Words in Italics will be a character's thoughts
Chapter 5
In a forest outskirt outside of the empire
Lying on the ground was a tall, very muscular humanoid with an appearance similar to the folkloric aliens known as the Greys.
His skin was a grey colour, his eyes were big, round and black with enlarged pupils, and nostrils in place of a full nose. His outfit was a uniform of the Pride Troopers, consisting of a red, spandex-like suit with black sections around the collar and legs, white gloves, and white boots. This was Jiren, Pride Trooper of Universe 11.
Jiren got up rubbing his head in confusion as he wasn't sure what had happened. All he could remember was fighting in the tournament, then in the end he fought Frieza, that android who was called # 17 and the man who showed him trust, Son Goku.
He got up and looked around until he sensed something. At that moment, a female figure appeared out of the shadows and attacked him with a sword, "Got You!"
Jiren looking at his attacker stopped the attack by just shooting a glare at his female adversary causing her to fall back into a tree in pain. Jiren walked over to her as she looked up only to see the eyes of the person stare down onto her as if they were looking into her very soul.
As jiren looked over his female attacker she looked like she was a teenager. Her hair was a short silver colour, her eyes being blue. Her attire consisted of loose fitting shorts and a low-cut purple and gold top that revealed her massive bust.
She was still rubbing her head in slight pain as Jiren looked down at his attacker once more. The girl noticing Jiren was looking over her body pulled down a bit of her low-cut top to give him a better view of her ample chest. She looked at him with a sultry smile.
"See something you like Big Boy?"
"No." Stated Jiren flatly.
Ivy briefly pouted until Jiren began to question her.
"Why'd you attack me?"
"Sorry about that, I thought you were another easy merchant to steal from." Replied the girl without a hint of guilt. The girl then got up and dusted herself off.
"Names Ivy, what's yours?"
Jiren didn't speak for a moment as he contemplated whether or not he should bother to give her his name until he spoke to her again.
"Jiren."
"That's a weird name." said Ivy with a raised eye brow from the rather unusual name.
"I didn't ask if you liked it or not."
Ivy shrugged her shoulders until she pressed jiren's arm into her sizeable bust. Ivy's heart than suddenly picked up pace around jiren.
"Even though I've just met him, my heart won't stop beating, is this love?" Ivy than shook her head in denial.
"No it can't be, I just met him and yet my heart won't stop beating this fast." Mumbled Ivy, confused at her current emotions.
Jiren looked back at Ivy as her face was red and heard her mumbling to herself.
"You alright?" asked jiren with a small hint of concern in his tone. From what he could tell, she was starting to lose herself, and he had no clue why.
Jiren's question managed to Snap her out of her trance as Ivy got up and tried to drag jiren with her, but he wouldn't budge until a simple tug of his arm sent her reeling back a bit. Her form smacking into his own as Jiren stood there as if nothing happened.
"Ow." Moaned Ivy in pain once more.
"Where are you trying to take me?" Questioned Jiren stoically.
"To meet my friends." Was Ivy's simple reply.
Jiren just crossed his arms as he thought to himself.
"The way I see it I don't have anywhere to go so I might as well travel with this girl ivy and her friends for now."
Jiren then looked down at Ivy with his arms being held by her.
"Fine, show me to your friends."
As she heard this, Ivy jumped for joy causing her bust to bounce a bit. She and Jiren than walked through the forest until they came into a clearing seeing two individuals sitting around a fire eating danger beasts and fixing/sharpening their weapons.
The first individual who jiren thought was a man appeared to be wearing some sort black and red armor. On the armor there was a glowing yellow symbol resembling a four pointed star on his neck, directly below his eye, and the circuit patterns on his body were red.
Next to him around the fire was a tall man who was sharpening a blade on a piece of stone. He wore a black suit covering his upper body with a red stripe in the middle and grey pants. He has grey gloves and a grey belt, as well as black boots with grey soles. He also wore bones as ornamentation over his clothes, the broken up skeletal remains of the danger beasts he has hunted which from what jiren saw consisted of A rib cage on his chest, A tail bone on his right shoulder and a skull of a horned animal on his left shoulder, Ribs covering the back of his black suit and boots, and claws on his shoes.
Ivy then whispered in jiren's ear as she was on her tiptoes.
"Those bones he's wearing are from danger beasts that he has hunted, described as 'some of the most vicious quarry in the empire'."
Jiren just nodded at her words.
Seeing ivy had returned her comrades looked up from their activities to see her come back with a person wearing spandex. Ivy gave a cute hello to her two comrades.
"Hi everyone."
The person in the black and red circuit patterns spoke in a grainy mechanical voice.
"Ivy, who is this that you've brought back?"
"Mal It's no big deal. Besides, he's really strong." Said Ivy confidently.
"That's no excuse!" shouted Mal as he walked up and grabbed ivy by her collar.
"Even though your my little sister, I can't accept that crappy answer."
Then the man wearing the bone armor spoke up in a calm but serious tone with a bit of menace to it.
"Why so angry, if this person is strong then I see no problem."
Mal let Ivy go and got up in the Hunter's face.
"I couldn't care less Khyber."
Jiren just rolled his eyes as the two kept on debating. Ivy then got in between and broke it up.
"Enough you two, Jiren's going to be traveling with us."
Mal looked at Ivy, confused by her forward statement.
"And who put you in charge little sister?"
"Come on Mal, he's got nowhere else to go." Said Ivy, trying to reason with her brother.
"No, besides as I've said already, I couldn't care less."
Ivy then proceeded to pout and use the puppy eyes on her big brother. Mal started to sweat as he saw this. "crap, not that puppy look…" It didn't take long after that until he finally caved.
"Fine whatever, I don't care anymore." Said Mal as he turned his head away with a grouchy look.
Having got what she wanted, Ivy jumped for joy and tried to hug jiren only for him to move out of the way causing her to fall on the ground comedically.
Then Khyber spoke up.
"I hate to interrupt the celebration but we should be getting on the move."
Khyber then whistled at a frequency that was similar to a dog whistle. Jiren then turned to see a slim dark blue dog come out of the clearing with spike-like hair running down from it's collar to the tip of it's tail. The dog had sharp red eyes and black lines that ran across its body. It's teeth were sharp to the point were they could bite through bone.
Khyber petted the dog as he packed away his hunting gear as he was ready to move. Ivy put away her valentine in a sword sheath and got ready. Mal morphed his hand back to normal as he was now ready to move.
As the group proceeded to walk the forest outskirts of the empire for quite a while, ivy started to whine.
"We're lost. I feel like we've been going in circles for hours."
Khyber then spoke up as he petted his dog.
"Then I guess it's time for a change of pace."
Khyber then whistled and jiren looked as his dog transformed into the danger beast Marg Falcon. A white bird then appeared on Khyber's shoulder and flew into the sky to find a path.
A while later, the falcon returned to khyber's shoulder to give him an update and when he was told what his pet had seen. while his voice didn't show any surprise, his face did.
"It appears that we've encountered someone unexpected on our little travel path."
Mal not amused by Khyber's usual trait to say everything he inquired further.
"Who is it Khyber?"
"It's Esdeath." Stated khyber in a flat tone.
Ivy's face turned to one of surprise.
"Hold on, you mean the famous torture and Imperial general? That Esdeath?"
Khyber looked at ivy as he petted his dog who had reverted back to its normal state.
"The one and only Ivy."
Ivy's eyes then lit up.
"Let's take her." Said Ivy in an excited tone.
Mal looked at his little sister as if she'd sprouted a second head.
"Is your head on too tight Ivy?"
Ivy simply pouted at Mal's clear insult to her intelligence.
"Of course not Oni-chan."
"Then why do you want to fight the strongest in the empire?" Inquired Mal, completely unamused.
Ivy then thought about a proper answer to Mal for a moment. While Mal and Khyber started bickering again about their next course of action. Jiren then spoke up surprising everyone.
"I'll fight her."
Ivy looked up at jiren, her blue eyes full of concern.
"Are you sure Jiren?"
"Yes you all leave it to me." Replied Jiren in a stern voice as he radiated confidence, despite the stoic look on his face never shifting at all.
Mal then just sighed.
"Let him, if he gets himself killed its not our problem."
Khyber agreed with a nod.
"I concur with mal."
Jiren looked over his three current travel companions.
"Then let's go."
Meanwhile,with Esdeath, she and her army were currently heading back towards the capitol miles away from their position. While Esdeath would normally ride her dragon danger beast to the capitol, she instead chose to ride her horse to the capitol along side her three beasts for a change.
The three beasts were Esdeath's personal bodyguards that consisted of Liver,Daidara and Nyau.
Liver was a tall man with gray hair worn in a long ponytail, blue eyes and a mustache.
The second of the three beasts was Daidara who was a man of large muscular build with long, spiky blond hair and pure white, pupil-less eyes. He wore a headdress similar to horns and the same uniform as his team-mates.
Finally the last of the the three beasts riding with Esdeath was Nyau who was a young man of small build with blond hair and golden eyes. He had a somewhat feline look; his teeth were shown to be sharp, and he had slit pupils.
However the woman riding in front made the other three look like kittens by comparison in terms of aura. She, was General Esdeath.
Esdeath was a tall, beautiful and slender woman with long light blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a General's apparel with long sleeves, a blue scarf on her neck, and high-heeled boots. She also has a tattoo on her chest, which is the sign of her Teigu.
Behind the four imperial arms users was a massive army that was under the command of the fearsome general herself.
Liver was the first to speak to his commanding general who rode next to him.
"General Esdeath, why do you think the Prime Minister has called you back to the capitol like this?"
Daidara then chimed in after Liver.
"Probably has something to do with those Night Raid guys again."
Nyau joined in the conversation as well.
"Man you think night raid would've learned by now."
"Liver,Daidara, Nyau."
The three beasts turned towards their general as she spoke in a calm but commanding voice.
"I understand your questions and concerns, but it'll have to wait until we return to the capitol."
"Of course General Esdeath." Responded the three beasts in unison.
Then suddenly to the surprise of the four, their horses got up on the back legs and reigned back in terror and surprise as something had obviously scared to them. Esdeath calmed her horse down to look forward to see the cause of their animals disturbance was what appeared to be a man wearing a spandex outfit. Esdeath, while she looked in Jiren's direction, proceeded to question him.
"Who are you?"
Jiren just stood quietly with his arms crossed, his head down and eyes closed. Esdeath then frowned at this person apparently ignoring her. She narrowed her eyes a bit though as she sensed the presence of three others near the man.
"Also, tell your three friends there's no point in trying to hide. I know they're there."
Out of the woods then appeared Ivy, Mal, Khyber and his dog.
Jiren then brought his head up and opened his eyes as they met with Esdeath's icy blue stare. Jiren spoke to Esdeath in a focused but calm tone.
"So I take it your Esdeath?"
"And if I am?" Responded Esdeath with an edge to her tone.
"Your eyes show there isn't an ounce of purity in you. Therefore, I'm going to beat you."
Esdeath then flashed a smirk at her new opponent before her however her three bodyguards quickly intervened. Liver was the one to speak to his general.
"General Esdeath, let us three handle this."
"It's alright Liver besides he challenged me and besides I needed to stretch anyway."
Esdeath then proceeded to dismount her horse as her three beasts and her army backed away giving their general some room. Ivy, Mal, and Khyber did the same with Jiren as they also backed up giving him some room.
Esdeath and Jiren now stood across from each other with them both in an intense stare down.
"You know, I plan on making you scream. I've been developing some new methods of torture and you seem like the perfect individual for it."
Jiren just scoffed.
"You assume you can already beat me. If you're so confident about your abilities… than come at me."
Esdeath then rushed jiren with a couple fast strikes however the pride trooper didn't even budge from her attacks. Stepping back, she unsheathed her Rapier and rushed jiren again only for him to block her attacks with just his finger.
Then Jiren attacked her with his invisible eye blast sending her reeling back through some trees.
This left Liver,Daidara,and Nyau stunned as no one had ever pushed back General Esdeath this much from what they could remember, let alone with just their eyes no less.
Esdeath was getting up and had noticed that her general clothes had taken some damage and were scratched up, however she could now feel the amount of pressure this man had let out from that one attack that she couldn't see and it made her adrenaline pump with anticipation.
As she walked out of the clearing, she then coughed up spit as she noticed that Jiren had moved before she could register his movement with her eyes and landed a clean gut shot to her abdomen, causing her to go to a knee while clutching her stomach.
Jiren then spoke to esdeath.
"Is this your best? I thought you were a feared general, but I guess all I've been told was a lie."
Esdeath then got up again as jiren then noticed that ice was starting to form in the air. Jiren saw several icicles appear from out of thin air.
"Weissschnabel!" yelled out esdeath as the icicles launched toward jiren only for him to stand still as they hit his energy barrier and dissipated on impact.
Surprised by this, esdeath started to lose her composure as jiren then stood still staring her down.
"Is that it 'general'? Pathetic."
Esdeath then snapped in a sadistic manner.
"I'll show how strong I truly am!"
Her blue eyes widened in sadistic rage as she built up a tonne of energy from within herself. Jiren looked as she jumped in the air as a giant sized piece of ice hail had formed.
"Hagelsprung!"
As it went towards Jiren his eyes widened a bit in slight surprise as he put his hands in front to block the attack as the gigantic pillar of ice hit it's mark directly as there was a loud boom from the impact. A shockwave bellowing out from the force of the collision as it uprooted hundreds of trees around the area and left a crater in the ground .
From the impact dust esdeath saw jiren lying on the ground face down. She began to laugh as she redrew her rapier and prepared to strike him down until her eyes widened in surprise as Jiren was up close with an orange ki blast pressed close to her stomach region.
"That giant ice attack wasn't half bad."
Esdeath was surprised to see her attack hadn't even left a scratch on the man or even fazed him in the slightest. Jiren then launched Esdeath away with his power impact as he raised his hand and opened his palm and widened his eyes. He then turned around with his arms crossed, head down, and his eyes closed as the ki blast was going away.
"Owari Da."
The orange blast exploded behind him with Esdeath sent flying away and her body crashing in front of her men badly damaged and clothes damaged to the point of where she wasn't wearing much. Only enough fabric remaining to keep her modesty as it just about covered her breasts and lower region.
"General Esdeath!" Shouted her men with worry.
The three beasts and a couple soldiers rushed to the side of their fallen General. Jiren then walked over to Esdeath's damaged body as she was still lying unconscious and raised his hand.
The three beasts and the couple soldiers were prepared to defend their general when jiren just walked past them, utterly ignoring them as he placed his hand below her chest on her abdomen as he restored her with a little bit of his ki.
Esdeath's eyes went wide open as she sat up and looked over herself as she was covered in wounds and battle marks and dirt. Her clothes almost completely gone. She then looked up at Jiren with a smile on her face as she looked Jiren dead in his face as she struggled to get up.
Esdeath, now standing up with a lot of effort, was once again face to face with Jiren.
She smirked.
"Tell me your name warrior."
"Jiren."
"Jiren, how would you and your companions like to come back to the capitol with me?"
Jiren while his face didn't show it, he was confused mentally.
"Why should we go with you?"
"Your strength is surprising and beyond anything I've ever witnessed. Strength like yours would be put to better use within the empire than out here in the wild."
Jiren thought for a moment before he came to a conclusion.
"You seem pretty sure of yourself that I'll fit into this empire well."
"You can be sure Jiren. I promise you that. I will put in a good word with the Prime Minister. Once he sees how much I want you there, believe me, he'll let you stay."
Jiren just nodded as he looked back at his three companions as they agreed to go with him and Ivy was the one who was going to go with jiren regardless.
So, with both parties in agreement, they headed towards the capital not knowing the impact the empire's newest addition would affect conflicts with night raid in the future.