Chapter 33: The Proposal

Sho and Rukong were still soaring through the sky, and Sho said, "I'll give you what you want. Only if you hear me out."

Rukong replied, "Hoh? Hear you out?"

"But.."

"Hm?"

"What you're doing is very fucking stupid."

"What do you know?!"

Sho kicked off of Rukong, and they both landed on a nearby roo, rolling on it.

All around them in the streets, were Fighters still battling the cloud monkeys.

Sho was holding his arm, with blood dripping from his head.

Rukong explained, "What was your plan? To get me away from your friends?"

"I'm not gonna say it again, they're not my friends dumbass. And about that you're doing, it's not gonna work. You can't be a king in this tower. It's impossible."

"You don't know a thing, youngling. If you came from the same background I have, then you would be doing what I'm doing. Your people..your family..slaughtered my world. My world loved me..I loved them. They helped me get stronger, they shaped me into a righteous king."

"But you have cloud monkeys down there fighting the Fighters. Is that something a king would do to his people?"

"They won't kill them. It's only to whip them into shape. They will be beaten to the point where they feel like they are about to die. But I will get rid of all those who pose a threat to me and my goal, my goal of rebuilding my kingdom here in this tower. In full power and glory, I cannot fail."

Sho sat down on the rooftop, and asked, "Tell me…what were the people of Rune like?"

Rukong was silent, then he started to sit on a floating cloud he created from his staff.

Rukong implied, "They..they were a people of tranquility. They trained daily, mated daily. You do know what mage means right?"

"I know what the fuck it means."

"My people…they all counted on me..I ate with them and trained with them..they told me things that helped shape my mind into maturity. My parents..mother..father…they were there for me mostly."

Sho thought, 'He's talking. A lot. I'm guessing this bastard has been alone since the tower appeared, it seems like he just needed to talk to someone. No shit..he's been through it.'

Rukong continued, "Whenever I was hungry, they always gave me food to eat. And when I was thirsty, they gave me something to drink. They believed in me, I trained my hardest everyday to become king. I won otherworldly tournaments, I won family tournaments, and I've broken more bones than I can remember. Not once..has anyone bullied or talked down to me in my world, we were all in harmony. I can still hear their screams, it's embedded into my staff for some reason."

She thought, 'Screams of his family in his staff. Kinda similar to me starting out with a butterknife, the thing I used to protect my mother from my father.'

Rukong continued, "Tell me..Sho Takahashi…do you love your family?"

"…Only my mother."

"And the others?"

"Tch. Don't care about em'. They abandoned me when things got tough, I had to fend for myself. I didn't trust anyone, I took care of myself."

"Hoh..? What was your mother and father like?"

"…Cringe. But loving. Until shit hit the fucking fan. My mother would always look out for me, even fighting my kindergarten teachers because they treated me wrong. She was the only person I really could talk to, she always understood. She was always there, she would always encourage me to do better, despite me being a dumbass in school, getting in trouble and getting into fights. She did all she could until she..left. My dad however, would drink or whatever, and he would vomit a lot, getting attitudes all the time. But, I don't hate him. Even after I killed him, I still don't hate him. He would always buy me things, he even would let me drink some of his alcohol when I wasn't supposed to. He liked whiskey."

"What is whiskey?"

"A drink. That kind make you a little dizzy."

"Hmph, we had mead in our world."

"Same shit."

"Aye."

Rukong sighed, and he looked upwards, saying, "What makes you think..I can't complete my goal?"

"This tower..has secrets..secrets that a guild is looking for. Once any of us reach the top of the tower, what would happen to the tower? From what I've been hearing Hoh blabber about for the past hour we've been fighting, you want to live here forever. If someone reaches the top, which is something I'm gonna do, what would happen to the tower?"

"…I.."

"You don't know, do you?"

"…My goal for being in the tower..was to be an immortal king and rule the tower, making it my kingdom for all Fighters to dwell in harmony like my home world did."

"It isn't worth it. You caused so much destruction, Fighters have died under your nose, I've seen hella bodies today, just from your attack. You're just repeating what the Takahashi's did to your home world. If you end up having children of your own, you think they're gonna like that you did the same things the Takahashi's did in order to become an immortal king?"

Rukong gasped silently, and he began to reminisce, remembering his world getting killed off the violent raging Takahashi's.

Rukong shed a tear, and he looked at Sho.

Rukong said, "I didn't think of it like that. I just..thought violence was necessary to get a bunch of hooligan beings like yourselves under control."

Sho stood up, saying, "You forced people..to bow down to you. Pinned us to the fucking ground like animals. If you were to actually become an immortal king, and they found out what you did to become king, they would despise you. King or not. I know I wouldn't. Honestly, I would look for a way out of your kingdom."

Rukong shed another tear, and he hopped off of his floating cloud. He started to walk towards Sho, looking at him.

Sho gritted his teeth, and he clenched his blade.

'He's walking towards me with a straight face. I have to be ready for anything. Maybe I actually pushed him too far with the things I've said. Shit..shit..'

Red, Sho's familiar, was secretly phasing out of Sho's body from his back, ready to strike if Rukong tried anything.

Rukong moved really fast, grabbing Sho's wrist, and he moved Sho's hand towards his chest and used it to stab his own heart.

Sho's blade was stuck inside of Rukong's heart, and Rukong was coughing up blood.

Sho was shocked, and he said, "Oi..!"

Rukong responded, "If my future generations are aware..of how I became king of the tower..they would hate me.."

"That's it..you wanted to have a kingdom living in harmony..like the world Rune was."

"Exa..ctly."

"You want to feel that love again..but you realized you won't get it…if everything was stolen."

"I..wouldn't be able to live with myself..if I sit on the throne of corruption..I thought I was doing the right thing..I was wrong…"

"Mhm."

"Sho Takahashi..you seem different from the Takahashi's who slaughtered my world. Please…find out..what your family's goal is..for me. And also..reach the top..of the Tower of Valhalla.."

Sho nodded, and Rukong fell down, and Sho fell with him, with his blade still stuck inside of Rukong's heart.

Red came walking up beside Sho, and saying, "Whoa..you really used talk-no-jutsu on this guy."

"Yeah well, he was too fucking strong, I had to think of something. If we would've kept fighting him, half of us would be dead. I thought only the S class Fighters would've been the only ones to survive."

"You did the right thing. But next time, let me know if you're out of the blue."

"Yeah, yeah whatever, mutt. This guy though..Rukong..he just wanted to rebuild his kingdom here, in which it resembles his home world. Where they had all that harmony and beautiful niceness and all of that bullshit going on like a bunch of hippies. I don't blame him. I was actually hoping this guy would walk away from all of this, not make me kill him."

"Sho.."

"Hm?"

"Do you feel bad?"

"Tch? What? No. I don't. Okay, I might've. He yearned for the love he got from his home world, the love he got from his parents. He wanted to rule over people that could possibly give him that love, all while getting stronger and becoming an immortal king."

At that moment, all the cloud monkeys that were fighting the Fighters started to vanish, and the skies were clear, showing a sunset.

Fighters said:

"Is it over?"

"They just vanished?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"That was insane.."

Sho got a notification from his watch system, and it said:

*You have killed an S class Fighter. 50,000 Fighter points earned.*

Sho saw it, saying, "Oh shit! Oh shit! 50,000 Fighter points! Let's go!"

Red replied, "That's actually impressive."

"Let's..go."

Sho fainted, falling over.

Red started to sniff Sho, even tugging his clothes.

"Oi, you alive? Hey brat."

Red noticed Sho was breathing peacefully, and he sighed in relief, saying, "Goodness grief, brat. You really pulled this off."

At that moment, Kell, Kaiju, May, Bebop, Gideon, Rudy, and Darthen climbed up to the rooftop, seeing that Sho's blade was stuck inside of Rukong's heart.

Kell said, "No way he killed him.."

Kaiju smirked, "HAHA! Sho Takahashi! As expected from a Takahashi like himself! A fine warrior indeed!"

May thought with a grin, 'He actually did it..reckless ass.'

Rudy slid near Sho and Rukong, running circles around them, exclaiming, "Whaaaat?!! Crazy crazy crazy! Sho beat a class S Fighter! Insane!"

Kell stomped in, yelling, "Bullshit! I don't believe it at all!"

Kell stepped in closer, saying to Rudy, "You don't believe it, do you?! We struggled all day and he beat him that quick? Don't believe it! Nope!"

Rudy responded, "Hohh? Do I sense a hint of jealousy?! Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? I gotta joke for ya-!"

"No! I'm not jealous!"

Darthen wrote in the air: "Good job, Sho. You did it."

Kell looked at Darthen, "Huh?! Don't applaud him! This is bogus!"

Darthen wrote: "You seem quite jealous."

"I'm not!"

Bebop ran to Sho, and she said, "Yay! You did it!"

Sho immediately opened his eyes, and he sat up, "AGHHHGHH SHIT!"

Rudy screamed and hid behind Kell, and Kell scoffed, "Get offa me!"

Bebop smiled, "Sho!"

Sho said, "I thought I was gonna be out a little longer, like most anime protagonists after a big battle. And then they eventually wake up somewhere else covered in bandages or something. But honestly, you guys are celebrating and saying good job..it doesn't sit right. Rukong..he actually went through shit, shit that made him desperate enough to do what he did. I can't celebrate what happened with him, but you guys wouldn't understand, he didn't tell you guys what he told me. Personally, I can't celebrate what happened to him."

Bebop was helping Sho get up, and Gideon was helping Sho get up as well.

Gideon says, "But whatever you didddd, it stopped himmmmm."

Sho didn't answer, looking down at Rukong's body.

Bebop asked, "Wait, you heard us?"

"I did, I don't even know if I was really knocked out or what."

May looked left and right, thinking, 'Hold up, where did Telli go? She was supposed to be with me..'

Down below, Telli was coming out of a building, saying, "Is it safe? Is it all over? Phew! I thought I was done for!"

Telli looked to the left, and she saw Stacen.

Telli tilted her head slightly, seeing Stacen holding Raiden's dead body.

Stacen said, "Raiden, I will continue to live and fight for you. I will not cry nor weep, for if I shed a tear, thy confidence would deplete, and thy emotions would flare. I shall bury you, and remember you forever."

Just then, Telli put her hand on Stacen's shoulder, saying, "Stacen.."

Stacen smiled at Telli, "And you are..Telli? From thy Division guild?"

"Yeah, how did you.."

"Thy Division guild is famous for what they do, woman."

"Oh. Look, I'm sorry for your loss. How did she.."

"It would appear she was killed by the destruction. But..I will not be sad, for I shall be joyful that she does not have to fight for her life here anymore. She doesn't like fighting at all, thou Raiden joined due to curiosity about the Tower of Valhalla. She loveth the fantasy settings; She didn't expect the tower to be like this."

"Really?"

"Yes, woman. Now, if you shall excuse me, I will bury Raiden. We shall rendezvous in the future perhaps."

Stacen lifted Raiden's body up, and she started walking away, and Telli watched.

Telli thought, 'What a mysterious woman. What's her story?'

…

Elsewhere, Carter, Macch, Court, Grey, and Emma were together.

Carter saw Court flying towards him, Carter asked, "Did you find your little brother among the statues?"

"Haha, yeah. He's asleep back at the safe house."

"That's good."

Grey says, "I am ecstatic that this is finally over."

Emma sighed, "Honestly, me too. I am sleepy."

"I thought furries don't get sleep."

"I'm not a furry! It's just..my powers kinda make it seem like that."

Court agreed, "You're a furry."

Emma screeched, "I'M NOT A FURRY!"

"Easy, tiger."

Macch wiped the sweat from his head, sitting on a piece of rubble, "Wild day today. If this all stopped so sudden, that means.."

Carter finished his sentence, "Someone killed Sun Rukong."

"Wanna bet Rudy or Darthen did it?"

"Probably not. We have to find the others though."

Court mentioned, "Oi..check the tower feed. Now."

All of them around checked the tower feed on their watch systems, and the tower feed said:

*Sho Takahashi (Class C Fighter), defeated Sun Rukong (Class S Fighter)*

They all looked at each other, shocked.

Macch said, "Oh shit.."

Court smirked, "Ha! That brat..who would've guessed."

Grey says, "I wanna know how he did it."

Carter didn't say anything, he just grinned at himself.

'Good job, kid.'

Emma went, "Good for him! He first beat a class A Fighter, then beat a class S Fighter!"

Fighters all around were checking the tower feed on their watch systems, saying:

"No way Sho beat Sun Rukong."

"I can't believe it either, but the tower feed never lies."

"Somethings up. First, he beat two class A Fighters, then a class S Fighter. Truly suspicious."

"He's so fucking cool!"

"But he's a class C Fighter.."

Court asked Carter, "Phew. Now that that's outta the way, what are you gonna do?"

Carter answered the question, "Well, I still have yet to pay you guys in magic rubies for helping the Division guild with our past mission."

"Sounds like a plan. Then what?"

"And then…study this tower more. This event today just brought us closer. It still is confirmed that Sho and his ancestors are connected to this tower."

"Mhm. Okay. Sounds like a cool nerdy science project."

"It would technically be a history project."

"Science, because you're studying things."

"Okay, but you study things in history as well."

"Whatever, mine makes more sense."

"Well actually-."

Macch interrupted, "Guys, guys. It's like, not that serious."

Carter and Court exclaimed together, "IT IS!"

Macch staggered back, covering his face, "I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

Back on the rooftop, Sho was getting cleaned off by May and Bebop.

Literally.

May had a towel in her inventory, and her and Bebop were wiping all the dirt and blood off of Sho.

Sho stood there with his eye twitching, and veins popping.

Kell was being held back by Rudy and Kaiju.

Kell yelled, "May! May! I command you to stop! May! Don't you dare clean that bozo! ARGHHH! KAIJU! RUDY! Let me go, you commoners! Fools! Bird shit! Scum!"

Rudy smiled, "There, there, it's okay. Everything will be okay."

"Huhhh?"

Kaiju laughed, "Hahaha! Yes! Everything will be fine!"

May was saying to Sho, "I swear, you need to stop doing reckless shit. I mean, look at you. Lookin' like you fought the Guardians of the Galaxy."

Bebop smiled, "Right! You're a class C Fighter! Don't rush into things, haha! Okay, big brother?"

Sho replied, "Get..offa..me."

May responded, "Oh yeah? Make us."

In the corner, Gideon was trying to get Darthen to talk.

Gideon smiled, "Can you speak pleaseeee? It's super easyyyyyy, barely an inconvenienceeee."

Darthen wrote in the air: "Why do you want me to speak so bad?"

Gideon replied, "It's so cool how you can write in the airrrrr! What world are you frommmm?"

Darthen wrote: "I'm from the Tocen World. A world full of the mute. We communicate by writing in the air. It's unique, don't you think?"

"It's cool! I love ittt!"

May and Bebop finished cleaning Sho off, and May said, "There. Now you at least look a little clean. How bout it, Bebop? He look aight'?"

Bebop put her hand on her chin, saying, "Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Big brother looks clean!"

"Good shit."

Sho scoffed, "I'm gonna kill you."

"That's the spirit."

Sho watched everyone act the way they're acting, and he thought, 'If only they had the slightest idea what me and Rukong talked about. They're happy because they survived, I can tell. I'm just not satisfied for some reason. Rukong..was a lot like me.'

Rudy walked forward, and he said to everyone, "Okay, I have a suggestion for all of us."

They all replied, "Hm?"

Sho turned around and said to Bebop and Gideon, "Bebop, Gideon, we're outta here."

Rudy reached out for them, "Wait! You're not even gonna hear me out?!"

Sho turned back around, "The hell do you want? Who even are you anyway?"

"Listen. I know a way we can all help each other. My name's Rudy by the way."

Sho looked at Rudy, thinking, 'Stats. Hm. He's a class S Fighter. He actually was fighting toe to toe against Sun Rukong. He's the real deal. What's he got to say?'

Rudy continued, "Okay, okay, listen here maggots. I think we should all..become one guild."

It was silent, then everyone blinked once.

Then they all said, "What?!"