Big Leagues Round 1, Match 1: Mollusc VS Saizomaru

It had been some time since Saizomaru had taken part in any sort of tournament. The last one left a sour taste in his mouth. Not only did he find himself having to fight a small girl, but it only rubbed salt in the wound of his broken heart when he found out that Central City was attacked while he was out playing martial artist.

He hoped that this would be different. He hoped he could fully enjoy this one.

The android was the second to be introduced. He appreciated it. It gave him those extra few moments to scan and size up his opponent—a green alien humanoid known as 'Namekians'. He had never met one before, but he had some knowledge on their strength. He didn't expect this fight to go over easy.

Saizomaru made his way towards the ring as he was called out by the announcer. His heavy boots tapped lightly, almost silently, against the paving stones that lead towards the ring. Quickly and gracefully he hopped up onto the edge of the stage. After taking a few steps forwards he stopped in his tracks, gazing forward at his opponent.

His half-flesh, half-synthetic lips turned into a small smile. "So I guess you're my opponent," he said, pointing out the obvious but giving a final confirmation. His hand balled into a fist, then pressed into the palm of the other. Audible pops from his artificial muscles came from his knuckles as he cracked them. "This should be good. Let's have a nice fight…"

He held a hand out, fingers pointed towards the namekian, palm up. He curled them inwards once, then twice. He gestured for this warrior to make the first attack. "Show me what ya got."

The namekian was quite stern. Saizomaru had expected to have some sort of good sportsmanship between the two, though perhaps namekians had no such concept. In any case, Saizomaru waited to see what his opponent would bring to the ring.

It came as a surprise to him when he saw that this already tall green man ended up becoming a few multiples taller than normal. He couldn't help but smirk. A larger target was an easier one to hit, as well as a slower one. He was aware of how strong Mollusc had become though. He had to take this a little bit seriously. But only a little bit.

"Oh, how cute, he became a little bigg—OH SHIT!"

No. The namekian wasn't any slower than before. He had already gotten close to Saizomaru and went for an axe kick right onto the android. This wasn't how Saizomaru had planned it.

Quickly two metal arms brought themselves up, shielding the android's own body from what could only be assumed to be a devastating attack. Sure enough it was, forcing Saizomaru to hunker down onto one knee from the force of the kick alone. His feet had sunk into the arena ground by several inches, cracking and shattering the tiles and stone beneath.

Guess I have to match this.

Quickly the android's appearance changed. His platinum-gold armor shifted into a dark black, his hair changing to a similar charcoal-grey. If he was going to stand much of a chance in this fight, then he would have to try and maintain this form for as long as he could.

"A'ight, big man," he spoke with a hint of confidence, "I think we'll both get a little more serious, yeah?"

Saizomaru dashed forward, letting the namekian's leg come down where he just was, and made his way past his opponent from between his legs. Spinning on one foot, he aimed to kick out Mollusc's legs from underneath him, bringing him to his knees if not just leaving him on his back.

Should it succeed, he would drive a metal fist into the back of his head if he was brought to kneel, or just drive it into his face if he was knocked prone on his back.

As much as the Namekian had a considerable amount of strength and defense, it seemed as though his overly large frame was becoming a form of hindrance for him. If not for perhaps a lack of agility, then definitely for the fact that the smaller Saizomaru could outmanoeuvre him in ways that would have been difficult, if not impossible, before.

Saizomaru had the upper hand in agility. It was this that he would use to overwhelm his opponent. But he had to play it smart and safe for the moment.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied with a sober expression. This fight was only just beginning. He wanted to see more. "You'll have to show me more of what you can do."

And show him, the namekian did. Huge fists almost as large as the android's torso began to lash out in a flurry. Saizomaru may have the upper hand of manoeuvrability, but now Mollusc was starting to use his own size to his advantage. As fast as they were, Saizomaru hadn't the reaction to avoid such a large fist without receiving a powerful glancing blow.

Once more he was on the defensive, trying to use his arms to block and parry each attack, trying to keep his body from receiving one of those hits. But as more and more punches lashed out, the android could feel his arms starting to give way to the rest. His defense was starting to fail. He didn't expect to see as much power as he was right now.

Then his arms gave in. A solid punch to his chest had knocked him back. Another had put him down on the ground.

I see it… There!

As another huge green fist came crashing down, Saizomaru held up both hands. He caught the strike in his palms, then pushed it to one side, letting it smash into the ground beside him, sending fragments of the arena outward.

Quickly he gripped Mollusc's wristband and pulled himself up until he was now running along the length of his huge arm. With a palm held out, he began to gather a spectral force into his hand, a dense amount of swirling, invisible ki that formed into an orb.

Then he jumped right towards his opponent's face.

"Force Palm!"

The android slammed the orb right in the center of Mollusc's eyes. As the orb connected with his skull, it exploded outwards like a claymore mine. Once he was done with his attack, he would use the explosive propulsion to position himself further away from the namekian, re-establishing his distance.

Saizomaru landed back onto solid ground, his steps silent despite his own weight. The dust and vapour from the attack's force and heat made the arena slightly foggy, though enough so that the spectators couldn't see much in the way of where or how Mollusc was. The only thing that was even apparent was that the large namekian wasn't reduced to dust.

Then, suddenly, from out of the smoke shot a huge, long green limb that wrapped its fingers around Saizomaru's body. He hadn't expected anything like this. It had taken him completely off guard. At least now he knew of such a technique that namekians could utilize

Seriously? Extendable arms? The hell kind of body do these guys have?

His thoughts couldn't carry further as his attention was caught once again by Mollusc. His opponent had praised his strength, though the android was beginning to feel as though they were about to return the favour in kind. Then, their mouth wide open, the namekian was charging an attack.

Blackened, metal hands tried to pry those huge green fingers from around himself, but he did not have the leverage to do so. As much as he was of equal strength to this guy, Saizomaru found himself at a stalemate, if not a disadvantage, when it came to matching strength for strength. He was a sitting duck for the most part.

And then the beam fired.

"This is gonna hurt."

The android's entire form was caught in the blast. But he did what he could to hold it back—not for his sake, but for the sake of the audience that would have been caught in the line of fire. Arms stretched, Saizomaru attempted to shield the people behind him as best as he could.

And, thankfully, it was enough.

Hurled backwards, the black android tumbled along the ground as the last of the energy had either been blocked by his body or had dispersed in the aftermath. Bright navy blue patches had formed on past of his chest, his abdomen, and his arms where the heat from Mollusc's attack were starting to show visible damage. Parts of his hair had been singed at the tips. His body was starting to let off streaks of grey smoke.

Slowly he stood back to his feet. It had been a while since he felt pain, if only in his face. He could feel the adrenaline rushing in his artificial body. He was getting pumped for this fight.

But he needed to show the namekian a lesson.

"Gotta hand it to you," he said with a smirk as he began to sweep away the dust and debris from his body, "you ain't too shabby yourself. Although…"

His hand began to raise slowly. His palm was held out, facing the namekian. Once more that ephemeral energy was beginning to swirl and gather, coalescing into another orb that only got bigger and bigger as more ki gathered. The once gold ball-sized orb had amassed into a basket ball.

"I think I'll show you what a real attack looks like."

The orb began to thrum with a low vibration. It began to shimmer in the light as though it was like a diamond. Then, it shrunk quickly, almost as though it had completely vanished.

"Deva Palm."

A huge explosion ruptured from the android's palm into a completely invisible force of ki that threatened to completely engulf Mollusc in its spectral grasp. With such a large target to hit, it would be nigh impossible for Saizomaru to miss. At least the size of his opponent would be enough for him to completely shield the audience from the damage.

There still remained a pillar of smoke and dust. It seemed as though Mollusc had thrown down his ki blast in order to either distract Saizomaru, or provide some sort of obfuscation to limit the android's visibility. Not that he needed his eyes to 'see' where Mollusc was. With such a huge level of power, Saizomaru could sense him like the light of a lighthouse in the wake of an oncoming storm.

It didn't take an awful long time until the namekian had made his way out from the veil. But, to Saizomaru's surprise, he looked almost completely fine, as though his last attack had done little to him. He folded his arms across his chest, trying to see any sign of fatigue on his opponent. There was some to be sure—the fight had been going on for a short while and exchanges have been made.

"Well colour me surprised," gleamed Saizomaru with a smirk on his face. "Either you're got some snazzy defenses, or you can regenerate damage just like those majins I've been coming across recently. Not that it matters…"

Now it felt as though the namekian was starting to seethe with overconfidence. He was loosely pandering to the crowd to try and get the crowd on his side. For the most part it had worked—they loved to see a warrior who showed off, especially one that went ahead and no-sold one of the android's strongest attacks.

He even went as far as to taunt the android. Not that that would win him the fight.

Saizomaru watched as the opponent charged him. His arms unfurled from his chest and extended outwards. The huge, tree trunk-like leg of the Namekian swung in a horizontal swipe, but the android was prepared. His hands gripped the baggy pant leg of it and dragged it downward, letting it swipe low to the ground and just out of range of his body. When those huge arms came down to swat him, he merely stepped forward to get between them, clear out of the way of those hammer fists.

Keeping with the forward momentum, Saizomaru slid, once again, between the namekian's legs and began to flip and twirl to keep distance, using those erratic movements to keep himself unpredictable to enemy attacks. As he did so, he began to fling out ki-infused shuriken towards his opponent, holding him at bay as he made the gap between them wider.

Finally he stopped, creating several meters of distance between the two. "What's wrong? Tired already?" he taunted. "You may have tanked my last attack, but the effects are showing. You're getting sluggish."