El Toro awakened slowly after the explosion that rocked the ring. The first thought that came to his mind as he regained consciousness and saw the wreckage was, The manager is not going to be happy about this...
As more of his mind came back to him, he shot up into a sitting position, looking around worriedly. "Paco? Girls? Jackie?" he called out worriedly.
"Easy there, El Toro," Jade told him, putting a hand to his chest. "Paco's okay, and so are the girls and I...but the Dark Hand took Jackie! We need to help him!"
El Toro stared at her, then sadly. "I cannot," he offered apologetically. "Without my mask, I have no power..."
Jade thrust his mask into his hands. "Then put it back on already!" she insisted.
"It is not that simple," El Toro explained. "I removed my mask. I have forsaken the spirit of the Ox, and cast aside my honor. I am no longer a warrior..."
Jade stared at him, then scrunched her face up in frustration, plainly trying to come up with some way to convince him. "If you can't be a warrior, then be a hero!" she offered finally. "You gave up a lot to save Paco and the rest of us, that was pretty heroic!" Taking the mask, she tried to force it onto his head. "Come on!"
"It will do no good," El Toro told her. "With the Ox in that man's hands, his power is overwhelming. I cannot match him."
"Well you aren't going to let a bunch of girls go after them alone, are you?" Jade demanded angrily, grabbing the front of his wrestling outfit.
"I am pretty sure a unicorn, a pegasus, and one who commands plants need no assistance from me," El Toro answered readily.
Jade blinked in surprise. "You're aware of that?" she asked, shocked. Paco hadn't even reacted to the tame cloud, after all.
"Of course," El Toro replied softly. "Sweetie Belle said I had become synchronized to the Talisman..." His voice trailed off as an idea occurred to him. It was stupid, reckless, and probably wouldn't work...but it sounded plenty heroic. "Perhaps you are correct," he stated, standing up and pulling his mask back on. "Perhaps there is something...heroic I can do. Which way did they go?"
"Audrey saw them going west..." Jade began, unsure what had come over El Toro.
"Stay here," El Toro instructed, turning to race west towards the air field.
"Pssh," he heard Jade grumbling behind him. "If I don't listen to Jackie when he tells me that, what makes you think I'll listen to you?"
As El Toro ran, he prayed in the depths of his mind. Spirit of the Ox, hear me...though I forsook you to save those in need, I beg that you do not forsake me. One who is a worthy opponent, one who has helped me enjoy battle for the first time since I took the belt, is now in great danger, and only with your help will I be strong enough to assist him, and stand up to one who would misuse you! You did not choose me to be a champion...you chose me to be a hero! I see that now! Spirit of the Ox, one last time, lend me your strength that I might be the hero you chose me to be!
Though El Toro was unaware of it, the symbol of the Ox Talisman appeared in both of his eyes, flaring with light...and then he felt his blood burn, the familiar feeling of the power of the Ox flooding his body, though less intense than before. Still great strength, but not quite what the Talisman would give the giant. Still, it would be enough.
When he reached the air field, he saw that the thugs who had threatened the children were already on a plane, and it was about to take off. "HIYAAAAAH!" he screamed out as he leapt, bringing his arm down in an overhand chop.
KERRRUNCHHHH!!!
El Toro stared as he saw his arm shear through the tail of the plane, severing the entire portion as it fell off, rendering the plane incapable of take-off. He pulled back his arm, staring at it in shock. He didn't even feel pain.
Before long, the giant stepped off the plane, the Talisman clutched in his hand and glowing. El Toro knew he didn't have enough strength to meet him head on. He would need a different strategy...especially now that Paco and the girls had caught up and were watching. As the giant's fist pulled back, Jade shouted out, "El Toro! Duck!"
Remembering how Jackie had fought him, El Toro consciously imitated the moves of El Mono Balando, ducking under the strike as it came. He repeated the move with the next punch, and rolled back out of the way at the attempt to grapple. The giant snarled in fury and pulled his fist back, plainly intending another explosive punch to the ground. Rushing in, El Toro once more mimicked Jackie's tactics, delivering solid punches to the giant's stomach.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
And a kick!
To his surprise, the strike of his leg sent the giant off the ground, flying backwards several feet to land on his back, clutching at his gut. Taking full advantage of the situation, El Toro lunged forward and seized the giant by his ankles. Aid me, Spirit of the Ox! he pleaded silently.
Feeling the fire in his veins blaze, he began to spin, swinging the giant around him before hurling him up into the air, screaming. El Toro then watched the shadows on the ground carefully, and took two steps to the right before raising his fists. The giant came down with a choked grunt of pain as he came down with El Toro's fists in the center of his back, on either side of his spine. His hands opened convulsively, sending the Talisman bouncing away. El Toro then deposited the now unconscious giant in the flatbed of a nearby truck.
Noticing the other thugs staring at him in shock and fear, El Toro cricked his neck, then extended a hand, beckoning them.
"Let's get out of here!" one of them shouted, racing for the truck.
"New guy is out!" the one who'd threatened Sweetie Belle screamed as he ran, only to scream even louder as thorny vines dragged him into the underbrush, followed by the sound of shaking trees and something snapping.
The others leapt into the truck and drove off with the giant, leaving Jackie tied up and staring in the plane. "Whoa," Jackie murmured, stunned. "Bad day for Tohru..."
As soon as the truck was out of sight, the flames left El Toro's veins, and he collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"El Toro!" Paco cried out in shock, racing forward.
El Toro tried to respond, but no sound would come out.
"He burned up a lot of his chi mimicking the magic of the Talisman!" Sweetie Belle called out. "He needs more, but I don't know how-"
"I've got an idea!" Jade called out.
El Toro felt something cold made of stone pressed against his forehead, and his breathing became easier as familiar energy flowed into his body from his forehead. Opening his eyes, he saw Jade holding something against his forehead as Jackie approached. "Thank you, Jade," he said softly as he put his hand to his forehead, holding the Talisman there himself.
"How'd that work?" Sweetie Belle asked in confusion.
"Well, you said he burned his chi to make Talisman Magic," Jade explained. "And he said you said his chi was attuned to the Talisman. So I figured the Talisman could use its magic to restore his chi."
"It appears you were correct," El Toro murmured as he sat up, more than a little surprised as Paco glommed onto his side briefly. He took the Talisman from his forehead once he felt his strength returning to normal. "And you were correct as well, Sweetie Belle. I am not cut out to defend the Talisman." Turning, he handed it over to Jackie. "But you are."
Jackie chuckled nervously, obviously flustered. "Thank you, Mr. El Toro," he replied awkwardly as he took the Talisman.
"But, what will you do now, El Toro?" Paco asked worriedly. "The ring..."
"I am no longer a warrior of the ring," El Toro explained. "As Jade said, I am a hero now, and I must train as such." He turned to Jade with a smile. "Should my skills and strength ever be needed in this struggle the Talismans have created, feel free to call on me, and I will answer."
"Will do, El Toro!" Jade replied, giving him a thumbs up.
"I'll miss seeing you in the ring!" Sweetie Belle offered. "You were my favorite!"
"I shall miss it too," Paco added sorrowfully.
"Do not be so dismayed, Paco," El Toro reassured him, ruffling his hair. "After all, I am certain Jade will confirm...every hero needs a sidekick."
Paco's eyes shone with eagerness.
That.
Was.
Amazing.
Will this story take up the entire series? I don't think I have it in me to read that many chapters and words.
Chapter Thirty One:
"Aiyah!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 23
"One More Thing!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 42
Please don't stop it's too AWESOME
El Toro Oxed for strength and he got it.
Clearly the plane got the tail end of that encounter.
Seems this encounter had a certain... kick to it.
7425058 I do!
Another enjoyable chapter, as always. But...
I remember a story somewhere, which I unfortunately can't remember the name of. But variations of this line were constantly, ceaselessly, spewing out, which completely distracted me from the otherwise quality of the story. It's not really that important, but... (shudders) it just brought up some bad memories. Oh well; carry on!
Nice chapter. :)
7425058 Then don't. The rest of us can and do, so we will.
7425145
Sweetie Belle explained it exactly.
El Toro's chi was perfectly synced to the energies of the Ox Talisman from having worn it on his body for so long. As such, he was able to use his chi to cast a chi spell that mimicked the effects of using the Talisman for a short time (the image of the Talisman in his eyes was the spell kicking in), though it burned through his chi at a ferocious rate since he didn't use any external mediums to focus the spell.
7425145 Tatsurou is good at that sort of thing. It seems like the Talismans magic is imprinted on those who use them a lot, though just how much usage is required is unknown. For all we know, El Toro is the only one who can do that because it takes too long, and the series doesn't last long enough for any others to get that kind of magic.
7425270 Eh, sounds legit to me. That going to happen with anyone else, or just El Toro?
El Toro Fuerte has indeed proven himself a hero, and a worthy ally.
So, is a certain sneaky someone next, or will we get a brief recap of the first failed attempt at recovering the Snake Talisman?
7425287
Yup. El Toro's the only one in the series who will be able to do that.
Now, with proper training, anyone could cast chi spells mimicking the magic of the Talismans if they fully understood the magical formula behind their functionality and could recreate them artificially. However, due to the nature of the Talismans, the process has an exorbitant cost as far as the chi of the caster and whatever they're using as a medium...which is why Dao Long Wong, despite fully understanding the spell formulas enough to absorb their magic into himself, still wants to get ahold of the Talismans themselves rather than trying to duplicate them.
That's why artifacts are so valuable.
7425145 Sweetie Bell explained it. He mimicked the kind of power the talisman would have provided with his own chi. Sort of a cheater spell. Pretty nifty head canon, considering some of the spells and artifacts we see in the show.
7425321 Sorry XD Didn't refresh comments before replying.... awkward
Beautiful...
El Toro needs to adopt Paco either as his son or little brother. Either option would make Paco's day and we'd get warm fuzzies.
Very nice chapter, I loved the resolution and can't wait to see how Viper's interaction with the Crusaders, Jade, and Jackie goes.
7425122 I guess you could say that El Toro took ...the ox by the horns.
7425084 What is the chapter count suppose to be?
7425526 the number of occurrences of the given phrase in the corresponding chapter.
7425526
The number of times the phrase in question was said in the chapter, as opposed to the story as a whole.
I was having a rather 5#!77y day, until I read this chapter. Now my emotional balance is safely on the "Happy" side. Thanks, Tatsurou.
7425576
Happy to put a smile back on your face.
7425058
Really? Even though you only have to read about 1,000 to 3,000 words each time this story updates, and with several days between updates?
I mean, I could kind of understand if you're jumping into this story as a late arrival and see the overall wordcount to be daunting, but it's really not at all as bad as you seem to think it might be...
A rather nice chapter to wake up to. Here's hoping this a sign of the day to come.
*Whistles Megalovania in the background*
7425058 *Snorts* Have you seen his The Sparkle in his Eye story? That story is pushing it's way to 250,000 words. This one's nothing compared to that.
Yet, I imagine.
Just take it a couple chapters at a time if you don't have much time. No one says you have to read it as fast as you possibly can to enjoy it.
EDIT: Well, after seeing the other responses to your question, I feel like a heel. I wasn't being condescending, just trying to be helpful. Sorry if I came off like that.
D'awwww...what a cute ending! <3
Cuteness Attack!
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw4670-Derpy_Hooves_-_super_adorable_cute_filly_animated.gif
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derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/8/28/967623__safe_solo_cute_animated_derpy+hooves_micro_derpabetes_weapons-dash-grade+cute_teacup_this+will+kill+you.gif
7426291 That fluttershy pic, too cute.
thank you for the happy feels Tats . another wonderfully written chapter keep it up
7425256 No, just that line. I got real tired of hearing it after the umpteenth time. And then, a long while later, this story uses it, which reminded me of that experience.
This is going to get even better now.
El Toro=Badass
7425547 Why did you answer the question I asked Void Runner?
Will there be others like that who can be considered 'avatars' of the Talismans? Cause if there are that would be awesome.
7426955
Because I knew the answer.
7426955 for the same reason I'm answering this that: knew the answer anfd wasn't afraid of saying it
7427522 He already answered the question.
7427154 Well, could you answer this question. What is your 'On the Corner of Straight and Narrow' fic a crossover of? And I mean besides My Little Pony.
7425918 Better than trying to binge-read all of the Austraeoh series.
7427591
Answered that on the story in question.
NOOOO!
I caught up to the last chapter already
7427782 Good point.
7427672 Sad to say I don't know what you're talking about... but I've tried binge-reading stories that had a word count of over a million, so I think I can say I at least understand,
7429206 You should check it out- a quick google search should do it for you.
It's an older fic, initially described as "Rainbow Dash flies East"- it's art, and it's massive- Each story utilizes the full 200 chapter allowance of the site it's on (well, the site I read it on- don't remember which) and there's, like, 8 stories if not more. I haven't been keeping up with it, sadly, and I'm nervous about trying to get into it again, because it's so big and so dense.
Beauty, Loss, Action, Love, all sorts of fantastic writing... In short, it's Literature, but with ponies.
7425122 This fight is full of... bull.
Wrestler fans would have questions needed to be... masked.
If Paco is going to be a sidekick then he must never skip leg day so that one day he will have... strong calfs.
My last one sucks. BOO! BOO! BOO! MOO! BOO! BOO! BOO! BOO!
7447928
I kick you through the internet. Feel my rage at bad puns.
7447928 WEAK!!!
7425730
I usually focus more on the chapter count than the word count. It's a great method for people with spotty wifi
7447928
Pfft...snerk...HA HA HA HA!