C196: Raiden's Fight
Alt Title: New opponent
Date published: 3/8/2025.
*************************
Seeing Atagucho be split apart with the sheathing of one's sword. The human side goes wild while the gods fall back into their silence. Their energetic shouts to tear Axel apart fall on deaf ears as Axel makes his way out of the arena again. He finally has some proper time to rest and relax as his next fight would be after the 7th round.
Heimdall announces that the arena would be undergoing renovations again and people calmly exit the coliseum to…who knows where as they never linger in the recreational areas of the coliseum. Axel would fall under the belief that it's actually the spirits of humans from all across the world that are brought to the stadium. It would allow the spirits of old to come and watch and cheer while quickly alternating between those who should be at the front of the stage with those who shouldn't, aka the nameless masses.
Axel walks towards where the valkyrie and human fighters had their party before. The child soldier continuously spars against his cloned arm. Yet Axel can tell that he is improving by leagues ahead of what he has done so far. Taking a bottle of alcohol he decides to tour through the recreational areas and lo and behold, he stumbles upon something interesting.
Taking out a gun, he sockets a strange but colorful magazine into it before boosting the gun with electricity he fires as fast as he can.
[HUNDRED-FOLD PEZ DISPENSORY]
The bullets which are simply Pez fly into the mouth of the resting god. Though it's totally not a coincidence that at the same moment Axel shot him, he took out the lollipop in his mouth and started chewing on the Pez.
"Cotton Candy, nice. Though I'm not sure what brought about such a course of actions. I'm not going to be bought to fight for humans" Buddha finishes chewing the Pez and puts his lollipop back into his mouth.
"Well the simple explanation is that ... .you're just my favorite of this world. Oh right, did you like my little statue from my previous fight, the bodhisattva statue? As for being bought, you alone are the one who can judge yourself" Axel gives his reason which Buddha gives him a weird look before hearing the rest of what he says.
"It's not bad, though I think that it matches Shiva more than me."
"Only the ashes of a human mummy stand comparable to Shiva's current state" Axel retorts and Buddha nearly jokes on a leftover Pez piece.
"Not very funny. Though that isn't why I'm here. I just wanted to know, why did you come here?" Buddha finishes coughing and asks his question.
"I'm a simple man who suddenly got access to a bunch of parallel universes of Earth and only Earth. I was minding my own business, getting used to human society here when first off, me and my family who were living happily amongst the humans were threatened by the ragnarok. Then there was my own world's potential destruction. It's unlikely anyone here could have even gotten past the barrier but it's the intention that counts. I've also grown a bit rusty over the years so I fight."
Buddha is at a loss for words at the seemingly random situation that attracted someone so strong here. He is about to ask his next question when Axel raises his hand and continues, "Other than to protect what I care about, why else would an eight year old child like me fight so many big and scawwy gods?" His body collapses into a sludge state but his little arm tendrils begin to wave in fright.
"Will humans win?" Buddha asks as he snaps his lollipop in half in his teeth. Axel stops waving his little slime hands and responds earnestly. "Only if they get a Righteous divine Intervention." He begins hopping away but Buddha who was lost in thought notices a bottle was left behind. He doesnt find any brand on it except a sticker with the design of Oni horns that says "Douji Extraplanar Entrepreneurial presents: Apple. Try it or you have sugma" the god chuckles at the strange sign as he puts a new lollipop in his mouth. He takes the bottle, his curiosity currently unsated.
Axel reverts back to his teen state with the bottle he took from the party room still in hand as he takes some casual sips from it. He passes by Hiokk playing games with Goll as they enjoy their few final moments together until Axel opens the passageways to his world. During his little stroll, he finds Brunhilde thinking in a random deserted corner of the entire stadium. She also spots him soon enough and let's out a turbid sigh as she approaches him.
"I give my greetings to the otherworldly god" The Valkyrie gives a formal greeting, a look of resignation on her face as she thinks of how the fights are going to go at this rate.
"Hey there. Not kneeling before Hiokk to try repenting for your actions?" He asks curiously as her every action shows her remorse at essentially selling out one of her younger sisters to such a renowned killer.
"I am repenting, I am predicting on how the future fights will progress and the steps that I will have to take to ensure humanity wins. In fact I have to thank you" She leans against a set of railings, the spirit seemingly leaving her as she talks, but a trace of hope reins inside her.
"Thank me for what If I may ask?" Axel responds, taking a swig of his vodka straight down without a change in his expression.
"You know that there are thirteen Valkyries right?"
"Yes, and?"
"If we continue to give and take losses then it will likely reach even your own official fight in the 13th round. Yet you are strong enough that you don't need a Volundr. That means that Goll won't have to fight in the last round. Ill take her place in the 12th round. I do have a request though" She explains the future tragedy that is to come to the Valkyries who side with Brunhilde to accompany Humanity in their fate.
The sorrowful sensation spreads to Axel as he realizes the truth of the doom and gloom aura. This is likely what had happened in the original as his inherited memories don't possess a third season of the show which should proclaim the finale of the Ragnarok. Axel leans against the railing too and looks at Brunhilde with the side of his eye and asks, "What is your request"
"I believe that should I fall at all in the 12th round, I grant you permission to save me into your service, my only hope would be that you also take Goll from here and give her a home in your land. Should I win then I will enlist the hero I would bond with to serve you with me as support to ensure the same result" She states her request and bows to Axel but he can see that her fist is clenched as she lowers her great pride in exchange for Goll's security and future. Though it could also be that he fist is to hit him if he rejects her request. How she would even hurt him would be amusing to see but he just begins to walk away from her without saying anything.
Brunhilde unclenches her hand and has an ashen expression as she looks at the departing Axel with lost hope.
"We will see if it even reaches but such a poor girl deserves a proper home that leaves her worry free. Don't worry" He waves her off as he returns to the upper section of the human VIP side to watch the upcoming fight.
The arena had already been rearranged and it resembles a sumo ring in a forest land, another noteworthy change from canon as he only remembers the sumo arena when Raiden Taimeemon fought against Shiva but his opponent is different this time around.
"Without undue introductions, I am Heimdall and I welcome you all back to the fifth round of the RAGNAROK!! From the human side we have the world's greatest Sumo Wrestler, the Peerless Rikishi, RAIDEN TAIMEEMON!!!" With proper energy, heimdall introduces the human fighter and already merged into him is Thrud, the valkyrie of power, who will allow the wrestler to act in the sport he loves most in the world with all due respect for it, by going all out, here and now.
"And from the other side we have the replacement for Shiva, god of destruction and creation, the same god who perished in the first half time fight. Raiden's opponent is less of a god and more a natural disaster in the making. His very steps quake the earth but having lost long ago, he had been in exile. Then for the past tens of thousands of years had been training for his rematch against Zeus and his brothers. Yet with only Hades left of the Greek Trifecta he can only use the wrestler as his punching bag to vent his mountainous rage."
"I present to you, THE TITAN ATLAS" the doors creak open and from it is a tall man of darker coloration but it's less so that his skin is black but that his body is coated in a layer of stone or perhaps his body is made of volcanic rock. He wears a simple robe to cover his groin but the most outstanding feature of his body are his arms.
The left hand appears like a normal human arm of pitch black skin and not coated in stone. Well defined muscles but nothing too special, the real mystery is his right arm which looks as though Atlas had taken all the rocks from his left hand and put it on his right but even then it's three times larger than his left hand. The right arm is so bulky in fact that it drags along the dirt as he walks towards the arena.
Brunhilde joins Axel and takes a seat while Axel speaks up in a moment of interest, "oooh, thats definitely new and interesting. But also how Nostalgic"
"How so?"
"Well where I was raised, there was a dungeon in a city and there were people who granted noteworthy adventurers appropriate nicknames or titles for exploring this dungeon. Most got embarrassing nicknames but my guardian was very caring and ensured that didn't happen to me at the time."
"My first nickname was the Brawler due to my propensity to fight only barehanded but after a month or two, the city was besieged by a powerful monster. I made a great showing of easily defeating it and guess what my new title was" Axel has a cheeky smile on his face as he explains.
"?" Brunhilde doesnt bother entertaining his question as there could be any number of possible titles that could be given to someone like him.
"Axel Gram, the Titan" he clarifies after a moment of no response and Brunhilde has a look of understanding of why Axel now says it's nostalgic. While they were talking, Atlas arrived at the sumo ring and as if he had some understanding of it. He lifts his right leg and places his weight on it, his half of the arena shatters from the display but no one questions Atlas' power since he didn't hurt his opponent with any sort of preemptive strike.
Raiden instead is pumped up as he can feel like his opponent might be able to let him let loose but the display also revealed that some of his little tricks might not work against Atlas so he takes up his own sumo stance. Heimdall announces the start of the match and both sides move to strike.
Atlas seems to shift forward ever so slightly to close the gap whilst punching out with his left 'human' arm. Meanwhile, Raiden attempts to use his Kiki-Ichimonji to try clotheslining Atlas but the extended arm collides with Atlas' punch to send Raiden back to his original spot while Atlas didn't even tremble from the impact, though it's hard to tell when the ground he stands on is already crushed rock.
Raiden waves his hand of the light numbness as a smile spreads across his face, he talks to his 'cute' Valkyrie and with her permission but worry, he starts undoing his special tattoo, the hundred seals. His muscles begin to shift and expand behind his skin which looks horrifying to watch yet also strangely attractive as he rushes towards Atlas once more.
It is not that Raiden attempts to commit to a drop kick, yet it is his misfortune that Atlas uses his right hand this time around. With a swing of surprising speed, Raiden is sent flying to the left side of the arena with multiple nasty gashes on his guts. The audience quickly discovers that Atlas had manipulated the rocks on his hands into spikes which had stabbed into Raiden's guts.
"I will win. That is the truth of the here and now" Atlas states with a heavy tone, speaking for the first time gives the impression of an old man that canceled his retirement to kick a young kid's ass.
"Quake for me" HIs tone changes to heavily hostile as he slams his right hand on the arena, actually causing an earthquake throughout the arena and even the stadium if Axel didn't put up a barrier on the human side but not the gods side because he has no reason to. As such they feel the full force of the earthquake. Axel only allows a little bit through so the audience can feel the fight more vividly.
Yet this is not any regular earthquake, Atlas has the power of the very earth and can make it effectively eternal. As such, everyone can feel the never ending earthquake as Atlas charges towards Raiden Taimeemon who puts up his arms as a ballooned up barrier. Left, right, left, right.
Atlas does not use the spikes this time around as he can tell that he would struggle to pierce through it when it's inflated like this. To counter this persistent defense, Atlast surprisingly jumps into the air, extending his right arm up into the air and bringing it down onto Raidens head.
Or, at least he would if Raiden didn't notice the elevated threat and dodged backwards, putting him at the edge of the sumo arena. But this just makes Atlas' hand slam into the ground where the earthquake from before intensifies so much that the arena splits forward from where the titans hand landed.
Crack crack, Kew, SPLURT. "AH!!"
From those cracks, spikes rose up and stabbed into Raidens unprotected legs. After getting halfway through his muscles stopped it. Raiden grits his teeth and snaps the spikes off with his hands then throws them aside. The injury begins to greatly bleed out until the muscles are rearranged to block it, for now. Yet knowing that he is heavily on the losing side he has to go through all the stops to achieve a win here, for himself, for sumo and for Thrud who is supporting him to achieve all this.
Raiden now inflates his legs and commits to a far jump towards Atlas whilst flipping. Atlas posies his right hand to strike but when it's moving at him, Raiden shifts to his right (Atlas' left) and dodges the strike. He lands on his feet and transfers the full kinetic energy to his right arm which is now aimed at Atlas' chest, specifically his armpit which also holds no stones from his left arm.
[Yatagarasu]
BAM
The strike connects and greatly injuries Atlas as parts of his ribs randomly shattered under the attack, his left arm was dislocated by the compressed energy of the strike. The strike had also injured the titans earthly heart as he was sent flying to the other side of the arena, the only reason he didn't outright fall out of the circle is due to the weight of his rocky body. If Raiden had directly struck Atlas' shoulder then the arm itself would have directly snapped off but it's better to cripple it like this as it's now just dead weight.
Raiden works to suppress the backlash of this forbidden technique he has just unleashed as he continues taking steps towards Atlas while the Titan trembles as he slowly gets up. The majority of the left side of his chest is malformed and broken. From the state of the titan, Axel nearly proclaims Atlas as AllMight 2.0 if it wasn't for the fact that he believes that Allmight could actually take down Atlas at his golden age peak.
Huff huff. Atlas breathes hard as he gets up, the previous earthquake had already stopped after Atlas was sent flying. He stands in place, seemingly not doing anything but Axel quickly notices that the rocks surrounding the titans right arm are falling off. Others start to notice this too and small shrieks of fright arise from the malformed giant arm inside the rock cover.
The malformed arm is at least twice bigger than his normal looking left arm but on the back of the hand is two additional fingers that to Axel could function like crab pincers as they are long enough to encircle the same hand while it is clenched. Similar to Raiden's body, the right arm holds red flowing markings, these make the arm look more demonic as it also outlines the pitch black, 4 inch long nails on each finger.
Raiden takes up a combat stance as he can tell that Atlas might make a move soon and he should be ready. Atlas instead begins to rock side to side, completely ignoring his injured left, his expression stoic but hateful as he glares at Raiden.
Bang bang bang BAM SWISH
[Demonic pillars of Vengeance]
Suddenly all the rocks on Atlas' body begin to fall over, showcasing his wounded but beautiful appearance that does show a bit of resemblance to the fallen Poseidon. The demonic arm compared to the striking black hair and mature looks is like looking at heaven and earth. Yet this is not the end of the shock as Atlas bolts forward with unprecedented speed and his right arm directly stabs into Raidens chest.
The 5 elongated fingernails along with the 2 extra crab like fingernails stab into Taimeemon, his guts slowly falling out as Atlas swipes his hand down, tearing open his stomach and organs.
While Raiden Taimeemon is bleeding out, his will and fire still burns strong as he gathers his energies for another Yatagarasu but Atlas shows no more mercy for his opponent as the long nails directly sever his legs, causing him to fall down as his organs properly fall out.
"You were thousands of years too young to fight me. I had been in wars far beyond your mortal comprehension and you held hope you could win against me? You are not worthy of this ring" Raiden Taimeemon, no, Tarokichi Seiki, has endless hatred and regret at the titans words. He would love nothing more than to prove him wrong yet his muscles fail him, one last time. Atlas states his bit with the utmost disdain he can have for his opponent. For Atlas, there is no joy in fighting, nor killing, there is only victory and he has claimed it.
"Im sorry Thrud, i've failed you." Seki states to his beloved but dying valkyrie.
"You didn't. You showed me what a real man was, and I am honored to be with a man that can love me. Let that love taint all of Niflheim, creating a new legacy" The Valkyrie denies the wrestlers claim as she spiritually embraces her champion with all her heart before they both shatter.
With the titan claiming victory, the score is once again evened out to 3-3. Brunhilde chooses to not request Axel to save her sister as she could already tell that if Axel didn't bring back Raiden as well then there was no point. She leaves the vip room to mourn her sisters loss as well as choose who will fight next.
Another break is called as the last match of the day will proceed soon enough after the arena is fixed once again.
**********************************
Alt Title: The Deal, Next fight, Might of the Earthly Destruction
Word count: 3455
Drop a comment if you wanna judge my writing or the story. I'll try to respond, especially if you're confused or anything.