The Storm Queen
Chapter 16: 15 - Festival: Heart and Soul (Edited... Once Again)
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“So, just what exactly does the next round entail?” Ayis asked as she drank some Storm Fruit juice.
“I am quite curious as well. So far, it has been mostly tests that remind me of those a warrior would go through to earn their place,” Luna agreed.
“That does seem to be the general idea,” Celestia concurred, nodding.
“Personally, I don’t really care as long as it’s interesting,” Yukari commented with a slight shrug.
“Is it a one-on-one match?” Pillar asked.
Lucette chuckled, taking a sip of some Storm Wine before answering. “Simple. A test of heart and soul. Fitting, considering the name of the round is ‘The Trial of Spirit.’ It will be as much of a one-on-one as it will be a horror show and a horde survival.” She grinned a feral grin, golden eyes seemingly glowing brighter. “It’s honestly my favorite of all the rounds. Always had a soft spot for horror and the like.”
“So, not only will the Champions be pitted against one another, but they’ll have to be very mindful of neutral enemies coming in waves. I’m starting to like this tournament more,” Berserker commented, before turning to Runner. “Head down to Hunter and assess his armor. Do NOT breathe a word of this match to any of them.”
“Got it,” Runner nodded as he used his Haste Power-up and quickly made his way into the male’s locker room.
“Actually, this round is less of a direct competition than you think," Lucette began, redirecting attention to the conversation. "The Champions will be fighting together. No real exceptions save a few small things. The ones who win will be those who not only score the most kills and thus points, but also get through without breaking mentally or spiritually,” Lucette explained. She took another sip of her wine, swirling the drink in her glass. The other rulers’ eyes narrowed slightly.
“Is this truly part of your people’s tradition, Your Highness?” Twilight asked, worried for her brother. Lucette nodded.
“Very much so. This is how they have chosen the best of their warriors since their beginning days,” she confirmed. The rulers all frowned.
“A test of will of sorts then?” Yukari asked. “I can agree to such methods. After all, a truly powerful warrior must have a strong balance of strength, strategy and will.” Lucette smiled, nodding.
“Exactly. A warrior is only worth as much as his spirit, as well. Even the weakest of warriors can have the ability to continue despite all else, with enough sheer will,” Lucette said sagely.
“You sound like you are speaking from experience,” Steel Axe noted, stroking his chin. Lucette shrugged.
“My past is of no concern to you, I’m sure, Your Majesty,” she said smoothly. He grunted.
“How does the scoring work?” Collateral inquired, redirecting the subject matter from Lucette’s past. Lucette hummed, shifting in her seat.
“Well, you get points for a kill, and more points depending on how efficiently you do so. You also get points for defending others, and, again, the more efficient you are at doing so, the more points you get,” She swirled her drink a bit more in her grasp. “Furthermore, because this is such a huge undertaking for one person to do, the Elders of the Warrior-Noble families will be helping me judge and score the points.” She took a longer sip of her drink, letting out a sigh of pleasure at the taste and familiar burn before she continued. “The truly best way to score points is to simply not panic. Any small sign of it, and you get deducted points.”
“Say, Lucette, seeing as Tempest used her gun...is it possible for me to do the same?” She heard Hunter ask with his Telepathy. “I’m only asking because I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to.”
‘It is, just don’t use the more destructive ones. I’d still like to keep some of our cards hidden from potential enemies.’ Lucette replied back, having grown used to this method of communication quickly enough to not show signs of being distracted.
“Of course. I will provide Overwatch for the rest, as much as possible.” Hunter told her. “I only hope that the others can actually get along with us, considering what happened in the last two matches.” He pointed out to her.
‘I’d imagine they’d resort to working with themselves more often than not. The round does say to work together, but it doesn’t say you're forced to help each other at every opportunity. It just means that you can’t knock each other out or induce a mental episode on your new teammates.’ Lucette answered. ‘Though if you notice them getting ideas, report it immediately to me and I will relay it to the rest of the Elders and they will be disqualified as well.’
“Understood.” Hunter answered. “Does that also mean that I’m prohibited to using explosives; such as Frags and Landmines?”
‘No, those are fine, Tempest has already used equivalents to those. Just don’t use... say, an EMP, or Plasma grenade and the like.’ Lucette responded.
“Right...I may need to equip Alex with a Pistol, for insurance,” Hunter stated. “Without Shanghai, she’s more vulnerable. Shanghai hasn’t come to yet, and I don’t think she will in time.”
“Hmmm…” Lucette stood up and walked to the side of the booth where a guard was. She whispered something in Skilin to him, and he saluted, then walked down the stairs. ‘Dealt with. I’ve asked one of my guards to tell Grubber to relay the news and delay the match for a bit.’ She then walked back over to her seat while Steel Axe continued to watch her with a critical eye.
“Alright then,” Hunter said before cutting off.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask, Miss Ayis,” Cadance began, before pausing. “Or… Wait, is it Mrs. Filya? Or did you take your wife’s maiden name?”
“Eh, it doesn’t matter a whole lot to me. Call me whichever you feel more comfortable with,” Ayis answered. Cadance nodded.
“Right, well, I’ve been meaning to ask. Where is your side of the family? I’d imagine they’d like to be here too, correct?” Cadance queried.
“They’re all at Triyte’s Bulwark now,” Ayis supplied. The leaders, Lucette included, all turned to Ayis with questioning gazes.
“Umm…and that is…where?” Twilight queried, tilting her head.
“In the literal sense, that’s a complicated question to answer,” Yukari cut in. “However, maybe it can be answered with another question: where would purgatory be?”
“I… Don’t follow,” Cadance said, wracking her brain for ideas. Lucette giggled lightly, now understanding a bit more.
“It’s essentially like the Limbo of the afterlife. Not Tartarus, but not the peaceful side either,” Lucette replied. She looked to Ayis. “So, then you’re family is dead, and in another form of Purgatory?” Ayis nodded, raising her hand to wobble it a bit.
“Yeah, more or less,” she said. The Angel then turned to Cadance. “So, that’s why my family can’t attend: they’re dead.”
“Oh… I’m sorry, I had no idea,” Cadance apologised, frowning.
“Nah, it’s not a big deal,” Ayis reassured the Princess, waving it off.
“Another question, if I may be so bold,” Luna interrupted, clearing her throat. “I’ve not heard of these places before. Could it be that your kind are a dying breed?” Lucette winced and mouthed discreetly to Ayis to make it seem so. Ayis noticed this, and decided that it was best to follow Lucette’s wishes in her own world.
“…I guess you could say that,” Ayis answered. “There aren’t many of my kind around here after all, so it’s easy to see how you’d come to that conclusion.”
“Hm. I see,” Luna turned to face the stadium, then spoke again. “Tell me, do you have children?”
“Ooh, I’m dying to know this,” Celestia said, turning her attention to Ayis with an eager smile.
“Oh yeah, little Yis is my pride and joy,” Ayis confirmed with a wide smile. “I’ve got someone babysitting her for me while I’m here, but I can’t wait to go back to her after all this is said and done.”
“How old’s the little girl? Five? Six?” Lucette asked next. “My own kid’s about ten or so.”
“She’s only about four,” Ayis said. “So, not really old enough to be playing with any of the bigger kids like yours would be.”
“Considering mine plays with knives and the like, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Lucette said with another giggle. “Ya got any nicknames for your cutie?”
“I guess you could say that Yis is sort of similar to a nickname,” Ayis replied thoughtfully, tilting her head back and forth a bit. “Alex usually calls her Vyala instead.”
“Oh? Can I ask what those words mean? Sis hasn’t really explained much about you, to be honest, or your guys’ kid,” Lucette continued.
“Ah, well, ‘yis’ means ‘night’ and ‘vyala’ means ‘splendor’ in my people’s language,” Ayis informed Lucette. “So my kid’s name, Yis Vyala, would be ‘Night’s Splendor’.”
“That’s a beautiful name,” Luna butted in, smiling widely at Ayis. “I take it you have a love for the night, then?”
“Oh yeah, Fallen Angel society and customs are pretty deeply tied with the night,” Ayis responded, nodding.
“How deeply, might I ask?” Luna pressed, still smiling widely. Lucette mouthed for Ayis to make something up.
“Wwwell…” Ayis started, “for starters, one Fallen Angel tradition is to always stay up until at least ten in the evening. On top of that, our Devotion Ceremonies are only ever held late at night.”
“Hmhm! I think I quite like your people!” Luna mused.
“Shanghai is starting to regain consciousness, now,” Hunter informed Lucette, just as Runner returned to the booth.
Lucette smiles, then stands up and walks to the railing and motions to Grubber, who nods and brings the microphone to his mouth again.
“Alright folks, time for the final round, and the hardest one our contestants will face yet! Contestants, please enter the stadium once more!” he cries.
Alexandria was among some of the first to enter, looking much more comfortable now that she’d changed back into her original dress. Shanghai was sticking close by her shoulder as well, looking as chipper as ever. Next came out Hunter, his armor looking brand new, no more scratches or dents, but he was also carrying a new weapon with him. It was long, very strange looking, with something akin to a telescope sitting on top of it, only a lot shorter and smaller. All and all, it was highly advanced in appearance.
Joining with Alex and Shanghai, he kneeled down to the former and presented to Alex his old Pistol and Shanghai his trusted knife. She gives the weapons a look before nodding to Hunter in understanding, taking the Pistol for herself. Meanwhile Shanghai takes up the knife, which almost looks much like a shortsword in the small Fairy’s hands.
“I would like my knife back, afterwards. But Alex, you can keep the Pistol.” He told them telepathically, just as Tempest joined them. Shanghai nodded as she held the knife in one hand, while Alex looked the Pistol over to make sure she knew how to use it. “It has a Charged Shot mode, meaning that you can charge up a powerful shot, but once used, you will have to wait for it to cool down, which only takes it a couple of seconds. The same goes with charging it up.” He informed her, showing how to do so, her seeing it change slightly as it charged up a shot, before disengaging and returning back to normal. “Make sure you aim for the head. It also has unlimited ammo, so you don’t need to reload it.”
While he was teaching her, the other Champions watched in bewilderment and curiosity. Seeing the silent Marine with these sorts of weapons, they were questioning as to where he was hiding them. Was it magic, or something else entirely?
“Does this guy carry an arsenal with him, or what?” One of the griffons questioned with his team.
“Where does he even get these things from?” Stringy asked her companions, who were just as confused as her.
“Now what? We barely managed the last round,” Flash Magnus grumbled, over with his team. “And I’m not looking forward to whatever else he has packing on him.” The others sighed and nodded in agreement.
The World Leaders looked towards the Doom Marines and their Guardian, wanting an answer. All they got was silence, the group completely ignoring them. Steel Axe glared at them suspiciously, the others soon giving up on trying to make them talk, but still wondering what else they could be hiding, seeing as how unwilling they were to answer their questions.
“Alright, ladies and gents, are you ready for some blood pumping, heart-stopping, goosebump giving action!?” Grubber yelled into the microphone. A raucous volley of approving cheers met him in response, and he gained his signature grin. “Then let’s start this puppy! Get ready, for the TRIAL. OF. SPIRIIIIT!!”
More cheers rang out, louder than before, and Lucette chortled to herself as she resumed her feral grin.
“You best get ready, contestants! This is gonna be a wild ride!!” Grubber called, before, out of nowhere, his podium sank into the floor, and him with it, the hole closing up with two metal doors. The crowd went wild as everyone started to chant.
“~SOLO KRAN! SOLO KRAN! SOLO KRAN! SOLO KRAN!~” they chanted, pounding their fists on their seats in a constant rhythm. Then, the howls started, and the crowd went from wild to mad, all while the alien howls picked up in quantity and frequency, as well as pitch. They were coming from the tunnel straight across the stadium from the Champions.
“Heads up you three, I know those howls well, as does the populace, and they aren’t good…” Tempest warned, unsheathing her blades and getting into a stance. Alexandria gave Tempest a look, then a quick nod, preparing the Pistol she’d been given by Hunter. Meanwhile, Shanghai gripped Hunter’s Knife, floating next to Alexandria.
Hunter kneeled down, looking around before asking Tempest. “What can we expect from these beasts?”
“They’re called Cloudbones. They can eject poison from any pores on their bodies, and they can freely use and remake any bones to shoot them at you, or even make new claws and tails,” Tempest explained. Alexandria raised her eyebrows at this.
“Is the poison dangerous at all?” she asked.
“Nothing life threatening, no. It’s a slow acting poison that can mess up your eyes and nose, but it takes about a straight minute of inhaling to get any effects, and they start slow,” Tempest continued. A number of shadows rumbled through the tunnel, all screeching and hollering and moving like a tidal wave. “They’re also the natural predators of Skili.”
“Then, we hunt them,” Hunter stated, looking through his telescope to scan the area. “Should we move to a more suitable position? No need for us to stand here like a bunch of idiots.” He asked her.
Tempest nodded. “Cloudbones are very quick, and their natural claws let them climb the mountains and cliffs around here with ease, so…” She pulled out her gun, cocking it. “We have to beat them with tactics, quick thinking, and quicker reflexes.”
“You got it,” Alexandria said. “If you want reflexes, look no further than me.”
“Well, at least this is sounding like a good fight!” Iron Bull chuckled, readying his axe from further away with the other Champions.
“And it should be rather educational, no?” Star Swirl added, stepping up next to him.
“Sounds like it,” said Shining Armor, slowly trotting over. Tempest spared a look at them all to find most of the other Champions working with each other, but not herself and her team. She snorted and turned back to the tunnel where the Cloudbones were soon to emerge from.
“Seems you were somewhat right after all, Hunter,” she said with a grunt. Alexandria turned to look, then glanced at Shanghai.
“Shanghai, I’m going to put you on defensive duties,” Alexandria explained to the small girl. “I want you to do your best to defend anyone and everyone. Use Hunter’s Knife for self-defense if anything hostile gets too close to you.” Shanghai nodded quickly, moving a little bit more towards the others, waiting for the assault to start.
Soon, the beasts came into full sight, hundreds if not a few thousand of them barreling and funneling into the dim light of the stadium. Shivers went down the spines of nigh every creature in the stadium, for the appearance of the beasts was savage.
They had exoskeletons of grayish bone, but it covered little in the chest areas, where their muscles could clearly be seen trying to break free of their confines. They were like lizards in a sense, but more rabid, more feral, and much more dangerous. The bones on their legs and the spines on their backs held a few holes in them, and their maws dripped and oozed with light, sickly pale blue drool. They had three eyes in their skulls, all glowing with baleful blue light and all of them slitted. They had tails lined with spikes and sharp tips, and their claws were large and looked hard enough to easily pierce and cut stone.
“Interesting,” Hunter commented, before looking back to Tempest. “Where would their weakness be?” He asked her.
“Chest and pectorals,” Tempest said, pointing to one with a blade tip. “The only problem is getting them to open up that weak point.”
“Huh…” Alexandria hummed, thinking about something. “Are the exoskeletons resistant to electricity?”
“Very much so,” Tempest said with a nod, idly firing a shot at a Cloudbone to get its attention. “Now…” She pawed at the ashen ground, grinning. “Let’s get started…!” She then rushed headlong into the battle.
Lucette let out a low chuckle as she saw this from her seat above. ‘She always did have that secret love for battle.’
Back down in the stadium, Hunter was preparing to cause some mayhem. “Let’s mix things up a little,” Hunter said, pulling out a Frag Grenade. “Fire in the hole.” He called in as dry a tone as his telepathy would allow, pulling the pin and throwing it into another pack flanking them, watching it blow up and forcing the Cloudbones to scatter, even killing a couple of them in the process. Seeing this surprised the other Champions and their Leaders, as he started sniping off those who would try to get behind Tempest.
“How-!?” started a Crystal Champion, before shoving a Cloudbone off of himself and smacking another upside the head with a mace, “-the Tartarus-?!” he bucked another in the head, sending it flying with a screech of pain, “-did he do that?!”
“I’d imagine it was like those bombs that-!” Shining Armor sliced one in the chest, but it didn’t go down, only getting back up. “-the Storm Queen’s advisor used!”
Alexandria had gone in and mingled with the other Champions, not caring that they ignored her presence. She fired her Pistol, aiming to hit as many Cloudbones in the opening of their exoskeletons as possible, attempting to draw attention to herself.
Meanwhile, the Yaks were having some trouble with the Cloudbones, earning themselves a good number of cuts and nicks in their hides.
“Rrgh!” grunted one in pain, before flipping around and bucking the offender. Another came for him, but before it could do anything, Shanghai had dashed between the Yak and the Cloudbone in the blink of an eye. The predator slashed with its claws, the attack causing Shanghai to recoil, but the tiny soldier remained resolute as she floated there, obstructing the monster’s advance, holding Hunter’s Knife in her right hand, prepared to strike at it if it tried to get past her again.
“Wha-?!” he looked to Shanghai and growled. “Yak no need help from little girl thing!” He headbutted an errant Cloubone, cracking it’s skull. “Yak say go away!”
“And I say pay attention before these things get the better of you!” Shanghai retorted, frustrated that the Yak didn’t seem to want her help.
The Yak snorted, letting a Cloudbone wrap its tail around him but maneuvering so that it would catch his horn, where he then swung it around using just his head and horn until it crashed into another pack. “Yak said…” he took a breath, then roared out, “GO AWAY!”
Shanghai was silent for a moment as she watched the Cloudbone she’d been standing off with rear up to swipe at her. “…Fine then! I hope you like cuts!” she shouted as she Gapped away, letting the claw attack continue unimpeded, catching the Yak unprepared. The Yak grunted at this, but weathered the storm nonetheless.
“If they don’t appreciate your help, Shanghai, leave them to their fate,” Hunter told her from across the stadium, blowing another head off. Yet another Cloudbone. He’d gained quite a few points by now. “Besides, I think you gain us some points in helping him, even if he was an ungrateful asshat.” Shanghai thought to herself silently for a few moments off to the side, her arms crossed and a frown on her face. Finally, it seemed she decided to give it another go, deciding to be more tolerable of being shooed away. She tried her hardest to interpose herself in between as many attacks she could, no matter how many ungrateful Champions told her to bugger off.
Meanwhile, Alexandria had managed to amass a veritable mini-pack of the Cloudbones, having ticked off quite a lot of them with her pestering from the Pistol. Despite the tens of claws attacking her every few seconds, she didn’t have so much as a scratch on her as she deftly weaved around them all, periodically applying high-voltage shocks to the exposed underbellies whenever she got the chance to do so.
“That girl… I’ve never seen someone move so elegantly and deftly…” Luna breathed from the stands.
“Well, my Devoted is pretty badass, so yeah,” Ayis replied with a grin and a shrug, before leaning over the railings and calling out, “BEAT THEIR ASSES, BABE!” Alexandria managed to find a moment to shoot Ayis a thumbs-up, before shocking a Cloudbone with an intentionally extra-flashy jolt of lightning shortly after, following up with a charged Pistol shot mid-backflip to finish the beast off.
“You know, you seem like a bit of a battle maniac,” Ember spoke up.
“So?” Ayis said, turning to face her.
“You got a problem with that?” Nyilla added from her shoulder.
“Oh, I’m not saying it’s bad! Just kinda… Well, cool,” she responded quickly.
“You sound like you’re starting to respect her, Ember,” Spike noted with a knowing smile. Ember blushed and looked away.
“Sh-Shut it! I just said it was cool, nothing else!” she stuttered. Nyilla smirked a little at this, but didn’t comment.
Back in the stadium, things were heating up. Most of the Champions were getting overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and ferocity of the Cloudbones, and with the Storm Queen’s team, Tempest had encountered a problem.
“Buck!” she cursed, backpedalling rapidly away from a group of the beasts that had released their payload of poison. Seeing this, the others around followed their fellow’s example, and soon the gas was spreading all over the stadium. “Don’t breathe it in!” she cried to her team, covering her mouth with a hoof.
“Damn…!” Alexandria said, taking to the air to try and escape the poison vertically. However, odd to the other Champions, Shanghai didn’t seem to care much, continuing to resolutely defend everyone. She did, however, transform, matching the mood of the match as things heated up. Though it was difficult to see through the gas, Hunter’s Knife changed with her in her hand, becoming a small beam saber with a bright blade that glowed a vivid yellow.
Tempest then cried out in pain as a splinter of bone hit her in the leg. A number of more Cloudbones rushed her, aiming to take her while she was injured.
That was when Shanghai Gapped in front of them, slashing with the Saber Knife to ward them off a little. She looked over at the Griffons, who had also flown above the gas. “Somebody get her out of this gas! I’ll hold these things off!” she then turned back as she took a claw to the stomach, not so much as flinching as she retaliated with a slash then stab to the Cloudbone’s chest cavity, causing it to recoil with a pained screech.
Just before the Cloudbones could come anywhere close to Tempest, shadowy tendrils shot out from the ground, grabbing a hold of them. They struggled to break free as the tendrils started to squeeze around them, slowly crushing them to death. Although, some of them were also being ripped apart in brutal fashion, having their bodies mangled up and twisted about. After that, Tempest felt a tap on her shoulder, urging her to turn to see Hunter. She briefly wondered how he was still standing, unaffected by the poison, until she remembered the suit he was wearing.
“H-How did you…?” she breathed, before biting her lip as the bone in her leg shifted with her movement. “Grgh, damn thing…” She leaned her head down, lifted the injured leg, and swiftly pulled the bone out with a short but moderately high pitched grunt of pain. She looked back to Hunter. “How did you do that?” She asked afterward, as if nothing was wrong.
“It’s complicated. Now, hold still,” he told her, kneeling down and taking out a syringe filled with strange blue liquid. Inserting it into her foreleg, she gave a little hiss as he injected her with the stuff, soon feeling the healing effects as it closed up her wound quickly. “There, you’re good to go. It should also get rid of the poison in your system, as well.”
“Amazing…” Tempest breathed. “It’s like a healing spell, almost,” she then shook her head. “A-anyway, thanks. Let’s get back to it.” Shanghai glanced over at the two as more Cloudbones began to approach the three.
“Get ready, here come some more!” she warned, tightening her grip on the Saber Knife. Alexandria also offered some supporting fire from the air.
Switching weapons, Hunter brought out his Super Shotgun as more Cloudbones rushed at him and Tempest. However, she soon found that Hunter had laid down some traps, some explosive mines going off once the beasts stood on them, thinning and disorienting the pack a little bit. This gave the two enough time to get in close and wreak havoc upon the unfortunate pack, slaughtering them by either shooting them to death, blowing them up into millions of chunky, bloodied and meaty bits, or in Hunter’s case, earning him some Glory-kills. This ranged from him pulling one of their fangs out and stabbing their eyes out, slitting their throats open, snapping their necks, crushing heads underneath his boots, or picking them up and breaking their spines over his knees.
During this, in addition to Alexandria’s covering fire from the air, Shanghai also gave her support by firing high-energy beams of magic into the pack, each one taking a few seconds to charge up. This meant there was a delay of nearly ten seconds between each beam, but any beam that scored a hit on the exposed weak point of a Cloudbone always killed it instantly, and any that hit the exoskeleton left scorch marks, even causing the bone to melt quite a bit, undoubtedly leaving the area weakened.
However, the other teams were doing quite poorly. The gas, when it had hit, had left them disoriented for too long, and while some of the magic users managed to save themselves and a few others, most of the teams were now stumbling as they fought, getting hit many times and barely surviving.
The Crystal Champions and Zebras in particular were not doing well at all, and the Zebras were starting to break down and panic a little. The two guards Shining had assigned as Champions were much the same, though he himself stayed strong.
Star Swirl and his team were doing well, as the mage had summoned a mask for himself and Flash had pulled Sweetie Drops off the ground to avoid the poisonous gas.
The Minotaurs simply made it through by sheer force of will, not backing down even though they were stumbling occasionally and getting hit a few times.
The Yaks, in similar straits, were doing just about as well as their bipedal fellows, only stumbling much more.
Shanghai took notice of the struggling Champions, quickly returning to her original duty as she interposed an attack aimed at one of the Zebras. “I’m sorry for letting myself get distracted like that,” she apologized to the Zebra. “But rest assured that you can all count on me to defend you.” As she said this, she then Gapped to step into an attack meant for a Yak as it stumbled into the path of a claw. Both the Zebra and the Yak were Champions that Shanghai had defended earlier, and both of them had tried to shoo her away at the time.
“You…” one of the Zebras tried to say, before stumbling, a little wobbly on his hooves. “Why would you…?” Shanghai held a hand up to silence the Zebra as she ignored a claw that slashed across her entire torso.
“Just focus and persevere,” she said. “I may be quick, but there’s still only one of me.”
“But I…!” he stumbled again, the Zebra mare near him helping him stand taller. He looked to her, her nodding to him with a resolute frown, before he looked back to the Fairy and slowly nodded.
The long fight progressed slowly after that, the Cloudbones still coming down on them all hard and not letting up. It was like they were as endless as the sky. But then… Then something new began to announce it’s arrival. A strange yet eerie song started to build up from nowhere, and heavy, heavy thudding footsteps shook the earth of the stadium.
Then, the crowd went wild once more, chanting, “~YULO GIG! YULO GIG GIGA!! YULO GIG! YULO GIG GIGA!!~”
Lucette’s grin widened as she reclined in her seat. “And thus, the Reclusive Lord cometh…” she said with a low giggle.
“What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Gilda asked, looking around frantically.
“Oh my, this promises to be interesting,” Yukari commented with a small giggle. “Very interesting…”
Ayis leaned over the railing a little more. “Ooooh, I’m liking where this is going,” she said giddily. “Something’s coming to get its ass kicked by Alex.”
“ …Why am I sitting my ass up here?” Berserker grumbled in annoyance. “I wanna be down there and having some fun, too.” His brothers, Lucette and Guardian laughed a little at his complaint, though most of the others were unnerved by his comment.
Cadance and Twilight looked to Lucette. “What’s going on, your Highness?” Twilight asked, ears splayed down against her head.
“I’m a little worried for Shiny down there…” Cadance voiced.
Lucette’s grin remained feral. “Simple. I made a golem.”
“There must be more to it than that, those thuds foretell of legs that will make many go flat!” Zendaya said.
“There’s definitely more to it, if what we’ve seen already isn’t a good bunch of indications,” Celestia mused, looking to Lucette, who shrugged and kept her grin.
“Trust me, they’ll all be fine. And anyways, this round is meant to test mental fortitude and will, so you have to go hard with the challenge,” the queen said honestly.
“I can’t help but feel you would be very fearsome in a fight yourself,” Luna commented.
“I try,” was Lucette’s simple answer, still bearing her grin.
“Is anybody else not getting pumped by that music though? It sounds so cool!” Gilda gushed.
“Where’s the orchestra for it hiding?” Steel Axe followed up, looking to Lucette.
Lucette once more shrugged. “It’s a mystery.”
Then, the music picked up, and out of one of the tunnels in the stadium, came a massive armored humanoid with an equally massive machete, his skin rotted and coursing with flame and cinders, and a hood of chain upon his head, along with a crown. The Skili erupted into loud cheers as the Giant rushed headlong towards the stadium’s floor, straight for the Champions.
Hunter quickly grabbed a hold of Tempest and moved out of its way, watching it rush past and towards the others.
Shanghai took notice of the approaching behemoth, and quickly went about warning anyone who might not have been paying attention, either due to the remnants of the gas or otherwise.
The Giant roared and slammed its machete down on the ground hard, sending body parts of Cloudbones flying everywhere, and sending contestants flying from the shockwave.
Alexandria was a bit taken aback by this, but quickly rushed back in now that the gas was mostly dissipated in order to offer more direct support. “C’mon, you fatass!” she shouted at the Giant as she fired several shots at it, trying to get its attention.
It groaned and backhanded her with an arm, before making to swipe at the Minotaurs with it’s machete.
Alexandria grunted in pain as she was flung a good several feet back, Shanghai wincing in tandem. However, the Fairy still moved through the pain to interpose the attack, beasting the machete strike perfectly, literally stopping the swipe in its tracks as she used her seemingly nigh-indestructible body as a shield. The Minotaurs were stunned into immobility for a moment, but were shaken free of the stupor as Shanghai shouted at them to not let the opening slip by.
They soon jumped up onto the blade and tried to hack off the Giant’s fingers, but all they managed to do was give it scratches with their weapons.
“What the f-?!” Iron Will started, only for the Giant to grab its blade by the notch with its hand and toss them off his former with a flick. As the Minotaurs sailed through the air and collapsed in a heap a good ways away, he turned to Shanghai and roared, flaming veins glowing brighter with heat.
By now, Alexandria had gotten back up, and she then pegged the Giant in the back of the head with a fully-charged shot from the Pistol, quickly following up with a large bolt of lightning as Shanghai circled around the Giant towards Alexandria. “I think it’s me you want, you damned oaf!” she shouted at him, looking behind the hulking form at the other Champions, trying to signal with her eyes and a slight gesture with her head for them to attack while she held the Giant’s attention. Without waiting to see if they got her meaning, she then returned to pelting the Giant with both lightning and Pistol fire, trying to keep its aggression on her as high as possible.
They didn’t get the meaning, too busy with the Cloudbones to really be able to do anything.
She was successful in angering it, however, as it let out a roar like the howling of mighty winds on a stormy mountain, the flames in its veins glowing hotter and brighter, before the Giant swung its machete at Alexandria, launching an arc of flame at her.
Alexandria dodged the arc of flame, continuing to rain Hell down on the behemoth, along with Shanghai’s supporting fire from next to her, keeping herself as the center of attention.
Tempest watched on in surprise and awe as the duo effectively kept the Giant preoccupied, before having to buck a rampant Cloudbone away. “Damn! That girl’s better than I thought!” she yelled to Hunter over the din of the fighting and the music. She shot a Cloudbone that was gunning for the Zebras in the head, ending it’s life. “With how she’s doing, we might as well call this round ours as well!”
“Don’t be so quick to conclude victory is ours,” Hunter remarked, beheading three Cloudbones’ heads with his brother’s sword. “Fate has a tendency of proving you wrong in your assumptions.” Tempest frowned at his skepticism, but she couldn’t blame him for thinking like that. He was just being cautious and analyzing the situation they were in.
That was when they heard an exceptionally enraged roar from the Giant. It had just gotten hit by a coordinated attack consisting of a full-charge shot from Alexandria and a barrage of very large, sharpened steel fragments from Shanghai.
With this, it seemed to decide enough was enough, and as the music reached a crescendo, it slammed it’s machete down, issuing a concussive wave of flame from its body, greatly burning Alexandria, nearby Cloudbones, and many of the other Champions. Shanghai gave a pained shout as Alexandria was engulfed in the flames.
When the flames cleared, Alexandria was still standing, if just barely. She looked very worn out, and almost like she could just drop at a moment’s notice. Parts of her skin clearly exhibited signs of third degree burning, and her hair was smoldering. As she regained her senses from the last attack, breathing heavily, the Giant roared and brought its machete down on Alexandria. This time, she wasn’t ready for it and failed to dodge, or even so much as make an attempt to do so. The machete slammed down onto her, leaving behind what everyone could only assume was a corpse. As it raised its machete back up, everyone watching had a clear view of Shanghai beginning to drop out of the air, only to explode into dozens of small electrical sparks before hitting the ground.
“Oh my,” Yukari commented, seeming completely unconcerned. “I’m not a doctor, but I believe she may be dead.”
“WHAT?!” Lucette cried in alarm, standing up from her seat. Many of the other leaders did the same. Lucette whirled around to the nearest guard. “Vol late ko grol! Grol grol grol!”
Immediately the guard rushed out, many more making their way to the scene as the audience made their own cries of alarm. The Giant went stock still, and the remaining Cloudbones were corralled.
“I thought you had this under control!” Steel Axe shouted, though inside he was ecstatic. He had found a weakness. “What happened to-!?”
Steel Axe, however, was cut off by the majority of the crowd gasping in shock. Ayis giggled as she spoke up.
“I was wondering how much longer she was going to take!” the Fallen Angel said. All the World Leaders turned to look down into the stadium, where Ayis was pointing. Alexandria’s corpse had been engulfed in electricity, and the sparks that were once Shanghai had begun to gather together again. In a sudden discharge of small bolts, Alexandria’s ‘corpse’ looked good as new, as if it had never even been so much as scratched. A moment later, and the supposed corpse began to push itself up, while Shanghai was reformed from her sparks, no longer transformed.
“You were saying, shit-stains?” Berserker spoke up, where Steel Axe saw his right hand gripping his second, yet strange, sword, the armored man glaring right at him. Looking back at his sword, a certain feeling came over him, one that warned the Bull to not provoke the Storm Queen’s brother.
Lucette was shaking, clenching her fists hard. Just as the other leaders were about to voice their own concerns, she let out a deep breath and spoke. “...My little sister has a lot to answer for.” She said, the words echoing like the lone ring of a pick against stone in an empty mine. “...But this is something I should have expected, and told you all.”
“...You mean that your sister is immortal, like you?” Celestia said after a short pause of looking at the recovered form of Alexandria below. Lucette nodded.
“Wait, you’re immortal?!” Steel Axe yelled in alarm, taking a step back, as if he’d just been punched in the gut. Lucette nodded again, and he went quiet as well as pale.
Lucette looked to the guards scrambling around, sighed, then stepped up to the railing of the booth. She looked out over the startled and surprised masses that were her people, and answered their cries of alarm and shock.
“My good subjects! Our Champion, Alexandria Kijin, has a secret that I did not mention prior!” she took a deep breath, in and out, before continuing. “She is, like me, immortal! I recognize that not being forthright with this information was an oversight on my part, and I will gladly take blame for it! BUT!” She raised a hand. “Is it not true that she displayed great courage by laying down her own life? Is it not true that she and her Fairy protected the other Champions by taking the brunt of the blow?!” The audience slowly calmed down, but still muttered amongst themselves. They all seemed to be in agreement. The leaders were upset at this turn of events, but none could deny it was a brave act. “Then, I believe we know our victors do we not?! For what is a greater act of bravery than dying for a just cause?!” Again, none objected, save a few in a different booth across the stadium, but most of the audience was in agreement.
“H-Hold on, you can’t just-!” Steel Axe began, but Ember and Gilda stopped him, even Prince Rutherford shot him a glare.
“Girly laid life down,” he said firmly. “Yak respect that.”
“Unorthodox as it is, you can’t argue that it was brave as all heck,” Gilda agreed.
“Exactly. Not even my Champions would do such a thing,” Ember admitted.
“B-But…!” Steel Axe looked to the Ponies.
“I’d have to agree with them, I’m afraid, Your Highness,” Luna said. “Much as it would have been nice to know that the girl was immortal, it still holds true that she died to save others. What is braver than that?”
“Indeed. It’s rare to see such bravery, especially nowadays,” Celestia concurred.
“I’m with them, such a thing is quite a gem,” Zendaya said with a nod.
“Unless, of course, you still disagree,” Pillar continued, his grip tightening around his Warhammer as he and his brothers looked towards him. “Then please, why don’t you educate us on the meanings of bravery and sacrifice? That is, if you even know anything.”
Steel Axe faltered, looking among all those around him in the booth. He grit his teeth, before slamming himself down in his seat. “Fine! FINE! Whatever! Just get it over with. I’m tired of this place anyways.”
Lucette smirked under her mask as Grubber returned to the stadium and announced the Storm Champions as the winners, the guards moving the Giant back into it’s tunnel and mopping up any remaining Cloudbones. They also carried the other Champions who were harmed into the infirmary. Lucette turned to face the others in the booth. “Well, why don’t we head down there and mingle with our Champions? I’ll send you all complimentary prizes later in the day. Does that sound agreeable?” They all nodded. “Good.”
With that, the other leaders filed out of the booth and made their way to their own Champions, Cadance and Twilight being particularly concerned for Shining Armor, who they had seen sustain a good number of cuts and likely a few burns from the Giant. Thankfully, the Zebras and the Equestrians did not sustain any burns, but the other Champions did.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Hunter said to Tempest as his brothers and Guardian came over to them. “In a sense, I kind of feel like I didn’t do enough for Alex and Shanghai.”
Lucette, after making her way out of the booth and into the stadium, walked up to them and managed a grin, having heard Hunter’s remark. “Eh, it all went according to plan anyways, so it’s all good.”
“Bullshit,” All of the Doom Marines said to her, having followed.
Lucette winced. “Jeez,” she said, raising a hand to her ear. “Hit me with any more criticism and you might make me go deaf, guys.”
“My Queen, I’d have to agree with them,” Tempest jumped in. “You told me most of your plan, and the latter half of it did not involve-” Lucette shoved a hand over Tempest’s mouth.
“OOOOOkay, who wants a round of drinks? Anyone? I know I need some after this shitshow,” Lucette interrupted, looking between them all. She looked to Alexandria quickly. “Alex, you in? Pretty sure we have some Equestrian stuff from the last few shipments a week ago.”
Alexandria looked thoughtful for a moment, before glancing over at Stringy - one of the Changeling Champions - a little ways away, remembering her sharing something called Cocoon Silk, an alcoholic Changeling beverage that reminded the Yokai of sake, a Japanese rice wine.
“Hmmm… Do you have any sake, or maybe something from the Changelings?” Alexandria asked.
“Think I have some Eastern Equestria Sabre Sake, yeah, why?” Lucette asked. “That your kind of poison?” Alexandria raised an eyebrow at this, a slight smile curving her lips.
“Sure, I guess you could say that,” she answered.
“... Perhaps we should go for a drink or two,” Hunter stated, which surprised the others. “After everything that has happened, I think now would be the best time to crack open a cold one.” Thinking on it, the Doom Marines couldn’t help but agree with their younger brother.
“Okay, Lucy, you win. We’ll drink until tomorrow comes around,” Berserker said to her with a shrug. “Still wanted a turn in that last round. Feels like more of my style of an arena full of fun.” He complained.
Lucette removed her hand from Tempest’s mouth, who shot her a glare, before speaking up. “Well, before that happens, My Queen has to give out the prize.”
“Ugh,” Lucette said, groaning. “Fine, fine, but after the other leaders are gone and the ceremonies are done, you’re taking over for a day. I need a break.”
Tempest shook her head. “You know that isn’t possible, My Queen.”
Lucette sighed, wilting a little. “Yeah, sadly I do.”
“Politics is such bullshit,” Berserker commented disdainfully.
“Bro, you’re not one for that sort of shit anyways. I can’t even imagine you trying to rule an entire country,” Runner remarked, before whispering to himself. “Even though, technically speaking, we’re going to end up becoming Kings, somewhere in the near future…”
“You did a great job out there, Shanghai,” Alexandria said to her Fairy partner, patting her on the head and earning an adorable squeal of happiness. “But, you could’ve maybe kept your skillset a bit more secret, alright?”
“A-Ah… A-Alright, sorry,” Shanghai replied apologetically as Alexandria turned to Lucette, waiting to see what the prize Tempest mentioned was.
“Well, you guys wait here and come up when I call your names,” Lucette said, trodding over to the podium where Grubber was.
“Alright,” Collateral shrugged as they waited.
“I wonder what sort of prize all four of you are getting?” Pillar questioned.
“Oh, I really hope it's something cool!” Shanghai piped up, a sparkle in her eyes, looking hopeful. Alexandria just shakes her head, smiling.
Grubber, after the Champions and leaders had left, save for the home team and Lucette of course, called out to the audience.
“Alrighty folks, it’s been a long and exciting Festival, but now it’s time to crown our winners!” He turned to Lucette, who smirked and snapped her fingers, a group of Skili women in flowing golden robes - all of them like a mixture of tribal clothes and Japanese kimonos - came up to the podium, two of them holding a sleek, finished wooden case, another two holding a likewise black bag, and yet another two holding a black box of wood similar to the long case.
Lucette took the microphone from Grubber, cleared her throat, then spoke. “First, my little sister and her Fairy, Alexandria Kijin and Shanghai! Please step up to the podium!” Alexandria did as told, Shanghai close behind her with a hopeful look in her eyes. The Skili women presented the black bag to them, prompting them to open it. When they did, their eyes widened as they saw what lay inside.
First was the large cloak made of a shimmering material, transparent yet soft and a light purple, with the edges being lined with red silk, and the hood bearing a mask.
Second was a small, Shanghai-sized gun, looking similar to a 1911 WWII Colt, but with a lightning bolt-shaped grip.
“I give to them, the Cloak of Clouds and the Fairy’s Thunder!” Lucette announced, the audience clapping loudly.
Alexandria’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow…” she breathed, awed by the appearance of the cloak. Shanghai was too shocked to speak. Alexandria glanced at Shanghai’s prize, and noted that it was sized specifically for the Fairy. “Say, how did you know to make these things for us on such short notice?” she asked Lucette quietly.
Lucette smiled, the only thing visible with her mask still on. “Me and Ventus made a few handy machines to produce stuff for us when she couldn’t. All I had to do was put the right materials in and shape it all with a stylus on the monitor,” Lucette whispered. She winked at her. “Don’t say I don’t look out for my friends, or those who help me in a pinch.”
“Huh…” was all Alexandria could manage, still a little blown away by the supposedly high-quality rewards. “Well… Thank you very much!”
“Yes! Yes, thank you so, so much!” Shanghai agreed, overflowing with enthusiasm.
Lucette chuckled. “Anytime, girls. Oh, and just so you know, the Cloak can turn you into clouds for a quick moment, and the gun fires bullets with electrically charged rounds.” She smirked. “Enjoy.” She then turned back to the audience and called out another of her Champions. “Next up, my older brother, Hunter!” Hearing his name, he walked up to them, standing before Lucette and kneeling down. “To him, I bequeath the Tempestuous Will!”
Lucette smiled and nodded to the Skili women with the case, who presented it to Hunter. When he opened it up, he found a greatsword made of the reflective yet sea green metal called Stormwill, with dozens of runes engraved into it’s blade, two in particular reminding him of the Destiny symbols for Arc Light and Void Light. The hilt was simple, being wrapped in metal thorns of Black Iron, and with a pommel that looked exactly like a certain Demon’s Skull, albeit miniaturized. Namely, a Titan’s. Lucette smirked at his glance to her.
“I was planning on you coming for a long time. What? You think I wouldn’t reward a friend for helping me out?” she asked rhetorically.
“Not in a million years, thank you,” he replied, nodding his head to her as he stands back up and holds his Greatsword up against his shoulder.
Lucette smiled, patting him on the back. “Have fun with it, big guy. There’s a few surprises on that beauty,” she said, before turning back once more to the audience. “Finally, my advisor and second in command, Tempest!” Tempest trotted up to the podium. “To her, I give her the first in a line of new products from the Windwhirl Offices!” Lucette swept her hand to the box as it was opened. “The Scouter!”
Inside the box was what seemed to be a monocle mixed with a set of goggles, only with glowing blue lenses. Tempest blinked a little as she looked at the goggles, picking them up in her magic and putting them on. Immediately she gasped, as she saw glowing auras around every living thing around her, all in varying colors, sizes, shapes, and more. She noted Shanghai and Alexandria’s auras seemed to be tied together by a strong string, or cord, rather. Berserker’s looked like it was burning, like a sun’s, but a blood red one. Tempest pulled them off and looked to her queen.
“What… Was that?” she asked, shock clear in her tone. Lucette chortled.
“Simple. You just saw the auras and soul-energy of everyone here,” she explained. Tempest’s eyes widened.
“Amazing…” she breathed. Lucette giggled.
“It’s pretty easy to figure out when you’re like me,” she said, before turning back to the microphone. “And that, my dear subjects, concludes the Festival of Fellowship and Strength! Thank you all for coming!”
Lucette waited as the audience eventually filed out of the stadium, before slumping over a bit and turning to the others, her subjects now gone save for a trusted few, like the guards. “Damn, I’m fucking drained…”
“Need us to carry you down to the pub?” Berserker asked her.
“What? No, I’m a grown woman, I don’t need to be fucking carried!” Lucette said quickly, a light blush on her cheeks. “I’m not some kid, ya know!”
“Where I’m standing, you are. Age wise,” he retorted.
Lucette growled and flipped him off. “Ah fuck you, Zerk. I don’t need your shit!” she shot back. She looked to Alexandria and grabbed her by the arm. “Now, come on you lazy shits! Time for us to get shitfaced drunk!”
“Shanghai, my knife, please,” Hunter said to the Fairy.
“Ah right, here,” Shanghai said, handing Hunter his knife. He noted that it was normal again, unlike when she was wielding it while transformed earlier.
“Thank you,” he gave his gratitude to her, placing it back in its hiding spot as they all made their way back to the castle. Of course, he returned Berserker’s sword to him.
That night, was one Lucette would not soon forget. It was filled with many jeers and quite a few jokes, but what happened with Alexandria and Shanghai took the cake. Even though Shanghai didn’t drink a drop, even before Alexandria got buzzed, Shanghai was already tipsy. By the time Alexandria herself was fairly tipsy, Shanghai was completely shitfaced, and she was the life of the party for a good while. She even transformed and did some stripteasing for the Doom Marines.
Speaking of which, while they shielded their eyes from Shanghai’s drunken shenanigans, Berserker and Hunter drank some very special Dragon Ale from one of their flasks. The effects surprised most, as two different specters of Dragons came out from them. For Berserker’s one, it was a big, red, western Dragon, just chilling and smiling at the party-goers, not something anyone was expecting. For Hunter’s, his was a grey, serpent-like, eastern Dragon with Eagle wings, flying around and about in the tavern.
Lucette snatched it from them after seeing the spectacle, but no Dragon specters came about. No, instead, she burped out a small storm cloud, which quickly dissipated as she pounded her chest from the coughing fit it gave her.
Alexandria was unconcerned with anything that was happening, even giggling as she watched Shanghai squeeze her boobs together. She glanced at Berserker and Hunter, before mumbling something about Gods as she continued to grin drunkenly.
That night, they all became closer, even if Lucette didn’t want to admit it in her drunken stupor. Whether she did or not, though, it still held true, as was made obvious the next morning when she awoke with a groan and looked about to find the others all around her, sleeping in various positions.
She grunted as she pulled herself up and off the floor, fixing the hem of her pants, as they had slipped a bit down her hips. She looked over to Shanghai, smiled faintly and grabbed a blanket the bar keep, Tyl, gave her, then wrapped the Fairy in it to cover her modesty.
She did much the same for the others, then pulled out the Tokens she had for them. “Alright guys, our contracts are complete,” she spoke with warmth, watching as portals opened. She gently deposited the two girls into their portal, then looked to the Marines as they snored. “...Ah, fuck it,” she said with a shrug, before grabbing them one by one and roughly tossing them into their own portal. She grabbed a piece of paper from Tyl, wrote a quick note to both parties, tossed them both in their respective portals, and waited as they closed, just in time to see Berserker start to wake up from the other side of the Marine’s portal.
When it closed, she sighed contentedly and looked around the room. “...” She smiled and turned to the doors, and walked out.
When the two sets of Displaced would wake up in their own worlds, they would find notes near them, with these words written on them in cursive, “Have a good one, fam.”
Next Chapter: 16 - Intermission: Resolutions (Edited... Once Again) Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 20 Minutes Return to Story Description