Chapter 41: The Water Princess

Brawler came to enjoy the new powers given to him by that pesky nerd. The earth king, despite his title, was just some wimp who could mildly control dust. Absolutely pathetic in most cases. But in the hands of the fist-fighter, he learned to tap into this element deeper than he could of thought: Miniature earthquakes, Stalagmites piercing through the ground, throwing giant-sized boulders with strength alone—He managed to learn so much in that short time during training, even producing moves that's nowhere to be found in the tutorial. It was like he became the embodiment of earth itself.

"How's the tutorial going for you Brawler?" Asked Gunner. "You seemed like you were pretty invested."

Putting down the controller to replenish his thirst with a sip of beer, Brawler spoke to the female Mii. "The tutorial itself, was completely useless, only taught the basics. Thank god I'm self-reliant, otherwise I wouldn't discover these abilities for myself."

"So you're good to go for the next boss then right?" Pestered Swordfighter. "I don't want to rush, but we have to go through three more of these 'Elemental Masters' before nightfall. If we're not done by then, people will start being suspicious."

The puncher sighed, massaging his hands in an attempt to prepare himself. "Alright… I'm ready." He unpaused, directing his character to the exit.

Start the next battle?

Yes? No?

"Of course, dumbass. Why else would I go to the door?" Brawler said to the screen, in some vain attempt to mock the game for its faults. That, and for its low texture resolution.

The cutscene started off with a blackness before transitioning to Fury leaving the coliseum on foot, a voice that sounded awfully closer to the announcer spoke, detailing what was happening. "The death of Earth King was rejuvenating to the fighter, it reminded him of the old days before everything went wrong. But there was no time to celebrate, there were three more parasites Kung would have to take care of before living the highlife."

"The next target was the Water Princess, the rich and beautiful maiden of the sea. But that title doesn't suit the noble since her personality is alike to cancer. Kung Fury would prefer to call her by a different name. Bitch."

Kung was now sailing a row-boat across and ocean, battling against the tide and thunderstorms to reach his destination. "To reach the home of the Water Princess, the fighter would have to make an unruly shortcut through the Dead Sea, not wanting to pay extra for a boat trip."

"Seriously? He rather risks his life because he doesn't want to spend his money? That's cheaper than Wario." Said Swordfighter.

"I know, his greed has no bounds but his generosity is very limited." Replied Brawler.

"His determination was all he needed to pass the killer waters, the moment he landed on shore, Kung abandoned his boat and headed straight to the next battle arena to face his next foe." The screen changed to Kung Fury traversing in an artic-like area, walking away from a broken row-boat and towards a castle made of ice.

Then the screen changed to black, then shifted to a big arena made of ice, with snow falling from above and water flooding up to knee-level. The perfect environment for a hydrokinetic.

"Is it me, or do these seemed rushed?" Asked Gunner.

"Yeah the pacing of the cutscenes are too fast for my taste, kind of ruins my immersion." Replied Sword.

"We're here to get the job done, that's the deal. Getting invested is the least of our concerns." Reminded Brawler. "If anything, this works in our favor; the quicker I finish this game, the quicker I'll get more power."

Brawler's character entered the ring barefoot. The crowd immediately booed him, they don't care what his merit is; no one is better the maiden of the tides. He shivered slightly from the intense cold but maintained his composure for the stand-off, for on the other side of the arena was the woman he'd been looking for, the one who was cheered by the masses when she took off her veil: The Water Princess.

The lady that Fury was eyeing had skin dark as mud, her irises were white as the snow that was landing on their bodies, and lips were unnaturally red; presumably from the use of lipstick.

Her attire displayed her status as noble: pearl earrings hung from her lobes like savory fruit on a young tree; the blue dress covering her most body was blue as the sky itself-accompanied with the white ribbons caressing her shoulders, waist, and thighs, it looked like she descended from heaven itself. The most beautiful feature (That Kung Fury reluctantly admired.) Was the silvery tiara sitting upon her silk blond hair; shining brightly with pride and vigor. Truly, this woman could compete with the goddess itself on looks alone.

Shame her personality couldn't match the cover.

"So, you're the scoundrel who killed the Earth King?" The Water Princess questioned. She wasn't surprised that the geokinetic died so pathetically, out of the four of them, he was without a doubt the weakest link. It was his wealth and notoriety that gained him so much power, not his elemental abilities. "I've heard you inflicted quite the wound on him."

"A "wound" does not give it justice. I inflicted ungodly destruction on his immortal soul." Fury voice honed a sense of pride as he spoke. "Those who act like pigs shall be treated as such; removing those pink tubes of flesh from his belly was a declaration of symbolistic irony. Men of cowardice do not deserve guts."

"By the upward twitches of your lips, I assume you felt pleasure from decimating him." She said, recognizing the cues on his face. "Made you feel euphoric didn't it? Like you take on the world head on without taking a sweat?"

"More than that. I gained power." Fury stated. He generated a small amount of pebbles around his fingers, twirling it in good luck. "Though training the earth within me took its toll on my spirit. I became stronger than I was in old life. And armed with my willpower, I shall slay the parasites that ruined my good name, and restore my honor."

"And you're going to accomplish that by killing us?" Scoffed the maiden. "You're a fool to risk your life over an intangible dream. You either have a heart of steal or a brain of mush."

"Famous last words." Snide the fighter. "Enough talk, your life by my command, is forfeit."

"Hmph, let's see if your bark matches your bite!" She said with no remorse, the maiden then turned her head to the raptors. "Bard! Commence the battle!"

A female dressed in white ropes came up to the podium, standing straight with dignity. She took a scroll from her pocket, and unfolded it. "Hear ye, hear ye. We are gathered her today, to begin the fight of the ages, for we-"

"Oh god, not a damn speech." Moaned Brawler, clenching his teeth in annoyance. "How do I skip this?" The fighter tried pressing random buttons on the controller but to no success.

"What? No, don't skip it!" Interrupted Gunner. "Maybe there's something important that we might miss."

"Yeah, fat chance." Retorted the Mii. "Why won't it quit?"

"It's probably one of those unskippable cutscenes." Answered the blade-wielder.

"Aw, those are the worst! I'm not going to sit through this crap."

"Just give it time Brawler." Spoke Sword. "God, you're so impatient, just calm down."

"Oh, don't you start with the virtuous attitude, you asshole. You know I hate that!"

"Guys, I think it's starting." Gunner pointing to the screen; getting the blonde and the brunette's attention.

"…and by the order of the princess, I commence this battle to start! GO!"

The moment that the princess got permission to start, she materialized a floating ball of solid ice and threw her arm forward. The projectile hit Fury in the forehead, knocking him down onto his back-making a splash in the water.

"Damn made the first move!" Gritted the fist-fighter.

"And looks like she's making another!" Warned Gunner.

Kung Fury lifted his head to see a growing a trail of ice heading coming towards him. The spikes of frozen water erupted from the ground, looking for blood.

His blood.

The fighter rolled over on his belly, nearly dodging to the right as the attack nearly missed him. He got up in panic, having swallowed a pint of water by accident. He threw the contents of his stomach.

"Still think you're the top dog boy? I think not." Mocked the maiden. In response, Kung starred with livid anger and formed gauntlets of earth around his hands, and then he charged forward.

The Water Princess lifted her fingers to spawn multiple barrages of ice spikes, going towards her enemy. Fury was not much of a runner, getting tired easily from the intense endurance. But he makes up for it in his evasion skill; like a butterfly he shifted left and right to avoid the spikes. Getting closer, he clapped the gauntlets together, producing a yellow aura from his knuckles.

The woman changed her strategy; she stopped with the spikes and moved back to her ice balls. Multiple spheres were created around her before they all flew away from her spot, one at a time.

In response, Brawler ordered his character to manage the orbs of frost. Kung Fury dealt with it by either blocking it or smashing it into a thousand pieces.

When the fighter got close, the princess quickly formed a sword of ice and prepared to slash his head off. Luckily, he constructed by holding it in place with his gauntlets. However, his opponent had more strength than she was letting on, he struggled to stand his ground as the blade got closer, and closer, and closer, until it pierced into his chest by an inch.

Kung hiss in pain, which delighted the princess. "Give it up, you we're a fool to challenge me. You'll die like those who fell before me."

"Want to test that theory? Witch!" Brawler tapped the action button in determination. The fighter scowled and looked at the noble's eyes with disdain. He hastily grabbed the hand holding the weapon and clenched it in an attempt to prevent the sword going forward.

Her eyes popped open when she saw Fury slowly removing the blade from his wound. Upon removal, he lifted his thigh to the central ridge and slammed his earthly gauntlet into the fuller; breaking the blade in two.

It was now the princess's turn to be taken off guard; she was completely shocked from the counterattack. Taking advantage of her distraction, Fury went on the offensive: he did a punch to the throat, followed by a jab to the abdomen, and ended off with a uppercut to the face that sent the maiden flying for several feet-earning a horrified gasp from the audience.

She crashed so hard into the floor that even the water couldn't soften her impact, her skin bruised like a tomato when her back made contact with the ice.

The Water Princess groaned for a several seconds before getting onto her knees, she snarled before disappearing into the water below. The water began to rotate in a circular fashion, the pull was so great, it dissolved the ice floor, forming a giant whirlpool in the middle of the stage.

"She created a vortex, what are you going to do next?" Asked the blonde blade-wielder as Brawler's character was slowly getting pulled in by the tide.

The black-haired Mii felt a hinge of urgency, until he remembered his experimentation in the tutorial. "If this fails I swear."

Fury did a majestic back flip, landing on a platform of earth they was instantly created under him. Now that he has something to stand on, he can freely transverse the spiral.

"That's incredible Brawler, how'd you know it would work?" Questioned Gunner.

"The Earth Surfboard move allows the user to hover above the ground; figured it was worth a try." Sharply answered the Mii. "Now's where's is that bitch?"

When he finished his sentence, the maiden propelled herself out of the water like a dolphin. She was wielding whips of water that was extending from both of her hands, now that she has the element of surprise, she aimed her construct at her enemy and…

*WHAAP!*

The impact of the whip on his chest made him stumble back a bit, nearly falling off of the platform. Fury blinked a couple of times from the pain as he caught a glimpse of the girl diving into the water, staying out of sight once more.

"What is she, a fish?!" Stammered the shooter.

"No, a female dog." Seethed Brawler. He thought out the possible ways he could gain the upper hand on the princess. "Plain earth is just going to sink in the water, same thing as crystal and metal; mud is made of water, she could use that against me. And I'm not well versed in lava. What other earth-based substance could I possibly use-"

Just then he remembered. "Of course!" He quickly created a spear made out of blistering hot sand.

"Sand dehydrates water; if I spread this all over the arena I could flush her out of hiding."

The maiden dove out of the water to attack again, but Fury came equipped this time. However, the princess was to close for a stab in the face, so Brawler did the next best thing. He commanded the fighter to twirl around and smack her in back, the impact was enough the send her of course into the water again.

It was time to end this dance.

Kung Fury dropped his spear onto the platform and extended his hands out, expelling countless particles of sand around the arena and into the hole; turning the place from a pool to a sand box.

The only body of water around was a medium-sized pond where the vortex used to be. The fighter dissipated the platform and rearmed himself with the spear, approaching the pond with caution as he moved closer, and closer.

The girl flew out of the water in a fit of desperation, brandishing her whips as she went in the kill.

Fortunately for Fury, he was quicker. He pierced the maiden's abdomen. She screamed in pain as the spade broke off, and crash-landed in a heap of sand. It felt like her belly was on fire, and it only got worse when she he removed the scrap from her side. She understood now, this one was special. If the princess didn't take out the trash right now, her corpse will be in the dust bin. The girl propped herself on her knee, displaying an emotion between fear and anger as she covered the wound in some vain attempt of healing.

"Ready to choke on those words?" Mocked Fury. "Still got plenty of energy to spare."

Ignoring the insult, she extended both hands away from her body and closed her eyes. The water that hadn't been dried up, had been lifted up in the air before shifting its state to that of mist.

"I don't care why you're here. Whether it be vengeance or delusions of grandeur." She spat as the mist was beginning to enshroud her body from head to toe. "I'm not letting you take me from the throne!"

The cloud of mist floated above the stage and the seats, towering over the crowd as it extended tentacles of gas at the fighter.

Kung Fury in turn did a cartwheel to avoid the tendrils and pounded his hands together. The excess dust from the sand was extracted from the ground and was now covering the challenger, in the same way as the princess.

"Whoa, I didn't see you make that move before." Said Sword.

"Me neither, I didn't practice with this move at training. I think this part's scripted." Answered Brawler.

The cloud of dust floated to the ceiling to meet the cloud of dust. They both stayed like that, silent in action but furious in movement. Waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Hold on, you haven't used this form before. What happens if you die because you don't know the controls?" Worried Gunner.

"Stop being uptight Gunner." Spoke Brawler. "I'm a fast learner, this won't be trouble."

The vapor went first, constructing a maul out of its gas before taking a swing. A portion of the dust fell apart when the spike ball hit it, now the brown cloud was smaller than the white one.

"Ah, I see you're not leaving things to chance. Allow me to break the odds!" The fist-fighter taunted the Water Princess as he ordered the dust to move upwards to dodge another attack. He quickly learned to move by position the controller stick in different ways.

"Now I wonder what happens if I press the action button?" With a quick press up the left button the brown cloud had formed a shield of solid dust. "Wait, that's it? There's no damn weapons here! How the hell am I going to go on the offensive with a shield?!"

"I don't think you do." Said Swordfighter.

Being confused, Brawler allowed himself to be hit by the maul again, destroying more of the dust.

"S* t" Shouted the fist-fighter. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"If you have a shield then it probably means you have to defend yourself." Analyzed the Mii in the orange shirt. "Look! She's going once more!"

Kung Fury's eyes widened as the maul was speeding at break-neck speed at him, he would've been pulverized if it hadn't been for the dusty shield blocking the spikes. As if things couldn't get intense, the princess had created four more mauls, it shot out the deadly tendrils as the white death got closer to the brown challenger.

Fury strained his mind, shielding all of the attacks. He was so preoccupied he couldn't do anything as the princess went in for the kill. The vapor and dust circled around each other as the princess and fighter were slowly exposed to the fresh air, their respective element covering much of their bodies.

The Water Princess lifted her torso up to wrap her hands around Kung Fury's throat, the pain forced him to close his eyes as the princess was choking the ever-lasting life out of him. With his options few, the man dove his hand in the dust and hastily molded a dagger of particles, and blindly took a risk as he went for a stabbing motion.

Miraculously, her hands lost its grip, allowing him to breathe again. Curious he opened his eyelids to find the maiden staring back at him with dead eyes. Darting to the side of her head, he could easily see the knife sticking out of her temple-blood pouring out like ketchup from a bottle.

There clouds disappeared without a trace, and they were left falling from the ceiling to ground below, thankfully, the corpse of the Water Princess cushioned his fall. The crowd gasped in shock, with a couple crying their heart out.

Kung Fury stood up to gaze upon the dead woman, feeling thankful that his quick actions ensured him his life.

He got the last say after all.

Like last time, a small glow emanated from the body, this time bluish color. It did rings around his head before entering through his eyeballs.

Afterwards, Fury felt his hands getting wet. Glancing downwards, water was covering the entirety of his arms; with chunks of ices and steam hovering about.

Congratulations! You collected the soul of the Water Princess.

This will allow you to gain the power of hydrokinesis!

You got two elements, two more to go.

"Boo!"

"You fiend!"

"I can't believe it! This can't be real!"

Words of hate and despair violated his ear drums. He saw that the villagers were not harassing him for overthrowing their ruler. Their anger could almost contend Fury's if they had the determination.

"SILENCE!" The heckling ceased once the royal bard shouted her command. Now that she had the stage, she continued.

"Rue this day, oh my." She whispered, then raised the volume to her voice. "I shall now declare the winner of this curse battle. The winner is… Kung Fury."

The bard's tone was that of weariness and sadness. But Fury didn't care, not his fault, if she didn't screw with him, the she would've still be alive.

The fighter gave a bow as he headed towards the nearest exit, waving to all the people shouting him down from the stands until the doors closed.

"By hell, the boss battle was ball busting." Said Brawler, know slouching from his chair from mental exhaustion. "See Gunner, told you nothing will happen."

"Yes, I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm glad you proved me wrong." Piped Gunner.

"Good, we have two more to go." Sword pointed to the cloaked figures guarding the door. The two figures presenting the Earth King and the princess was now gone. All that's left was The Air assassin and the Fire Tyrant. "If we start training now we-"

"Nope, not now. I need to rest for a few minutes." Interrupted Brawler, wanting to take a breather.

"Fine, whenever you finished, just continue. I'm going to practice my sword techniques." The blade-wielder said as he went to one of the corners of the room.

"Oh, wait for me!" Gunner went to follow Sword. "I want to see what you got."

"Yeah, you go do that. I'm going to take mine as well." Brawler said as he relaxed in his chair. "Two more to go. Just two more to go, and I'll be free of this horsecrap. Just a little more."