The New Champion Rising

Prologue: The Journey Begins

I walked down the hall to the throne room. Celestia wanted to see me in person. Was she going to take away my rank as lieutenant? I don't want that! No, no, I'm lieutenant because of my skills with my katana. That and I was given a great power, so maybe I'm being sent to a mission so secret, it's like James Bond! No, it's too cliche, maybe it'll be like Forrest Gump. No, I'm not stupid enough. Maybe, just maybe it'll be like Deadpool! Yeah, killer katana, check. Insanity, check. Now all I need is an actual gun and another voice in my head and I'm good to go!

I step into the throne room, the Princess of the Sun herself sits like a majestic lion. I bowed to her as the guards leave us. I stood up and she looks down with grief. "Jack, I must send you on a mission that may kill you," she said. I nod, knowing as much. Celestia looks up and smiles a little. "There are rumors going around about another nation. There were some sort of spirits enclosed in that nation, but after the key keeper went missing, the spirits are drifting up again. They are called Predators, they will hunt the civilians of this nation and kill them. I need you to go there and gather up these six animals," Celestia pauses to get a list of names out and gave them to me with her magic. I put it in my pocket and looked up. "There's a ship going there, you must get on, here is your ticket," Celestia says, handing me a golden ticket. I put that in my pocket as well and Celestia sighs. "One more thing Jack," she said. "Be careful," she concludes. I nod and head out the castle.

I sat in the seat of the ship's passenger hold and stared out the window. I take out my list and see the six animals I must talk to.

Arizona, the strongest fighter,
Oleander the leader and key keeper for now,
Velvet, the champion with style,
Pom, the champion who didn't fight,
Paprika, the most playful champion,
and Tiahuo, the loyalest champion.

They sound nice. I smiled to myself and tilted my head when there was a box.

It said From Celestia, to Jack I opened it and saw two glowing orbs float in front of me. They jet into my chest, and I felt a warm sensation thought my body. I kept reading the note. I give you these powers to help you in your journey, use wisely, it said. I smiled. This is indeed helpful! I dunno what it is, but I bet it is helpful. I look out the window and drifted towards space. Before I knew it, I'm standing in front of a tall tower in front of the airship that carried me here. I kept looking at the base of it, seeing a huge black dome that may spread out six hundred feet. It was like a football stadium in all bluntness. I took out a map and looked down to see where I should go. I saw a whole bunch of plains and thought maybe I should go there first.

Before I read more, the map was torn away from me and I'm facing five animals. Two were bulls, two were dragons, and I'm guessing the leader is the unicorn. I didn't bother getting close looks and tried to grab the map.

"Naw bloke, you oughta stay out of our way! Now apologize and maybe I'll give you the map!" The unicorn said in an accent. I sighed.

"Buddy, we can do this two ways," I said grinning. "Option one, you give me the map and I walk away, or option two, I beat your ass up and get it myself," I said simply. The two bulls snort in laughter. The unicorn smirked.

"Option two please," he said. I got out my katana. "Game, start," he continued. Suddenly, a barrier is placed between the unicorn and his gang. Two bars appeared above us with two letters I'm guessing say Health points. This reminded me of Mortal Combat, but I put that in the back of my mind and got my katana ready. The word fight appeared in front of us and I dashed at him. He gives two magical blasts that I separate in two with my katana. I jump in the air, avoiding the third blast and started to slam down my sword. I missed when the unicorn teleports behind me. I grabbed the blade, and made the butt end hit the unicorn in the face.

I thanked Celestia for the spell she casted on me. The spell will make me invincible to my own attacks, but I'll get hurt by someone else's. I made the butt end of my katana uppercut the unicorn. That seemed to stun him. I grabbed the handle, turned and gave two slashes at the unicorn staggering back. I noticed the Health Points bar dropped. This is extremely like Mortal Combat!

The unicorn regains his posture and fires a strong magical blast, sending me in the air. I hit the barrier and fell to the floor, grunting in pain. I rolled backward and got up, shoving my katana backwards above my head. I missed the unicorn, but continued in my momentum, which made me get on my two legs. I rushed at the unicorn, and jumped. Unsurprisingly he teleported, but I wasn't going for him. I got to the barrier and jumped off, the blade in front of me. I saw a surprised unicorn as I plunged my sword into his chest. No blood came out, instead I hear a beep. I got my katana out and looked around to see the barrier removed. I looked at the unicorn scowling at me.

"You got lucky you bloody bloke!" He said. I smiled.

"You're lucky I wasn't trying," I said, putting my katana in my sheathe. I grabbed my map from his pocket and started leaving. That is until the two bulls blocked my path. I sighed. Then, a miracle happened. A cow comes trotting up, looking thoroughly pissed off. She huffs and the unicorn looked at her and gasped. The other four looked and gasped as well.

"Aw crud, Arizona!" The unicorn said. I raised an eyebrow. I looked at the cow with a good set of horns. That's Arizona? She seems young for her title of strongest champion. I smiled.

"Hi," I said simply. She ignores me and continues to stare at the unicorn, sweating bullets.

"H-hi Arizona, we were just having a bit of fun you see?" He says, patting my shoulder. I grunted.

"Yeah, by fun he means taking my stuff and trying to beat me up," I said, making Arizona have smoke come out of her nose. That scared the group enormously. Everyone scattered and ran as I just sat back andf laughed. Arizona looks at me and smiled.

"Howdy stranger, not sure if I have ever seen you around before," she said in a southern accent, smiling. Okay, that is cute. I smile back.

"My name's Jack, what just happened exactly?" I asked. Arizona sighs, shaking her head.

"Well, you just fought a gang of idiots named the Fighters of Light," she said. I nodded.

"Okay, so why was there some sort of video game stuff?" I asked.

"Well, it's hard for me to explain but I'll try," she said. "Every time you enter a battle, you are then entered in some sort of box that blocks you from the outside world. In the box, you can fight the person who challenged you. You can fight with anything you have. For instance, that there sword you have is a great weapon to use. You usually start off with full HP, that if you haven't taken damage in other battles. You can only regain HP from outside the fight by eating something or sleeping. Once you enter a battle though you cannot leave until you or your opponent surrender or get knocked out. If you win, you get a little HP and some sort of coins. Oddly enough, we made it our currency for fighters. Fighters are those that fight for a living. Anyway, speaking about HP, how much you got left?" She asks, ending her tutorial. I swear this feels a lot like that video game. I shrugged. Arizona grabs my hand and makes it slash down slightly. A health bar appears, full. Arizona looks shocked. "You're new aren't you?" She asked. I nod, smirking.

"Military training comes with a lot of perks sister," I said. Arizona huffs.

"Sister?" She asks. I shrugged. "Well, anyway, I'm coming back to my home, and you must join us tonight! Especially since you stood up to the morons. Come on!" She said, ushering me towards a dirt road. I think I'll like this journey.