//------------------------------// // Battle Royal // Story: The Wandering Warrior // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Giant beams of light shone into the heavens, beaconing all that could see them to head towards their glow. And by the sheer magnitude of ponies that could be heard roaring with amazement off in the distance, it was clear that many of them had come to see what those lights were advertising. "And that is the greatest coliseum apart from the one in Canterlot!" Filthy Rich said with an air of pride as he and his family looked upon the massive, domed stadium that towered over nearly every other building in the city. "I helped donate money to build it three years ago and now my family and I have special seats reserved for just the three of us, plus any guests." "I still cannot believe that it took three days to get here since our little stop," Spoiled muttered under her breath before casting a scowl at Ryu. "What could have been so important that we had to stop at that little slice of paradise will forever elude me." Ryu chose the answer of silence as he walked alongside the rest of the group, not caring that they were slightly late to the arena nor the look of sheer venom Spoiled was flashing his way. He kept his eyes forward, but at the same time his mind was a million miles away, back in the cave. Back where he was supposedly shown his future. 'It cannot be true. I would never allow the Satsui No Hado to consume me. I would never fail master Gouken like that,' Ryu believed fiercely. Yet even as he forced himself to think that way, he felt a ripple of the dark power course through him, as if it was reminding him that he was never free from it's power. Ryu scowled at the power before turning his head to the side, gaining the attention of the filly next to him. "Ryu? Are you doing alright?" Diamond asked him, yet when he answered her with silence Tiara felt a wave of annoyance. "Come on Ryu, you've shown more disgust and negativity in the last couple of days than I bet you have in your whole life. Come on, what's with all the emotion? I thought you were supposed to be as bland and boring as sandpaper? Stop feeling so down." She had hoped that her more grating attitude would snap Ryu back into his normal self, yet to both her annoyance and concern he didn't reply in any way. "You want some candy?" she offered after a moment, holding out a piece to the warrior. Ryu looked down at her with the same sad eyes, but his eyebrows were raised in confusion. "They always help me to feel better. Figure I might as well give them a shot to see if they can fix you." At the moment Ryu felt like his stomach was waging war with the rest of his body, but he took the piece from the filly anyway, not wanting to ignore her generosity. He popped the piece into his mouth and bit down, only to feel a surge of fire and pain burn through his throat. The sudden blast of flavor caught him off guard and he gagged slightly before holding a hand to his throat. "What the...DAD! What did I tell you about putting your fireballs next to my candy!" Tiara roared at her father, who turned and gave her the most pathetic look he could muster. "But Tiara, you eat the same candy all the time. I thought that it would be good for you to try something new," he said with a smile faker than a copper bit. Tiara snarled before resuming her rant upon her father, all of them seeming to forget Ryu for a moment, despite the fact that he was getting close to mastering Dhalsim's fireball technique. With a swift punch to his own gut Ryu spat out the fireball candy and sent it sailing far away from him. He then gasped in a few deep breaths before closing his eyes and forcing the blazing pain that coursed his tongue out of his eyes. "That...was not what I was expecting," he muttered when he could finally feel his tongue again. His words snapped Diamon Tiara out of her rant, much to her father's relief, and she raced over to Ryu with a bottle of water in her hooves. "Ryu I am so sorry! My dad likes to pull pranks on me sometimes and that is one of his favorites!" she said with another sinister glare at her father, who gave her a face of innocence. "Here, take this." Ryu took the bottle from Tiara and polished it off in a matter of seconds, sighing in relief when the burning sensation finally retreated. "Thank you for that, Tiara," Ryu said after a moment, finding that not only was his mouth at peace, but the rest of him seemed to be as well. "It's the least I could do after accidentally making you eat a super hot-" "No. I mean, thank you for the fireball," he said with a small bow, confusing the filly. "It was just what I needed to get my mind off of things. I am indebted to you." "Well when you put it that way, it was nothing. Gotta look out for my prized fighter," Tiara said with a smirk as she elbowed Ryu in the shins. "Hey, he's my prized fighter," Filthy tried to cut in, but another glare of rage silenced any further argument. "I don't care which of you he's the prized fighter of, if we don't get into that arena in another couple of minutes, odds are that we aren't going to make it in time for the fight!" Spoiled reminded all of them with a sharp tone, ceasing the conversation then and there. Ryu nodded as he prepared himself for the battle ahead, yet he caught something out of the corner of his eye that complete pulled his thoughts away from the fight. "You three go on ahead. I will catch up with you in a moment," he informed them before taking off from the group, leaving them behind quickly so that they couldn't stop him. Ryu walked into a dark alley that was still covered in shadows despite the afternoon sun beaming down on the buildings. "I am surprised to see you here. I did not know that you would be in this land as well." "That is because I did not tell you of that power. I thought it would be best if you...stayed on your own for a while," an ancient voice spoke from the shadows, yet that voice still held more power in it than any other Ryu had heard. "But after a week or two of waiting, I became curious. Intrigued. Impatient." "I am sorry, but I have not found the foe that I seek. Nor have I found a way to be rid of the darkness within me once and for all," Ryu apologized as he turned his gaze towards the floor, not seeing the being in the shadows step forward. When Ryu lifted his gaze he was met with the same brown cloak that he remembered seeing the first time he met the hermit. Along with the metal limbs that stuck out from beneath the cloak. "Do not fret. I know that what you seek is here. A way to be rid of that which you believes holds you back," he said to Ryu with such confidence that Ryu couldn't help but feel that he was right. "But you have not found it yet. But you will soon. For now, continue to seek out those that will challenge you, that will push you farther than you have ever gone before. For only then will you find what truly lies within you." "But how can I be certain that what lies within me is what I wish to be?" Ryu asked, remembering what had happened back in the cave. "What if my destiny is to become-?" "RYU!" Ryu turned his head to see Diamond Tiara running towards him, a look of absolute terror on her face. Ryu turned back towards the cloaked hermit, but to Ryu's shock the being was gone. Tiara came screeching to a halt next to Ryu a moment, later, gasping for breath as she stared up at him. "Former fighter...after dad...wants...money for...oh Faust that was far," Tiara managed to huff out quickly. Ryu wasn't completely certain what she had said, but he pieced together enough of it to know that her father was in trouble. Ryu grabbed the filly and tucked her under his arm before racing towards the coliseum entrance. He blew past the two guards who were powerless to stop him, being guided by the young foal. The pair came to a stop at the top of a flight of stairs, which they looked down to see what was happening. "I want the money you promised me, Filthy!" a griffon that was covered head to claw in armor roared at Filthy, holding the stallion up with one clawed hand while brandishing his claws with the other. "Weapon, I told you already, you didn't show up for your match," Filthy stammered out, eyes on the claws the entire time. "You were the one that broke our contract. Now I can help you find a new deal or pay back some of the money that you feel entitled to, but aside from that-" The armored griffon let out a fierce roar before it tried to attack, yet when it went to slash Filthy with his claws he found that his arm would not move. The griffon turned with a snarl to find a warrior that was larger than him holding his arm, with a very dark expression on his face. "Enough," Ryu said to the griffon with lightning crackling in his tone. Ryu then flung the griffons arm to the side before chopping at his other hand, freeing Filthy from the armored beings grasp with a single blow. The griffon snarled as Filthy scrambled over to his daughter, tucking her in tight as the two warriors stared each other down. "So you must be who he replaced with me. Got to admit, I expected my replacement to look a little more intimidating," the griffon growled as he flexed his claws, which Ryu made sure to look out for. "So you are the Winged Weapon. I expected more," Ryu stated bluntly. The Weapon bristled with rage at Ryu's remark, but managed to keep his composure a little longer. "Well, don't blame me for my recent fall from grace. Blame that lying, sack of garbage over there that threw me under the bus!" the griffon bellowed as he took a few steps towards Filthy, but Ryu stepped between the two with eyes narrowed. "I miss one event, one fight, and he completely severs all ties with me! It's like he forgot who got him all of those wins in the early days!" "Your absence near cost my family a great deal of money!" Filthy bellowed back now that he and his daughter were safely behind a brick wall. "If a client does not live up to my expectations, then I reserve the right to fire them. And guess what you became just a few moments ago?" The Winged Weapon shrieked with anger before hurling himself towards the stallion, only to be caught in the face by a right leg that swung out to intercept him. "The hell?" the Winged Warrior roared as he staggered back, glaring through the pain at Ryu, who had taken up a fighting stance. "Stay out of my business, you freaking human!" "I care not for your squabbles about money, but I will not allow you to endanger the life of that father or his daughter," Ryu coldly told the griffon as he brought his hands up and crouched down slightly. "I will say this to you once. Leave. Or you will not walk out of here on your own accord." "Oh, you think you're tough?! Let's go!" the Winged Weapon roared as he hurled himself at Ryu. Ryu ducked under the griffons opening attack, a claw strike aimed at his head, before driving his fist straight up into the gut of the beast. The griffon gagged with pain before Ryu followed up with an elbow to the skull that sent the warrior sprawling. "What...the Faust...was that?" "As I said. Leave," Ryu warned the being one last time. Instead of following Ryu's advice, the weapon lost all control and let out a howl of fury. He then unsheathed his razor like feathers before hurling his body towards Ryu, fury blazing like fire in his eyes. Despite the ferocity and the danger that was rushing towards him, Ryu found he couldn't help but shake his head. "Tatsumaki." Ryu then spun in place and stuck his right leg straight out, timing his attack perfectly so that his foot spun around to catch the Winged Warrior in the face the moment he was close enough. The force of the spin kick drove the Winged Warrior straight into the concrete wall next to them, with the impact of the being hitting the wall shattering it completely. Ryu landed a moment later as his foe collapsed to the ground, twitching slightly while his jaw hung at an awkward angle. "You believe yourself to be so great. But after seeing the real you, I am ashamed to call you a warrior," Ryu said to his foe before turning back to Tiara and Filthy, both of who had shocked expressions on their faces. "Come. It is time to fight those who are true warriors." Filthy and Diamond could only nod as they followed Ryu into the tunnel entrance for the arena, the three of them emerging from within to find a sight before them that none of them were expecting. Ninety eight other fighters were all laying defeated across the arena, while the crowd around them screamed bloody murder from sheer enjoyment. Some of the fighters were buried in the stadium floor, with only there legs sticking up. Others were caught in the rafters, dangling there like ornaments. "What happened?" Ryu asked. "It's like I thought. The champion is here," Tiara said before pointing to the very center of the arena. There, slightly hidden by the mounds of foes he had defeated, stood a being that was seven feet tall, muscular beyond belief and covered in scars. "He practically undefeated. No opponent in all of Equestria has gotten close to beating him. That's who you have to...why are you smiling?" she asked when she glanced up to see a large smile on the face of Ryu. "Because I believed that we had had our last fight a long time ago," Ryu said to her before walking out into the arena. "Right before he vanished saving the world. "What's this? It seems like there's one poor bastard left that wants to fight the champion!" the announcer roared over the crowd, who roared even louder in response that there was one last competitor." "Who is it? Let us hope that they fight better than those who wished to tangle with a cyclone!" the champion roared as he turned to face his final opponent...only for his eyes to go wide when he saw who it was. "I don't know, Zangief? Do you think I know what it takes to defeat a cyclone?" Ryu asked the champion as he took up his fighting stance. Zangief stared for a few seconds longer before letting out a boisterous laugh that echoed throughout the arena. "Finally! An opponent that will give me a challenge! Actually," Zangief said as his face became dead serious as he crouched down. "I will have to unleash everything I have to best you. I dreamed of the day that we would fight again." "As have I!" "GRAAAHH!!!" Zangief bellowed as he charged towards Ryu, who already had both hands extended. "HADOUKEN!"