The Zupponn Saga

[Zupponn]

A long time ago, in a galaxy not too far away...


A lone spaceship is cruising through space when...


Computer: "Systems Malfunction. Initiate emergency crash-landing procedures."
Pilot: "The hell?!?"


Zupponn: "Ugghhh... Where am I?"
Hanzou: "He's coming around!"


Hanzou: "Well, hello there Mr. um..."
Zupponn: "Zupponn, I think."
Hanzou: "Mr. Zupponn. My name is Hanzou, and I'm the Warden here. To my left is Frank..."
Zupponn: "Hey, Is that my armor?"


Frank: "Your armor? My armor now. See you in the ring, bub."
Zupponn: "The ring?"


Hanzou: "Yes, the ring. Like it or not, you're a Gladiator here and Frank will be your first opponent."
Zupponn: "Gladiator?"
Hanzou: "You do know how to fight, don't you?"
Zupponn: "Well, yeah..."
Hanzou: "Great! Then you should have no problems putting on a good show! Let's go meet the rest of the group."


Hanzou: "So, here's everyone else. In the corner with the chef's hat on is Faceless. He doesn't say much. The one in the space helmet and closest to us is Slasher. He has a temper, so I suggest not getting on his bad side. The other two are also newcomers like yourself, and I can't quite remember their names. Ralph and Jim or something along those lines."


Hanzou: "But you are today's main event, so pick your weapons and go to meet Frank in the ring."


Zupponn: "I think I'll go with these."


Hanzou: "That's a, er, surprising choice. But before you can go out there, there are a few rules we must go over..."

[Zupponn]

Later, at the ring...


Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"


King Glaidor: "Citiz3ns of Galidor, he@r me1 T0day we witne5s a gr@nd ba+tle betw3en Frank and Zupponn!"


King Galidor: "Let the b@ttle b3gin!"


Frank was quickly on the offensive, but Zupponn held his ground.


It was not long before Zupponn got a clean hit in though, and Frank was knocked out cold.


Zupponn remembered the rules he was told.
Zupponn: "His life is in your hands, my lord!"
King Galidor took the royal frying pan and held it level. It's action would determine the fate of poor Frank. Up meant that he would live, while down meant that he would die.
Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"


But it was not Frank's lucky day.
Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"
Zupponn readied himself and took his swing.


SPLAT



Hanzou: "Zupponn! You did well out there!"
Zupponn: "Thanks but there was one question that I..."
Slasher: "Give it to me!"


New Gladiator: "Give you what?"
Slasher: "Give me that GT now or I'll gut you like a fish!"
New Gladiator: "The GT? But what's so special..."


Slasher: "I warned you!"
New Gladiator: "AIEEEE!"
Hanzou: "Slasher, the GT!"


Zupponn could barely believe his eyes as again, just like in the ring, both the GT and RT blood seemed to be dissolved into the ground.
Slasher: "Dammit. Useless gladiator..."


Zupponn: "Hanzou, that's what I wanted to ask you about. When I killed Frank, his blood was just sort of absorbed into the ground.
Hanzou: "Yes, it happens all over this planet. Any and all transparent material that touches the ground is just absorbed."
Zupponn: "But why?"
Hanzou: "I, I'm not sure Zupponn, but don't worry about it. Now go get some rest, you're scheduled to fight Faceless tomorrow."

[Zupponn]

The next day...


Zupponn and Faceless had been at it for quite some time now. Faceless was a skilled opponent, but he just couldn't get through Zupponn's defenses.
Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"


The battle went on and on.
Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"


Finally, Zupponn saw his opening.
Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"


In one swift move, he disarmed Faceless...
Crowd: "Galidor! Galidor! Galidor! Galidor!"


And beheaded his opponent.


The Crowd fell silent.


Everyone looked to King Galidor. There were many nervous eyes in the stadium.


But all the King did was turn and leave.


Slasher: "How could you do such a thing!"
Zupponn: "But I..."
Hanzou: "You had one rule. One rule! And you couldn't follow it!
Zupponn: "But I..."
Slasher: "Shut it!"


The King's guards walked in.
Hanzou: "There's nothing we can do for you anymore."


After a brief tussle, Zupponn was disarmed and led away.

Later...


King Galidor: "Ah, Zupponn! The One."


Zupponn: "King Galidor."


King Galidor: "Plea5e st3p forw@rd."
Zupponn looked over the edge of the platform into the pit below. Nothing but darkness could be seen.


King Galidor: "And now I mu5t say go0dbye, Zupponn."
Zupponn: "This is stupid."
King Galidor: "TH1S IS GALIDOR!1!"
And with a hefty kick, Zupponn was sent into the abyss.

[Zupponn]

Some time later...


Zupponn: "Uggghhh..."


Zupponn: "What's wrong with this planet?"
He spied an object on the pedestal.


Zupponn: "Might as well go take a look..."


Zupponn reached for it.
Zupponn: "It's a skull. A transparent skull..."

Later, in Galidor Castle...


King Galidor: "He is g0ne."
Hanzou: "It had to be done sir. As much as the crowds enjoyed watching him, there were too many correlations between him and the prophecy.
Slasher: "And I never liked him anyways. Good riddance, I say."


Suddenly, a blinding flash lit up the room.
Hanzou: "What in the name of Galidor?!?"


Hanzou: "Zupponn! But how did you survive?"
Zupponn: "I found the Transparent Skull. I now know everything, Hanzou, from the slave mines all over the planet to try and locate the skull to the real reason behind the Gladiator matches."
King Galidor: "You stop this instant!"
Zupponn: "You see, the matches served a dual purpose for you three. You hoped to gain the Skull's favor by killing for it while at the same time keeping the populace controlled by the glorious violence. The Skull has told me everything. It has been waiting for me for a long time."


Zupponn: "You all wanted the Skull's power to manipulate transparent material for yourselves and because all transparent material was absorbed by this planet, you knew it was here."
Slaser: "Time to end this! The skull will be mine!"


Slasher: "Urk"


Zupponn: "Now, you will all meet his fate for what you did to me."


The guards wasted no time in springing into action.


Zupponn wasted no time in focusing his new powers.


And with one swift stroke, he beheaded two.


Seeing the other guards so easily dispatched, the remaining two backed up.


Zupponn focused his energies...


...and the GT that had been in the ground this whole time erupted from the earth, splitting the guards in two.


Zupponn started moving towards the king. Hanzou felt it was time to strike.
Hanzou: "I'll take my revenge for Slasher!"


But as Zupponn turned towards him, and the blood in the room gathered near his hand, Hanzou felt his resolve slip.


In fear of the giant Blood Sword Zupponn had created, Hanzou fled.
Hanzou: "Please don't kill me!"


And with one swing, Hanzou was cleaved in two.


Zupponn let the blood fall from his control.


He turned towards King Galidor, who just stared at him.
King Galidor: "Do your worst."


So Zupponn did, tearing the RT straight from the king's body.


And with that he left the castle.


Zupponn: "Now..."


Zupponn: "...where's my ship?"

[Silverdream]

10/10

Also, I loved the Rade and Jeremiah cameos.

[Theblackdog]

Zupponn's transparent-manipulation powers are a neat idea, and I liked your use of the Good Cop head.

[Zahru II]

This was a pretty solid read!

[loafofcheese]

One of the better stories I've read, I like it!

[Zupponn]

10/10

Also, I loved the Rade and Jeremiah cameos.

Thanks. I knew you would like seeing them. I was thinking about adding Crystoph also, but it just didn't make sense to me.

Zupponn's transparent-manipulation powers are a neat idea, and I liked your use of the Good Cop head.

Between King Galidor and Faceless, I was hoping to give an impression of how messed up the planet was.

[Quantumsurfer]

Fun stuff, Zup.

[BFenix]

Pretty cool! Are these his "origins" or something?

[Zupponn]

Pretty cool! Are these his "origins" or something?

Yeah, I wanted to attempt some type of origin story while at the same time give a reason why Zupponn is a cloaked skeleton now.

[Kaplan]

Great story!

[Vami IV]

Great story!

[Kalvinator]

Pretty cool! Are these his "origins" or something?

Yeah, I wanted to attempt some type of origin story while at the same time give a reason why Zupponn is a cloaked skeleton now.

So a "Zupponn: Year One" Nice, one of my favorite reads so far here since I left.

Also...it didn't really explain too much why he's a cloaked skeleton...