Dimension Hop 7-Fight to Remember

>The arena, a well lit circle with torches and braziers (hehehe) is the area you are brought to, led by a small child from the crowd.
>Finally you are stopped by the entrance by King Rindir.
>”My people tell me you are a sorcerer.”
>The tone of his voice is definitely not one of approval.
“No, I’m no wizard, mage or sorcerer…thought I did just save a guy called Sorcerer.”
>”You would do well to tell the truth, warlock. I am willing to give you that chance, but only if you tell the truth!”
“Oh, come on. I don’t have magic, and the closest thing I have are my boots, and all they allow me to do is Jump.”
>”Jump? Explain, warlock,”
>I’m not Gadget!
“Well Earth isn’t physically linked to this world, I Jumped from another dimension to here…basically another planet.”
>He appears to take in what you said.
>Please don’t say warlock. PLEASE don’t say warlock!
>”While I do not approve of the use of magic, I would ask you take this battle seriously.”
>Oh, phew. He’s still going to let me fight.
“I’m not fighting the child, am I?”
>”HAHAHA! Of course not, though he would be more than a match for you.”
>STAB right through the heart, Rindir!
“So who am I fighting? A warrior, a hero?”
>”All that and more. You are fighting me.”
“Fffffffffffffffff…”
>…uck.
>Minutes later the entire townstead is in attendance, and so are your survivors.
>”You’re no match for the KING, Anonymous!”
>”I’m so hungry could eat an octorok!”
>”For DINNER.”
>Yeah, these assholes are supposed to be rooting for you.
>No, instead: bad Legend of Zelda jokes.
>You sigh, and readjust the boots for short range.
>You were stupid, yes.
>And used to fighting off rapists and demons at this point.
>But human vs human?
>What the fuck man.
>At least you knew better than to Legend of Zelda it up anyway. You were going out like a plumber!
>Jump directly above him and smash him with your shoes!
>Yeah!
>Nothing could go wrong, now that you had a PLAN!
“Great, I’m going to die sarcastic. OK! I’m ready!”
>A black and white p0ny with a moustache and a small hourglass appears.
>”The battle between King Rindir…”
>The crowd cheers.
>”…and Anonymous the Warlock shall now begin!”
>Boos everywhere, even from your side of the stadium.
“What the fuck, guys?”
>”Well we expect you to lose, and then we’ll be a ‘captured’ tribe. It’s all handled. We survive and stuff, wasn’t that your goal?”
>No!
>No it fucking wasn’t!
>”NOW!”
>Shit, the fight.
>You face Rindir again, and see him lift his battleaxe high, then slam it into the ground.
>He leaves it there.
>…well, is death via mangling any worse than decapitation?
>SOMEONE’S ABOUT TO FIND OUT!
>You gulp, and begin to cautiously walk towards your opponent.
>He’s just a freaking norse warrior king, how tough could he POSSIBLY BE, OH I WONDER.
>You chuckle as you imagine your brain being voiced by Gilbert Gottfried.
>”You laugh in the face of death! Now I know you can stand to fight, warlock!”
“I’m not a warlock!”
>You run straight at Rindir, then Jump as he gets within a few seconds’ distance.
>You come out behind him and leap into the air, Jumping again above him.
>He was startled at the noise the first time and turned, but did not see you.
>Cool.
>As you come down on target (his head) he looks straight up at you with a grin.
>NOT COOL!
>He reaches an arm up to grab you, and you don’t manage to Jump again before he does.
>The two of you are now on the opposing side of the arena, with him landing on the boundary wall and you being dropped the 8 feet down.
You land on your side, a hiss escaping your lips as you strain to ignore it and rise to your feet.
>You right arm isn’t busted, but it’s definitely sore.
>You Jump away before the king can get to you, and watch him from afar as he simply leaps from the walls onto the arena floor like the frickin Hulk.
>Not quite the distance or height of a hulk jump, but it definitely had a man with a crazed grin slamming down into the ground for a cloud of smoke and a thundering boom.
>Yeah, you’re pretty much fucked.
>But you can’t just die here, and it’s only been 30 or less seconds anyway!
>You realize that just Jumping around isn’t going to do you much good. You were glad you charged the thing, but all the Jumping around you did sapped the battery power, and you had to be able to get home afterwards.
>Time to fight like a man!
>You propel yourself directly at the dude, using a technique from the movie Jumper to add to the inertia.
>As you near him and start winking out, he throws a massive whirling backhand.
>With all this crazy speed you got going, you simply stop jumping at him and his fist goes right in front of your face, and you lay into him with a knee into the side of his ribs.
“Direct!”
>”Not strong enough, boy!”
>He felt it, but it wasn’t good enough, and now you only have about 10 Jumps of energy you can use left before you have to jump home.
>Fuck all kinds of duck.
>You throw out a hit to the solar plexus, one of the only spots on the human body you can remember by name as a weak point besides the Achilles’ tendon in the heel.
>He lets out a cough, but knees you in the stomach in the same breath.
>Speaking of breath, you ain’t got any now!
>Doubling over, you see him raise his hands for that slamming thing.
>You Jump to right behind his legs and lash a kick out at the back of his knee.
>His attack is interrupted, and he turns to face you again with a stomp.
>You Jump to get above him to deliver an elbow to the neck.
>Gotta get the most mileage out of these jumps after all.
>Your attack fails as he grabs you out of the air by the arm and hurls you into the ground at his feet.
>For the second time in ten seconds, you are laid out and not breathing.
>Dude’s gonna score a TKO long before you’re dead.
>He kicks you in the side, sending you sprawling across the dirt.
>Rolling onto your stomach, you gasp for air and force yourself up.
>The pain is becoming a bit more manageable, you assumed the more you fought the better you would get at it.
>”Don’t let your adrenaline rush go to waste! Hit him now, while you can’t feel your bones break if you hit him wrong!”
>Useful advice from the peanut gallery. Thank you Duke.
>Well now that your perception of self-growth has been shattered under the cruel tyrannical heel of science, you get back to the matter at hand.
>Your boots, heavy and dense fucking things they are make the perfect weapon for hitting him. Why the hell haven’t you been doing that so far?
>Who the hell knows.
>And your legs are pretty strong too, having been used to your boots’ weight for the last half a year.
>Ok, Chun-Li time.
>You head back towards him and let out a wide kick. A false attack to make him dodge.
>He does not dodge, but grabs your foot.
>Oh right, this is why you didn’t kick him earlier.
>You let yourself fall to bring your other foot up and clinch his fingers between your boots.
>He roars in pain and releases you, then leaps at you with rage in his eyes.
>You Jump a few feet over and right side up, and just before he lands you lift a foot up and prepare.
“This…is…”
>”He’s not going to…”
>Yeah, you’re going to.
”SPARTA!”
>You lay the kick into his side, only to have it blocked by his arm.
>The hit still connects with the arm just as well as it would his ribs, but now that your distance was thrown off, you’ve ended up pushing yourself off balance.
>7 Jumps.
>Rindir growls, and looks to you with surprise.
>”You kick rather quickly for wearing iron boots. Perhaps I should pick my weapon up once more as well.”
>Oh, COME ON!
>He hustles over to his greataxe.
>Nope.
>You Jump, beating him to it, and hold it in your hand.
>You can’t pull it out of the ground, but you don’t intend to.
>You Jump, ending up on the opposing side of the arena, where the axe falls into the wall.
>You considered just letting it drop on him from above, but you would rather not chance him catching it like he did to you earlier.
>”It seems you have intellect as well! It is to be expected, that those without brawn train their brain. Unfortunately for you, I have BOTH!”
>Rindir isn’t calling you a coward, so you must be doing something right.
>Rindir adopts a defensive stance and waits.
>What?
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to go towards you now?”
>He doesn’t answer.
>You look to the p0ny with the hourglass.
“Is there a time limit on this match?”
>”No. Why would there be? This match is over when King Rindir wishes it to be and not a moment sooner.”
“Well you cutie mark, for one.”
>You sigh
“I don’t suppose there’s any way out of this than to approach him?”
>”The king is stubborn as he is strong and wise.”
>Right.
>So yes, you have to approach him, as there is no way he is going to stop waiting before you tire out.
>Besides that, every second you waste, your adrenaline rush nears its end.
>You buck up and ready yourself for round two with this lumbering lion.
>You rush at him, full speed like a Kenyan on Powerthirst, and just before you reach him, you Jump.
>You weren’t sure how he kept knowing where you went, so it was starting to piss you off.
>You end up coming from directly behind him.
>His eyes are already on you.
“I call HAX, man!”
>You don’t stop running, but instead, do the only other logical fake-out you could empoly.
>Chose one!
>I’m coming!
>You teleport back up 6 feet on your path and note that his eyes are already scanning above and behind him, away from where you are.
>Sweet. Since you’re still running, he has no idea!
>You leap and then give him a double flying air kick like it was going out of style.
“Hells yeah!”
>You land on the floor like the idiot you are and notice that for once you managed to knock him off his feet.
>He rises much more rapidly than you and swiftly kicks your arms out from under you as you attempt to recover.
>You land hard on your chin, and he steps on your back.
>How many jumps left, brain?
>Fuck if I know, use the counter.
>3
>THEN USE ONE.
>You try to Jump, but he nails you on the back of the head with a kick.
>Once you can see straight and stop hearing a ringing tone in your head again, you can tell that you have been lifted into the air.
“Can you smell what the Rock is cookinnnnn? Hehehehhh…”
>You may be just a LITTLE out of it.
>He throws you and you manage to Jump yourself to a wall to avoid being tossed to the ground.
>Oh, hi pain, you’re back.
>You struggle against the wall.
>”Hey mister, you should just give up.”
>You look up at the voice, and see one of the kids from Earth looking at you.
>”Stop being hurt, and just admit defeat.”
>You shake your head.
>If you gave up now, how would this go out?
>To give up and live you would have to teleport away.
>Did this kid know what they were asking?
>You don’t get to ask them because Rindir walks up behind you and lands a fist in your stomach.
>You weakly moan out when he lands another on the back of your head.
>Vision blurring, you are still standing.
>Huh, how’d you manage that?
>You raise your arms and punch at his next incoming attack.
>The result is just you missing him completely and being hit in the temple.
>You go down.
>Jesus. How did you ever expect to win?
>You black out mercifully as he delivers another kick to your addled head.
>…
>You awaken to King Rindir’s magnificently bearded face.
>”AH! He is awake already! I told you he could take it!”
>What?
“Hnn?”
>Fuck your mouth, it’s like it’s wrapped up or something.
>Hey, fancy that, it kind of is.
>And so is the rest of you.
>”You were only down for an hour! And I landed some solid blows to your skull! That takes perseverance boy, and I like that.”
>You motion to talk, and he removes some bandages from your jaw.
“Why aren’t I dead?”
>”Because you’ve a thick skull.”
“No I mean the fight. You had an axe, I thought it was fight to the death.”
>He looks at you like you are an idiot.
>Sort of true, but you’d feel better if he would stop.
>”Boy, what would I gain by having your head?”
>You shrug.
>”Then the kill is naught but a waste of life. Now rest up and join me when you can. It was an excellent fight and we have much to discuss.”
“So I take it you won’t be accepting the remnant families.”
>”Wherever did you get that idea? I just wanted to have you in a fight to test your resolve! You’ve more than earned the passage of your people into deliverance.”
>You smile and your chest fills with pride.
>Hours later you walk out into the hall, as it turns out you were in the hospital, and are lead subsequently by an aide to the king out of it and to his palace residence.
>You don’t bother to peek around, mind wrapped around what Rindir would bother talking to you about now.
>The room you are led to is filled with the families from Earth, Rindir and the announcer p0ny.
>The announcer is an earth p0ny, and is ready in front of a scroll with a pencil in his mouth.
>”Now sit down, and we’ll have a chat, Anonymous.”
>You do so.
“What is it you want to talk about, King Rindir?”
>”From these families’ testimony I know you are no natural born leader, but a man who had leadership thrust upon him. Are you really so keen on shoving your problems onto somebody else?”
“That isn’t exactly it, sir. I need to find somewhere that they could live where they wouldn’t be killed off by nature long before their lifespans would naturally end. When I came across more humans, I thought it better for integration rather than simply leaving them across the dimensions.”
>Rindir nods, and motions for you to continue.
“So I just fought for their right to live with your people. It was a lot better of an idea than war, in my opinion.”
>”And what of your ‘technology’ as they put it? What sorcery does it possess?”
“Well these boots can transport me and up to 40 others across dimensions. I’ve been in the future, I’ve been in the past, I’ve been in apocalypses, even Tartarus, once.”
>The p0ny pales as he write it all down, then looks to you with a serious face, though he says nothing.
“Point is, while Earth is scheduled for destruction, a lot of places aren’t any better off, and your kingdom was the best solution. My boots were originally designed to get me to a suitable world, but I, through a set of events involving a succubus, some lesbians and a scarecrow, ended up being convinced to save the rest of humanity before looking for a place to settle down.”
>”Then do you plan on settling here, as a leader to your people under my command?”
“I really don’t think I’m cut out for this. Besides, I’ve got a promise I made to a mare that I intend to keep. I said I’d visit, and I will.”
>He strokes his beard in contemplation.
>”You are quite the hero, Anonymous. You remind me a lot of myself in my younger days.”
“Really?”
>”No. But you looked like you needed a compliment. I will accept the terms of your unconditional surrender to my kingdom.”
>You gulp.
>And check your boots.
>Haha! Still there. no-one but you knows how to get them off of you!
>“I will take the men as indentured servants. They will work to feed their respective families. The women will do what work the villages need done most, and their children will be raised as though they were of us.”
>You nod. So far so good.
>”You, however, are banished from the Kingdoms of Man. For your abandonment of your people.”
>Whaaaaat?
>”Make no mistake, I like you, and you are strong for one unaccustomed to war. This is why you are spared your life. Go now, without any words for your old tribe. They are mine now.”
>You nod, and get up from the chair, and flip a thumbs up at the king.
>With a wink, you Jump.
>...and land on the roof of the building you were just in.
>Woops, forgot to set those to long range.
>You're sore, achy and bruised pretty much all over, so you're allowed to fuck up once or twice.
>You are setting your boots back to HOME when the p0ny from earlier approaches you.
>"Hello Anonymous."
"Sup?"
>"Us, I'm afraid. Why are you on the roof?"
"Well I forgot to set my Jump back from short range teleport."
>"Ah. Phew, for a minute I was worried you were destined to stay here or something, or ran out of power."
>You check the power. One short range and one dimensional jump's worth of energy remain.
>Shit's close enough as-is.
"So I'm guessing you're one of the Doctors?"
>"You would be correct in assuming so."
"Am I doing the right thing?"
>"Anonymous, I have to ask myself the same thing ever day. The only one who can answer that is you. Do you feel like you did a good thing?"
“Well, yeah. I mean, I saved all the humans save for two, myself included.”
>He looks away for a moment, as though what you said was inherently wrong.
>”Then it is right for you. Now, I believe you have a Lyra to catch?”
>You nod, simply accepting his knowledge as being a timelord.
>”Then head on out!”
“Thanks Doc. So long!”
>”Yes…so long.”
>You Jump
>Landing back at home, your muscles ache all over, and you’re probably not going back out there for a week.
“Shit, well. Dude’s gotta do what a dude’s gotta do.”
>”Yes, I believe you’re paraphrasing though.”
>The last human seems to have found himself into your house.
“Fuck me, how long has it been?”
>”About a month.”
>One day, and suddenly a month rolls by.
>You’re practically hastening your own destruction here!
>”Earthquakes are daily now. Won’t be long. I’m just here because I had a feeling you’d show up again.”
“Thanks. Could you help me out here?”
>”Anything for my subjects.”
“Ha. Ha.”
>As you and SpiritChild get your ass patched up, you wonder:
>>Is Lyra really out there?
>>Will she accept me?
>>Will I make it in time?