Chapter 70: (A) Raw Round; Like a Dragon
Nation of Domination Arc – The World Championships
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda; this is just a Fan Fiction
Featured Music: "Character Select" – Killer Instinct (1994) OST. Chapter Briefing.
"The Instinct" – Killer Instinct (2013) OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Tusk" – Yakuza 0 OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).
Round Eleven.
The World Championships have already had long and short sets; all of them explosive and high-quality. Hosted in Draerith's far-off eastern lands, the Great Hall of the People, it has proceeded fairly quickly so far, in consideration of its double-elimination bracket this time. Much unlike the national championship tournaments of the Prima World Tour, the World Championships instead offer a double-elimination that allows each participant to at least make a potential comeback, all in favour of earning that one envied title of 'world champion'.
In previous match-ups, so far only Lycidas Marino and Link Firbrand himself remain in higher bracket; a mental and physical advantage over every other participant; as per the rules, only those in higher bracket may win the grand finals once, whereas those who advance to the grand finals from lower bracket must win twice – first in order to make a bracket reset and, then, to finally take the championship. All those in lower bracket currently are:
Vassia Palashia.
Barkner Elbrus.
Veronika Fedoroa.
And, most recently (and surprisingly), Raynard Van Garrick.
Having recently lost his runback go-around with former Palashian champion Lycidas, Raynard now sets his hardened and angered-eyed gaze on the seat of 'world champion'; after receiving the disquieting news at long last and revelation of his rival Link's true destiny and legacy as Hyrule's Hero of Time, the heir to the Van Garrick clan is left in a disorientated mix of shock and rage. He sets it aside however and, with only one chance left with which to fight for the title of 'world champion' and beat his blonde rival once and for all, Raynard sets his shoulders straight and focuses on his next match-up in the lower bracket with Vassia Palashia.
Meanwhile, in round eleven, Lycidas Marino advances to his own next opponent; former Hero of Time himself, Link Firbrand. With a mere potential three rounds left before he snags the world title, Link can only remember the words of his would-be rival Ragnar, so recently having beaten him in the opening rounds:
"Do our dojo proud… do Sathryon proud… do me proud…"
Link sets his own shoulders straight, and with the encouragement of all of his old friends, his recent mentor Sun Hui and his fallen rival Ragnar, chooses to hold nothing back in his own first go-around with Lycidas Marino…
Scene 1
"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the world championships!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
The sound of Mr. Marshall's excited call radiated throughout Draerith's 'Great Hall of the People', echoing their similar motivation.
"We're already eleven rounds in, in this wonderful tournament!" Marshall began again, a light smile written across his formally-dressed complexion. "And we have one hell of a match coming up for you."
"Hell yeah we do Marsh!" The younger man on his right called out in response, grinning widely as he always did. "I'm 'Tasty' Seth and you got us watchin' over these appetizin' sets the whole weekend!"
"Right as always Seth!" Marshall smiled back in the youth's direction before re-facing the front. "Coming up, we have…"
As if on reaction, a paired group of names displayed up on the large wall below the glass window from which the two commentators spoke into, utilising Gossip Stone technology with which to do so.
LINK FIRBRAND
VS.
LYCIDAS MARINO
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
"That's right folks, in following from his oh-so-recently won match-up with Van Garrick, and not easily done might I add, Marino advances to round eleven and we get to see a fight we've never seen before!"
"Yooo… 'Fire Fist' and Marino?!" Seth exclaimed out of further excitement, swinging his shock-faced smirk on the man next to him. "I didn't know how much I wanted this match-up!"
"As you would so eloquently put it Seth…," Marshall began in a light chuckle, re-facing the Aurelian audience past the windowed glass to his front. "You ain't kiddin'," the man chortled on, re-opening his mouth to speak further as he did. "We've got all this and more coming up soon… don't go away!"
"Shame."
The firmly-frowning form of Lycidas rose up his head as he and his former opponent shambled back to the competitor's box, his hardened expression carrying him on. Only the grinning Link stared back at him.
"I was lookin' forward to fightin' you both in grand finals," the young blonde admitted, oceanic eyes scanning between the pair as they walked in. Raynard and Lycidas both exchanged a curious-eyed look together before re-facing the front and opening up their mouths to speak. "It's a shame you couldn't both advance."
"You have a lot of confidence…," Lycidas began lowly, his hardened frown ever present on his stony exterior. "You may need it soon."
With that, the former Palashian champion turned on his heel and continued his march; a slow advance seeing him to a secluded corner of the room far-off from the two behind him and the group of companions waiting a little further ahead. Raynard and Link watched him leave together, hardened frown and light-faced grin present on their expressions.
"Link…,"
The newly frowning-faced Link's grin soon dropped in favour of a blinking frown, about-turning to face his raven-haired rival behind him. Raynard stared back at him, greatly-injured and scowling back at him.
"Hold nothing back," the last of the Van Garricks advised wisely, shaking his bloody-faced head back at his blonde-haired rival. "He's a lot stronger 'n you might think."
Link tilted his straw-haired head back at the older youth, curious. "I would have thought so but… that much stronger than you? Really?"
"Tch…," Raynard tutted out of a mixture of self-disappointment and resentment, whipping his spiky and tousled-haired head away from the blonde briefly as he did. "He wasn't that much stronger than me… he just took me off guard."
Finding him on the defensive, Link couldn't help but hold back a half-satisfied grin before nodding back at the older martial artist.
"Yeah… Ly has a way of doin' that." The former Kokiri chuckled back at him, drawing a half-curious look from the firmly-scowling form of Raynard.
"Link Firbrand and Lycidas Marino!"
The two named martial artists swung their heads in the man's voice's direction, half-surprised by his light interruption; the chubby referee stood in the entrance to the competitor's box, frowning back at them all.
"Please approach the ring for the commencement of round eleven." He announced for the pair before turning, presumably to ready himself for the beginning of their next fight.
"Remember…,"
Link blinked again, swinging his curious look on Raynard a second time.
"Don't give him even a second to work with," the youth wisely advised, shaking his bloody-faced head firmly. "He will take it from you if you let him."
"I won't," Link responded with, this time in an appreciative-faced smile. "Thanks Ray… I appreciate that."
The listening Raynard re-folded his callous-muscled arms back at the former Kokiri as he turned to walk away, his scowl twitching as he grunted back in response.
"Hmph…"
2
As the pair marched out to the sound of cheering people in the surrounding stands, the chubby referee from earlier cast his appreciative-faced smile in the marching Lycidas' and Link's directions; the two approached and, as they briefly turned to face one another in contrasting expressions – Link in his light-faced smile and Lycidas ever in his hardened-faced scowl – they gave one another a simple bow before affixing themselves in their respective fighting stances.
Lycidas in a fairly relaxed and reserved one, fitting the similarly constrained stance that Link took on; a bladed one to fit the Loftwing-Style karate.
"Red side, ready!"
Link nodded back, a small smile on his face.
"Blue side, ready!"
Lycidas, a contrastingly glaring and scowling-faced expression on his face also nodded.
"Begin!"
Link leant back and, rotating his arms 'round as if to ready himself with, hung his right arm horizontally over his vertically-raised left. With his left hand hanging upside down, index and forefinger outstretched only, he eventually re-rose his hand upward; oceanic eyes widening in effort as he did.
WHHHOOOOOOSSSSSH
Lycidas, shocked by the sudden change in seeming weather and wind, was suddenly sent sailing through the sky behind him, drawing out more than a simple grunt from him this time. Link pursued eyes re-narrowing as he flew up into the air and, as he did, the similar-eyed Lycidas shot up one of his arms. With Aegir briskly loading within his opened-up palm, his other hand resting horizontally behind it as if to propel the next blast forward, he finally widened both eyes and roared out as he released the energy forward.
"YAH!"
VWEEEE…
KERRRASSSSHHHHH
Although Link had to widen his own sea-faring eyes and even swerve his body to the side to avoid the huge wave of magical energy and, as he did, it flew narrowly by him and crashed noisily and cacophonously into the invisible wall of Aegir behind him protecting the watching Aurelian audience. Even being behind a protective wall of magical energy didn't set most of the watching peoples' minds at ease; as the great wave of Aegir crashed against the invisible wall, they all called out in a mixture of distress, shock and excitement before soon re-settling when they realised they were safe from any potential danger.
Genuinely concerned for the people behind him, Link swung his blonde-haired head 'round only to soon recall the unseeable barricade protecting them; realising it was simply a distraction, the former Kokiri darted his head back to return attention to the battle but, by then, it was simply too late.
"HNGH!"
SLAMMM
In a dirty, double-handed strike with his conjoined arms, Lycidas came crashing down on Link's crown, savagely slamming and sending him sailing back down to the marble-plated ground below them both.
VWEEEE…
FWIP
Mid-flight, Link grunted as he flipped forward in an attempt to recover, landing briefly on one knee before widening both eyes as he felt a presence behind him suddenly flash into existence. Lycidas, his own green-shaded eyes also widened, yelled out in effort as he swung a rough haymaker to attack with.
FWIP
Moving very suddenly and without warning, Link's slim and similarly-muscled figure abruptly vanished from sight, leaving the watching Lycidas in a shocked state indeed; he widened both emerald-shaded eyes and darted his head around in desperate-eyed search before, sure enough, a counter-attack was connected with.
VWEEE…
CRASH-CRASH-CRASSSH
Through the ground below him did Lycidas fall and drop through, spitting up marble slabs and debris in his wake, wincing as he did. Almost as immediately as he was slammed in did he re-surface; Link snapped his ponytailed head to his immediate right, only to find his braided-haired foe flying up out of a second circle of debris and destruction, arms held wide and vertically to both sides of himself.
The former Kokiri took the chance to pursue and, as he did, Lycidas met that pursuit with one of his own; he leapt forward and grunted with effort as he swiped at the air roughly where Link approached from.
FWIP
SLAM
"Gurgh…!"
In a swift afterimage Link vanished from sight immediately before re-appearing in the Palashian man's face, rushing him down with a quick slamming punch to the centre of his torso, sending him flying backward. As before, Link followed, oceanic eyes narrowing; as he sped across the marble floor, he issued a quick jab through the air before deftly flickering in the sky as he did. The narrow-eyed Lycidas kicked up at him quickly, his green-shaded eyes narrowing similarly in response.
FWIP
With incredible movement and speed, Link's blue-clothed form shimmered in and out of existence itself, soon re-appearing to the far-right; a manoeuvre in which the glaring Lycidas followed. He shot through the air to pursue, throwing a quick downward punch that Link saw coming; the young blonde Hylian shifted his body to the side in evasion before responding with a quick series of swipes of his own. Lycidas met them and widened both eyes when he found his fleet-footed foe vanishing from sight suddenly before him.
FWIP
Behind him the youth re-appeared and, hovering in mid-air, issued out a long and wide roundhouse kick.
CHK
The blonde's leg, caught within Lycidas' grasp, was soon gripped fiercer and harder than before; the former Palashian champion growled out and, in great effort, pulled the yelling youth back before tossing him forward. As Link was thrown back, he pulled body into a backward recovering somersault that saw him catching the ground with one of his hands, back-flipping to a kneeling position.
FSSSSH…
The sound of Aegir rapidly charging and firing out of his foe's palms made the former Hero of Time widen both of his own oceanic eyes before rushing forward his own palms, this time in defence.
CRASSSSSH
FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
The cacophonous echoes of Lycidas' impressive use of Quintessence was laid bare, tinting the very full and large arena in a beautiful yet dangerous shade of green. With the use of his own level of Aegir-control, Link narrowed both eyes and somehow managed to re-direct the lightning-fast trajectory of the wave of energy, sending it harmlessly far up into the ceiling above them all.
FWEEE…
KERRRRASSSSSHHHH
Thanks to the invisible walls of Aegir protecting them, even in spite of the distressed yells of the audience, the rocks and wreckage that fell only endangered the firmly-frowning Link and Lycidas, both standing on opposite sides of the arena with hardened stares, debris and wreckage falling between them. It didn't take very long for the narrow-eyed Lycidas to act and, when he did, the ground began to rumble and tremble a second time.
The watching audience all let out surprised yells and yelps before soon settling when they realised they were safe; in response, the similarly spectating Link merely narrowed a single suspicious eye of his own back at the glaring-faced Lycidas, waiting and watching patiently.
RRRRUMBLE-RUMBLE…
As the ground trembled violently, so too did the appearances of both combatants in a false display of movement; a sheer testament to the incredible power with which Lycidas summoned in order to defeat his more-than-worthy foe. The firmly-frowning Palashian warrior pulled back both arms and, readying himself, rapidly channelled his inner magical energies before very deftly raising up his plated fists; with a brilliant shade of yellow filling them up he fired forward a gigantic wave of Aegir, almost near-unavoidable, shaped like a beautiful dragon.
"Vanishing DRAGON!"
FWOOOHHHHHHHHH
ROOOOOAAAAARRRR
Like a bestial animal, the dragon made of magical energy and Aegir flew directly at him with no other destination in sight; it didn't take long for Link to react however. The former Hero of Time leant back and narrowed his oceanic eyes back at the man before pulling his arms back carefully, watching and waiting. When the golden-shaded dragon eventually began to make its final approach toward him, its huge power and magical energies billowing in his face, Link widened both eyes and released his own technique; an endlessly twisting and spinning one that saw the very marble tiles beneath him get eaten up in the sheer strength with which he moved.
"Kaiten Resshō!"
FRRRRRRR
FWOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH
In retaliation to Link's rapid revolving response, the watching Lycidas could only watch in shocked widened eyes, holding back a gasp when he witnessed his own technique being reflected straight back at him; indeed, a sight even the former Palashian champion himself could not predict. In having spun his body 'round in his signature attack, this one a counter, all the silent-speaking Link had to do was now stand and watch as Lycidas' 'Vanishing Dragon' technique came barrelling back in its casters' way.
Lycidas, finding no other way out of even evading the incredibly-huge sized technique, could only scream out in effort as he slammed both weathered booted feet to the ground and dug his heels in. With both gauntleted arms resting clenched at his side he grit his teeth and prepared himself to bare the full brunt of his own attack.
FWOHHHHHH-CRASSSSSSHHHH
"AAAAARRRRRRGGGgggggghhhh…!"
THUD-THUD
Lycidas' body was sent spiralling and flying through the air as the dragon he previously fired came smashing into him, sending the poor Palashian sprawling and crashing numerous times against the marble floor before, finally, ending up out of bounds of the ring itself. The watching Aurelian audience, captivated and shocked, could only watch in baited breaths.
"Ring out!"
The referee's callout made numerous in the stands all stiffen, wincing and fearful. The man himself stepped out onto the ring, its only other resident the firmly-frowning faced Link himself. He marched further forward to grab at the former Kokiri's right arm before raising it up in triumph.
"This set's winner… is Link Firbrand!"
