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Activate!

And we€™re off! Three of the four machines waste no time at all in making their advances into the centre of the arena, with only Archangel of the Abyss choosing to wait for a moment or two, presumably waiting for its two monumental spinning shells to get up to speed. Meanwhile the other three immediately clash in the centre of the ring over the pit, with Drilla Killa Renaissance and Hexadecimator taking on Kronic. Steve and his machine go in with prongs raised and drills spinning, presumably hoping to cause some damage to the flimsy outer shell. Hexadecimator has other ideas though and manages to get straight underneath the sides with the powerful pneumatic flipper, sending the wedgehog over onto it€™s back. Drilla Killa Renaissance is about to come in with the drills for an attack on the underbelly when Kronic€™s lid flips and puts him back on his wheels.

By now, Archangel of the Abyss is ready and waiting to come into the action however is being very pensive, presumably deciding who to launch into first. His choice appears to be the weakest armoured, in this case, Kronic. However, by the time he€™s reached our Sonic look-alike, the other 3 have moved, he instead finds him careering straight into Hexadecimator. The result of the clash is a small gouge in the side armour of Hexadecimator and the bottom disc of Archangel of the Abyss stopping. Kronic thinks this could be his chance to try and flip him over and out, but when he makes contact with the Archangel, he instead finds himself bounced away by the top ring, which has already got up to speed. Even the flimsy armour doesn€™t take any damage from the top ring though and leaves Kronic to fight on.

The arena wall has already dropped by around 15cm by this point and Hexadecimator seems to view it as a better target for disposing of his foes. Having already been shell shocked from his last skirmish, Kronic is looking slightly dazed and Hexadecimator makes sure that he takes full advantage of this, slamming him into the fence with his superior drive and flipping him up into the air. This time though, the wedgehog is lucky and finds himself facing away from the wall, allowing him to use his lid to flip back onto his wheels and charge off in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, Drilla Killa Renaissance and Archangel of the Abyss find themselves having their first little skirmish in the centre of the arena, and the 2 are tentatively circling one another, obviously waiting for a brief slip in concentration. Surprisingly, the slip comes from Alex, and Steve takes full advantage of it. Having slid slightly too far with his lack of manouvreability, Drilla Killa Renaissance suddenly finds himself presented with the side of Archangel of the Abyss. Steve lowers the drill prongs as low as they will go and slides into Archangel of the Abyss. The drills manage to slip underneath the bottom ring of the Angel, and allow Steve to try and slip underneath the skirt. Most action he€™s had in ages . He manages it, albeit having to put a small hole in the skirt and immediately uses the prongs to begin to topple him onto his roof. As he tries to toss the Angel over, however, the still spinning lower shell meets the wooden floor. It results in damage to all. Drilla Killa Renaissance€™s left drill prong seems to have stopped spinning, although the lifting function still seems to be working. Archangel of the Abyss has grounded it€™s bottom disc to a halt as well managing to lose one of the blades on the bottom ring, presumably becoming disattached after the big impact against the floor. Most importantly however, is the arena floor, which now has a massive gouge out of it and could prove tricky to drive over later.

Kronic and Hexadecimator seem to have been using the event to their advantage however and have both taken a break from fighting to sit and watch the action, ready to capitalize on any mistakes from the other combatants. This is exactly what Hexadecimator seems to be doing, as before Archangel of the Abyss can use its self-righting arm, Tony€™s realie has flown into the scene, sliding underneath Archangel of the Abyss and taking it towards the walls, which have now descended by nearly 40cm to just 50cm in height. He flings the Archangel up into the air, seeming to have no trouble with the slightly added weight for the walker. The first attempt fails to get Alex€™s vapour very high, but a readjustment later and he flings again, this time giving Archangel of the Abyss out of the arena and back to where it came from.

One down, three to go and immediately it€™s obvious whom the other two will be going for. Drilla Killa Renaissance is already wrangling with Kronic, to mixed effect. Despite having put a couple of holes in the flimsy side armour with the one remaining drill, Kronic has now managed to get underneath the raised prongs and has slid underneath him with the front wedge and is now proceeding to carry him across the arena. After taking him for a couple of laps of the ring, with Hexadecimator refusing to get involved, presumably for preservations€™ sake, he finally takes him to the edge to see if he can repeat Archangel of the Abyss€™s fate. Unfortunately for him, Drilla Killa Renaissance merely topples off the edge of the flipper onto his back and as opposed to Archangel of the Abyss, Drilla Killa Renaissance is invertible and merely shuffles back off across the arena to meet his old pal Hexadecimator.

Kronic knows that he is the one that both the machines are after and decides he needs to use one as defence against the other. Due to its higher ground clearance, he immediately picks on Hexadecimator, sliding the flipper underneath the side thanks to its quicker speed and better manouvreability. Much to his disgust, this plan doesn€™t work as Drilla Killa Renaissance just slides straight under the side of Kronic, sending both of his foes onto their side. Hexadecimator flips straight back onto his wheels, while Drilla Killa Renaissance uses his forks to pin shove and drill Kronic all at the same time. Hexadecimator follows Steve€™s machine and waits, presumably to help Drilla Killa Renaissance should he get into trouble. He seems to be having no issue though, and begins to back towards and away from the now exposed underbelly of Kronic using the 1 working drill to scar the base. Eventually though, Kronic is presented with a chance to flip his lid and he does so, quickly scurrying off before his foes can launch into another attack on him. In the interim however, between Drilla Killa Renaissance and Hexadecimator catching him and trying to marmalise him once more, the pit in the centre of the shoots open like a trap door, nearly catching the passing Hexadecimator on unawares as he passes it. Quickly recovering from his near miss, him and his ally go back in pursuit of Kronic who has now paused waiting to see in which direction to flee. As it is though, Drilla Killa Renaissance and Hexadecimator are bored with this pursuit, and decide instead of chasing the wedgehog, to attempt to sandwich him, charging from both sides. In his haste to escape, AJ drives Kronic straight into the drill of Drilla Killa Renaissance, which pierces the outer polycarbonate for the umpteenth time. He uses this to his advantage, lifting him over onto his lid once more, this time allowing Hexadecimator the time and space to manouvre underneath the upturned wedgehog. This time as well, he decided not to bargain on his ability to flip him out of the arena and plays it safe, taking him towards the circular trap and flipping him into the abyss, more suited for the previously disposed Archangel.

CEASE

Me- what a great start to the 3rd Fowler Fic War. Archangel of the Abyss has got a HOLE lotta work to do to improve his chances while Kronic went down something Kronic. Hey, at least he€™s got a spine, several in fact.

Drilla Killa Renaissance and Hexadecimator book their way into the main event