Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

Human VS. Monster, Round 2!

Flashback – 17 years ago

A 6-year-old Ricochet Phillips rides on a New York bus, alone. He's wearing bright red rubber boots and a purple snow jacket, with black wool gloves. Riki swings his legs waiting for his stop. Watching the snow hit the bus window slowly get heavier and heavier. It Reminds Riki of what he saw on the news, January's biggest snow storm, and something about- Ding! Riki looks at the destination sign as it starts flashing in red ‘W 50th St'. Riki stands up from the seat and pressed the request to stop button. The bus slows down to a stop, and Riki hops off the seat and to the front.

“Thank you, Mr. Bus driver sir,” said Riki as he get off the bus. His mom always told him to thank the bus drivers. As the bus leaves, Riki pulls out a piece of paper with bad handwriting with the name Mat Lowell and directions to a hotel.

Walking through the snowy streets, Riki follows the directions carefully. A few people on the street asked if he was lost or something, but Riki politely decided. Even if he’s a little kid, Riki knows the ins and outs of this city. It only took him half an hour to get to the destination. He stands in front of a 10-story hotel. Riki tried to look up information about this place, but he found nothing. No stars, no reviews, no employees. If you walk past this place, you wouldn't know it existed.

Riki watches the snow fall from the front door. He hopes his dad doesn’t be too mad about this. Walking inside, Riki is surprised to see how kept up this place is. The lobby’s floors are clean, the plants are healthy, and the furniture almost looks brand new. The only thing creeping Riki out is that it is so quiet. He walks up to the service desk to see no one there. He looks behind it to see a trash can full of beer cans, a few notes, a desk office phone with a lot of voicemail, and hard butterscotch candies that look like it’s been there for a while.

…Ding

The sound of the elevator gets Riki’s attention. He hides behind the service desk as the elevator doors open up. Two men walked out of the elevator both wearing black suits. The first to step out is a very tall well built black man in his late forties, bald head, and a goatee. The other person is a young Korean man in his mid-twenties, also looks like he just got his ass kicked.

“Why didn’t you help me, I was getting fucked.” grumbled the young man, touching his bruised face.

“I told you to be careful,” said the older man with his deep voice. “You’re lucky to be alive. If you did die, I have to fill out a report about you.”

“You’re an asshole, I hope you get hit by a bus!”

The older man laughs, “You need more than a bus to take me out…. Also, watch your mouth, there's a kid here.” The man points at Riki's head poking out.

“Kid?” said the young man, looking at Riki. “Hey, get out here.”

Riki sits there for a while, “Could Mat be one of them?” he said to himself. Riki crawls out from his hiding spot and carefully walks toward the two men.

“What is a little kid like you doing here?” asked the younger man.

“I’m here to see Mat Lowell, that all,” Riki muttered, looking up at them.

“Are you Mat’s kid?” The young man leans down to get a better look at Riki, “Would make sense, that bastard does sleep around a lot.”

“Language, Ty.”

“My bad, Simon.”

‘So, Mat isn’t one of them?’ Riki thought, 'Who are they? Do they know Mat?’ He snaps out of thought by Simon getting on one knee, trying to be on Riki's level.

“What are you doing in a place like this, boy?” asked Simon.

“Ummm, I’m with my dad…” Riki muttered, trying not to make eye contact.

“You're farther told you lying is bad, right?”

Riki nods, “He also said that talking to strangers is bad too. So, why are you guys here?”

“That’s classified.”

Ty scratches the back of his head and says, “Look kid, this isn’t a place for you, go home to your mom and dad.”

Riki’s dad must de worried about him. And mom… “I just need to talk to Mat, it's very important!” Riki shouted.

Simon was about to say something, but his phone goes off. He pulls it out and looks at it for a few seconds before staining back up, “Ty, time to go.”

“Got it,” said Ty, putting his hands in his pockets.

Simon looks at the kid one more time, “You know what you’re doing? Mat can be dangerous.”

“Yes!”

“Alright, Mat lives on the sixth floor, the room with no number.”

Riki gives Simon a smile, “Thank you!” He then runs to the elevator.

Ty gives Simon a worried look, “I hope you know what you’re doing?”

“Come on, we still a few more stops before the storm hits.”

Riki roams the sixth floor hallways, looking for the room with no number. It’s kind of weird walking around a quiet hotel. About 10 minutes later, Riki finds the room. It’s Between rooms 623 and 624, but that doesn’t make any sense to Riki. Knocking on the door a few times, Riki hears heavy footsteps followed by yelling, “Oiii, I told you if you two don’t fuck off, I’ll cut off your balls!” The door flies open revealing a toned woman with long messy blonde hair, dark circles under her bright blue eyes, and big… She’s wearing a white crop top showing off her abs, and black sweat pants. The smell of alcohol hits Riki’s nose, even if he’s a few feet away. She looks down at Riki, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Umm… I’m looking for Mat Lowell, is he in there?”

She squints her eyes, “You’re looking at her, kid.”

Riki’s eye widened, “You’re Mat!? I thought you were a man, you know. "

“Mat is short for Madeline,” she told him, “Wait a minute, who are you and how did you find me?

“I don’t think Mat can be short for that,” Riki said under his breath, playing with his jacket. “…My grandpa told me about you and where to find you. He said you are the best bodyguard he has ever hired.”

Madeline takes a closer look at Riki, especially at his amber eye. After a few seconds she says, “So you’re Henry's grandson? I should have known you are related to that old bastard, both have that amber eye.” She then grabs Riki by the jacket and lifts him up. He is surprised at how easy she's holding him, “Now tell me why you’re here, brat.”

Riki covers his nose, trying not to smell the alcohol on her breath. “Grandpa told me you can help me!”

“With what, your homework?”

“How to fight!”

With one swift motion, Madeline turns and throws Riki into the room. Riki flies and crashes onto her couch. He gets up and looks around, it is just a normal hotel living room, but with a lot of beer cans. Madeline stomps on her coffee table, “You want me to teach you how to fight?” Riki nods, and she continues, “Look if you have bully problems, go tell your parents or some shit. I'm not teaching some brat that can barely even tie his shoes. ”

“No, I refuse your refusal!” Riki yelled, jumping onto the coffee table.

Madeline looks him dead in the eyes, “You can't do that!”

“I just did!”

“Get out of my house, you brat!”

“Hell no! Even if I wanted to there's a storm outside.” Riki says pointing at the window. “Madeline-"

She picks up Riki, “I can just throw out the window, there's snow so you’ll be fine.”

“You have to teach me, please help me!”

“Why should I?” Madeline asked, “What’s your reason? Because you think fighting is cool, or a fuckin' game!?”

Riki thinks about his mom and, “I don’t want to be useless anymore!” Riki's eyes start to tear up, “I don’t want to watch the ones I love die in front of me again, and I can’t do anything!”

As Riki cries and flails around, Madeline watches with a straight face. “Who did you lose?”

“My mom, I couldn’t do anything to protect her! I was too scared to move, too scared to fight!”

“Your just a kid,”

“Everyone keeps telling me that, and I don’t care. Just please help me!” Riki begged.

Madeline smirks, “You know if you go through this, I won't go easy. I don’t care if you’re a child or a full grown adult. It will be like going to hell and back.” She then puts Riki down and points at the door, “But if you think you can’t handle it, you can leave, just quit.”

Riki looks at the door for a bit then turns to Mat. “I’m not quitting, ”

Mat starts to laugh in utter joy, “Guess your old man was right about you.” Putting her hands on her hips, “From here on, you are a student of Madeline Lowell!”

Riki starts to cry again and hugs Madeline's leg, “Thank you, Madeline! You’re the best in the world, I owe you everything!”

“Oi, stop doing that,” Madeline said, trying to shake Riki off her leg. “ Here are so ground rules. Rule#1 No crying, got it?”

Riki let go and wiped his face, “Are there any more rules I need to know about?”

“Rule#2 Don’t ask if there are any more rules.”

“Okay, That makes sense… I think?”

“Rule#3 Don’t ever doubt me,”

“Understand,”

Madeline runs her hand through her messy hair, “Oi, I forgot to ask, what’s your name?”

“Ricochet Gregory Phillips, or you can call me Riki!” he exclaimed, “I won’t disappoint you!”

Flashback End

“YATAGARASU ARROW!” Taboo shouts as he slashes the air, making a big crow shaped projectile. It speeds straight towards me as it cuts the ground. I manage to jump out of the way at the last second. The air slash continues on, cutting down a few dozen trees before it dissipates.

“That was so cool,” I muttered, charging at Taboo. “I have to ask, did you teleport me and Liz here? How do you know about the humans!?” We both did a straight punch, and our fists collided with each other. I immediately pulled back in pain, “Ow, ow, ow! Felt like I just punched a brick wall!” Barely dodging Taboo’s spinning heel kick. I block an incoming jab, hook, and rear hook comb. It hurts like hell, even if I’m blocking. Taboo does the same combo, but I wasn't expecting him to change the rear hook to an uppercut. Taking the full hit to my stomach almost made me throw up.

“IF YOU DEMAND ANSWERS, YOU GOT TO BET IT OUT OF ME!” Taboo taunted, “YAMI CLAW!” Taboo’s right hand doubles in size as a black aura covers his claw. He swipes at my head but only manages to cut my cheek.

“Fine!” I shouted, headbutting Taboo in the face. Ignoring my killer headache, I grab ahold of Taboo and turn against him. Lifting up the creature over my shoulder and yell, “Heavy Shoulder Throooow… MAX!” Slamming Taboo on the ground as hard as I can. Taboo then goes for a leg sweep. As I jump over it, Taboo punches me in the chest as he gets up from the ground. I grab the arm with both my hands, wrapping my legs around his neck and waist. We both hit the ground. I really hope this armbar works. I pull hard on his arm until I hear a snapping sound. Unwrapping my leg around his neck to repeatedly stomp his face.

Taboo starts to stand up and makes a tentacle to pry me off. It wraps around my body, tightening and making me cough up a bit of blood. “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, RICOCHET?” Taboo mocks.

“I literally broke your fuckin' arm,” I replied, trying to get out of the tentacle.

“REALLY? WELL, YOU DID POORLY AT IT.” Taboo chuckles, showing off his perfectly fine arm. How did he fix it so fast? Don’t tell me he can regenerate. “NOW I’M GOING TO ASK YOU AGAIN… IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, RICOCHET?”

“….No… Just getting started!" Riki said, gasping for air. I bite down hard on the tentacle, losing up enough to wiggle free. Landing on my hands to spring me upwards, deliver a blow to Taboo's chin with both my feet, throwing his head back. As I land, a weird feeling runs through my body as I punch him across the face hard enough to make a cracking sound.

He reels back in pain and wraps a tentacle around my waist. “THAT ACTUALLY HURTS!” Taboo roars as his tentacle powerbomb me.

It hurts so much I couldn’t scream in pain. I think I can hear my name being called, or it’s the sound of something breaking… It’s probably both. The tentacle lifts me up again, ready to do another powerbomb. I know I can’t take the second one. Mustering all my strength, I get that weird feeling again. Ignoring it, I kicked straight through the tentacle, “Tuagh Crash!” Landing on my back, I kicked up to my feet but fell to my knees. Touching my forehead to see that I’m bleeding, that's not good. My right hand has some bruises forming, not good too. Standing up and spat out some blood, “What the fuck was that?” I asked myself, watching Taboo rubbing his chin.

“Riki, are you okay!” yelled Pinkie,

“You want us to hop it!?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I’m good, stay there!” I replied, “...You’re getting a lot out of me, Taboo.”

“YOU’RE GETTING A LOT OUT OF ME TOO, WAY MORE THAN THOSE ELEMENTS.” Taboo praised me, “BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH, RICOCHET.”

I take some deep breaths, “Your body is weird, were you born like that?”

“NO, I WAS NORMAL.” Taboo answered, “BEING TRAPPED IN THAT PRISON FOR SO LONG, I ACTUALLY FORGOTTEN HOW I LOOK LIKE. ALL I DID IN THERE WAS WALLOWED IN MY ANGER AND THINK.” Taboo slams his hands onto the ground, “ENOUGH TALKING, DEATHBOUND!”

“Riki watch out!” shouted Twilight,

“Underneath you!” added Fluttershy,

Looked down to see the ground underneath me had turned pitch black. Black hands spring from the darkness around me. I watch as the hands start to flail around, it’s hard to tell where they're going. I avoided one by jumping back, but get hit in my side and face. Every time I block or dodge one I get hit.

“Dammit,” I said, avoiding another attack. More hands appear and lunge at me, “Time to use these.” I pull my tonfas from behind my back, swatting away the hands. Going around and destroying the rest of these hands only took me a few seconds. After that, I feel like I’m at my limit. I fall to my hands and knees, “This isn’t good.”

I hear screaming, Twilight, and everyone else is being graded by those black hands from Taboo. “ALRIGHT, THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH,” Taboo grumbled. A tentacle comes from above ready to crush me, but I don’t move.

As the tentacle gets close...

‘Riki are you scared of death?’

Flashback – 8 years ago

In the hotel gym, I’m sitting on the dojo mat, chugging a bottle of water after a long day of training. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked worriedly, “Because sparring with you can do that.”

She puts her hands on her hips, “If I want to kill you, I would have done it by now. Just answer the fuckin' question”

“…Makes sense,” I said, looking up at the ceiling. I thought about my answers for a bit, “…I’m scared of the ones I care about dying...even you.”

Madeline rolls her eyes, “Riki…”

“What do you want me to say, I’m 15.” I sighed, “I still have a lot of years left… If I don’t get sick or something, but you know what I mean.” I look at Madeline, “I mean you’re 45-Ow!" Madeline punches me in the back of the head.

She cracks her knuckles and scowl, “How many times do I need to tell you, rugrat! I’m at least 34 with the body of a 28 year old. Riki let me tell you something, and you better listen.”

“I’m listening,”

Madeline gets a serious look, “This world is a lot more…dangerous than you think, you’re like at the front gate.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re ready,” Madeline does some stretches, “Just remember these words, Riki. When you fight, death is always there. But! With the right mind, body, and spirit, your death will be life.”

“What the fuck are you saying? Are you still drunk?” I asked, getting up.

“You’ll understand when you're older,” Madeline said, rolling her eyes, “…Just a little drunk, Ahahahah!!!”

“Unbelievable,”

Flashback End

The spectating ponies watch Taboo's tentacle come crashing down, kicking up a bunch of dust. They all yelled for Riki, trying to break out of Taboo’s grasp.

“Riki, noooooo!” Twilight shouted, using her magic to blast away from Taboo’s Deathbound attack.

As the dust dissipates, all of them are shocked to see Riki stand, he completely sidesteps the tentacle.

“Yeah, Riki okay!” Pinkie cheered.

Twilight looks at Riki, something feels off about him. She doesn’t know what’s going on, but something catches her eyes. A faint orange glow enveloped Riki, “What is that?” Twilight asked herself as the mysterious glow slowly flickers off and on.

Twilight wasn't the only one who saw this. Taboo stares at Riki while mumbling something, as he watches the glow go away. He starts to scratch one of his horns, making a sound like a nail on a chalkboard.

Taboo is ticked.

“Mind, body, and spirit,” Riki said to himself, readying up his tonfas. He cracks a smile, “…Your death will be life… I think I get it now?”

“Riki?” Twilight whispers.

Taboo starts clawing at his face and lets out a primal roar that distorts the air, as a dark aura quickly emanates from his body. The force of the shockwave cracks the earth beneath him, it was so much it repels the ponies back.

“N-not this again,” Twilight said, putting up a shield around them.

“What about Riki?” asked Applejack, “Where is he?”

“He’s right there!” Rarity shouted, pointing at Riki through a dark aura. They watch Riki stand tall with a determined look. Unfazed by the pressure as he prepares his tonfas.

Taboo glares at Riki with every ounce of hatred, “I DESPISE YOU! EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU… IT BRINGS OUT THOSE FRIGHTFUL MEMORIES!” Tons of tentacles gush out of his body and speed towards Riki.

Riki jumps up, dodging Taboo’s attack. He lands on a tentacle and begins to run on it. Another tentacle comes straight toward Riki. Jumping over it and landing on the ground, Riki twisted his right ankle but didn’t slow down. The ponies watch in awe as they see Riki duck, flip, and spin around Taboo’s deadly tentacles, getting close and close to his target. Riki blocks one of the incoming tentacles with his right tonfa, sparks fly off as the tentacle grinds against it. The tonfa starts to crack as Riki pushes off it. Getting close to Taboo, Riki spins the cracked tonfa and smashes it against Taboo’s stomach while running past him, breaking it in the process. The pain shot through Taboo's body, but it wasn’t enough to put him down. He was about to mock the human, but stopped when Riki yelled, “It’s over!” Taboo turns around to see Riki’s other tonfa already in front of him, “Brutal!”

“...!?”

“Guillotine!!!” In one swift motion, Riki’s tonfa strikes through Taboo’s neck, lobbing off his head. The ponies' eyes widen as they watch Taboo’s head fly in the sky and land just a few feet away from the body.

“Wow,” Rainbow says as the head finishes rolling around, “That was so bucking cool…”

“And gruesome,” added Fluttershy, Looking away from the body.

“It’s finally over,” Rarity said tiredly.

Riki starts to walk over there with a little limp and holds his side. He is surprised to be conscience. Taboo's headless body just stood there like a statue. Now Riki has to get the jar and have the Elements seal Taboo in it. It going to be ea-

“Riki behind you!” Twilight shouted.

But, it was too late.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!” Riki screams in pain, as a sharp pain pierces through his left side. His eyes slowly look down to see a tentacle. “…Dammit” Riki can already feel the blood flowing out of his body as the tentacle slowly pulls out of his body. Riki falls to his hand and knees, gripping his side, so he doesn’t bleed out.

“Riki!”

Riki with his blurry vision watches as Taboo’s body starts to twitch, and a few seconds later, a pitch black crow with three legs and four glowing white eyes flies out the neck. The crow then goes to Taboo’s head and grabs onto it. Picking up the head and flying back to Taboo’s body, placing it back. Moments later, the eyes start to blink individually.

“YOU WOULD HAVE KILLED ME IF I WAS NORMAL,” Taboo scoffs, cracking his neck. “BUT IT DID HURT A LOT, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT, RICOCHET.” Taboo walks to Riki, still on his hands and knees. The crow on Taboo’s shoulder flies off into the woods as he picks Riki by the throat, “…STILL IT WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH”

“Let him go!” Applejack demanded.

“Yeah, you big stupid monster!” added Pinkie.

Taboo gaze quickly snaps to the group of ponies, “KEEP TALKING, AND I WILL KILL YOU...” His words hit them, making them too scared to move. Taboo ready his claw, “IT’S OV-” beep beeeep!!! “WHAT IS THAT-"

BOOOM!!!

An explosion hits Taboo straight in the face, dropping Riki. Everyone looked in the direction disclosure came from, and they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Liz!" Riki exclaimed.

Liz is riding on a vespa and holding four roman candles taped together, “Get away from him, you scum sucking asshole!” She speeds up the vespa and heads toward Riki. He immediately understands and takes this opportunity. Riki takes his broken tonfa and stabs it deep in Taboo’s lower right eye until the handle prevents him from going any farther. As Liz rides past them, Riki hops on the back of the vespa and watches Liz drops a black smoke bomb.

“Liz, I knew you would come! And you fixed the vespa.” Riki yelled joyfully, hugging her tightly. Liz's backpack opens up, and Louie pokes his head out, “Louie, good to see you too!”

“Quit with the hugging, I’m trying to dive!” Liz shouted at Riki. She turns around to see Riki with a goofy smile. Liz cracks a tiny smile, but it turns into a frown, “…Look Riki, I want to say I’m sor-"

Liz stops talking when Riki gently pokes her head, “Oi, we’ll talk about it later. We have other problems.” Riki stands up and points at Twilight and the others, “Liz over there, quickly!”

“Gotcha!”

“Lizzy! Riki!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran to them. Pinkie jumps into Liz’s arms and nuzzles her.

“I miss you too,” Liz said, struggling to carry Pinkie. She looks at the other, seeing they're beating bodies. Liz gives them a somber smile, “Sorry that I was late. I… You guys must hate me… Sorry.”

“We don’t hate you, sugarcube,” Applejack said caringly.

“But, you could have been here a lot sooner,” Rainbow added. She is Jabbed in the side by Applejack, “I mean, I'm glad you're here. Wait, how did you find us?”

Liz put Pinkie down, “ When I was getting ready to leave I saw a rainbow explosion in the sky. And Louie followed Riki's scent too.”

Fluttershy walks up to Riki, “You need to rest,”

“No, I’m good.”

“Darling, you’re bleeding pretty badly,” Rarity said worriedly, “And been fighting all day!”

“I can try to heal you, but that's not really my affinity, and your resistance will get in the way.” said Twilight, “You did bring a first aid kit.

Riki takes off his hoodie and tightly ties it around his waist, hopefully slowing down the bleeding. He needs all the time he can get. “We have to deal with Taboo first. Oi, Pinkie throw me a water bottle.” Riki catches the bottle and then dumps it on his head, washing all the blood and dirt off his face.

“How are we going to do that?” Twilight asked,

“With the jar I brought,” Riki said, tiredly pointing at his backpack, “Taboo escape from there, so we are going to shove his ass back in the jar.”

Pinkie sticks her head in Riki's backpack, “No jar in here,” She then pulls her head out with a rice cake in her mouth, “Just this.”

Riki's eyes widened, “What I thought I brought it. Dammit, it’s the only thing that can stop Taboo.” Riki hung his head in shame until Liz tapped him on the shoulder, “Yeah?”

“Is this it?” Liz said, pulling out the jar that Riki was looking for. Louie pokes his head out and lets out a tiny meow, “When you left in such a hurry, you forgot it on the table. So I grabbed it with the other stuff and shoved it in my backpack.”

“Hell, yeah! Liz, you’re the best sister in the world!” Riki exclaimed, “I can always rely on you when I screw up.”

Liz smiles, “Thanks… That means a lot.”

“You said you have other stuff with you?”

“I did,” Liz then dumps her backpack out, and a bunch of things fall out. Steel rope, taser gun, two smoke bombs, lighter, and duct tape. There’s also Riki’s illegal fireworks he got from his Uncle Dan, a pile of M-80, a couple of Cherry Bombs, and one Roman Candle.

“Where did you get a taser from!” Riki shouted, pointing at it.

“Look, I got a good deal on eBay, plus I modified it to be a lot more powerful.”

“How powerful?”

“Enough to make the police tasers look like toys,” Liz said proudly, “Oh, I have this too.” She pulls out a can of pepper spray from her pocket, “Auntie Gwen gave this to me a while back. She said it's powerful stuff.” Riki looks over all the stuff and scratches his head while tapping his foot.

“Big guy, got something on the mind?” Rainbow asked Riki, poking his leg.

After a few moments, Riki spoke, “…I think I have a plan.”

“You do!?” They all yelled.

“Yeah, you guys just need to use the power of the Elements on him.”

Twilight puts her hoof on Riki’s leg, “We tried that, but he broke out.” She lets out a small sigh “Taboo has some strong magic.”

“I don’t think he's using magic, I think he uses something else. But that not going to mess up the plan.” Riki pulls out his one remaining tonfa and starts to draw on the ground, “Now here’s the plan.”

After a few minutes, they all walk onto the battlefield, face to face with Taboo. Riki is standing in the front with Liz, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie on his right side. And Twilight, Fluttershy, Louie, and Applejack are on this left. Taboo looks at the group, “I THOUGHT YOU GUYS RAN AWAY… GUESS I WAS WRONG, GOOD.” He looks at Liz, “AND NOW THE GIRL IS HERE. WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG, SCARED OF ME”

“Yes, but I’m more scared about losing my brother and friends!”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME!”

Riki takes a deep breath and yells, “Oh, shut up! You're just talking all this shit because you're on your last leg! Not only you take a blast from the Elements, you also fought me for a while.”

Twilight looks at Riki's wound as the blood starts to seep through his hoodie around his waist. She doesn’t know how long Riki can keep fighting. Twilight remembers what Liz said about Riki when they first met, ‘Once something gets in his way, he will keep ramming into it until it falls, or he does.’

“Taboo get ready to fight the Elements of Harmony and the Amber eye Duo!” Riki shouted with all his might. “The plan One final push, is a go!”