Fite 55- Chaos and Cuttlefish (Gezora vs. Erebus)

The air is tense in the arena tonight as a duel of honor is about to begin. On one side, a bartender is protecting the reputation of its drinks. On the other, a patron who questioned the quality of his beverage. Some might say a battle to the death over this is a little too much, I say it's a perfect setup for a fite!

Tonight's Fite:

In the arena, the fiters are preparing for the fite. Erebus tests the flames of his Heavy Flamer, creating an arc of intense heat and fire above his head. Gezora, meanwhile, has begun secreting a waxy substance as it stretches its tentacles. Perhaps it is the flame retardant oils it had been working on prior to this fite?

Either way, the combatants cease their prepping and start their attacks!

Erebus is quick to try and ignite the arena's air with flames, but Gezora's long and flexible tentacles reach him before he can. The Heavy Flamer sputters tiny plumes as Gezora's barrage disorients Erebus. Slapping suction cups aren't very effective against space marine armor, but the shear quantity of them enveloping Erebus's form makes it impossible for his body to engage in a counterattack.

Once Gezora's body has caught up with his own tentacles, the cephalopod sprays a plume of ink into Erebus's face. The sepia colored fluid irritates the marines eyes and disables his sense of smell, further incapacitating the already struggling marine.

Of course, this is the point where a comeback must be mounted, and Erebus's left arm knew it. Seizing three tentacles in the metallic grip of his free hand, Erebus pulls the giant bartender down onto his own head. Cuttlebone hits skull, causing both competitors to be disoriented. The tentacle tickling assault is brought to an end, allowing Erebus to back up and wipe most of the dark brown ink off his face. However, his vision is still highly impaired, so he relies on his other enhanced senses to determine where his foe is.

Gezora's dizzy spell ends, and it once more attempts its tickle assault maneuver to keep Erebus's body busy until it could disarm the flamethrower. However, before the mollusc's long arms could reach Erebus, the Chaos Marine's weapon roars to life, shooting a humongous plume of fire towards Gezora. Gezora quickly turns around to avoid a head-on blow, allowing its massive back to bear the brunt of the blaze. Luckily, it seems most of those secretions from earlier were on its back, protecting it from instantly being cooked by the inferno.

Gezora scuttles away from the fire, and now that the weapon was roaring, Erebus could no longer hear his opponent's movement. The marine began sweeping the arena floor with his weapon like a Vietnam soldier clearing the brush, but the bartender was not hit. Gezora was keeping its distance, waiting for the moment when it could close the gap and continue combat. Unfortunately, the intense heat of the weapon allowed it to set fire to even the arena's concrete floor, and soon Gezora was left with no other option: it would have to brave the blaze.

When Erebus's back was turned, a massive burning cephalopod leaped through the fire and seized the marine in a crushing hug. The Heavy Flamer's flame died as Erebus struggled to escape, but Gezora was busy trying to escape too. Rolling out of the inferno, the kaiju quickly patted out much of the fire on its body with its less busy tentacles. After getting a safe distance away from the fire, Gezora put the squeeze on Erebus.

The armor held strong at first, but Gezora's chilly aura, now that it wasn't so close to ridiculously high temperatures, was beginning to work its magic. The intensely resilient armor could not stand the direct application of such low temperatures, and soon it began to crack and groan as the cuttlefish's tentacles pressed down harder and harder. Erebus's body beneath the armor began to blister as more armor flaked off.

Gezora's free tentacles began fiddling with Erebus's right arm, trying to remove the Heavy Flamer. Erebus, still mostly blind, had been waiting for such an opportunity. Fighting the frostbite that had spread almost universally throughout his body, Erebus applied just enough pressure to activate his weapon once more.

Flames erupted all over Gezora as the fire easily spread up its tentacles and all over the kaiju's front side. It appears its front wasn't quite as well protected as its backside. The bartender began spraying ink all over in its frantic attempts to put the flames out. Erebus took a moment to assess the condition of his armor. It would suffice, but if he continued to be careless with his flamethrower, he might just set himself aflame.

After cleansing its body of flames with its secretions, tentacles pats, and good ol' fashioned rolling around like a madmollusc, the bartender quickly catapulted itself up and towards Erebus. Erebus punched forward with his left hand, sending the cuttlefish back and down on the floor once more. The large thud alerted Erebus to the impact point, and he quickly rushed up and crawled on top of Gezora.

His boots began to freeze as he scaled the kaiju, but he persisted as best he could. Soon though, he was frozen to Gezora's flesh. Before the bartender could retaliate with his tentacles, Erebus readied his flamethrower and aimed directly at the cuttlefish's face.

Instead of reaching up and grabbing its opponent, Gezora chose to instead roll over, crushing Erebus and preventing the ignition of more flame warfare. Erebus appeared to be dazed from the blow, so Gezora quickly positioned itself above the Chaos Marine. A wave of cold air flowed towards Erebus, snapping him out of his daze. He looked up, his eyes finally clear of the cephalopod's ink, and saw the infamous maw of the ever-hungry bartender. The kaiju lowered its mouth, ready to devour the patron who questioned its bartending ability. Erebus struggled against the encroaching cold, lifting his Heavy Flamer as best he could, hoping to kill Gezora before it killed him.

The cuttlefish's mouth screamed towards Erebus, but it suddenly found itself clogged. By a flamethrower.

No matter how much Gezora had tried to make its outsides nonflammable, its insides where still susceptible to the fire. The kaiju falls over, defeated. Its body comes crashing down on Erebus, who groans and crawls out from under the corpse.

He may be a bit groggy from all that cold, but Erebus is the winner!