"Reporting! The knight Julius and Natsuki Subaru-dono are having a mock battle with wooden swords in the training ring!"
Emilia gasped with her eyes widening. "How did that happen? I have to-"
"I just wanna know one thing. Which one of 'em issued the challenge?" Anastasia asked the messenger with a cheerful smile.
"I'm told it was the knight Julius. Natsuki Subaru-dono accepted, leading to this fight."
"Well, I'm against stopping them, then."
"But your knight and my, um… friend are fighting! Aren't you worried?"
"Worried? About what? That Julius will go too far, and I'll have to pay for your boy's treatment?" Anastasia tilted her head while asking the questions.
"If we're questioning their mock battle, I can't agree with stopping it before they finish, either." Crusch shook her head at Emilia's concerns.
"If they're duking it out, you could've just waited until it ended and told us who won." Felt admonished the guard.
"Yes, ma'am! But the fight was, well.. It was just so one-sided that I…" The guard nervously glanced at Anastasia.
"...What? Why're ya' lookin' at me like that?" Anastasia felt a small bit of concern nest its way into her heart.
"The knight Julius… Ah… He's being completely overwhelmed in the bout." The messenger gave the completely correct and objective fact that, indeed, Julius was getting crushed by Stone-Cold Subaru's unstoppable might and wrath, his courage that knew no bounds, and tenacity that couldn't be squashed. Also because Julius is weak.
"Lyin' to a candidate in the royal selection isn't a very good idea, you know." Anastasia sighs at the messenger. There was absolutely no chance that her knight Julius was getting defeated one-sidedly by the fool who made a mockery of himself just minutes ago.
The door to the room cracks then starts opening completely.
The elders shout to the party who was uninvited, "Who dares interrupt this meeting!?"
The Stone-Cold Subaru himself walks in, carrying a shit-on knight on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
There are many knights behind him, unsure of what to do about Julius, and not wanting to get the guy who just defeated him angry.
Reinhardt is standing next to him, trying to gently pry Julius from Subaru's grasp. It doesn't work of course, in order to force Stone-Cold's hand, you must go at it with full intent.
"Mmm?" Subaru turns to Reinhardt, his eyes widening. "Ah! You must be the beer guy! No wonder you're tryna get my attention. I'll take everything you have."
"Uh... I can get you some beer if you hand me Julius."
"Great! That's the most useful thing this idiot will ever do. Get me some fucken beer!" Subaru smiles and hands Julius to a knight next to Reinhardt. "Carry this little shit-bag to where those candidates and old timers are to see what happens when you try to mess with Stone-Cold."
"...They're uh… Right in front of you, sir."
Stone-Cold looks at him in surprise at the fact that this fucker was back talking to him. His fist connected with the knight's throat after a punch at the speed of light. The knight goes down, along with Julius, but Reinhardt quickly catches him.
Reinhardt quietly walks over to where the candidates were and lays Julius on the ground next to Anastasia's feet.
Every person in the room cannot believe it.
The council is silent, looking at Subaru in shock except for one who's pale in terror and glaring at him in anger at the same time.
Stone-Cold glares at the idiot, and he quickly looks away. He smiles, knowing that his dominance pervades even a council of old shit's stuck in the toilet of time, waiting to be flushed away.
Crusch looks towards Reinhardt for the details on what happened, mouthing 'How?' to him. The Sword Saint shakes his head, they just wouldn't understand the power that the boy displayed.
Priscilla starts laughing. Laughing incredibly hard, she even has to hold her stomach because of all the oxygen she expends on laughing, he should've kept it in her brain, she shouldn't lose more brain cells.
Felt looks impressed. The man that saved her from Elsa wasn't just Reinhardt, but also Subaru as well. Both of them had their share of helping her on that night. The boy must be pretty special to defeat the one known as 'The Finest Knight.'
Anastasia cannot compute what she sees. The fool had made a mockery of himself in front of some of the most powerful people in the world. To defeat her knight and put him in the state she sees before her... He must've been hiding his power to take Julius by surprise! That must be it!
Emilia doesn't understand.
First, she sees Subaru embarrass her in front of the people she's trying to make a good first impression of, and now it turns out... Why is he bald?
"Subaru? What happened to your hair?"
"Mmm? Ah, didn't like how it looked," The boy rubs the top of his head with a laugh. "Maybe I'll grow a goatee later!"
Emilia looks over to Reinhardt in confusion as Subaru takes another drink from another beer, where the hell is he keeping all that beer?
"Ay! Emilia! Tell red-hair that I want the best shit in this fancy building! I want to see if it can give me a buzz, unlike this shit." Subaru tosses the bottle onto Julius' face, the glass shattering onto his fine features.
"Reinhardt... could you...?" Emilia looks to Reinhardt with a slightly embarrassed and pleading expression.
"Of course." Reinhardt bowed his head and turned to leave. He slowly starts regretting having not stopped the two men from even agreeing to duel each other. Subaru's disrespect was growing by the moment.
Subaru smiles at the Sword Saint's back as he leaves to get him the good brew. But then notices something below him. He looks down and sees the catboy trying to heal Julius. His face was already healed but he wasn't waking up, and Felix was slowly tearing up as he didn't understand why.
"HAH! You think some shitty healing magic is gonna wake him up from my Stone-Cold Stunner? The ass-whopping I gave him is able to put even the entire world to sleep. I expect a thank you for not putting him six-feet-under."
The council mutters to themselves about what they want to do with the powerful man in their midst. However, they must first ascertain his intentions.
"What do you want?"
"Hah! First order of business is to get this piece of crap outta my sight. Take him away to somewhere where he can drink his sorrows away, he might find a little bit of his knightley pride at the bottom of the glass. He talks about his Code, his honor, his Chivalry, Natsuki's code says I just whipped your ass. As a message to any knight or fighter that claims to be among the best, they're all on the list. And that's the bottom line, because Stone-Cold said so!"
Emilia looks in horror. What did Subaru just proclaim? And why was he calling himself Stone-Cold?
Priscilla herself is curious about the boy's proclamation. Looking at the witnesses, she wants to feel even more amusement at the scene. She then noticed that her knight was wearing a cowboy hat on his helmet while shaking in what looked like excitement.
She asks him why he is wearing a weird hat over his helmet. His response stuns her
"That's Stone-Cold, the greatest man that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing in the ring." He speaks in a weeping voice.
Priscilla doesn't know what just happened and she doesn't even want to know, so she turns back to the former fool.
Anastasia finally snaps out of her stupor.
"How the hell did you win?! You obviously used underhanded means to defeat my knight and put him in such a state!"
"What, angry that I kicked your minions ass, little girl? Well, it doesn't matter, if that's the best you got, then continuing this conversation is fucking meaningless."
Subaru looked over the entire room, no one met his eyes except for the 5 candidates.
Crusch had her pride, and she expected Subaru to be some fool spouting nonsense. But he's proved her wrong. If he can make such bold claims, and actually back them up... During his speech, she hadn't detected any lies, meaning that he meant every word. If he was able to defeat the Finest Knight, the third strongest in the Kingdom of Lugunica, and then spout even greater tales... She must enlist his help in destroying the White Whale, she can easily fulfill his lust for alcohol if that's what he wants.
Felt smiles from ear to ear. Big Bro just coming in and shit-talking all of these insufferable nobles is just the best! If he can talk and dish out what he's saying... Just how strong was he now?
Anastasia looked down at her knight, who was still unconscious. Rage filled her heart, and she looked up at the perpetrator that harmed him to such a high degree that even the famed 'Blue' couldn't heal him.
Natsuki Subaru, I will kill you!
Emilia starts shaking as everything continues to pile in on itself. All of what's happening is going through her mind far too quickly. She can't comprehend how Subaru's acting. Why has he changed so much? She looks at the broken body of Julius on the ground and wonders what's happened between the two.
The doors finally open once more, revealing Reinhardt carrying a crate full of clinking bottles; alcohol. Subaru smiles as his thirst may finally be quenched. Reinhardt sets the crate down in front of him, and he starts reaching for the first bottle of many, however-
"You may not drink those until you are sworn to the Kingdom of Lugunica as a knight. If you do so, you shall gain as much alcohol as you wish."
"Mmm...?" Subaru stops reaching and looks up at the council, seemingly caught off guard but also deep in thought.
"Marcos, please knight this man as a knight of Lugunica." The elders tell the knight captain, as they took Subaru's silence as accepting their offer.
"Hell no. What are you? Retarded? Ain't no way in hell I'm becoming a knight for your dumbasses."
Silence established itself as a commanding force inside of the room, but unrest and anger were sprouting in their hearts just as quickly.
This commoner is refusing a great offer, a chance that most never even consider possible for themselves.
This asshole, this pile of garbage, who dared spout tall tales, who sullied the knights' honor right in front of them must be taught a lesson.
Marcos can no longer hold himself back as the boy has spit on the face on the knight order once again. He takes off his glove and throws it into Subaru's face, another challenge to the Stone-Cold.
"Ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA! You want to fight me? When you can see the sorry state of the idiot on the ground? Fine! Though I'm low on time; my beer's calling me, so why don't we duel right here?"
Marcos immediately draws his sword, showing his readiness for battle.
Even if it doesn't look good in front of the candidates, it'll look worse if he doesn't punish the boy, who was Stone-Cold.
However, before he could even realize it, his chin was on Stone-Cold's shoulder.
Subaru started falling, and Marcos, with him.
The time seemed to stretch for an eternity.
Seconds, minutes, any word that stands for time wasn't recognized by Marcos; the very concept, forgotten.
During his pa-
You know what?
Fuck that.
"STUNNNERRRRR! STONE-COLD USES A STUNNER ON THE KNIGHT CAPTAIN! AND THERE HE GOES! HE COVERS HIM!"
An obnoxious voice screams out in joy at the stunner.
"ONE! TWO! THREEE! HE'S OUT OF HERE! STONE-COLD! STONE-COLD! STONE-COLD SUBARU JUST TOOK DOWN THE LEADER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LUGUNICA IN JUST ONE MOVE!"
Subaru begins to celebrate destroying another dumb son of a bitch.
Almost by instinct, he catches two bottles thrown at him. Stone Cold smashes them together before drinking them both at the same time
"Ahh! That hit the spot!"
The person who threw them, Al, throws him another bottle.
Priscilla looks at Al and continues laughing at this entire situation. Her knight truly was a clown!
The crowd of knights simply couldn't believe what happened. Subaru defeated not only Julius but also the knight captain Marcos?
Stone-Cold laughs at their fear, at their ineptitude at understanding the current situation.
"Anyone of you sons of bitches want to go next? Or can I finally down all of this beer?"
Red hair fluttered in the wake of such an outrageous claim.
Next time, Red hair man vs stone-boy, who win? Whose next?
This is co-written by me and Freddie 46.
This is perfect and we're accepting no criticism.
(Yes I'm writing ABS chapter 3 after this.)