//------------------------------// // Broken Soul, Shattered Faith // Story: The Red Cyclone // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// With a start Zangief could suddenly see again, though to his slight confusion he found that everything within his field of vision was now had a reddish tint. The moment he realized he could see a number of loud gasps sounded off all at once and his vision was suddenly filled with ponies and changelings. "Ugh, I just had the weirdest dream," Zangief muttered to himself as he slowly rose up, only to place his hands down and realize that he was on a metal table. He looked down to confirm what his sense of touch had told him only for the memories to all come flooding back as he saw the silver and red metal that now made up his body. "So...it was not a dream," Zangief said in a whisper as he lifted the twin metal mitts in front of his glowing red eyes. "No Zangief, what happened at the hive was no dream," Chrysalis said to him in a firm but slightly kind voice, whereas her daughter simply hopped onto the table and placed her head against his side. Zangief slowly lifted his head to see that Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were all beside his table, along with Chrysalis and Insectum. "You've been out for weeks. We were beginning to think you wouldn't wake up." "So...Tenna really did steal my body," Zangief said, more confirming his own fears than actually asking as he hung his metal head. "I am no longer...myself." "You were in really bad shape after the fight, but fortunately Twilight managed to fix your body up," Insectum said quickly before giving a weak smile to Twilight, who nodded at the metal man as he lifted his eyes to her. "We also told both the ponies and changelings what had happened afterwards, so everypony knows that you're...well, you." "Well, it was extremely hard at first, but after figuring out how he had managed to create joints that could move like a humans, I was able to replicate-" "What happened at the hive? Was anyone hurt?" Zangief cut her off as he looked to Chrysalis, who gave the motionless face of the tornado a small smile. "Well, my castle that belonged to my family for years was completely destroyed, but as for my actual citizens none of them suffered any serious damage," Chrysalis said with a comforting tone, but Gief's red eyes fell to the floor despite the relatively good news. "Tenna also has been quiet ever since that day, with none of us able to find him despite using three princesses powers," Luna continued after a moment of silence, but her words gained her a glare from Chrysalis that she ignored. "There is no need to worry Zangief, we shall find him and we will make sure that you get your body back." "Thank you princess...can one of you tell me where the exit is located? My eyes...are not the same." Luna pointed to a pair of crystal doors at the end of the room. Zangief nodded to her before pushing himself off of the table and lumbered towards the doors, staggering from side to side slightly as he tried to accommodate for the extra weight. He pressed his hands against the doors to open them yet instead tore them off of their hinges, prompting him to turn around to look at the ponies one more time before he turned without a word to leave. "So what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked the princesses to break the silence created by Zangief's departure. "We need to be on guard. Tenna told Chrysalis that he plans to take over all of the world now, not just her hive," Luna said with a growl as Chrysalis nodded to confirm. "Which means he might try to attack us as well as the changelings." "But he knows he cannot win," Celestia added on. "While he may indeed have Zangief's physical strength, it has been made apparent time and time again that Zangief is not immune to magic. While he may be able to handle it in a one on one, against all of the unicorns as well as Twilight, Luna and myself he would stand no chance." "So he's got an ace in the hole then," Twilight deduced from Celestia's words, getting a nod out of the princess. Twilight then turned her attention to Chrysalis, who was still looking off at where the Russian had left. "Chrysalis, do you have any idea what he might try to do?" "Whatever it is, odds are that it'll involve Zangief in some way," Chrysalis said. "He's been obsessed with him ever since Zangief crushed him thoroughly at my home...yes, whatever he's doing odds are that it'll end with him challenging Zangief to a one on one fight. He mentioned how he lost to Zangief once and he was determined to take the 'round' as he said. If I know him, he'll try to make it best two out of three to prove that he is the strongest, now that he has Gief's body." "Then we need to make sure that Zangief is ready to fight by the time Tenna attacks," Twilight said, but her words got her a dark snarl from Chrysalis. "Idiotic pony. Did you not see the mental state that Zangief was in after what happened at the hive? Right now I'm fairly certain he couldn't hold his own against Fluttershy, let alone the changeling that stole his body and crushed him with it!" Chrysalis venomously growled at Twilight, but her anger dissipated as she looked at the ruined doors with a sad sigh. "I should probably go see if he's...come along Insectum." Insectum hopped off the table and flew onto her mothers back, Chrysalis leaving the room the moment her daughter was with her and leaving the ponies to talk amongst themselves. "Her words are true. Zangief is in no mental shape to fight against Tenna," Celestia agreed. "Then we won't need to get Zangief to fight Tenna. We'll deal with him ourselves," Luna decided, getting nods of agreements from the other ponies. ←↙↓↘→↗+H Metal groaned as Zangief's fist slammed into the side of a tree in the woods near the town, nearly knocking himself as well as the tree over as he didn't compensate for the weight of the metal in his hand fast enough. He stuck out a foot to catch himself, but he didn't use enough force to move his leg fast enough and instead of catching himself, his own feet got tangled up and he fell into the mud. Normally he would be infuriated by his body refusing to listen to what he wished for it to do, but there was only emptiness in his movements as he slowly pushed himself out of the mud that clung to him. He tried to practice one of his chops, but his arms swung him around ninety degrees and again he lost his balance, sending back into the mud once again. 'What is the point in trying to get this body to listen to me?' he solemnly thought as he teased the idea of getting up again, only to lean his head back in the mud and look up at the skies. 'Tenna defeated me completely. He not only took my body, but also my spirit and my strength. He has broken my source of my power. Even if I learn how to use this...infernal machine, how can I hope to defeat him? Now he is...' "Zangief!" The steel head of the machine slowly looked up to see Insectum running towards him, with Chrysalis floating along after her daughter as best she could. He said nothing as the small princess skidded to a stop next to him, her hooves getting caught in the mud and in a moment she was as covered as the machine. "Zangief, what are you doing out here in the mud? We're all worried about you." "Thank you for your concern, but it is wasted upon one such as myself," Zangief replied in a dead tone, not helped by the robotic voice that made his voice sound even less alive. He then slowly looked to the princess with hints of sorrow within his eyes. "I am sorry that I failed you. I do not deserve your pity," he whispered before looking at Chrysalis. "Don't bother apologizing to me, I never believed in you from day one," Chrysalis said with a snarky smirk, but then she coughed and looked away with a sigh. "Look, I just want you to know that just because you lost a single fight doesn't mean that my opinion of you has gone down. It was always at rock bottom. Don't worry about trying to defeat Tenna, we'll take care of that ourselves. All you have to do is sit back and wait for us to knock him out of your body. Hell, if you want I'll let you get first crack at him once he's a changeling again." She had hoped that her words would spark some kind of desire to fight within the muddy wreck, but Zangief remained silent as he laid his head back down and continued to stare up at the sky. "Come on Zangief, normally the chance to crush foes beneath you gets you all fired up," Chrysalis reminded him as she used her magic to create a spot in the mud where she could sit without getting dirty, where she almost immediately began to clean the mud off of her daughter. "Where's that fighting spirit that you usually have?" "I was defeated," Zangief repeated solemnly, seemingly ignoring Chrysalis's words. "Yes, but like I said, that doesn't matter to us. Our opinion of you hasn't-" "But it has. You said it yourself Chrysalis, I must sit back and wait for you to defeat Tenna for me. That means that none of you believe I can defeat him," Zangief said quietly, but his words pierced Chrysalis with an unexpected sharpness. "And you are right. He took my body, my skill and my strength when he defeated me. I have been beaten." "Actually, Twilight told us when she was fixing the machine that it technically is stronger than your body," Chrysalis informed him. "So that means that you're actually stronger than-" "That is not what I meant Chrysalis. How many were witnesses to my defeat in the hive?" Zangief asked her. "What are you implying, Zangief?" Chrysalis asked quietly, slowly catching on to what he was hinting at. "Ask your daughter. Ask her if she believes I can win." Chrysalis slowly looked over at Insectum with the question in her eyes and almost immediately Insectum nodded in response. But Chrysalis could tell when her daughter was lying to her and her eyes widened slightly when she realized Insectum was trying to hide the truth. "You don't believe he can win?" Chrysalis asked with surprise, getting Insectum to quickly look down at the ground to avoid looking at her mother. "But Zangief has defeated Tenna twice! And the only time that arrogant monster managed to defeat Zangief was by using a cheap trick. How could possibly believe that Tenna could win?" Insectum continued to look at the ground before looking up at her mom with broken eyes. "Because when Zangief won all of those battles he was...Zangief," Insectum began in a near whisper. "But now he's no longer Zangief, he's a machine. A machine that was beaten by the body that Tenna's now in. And Zangief said it himself, Tenna now has his skill as well as his strength, a strength that beat an Element of Harmony, a strength that tore the head off of the machine that Zangief would have to fight Tenna in! No matter how I look at it all I see is Zangief losing! I'm sorry." Insectum looked down again, yet Chrysalis's mothers intuition told her that there was more Insectum wasn't telling her. "Insectum...the whole truth. Please." Insectum swung her head to look up at Chrysalis with tears in her eyes, stunning her mother before Insectum answered. "Because it's just like dad all over again! Zangief said that he'd never lose as long as we believed in him! And no matter what has happened or what Zangief has faced, I always believed in him!" Insectum half shrieked at Chrysalis, the sheer amount of despair in her daughters voice stunning Chrysalis. "But even though I still believed in him during that fight, Tenna still beat him! He failed me!" Insectum sprinted off towards the town as she yelled her peace, leaving Chrysalis to stare after her daughter yet was far to dazed to go after her or try to stop her. She then slowly looked back at Zangief, who had risen out of the mud to sit up, allowing him to look at her with somber red eyes. "Do you see now Chrysalis? When Tenna defeated me, he not only took my body but he took something far more valuable than that," Zangief said in a near whisper that was filled with heart breaking sorrow. "He took their belief in me, the belief that their hero could win no matter the odds. I have failed your daughter, along with the other children of the hive in the worst way possible. For when I lost, they lost their belief that I could win for them. Their faith in me was shattered. And for a wrestler, there is no sin greater than failing those who believe in you. When I say that Tenna had completely beaten me, this is what I meant. Even if I could beat him in this body, it would not matter. When a child's faith is shattered, they rarely believe again." "They haven't all lost their faith in you," Chrysalis said half-heartedly, but all Zangief needed to do was look into her eyes to know the truth. "I cannot blame them. I failed." Zangief stood up after his words and slowly began to walk deeper into the woods, leaving Chrysalis alone to watch him slowly wander away, unable to find the strength go after him. She then turned her head to where he daughter had ran off and began to fly in that direction, needing to comfort Insectum first. But her in her heart she wished that she could say something to Zangief, to help him in some way. But compassion and understanding had never been her strong suit, yet for the first time in her life she cursed herself for being unable to help another. For being so cold. ←↙↓↘→↗+H "Is it ready?" Tenna asked his chief scientist as he lifted his Russian head back to look up at the machine fully, a smile crossing his human face as he looked upon the symbol of his victory. "Yes sir, it took longer than we thought but we believed that we have successfully repurposed it," a changeling next to the seven foot monster said in a quiet voice, hoping that Tenna did not look towards him with his terrifying face. Tenna nodded with a wicked smile as he looked up at the massive machine that they had "borrowed" from Chrysalis weeks ago. He rubbed his hands together despite himself as he already began to imagine the whole world bowing to him, all knowing that he was the strongest. "Come then, let us activate this machine and help to...even the playing field," Tenna chuckled with a mighty laugh as a scientist flicked on the machine, causing it to roar with power as a sphere on top began to spin. The sphere seemed to suck in the very air around it as waves of energy began to emit from the machine, getting Tenna's laugh to turn into a bellow of amusement. "Yes, for when the playing field is even, then they shall all see what true strength is. And I can think of no one better to demonstrate this strength on than that fool himself. We will finish our best of three."