Elder Justice
…
Chapter 3: Cage Match
Leaving the diner, the Dragonborn wandered down the street. He had no destination in mind, simply going wherever whimsy and chance would take him. As he traipsed down the pavement, he noted that people seemed to watch him with interest. The warrior paid them no mind, he might've done the same to them given the chance.
Coming across a notice board, the Hero of Skyrim took the time to peruse the notices and flyer pinned to it. Nothing particularly stood out to the warrior, all except one. The notice read that there was an amateur prize fighting competition at a place called Wildcat Gym, run by the owner Ted Grant who was looking for new talent in the prize fighting circuit. There was also a significant cash reward for the winner of the contest.
Reading the address of Wildcat Gym, the Dragonborn then conjured a Clairvoyance spell. Powder blue smoke appeared showing the warrior the route he needed to take to get where he wanted to go. At a brisk pace, the warrior followed the trail.
It neared mid-afternoon by the time the warrior found Wildcat Gym and walked inside to see people gathering around with would-be contenders lining up to sign up for the fights.
Joining the line of fighters, the warrior patiently waited until he was served. The bookie looked at the Dragonborn in mild surprise and asked, "Name?"
"Dragonborn," said the warrior in response to the query. The bookie raised an eyebrow but shrugged and wrote down the warrior's title on the sheet of paper in front of him.
"Sign here, please." The Hero of Skyrim took the pen offered and wrote his title on the dotted line.
"Alright, you're gonna have to ditch the armour if you wanna participate. When you're called up, get in the ring and have at it when the bill rings," the bookie informed the warrior who nodded in understanding before stripping off his armour, leaving only his trousers on.
Then a moment later, the referee called out for everyone to pay attention what was to happen. "LADIES AAANNNDDD GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO FIGHT NIGHT IN GOTHAM! WE'RE KICKING THIS OFF WITH AMATEUR HOUR. EVERY WANNABE SUPERSTAR WILL BE DUKING IT OUT FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT AND THE WINNER GOES HOME WITH THREE FRIGGIN' GRAAAANNNNDDD!"
This announcement was followed by cheers and claps of the audience before the referee continued. "In this corner, from outta nowhere we got the Dragonborn!" In his corner of the ring, the Dragonborn wrapped his hands and knuckles in white boxing tape, flexing his fingers and bouncing on the balls of his feet to ready himself for the match.
"And in this corner, we've got the Gotham native, the Stone Cold Killer, Michael Butcher!"
Sitting on a stood in a corner was the Dragonborn's opponent; he was above average height but with a bulky look to him as in muscular, but in spite of his brawny looking appearance, his hair was cut short in a crew cut and there was a five o'clock shadow on his jaw.
The Dragonborn raised a wry eyebrow at his opponent before raising his fists in a boxing stance.
The referee then spoke to the two fighters. "Alright, gents. I want a nice clean fight, y'hear? No biting, no scratching and no nut shots!" he told them before going over to ring the bell.
"Hey, can we talk a minute?" Dragonborn looked at his opponent who said to him, "Listen, man. Looking at ya now, I ain't go no chance beating ya." His expression became sad almost desperate as he continued, "But… I got a heap of debt to pay off and they're breathing down my neck! So, I'm asking ya: would you throw the fight for me? For my sake at least?" he asked, a desperate look in his eye.
The Dragonborn stared at his foe for a moment before shaking his head. "Shut up and fight," he said and the bell rang.
Michael Butcher launched himself at the Dragonborn with a flurry of punches. The warrior easily avoided the punches before blocking the last one and delivered a left hook to his foe's right cheek. The man's head snapped to the side by the sheer force of the punch, blood and spittle flying out from his mouth. The Dragonborn then followed this up with a gut-punch; Michael doubled over but shot his foot out to shove his opponent back.
The Dragonborn easily moved back and Michael lunged forward with a spin kick but his foot was easily caught in the Dragonborn's hand. A brief thought of crippling the man crossed the Dragonborn's mind, but he decided against it, so instead, he opted to throw the man into the wire fencing of the ring. With a clattering ring of metal shaking, Michael groaned in pain as he tried to get back up on his feet.
Michael Butcher stood to his feet shakily as the Dragonborn approached him. Michael stared his opponent down defiantly despite the clear difference in power.
As bad as he felt about this, the Dragonborn would not lose or throw the fight on principle. Grabbing the man by the throat, the Dragonborn delivered a punch to the man's temple before throwing him against the opposite side of the ring. Michael slid off the cage with a groan, raising his head up before falling unconscious. The referee called the match in favour of the Dragonborn who calmly walked out of the ring as the next two fighters prepared to enter the ring.
Taking a moment to enjoy some cold water given to him from one of the gym workers, the Dragonborn skolled the hydrating liquid when a woman's voice spoke to him.
"That was impressive."
The warrior turned his head to see a beautiful blonde-haired woman with a slender toned build, wearing a blue-black jacket and blue pants and black boots. The warrior stared at her impassively to which she smiled at this and said, "I noticed you were holding back. You could've ended the fight whenever you wanted, couldn't you?"
The Dragonborn shrugged at this and continued to drink his water. The blonde raised an eyebrow at this and remarked, "Strong silent type, huh? Girls go crazy for that kinda guy."
"Wouldn't know," the Dragonborn said in response as he drank his water.
"Really? No girlfriend?" the woman joked.
"No," replied the warrior.
"Hm." The blonde looked at the Slayer of Alduin appraisingly before raising a hand to shake. "I'm Dinah."
After a moment the Dragonborn clasped Dinah's hand in hers. "I am called the Dragonborn."
"Dragonborn? Is that your name?" Dinah asked him.
"Don't have one," explained the Dovahkiin.
"You don't have a name?" Dinah looked at him in disbelief. "Didn't your mother give you a name?"
"Don't have one."
"Don't have one?"
"I'm an orphan," the warrior stated plainly.
Dinah's blue eyes went soft with sympathy. "I'm… so sorry," she said gently.
"It's fine. It doesn't bother me too much," the warrior said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"How can it not bother you?" Dinah asked looking bewildered at the man's words.
"Didn't have time to think about it. Too busy to," the Dovahkiin said with a wry smile before he looked over at the ring. "Excuse me," he added as he set his cup of water down and prepared to head back into the ring.
Dinah watched after the man, confusion plain to see on her face. A middle-aged man wearing a tank top shirt, sweatpants and salt & pepper hair walked up to stand beside her. "Hey, little bird," he greeted with a warm fatherly smile on his weathered face. "Someone new?" he asked as he looked at the Dragonborn preparing to enter the ring.
"Something like that," Dinah replied absently as she stared at the man who honestly bewildered her. How could someone not worry about the fact that they were an orphan? It beggared belief itself.
Dinah and her companion moved closer to the ring as the Dragonborn entered the ring to face the last fighter.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We are now in the last match of the evening! Our newcomer the Dragonborn will face the reigning champion of the ring; Tom 'The Tailor' Takeda!"
The Dovahkiin looked at his final opponent. The man was taller and well-built with short cut black hair and features that looked foreign to the warrior. A contemptuous sneer was on the man's face as he said, "You have been weighed, you have been measured and you have been found a loser! What makes you think you can you beat me?" he boasted.
The Hero of Skyrim raised an eyebrow before readying himself for the fight. The referee then gave the call for the fight to begin.
The Tailor launched himself at the Dragonborn with an air. The Dragonborn sidestepped the kick. The Tailor landed on his feet before performing a leg sweep at the Dragonborn who easily stepped over the attack. Rolling back, the Tailor jumped to his feet only to receive a fist to the nose from the Dragonborn. A crunch of bone was heard as Tom stumbled back, clutching a bleeding ruined nose.
"You… bastard!" the man howled, seeing red as he threw punches and kicks at the warrior who blocked and parried the blows. The Tailor then tried to grab the warrior by the throat with both hands. The Dragonborn then calmly gripped the man's wrists and slowly lazily pried the man's hands from his throat easily. Tom had a look of incomprehension on his face before the Dovahkiin headbutted him in the face, breaking his nose even further before kicking his legs out from under him. With Tom briefly in the air, the Dragonborn easily swung the man around in a circle three times before hurling against the side of the ring.
Tom 'the Tailor' Takeda collided against the cage and groaned in pain as the referee declared the match over.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Our winner! The Mighty Dragonborn!" the referee proclaimed for all to hear, grabbing the warrior's hand, and holding it up in the air. Wild cheers came from everyone in the gym and the Dragonborn just looked at them all impassively.
Dinah smiled in elation, clapping her hands. Her companion laughed and clapped his hands. "The kid's got talent!" he semi-shouted in Dinah's ear. "Wonder if he'd wanna go pro?" he wondered aloud.
Dinah made to say something in reply when she spotted the Dragonborn's opponent reach into his pocket and pulled out a syringe with bright green fluid in it. Panic filled Dinah's eyes as she realised what the Tailor was about to do. Her companion saw it as well and was already rushing towards the ring, pushing people out of the way to stop the man from what he was about to do.
But it was too late as the Tailor injected the green liquid into his neck. The man gave a bestial groan as his muscles began to expand to almost inhuman proportions and his eyes glowed a sick green colour as he rose to his feet, his teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. With a roar, the enhanced Tailor charged towards the one who had beaten him, grabbing him and tackling him into the wire fencing of the ring.
The Dragonborn gave a grunt of pain as he was smashed into the ring's fence face first. Throwing his head back, he was rewarded with a deep grunt of pain from his opponent. Breaking the grip on him, the Dragonborn crouched and swept his foe's legs out from under him. His leg stopped on impact with the monstrosity's shins.
With a guttural chuckle, the Tailor reached down with a meaty hand to grab the Dovahkiin who rolled out of the way and backed up to get some breathing room.
Other fighters jumped into the ring to help and tried to bring the monster down with punches and kicks to the head. Others wrapped their arms around the Tailor's thick neck to try and choke him into submission. The monsterised Tom threw them all off with a roar and lumbered towards the Dragonborn who took in a breath before shouting.
"SUU GRAH DUN!"
Miniature whirlwinds of air encompassed the Dragonborn's hands and forearms before he launched himself at the Tailor, his fists going at blinding speeds so much that they literally vanishing in blurs of movement. The Monster-Tailor's face was beaten to pulp as he tried to put up a defence but found it quickly broken and battered down. The Dovahkiin then delivered an enhanced punch to the Monster-Tailor's left knee, shattering the kneecap and making the monster cry out in pain and fall down onto his now broken limb. The Dragonborn then proceeded to keep punching the monster's face until blood started spraying out and staining his fists.
"Stop!" a voice cried out as a hand grabbed the Dragonborn's wrist. The warrior looked to see Dinah with a horrified look on her face. "He's beaten! You don't need to kill him!" she implored as she indicated the monster-Tailor's face that was practically bloody mush.
"Hm." The Dragonborn relented and wiped his blood-stained hands clean as the monster-Tailor fell over, seemingly comatose.
Half an hour later, the police had arrived to detain the Tailor who had now reverted to a more human form and the man was carted off to ICU for his extensive injuries. Detectives got statements from everyone, including the Dragonborn who was blunt but polite in his words.
After giving his testimony, the Dragonborn went to collect his winning from the bookie. A shaken bookie handed over a manila folder filled with cash to the warrior who took it with a nod of thanks.
"Hey! Buddy!" a voice called out and the Dragonborn looked over to see Dinah and her companion waving him over to them. With a shrug, the warrior loped over to them.
"Yes?" he asked them.
"Thanks for helping out with what happened back there," Dinah's companion thanked him, introducing himself as Ted Grant, the owner of the gym. "You got some fancy moves, I'll give ya that," he complimented. "Where did ya learn?" he asked.
"Skyrim," said the warrior.
"Skyrim?"
"Yes."
"And where is Skyrim?" Dinah asked.
"Tamriel," said the warrior as he prepared to leave the gym, not seeing any reason to stay.
"Where's Tamriel?" Dinah called out to the Dovahkiin.
"Far away," came the reply from the Slayer of Alduin as he left the gym.
"Strange guy. Couldn't stick around to talk longer," Dinah muttered in mild annoyance.
Ted grinned at this. "Don't get too bothered over it, little bird. I've known guys like him. Hardcore fighters, when the fight's done, they'll be moving on to the next one," he said. "He'll come back if there's another fight to be fought here," he added with confidence in his words.
Dinah nodded slightly at this and wondered if and when she would see the mysterious Dragonborn again.
Lingering for a moment in the rec centre, the Dragonborn sighted his first opponent sitting on a bench, his head in his hands, obviously lamenting and trying to figure out what he could do to pay off his debts. Looking at the folder filled with the prize money, the warrior sighed as he walked over to the beaten man.
Michael held his head in his hands as he tried to think of what to say to his bookie when he came calling. Then a shadow loomed over him and the man looked up to see the one who had beaten him looking down at him.
A frown came over Michael's face as he asked, "What do you want? Come to gloat?" His tone was belligerent and bitter as he glared angrily at the Dragonborn who simply handed him the manila folder. Michael's expression then changed to one of surprise, disbelief and confusion.
"What this for?" the man asked.
"You need it more than I do," replied the Dragonborn.
Michael swallowed a lump in his throat before he asked, "What's the catch?"
"No catch," the Dovahkiin said in response to the question.
"What do you mean no catch? This is Gotham! There's always a catch!" Michael stressed out.
"Maybe for people who live here, but I'm not from here," replied the Slayer of Alduin. "The money's yours. Keep it, pay off your debts, burn it, it doesn't matter to me. It's yours," he told Michael before turning around to walk away.
Michael felt a sob of happiness escape his throat as his luck was finally turning around and he called out to the man who decided to take pity on him. "Hey!" The warrior turned his head to look at him. "Thank you!"
"Hm. Consider yourself fortunate. I might not be so charitable next time," replied the Dragonborn as he left the rec centre.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There! Chapter three of this crossover is done and dusted! If this chapter seems familiar, I kinda borrowed it from Man of Wrath's Devil May Cry/DC crossover, but added my own twist to it with the final fighter juicing himself on Venom and turning into a roided out monster with the Dragonborn having to fight him. Plus we also saw the introduction of Black Canary and Ted Grant AKA Wildcat.
So, to Man of Wrath, I apologise if I copied you in any way, and I thank you for the inspiration behind this chapter.
Next chapter, we might see the Dragonborn run into Batman and Robin again and perhaps Black Canary might help out too since she's a Gotham native and one of the few heroes who can come and go in Gotham without Batman having to restrict her movements.
An interesting idea for another Young Justice/Elder Scrolls crossover would be Artemis and Zatanna in Skyrim. Maybe Sheogorath or Klaring zap the two to Skyrim where they travel with the Dragonborn dealing with all the stuff that happens in Skyrim while trying to find a way home. And of course, Arty and Zee are going to be in for a rude awakening when they see how things are done in Skyrim, e.g. killing your opponents, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle that.
In other news, I recently updated my Highschool of the Dead/Game of Thrones crossover with Aegon and Saeko ending up in the Castlevania Netflix show, and for the conclusion of the arc, Alucard creates for them some portal detection devices and even constructs a portal gateway that will hopefully take them back to Skellige. But as you can guess, they don't end up back in Skellige. So to that end, once the Castlevania arc is concluded, I've set up a poll on my profile of some worlds Aegon and Saeko could end up on. I won't say which worlds they are, but some of them have been planned for the story overall. Feel free to cast your vote on which world Aegon and Saeko end up after Castlevania.
And apart from that, I haven't got too much more to say about this, so I'll catch you all in the next one.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.
EDIT 6/10/2023: Due to some concerns from a friend about certain bits of this chapter, it was partially rewritten to make it different from Man of Wrath's work.