Mad Max: Road to Salvation
Episode 16: Tourney Prep and Entry
A/N: Sorry if this chapter feels rushed everybody.
[Kill king: Sorry man, I hate to refuse a suggestion, but the crow just isn't my thing.]
[SilentTye1997: You're very welcome, happy b-day.]
[Mr. T: That's about the size of his white fang problem alright.]
[Clearwingyuta: Thanks and mmmhmm.]
[Guest: I did not know that, and that's a possibility, in fact he could be like Bigby from the wolf among us.]
[Evowizard25, thanks, and yeah I can understand the need for more difficulty for Max and his merry band of fighters. I can only promise to try my best. Thank you for supporting operation: Blowtorch (Yang X Bruz). I didn't really get that either, and yeah it will be so awkward. Thanks again.]
[Mr. ReadMore: Thank you very much, I'm still trying to figure it out so we'll find out eventually.]
[SilentType1997: Actually I didn't, that was just a magnificent display of defiance and Max's hidden potential. You're right though, he hasn't gotten it unlocked yet. I believe a man with his resolve and will to survive carries an immensely powerful soul. I guess what I'm going for there is a mix of DBZ, RWBY and Soul Eater logic.]
The drive had been a long one, Max and the others kept a watchful eye on the newest member of their crew in the recent days since his arrival. Dinki-di was keeping the little ones safe by himself and growling angrily at the seemingly peaceful assassin. Slice and Krel seemed to get along with an uneasy silence with Slice simply meditating and he called it 'spiritual training'. After several days of traveling they had reached the edge of the jungles of mistral. When the convoy had stopped at the jungle's edge, Max got out for a moment and took it in again. This was the second time he had seen true green in a very long time. It made him dive back into the sea of memories that was slowly returning to its former luster. Max had begun to remember again and thought to himself of better days once more.
The others simply waited for Max to have his moment, Bruz understood it immediately and had everyone give him some space, except for Anya who snuck past him over to her adoptive father's side. Max wasn't paying attention and the little girl stood next to him patiently. She then reached her hand up to his and started to squeeze it. The Road Warrior was snapped from his reminiscence to see the curious cute little face of the darling little dog faunus girl. Max reached down and hoisted her onto his shoulders. She smiled at him and Max couldn't help but feel that somehow it had truly been divine intervention he'd found her. The road warrior then sighed and put Anya back down on the ground, the two of them walking side by side to the car. Bruz then decided it was time to ask the all too important question when they got back in the car.
"Oi Boss?" Bruz asked the man at the wheel.
"What Bruz?" Max said as he kept his eyes on the road.
"I need ya to teach me how to fight better." Bruz asked without hesitation.
"You handle yourself just fine." Max grunted.
"I've seen what you can do boss, and I need to know how to do all that!" Bruz stated his awe of Max's expert use of brute force and tactical strategy.
"I don't teach, and my skills aren't meant for competition." Max replied flatly.
"Boss I need this, I'll be more useful if I can at least scrap on par with you so I can beat the tar out of the champ. All you have to do is show me what to do." Bruz tried to reason with Max.
"Fine, the next time we stop." Max said gruffly.
"That won't be for a few more damn bloody hours!" Bruz said indignantly as he was dying to learn some new skills.
"If we stop now there's a higher risk of us getting attacked again and won't risk that." Max said growing slightly annoyed.
"We were on the move before, and that damn slaghead landed on the roof of a moving armored truck!" Bruz pointed out the method of Slice's arrival.
"Grr, fine besides it's getting late, and we need rest. The tournament doesn't happen for some time so there is enough of it to train you." Max wasn't in the mood to argue and caved to Bruz's begging.
"Yes!" Bruz said gleefully.
"Don't think for a moment that it will be easy." Max said stoically.
"My life's been hell so far boss, this will be easy." Bruz said nonchalantly.
"You don't know what hell is, until you've lived what I have." Max growled.
"I didn't strike a nerve, did I boss?" Bruz said in an apologetic tone.
"Forget it, we're here." Max said as they pulled up at a makeshift rest area. The crew stepped out of their vehicles and began setting up camp for the night. Max made a fire and everyone sat around it, Mari wanted to stories, Amy wanted to sing, Qrow wanted to drink, all while Max and Krel just sat there quietly. The four nippers (Bruz and Slice included) sat next to the adults and chatted amongst themselves.
"I see you have followed this warrior for quite some time, how is it that you came to meet?" The older teen asked to the slightly younger student of Max.
"I still don't trust you slaghead, you nearly skewered me little sis and her boyfriend." Bruz growled.
"I'm not her boyfriend!" Daniel said indignantly with a crimson red face. Anya giggled at the boy's overreaction.
"Anyway, I have my eyes on you." Bruz rolled his eyes back to the former killer for hire.
"Fair enough, I have caused you and your compatriots some reason for lack of faith. But I have told you and everyone else, that I no longer have any reason to repeat my attempt on your lives." Slice said calmly in a very clear and consistent manner.
"In my book trust is earned, remember that." Bruz growled at the seemingly peaceful mercenary.
"If that is what you wish to believe." Slice said as he went back to his meditation. Bruz said nothing as he watched the contract killer sit with his legs crossed and hands together. The manic mechanic just thought to himself about why this new guy was so annoyingly calm. It didn't make sense to him, not one bit. But that was just how it went he supposed. If the newcomer wanted to be the way he is then that was his decision, not that it mattered much anyway. Anya and Daniel though were both looking up at the stars and the sky was lit up with the beautiful sight of the starry skies above. Anya's hand unknowingly inched closer as did Daniel's. When the two of them felt each other's hands touch they quickly turned their heads away from each other in embarrassment with heavy blush on their faces.
But the moment was ruined when a horde of Grimm charged out of the forest with their eyes blood red and hungry for flesh. The two children ran for the armored truck while the experienced fighters began to put their particular sets of skills to work. In one area of the massive brawl Max was smacking around Beowolves left and right and firing his shotguns at an Ursa minor with devastating effect from the multiple fire dust shells. The view panned over to Mari who was rapidly firing her twin pistols at the horde of angry Grimm, one Beowulf's head exploded in a spectacular display of marksmanship from Slice. The skilled assassin transformed his weapon and spun his double ended spear like a combat staff and chopped the head off of one Grimm as he stabbed another through the torso.
The view swiftly changes to Qrow who was guarding the armored car with the children inside. Qrow slashed the heads off of some of the attacking grim and swapped to sword mode to slice the next one down the middle as it leapt toward him. Krel was lighting the area up and holding the rest of the enemy at bay with suppressive fire from his chain gun. The fighters were all starting to come together as a team and Max felt a chill run down his spine as a larger beast began to make its way through the forest from a nearby cave. Max managed to get some breathing room and fired his flare to alert the rest of the team to the arrival of the larger unknown threat.
Then a cluster of trees was mowed down by a pair of giant pinchers belonging to a very large and very disturbed Deathstalker. The giant bug screeched to its fellow creatures of darkness and rushed in to aid its kin in killing the brave warriors. Max took one look at the beast and directed Krel to use his explosive rounds to hold the massive creature at bay. The giant beast sounded its cry of anger and tried to shield itself from the flak while it slowly advanced. Max and the others were working overtime in their combined effort to take down all the other Grimm in order to deal with the larger threat at hand.
Max grabbed a spare newly made fire dust infused thunder stick from the backseat of the interceptor and ran towards the giant beast after whistling loudly to Krel to swap his tactics to covering fire. Max narrowly avoided being chopped in half from the sheer power of the angry creature's pincers and continued to make his way around the side of the beast. He barely managed to get onto the creature's back and it bucked wildly trying to throw him off. The road warrior doing his best not be knocked off of his tenuous foot and barely dodged the incoming stinger.
From a distance Slice had found a decent position and loaded an explosive round into the chamber. The assassin fired an expertly aimed piercing shot that blew a hole in the top layer of the Deathstalker's armor. Max was lucky not to have been knocked off by now with the combined struggling of the massive Grimm and the shockwave from the explosive round. He grunted and made his way to the crack in the armor plating with the explosive tipped spear on his back. The road warrior took hold of the crack and held on tightly as the insectoid Grimm tried desperately to remove the human from its back. It stabbed down with its stinger and only ended up attacking itself. The creature screeched in agony as it reeled from what it had done. Max took the opportunity and jabbed the thunder stick into the hole before jumping clear from the blast. The creature tried to remove the thunder stick from its back but the lit fuse ran out and it blew a large hole in the creature. The beast didn't even let out a dying cry as it fell limp to the ground.
Just like that the battle was over, entire piles of scattered Grimm bodies were dissolving into wisps of darkness and black ash. Max breathed a sigh of relief that the fighting was over, not to say he didn't enjoy the fleeting moments of silence. He walked over to the armored car and glanced at Anya slowing climbing out with Qrow helping her and Daniel out of the back. Max noticed that the voices had been getting quieter ever since he'd discovered Anya in his backseat. Maybe Amy was truly right after all, perhaps she truly had become his center. Max's instincts were in sync with his newly renewed will to live, all thanks to that little girl. Max shook his head and stepped back from the profound moment to assess the situation. Since the threat had been eliminated for now so that left Max to enjoy the silent night once more. Tomorrow though, Bruz's training would begin. Max went over to the interceptor, his oldest and dearest ally, and went to sleep.
-ONE WEEK LATER-
Bruz's training had been rigorous as he sparred constantly with Max, becoming a model student under the road warrior's brutal tutelage. It brought the aging max an odd sense of comfort to be passing along some of his skills to the younger generation. He railed on his student for even the slightest errors, but Bruz was determined to learn from the man he perceived to be the best. Everyone watched their sessions with mild interest as Bruz learned the brutal stylings of his teacher. Max instructed Bruz in the fine art of reading the flow of a battle and how it could mean the difference between victory or death. The Young dingo faunas was lucky he was so well built as keeping up with Max's swarm style of combat and tactical strategy proved to be beyond difficult.
This only made him crave Max's guidance even further as they trained on and on while they traveled to the arena. Bruz had built up his strength and endurance to be close to Max's from the intense training but Max maintained the advantage of overall skill and experience. The tournament grounds drew ever closer and Bruz's chance to hit it big and take the title of mistral's champion. After all that time despite how short, Bruz's training had been an immense boon and he was ready to face the fiercest contenders. They reached the mighty arena and almost everyone was in awe of the large coliseum, except for Qrow, Max, and Krel. Anyone could enter the tournament providing they could win an entry level battle to determine the brackets. Those who cleared the preliminaries moved ahead into the real fights.
When they parked their vehicles Qrow and Krel opted to stay behind and watch their gear while everyone else went to the small ring set up for the entry brackets. There were sixteen spots in total and Bruz was eager to compete. Max reprimanded his student at the idea of overconfidence in battle and the young mechanic understood his boss's rules. The road warrior walked with his student over to the registration booth and they began the process to register.
"Welcome to the mistral coliseum, are you here to register?"
"The boy, not me." Max said gruffly as he was reminded of the thunder dome, and the gas town race.
"That's right mate, I'm the one doing the fighting here. He's just my instructor, who's here to wish me luck." Bruz said as he leaned on the registry desk.
"I see, well then young man, tell me your full name or stage title so we can get you scheduled for the preliminaries." The registry man said calmly as he presented the list to Bruz.
"Bruz." The young hyena faunas said coolly.
"Last name?" The registry man asked, which left Bruz a little off balance.
"Uh, I haven't got one." Bruz said as a large imaginary sweat drop formed on his forehead.
"I'm sorry but you either need a stage name or your full-" The man started to say as he was cut off by Max.
"Rockatansky." Max interrupted as he stepped closer to the desk.
"Boss?" Bruz said with eyes wide in surprise.
"His name is Bruz Rockatansky." Max said stoically with an underlying tone of implied violence.
"Alright then sir, no need to be violent, Bruz Rockatansky it is. You're lucky, this was the earliest anyone's been here." The man shrank back slightly and entered Bruz's new full name into the roster. "Alright mister Rockatansky, your fight begins in thirty minutes. You're lucky, only a few other competitors have shown up, it's first come first served after all."
"I'm in! WOOOOO!" Bruz bellowed happily as Max rolled his eyes at his student's enthusiasm. Bruz calmed down after a moment of being ecstatic and came down from his high.
"Thanks boss, I-" Bruz started to say with tears of joy in his eyes.
"Don't mention it." Max grunted as they made their way to the arena for Bruz's first fight.
-END CHAPTER-