Deadpool was currently hanging upside down from the ceiling by a single strand of what looked like very sticky licorice. He was trying to tie a cherry stem into a knot using only his tongue while holding a scorecard with his toes.
(why I wrote that? don't ask me.)
"tum, hope you aren't afraid of spiders or getting tangled up in legal red tape!" Deadpool said, dropping into his chair and accidentally knocking over a bowl of nachos. "We are in Ring 33, and the 'Acrobatic-A-Thon' is officially underway! It's the Friendly Neighborhood Web-Head versus the Stone Ocean's most wanted! It's Webs vs. Strings! It's Queens vs. Florida! Let's see who gets tied up first!"
Ring 33 was a chaotic web of suspension cables, half-finished skyscrapers, and massive construction cranes stretching across a foggy bay. There was no "floor," only the dizzying drop into the water below.
Heimdall was hovering in a small, golden drone. "Match Number Eighteen! The Amazing Spider-Man! Versus the Stand User of the Joestar bloodline, Jolyne Cujoh!"
The Quip-Off
Spider-Man was perched on a crane, his lenses narrowing as he looked across the gap. "Hey, nice outfit! Is the 'orange jumpsuit' look coming back in style, or did you just escape from a very fashionable prison? Also, I think your hair is trying to tell me a secret."
Jolyne stood on a swaying cable, her Stand, Stone Free, shimmering behind her like a blue, spectacled phantom. She pulled a thread from her finger and flicked it dismissively. "You talk a lot for a guy in spandex. My dad is the one who usually deals with annoying pests, but I think I can handle one bug on my own. Give me a break."
The String Theory
Peter didn't wait. He leaped into the air, firing a double web-shot. "Thwip-thwip!"
Jolyne didn't dodge. Stone Free moved with blinding speed, catching the webs mid-air and unraveling them into harmless white thread. But Spider-Man was already behind her. His Spider-Sense was tingle-screaming, warning him of a trap.
Suddenly, the air around Peter was filled with nearly invisible lines. Jolyne had turned her own body into a massive, complex web of string.
"Caught you," Jolyne smirked, clenching her fist.
The strings tightened, binding Peter's arms and legs. But Spider-Man used his incredible proportional strength to flex, snapping the strings with a grunt. He fired a web-line to a higher crane and swung, delivering a powerful kick that Stone Free barely blocked.
The Tactical Web
Up in the booth, Deadpool was eating the nachos off the floor. "This is high-level physics, tum! If either of them falls, they're basically just oversized tea bags! Spidey has the strength advantage, but Jolyne is a master of the 'I already planned for you to break that' maneuver!"
Peter realized he couldn't win a close-range brawl against a Stand he could barely see. He started firing webs rapidly, not at Jolyne, but at the cranes and cables around her.
"What are you doing? You're missing!" Jolyne shouted, sending Stone Free forward for a rapid-fire punch. "ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
"I'm not missing!" Peter yelled, backflipping through the air. "I'm redecorating!"
Peter pulled on ten different web-lines at once. The massive construction cranes groaned and swung inward, creating a literal cage of steel and wire around Jolyne. She tried to turn into string to slip through the gaps, but Peter had coated the entire area in Impact Webbing, sticky enough to trap even a ghost.
Jolyne was stuck. Stone Free was tangled in a mess of high-tensile webbing and steel.
"Checkmate," Spider-Man said, landing softly on a nearby cable. "No hard feelings? I can't really afford a lawyer if you sue me."
"Match Eighteen winner... SPIDER-MAN!" Heimdall announced, his drone nearly getting caught in a stray web.
Up in the booth, Deadpool gave a standing ovation. "The Web-Slinger swings into the Semi-Finals! That's 18 winners down, 33 matches to go in Round One, tum! My spider-sense is telling me the next one is going to be hot... literally!"
The Heat is Rising! What's the next move, tum?
We're crossing off the matches fast! Who takes the stage next?
Match 19 (Ring 17): Natsu Dragneel vs. Portgas D. Ace. (The Fire Dragon Slayer vs. The Flame Emperor. Who has the hotter fire?)
Match 20 (ring 53): Sasuke Uchiha vs Hiei (Eye-Power Kings)