The cavern had grown so quiet that Jake could hear his own heartbeat—fast, uneven, panicked. Each breath scraped the back of his throat like sandpaper. His legs ached. His shoulders pulsed where lightning had burned through his bronze scales earlier. The air around the Top fifty-something fighters still standing felt heavy, charged with tension and exhaustion. Every breath was a reminder of how far they'd come—and how far they still had to go.
Jake wiped blood from his lip with the back of his hand, grimacing. "I'm too tired for this," he muttered under his breath. "Just wanna nap. Maybe a snack. Preferably both."
Swift stepped beside him, posture steady, a thin trail of frost marking the ground under his feet. His calm silver eyes swept the battlefield. "You have fought well, Jake," he murmured. "You've grown."
Jake managed a shaky smile. "Thanks. But I kinda feel like I'm dying."
Swift's wing-flick of a shrug didn't help his nerves. "Yes. That is normal in a fight like this."
"Swift—I swear—if we survive this tournament, you're teaching me how to do the calm thing."
"Agreed."
That tiny promise steadied Jake more than he wanted to admit.
He glanced across the cavern where Jade was certainly still blowing things up. The distant rumble, the flashes of light—yeah, Jade was fine. Shadeclaw stalked another predator like a wolf in a moonlit forest. Ember Claw and Tundra Lynx drifted apart like fire and frost sent off to hunt in opposite directions. Mira was… nowhere, and that was terrifying.
But Jake? He felt like a bronze coin tossed into a volcano.
Then the ground trembled.
Deep, powerful, rhythmic.
Jake froze.
"Oh no," he whispered. "Please no. I'm not ready. I just got done with—everything."
Swift turned, eyes narrowing. "Jake…"
Jake didn't want to look. Didn't want to confirm the thing his instincts already screamed.
But he looked anyway.
And he saw Giga-Ronin walking toward him.
Not running. Not charging. Just walking.
Every footfall shook dust off the cavern ceiling. Every movement was heavy enough to send vibrations up Jake's legs.
Giga-Ronin's expression never changed. He simply raised one arm…
and pointed at Jake.
Challenge issued.
Jake's heart dropped into his stomach.
Jimmy's voice cracked through the loudspeakers. "OOHHH NOOO! GIGA-RONIN HAS SELECTED HIS NEXT TARGET!"
Julian's shriek overlapped him, "JAKE! SWEET BRONZE BOY! RUN!!"
Jake clenched his fists. "I can't run…"
Swift touched his shoulder. "You can face him."
Jake swallowed. Hard. "Yeah. I know."
He stepped forward.
His knees shook. His stomach rebelled. His electricity sputtered out uncertainly.
But he stepped forward.
Swift whispered behind him, "You can do this."
Shadeclaw's growl from across the cavern: "Survive."
Ember Claw shouted, "Don't die, lad! Bad for morale!"
Jade's voice echoed distantly, "OI! BRONZO! HIT 'IM BACK!"
Jake took a breath.
Another.
Another.
Then he lifted his fists.
Giga-Ronin lifted his.
And both charged.
They collided with the force of an avalanche slamming into a steel mountain.
The shockwave tore across the battlefield, blasting loose stones into a cyclone. Several fighters nearby were tossed into teleport beams from the sheer pressure of the impact.
Jake's fist cracked against Giga's forearm. Jake felt something in his knuckles pop. Giga's punch crashed into Jake's ribs, sending him skidding backward a dozen feet, scraping against stone.
Jake gasped, "Okay—ow—okay—OW."
Giga did not speak.
Jake forced himself upright. Electricity sputtered across his shoulders. He lunged again, meeting Giga's punch head-on.
The force blasted Jake backward a second time. He hit a pillar, cracked it, and slid down to one knee.
His breath hitched. Everything hurt.
"Come on, Jake," he whispered. "Don't fold now."
He rose.
Giga charged.
This time Jake dodged. Swift's training kicked in—sidestep, shift weight, focus. Jake slammed his shoulder into Giga's side, electricity flaring. Giga grunted and staggered a half step.
Julian's scream echoed, "DID—DID HE JUST MAKE GIGA MOVE?!"
Jimmy shouted, "YES! JAKE IS IN THE FIGHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
That tiny shock of success fueled Jake's heart.
He spun, pivoted, and landed a lightning-charged punch against Giga's jaw.
Giga stepped back.
Jake blinked. "Holy—"
Giga grabbed Jake by the chest and threw him twenty feet.
Jake crashed into rubble hard enough to see stars.
He coughed. "O-kay. Yeah. That's fair."
But he got up again.
The fight grew more vicious. Giga's blows were mechanical but devastating. Jake adapted—barely—using his lightning to accelerate footwork. He rolled under a strike, elbows Giga in the ribs, tackles his waist with bronze force. He broke into the advanced techniques Swift had drilled him on.
He even threw in some dirty tricks Jade had taught him—finger jabs, low kicks, deceptive feints.
For a moment, the two seemed evenly matched.
Until they weren't.
Giga sped up.
Jake didn't.
Giga's punches became faster, heavier, more relentless. Every impact rattled Jake's bones.
A crushing blow to his chest blasted the air out of his lungs. A spinning elbow to the shoulder cracked bronze scales. A knee to the stomach folded him over.
Jake tried to dodge.
Tried to block.
Tried to stand.
But Giga-Ronin slammed a fist into his back, sending him face-first into the ground.
Jake gasped, unable to breathe. Electricity sputtered helplessly.
He whispered, "Swift… Jade… someone…"
But no one could reach him.
Giga's shadow loomed over him.
Jake forced his body up, trembling like a dying engine running on fumes.
"I'm… not done…"
He rose onto one knee.
Giga-Ronin paused, watching.
Jake dragged himself upright.
His fists shook.
His breath was ragged.
His heart screamed.
But he was standing.
Giga seemed to respect that.
He raised his fist for the finishing blow—
A strange WHRRRRRRRRRRR–WHONK–BONK–BZZZZZZT echoed above them.
Everyone paused.
Even Giga.
Even Jake.
Jake looked up.
His voice cracked: "No. No-no-no-no—NOT NOW—"
BUMBLE
dropped from the ceiling like an anvil launched from a trebuchet.
The builder bot plummeted straight between them and smashed into the ground with a dramatic clang. He bounced—three times—each bounce knocking dust and rubble everywhere.
Jake tripped backward in shock.
Giga blinked for the first time in the entire tournament.
Bumble whirred, sputtered, sparked.
"HELLO, CITIZENS! B–B–B–Bumble reporting for BUILDING DUTY!"
Jimmy screamed, "NOT AGAIN!!"
Julian shrieked, "WHO LET HIM OUT OF STORAGE?!"
Bumble continued, glitching:
"ERROR: CONSTRUCTION MODE MALFUNCTION. INITIATING—FIGHT MODE RENOVATION!"
Jake yelled, "WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"
Bumble extended a pneumatic hammer.
It slammed into the ground with machine-gun speed, sending tremors across the battlefield. Two fighters were knocked into teleport beams just from the vibration.
Julian wailed, "HE'S ACCIDENTALLY ELIMINATING PEOPLE AGAIN!"
Bumble's welding laser activated, sweeping past Jake's face narrowly.
Jake screamed, "STOP!! THAT IS NOT A SAFETY TOOL!!"
The laser hit a fighter across the arena, vaporized his shield, and teleported him out instead.
Jimmy cheered, "BUMBLE SCORES AGAIN!"
Bumble's cement cannon erupted, covering two fighters in sticky concrete and immobilizing them long enough to teleport.
Giga-Ronin remained completely unaffected. Cement splattered across his chest and instantly cracked off.
Jake gaped. "Of course."
Then Bumble malfunctioned again.
He looked down at Giga and chirped:
"UNAUTHORIZED STRUCTURE DETECTED."
Giga tilted his head.
Bumble rammed into him at full speed.
Metal clanged on metal. Sparks flew.
Giga-Ronin did not move.
Bumble bounced backward like a rubber duck hitting a granite wall. He tumbled through the air, screaming robotic nonsense, and nearly fell into a giant fissure in the ground.
Jake reacted on instinct—
He lunged forward and caught Bumble by his dangling cable.
This nearly pulled Jake in too, but he planted his feet, grunted with effort, and hauled Bumble back to safety.
Bumble beeped, "THANK YOU BRONZE-SCALE CITIZEN!"
Then his welding torch activated by accident.
Jake's eyes widened. "NO—NO—NO—DON'T THANK ME LIKE THAT—!"
The blast shot past Jake and hit another fighter behind him, eliminating them instantly.
Giga watched calmly.
Swift watched horrified.
Shadeclaw watched interested.
Jade laughed. Loudly.
Bumble swiveled back toward Giga. "INITIATING—HOME RENOVATION—"
Jake screamed, "THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS IS!!"
Bumble fired his drill arm into the floor.
The ground cracked violently.
Several fighters lost balance and teleported out.
Jake and Giga were thrown sideways.
Jake rolled twice and slammed into a boulder.
Giga barely staggered.
Jake wheezed. "I hate this bot…"
Finally—
mercifully—
Bumble sputtered and powered down.
He collapsed face-first into the dirt, glitching quietly.
Jake groaned, pushing himself to one knee.
Giga-Ronin stepped forward again.
Jake's heart leapt. "We're… we're still doing this?"
Giga nodded.
Jake sighed. "Yeah. Makes sense."
He staggered upright.
Electricity flickered.
Bronze scales cracked.
Muscles burned.
He lifted his fists one last time.
Giga mirrored him.
They charged.
Jake roared, lightning erupting across his arms.
Giga roared back, a metallic thunder.
They collided—
The shockwave was colossal, blasting rubble everywhere. Bumble cartwheeled through the air screaming "WHEEEEE!!!" before landing upside down.
Jake went sliding backward, arms shaking, chest heaving. He collapsed onto both knees, completely spent.
But he didn't pass out.
He didn't break.
He was still conscious.
Giga saw it.
He nodded once—
A gesture of respect.
Then he turned and walked away to face new opponents.
Jake fell backward onto the ground, exhausted but smiling faintly. "I… survived."
Swift rushed to him, helping him sit up. "You fought well."
Jake wheezed, "Can I… get juice… now…?"
Before Swift could answer—
Bumble limped over, sparking pitifully.
"REWARDING… HEROIC… SURVIVALLLL—PROTOCOL ACTIVATED."
A slot opened on Bumble's torso.
A small holographic plaque popped out and dropped into Jake's lap.
Jake squinted at it.
It read:
"YOU TRIED 👍"
Jake stared.
Swift stared.
Shadeclaw snorted.
Mira blinked.
Even Giga glanced back.
Jake whispered, "I hate this tournament."
Bumble cheerfully added,
"ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: NOT DEAD!"
Jake passed out cold.
Above them, the scoreboard ticked down:
60 → 55 remaining.
Danny and Wolf King watched quietly from above.
The next phase loomed.
But for now—
Jake slept clutching a ridiculous holographic trophy.
And somehow…
it felt like a victory.
Fighters Remaining: 55 / 500