26 Professor Anarchy vs the Goddess of Love

The crowd erupted the moment Team New York stepped out from the stadium tunnels; their cheers only fueled the team with even more confidence. With the Blur and Professor Anarchy as their next two fighters, Team New York's chances of victory seemed certain, nonetheless, Professor Anarchy wanted the team to remain humble.

"Do not allow yourselves to become too comfortable, I'm talking to you three." The Professor looked directly at Flora, Novacaine, and Fixer. If things continued as planned, neither of the three would have to fight. Despite Professor Anarchy's confidence in not only himself but the Blur, he needed them to be ready for anything.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer stood at the center of the fully repaired stage, which looked as good as new. "The second half of the bracket is about to commence. Make some noise if you want Team New York to win!" The announcer raised a hand to his ear and leaned toward the crowd. Once again, the crowd exploded, cheering for the East Coast team as if they were their biggest fans. "Allllright! And if you want Team LA to make a comeback, make some noise!" To the surprise of the competitors, the noise generated in support of the West Coast team might have been even louder than the cheers for New York. Perhaps they wanted to see more violence.

"Will the next two competitors please make their way to the stage!" 

"Looks like I'm up." Professor Anarchy stepped onto the stage and his teammates cheered him on.

"You got this."

"Let's make it five to one."

"Be careful."

"Good luck."

"Kick his ass!"

Professor Anarchy's opponent stepped onto the stage, causing nearly everyone's jaws to drop in awe. She was beautiful; perhaps she was the most beautiful woman any of these nerds had ever laid eyes on in real life. She wore an all-white dress and her long, brown hair was seen covering a bow and arrow behind her. She practically looked like a goddess that came down to earth.

"Dude. She is HOT!" the Blur whispered to both Infinite and Tempo.

"She's very pretty." Infinite nodded in agreement, keeping things respectful.

"She's bad as fuck." Tempo nodded as well, though his remark was less respectful.

"It looks like we are going to have Professor Anarchy vs Aphrodite!" Once more, the crowd roared as the two stood face to face while still maintaining their distance. They were both ranged duelists, wanting to start the fight at their most optimal position.

'Aphrodite? The goddess of love?' Professor Anarchy immediately began analyzing his opponent; he was a calculated duelist, proving the professor aspect of his name to be more than just a title. 'She has a bow on her back. It reminds me of Cupid. I wonder– If I am struck by its arrow, will I fall in love with her and become her pawn? I don't intend on finding out.'

"Begin!" 

Both fighters immediately made their first move. Aphrodite drew her bow, releasing three arrows in succession at the caped mage. Expecting her to be the first to attack, Professor Anarchy began firing off electricity from the palms of his hands, using it to propel himself up and away from the archer. However, those arrows of hers began to curve, following the warlock as he flew toward the heavens.

'Tracking arrows!' Professor Anarchy wasn't anticipating such an ability. 'No matter, I will simply destroy them.' The warlock, still soaring through the air with crackling lighting trailing behind him released an incredible discharge of energy to give himself even more height before pointing his palms down toward the arrows that trailed him. 

Three massive bolts of lightning expelled from the palms of his hands, each one aimed perfectly at the arrows that were tracking him. Despite these bolts of lightning decimating the stage beneath him, the arrows were completely unscathed. 'What!? They're intangiable!?' Professor Anarchy's eyes darted toward Spectre, who was standing with the rest of Team Los Angeles. 'Is he cheating? Or is this her own ability?' By the looks of things, Spectre wasn't interfering at all but looks could be deceiving.

Aphrodite, seeing Professor Anarchy's futile attempts to destroy her arrows, threw her head back in laughter. "You fool! My arrows cannot be destroyed until they've reached their destination! Once they strike your heart, and trust me, they will, you will become my slave!" Her laughter turned crazed and her face transformed from that sweet, innocent, and beautiful face to the distorted mug of one drowning in psychotic euphoria.

"Yikes…" Tempo whispered. 

"They do say the beautiful ones are crazy." Infinite commented, furrowing his brows and taking back everything nice he said about her.

"Still hot. I don't care." the Blur had a smile on his face as he stared at the archer laugh maniacally. Team New York gave the Blur a variety of looks but he stuck to his guns. "She's even hotter now, I'm not gonna lie." The stares continued, but the speedster tripled down. "I'd be her slave."

Meanwhile, the professor was dodging the arrows in mid-air, using discharges of electricity to displace himself in the air, causing the arrows to whiff past him. As Aphrodite claimed, upon whiffing, the arrows would immediately redirect themselves back to the warlock. Between dodges, Professor Anarchy would fire blasts of electricity toward the goddess of love, only for her to teleport elsewhere on the field in an instant. 

Again, the crazed goddess cackled, mocking the warlock each time an attack of his whiffed. "I told you, resistance is futile! My arrows will never cease until they reach their destination or until I die! Only one of those outcomes will come to fruition, and I assure you it will not be the latter!"

'Damn! These arrows will not let up!' In Professor Anarchy's field of vision, he could see his mana meter depleting rapidly. Just as Tempo's cooldowns were his weakness, Professor Anarchy's mana meter was his. With each spell cast, his mana meter would deplete. The only way to regenerate mana would be to remain idle or engage in hand-to-hand combat; however, neither of those was an option.

"I've had enough of playing with my food! Now, become my slave. SCATTER!" Aphrodite closed her hand into a fist, compelling her arrows to begin attacking the mage from different directions. Though he tried with all of his might to avoid them, the warlock found himself impaled through the heart with an arrow, then another, before finally, all three arrows were lodged into his heart and he began falling downward onto the stage beneath him.

His body crashed onto the ground, bouncing once before coming to a rolling stop.

"Professor!" Team New York called out to their teammate and it seemed that all hope was lost.

"Lucky…" the Blur whispered, once again getting disapproving gazes from his teammates.

Infinite flicked the Blur's arm using only a fraction of his strength, but it still hurt like hell. "Now isn't the time."

"Sorry."

Professor Anarchy placed both palms on the ground in front of him and tried his best to bring himself back up onto his feet, but he was powerless. "On your feet, dog." Aphrodite ordered him, and as if he were a machine, Professor Anarchy immediately rose to his feet and stood obediently in front of Aphrodite.

"Now, place your paws in front of you like a good puppy…" Against his will, the warlock did as he was told, placing both hands in front of himself in the same way a dog would. 

Aphrodite let out yet another hysterical cackle, staring up toward the heavens as she fell deeper into a manic sense of euphoria. "Now bark!" she ordered.

"Woof!" said her puppy, once again triggering her to laugh.

"Now jump three times!" 

Again, the warlock followed her instructions, jumping three times like a good dog. Aphrodite then teleported over toward the warlock, placing her hands on his shoulders as she paced around him. "Now… Paw." She held out her hand and the warlock placed his paw atop her palm. At this point, she was just showing off, wanting to embarrass the warlock until the fun was over.

"Now… yell out your most embarrassing secret!" 

"I SOMETIMES STILL PEE WHILE I SLEEP!"

Aphrodite began laughing so hard, she fell onto her back and began kicking her feet and rolling sporadically. Team New York tried their best not to laugh, as did the crowd after hearing him admit to such a thing in the loudest voice he could muster. 

Aphrodite, having had her fun, reached out her hand and said, "Okay, okay. Help me up, dog." Doing as he was ordered, Professor Anarchy held out his hand and pulled her up from the ground. "It was fun while it lasted, puppy, but I'm already tired of you. Sorry." Aphrodite then leaned in close, placing her lips right beside Professor Anarchy's ear before whispering her final order.

"Now kill yourself." 

Aphrodite laughed as she turned around to walk back toward her team, knowing that her order had been given and Professor Anarchy would have no other choice than to do as he was told. 

The professor lifted his hand and the name of his ability of choice appeared in his visual field. 

[Scourge Spear] 

A bright crimson flash nearly blinded the spectators as a scarlet spear shot out from Professor Anarchy's palm. Team New York, Team Los Angeles, the crowd, and the announcer were completely muted at the sight in front of them.

"No way..." Tempo uttered breathlessly.

"He-" Fixer muttered.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" the Blur fell to his hands and knees dramatically.

Professor Anarchy's hand lowered, though his body would not be the one to fall.

With a hole drilled through the back of her skull, Aphrodite fell to her knees before slumping over to fall on her side. What was left of her brain started to leak out and pool beneath her and everyone watching was still completely stunned until the announcer broke the silence. 

"And the winner is Professor Anarchy from Team New York!" 

The crowd once again exploded, stomping their feet and screaming their lungs out for the deceptive warlock. He paid the cheers no mind as he stepped off of the stage and looked to the Blur, patting his shoulder as he wept on the floor. The woman of his dreams was gone for good. "You're up." said Professor Anarchy with a smug grin hidden under his mask.

"Wait, wait." Tempo wasn't going to just let what just happened coast by him. "How did you break her spell? Was it some sort of reverse spell or something?"

Professor Anarchy chuckled. "No, I don't have anything of the sort. In fact, I thought I was dead the moment those arrows hit me. However, when I awoke at center stage, I realized something."

Team New York was listening closely, but the method by which he won wasn't at all what he was expecting. "She had no control over me at all. I assume her powers manipulate one's sexual attraction, but I didn't find her attractive at all sexually, so it had no effect."

"Hold up. That's bullshit!" the Blur didn't believe the professor's words, not one bit. "That woman was the absolute hottest lady I have ever laid eyes on, yet you're saying you weren't attracted to her? B U L L S H I T!" the Blur placed his finger on the warlock's chest as he called him out on what he thought was a lie.

However, Professor Anarchy was telling the truth.

"I'm asexual. I do not feel sexual attraction to anyone. Not even her." No one expected this response, it was obvious from the collection of dumbfounded looks on all of their faces. "She was pretty though, I'll give her that. Unfortunately, that does nothing for me."

Aphrodite's ability manipulated the oxytocin within her victim's brain, which is one of the many chemicals produced during acts of intimacy, causing humans to act in ways outside of their typical good judgment. By manipulating this chemical, Aphrodite was able to erase any sort of good judgment within her victims and turn them into a slave who did her bidding. It was a similar power to the Coroner's but had differing pros and cons.

Since sexual attraction was impossible for Professor Anarchy, the sudden increase in oxytocin levels had little to no effect on his judgment. 

"Okay, hold on." Tempo was still confused. "If you weren't under her spell, then why did you do all the barking and hopping–"

"And admitting to peeing the bed." the Blur added.

"Yeah, that too. Why didn't you just kill her?"

"To not go too in-depth, that ability you saw is incredibly difficult to land. If the target is moving in anything more than a straight line, I will almost certainly miss. I waited for the perfect time, for her to walk away in a perfect straight line before using the opportunity to kill her. I would have spared her, but an ability such as that has no place in this world. Thanks to my background in drama, I believe I played the role of a love-struck slave quite well."

"So you don't pee the bed?" the Blur asked.

"Not since elementary."

Aphrodite's body was cleared off of the stage and the announcer proceeded to commence the next round. "Alrighty, will the next contestants please make their way to the stage!" 

The score was five to one. All Team New York needed was one more win and they would move on to the next phase. With a fist itching for action, the Blur stepped onto the stage, prepared to take it home for his team.