#id 7

Tesla’s dominance in the EV market has been dramatic over the last five years, though we finally are seeing other automakers start to chip away at that lead. Aside from Chinese brands, which aren’t available to many countries in the western hemisphere, Tesla has had the lion’s share of all the other electric vehicles sold. The chart below illustrates how much more Tesla sold than others in Q3 of…

It was a bleak day in the Empty Dimension, per the norm. The city’s few working lights were providing a small amount of light to combat the nearly blue hue of the environment. It had been a few hours since the two traversed the portal from their world, and they still hadn’t found anything- or anyone.

"We’ve been wandering around for hours," Sierra groaned. "I’m thinking this is really just a scam."

"It is strange, I’ll give it that," Metis said. "But this isn’t my world nor yours. We have no clue whether or not this is a trap, so we may as well keep look for something- Wait."

One of Metis’s eyes began to glow a pale red.

"Someone’s coming. Across that plaza."

Sierra looked towards the plaza Metis mentioned. There was plenty of open space, and it was suspiciously devoid of any rubble. It was as if it was intended to be used as an arena. Crumbling skyscrapers towered over most of the square, with smaller buildings squeezed in between.

Lo and behold, there was, in fact, a figure across the plaza. It looked to be some sort of robot, with treads integrated into their feet and bulky arms, probably meant for heavy lifting. Well, to be accurate, she was more of a cyborg than anything.

"Well," Sierra said, "This is a little more…cute than I imagined."

"Keep your guard up," Metis lectured, "We have no idea of her abilities."

"Just a little salutation won’t hurt," Sierra retorted. "Don’t be so uptight."

Sierra walked to the center of the square and motioned for her opponent to come as well. The robot also came over.

"Hey there!" the robot exclaimed. "My name’s Drille! And you two are…?"

It was confusing to Sierra, seeing someone so upbeat in this scenario. Who would be happy to fight someone in another universe for prizes?

"Well, I’m Sierra, and this- " she tugged at her jacket, "-is Metis."

"The coat?" Drille asked.

"Yes, I’m the coat," Metis responded. "We work together."

"Yeah, you can call it a team," Sierra added. She briefly paused, as if nervous. "Well, now that we’re acquainted, I guess we should begin, right?"

"Right!" Drille said, "Let the best win!"

With that, the two took a stand at each end of the square. Sierra motioned with her hand for Drille to make the first move, then took a defensive stance. Drille began to run towards them, looking to reel up a punch. As Drille approached the two, Metis began to shield Sierra’s arms for the upcoming attack.

Drille finally reached the two and prepared to strike. Just before she moved in, though, the plating on her hand began to shift and form a drill. Metis picked up the change and forced Sierra to dodge, rather than block the oncoming attack.

"That was a neat trick," Sierra called, "But it’s gonna take more than that to get the best of us!"

"Be careful of the drill," Metis advised. "I can’t keep my shielding up through that."

"Then we’ll fight fire with fire. Metis, let me use your ringlet drills."

"I strongly advise against that-"

"Hey!" Drille called out, "Are you two gonna fight back or what?"

Sierra glared towards their opponent. “Metis, just do it,” she ordered.

Metis reluctantly complied, and formed two fine drills on Sierra’s arms. The two began to retaliate from Drille’s first attack, and the combatants began to parry with their drills. The force from each impact would send both parties backwards, only to try to break through the other once more.

However, Sierra began to feel weak. Something felt like it was eating away at her this whole time. Was it something about Drille? Her thoughts were caught short, though, as Drille took the opening Sierra presented, and struck her in the stomach, sending her across the square and into a building. She was able to get back up, but she could hardly stand.

"Metis, what’s going on?" she asked.

"I told you not to use the drills," Metis began. "You don’t have enough stamina to consistently use my abilities."

Sierra tried to get back into the battle when Drille came to the building, prepared to knock her out of the tournament permanently. Just as her drill was about to connect, though, the mask-like face of Metis shifted over Sierra’s, and a strange shockwave knocked Drille back.

"What’s going on…?" Drille said, still regaining her bearings. A large cloud of dust blocked her view.

A single red light began to shine through the dust, and from the rubble stepped a hunched figure, similar to Sierra. Yet Sierra was nowhere to be found. As the figure approached, Drille could make out Metis’s face in place of Sierra’s, and what was once a simple coat was now a flowing, cape-like tarp.

"Are you…?" Drille wondered.

"You could’ve killed her, you know?" Metis said.

The two exchanged a look. Drille figured that Metis was her new opponent for this part of the battle. Her other hand shifted into a drill to prepare for this next, more demanding phase. Metis, with her heightened abilities, spun her arms into two larger drills than what Sierra had used, and prepared to attack.

Metis was much faster, and Drille hardly had time to react to the strike. She was able to block the initial strike, and she began trying to hold back the force of Metis’s attacks. Metis took a new route to attack, and pushed Drille back before leaping into the air. The strange entity began to twist her right hand into a more solid fist, and dashed back into the ground, knocking Drille into the air with the shockwave of the impact.

Drille tried to realign herself in the air as Metis leaped up once more to attack. As she closed in, Drille thrust her right drill into Metis’s left eye, stunning her enough for Drille to recover on the ground. She made a run for her stunned opponent, hoping to finish her off, but Metis quickly recovered, grappling Drille and tossing her into a nearby wall.

Before Drille could get back up, Metis used her right hand to strike her in the stomach. Drille could hardly feel herself from the impact. Metis proceeded to pin her opponent down to the ground, and raised her left drill. Drille was too weak to escape from Metis’s grip.

But rather than finishing her off, Metis merely tapped Drille on the side of the head, like a playful slap. Drille looked to the entity, confused. “What are you…?”

"We win," Metis said, releasing Drille from her hand. She retracted her left drill, returning it to a regular hand, and backed off of Drille.

"You weren’t trying to kill me?" Drille asked, still a bit dumbfounded. She didn’t have the strength to get back up.

"My only concern is making sure Sierra’s safe," the entity lectured. "There’s no point in bloodshed over a tournament. Plus, she told me to loosen up."

Metis lifted Drille back onto her feet. She began to stumble, but after a moment was able to stand again. She looked up at Metis’s damaged eye for a moment, then remembered something.

"Where’s Sierra?" she asked.

Metis seemed to hesitate for a moment. “I expanded my form around her, to keep her safe,” she said. “However, she’s currently too weak to be awake, so she won’t be be bidding you farewell.”

"I guess this is goodbye, anyway," Drille said. The two shook hands in approval, and began to part ways.