Deadpool was currently wearing a pair of high-tech goggles that were glowing bright blue and frantically poking at a holographic screen that kept flickering. He accidentally deleted his high score on a mobile game and threw the goggles at a passing pigeon.
"Alright, tum, get your charging cables ready! We are moving from magic and monsters to the world of high-octane, triple-A, heavy-metal destruction!" Deadpool shouted, slamming his fists onto the desk. "It's the battle of the billionaires and the blades! The genius in the tin suit vs. the cyborg who cuts through tanks like butter! It's 'I am Iron Man' vs. 'Rules of Nature'!"
The arena transformed into the neon-soaked skyline of Neo-Tokyo. Rain hissed against glowing billboards, and massive hover-cars zipped between skyscrapers. The fighters stood on the roof of a towering corporate headquarters, overlooking the city.
Heimdall hovered nearby on a mechanical drone. "Semi-Finals Match Seven! The Armored Avenger, the genius of Stark Industries, Iron Man! Versus the cyborg ninja, the man they call Jack the Ripper, Raiden!"
The Speed of the Blade
Iron Man hovered a few feet off the ground, his gold-and-red armor gleaming under the neon lights. His HUD flickered as he scanned his opponent. "Nice suit, kid. A bit edgy for my taste, though. Want to tell me where the power core is, or do we do this the hard way?"
Raiden didn't answer with words. He gripped the hilt of his High-Frequency Blade. With a sudden burst of speed that cracked the concrete roof, he vanished.
CLANG!
Iron Man barely got his arm up in time. The HF Blade struck his forearm plating, sparks flying everywhere. Tony's AI, Friday, screamed a warning: "Internal structure integrity at 88%. That blade is vibrating at a frequency that can split atoms, boss."
"Okay, hard way it is," Tony muttered. He fired a point-blank Repulsor Blast. Raiden flipped through the air with superhuman grace, slicing through a stray hover-car that got in his way. He landed on the side of a building, his mechanical feet gripping the glass, and charged back in.
Tactical Superiority
"Deadpool check-in! Look at those moves, tum!" the merc yelled. "Raiden is moving so fast he's basically a blur of lightning. But Tony has the 'I've got an app for that' advantage!"
Raiden entered Blade Mode. To him, time slowed to a standstill. He saw every weak point in the Iron Man armor. He lunged, his blade a silver streak aimed at Tony's arc reactor.
But Iron Man wasn't just standing there. "Friday, full power to the omni-directional thrusters!"
Tony didn't dodge—he exploded upward. He unleashed a barrage of Micro-Missiles from his shoulders. Raiden began slicing the missiles out of the air, one by one, creating a chain of explosions around him. Through the smoke, Tony dived back down, his suit shifting into a heavy-hitter configuration.
The Overload
Tony grabbed Raiden's sword-arm with a specialized magnetic clamp that deployed from his palm. Raiden roared, his eye glowing a deep red—Ripper Mode was active. He kicked Tony in the chest with enough force to dent the armor, but Tony didn't let go.
"Sorry, Jack. I've got a world to save and a lunch date at three," Tony said.
The chest piece of the Mark 85 armor began to glow with a blinding white light. "Unibeam!"
At point-blank range, the massive beam of pure energy hit Raiden full-force. The cyborg's specialized armor tried to absorb the heat, but the output was too high. The explosion threw Raiden across the roof, his mechanical systems short-circuiting and his HF blade flying off into the streets below.
Raiden tried to stand, his body sparking and smoking, but his servos were locked. Iron Man landed softly, his weapons systems still hot.
"Match Seven winner... IRON MAN!" Heimdall announced, the neon lights reflecting off Tony's visor.
Deadpool was currently playing an air-guitar solo to an imaginary rock song. "And the billionaire takes it! Sorry, Jack, but you can't bring a sword to a laser-show! That's seven slots filled, tum!"
Deadpool leaned in close to the mic. "The next match is... well, it's going to be weird. We've got the strongest sailor man vs. the world's most powerful psychic student. Are you ready for Match 8: Popeye the Sailor vs. Saiki K?"