“What the... Steel? What the heck are you doing here?!” Steel started waving excitedly.

“HAI.”

“... Hi... What are you doing here?”

“I already said it! I’m here to fight you! I’mma grind you into dust and use your bones to make bread! Fee fi fo fum motherbucker!!”

“Are you... are you feeling ok?”

“Right as rain! ... Wait a minute, you’re not armed...” Steel casually tossed his hammer over his shoulder. Then I realized that he had been standing on his back legs and wielding it with his forelegs.

“Were you just... standing like a human?”

“I was.” Steel continued to stare at me blankly.

“... Whyyyyyyy?”

“Well you do it! I’m basically out of a job because you kill bucking everything! So I thought I’d try fighting like you!”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“It’s terri-bad.”

“... I’m sorry.”

“Eh, no big deal. I’ll just have to beat you and prove that I’m just as capable of defending Equestria as you!”

“... We gonna fight now? I think the crowd is getting bored.” The entire stadium was silent, but as I looked around I realized there were more dropped jaws than bored stares.

“Oh yeah, let’s go!” Steel stretched out his massive wings and took off towards me with a small boom. I crossed my arms defensively as he rushed at me, causing him to collide with my arms rather than my face. I slid back from the sheer force of the impact without shifting my footing.

“Alright, just remember that you brought this on yourself!” I flung my arms outward with him still pushing on them, flinging him away from me. He backflipped in mid-air and landed on his hooves, and impressive display of acrobatics. Between me backing away from the crab and Steel’s push, I now had my back to the wall of the Arena. Steel started pacing slowly to the left, and I mimicked his movements. We began to make a small circle as I mentally assessed him.

Let’s see... He’s got the most impressive muscle mass of anypony I’ve encountered other than the king. I’m willing to bet I’m still stronger than him though... I saw the carcass of the crab out of the corner of my eye suddenly. ... Best not to put money on that though. I know for sure that I’ve got weight on him, him being a pegasus and smaller than me. Odds are he has complicated strategies and tactics up his sleeve since he’s a ca-- Steel darted at me again. I was a bit startled by his sudden movement.

“I’mma smash ya!” Steel shouted. So much for tactics. He caught me off guard and landed a solid punch on my jaw. I stumbled back a few feet as Steel fell to the ground. I grabbed my chin and rolled my jaw painfully. Luckily he didn’t seem to have broken anything.

“Alright then, brute force smash-down it is...” I muttered with a pang of anger in my voice. I took a cautious step back and hit the wall of the Arena once more. Then I had an idea. I turned and jumped, twisting in mid-air just enough to drop kick the wall. I blasted away from the side of the Arena and right into Steel’s chest. He was thrown away by the impact, but once again he righted himself in the air and landed easily.

“C’mon guy, surely you can hit harder than that!” He laughed, totally unphased. I grinned at him. He hadn’t realized where I had knocked him back to. I sprinted towards him and he quickly threw up a block for an oncoming blow. I dropped to the ground and slid towards him, kicking him into the open crab cage by hitting him right below his block. I stepped into the cage with him and pulled the cage door into place, locking us in. “What? Why the hell would you lock us both in here?!”

“Less room for you to maneuver in. Duh.” Steel facehoofed.

“Of course. Well, less room for you too! Now I’mma crush ya!” He ran at me this time, clearly not backing down on his head-on attack style. It was a smart combat style for somepony as physically strong as him... Were he not fighting me. He raised a hefty forehoof and reared back to punch me again as he flew. I braced my arm and caught his hoof as he came at me. The sheer impact from the clash sent out a small shockwave, causing me to shudder. I clamped my hand down on his hoof, holding him still.

“You may want to rethink that berserker battle style.” I jeered as my other hand flew forward and hit him in the face. I released my grip on him at the same moment I punched, allowing him to be flung back with the blow. He slammed into the cage bars and fell to the ground.

*SNAP* I gasped in horror for a moment. I hadn’t meant to break him. Then he leapt back to his hooves with a huge smile on his face.

“I’ve been trying to pop my back like that for ages! Now, since I’ve seen what you can do, let me show you what I can do!” Suddenly Steel was in front of me. I hadn’t even seen him move. He struck me in the chest and I flew back to the bars as well, smacking against them soundly. He was suddenly by me again, and he started punching me rapidly as I leaned against the bars. Each blow sounded like a rock hitting another rock, and the bars began to bend against my back. After a few solid blows to my head, I could feel my grip on reality slipping slightly, and I decided to let it go. I decided it was someone else’s turn to fight...

---------------------------------------------

“Alright, that’s it!” Steven slammed his fists into Steel’s midsection as he gained control of the body. Steel flew away and slammed into the bars on the other end of the cage. He recovered almost instantly and vanished again. Expecting the move after he had seen Sharky get caught off guard, Steven punched forward.

“Gah!” Steel was knocked out of the air in front of him and into the floor of the cage, cracking it. Steven kicked Steel as hard as his super-powered body would let him. Steel rocketed off the ground and clear through the steel bars of the cage. Steven ran forward and leapt through the hole Steel had made. After landing solidly, Steven turned and ripped one of the unbroken bars out of the cage and brandished it offensively.

“Sweet god I’ve been wanting to crush something! It’s not often somepony manages to disable my host! Now, I’mma have to fuck your shit up!” Steven started to stride towards Steel. Steel scrambled to his feet with a groan as the crowd mumbled in confusion. He frowned at the steel bar in Steven’s hands.

“Sharky? You wouldn’t use a weapon on an unarmed opponent...”

“Sharky ain’t here bitch! It’s just you and me!” Steven had gotten within range, and he swung at Steel. The bar made a solid contact against Steel’s head, but rather than sending Steel flying, the metal bent to make an outline of his skull.

“... OW!” Steel shouted. Steven pulled the bar away from his opponent’s head with a snort.

“Guess I’mma have to do this job by hand after all!” Steel disappeared again, leaving only an afterimage of himself behind. “Damn you’re faster than you look!” Steven struggled to understand how his massively muscled opponent was moving so quickly, but was interrupted by a massive blow to his back.

“Of course I am! I’m not captain for nothing!” Steel laughed as Steven fell forward. Steel flipped into a dive and slammed into Steven’s back, cracking the ground beneath him and creating a small crater. Steven jumped up easily, seemingly unaffected by the blow. His bandages were turning increasingly red from the fresh flow of blood provoked by the fight. “I’m your superior! Just give up!” Steel jeered as Steven turned to face him once more.

“Superior? As in boss? And you think this gives you power over ME?! That’s fucking it! Prepare all available orifices!”

“... What?”

“Cuz your body will never heal from the impending fight-rape!”

“... You’re going to rape me?” Steven facepalmed.

“No, it means I’m going to beat the shit out of y-- FORGET IT!” Steven sprinted forward and Steel vanished again. Steven struggled to think of a way to locate him, but he couldn’t think of a way. He took another blow from the side and scowled horribly.

"You aren't doing a very good job of it!" Steel taunted. Steven leapt up from where he had fallen and dashed to the unprepared Steel. He managed to land a solid punch on Steel, plowing him into the ground. He took the oppritunity to land a flurry of punches on Steel's face before Steel managed to stagger away. Steel scowled and spat out a wad of blood.

"Awww, you get a boo boo? Wanna cry about it, or can I continue beating you?" Steel let out a rage-filled snarl and vanished again. Steven braced himself, but he was still caught off guard by a huge flurry of blows from all sides. In a matter of mere seconds, Steel became visible again as he slowed down. He obviously couldn't maintain his massive rushing speed for very long, but there wasn't much stopping him from just starting the dash all over again.

"I will destroy you!" Steven lashed out at the slowing Steel with a mule kick, sending him flying away once more. Steven, realizing that he wasn’t... thinky enough to beat Steel, released the body and returned Sharky to control.

----------------------------------------------------

“Aww, Steven didn’t beat you?” I asked as I regained consciousness and saw Steel standing across from me. He looked slightly winded and battered, but it was obvious he wasn’t defeated yet.

“Just fight and quit with the weird flank mind tricks!” Steel shouted angrily. He vanished again and I thought for a moment on how to know where he was. I sat down cross-legged and closed my eyes. Steel reappeared a few yards to my right. “... What the hell are you doing now?!”

“Nothing...” I lied. I could hear Steel growl angrily.

“Quit messing with me!!!” I heard a small noise as Steel vanished again. I kept up my blind search until I found what I was looking for. On my right, I felt a rush of magic while focusing on my void. I lashed out like a snake and grabbed Steel by the throat. He let out a surprised gurgle as I clamped down on his throat.

“Gotcha!” I cheered victoriously. “Why the fuck didn’t I think of that?” I reared back with Steel in my hand and punched him into the ground, creating another small crater. “Do you surrender?” I asked patiently as he struggle to kick me. Unfortunately for him, my arm was longer than his legs and he was unable to strike me.

“N-never!” I punched him across the face.

“Remember, you asked for this fight. I’d really not like to have to hurt you more, just give up.”

“No!” I punched him again, harder this time. His expression remained defiant. I sighed and picked him up, making sure to keep him at arm’s length.

“Please surrender Steel. I won’t give you another chance.”

“I won’t be defeated!” I sighed and stopped as I reached a wall of the Arena. I reared back and punched Steel into the wall of the Arena. Repeatedly. I kept punching and punching, breaking the wall to the point that there was a crater in it that could fit Steel’s entire body. He hung limply in my hand as I came to a stop, barely conscious.

“I’m sorry, friend.” I tossed Steel behind me and pointed at him as he struggled to stand. “Thundraga.” A bolt of lightning arched through the air and struck Steel, causing him to go limp and stop moving. I walked over to him with concern, but his chest still moved with ragged breaths. With a relieved gasp, I stood and turned to walk to my gate as the crowd erupted into massive cheers. I looked at them and noticed that for some strange reason many of them were dressed in all white, and some in all black. I shrugged and continued walking.

“Hero! I have not even passed judgement yet!” The king roared. I laughed openly.

“He’s my friend. Not killing him, so your judgement is irrelevant. Now, I suggest you find me an opponent even stronger than Steel, ‘cause he’s the closest thing to an actual fight I’ve had so far!” I walked out without another word, ignoring the angry retaliation from the king and the roaring of the crowd at my challenge. I was escorted to my cell yet again and I sat there patiently, rubbing my jaw and back. I winced a few times as I touched the now sensetive skin. It wasn't anything I couldn't deal with though. A guard showed up at my cell door only minutes after I sat down.

"Hey, hero." The guard spoke softly. I looked up at him.

"Hey. Is it time for lunch or something? I could use a new bandage as well if you don't mind."

"Actually, it's time for your next fight."

"What?! I just finished my last one!"

"Word of advice... Next time, don't insult the king on the way out."

"... Fuck."