With the lizard on top of its foe, it looked to finish the job off right here and right now. Lifting a clawed arm, causing steam to flow off the glowing claws from the heat, Stormraider suddenly straightened up.

  It almost seemed to be resuscitated, and it now gripped its baton far more tightly. Swinging it straight into the bot’s head, it was freed as the Scrambling Dragon was launched straight off its body.

  Now, in this position, Stormraider could fight again. Upon throwing that initial hit, Cael could tell one thing, his bot still outclassed this dragon. Even with its special circuit venom, its strength and speed were subpar.

  This theory was only confirmed further as the dragon-like bot attempted to attack Stormraider again. Not even just falling behind its trusty energy shield, the incoming slams, cuts and punches were not causing overwhelming damage.

  Catching most of the slashes on its energy shield, only minor damage was done.

  Delivering an attack back in kind, the baton continuously smashed into the body of this dragon. Even with its mindless, aggressive style of fighting that kept Stormraider on its toes, it had no true power or calculation.

  Stormraider eclipsed its opponent in both attributes and so, the Scrambling Dragon was swiftly beat down.

  With numerous slashes from the former’s claw-like blades and smashing strikes from its baton, the fight was soon to be over.

  This Scrambling Dragon pulled back its arm wildly as it threw it forward for a swing. It placed all of its weight behind the attack and roared in the process. As for its adversary, though, it remained calm and technically slipped under the swing.

  With this much weight resting on its feet as it crouched, Stormraider exploded upward with a devastating baton swing.

  A trail of current was left behind the weapon in its advance, and the headpiece of this bot was crushed under the impact. Lifelessly crashing to the ground, the bot was defeated.

  “Yes!” Cael shouted, lifting from his seat with excitement.

  He received some glances from the spectators as he did this, but they looked pleasant and just chuckled upon noticing his enthusiasm. With reddening cheeks, he returned to his seat and awkwardly readjusted his hair as he continued to watch the fight at hand.

  “Yes...” He whispered to himself, as soon as his eyes fell back onto the active battlefield.

  Stormraider stepped over the fallen komodo dragon, that still lightly twitched until no more movement was seen. It glowing eyes fizzled out, and the next bot was soon to reveal itself.

  “ROARRR!!!”

  A spine-chilling growl was heard from within the darkness, and the crowd almost fell totally silent.

  In the next moment, a 7-foot-tall black bear bot revealed itself, roaring up to the sky with pure fury and bloodlust.

  “Here we are folks!!! This is the Battering Black Bear, or just Triple B for short! With overwhelming size and power, this bear doesn’t even need its super-heated claws! It could crush its foes with its heavy, thudding slams alone!”

  “Crap.”

  Before Cael could even get bogged down in his own thoughts, the bot was on its way toward Stormraider. Its large frame seemed to be doing very little to slow it down, it continued to charge forward with vigour and aggression.

  Stormraider just managed to catch the initial slam behind the security of its energy shield. Even with this, though, it was launched straight off its feet.

  Sent crashing down into the ground, there’d have to be a recalculation here. Fighting as it had done previously would only secure the bot’s defeat. It would absolutely have to strategise here.

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  With the true fury of a beast, the bear charged forward with a maniacal, but mechanical-sounding roar.

  Dropping its right arm, it slugged it upward and Stormraider remained in place, with its shield aimed forward. With a firm, steady stance, the brunt of the damage was simply absorbed by the shield and stormraider only slid back a few inches.

  The bear swung forward its left arm immediately after the slam, which forced the bot to swiftly drop down as if it had fell. Even with its hulking frame, the bot did not lack in terms of speed.

  With its flank wide open, Cael’s bot decided to capitalise on that. From the stands above, Cael could see his bot’s grip on its baton tighten as it drove the side of the weapon straight into its adversary’s side.

  Its open side was still vulnerable to attack and so, Stormraider didn’t stop there. Revealing its thin, long super-heated blade from just over his right knuckles, it went in for yet another hit.

  Forcefully striking the area, much to the surprise of the arena, its blade just scratched across the outer armour of Triple B.

  “Oh would you look at that! Not only does Triple B have insane power, its armour is almost impenetrable!” The announcer called out.

  The crowd started to look a little more interested in the situation at hand. The bot being subjected to this gauntlet was now coming up against quite the opponent. Unlike the swarming pest-like bots from before, this would be a true challenge.

  An exhilarating challenge.

  With another swing of its mammoth arms heading Stormraider’s way, it decided to meet in the middle by swinging its shield toward the advancing arm.

  Even when applying this forward force, the smaller autobot was launched back like it was hit by an aircar.

  It almost lost its footing, dropping back its hand in anticipation of a fall. In this vulnerable position, the bear pounced and slashed at the golden energy shield thrown right in its face.

  The cutting damage of the slash was nullified by the shield, but not the force behind it.

  Thud!

  Stormraider harshly crashed into the edge of the ring behind it, now in a cornered position.

  Before it could even lift its shield, a slap-like hit landed straight onto its headpiece.

  “OOOH!” The crowd roared, with some of the enthusiasts even lifting from their seat for a brief moment.

  The impact sounded terribly loud, and the bot’s headpiece was simply sent flying into the wall behind it.

  Continuing on in a much more defensive manner, Stormraider still couldn’t block and manage every attack that came. Along with that, Cael was starting to grow concerned for how his bot would fare against any subsequent opponent. Running the baton and energy shield, even when based on an efficient energy model, wasn’t pure magic.

  The energy had to come from somewhere and wouldn’t last forever. Even if Stormraider managed to come out on top in this fight, it would be left drained.

  Attacking past the translucent shield, Triple B grabbed its prey by its neck, wrapping its large hand totally around it.

  “RROARRR!!”

  Stormraider wasn’t exactly a human and so wasn’t suffocating or anything like that. However, in this heavily restricted position, it couldn’t even fight back. The bot struggled to release itself just as a human with no breath would, tugging and tugging at the arm with all the power it could muster.

  Before it could do anything more, it was slammed right into the sandy arena floor.

  “Woah! What a collision! I think this is where the WM Stormraider meets its match. The Battering Black Bear just seems to be too much for it.” The announcer declared, with everyone’s eyes focused on the fallen bot.

  It continued to struggle but then, holstered its baton and removed its energy shield. In this same motion, two of its claw-like blades from over its knuckles grew to their full, imposing length.

  A single moment after, Stormraider snapped. Throwing slash after slash, Triple B started to growl in annoyance and almost in pain.

  This gave the fallen bot ample time to get back onto its own two metal feet. Stormraider then continued the fight, throwing several stabbing punches and slashes at its armour. It almost emulated the fighting style of its opponent, fighting truly brazenly and confidently.

  Even though it wasn’t as powerful, the damage it was delivering was starting to show. Much to the surprise of the onlookers, Stormraider was actually doing something here.

  Cael, almost losing hope, was shot back into life upon seeing the tables turn in this manner. The intensity of the assault was making it hard for the unintelligent Triple B to throw back in any way, shape or form.

  The massive bear almost looked flabbergasted, not used to receiving what it regularly dished out.

  After this long sequence of attacks, one managed to break through. This was a stabbing punch straight through the solar plexus, tearing straight through the armour layers and even the internals.

  This was what it was built for. With the amount of force behind the stab and the thin tip, it could stab through even the most robust materials.

  Sparks of electricity flew out from the stab point, and Stormraider was forced to reactivate its energy shield to stop a downward slam from Triple B. The thudding slam made its knees almost buckle, but it did not fall. No.

  Powering back up to more straightened feet, the bot was not thrown down. With even more sparks flying out of the open stab wound, the end was near.

  Stormraider had done it once again.

  “What an absolutely electric turn of events. In seconds, Stormraider has gone to being put on its back to taking down Triple B itself! I can’t believe this is happening, folks!!” The announcer roared into the stands, with Cael’s hands on his head.