter, by the way. Even without Kalmiya, you managed to stop him. Oh, that reminds me..."
Holding his hand out to Chief, he presented Kalmiya's chip to him.
"I
did make a promise, didn't I?"
