Rashall looks around the room before returning his gaze to Velvet. "Looks like it to me, tell me whats you fighting style?" Asks Rashall, he wanted to know in order to form strategies with her so they could work together as a team.
Blaze and Heath stared each other down for a few moments. These moments, to Heath, felt like hours. Heath took the moment to think about strategy: it was either his life or Blaze's here. He decided to let Blaze attack first to see what he could do. Not to mention, the flaming tentacles would only make Blaze easier to see in the dimly lit stadium. He probably didn't think visibility through before he came in here. Blaze decided to make his move, and one of the tentacles flicked out playfully at Heath. He sidestepped it easily, and jumped over the roundup with ease. 'Dost this stallion believe me a fool?' Heath thought. Another flick, and Heath followed with another sidestep, but this time, Blaze followed up with a charge directly at him. Heath jumped out of the way, only to have one of the tentacles draw a line down his shoulder. He tensed up as the whip burned his fur and his skin. The burn wasn't enough to put him out of commission, but it certainly made him uncomfortable. "Mistake!" Heath shouted as he swung his foreleg at Blaze, who stepped away simply. Heath continued his leg into the ground, where the force of the impact sent a few shards of gravel and dirt up into Blaze's face. "Whuph?" Blaze shouted as the distraction took hold. Heath charged him and rammed his uninjured shoulder into Blaze's neck. The pony doubled back, coughing. "You idiot..." Blaze hacked out, "I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart, piece by piece." He jumped in the air and flung one flaming whip along the ground while keeping the other going through the air in an attempt to trap Heath inbetween the whips. "BURN!" he shouted, a crazed blood lust overtaking his body. Heath only had a split second to decide on what to do. There was only one decision he could come up with. Flinging out his left foreleg, Heath let the grounded whip wrap around his leg. The flames licked his arm, burning right through the skin and into his muscle. Heath hissed as the pain registered in his leg, but he couldn't let it take ahold of him. Before the next whip could arrive, he flew forwards and flung the whip into Blaze's face. The pony shouted out Heath forced the whip across his face, burning a line across it. "AUGH!" Blaze shouted as he stepped back. Heath now stood on three legs, as his left foreleg was burned beyond use. Heath turned on his good leg and slammed his back legs into Blaze's face. He could feel bone crunch as his hoof connected, and Blaze flew back, slamming into the wall. 'It appears the sandbags were useful. I expected that to be for naught.' Blaze stood, his face a mess of blood and dirt. Heath wasn't looking much better at this point in time. He had lost all feeling in his left foreleg, and he had to hold it off the ground to avoid causing further damage to it. The whip Heath had used to smack Blaze in the face with was now lying on the ground, as useless as Heath's own leg. The other was still in pristine condition. Blaze spat out a gob of blood and gave a look at Heath so hate filled, he half expected Blaze's eyeballs to catch flames. "This country shall burn." He said flatly. "Your country shall burn. Your realm shall burn. All the realms shall burn. But first, YOU shall burn!" The flaming whip extended towards Heath once again in a vicious manner. Heath suddenly realized he couldn't take much more punishment from the burns, he couldn't sidestep this one any more. Turning, he slammed his back hooves into the dirt below him to cause a chunk to splinter two feet out of the ground, enough to block the whip as it flew towards him. Taking in another breath, Heath bucked the clot and sent it flying towards Blaze. The abomination of a pony shouted once again as the rock hurtled towards his position. When the dust had cleared, Heath spotted the pony just barely holding the rock away from his head, the only thing preventing it from falling and crushing him. He wasn't strong enough to hold it for long, and both of his back legs had been smashed out of use by it. He sent a horror filled look towards Heath, who slowly stumbled over to Blaze's position. "Please!" he shouted, now sobbing because of the pain, "I submit! I give up! Just get this thing off me! I can't hold it here for long!" Heath continued his stumbling without saying a word. "What are you doing? Are- Are you helping? Wait, please, I beg of you!" Heath stopped over the pitiful pony and stared at him. "At one time, I would have spared your life," Heath said, his voice becoming ragged. He put one hoof on top of the rock, and Blaze's eyes went wide as he realized what was happening. "No..." Blaze whispered. Heath looked up and at the rest of the stadium. He couldn't bear to look at the pony any more. "That time, it is not here." He said. With all his might, he pushed down on the rock, and the last things he heard were Blaze's screams of horror as his life was violently crushed from his body. (By Celestia, that was painful to write! May Blaze rest in pieces...)
Everlast appeared next to Heath, "The Tartarans win the match!" he yelled out, "That was a bloody good show, literally." Everlast laughed a bit before yelled out to all the fighters, "Alright folks, that's it for now!" Firebreeze watched in horror as the rock was dropped on Blaze, even after he begged to be spared, "Sweet Celestia..." He said under his breath. He looked at his teammates, who were just as horrified. 'Just gotta keep your cool, Fire,' He thought, 'You can survive this...'
Velvet grinned to Rashall. "Let's say that i've got plenty of surprises in my bag, but they're mostly long-ranged. And i have a special magic that drives ponies insane. Most of the time, they end up in a killing spree, before killing themselves. If you see a dark aura around me, try not to get too close. And what about yours?"
Everlast suddenly appeared behind Velvet, "I thought it might be important to tell you that your the stadium has a force field that limits your magic. We don't need any quick wins with crazy powers, now do we, Wastelander?" He disappeared again, chuckling.
"I have many means of combat one is a secret of my people, but I tend to strike from the shadows more often than not," says Rashall.
"Interesting... We may stand a chance, then. I hope i'll be able to use my magic, tough. It could really be an advantage..."
Heath reappeared in the stadium crowd, wincing as his shoulder tensed up again. His fellow tartarians shied away from him as he appeared. Looking towards them, he said "Glory for that battle, have I none. Thou must steel thyself, death himself approaches." One of the braver ponies wandered up to him. "Why...why did you kill him?" The poor soul whimpered. Heath's eyes widened. "I...I do not know..."
As they are all teleported into the stadium stands to watch the fight, he goes on to cheer Blaze. He doesn't even really know the pegasus, as their paths had never crossed in the Dark Realm, but they are still on the same team. As the fight draws on, his eyes narrow at the moments where Heath gains the upper hand, and he snarls with delight when Blaze lands his hits. In the end, Heath comes out the victor. Watching as Blaze begs for his life, he mutters to the others on his team, "How pathetic! If I'm going to die, I plan to do so with dignity, not sniveling and groveling like vermin." The words are very clearly laced with malice, his eyes narrowing further as he watches Heath crush his team mate, both literally and figuratively. Overhearing Everlast comment on limiting magic use, he wonders just how much of a limit is put on it. Surely certain types of magic won't be as limited as others. Noticing Heath appearing back in the stands with his team, Szandor glares at the Tartaran with newly found scorn. "Seems our team is already at a disadvantage. I expect better in our future fights. Let's show these others why the Dark Realm should be feared," he says to his team, trying to boost morale.
Back in Equestria... Eight Star excitedly had his box prepared. A 20' oaken crate that Bobo could stand inside, and after much coaxing and commands, (Bobo is claustrophobic, you see,) Eight Star finally got the monstrous construct inside. "Perfect fit, as always! Now, just wait in there for them to take you." He wore a proud grin as he closed the hinged door side of the crate, like a man who was about to show off a custom car he'd built from the ground up. This was certainly special to him! Waiting... Hmm, Eight Star became curious and checked the inside of the box, only to find Bobo was already gone. "Oh you've got to be kidding me... Very well then, I suppose it's time to get myself down to the spectator's stands." Back to the Gathering... So thus, amongst the four other ponies from the natural realm, the large stone and metal golem tried to "hide" by crouching over and covering its head. Strange, the beast was... though perhaps a little light of confidence for the ponies of Equestria, since their opponents were all of the super-natural realms. Though as quiet and unmoving as a rock, it obviously looked more like a form of weapon storage to any other ponies, rather than one of the contenders. In the Stands... The sorcerer, as untimely as ever, arrives amidst the masses just as Heath was completing his combat. Huffing gently he placed himself amidst the crowd. "Drat. Was that the first fight?" He asked the first pony to his right.
"Alright, folks. Break time's over! Next up is Wastelander Rashall versus Naturalan Iceberg!" Everlast's disembodied voice called out. Firebreeze watched as a mare unicorn disappeared from the Natural Realm's spot in the stands and into the center of the stadium with Rashall, "Go Iceberg!" He cheered.
Rashall looks at the Unicorn and smiles wickedly, "What are you smiling about Wastelander? I'm the one with the magic here!" Shouts Iceberg, but then he notices that Rashall has disappeared only to reappear above and behind him. Rashall kicks out and hits Iceburg over the head knocking him out cold. "You brag too much you know, Morr keep you unicorn," Rashall stands in place waiting for something to happen since his opponent can't continue the fight.
"What was that?!" Fire yelled out. "Calm down, man!" the pony sitting next to him said, "We'll get em' next time." "Whatever..." Fire said, cooling down. He watched as Iceberg's passed out body reappeared in the stands. He sighed.
Rashall walks over to Velvet, "No problem at all, though it only gets harder from here on out," he says with a smile before lying down and meditating.
Heath prepared himself to watch the next fight. He had no idea what it would look like from the stands. Before anything could happen, he was confronted by two ponies wearing lab coats. "Those burns could cause future hinderings. Come with us, we'll patch you up." Heath turned and glared at them. "Thou's allegience lies with the dictator. Where dost my trust lie?" One of the ponies near him gasped, and he looked into the stadium to see that the battle was over faster than it had begun. He totally missed it! What was he up against!? Heath got up and decided to leave with the medics. Anything going that fast was exceptionally powerful; with his current hinderings, he'd be dead in mere moments.
Velvet took back her book from her saddlebag, and started reading again, using her magic to hold her book.
Szandor finally tears his venomous gaze away from Heath once the next match up is announced. He's curious to see what the magic limit is when he notices one combatant is a unicorn. His curiosity is piqued even further at seeing what the Wastelanders can do. Unfortunately, the entire fight lasts mere seconds as the Wastelander uses one of his abilities for all to see. "Well, that's hardly sporting. I wouldn't have expected a group of ponies that look so much like the Natural Realm group to have unusual abilities. Seems we need to keep our guard up in these fights, and never underestimate your opponent," he states matter-of-factly to the other three warriors from his realm. After the battle and his small speech, he glances to Heath again, only to notice him getting helped out of the stands by what appear to be medic ponies. "Looks like if we come out injured, they treat our wounds between fights. That seems rather strange. I wonder if they provide any medical attention for those defeated, but not killed?" he wonders aloud, turning his attention to Iceberg.
Everlast appeared in the stadium's center, looking rather unamused, "Well, that was rather boring," he said, "Anyway, next up is Tartaran Inferno and Naturalan Firebreeze!" Fire groaned and said, "I guess i'm up...", before being teleported into the stadium's center. He looked towards his opponent to see a demon earth pony. "Any last words?!" Inferno said in a demonic voice. Firebreeze smirked, "I like your mane."
