Chapter 44: (Running) The Rivers Red
Skirmish in Stralanavia Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fan fiction.
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" – The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Main Menu (Type 'B') – Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Want to be Close" - Persona III OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).
"Main Menu (Type 'A') – Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition OST. Scene 2 (First Half).
"Fog" - Lost Judgment OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).
"Rake Your Inside" - Judgment OST. Scene 3 (First & Second Halves) & 4 (First & Second Halves)
With their successful end to the act of slavery within the great borders of Stralanavia, northern snowy cousin to their homeland of Hyrule, Link and his group of companions are soon hailed by Stralanavia's panel of judges as; 'the Volunteer Pioneers' for their grand contribution to their and Aurelia's history. Truly a marking point within the history books themselves. However, while many within the poor population laud the heroes for their assistance, it is also those within the more richer community that find themselves disapproving in disdain for them; their ways of life having been threatened and even eradicated from history.
Having brought down rogue senator Lara Volkova in her conspiracy plot to overthrow the Stralanavian Justice System, the group of heroes and adventurers win great honour and commending; an achievement that very quickly finds its footing when signing up for the Stralanavian national martial arts championship tournament... the 'Skirmish in Stralanavia'.
Still reeling from his last brutal go-around with his raven-haired rival Raynard, Link finds himself in a state of disorientation over whether to cheer for his valued if irritating companion Vassia, or secretly hope that his long-standing rival Raynard will somehow beat Vassia to proceed on to the finals for the pair of Hylian boys to run their set back.
A final battle to the end; a sentiment that only now can they share together, especially after their less-than-friendly status with one another... a result of their stations and circumstance.
Regardless of the hapless Hero of Time's hopes however, it is the panel of Prima World Tour's judges that makes his decision for him. In Vassia and Raynard's incredible clash, a fight that sees no true winner, the pair of young fighters somehow manage to exhaust each other's abilities to the absolute extreme and knock each other out of the ring simultaneously. As the match is one of the qualifying top eight and not a grand finals, the Prima World Tour calls out their panel of judges for their 'Judgement' section of their rulebook; men and women with fighting experience serving as observers that make decisions based on grades and already-existing rules.
While one judge votes for Vassia and another for Raynard, it is the final judge that makes the penultimate decision...
'Double Disqualification.'
An act not seen in over five years within the illustrious tournament's history. Even with just a single vote calling for both fighters' expulsion from the competition, it is all that is needed; Vassia Palashia and Raynard Van Garrick are thus both disqualified from the Stralanavian Skirmish and the tournament proceeds to round three.
To say they are disappointed is an understatement and Link, most of all, is in a state of chagrin; having been hoping to lock fists again with his hatefully-motivated rival Raynard. Now however the group, and the tournament's audience, soon focus their attention back to current events and find themselves growing excited for the next match-up; a previous competitor of Alwyn's, 'Kaiser Pashkov' and fan-favourite, Barkner Elbrus. Alwyn, a close companion to Barkner through his friendship with the Goron in their time through Hyrule, opts to assist the younger man by offering him sagely advice and tips...
Scene 1
"Welcome back, one and all, to the Prima World Tour and the Stralanavia Skirmish!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
As Mr. Marshall, chief commentator for the Prima World Tour, made his announcement back to the action in Velinsk Arena so too did the surrounding audience of Aurelian people within the stands all call out in approval, their morale and excitement for the competition as high as ever.
"Hell yeah! We're already three rounds in people!" The grinning young man next to him, his co-commentator called out similarly excitedly, rising up an index finger as if to mark the occasion with. "This is my boy Mr. Marshall and I'm ya boy; Tasty Seth!"
"And if you're just joining us here today we've just had one of the most unexpected outcomes to any set in the history of the Prima World Tour itself!" Marshall segued on through his younger companion's words. "That's right, people! A Double KO and Double Disqualification; all in the same round!"
"Man...," the listening Seth shook his head at, a kind of disappointed smile atop his youthful expression. "I can't believe we didn't get a winner out of that one Marsh."
"Indubitably Seth!" Marshall agreed on in his understanding smile. "Two national champions of their own right having been denied! It's all so tragic," he chuckled. "Both were worthy of the title of 'Stralanavia's Strongest'! But we move on to round three now; an interesting match-up a lot of us here certainly didn't expect."
"Who is it Marsh?" The excited Seth responded, a grin on his face as he spoke.
"It's your favourite boulder-bashing Goron roller... Barkner Elbrus!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
As if to accompany the excited Marshall's words, a bright pictograph of the grinning-faced Barkner displayed up on one of the pillar's walls; he stared back at the viewer in a friendly grin, rocky-skinned arms folded as per his old stance.
"Our heavy-lifter from Hyrule's Death Mountain has had a great career here with our Prima World Tour; in one match after another he showcases his incredible defensive ability, native to the Goron race and even transfers those skills to his offensive abilities!" Marshall explained in his own light grin, turning back to the audience to face the sitting Gorons. "You Gorons watching should be proud!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
"What about his opponent Marsh? You getting' me hype!" Seth smirked back curiously.
Marshall chuckled knowingly, tilting his head toward the pillar on his left. "Well my young friend, this is also a familiar face..."
Sure enough, on his words came the second pictograph, a depiction displaying the slicked-back aqua-shaded hairstyle everyone oddly came to remember from the Hylian Hyrax and the long coat he wore to match it; the half-smiling form of Kaiser himself. The pictograph, much like many others, was taken during his first tournament; the haughty expression on his face was an old yet familiar one that suited his disposition, something Alwyn previously managed to beat out of.
"Pashkov, a former military man from this very illustrious country, is known for his take-no-prisoners style of defensive fighting," Marshall began in light explanation. "In over ten years of serving, Pashkov's style was so strong he never suffered a single projectile in each engagement he was thrown into. Truly an impressive feat ladies and gentlemen!"
"And yet..."
Marshall chuckled again, nodding understandingly and knowingly as the grinning Seth segued him on. "And yet... it was in the Hylian Hyrax where he matched up with Alwyn Weirson-"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
Before he could even finish his sentence, the surrounding audience all let loose the dogs of war in their approving roars and cheers for the name mentioned; yet another fan-favourite of the Prima World Tour. Marshall chuckled again, briefly shaking his head as he exchanged a quick look with the similarly grinning Seth, soon swinging his head back to face the people around him.
"Also a former military man of the Zoran people of Hyrule! In over ten years Weirson managed to achieve what no other soldier could... laying a fist through Pashkov's incredible defences!" Marshall elaborated on excitedly, drawing out another deafening cheer from the surrounding people. "Needless to say he's feeling fairly salty right about now folks... and wishes to prove himself in the ring!"
"I wouldn't wanna be ol' Barkner right now Marsh." Seth laughed back, leaning in his chair as he spoke. Marshall chuckled similarly.
"I suppose he doesn't have much choice Seth!" Marshall quipped back, clicking his fingers in the direction of the watching Aurelians in the stands. "Don't go away people!"
"I still can't believe that happened to me... merde!"
The listening Link winced in spite to his lack of knowledge of Palashian, exchanging a brief look with the lightly-smiling Barkner and frowning Alwyn, before soon re-facing the recently-regained conscious Vassia before him.
"Happens to us all!" He compromised for her, a kind of understanding smile on his countenance as he gave her a half-dismissive shrug, as if to make her feel better somehow. She rose her angered eyes up to meet his and her look softened somewhat, lowering again as if in lamentation. "I mean look at that grand finals I had with Ray; that came down to a double KO to."
"Really...?" She murmured out this time, her scowl soon dissolving into a half-surprised frown as she re-rose her raven-black eyes to face him with. His smile grew a little into a half-excited grin as he nodded.
"Hell yeah!" He answered.
"You should-a seen it," Barkner offered her with from behind the young Hylian. "It was the first tournament that anyone of their ages even made it that far let alone to the grand finals... and they took it with a double KO!" The Goron laughed uproariously, swinging his head back as he placed his hands on his hip; a display of his old habit.
"It was fairly impressive," Alwyn agreed on, ever objectively as he rose up his eyebrows to match the knowing nod on his frowning-faced tranquil expression. "I don't think they've even had anyone of your ages even get past the qualifying rounds let alone the top eights." The knowledgeable Zoran claimed, turning his light-eyed frown down toward the blinking Link and the genuinely-surprised Vassia.
Their egos having been stroked, the two couldn't help but grow slow grins of their own on their faces, displaying their newfound confidence in their own ways; Vassia in her ever-superior esque expression and the the grinning Link in his fingernail rubbing across the front of his karate-gi.
"Urgh...," the watching Malon groaned, rolling her eyes from the bigger group of companions behind them all. "I think I liked them both better when they weren't feeling very confident."
The listening Zelda held back a giggle out of her usual polite behaviour and the folded-armed Impa merely displayed her own amusement with a light smirk adorned on her usually-firm face.
"Well at least you never had to face down your little friend," the Sheikah offered forward this time, a new frown soon on her face. Link, his grin temporarily lost to him in favour of a similarly curious-eyed frown, could only swing it 'round to face her. "After the last go-around you two had in Morovo..."
"Maybe it's... better this way," he answered her with, a compromising nod to his saddened-faced frown. "Yeah."
"What do ya mean?" Barkner pressed him curiously, eyebrow piquing up. Link's frown creased a little, almost as if he were having trouble bringing up the right words to convey his inner emotions.
"I dunno, it's...," he began uncertainly, shaking his blonde-haired head as he lowered it to eye the ground below him. "I didn't want him to beat Vassia but... at the same time I-"
"You wanted to 'run your set back' again... didn't you."
The words, so unsurprisingly and yet somehow also surprisingly knowledgeably coming from the frowning-eyed Zelda before him, made the similarly stunned Link swing his blink back in her own frown, almost unable to quite find the words with which to respond.
"Y-Yeah...," he replied, eyebrows risen as he did. "How did you...?"
"It's not hard to see through you," she spoke with a light chuckle, hands joining ever at her centre as she did. "I know how important it is to you."
The listening Link found his own previously anxiety-driven frown soon swing up into a soft-faced smile; a look they shared together that, while seemed innocent enough, drew the annoyed look of Malon and the ire-eyed scowl of Vassia. While Impa and Alwyn watched on in objective silence, it was the ever-droll Barkner that opted to bring a bit more cheer into the group with a mischievous wolf-whistle, inevitably drawing out blushes and zig-zag faced frowns from the listening Hylian princess and Hero of Time.
Perhaps feeling somewhat threatened, Vassia compounded the situation by reaching forward with little warning and catching the surprised blonde boy's body in a sudden and abruptly-firm hug; he widened his oceanic eyes and spluttered as the watching Barkner and Zelda voiced their amusement.
"Hey!" Link called out indignantly. "What the hell are you-?!"
"Getting my reward!" The half-amused Palashian princess shot back as she turned her tall-faced frown down at him in her surprisingly-strong grip. "What does it look like?"
His frown took another annoyed turn, blushing again yet this time from the sudden close contact they shared. "I said you could have one of these if you won!" He clarified angrily, almost as if she had somehow said something offensive. "You didn't win! You drew!"
Vassia rolled her eyes, tilting her violet-haired head at him as her smirk only grew, a kind of child-like mischievous look in her ebony-laced eye. "Oh who's counting?"
"I am."
The pair turned their curious-eyed frowns 'round only to find the mildly-offended Malon re-appeared at their sides, gripping the surprised Link's arm, almost as if to pull him away from her. Vassia's frown soon upturned into a challenging smirk and the watching Link rolled his eyes, weary of what was to come next.
"What's wrong petit moineau...?" Vassia began, poking the beast of rage with the grin that extended as she spoke; a signature of her ever rude style of humour. "Afraid he prefers a real woman to your scrawny and poor-"
"Hey!" Link interrupted her with this time, furrowing his brow at her angrily. "I'm poor too y'know!"
"Not after our marriage l'amour..." The Palashian princess purred back at him, eyes half-closing as she leaned toward him. He pulled his straw-haired head back from hers and winced, a zig-zag like expression across his countenance as he did, drawing out laughs from some of the watching group behind them.
"I'll be damned if he's marrying you!" Malon at last fired back fiercely and passionately, stepping toward her in challenge as she grappled roughly at the boy's free right arm. He gasped out as the pair of girls' grips on him grew sharp and rough, realising just how quickly the situation was escalating. "And I'm not poor! I just come from a farm!"
"That's right; a farm," Vassia replied back, her own soprano the height of ignorance and an odd sense of calmness. "So you're poor."
Malon's eyebrows rose and her scowl grew worse very quickly; Link's own oceanic-eyed gaze widened and he managed to pull free his arm from Vassia's grip temporarily to grab at Malon's in order to keep her back from advancing any further into fighting with the Palashian princess.
"Not here...!" He strained to get out, teeth grit together in great effort as he attempted to hold back his companion of old. Rather surprisingly, Malon displayed her freakishly-high level of strength in spite of never having trained for combat, the years of working as a farmhand having come in handy for her. "It ain't... worth it!"
"Mon cœur is right," Vassia spoke up for the youth, drawing out an unsure eyebrow-raise from the listening Hylian in question. "You should go back to tending your fields commoner."
"Stop calling him that!" Malon fired back angrily, a tense tone to her soprano. "His heart doesn't belong to you!"
Vassia's grin temporarily and surprisingly dropped in favour of a simple-eyed frown. "Huh... you know Palashian?"
"No...," the farmhand muttered back as she wrestled control of her arms back away from the grunting blonde boy behind her, lightly touching her wrists as she did. "Just single words that Zelda taught me..."
The smiling Hylian princess, as she was just named, rose up one of her hands daintily as if to greet the warring pair and make her silent presence known. As Link swung his blink 'round on her, he couldn't help but grin suddenly and shake his head in light amusement.
"Yo this is too much though!" The laughing Barkner called out, similarly entertained. "You guys gotta stop before we get kicked out! We got matches comin' up."
"Funny you should say that Barkner," the listening Impa commented on, a half-smirk adorned on her hardened expression. "Because..."
"Competitors Barkner Elbrus and Kaiser Pashkov please approach the ring for the beginning of round three!"
As the tournament's referee called out his announcement, so too did the listening group all swivel their heads in his and the arena's direction; Barkner widened his boulder-brown eyes in genuine surprise before soon re-furrowing his brow as he turned them back to face the similarly-frowning Alwyn.
"This guy's defensive, remember," the wise Zoran claimed, imparting his knowledge of having already fought the Stralanavian named. "You won't get anywhere if you hit him head-on."
Barkner nodded back firmly, his frown soon upturning into a cheery grin. "'Preciate it!"
"Don't you dare lose!"
The Goron turned his startled blink on the grinning blonde boy that caused it, raising an eyebrow as he did. Link stood below him, raising up one of his clenched fists to be bumped affectionately.
"You're only just starting to get fans after all!" The quipping Hero of Time added on in his joking grin, bringing out an amused chuckle from his listening Goron companion. Barkner lowered one of his fists to knock brotherly against the Hylian boy's before nodding a second time.
"If all goes well... I'll meetcha in the finals!" He spoke before turning to march toward Velinsk Arena, soon joined by the well-adjusted form of his opponent Kaiser.
"You really think he can win?" Malon spoke up, genuinely curiously as she tilted her head at the scene before her. Link folded his bare arms, casting his toothy smirk forward as he re-opened his mouth to speak.
"Hell yeah I do!" He called back. "He beat Al, didn't he?"
Having been named, the listening Zoran nodded in light conceding, eyebrows of his own rising upward as his eyes briefly shut as if in remembrance to their match at the Hylian Hyrax tournament.
"That is true..." The curious Vassia agreed on with uncharacteristically quietly, a violet-haired eyebrow risen up as she stared on after the lumbering march Barkner gave out.
"Well... win or lose, he's getting a victory drink on me when he gets back after we all finish this tournament."
Those words of generosity, spoken from such an unusual source, caused the listening Link to widen both oceanic eyes in undeniable shock. He turned to face his Sheikah, almost unwilling to believe it.
"Y-You mean-?"
Impa rolled her fire-red eyes before gaining a slow smirk on her face, nodding her white-haired head back at him as she did. "That's right; we'll be going for an all-you-can-eat to celebrate today, regardless of how well you all do."
Link's grin grew back but this time of a more joyful kind and he leapt forward to grip at her legs affectionately. "I love you Impa-sensei!"
The watching Vassia, Malon and even Zelda all rose their eyebrows at the scene before lightly twitching their faces as if in irritation. Alwyn spoke up with a tiny smirk of his own on his usually-unreadable expression.
"Take valuable note girls," the wise Zoran quipped up. "This one thinks with his gut."
–
2
"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen; if you're just joining us we're three rounds deep in the Stralanavia Skirmish!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
As Mr. Marshall's perhaps inevitable call came crashing out of the small Gossip Stone he spoke into, so too did the imminent screaming cheers of approval come from the surrounding audience around him and his younger co-commentating companion, filling Velinsk Arena with their high morale and excitement.
"And what do we have for the good people Marsh?" The younger man to his left began with a sizeable grin, always near-splitting his face as he spoke charismatically.
"We have an interesting match-up Seth!" Marshall responded with his own light-faced smile, soon re-opening his mouth to elaborate. "Former competitors in their own right with similar battle experience and even fighting styles... these two warriors never met in the Hylian Hyrax competition but they sure as hell both took part in it!" He chuckled, shaking his head lightly as he did. "Goron and Stralanavian! Let's see them!"
On his word, two pictographs as opposed to just one flashed up on both pillars of the competitor's box; one familiar and one not-so-familiar. The grinning, folded-armed Barkner stared back at the viewer in his usual friendly stance and the smirking form of Kaiser himself looked on down at the viewer; the same pictograph taken of him during the Hylian Hyrax. Underneath both were their tournament statistics.
Barkner Elbrus
Defensive Ability: S+
Grapple Countering: A+
Side-Stepping: A
Kaiser Pashkov
Side-Stepping: S
Agility: A
Grapple Countering: A
"Yooo didn't this guy go up against-?"
"That's right Seth!" Marshall interrupted his companion with a polite yet excited little laugh as he nodded in confirmation for him. "It was his Zoran companion, Weirson that last fought with the great Pashkov! And what a match that was!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
"Can you believe that was months ago?!" Seth called out in incredulous laughter, almost as if he himself were unable to believe it, drawing out a listening laugh and acknowledging nod from his older companion next to him. "And yet they've all came so far since then!"
Marshall grinned back at him, tilting his brown-haired head lightly as he clicked his fingers in his next sentence. "You're damn right they have Seth and what better place to showcase their new tech and skills than at beautiful Stralanavia?"
His words, almost seemingly of pandering, certainly had their effect; the encircling audience of people – mostly Stralanavians – all let loose the dogs of war in their incredibly-loud cascading calls of approving and morale, excited and pleased.
"With impressive defensive skills between them both, it will certainly be an interesting match-up, to say the least!" Marshall smiled on enthusiastically, nodding on with the cheering crowd as the smirking Kaiser and frowning Barkner stepped on out of the competitor's box, marching on to step on up to the ring before them as they did. As Barkner took his spot on the 'red' side of the brown-tiled arena, so too did the smirking Kaiser step comparatively lighter toward the 'blue' side, lightly running fingers down his coated arms as if to ready them.
"Fighters ready!"
As the referee made his next call-out for the impending duel between the pair, Barkner set his careful gaze firmly on the Stralanavian before him, rising up both rock-skinned arms to rest horizontally and diagonally in a simple bladed stance. The watching Kaiser, however, merely opted to issue out a low-sounding grunt of dismissiveness, a smirk still plastered on his face.
"Engage!"
It didn't take long for the surprisingly-nimble Barkner to start moving; in spite to his body's great weight as a Goron, he moved quite quickly in a swift dash forward, pulling back one of his readied elbows to assault his enemy with. The watching Kaiser's single eye narrowed back at the Goron contemplatively before he huffed and his smirk grew a little as he simply side-stepped to his left to avoid the blow. The former Stralanavian enforcer countered with a light yet damaging roundhouse that struck the grunting Goron across his exposed face, allowing a follow-up that consisted of a spinning sweep into a quick series of stabbing kicks.
Barkner grunted out a second time, teeth grit roughly together in agony as he was held aloft in mid-air due to the powerful-seeming kicks his opponent gave him, essentially holding him airborne. The ever-smirking Kaiser continued his relentless offence by spin kicking him up further into the sky above them both, following him up doggedly and determinedly as he did. It was only when Barkner swung his body in a backward air-somersaulting recovery that he brought up both rock-skinned arms to defend himself with; a kind of cross-like formation that, while simple, was invaluable and fairly effective.
Sure enough the ruthless Stralanavian began to dart his stabbing kicks directly into Barkner's previously opened defences, light-green eyes narrowing firmly as he fired fiercely and firmly with little mercy in an attempt to deal as much damage as possible. As he yelled out in effort in a savage air-spinning vertical roundhouse kick to finish his combination with and Barkner was sent flying and crashing into one of the pillars behind him, drawing up dust and wreckage in his wake, it was only when the blinking Kaiser wasn't quite falling back to earth that he realised he was being manipulated in mid-air in some way or other.
He darted his widened-eyed terror down only to find his legs caught by what appeared to be a translucent form of earth-elemental Aegir; a kind of whip-like formation that was, perhaps inevitably, pulled on. The watching crowd all cheered on in excitement and satisfaction as the wide-eyed Kaiser was yanked through the air itself back toward the area where he kicked his enemy, horrified and anxiety-filled. It was only when he drew too close that the grit-toothed Kaiser realised Barkner was hiding in the smoke cloud he himself created, earth-infused fist held back to strike him with.
SLAMMM
"Gurngh...!"
WHOOSH
Like a small stress being fiercely and savagely against a wall, Kaiser was punched ferociously through the air before, very suddenly, stopping again short; he gasped out when he realised why and shot his wide-eyed stare down to the translucent whip of Aegir holding his legs. Thinking quickly as he was inevitably pulled back toward the hanging Barkner, Kaiser lowered his own right arm, pulsating with non-elemental Aegir, before grunting as he cut at the thread of Aegir as if he were using a knife.
SLICE
Barkner watched on in his own widened-eyed expression as his older opponent dropped back down to the brown-tiled earth below him, grunting with the effort as he turned his fall into a forward-roll recovery. The hanging Goron opted not to waste any more time on his recently-gained okizeme by pushing off of the pillar he hung on to vault toward the wide-eyed Kaiser, rocky-bodied arm held back to assault him with. Considering his size, especially as a weighty Goron, Barkner flew with incredible speed, thereby already increasing his staggering strength; the brown-tiled arena below cried out in pain and agony as he slammed his burning fist upon it, spitting up debris and chaos.
The shocked Kaiser, almost unable to believe his eyes, could barely evade the strike by back-dashing to safety, the look in his light-green eye suggesting he had previously underestimated his younger opponent. Barkner followed up his quick assault by pressing forward and grunting out as he swung one of his fists widely and horizontally up at his enemy, forcing the Stralanavian to duck in evasion. He counter-attacked however by narrowing his eyes as he poked both his index and forefinger up at the exposed Goron's right arm's underside, using his other arm to grapple at it.
Barkner gasped out in his own wide-eyed shock before yelling out in pain as Kaiser followed up with a simple yet effective arm-break; he reached up with his free left arm and pulled Barkner's exposed right down harshly and brutally, causing a sickeningly-loud and audible crack that knocked off powerfully against the walls of Velinsk Arena.
CRRRRACCCK
This time Barkner opted not to voice his agony, eyes widened and his teeth grit horribly from the intense suffering. The Goron counter-attacked by widening his eyes again as he very suddenly pulled his body back and spun 'round counter-clockwise rapidly, easily eating up and consuming the very brown-tiled arena itself in his rocky-bodied spiral. Like a spinning top catching all within its radius, Barkner's endlessly-twisting form snagged the gasping Kaiser's figure within its own and savagely tore him up as they began to rise upward into the sky. Soon enough, as they both reached a certain height, the high-rising Goron finished up his counter-attack by swinging his body up into a vertical somersaulting kick that sent the wide-eyed Stralanavian sailing back down to earth.
VWEEE...
SLAMMMM-CRASSSSSSSSHHH
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
"Incredible!" The smiling Mr. Marshall cried out amidst the deafeningly-loud voices of the Aurelian audience around him, free fist clenched at his side as he did as he spoke passionately into his Gossip Stone with his right. "The Iron Wall of Death Mountain, impressive as he may be, has also shown some ingenuity!" He began again, nodding further as he spoke. "In counter-attack, he emulates a very similar technique of his Hylian comrade; a technique he once christened the 'Kaiten Resshō!"
"Kaiten- what now Marsh?" Seth merely blinked back at the older man cluelessly, drawing out another amused laugh from the audience. Marshall merely breathed through his nose in a slight amused smile of his own before re-opening his mouth to respond.
"The Kaiten Resshō, Seth!" He repeated, re-opening his mouth a second time to elaborate further. "Roughly translated in ancient Hylian it means: 'Rotating Pain'!"
"Wow...," the frowning Seth murmured back, his own eyes widening in realisation. "That sounds so cool! Isn't that-?"
"That's right my young friend...," Marshall chuckled, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "It's our boy, 'Fire Fist Firbrand's technique!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
"He can't do that!" Seth laughed out incredulously, pulling his head back momentarily as if to gauge the situation before double-taking in Marshall's direction, a kind of unsure frown on his face. "Can he...?"
Marshall shrugged back at the younger man, a kind of knowing smile written across his face as he tilted his head in doing so. "There's not a rule against it!"
"That is impressive I must say."
–
3
The members of the watching group, including the shocked Link, could only swing their heads 'round to find the owner of the voice as the ever-frowning faced Impa, folded-armed and business-like.
"What's so impressive about that?" Vassia rudely shot into the conversation with, eyebrow risen upward at the Sheikah as if she had somehow insulted her intelligence. "All the grand crétin managed to do was steal from l'amour!"
The listening Link, brow furrowing and unable to translate the rude Palashian princess' peculiar words, could only swivel his blonde-haired head 'round to face his ever-kind companion on his left. Zelda, staring back at him in her ever-reserved state with her hands softly joined at her centre, readied to mouth the translation that Vassia spoke back to him.
'Grand cretin'.
He rolled his oceanic eyes in response, mostly in annoyance and frustration with his Palashian friend, pulling an amused smile from the watching Zelda.
"Hey."
Vassia blinked, turning her raven-eyed curiosity on the offended young Hylian. It was only when she noted the tenor's owner that she shot him with her usual smug smile and rose up an eyebrow at him.
"That 'grand cretin' could knock your lights out y'know," he spoke, standing up his old companion, single eye narrowed back at her as he did. "And mine, actually," he pointed out, fighting back the urge to crack half a grin when he recalled their fight in the Dodongo's Cavern in his original time. "So show him a little more respect."
"Or what, mon amour?"
Half-surprised she actually chose to push him at his confrontation, he blinked back at her before re-furrowing his brow and allowing the grin to grace his expression at last, re-opening his mouth.
"Or there's no chance of any weddin' happenin'."
Almost as if the words themselves were magical and had incredible effect indeed, they were immediate; Vassia's abyss-black eyes widened and she madly waved at the air with both gloved hands, almost as if to dissuade and calm his veiled threats.
"N-Non! Je suis désolé s'il te plait, mon chéri!"
The watching Alwyn, in great spite to his usual indifference and cool demeanour, opted to turn his injured head-fin back and laugh uproariously; perhaps also an ode to his Goron companion Barkner, eliciting amused chuckles from Impa, Zelda and Malon.
Kaiser's shut-eyed grit-toothed form spun wildly and incredibly quickly as Barkner's 'Kaiten Resshō' technique sent him ricocheting agonisingly against the very high-flying ceiling itself; as he came barrelling down to meet the similarly levitating Goron, Barkner widened his boulder-brown eyes as he rose up his right leg and with both fists clenched at his mid-air side, widened both eyes again as he rapidly channelled in earth-elemental Aegir to his feet and brought it crashing down on the drifting Stralanavian.
"Are you okay...?" The Goron began carefully, his frown slowly swinging up into the excited charismatic grin he was known for. Almost as if some within the watching audience, having seen the technique beforehand at the Hylian Hyrax, all began to chant out the name of the move as Barkner also called it out. "Bustaaa WOLFOS!"
CRRRRASSSSSH-DROOOOOM
In a savage exchange of earthen rock against flesh, Barkner's leg slammed horrifically and powerfully against Kaiser's body, sending him spiralling and screaming to the brown-tiled arena below. In response, the very mahogany-tiled arena below them both spit up an incredible amount of debris and wreckage as the poor Kaiser found himself knocking painfully and agonisingly against it, his body ricocheting as he did.
"Interesting!" The watching Marshall cried out, eyes widened and his former smile now dropped in favour of a curious-eyed frown. "Now those loyal few of you in our audience will know, that's two techniques our boy Elbrus has liberated from his Hylian friend-"
"'Fire Fist Firbrand'!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
Seth's impolite if, half-expected interruption, made the listening crowd of people surrounding them all scream out in approval and excitement; even the very name-drop of one of their favourites in the ring a simple cause for cheer.
"Do you know Marsh, in all of Mr. Barkner's imitations of his good buddy Fire Fist, I think that one's my absolute favourite." Seth spoke further, grinning on as he cast it with a forward nod at the fiery scene of earthen destruction before them both. Marshall chuckled and, in spite of having been interrupted earlier, couldn't help but crack a small amused smile of his own. He nodded his well-kept brown-haired head upward as he responded.
"And why's that Seth?"
"I mean look at it!" The younger man insisted, an excited grin plastered across his face as he gestured toward the scene ahead the pair. "It's so damn cool! It's got everything; fire, rocks, strength, sudden countering... and of course coolness!"
"I mean when the man's ain't wrong... he ain't wrong."
The listening Malon and the surrounding group behind her all rose their eyebrows, turning to face the owner of the tenor, only to inevitably find the ever-grinning Link shrugging at the scene before him as if he he had rehearsed his line beforehand.
"Did you two plan this?" Malon put forward accusingly, lowering her eyelids at him suspiciously as she tilted her fire-haired head as she did.
"Honestly no," the young Hylian admitted, this time in a half-amused chuckle as he re-lowered his small arms to fold them in his sleeve-torn karate-gi uniform, casting a grin forward at the open ring before him. "I dunno how Bark stole- uh... borrowed my techniques," he amended his sentence again in a light chortle. "But he did it anyway."
"For a man with Barkner's level of Aegir-control... it couldn't have been easy." Alwyn spoke up knowledgeably and wisely, his own slim arms folded in his usual business-like stance.
"Sayin' he doesn't have much Aegir-control Al?" Malon quipped back in her own grin, tilting her head back to face the Zoran behind her. The former military man's brusque and sudden response, so bitingly blunt, managed to make her rise her eyebrows and drop her grin in light surprise.
"Yes, I am."
The listening Link burst out laughing, joined only by the quietly-giggling Zelda far behind him standing next to his mentor Impa; the Sheikah bodyguard and soldier swung her disapproving frown down on the Hylian princess and she very quickly re-asserted herself as she was eyed.
"I mean I'm not being cruel when I say that," the Zoran quickly added on to his earlier bluntly-spoken sentence, this time with a half-dismissive shrug as he did. "He has other strengths... they just don't lie in subtle qualities like Aegir-control is all."
The listening Vassia rolled her eyes. "So when Alwyn does it, it's okay but when I do it-"
"When you do it you sound like you mean every word of it."
Link's abrupt response, so full of ire and frustration with the Palashian princess, stopped her mid-sentence; she blinked to face him and rose a violet-haired eyebrow upwards as she turned her look on each member of the group, almost as if for some form of confirmation.
"But I- I don't mean to-"
The sudden surprising humbled and panicked tone to her soprano could only take most of the listeners in the group by surprise; Link in particular was most taken aback. He stared back at her, single oceanic eye widened back at her in genuine shock.
"Damn," the young Hylian hero shot back, re-opening his mouth to finish his sentence. "You actually do have a heart."
The listening Malon burst out laughing next to him, pulling a similarly amused giggle from the watching Zelda. While ever-professional, both Alwyn and Impa exchanged amused light smiles with one another, opting not to voice their delight. Vassia, her previously-worried frown soon upturning into an angered scowl, clenched both her gloved fists at her side and stamped at the ground as she reached up to pull at his small and pointed Hylian ear.
"Agh!" He exclaimed out, raising both small hands to grasp at her own as she yanked him toward her.
"This kind of backtalk will not fly when we are married, vous petite merde!"
"Argh, okay, okay; I'm sorry!" He insisted in response, wincing painfully as she yanked at him. "Just let go!"
–
4
Having previously slammed his older opponent down into the arena below him, the smirking-faced Barkner had air-shifted backward to a safe position on one of the pillars behind him; a wise decision as, as soon as the smoke began to clear from the Goron's incredible counter-attack, the narrow-eyed Kaiser had re-appeared from within, his freshly-laid wounds hardly slowing his progress down. He grunted out and, with some serious effort, slammed his right fist vertically and savagely into the ground below him.
CRASSSH-SNNNAP
Like magic, the pillar that Barkner hung on reacted; he widened his boulder-brown eyes as it split into two from the sheer magnitude of Aegir that his wily opponent threw into it. The pillar itself snapped into two and, as it dropped down, bringing the wide-eyed and gasping Barkner with it, the glaring Kaiser pursued; eyes hungry as the maw of the abyss itself.
"Не думайте, что все кончено!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
The Stralanavian side of the wide-eyed audience all called out in approving cheer, having seemingly understood the man's confident baritone, and watched on as he began to run up the very broken pair of debris-strewn structures he himself created in pursuit of his Goron opponent. While Kaiser's approach seemed direct enough, with a simple forward-somersaulting vertical kick much in the same manner as his opponent's earlier one, it was his follow-up that caught the wide-eyed Goron; as Barkner slammed his fists down against the already-broken pillar he stood on to vault himself high into the air, the narrow-eyed Kaiser leaned his body back and with both hands gripping the shaky ground beneath him, he yelled out as he flew upward in pursuit with a high-flying stabbing vertical-rising kick.
"Razor Edge Slice!"
This time the Stralanavian native spoke in Hylian, perhaps for the benefit of the many tourists watching within the audience, as he brutally stabbed both kicks into the grunting and wide-open Barkner's torso and chin. In the tenth strike of his brutal assault, Kaiser re-narrowed his light-green eyes as he flip-kicked the Goron one more time to send him endlessly spinning in mid-air; he followed up by twisting his body 'round in an athletic horizontal drop-kick, non-elemental Aegir powering and filling his attacking leg as he did.
"YAH!"
SMASSSH-CRASH
"Gurngh...!"
The crowd of surrounding Hylians, Aurelians, Gorons and Zorans all cried out in monstrous cheer as the wide-eyed Kaiser came barrelling back down to earth, Aegir-filled kick ready to seemingly finish his opponent with. Almost as quickly as he did however did Barkner widen his own mahogany-brown eyes and respond in his own way; he shot up both rock-skinned arms in a defensive cross formation to block with, a savage offence above him almost seemingly endlessly spanning his stabbing wing-like kicks.
On one of his finishers however, the surprisingly-nimble Goron managed to tech-roll to his immediate right in evasion, leaving naught but wreckage and debris in his wake. The wide-eyed Kaiser followed, as half-expected, and grunted out as he leapt forward in an athletic cartwheeling hand-standing kick; as he landed it was the Stralanavian's turn to widen his eyes and gasp in growing anxiety as the newly-grinning Barkner grappled at his exposed attacking leg in mid-air.
"Now!"
"ARRRRG-"
CRASSSSH
Like a cork being pulled from a bottle of wine itself, Barkner twisted the poor man's leg before swiftly and violently tossing him overhead, crashing noisily and painfully into the ground next to him. Tiles of deep-mahogany brown spit up into the air to join the inevitable cloud of smoke and dust, melding fairly well with the yelling and cheering approval of the watching Aurelian audience.
"Rgh...!"
In that single angered grunt, the laying Kaiser widened his eyes and grit his blood-covered teeth as he shot himself up into a recovering hand-stand stance, ready to counter-attack. Unable to change his incoming trajectory, the watching Barkner could only widen his own boulder-brown eyes as he was caught within it; an endlessly-twisting kicking technique that saw the Stralanavian acting as a human spinning top, catching the gasping and grunting Goron within its gyrating vices. When Barkner managed to avoid one of the kicks by bending his body backwards in an impressive dodge, he attempted to counter-asssault his older opponent by throwing a wide haymaker filled with rocks and earth-elemental Aegir his way.
SWOOSH
The newly-smirking form of Kaiser moved so quickly his body left after-images in its movement; a fleet-footed shot that saw him air-shifting a single step backward. It wasn't very far but it was all the seemingly overconfident Stralanavian needed; following his quick evasion, he swung his body up into a deft and athletic somersaulting vertical kick, grinning on as he successfully struck the grunting Goron up across his rock-skinned chin.
"Urgh...!"
Barkner's form knocked noisily and roughly against the brown-tiled ring of Velinsk Arena, forcing him to push upward from off the broken tiles he now rested on into a deft flip backward recovery. As the ever-smirking Stralanavian soldier himself shot the Goron his overconfident look in his own recovery, he couldn't help but open his mouth to further speak to him, this time in modern Hylian so that he could perhaps understand him.
"Is that all you have...?"
The tone with which his baritone spoke in, a kind of patronising and sanctimonious speak that left a fairly mixed reaction within the surrounding Aurelian audience; while some gave out cheers, presumably other Stralanavians so close to the Velinsk capital, there were some audible boos to balance out and match the cheers given.
"You gotta love a heel Marsh; you just love to hate 'em!" The ever-grinning Seth called out, tilting his head lightly as he turned to face the smiling Marshall on his right.
"Certainly it was a style of taunting Pashkov utilised at the Hylian Hyrax in his fated duel with Weirson!" Marshall recalled in a light chuckle, nodding as he did. "While it may be looked down upon in most cultures, especially in Draerith and Hyrule, it is just as effective as any technique!"
"Mental damage!" Seth exclaimed out excitably, drawing out laughs from the watching crowd of people surrounding him and the well-adjusted Marshall next to him.
"Exactly, my young friend; exactly."
"Whew..."
The deep-seated, hard-breathing breath of air that Barkner blew out was the pre-cursor to the final card that the ever-stubborn Goron was to play; in his shut-eyed sigh, he re-opened both boulder-brown eyes and shot his hardened glare back at the Stralanavian ahead, before soon rising up both arms horizontally in what seemed to be a strange kind of T-like pose. The result of which left onlookers in the watching crowd all murmur and exchange unsure glances with one another.
"What the hell's he doin' Marsh? I can't work it out." The blinking Seth called out curiously, soon swinging his unsure look on the older (and wiser) man next to him.
"I... think he's..."
Almost as if to match Marshall's small and curious speech, Barkner widened both mahogany-brown eyes before his body reacted and dropped what seemed to be layers of rock-like skin onto the ground beneath them all.
DROOOOOOOOOOOOM-KRRRRSHHH...
The sound, and seeming earthquake of Barkner's sudden and abrupt movement, caused ripples to shake throughout the arena and even as far as Velinsk City itself; a testament to the incredible weight that Barkner always carried with him as a Goron.
"Good lord...!"
"Woah!" The laughing Seth exclaimed joyfully, surprised next to his older friend. "Was that his skin?!"
"That's what it is!" The wide-eyed Marshall called out in realisation, a shocked look on his face to match and convey it. "He's shedding his skin as a Goron...!"
Seth soon turned his earlier-amused and excited grin into a disgusted, twisted frown, opening up his mouth to voice it. "Ewww!"
"While unpleasant in nature... it is natural!" Marshall chuckled out this time, his ever-well handled smile present on his face once more. "A function, just as normal as any other that nature and the Sainted Three intended my young friend!"
An aura of near-fire like Aegir visible and powerful filled the Goron's form and, as it did, his boulder-brown eyes widened and briefly changed colour to an akin shade of red and deep-mahogany. The watching wide-eyed warrior of Stralanavia could only let his eyes drink in the sight of what seemed to be his last stand; a horrifying sight indeed. Almost as immediately as the aura of powerful Aegir filled up Barkner's body did he move; an incredibly quick manoeuvre that saw the spooked Kaiser take to the skies in immediate panic and horror.
With extreme speed and skill in his movements, Barkner hunted down the former Stralanavian soldier by defying all physical laws of gravity in his superfast motion; a sky-high dive-kick that managed to make its mark fairly easily, striking the grunting man across his chin and passing him by as if he were a mere pedestrian on the streets of Velinsk.
FWIP-CRASH
FWIP-CRASH-CRASH
CRASHCRASHCRASHCRASHCRASHCRASH
The watching audience all let loose the dogs of war in their approving cheers and yells as the superfast Barkner somehow flew rings 'round the mid-air hanging Kaiser, endlessly dive-kicking and striking the Stralanavian in his passes. Unable to even be seen in his incredible sheer speed, Barkner's form was a mere glint that flew in between, yet still somehow made its obvious evident impression on the grunting Stralanavian soldier. In the tenth pass, Barkner's form darted back down to earth and he put on a hardened-faced frown as he rose up one of his muscled fists; earthen-elemental Aegir rapidly channelled through it and, in response, the very tiles he stood on and the ground beneath it began to violently shake and undulate.
The watching crowd of Aurelians in the stands surrounding the two fighters could only gasp out and some even in light distress however, with the invisible wall of Aegir brought up between them, their safety as before was essentially guaranteed.
"Incredible!" Marshall shouted out above the din of the sound of Barkner's intense Aegir-control, clenching his free left fist as he spoke into the Gossip Stone in his right. "So not only has Elbrus managed to imitate 'Fire Fist's' techniques... but Weirson's as well!"
"That Zora guy?!" The wide-eyed Seth managed out, swinging his brown-haired head 'round on the older man, drawing out a light smirk from him in response.
"Correct!" He began, re-opening his mouth to presumably elaborate. "In one of Weirson's earlier bouts, our man of the Zorans managed to drastically magnify his speed and strength tenfold by shedding himself of weights... artificial in his case."
When the watching Seth merely blinked his eyes cluelessly back at the older man, Marshall sighed and rolled his eyes, fearing the inevitable explanation he had to give.
"Actual weights Weirson used I mean...," he chuckled, drawing out an understanding nod from the youth. "Whereas in Elbrus' case..."
"Oh! His weights are from himself!"
"Very good!" Marshall smiled in pride, nodding back as he did. "His are natural it would seem and, given how heavy Gorons naturally always are, they would be much, much more effective than simple artificial weights."
"So what does that mean Marsh?"
Marshall's frown soon upturned into a half-amused smirk and he tilted his head as it did. "It means buckle yourself in my boy," he shot back, drawing out some laughs from within the entertained audience. "Because Stralanavia... is going bye-bye."
Almost as immediately as Marshall finished up his joking explanation did he seemingly finish his own technique; the ground reacted by rising up a huge pair of slab-like stones from the undergrowth of concrete itself, presumably to catch the slow-falling Kaiser with as they did.
"Rock... Running... RAVAGER!"
CRASSSSH-DROOOOOM
Like a small insect being squashed, and rather violently at that, the poor Kaiser's form was crushed between the two huge pair of slabs in mid-air as he dropped down to meet them both, pulling mixed cheers and boos from the watching audience. It didn't take long for the results as the pair of slabs cracked apart from the sheer level of force with which they were pressed together, leaving another smoke cloud of dust and wreckage in its wake. As the shut-eyed, grit-toothed form of Kaiser fell from the cloud, he left behind much smaller stones and debris as he did, his figure aiming for the out-of-bounds section of the ring.
SMASH
His body easily annihilated a good chunk of the concrete beneath him and, as he did, so too did the referee at last give the final announcement to the savage entanglement.
"Ring out!"
The listening audience all grew silent, presumably in baited breath for the man's words; they all swung their heads his way toward the competitor's box entrance and waited.
"This set's winner... is Barkner Elbrus!"
