[[NOTICE: The mech Prime Black has successfully reached the centre of the asteroid field. All other competitors have 5 minutes to reach the centre.]
[[Time Remaining: 04:59]]
"Wait! What's this?" Honcho asked in shock as the notification appeared on the feed of every holographic screen as it switched to Prime Black.
"And Prime Black is the first to clear the asteroids and reach the centre of the asteroid field, meaning the five-minute timer has officially begun," Honcho announced before asking, "How did he even manage that when he went so of course at the start?"
"I can't believe that Prime Black didn't encounter any of the turrets, mines or other traps. How lucky can you get?" Raella remarked in disbelief.
"It is certainly surprising, but I suppose it's not impossible," Dulaebella replied.
[[Betting Poll complete.]]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): Ah man, I lost, that sucks.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): Seriously, who could have predicted that Prime would get there first?]
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Some people obviously did, he had 30% of the bets, remember.]
[HackerSu (Trillion): Fuck, I call hacks. There is no way that idiot should have reached the centre of the asteroid field with the detour he took at the start.]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): All the other competitors, the streamer included, were delayed with having to deal with each other as well as the obstacles; it's not that surprising since he didn't encounter any of the obstacles.]
[HackerSu (Trillion): That's another point, how the fuck did he avoid all the obstacles? Did he fly that far off course initially so as to avoid them all?]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): That was my original thought; however, the way he randomly turned at certain points for no apparent reason makes me think otherwise.]
[OfficialMuriel (Aqua Primus): Are you saying he knew where the turrets, mines and other traps were?]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): That's my theory, though I have no idea how and can't prove it.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Could his sensors have detected them? Like on the streamers mech?]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): Possibly, though that's unlikely since Dulaebellaherself mentioned that normally you need ship class sensors to detect them when they're that small.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): But again, the streamer's mech can detect them.]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): You know we can't hold the streamers tech to the same level as the rest of the universe.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): I guess. But then how did Prime know?]
[Superhearofangirl (Earth): Is it possible he learned of their locations before the match somehow?]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): I doubt it. With how the UMB Cup committee kept quiet about the match in order to make it a surprise, I doubt Prime could get his hands on any information regarding it.]
đź’«đź’«đź’«
[... Oh yeah, Prime's the best.]
[... I knew you could do it, Prime.]
[... He should win the whole thing for getting there first.]
[... Yeah fuck whatever the next stage is, and just give the prize to Prime now so he can come impregnate me already.]
[... You mean impregnate Diva Lorelie.]
[... You mean impregnate Diva Lorelie and Diva Aphrodite.]
[... Imagine being the man to knock up two divas, dude will go down in history.]
[... Forget that, imagine being the man to knock up two divas at the same time. Now that's historic.]
"HAHAHAHAHA, Of course, yours truly, the greatest streamer in the universe and most alpha male, is going to win the charity match and the hearts of every diva," Prime boasted happily as he received praise from his viewers.
[... Every diva? Even the male ones? Kek.]
"..."
[Streamer Prime has banned…]
đź’«đź’«đź’«
"Oh my, what's going on with the space in front of Prime Black?" Honcho suddenly said as the feed suddenly showed the space in front of Prime Black that seemed to distort and shimmer.
"No way, it can't be," Dulaebella said as she suddenly stood up in surprise.
"What is it, Dulaebella?" Honcho asked.
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): You've gotta be fucking kidding me.]
[NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): Oh my, I wasn't expecting this.]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): The UMB Cup committee definitely went all out, if they're using one of those.]
"How did the committee get hold of cloaking tech?" Dulaebella asked in shock as a giant sphere suddenly materialised.
[Justiceistruth (Earth): HOLY! Look at that thing, it's fucking huge.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): How do you even build something like that?]
[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): The same way they built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China…. Aliens did it.]
[1000yearsofdeath (Earth): Well, you're not wrong. kekeke.]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2):Â Still, that sphere is huge; it must be the size of a small moon. I wonder what they have planned for it.]
"We are now receiving information from the committee regarding this mysterious sphere that just decloaked in front of us all," Honcho informed everyone before he continued.
"According to this, the sphere is entirely hollow and is the next stage of the match. An access point into the sphere will open up and allow entry; however, once the five-minute timer expires, the hatch will close again. Any mech outside the sphere after the hatch closes will be eliminated."
"Well, that explains how they plan to enact the elimination rule and definitely makes it more interesting than just saying, 'beep times up, you're disqualified," Dulaebella remarked.
"Oh well, now isn't this interesting," Honcho suddenly said in surprise.
"What?" Raella, before adding, "Don't keep us in suspense and tell us already."
"Haha, ok, ok," Honcho said with a laugh before explaining, "the mechs that make it into the sphere will engage in a battle-type match for the next stage."
"And? There's not exactly anything interesting there," Raella interrupted.
"Well, it kind of is, previous battle-type matches held in the UMB Cup have all been held in massive open areas of space where, if things are not looking good, you can escape and save your mech.
The sphere, however, makes escape impossible because you're trapped in there with your rivals." Dulaebella explained.
"They can still forfeit, can't they?" Raella asked.
"Well, sure, but turning tail and verbally forfeiting are two different things. Many pilots in the past have come up with excuses as to why they 'had' to leave the battlefield, and while no one really believes them, they also can't prove that they're not being honest.
Someone who verbally forfeits, however, has no excuse when they are asked about giving up." Dulaebella explained.
"Ok, sure, but that's still no reason for Honcho to get so excited," Raella replied.
"I haven't finished yet," Honcho said with a sigh before continuing, "Apparently, the inside of the sphere is one giant holographic chamber."
"What?" Dulaebella asked in surprise.
"Huh?" Raella said with shock.
[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): A giant holographic chamber? Is such a thing possible?]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Haven't you seen DBZ?]
[Animefangirl (Earth): That's the hyperbolic time chamber, you idiot.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Ohhh, you're right.]
[SciFifanboy (Earth): You're on about the holodeck, though, considering the size of the sphere, it's more like the holo ship from the movie.]
[Whostolemyduck (Earth): The sphere itself looks more like the Dyson Sphere that appeared in that one episode.]
[NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): There they go again, talking about shit the rest of us don't understand.]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): Haha, you get used to it.]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): What the heck's a Dyson Sphere?]
"So what sort of holograms can we expect the sphere to materialise?" Dulaebella asked curiously.
"The environment," honcho replied before adding, "though it doesn't go into any more detail."
"The environment?" Dulaebella mused before saying, "I guess going with a holographic chamber does keep things interesting. This way, they can set the location of the final stage completely at random so that none of the competitors can prepare for it."
đź’«đź’«đź’«
"Well, I guess that explains what Director Opalbeard meant by Prime's advantage won't help him near the end of the match. If the environment produced by the holographic chamber is truly random, then there is no way for him to have known beforehand," Rowena stated.
"Agreed, it's most probably loaded with holographic copies of different well-known environments from all across the universe," Tessa remarked.
"I'm interested to know what type of battle-type match it will be, I'm thinking a battle royal," Stacey remarked.
"I guess the type of battle-type will depend on how many competitors make it into the sphere in time," Becky stated.
đź’«đź’«đź’«
"And we can see that a section of the sphere is opening up," Honcho suddenly said as those watching the feed watched as a pair of large double doors began to slide open.
"Prime Black is now entering the sphere, so let's check up on our other competitors," Honcho said as Prime Black flew through the sphere entrance, and the feed switched.
"Well, it seems that Excess Surplus using Dwarfinian Pride as a meat shield has paid off because it is no longer suffering from the speed decrease and in chasing after both Spector Unit Six and Speed Stone, who we can see is also flying once again at full speed towards the Centre of the asteroid field.
Unfortunately for Universal Bank, Dwarfinian Pride and Eyes of Blood, however, they are still under fire from… no wait."
[[Contender mech: Dwarfinian Pride simulated damage level has reached critical]]
[[Dwarfinian Pride Eliminated]]
[[Contender mech: Universal Bank simulated damage level has reached critical]]
[[Universal Bank Eliminated]]
[[Contender mech: Eyes of Blood simulated damage level has reached critical]]
[[Eyes of Blood Eliminated]]