Crossover 1: Gilgamesh
===[3rd POV]===
It was a beautiful day in the quaint little town known as Ponyville. Pegasi had scheduled for a clear sky, letting those on the ground appreciate the sun’s warmth. It was extremely picturesque.
But then again, it’s always that way before shit hits the fan. This one in the form of a rip in the Void opening in the middle of town. Seeing as something weird was happening and it wasn’t Tuesday, the civilians did the most reasonable thing.
“EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES,” a certain pink mare screamed, before the rest of them proceeded to freak the fuck out. Following that, some big thing shot out, flipped and then stuck the mount, raising its hands up in glory.
9.5 9.1 8.7 9.7
ONLY THEN for some green dog thing to shoot out, hit it in the head, knock it flat on its face.
6.7 5.6 6.3 6.9
“OH COME ON, I HAD THAT ONE!” it shouted with its face in the dirt. The dog thing shrugged and walked off.
The big armored creature got up and looked around. “Oh goody, anthro universe. Let’s hope things don’t get too fetishy,” he muttered.
A sudden chill went up his back as he felt the all too familiar sensation of partially playing a role in an obsession.
“Oh boy, what is it this time?” he turned around and immediately saw the source of the crazy. A mint green unicorn wearing a dark red shirt covered by a forest green jacket that had “Praise Yog-Sothoth” written on the back with what looks like a writhing mass of tentacles underneath. But what worried the armored warrior was the remote-microwave fusion thing that kept on beeping.
She waved it around the area in a seemingly random way before having it point towards the massive humanoid, the beeping going crazy. A sinister grin adorned her face, her voice dripping with what seemed like either lust or desire.
“Found you~!”
“NOPE!” it shouted, grabbing his canine friend before jumping up so high nopony could see him anymore.
“WAIT,” she shouted at the sky, magic amplifying her voice to CV level. “LET ME LOVE YOU, VOID MONSTER!!!”
“SORRY! I’M TAKEN!” the thing shouted far from out of her sight.
She looked up for a minute before huffing in anger and walking back towards her house. At least I have my fanfics…
It was another minute before the residents decided to exit their homes to see exactly what the Tartarus had just happened. Many of them were simply staring in the air where the creature jumped before the same pink mare as before moved so fast that she was a blur, moving ponies out of the way of where it should fall.
“WAIT! I NEED TO TAKE YOU TO MEET SOMEPONY!” she shouted as she chased it, looking up the whole time. :3
===[Zoro’s POV]===
Meditation was an essential part of my routine, the clearing of my mind a way to process the extreme craziness that has become my life. It also was nice when Pinks didn’t kidnap me during said session. But as the Rolling Stones say, ‘You can't always get what you want.’
She threw me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and jabbered on as we traveled.
“Isawablackholeythingopenupinthetowncenterandeveryponyfreakedoutandthen-” I clamped my hands around her muzzle.
“Small sentence, breathe, and don't mix words together.” It was like talking to a toddler in all honesty. Not that it’s bad, it’s just a bit much sometimes.
“Scary black hole opened up and somepony in armor stepped through. I thought he was your friend so I’m bringing you to him~!”
I sighed in exasperation and just decided to go along with it for the time being. Fighting the Conjurer of Pie was a nigh impossible task. I stayed in broody mode until she planted me down in the middle of town.
I looked around at the surrounding ponies until my eyes became fixated on the armored warrior. At least eight feet tall, covered in ashen armor, a crimson scarf billowing behind him. In his hand was a Naginata, an old japanese weapon if I remember correctly. I felt as though I had seen him before, but it was on the tip of my tongue-
“Oh sweet Laozi, you’re Gilgamesh! Another human!” I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around him. “It’s been to freaking long since I’ve seen another human!”
“Huh. Haven’t been hugged by a guy before. Let me guess, you just got unstoned, huh?” he asked.
“I’ve been out for around two weeks, so excuse me for being happy about seeing another Displaced. Do you know how much it means to me to see someone who probably won’t look at me like a rabid animal,” I said after setting him down.
“Yeah, I know what that feels like. Though to be honest, that was kinda my fault. That’s what happens when you live completely on your own in the while and single-handedly beat the shit out of three of the strongest armies in the world at the same time.”
“Three armies? Ha, try having the entire world on your case! I didn’t even do anything to provoke them.”
“Are we doing a dick measuring contest? Because I’m not really into wasting my time with those.”
“Oh, no, it isn’t. Just reminiscing on the good times of the days before indoor plumbing. Always good to do that when meeting someone in the same situation. And realizing how important toilet paper is.”
Pinks raised her hand and looked like she was about to explode from the sheer thought of having to use patience.
“Uh yes, you in the front of the class,” Gilgamesh joked, pointing to her with… where did he get that ruler? And those reading glasses? Oh shit, not another one.
“Name, birthday, cake, and preference of party!” Oh shit, she got out a pen and notebook! One conjurer I could handle, but two. This is going to be one of those days, isn’t it?
“One: Gilgamesh, Supreme Commander of the Global Equus Military, head of the Red Wings, Blessed by Her Grace the Fausticorn, and founder of the Interdimensional Awkward Tumbleweed Association. Two: Nunya bizznass. Three: Red Velvet. Four: Tunes, Booz, and Brawls. Oh, and this here is my BTCF, Enkidu,” he finished, pointing to the the tiger sized green wolf thing that walked up and sat lied down.
“That, sir, is a long ass title,” I said. “But very impressive. I'm-”
A flash of light and a popping sound interrupted me, revealing Egghead. The lavender unicorn looked like she had ran a marath-
… It looked like she ran.
“There you are,” she exclaimed. “Do you know how long we’ve been trying to find you? A hole into the void opened and-”
I raised my hand, signaling for her to stop. “I know about the whole scenario, Pinks brought me over.”
“I did something useful!”
“And we’re happy about that, sweetheart. Anyway, parole officer, this here is Gilgamesh, holder of many titles, and his mutant dog Enkido. The big one is a human, I think. What are you anyway, it was never said in the game?”
“Dunno. As for what I am… I guess I’m kinda human? I mean, I’m human in the same way an alicorn is a pony.” Gilgamesh replied after pondering that for a moment.
“That answer is as confusing as our whole situation. But it's better than nothing, I guess. Now onto a serious matter,” I said before giving the FF character a stern glare. “How the hell did you get past the barrier without my permission?”
“Barrier? Oh, did you meet Auric? Or did you have someone else help you with that?”
“Never met the guy, always wanted to. But the barrier was something I came up with on my own. Now how did you get past it?”
He smirked. “As I said before, ‘Blessed by Her Grace the Fausticorn’. One of the gifts she gave me was that I no longer needed to use tokens to visit other worlds. Apparently, no universe can be barred from me either. Still figuring out everything She gave me, though. Honestly I should’ve asked, but I was a little busy being awestruck by Her godliness.”
“Wait, Faust? Isn't she just Sunny and Moony’s fusion? There is no way she’s a god.” Most I remember her doing is matching me for a few minutes before doing a mitosis after too many hits.
“Fusion, huh? That’s a new one. But yeah, I’ve read about some versions where’s she’s just their parents and an alicorn and stuff like that, but I’m referring to the True Goddess and Creator and Overseer of the Equestrian section of the Multiverse. Well, one version of her. Apparently when you’re at that level of power you have multiple versions of yourself that can interact and coordinate with each other.”
“That sounds confusing as all hell but I'll roll with it. Still though, that's definitely some food for thought. Now, on with my amazing skill of changing subjects, mind telling me what you’re dog’s deal is? He's just staring at me blankly, not really used to that. Kinda freaking me out.”
“Oh him? He’s probably just checkin’ you out, getting your scent, deciding how best to kill you if you turn out to be evil, you know the usual.”
“Wait, what was that last part?” Oh, obviously the magical prodigy had never received death threats before.
“Nothing. SO, WHO WANTS TO GET CRUNK!?” he shouted, trying poorly to change the subject.
“Isn’t a bit early to drink?” Pinks asked.
“Hey, five o’clock was twenty four hours ago.”
“Well, if you want a distraction, I can provide for you,” I say coyly. I'll be honest, a warrior blessed by that SU ripoff sounded like an interesting challenge. Might even be a decent workout.
“... Oh reaaaaaaaly?” he said, his voice suddenly changing to sound more unhinged and his smile going wide enough that I could see it stretch past his faceguard. “And tell me, good sir, what were you known as in the past by your enemies?”
“More commonly, the Green Demon,” I said. “I prefer World’s Greatest Swordsman myself.”
He suddenly threw his head back and laughed for a good minute. “Well, with that I honestly wonder how good a challenge you can really be. After all, anyone who calls themselves the ‘World Greatest Anything’ usually has more bark than bite.”
“I'll be sure that you will see why I do so.” This might be more fun than that bastard Grogar, I think as I pull out Wado Ichimonji.
“Um, can we not do this in town,” my unicorn parole officer nervously asked. “In a place with significantly less property damage, maybe?”
“Ugh, fiiiiiiiine,” he whined. “But only if you retrieve a suitable audience for us.”
“Haha! I'd love to see the alicorn’s faces when they see you, pal! Aneurysms for days.”
“And hopefully they’ll learn something. Or at least be motivated to improve themselves.”
“I-I'll go write a letter,” she muttered before teleporting somewhere. Probably the treehouse.
“So, want to play some cards in the meantime? I'm killer at blackjack.”
“Sure, why not? It’ll be the only thing you’ll beat me at today. I suck at cards.”
“Oh ho! Tin Man’s got teeth.”
===ooo000ooo===
An hour later and nearly all of the town was surrounding the two of us in a massive field on the edge of the Everfree. They even brought the Sisters and that one guy from my escape. Brave Star or something.
So here we were, each staring at each other, surrounded by ponies who didn't know what the hell was going on anymore, and I was excited to actually have a challenge.
Pulling out one of my blades, I pointed the tip at him.
“Whenever your ready, sir.”
“Any restrictions I should worry about?” he asked, cracking his neck.
“Just be sure not to hit anyone,” I told him. “I don't need them on my case anymore then they already are.”
“Fair enough. Any song requests, or should I just play my own tracks?”
“You can play music! That's awesome! Oh, uh, how about Naruto’s Rising Fighting Spirit? Seems somewhat fitting.”
“Huh… let’s see if my author can find that one,” he muttered. Yep. It was like having a deadly Pinks. After a moment the song began.
“Ah, this classic! Been a while since I heard this,” he said as he spun his naginata and took his stance. “But isn’t this usually played when the hero’s do something amazing? We haven’t even started.”
“Meh, who cares, this song is badass. Now,” I say, getting into my One Sword Style stance, ”let's live up to its expectations, hm?”
Without a word he dashed straight at me, stabbing his naginata at my chest. With ease, I redirected it towards my left and got in close, slashing at his midsection. He stabbed his weapon into the ground and used it to pull himself up and out of the way before swinging his foot down at my head.
I covered my face with Armament, his strike pressing me into the ground. Definitely a challenge.
I reached out with my off hand and grabbed his foot before smashing him into the ground.
He used both hands and feet to push himself not just off the ground but flying into the air, hovering there for a bit. If it wasn’t for Observation I wouldn’t have noticed his weapon move on its own to attack the back of my head before it came back to him.
I flipped through the air, barely dodging the weapon before firing a 360 Pound Phoenix in his direction. He just took out his shield and let it hit him, sending him even higher into the air and far enough that I could only see him through Haki.
“He’s a flying monkey,” I muttered.
I waited a few seconds, wondering what the hell was taking him so long to come back down, when I felt something coming at me. Actually two somethings, one from the left and the other from the right. One was the naginata, the other was the shield.
Using my sword to deflect the naginata, I caught the shield with my off hand, wondering if he was secretly trained by good ol’ Captain ‘Merica.
“Wanna come on out, Wukong, or are you just going to keep jumping around and making portals?”
“I usually compare myself to Benkei, but I suppose I don’t mind that reference,” he said from behind me. Wait… what? I jumped away and turned, throwing the shield at him, but it stopped before it hit him. He was lying on a cloud and eating a peach. “Now, why don’t you entertain me for a bit?” his shield and naginata floated in front of him before they attacked on their own, almost like I was fighting a ghost.
“Screw this,” I muttered, pulling out Shusei. Two Sword Style. “Dragon Tornado!” Swinging my blades, I created a vortex of air so powerful, the weapons went flying and all the clouds in the area were sucked towards it, ripping them to shreds.
“Spoilsport,” he muttered as he landed, tossing away the peach and summoning his weapons back to his hands.
I rushed forward, startling him with my speed, before slashing at his chest. The blow sent him back a few feet, leaving an ‘X’ shaped dent in his armor.
“Huh… I actually felt that. Looks like I’ll need to actually try after all,” he said, his weapons levitating in the air while he cracked his knuckles. “Well, I guess it’d be rude for me not to power up when you did, so…” He held hand at his waist and pointed the other arm out crossing his chest to the other side. He then arced it to the other side before quickly switched to a mirrored pose while shouting “Henshin!” His body lit up for a moment before his whole body changed, his armor now having a different design and now wielding a broadsword, claw gauntlets, a flail, and a one handed axe in addition to the naginata with his now eight arms.
“Oh hell yes!” I exclaimed. This was going to be freaking awesome!
“Glad you like it, kiddo.” He then turned to the crowd, specifically the Sisters and that one pony I “fought”, who were just staring in shock. “Pay attention class, I’m about to coach you in how to properly use and deal with multiple weapons.” He dashed forward and swung his massive sword at me, trying to cut at my chest.
“Now first of all, remember that when it comes down to it there are really only nine ways to attack with a melee weapon: up and down, left and right, some diagonal angle, and stabbing,” he said as he attacked with each method. “Now swords are great because they can use all of the them almost equally effectively. Always remember that the longer your weapon is, the more you have to be aware of your surroundings because it can get caught on something, and also the more difficult it is to make quick strikes. Also, you need to remember weight,” he said as he did a spin slash, causing dirt to fly everywhere, which I leapt over. “The heavier a weapon is, the more damage it does, but the harder it is to control.” I charged and slashed at him again, only for him to block with the sword. “Of course, if your weapon is big enough it basically does double duty as a shield.”
He then began stabbing at me with the naginata rapidly, which I dodged just as quickly. “Spears and weapons like them obviously have the advantage and range, but they’re more suited to stabbing, so it gets kind of predictable. But, some staff weapons have curved edges, which allows from the to work as slicing weapons, too.” He then began spinning the weapon and attacking, which I deflected. “Of course the main drawback is that only the bladed tip does cutting and stabbing damage. But just because the staff itself doesn’t cut, doesn’t mean don’t use it,” he said he added trying to hit me with the staff as to his bladed attacks.
“Chained weapons have the main advantage of being unpredictable,” he said as he began spinning the flail and swinging it at me. “Of course, this is also a drawback if you don’t know what you’re doing. Also, if you don’t have momentum they’re useless, so it had a bit of a windup. Anything you can do to cut down on this is worth it. And don’t forget about trying to trap your enemy’s weapon with the chain.” He swung at me, trying to catch Wado Ichimonji, but there was no way that was happening. I stabbed at his chest to take advantage of that.
“Which can also be done with claws,” he continued, catching my sword with the weapon, the metals sparking against each other as he twisted to hold it in place. “Gauntlet weapons are probably the most intuitive to use.” He let the blade go and tried to stab my face with them forcing me to lean to the left in order to avoid the animalistic weapons. “If you know how to punch or have watched any animal with claws, you know how to use them, and they shouldn’t be much heavier than regular armor.”
Fed up with his rambling, I cover my leg in Armament and hit the one place he wouldn't expect.
I kicked him in the balls.
Everyone went quiet for a moment, only few gasped and Gilgamesh stopped attacking.
“Ah, good point Zoro, thanks for reminding me.”
What? How-? Was all I managed to think before he headbutted me, causing me to stumble back.
“You should never forget your body itself is a weapon. And also, in a life or death fight, there’s no such thing as a cheap move. And finally,” he dashed forward, axe raised for a powerful vertical swing before he attacked. I blocked with Shusui, haki helping it from getting nicked by the attack. “Axes and hammers, even the one handed ones, require momentum to work, just like chain weapons, but with less wind up. Axes are more hacking weapons than slashing, so they do require power to do any real damage,” he said as he kept attacks. I sliced at his face, only for him to hop back. “Now that you’ve got that in mind, watch what someone using multiple kinds of weapons looks like.”
With that said, he then barraged me with his massive amount of weapons. Each strike was precise, perfect in how he dealt with the momentum of the weapons. It would've been beautiful to watch if he wasn't trying to hit me with them.
But, something was bothering me.
I was dodging each strike with ease, and I wasn't using my Haki. He wasn't even trying! Faster than most could even notice, and probably looking like a blur to him, I ran behind him and watched as he momentarily stumbled from the absence of his opponent.
“I'm hurt now, pal. Not even trying when class is studying so hard? Shame on you. But nicely done with that trick to the nads, almost didn't notice it.”
“Hey, gotta get you off your game somehow. Speaking of, really need to learn how to use Haki. Totally would open up a lot of options for me.”
“Well, keep up and I might show you how to properly use it.”
“Was that another jab at me? Because that’s kinda unfair. After all, just because you know how to use Haki,” he caused his weapons to disappear in a flash. “Doesn’t mean you know how to do this.” He took a stance that was familiar to anyone who watched anime. What I didn’t know was which version he was-
“Shinkuuu Hadouken!”
Ah, Street Fighter then, I thought as that massive ball of blue energy shot towards me. I covered my blade in Armament and did the equivalent of a backhand, letting it fly off into the forest before hearing a large explosion.
“Oh this is going to get epic. Always wanted to test my luck against ki and the like. Anymore tricks up your sleeves?”
“As a matter of fact…” He point all his his arms left before arcing them up slowly, then tucking his left ones near his chest and curling the right ones. “Henshin!” In another flash he transformed. He now was two feet taller, had switched out the faceguard for a red hood and red and white kabuki facepaint. He also now wielded an axe, a mace, claws, a halberd, a broadsword, a dao, and a katana.
I chuckled, placing my white katana in my mouth before pulling out Kitetsu. “Onwards with great vigor and enthusiasm.”
“Just ooooone moment. I’m giving you a two for one special as a fellow ki lover.” He closed his eyes for a moment, only for a dark aura to start to form around him. He started breathing heavily before those breaths started to sound more like growls. His eyes were now glowing red. “FEEL THE STRENGTH OF THE SATSUI NO HADOU!”
He charged at me, eyes blazing intensely as this evil aura dripped with bloodlust. I did the only sensible thing in this scenario. I leaned to the side, using Shusui to trip him. He fell to his face, making a sizable crater due to his weight and momentum, and turned off the aura. Truly, Dan would be proud.
The Enkido dog then started howling in laughter, literally.
“I'm liking your dog,” I said through my sword.
“Glad to hear it,” he said from behind me before sending me tumbling with a flick to the back of my head.
“OK, SERIOUSLY! I WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?”
“Hey, I can’t show my full hand already! But, we do still have an audience to entertain, so…” he trailed off just as he began attacking with all his weapons.
===[3rd POV]===
Celestia had watched this match with a morbid curiosity. After all, it wasn't everyday she got to watch anything even stand close to Zoro’s level, let alone matching and surpassing him in some instances. What truly worried her was this ‘Gilgamesh’ character. Transformations, temporal distortion, puppeteered weapons, and who knows what else he has up his sleeves. At least Zoro had a limited arsenal when it came to tricks.
Luna was enraptured by the duel, making sure to record it in a memory orb later so she could remember for eons to come. Getting to see a new form of fighting and making Zoro look like an idiot for a change? Who wouldn't want that!
Shining was now beginning to realize that he probably shouldn't take his loss so hard if this was Zoro’s full potential. He rubbed his recently acquired scar, a small phantom pain from that day.
The Mane Six had different ideas on the match.
Fluttershy had been coerced to come by the prismatic speed demon. In the meantime, Angel Bunny was being squeezed every time some loud sound went off.
Rainbow was both amazed and jealous at the sheer levels of speed and power that these two were putting on. I need to get on that level!
Pinkie was selling confectionery items to all those who came. What, she has to make a living somehow. Besides, who’s going to notice if money is replaced by a cookie with this going on?
Rarity was sketching ideas that the extra dimensional warrior was giving her with his transformations.
Applejack was just hoping that nopony got hurt in the crossfire. After all, if anypony, especially her kin, were hit by anything, well… She ceased that train of thought immediately.
Twilight held the same morbid fascination as her teacher, but for different reasons. She had watched Celestia’s memory of their recent fight against the human, and she was now seeing the difference. When they had fought, it was almost like a dance to him, graceful and precise in his movements. For all that it was graceful, this fight - no, this clash of titans - was equally as brutal.
Multiple times did the Alicorns and Shining put up a shield, protecting those watching the battle from the aftershocks of their blows.
“Damn, I can’t tell who’s winning this. I can barely keep up,” the unicorn guard said.
“My bits are on Gilgamesh,” the Lunar Diarch replied. “He’s matching Zoro blow for blow physically, but I can feel extremely deep pools of magic. He hasn’t even been trying.”
“Oh, want to make that a bet, sister,” the Solar Alicorn grinned. “Twenty bits on Zoro.”
“Ha! You’ve always been terrible in the art of gambling, Sister. Raise it to fifty and We’ll agree to thine bet!” It took her a minute before realizing her slip back into ye olde Equestrian speak, but when she did, she pulled on the rubberband on her wrist and let loose. “Stupid rubber…”
===[Zoro’s POV]==
It was totally awesome in the sense that I was somewhat cheating. Each of his swings were blocked or deflected before they even touched me. With each failed attempt, he picked up the pace, and still couldn't nail me. I just gave him a shit eating grin and lightly chuckled.
“We havin’ fun, yet?”
“YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!” he hopped back away from me before raising all his weapons and then slamming them into the ground, cracking the earth for miles in every direction and kicking up dust, dirt and rocks everywhere, not to mention the shockwave.
I stumbled a bit before getting a feel for the movements, then swinging my weapons in his direction. “1080 Pound Phoenix!” Not only did it hit him, but it cleared out a significant amount of the debris clouding the air. While he was reeling from that, I rushed towards him and sliced at his joints. What should’ve been severed limbs, or at least debilitating injuries, were instead somehow reduced to what looked like accidental cuts with a kitchen knife.
“I'm really not liking your momentum canceling trick there.”
“Didn’t you hear me before?” he began before his eyes shined red. Thanks to Observation I saw what was coming and leapt away from the house sized eye lasers. I need to learn to do that! He then flipped onto his feet. “In a real fight there’s no such thing as a cheap move! The only reason I haven’t beaten you yet is because I want an actual fight!”
“Oh, then I know you'll hate this.”
I spun my blades around, making a powerful enough vortex that Gilgamesh was swept up in, and I landed blow after blow as he was spun around in my attack. Sure, he was doing that momentum trick, but I made sure to leave all the important cuts. Especially the ones that bleed. Remember kiddies, cut right above the eyebrow and they'll have to constantly swipe away the dripping blood. And the liquid does a real number when it comes to gripping your weapons.
“Ok, first: WHAT!? Second: THE EFFF!?” he shouted, his swear somehow being censored in time with the same one used for Marik. “How are you doing this!? Even if you’re faster than me, you shouldn’t be landing this many hits unless your Flash levels of fast! And I don’t see any speedforce lightning coming off you!”
“Anime logic,” I pointed out. “No one understands that shit. Now quit your whining and ‘Get over here!’” MK references for the win!
“Ok, you know what? Fine. Fine.” he got up and his body flashed green, undoing nearly all of the damage I just did to him. “I was trying to keep this mostly fair for the sake of the audience.” He said as his body was now glowing green, what was left of the damage slowly healing. “But, if you wanna play OP, we’ll play OP.” He then took a familiar finger pose. “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” In a puff of smoke another hundred Gilgameshes appeared. “By, the way, changing the song."
“Then I'll play along, too.” I closed my eyes and muttered a word that I had almost never said.
"Ettin."
My entire body glowed green as I seemingly duplicated my arms and face. Four arms, each with their own katana and a face on the back of my head, Voldemort style, that also had one in its mouth. This was my own, powered down version of Asura. Less collateral damage then the Nine Sword Style, but Six should be good enough for now.
They all charged me and attacked viciously. To his credit, they were all doing fantastic, but I could still tell his anger was making him screw up just that little bit.
Slash after slice, each of them went poof and erupted into smoke. I always kept my eye out for the real one, but the incoming army was a tad annoying. So, using my superb problem solving skills, I did the only pragmatic thing. I twirled my blades and slashed at them all.
“Six Sword Style: Billion-fold World Trichiliocosm!”
All of the copies went poof after being hit by the monstrous blast and the real one went flying a hundred feet before landing on his back, sliding for a bit before stopping.
“... So that’s what it was,” he said as he held up- Is that an iPhone? “I didn’t read past the Dressrosa Arc yet, so I didn’t know about Dogtooth.” He put the phone away and got up. “I figured it out while fighting, but I didn’t think Oda would put such an OP level skill in his story, so I checked the net to be sure. Future predicting Observation Haki, huh? Didn’t see that coming.”
“Yeah, I really needed something to do in stone, so why the hell not get the most OP version out there. Want to keep going, Tin Man?”
“Indeed. Because, I still haven’t played every card I have yet.” He flipped back up to his feet and dispelled his weapons.
“After all,” he said with a shit-eating grin. “This isn’t even my final form.”
“DBZ, why not. Might as well add in some Naruto while you’re at it. Maybe SAO.”
“NO! NOT THAT ISEKAI PIECE OF SHIT! WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT! Unless you’re referencing the Abridged series that’s actually good.”
“... You’re my new favorite person ever right now.”
“Winner makes the loser a cocktail.”
“Why the hell not. Now get on with your Sailor Moon skills, I want to see this.”
“IN THE NAME OF TETSUYA NOMURA, LET IT BE SO!” He held all his arms up and out to the right, before slowly arcing them to the left, leaning into it, then snapping them back to the right. “Henshin!” he shouted before pulling his left arms down, then extending them as he pulled his right arms down. “V 3!” Another flash and he reappeared, now a freaking ridiculous twelve feet tall. He still had the red hood and the kabuki paint, but now parts of his armor glowed neon green. Also, now he only had six arms. In a flash, six generic looking katanas appeared in his hands. “You still haven’t proved worthy of my full arsenal, even with that skill. After all, I think I may have something to counter it fairly.” He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. His eyes were now glowing white and blue as he calmly walked towards me, his breathing relaxed and even the slightest hint of frustration or anger gone.
“And here I thought you’d be stuck in digital limbo.”
“Funny,” he said in a completely monotone voice. “Also,” he said as he changed the song again.
My expression changed to one of complete seriousness. Gone was the jovial knight in changing armor, in his place was a stone faced warrior. My guess is, if he’s keeping up with this Street Fighter theme, then this was the power of Nothingness. And I would be screwed if I couldn’t keep up.
I took careful steps towards my foe, looking for anything that his stance can tell me of his current style. His eyes bore holes into me, as if trying to see what makes me tick. I played the stupid card of hitting first.
He avoided my first few attacks before giving me some of his own.
For all of those who are not aware, Nothingness is basically where you put the body on autopilot, or when the body just turns off emotions. I'm not entirely certain, but it was most likely the latter. Observation relies on emotion and intent, so I'm hindered enough if it’s either case. Another thing to consider is me using Dogtooth’s skill. I can't do it indefinitely, it takes a lot out of me if I use it for too long, and I really need to be able to use my Haki for whatever else it is that he has planned.
Long story short, I'm going at this the old fashioned way. And man did it hurt.
He was pretty close in terms of speed with me, and he had much more experience than I did with multitasking on this level. I was just barely blocking and dodging when an idea came to mind.
I leaped back a good dozen feet and nice again twirled my swords.
“Six Sword Style: Million-fold World Slash!” It was a weaker version of what I was doing earlier, sure, but I wanted it to be precise.
The warrior spun his blades before jumping high into the air, dodging the attack. “Hissatsu, Part 1: Ultimate Illusion,” he said before shooting down at the ground and causing a series of shockwaves to explode out of the ground, moving towards me.
Remind me not to ask him to landscape, I meekly thought as I saw the attack go- oh hey, they’ve got a shield up. At least they aren't getting hit by these-
I was then promptly hit in the head by the flat end of one of his swords.
“And it seems you have the same weakness,” he said, still in his creepy ass monotone voice as he charged me again. By the Tao what I wouldn't give for at least a chuckle. You know what, scratch that, it'd probably make it worse.
“Well, no one’s perfect,” I retorted as I blocked four diagonal slashed and two horizontal ones. “Besides, need to make sure you’re following rules, pal. We are getting a bit crazy here.”
“Nice to know you’re concerned. I’m confident in my skill, so if you’re worried about collateral damage, just concede.”
I chuckled at that. “I started this fight. Might as well see it until the end.” I rushed him and tried to make a swipe at his feet, but he jumped over the strike and would've kicked me had it not been for my second face’s sword blocking it.
“Interesting. It seems you can only hold that ability for so long. And here I was afraid I would have to be just as cheap to overcome it,” he said, rapidly stabbing at me with two sword, slicing at me with two others, and holding the other two back to block.
I jumped back once more and thought of what it do. He was extremely perceptive in this state, and had amazing reflexes. But, what could I do to overcome that?
Well, might as well pull a Predator on this Arnold. I dashed into the forest and used those fake Naruto skills that every cringy teens seems to have. Only difference between me and them is that I used actual stealth techniques and had a sort of camouflage. I turned off Ettin and put away Kitetsu and Shusui. The less glint of metal he saw, the better.
Perks of being me, you knew how to hide when you didn't want to fight.
And as I was leaving a false trail if he did have experience with hunting in a forest environment, he showed up, walking slowly, deliberately, as though this entire area was a trap. Good, because it was going to be.
===[3rd POV]===
“Pay attention, pony warriors. As Zoro here is demonstrating, it is a mark of experience to stack the odds in your favor, like using the environment to your advantage,” Gilgamesh began before dismissing one of his katanas in a flash of light and replacing it with a large weapon that looked like bladed nieghponese festival fan. “It’s also the mark of experience, to refuse to play a game where the enemy has the advantage, and take it away from them.” He cocked his arm back before swinging the weapon. Immediately a whirlwind kicked up, uprooting the trees and dicing them to pieces as it went. It lasted nearly half a minute before it dispersed. “I’M MORE THAN WILLING TO KEEP THIS UP UNTIL YOU RUN OUT OF PLACES TO HIDE!” he somehow shouted in a monotone voice as he wound up for another attack.
“NO!” a meek voice shouted, Fluttershy hovering in front of him and glaring. “Now you listen here, buster! Just because Zoro went to hide in the forest and lure you into a trap, and just because it would be easier for you to destroy the forest to get to him doesn’t give you the right to ruin all those poor little critter’s homes!”
He just stared at her for a moment, her friends looking extremely concerned, before he sighed. “Fine,” he said simply before somehow levitating all the cut down trees over to him. “Might as well make some use out of this,” he muttered before rapidly cutting at them. Within seconds he somehow had a marvelously crafted coffee table, chair… and a crate with one side missing as well as a simple stick. The crate also had a comical drawing of Zoro’s face with his tongue sticking out on it. He approached the edge of the forest, set the crate and stick up as an animal catching trap before tying a vine around the stick and leave a bottle of sake under the crate as bait. The then walked over to his chair and pulled out he black device he was using before, fiddling with it as he relaxed.
“Well buddy, go ahead and have fun. I’m gonna play the waiting game.”
The canine, Enkidu, suddenly pulled out a boom box… and now had a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap. He then turned it on and began dancing on his hind legs.
A ripping sound came from the forest before something shot out. I quick glance up told everyone who was watching what it was. A tree, root and all, was falling from the sky.
It landed on the trap left for the Swordsman before promptly exploding. Damn, did he know about the land mine?
More ripping sound were heard, and multiple trees flew, landing near the area in which the warrior sat. He lazily swiped at them, shredding them to mere toothpicks.
“Huh. Bucolic is a word? I didn’t know that,” he muttered, continuing to play the word game on his phone.
This game went on for a few minutes before Gilgamesh felt a sudden pain in his leg. Admittedly, with all the wood, he hadn't noticed the black and red sword with them. Before he could pull it out, another stabbing pain went through his other leg, this time the one with a purplish glint to the metal.
“Gotta admit, didn’t expect him to throw them,” he winced.
Before anyone could blink, a green blur shot out. Zoro was now in front of Gilgamesh, his white katana pushed against his throat.
“So, is this a tie now or what?”
Gilgamesh just smirked. His body glowed blue for a moment before he pushed his neck against the blade… which now didn’t even cut the skin. He slashed at Zoro with his big fan sword once again, making him back off, before casually pulling the two swords out of his legs, the wounds starting to heal. “Nice job making me use one of my trump cards. But, now,” he dispersed two of his normal swords to hold Zoro’s, “It seems you are at a slight disadvantage.”
The green Swordsman just grinned and held up his blade. “Bring it, Tin Man.”
Gilgamesh reactivated the previous song, the dog turning off his boombox, before Gilgamesh came charged, slicing at Zoro with his normal swords, Zoro’s swords, and occasionally that larger sword, unleashing blasts of razor wind. In addition, any hit that Zoro landed bounced off the larger warrior, likely due to the blue aura he now radiated.
“You are one overpowered bastard,” Zoro muttered as he kept up with the warrior. But he wasn't attacking, the swordsman was defending.
Anything that he tried only made Gilgamesh be a tad more careless in his swings. Not much, but a slight amount. Eventually, the multi armed warrior made a stumble, tripping over one of the previously destroyed trees, while he was in mid swing.
Gilgamesh had, one again, fallen on his face. But this time, with the purple tinted katana in the perfect angle to have pierced both the heart and lung. The only reason that this was not so was due to the ongoing aura protecting him.
Gilgamesh, surprised, jumped back to gain some distance. “That never happens,” he muttered, as he looked at the sword that nearly killed him. “Wait a minute… this one’s cursed, isn’t it? It’s been so long I completely forgot,” he chuckled as his aura finally ran out.
“Nearly the entire fandom has, too. But Kitetsu is still kicking. I've just tamed it.”
“Hmph. I suppose that’s what happens when a weapon has a preferred user,” he replied before tossing both of Zoro’s blades back at him. “This has been fun, but I think it’s time we wrap up. And to see the true extent of your power,” Gilgamesh dismissed his normal blades and summoned five more massive swords, each one unique. Two of them were double bladed swords, one golden and the other a fiery red. Two of them were katanas with ornate hilts, one a dark cobalt and the other a light silver. The last one looked almost like the claw of a massive beast that had been fashioned into a sword. He activated the power of Nothingness again, calming himself as a new song began. “Prepare to be outclassed.”
Zoro, after picking up his blades, got into a familiar stance before using Ettinonce more. “I apologize, but I promised someone that I wouldn't use Asura without a life or death situation. Last time, well, there’s a reason that the Badlands exist right next to a forest”
“It’s fine,” Gilgamesh replied before dashing forwards, unleashing a flurry of blows with each blade. The fan blade unleashed wind with each swing, while the red one shot blasts of fire. The Dark katana seemed to suck the light away wherever it was swung, while the silver katana gleamed with each swing. The Golden sword occasionally fired blasts of green energy, and Zoro didn’t even clash with the last blade, his instincts telling him that it wouldn’t end up good for either him or his weapons.
Zoro was on the ropes once again, putting everything into defense and waiting for a moment to counter. Under the strain from each blow, the spirit made weapons started fading slightly. In a last ditch effort, he took a page out of Hatch’s book and, after an amazingly timed blow that knocked all the warriors weapons off of him, Zoro attempted to spin like a drill, all the blades that were held in his arms aimed for Gilgamesh’s chest.
The force of the blow cracked bits of the chest plate, but other than being knocked back a few feet, it didn't leave much damage on him.
The Swordsman breathed heavily as his extra limbs and swords faded out of existence.
“Impressive,” Gilgamesh replied in that same flat tone before summoning all his weapons back to his hands. “But not quite enough. Let’s see how well your focus is when it’s split.” To those who were close enough to see, some the fingernails on each of Gilgamesh’s hands were spinning. He then pointed those fingers at his own shoulders. “Tusk, Act 3.” He fired the fingernails off at his shoulders causing his arms to be sucked into holes that appeared. Moments later his arms and their weapons were extending out of holes in the ground. “And why stop there?” Gilgamesh then summoned every weapon from all of his previous forms into existence, hovering menacingly in the air around him. In addition were also two submachine guns, two assault rifles, and two rocket launchers. Finally, all of the destroyed or carved wood converged around his torso before hovering around him, taking the form of six new crude limbs.
The Swordsman just looked at all of this wearily. “All I can say is thank Laozi that I didn't dress up as an FF character. Is this what you usually go up against?”
“Nah. Added some things,” he replied simply before charging. Gilgamesh attacked with his feet and wooden pseudo-limbs, while his real arms moved along the ground out of their holes, travelling nearly as fast as he did. Each of his floating weapons attacked as if they were all being wielded by a different user, attacking him ferociously from all sides but never carelessly enough to get in each other’s way.
Zoro continuously tried to dodge everything going on around him, even applying Dogtooth’s skill at different times in order to avoid being hit by an everything. And no matter what he did, he couldn't even get close to the warrior. He attempted swiping at the arms poking out of the ground, but they just retreated back into the holes and popped up somewhere else, like a deadly version of Whack a Mole. In an act of desperation, he tried slicing at the ground, hoping that he could cut them off of the kabuki faced warrior.
As the earth erupted underneath him, creating a massive new hole in the ground, he barely had enough time to activate Armament in order to absorb the blows from the rocket launchers. He was sent flying into a wall, making a new pirate shaped indent before four arms popped out and held him secure. He was now trapped.
“You did well, all things considered. But you did miss one crucial bit of information.” Gilgamesh said in that monotone voice, before motioning upwards. Zoro looked up to see another Gilgamesh hovering high above in the air, this one radiating with the power of the Satsui no Hadou, eyes shining red and with a vicious smirk on his face, violet ki energy in its palms.
“Aw, crapbaskets.” He was immediately struck by an explosion of energy right after. After the dust cleared Zoro was left face down in the dirt.
“... I win,” Luna whispered to her sister.
“Shut up,” Celestia muttered in an angry aside.
===ooo000ooo===
It was the next day when Zoro had awakened. And, after remembering his half assed bet, went to the town’s resident alcoholic to make a decent cocktail. Only problem…
“STOP USING THE BARREL!”
“BERRY, I DO WHAT I WA-” Crash! Splash. “Do you have anything else.”
With that, the swordsman was thrown out of the bar, what was left of the alcohol in town inside a wine glass.
Gilgamesh popped in and looked down at the spirit covered man. “That was just sad.”
Sad man grumbled and threw the bottle at Gilgamesh’s face. It was caught with little effort.
“Maybe I should make you a drink first. It’ll help ease the wound to your pride,” Gilgamesh suggested.
“Very funny. But I'm covered in the stuff, so I'm good. Now, what else was on today's list besides this?”
“Teach me Haki. All of it.”
The green clad man stood up and attempted to dust himself off. “Alrighty then. Come on, I don't want to do this in the middle of town.” With that, he pulled Gilgamesh to his usual training spot just off the edge of the Everfree.
“You know, it would probably go a great deal towards helping the ponies trust if you taught them some Haki yourself. Besides, they can’t rely on the magic and Elements for everything, especially since One Piece threats will no doubt show up in the future.”
Zoro just sighed and shook his head. “Last time I tried to teach Haki to a pony, that lead to Tamberlain getting unsealed. If I do it again, I'm just afraid that I'll screw it up even worse.”
“Then just teach it to someone you know won’t abuse it. Shining Armor wouldn’t be a bad choice. It might help ease his wounded pride. I’m sure you left that scar on his face.”
Zoro chuckled. “A little wounded pride never hurt anyone, especially a warrior. Besides, he might teach it to others who aren't on the same moral alignment. Not everyone here is sugar drops and lemon tarts.”
“Dude, my own dimension literally had a world war against demons, I’m quite familiar with how bad things can get.”
“Well, either way, this is about making you more OP than before, so no more derailing. Mind explaining how you view things like ki? Might help me explain it better.”
“Hm… For me, ki is an extension of the body. It’s taking the latent power already there, focusing it, and then directing it, either to a certain part of the body or out of the body. That’d be the best way I could explain it, I guess.”
“Well, that's extremely similar with how I view Haki, with a major difference. While ki uses the body, Haki is derived solely from your willpower or soul. Even a weakling, with enough willpower and the right drive, can take out armies without even trying. But because of how powerful it is, it, of course, needs to have limits. The major one people see are that it only has three variations of how to use them.”
“I see. I’ll had to add that to the mental list. It’s certainly interesting for me, considering I’m already using three kinds of energies that are similar.”
“Trust me, this won't be very similar to them in terms of use. Those are probably used at a distance, while this is mostly concentrated on yourself. With the exception of Conqueror, Haki is mostly defensive.”
“Got it. Also, surprised to hear you have Conqueror’s. Did you meet someone who gave you that power, or did you find it on your own?”
“I… don't want to talk about it. All you need to know is that I have it, and I'm teaching it.
“So, I’m going to need you to suppress your everything. It may make this easier.”
“Ok, give me a minute,” he said before taking a classic cross-legged meditation pose. “... Alright, I think I’m good. Go ahead.”
“Alright. I've only done this once, but I'm told it hurts like a bitch.” With that, Zoro placed his hand on Gilgamesh’s forehead before shit went south.
Pain ran throughout the warriors body, everything screaming for it to stop. Every muscle felt like it was set on fire, electrocuted, then shredded before being put back together and reliving the pain. Everything inside of him was telling the warrior to get away or destroy what was happening to him. But he resisted. He kept still as possible, with the occasional grunt signaling to everyone else that he was feeling something. And after a solid minute of this, the pain stopped and he opened his eyes to his fellow Displaced on the ground, panting.
“That… That was… Let’s just say it’s been a while since I’ve felt genuine pain,” Gilgamesh said, panting.
“That’s what happens… when I mess with your spirit. You… feel that? That new feeling in your chest… besides pain?”
“Yeah… kinda… like… it’s building… and it wants to be let out… should I be concerned?” Gilgamesh asked, his panting becoming harder as he began to sweat.
Shakily, Zoro stood on his feet and stumbled over to the large man, picking him off the ground. “Just… try focusing that… around your arm or something. Trust me, you’ll need a while.”
And so Gilgamesh agreed and stood still, focusing entirely on his arm. For a minute, it seemed as though nothing was happening. Just as he was about to give up, he felt it. It was almost like applying another layer of skin, this black, metallic looking stuff that was slightly tinted a dark blue.
“That, good sir, was your Haki. Congrats, I just shaved off six months worth of training for you. Feel free to applaud and worship,” he said jokingly.
“Not bad… this should give me even more options…” Gilgamesh muttered.
“Well, before you go all Haki happy, there are some rules that you need to follow. First and foremost, doesn't matter how talented you are in other areas, it takes at least a year and a half in order for anyone to get the basics down. So that means no seeing into the future for you just yet.”
“I didn’t expect that much. Can I at least have a pseudo-Spidey Sense?” he chuckled.
“Give it maybe six months of training and you’ll definitely have the idea down.
“And Conqueror’s? Would really help me dealing with weak schmucks that talk big.”
“That… is a whole different matter,” Zoro said, looking up in thought. “There’s no way for me to know for sure if you have it or not, but there might be a way to test it out. Try enveloping your hand again.”
The warrior did so, a tad faster than last time to his pleasure. Zoro covered his own arm in Armament and brought it down. Red and black sparks erupted from the area that the opposing Haki’s touched.
“Well, congrats, I think. That’s dependent on your overall willpower, and can be used to tame animals or knock people out. You can't actually train it to be stronger, but it helps to be accurate.”
“Yeah… this is gonna help,” he smirked. “Well, you’ve been helping me. Only fair I help you. Anything you think you might need?”
“Your music,” Zoro said without hesitation.
Gilgamesh chuckled. “Figured you’d want that. Well, then,” he said as he pressed his hand to his chest for a moment. He then placed his hand on Zoro’s head. “Through the power of multiple techniques and convoluted nonsense, I hereby dub thee the ‘The Living iPod!’” he proclaimed dramatically.
Zoro was ecstatic at this, then felt nauseous. “Oh shit…” he fell to the ground, holding his stomach. “I hate magic…”
“What, allergic to it?” Gilgamesh joked, bending down and poking him.
“I don't know about your world, but here, if a being doesn't have magic, they get sick from any ‘helpful’ spells while getting double damage from combat based spells. Trust me when I say that I learned that teleportation is not my thing the hard way…”
“Interesting. Well, in that case, I think I might be able to be of a bit more assistance to you.” He said before holding out his hand. A white flash came from them and then there were a pair of gauntlets in the same style as the ones he was wearing. “Normally I don’t give others the full version right off the bat, but I think you need it, and you’ve earned enough of my trust not to hurt the other Equestrians. These are the Genji Gloves. They’ll increase your magic resistance, physical defense, and as an added benefit render you immune to spells that have effects similar to Paralyse or Toad. Also, they’re my Token.”
Putting them on, the swordsman instantly started feeling better. “Thanks, man. And in return, here,” he said pulling off one of his earrings and handing it off to the warrior. As soon as Gilgamesh took it, another popped into existence right where the first used to be. “My Token, and due to a little tweaking, they are communication devices. Think of the person wearing one of these, and you’ll have a nice interdimensional conversation. I planned on sending these to all the Displaced.”
“Nice. This’ll be useful,” he said, taking off his helmet before putting on the earring. “Not really my style, but I suppose they’ll be hidden anyway,” he commented, putting his helmet back on.
“Be sure to pass it along. Need to make it easier for everyone since hoping Tokens fall out of the sky is rather time consuming.”
“Really? Mine just multiplied themselves the first time I did. Must be writer inconsistency. Anyway, as fun as that fight was, I’d kinda like to enjoy myself a bit more before I leave. Also, you owe me a drink.”
“Bullshit, I just gave you one!”
“Oh, did you? My writer must’ve forgotten. Which means it never happened,” he smirked.
The Swordsman just shook his head. “Whatever you say, Tin Man. Now, want to see how much wine Sunny has in her room? Because I can guarantee its more than you think.”
“Nah, looks like my times up.” He brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. Moments later Enkidu appeared, looking somewhat miffed. “You can play with Fluttershy in the next universe. Now come on, let’s go.” He grabbed his naginata and cut a hole in reality. “Lates,” he said simply before jumping in. Just before it closed behind him a glass of Dalmore Bourbon shot out and landed perfectly into Zoro’s open coat.
“Nice, love the expensive shit.”
The signature pop of teleportation went off behind him. Turning around, he saw Princess Luna.
“Ah, Zoro, I was wondering where Gilgamesh had ran off to.”
“He just left with his dog, like, not even two seconds ago.”
“Darn, We were going to collect him to repair the field that you dueled in.” She paused before pulling back the band and letting go. “W- I suppose that means you’re with me, than.”
Zoro had a stony expression plastered on his face. “Excuse me one moment.” He put a hand to his left ear and breathed deeply.
“YOU ASSHOLE!!!”