Fix My Mechanical Heart

[grey987]

Mark blinked, sighing and shaking his head with his eyes closed. "Either that mech was slowing the person down, or their reflexes were really slow..."

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora exited the ring, jumping out of Hollow. "To easy." She said.

 

[grey987]

"It certainly looked like it," Mark commented before turning towards the ring. "Well, here I go." Boosting over to the arena, he was soon faced with an opponent and waited for the 15-second timer to go down as he examined the mech. He had a feeling that this match was also going to end quickly.


Mech:


<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2014_11/57a8c0f1c9c83_PracticeOpponent.jpg.2a80fc6fe1ffb9e8abf84dbc275b6197.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="35718" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2014_11/57a8c0f1c9c83_PracticeOpponent.jpg.2a80fc6fe1ffb9e8abf84dbc275b6197.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>


Type: Offense

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora smiled as she rested on a bench, watching the match.

 

[grey987]

Both fighters dashed towards each other before Mark's opponent boosted over to his left to throw a punch, which he dodged. He avoided two other punches thrown in a quick succession before ducking and reaching behind his opponent's back, slamming a knee into the mech's stomach area. As the person inside hunched over, he brought down an elbow over the mech's back and sent it straight into the ground. He stood there and looked at the mech for a while, and when it didn't get up, he boosted away and out of the arena.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora smiled. "This is going to be a great partnership" She mumbled.

 

[grey987]

Mark nodded. "Yep. But hopefully there'll actually be a challenge come the tournament."

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora nodded, laughing lightly.

 

[grey987]

"Hm. Now that looks like an interesting opponent," Mark mused as he noticed someone new entering the ring. Turning to Kiora, he asked, "Do you want to take them on? Or should I?"


Mech:


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Type: Speed

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora smiled. "I think I should." She said, spotting one of the people she had fought in the last tournament. She got inside her mech and entered the arena, giggling as he opponent jumped in fear.

 

[grey987]

Mark pressed a palm against Hunter's headpiece. So much for being interesting, he thought.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora started the fight off slow, both of them refusing to move. Then, as if by force, both attacked at once with the same move, their legs clashing with each other. Since then it was a fist fight of speed, blocks, punches and kicks being thrown. The only clear move after that was Kiora jumping into the air, and taking out her katana, slashing downwards and opening the front of his mech like splitting a fruit.

 

[grey987]

Mark flinched as he caught sight of the final move Kiora delivered with her katana. "Talk about a close call," he said quietly to himself.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora exited the arena and hopped out, her skin glistening with sweat.

 

[grey987]

"That was a pretty impressive match," Mark commented. "Did he give you a hard time at all?"

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora nodded. "A little but not much."

 

[grey987]

Mark soon saw another person enter the ring. "Alright, I got this," he told Kiora, jumping into the ring with his new opponent.


Mech:


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Type: Defensive

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora smiled and leaned back, chilling on a chair.

 

[grey987]

When the timer ended, Mark had barely any time to react as his opponent lifted an arm and a hidden compartment ejected from the mech's wrist, launching a grenade at him that exploded into smoke upon contact with Hunter's headpiece. Growling, Mark stumbled back and held a hand in front of his face before lowering it to try and see in front of him. He was barely able to block a rapidly approaching fist from his opponent, but grunted in pain when he felt a hit connect with his stomach and another to the side of his face. He hit the floor hard face-first, just managing to turn on his back and kick his opponent away from him as he was being approached. Mark then somersaulted backward onto his feet, getting ready to charge.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora was watching the fight outside when someone walked up to her when she was inside her mech. "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" The man asked. She nodded and walked towards a quiet corner, but just as she was about to ask, the man's mech trapped her against the wall, a powerful hand clasped around her throat. "Listen little girl, people like you don't have the right to be here. You girls are just a bunch of cheating losers. Now it's time to show the world that." He hissed. She knew no one would hear her scream if she could, the mech slowly crushing her into the wall and squeezing on her neck. Her fingers pried at his, trying to free herself from his grasp.

 

[grey987]

Before Mark could make a move, he suddenly noticed that his opponent's gaze had shifted away from him and towards the outside of the arena. The defensive mech boosted towards the edge of the ring and jumped out, charging towards the mech that had Kiora pinned against the wall and barged into him with his shoulder. While a struggle between the two happened off to the side, Mark proceeded to exit the arena and knelt by Kiora's side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, concern very much evident in his voice.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora shook her head, the metal around her throat badly damaged. It was almost the equivalent of welding the metal together, basically crushing her windpipe. She was at the point where she couldn't breathe again, but worse than last time. Not only that, before the others had managed to get there, he had slammed her into the wall, bruising her back.

 

[grey987]

"Damn it," Mark muttered, tearing Kiora's headpiece off and easing the metal off her throat, carrying her in his arms afterwards. "We should get you to a hospital," he told her before seeing the defensive mech being knocked backward, rolling once before sliding across the ground on a foot, knee and fist. Standing up, the mech then turned his head towards the two. "Go, I can handle this," he spoke, the user's voice altered by a filter in the mech. Mark didn't even get a chance to thank him before he boosted forward and pinned the other mech against the wall beside them, making room for Mark to boost out of the area.

 

[IceQueen]

Kiora stared up at him, nodding. She was afraid she had damaged her vocal chords or that she would never be able to breathe right again, but she tried not to think about it. She decided to focus on one thing, staying awake. She pressed her head to his mech's chest and listened to their hearts beat as one.

 

[grey987]

Mark boosted out of the arena and headed to the nearest hospital as soon as he could, guided by Hunter's navigational system. "Just hang in there, Kiora," he urged. "I'm going as fast as I can." He really hoped that the damage would end up not being anything serious. Then he began to wonder: why was Kiora attacked in the first place?