Anticytherian Circle/2017/Second Preliminary Match: Boltstryke vs Ajax

This is the second preliminary match of the Anticytherian Circle 2016, Boltstryke The Hedgehog vs

The second preliminary match was about to start. The spectators were bustling in fun around the famous Vermilion Pits.

"Hot, hot greetings to everyone~!" a fair woman with flowing blonde hair exclaimed from the commentator panel. "Here we are in the renowned Vermilion Pits, a geyser field steaming with vapor and guess what? Not only steam but cinders! This will be most interesting as we reveal our current bracket for this particular match!"

She paused for a while. "Apologies, the heat is quite intense as of this moment. But let us lock our eyes at our brave, brave warriors! The first battler is interestingly a Mobian and a famed casanova! Come forth from the navy blue, Boltstryke the Hedgehog~!"

Boltstryke winked at the female audience. "This one's for you, ladies!"

As Boltstryke emerged from the warproom with a heart-throbbing stunt, the audience clapped and howled in excitement. The ladies around swoon for strange reasons!

He laughed.

Ajax could not help but chuckle at Boltstryke's stunt.

"The second battler, the silent warrior whose deadly skills in axemanship is second to none! Hailing from Efrika, Mobius... Ajax Akachi~!"

The audience cheered for Ajax as well. They were quite amazed by the looks of his barbaric bearing complementing his two axes.

"Let's give the crowd a good show, OK?"

He smiled towards him, saying these few words, "Dit sal'n boete tweestryd wees," which translates to, "This will be a fine duel."

[12/20/2016 9:49:06 PM] Ené: "And if you win this battle, I want you to win the tournament for me, OK?" Boltstryke smiled. [12/20/2016 9:49:48 PM] Ené: Boltstryke turned off his Galaxy Army's intercom and put it away "Now no one can intrefere." [12/20/2016 9:51:44 PM] Sylvia Zephyrius: "Now it is time for us... To witness their all in a decisive match of destiny! Who shall emerge the victor?! We shall find out this moment of truth~!"

The arena's astral comm array announced. "Second preliminary match: Boltstryke vs Ajax. Projecting ethereal shielding."

The arena grounds and the spectation ring was then bordered by a cylindrical ethereal barrier between them to protect the audience from their potentially destructive attacks.

"That's cool!"

"Starting the duel in 3... 2... 1..."

"Commencing the duel," the AI announced, followed by a 2-second buzzer.

Boltstryke starts flying against Ajax.

"Let's begin, big guy!"

The audience cheered in excitement!

He stayed still, not flinching once at the action.

Boltstryke flinched for a second, but continue to move forward.

"Ooh, do I spy a mind fest? Who shall land the first attack?!" commented Alice.

The steam will disturb them if they are not resistant to heat. Cinders flew around to reduce visibility.

Boltstryke was now very close to Ajax.

Interestingly, the two contestants were not flinching in the midst of the heat! However, the cinders were flying around from individual pits.

He then started to run towards him, slowly unsheathing the axes from his belt while doing so.

"Heeeere they are! Ajax's war axes ready to bludgeon his opponent~!"

Boltstryke did nothing, continue forward and flinched for a second.

Ajax finally came close to the hedgehog, and without hesitation, pulled out the axe, aiming the handle at Boltstryke.

"At last, they are about to clash in close combat!" said Alice.

The axe hit Bolt just to show that was an electrical clone.

"A replication, it was! Where did Boltstryke go?!" commented Alice.

A lightning bolt was approaching Ajax from above.

Discovering that it was just an illusion of some kind, Ajax looked around eventually seeing the lightning bolt above, but having little time to react.

While the thunder stroke Ajax, Bolt appeared behind him and tried to punch him while his fist was with electrical currents.

"A rear ambush! A clever approach, it was!"

Ajax was hit with the lightning bolt, twitching in pain, and was thrown to the ground as Boltstryke hit him with his fist.

He slowly began to get up, seemingly looking as if he were in pain.

"You were hit, but you're strong, I can feel that." Bolt launched three lightning bolts against Ajax.

Suddenly, he got up quickly and dodge all three that were tossed towards him. "You're right. I am that strong."

"Such superb agility Ajax has displayed! He is truly a veteran warrior!"

Bolt quickly launched himself against Ajax.

He stood, waiting for the attack.

Bolt launched two lightning bolts and followed with a swift jab.

The lightning bolts hit nothing, as he reacted quickly. As for the punch, he caught it with ease.

Bolt smirked, teleporting behind him and tried to kick his back.

Ajax had little time to react, but turned around anyways; he was hit dead in the gut, but was still standing.

Bolt tried to follow up with an uppercut.

Although the blow landed on Ajax, he seemed as if he were not affected by this. Quickly, he grabbed Bolt and threw him as hard as he could.

"Such defense and strength Ajax has! Boltstryke may be swift, but his physical blows did not dent him well!"

Bolt was launched and landed on his feet. "That was good!"

Following this attack, Ajax followed by running towards him.

Bolt twitched for a second and started running against him.

"Another mind game! Who will land the next attack?!" spoke Alice.

He tossed his fist towards Bolt, hoping to land a blow.

It landed, but again, another clone.

"Boltstryke disappeared again!"

Quickly three Bolts appeared behind him trying to deliver their attacks.

"Three Boltstrykes!"

His first guess was to turn behind him, and he did. This allowed him to begin his evasive maneuver, as he quickly leaped back, as to get enough time to counter the attacks.

The two side Bolts fused with the middle one, the real, and made electricity around him. Bolt tried to place his hand on Ajax's belly.

Having enough seconds to realize what he was about to do, he quickly reacted as he grabbed his arm.

Bolt used the other arm to launch a lightning to Ajax's face.

Cinders scattered around the place.

Having little time to react, he was stunned by the bolt of lightning, backing up as he tried to develop his eyesight.

Bolt took this chance to put his hand and deliver him his special "TRUE THUNDER WAVE" A giant burst of lightning was shot from Bolt's hand.

He was hit, and electrocuted. He went down on one knee, seemingly tired.

"What's this? Boltstryke managed to overwhelm Ajax with electric attacks!"

Bolt smiled. "That was one of my strongest moves. It's normal that you're tired."

"You....are pretty tough..." He began to get back up slowly.

"Thanks. You are too. For a melee fighter, you're one of the strongest I fought." Bolt started charging up his power. "It's a shame we're reaching the end of the battle. Don't worry, I'll win this for you and defeat Ruben in the process." His fur went lighter and thunder were always around him. "This is my Plug Mode. But..."

"But...." He said as he looked up at him. "You are dealing with God's pawn. I was hiding pure strength."

"Hum? God's pawn?"

After he said this, he spreaded out his legs and arms as he began to yell fearlessly. The ground around seemed to shake slightly as his screech became louder.

"Tremors have developed around the arena! The steam and cinders are messing up the field! Ajax is quite more menacing than he looks right now!"

"Going full out? OK then!" Boltstryke did the same.

He stopped, as he looked at Bolt with his teeth baring out.

Ené: Bolt stopped, smiling.

"This is a warrior's PURE RAGE !!!!"

"Let's go, big guy!"

He screamed out, as he began to charge towards Bolt.

Bolt started flying against him. "LET'S DO THIS!"

Bolt transformed into a giant thunder dragon, charging against Ajax.

Seeing this, Ajax jumped upwards, holding his fist in the air.

The dragon roared and continue forward.

As the ground shook, the steam was released further and more cinders were violently flying around the arena.

The dragon tried to bite Ajax.

Unsuccessful, it seemed. If it opened its mouth early, Ajax would jump off the snout and be able to grab it.

Bolt exited the dragon. The dragon still moved, but Bolt tried to engage himself against Ajax.

Ajax upheld his fist, concentrating on directly hitting Bolt in the gut.

Bolt teleported away.

A certain pit nearby erupted, releasing a shower of cinders. Boltstryke and Ajax are within its range.

Ajax had little time to react, so he took his chances as the shower off cinders headed towards him.

Bolt appeared, not behind him, but above him, trying to kick him against the cinders.

Ajax quickly turned, seeing Bolt in his sights. Idea time. Before Bolt would kick him, he would grab his leg, and throw him downward towards the cinders.

"Good job!" Bolt quickly evaded them.

As for Ajax, however.... He dodged some.. But got hit by the rest, however...

Boltstryke charged electricity around him, so that every time Ajax touched him, he would be shocked by a surprise.

The crowd's excitement was intensifying!

Ajax pulled out both axes as he went towards Bolt.

Bolt suddenly pointed his hands against Ajax. "SOLAR FLARE!" A giant flash appeared on stage.

All of the audience was startled by the sudden flash! Alice reacted in time, blocking her eyes with her left hand. "A flash of light has manifested on stage! Everyone, cover your eyes!"

Ajax was blinded.

Boltstryke swiftly placed his hand on Ajax's belly. "TRUE THUNDER ROAR!" The thunder dragon leaves Bolt's hand biting and electrocuting Ajax at the same time.

The steam concentrated around the area. The audience were curious as to what is happening right now.

"Augh!!" He screeched. He swung wildly, trying to hit Bolt.

Bolt evaded it easily. And... "TRUE THUNDER WAVE!" The attack had sufficient range to hit Ajax.

He had little time to move; He was hit. Again.

Bolt smirked.

He started launching a lot of lightning bolts.

The bolt struck his area, and create a large amount of dust, the air becoming too thin to see.

Bolt backed away, ready for any attack.

As the dust settled, Ajax showed; Although, he looked like the guy that showed out for girls, as his cauldron were gone and his muscles were showing. He seemed completely unharmed, although he was breathing deeply as his fur became ragged and messy.

"Ajax is still standing up! And behold his body build—a true warrior he is!"

"We're putting the best show they'll ever see, hum?" Said Boltstryke still in his Plug Mode.

"Yeah, I think so too. You are a tough competitor."

"Thanks. You're not bad either."

"And thanks for the fight. I didn't feel so pumped in centuries!"

"However, I feel that this will have to end," He said, as he got into a force battle stance.

"Of course!" Boltstryke got into his fighting stance again.

Ajax went first; at light speed, he launched himself towards Bolt, raising a fist.

"Light speed, hum?" Boltstryke used light speed to evade and grab his fist, pull him and try to punch him.

Ajax did the same, as he grabbed Bolt's arm, the strength of his being unable to escape from.

Bolt quickly tried to deliver him an headbutt charged with electricity.

Ajax still tightened his grip on Bolt, even as his body was being eletrocuted, feeling as if he was being roasted alive.

He felt the headbutt, but he still had his grip on him. Like a rag doll, he went to slam Bolt against the ground.

Bolt started giving him headbutts.

One after the other, but Ajax still refused to let go. This was the spirit, of a true warrior. He lifted Bolt up, and slammed him into the ground.

Just before hitting the ground, Bolt teleported behind Ajax, launching him an elbow attack.

Having seen this multiple times, he knew what to do. He turned around, grabbing hold of his arm again before he tossed his fist into his face.

Bolt was hit and backed away. "Good job!" Bolt closed his eyes then he opened them, rushing towards Ajax.

Ajax rushed towards him as well.

Boltstryke was flying in a zigzag motion while throwing lightning bolts at Ajax.

With agile focus, he dodged all of them, while still chasing after Bolt.

Boltstryke disappears and appears.

Bolt didn't know this, but Ajax was slowly losing focus and brain activity.

Well, actually, now he can see it, as Ajax was becoming more slow than he was in the beginning, and was starting to breath really hard.

Bolt charged his two hands with electrical currents. "This will be a tornado of emotions!" Bolt started spinning so fast while flying to Ajax that the electrical current on his hands started to create a thunder tornado going straight to Ajax.

"Oh god..." Ajax mumbled under his breath as he slowly ran to escape from the vortex of thunder.

The tornado was almost big enough as half of the stadium, since Boltstryke was charging it even more.

Ajax tried his hardest, but he could not prevail. He was sucked into the tornado, his body acting like a rag doll while doing so.

Boltstryke started flying around the tornado, so Ajax was receiving damage from it and from Bolt's hits.

Ajax made no sounds, made no actions; He simply took the hits, and the electricity running through his body, which was frying him up.

For the final hit, Bolt concentrated the tornado's energy on his hand and fused it with the true thunder wave. "RAMPAGING THUNDER!"

Ajax began to foam; not a good sign. His body was shocked violently, as his screech of pain could be heard not only by Boltstryke, but the spectators and audience as well.

"I think it's best for this match to end..." Boltstryke said while looking at Ajax's state.

"Oh! Do we hear the sound of suffering?! Not a good sign!" commented Alice.

The audience could not readily hear Ajax screech but rather faintly. This caused most of them to worry, some getting excited as to see who will emerge the victor.

As the dust settled from the large attack, the audience could clearly see whom the victor was, as they might could've seen Ajax face-planted in the dirt, moving only a tiny bit as he slowly got up again.

His heart was racing at a fast rate, too fast as a matter of fact. However, he would not let this stop the battle.

As the tornado dissipated, the audience saw Ajax falling on the warm ground as the steam was almost cleared out. The audience howled in succession.

"Is he down? No, he is not! Ajax is still standing! He is quite a stalwart warrior in spite of the tornado that caused him pain!" commented Alice.

She almost pressed the buzzer button but stopped herself as she saw Ajax stand back up.

Bolt landed.

Most of the spectators admired Ajax's perseverance. They called out, "Ajax! Ajax! Ajax!" to encourage him.

"You're quite the defense type, hum?"

"After Boltstryke's manifold flurry of attacks, Ajax did not give up!" Alice cried.

"Fighting gods is one thing, but mortals? Jeez, more fun!"

He stood, having trouble as his body was weakened. However, he still made his way towards Bolt, not giving in for his body's request to give up and rest.

Without hesitation, he began to pick up pace as he gained more and more support from the audience.

"It's time to end this, perhaps?" Boltstryke started flying against Ajax.

The audience succeeded in great cheer.

"For.....EFRIKA!!!!" He hollered, as he raised his fist, his heartbeat going faster as he began to cough.

"Will this clinch everything? Let us see!" spoke Alice.

Boltstryke approached Ajax, very focused on his movements. "I'm gonna fight him... NO MATTER WHAT!" He started going even faster.

With great effort, he pressured his feet towards the ground, using every bit of strength in them to launch himself into the air, the ground below him blowing dust and tiny pieces of debris in the air.

Bolt followed him to the air.

Seeing that Bolt followed him, he came up with another idea.

Bolt was ready to finish this.

He dived towards Bolt, grabbing his body.

Bolt took this chance, grabbed Ajax's head and started electrocuting him with a lot of pressure.

It was a tough rustle, as he received more electrocution, screeching out in unbelievable pain is his eyes went plain white.

Bolt teleported away from Ajax's arms.

He was breathing deeply for the first time in the match. "Jeez..."

"I...guess I lost, didn't I?" He mumbled silently as he began to fall back to the ground, chuckling silently until he hit the ground with a loud thud, foaming again at the mouth as he laid, dirty and ragged.

He's seemingly in shock, it seems, his eyes a plain white as he stopped moving.

Bolt laughed and sat on the ground returning to his normal state. "That was hard..." Bolt couldn't move anymore since the fight ended using most of his energy.

The audience shouted out in succession.

"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...!" shouted Alice.

Bolt layed down, breathing heavily.

Alice pressed the buzzer button. "It has been decided!"

"End of the duel. Winner of the second preliminary match: Boltstryke the Hedgehog," announced the A.I.

The audience cheered again.

Bolt raised his fist, laughing.

"Boltstryke emerged the victor! After all his efforts with his manifold electrical attacks, he was able to defeat Ajax! And we need gram grails to heal him. He is a poor sap right now..." said Alice.

Six Aeretherian healers called gram grails emerged from the warproom and began to lift Ajax together with their ethereal hands. They brought him to the medical bay to make him rest.

Unbeknownst to the others, Cordelia was watching from the commentator panel as the registration hall does not seem to have new registries in the moment. The panel was readily seen from below.

"I can't believe this... I can't even move my body... THIS WAS AWESOME!" He laughs. "I hope the next fights are awesome like this too! Ruben, just wait for me, you beautiful bastard!"

"You have shown your prowess quite well, Boltstryke..." Cordelia thought. "I am now deeply interested to test your mettle... up close in personal! You shall await for me in the Enigma Keep~!" She then chuckled.

Eventually, Bolt could stand up and with difficulties, leave the stage.

"Boltstryke will now move on to the next bracket! As of now, our current matchups for the middlegrounds are yet unknown, so please take your break on the refreshments hall and never get rusty in the preparation hall~!" Alice reminded.

Cordelia stood up and spoke through the astral comm.

"Boltstryke is now eligible to fight in the Enigma Keep!"

"C-Cordelia?!" Alice said in surprise.

Cordelia simply winked at her.

Boltstryke was surprised. "Wow! Yeah!"

That voice was different, it seemed. It was very familiar....

"Hum? That voice... Cordelia?"

"If you are still there, Mister Boltstryke, I shall be expecting you in the Enigma Keep! I will gladly await~!"

"I'll gladly fight against you!"

The commentator panel had no roof, so she was clearly visible even from afar as her green hair showed.

"Very well~! I will be seeing you later after your return to the dome," she said before waving farewell.

Boltstryke smiled.

Results
Boltstryke won against Ajax by a contact electrocution on the latter's head while former was on Plug Form.