All of a sudden, the spider bots sprang into action. Half of the 16 deposited the students held by them to the other half, and then marched empty-handed to the other end of the clearing, only Vic taken with them. When they were far enough away, the remaining spider bots unceremoniously dumped their captive Ultimates on the ground behind them and then marched into a formation opposing the other side. The setup was obvious: it looked like the spider bots were preparing for a battle.

“I’ve given total control over those 8 spider bots to you, Vic! No take-backsies, I can’t reclaim them without going up to them and hacking them,” Eve explained, standing at a distance from everyone. “Total, complete control… they’ll do whatever you tell them,” she added with a grin. “If you want to run, I can’t stop you. But I have a feeling you won’t.”

Vic stared at her for a moment, before turning to the opposing army. “Whatever I tell them, huh? So… if I tell them to destroy all those bots, and then you, I can stop this game? You’re right. I could run… but this is a challenge I won’t back down from.”

Even from all the way at the other end of the clearing, the other Ultimates could see Vic’s expression clear as day. He was smiling. “Let’s do this!”

With a yell, Vic urged his spider-bot army forwards, and the opposing forces quickly responded by charging to greet them. For a few seconds there was relative peace as all that could be heard were mechanical legs pounding against the ground, and then the two sides clashed with a resounding clang of metal on metal.

From his position up high, Vic commanded his forces masterfully. The other side were relentless in their automation, however, and the fighting became brutal, pieces of metal and even entire mechanical limbs being smashed off and sent flying. Amazingly it seemed Vic was holding his own; in fact, while it was difficult to tell in the chaos of the battle, he even seemed to be winning.

Soon there were just two fighters remaining on either side. Battered and misshapen, the spider bots circled each other warily, looking for an opening. Vic had the advantage as his bots were in better condition, but before he could attack, disaster struck. One of the legs on his one remaining ally suddenly buckled, and the two enemies immediately pounced, destroying it.

Now a two-vs-one, the conclusion seemed inevitable, but even then Vic never gave up. He went down fighting, and even after his own bot was disabled, he jumped into the fray himself, tearing a cable out of one of the bots and causing it to malfunction. The other bot was ready just behind him however, and impaled him on one of its limbs which had been sheared into a spike after a previous impact.

“Dammit… guess you got me,” Vic managed to say, grimacing as he looked down at the twisted spike of metal protruding from his chest. “But you know… that was a good… fight…”

Releasing one last breath, the Ultimate Challenger slumped and stopped moving. His body remained suspended by the limb of the spider bot that had defeated him, which itself had become immobilised, the battle damage finally catching up and rendering it inoperable. Vic had died, but he had taken all the challengers down with him.

“Woohoo! Would you look at that!” Eve exclaimed, clearly enjoying herself. “What a fight, huh?”
“That… There was no honour in that battle! It was rigged!” Nicos yelled indignantly, as the other Ultimates looked at the scene in horror. “The noble soldier that fell near the end, it was the same one you knocked into earlier! You sabotaged it!”
“Hey, so what if I did?” Eve replied, grinning again. “You know, the audience loves a heel. The odds are against you in this game, best get used to it.”