Chapter Twenty-Seven: Berserker’s Fury

The Azure Cup had been diminished to 8 remaining matches that would pit the most talented pilots against one another in a battle to determine the strongest among them. The time had come where the semi-finals took the stage. The intensity of the battles was expected to be far superior to the battles that had come before. The dome was filled to maximum capacity, people who were dying to watch all of the semi-final matches that were scheduled to take place all in the same day refused to watch it on their own televisions and did what they could in order to stay in the dome to watch it live. Women sat on their male counterpart’s lap while others just stood leaning against the door, most felt that standing up was a small price to pay in order to watch the matches in the dome.

Mario shrugged and chuckled at all of the attention being given to the semi-finals. He had the luxury of having the first match against Zach. He had seen all of Zach’s matches and knew how he fought and how dangerous he could become when pushed into a corner. He hated to admit it but he was well aware that his match against Zach was not going to be an easy one. His knuckles cracked as his arms stretched outwards before being placed onto the throttles inside Anima. Mario smiled at the radiating face of Michelle. Her head leaning onto the edge of his control panel while her torso hung outside of Anima’s opened cockpit. The strands of her medium length light brown hair continued to float eloquently due to the lack of gravity.

“I should probably be going now…” Mario mumbled.

“Heh….yeah. Be careful out there alright?”

“You know me. I’ll be fine.”

“You know it’s fine if you don’t win.”

“Thanks but we’ll deal with that road when we come to it. For now just sit back and enjoy the show.” Mario replied, his right eye winking at Michelle. She chuckled and slowly moved towards Mario’s face. The two began to embrace kissing as a sign of good luck before the beginning of the match.
Adam, Sharon, Stephen, Ashley, Heather, Reine, and even Amy all stood at the edge of the guardrail above the garage launching pad watching the happy couple.

“Ugh, this is disturbing. Come on you two! There are other matches scheduled for today you know!” Adam yelled out.

Mario began to laugh while Michelle’s lips were still attached to his own. Sharon cringed once again smacking Adam across the head.

“Ow! What the hell did I do this time?” Adam asked rubbing the back of his scalp while everyone else began to laugh at his own expense.

“Alright Michelle, I really should be heading out now. The kid’s already waiting for me.” Mario replied.

Michelle nodded silently as her arms pushed her body away from Anima’s cockpit. She slowly floated towards the guardrail above where Heather and Ashley grabbed onto her arms and lifted her over the rail. Mario smirked and closed his visor.

“Mario Liberalis…..heading out!” His voice boomed forth as Anima launched out of the hanger. As the ivory MF sped out of the hanger its boosters ignited allowing it to fly effortlessly into space.

“So you think he’s going to win?” Michelle asked well both Adam and Stephen stared off into space.

“To be honest I’m not sure who’s going to win this match. Both pilots are equally skilled. All I can say is that it’s going to be one hell of a battle.” Adam replied.

Zach was already breathing heavily, he had overcome many tribulations before but now he was once again pitted against someone he knew personally. His fingers constantly tapping along the rough edges around the throttles, his feet were slightly tapping onto the cold hard metal of the accelerators. He was anxious as well as nervous, he wasn’t sure what to expect from Mario or what to expect from his own performance.

“Are you ready kid?” Mario asked breaking the monotony that was filling Hade’s cockpit. The abrupt sound of Mario’s voice caused Zach’s head to instantly jerk upwards looking at the communications display.

“Yeah…”

“Come on, we’re going to give this crowd one hell of a show. Good luck.” Mario replied.

“Yeah….you’re right. Good luck.”

            Ready? GO!

The match began a lot sooner than Zach was prepared for. He found himself struggling with the throttles. In that quick instance Anima quickly began its approach. Mario smiled as he enjoyed the speed he was traveling at, he loved the sensation of moving at speeds that most people could only dream of and never grasp in reality. To Zach’s amazement Anima appeared on his left side. Hades slowly began to move trying to turn around in order to counter the attack he knew was coming but Anima managed to strike first. The metallic whip spiraled out from the right arm; the whip collided with Hades’ torso causing the orange MF to be knocked away from Anima. As Hades flipped uncontrollably Anima continued its descent and began to fire the laser rifle. As the beams seared passed Hades the solid shield on Anima released the thin laser rifle into the ivory MF’s left hand. The cold metal fingers grasped the rifles and instantly began to fire. Both the right and left arm continued to jerk back due to the recoil created by the rifle. Zach managed to bring stability to his MF just in time to be caught by dozens of lime green energy beams. Hades was thrown into a violent dance as the beams continued to explode all over the orange armor. Zach was whipped around in the cockpit due to the intensity of the explosions, his hair flowing inside the helmet, small thin strands of his hair clustered together covering his eyes hindering his vision.

“Arg! Damn it!” Zach screamed, he began to freak out as his fingers let off the throttles and began to try and unlock the helmet so he could move his hair out of his face.
Mario’s eyebrows arched in curiosity as he stared at Hades which had become motionless. Mario stopped his assault because his energy reservoir was draining at a rapid rate.

“What the hell is that kid doing? Damn….” Mario knew he couldn’t hold anything back, not with all that was at stake. Anima’s right leg arched in front of its left as the boosters flared once again. Anima sped towards the motionless Hades, both the left and right arm flung to the side flinging out the metallic whip. As both whips dangled in space currents of cerulean glowing electricity began to circulate around the metallic weapon. Mario had yet to use the metallic whips at their full potential, he felt now was a good of time as any to test them out.

Zach finally threw his helmet off his head and pulled his hair away from his face. As the hair strands moved away his pupils began to shorten. Anima was no more than 20 meters away from his position. Zach also took notice of the whips that were searing with electricity.

“God damn!” Zach screamed. He quickly placed his hands back on the throttles and forced Hades to move. The orange MF swayed to the right just as he fired the dual plasma rifle. The dual layered crimson beam zoomed towards Anima but Mario remained calm. As the beam neared Anima swatted the beam with both whips. The collision deflected the beam to fly off to the left side, as Zach remained stunned Anima’s whips flung around Hades’ torso. The collision rocked the MF violently. Suddenly the electric currents began to overrun Hades causing the heat to raises significantly. Hades continued to struggle trying to escape the grasps of Anime but was unable to do so. Mario began to feel the match was drawing to an end, his feet became heavier and strongly rested on the accelerator.

Anima picked up even more speed and forcefully tackled into the bound Hades. At the exact moment of impact Anima retraced the whips causing Hades to flip freely away. Mario then re-equipped the dual laser rifles and began to fire furiously. Hades flung from side to side as dozens of energy beams bounced off its armor. It appeared that Mario had the complete upper hand during the entire match.

“I won’t lose….I won’t lose…I WON’T LOSE!” Zach abruptly screamed out. Suddenly his pupils began to fade being only replaced by a gray gradient. His chest heaving in and out at a rapid pace, his fingers were now fixedly attached to the throttles. With a few quick movements Hades burst out of its flipping motions and began to head straight for Anima. Mario smirked; he was waiting for this moment, the moment where Zach would become an absolute threat.

“Good! This is what I’ve been waiting for!” Mario screamed back at the berserker teen.

The speed at which Hades was traveling at was incredible barely detectable by the human eye and within an instant Hades grabbed hold of the energy scythe and swung it. Mario’s eyes widened as he fell back into his seat. Anima arched its torso to the left narrowly avoiding the attack and quickly countered by swinging its right leg. As the leg swung Hade’s left hand firmly grabbed onto Anima’s leg preventing the attack from coming to fruition.

“Not bad.” Mario replied as he raised the dual laser rifles and fired at close ranged. The beams exploded onto Hades’ core forcing the orange MF to let go of Anima’s leg.

Then Anima flung out the metallic whips once again and with subtle movements began to swing away towards Hades. Zach remained fully focused onto Anima and with a single swing at a diagonal path destroyed the two metallic whips. The explosion knocked Anima away spinning.
At first Mario wanted a challenge but he cringed now, Zach was becoming a serious threat.

            “What’s going on? Mario was winning before! What happened?!” Michelle screamed out.
Adam and Stephen sighed and then glanced back at each other.

“He went berserk again….” Adam mumbled.

“Yeah…” Stephen calmly replied.

Hades had turned the match completely around and was on a furious offensive attack. The energy scythe continued to swing but missed its target each time. Mario was beginning to feel exhausted; every time he would attack Hades would either block it or avoid it completely. Just then Hades swung the energy scythe once again but Anima blocked it with quick sword work. At the last second Anima ignited his dual energy saber and swung upwards to counter Zach’s attack. The two weapons continued to rub against one another struggling for superiority.

“This is the most fun I’ve had this entire tournament kid.” Mario mentioned as small beams of energy flickered away from the main conflict of weapons.

“…” Zach remained quiet, refusing to lose his focus.

“I see….caught up in the moment huh. That’s fine… what the hell?!” Mario screamed as he watched Hades moved forward. The energy scythe suddenly ruptured through the dual energy saber causing it to explode completely. The force of the attack caused Hades’ right arm and torso to arch downward. Mario snickered while forcing Anima’s knee upwards to hit Hade’s head unit. Just as Hades was thrown back a bit from the attack Anima dropped the right laser rifle and punched the head unit while the boosters ignited giving the MF extra velocity to add to the attack. As the metallic fist collided with the head unit it quickly opened up and grabbed onto the head unit. As Anima held onto Hade’s it began to speed towards a floating asteroid; the asteroid was small in stature and posed no serious threat to humanity, it managed to slip away from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Mario screamed loudly as he stepped on the accelerators with all his strength, Anima’s boosters exploded with power sending it straight for the asteroid. Then it happened, Hades’ head unit was forced crashing into the edge of the space rock causing specks of electrical debris to fling outwards. Zach cringed and grabbed his throttle, suddenly Hades’ left arm swung upwards with the energy scythe piercing through Anima’s right arm.

“Damn it!” Mario screamed as Anima quickly moved away avoiding another attack. As the orange MF moved itself out from the asteroid its head unit began to dangle loosely for a few seconds until flames ruptured quickly causing a minute explosion that destroyed the head unit completely. Mario began to laugh.

“This is a lot more fun that I originally expected. Now we’re even, you’ve lost a good amount of your radar capabilities and I’m short an arm.”

“…”

“Still focusing on the adrenaline huh? That’s fine…let’s end this!” Mario screamed.

Anima quickly began to speed towards Hades firing the remaining laser rifle. Hades had a few problems avoiding the beams and was hit every so often. Zach began to breathe a little heavier than usual when he ended up falling to his inner instincts. Hades began to sway to the left avoiding a good amount of beams. Mario sighed as the rifle finally ran out of ammunition. Suddenly Hades began to glow ominously as it slowly moved towards Anima. For the first time in a long time Mario felt a sharp chill sprint down his spine. Just as he began to move the throttles Hade sliced through Anima’s left arm and then slashed through the torso causing it to dislodge from the lower legs.

            Michelle couldn’t watch the match anymore, her head quickly turned away into Ashley’s shoulders. Both Adam and Stephen nodded towards each other, they knew that Zach was going to be a serious contender and would most likely meet Rebel before any of them got the chance to.
The feminine announcer finally made the announcement that they were well aware of.

“Zach Orion advances….Anima is no longer able to fight!”

Michelle nearly burst out into tears at the decision as she lunged into Ashley’s arms.

“He fought well…” Ashley mumbled. She wasn’t sure what she could say in order to make her feel any better if anything at all.

“You think Zach will be able to defeat Rebel?” Adam asked as he glanced over to his brother who was still leaning over the guardrail watching as the disheveled Anima was brought back into the hanger alongside Hades.

“Eh, he’s got this berserker trait that manages to keep him in the tournament. But I don’t think it will be enough to topple Rebel….speaking of which his match is next.” Stephen replied.

“I know….I almost want to just skip it. I mean we already know he’s going to advance.” Adam replied

“True….but now would be a good time to watch and continue analyzing his battle tactics.” Stephen mentioned.

“Please….you know that is possible. He finishes off his opponents with such speed that there isn’t enough time to get a proper look at his technique.” Adam replied.

“Hmm…yeah you’re right…” Stephen mumbled.

“Hey guys….” Mario’s voice came as a shock to most as he abruptly appeared behind them.

“Mario! You scared the hell out of me!” Michelle screamed as she ran jumping into his opened arms.

“You fought a good match bro.” Adam said.

Mario simply nodded. “That kid has one hell of a berserker trait held up inside him.”

“That he does….” Stephen replied.

The conversation continued to proceed while Shadow launched into space for his match. His opponent Diablos was a strong opponent who most felt had a good chance at defeating Rebel and knock him out of the tournament. Diablos’ MF was painted charcoal black and blended in nicely with the space backdrop. His MF, Diabolical was equipped only with two energy sabers, he felt that it was all he needed to get the job done, and according to his record it was. However he wasn’t sure how his method would fare against Rebel, but he knew there was only one way to find out.

“Are you going to be a challenge for me?” Rebel’s voice softly emanated through Diablos’ communications channel. Diablos chuckled under his breath, he was nervous but he didn’t want to reveal that to his opponent.

“Only one way to find out right?” Diablos replied with a smirk lighting his face.

“Hehe…I like you. You have a sense of humor. I will try and make your defeat as painless as possible.” Rebel replied. “I am sorry Mr. Tzu once again our invigorating discussion is going to have to wait until after I finish this match.”

The connection fro the communication channel suddenly closed leaving Diablos in his cockpit staring out into the abyss. His eyes quivering around the MF that was trying to keep him from advancing.

Ready? GO!

The adrenaline kicked in suddenly as Diablos forced his MF to speed towards Rebel with reckless intentions. Rebel smirked, his arms slowly moving away from his chest grabbing hold of the throttles. Diablos screamed with all his emotions as he swung his MF’s right arm. The fizzling beam of energy soared through the image of Shadow. At first Diablos screamed out in joy and celebration, he was too caught up in the moment to even question how his beam tore through Shadow without coming across a solid resistance.

“I guess I expected too much from you….pity.” Rebel calmly mentioned as Shadow quickly appeared behind Diabolical. Diablos frightened slowly turned his head around.
Shadow quickly sliced through the joints on Diabolical causing it to explode in four locations. Clusters of thick clouds began to float around Diabolical while Shadow remained hovering above with its arms crossed across the torso. Luscious sighed as he picked up his ancient copy of The Art of War and began to read once again while Diablos froze in his seat stricken with fear.

“Tell me why I’m not at all surprised by that outcome…” Adam mumbled as he flung his hands up in disappointment.          

“Do I even have to answer that?” Stephen questioned.

“No.”

“Listen just focus, you’re match is next.” Stephen replied.

“I know….I’m fighting that guy named Diavolo. I’m not too worried.” Adam replied as he began to head towards the locker room.

“Adam….promise me that you’ll be careful.” Sharon yelled out interrupting Adam and Stephen. Adam nodded to both Sharon and Stephen.

“He’ll be fine…” Heather mentioned as she placed her hand onto Sharon’s quivering shoulder.

Sharon smiled as she looked back towards Heather.

“I know…but I feel like I have to remind him every time he goes out there.” Sharon replied.

Adam stared at his azure and black jumpsuit. Sweat was rolling down his face forcing him to wipe his forehead with a cloth towel every few seconds. His body fell towards the locker and slowly fell to the ground. The stress was beginning to take its toll on him physically. The appearance of Amy, clone or not she was still a representation of his sins, and with the tournament drawing to a close he was getting closer to a rematch with Rebel358.

“You’re worrying already huh? And for what? Please tell me you’re not worrying yourself sick over Diavolo.” Rebel’s calm voice was never soothing to his ear; as a matter of fact he despised it.

Adam glanced back at Rebel who was still wearing his dark purple and black jumpsuit. Rebel approached Adam taking a seat on the wooden bench in front of Adam.

“Ugh…what do you want?”

“I wanted to make sure you’re still in the game. Do you honestly think you’ll advance if you go out there like this?”

“I’m fine. Heh, I don’t take you as the type of person who is concerned with the well-being of others.” Adam replied as he stumbled back to his feet.

“Heh…don’t get me wrong I’m not. But I want to make sure you make it to the finals. I’m going to be the one to defeat you.” Rebel replied.

“Hahaha, what does it matter? Why is that an important goal? You beat me already…pretty badly if I recall our previous encounter.” Adam replied.

“Yeah….but you weren’t in your machine. You were bound to that limits of the MF given to you. Plus…I want to test the limitations of your MF.” Rebel replied as he stood up heading for the door.

“…”

“Just make it to the finals. That’s all you have to do.” Rebel replied one final time before he left the room.

Adam sighed as he began to put on his jumpsuit.