NEPH
Silently, the gardevoir agreed, but only acknowledged Kirin with a glance. While she certainly held speed and impressive abilities, it clearly wasn't enough. Nephthys was confident in her coming conflict against the human, but she did feel like a part of Kirin's fighting style was absent. As though she were quite literally designed to fight alongside something else, and not alone, though that something else was nowhere to be seen.
Had the gardevoir simply led with her later aggression, it was probable she could have individually wiped out both Raptor and Underwood relatively quickly. Hindsight was 20/20, of course. And then there was that annoying move pulled by the boy - how the hell did you counter a black hole? It was consistently an endgame scenario. It should have guaranteed a victory. Slim, but there.
It was like a pent up anger was beginning to swell as Neph was overcome in the desire to simply enact her version of "justice" here and now in the lobby by bullying Raptor . . . but she contained herself enough to only fume, and maybe tie Weevil's shoelaces together again.
M.O.D.O.K.
BOOM!
For a moment, the Man-Mind's vision was muddled as he felt a throbbing pain in his forehead. It forced him to recoil with a growl of annoyance, his internal H.U.D. on the fritz - too much so to rely on his battle helmet.
The helmet had a hole in it, from where Pit had been previously, revealing the blackened skin of M.O.D.O.K.s skull, the lights of his mask's eyes flickering, before it all pulled back to reveal the Mechanized Organism underneath, one of his arms barely reaching up to tenderly prod the damaged skin. "MY PSYCHIC SHOCKWAVE WAS SO POWERFUL I DAMAGED MYSELF!" He proclaimed in realization, evidently oblivious to Jeice's intervention as his eyes swiveled to look at the stray angel wings floating to the ground. "YES! I AM A PROGENITOR OF DESTRUCTION! I HAVE DEFEATED THE BABY ANGEL! SCIENCE!!!"
M.O.D.O.K. spun in place for a moment, celebrating his victory, before he abruptly reminded himself of the other battle taking place nearby, and quickly turned his body to look upon King Minos locked in battle with Jones, who was clearly on the losing end of the spectrum. M.O.D.O.K. rolled his eyes. Couldn't this guy fight his own battles?
Nevertheless, with the Man-Mind now free, he'd be able to devise his original plan when this battle began. He raised an arm, casting his psychic abilities over Minos as he led with his flurry of blows. While this would normally freeze somebody in place, the A.I.M. Leader knew he was somewhat weaker in this realm, like earlier when he'd tried this on Pit, so it would instead work to rapidly slow King Minos, allowing Jeice room to move, and also greatly enhancing the likelihood that the beam firing from M.O.D.O.K.s forehead would land on Minos, the beam homing in on him with pinpoint accuracy, and should he dodge or even teleport, it would simply change directions, and if Jeice got in the way, it would zap around him, ignoring him completely. It was for Minos alone.
AEGISLASH
Taskmaster was given no response in return. The entire width of the tunnel had caved, completely cutting off the assassin from Masaru and Shaymin, while Aegislash seemingly remained trapped under the great boulders of rocks, apparently crushed.
However, there was a steady stream of some kind of liquid pooling around the rocks. A stench came from it, almost like gasoline, mixed with sewage. The Royal Sword inside of the rubble had found himself wedged, doused in this near-acidic liquid as it covered him. Yet as it came into contact with the putty... the sticky substance began to slowly peel away, though not immediately, nor washing away, the gunk proving resilient. It was enough to begin adding a counter-property to the stickiness, gradually weakening it, but it wouldn't be immediate. Twisting and turning in the wedged rock, Aegislash took advantage of the outer layer of the gunk's stickiness being countered, enough that he could rub off some here or there on the heavy rocks, enough to dislodge his hand from his shield... and slide it back on.
Comfortable, where it belonged.
Still, there was no immediate escape from this self-imposed prison, nothing that wouldn't take a little time, but as it stood, the Royal Sword didn't require freedom to act. Immediately, he began to use Shadow Sneak, Taskmaster's own shadow turning against him as the shadow seemingly rose from beneath him to engulf him, clawing for him like some kind of beast.
Aegislash glanced about his surroundings, the liquid still pouring over him, taking more of the putty off bit by bit. Just a bit longer, and he'd be free of its suffocating embrace.
DART
Whoa! Tough hit!
Dart grinned as his blade bounced back - but a single Rock Smash from the Mudkip had barely slowed the mercenary down. The hit was enough to launch the Mudkip back. The Hero of Seles could feel his strength increase - Mudkip's attack had activated Crush Dance, doubling Dart's strength. The small creature landed, then charged forward.
"Haha!" Dart grinned. "You're a pretty feisty little guy. Give me your all!"
However, he wasn't matched with another blow, as he'd hoped. Instead the amphibian darted between his legs, and Dart frowned, before he instinctively swung his sword about. Mudkip's bite came in, but it instead clamped down on Heat Blade, which flared with energy, threatening to turn water into steam as Dart rapidly cut inward, the bladed end aimed right into the Mudkip, threatening to cleave its head clean in half from the jaw up.
KASSANDRA
"You should consider acting, you seem the thespian sort," Kass replied almost casually as the Jevil dealt with her attack. She waited for his teleportation - he did it frequently enough to close the distance, and when he predictably did, she was ready.
His blade cut through the air.
Kassandra had teleported a mere three feet away, now facing the jester with the staff raised, a golden pulse emanating from it as he stuck out his tongue. Not only had she anticipated such an attack - but she recalled a memory of Master Kohga pulling something very similar in the last tournament. She wouldn't fall for it so easily this time.
She heard the "hold him down" shout from Alter Knight - which Kassandra chose to ignore. Not out of disrespect, but simply because she doubted anything could hold down this bouncy, teleporting ball of fun. That would be a fool's errand.
The pulse wave was similar to the initial one Kassandra had used to dispel Jevil's omni-attack from before, this one similarly releasing in all directions. This one was merely to push Jevil back with waves of energy, so even if he tried teleporting toward her again, he just be pushed rapidly away before he could do anything, though the waves were short-lived.
Admittedly, there was one thing the misthios agreed with the jester on: using the staff was incredibly boring. She was using it as convenience right now, a simple crutch to ease her way back into her proper form so she could continue the fight in a way she preferred: with a real weapon. Normally she wouldn't pull this thing out at all unless it was absolutely necessary (like for Jevil's all-encompassing strike), but Roo's surprise suicidal move had rocked her more than she cared to admit. She needed the remedy the Staff brought in order to recover properly.
"Alter, do you honestly think either of us could grapple this guy into staying still?"
MASTER CHIEF
Reala, the champion of the original "Bootleg Tournament," had directed his question toward the spartan.
"Why is it that you are invested in this?"
The Chief's head turned to look toward the nightmaren, but wasn't initially vocal, as Gunvolt, the champion of the second tournament, responded first in a rhetorical manner. He mentioned the results of his victory, a "mess" that the third champion, being Chief himself, had inadvertently cleaned up when he'd met the Nexus and became its guardian - an occupation that was shorter than expected, considering all that followed next, but that was done now. Another fight finished.
Gunvolt rightfully expressed concerns about this tournament, and what the end could yield, though Master Hand was quick to assure them otherwise, concluding with an off-handed comment, calling the contenders "freaks." Chief wouldn't address that.
"Obligation," the Master Chief finally responded to Reala. "He asked." The Spartan nodded toward Master Hand, denoting him as the "he" who had asked.