Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox

by Rakoon1

Lord Hawthorn, the Perfect Jinchuriki

In the castle of the Lord of Chaos, Ulysses and Grogar appeared in the throne room, where their master was sitting on his throne.

"Well, well, this is a surprise" the Lord of Chaos said. "What are you doing here? Did I call you and I don't remember it?"

"My Lord, I am so sorry for bothering you, but I tried to stop him" Grogar said, referring to Ulysses. "However, as always, he won't listen to reason."

"Ulysses, what do you want?" the Lord of Chaos asked to the griffon. “I just hope it’s nothing pointless, because if it is…”

"Master, it has passed a lot of days since we sealed Six-Tails" the griffon said. "You said you had already chosen someone to capture the next Jinchuriki, but I have to ask this. Please let me capture Seven-Tails."

There was a pause in which the Lord of Chaos just stood there looking at Ulysses and then he replied:

"That won't be necessary."

"But, my Lord, with the success I had in capturing Four-Tails, despite the drawbacks, I could easily capture the Jinchuriki of Seven-Tails" Ulysses said.

"You don't understand, Ulysses" the Lord of Chaos said. "As always, your impulsiveness stops you from thinking clearly. I don't need you to capture Seven-Tails because I already have it."

He snapped his fingers and Silver Mist appeared, floating in the air, unconscious. Ulysses and Grogar were surprised with that revelation and the griffon asked:

"But... how? None of the other villains were ordered to capture him."

"Don't tell me that this was your doing, master" Grogar said.

That made the Lord of Chaos a laugh and say:

"I feel flattered, Grogar, but I don't like getting my hands dirty with something that I can just order my subjects to do. Although, in some ways, what you said is true. Let me to introduce you the newest addition to my elite team of villains."

And, next to the throne, the General of Chaos appeared.

"But who is that?" Ulysses asked.

"This is my ultimate villain, the perfect combination between General and alicorn" the Lord of Chaos said. "He is my General of Chaos."

"It's nice to meet you" the General of Chaos said to Ulysses and Grogar in a polite way. "I've heard of your success in capturing Jinchuriki. I hope you haven't been intimidated with my recent achievement for the success of our master’s plan."

"You think this impressed me?" Ulysses asked, pointing to Silver Mist. "Please, I've already captured a Jinchuriki."

"Ulysses, don't be rude" Grogar said. "After all, he is our companion. And I must say that I am surprised to see him on our side."

"I see you were able to figure out who he is, Grogar" the Lord of Chaos said.

"How could I not have recognized him?" the ram asked. "So he has the combined strength of a General and an alicorn. I must say, my Lord, this is genius."

"I know" the Lord of Chaos said. "And he has already begun to show his value. And speaking of value, Ulysses, I can feel a little anxiety in you. Maybe you'd like to do me a favor and capture the next Jinchuriki."

"Yes, I'd like that very much, my lord" Ulysses replied.

"Are you sure?" the General of Chaos asked. "After all, we are talking about the Jinchūriki of Eight-Tails."

"Please, I can defeat any Jinchuriki that appears before me" Ulysses said.

"Like when Prince Star Knight beat you at his eleventh birthday and that time in Neighagra Falls?" Grogar asked.

"Hey, I thought we agreed not to talk about those moments ever again!" Ulysses replied.

"I'm serious, Ulysses" Grogar said. "At that time, you could have held on against Prince Star Knight, but he was being dominated by Nine-Tails’ energy and his attacks were wild and without control. But the Jinchuriki of Eight-Tails has a perfect control over his Tailed Beast."

"That is true" the Lord of Chaos said. "Lord Hawthorn, the brother of the King of Thicket, is a perfect Jinchūriki. But Ulysses has an ability to overcome any difficulties and, with a little push from me, maybe he can subdue him."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, my lord" Ulysses thanked.

"However, I don't have to remind you what happens if you fail me, Ulysses" the Lord of Chaos threatened.

"Don't worry, that is not going to happen" the griffon ensured.

"Very well, then take this new power I will offer you and go capture that Jinchuriki for me" the Lord of Chaos said.

And he pointed his spear to Ulysses and released black lightning that hit him, making him moan, while his power was increased.

After that, Ulysses traveled to Thicket, alone. He toured the kingdom until he reached where the Lord of Chaos had said him to search for Eight-Tails. He was at one end of Thicket that included a piece of the mountainous area, where there were huge rock formations along a large lake.

At the peak of one of the highest rock formations, a deer was feeling the wind after he had been training. He had a grayish gamboge fur with a light gambogeish grey underbelly and a tuft of fur that had a darker shade of grayish gamboge on the chest and brilliant apple green eyes. He was Hawthorn, King Aspen’s younger brother and Jinchuriki of Eight-Tails.

He then felt a strange presence approaching and he knew exactly who it was.

"So, you finally came for me" Hawthorn said.

The deer turned, facing Ulysses and adding:

"However, I was thinking that the Lord of Chaos would send more than just one villain to capture me."

"I don't need help to deal with you, Eight-Tails" Ulysses said, making electricity pass through his body briefly.

"I think you're confusing everything" Hawthorn replied. "You see, I'm not eight-tails. Let’s just say that he and I are great friends. And, by the way, for you, is Lord Eight-Tails, sir."

"What I call you doesn't matter" Ulysses said. "What matters is that you're going down, just like all the other Jinchuriki before you."

"So let's see what you got" Hawthorn said. "Come on, you can go first."

"With pleasure!" Ulysses exclaimed.

And he took flight, while creating at one of his talons a light blade. Upon reaching Hawthorn, Ulysses down the light blade for the blow, but the deer defended it easily with his forelegs.

"Damn..." the griffon said.

"A blow like this will not be able to hit me" Hawthorn said. "Why not try something a little less… predictable?"

And with one swing, he made Ulysses drop the light blade that fade away. Given to this, the villain griffon took flight and stood slightly behind.

"How about this?" Ulysses asked, making electricity go through his claws, making them sharper and more lethal.

He advanced against Hawthorn, but then an electric field toured the floor and gave him a big shock, immobilizing him. After this, Hawthorn tackled Ulysses with his horns and threw him against the ground a few hooves away. He stood up a bit, saying:

"But what the hell..."

"You think you're the only one using the light nature in that way?" Hawthorn asked. "We, deers, may not have innate active magic or a powerful master, but our connection with nature itself allows to use elemental manipulation like any unicorn."

Ulysses rose up, with his anger rising. That Jinchuriki could irritate him even more than Star Knight, but the difference between them was that Hawthorn’s attacks were more accurate and he didn't waste any movement. But he wasn't going to let a Jinchuriki beat him, no matter how strong he was.

And, with blazing speed, he took off and this time summoned two light blades. But before he had a chance to attack Hawthorn, the Jinchuriki made electricity pass through his horns and did a tackle that hit and threw Ulysses again, but this time the griffon used his wings to slow down the speed and landing on his feet. Hawthorn ran in his direction to use his horns again, but Ulysses defended with the blades. After this, the two moved away from each other a little bit.

"Not bad" Hawthorn said. "Not bad at all. It's a shame you are my enemy, otherwise I think we could get along very well."

"Friendship is just something that is between you and the path to power" Ulysses said. "I don't need friends when I have all the power I need."

"Well, then why don't we make this battle more interesting?" Hawthorn asked.

And, having said that, he made electricity pass through his horns that shone brightly, with the tips to become sharper. And he advanced against Ulysses, starting a fight between blades and horns. The fight was intense, but it seemed that Hawthorn had the advantage. Even when Ulysses tried to escape flying, Hawthorn gave high jumps that made any escape attempts from the griffon useless. It was then that, in an opening, Hawthorn hit him with his horns on Ulysses’ trunk and threw him away, causing him to hit the ground.

Then, Hawthorn advanced to give a final blow on him, but Ulysses was quick to use his electricity to create two clones of him that advanced and, while one defended Hawthorn’s blow, the other came from behind to give a strong electric punch on him that threw him away. But Hawthorn managed to land on his hooves and then looked to Ulysses who stood alongside his clones. The fact that he could use light nature clones impressed him, but that would not be enough to stop him.

The Jinchuriki struck again, trying to hit the real Ulysses, but the clones put themselves in the way, forcing him to fight against them. It was then that they held him and immobilized him, absorbing the electricity that Hawthorn was trying to produce. Ulysses took advantage of this moment to attack with a talon. That affected him greatly and, after that, Ulysses and his clones moved away and together they launched lightning to the sky that then fell on Hawthorn as a single attack. But when the attack ended, they saw that he was not there anymore.

"He's gone" Ulysses said.

Hawthorn was on a ledge in one of the nearby rock formations, observing his opponent. It was then that an electric current ran through his body, but it was not yours and Hawthorn realized it was Ulysses who put it there to feel his presence. Taking flight, he moved in Hawthorn’s direction. Realizing he had no choice, the prince deer accessed Eight-Tails’ energy.

When Ulysses was closing in, he saw Hawthorn’s body be involved by a bubbly red energy with eight tails being formed. The griffon recognized that phenomenon as being the same Star had when they faced each other in Neighagra Falls. And, as he was flying, Hawthorn embarked on the air and tried to tackle Ulysses, but he managed to dodge what forced him to head to the rock formation where he was before, landing with a loud bang.

The griffon headed there, landing at the base of the formation, by the Lake. It was then that Hawthorn appeared from the curtain of dust caused by shock and prepared to attack Ulysses from above. Quickly, Ulysses used a part of the power the Lord of Chaos gave him. His eyes filled with darkness and Hawthorn, looking at them, was put in a kind of illusion, immobilizing him. The Jinchuriki fell on the floor, not moving.

After using that illusion spell, Ulysses felt the side effects, a pain that ran through his eyes. He then turned to Hawthorn, but, suddenly, to his surprise, the deer showed up at his front quickly and hit him with immense strength at his neck with his horns, making him fall to the ground.

"Did you really think an illusion spell would work on me?" Hawthorn asked. "You're quite wrong. And now you're going to pay for your recklessness."

He was right. The tips of his horns had punctured the griffon’s neck and chest, leaving Ulysses in a critical condition. It seemed that would be the end of him, but a wave of darkness surrounded him and began to heal all his wounds.

"I see..." Hawhtorn said, watching that, while the energy around him started to get increasingly more intense. “Looks like your master prepared you well enough to fight against me. He gave you a darkness nature healing spell. But that's not going to save you now."

It was then that portions of his skin and fur began to be torn off, while Hawthorn said:

“In order to break an illusion spell, what you need is a partner that can agitate your aura and wake you up from it. My partner is Eight-Tails that is inside of me. That’s why no illusion spell has effect on a Jinchuriki who has the control over his or her Tailed Beast. And now, it’s time for you to meet my partner.”

Huge tentacles emerged from his flank, while the energy began to dissipate. A curtain of dust created by tentacles appeared, involving Hawthorn. The healing spell of dark energy healed Ulysses and he stood up and looked to where Hawthorn was. When the dust had settled, he was ahead of Hawthorn on his Tailed Beast form.

Eight-Tails was massive in size, just like the other Tailed Beast, with the muscular upper-body structure of what appeared to be a minotaur with crimsonish grey skin, arms with spiked protrusions on the elbows, and hands with opposable thumbs. He also had four long horns on his head with the upper ones curving up and the lower ones, which were slightly longer, curving down, with one with the end sliced off, and his eyes had a lighter shade than his skin. Instead of hind-legs, his lower half consisted of his eight tails, which resemble the cephalopod arms of an octopus.

"Hope you're ready, griffon, because now that I'm in this form, I'm not going to show any kind of mercy to you" Hawthorn said through Eight-Tails.

Ulysses was amazed by the way how Hawthorn had changed to his Tailed Beast form and still kept control. None of the other Jinchuriki who had moved into this form had managed to maintain control, with the Tailed Beast taking it.

"It's time to end you and let the Lord of Chaos lose one of his servants!" Hawthorn exclaimed.

He tried to move forward to Ulysses, but he acted quickly, freeing darkness that formed a dark mass of energy that began to prevent Hawthorn from moving forward. Ulysses hated to admit it, but that Jinchuriki was far more powerful than he had though. If we didn't end the fight quickly or escape, he wouldn't survive. But then he remembered the Lord of Chaos’ threat on what would happen if he failed and that made him realize that he could not get out of there without the Jinchuriki captured.

Hawthorn tackled with all the strength he had, but it seemed that the dark mass of energy wouldn't break one bit. Starting to get tired of that and retreating a bit, Hawthorn exclaimed:

"I'm not going to let a heap of dark energy stop me from winning this fight!"

And he roared while he began to accumulate energy in front of his mouth that started to form a black sphere. Ulysses recognized it right away, because it was the same kind of energy sphere Star Knight used against him in their last fight. After it was formed completely, Hawthorn pointed it against the mass of dark energy and launched a blast that hit everything that was around, including the rock formations that were nearby.

Wandering in one of the rock formations nearby the battle, were two deer who saw the explosion happening.

“That looks like…” one of the deers said. “Is that Lord Hawthorn’s?”

The other deer, who was younger, asked:

“What is it?”

But the older deer didn’t answer, starting to go back, running, and saying:

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!” the younger deer answered, following him.

Following the explosion, they went through bridges that were linking the rock formations and arrived to where the explosion happened, where they saw Hawthorn in his Tailed Beast form, on a rock, while the lake surrounded him, with parts of the destroyed rock formations scarred.

“But that’s…” the younger deer said.

“Lord Hawthorn” the older deer said. “But why would he transform in Eight-Tails? I though King Aspen had forbidden him of taking that form.”

The younger deer then saw something and said, pointing:

“Wait, look over there! He has been fighting with someone.”

He was pointing to Ulysses, who was kneeling on the ground, gasping. The dark energy mass was destroyed by that blast and now he was defenseless.

“I know that griffon” the older deer said. “He works for the Lord of Chaos, the one that ordered the capture of all Jinchuriki.”

Now that Ulysses had no longer his defense, he realized he could only use the secret weapon that the Lord of Chaos gave him.

Hawthorn roared again and released the tentacles against Ulysses. It was at that moment that an obscure light got out of Ulysses and hit Hawthorn. The light started to cause him a lot of pain, like an electric shock, but without causing any damage and with it was one thousand times more intense. The pain made Hawthorn lose control of his body, causing him to fall into the water.

Ulysses felt an immense pain in his body, after using that. The pain was such that he didn’t see one of Hawthorn’s tentacles coming in his direction. When he saw it, the instinct led him to react by putting one of his talons in his front. It was at that moment that a obscure light was released from it and penetrated the tentacle like a laser, cutting it, and the tip fell and sank in the lake. Ulysses was amazed with such power. So that was the power of blacklight nature, the nature created by the combination of light and darkness.

The griffon turned to the Jinchuriki and saw him return to his original form, with his body floating. He approached with care to see his condition and saw that, to his relief, he was still alive. He had achieved it. Despite the huge effort required, he managed to defeat the perfect Jinchūriki and was eager to get him back and rubbing this fact in all the other villains’ faces.

He tried to teleport from there with Hawthorn, but the pain came back to overtake him. Ulysses was still suffering the collateral damage of using the blacklight nature. He could feel he still didn’t control it and he had been warned by the Lord of Chaos that, if he couldn't control it, it would consume him. Ulysses realized then that, until that time, he would only use it as a last resort.

When he was able to gather the necessary energy, Ulysses used the power the Lord of Chaos’ darkness to disappear with Hawthorn.

The two deer that had been watching were terrified to see that Hawthorn had lost.

“No, don’t tell me he actually defeated Lord Hawthorn” the older deer said.

“It must be some mistake” the younger deer said. “What we gonna do? That griffon disappeared with him.”

“Even if they were still there, we couldn’t intervene just like that. Don’t forget that griffon is a follower of the Lord of Chaos and possesses a great dark power. We wouldn’t stand a chance against him.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“We must report this to our king immediately” the older deer answered. “He will know how to deal with this.”

“When he gets to know what happened to his younger brother, even with his great patience, he will be furious” the younger deer said.

“I know, but it’s our duty to do it” the older deer replied. “Come on.”

And so they departed, heading to the capital of the kingdom to tell to their king what happened to the Jinchuriki who was also his brother.