Pepper was surprised to see that he and Jaime’s match was scheduled for later that day. He started to feel a nervous energy build within him; but after a short bout with it, he reminded himself that this situation was no different than back home. Once he controlled his breathing, slowed his heart rate and focused, his mental state became clear.

  He pulled up the video of Jaime’s previous match. Though he wanted to focus on Tamin, he remained steadfast on only analyzing Jaime’s moves and patterns. It didn’t take him more than a minute to see the theatrics that was mentioned earlier.

  Jaime’s golem was named The Ultimate Brit. A giant humanoid shaped figure that resembled that of a wrestling competitor and superhero. The hair was crafted in the shape of a military crew cut and painted a rich chocolate brown color. A billowing mustache on the face and was expertly crafted, for even faint streaks could be seen. An effect Pepper felt was done to try and distinguish some of the facial hair fibers for an ultra-realistic appearance.

  The golem was formed to display bulging muscles that looked as if they could burst out at the seams. There was an exterior design which added that tight superhero costume touch. The limbs of the golems suit was a rich navy-blue coloration, with red cuffs and a belt which matched. Tall shin high boots in the same red coloration with white accent buttons and fasteners scattered about.

  It was the front upper torso that stole the show, however. Jamie had painted the classic Union Jack flag of the United Kingdom across the front and back. If that wasn’t enough, Jaime had is golem enter the arena and acted as if it was sipping a cup of tea and then tossing the dish set away in disgust. The right hand then lifted and waged a finger towards Tamin.

  Give me a break… Pepper thought while shaking his head. The entire match was played out just like a wrestling skit. Giant movements and attack sequences which sent the golems flying from one end of the arena to the other. Pepper could see that very little damage was really being done, and every hit seemed to barely cause damage. Not only that, there was no powerful runes utilized to attack or defend. The whole thing left him sick to his stomach.

  “What’s wrong?” Andrea asked.

  “This!” Pepper pointed towards the holoscreen which was hovering over the work bench. “It’s robbing the fans of what they’ve come here for. These tickets are over 100 Flex a day to attend and watch the matches. These… gladiators… are more like court jesters, dancing around the arena and making a mockery of this sport.”

  He dashed a glance towards Andrea. Her smile was mixed with a look of pride in regards to the stance he was taking. She then formed a smirk and looked towards the screen. “Not worried about the competition I see.”

  The statement caused him to stop and quickly reflect. He looked back at her and felt the compelling force surround his heart. “No… I’m not worried at all.” He looked down at his hands and then returned his gaze to her. “In fact, I feel more determined than ever to win this invitational tournament and send all these fakes straight to a scrap yard.”

  Pepper walked down the tunnel, the roar of the crowd was reverberating off the walls. The cheers filled his ears but more importantly, they swelled within his heart. Nightmare Mala was directly behind him and followed along as their entrance theme began. The orange and yellow lasers dancing back and forth against the ground. Their light piercing through the billow smoke which covered over his feet.

  The announcer had already informed the crowd, but they still roared even greater once he entered. Pepper didn’t even look at the crowd, but simply looked directly ahead at the opposing tunnel entrance. His eyes fixated on his opponent’s entrance but widened when he saw red, white, and blue sparklers erupt upward.

  An electric guitar began to play over the speakers. The tune was catching and filled with excitement, but one he had never heard before. He quickly activated his holodex and did a musical search feature to discover the song’s name.

  [:::] The song playing is titled “Rule Britannia” and is a patriotic song with two meanings. One is to pridefully represent Britain’s refusal to bow to France during the second Hundred Years’ War, but was later adopted to signify and be the symbol for British naval dominance. [:::]

  Pepper huffed and closed his holodex before he looked back over to his opponent. Jaime had already taken to his gladiator platform. The Ultimate Brit had disregarded the previous entrance of sipping tea, and instead had lifted its hand up and ran its finger across its throat. It finished the gesture by pointing towards Pepper and Nightmare Mala.

  Oh… you want to slit my throat do you? Well… let’s see how you do against metal tough guy. The Ultimate Brit was then rotated around and waved its arms upward, gesturing to the crowd for them to get louder. The crowd cheered, and Pepper knew his opponent was already trying to pad his stats for crowd energy.

  Pepper felt his teeth grind while he smirked. Oh, I’ll do you one better… He tilted Mala’s head to one side of the stands and waved his hand to grab their attention. He then repeated the motion to the other side of the arena. He sensed he had captured a good portion of the crowds attention, and then lifted Mala’s leg and stopped the ground twice, and ended the third beat with both fists slamming together.

  He started to repeat the beat, and the crowd immediately caught on to the rhythm of the traditional rock song, We Will, We Will, Rock You! His ears picked up on the sound of the crowd’s feet stomping down on the metal arena seats and platforms surrounding them. It didn’t take long before the entire place was echoing out the beat and Pepper delighted in seeing the smug expression arrive on Jaime’s face. That’s right… we not only tossed your tea in the harbor, but I just tea bagged you with your own famous rock bands song, chump!

  The countdown began overhead. It slowly ticked down and Pepper could see his opponent was ready to rush in and get the match underway. He smiled and was ready to brawl it out to the finish.

  A resounding blare of the horn finally arrived when the countdown timer finished. Jaime sent his golem forward in a dead sprint. Pepper followed suit and sent Mala charging ahead. It was clear to Pepper that both golems were not going to back down, but even more, he was surprised to see The Ultimate Brit jumped high into the air.

  His opponent’s trajectory was perfectly timed and Pepper realized Mala was about to receive a blow from above if he didn’t act fast. He launched Mala off to its right side and into a barrel roll. The Ultimate Brit arrived exactly where Mala had been standing, but immediately launched into pursuit of Mala.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Pepper was amazed at the speed of his opponent and was now back pedaling Mala. He did his best to dodge and evade the flurry of kicks Jaime was launching towards his golem. There was now no doubt in Pepper’s mind that Jaime knew how to fight, possibly even trained in martial arts himself.

  The Ultimate Brit was smoothly transitioning from a side kick into a spinning back kick, then a front kick, and finally finishing his combination with a jumping front kick. The entire combination had Pepper starting to sweat as he worked frantically to keep Mala at a safe distance. The best he could factor was that the rapid melee attacks meant that he had not been powering any runes and was devoting his entire power core to moving his golem with such speed and agility.

  The Ultimate Brit was starting to lift its right leg up. Pepper now felt he had regained some composure and felt slightly comfortable with the close quarters combat between the two golems. He lowered Mala’s hand and tagged his opponent’s leg as it started to snap upwards for its’ strike. There was a loud crack which rang out over the arena.

  He snapped a glance over to Jaime and immediately back to the match. It looked as if his opponent had not anticipated he would block the initial kick and now launched a counter. Mala’s hands surged forward and slammed three low jabs directly into the gut area of The Ultimate Brit. The golem didn’t buckle over as an actual person would, but it cued Pepper into one thing he had not anticipated. Wait… that isn’t the sound clay makes when it’s…

  The Ultimate Brit was able to bring its leg up, its knee closely kept against its stomach until he snapped the foot forward and connected against Mala. It was enough force to create a small distance between the two golems and Jaime then snapped his golems hip to the side and launched a forceful side kick. The Ultimate Brit’s foot landed squarely against Mala’s chest and launched him back a few feet.

  That thing is made of stone! Pepper practically screamed inside his head. He shifted Mala to one side so he could get just enough of a glance at the other golem. Sure enough, he could just make out a few particles that had detached from the main frame and lightly scattered off to the side. Okay, doesn’t appear to be granite, possibly sandstone? Limestone maybe? Doesn’t matter… alright… you want to be tough, then let’s be… tough!

  Pepper was about to activate his runes when The Ultimate Brit came bounding in and tried to throw a salvo of punches. He evaded the three jabs, the haymaker and the uppercut easily. To him, he felt that was accomplished due to Jaime not having any type of targeting system to aid in calibrating the strikes. That meant they were both equal and doing their best to use line of sight judgments for their strikes.

  Mala’s evasion of the strikes gave Pepper enough time to activate his rune menu and he selected his elemental expansion. He didn’t even hesitate as he chose to have both hands covered in metal. The particles shot forward and Pepper watched as they sparkled in the light but quickly formed around the two appendages.

  He snapped a glance over to Jaime and saw his a slightly concerned look on his face. That’s right… This isn’t rock, paper, scissors, tough guy! We’re just getting started. Pepper immediately turned his attention back to the two golems. The Ultimate Brit was just starting to lift his right leg up and bring it across in a sweeping kick.

  Pepper didn’t hesitate and sent Mala forward. His golem now inside the immediate space of his opponent. He launched another combination of low jabs to the mid-section. His opponent was knocked off balance and couldn’t finish the kicking sequence. Pepper immediately followed his initial salvo with three rapid haymakers from his right hand. All three strikes landed on the area where the ribcage would be on a person.

  Each impact sent out a small thunderclap as the metal pounded into the stone body. Pepper was about to launch another combination of strikes but was taken back as The Ultimate Brit reached up and grabbed hold of Mala. The golem lowered down and then propelled itself upwards and launched Mala over its head and backwards into a suplex.

  Pepper gasped slightly. He watched his golem lift up and go vertical for the slightest of seconds. Then with a quick snap, both golems fell towards the arena floor and arrived with a giant thud. There was a slight tremble which rippled across Pepper’s feet. Pepper frantically shook his head and pulled himself out of the trance he found himself in for the slightest of seconds.

  He started to command Mala to move, but was now fighting the weight of The Ultimate Brit. His opponent appeared completely prepared for the maneuver and had already followed it up with gaining a mounted position above Mala. The Ultimate Brit’s hands were lifted up and about to start hammering down upon Mala.

  Pepper immediately abandoned the effort of trying to maneuver underneath his opponent and went straight to his rune. “Taste this cup of tea!” He yelled as he activated his force blast. The rune powered up and Pepper was happy that there was no delay. The blast landed directly on his opponent and launched The Ultimate Brit up off of him and backwards by nearly ten feet.

  The crowd roared in response, but Pepper only noticed it as a greater muffled sound. He commanded Mala up and to its feet and started to move forward. His opponent was already back on its feet and making his way towards Mala.

  Pepper had a feeling that Jaime was going to try some kind of upper torso strike and decided to take a serious risk. He sent Mala lunging forward and down towards his opponents ankle. Mala’s left hand latched onto the left ankle of The Ultimate Brit and in one fluid motion Pepper instructed Mala to surge upwards.

  His golem kept the ankle in its hand. The Ultimate Brit was now forced into an awkward angle and its face was pointed directly towards the arena’s floor. Pepper then rotated Mala around and brought his right fist down like a hammer. The metal hand slammed directly into the lower back portion of the golem and Pepper watched it rash downward into a heap for a second.

  Pepper juked Jaime out by acting as if he was going to send Mala side stepping to the right. Jaime sent a back donkey kick upwards and aimed where Mala would have been if he had finished the movement. Instead, Mala was now standing on the side of The Ultimate Brit, directly facing its left side ribcage.

  Pepper brought Mala’s right fist up. He activated his rune options and chose his energy strike and directed it into Mala’s fist. Pepper watched as his energy meter immediately adjusted to the energy surging out of the power core, traveling down Mala’s arm and arrived at its fist. The purple energy wrapped around the metal exterior for a flash of a second before Pepper landed the blow directly on his opponents back.

  He watched as rock particles shot up and a thunderclap erupted across the arena. Pepper could see Jaime’s golem was now in dire trouble. The direct strike and cracked the stone to the point that light was pouring out in a few places. It was the sign Pepper wanted to see, which told him the power core was directly in the torso and it wouldn’t take much more for him to achieve a complete victory.

  Jaime, however, wasn’t done fighting. He worked to spin his golem around and tried to escape the fate that was inching ever closer. Pepper had already taken action though and Mala’s left claw was around clutched tightly onto his opponent’s head. Pepper started to rain down blows with Mala’s free hand and didn’t stop until he watched the eruption of The Ultimate Brit’s power core explode.

  The victory horn rang out, but it was quickly drowned out by the resounding cheers of the crowd. Pepper was in shock as he slowly gazed around and herd his name being yelled out. Pep-per, Pep-per, Pep-Per! He couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear as he commanded Mala to wave to the crowd.

  He slowly turned around and could see the furious scowl of hatred on Jamie’s face. Pepper then lifted his finger pointed directly at Jaime and then transitioned his hand into a thumbs down gesture. “I’m the ultimate warrior today, Jaime!” Pepper yelled out. He then faced the crowd and bowed, electrifying them once again and they started another round of cheers.