The Soulmate Initiative: Book 2

17. Fighting the champion

LOCATION: SAKAAR

The huge arena is surrounded by thousands of seats, full of excited spectators and a few ships hovering above them,  including Bruliel sitting in his, drinking. The crowd cheers as a projection of the Grandmaster appears in the centre "Wow! Look at all of you. What a show! What a night! Who's having fun? Please, I'm your host. Big round of applause for all of our undercard competitors  who today died so gruesomely. Good sports. What a show! What a night! This is what you've come for, and so have I. And now, without further ado its main event time." Lavina makes her way into the luxury seating area, grabs herself a drink and takes a seat on a couch "Making her first appearance, though she doesn't look promising, got a couple of tricks up her sleeve. I'll say no more, see what you think. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… Lady Of Thunder." A door opens up and Tasia walks out into the arena, her hair has been cut to just past her shoulders, the front on both sides is braided and down her face are stripes of paint. Her armour is a mismatch of all different armours, with a shield, a metal baton, two long blades on her back and helmet in her hand. The audience boos at her. After a moment, the Grandmaster continues "Watch out for her fingers. They make sparkles."

"Okay, this is it. Let's get ready to welcome this guy. Here he comes."  Fireworks are set off within the arena, green powder exploding from them. The audience cheers and Tasia hears thundering footsteps, she feels the ground beneath her feet shake "He is a creature. What can we say about him? Well, he's unique. There's none like him. I feel a special connection with him-" Tasia puts her helmet on and focuses on the door ahead of her "-He's undefeated. He's the reigning. He's the defending. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…" The doors slowly start to open "...your incredible…" A being twice Tasia's height, three times as wide and much stronger, bursts through the door. The being is wearing a metal chest plate and belt, with leather shorts and a helmet. Carrying a giant mallet and axe, both metal. The being is green, with some white paint on one side of its face. It roars so loudly that everything shakes a little, it shouts out in a very deep voice "HULK!"

Tasia's eyes widen and then she smiles, screaming out "YES!" The audience goes quiet, very confused. Lavina's eyes widen, she turns and starts to head out of the spectator's room, but the Grandmaster walks in "Hey, hey, hey. Where you going?" He walks her back in and over to the couch, where he pulls her down beside him. Back down in the arena, the Hulk roars and the audience start cheering again, holding up green monstrous masks and decorations. Tasia waves up to Lavina and the Grandmaster "Hey! We know each other. We're soulmates." The Grandmaster looks at Lavina, who nervously clears her throat. Tasia calls out to the Hulk, who's busy pleasing the crowd "Where have you been? Everybody thought you were dead. But so much has happened since I last saw you-" The Hulk turns to face her and growls a little "-I lost my hammer. Like, yesterday, so that's still pretty fresh. Regina, I'm happy to see you." The audience start chanting "Hulk! Hulk! Hulk!" The Hulk looks out to the crowd, so Tasia calls out to her again "Regina. Hey, Regina!" The Hulk turns and replies, in a deep growling voice, unlike Tasia had heard from the Hulk before, not that the Hulk has ever said much before "No Regina. Only Hulk." The Hulk gives Tasia a dangerous look and starts approaching her, which alarms her "What are you doing? It's me, it's Tasia!" The Hulk charges at her and the pair fight "Regina, we're soulmates. This is crazy. I don't want to hurt you!" But Hulk isn't holding back and Tasia realises this, she has no choice but to fight back. When she hits the Hulk really hard, sending them to the other side of the arena, the audience goes quiet. 

Tasia carefully approaches the Hulk, speaking gently "Come on, we can leave, we can return to the others. I won't hurt you anymore, no one will." But Hulk grabs Tasia and whacks her about like a rag doll, smashing her into the ground, then tossing her across the arena, making the crowd go wild. Lavina jumps up from her seat "YES! That's how it feels!" Loki chuckles and looks at the Grandmaster's shocked expression "I'm just a huge fan of the sport." He laughs and pulls Lavina back down. The Hulk roars and Tasia gets back up "Alright. Screw it." The pair fight, neither holding back "I know you're in there, Regina. I'll get you out. What's the matter with you, you're embarrassing me, I told them we were soulmates." When Tasia manages to knock Hulk's mallet away, she then picks it up and runs at the Hulk with it, jumps up into the air and brings the mallet down. The Hulk catches the mallet in their hand and everyone leans forward in silent anticipation. The Hulk growls and punches Tasia across the arena and cheering erupts, Tasia is then pounded into the ground. 

With every new punch, Tasia sees her father where she last saw him, the last place she will ever see him. Suddenly her eyes turn electric blue and electricity starts crackling along her fingers, up her arms and all over her body. She sends an electric punch at the Hulk, which sends them flying up in the air, then backwards. The Hulk hits the ground with a loud thud, denting it heavier than each other time. Tasia stands up, electricity covering her body. The Hulk stands up, the helmet no longer on their head, revealing very short black hair. The pair are breathing heavily, but Tasia feels a new strength, unlike anything she's ever felt before. She embraces it. The pair charge at each other and Tasia sends a punch that blows both of them backwards and creates a huge dust cloud. The crowd starts chanting "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!" The pair both get up once again, the Hulk is very dazed. Tasia approaches, but before anything more can happen, the Grandmaster intervenes and electrocutes Tasia almost into unconsciousness, causing the audience to boo. The Hulk launches themself high up into the air, Korg sighs "Another day, another Doug." Then turns away, not wanting to see, as Hulk bares down and punches Tasia one final time, ending the fight.