[ OP: Hironobu Kageyama – Fight, Oh Fighting Road ]
I'll Be Your Miracle! Let's Make A World of Lovers, Not Fighters!
"Mochi's sort of ice-cream cake, right?"
"Mh," Mei nodded happily.
For someone who apparently held the immeasurable power of darkness somewhere within herself, the sun still felt pretty good. She caught the most of the warm rays, as her petite human friend secluded herself in the shade of the parasol, nomming away at multicolored mochi.
"Mei?"
"Nmh… hm?"
"I've been asking myself this for a while but, how come you're so proper when you talk?"
"Mmannunciation. It ensures that I am clear when I speak in modern tongue." Mei held the side of her palm to her throat and accentuated her faint… accent. "Something I say may come off as odd if I talk too fast, would it not? I would much prefer not to repeat myself. Talking is a bit of a strain…" Mei smirked with a smidge of embarrassment.
Kaza had a muffled giggle. "You know, you have a bad habit of breaking your voice."
Mei turned her nose. "I cannot help my passionate throes. Forgive me for being an expressive woman."
"(But who breaks it every time they scream…?) Do you mind if I…"
"Yes. I would rather I keep it like this." Mei grew sullen, but maintained her smile. "It serves as a reminder of why I fight."
"Oh… yeah."
It wasn't like the ensuing silence was awkward. No one was obliged to keep talking in a casual meetup, they were eating, and the silence was shared solely by the two girls. Other patrons of fine frozen treats talked in varying tones all around them.
"...h-..."
"? Did you say something, Mei?"
She began to shake her head, only to stop herself halfway through. The result was her beholding the broadcast of an unhinged girl around her age cackling like a golden psychopath. Kaza followed her "gaze" and glared.
The sound of amused laughter behind her carved a scowl into Kaza's face. Concern began to paint Mei's. Talking points shifted to the escalating bloodsport being shown on dozens of screens, from the floating tablets to their own projections.
"(CRAP! THE MOOD IS BEING DISEMBOWELED!)" At that point, the senseless violence would make her impending silence even rougher.
"S-so Zin- I mean your- drea- g-goal."
"... huh?" Kaza turned her head back to her smaller friend, confused.
"(... Shāle wǒoo—...)" Mei sucked it up. "... by what means do you believe it to be possible?"
Kaza's mood picked up. "Zinco, of course!" She initially chirped, before picking up on Mei's attempt to hide her own aloofness. Mei practically felt the ensuing turns of Kaza's shifting gears, trying to think of something that'd ease her.
"I do not hate him, no. How could I, if you hold him in such high regard?"
"Then…?"
"... how can you be so certain that…" she snuck a glance over at one of many floating broadcasts. "That something as constant as violence can be 'slain'?"
"We'll just keep going until we find a way!"
Kaza's cheerful grin did nothing to ease her. "It's just a matter of time, Mei. You've seen what I can do, and you've seen what Zinco can do!"
"I have. It is…" The dead face of the surviving soldier reappeared. It was a face she knew well, in both her service and, at a point, in her reflection. "He is taking something that cannot be given back."
Kaza's brow kissed the sky.
"Eeuh-I-uh-" Mei shoved a mochi into her mouth. "M-Mmh! W-what flavor! I-it melts in the mouth, I could swear!"
"... Mei, if there's something he's doing, please, don't bounce around it. Especially when you say it like that. It sounds like you're comparing him to… those saiyans."
The blood-redhead froze. Her head fell low. "That was not what I meant. I am sorry."
"No, no, I shouldn't've brought that up."
"..."
"..."
They both sighed.
"Let's just talk like people. Please?"
"..." Mei stifled a smirk. It felt ok to be chastised alongside someone else, for some reason. She hastily spat the orange mochi into a napkin because it sucked ass – an unsung persimmon enjoyer scowled at her from across the way – and wiped her mouth with the cuff of her combat hanfu. "I shall rephrase, then. His art, you know? That which 'kills violence'? It is like he… how do I say… he takes the light from their eyes. They become husks, without will."
Kaza frowned, eyes widened. "But he didn't do that to me…!"
She nibbled off a red-bean mochi. "As you are now aware, Kaza, you are strong. But few share such a power as yourself. He compares his art to a cloud, but clouds have weight. Spirits of weak constitution, when subject to that 'cloud'… they shatter."
"Did… did he kn-"
"No, he did not. I had to show him."
Kaza slumped back into her chair. "He never told me."
"Perhaps he was terrified. Perhaps the fool wanted to protect your hopes."
Kaza thought on it.
"Truly, Kaza, I… cannot help but talk about certain things. Such a matter should not be discussed when we are relaxing, of course-"
"No, no... he'll mess up. A lot. That's just the kind of person he is. But I'll be able to undo any of his mess-ups." Kaza's smile returned, full-force. "I'm becoming strong enough to do stuff like that, so he'll be able to try and try again until he can pull off something incredible, like what he did for me, but to…" The tall Majin quite literally began steaming with excitement, compelling Mei to guard the cold goods. "Imagine him doing that to a mob… no, to an ARMY… an entire COUNTRY, even more…!"
Kaza passively steamed with excitement, causing countless cone-connected casualties 'cross the creamery.
"Hey, what the hell!?"
"Nice going turning our shakes into soups, moron!"
"MY SUNDAE! WHAT HAVE YOU DOOONE!"
"SHUT UP! MAYBE YOU SHOULD EAT FASTER, STUPID EGG-"
In a panic, Kaza threw her hand – literally – over Mei's big mouth. "H-hehe, sorry! I'll be right on it!"
"MRRPH!?"
"Hey! Stoppit!"
"Mrrm…"
[ BGM: Norihito Sumitomo ‒ Like That Cloud ]
As the two settled down, and the hand was retracted, Mei grabbed a melty persimmon mochi, scowling. "Ok… and should there come a day on which he does something irreversible? Should he witness something that stains him forever, or fails to stop an atrocity despite all your combined effort? If he should meet a soul that resists him, which very nature opposes his frail idea of right and wrong? Have you accounted for such horrors, Kaza?"
"No, but…" The persimmon, and its cohorts, suddenly resolidified, cooled and all. "We'll make it through those things together. And we'll pick each other back up, and…" she nommed a peach mochi. "-'eep chryin'!"
Mei continued glaring at the kaki daifuku, as if it had called her a mean name or admitted to being the catalyst behind all her timeline's agony or something.
"... Mei, I know you're just scared for me. But this is what I want for you both."
"I no longer have reason to fear for you, Kaza. You have proven that beyond doubt."
"Then…"
The small young woman raised her head again, frown having gone sullen. "The uncertainty of it all. If the art he displays now is the only way to have that 'peace', then of what worth is there to such peace? I just… do not wish for you to someday become tyrants, one way or another. I have been privy to such tales."
"Think about it like this… if Zinco's able to pull this off, for real, then you won't have any more reason to be angry!"
"I am plenty happy as I am now, Kaza."
Kaza presented her with another red bean mochi. "You could always be happier!"
Mei sighed. "(I am going nowhere…)" She pierced the snack with her ear-guarding locks from between Kaza's two fingers, accepting it with a munch.
"Um… that didn't make it hairy, did it?"
"..." Mei snatched something blood-red and thin from her tongue as fast as humanly possible before swallowing. "Mh-mh."
"(i won't push it...)"
The two returned to their ice cream.
"(Being honest… It sounds pleasant.)" The thought surprised Mei. "(Such a thing is impossible, surely.)"
Kaza gushed over her mint mochi all the while.
"(But to have it wrought on by a boy with such narrow sight… to what extent would his idea of 'evil' stop? At the very idea of fighting? Would not death be a mercy in a land without the flames of passion, where every raised fist is seen as some great injustice to be purged, as those too weak are left without will? And yet Kaza is fixed on seeing him rule.)"
She huffed, timing it beneath Kaza's MMMH!
"(Honestly, what miserable taste in men.)"
— he had no history with the tyrant before him.
"Hohoho! Believe me, I'm delighted by the efforts you've shown me! It's been years since I've been able to toy with a monkey so thoroughly, after all."
None outside parallel quests, of course. Even within them, he was formidable.
"It served as an affirmation. That my efforts during these hellish months weren't humiliating wastes of time." The white-clad emperor leisurely floated toward the hemorrhaging saiyan noble, who beheld his own breaking body reflected upon two gleaming, violet bio-jewels. "Do you have any idea how awful that felt? To be reduced to jumping at shadows, knowing full-well that at any moment, some lech could catch wind of your training?"
And he had tales. Tales from those who'd experienced this man first-hand.
"That if at any time, if anyone from that putrid city was even notified that your level of power had crawled upward an INCH, your head would be served on a platter not only to your own dog, but his mutt as well? How much power you've had DENIED TO YOU by such mind games? It might as well have been ONE month's worth of training, if-not lower still!"
This man had sought to rule the saiyan race — its movements, its allegiance, its power. Once he discovered that he couldn't, he destroyed it.
His throat was clenched. "Mark my words, boy, I will do upon your witless troop on-low a thousand fold what I shall do to you. You'll serve as an example, for any other insipid who'd DARE share your breed of stupidity."
Frieza threw him forth, as if a shot put. A pulse built within his chest as he levitated against his will.
"GH…GHHRK…!"
And then there was stretching. A foreign ki began to grow inside him, his strained gurgles failing to alarm his cohorts below, enraptured in their own battle with the rest of Frieza's armada. His eyes threatened to strain out of their sockets as, for a moment, the pain threatened to drive him mad.
And thus…
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – Heaven's Door (1:56) ]
"What's wrong, monkey? Go ahead, scream your frail little heart out! Who knows? Maybe YOU'LL be the next to shine that irksome gold, if only you're loud enough!"
"HHH… HH-HH-HH-HH-HH…!"
Frieza's sadistic grin began to fall, before building itself again. "Going mad, are we? Very well, I'll accept that with open arms!" The surging pulse reached its zenith. "GO ON AND BURST YOUR BELLY AS IT EX-"
"HAAAAA—!"
By HIS hand, did he warrant death!
The Saiyan roared. His body glowed without an aura. An external aura, at least.
His coalition, and Frieza's force, all met the happening with their gaze.
And a raging red-black beam suddenly shot from his mouth. It pierced through the vacant void of space, lancing several planets on the way. His eyes went blank, as an orange spiral accompanied the onslaught of energy. The Saiyan then directed his beam toward Frieza.
Who was too startled, too lost in thought to comprehend what he was seeing before being engulfed.
"LORD VOSHYO'S WINNING!"
"TEAR THESE BASTARDS APART!"
Roars from the coalition below followed, as they continued their assault, Hundreds reduced to dozens against thousands reduced to hundreds.
"Hhn-hn-hn-hn…" Voshyo grinned, his eyes strained red, and his throat bleeding fiercely with bright and dark blood alike. "As if you and I are remotely alike. What ruler falters before his troops?"
The smoke cleared, and Frieza stood, manic anger accompanying his singed, bleeding body. "WHY YOU…!"
"Make no mistake, I have no mercy for those who'd meet I, Voshyo, ill-prepared. Whatever power you dare hold back, you will have no access to it now or ever again. Lament your insolence in Hell while you can."
The emperor's seething slowly morphed into cackles. "Where do you get this bravado!? You're a CORPSE!" He held his finger to the cosmos and began to darken it with his ki. "The 10% you see now is enough for a HUNDRED of you, no matter how many more surprises you hold between those insufferable paws of yours!"
Voshyo grinned. "Is that a fact? Then by all means. You will now face a hundred of me."
"... what?"
He seized the air around him.
"..."
Denouncing Crowns, Without Throne.
His hand began to superheat within his fist. Soon, a vermillion ring accompanied it. And then another. And then another.
To Arrive At Heaven's Seventh Gate, Shattered and Gleaming.
The rings compressed, forming a gyroscopic field around his clenched hand. His left gripped his right forearm, as ripping winds formed and orbited around it; when they met the field, they grew so fast that they seemed to instantaneously fade.
My Solemn Decree, To The Ruler On High.
His entire arm suddenly imbued itself with an aura, and no other portion of himself.
To Frieza's surprise, his own body had started powering up without his permission.
With its End, Saiyan Dominion Over Life and Death.
"WHY YOU…!" Frieza yelled, his orb growing larger and radiating ever fiercer. The tyrant's grimace threatened to rip his face asunder. "DIE ALREADY YOU DAMNED, DIRTY APE!" He screamed in rage, throwing it.
Voshyo laughed, and his arm threw him back.
{ SAGE TACHYON ! }
As if the attack had no timeframe. At one moment, the attack was in his hand.
In the next, it had shoved Frieza's back.
The beam itself was puny, only about two meters in circumference. It made no cataclysmic sound, only a faint hum.
Yet it was as if one hundred Voshyos had attacked him at once. It had pushed back 50% of Frieza's power. Its power, its speed, its sheer force was nothing like he'd shown beforehand — the energy of constant chain reactions hyper-accelerated far beyond light, infused with and isolated by Voshyo's own ki.
The two vying powers grit their teeth. One desperate as not to lower himself to using any more than half his efforts, the other using a hundred fold his own.
"GH…! YOU…!" As the attack began biting and clawing at his hands, nearly piercing his attack, Frieza further amped himself, his sleek skin beginning to build atop itself with a new pigment in his anger. "I'LL SHOW YOU HELL…! I'LL SHOW YOU SOMETHING FAR ECLIPSING IT…!"
Voshyo's screaming was no longer distinguishable from an Oozaru; even his canines had grown, and his eyes had reddened as his veins surged across his body. And then a surge of power came down upon him, threatening to take his arm with the force it'd rammed into it with.
"AAUGH…! GRAAAAA—!"
Frieza's surge suddenly dissipated, sapping considerable stamina and leaving him a discolored mess that could yet fire a blast stronger than Voshyo's resilient-but-waning power could meet. He gave a paranoid smile of victory.
"AS-IF-I'D-LOSE… TO A MONKEY…!"
Voshyo gripped his arm as the firing hand's bones began to shatter.
"I'VE-SEEN-SUPER SAIYANS-FALL, BOY! I WON'T LOSE TO… AN UPPITY… COAL-PELTED SUBSPECIES!"
As one of his warriors slipped away, another called out for their leader. "VOSHYO!"
"STAY BACK!" He bellowed. "I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANYONE'S AID, NOR INSUBORDINATION! AM… I… CLEAR!?"
The saiyan grit their teeth, trying to hold themselves back.
Voshyo smiled. "Should I fall, how EASY it would be to take my place and end this wretch, who clings to life even now-"
"I'M FINE WITH IT!" the saiyan yelled, charging toward him, mass of ki in hand.
"WHAT!? KNOW YOUR PLACE, NOI!"
"FRIEZA TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME ONCE, ALREADY! I'M NOT LOSING YOU, TOO!" Noi howled, ramping in Frieza's direction, reeling back. "THIS IS FOR PLANET STAPHIN, YOU SON OF A-"
A shot of plasma suddenly rang out. Voshyo staggered for enough of a moment for it to matter.
"At your service, Lord Frieza."
From a distant gate, an underling of Frieza smirked.
Noi glared at him, weakening, before turning back to Frieza. "... biTCH!" She fired off the rest of her life energy at the emperor, agitating his already-searing wounds.
Voshyo's arm split apart. An Oozaru's faint outline accompanied it.
"OOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
He'd gained enough footing to even the blasts' range once more, to Frieza's chagrin.
Back below, the soldier responsible noticed the raging hail of saiyans racing for his head, and tried to escape.
He bumped into a hulking Musai, fist raised. Not long after, the underling was no more.
"FOOLISH BOY!" Ceushius roared, bolting to Voshyo's aid.
"THE OLD MAN!?" Voshyo's falling gaze directed to one of his best, who'd accompanied him.
"Ui… to…!?"
Frieza's smirk dropped. "... what?"
A solid orb of cerulean ki, the size of a small moon, suddenly careened toward the emperor, invading and being accelerated by Voshyo's blast.
"BUT I WAS… I…!"
"... How arrogant. To die without knowing the limit of your strength…"
It sent him screaming away, burning him to cinders, fading alongside the blast without so much as a pop.
"UITO…! BAST-ARD…"
He turned to tend to Voshyo, only to see someone else had beaten him to the punch. "Thank you for alerting me when you had the chance."
Uito glared down at the now blacked-out lug, slinging him in a fireman's carry. "Truthfully, I want him for myself. I won't let him die until the day I surpass him." He looked back down at the group Voshyo had amassed.
"… I'm… I'm sorry, Noi…"
"Don't apologize to her, Sera'i. It doesn't matter where she ended up, she'll be there kicking ass with the others."
"... are you sure?"
"Mh. A tenacious ass like her wouldn't just keel over after something like dying, after all!"
"H… heh. Yeah. Yeah!"
Still above them, Uito groaned. "But he's so caught up in this 'Take Heaven' and 'Seize Hell' crap, that he doesn't realize how much he's valued here. Maybe he just inspires something in other young saiyans, I don't know. So I guess I'm doing them a favor, too." The young man left with the young lord. Ceushius saw him off, the rest of Voshyo's cohorts sharing one last moment for their own dead before following suit.
He gripped his hammer without crushing it. He still did most things telekinetically because that was quicker, but he cherished those rare moments where he had to be careful.
"-Oh…"
As noted by a sudden dent in the rebar, he still had a ways to go. But for the most part, he'd managed to help with the reconstruction a fair bit.
"Thanks, Ceushius-sir!"
"Nice going, old man!"
"Hey I'd be pissed if my truck wasn't insured, but it is so, you da man, boss!"
The seasoned musai waved. He couldn't exactly smile, but he had an endearing way of closing his eyes. M-arched brows meant a happy Ceushius, the observant would start noticing.
The fourth match had finished, by the time the city had begun healing from the siege. With that finished, Ceushius returned to his spacetime of solitude.
He'd come back to two surprises.
Both seemed to be working through something on their own.
One continuously struck at the air in an unshaken rhythm, his power fluctuating at a different extreme with every attack. Accompanying the new confidence, there was a renewed vigor in his movements, as if he held an apprehensive excitement. With his every strike, a mountainous glacier would brilliantly, momentaneously shine, and the thick atmosphere gleamed with a light that dissipated over miles.
The other stood still. He resented the idea of training, but secludedly stirring in his own thoughts – a form of meditation, Ceushius would rather not tell him – wasn't off the table. Fissures of lashing ki tore through the atmosphere in waves, and the terrain thawed and broke in his presence, devastation expanding for countless leagues in every direction.
Both phenomena stopped once he landed. A dot shot from a distant mountain range – one outdoing Earth's biggest and baddest products – to the top of the pointed spire closest to Ceushius, all in one bound.
"KEVIN!" The dot shouted enthusiastically, his voice booming across the region.
… he'd begun feeling bad for Zinco's constant mispronunciation, so they agreed on a pseudonym.
Ceushius watched the boy hop down the mountain one stride at a time before making it to his proximity. "I've got something I need to talk about!"
"Is Kaza not with you, at the time?"
"No, she's doing stuff with Mei." Zinco scratched the back of his head. "I'm actually… kind of glad."
"Hm? Do go on."
"I um… uh… K-Kaza, see…" He struggled to find his words. "I'm not sure what it is, but… I just feel different around her now. And when I think about her. And also I can't stop thinking about her. I don't know what happened after our fight, but… it just feels like she's… mrh… different from other people, now."
"... oh." Ceushius brought a hand to his chin. "That's… strange." He thought about his own spar with Kaza — he didn't witness her terrifying metamorphosis in Zinco's match, after all. "I fear this could trace to something anomalous I've noted about her, before. Well, is this a good feeling, then?"
"..." Zinco started questioning himself again. "It's… it makes me jumpy. It's warm, but… I don't get it. It's warmer than love. It makes me happier." He looked like he'd admitted to thoughts of homicide. "I should feel that way about everyone… but I don't."
"... hm. I think you're overselling the severity of the matter, my boy."
"CEUSHIUS!"
Before they could go any further, a mountain range erupted, the force of which no supervolcano could replicate.
Walking from the dark mist, hunched over in a silent fury, was Voshyo. Zinco stared in astonishment, and Ceushius, with pity.
"I will say this once. I will accept no alternatives or compromise."
His eyes were obscured in shadow by the vermillion aura encapsulating him.
"You will face me, with every trace of your being."
"... will that resolve anything?"
"I could give a DAMN what you think of it. That was not your fight and yet-"
"If not for your ego, those who fell under you would still be ALIVE!" Ceushius fully turned to him. "I should've led the charge, yet due to YOUR insistence, I placed trust in your ability! And THAT was how you repaid me!? If you had just sent for my aid sooner, THEN-..." He stopped himself.
Voshyo glared, but did nothing more.
"... how cruel. I'm passing my own blame to a child."
"Do you truly believe they died with regret?"
"What?"
Voshyo stared through him. "You speak of them as if they were defenseless fawns, you cur. As if they met their end wishing someone stronger would've saved them. That is not how a proud Saiyan thinks." He clenched deeper into his bleeding palm. "They chose to stake their pride, their fists, into taking back their past and defending what they'd gained, against the bastard responsible for ridding them of what could've been. They fought and died on their own terms. And as I fell, ONE OF THEM would've taken my place and struck him down."
Ceushius's brows formed a deep, shaking V. "So you led them to their DEATHS?"
"THEY SHOWED THEMSELVES THAT THEIR LIVES WERE THEIR OWN!" Voshyo roared. "Leader I am, it is by THEIR Saiyan blood that they choose to fight and die, and by NO MEANS will you stand there and strip them of agency! But by all means, if you'd so decry their memory with mourning, then take your vengeance with me. If you don't, then I will force your hand."
Ceushius glared. But his head lowered.
And then a yellow tuft moved forward beneath him.
"...!? ZIN…!"
Voshyo's icy stare didn't shift targets until the intruder was too close to be brushed off.
"I'll fight you," Jin growled.
"... Move, fawn. This does not concern you."
The golden-tailed boy bared his teeth. "You LET people get hurt."
"A fool like you isn't worth the effort." Voshyo gripped his shoulder to throw him aside. He didn't budge.
Ceushius stepped forward. "Wait, Zinco! You have no idea how much stronger he's become!"
"I'm strong, too, now." Zinco looked back with a smile — a confident one, one that seemed unfitting on the young teen. "Kaza showed me. I won't lose to anyone." He turned back to Voshyo. "Not even him."
"Insignificant…!"
[ BGM: Hidenori Shoji – Conqueror of the Father ]
Voshyo and Zinco threw each other's grip away simultaneously, and cut loose with an aura.
This time, just the force of their spirits melted the ice beneath them.
To Ceushius's surprise, Zinco took the forefront with a punch. Voshyo allowed it to land, only to keel over. His body had not been damaged…
"KHH…!"
No, it was something far more important to him.
Ceushius's eyes widened. "(That technique…!)"
"This… heresy…!" Voshyo growled through clenched teeth, reeling his fist with twice the effort he'd usually need.
Zinco suddenly took a full blow to the gut. His abdominal muscles actively pushed it back as he was lifted into the air.
"GHH… HRRK!" Zinco threw himself off and full-tilt bolley kicked the young lord in the neck with another blow to the spirit. For a fraction of a second, he was disorientated, as Zinco landed on a foot before zooming back and laying into him with a follow-up barrage. He cut it short, charging a palm strike that'd assuredly break the wall of evil before him, and struck, full-power.
Voshyo took all of it, as a massive blast erupted from his back, his eyes having gone vacant as his aura began to wither.
Zinco's hand was suddenly clenched.
And with a scarlet ki eruption, his foe suddenly chambered a front kick.
The half-blood opted to do the same.
A bell-like sound rang throughout the world.
Ceushius took note of an oddity. "Voshyo's spirit… is recovering from Zinco's technique…!"
Both kicks clashed, continuously sparking with stray torrents of ki in constant states of collision, as their respective sources vied for control. And both kicks sank down to clashes of the knee, before each boot stomped into the water, monumental waves crashing all around as they willed themselves off it. Voshyo's grapple was swiftly, forcefully met by Zinco's, as their inflamed glares met.
"I CAN'T LET YOU… HURT ANYONE ELSE…!"
"SAVE YOUR PITY… FOR THE WEAK!"
Voshyo adjusted the grapple for an advantage, only for their shoulders to careen into each other. "DON'T YOU SEE… THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING… IS MAKING PEOPLE DIE!?"
"FOR THOSE WHO'VE DIED IN MY STEAD… I HAVE NAUGHT BUT PRIDE! TO HOLD ANYTHING ELSE… WOULD BE SPITTING ON THEIR GRAVES!" Voshyo finally pushed Zinco back, honing a fist. "MY ONLY REGRET IS BEING UNABLE TO JOIN THEM IN DE-"
Zinco parried the oncoming attack, and countered with a vicious heel to the head.
"YOU AREN'T EVEN SORRY!?" Zinco's onsetting foot ruptured the ocean entirely, leaving a vast black hole. He blocked Voshyo's retaliatory punch, only for Voshyo to parry Zinco's own, constantly exchanging as they descended further down the endless sea. "YOU CAN'T EVEN BE SORRY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!? WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU!?"
"SO ARROGANT, SO HAUGHTY, THAT YOU'D DECIDE HOW WARRIORS LIVE AND DIE!? KNOW YOUR PLACE, VERMIN!"
"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Zinco roared, locking a whiffed fist in between his broad shoulders and neck, punching Voshyo with his all, enough to thrust himself back.
"Your words seep through your witless maw… and flutter lifelessly into the wind…!" Voshyo growled, stumbling for a spell, finding his will to fight beginning to wane. Zinco's body followed suit, beginning to feel the cost of taking and contesting blows with such an opponent.
And then, Voshyo rooted himself to the ground.
"OOOAAAAAA!"
His roar, and the ensuing aura, boiling the miles of water that dared intrude upon him.
"THE PRIDE OF THE WARRIORS WHO LIVED BY THE EDGE OF THEIR FIST… WILL DRIVE MY OWN THROUGH THE HEAVENS!"
Zinco steadily grew fed up.
"THEN I'M GONNA KILL THAT PRIDE!"
Their colliding power had created a dome on the bottom of the planet-sized sea itself, as each collected their crumbling sense of bearing.
"(TO SEIZE ITS LIFE… IN ITS OWN HANDS… UNTAMED BY MAN, BEAST, GOD OR LAW…!)"
"(A WORLD WITHOUT FIGHTING OR HATRED…)"
They wouldn't admit it.
"(THIS WRETCH DISSENTS THE PRIDE OF A TRUE SAIYAN!)"
"(IT CAN'T EXIST WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU!)"
But never before have they truly hated an adversary until that point.
"You were far behind my full power last I saw you, brat…!" The ki around the young lord's body began to fade, centering into his fists. "Tell me. How did that Kaza unlock this power within you?"
"... she fought me. I had to push past my limits, just to survive against her."
Voshyo smirked cold-heartedly. "A fine woman, indeed. No wonder she's taken your heart."
"You don't even make sense anymore."
"Hhn. So even a moron like you can play coy, is that right?"
"No seriously I don't get it." Zinco grabbed his head in an annoyed confusion. "Is… is that something else saiyans do? I wouldn't know a lot about that, I grew up on Earth. Can… can saiyans live without hearts?"
Voshyo stared.
"Wait. Wait, that's a figment of speech, isn't it?"
"... a figure. A figure of speech."
"Oh. Stole… heart, uh… wait I think I get it. It means I like someone, right? Because if it's that, then, yeah, I do like Kaza. A lot. A weird amount."
"What asinine breed of tangent have you thrown my…?" Voshyo looked down at his hands, which had lost the sheen of his technique. "Hhn. You intrepid little mongrel, you've managed to damper my spirit. How dare you." He sounded more impressed than anything, even beginning to chuckle, which raised Jin's level of alert to the ceiling. "Yes, of course that's where this pugnacious row sprung from! You're a boy who's been smitten!"
Zinco got riled up. "That's not why!" He lunged at Voshyo with a punch. "It's because you're horrible!"
"Oh? Would the you of yester have the gall to speak to ANYONE without as much as a please and thank you? Where else could this bravado stem?"
"GHK…!"
Voshyo had a feeling about it. Out of curiosity, he took it.
"...!"
"... hn-hn-hn-hn-hn…!"
Zinco jumped back, as Voshyo spat a dot of blood.
The blonde boy gazed at his fist, at himself, like one would a corpse, and how he'd begun losing himself in anger — even shaking in it. He hadn't even noticed it until that point.
"(I… I said that…? I did that…!?)" He whispered to himself, silently panicking.
"Kh-kh-kh…! I've fallen so low, that a child THIS separate from himself has drawn genuine anger from me! I almost saw you as an equal, you bastard!"
"I…"
A force sent the boy hurtling backward, plunging into the abyssal depths.
"(Don't go losing your nerve just yet!)"
Voshyo had literally gotten into his head. Said noble suddenly sent the boy torpedoing to the surface.
"(Go on, lambast me for holding conviction, you coward! You CAN'T… EVEN… MAKE UP YOUR MIND…!)" With every rupturing telepathic transmission, another kick shot him through the water before rocketing into the open sky and into a scowling Voshyo's fist.
The hit landed, and Zinco bounced off the water's surface tension. The ensuing eruption of the ocean busted his ear drums, as he fell down.
Voshyo wiped off another stream of blood from his mouth. "Uppity little runt. Let that serve as a reminder."
Eyes shut, like closing blinds.
.
.
.
Darkness.
And with it, the cave.
The faint, red streak of light above the crevice had grown. The crevice itself had begun to split off. More rays glaring down, with a crushing intensity that made him want to vomit.
The scent of rotting flesh lingered throughout, worsening every day. Like its source had begun to decay further with time elapsed. It wouldn't let him grow numb to it.
And then, that weight.
As strong as he'd become, he should've been able to lift it with ease. Nothing about it should've been able to surprise him. But then it crashed atop his body.
And he fell. His back slammed against the darkened grounds, forced to look upon it — a black orb that pulsed with screams and wails and roars that bit into his hands as he desperately held it over his chest. His own flesh began to sear. His bones began to compress. The red forced it down upon him even fiercer.
— he'd grown complacent. He was slipping. Forgetting this duty, growing selfish.
That weight was all there was to keep the red at bay. Now, he could hardly lift that.
It wouldn't stop unless he could hold it. Until the dream could end.
It was no longer just his dream, no. But that weight, it belonged to him. Those streaks, he was their subject.
If he could only end the dream, they'd stop. If he gave everything to the dream, only then could he end it. And he could join those outside, without that red.
If he dared harbor another dream, any small hope beyond that, the rays would grow, and the orb would crush everything.
And then, through a small crack above, somewhere in the upper left, a ray of blue.
"... ghk…"
He awoke to water spurting out of his mouth, and…
Blue dots.
"Hi, sleepyhead."
Zinco smiled tiredly. "Hi."
"... you lost, huh?"
"... yeah."
Kaza smiled. "That's fine. Can you stand?"
Zinco lifted his head off her lap, picked himself up, and stood just fine.
"... I'm…"
"You didn't do anything wrong."
Zinco's eyes widened, as if he'd remembered a front door he left open. "... huh?"
"Ceushius told me about how weird you were acting. You were getting pretty angry with Voshyo, huh? I didn't believe it at first."
His expression crumpled.
"And I… sort of… read your mind while you slept. I got curious, and it… just happened. I didn't really understand it at first. But now…" She looked him in the eye. "I never asked you because it just sounded like something a great person would want to do. It's what I saw that makes me want to ask, now. Zinco, why do you wanna make a world without violence?"
"If I do it, everyone will finally be happy. So I have to do it. I just need to be a bit stronger, that's all."
"..."
She gave herself a small introspective. Before she'd met this boy. Even before she'd been sent here. The prevailing thought she had. Her sole longing, as she lived as a monster.
And she remembered how she received it. From Ceushius, Mei.
And, from him. That one, amazing feeling of warmth.
She wasn't Zinco. Far from. She learned that not too long ago.
But maybe. If they were even a bit similar.
… so she'd spell it out for him.
"... Zinco. What if, after everything, you're still not able to pull that off?"
"I-what?"
"It's possible."
"I- I won't let that happen. I definitely won't let that happen!"
"That's not what I asked, Zinco. What if you still fail?"
Zinco actually began to look angry. He was taking it the wrong way; as if his loss had spurred doubt in her.
— and somehow, her doubt meant so much more than anyone else's.
"Why are you asking!? That shouldn't matter!"
He was starting to lose it again. Had he not learned his lesson!?
"I-I mean, I just need a bit more training and I-I'll get there! I swear!"
"And if you still can't?"
"Kaza!" He yelled. "I have to do it! I have to fix everything, or no one will be happy!"
— it just wasn't true. People could be happy, even in a cruel, violent world.
But to say any more would be heartless. She wouldn't forgive herself for pushing any further.
So she said it.
"That's not true, Zinco. Even if you fail somehow, I'll always accept you."
"...?"
"You could give it your all and fail, or you could make it halfway and give up. It doesn't matter how badly, I wouldn't mind. I don't care if you get angry with people sometimes, or even slip up and hurt someone. You're just a person. And what you did for me, that day… for the first time, I felt like a person. I want that for you, too. I don't think you owe the world anything. I just want you to be happy, Zinco."
His eyes shined.
But the influx of light slowly, surely turned to horror, and then dimmed. The preluded smile fell, and his eyes followed.
"... Zinco?"
He left.
Every joy, small and large, that he'd experienced in this new life compiled on him at once. And with that, everything he was guilty of — every life gone unsaved, every soul cursed, every weapon swung and fired, every horrid word thrown and echoed, every cry of fear, every singe of pain.
He wanted, so badly, in that moment, to be happy. But he didn't deserve something like that. Someone like that.
"(... I have to change the world.)"
For just a moment, the weight had left him. For a moment, she was the most important thing in the universe to him.
"Zinco!?"
— her words meant more than any bound in progress he'd made. Acceptance meant more from her than from a world without pain.
"ZINCO!"
And that horrified him. Exposing him to the truth behind his dream.
"(I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WORLD.)"
His teeth grit to the point of bleeding gums. He sped up, and broke into a run.
"...!"
Zinco stumbled into a stop.
A patch of plant life sprung into existence before him.
"... you're never this rude." Kaza nicked away a tear. "I did nothing but blame myself until I met the two of you…! No. Even after that, all I ever did was blame myself."
She balled her fists.
"The only reason I've come as far as I have… is because I discovered we're ALL miserable. Yet somehow, I was the one who stopped beating themselves up first."
"It's not that simple, Kaza. I'm… I'm just-"
"I love you. I didn't think I had to say it out loud, but now it's clear to me." Her azure eyes burned. "I'm gonna have to show you what it is that I love about you."
"... what?"
"I've gotten so sick of seeing people walk all over you. And you were the last straw."
[ BGM: zts – dreamenddischarger OR Daisuke Ishiwatari – Marionette ]
Kaza's pink aura bursted, fanning outward like colossal wings of ethereal wind. "I'M GONNA WIPE OUT THAT 'VOICE IN YOUR HEAD'!"
"... HUH?"
Kaza suddenly lunged at Zinco with a battle cry, to the latter's terror. He blocked it with twin palms, invoking all his might to cancel out the attack.
"PLEASE! JUST LET ME LEAVE!"
"TO EAT YOURSELF!? NO!"
Kaza pulled back, shifting water into even more plantlife from beneath Zinco's feet; as he felt each surface, he stepped further forward, Kaza placing herself on an offensive back foot.
"YOU STILL DON'T GET IT! I'VE JUST BEEN USING EVERYONE! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD!" He shouted in anguish. "ALL THIS TIME, I… I'VE JUST WANTED TO HEAR WHAT YOU SAID!"
"THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL STEPPING OVER PLANTS!? TO NOT MAKE ME MAD!?" Kaza suddenly lashed out with a palm of her own, shooting up saliva from the boy and knocking him off his feet. "WHY ARE YOU TRYING SO HARD TO DENY YOURSELF!? JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GUILTY OF!?"
He lashed his tail and spun to the side, avoiding the vegetation altogether.
"PEOPLE ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF ME! I K-I KILLED PEOPLE!"
Kaza went in for a punch. "SO HAVE I!"
Zinco followed suit. "THAT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!"
"YES IT WAS!" Kaza transitioned the colliding blows into an interlocked grasp, steadily ramping into the sky. "IF YOU'RE GUILTY JUST BECAUSE YOU EXISTED, JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN THE WAY YOU ARE, JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO YOUNG TO CONTROL YOUR OWN POWER, THEN THAT MEANS I'M GUILTY, TOO! THAT MAKES ME EVEN MORE OF A MONSTER THAN YOU ARE!"
"BUT THAT'S… THAT'S DIFFERENT!"
"GRRRGH…!" Kaza broke away amidst the fading atmosphere, the moon and stars visible, and contested Zinco in an exchange. "WHO AM I SPEAKING TO, RIGHT NOW!? SOMEONE ELSE KEEPS BLAMING YOU, AND YOU KEEP BELIEVING THEM!"
"I'M THE ONE TALKING! THIS IS WHO I AM! I'M JUST A STUPID IDIOT WHO DID GOOD THINGS SO PEOPLE WOULD LIKE HIM!"
Zinco grabbed Kaza's fist amid their flight; Kaza let him.
"SO WHAT!? WHY CAN'T YOU BE SELFISH!? WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T!?"
"ME! WHY CAN'T I BLAME MYSELF!?"
"BECAUSE ALL YOUR REASONS ARE STUPID!" Kaza screamed, throwing him before sending a barrage of ki blasts his way; before he could retaliate, they transformed into butterflies, living beings and all. Zinco weaved out of their way, before noting one weakening and falling. He dove after it, just as he noticed Kaza honing in after him. He wanted to shout at her to stop, but the distance made such a thing impossible; he caught it, turned his back as Kaza's attack prepared to land, and set it on its way with his own life force.
"... Don't you see?" asked Kaza, getting teary-eyed as she veered over Zinco, landing no attack. "There's no one here but us. I already told you, didn't I?"
"Nnh…" He up-righted himself.
"You might not ever be accepted by everyone, no matter what you do. Just like how I won't. But that's ok, Zinco. Because you're already amazing to me."
— he wanted to let it go.
She rushed him again. "It's the way you value every little life! Not because you owe it to anyone, but because it's life!"
— he wanted to let go of that weight so badly.
"It's the way you're always trying your hardest, no matter what it is!
— he wanted to shrug away those red rays, if only that single blue light would keep shining through.
"It's how you get passionate about what you're doing in the heat of the moment!" Zinco went from split-hair dodging to blocking and parrying, and Kaza sped up her attack in response. "It's how awesome you look when you're fighting! It's how you stumble a bit when you want to say something!" A torque-loaded back kick sent Zinco flying, despite his cross-armed guard. "It's how red you get when you're flustered!"
Zinco chuckled a bit. "I'm not good with words."
"No, you aren't" Kaza giggled, immediately covering her mouth afterwards in horror.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"You're right. I'll just have to get better at them! I'm Zinco, what your name?"
Kaza had trouble remembering her name amidst the memories of others she'd been called. It came down to either "Demon" or "Kaza" and she chose the one she liked more.
The moment had never left her mind, as if it were yesterday.
"Kaza."
Zinco reached into his nigh-obliterated pile of food and pulled out a piece of chocolate.
"Here, Kaza, eat this!" Zinco proudly held out a bar reading "Kroukai" in green italics on its bright blue wrapper. "These are the best!"
"Oh, it's alright, you can have it..."
"That just makes me want you to eat it more!" Zinco gave an ear-to-ear smile to Kaza. "Pleeeeease?"
Every word, every sight, every scent and taste, was fresh in memory.
Kaza slowly inspected the treat before just as slowly picking up the bar and taking a bite.
Simply put, it was the best thing she'd ever tasted.
So much so that tears began flooding down her face.
Zinco became concerned. "Ah-I'm sorry, I thought you'd like it!"
"I do."
"Then... why are you-"
Kaza jumped up and nearly squeezed the life out of Zinco.
"Thank you!" she repeatedly stammered out between sobs. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Despite the bone-crunching pressure, Zinco found that she was cuddly, almost like a mattress made out of playdoh.
"I'll pay you back! I'll make sure I pay you back... for all of this...!"
"Y-you should hate me! Isn't that what you wanted, to-"
"I DON'T CARE!" Kaza yelled, priming a massive ball of blaring, crimson-black ki. "You gave me everything that I needed. Now I wanna give you what you need... for your sake, anD FOR MINE!"
"THIS IS HOW I MAKE THINGS EVEN!" She threw it, the massive excess of power escaping her notice.
Zinco thrust out his hands, falling back on his own power to hold back the blast. It slowed but upheld its imminent collision course. The boy skid across the ground, his hands blistering and his arms stressing to the verge of tearing off, tendon by tendon.
"(Kaza's bad at lying…! What she said… it wasn't a lie! But that means…!)"
He reminded himself. The way she acted.
The way she feared everything, how desperate she was for kinship, only never to receive it.
"(... how long… did she have to feel that way?)"
His desperate grimace began to harden into a snarling display of fangs.
"(She's come so far... from who she used to be! She'd be fine without me, now! Even if it hurts her, I still have to save the world...! I can't let myself be happy until then, I just-!)"
The blast slowed tremendously.
"(I'll hurt her... someone, either way... then I'd HAVE TO CHOOSE...!)"
Her faith in that ridiculous dream.
How happy she'd made him. How happy…
"Yo!" greeted Zinco.
Kaza's shock persisted as she gazed upon Zinco's teetering tower of teriyaki and veggies.
Kaza's concern and unease gradually turned into confusion as Zinco began to mow through the meal which formerly stood a few heads above him, his tail practically going berserk as he tore into the meal.
"Why?"
"Hmm?" Zinco mumbled while chewing a rougher piece of meat. "Why?"
"Why did you sit here?"
Zinco finally swallowed after a hard-fought battle with his morsel.
"Because you were crying."
Zinco'd unintentionally offended the Majin, who saw his reasoning akin to observing a burning train wreck. Thankfully, Zinco was fantastic at reading people. He saw the pained expression and slumped shoulders, and elaborated upon his explanation.
"You sounded scared, but... you look too nice to feel that way."
"(... No... I don't want to...! EITHER WAY, I CAN'T SEE THAT DREAM THROUGH IF I DO THAT!)"
How happy he'd made her.
"(I DON'T CARE IF IT'S SELFISH! I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!) USHAAAAAA— ! !"
He slowly felt his heart. It had never raced so intensely, kindled so warmly.
"(... no. That's a lie.)"
There was a city, where he learned the good that strength was capable of, and the warmth of comrades that sought good.
A wilderness, too, where he found the unbiased hand of nature, that nothing was born truly despicable.
And…
"(I HAVE felt this before.)"
— those in the mountains.
His self-enraged scowl began to melt.
"(How many people... are lucky enough to feel this?)"
Those rare people. Not a world, but those few within it.
"(... not enough. It can't be enough.)"
His dream began to resurface, and change its shape.
"(This feeling... I want everyone to know about it. I don't care how, I just...!)"
People that could forgive them. People that could better them. People that could love them. Regardless of the world.
— the weight returned. Full-force.
— and as the red lights dimmed under his own opposing force, he planted himself, as he lifted it.
He pushed it.
He readied a clawed palm. With all his power, into the single blow.
And with a silent kiai, the weight was undone. It turned into mystic light, and clad the ice in color. A miracle.
He fell to a knee, huffing as sweat fell from his face and froze mid-drop. "(I'm fine with it. With... no one... ever accepting me. And maybe I'll never forgive myself.)" He made a quivering fist, taking in what had just came from his mind. He smiled uncontrollably. "( But I don't need that, anymore. If everyone could just find someone like her... then no one'd ever WANT to fight... yeah. I won't need to rule the world. Not if I help it unify itself.)" He prepared to look up toward the one who'd blessed him and drop yet another staggering line of poetry or some shit, but Kaza didn't give him the chance.
"ZINCOOO—!" she wailed as she tackled him, healing him simultaneously. "YOU SCARED ME, Y-YOU BIG JERK! AN-AND THEN I A-A-ALMOST K-KILLED YOU! I'M-SORRY! I-DIDN'T-MEAN TO, P-PLEEEASE DON'T HATE YOURSELF ANYMORE!"
Zinco wordlessly hugged her tighter, getting her to slow down.
"I'm sorry. And it's ok." He smiled, like a young man ought. "... and thank you. I love you, Kaza."
Kaza briefly became a steam-powered duck-foot pistol. She gulped.
"I… LUBB YOU MORB."
He started. Then he chuckled. "Great!"
She couldn't act nearly as cool around… THIS Zinco.
"I'm gonna try and make this possible for everyone."
He smiled so confidently, she could've died right then and there.
"Eh?"
Jin's smile didn't end. "Love, I think. And everything else. It feels good, so I want everyone to have it." He looked at his palm. "I just… really, really like how it feels. So I'm gonna kill violence, so it's possible. Can you help, Kaza? You don't have to, I just, um…"
Kaza had taken a battle stance with her dumb leaky eyes — Zinco had eyes on her the entire time, yet didn't notice when she'd even done such a thing. She was ready for something.
"(... I love that.) And I know where I have to start, too."
The fuchsia girl sobered up, too, and nodded. She outstretched her arm, and a portal opened.
"... oh wait. I definitely didn't need to do that."
"Uh-mh-yeah." Pushing that to the side, Zinco set off. "L'right, see you there!"
"Euh-Yep!" Kaza ran up and pecked him on the cheek, sending him into a flabbergasted stumble through the fissure. She giggled a bit, and began to follow.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ"Don't tell me you're not curious."
Her smile died. "Shut. Up."ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ"Ho-ho~. That's a fine little attitude you've grown."
Kaza said nothing, as she stepped into the tear.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ"As long as you continue to fester that delicious new breed of hatred, ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤfor what it's done to your poor little pets,ㅤI'll put up with it. After all, it's what ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤinspired my return."
The mental image of Mei's agonized screams for help, and Zinco's broken cries for an end, as both were hunted and subjected to hell over and over until they were left as the shells she'd met them as, alongside her own persecution thanks to the parasite that was once her identity, danced around in her mind like mocking fiends.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ"Believe me, you're so much more ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤthan just a vessel to override, now."
Such a world didn't deserve to be entitled.
[ ED: Bop Alloy ‒ Step Into The Cypher ]
Yo! OP Here!
No, you're not hallucinating, I did in fact upload a chapter a(bout a) week after the last. That's literally only because this one was supposed to come out first, tho, so this one was just about edits and proofreads and whatnot. I'm pretty happy with it, ngl.
Zinco's pretty much complete now, btw. Like 95%. The end of his development accompanies the end of Neo's, the chapter of whom's is right after Zinco's next one. The order makes no sense, I know, but the fact that Zinco would immediately want his runback and Voshyo would definitely oblige means that golden boy's the only one that gets double upload.
See that one part where I decided to put TWO BGM selections? Yeah that used to be for me but, like, I couldn't make up my mind so I chose to let the viewer decide.
Oh yeah, Zinco got buffed by the Kaza fight. Just wanna make that clear. I mean, obviously, Zenkai exists and shit, but he still got that boost in yuki and shoki, as well, so that's neat. I say this because both he and Voshyo are gonna be FP next chapter.
I wanna do something with Voshyo's backstory next chapter too. Not a lot, just enough for a gist. There's also this thing I wanna do with Zinco's (I called it Spirit Transmigration in the notes, idk if I like that name) where he slowly starts negging memories from each "layer" that goes down the hatch. I'm working on a way to make this shit work thematically, too, so no worries on that. Shit, this next chapter might be a tall order. Man I just wanted to do a bomb-ass Kenshiro vs Raoh homage, now I'm stuck with all this crap.
You know how the biggest fucking Zenkai in the series, bar-none, was after Goku got possessed by Ginyu? I decided to make it so that saiyans get REALLY strong when their bodies AND souls get screwed with. What I'm saying is, Kora got BUSTED after her first fight, you just can't see it in her QF fight because Akaki kinda eats that power difference shit. Voshyo got stronger but not by THAT much, because Zinco affects the soul alone. This also means Kazikum is Voshyo level, now. You will just never see it. Zinco got pretty damn strong mid-fight, thanks to the exact same guy. Dina also got a slightly-larger buff.
You get nothing on Neo's chapter. Nothing.
Funny thing, I decided to retcon the implication that Frieza trained in the timeline he was from. Makes a bit more sense that he starts trying shit once he's surrounded by people hundreds of times (bare minimum) his superior, and it makes it possible for Voshyo to take him on. P.S. He's around 100% Namek Arc Frieza level. We're rapidly going beyond that point. It was not supposed to be like this.
On that, uh, I'm gonna take a break from the story in order to plot out the rest of it before the fucking Semi Finals happen and everything finally pays off. I've also decided beyond a shadow of doubt that this'll be the Dragon Ball to whatever the fuck comes next's Z. Hell, if someone else ever wants to pick up the story after STEP is done, feel free. The character guidebook is all here, lol.
Fun fact: This series has been going on from 2019 to present, 2023, and might just hit 2024.
Dragon Ball began serialization in 1984 and Raditz landed in Chapter 195, released in 1988.
What the fuck is wrong with me.
OOOOH shit before I forget. Umineko is pretty damn aight. I really like the way it uses text as a legit power system, somewhat. It would be OVER for ALL OF YOU if I could change text color on this site ngl. Won't lie, I dismissed this series for a while until I watched an ending of it. That was legit. And also zts is incredible as a composer. The visual novel is apparently 200+ hours, though. I sat through a Heaven's Feel playthrough when I was still chilling in Detroit. If I ever go on leave, I'll give the Umidumi a shot. I love it when stuff elevates its medium.
So um, yeah, Dandadan is peak. Forgot to mention that last chapter. Saw a lot of Selaine in Aira so that was cool. Momo Ayase spun my block in an armored Bugatti. Okarun bombed several other military installations. Both are now tied as Public Enemy #1. My head hurts.
That's about it. See ya.