*Flashback Begins*
*In an outside arena, fans are cheering wildly as Brutus stands triumphantly over a defeated human gladiator with his fist hailed up*
(Announcer): And the winner of this match! The Unchained Gorilla, Brutus!
(Brutus): RAHHHHH~!
*Brutus lets out a mighty roar and soaks in the cheers before leaving the arena and heading to the back where he’s greeted by his teammates. A male leopard demihuman with wild yellow hair and brown eyes, a tall male elephant demihuman with short grey hair and blue eyes, a short male armadillo demihuman with long brown hair and black eyes, and a young male frog demihuman with low cut light green hair and red eyes*
(Leopard demihuman): Good job out there, Brutus.
*The leopard demihuman high fives Brutus and hands him a towel*
(Brutus): Thanks, Kobe.
(Elephant demihuman): I got you some water.
*The elephant demihuman hands the bottle of water to Brutus*
(Brutus): Appreciate it, Gasper.
*Brutus chugs the bottle of water*
(Young frog demihuman): With this victory you qualify for the finals in the King of the Arena tournament! Looks like you’ll be meeting that bastard Creed in the finals.
(Armadillo demihuman): I never liked that guy. He’s always looking down on us demihumans and playing dirty to win his matches. I say we give him a taste of his own medicine. Use a few dirty tactics ourselves.
(Brutus): No! I won’t lower myself to his level. I won’t have you acting on my behalf like in the first round Dawson.
*Dawson grabs his right cheek remembering the punch he received from Brutus for interfering in his match and almost getting him disqualified*
(Young frog demihuman): Than I’ll accompany you in the match tomorrow, so he can’t use his dirty tactics.
(Brutus): Sorry, Damian, but I’m doing this alone. No demihuman has ever won the King of the Arena tournament and I intend to win it fair and square to show everyone just how strong we, Great Bash Jungle are and don’t need to rely on dirty tactics to win our fights. We need a victory that will inspire demihumans everywhere. Tomorrow, I make history not just for me, but for all demihumans.
***
*The next day comes and Brutus is in the arena trembling with a look of fear in his eyes and blood on his sword. Creed is on the ground with blood all over his stomach from an open wound. The paramedics are working hard to stop the bleeding and pain. The crowd is appalled by Brutus’s action and begins to throw trash at him all while booing him*
(Announcer): My word! Brutus has fatally attacked Creed with his sword!
(Crowd attendee #1): You uncivilized beast, how could you!?
(Crowd attendee #2): I knew your kind could never be trusted!
(Brutus): No! I never intended to hurt him severely! This was all a mistake!
*The crowd isn’t listening as their boos become louder*
(Announcer): Brutus is disqualified! Guards! Arrest that wild beast!
*Brutus soon becomes surrounded by the arena guards*
(Brutus): Please, you have to believe me! This is all one big misunderstand-AHHHHHHHHHHH~!
*Brutus gets shocked from behind by multiple tasers which causes him to fall to the ground barely conscious. The guards soon dog pile on him to keep him restrained and handcuff him. Soon after this, Brutus was banished from the arena, his team was ridiculed by everyone both in and out of the arena, and everyone labeled Brutus as a psychopath*
*Flashback Ends*
***
*Back in the present, Brutus has gotten back up after Ryuuji kicked him through the walls. Ryuuji was slowly walking towards Brutus*
(Brutus): Not a bad kick. You definitely don’t disappoint when it comes to strength.
(Ryuuji): Taking your eyes off me was a big mistake even for someone of your caliber.
(Brutus): I was giving you a free shot. I jumped you with a sneak attack previously. My code is always fight fair and square, so it’s only right that I give you a free shot.
*Ryuuji smiled at Brutus’s code of honor*
(Ryuuji): Just like I suspected, the Unchained Gorilla still follows a code even after all that has happened to him.
(Brutus): That title no longer carries any meaning. I abandoned it the day I left The Arena.
(Ryuuji): You’re wrong. That title still carries meaning to all the young demihumans in The Arena. We don’t have to fight, Brutus. You’ve let your rage blind you from the world and Blood Moon is using you.
(Brutus): Blood Moon accepted me when everyone turned their backs on me. They showed me the truth of this corrupted world. No matter how hard we try we will always be seen as second-class citizens by you humans. We demihumans must show our true strength, so you know your place.
(Ryuuji): I admit that we humans have treated your kind badly, but not all of us are like that. Some of us long for a peaceful existence just like you once believed, and I think you still believe it’s possible.
(Brutus): That was a foolish mistake on my part. One that I will never make again.
(Ryuuji): Come on, Brutus, I know this isn’t you. I know that you’re still the Unchained Gorilla. Leader of Great Bash Jungle. The demihumans who fought with honor in The Arena. Who showed demihumans that victory without honor is meaningless.
(Brutus): Enough!
*Brutus pierces the ground with his jian causing rocks to fly in the air. Brutus takes control of five rocks with his magic*
(Brutus): Earth shot!
*Brutus fires the rocks at Ryuuji. Ryuuji sidesteps the first two rocks, punches through the third and fourth rock but gets hit by the fifth which knocks him back a little*
(Ryuuji): Alright. If words won’t work, then I guess I’ll have to speak with my fists.
*Flames begin to form around Ryuuji’s fists*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 76: Heatseeker!
*Ryuuji slams the ground with one of his fists unleashing a large tower of fire. The tower of fire begins making its way to Brutus. Brutus sticks his jian back into the ground to create a wall of rock to protect him from the fire. Ryuuji’s attack destroys the wall. Tiny flames appear on the feet of Ryuuji as he lunges toward Brutus all while spinning in the air*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 10: Backfire Fist!
*Ryuuji attempts to hit Brutus with a spinning back fist with his other flame fist, but Brutus blocks the attack with his jian. The jian begins to glow brown as Ryuuji felt like his whole body was being hit by a small tremor. Ryuuji lands stumbling a little to regain his footing. As he was doing that, Brutus swung his jian at Ryuuji who rolls out of the way to dodge the attack. Brutus concentrates and his sword begins to glow brown again. The ground soon begins to crack open and the cracks begin heading towards Ryuuji who jumps into the air. The ground where Ryuuji was standing on collapsed creating a hole that seemed endless*
(Ryuuji): *Inner thoughts* A weapon that allows him to create earthquakes and tremors. Never before have I come across magic like this. Combined that with his immense strength and fighting instincts then you have one dangerous fighter. However, he has one weakness.
*Ryuuji lands back on the ground and Brutus charges at him. Brutus collides his fist with Ryuuji’s fist to parry each other. Brutus lifts his jian in the air and swings downward toward Ryuuji. Ryuuji catches the jian with both hands once again feeling like his body was getting hit by a tremor only this time it was more powerful. Ryuuji releases the jian to the side leaving Brutus defenseless*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 101: Rolling Combustion Barrel!
*Ignoring the pain from Brutus’s attack, Ryuuji does a 180 spin and hits Brutus with a back elbow to the jaw. As soon as Ryuuji makes contact, a small explosion goes off causing Brutus to fall to the ground backwards with burnt marks appearing on his face. Ryuuji falls to one knee finally feeling the pain from Brutus’s attack coursing through his body*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 119: Heat Therapy.
*Ryuuji’s body begins to glow orange. He takes a sigh of relief as his body begins to heal itself and he fully returns to his feet just as Brutus was slowly getting back up*
(Ryuuji): Just like I figured. You preferred close range fighting as opposed to long range fighting.
(Brutus): What makes you say that?
(Ryuuji): You could have attacked me from afar with your tremor attack or earth shot. Instead, you choose to attack me directly. Why? For two reasons. One, you’re terrible when it comes to long range fights. In all the matches you fought in The Arena, the opponents you struggled against the most were fighters who used long ranged attacks. In fact, a lot of your losses came from fighters who employed long range attacks in your fights. Second, that sword of yours can’t handle the constant flow of magic passing through in order to create tremors and earthquakes. I noticed slight cracks in the sword when I grabbed it.
(Brutus): Impressive. I’ve done my best to hide my weakness in long range fights. For you to figure all of this out in such a short time and take two of my tremors head on without falling. You truly are a legendary knight. This only makes me want to defeat you even more.
*Ryuuji’s body stops glowing and Brutus rises to his feet*
(Ryuuji): My analysis also confirms the Unchained Gorilla still holds meaning to you. No matter how tough his opponents the Unchained Gorilla would always press forward and overpower his opponents never fearing them. You may have abandoned that title, but you still fight like the Unchained Gorilla. That’s the person who I want to face. The person you are now doesn’t stand a chance against me.
(Brutus): Big talk coming from such a frail human.
(Ryuuji): It’s the truth. Now that I know how you fight, nothing you do will stop me from beating you.
*Ryuuji said this with a serious look in his eyes which sent a slight chill down Brutus’s spine*
(Brutus): *Inner thoughts* What was that? Was I. . .scared just now? No! That’s crazy. There’s no way a human could scare me.
*Brutus once again strikes the ground with his jian causing rocks to fly in the air. Brutus takes control of the rocks with his magic and fires them at Ryuuji. Ryuuji smiles confidently as he reads the trajectory of the rocks and dodges them to get closer to Brutus. As Brutus continues to fire more rocks at Ryuuji, cracks can be seen spreading on his jian growing slightly larger with each shot. Ryuuji finally reaches Brutus with his fists burning with flames ready to strike. Brutus lifts up his jian to guard against Ryuuji’s attack, but Ryuuji predicted this would happen and was ready for it. He strikes the jian directly on one of the cracks. Ryuuji releases his fire within the crack and the fire spreads throughout the jian causing it to shatter into pieces. At first Brutus is shocked by this but doesn’t have time to take it all in as he receives a punch to the jaw from Ryuuji. Brutus staggers backward two steps before recovery. He tosses the hilt of his jian to the ground and retaliates with a punch of his own to Ryuuji’s jaw. Ryuuji is quick to recover from the punch and returns one of his own. Ryuuji and Brutus soon begin to trade punches with each other at a rapid pace*
(Ryuuji and Brutus): ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!
*As the two continued to trade punches, Brutus was slowly beginning to slow down. His punches weren’t carrying as much power behind them as Ryuuji’s punches. Brutus threw one last punch which Ryuuji blocked and soon took control of the brawl as he hit Brutus with multiple punches. Brutus was too exhausted to attack and defend himself, so he had no choice but to take a beating from Ryuuji. After landing several more punches, Ryuuji grabbed Brutus by the collar*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 55: Burning Kiss!
*Flames soon appear on top of Ryuuji’s head as he delivers a headbutt to Brutus who falls the ground completely beaten and exhausted. Brutus had fought in many battles, taken beatings in and out of the Arena, but none of them compared to the fight he was having against Ryuuji. Ryuuji easily overpowered him and beat him like no one has ever done in his life*
(Ryuuji): It’s over Brutus. Stand down.
(Brutus): No. It’s not over yet.
*Brutus reaches into his pockets and pulls out two green crystals*
(Ryuuji): Don’t do it Brutus! Injecting yourself with too much magic is dangerous. It could cause your heart to fail.
(Brutus): For a weak human such as yourself maybe. But for a powerful demihuman like me, I can take it.
*Brutus crushes the crystals in each hand and the magic begins to course through his body. He falls to the ground on his knees hunched over as glowing green veins begin to appear on his arms which begin to bulge out. His pupils also begin to glow green as a he lets out a primal scream and glowing green veins begin to form on his face. Brutus rises back up to his feet and charges wildly at Ryuuji. Brutus picks up Ryuuji and slams him through the wall of a nearby building before throwing him through a window*
(Ryuuji): *Cough* Okay, I’ve had enough.
*Ryuuji gets back up as Brutus enters the building and comes charging at Ryuuji again. This time before Brutus can grab Ryuuji, Ryuuji sidesteps him, grabs his arm, and delivers a judo toss to Brutus. Brutus slams into the ground hard and quickly gets back up where he receives a flaming punch to the jaw which sends him flying through a wall. Debris from the wall falls on Brutus, but he powers his way out of it letting out a primal scream. Brutus continues to charge at Ryuuji wildly. Ryuuji keeps dodging his attacks and performs counterattacks of his own in the form of kicks and punches*
(Brutus): *Breathing heavily* Why fight it Ryuuji!? You’re no different than me! All it takes is just one mistake and everyone will turn against you!
(Ryuuji): Even if the world does turn against me. As long as I have my blazing spirit I’ll always prevail and keep fighting. Never forgetting who I am and what I stand for.
*Brutus lets out a primal scream and charges at Ryuuji who begins to gather magic in his left hand. His hand begins to glow orange*
(Ryuuji): *Deep breath* Fire Grid Form 150: Solar Palm!
*Ryuuji stretches out his arm straightly and fires a large flaming palm. The flaming palm hits Brutus blinding him and sending him flying backwards as he gets scorched by Ryuuji’s attack. When Ryuuji’s attack finally dies down, Brutus is on the ground covered in burnt marks. The glowing green veins are gone and his pupils have returned to normal. Brutus is still alive and breathing heavily as Ryuuji walks up to him*
(Brutus): I give. I’ve lost. Go ahead and finish me off.
(Ryuuji): If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t be talking now. Besides, I have something to tell you. After I found out what happened at The Arena, I couldn’t believe what I heard and saw. That move that caused Creed’s injury had been done hundreds of times and nobody was ever injured from it until that match and none of your previous matches or background hinted at you being this reckless or violent. I decided to conduct my own investigation and here’s what I found. It turns out Creed faked his injury in order to disqualify you. He wanted the prize money and fame that came with winning the King of the Arena tournament. However, this wasn’t a one man’s job. He had help, from your teammate Dawson. Dawson got into the ears of the knights and convinced them that you were always intending to hurt Creed in the match in order to win. Dawson was tired of playing second fiddle to you, so he worked with Creed to get you banned. Creed split the money with Dawson and he became the new leader of Great Bash Jungle. I interrogated him about the fight. He put up a struggle at first but confessed to everything. From setting you up with Creed to getting you banned from the Arena. An official announcement was made concerning this investigation. Dawson and Creed were both arrested and are now serving time in jail. As for Great Bash Jungle, the group disbanded but the principles and code you stood by live on and have inspired the next generation.
*Ryuuji takes out his phone and shows Brutus a picture of Damian who is older and on the shoulders of other demihumans while confetti rains down on him. In his arms is the trophy given to the winner of the King of the Arena tournament. Brutus saw the picture and began to cry a little at what Damian achieved*
(Ryuuji): He dedicated the victory to you. He became the first demihuman to win King of the Arena and he says he’s waiting for you to come back. Don’t keep him waiting.
*Ryuuji walks away leaving Brutus there on the ground to think. Ryuuji returns to the mall to join the others*
(Jin): Sir Ryuuji, are you okay?
(Ryuuji): I’m fine. How about you guys?
(Amarti): A slight injury, but okay. Where’s Brutus?
(Ryuuji): Taken care of. He won’t be coming after us any time soon.
(Zia): You killed him?
(Ryuuji): What! No! I beat him and now he’s lying on the ground. His body has used up all of his magic and I don’t think he has the will to keep on fighting anymore.
(Zia): Oh.
(Ryuuji): Still, we should probably move. All this fighting is sure to attract others to this vicinity.
(Dust): Agreed. Let’s go out the backstreets and we can continue our search from there.
(Amarti): You guys go ahead. Zia’s leg got injured and I need to attend to it. We’ll catch up to you as soon as possible.
(Dust): Alright. Don’t take too long. Let’s get moving.
*Dust, Ryuuji and Jin begin to head towards the backstreets*
(Jin): You sure they’ll be okay?
(Dust): Don’t worry. Amarti may not look like it, but he’s a tough guy to beat. They’ll be fine.
(Ryuuji): I’m curious how the others are doing?
***
*Somewhere on the northside of Orion, Sanada, Raika, Morgan and Jade are being gunned down by Hargus soldiers firing at them. Raika is returning fire as the group quickly ducks behind wreckage for protection as shots continued to be fired at them*
(Jade): Good job getting us into this mess, professor!
(Morgan): Like it’s my fault we ran into Hargus soldiers!
(Raika): Less talk more getting us out of here!
(Sanada): How about that?
*Sanada points up to the sky. Everyone looks up to see a bunch of missiles hitting a nearby tall building. The building begins to collapse in their direction*
(Morgan, Jade and Raika): Oh sh-
*The building collapses on the group as well as the Hargus soldiers*
Author’s Notes: And the winner~! This was a fun fight to choregraph and plan out. Ryuuji has a wide range of attacks so it’s always fun to name them, describe them, and write them out. When I was laying out the groundwork for this fight I wanted it to be a hard hitting affair because these two are brawlers but I also wanted to carry some emotional weight hence the backstory of Brutus. It was essentially a screwjob and it ruined his life forever, but at the same time he still has time to redeem himself and get a happy ending. I don’t know if Brutus will make a return in the story, but he is a character I like and if I like there’s more to his story I can add I’ll bring him back. Next chapter we’ll be seeing a different kind of fight and focusing on the other group so look forward to next week. Thanks for reading as always and I’ll see you guys next time.