Farlig struck the moment the match began.
His mechanical arms tore through the air in a massive wave; clawed appendages, bladed limbs, an overwhelming barrage. Every hit was precise, meant to end the battle before it could even start.
But I wasn't there.
His arms ripped into the sand where I had stood, carving deep trenches into the battlefield. The sheer force sent clouds of dust skyward. But I had already moved, gliding smoothly over the dunes.
Another strike. A hammer-like limb came crashing down, aiming to obliterate me.
Once again, I was gone.
I wasn't evading. I was never where he expected me to be in the first place.
Farlig kept attacking over and over. His arms twisted and shifted as he wailed on me, trying to trap me in a web of destruction from every side. Plasma bursts, sharp limbs, and quick strikes in all directions. But every time, I got just out of his reach.
His huge floating behemoth was high above the battlefield, with arms flailing like the chaotic tentacles of a mechanical god.
None of them touched me.
Farlig: "Are you just running?"
His voice cut through the comms, laced with growing irritation.
I didn't respond.
I kept moving.
He launched more attacks. Faster now. Desperate to overwhelm me completely.
Still, nothing landed.
Every missed strike only fuelled his frustration. His attacks kicked up thick dust clouds, meant to blind me. But I was already gone before they even formed. Sandstorms rippled across the battlefield, but I was always one step ahead.
Farlig: "Stop running and fight!"
His irritation was turning to anger. His attacks grew sloppier, more reckless.
Desperation.
I landed atop a high dune, my MegaMech towering above the storm of sand he had created. I looked down at him through the shifting haze.
Me: "Okay, I'll fight."
My fingers moved over the controls.
Me: "If you insist."
And then I attacked.
I kicked precisely once. A single, controlled strike.
A rapid motion, almost too fast to register.
The reinforced leg of my MegaMech shot forward, slamming its foot against one of Farlig's massive arm joints. A direct impact.
The HP counter barely moved.
*Farlig's MegaMech: 97,950 HP (-50 HP)*
Stillness.
Then Farlig began to chuckle.
Farlig: "That's it?! That's your big counterattack?"
His voice dripped with amusement, laced with contempt.
"What was that supposed to accomplish? Scratch my paint?"
He bent his arm, ready to move it.
Then he stopped.
I watched as his confidence wavered, shifting into something else. Confusion.
His arm remained completely still. Useless.
He tried again. Nothing.
He checked his diagnostics. Still nothing.
The mockery left his voice.
Farlig: "Wait... what?"
Me: "Kneecaps."
Farlig: "What?"
I let the silence hang for just a second continuing.
Me: "That's the thing about arms. They don't have caps on the other side of the joint."
Farlig: "What are you talking about?"
His tone tightened.
I continued, ignoring his irritation.
Me: "See, kneecaps belong to legs. They're designed to reinforce the outside of a joint. That's why they don't easily give under pressure, even with all the weight they carry. Hands? Arms? They don't have that. The back of the elbow has no cap. No reinforced structure stops the joint from snapping under enough force. Arms are fragile. Frail."
I shifted my MegaMech slightly, the sand compressing beneath my weight. My text remained steady.
Me: "And it looks like that weakness extends to your MegaMech."
Farlig's other arms stiffened, as though reacting to his growing anger.
Farlig: "Shut up."
He lunged forward, another arm stretching for me—
But I was already gone.
My MegaMech moved fluidly, gliding across the dunes like a blur against the sand.
And as his arm withdrew from its failed grab—
I had already lined up my next kick.
Straight for another joint.
I kicked again.
Another joint snapped under the force of my strike, another arm falling limp. The impact barely registered on his HP bar.
Farlig's MegaMech: 97,850 HP (-100 HP)
Farlig snarled, frustration thick in his voice. "You—" He cut himself off as another arm jerked unresponsively.
I didn't wait for him to recover. I moved.
Another kick. Another joint shattered.
Farlig's MegaMech: 97,700 HP (-150 HP)
Another.
97,550 HP (-150 HP)
Then another.
97,350 HP (-200 HP)
The HP was barely dropping, but it wasn't about the damage. It was about the effect.
One by one, his arms stopped moving.
Farlig: "Is this you're whole plan?!" The disbelief in his voice was almost funny. "What kind of pathetic strategy—"
Another arm broke. Another fell dead at his side.
97,100 HP (-250 HP)
His massive, unstoppable MegaMech, built to crush anything in its path, was becoming a corpse of dead limbs.
Farlig: "STOP MOVING!"
His frustration turned into desperation. The remaining arms swung wildly, but there were fewer of them now, and they were slower. Easier to predict. Easier to dismantle.
I kicked again.
96,750 HP (-350 HP)
Another joint gave out.
Then another.
96,400 HP (-350 HP)
More than half his arms were now useless, dangling lifelessly against his core.
Farlig: "Fight properly, damn you!"
His MegaMech lurched back, using the few functional arms left to regain distance. But I didn't let him.
I was already inside his guard.
Another arm gone.
96,050 HP (-350 HP)
Another.
95,600 HP (-450 HP)
And then I saw it—
A plasma cannon. One of his last remaining weapons. It charged with an ominous hum, the core glowing deep blue as it powered up for a devastating shot.
Farlig: "Let's see you dodge how you dodge this one!"
The arm shot forward, aiming directly at me.
I struck before it fired.
My kick smashed into the joint of the cannon arm, shattering it completely. The weapon twitched and shuddered as it fell apart, its internal gyros thrown off balance. The plasma cannon jerked, the aiming system failing.
And in the next instant, I redirected it.
The limp, broken arm swung toward his own core.
The plasma cannon fired.
A blinding beam of energy tore through his MegaMech.
The explosion ripped through his remaining structure, sending chunks of metal scattering across the battlefield.
The dust settled.
SYSTEM MESSAGE: MATCH OVER.
VICTORY.
Farlig's MegaMech collapsed, a burning wreck of ruined limbs, the massive arms that had once been unstoppable now nothing but broken, useless scrap.
I exhaled slowly.
It was done.
Or at least that's what I thought.
Another message appeared the instant the victory screen flashed.
For a moment, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Maybe I was still adjusting to the win. But no—the banner was real.
Not just any banner. The banner.
The one meant only for the tournament champion. The one that should've been locked.
Somehow, I had access to it. No explanation. No rationale. Just a single Summon button waiting for me.
I stared at the screen. My heart pounded in my chest.
This didn't make sense.
But I wasn't about to question it.
My fingers moved on their own, tapping the Summon button. The familiar animations began—the swirling light pulling me into the process—but this time, it felt different. This moment carried the weight of everything I had fought for.
The first light shot across the screen.
A dull blue glow. An uncommon. Nothing special.
I kept my breathing steady. Just the first draw. Plenty more to go.
Second pull. Another blue. Another throwaway unit.
I clenched my jaw. It didn't matter. I hadn't expected her immediately. These banners were designed to make you suffer first.
Third pull. A purple glow. An SR, closer.
Fourth pull. Another blue.
I exhaled sharply, shaking off the creeping anxiety.
Fifth pull. Another purple. My hands felt clammy.
"Come on!" I said louder than I intended.
Sixth draw.
A golden light flashed: the SSR animation.
I froze, holding my breath.
The screen slowed, stretching the moment as a shadow formed.
The buzz, the anticipation, I could barely contain it.
The light split, revealing the unit.
Not her.
It was an SSR. Just not her.
I swallowed my frustration and kept going.
Seventh draw. Blue.
Eighth draw. Blue.
Ninth draw. Purple.
I was running out.
Tenth pull. Another SSR. My pulse skyrocketed.
Golden light. Slow animation. The shadow taking form. Surely, this had to be it.
The light split.
Not her.
My hands trembled. I had one pull left.
I exhaled.
This was it.
The final summon.
The screen flashed, colours swirling. I forced myself to breathe slowly.
The light fractured.
Blue.
I stared at the screen.
Empty.
Nothing.
The silence in my room was unbearable.
My phone slipped from my fingers onto the bed.
Leaning back, I pressed my palms against my face, feeling my whole body go slack.
Then, without thinking, I snatched my phone and hurled it at the wall.
The dull thud of plastic against plaster did nothing to soothe the fire inside me.
After everything. After all the work. After everything I had sacrificed—
I never got her.
What had I really won?