| Match 72: |
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| By: Christian Salabert |
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The gluttonous beast known as Baragon was causing
quite a stir in the Japanese countryside. He had pillaged several
farms and settlements, devouring humans and livestock alike.
News of the monster's attacks soon reached the Self Defense
Force, who immediately began to plan their assault. But there
was one being who was not content to sit idly by and let them
handle the beast. Someone who knew that Baragon had to be stopped,
and now, before anyone else died at the monster's hands.
Knowing what he had to do, Jet Jaguar took to
the skies.
It didn't take long for the humanoid machine
to locate the beast. Subtlety was hardly Baragon's strong point.
He was currently giving chase to a squealing wild boar. Jet
Jaguar took aim and landed on his feet, not too far away from
the ravenous creature. Baragon jumped up onto his hind legs
and took a step back, startled by the sudden appearance of this
new arrival. With his predator distracted, the boar ran off
and disappeared into the forest. Baragon noticed this and roared
angrily. This new creature had made him lose his meal! But Baragon
soon got over the loss. This new being was far larger. He would
make a much more appropriate feast.
Roaring wildly, Baragon sprang into the air!
Jet Jaguar rolled onto the ground, avoiding the
airborne reptile. Baragon landed and quickly turned around,
snarling at the machine. He leapt at his foe again, and this
time collided with him, tackling Jet Jaguar to the ground, sparks
erupting from his armor as it was hit by Baragon's horn. The
creature's tooth-lined jaws snapped at Jet Jaguar's face, forcing
the robot to bring his hands up to defend himself. Jet Jaguar
grabbed Baragon's jaws, struggling to keep them away from him.
As the dinosaur kept trying in vain to sink his fangs into Jet
Jaguar's metallic skin, the humanoid brought his legs up and
planted his feet into Baragon's stomach. With a mighty push,
Jet Jaguar sent Baragon flying off of him, crashing to the ground.
Though dazed by the blow, Baragon was quickly back on his feet
and turned to face his foe once again, who had also gotten to
his feet. Jet Jaguar took a step forward, but Baragon released
a stream of flames from his mouth. Jet Jaguar's entire body
flashed for a moment as the orange ray struck him in the chest.
The robot took a step back, giving Baragon an opening to attack,
or so he thought. Just as he charged, a blinding flash of light
burst from Jet Jaguar's eyes, blinding the dinosaur and sending
him toppling onto his back.
Jet Jaguar advanced on his downed foe, but Baragon
shot out another blast of his heat ray, striking the robot in
the shoulder. Baragon leapt forward again, but Jet Jaguar sidestepped
the attack. As soon as Baragon landed, the machine turned around
and stomped on his tail, holding the reptile in place. Jet Jaguar
immediately began to chop his hands down on Baragon's back,
eliciting a cry of pain with each strike. Baragon rose up onto
his hind legs and reached out at his foe, clawing at him. The
two grappled each other for a moment before Jet Jaguar managed
to throw the monster to the ground. Baragon was back on his
feet in an instant, but instead of attacking again, he pulled
back, disappearing around a mountain. Jet Jaguar gave chase,
but when he reached the other side, he found that his foe was
gone and was greeted by a gaping hole in the side of the mountain.
Activating his flood lights, he peered into the hole and managed
to see the end of Baragon's tail disappearing into a long, dark
tunnel. After a moment, Jet Jaguar stood up and scanned the
area. Baragon had retreated. The area and its inhabitants were
safe. Victorious, Jet Jaguar braced his legs and prepared to
leap into the sky.
Suddenly, the ground underneath him collapsed,
and he fell into a waist-high ditch. As he tried to lift himself
out of it, Baragon suddenly erupted from the ground, roaring
wildly. He pounced onto the partially-buried Jet Jaguar, clawing
and biting at him. Jet Jaguar couldn't free himself as he attempted
to defend from Baragon's onslaught, swatting at the dinosaur's
head but unable to fully fend him off. Jet Jaguar tried to blind
Baragon with his eye lights again, but the reptile unleashed
another blast of his heat ray, striking Jet Jaguar in the face.
The machine cried out as the flames washed over his face, hitting
his eyes and shorting their lights out in a shower of sparks.
The robot could still see, but his flood lights were too damaged
to use anymore. As his foe dealt with the loss of his one real
weapon, Baragon spun around and slammed his tail into the side
of Jet Jaguar's head. More sparks burst from Jet Jaguar's neck
as the tail smashed into his head.
Baragon turned and prepared to jump onto his
foe again, but Jet Jaguar lunged his metallic head forward,
headbutting Baragon in the face with his shark fin-shaped crest.
With Baragon distracted, Jet Jaguar quickly lifted his arms
into the air and took to the sky. Baragon was knocked away by
Jet Jaguar's legs as he lifted into the air, then landed nearby,
getting ready for the reptile's next move. Baragon roared angrily
and leapt at Jet Jaguar once again, but the multicolored robot
managed to sidestep the attack, then rush forward and wrap his
left arm around Baragon's neck in a choke hold. Baragon struggled
to free his head from Jet Jaguar's grasp, but the robot refused
to let go. Forming a fist with his right hand, Jet Jaguar slammed
it against Baragon's head, eliciting a cry of pain. Again and
again Jet Jaguar punched Baragon in the head as the monster
tried in vain to free himself, firing bursts of his heat beam
but striking nothing but dirt. Jet Jaguar brought his knee up
into Baragon's face, causing the beast to shriek in pain. Jet
Jaguar released him, and Baragon bent over and clutched his
snout in pain. The humanoid machine lashed out with a kick to
Baragon's face, knocking the reptile over onto his back. Jet
Jaguar advanced, but Baragon rolled over onto his stomach and
got to his feet, then swung his tail around, slamming it into
Jet Jaguar's legs and sweeping him off his feet. Before the
android could recover, Baragon was on him once again, trying
to pierce his armor with his teeth. Jet Jaguar managed to get
his legs under Baragon and kicked him away once more, but this
time Baragon went tumbling down a mountainside, rolling head
over tail. With a thunderous crash, he impacted with the ground
below.
Dizzied and sore, Baragon struggled to stand
just as Jet Jaguar landed not too far from him. The reptile
unleashed a blast of his heat ray, but due to his dizziness,
the beam didn't come close to hitting its target. Jet Jaguar
leapt forward, grabbing Baragon and tossing him back to the
ground. As Baragon attempted to get back to his feet, Jet Jaguar
bent down and grabbed hold of his tail, lifting the struggling
reptile into the air and swinging him around. Faster and faster
the machine spun, spinning on his heel, until he finally released
the shrieking Baragon and sent him hurling through the air.
Seconds later, Baragon crashed head-first into a mountain, knocking
the creature out cold.
Jet Jaguar walked over to Baragon's prone form,
nudging him with his foot. Despite the prodding, Baragon didn't
budge. Deciding that he couldn't just leave the reptile laying
here, where he could still possibly pose a threat to any nearby
inhabitants, Jet Jaguar reached down and took Baragon in his
arms, then flew up into the sky. Locating the ditch Baragon
had dug earlier, Jet Jaguar lifted the beast over his head and
tossed him down into it. As soon as Baragon's body impacted
in the ditch, the ground underneath him cracked and split, creating
an even larger crevasse in the dirt.
As Jet Jaguar watched from high above, the subterranean
monster Baragon disappeared into the void, swallowed by the
depths of the earth.
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