Chapter 49: The Fire Tyrant

After what happened with the third boss, the trio was hesitant to continue. They did win, of course, but not without consequence; Kung Fury had his entire hand cut off, alongside with the bruised eye socket. There was only one boss left but considering the condition that Brawler's character is bad shape, they wondered if defeating the Fire Tyrant was even possible.

"Are you sure we can't just restart the game? Maybe we can salvage it?" Asked Gunner. The three of them were sitting on the floor, deciding their next course of action.

"No chance in hell!" Brawler dismissed. "I worked my ass off beating all those bosses; I'm not going to do it all over again because you guys are nervous."

"I'm not nervous." The Mii in orange spoke sheepishly.

"People who are nervous, do not shake like a damn washing machine."

"What if we redo just this level? We know what the Air Assassin can do, so beating him will easier. We can even possibly finish it with our hand in one piece. Right? Come one guys, back me up here."

"Sorry Gunner, I can believe I'm going to say this, but I agree with Brawler." Sword apologized. "The part where Fury got dismembered seemed to be part of a scripted cutscene. That means the character is going to be injured no matter what."

"Thanks for proving my point Sword, now if no other objections I'm going to play-"

"Wait! What if we try going pass the holograms? We never tried actually going pass them before." Gunner suggested, pointing to the one last hologram guarding the door, a man hidden within a robe.

"Gunner, we talked about this." The blade wielder reminded.

"But there's only one more. Surely their power must be weakened with only one of them left!" Gunner slid her hand under her bed and felt something touch her fingers; she looked to see a soccer ball full of air. She smiled and took the balls in her hands. "In fact, let me prove it to you. Just watch!"

She put the soccer ball on the floor and rolled it over to the hologram, where it immediately combusted in a flurry of flames. The trio watched the burning mess with disappointment; Brawler turned his head to Gunner with a deadpanned expression. "You were saying, Gunner?"

"…We can break down the walls."

"Gunner just stop, just stop and raise the white flag while you're ahead." The fist-fighter couldn't help but to massage the bridge of his nose in absolute frustration. "There's no other way, alright, and you know it. So stop fretting over it and let me play."

The shooter didn't want to look in Brawler's eyes. "But what if we lose the game?"

"I won't lose, I can promise you that." He reaffirmed. "I'm the one with off all this pressure on me, you guys aren't affected at all."

"Actually we are, we can't leave until the game is finished." Sword said.

"Which is even more reason to let me do my job." Retorted Brawler. "Come man, we're time here, are we going to move forward or are we going to waste even more time?"

Swordfighter bit his lip, the sighed. "Fine, pick up the controller."

"Sword!"

"Its okay, Gunner. Brawler is rough as rock but he's tough as one too. I'm sure he's very capable of handling this."

"Finally." The Mii whispered himself as he pressed start, unlike last time there wasn't a narrator to bring forth the story; something has changed.

Fury woke up a dampen bed in a darkened room; he was disoriented until he remembered what happened. "No." He tried to get out of the bed but was shocked to see he was strapped down onto the mattress, he's was only able to move his head. Rolling his head to right he could see his hand has been replaced by a stump wrapped in bandages; still red.

"No… that damn f*cker. He actually got me. How can I go forward with my life like this?" The fighter relaxed his head back onto the pillow. "It's not fair."

"Nothing is fair, Fury." The lights turned on, momentary blinding the downed fighter. The door open, two soldiers dressed in red clothes and helmets came in, and pointed their red guns at him.

Then another guy came in; tall height; badges all over his vest; red-tinted glasses; his fire on fire. He was the one who captured him. "I thought you out off all people would've known that."

Kung eyes widen with anger and wrestled against the restraints. "Woah, I'd me careful Fury. You're in no position to retaliate." The man on fire gestured to his armed men. "Besides, you're a bit worse than wear, don't you think?" He pulled out a mirror from a drawer from the side and showed it to him. Through the reflection, the fighter could see that half of his face was bandaged. Fury would be lucky if he didn't look like an ugly son of a bitch when it healed.

"You." Kung said menacingly.

"Ah, so you do remember me." The Fire Tyrant pulled out a chair and set it by the bed, and sat down. "I was afraid you'd forget about me."

"I could never forget about you. You were the one who ruined my life. You ruined me!"

"You ruined yourself." The dictator pointed at him mockingly. "Your life would've taken a better turn if you hadn't killed my father at the grand fighter's party."

"He's was mocking my heritage! I punched him in the face; I didn't mean to kill him!" Fury explained.

"But killed him regardless. He was an old man; you honestly think a blow to temple wouldn't crack his skull? Come on." The tyrant smiled slightly. "But I'm not angry, I'm quite happy you did what you did."

Fury muscles relaxed. "What?"

"I'll be honest with you. I hated my father. He's such a disgusting control freak. The happiest day of my life was seeing him dead on the floor."

"If that's true, then why did you cry like a child in front of all those reporters?"

"I saw an opportunity and I took it. When I lamented over his death all over the TV I got tremendous amount of support from all around; really boosted my career."

"At my expense!" The fighter was crying tears. "I lost everything! My title; my respect; my home; everything! It's all gone because of that damn incident."

"Could've been worse. Instead of execution they exiled you. I call that a win in my book."

"Oh, you would know about winning don't you?" The venom in Fury's voice returned. "You quickly rose to that top; you became the best champion, the best politician, and then finally the worst dictator."

"Right on the money." The tyrant clapped slowly. "It's amazing how much people are willingly to ignore your grabs for power as long as they love you."

"But… what I don't understand is your power. All of your powers. How did the four of you even get something so… game changing?"

"I didn't even know for myself for the longest time. I woke on one day and was shocked to find out that I set my bed on fire. Soon enough I found others who were similar to me. We formed a pack-"

"-And controlled the world. It's disgusting that everybody went along with it willingly."

The pyrokinetic shook his finger. "Not exactly, we all had over own way of running things in our own domains. The king controlled the money, so he had the government eating out of his pocket. The maiden was frighteningly popular. The assassin ruled by fear. And as for me, well let's just say I had a trick up my sleeve."

Fury looked over to one of the soldiers, his eyes were glowing orange.

"Is his eyes on-"

"-Fire? You got the right. I found a way to use fire as a conduit for mind control. Don't ask me how; because I'm not going to tell you."

"That shouldn't be possible!" Exclaimed the fighter. "Fire is supposed to burn things, not control people!"

"But I made it work; I practiced with my powers so long I reached heights that shouldn't be possible." The Fire Tyrant pointed at him.

"Why are you telling me this? Why have you trapped in this damn bed?"

"Because I still have use for you."

The Fire Tyrant snapped his fingers and the soldiers went to the left and right of the bed and propped it upward. The men used the wheels of the bed to roll it out into the hallway with the pyrokinetic following right beside the fighter.

"You honestly think that Earth, Water, Air, and Fire are the only elements to exist?" The dictator asked Fury, to which he stared harshly. "No, this is just the beginning. We are entering a new age, with new elements for the world. For me to grasp."

"How are you going to accomplish that, your domain is fire only?" Kung said.

"By killing you of course."

"That doe-"

"Don't you dare speak over me, I wasn't finished." The fire on his head grew slightly before simmering down again. "When I confiscating property from notable individuals. I' came across this notebook that I got from this artifact collector."

"And why does this matter?"

"The contents were detailing supposed future events; at first I thought the book was bullsh*t. I was never really a believer of that sort of thing. But then I saw the events actually happen, and then I took it seriously. There was one prophecy that caught my eye, do you know what that was?"

"…"

"The prophecy stated the four elemental masters would be slain by a brave hero, he would gain their powers and bring peace and freedom to the world once again."

"That would mean your visions of diluted power would soon end."

"Not necessarily." The tyrant said. "It also that this hero can only be defeated by the master of fire. Once he kills the hero, he would gain his powers and be the leader of the new world. Sadly he could only gain his powers by fair combat. I hope that answers your question, I was really hoping to kill you in your sleep and be done with it."

"And you're telling me this why? Detailing your master plan in the movies never goes well."

"This not a movie, Fury, this is real life. I felt sentimental is all; you were responsible for my rise to power. I wanted to give you thanks before our fair fight."

"Fighting with a broken eye and a lost hand is hardly fair." Spat Fury.

"Fair in terms that the arena would be on level-playing field. You did that to yourself." The Fire Tyrant pointed. "Oh, looks like we're already here."

The pyrokinetic opened the door to darken room; the walls were made of bricks, and skeletons were chained to the walls. The only source of light was a light bulb hanging from a cord from the ceiling.

The soldiers rolled the bed in and cut the straps, then went back into hallway and shut the door. Fury fell to the floor in pain; his injuries haven't entirely healed and they were still sensitive to the touch.

The Dictator stood from the edge of the light. "The only reason I worked with the other was because we were the only one's capable of controlling the world's destiny. With them gone the future is uncertain, but if I take your soul." Fire erupted from his hands, his arms alight. "I will not only gain all four powers, but I will gain more in near future. Will you be the one to strike me down like the prophecy states? Or will you die like the rest that stood before me?"

Kung Fury pushed himself up to his feet, his eyes burned with righteous rage. "I don't care about fulfilling a prophecy, I don't care about becoming a leader, I don't even care of getting new elements. But I do care about this." The fighter generated a flurry of water in his right hand. "I care about defeating you and freeing the world, and god help me, I'll do it if it's the last thing I do!"

"Then come on snowflake, let me teach you something about sacrifice."

The fighter out-stretched his lone hand; several spheres of water flew out his palms. The Fire Tyrant lifted a finger as several bolts of fire were ignited to life. These fiery projectiles soared like a bird as it crashed into water balls; evaporating all completely.

"What… the… f*ck?" Kung's jaw was open; he didn't expect his attack to fall flat.

"I told you I was the one who had the most experience." The dictator shook his head lightly. "Sorry, but you can't pour out this flame so easily." He laughed against and took a deep breath. He blew fire towards Fury; it was so bright it lit up the room entirely. The fighter barely had enough time to dodge the beam which hit the door and scorched the metal.

"WHAT?! That… fire is naturally weak to water! What the hell is this bull-"

"Let's try the air powers then." Sword suggested. "If we can't drown the fire, then let's blow out!"

"Great idea, Sword! Except for one little thing. I DON'T KNOW HOW IT F*CKING WORKS!" Brawler yelled. His voice cracked slightly, an obvious sign to Sword that the fist-fighter was panicked.

"OH GOD, HE'S COMING TOWARDS US!" Gunner pointed to the screen, the tyrant was running towards Fury at full speed.

"DAMMIT, NO!" Shouted Brawler.

"TRY SWITCHING TO AIR AND PRESS RANDOM BUTTONS!" Swordfighter yelled.

Brawler desperate, took his advice. He switched and mashed the control out of between stress and hope. Heavy winds came from Fury's fingers; the attack was so strong it pushed back the Fire Tyrant for a moment. But just for a moment. The dictator used his arm to protect his face from the winds and charged at full-force at the fighter, where he delivered an uppercut of fire at Kung Fury' stomach.

The punch not only burned his belly, but it also made him hit the back of the wall. He got back up and went for the last elemental power he had. A gauntlet of earth formed around his arm, he shouted his war cry and went to go punch the pyrokinetic.

He simple dodged out of the way as the fighter stumbled. "Seriously? Out of all the geokinetic powers at your disposal; you made a glove?" The tyrant mocked. Fury went to go for another blow but his opponent caught the punch with his hand. "Big mistake."

The dictator transferred high levels of heat into the gauntlet. The earth began to glow and sizzle Fury's skin, the fighter cry his howl of pain as he dematerialized the constructed and fell back onto the floor; with the master of fire towering over him.

"You know what, Fury? I changed my mind. I'm not going to kill you outright; I want to make battle memorable." He crouched down and grabbed onto the fighter's head. "So instead, I'm going to rip the soul out of you."

Kung Fury's eyes glowed red as yellow, blue, green energies was going from the fighter's body into the Fire Tyrant's. He was untold amounts of pain but he couldn't scream. He's lost control of his body but he could feel everything that was happening. Is this the end? Would the tyrant gain his powers and stomp his massive boot over the face of the world? Would he lose?

'No, when my world was tumbling down, I still pushed on.' Thought Fury.

Brawler gripped the controlled so hard he was beginning to dent it. "I defeated every boss till now, exhausted a good part of my soul to win."

'There is so much stake here I can't afford to throw in the towel.'

"If I lose now, everything I'd had done would have been meaningless!"

'There's one last parasite in this world to deal with.'

"If I kill him, all this bullsh*t will end!"

'And by god, I swear.'

Brawler began to voice their declaration in unison, as if telling the universe there solem promise.

"GOD-DAMMIT I WON'T LOSE, YOU WILL DIE BY MY HANDS YOU MONSTER! "

The energy that has been transferring from Kung Fury has now been slowly coming back to him. "What?! Impossible!" Exclaimed the Fire Tyrant. "I got you by the ropes! How are you still fighting?!"

Fury couldn't but smile at the dictator's confusion, the tables had turned. Now a red energy was coming out of the pyrokinetic and into the fighter; his wounds began to heal; the burn marks faded away, the pain in his back had disappeared, and the bandages on his face had come off- revealing his eye was good as new. The only wound that hadn't was his bloody stump; it was the only thing that hadn't been affected.

"Dammit, I can't handle this torment, Yargh!" The dictator was forced to let go and promptly fell on the floor. Most of the red energy had returned to his body but a fraction went into Fury's body.

He got up energized and more determined than ever. His stub glowed yellow and hot liquid began to form onto it. When he was done, he had recreated his own arm-made from lava. "I told you, I. Will. Kill. You."

The Fire Tyrant got up and created a gauntlet of fire on his right hand. His cocky has faded. "The hell you will, I refuse to die by the like of you." The dictator ran at him and leveled his arm at his opponent. Fury ran too, and made contact with his lava arm with his fist.

His fire was hot, but not as hot as lava. The fire dance weakly on the molten rocket as it made contact with his fingers, causing heavy burns. The pyrokinetic yelled in pain and pulled his hand back; his fingers are black as coal.

"Was wrong? Not as confident as you once were?" Fury said.

The tyrant scowled and raised his undamaged hand towards the fighter, projecting out several fire balls that zoomed through the air. Kung did a flip in the air and turned his body to superheated steam. He dodged every single projectile with ease, then he transformed back to his normal form; his position was now closer to the tyrant.

Fury couldn't see it, but his eyes were bulging behind his red glasses, he been practicing for years and never once was he able to transform his body into his element. How powerful was this kid?

"I can't worry about that now, I need to tear his head off before it's too late." He said to himself, he formed an entire shield made from fire and charged forward, thinking he had the upper-hand.

The fighter outstretched his stub, black gas twirled around his limb before forming an arm made of smoke, and then blasting a heavy stream of the toxic poison towards the end of the room. This attack was much stronger than the pathetic wind attack that Fury used before; he was struggling more than ever to get to his opponent. The shield did wonders against the smoke, but he couldn't protect his lungs from the onslaught of the black gas. His coughing forced him to erase the shield and cover his mouth to preserve whatever oxygen he had left.

The smoke slowly dissipated; Fury was sprinting at the tyrant. The pyrokinetic threw the first punch, but the fighter caught it in his smoke arm. He was smiling at him mockingly, staring through his glasses to make a point. "Do you know how you fight against fire?" His elemental arm turned orange; it burned with passion to reflect his desire. "You fight with fire."

The dictator screamed as Fury held on to his hand, burning his knuckles. The Fire Tyrant slipped through his grip and stumbled back. "You have my fire? That's Impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible; you just need to find your drive."

The dictator snarled. "I'll find my drive once I'm done with you, those powers are mine!" He projected a beam of blue tinted fire; it was so hot the chains holding the skeletons to the wall melted off.

Kung Fury counted with a beam of compressed earth, water and air. They were at a stalemate, if one overpowers the other, the loser will die and winner shall taste victory. The tyrant thought he could outlast him but was shocked to see sparks of fire now emanating from his adversary's beam.

The four elements slowly pushed against the cruel fire, before suddenly shooting pass the orange menace and going through the tyrant. The master of fire screamed his final death woes as he was obliterated on the atomic level.

Kung Fury stopped his onslaught; he could see that the only thing that was left of the tyrant was soul. It was standing there, glowing in the center of the room. The fighter grabbed the soul and pressed it into his body, completely absorbing it into himself. A surge of power ran through him, his entire body turned to fire before returning to his original self.

Congratulations! You collected the soul of the Fire Tyrant.

This will allow you to gain the power of pyrokinesis!

You collected all 4 elements. You complete your journey.

"Yes! Finally! I was about to flip if I lost to that greedy pig. Though I was kind of disappointed I didn't get to rip his guts out." Brawler dropped the controller on the floor and wiped the sweat off his forehead, feeling prideful he tasted from the chalice of victory.

"What's with you and disembowelment?" Sword question.

"Guys the game is still going on." Gunner reminded his peers.

The cutscene shifted to Kung Fury in expensive clothes wearing a crown on his head. The narrator spoke to explain what was happening. "With the four elemental masters gone the world could finally breathe anew. He broke the mind control of the Fire Tyrant's subjects, ruined the Earth King's and Water Princess's reputation, and destroyed the Air Assassin's organization. The world was at peace… for now. With new elements coming in the near future, Fury would have to teach a new generation of responsibility and goodwill, lest the wounds of the past destroy the future once more.

"But that's fine." The narrator's voice had been replaced by Fury's own voice. "I learned my mistakes; I thought if I hid myself away everything would sort itself out. I was wrong. Dead wrong. I can no longer hide from myself from the darkness within my heart, I will lead the world to greatness and I shall not fail. I will have to work overtime to atone for all of these mistakes. But that's fine. Because I will not fail. I will not fail them. Thank you so much friend. I wouldn't be able to do all of this without you. Thank you forgiving me." The final scene was Fury exiting through a door and walking towards a balcony. Waving down to his loving people down below. Greeting the sunshine on his face with a huge smile.

Brawler looked at the screen with confusion. "Did Fury just break the 4th wall? From a game with a gritty tone, I was not expecting that."

"Maybe it's a reference to you Brawler." Sword stated.

"Too me?"

"He's has anger problems, you have anger problems. He skilled at hand-to-hand combat, you're a fist-fighter. He's a rule-breaker, you're a rule breaker. I wouldn't be surprised if this game was tailored completely for you."

"I haven't thought of that before, but now that you mentioned it… " Gunner rubbed his chin in thought. "The scuba game took place at sea; Sword's memories involve much of the ocean. Yeah I think you're right, these games might actually be tailored towards us."

"But why so, did the gem do a… mind probe on us?" Sword questioned. He was about to think the implications of this discovery but Brawler interrupted his train of thought.

"Hey there's one more thing for me to do. One text box, it wants to know if I want to continue playing or not." Observed Brawler.

"Well that's the only we can leave the room." Reminded the blonde Mii. "Pressing no will just keep us trapped longer."

"I was thinking the same thing; pressing yes." Brawler tapped a button, his eyes turned white and his mind was pounded with unfamiliar memories.

"I need to get more protein in my diet; meat is necessary for building muscle." The bodybuilder said.

The man in the karate outfit transferred his chi into his left hand, he then slammed his arm into the log; a clean split.

"57, 58," A Mii was in the gym, lifting up weights. "59, 60!"

The boxer mercilessly pounded his opponent's chest. He smiled a little before delivering a power uppercut.

Brawler would've fell to the ground but he fortunately caught by Gunner. "My god! Are you okay? Brawler!"

"Your eyes… they were white. Did you have visions like I did?" Sword asked.

"I saw scenes of punches, weights, and karate. I think so." The fist-fighter rubber his head. "I forgot this happen with you last time."

"Does that mean you're skilled at hand-to-hand combat?" Gunner asked.

Brawler looked at his hands in wonder, and instantly remembered all the techniques. He did a punch, an upper cut, and a front flip all in one go. For the finale he generated a metal ball in his hands and crushed it between his palms.

"That was good!" Acknowledged Gunner.

"Well that answers that question, I guess you're a master with your fist then."

"Not just that, my muscles feel different. I think I developed super strength." He stared at the metal crumbs in his hands. "Oh… I'm going to love this!" He said, smiling one of the biggest smiles he had in his entire life