The Legacy of the Z-Fighters
Chapter 6: Awakening the Warrior
Previous ChapterNext ChapterSpike felt his senses returning to him gradually, as he lay on a cold, hard surface. Had he been able to think straight, he would be able to remember that he woke up in a bed not too long ago. As his hearing slowly returned to him, there were several grumbling sounds that echoed around him. Spike's entire world seemed to tilt in every direction, as if he were tossed into a box that was falling down an infinite flight of stairs. Numbness overcame his body, and it felt as if every scale was being used as a pincushion.
Slowly but surely, Spike began to awaken.
"Guys?" a familiar voice spoke.
"What now, Nail?"
"I think we've got a visitor."
"That's impo- oh... Oh, crap..."
"Don't complain, this is good! We can properly thank the young lad for saving us."
"Yeah, but how are we supposed to explain who we are, or what we're all doing here?"
"Oh, right... well, this will make for a good laugh later."
Spike could hear the voices far more clearly now, as if they were standing around him. His eyes began to flutter open as his sight adjusted to the light. He moved his arm in front of his face to block some of the light, and slowly started to sit up.
Finally, the dragon was able to fully open his eyes and take in his surroundings.
Instead of the bed he was in earlier, Spike found himself lying on the floor, of all places. His clothes were still there, not damaged or stained in any way, which was odd considering his vomiting earlier. The place he was in looked strange in terms of architecture. The ceiling was slanted and round, like a big shell of some kind, and had grooves all along the top that reached down to the floor. Everything that wasn't white was purple, such as the floor and the stairs he could see in the back of the room. There were some chairs and a few tables spread around, making this alien place look more like a home.
Then Spike looked behind him, and froze.
There, standing right before him, were the three figures from his vision. Each one wore the same clothes they had from the vision, the one with the cape and cloth on his head staring down at him with a scowl. The one with the vest and cloth around his neck looked at Spike with a critical eye, as if scaling him in some manner. The third one, however, was clearly much older, his face wrinkled and a darker green than that of the other two. He wore a long, white garment and was holding a staff and looked at Spike with a faint smile on his face.
"Hello there," the older one greeted. "Are you doing alright?"
Spike blinked in surprise.
"Um... Y-yeah, thanks," Spike answered, moving to get up.
When he stood at his full height, Spike was surprised. Since he was a dragon in puberty, he usually looked down on most ponies in town, especially the Crusaders. These three, however, were far from ponies, standing nearly twice as tall as him. The one in the cape spoke next.
"So, I guess we've got some explaining to do, since you're here. So go ahead and ask any question you want to know."
"Alright... um, where is 'here'?" Spike started off.
"Well, I think we should start with how we got to your world before any answers make... some kind of sense," the third one spoke. "Piccolo, you wanna do the honors, or should I?"
"I'd like to tell it, actually," the old one suggested. "Remember those times you two tried to explain ourselves to those villages that rose around us?"
The other two shuddered in fear of something.
"Don't remind me," the vest-wearing one said, looking off to the side.
"Fine, whatever. Just make it quick."
The older one cleared his throat for a few seconds before silence overcame the area. He tapped his staff onto the ground twice before everything around them faded to black. Spike looked around, trying to find where they had gone, and saw the battle from his vision play out once again.
"It all started a thousand years ago," he started.
"Really!? A THOUSAND years ago? Exactly!? Do you know how many things I've heard in the past few months that also happened exactly a thousand years ago?"
"Be quiet or I'll snap you in two!"
"Sorry! It's just... I've heard that so many times that-"
"I don't care! Just let him tell the story so we can move on already!"
"Yeah, I think we've wasted about 500 words without actually introducing ourselves. Usually this happens in the second chapter, and we're-"
"SHUT UP NAIL!"
'Oh, great, he talks like Pinkie,' Spike thought to himself.
"Getting back to the story," the older one interrupted, "it all started around that time, yes. The barrier between worlds was breached by a powerful magician, who harvested the very magics of his imprisonment as a means to destroy it. He rose an army from the damned depths of Hell, and broke into this world. His name... was Babidi."
He tapped the non-existent ground with his staff once, and an image of the cursed wizard sprouted before Spike. It was a short, disgusting little creature, similar to an insect, and held a ball in its grasp, shooting off magic at both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.
"Your Princesses were no match for even the cannon fodder of Babidi's army, let alone the wizard himself," he continued. "Within minutes, your rulers were defeated, and Babidi prepared to drain them of what little power they had left."
He tapped the staff again, and the image shifted once more, revealing a massive serpent-like dragon rising from Tartarus, surrounded by seven different lights.
"That's when we came in."
Again, a tap later, and the battle played on. This time, Spike could see six more warriors fighting the demons back. There was one with three eyes, holding his hands like a triangle and... shooting squares... somehow. Then, another one caught his eye, this one with a shaved head that threw discs into the armies, shredding them into nothing. Another one fired large spheres of energy that collided with the discs, creating spectacular tornadoes of destruction. Another two warriors seemed to dance in mid-air before they disappeared in a flash, and one warrior stood in place of where they were. Two more were seen in the distance, both shining a brilliant gold, more powerful and ferocious than the Sun itself.
"I believe that one of us mentioned something along the lines of... Z-fighters?" the old one asked the other two.
"Yeah. Krillin said something like, 'for old time's sake'," the other one said with a faint smile.
"Anyways, we stopped the armies and sealed Babidi away, hopefully for good," the old one explained, the scene changing to show a golden dragon ramming the wizard into an abyss beneath a mountain. "But, by the end of the fight, our physical manifestations were burnt out beyond repair, and our souls began to crumble, and fade. When we were about to die, the dragon, Shenron, infused each of our souls into one of the Dragon Balls."
Spike shot a hand to cover his mouth at the apparent use of obscene body parts for saving a life. Then, the images changed to show that each warrior faded into ashed, a small light representing each of their souls. The dragon, Shenron, apparently, then opened its maw and revealed seven orange orbs, identical to the one Spike found earlier.
Everything snapped into place in the dragon's mind.
"Yes, yes, I know. Perhaps in this world, they should be called something else to avoid confusion, but alas, we no longer have any say in it. Anyways, the balls sealed in our fighting spirits, our knowledge, and ourselves. However, as time went on, we lost contact with the other fighters, and I learned why. Their souls and minds faded into nothing. Sadly, Shenron didn't think to keep us alive entirely, but that's to be expected. We only managed to keep alive in here because of the fact that we three share this space, and thus our minds and spirits are too powerful to fade away in that amount of time alone."
Spike couldn't believe any of this.
Those incredible powers, those warriors that gave their lives to save Equestria... why hadn't he heard of them until now? And further more...
"What does this have to do with me?"
Spike felt a hand on his head before he was turned around to face the one with the cape.
"Because Shenron told us one last thing, before the others faded away. We have to choose a successor. We all had to find someone that can hold our powers without going corrupt, or burning up when they found us."
"Your mind and spirit are strong enough to handle not only our presence," the third added, "but also our fighting prowess. You've proven to have a genuinely righteous soul, and we've chosen you to inherit our powers, our knowledge, and most importantly, the protection of this world."
"B-but... what if I can't handle... all of that?" Spike asked, waving to everything around them, the battle still present yet paused.
The old one tapped his staff to the ground, and they returned to the living space Spike woke up in.
"That right there, that's why we chose you."
"You don't know if you could handle this power. You're scared it'll consume you... and thus, you're cautious to its temptations."
"We'll train you to handle our power, and guide you so you can make it your own."
Spike looked between all three of these aliens. They were prepared to give him a power beyond anything Celestia or Luna, or probably even Discord couldn't compare to. These three were willing to teach him how to control this power and use it for the protection of his friends, his home... everything he knew or ever would know. To think that this is what was chosen for him... it was frightening to say the least.
After a few minutes of silence and weighing it in his mind, Spike looked up to them...
... and nodded.
"Thank you for choosing me. I promise, you won't regret it."
The one in the cape smirked.
"We won't," he said plainly. He extended his hand out to Spike. "Name's Piccolo."
The old one placed his hand on top of Piccolo's arm.
"I'm Kami."
The last one held the underside of Piccolo's arm.
"And I'm Nail."
Spike smiled up at them and grasped Piccolo's hand.
"Spike."
Kami and Nail moved their hands onto Spike's own and they shook once. When they did, their bodies were encased in a blinding white light before everything faded away.
\\\//////
Spike gasped as he sat up straight.
As the dragon panted, coated in sweat, he looked around to see that he was back in a different room than what he remembered. Instead of white or even purple walls, this place looked more like a wooden hut. It was sparsely decorated with familiar masks, and above the counters around the walls hung vials of multicolored liquids.
"No way..."
He looked down to see that his torso was wider than normal, along with the massive muscles he had grown out of nowhere.
'Yeah, you're welcome,' he heard Nail say in the back of his mind.
Spike looked forward and thought of how he would communicate with Nail, Kami, and Piccolo.
'Just think to us, it works just fine,' Piccolo answered.
'Alright,' Spike replied. 'So, what happens now? I mean... how do you guys train me?'
'I believe that a certain friend of ours can answer that,' Kami replied.
Spike heard the sound of a wooden door creaking open and looked over to see somepony he didn't expect.
They were a Zebra, but this one was far from being Zecora. First off, he was a he, judging by the body structure, and apparent lack of a shirt. The stripes on this one were fading, the black and white pallet fading to a generally grey coat. His mane was in a Mohawk like Zecora, albeit shorter and thinner. This Zebra's age was also apparent from the magnificent beard that rivaled the tail of Celestia with its sheer stunning look. The way the black and white facial hairs intertwined reminded Spike of Luna's own mane.
"I see you're awake," he spoke in a deep voice.
Spike tensed up a bit before moving out of the small bed he was in.
"Um, yeah. How did I-"
The old Zebra suddenly pulled a staff out of nowhere, bearing great similarity with Kami's own, and held it out before Spike's chest.
"I sensed your Ki before. You carry the soul of Kami, the one who inspired my people."
Spike blinked in shock as he tried to focus his thoughts.
'Yeah, you're not the first one that found us.'
'To be fair, you are the only one who can house all three of our souls without burning up.'
'Okay, but... how does this guy know you're in here?'
'The same reason you're here now.'
The Zebra set his staff on the ground as he walked up to Spike. Being a Zebra gave the elderly one some advantage in height, standing only a few centimeters above Spike's head. He placed a hand on Spike's shoulder and spoke.
"We studied under the teachings of Kami, Nail, and Piccolo for centuries, using their gifts to watch over this land and protect our families from those that would seek to harm us. In our time, the teachings became commonplace for all of us. If I know those three, it was their intent that you came here, to learn the way we did, and master their teachings so that you may understand the true scale and nature of the life you chose to live. From this point on, we will train you in the ways of our old masters. However, until your training is complete, you cannot leave this place, nor can you interact with anyone whom you might have known before coming here. If you leave at any time before your training is complete, you will remain an outcast from our village, and you shall never know how to properly control your Ki."
Spike stood there as he continued to process everything that has happened up to now. He recalled his waking up to what would have been a normal day, finding the Dragon Ball, and then meeting his three new... mentors? He'd have to ask later, but for now, he was focusing on the weight of this next decision. If he said no... what would become of him? Would he hurt somepony unintentionally? Could he even learn to control whatever powers he had without their help?
The dragon looked up to the older Zebra and nodded.
"Thank you. I swear, I'll learn how to control... whatever I got from them, and I'll use it for good!" Spike swore.
The Zebra nodded as he removed his hand from Spike's shoulder.
"Good. My name is Zanzi, and I welcome you to Zanzebra, Spike," Zanzi said with a small bow.
Spike returned the gesture for a second before Zanzi stood up and turned around. He moved towards the door and stopped abruptly.
"This hut will serve as your place of rest for your time here. Keep it as clean as you can, lest your mind gets to be as cluttered as your living space."
'Hey, I can manage our space fine on my own!'
Spike nodded again to the elder Zebra. Zanzi lifted a finger as he stood at the door.
"I suppose we should start training, then," he said happily.
Spike stood still as a board.
"Hold on a second," Spike stated.
Zanzi looked back to Spike with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes?"
Spike looked down at his clawed hand for a few seconds before closing it into a fist.
"Can I... at least say goodbye to my friends? Just, send them a letter so they know I'll be gone for a while?"
Zanzi nodded.
"Of course. But after that, no more contact with anyone outside this land until your training is complete."
Spike nodded.
"Thank you."
Zanzi pointed to a desk that had a quill and parchment on it and nodded. Spike picked up the writing utensils and took a total of thirty minutes to try and word out his last letter to his friends. With a sweat on his brow and a shaking grip, Spike looked over the letter one last time and whispered something to it before blowing it away in a magical green flame.
"So... what are we going to do? Some breathing exercises? Stretching? Washing a-"
WHACK
'Medic!'
Spike clutched his head as he felt the blunt strike of the Zebra's staff connect with his skull. He groaned in pain, and cracked an eye open to see Zanzi holding up the same finger with a smirk on his face.
"Lesson one: Dodge."
'This isn't going to be fun, is it?' Spike asked the other voices.
'No pain, no gain.'
Spike sighed as he prepared his already unstable mind for the most intense training of his life.
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