//------------------------------// // The Fox Fight-From Hell // Story: A Tale of Tails, Sunsets and Burned Bridges // by Ozone31 //------------------------------// (Third Person POV) Canterlot High was located in a small town by the name of Ponyville, west of the large city of Manehattan and east of the larger Metropolis of Canterlot City. It had a ocean coast line to the south and was boxed in by mountains to the north. Behind this northern ridge was 'The Valley of Peace', whose eastern skyline was dominated by the multi-mile tall, cone of rock known as Canterlot Mountain, after-which the school was named. Unfortunately, the beautiful, conical shape of the mountain had just been ruined, as two, one thousand ton, super foxes had just crashed into and decimated its south-western face. (Kurama's POV) I landed with enough force to create a massive crater in the side of this, very helpful, mountain and within this crater an imprint of Kyuubi was made, outlining his torso and head. But I knew that this wasn't going to be nearly enough to defeat him, this was only the beginning of the fight. With a roar of effort, Kyuubi pushed me from his body forcing me to stumble back and leave my stomach exposed. Jumping at the opportunity-Kyuubi sent a double kick cannoning into my gut. With this blow came a surge of pain, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, both flowing past my ears as I flew through the air and from my lips as the impact with the ground a few seconds later winded me. I stared at my foe as he too, struggled to pick himself up and out of the crater and indent we'd made. Pushing my feet off the ground and all my weight onto my hands, I pushed off backwards, flipping through the air a few times before crashing back down onto my feet. Then I went for him. Kyuubi reciprocated my action, leaping straight for me, but as we neared each other I raised my fists in a defensive guard. This was my style, my way of fighting. Kyuubi lunged with a left claw swipe but I dodged to the right, getting so close to being hit my opponent thought he'd already won and lowered his defences for a second, that was what I was waiting for, my weakness. My right foot met the ground, just as I was about to fall over, catching my movement but allowing the momentum to continue through my torso and, now extended, right arm. Bringing this arm round, still carrying all of its momentum and force, I swung with an earth shattering right hook, right into the side of Kyuubi's undefended face, sending him stumbling down and to my left. Adjusting my stance to a wide, secure crouch I continued my assault with a firm left uppercut to his gut, not quite strong enough to launch him off the ground, and followed that up with a brutal barrage of hooks, jabs and lunging swings. After a particularly jarring left hook, I let my momentum to carry almost all the way around and finished my combo with a powerful side-kick to the sternum. That last blow sent Kyuubi flying and then rolling up the mountain and back into his crater. On instinct, I leapt back while returning my arms into their guard and landed in a low crouch. But if there was ever a time to talk to your foe, it was while they were down. So I opened my golden maw and spoke: "What did YOU want with that element and how did you know exactly where to find it?" I yelled across the battle stricken landscape. The shockwaves created by our, respective, landings had blown down trees for miles around the mountain, and I myself had destroyed a small patch of greenery when I landed, after being kicked by Kyuubi."What could you possibly hope to gain by possessing it?" "POWER KURAMA! THE REASON WHY EVERY LIVING THING DOES ANY AND EVERYTHING!" Kyuubi laughed as he climbed out of his pit."It's why Sunset was willing to help me, to gain it. It's why Celestia had us sealed away, in fear of it. And it's why I fight you now, to test mine and crush yours!" With that Kyuubi reared up on his hind legs, brought all nine of his tails to his head, and began gathering little balls of blue and red energy. He gathered them slowly at first, but the ensuing ball of blackish-purple then began to increase in size very quickly, soon gaining the diameter of a football pitch. An absolutly enormous Tailed Beast Bomb loomed over the valley, blotting out the moon and stars directly over-head. Its detonation range probably extended all the way to the two cities in the distant west and uncomfortably close east and beyond them for an untold number of miles, on top of the cities' current distance from us. It would spread that far in ALL directions. I had only one way of containing this without blowing it up, which would take every thing in a hundred mile area with it. Unfortunately, it would prove to be one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do, seeing as I'd only ever tried it once before-on a far smaller scale. (21 hours prior) "Come on Sunset, You need to concentrate!" I shouted from a few meters away. I'd taken a human form, which was similar to my Demi-Fox form, as I called it, except with a lack of fur, flat human face, whisker marks and all of my tails had disappeared. I donned a red and black, long jacket with only a spiral on the back. Black jeans and boots with a simple red t-shirt. On my head was a grey cap, with the words 'I Burn' written on the front, above the peak. Sunset panted as she and one of her clones leant against each other for support. "Why do we have to perfect the way we use this Rasengan thing?" One of them asked. "It's so damn powerful *pant* it doesn't really matter where we hit 'em, right?" "There are Jutsu that can match the Rasengan and repel it. Also with such a small 'hit box' and if an enemy is fast, whether or not you can land a hit can depend solely on your ability to wield the Rasengan properly." I didn't like to rant-'n-rave at people or make them feel bad, but I knew that if Sunset wanted to use the Rasengan efficiently, she would have to train tirelessly to perfect its use. It was the only way. I was broken from my thoughts when she cried: "Oh yeah, just try and avoid this!" She was already charging, Rasengan in hand and I didn't have the time to dodge, so I acted on reflex. I reached out with my hand, sending out a stream of chakra in the process which got a hold on the orb. Just before contact was made, the Rasengan stopped. I'd created a field of my own chakra around it, cutting off Sunset's own (still developing) chakra, and granting me control. Reacting swiftly, I spun on the ball of my right foot, going around Sunset and heading straight for her clone. Placing the Rasengan right in the clone's stomach, I realised my hold on the Jutsu and letting all of the rotating energy free. The clone was destroyed in the storm of energy, as it travelled across the ground, parting the water below it along the way before finally dying out. I turned around and looked at Sunset, just as shocked as she was, chuckling which then turned laughing and then falling to the floor, clutching my stomach as uncontrollable laughter escaped my body. She looked at me with a cocked eyebrow, before smiling and starting to giggle as well. "You're so strange!" She said between fits of guffaws, almost keeling over from laughing so hard. (Present) I smiled at the memory. "Right. Just have to do that again!" I grinned, looking up at the massive ball-of-pure-destruction. I'm Fucked The ball swiftly shrunk to the size of one of our eyes and turned bright white, as Kyuubi sent it my way at the speed a shell is propelled from an artillery gun. However my unearthly reflexes and sharp eyesight gave me all the reaction time I needed, this duo coupled with my chakra and speed could pull off what I wanted to do. I reached out with my right hand and sent off several chakra arms that surrounded the, now tiny, Tailed Beast Bomb. Encasing it in my chakra was the easy part, the real challenge came with stopping and then throwing it, high enough that it could detonate without taking out the town and distant city along with it. The Bomb hit my chakra wall and quickly transferred all of its momentum to me, which, knocked me back about five hundred meters before I could stop myself. Now I had to throw it, that was not going to be easy considering a Tailed Beast Bomb was a massive ball of condensed matter, which weighed more than the Beasts that used them. With a roar of effort, I swung my arm up in an under-arm throw, creating a tunnel of wind with my chakra to help it get high enough. Catching it had created deep and numerous trenches, as I'd used my tails as well as my feet to try and stop myself and keep me stable. Throwing it, created a crater and sink-hole so deep, I couldn't been seen standing in it. I watched as the glowing orb soared, higher and higher it went, before eventually losing its speed and hovering in the air for a moment. I HOPE this world doesn't have planes yet and if it does, none of 'em better be flying over-head right now. I thought as the tiny ball of energy hovered there. Then it went off. There was no noise at first, just an immense ball of blinding light turning night to day. But the shock wave came shortly after accompanied by a cacophony of noise, that probably would have made my ears bleed if they weren't comprised completely out of chakra. The force of the blast flattened me against the floor of the crater, while also levelling the ground around it, replacing my sink hole with a crater about half a mile wide, that consumed several of the hills and smaller mountains that made up the valley walls. To lessen the effect of the wall of force that was pressing down on me, I relinquished my full form and became a glowing, flaming, golden version of the human form I'd made for training with Sunset. It didn't make much difference, as it still felt like someone was ramming me with a train that was digging its own tunnel through a mountain. The assault on the valley finally ended and I dislodged myself from the 'me' imprint inside an even larger one, and groaned both from the stress I'd put on my arm by throwing the Tailed Beast Bomb and by the amount of force I'd just had to withstand. I looked around, observing the destruction all around, before catching (or rather not) sight of something that made my heart drop to my stomach. Kyuubi wasn't on the Canterlot Mountain any more. Was he blown off by the force of the explosion, or had he legged it before hand? Either way I had to find him. But just before I was about to set off, I collapsed to one knee and lost my chakra cloak. Letting out a brief grunt, I realized that the connection between me and Sunset was still new and that we couldn't hold Link Mode for any more than five minutes or so. "Damn." I grunted, picking myself up slowly. "Time for Plan B." I crossed my fingers and created three shadow clones."You know what to do?" They nodded. "Right, come on." I motioned to one of them to follow me as the other two sat down in a meditative position. We made it, quickly, to Canterlot Mountain and from its great height, we were able to see over a massive area. There was no sign of Kyuubi, except for a large, fox-shaped indent on the opposite side. I stared at it until my clone called out: "There!" I looked to were he was pointing, were a man was leaping from mountain peak to mountain peak. He looked a lot like me, except his hair was pitch black, his eyes were blood red and instead of a long jacket he wore a pure black cape. "Tch. Tacky" I chuckled, as I created a kunai with my chakra. It had three distinct points and the Japanese word for 'Flash' written on its handle. I spun it around my finger on its loop as I watched him go. "Be ready" I told my clone, not waiting for him to respond before throwing the kunai. (Third Person POV) Sunset was on her last legs. Her link mode had run out a short while ago and she was in a desperate struggle to keep their fight away from the students and the portal. The explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb had surprised her and had held her attention for too long, giving Sundown the chance to get a good hit in. Now Sunset was jumping around the school, holding a deep cut in her side and trying to avoid being struck again. She landed, once again, in front of the portal but missed her footing causing her to stumble and fall. She forced herself onto one knee, but couldn't go any further than that. She watched as the powered down Sundown leapt from the top of the school's east wing, to the ground, spinning a normal kunai around on her finger and fiddling with the four shuriken in her other hand. "No where left to go, whelp" The dark one sneered. She now stood above Sunset, adjusting her grip on the close-combat weapon so the pointed blade was facing the ground. "Are you ready to die?" The question sounded, almost, sincere. "Go...to...hell bitch!" Was all the weakened Jinchuuriki could say as she knelt upon the ground, blood dripping from her wound and mouth. "Feisty to the end I see. You should be honoured, to die with my respect!" The demon witch laughed maniacally, raising the kunai above her head, ready to bring the weapon down into the back of Sunset's neck. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Seconds later a blue sneaker-like boot dug deep into Sundown's side, sending her flying across the courtyard and into a car. With her wings and a good 'fly-up' Rainbow Dash could hit a lot harder than before. Sunset Shimmer stayed on her knee for a second, staring at the athlete, before being hoisted into the air and being flown back to the school by Twilight. She was laid down next to the nurse's office and Fluttershy quickly began treating her wound with what they'd found in there. The others gathered around and showered her with words of concern, encouragement and praise. It was all a bit too much for Sunset to handle. "Why are you being so kind to me?" She asked, causing all of the others to fall silent. "After all I did. After I tore your friendships apart and tried to take over this world and Equestria. Why?" She almost fell apart right then and there and probably would have if a hand didn't gently place itself on her shoulder. "Listen sugarcube" The strong country accent of Applejack resounded in Sunset's ears, clearing out all of the stray negative thoughts that haunted her. "Sure y'all turned us all against each other, took over the school an' pretty much tried ta kill us." It was at this point Rarity stepped in: "But now we realise it was not you darling. It was that ghastly Nine Tails Twilight told us about." She clarified, shooting the farm girl a quick glare in the process. Sunset looked at the pony princess turned human in question, with a cocked eyebrow. "When I first became Princess Celestia's student" She began, sitting down next to Sunset Shimmer."I was told I would be working alongside another filly, who was a lot like me. Introverted, studious and without a single friend in the world." Sunset looked down at her feet at that, being the living prison for one of the greatest threats Equestria had ever seen tended to have that effect, no one wanted to be near you, let alone your friend. "At first I was nervous, that you wouldn't like me or would try to have me shipped back to Magic Kindergarten." Twilight chuckled at how absurd the thought seemed now, before continuing."But when I heard that you'd ran away I was, admittedly, a little relieved but mostly...I felt sorry for you." The Jinchuuriki's head shot up at that, her eyes meeting the princess'. "I always had my parents and big brother, to help me when I needed it, but you didn't even have that. Now I wish more than ever that I could have been brave enough to start early, maybe saved us all of this pain." It was Twilight's turn to look down at the ground and start tearing up, but before she could start crying she was brought into a tight hug. At first she was surprised but she felt her heart warm up as she heard Sunset speak: "Just hearing you say that is enough to make me happier than ever" Sunset cried into her new friend's shoulder. Twilight struggled to choke back tears and returned the hug and soon everybody else joined in, if not slightly reluctantly in Rainbow's case. This meant that she had very little issue with interrupting it to say: "Hey girls, not to break up this touching moment, but am I the only one to notice that she never followed us in here?" Sunset jolted, quickly getting to her feet and sprinting to the hole in the front of the school. "Wait!" Fluttershy called after her. "What about your injury?!" "Its already healed!" Sunset called back, turning the corner to the entrance. (Kurama's POV) I skidded backwards into the courtyard of Canterlot High, and leant against the portal statue, Being extra careful not to accidentally fall through. Before me stood both Kyuubi and Sundown, smirking at me. I couldn't help but grin back. They think that they're gonna' win. Hilarious. I thought to myself, letting my grin grow wider. "Kurama!" I turned to see Sunset and the Elements running towards me. "Sorry I'm late coach." "Argh, either call me sensei or don't bother" I groaned, rolling my eyes before training them back at our foes. "You gonna' stick around this time or am I gonna' have to take them on alone again?" "Sorry for having a soul" She deadpanned, but allowed a small grin to form shortly after. We both got into combat stances, hers like mine, fists up in defence and crouching slightly-a bit less than me. "Bring it on assholes!" We cried in unison.