The Contestants |
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The Breakdown |
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Editor’s Note: Just wanted to say that picking Martin the Warrior was a bit controversial, even amidst us here at Suvudu. And yet, I was adamant–Martin was one of my favorite characters growing up, and I actually think is as good as any warrior in this match.
Seriously.
But when Brian Jacques passed away, I knew he had to be in Cage Match 2011. I don’t anticipate him winning–and I’m not asking for pity votes. I just think this is one of the only ways I can honor an author who helped me grow up into fantasy.
By having another character fight his to the death.
Hope you’re enjoying the best deeper ‘n ever pie, Brian. Thanks!
–dpomerico
How we think the fight will go
The young man wasn’t nervous, exactly. It was just that this tournament was supposed to be for heroes, full-grown men who had completed some kind of training: magic, swordsmanship—or at the very least puberty. Although FitzChivalry Farseer shared the blood of kings, his training as an assassin had given him mastery over poison and dark corners and left him lacking in the sword department. He felt under-prepared for a man-to-man fight.
Perhaps that feeling was nervousness after all.
Fitz looked across the arena, anticipating the moment when a powerful wizard would suddenly appear in a flash of intimidating light, or a gigantic, muscle-bound gladiator to stomp in, crushing that poor mouse who seemed to be enjoying the day’s fair weather.
The mouse that was wearing… wait, was that mouse wearing armor?
Fitz gently quested toward the animal, hoping to feel the bright flash of energy and hunger that usually accounted for a mouse’s entire mental capacity. Instead, Fitz was surprised to feel a mind alive with cunning, strategy and purpose on par with any man.
Who are you, my little friend? Fitz asked mentally, using the Skill to place his thoughts within the mind of his compatriot.
What the— hello? Um, are you in my mind? Sir, this is quite rude. Please get out of my head, thanks. The mouse was unamused. “I can talk, you know.”
“Sorry,” Fitz said aloud. “May I ask who you are?”
“You may. I am Martin the Warrior, here to defeat you.”
The mouse’s voice was surprisingly loud for such a small creature. Fitz wondered how lungs that small could muster the strength to emit a noise that projected with such force. Tiny animals had always fascinated and comforted Fitz with their small musculature and simple yet pure desire for food, rest, and shelter. He longed to trade his complicated life in the King’s court for one of simple needs, and wander freely like a mouse in a field.
Fitz was jolted from his thoughts by a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down to find the mouse, who was not a second ago making empty threats from a safe distance away, dangling from his calf by a tiny sword.
“What the…?” Fitz, annoyed, lifted his throbbing leg and pulled the sword, mouse still attached, from his calf muscle. “What are you doing?”
“Defeating you! This is a fight to the death, am I right? I shall fight for Redwall! And honor!” The mouse squeaked, struggling to hold on to his sword as Fitz lifted it to his eye level.
“Sir mouse, although I find you quite brave, I do not foresee you winning this fight,” said Fitz.
He knew the rules of the Cage Match—they expected a fight to the death. But Fitz could not kill this small, struggling beast. The mouse had the heart and soul of a noble warrior, and Fitz wasn’t about to snuff out his brilliant life for anyone’s reading pleasure.
“Here, let go of that,” he muttered, jiggling the mouse loose from the sword. He placed Martin, protesting wildly, into his jacket pocket. The mouse’s tiny sword twinkled in the light, and Fitz admired its beauty before pocketing it as well. His gaze swept once more over the empty arena before he headed for the exit, and Fitz was glad that such a sunny day had been spared of mindless slaughter.
Predicted Winner: FitzChivalry Farseer
NOTE: THIS MATCH ENDS ON SUNDAY, MARCH 13TH, 2011, AT 5 PM, ET
Martin the Warrior is a character from the Redwall series by Brian Jacques; FitzChivalry is a character from the Farseer and Tawny Man series by Robin Hobb
Martin image courtesy of *oogiboogi. FitzChivalry image courtesy of Michael Whelan.
Rhea Lyons contributed to this Cage Match
I think that, somehow, Martin will find a way. He HAS to. That’s what Redwall characters do!
Martin can win this. Lets get behind him and push him through this for a couple rounds. Just becaue he is small doesn’t mean he cant win. He is a hero and a warrior, so he has what it takes.
Power does not trump courage, and heart always beats out might. vote for Martin and stand up for the little guy.
Just to point this out, Fitz actually has been in (and led) several full-scale battles. Hardly inexperienced at regular combat…well, I guess you did use the word “swordplay”, which is applicable since he uses a battleaxe instead, xD…
Well… I’m a bit confused, really. Martin in an anthropomorphized mouse, in a fantasy land where the weapons and buildings and things are not hilariously undersized or made with twigs. He really shouldn’t be ridiculously tiny.
Also, I think the writing for Martin was quite bad. BUT ANYWAY. For Redwaaaaalllllllll!
\Early teens\ doesn’t really apply to Fitz if you’re counting the Tawny Man Series. He is in his thirties there, I think.
I’m with Gordon Freeman in some points…I’m just not sure. Jacques’s animals don’t seem to be “ordinary”, at least in that they seem to live longer than the critters we’re aware of. There are also times in which they DO seem bigger/more capable than they should be. On the other hand, particularly earlier in the series, they can seem a lot smaller and in book 1, they’re clearly meant to be ordinary-sized.
But screw that. As far as I’m concerned, for this tournament, Martin is 6″1′. That’s just where I’m setting it, lol.
I haven’t read either series, though I’ve heard great things about both characters… I think I’m going to stay neutral for a while and see where the comments go.
It does seem like it might only be fair to make Martin big, based on what other comments have said, which would definitely make him more of a threat. Still… assassins aren’t to be underestimated.
I guess I always assumed Martin and the other mice were human sized. However, I was always confused as to why they seemed exactly the same size (or only slightly smaller) than Badgers, Foxes, Rats, and whatever else they happened to encounter.
But, Martin all the way.
Fitz is FAR from an inexperienced fighter, even in his teens. He was a berserker on the battlefield with that battleaxe.
And if we’re seeing his younger version, where’s Nighteyes, his wolf–who would consider Martin nothing but a good meal?
Alyssa is totally right. Fitz is a good fighter and yes, he should have Nighteyes with him (Jon Snow has his wolf, Ghost, in his match: why not Fitz?)
I really hope Fitz will win!
Sad thing is… I can see Fitz doing this.
Martin’s writing doesn’t do him justice though. That, and if you kill him he’ll come back as a ghost and make other tiny animals kill you. Even if Martin were full sized I still see Fitz winning. Also, Fitz doesn’t get the headaches anymore after he is Skill-healed.
I shall miss new Redwall novels, but go Fitz!
Mice of Redwall are standard human sized. And Martin the Warrior killed an entire army of soldiers practically by himself. Adding in that assassins are made for subtle corner stabs and not a close quarters attack, Fitz would die.
Martin pulled himself up, handful by handful, on the gigantic mountain of cloth that was the body of his enemy, the axe-wielding giant who invaded others’ minds. His opponent had not yet even noticed him, and probably would have been too arrogant to even consider him a threat.
Martin leaped unto the titanic shoulders of the monster, and with his hands free, he drew his sword. In one smooth, deadly motion, he slit the giant’s throat from ear to ear.
A rumbling, as if the earth’s crust itself had been shaken. The giant gasped, gurgled on his own blood, and stumbled. Martin was shaken from his standing position, his sword knocked from his hand. He jumped, and caught hold of a handful of the giant’s hair, gripping it with all of his strength. The hair swayed as the body stumbled, and Martin was slammed against the giant’s neck with a force that rattled his entire body. He held on, resolutely, and swung over to land on the giant’s back as the body lurched forward.
Martin ran down the falling body, racing against time as the ground rushed up to meet them both. He jumped one final time, just before the body crashed to the ground, and rolled as he landed. He was bruised and beaten, but had survived.
FitzChivalry Farseer tumbled over, moaning out a prolonged eulogy of ascendent angst as his bleeding body crashed and crumbled to the ground, driven to new heights of physical weakness and defeat. Tears poured out of his eyes as his entire world fell to ashes, again, and his last moments of life were consumed in the ocean of bitterness. He died there, weeping for his ruined life, reaching a new height of patheticness unmatched even by Gollum at his lowest state. In his last moments, he composed a weeping, boring, run-on sentence of angst ruminating over his misfortune and how much everything sucked, with all the poetic master of a badly depressed preacher, which thankfully, no living soul would ever have to hear.
Martin dusted himself off, retrieved his sword from where it had fallen, and walked off. The broken body of the giant lay behind him, a landscape of dead flesh. Martin the Warrior had now added the “assassin” to the list of ever bigger, ever more advantaged opponents he had defeated over his lifetime.
For Redwall!
Personally, I’m voting in all of these based on who I think will be the more entertaining character to continue. Thus, Martin the Warrior, hands down.
Robin Hobb and her character Fitzchivalry are so much superior to the opponent. Also, his description is only appropriate to the first book of the two trilogies.
I’m a little amazed at how close the voting is.
Yeah, it’s been within 40 the whole time.
If Martin gets eliminated in the first round, I’m going to make a series of EXTREMELY ANGRY COMMENTS that do little other than express my rage and astonishment. I like Fitz and I like the Farseer trilogy quite a bit, but he does not stack at all against Martin.
Plus, if you strike him down now, he will only inspire the dreams of other heroic figures, and haunts those of the dickbags.
Woah, Fitz was definitely trained to battle even before he was trained as an assassin, and though his preferred weapon is the axe, he kills with a sword and a wooden staff as well. Even before he was part of the crew in the battleships in the Red Ships War, he had killed at least 9 times with a sword, a dagger or a staff (and scores of times with poison). He’s prone to get battle rage, so there’s no way to do body count for the big battles where he uses the axe. He also kills with the King’s dagger as a revenge, and then goes on killing 6 other Forged Ones and regular soldiers with staff, sword and knife besides poisoning others. AND THAT’S ONLY IN THE FIRST TRILOGY.
So please get the facts straight for the next round. Fitz can definitely kill with more ways than poisoning.
So, who came first; Martin the Warrior or Reepicheep?
I’ve read most of both of these series and I feel Martin, while smaller, is a true and good Hero. I like all the anti-heros out there now but a great story needs a virtious, legendary hero to overcome overwhelming odds and defeat his foes in the end.
I already said Fitz pwnz everyone with sheer assassin powah.
Although I doubt it will make it that far, I think a good fight would happen with Perrin vs Fitzchivalry. Both have wolf friends that they can communicate with. Both have powerful mental abilities (Tel’Aran’Rhiod vs Skilling/Wit). Both are skilled melee combatants. That fight would be a tough call for me. It would kind depend where the fight took place and what allies each could bring (if any). I would pay money to see a good writeup for that fight too
So here’s my two cents:
First off, I love Martin. But for those of you that think he’s human sized, you’re just wrong. Redwall (the book) contains a pretty specific description of a bunch of rats riding in a carriage hooked to a horse. And there are hundreds of rats in that carriage. That wouldn’t be possible if all the rats were human-sized.
Mossflower’s entire climactic battle is awesome BECAUSE Martin is mouse sized; he fights a full-sized bobcat and wins. That’s kind of the whole point. Guess what? Human sized mouse v. human sized bobcat, an interesting fight. Normal mouse kills normal bobcat? Epic.
I think Martin COULD come up with a way to kill Fitz. But he wouldn’t. Fitz would have to be unjustly endangering a whole bunch of animals to do that, and as one who has the Wit, Fitz would be incapable of that. Furthermore, the Wit would allow Fitz to share his own feelings with Martin, who would understand.
Fitz would kill someone who he didn’t want to if he were put in a position where he had to. But it’s far more likely that he does what he does here; fake it.
Where I think the authors got it wrong was in making Fitz shake the sword loose. I think Fitz opens himself to Martin using the Wit, the two of them generate a plan to get out of the cage match without either one of them getting killed or having to kill the other, Martin sheathes his sword and gets in Fitz’s pocket, and the judges call Fitz the winner.
Besides, making Martin lose the Sword of Martin the Warrior is just uncool.
The description and writing of FitzChivalry are very poor here. And where is Nighteyes?
Remember, Fitz has the Wit and can use it to Repel. He is fairly strong in the Wit, and the Repelling by someone powerful enough is enough to smash back stone dragons (Burrich, Fool’s Fate.) I admit in sheer swordplay Martin would win, but Fitz has got magic on his side.
Man the writing is all wrong on this one.
You think in the world of Redwall all their feasts of fruit involve items 4 times their size?
No.
They’re the size of humans and larger. You have to realize that in order to have a fair fight. They made him out to be like Reep-a-cheep from Narnia. Not the case.
Martin should be garbed in his battle armor, and even The Wit used by Fitz would not be enough to stay Martin’s hand if he found need. You should recall that in his time he fended off beasts 10 times his size. In our terms that is like a man defeating a Hydra.
Martin’s power comes from his unmatched bravery and resolve. If he decided to defeat Fitz, Fitz would be dust. And god forbid Fitz gazes upon the tapestry of Martin the Warrior. Just for entertaining thoughts of fighting Redwall’s Warrior would send him into fits of nightmares ending in lunacy.
But I bet 3/4 of the viewers here don’t even know who Martin is and voted according to a poorly written match
I agree with Chotowarui. I haven’t read the books for Fitz, but I don’t want to see Martin killed. And frankly, I want Fitz to win the match – if only because I don’t want to see Katniss Everdeen destroy my first taste of fantasy. I have always loved Martin; Redwall was the first fantasy I ever read. Because of this, I want to protect him.
@ Chotowarui
I think that’s a fundamental misread of Mossflower, and of the entire Mossflower/Redwall fantasy universe. There is nothing that specifically states that Tsarmina or any of the other cats are actual cat sized. The sizing tends to consider Badgers as the largest and fiercest, even including foxes, otters, and other creatures who are, IRL, larger than badgers. There are birds (like the owl in Redwall that Matthias meets, and the big gull thing in Martin the Warrior that he defeats) that are larger, but they’re few and tend to stay away from the bulk of the action.
While I agree that his strength comes from his will and resolve, I don’t think that the animals in Jacques canon are all equal sized, nor do I believe that they’re sized exactly according to the sizes of normal woodland creatures. They all range in size according to their real-world counterparts, but it’s more of a standard fantasy range, with shrews being near the smallest, then mice, etc etc on up to badgers. What’s important is how the size manifests in their spirit and other attributes; real badgers are hardly the largest animals in the wild, but they are extremely fierce, thus, badgers are the biggest and baddest animals in the Redwall ‘verse.
Maybe Jacques meant the horse to be sized the same way. Maybe when he originally wrote about the horse and cart, in the first few chapters of his first ever book, he still thought of his animals as IRL sized. But there is other evidence to remind us that in fantasy, anything is possible. First, the cats of Mossflower are clearly not the same proportions as bobcats IRL – they are surrounded by foxes and ferrets and the like, and do not tower over them. If that were the case, two weasels would not be able to guard one cat. Also, from the same book, the smaller animals such as mice and a robin carry around sacks of candied chestnuts. A real mouse, if it could walk on its hind legs, might be able to carry a bag of half a dozen nuts at most.
So I think we could probably all agree that we’re probably looking at Reepicheep sized, and he was pretty badass, so Martin would definitely be able to beat the crap out of anyone in this tournament. Q.E.D.
No way Fitz would lose this, has any one here read the books? With his ability in Wit and Farseer magic he could not only repel but it is foreseeable he could control him. Really are you people going to just spam votes Martin because he would actually have no hope of winning. Fitz is more than capable with weapons as well, and Nighteyes would NOT be far from him.
I really do like Martin’s character… but really?
Your campaign for Martin is nothing more than a pity party.
If the bulk of this argument double posts, I apologize. After a few hours of not seeing my original post, my shaky self-esteem requires that I make another attempt at pretending people on the internet care what I write.
First, there is no reason to assume that the horse at the beginning of Redwall is the same size as a normal horse. Also keep in mind that the horse and cart were mentioned in the opening pages of the first book that Jacques wrote – at that point, it is possible that even he hadn’t considered how he was sizing his animals.
Second, the cats in Mossflower are pretty clearly not scaled as bobcats to the rest of the animals. A wildcat is larger than a house cat, but still about half th size of a bobcat (courtesy of wikipedia). Sorry.
The last piece of evidence that I’ve come across (I literally started reading the series for the first time about a week ago) are references to mice carrying sacks of chestnuts. A real mouse could probably carry about six before the bag became bigger than the mouse.
As weak as most of that is, I think we can agree that Martin is probably at least Reepicheep sized, and he was pretty badass himself so Martin could probably take down anyone in this tournament Q.E.D.
I read the Redwall series growing up and Martin the Warrior is the biggest inspiration the series has, he’s like Goku in Dragon Ball Z. You can beat him in battle but you will always loose the war.
Martin for REDWALL!!!
if the horse was bigger than IRL, why could the nuts not be smaller then IRL.
get some proportion and logic…
if the author dont know his own story- its a bad author and a bad story. and if such a contradiction takes place, should we not take the first book as the reliable source, rather than the last?
after all, series are built apon the begining, the roots, not the finishing books…
Well first of all, I was talking about the first and second books out of twenty, not the first and last. And these are children’s books, probably not written with any heavy analysis in min.
But you are right – we can’t know for sure. There is no definitive reason why the nuts can’t be smaller. That’s why it’s called Fantasy! We get to fill in the blanks with our own imagination.
On a slightly unrelated note, if anyone from Suvudu is reading this, I am a little disappointed in the write-up structure again. I was hoping that as a potential improvement for this year, you would provide possible scenarios for the fight to go either way, so that your hypothetical fight wouldn’t potentially sway too many votes. I know it must take a lot of work to do this much though, and I thank you for it.
tsur – You’re making massive assumptions about a series that it doesn’t look like you’ve read. You should stop that. A couple of points: 1) The horse is in “Redwall” which was the first book of the entire series, and there has never been, to my knowledge, another horse anywhere in the series. 2) There’s nothing to indicate that the horse is “life size,” but based on teh writing, it seems to be a bit larger than most of the other creatures. This doesn’t indicate that the writing is flawed, simply that the scales don’t exactly match up – which I’ve alluded to in my earlier post, but I’ll repeat here: badgers are the biggest creatures in Jacques’ world, even when there are other bigger creatures present, like foxes. Foxes are sized smaller because their nature is to be sly and clever, and an animal bigger than all the rest has no need of cleverness. It all follows a logic that is independent of a size/scale logic. That doesn’t mean it’s bad writing. 3) The character in question did not appear in “Redwall” in any physical capacity, so the point is moot anyway.
As far as a series being built on the roots… I can’t say that I agree. Some stories are, sure, but for the most part it’s an ending that makes a series good. The Redwall series, though, is not like Lord of the Rings or Mistborn or Malazan in that it doesn’t have one solid overarching story, just novel-sized vignettes that tell tales of the creatures that inhabit the world. They can be read independently of one another without losing any of their narrative power or relevance.
Would really love to see Fitz+ Nightseyes vs Jon + Ghost
Fitzchivalry has survived DEATH before ! he is also a powerful catalyst who can change things. By this stage Martin would have been poisoned by a powdered potion in Fitz’s pocket! His vision will start to blur any minute
Ehh…Farseer Books were actually awesome, so why the hell isn’t he winning?
To understand who wins this match we need to understand what forces brought them to this stage. If Martin compelled to fight only for honor then this would indeed be a short lived match. But what if some Faustian deal has been forged to keep Redwall safe forever should Martin but fight and win? Assuming only that both contestants are in this battle to win and that they cannot survive the cage except through absolute victory, I give the win to Fitz-Chivalry. But consider this.
Surrounded by his friends and all the beasts of Redwall, Martin the warrior celebrates the coming spring with a feast. It is upon this setting that Redwall receives a messenger. A stranger, the harbinger of a great evil appears upon the green unannounced and even unnoticed, at least at first. Slowly though, the din of celebration quiets and an uneasy silence hovers over those gathered. All eyes turn toward the black clad apparition as Martins great chair slides back from the table. “Welcome travelor to the city of Redwall, what brings you so suddenly and unexpectedly into our midst?” Martin asks as he deliberately stands and begins to move around the table toward the display on the wall where his sword justice hangs in honor.
Like a cold gust of winter wind the voice of the stranger brought a chill to everyone within hearing of his voice. “I come to announce a great match of warriors being held in the land of Suvudu. You are summoned Martin warrior of Redwall to fight to the death for honor and glory.”
With a hearty voice Martin laughs and his infectious spirit lifts the spirits of all those gathered, “I have no need of this fight my friend. These woodland creatures and I want nothing but to live our lives in peace and harmony. I bid you go now and bring this honorable request to another.”
“I was told that would be your response. Very well, it was not for invitation alone that I have been dispatched. I was bid to show you this as well; it is a vision of the future, a certainty should you refuse my invitation.” As the shrill voice of the stranger echoed through the courtyard, a dark cloud began to coalesce and form a vision above the heads of all those gathered round. The vision captured every eye and every tongue as it unfolded and Martin knew as did everyone of his friends that this stranger in their midst was telling the absolute truth. As the cities of men continue to grow the fertile land around Redwall would surely one day be destroyed and become a dumping ground spoiled and laid waste by the wanton and thoughtless practice of man.
“You have the power within you Martin, the power to stop the onslaught of Man upon the land of Redwall; if you but take up your sword and fight this day. Answer the summons; head my words, or all that you have fought so hard to protect will be squandered and lost to your children forever. “
With those worlds, a cold wind picked up the fallen leaves of a maple tree and swirled them about in a cyclone around the feet of the stranger harbinger of death. As all of Redwall looked on the swirling leaves and considered the haunting words the stranger disappeared just as suddenly as he had come.
“My friends, I cannot turn away from this challenge. While I have breath and there is still hope for peace I will fight for our home and for our freedom. I am sorry children of Redwall, I will take up the banner once more though I am afraid I am not truly worthy of this call.” Despite the pleading of his friends Martin gird himself in the arraignments of battle and prepared to defend his home once more.
Long into the night they talked and planned, though he alone was summoned all those of their number who had witnessed the vision were of one mind and once the decision to join the fight was made everyone wanted to join in and do their part to help as well. One of the younger squirrels stood up and said, “We also are affected by the outcome of this fight, you cannot leave us out of it. If you fail then it is not you who will suffer the dreadful destiny foretold but us. We have every right to join you and stand witness to your valor master Martin.”
As the appointed day arrived the citizens of Redwall prepared together and everyone contributed to the planning of Martin’s defense of their home. Martin practiced with the otters dashing in and out of a network of tunnels in order to avoid the open field of battle and approach his target at will from any direction. Since he knew he would face a man he knew that he would have to outpace the gate of a creature much much larger than any he had ever fought before. Martin ran with the rabbit children springing from a rock to a fallen log to burst through the open clearing at full speed. Martin also practiced shooting with the squirrel archers, even convincing one of the swallows Worm Finder to allow him to train shooting from astride the birds back at heights that made him dizzy and speeds that nearly threatened to unseat him.
Finally the fateful day arrived and a mist hung thick above the forest as the sun began to peak slowly over the horizon. Martin and a host of the citizens of Redwall waited patiently on the green open courtyard. Thankfully the mothers with young children at least were convinced to remain behind lest the entire village had come enforce. In the end hardly a grey hare was absent despite the repeated entreaties of their wives.
At just the precise moment that had been foretold a tiny vertical sliver of light appeared opposite the large group of animals on the far side of the courtyard, slowly the group approached lest it suddenly burst and expand outward cutting them in ribbons. It did not. Finally Martin stepped up the side of the shaft of light “ah!” he exclaimed as he took a step through the beam into nothing and disappeared. As one by one each of the others stepped up to the beam they noticed as had Martin that the beam was actually the sliver of light was actually a doorway suspended in the air and previously viewed from the side. When a young vole walked around the other way he noted that nothing at all could be seen of any doorway.
As the last of the group arrived in what most assuredly must have been the land of Suvudu, the doorway vanished and an apparition in white rags suddenly appeared hovering in the air behind them. “Welcome to the cage match. Suvudu is where we do the voodoo that we do, only the summoned may directly participate, all others must remain outside who is summoned, who has been called?”
“I am, Martin the warrior of Redwall and these are the citizens of Redwall Abbey we were threatened and forced against our nature into this unholy match, these stand witness to the proceedings it is for them that I will fight. “
A ghostly smile spread across what must otherwise have represented a face to the apparition though little more could be discerned from it. “The time has come, the warrior has come, witnesses have come let nothing stand in the way of a victory. “
“What assurances do I have that Redwall will be spared if I win this fight?” The tiny mouse looked resolutely into the face of the apparition his armor shining brilliantly in the morning light.
“None.”
“Then I will not fight, the citizens of Redwall will not be used in this way!” Determination beaded in the eyes of the veteran mouse.
“It matters not.”
Suddenly, not far away a red beacon of light appeared and a young giant appeared stepping out of nowhere hands in his pockets and a hunch in his shoulders. The beacon of light disappeared and in its place another apparition, this one in red rags, appeared where it had stood. When it spoke, it spoke with the voice of thunder and the creatures of Redwall discerned not of the meaning.
The head of the young man hung further and he started to turn as if to leave when the thunder boomed again. Finally with an even greater slump and a lanky gate, he ambled slowly in the direction of the band of woodland creatures. “Oh noble creatures, how can it have come to this that I the most ignoble of men must destroy such perfect creations of god? I am called Fitz, Fitz-Chivalry.”
“What foul manner of trickery is this that you speak inside my head? Famed sir, I implore thee, quit thee of this at once as I am undaunted by your spell.” Martin held up the sword justice between himself and the young man, Fitz. Thus warded he moved sideways maintaining an equal distance from his opponent distancing himself from his people so as to spare them of the attentions of the lumbering giant. Martin realized that guarantee or no it was going to take everything he had to keep his people safe this time.
“Ah you misunderstand me noble mouse, I cannot understand your tongue and you cannot understand mine but through the skill I can make myself understood to all manner of creatures. When I open myself up you can see my heart and know that I do not wish to harm such a noble creature as you. If not for these demons of the netherworld that hold my home in abeyance I would not be here at all. I want only to return there and look again upon the green angel once more. “
As a voice rattled inside the head of Martin the Warrior, the young man slowed and stopped; finally sitting cross-legged on the grass. The creatures of Redwall remained frozen in place eyes wide in disbelief as the ground shook and their patron Martin strode confidently to battle; shouting non-sense about voices and wielding the great sword justice threateningly toward his foe. Amazingly the giant sat himself down upon the green a short distance from the warrior and did not advance further. No one dared breathe let alone move lest the giant notice them and strike out toward them instead.
Baring only the steel of justice the young mouse slowly lowered himself to the ground also and the two combatants engaged one another in a mental contest of wills. For nearly half an hour the two stared one another down and did not move even an inch. A gentle breeze stirred the giants cloak slightly but still neither so much as twitched an eyelid. Finally, Martin leapt to his feet and shouted the battle cry, as he charged toward the giant. “Redwalllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Released at last from their malaise the creatures of Redwall also advanced and struck at the giant in unison. Flashing in the morning sunlight justice rained down upon the breast of chivalry. Crude wooden arrows and hardened nuts shot out as the young man covered himself defensively and fell over in a heap of fur and feathers.
When the dust at last settled, only a dirty cloak remained on the ground where moments before the lanky giant had sat. Martin the warrior stood in the center of the band of animals. Justice raised high above his head he shouted; “Now I am the victor and Redwall will stand free! Red Wall, Red Wall, Red Wall!” All of the creatures gathered round and joined in the triumphant cheer.
At once the three apparitions appeared surrounding the creatures of Redwall.
“Victory.”
“Yes. Victory.”
“But, where is the body?”
“Right here!” A large battle axe ripped thru the Red cloth of the apparition and Martin lept onto the back of the swallow Worm Finder as she took flight aiming straight into the face of the white clad apparition.
“Noooooo!!!!!” came the shrill voice of the black clad apparition as the white and red rags flailed about in the thows of death and were no more. “Fools! Your fates were written in the book! We are forever and cannot be defeated. No one can destroy us. Suvudu is where we do the voodoo that we do now you will rue the day you tried to kill the true shrew and her crew of two. We are but the memories of an age long ague. Now that you release us we will live anew.”
“Well, if our fates were written then you obviously didn’t read them because you would have known what we would do. Too bad for you I think. We shall let you live alone without the memories of these other two.” The voice of the giant boy Fitz boomed both in their heads and in the world. It sounded commanding and regal. Turning he looked at Martin and gave a nod toward the pillar of white light standing where the white rags had fallen.
With a salute and a grand bow Martin turned and led his people thru the doorway back to the city of Redwall. As the last creature stepped thru and the light winked out the boy Fitz smiled and stepped lithely thru a similar red doorway hanging just above where the red clad apparition had fallen.
“Nooo.”
Wouldn’t Fitz’s wolf just come up and eat Martin before Fitz even sees that Martin is there?
Seriously Fitz came back from death I doubt a mouse would defeat him, no matter how talented.
Lets hear it for the Warrior!!!
This is why there is no place for logic in the cage match! It’s far more entertaining when the underdog wins – especially when it’s one of the first fantasy characters I ever came to love!
Stuff like this is amazing… Jaime Lannister beating Cthulhu, a mouse beating a trained assassin… Amazing.
Fitz takes the sword away from Martin but before Fitz can place the mouse safely back Nighteyes snatches him and has unbelievable heart burn.
Martin to win the tournament!
Alright. This was completely retarded. Fitz should NOT have lost. For the first thing, the writeup is entirely inaccurate. Fitz is NOT prepubescent. He’s a MAN and he’s absolutely DEADLY with an axe in his hand. He’d take Martin out ANY day. This isn’t just “underdog” like Jaime vs. Cthulu. In that fight they had Jaime kill Cthulu before he was even awake so it doesn’t really count but THIS is just a mockery. Martin shouldn’t have won point blank. OH AND ALSO, forgot to mention earlier, Fitz is freaking bound to a WOLF wolves eat mice for snacks without even thinking about it. Martin had no chance but somehow he won. I don’t even read the Suvudu writeup anymore because they obviously haven’t read the books so they can’t be depended upon to know what they’re talking about.
Oh boy-it happens every year. Seriously people….one of these contestants is a MOUSE. This isn’t suvudu cheese maze, its: CAGE MATCH. Just sayin’….
I would love to see Reepicheep win against Silk too but doesn’t mean it would happen, all things being fair. Really mad I missed the first round voting now, though this one really does prove the cage matches are a popularity contest in the end. Maybe Fitz can come back next year and NOT be put up against the pity Vote? It would also help if you decided on old Fitz or young Fitz, just sayin. And if it is young Fitz then he has Nighteyes, Burrich and the Fool for run ins. Nevermind Shade as well, you never know what that old man will do. Disappointed, but at least it is obvious why. The ending of the writeup was priceless though.
Quite a shame that Fitz was put up against the pity vote. Heres hoping for next year.