[Quarter Finals] Dave & Kenpachi vs Zedd & Violet

[Kenpachi Zaraki]

Kenpachi crumpled involuntarily, falling to his knees as Zedd’s bolt raced down his spine, overloading his faculties. The Death God’s head hung heavily for a pregnant moment as his breathing began to slow, a curtain of scraggly,  ebon hair obscuring his face. The galactic warlord saw his opportunity and seized upon it, racing forward on legs of chrome and sinew to bring down hard the serrated rune atop his staff and carve a crimson valley down the back of the incapacitated ronin. With a victorious cackle, Zedd wasted no time in raising the pike once more to expertly spin it overhead and unleash a storm of pain, alternating between bashing Kenpachi about the head and tearing still more vicious slashes into what remained of his robes.

“Finally, you have realized your folly in opposing me,” Zedd announced with satisfaction as he finally paused his assault to gloat. “Rest assured that it was my absolute pleasure!” As if to punctuate this final verbal jab, the skinless sovereign planted his foot firmly in the center of Zaraki’s wide back before booting him forward with enough force to send the swordsman tumbling through the Imperial wreckage like a discarded can of Palpatine Pop. “Minions, bring me the next one!”

“We're not done here,” Zaraki’s gravelly voice met Zedd’s non-existent ears with all of the pleasantness of nails on a chalkboard. The visored Kaiser’s ire boiled over as he watched the shinigami captain climb slowly to his feet. His once pure white haori was now more red than anything, shredded and barely recognizable as a garment, the robes beneath having not fared much better. “I’m having fun.”

“You enjoy being eviscerated by the soon-to-be emperor of these lands?”

“Yes,” Kenpachi replied, not missing a beat. “Or rather,” he continued, an impish grin crossing his mug as he finally turned to face his enraged opponent once more. “I enjoy watching you try,”

“Fine,” Zedd roared indignantly, brandishing his polearm with finality. “You are clearly putting on some idiotic act of bravado for our audience after suffering a thrashing at my hands. I will do you the mercy of finishing this quickly.”

Kenpachi freed himself of the tatters of his uniform and tossed them aside as Zedd harangued, exposing his already scarred chest, now littered with still more injuries to join the count. “Oh, please don't offer me any mercy; that's no fun at all. Besides, I'm far from my limits. I just needed a second to think is all.”

Zedd raised his Z-staff high as his bare-chested opponent continued to oppose him. “I have no doubt that an imbecile like yourself would need time to figure out how you could ever hope to defeat me.” Once more he unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity from the staff’s head, landing a direct hit to Kenpachi's mocking face.

“Heh, maybe,” the captain replied, standing unfazed despite the galactic emperor's voltaic strike. “We’ll see I guess. I was actually thinking more about my little buddy over there. He’s changed a lot since our first battle. He's really cutting loose now, it's getting my blood pumping to see him thrash your comrade.”

“Will you just shut your insolent trap and surrender to death at my hand?!” Kenpachi couldn’t tell if he had struck a nerve or if Zedd was constantly in some state of rage, but had to admit he was finding some satisfaction in seeing the ruler seethe. “I did not come here to have a dialogue with you!”

“Then shut me up.” Incidentally, he hadn't much else to say.

“Retrieve your blade so that I can fell you where you stand,” Zedd sneered, gesturing to the ronin’s misplaced sword. The nodachi lie among the rubble a few meters away, not far from where Butcher Jak and Judge Jak had found themselves trading blows atop the remains of a toppled building.

“Nah.”

At once the two brawlers charged forward, closing the distance before any other words could be exchanged. The armored emperor brought his staff to bear as he neared, driving the spiked end forward like a lance. To his chagrin he found it striking empty air as Kenpachi lunged into an uncharacteristic dodge, keeping his momentum going as he threw his arms wide and grabbed hold of his irate opponent around the neck. As his python-like arm coiled around Zedd’s throat he flexed his powerful legs against the rusting metal flooring, propelling the two skyward. The samurai held fast to his quarry as the warlord thrashed, twisting his body mid-fall to position Zedd beneath him. The chrome king felt a spray of blood and spittle escape his mask’s mouthpiece as he found himself clamped between Zaraki’s knee and Tier-1's flooring with a wet crack.

Whether by natural strength or by another outburst of unbridled fury, it was not long before the galactic tyrant freed himself from the grapple. Like a wounded bull, he bucked forcefully against the scruffy ronin’s weight, tossing his rider and wasting no time in attempting to gore him once more. Zaraki could only smile as he raised his fists to offer reply to Zedd’s constant fury, ignoring the jolts of pain down his wrists as his blows found purchase against the warlord’s faceplate.

“Just die, you infuriating simpleton!” Once more the ‘Z’ rose overhead, unleashing a bolt of brilliant electricity.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

900 on the nose.