Kazix: Hello everyone and welcome to the Waterfall Arena where the crowd is going absolutely wild. Why’s that, Cassius?
Cassius: Because, in an attempt to claim the Raptor’s Prize Pool, now at an amazing 9 million Evra, an old face has come back to fight.
Kazix: Not the champ? I thought that was just a rumor? You’re kidding!
Cassius: Nope, the rumors all turned out to be true. In a surprise meeting, K’Tack, the former 1v1 champion, the vok with the longest winstreak before the original Dessaron came along, the one we all call the Champ, is here to try his luck and reclaim his title!
Kazix: Two days ago, Retvik Rethianos of the original Dessaron broke records by defeating Kayess-en of Retha Squad One, bringing his unbeaten win streak to 37 and breaking the Champ’s former record.
Cassius: Seems like he’s here to rectify that! Although it’s been a good few years since K’Tack retired, unbeaten, so goodness knows what’s going to happen today! Should K’Tack win, not only will he regain the title of Longest Killstreak, but he’ll also claim the 9 million Evra in the Raptor’s Prize Pool. If he loses though, well, it’ll be the first time K’Tack’s been defeated in 7 years.
Kazix: Today’s match is a surrender-based deathmatch. The aim is to try and take out your opponent and force their PHAM to teleport your opponent out of the arena. Who chose this game type, Cassius?
Cassius: Apparently it was picked at random. Both K’Tack and Retvik want a fair battle here, so the Raptor picked location and game type out of a box.
Kazix: Makes sense, since this arena doesn’t really seem to help either of them. I’m honestly amazed the Champ came back to take a swing at this.
Cassius: It’s going to be amazing.
Kazix: Alright, let’s size up our contestants. On the red side, we have the Champ, K’Tack. Aged 36, weighing in at 233kg, 5.6m long and nearly 4m tall. Like all Banikans, he’s a wall of flesh, with terrifying jaws, dangerous horns on his head and powerful legs, allowing K’Tack to leap a good 10 meters. His preferred weapon is his famous signature warhammer, which on its own weighs 37kg. K’Tack is a fire-based elemental as well, meaning he can move quickly if he needs to.
Cassius: And on the blue side, we’ve got the defender, Retvik Rethianos. The retired general of the famed 270th Legion, Retvik’s best known for his indomitable will, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. At 73 years old, weighing in at 160kg and standing at 2.7m tall, Retvik’s at his prime, heavily armored and always ready for a fight. Today, he’ll also be fighting with his signature weapon – a hand-crafted Rethan blade-staff, tipped with two long bladed prongs and connected by a standard Rethan blaster refitted to fire non-lethal rounds.
Kazix: He’s going to need that blaster, since K’Tack is an elemental and very good at what he does. Although he’s probably rather held back by this arena setting. Water’s great if you’re on fire. There’s Phovos, about to announce the match.
Phovos: Welcome to the Waterfall Arena, my dear allvok! We have an old challenger, here to try and reclaim his title and the Raptor’s Prize Pool. Please give a round of applause to K’Tack, the Champion! Facing him tonight is our current holder of the longest winstreak in the Dessaron Arena. Please welcome Retvik Rethianos!
Cassius: What a thunderous applause.
Phovos: This match is a water-based elimination battle. To win, you must force your opponent to surrender, at which point their PHAM device will teleport them out of the arena. Combatants, are you ready? Fight.
Kazix: …
Cassius: That silence. The whole arena is silent. Everyone’s just waiting…
Kazix: Stop spoiling the silence.
Cassius: Hah.
Kazix: Heh. Well, it’s started off incredibly slow. Always the way with these sorts of matches. The pair of them sizing each other up.
Cassius: You’ve got to wonder how Retvik is going to pull through this one.
Kazix: Indeed. Banikans are always tough to fight. No real good angle to attack them.
Cassius: Looks like Retvik’s going in from the side. Very cautiously moving. A sudden swing from K’Tack’s warhammer, but it doesn’t connect. Retvik gently counter-attacks but also doesn’t hit anything.
Kazix: A tail swing from K’Tack. People forget they have those fucking huge spikes on their tails too. Retvik ducks and weaves away. Don’t think they’ve even touched yet.
Cassius: They’ve both backed away again. K’Tack’s switched to carrying his warhammer with one hand. Seems to have pulled out the magic already
Kazix: Because when you’re a 4 meter tall monster, you can do that.
Cassius: You say that, Retvik’s holding his staff one handed as he dodges those fireballs. Smart move, dunking himself in the water so it hurts less. Again, no contact has been made, but these small fireballs are forcing Retvik to really move. K’Tack is closing the gap but Retvik’s the first to land a blow. Just a small scratch on K’Tack’s side, but it’s a hit nonetheless.
Kazix: And K’Tack seems rather angry about it. We’ve got two vok with reputations on the line here, K’Tack more so than Retvik. Not like the original Dessaron are going to get the Raptor’s Prize Pool should they never get beaten, right?
Cassius: Oooh, nice swing from Retvik, another small scratch. K’Tack is spamming small fireballs, forcing Retvik to re-position towards the water. He closes the gap between them and swings that warhammer straight down.
Kazix: Doesn’t hit anything though, but Retvik’s still backing off. There’s simply no real opportunity to get in and do anything.
Cassius: Retvik isn’t in a great position though, he’s going to get hit at some point.
Kazix: K’Tack’s old tactics of creating fire rings on the ground just isn’t working on the soggy terrain. A fireball has just hit Retvik but he shrugs it off.
Cassius: But there goes the warhammer and it clashes with the blade-staff! The sound of metal against clearly not so hard metal. Retvik struggles to hang on there and has to bail without his weapon.
Kazix: Not good at all. But Retvik’s back on his feet and has managed to disarm K’Tack as well, kicking his warhammer away. Did you see where that went?
Cassius: Think it went into the water. Doubt we’ll be seeing any more from either of their weapons.
Kazix: Wow, K’Tack is bloody furious. He’s going at Retvik with his teeth and claws. K’Tack has pushed Retvik to the ground but Retvik’s flipped over and kicked K’Tack away, sending him off balance. Now they’re back to keeping their distance, but both are weaponless and Retvik has no way to attack from range.
Cassius: Remember, it’s a surrender match, so we could be here a while.
Kazix: K’Tack is trying to be more accurate with his fireballs, but Retvik’s kicking up water as a distraction. It’s enough to render most of K’Tack’s fire useless.
Cassius: And K’Tack’s given up on the fire, he’s charging right in there, horns down! You forget how fast Banikans can run! K’Tack has gored Retvik in the leg but come away with a problem with his jaw.
Kazix: I think Retvik elbowed or kicked him in the jaw in order to get free. Yeah, K’Tack is spitting out teeth. Retvik doesn’t appear to be limping but that’s a nasty blow to his left leg. Right in the thigh.
Cassius: Another charge from K’Tack, but this time with a jump. He’s trying to pin Retvik down with his horns, but Retvik just keeps on pushing him away. He’s not letting the Banikan get close at all. And there’s that special Banikan kick! Thrown Retvik completely off his feet and half way across the arena.
Kazix: A great leap and K’Tack is now on top of Retvik. He’s pinning him down, hands around the Retha’s neck. It looks like he’s trying to get Retvik to surrender by drowning him! This is why I hate the surrender-based matches…
Cassius: To be fair, it’s a good tactic. Quick and somewhat easy to do. Retvik’s thrashing but he’s got nearly a quarter of a ton holding him down. There’s no way he’s getting out of this.
Kazix: Retvik’s clawing deeply into K’Tack’s arms though. Water is turning red here.
Cassius: How long can a Retha hold his breath like this? K’Tack is trying to pin down Retvik’s legs as well, but Retvik is kicking right at his stomach and hips.
Kazix: Not very long… We’re not great with water… Retvik’s slowing down, but I don’t think he’s going to give up until he passes out. All the while he’s digging deeper into K’Tack’s flesh.
Cassius: How is Retvik still going? It’s been 30 seconds now…
Kazix: I think he’s stopped…
Cassius: K’Tack’s letting go a bit. Retvik’s not moving. Think he’s waiting for the PHAM to kick in. Five seconds… Four, three…
Kazix: He’s feigning! Retvik’s just headbutted K’Tack! K’Tack’s stumbling and falling backwards! The Rethan’s solid headshield has really done some damage!
Cassius: Retvik’s pushed K’Tack to the ground and has torn off a good part of his back armor. K’Tack is flailing but failing to do any difference. He’s reaching around in the water, looks like he’s got somethi- It’s his warhammer! K’Tack tries to ready a blow but Retvik just kicks the weapon out of his hands!
Kazix: K’Tack’s readying a charge. He’s too weak for elemental power, so he goes charging in and can you believe it? Retvik’s grabbed on to K’Tack’s horns. He’s THROWN K’Tack onto his back, using his horns like a lever!
Cassius: How did he even do that?
Kazix: I have no idea.
Cassius: The tables have suddenly turned. K’Tack’s trying to get in at an angle but Retvik’s just bashing him away. He seems angry but he’s controlling the situation. Constant blows to the side. Looks like he has finally figured out where the weak spots are.
Kazix: K’Tack seems to be unable to protect his sides. With his armor broken, he’s got no safety there at all. Looks like a last ditch ram with K’Tack’s long horns, but Retvik’s ducked and weaved underneath K’Tack and now he’s lifting the Banikan on his shoulders!
Cassius: He’s thrown the Banikan over his knee! K’Tack has hit the ground with a splash and a thud, that water only adding to the pain.
Kazix: They both seem to have stopped moving. Retvik’s still on guard, incredibly wary. And there’s the PHAM countdown. Five, four, three, two, one… K’Tack has been teleported out of the arena!
Cassius: I don’t believe it! K’Tack had it in the bag but Retvik’s come back from almost beyond and won!
Kazix: And that ROAR of triumph from Retvik! The Retha watching have gone absolutely wild!
Phovos: K’Tack has been eliminated. Retvik Rethianos keeps his title of the longest win streak and has won the match. Congratulations.
Cassius: Now that was an amazing match. Looked like it was all over for Retvik, but he feigned, caught K’Tack off-guard then completely dominated the rest of the fight.
Kazix: Very surprised that K’Tack even fell for the feign, it’s one of the oldest tactics in 1v1 fights. I assume overconfidence is what did it.
Cassius: Possibly. Retvik now has the longest win streak on record – an amazing 38 wins! K’Tack is probably kicking himself, assuming he’s still conscious.
Kazix: That’s the thing with any sort of extrusion on one’s head, you hit the ground funny, you knock yourself out. Horns are particularly bad, you can do all sorts of nasty damage.
Cassius: Well, both vok are in the medical bays being patched up. We’ve got Yaksis down there ready to speak to them. Yaksis?
Yaksis: It’s rather quiet down here. K’Tack isn’t willing to talk and Retvik doesn’t seem to be celebrating much. He is here with me though. Retvik, congratulations on an ASTONISHING victory. How do you feel?
Retvik: I am not doing great. Both of us were fighting dirty, it was not an honourable match.
Yaksis: How did you manage to hold your breath for so long?
Retvik: I put myself through vigorous training, particularly in the area of survival. But if someone does attempt to drown me in such a manner again, they will get more than a broken skull. I do not take kindly to being forced like that.
Yaksis: Any last words?
Retvik: Condolences to K’Tack. Nothing more.
Cassius: Thank you Yaksis and congratulations Retvik! That’s about it for now. Join us in the next few minutes as we go over the stats for that last match.
Kazix: And join us tomorrow for double Vohra trouble, as the Vohran Dessaron teams Kallon and Kalkon take each other on in a dramatic king of the hill match. Until next time, I am Kazix Steviou,
Cassius: And I’m Cassius Poltemius.
Kazix: Thank you for watching, good night!