Zane knew he was one of the best. He had fought against tons of opponents all over the world, and had beaten them all. The only time he'd ever lost was against a rather difficult human who could fry his circuitry with limitless electricity. Zane preferred not to think about that one.

Zane was preparing for his next opponent, a Goliath of a robot named Golar. 700 pounds, enough crushing force to turn a car into a cube, but as dumb as the steel he was made out of.

"Easy enough. This guy is big and strong, but dumb as an O-ring and slow as dripping hydraulic fluid. Not a problem."

Zane confidently stepped into the ring, the fans cheering and his monolithic foe standing before him...

Zane confidently strutted up to the brutish hunk of steel that was Golar.

"Let's go, you giant brainless pile of servos!"

Golar grunted angrily.

"Do not taunt me little scraphead. I crush you like soda can!"

The announcer announced the beginning of the fight.

Golar rushed to grab Zane and quickly found himself grabbing at nothing and an annoying buzzing in his back.

Zane loved his Taser Shot. The Taser Shot was not a weapon designed to cause lots of damage (he had plenty that did that), but one that annoys the opponent. And Zane knew that an angry, annoyed opponent will be more focused on revenge than actually planning their moves. This was how Zane had beaten so many larger opponents.

"Come get me you hunk of junk!"

Golar dove at Zane, and found himself grasping at air again and a painfully annoying buzzing in the back of his leg.

"Argh! I crush you!"

Zane charged energy into his fist.

"I think not. Time to say goodnight!"

Zane launched up into the air and punched Golar right in the head, the head crunching and exploding as Zane landed behind the now inert hunk of metal.

"Look who got crushed."

Zane knocked over the metallic corpse of Golar in a final measure of disdain and calmly exited the arena, looking back to the cheering fans.

"It's always nice to know that the public still adores me."

Zane walked out of the stadium to find a horde of news-bots outside.

"Sorry news-bots, but I have a meeting to get to. A very important meeting. No time for any interviews today. So how about you fine journalists clear the way?"

The news-bots parted like the Red Sea, creating a path to Zane's ride.

A custom hover-cycle, with 1800 pounds of forward thrust and handling that would make any car feel like a bar of soap on ice.

Zane was very proud of his vehicle. He had seen one back when he was a small-time brawler and wanted one ever since. He saved every cent he earned from fighting to buy it. Eventually, when his fame and profit grew, so did his wealth. This was his third and best cycle, and he definitely was proud of that.

Zane pulled behind a rather nondescript building. This building looked run down from the outside, but the inside was what counted. Zane and his agent had chosen this location as the official headquarters of Zane's fighting campaign.

Zane entered the building's rear entrance and walked into a meeting room where another man was sitting.

"Here I am. Let's talk".

=================================

"Zane, it seems someone you fought before is back for another fight."

"Really? What fool thinks that he can beat me?"

"Actually, this fool really did beat you."

"No...Salen is back?"

"Yep. He wants to see if you're any better than you were all those years ago."

"Hmm...I'm going to have to think about this. Throwing the fight would be disastrous to my popularity, but so would losing."

"Trust me Zane, I'm gonna make sure you don't lose this time. You are much too popular and profitable to risk losing one fight."

"So, you're gonna pull a few strings if thing's don't go right?"

"Yep. Don't you worry Zane, you won't be the one losing."

"Hmm...Alright. I trust you to make this work."

"I will Zane, I will."

With that, Zane left the meeting room and proceeded through a hidden door to the training room.

"If I can't pull any strings, you better not lose this Zane..."

The day of the match came around rather quickly, and Zane was more than ready. He was happy that his agent had pulled a few strings and got him an unrestricted match, because he felt hand-to-hand and non-lethal projectile weaponry wasn't gonna be enough.

However, Zane had plans even his manager didn't know about. Big plans. Plans that could prove fatal.

Zane arrived at the arena, immediately spotting the large holo-posters advertising the event.


"They sure do like to make a big deal out of these things..."

Zane proceeded through the entrance corridor into the stadium.

"Salen, we meet again."

"Well if it isn't Zane. Are you going to lose again, or are you just going to forfeit this time?"

"You underestimate me, Salen. I'm a lot stronger than I was all those years ago. I'm here to get my revenge for you making me the laughingstock of the fighting circuit!"

"Elaborate words for such a loser. Let's fight!"

The referee announced the fight and it was on. Salen started out with his usual strategy of trying to disable Zane with electric bolts, which had Zane dodging like crazy.

"Heh, you still can't stand up to my shocking assault?"

"Not in this form I can't! Time to play my trump card. ZEPHYR CHANGE!"

Zane disappeared into a flash of light. As the light subsided, Zane reappeared wearing a winged suit of armor.

"So you've got armor now, huh? Unless it's made of rubber, I can still shock you!"

"That is where you are wrong Salen. This armor is surrounded by a cushion of air that is constantly moving. Due to this, you cannot build up an electric charge on me. Now let's go!"

Zane flies up and begins charging an attack.

"All those years ago, I underestimated your ability. I went into battle cocky and unprepared, and I paid for it! I went from on top of the world to a loser in a single day! It took me months to be taken seriously again! Now it's time for you to get what you deserve. ZEPHYR CRUSH!"

Zane flew up even higher, and unleashed a mammoth blast that vaporized Salen and much of the stadium. What was once a crowded arena was now little more than rubble and corpses.

"What...have I done?"

Quickly, police units showed up with Cable Bazookas, weapons that fired a cable with a large claw on the end. These hooks flew towards Zane, coming slightly short of grabbing him. Not waiting to see what would come next, he flew out of there.

"I'm a murderer, a fugitive..."

"Optical units now operational." Bit-31 immediately saw a little light creeping through the lid of the metal drum he had stayed hidden inside while shutting down for the night, but other than that, darkness. "AI activated... reactions loaded... emotions loaded... Omniscanner Data retrieved... startup successful." Bit-31 immediately jumped out of the metal barrel, into the alleyway. "Time for another day!" Bit didn't know why he was being so optimistic- he hadn't had a proper repairing in weeks, and was forced to use his adapter because his solar panel was covered in rust. In fact, he was barely surviving. But today just seemed like the day!

Suddenly, Bit heard something coming up behind him, but didn't see it- "Oh, yeah... back scanner operational." As Bit's back scanner turned on, and only then did he notice the two thugs behind him. Bit loaded some of the data from his Omniscanner and opened up one stubby hand. One seemed to be lifting a large object and moving closer.

Bit turned around and extended a metal claw from his opened hand. "HEY!" "What's your problem, sneaking up on a robot while he has his back turned?" He shook the thug up and down. "Don't you know most robots have back scanners?" The thug still looked flabbergasted that a claw big enough to grab him by the waist extended from that little hand. "Hands OFF! Let GO!" "Okay... Gee, you're dumb." Bit pulled the claw in, then shot it forward while releasing his grip. The first thug flew into the street, and the other thug turned and ran, screaming and cursing. Bit shook his head and sighed. "Morons."

OOC: If you're wondering, Bit-31's Omniscanner can store data from up to two targets, and copy that object to use in battle. It takes a long time to Omniscan something, so it's not practical to actually Omniscan during battle, but Bit-31 can switch between the two bits of data he's Omniscanned. He also has weaker lasers and is OK at hand-to-hand combat, even though his hands and feet are small.