"And so...it has finally come down to the final boss fight. The fledgling adventurers have come to face the powerful Knight King. It is truly a tale that my kingdom will tell for ages even if it leads to my death." the boy said.
"As a Knight of the Agni Empire, we accept your challenge." Vargas said, drawing Dandelga.
"An impressive blade. However, my Excalibur is the blade that has cleaved many beasts and blades in two." the boy said.
"Excalibur? Hmm...could you bless me with your name?" Vargas asked.
"I am a knight king from a world that was burned away a long time ago. Arthur Boyle." he said.
"I see… Much like the Knight King of legends. There have been many interpretations of it throughout history." Cheetah said.
"To think we'd be challenging an incarnation of King Arthur." Ichiro said.
"Guess you're not the only one out there, huh Saber?" Zephyr asked.
"This boy...his fire is strong, not to mention the large amount of oxygen within him." Vargas said.
"Now...our final duel begins!" Arthur said as he jumped at Vargas with the blade as Vargas ducked, only getting slight burns on his armor.
"Whoa...fire actually hurt him?" Vashyron asked.
"That's not fire coming from that sword...its plasma." Twilight said. "He has such control over the fire's temperature, he can actually form it into plasma."
"Hmm. This feels nostalgic. Almost as if I'm fighting her." Vargas said as his wings of fire sprouted behind him and gripped his sword.
"So you've finally shown your true power, knight of fire. Let this battle last for ages so that the citizens of the kingdom can tell of our duel for years to come." Arthur said.
(Cue- Life and Death- Final Fantasy XII)
Both Vargas and Arthur stood opposite to one another before both quickly dashed at one another as their blades clashed in a deadly faceoff.
"Whoa...this is crazy." Dan said.
Both continued to clash their blades against one another as wounds were quickly adding up on each other's bodies as they fought.
"Very impressive, just as strong as Lava." Vargas said.
"Excalibur has cleaved the mountains itself as well as split the sea in two. Though, your blade is impressive as well, young knave." Arthur said.
"Really...then let us see how much farther we can go!" Vargas said.
Their blades continued to clash against one another before the two stood on separate sides before lunging at one another and swinging their blades. Both stood silent for a moment before both of them collapsed to the ground.
"Vargas!" Ace said as he and the other Six Heroes ran over to him.
"Hehehe...so many cuts...some of them are bound to become scars. Heh...still...I enjoyed myself." Vargas said.
"Yes...I did as well. Real adventurers...are incredible." Arthur said.
"You know, if you wanted, you could become an adventurer yourself too. Believe me, most of us know how it feels to lose our homes… Even though some of them were eventually restored." Kokoro said.
"Yeah...I felt the same when they digitized Tokyo." Sachiko said.
"Huh...so...you...are from Tokyo?" Arthur asked. "So...the ones who beat me come from my homeland."
"Your homeland? Wait, don't tell me…" Mayumi started.
"I came from the Tokyo Empire...but it no longer exists...lost to the flames a long time ago." Arthur said.
"If there...is a way to restore it...we'll find it and help you." Vargas said.
"That is noble. However...I have already put my faith in a hero there once. Even though he can't hear me….Maybe someday...no...just the memories of a fallen knight." Arthur said, getting up as he stared at one of the pillars. As he did, the dungeon began to shake.
"Uh oh!" Flamberge said. "I think the dungeon's starting to collapse!"
"This was bound to happen." Arthur said as he kicked over his throne to reveal a chest as he grabbed it and tossed it to them. "Here...you have earned this."
"But what about you?" Kokoro asked.
"I am the Knight King...it's only right that the king fall along with his castle." Arthur said.
"We must respect his choice." Vargas said.
"He's right, there's no time." David said on the comm. "You all have to get out of there, now!"
"Arthur Boyle...In some way, I hope we meet again." Vargas said.
"Perhaps so...but it seems the next time we meet will likely be in the afterlife among the other great knights." Arthur said.
"It was an honor, Knight King." Saber said before the group ran out. Once they made it out of the cave, the entrance collapsed behind them, leaving nothing but stone.
"I suppose that's that." Ace said, helping Vargas walk. "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
"Don't worry...I can walk." Vargas said.
They returned to the ship, to find David and the Alolan Vulpix waiting for them.
"Hey, guys. Glad you all made it out." David said.
"It wasn't easy. We had a lot to work our way out of." Kurochi said. "How is that Alolan Vulpix? Is she doing alright?"
"She was overheated so a little ice was all she needed." David said.
"My...friend." the Kantonian Vulpix said as the Alolan Vulpix approached as they nuzzled each other.
"That's adorable." Aya said.
After cooling off inside, they cracked open the chest to see what was inside.
"Looks like quite the haul. There's jewels, techniques on mastering flame techniques...loads of stuff!" Meowth said.
"Hey...there's one more thing…" Theo said, looking to the bottom. From the chest, he pulled out a single photograph of a number of people standing outside a chapel. One of the people in the photo was Arthur.
"Arthur, and these must be his friends." Vargas said, bandaged around his face.
"This was probably taken before his world burned away. From the looks of the photo...he was a firefighter." Sheer said.
"A firefighter who was tasked with fighting a fire that burned down the whole world?" Hope asked.
"Looks like it." Tails said. "Huh...looks like there's a date written on the back of this. Maybe one day...it could be possible to save the world and change its fate."
"We've been doing a lot of that, haven't we?" Dynasmon asked.
"Yeah. Hard to believe that it all started with you guys in Tokyo." Sachiko said.
"Time sure does fly." Tsuki said.
"My thought at that time was 'The Royal Knights were allies of Jexi once. I couldn't let any of them die in this mess.'. We had our work cut out for us, especially with how some of you were in that state." David said.
"But for now though...what about the Vulpix...both of them?" Ethox asked.
"They've asked to join our team and we said yes." Pikachu said.
"Well, that was fast." Aoesia said.
"Things work fast for us." Totodile said. "Anyway, that's another dungeon for the books."
"Alright, let's keep this exploration train going! Where to next?" Ultra asked.
"I don't know about you guys, but I think we really need some cooling off after all of that heat." Francisca said.
"Out of the frying pan and into the freezer, as they say." Captain Cold said.
"I know some of you aren't accustomed to the cold, but we would really appreciate it if you all came along, for Barbara's sake." David said to Rayleigh, Agursu and Rhatla.
"We...we will survive." Rhatla said.
"Okay...guess we're doing it then. Off to the Frost Universe then." Jexi said.