Tournament of Marvels: Kid Kaiju vs Squirrel Girl

[Gordy]

Main Thread

This is the Battle of the Brave, the Brawl of the Best, the Clash of the Titans. This is the Tournament of Marvels.

The tournament is considered by many to be the superhero equivalent of the Olympics; the ultimate test of power, skill and talent for anyone willing to compete. Anyone is free to enter, but very few make it past the preliminaries. Even fewer, who make up the best of the best, can go even further.

Hosted in Latveria, hundreds, if not thousands of people had come to the newly-created pop-up arena, the Closed Circle, to witness a clash of power between two titans. Today, four different duels would take place. Eight competitors would battle it out try and reach the semi-finals of the Tournament of Marvels.

The first round's titans were Kid Kaiju and Squirrel Girl. Though they lacked the air of danger and intimidation, the fact that they made it to the quarter-finals was proof of their talent.

How would this match go down? Brawl to the finish? A battle of wits and intrigue? Rock-paper-scissors? Only the competitors would decide how this played out. Let's hope that, whatever they have in mind, it's going to be the biggest spectacle Latveria has ever seen since last week, when their loving dictator clashed his enemies.

A male announcer's voice echoed through the stadium: "Kid Kaiju vs Squirrel Girl! Would both competitors puh-lease make it to the field! It's time for bloodshed!"

[Zeronone]

Kid Kaiju AKA Kei Kawada sat in the locker room, a severe look on his face as his e pen flew over the front of his tablet. He had been sitting here drawing since his last victory that had been insanely close. He knew his weakness, he was not planning for it. hearing the announcer, Kei stood up and walked towards the arena. He had been told he could not summon his beasts during the battle but was allowed outside. Very well. Moving quickly, he went page by page finishing a small detail and at his back monster after monster after monster appeared. He knew how much money was on the line and he was going to win it all!

A small grey humanoid sat on his shoulder, nodding to the boy who walked inside, leading his legion of monsters. This was his power, this was his legacy, Kid Kaiju, the boy of monsters!

[aquarius]

Doreen was only here for the prize money. Not for herself but instead a charity that worked to support her various furry friends. Sure there were a few SHIELD things going on while she was there, but as far as she understood it she was more the distraction than anything else. Not difficult as she was quite happy to try and get Vic's attention every so often in her usual cheerful fashion.

Still, there was the occasional fight she had to get through. A few had been quite good fun where she'd been up against some villains, though they'd been getting quite difficult as she progressed through the rounds. Her name was called out, and it was time. She walked down the corridor leading to the arena, taking a moment to let her eyes adjust to the bright sunlight before moving further in.

Tippy Toe was perched on her shoulder, her bright pink bow carefully cleaned of the blood stains from the previous fight (not theirs, fortunately) and all around the arena, other squirrels had found various vantage points to settle down in. Her friends would always support her, even in the lair of the world's greatest super villain.

Squirrel Girl took a moment to survey the field full of monsters and the comparatively miniscule kid behind them. She'd not been to any of his fights, but there had been a few of her scouts who had kept her informed of all of the bouts. Doreen gave him a cheerful smile and a friendly wave, something she then duplicated in the direction of the green clad figure in the royal box. They were... not old friends, but they had an understanding, and a degree of respect for each other. Not that he'd ever admit it, of course...

[Zeronone]

Kei climbed onto the back of the hummer sized gryphon like creature, sitting behind his wall of monsters. The Hyra creature wrapped a tail around the gryphon, its many heads watching the girl. The demon winged creature stood only at six feet and was the second smallest among the group, wielding a long flaming double tipped spear, the monster had the look of a seasoned warrior as it waited calmly for the girl to enter the ring. The largest of the monsters was easily the four armed one, standing bigger than a three-story house, it rippled with powerful muscles, a thick rocky like hide and orange light glowed from inside. Heat flowed off it in waves which is why it stood a little further and to the side of its allies.

The giant spiked dog like creature was the size of a tank and just as armored, thick sharp spikes covered its entire body, its mouth opened to reveal a maul full of the same spikes. Huge claws ripped the ground as if it was paper, it was obviously eager but being held back by the boy sitting on his bird. On his shoulder was a little grey man with green eyes. It sat cross legged and very calmly, watching the girl approach, its vast intelligence analyzing her from every step and then would whisper in Kei's ear. Only for him to nod, sweat leaked down his neck. This was his first real fight, and he was nervous, but he had faith in his creations.

He looked over at the monarch of the nation they were currently in and felt a cold pit. Was the masked man even now sizing him up? Everyone knew of Doctor Doom, the King of Latveria. Most say he is an evil cold-hearted SOB but Kei was not one to judge on others' opinions. However, just looking at the man in his armor it was clear this was a dangerous man.

[aquarius]

So... a Gryphon? She'd beaten one of them before. A Hydra? She'd fought Hydra a few times. Demons? Who hadn't fought one of them? A multi limbed building sized monstrosity? Compared to a Gigantos it was miniscule. Sure there were lots of them, but their limitation was obvious near instantly. They were a random collection of monsters. They didn't share a unified operating system. Or 'group cohesion', to put it another way. Fighting a bunch of random monsters of vastly differing sizes and skill sets was way easier than even modest numbers of a collective with some concept of teamwork.

Before the starting signal was given, Doreen reached into one of her belt pouches, apparently withdrawing something. Whatever it was though it was small, enough to fit in her clenched fist with no hint of what it might be. The few moments she had left before the fighting started, she spent considering tactics for each of these monsters. The giant? Well, Giant-Man had always said having an Achilles heel the size of a normal leg made it really easy for skilled fighters to hit it. The big spiky dog? Throw someone into it. Maybe the demon or the fire giant, in fact. Nothing seemed to suggest these creatures were under any particular control, so they'd hopefully act according to their nature and their numbers would work against them soon enough. Plus, there was her actual plan, something she only needed to wait for an opportune moment to execute. Until then, everything was waiting for the opening.

For now though, there was the small army of horrors between her and her actual opponent, and the sound of the gong that signalled the start of the bout. Doreen charged immediately at the fire giant, hoping that the other monsters would hold back for now - the intensity of the warmth coming from the titan and their apparent lack of any shared interest combining to the conclusion 'let someone else go first'. If she reached the giant unimpeded then a full strength strike at either its knee or the Achilles heel would hopefully take out its leg, eliminating its ability to balance, at which point a follow up strike would send it toppling in the direction of that spiky dog thing.