Glitch

47 was confused by this sudden show of mercy. He wasn't one to give up easily, but he was able to recognize when he had a bad metaphorical hand of cards, and he knew when to metaphorically fold them. 47 took Yusuke's hand and tried to get up, attempting and failing to ignore the pain in his chest. He clutched it with his free hand and grimaced, gritting his teeth; it was the most emotion his face had shown for the entire tournament. When 47 stood up, he leaned against the brick wall, breathing heavily. He was just about to thank Yusuke when he mentally redacted his statement. It wasn't his style.

Glitch felt relieved and a bit embarrased at the same time. His attempt at being cool had ended with him nearly dying, had Meta Knight not intervened. Adding to that, he kinda wished Derpy had saved him. Glitch wiped his brow. "Um, thanks," he said as Meta flew back to the Halberd before adding, "And she's not my crush! She's my marefriend! I think..." With nothing to do except wait for Derpy, Glitch lie down on the ground with his hooves under his head and his hind legs crossed and waited for his marefriend to come.

47 was knocked flat on his back as the last blow struck him. He felt multiple broken bones and he had a killer (see what I did there?) headache. He tried to get up, but a sharp pain in his chest objected. He lie down, the Silverballer still in his hand. In one final, devil-may-care move, 47 tilted his head forward, flipped the gun in his hand so he gripped it by the handle, and emptied it at Yusuke, knowing full well that if this didn't work, he would most certainly be dead.

(Maybe it is.) 47 got the wind knocked out of him as the blow landed on his chest. He staggered backwards onto the ground, clutching his torso. He was pretty sure that he heard a crack. In a bout of uncharacteristic behavior, 47 was getting desperate. He looked over to his pistols and decided to get creative. He grabbed one of them by the barrel and swung it at Yusuke's head.

Glitch's brain was wedged between "WHAT!?!" and "HUH!?!" as Derpy uttered the words. She had said it, she had really said it! She liked him! Glitch tried his hardest to keep himself from grinning like an idiot, but he couldn't stop himself. As Derpy buried her head in his shoulder, the whistle Meta Knight had given him rattled around on its chain. Glitch remembered its purpose and managed to gently get Derpy off of him before standing up. "Wanna see something cool?" he asked. "Watch this." Glitch walked over to the edge of the cloud when, all of a sudden, he tripped. He fell forward, face first, sending him tumbling off the cloud. The whole thing had happened so fast that Glitch didn't even have time to scream. As he watched the ground become closer and closer, a single thought raced through his mind. "I knew this was too good to last."

Glitch was thankful, for two reasons. One: Derpy had promised. Two: His spine was still intact. He reciprocated the hug, tightly squeezing her body. A tear formed in his eye, he was so happy. Glitch smiled. He moved his head to the side of hers. Glitch kissed her on the cheek, before whispering something in her ear. "I... I love you..."

47 grunted in agony as Yusuke tightly squeezed his hand. The pain in it was red-hot; he decided to not use it for the rest of the fight. 47 was angry, but he only showed it in a slightly deeper frown that creased his face. He paused to get back into a combat stance before suddenly striking with a spinning heel kick.

Glitch shuddered as he recalled the time when there was no feeling in his hind legs. He never wanted to experience that again, but right now Glitch was prepared to go through whatever time and fate had to throw at him to be with Derpy. "Derpy," he said, "there's only one thing that you can ever do to hurt me: leave. Please, don't go. Promise me that you'll stay strong no matter what."

"Don't worry," Glitch reassured Derpy. "I'm not gonna make fun of you." He stroked her neck while hugging her. "I actually kinda like it when you mess up. It's cute." Glitch chuckled, then sighed. "Oh, I wish I could stay up here forever with you." Glitch wasn't lying. He smiled and kissed Derpy on the forehead.

47's head snapped backwards, his ears ringing. He didn't feel any contact from Yusuke's fist, but he still felt a force smash against his temple. At least he kept his word, 47 thought. He steadied himself and brought himself back into a combat stance. 47 tried another, more pragmatic tactic. He jabbed forward with his right hand, only to pull it back and aim a blow for the groin.

(Thanks. I'm gonna need it.) 47 nodded, though there was an uncertainty to it. Yusuke looked like a person who had been in many a street brawl before the tournament, and he would probably fight dirty. Despite this, 47 raised his fists into a combat stance, prepared to strike. There was a tense moment between the Spirit Detective and the assassin before 47 lashed out with a left hook to the ribs.

The energy blast smacked 47 in the torso, sending him careening back through the alley. He slid across the ground, dirtying his suit. 47 felt like he was hit in the chest by a cinderblock, and for what felt like the hundredth time that day, his vision was swimmy. Despite this, he wouldn't let Yusuke win. He got up and suddenly had an idea. Admittedly, it wasn't a very good idea, but it was the only one he had. 47 then unloaded his Silverballers and placed the magazines to the side before doing the same with the pistols themselves. "Let's do away with ranged combat," he said. "We'll fight hand-to-hand; no weaponry, no energy blasts. Do we have an agreement?" 47 waited patiently for a response. (This is a baaaaaaaaaaaad idea. I'm probably gonna get myself killed.)

47 shielded his face with his arms as the blast hit the ground. When he looked back, a cloud of gray dust had appeared where Yusuke once was. Not content with waiting until the dirt settled, 47 reloaded his Silverballers and ran into the dust. Keeping his pistols at the ready, he scanned the area where Yusuke had been, only to find nothing. 47 glanced around the area, then spotted the alleyway. Cautiously, he walked down the path, searching for his mark. 47 exited the alley, wondering where Yusuke could've gone, when he saw him perched on a rooftop. "Not this time," he quietly said. 47 aimed a single Silverballer at Yusuke, and fired.

Glitch relievedly sighed. Despite being tackled again, he was just happy to see Derpy smile. He momentarily wondered if his spine had been broken. Glitch felt his back and was glad to discover that it was still in one piece. He looked at Derpy and grinned. "So, um," he said, "do you like what I got for you?"

47 ducked, but the blast sent him flying backwards. He landed in a pile of rubble, dazing his vision. 47 wondered how he was still breathing. He tried to stand up, but he was off balance and his eyesight was still swimmy. Somehow, he managed to find his Silverballers in the wreckage. 47's sight began to clear, and he could faintly make out Yusuke fiercely glaring at him. He began to walk towards him. "I have almost no friends," 47 said. "I murdered my family. I've never experienced love." His vision finally cleared fully. He raised both of his Silverballers and aimed them at Yusuke. "I'm not good. I never will be." 47 then rapidly fired his pistols, each shot tearing through the air.

47's eyes widened as the energy projectile flew towards him. He rushed down the stairs, wondering how Yusuke could have dodged the bullet, but only got halfway down the steps when the shot hit the third floor. 47 was sent flying down to the stairs, losing his Silverballers on the way down. He crashed onto the second floor, not as damaged as the third but still badly wrecked. There was a gigantic hole looking out at Yusuke where the wall used to be. 47 searched the wreckage for his Silverballers, finding them buried in a pile of rubble. He looked out and quickly wrote off stealth as an option. 47 leapt out of the building.

47 snuck around to another building, this one three stories tall. He crept up to the third floor, getting a good view on target through a window. Yusuke was a little far away, but 47 was confident that he could make the shot, even with his Silverballers. He placed his left arm on the windowsill and placed his right arm, Silverballer in hand, on his left. He slowly aimed towards Yusuke, placing the ironsights squarely on his head for a near-certain kill. 47 held his breath, steadied his aim, and fired.

47 listened to Yusuke taunting him from behind the door of the building. He had decided that stealth was the best possible option for taking out someone as powerful as Yusuke. 47 looked around and looked around the building. Mercifully, there was a back door. Not so mercifully, there was also one of those creatures. Its compound eyes locked with 47's for a brief moment as the assassin raised his silenced pistol. It managed to hiss at him for a fraction of a second before 47 shot it in the head. He then instinctively stowed the corpse before ducking out the back door, hoping Yusuke didn't hear the creature's hiss.

Freakin' finally. Though I do agree with Koenma; the tourney could be organized better. Well, at the very least I'm fighting someone who's skillset I know about.

47 quickly drew his Silverballers and surveyed the arena. Surrounding him were jet black winged horses, not unlike Rainbow Dash. They reminded 47 of insects. The creatures were laden with holes in their legs, and 47 wondered how they stood without their extremities crumbling under their weight. The buildings were of a similar color, and they had a sinister edge to their construction. 47 turned to his opponent. It was Yusuke. In a way, 47 was satisfied. He had an opprotunity to kill the pest who was giving him so much grief. 47 raised a single Silverballer to Yusuke's head, fully prepared to put a hole (or several) in it. However, before he could pull the trigger, the mental note about Yusuke and the fight between him and the Doctress came back to 47, and he ducked into a nearby building.

47 sighed. While he didn't normally wish harm upon others, save individuals like Blake Dexter or Agent Smith, Yusuke was getting on his nerves. He was like a fly, only more talkative. This was one of the few instances that 47 wanted someone to die. "Is this how you normally behave?" 47 asked Yusuke.

Glitch gasped, then began to laugh. He was actually walking on a cloud! He never thought he would be up here, not in a million years. He checked if he still had the muffins, only to find two of them. They'd be enough. Glitch walked over to Derpy, crying on the ground, if it could be called that. He tilted her head up so she could see him. "Hey there," he said before brandishing the muffins. "I brought you these."

Glitch was taken aback. He stepped backwards, shocked at the masked pony's true form. Here he was, standing face to face with an actual Changeling, the same race would've destroyed Canterlot had the Elements of Harmony not intervened. Glitch briefly wondered if the Changeling would hurt him, then brushed that idea off. If the Changeling wanted to hurt him, why would he wait so long? Glitch gulped, swallowing his fear, before stepping forward. "I don't care what you are," he said. "Cast. The. Spell."

Glitch turned the question over in his head. He desperately wanted to spend as much time with Derpy as he could. However, there was probably a good reason that the masked pony covered his face if he needed to warn him about it. But, after much deliberation, love won out, and Glitch made his decision. "Let's have you cast the spell on me."

"Wooooow," Glitch said. It was all he could think to say; the ship was huge! She was as big as a chunk of town. Glitch hadn't seen anything quite as large. Calling her "humble" was a gross understatement. "Oh, I need this- uh, I mean, her because I'm looking for a mare. I love her without a doubt in my mind. Surely you can understand?"