[ OP: Granrodeo ‒ Remember Your Passion ]
Archi VS Kazikum! The End of Faulty Pride!
"What the fuck is all this?"
"Clothes."
Kazikum picked up the shirt, which showcased swoopy symbols embezzled across its back. Some bits reached the front, almost like small, sharp edges of a flame.
"Who the fuck drew shit all over it?"
"That's calligraphy."
"... so the fuck does it-"
"It's a Namekian word. It's hard to translate on Earth, but it's closest to 'angry resolve.' I know you hate clothes or something, so the pants are baggy below the belt and the shirt is skin-tight."
Kazikum looked at the shirt as if it were garbage.
"Who's the fuck who made this?"
"Me."
Kazikum looked at the shirt.
"... kh." He promptly tore off whatever he was wearing ‒ Wabi spun around at break-neck speed ‒ and donned what was out for him; bar the hand-guards.
"Thanks."
Turning back around, Wabi saw his new appearance. He raised his thumb, smiling.
Kazikum looked at the lanky healer like he was stupid, rolled his eyes, and mocked his stupid smile with two thumbs up and an exaggerated grin before moving out to finish up the exam.
"(Sorry, Kaz, but I lied to you again. It's actually a lot closer to 'Stupid Resolve'.)"
He laughed lightly to himself, seeing Kazikum off. "(It's for people who don't know or care about their place in the world, and march off into nothing.)"
[ BGM: Tetsuya Shibata ‒ Vergil Battle 2 ]
Kazikum walked.
Past a violet-glowing room filled with some shithead who sounded like he was dying.
Past the little bitch whose hand he devoured, who walked like she was hung over; not so much to not shoot a teensy wave of bloodlust his way, though.
Past some mopey dumbass who looked one inconvenience away from offing themselves; maybe with the tail they had, that hung like a noose behind them.
Past a sniveling spine-covered little punk who should've been at daycare and not a tournament.
Past a high-strung fucking rodent who he had half a mind to gut, then and there; it was bad enough that she mocked his mother with that two-bit trick she used.
And finally, out of the right side, into the light and toward his enemy.
"BRING OUT YER DEAD!" Archi howled.
"Tch. Do you ever shut your fucking mouth?"
"Wanna see me back it up, bud?"
WITH THESE TWO WALKING TANKS JUST REARING TO GO AT IT, THERE'S NO NEED TO FURTHER DELAY!
The announcer gave the go-sign.
CUT LOOSE!
"GRAA~!"
"SHAA~!"
Every tile shattered.
And then they clashed.
The spectator fields reverberated. The upper atmosphere was torn asunder, and clouds split apart for miles in every direction, amplifying the sun's blazing glare until its reflection off the remaining tiles was blinding.
Both had taken the respective punch head-on.
And just like that, they were back at it. Both moved closer with every thrown blow, the exchanged attacks growing in speed. As they neared in proximity, Kazikum began to stagger, Archi's attacks influenced by ki; he solved the problem by snatching Archi's throat during a connected punch and throwing him into the ground, sending him skipping across it for a spell until the latter kicked himself up.
He looked back up to see Kazikum.
In the most uncanny, painful-to-witness posture ever seen by a man who'd bare hand-fought at least a hundred different races.
It took far too long for him to realize he was winding up a punch.
"HAARGH!"
He threw it like a javelin thrower would honor their namesake, at a speed that outpaced any laser. Two hands and every ounce of his strength was what it took to mitigate it; the force still rippled through his body, invoking spittle with glints of crimson.
"(AWESOME…)" Archi grinned, bringing Kaz's fist closer.
"This is what a real fight's all aBOUT!" He sent back his opponent with a headbutt and, still gripping the caught fist in one hand, reeled back the other in a full-force straight.
In a windmill motion, Kazikum headbutt the fist away before slamming his noggin onto Archi's. He leapt up and, as if demanding to know if anyone was home up there, continued to bash skulls 4 times before his enemy dove underneath, tackling him by the vulnerable waist, raising him up before slamming him to the ground. Once more, Kazikum was raised to the sky by the legs as Archi knee'd himself into the air, preparing with a roar to imprint the arena with a snow-devil, and smacked his prey into the battlefield once again, Kazikum sinking into it as if it were soft. Archi prepared another slam, enraptured by the moment's show of brute force. Only now, Kazikum wouldn't budge; he'd clawed into the arena itself. A vice grip ensnared the formerly-advantageous adversary.
"(That's just from his shins…!)" Archi realized, before his boots involuntarily left the ground.
Kazikum then reverse-slammed him, repeatedly, hand-standing. His lower-body thrashed Archi like the maw of a savage beast ripping off chunks of meat, finally throwing him into a roll. The russet-clad saiyan sprang up like a video game character, leaking blood from his head.
"This fight's getting CRAZY!" he laughed, more-than impressed by how absurd things were getting in the heat of battle, golden spiritual orbs rapidly growing larger in his hands. "But it's missing a little zest, don'cha think!?" With that, he raised them in front of his face and reeled back his head.
"COSMIC BELTER CRASH!"
Sparks flew out of his mouth before he breathed a ki blast, it combining with the others to form a massive, destructive railgun.
"Pain in the fucKING ASS!" Kazikum retorted, throwing a full-power uppercut at the blast, splitting it down the middle. If it weren't already borderline-unhinging, Archi's jaw would've dropped then and there. Still, he amped up his own output in response, making up the lost ground and ultimately overwhelming Kazikum. Without an aura, the dead-tailed saiyan lost his shirt; his hide was the only thing separating the blast from his muscle fibers.
"(Hhh… HNNN-)"
Kazikum let out a roar on par with a wave of his own. Ripping across and dispelling the beam, it was akin to an Oozaru's enraged death throe, a chimera of a deep roar and a sharp shriek.
At its center, with black voids in his eye sockets and covered in burns, the dead-tailed saiyan's maw emitted a wave of smoke, before the berserk whites of his enemy flanked him at blistering speeds. He vanished away at an even more-so blistering speed, Archi giving chase, and Kazikum inevitably retaliating, Archi blocking said blows. Back and forth, the two clashed all across the arena, gradually raising velocity until they lost their forms completely.
Now, two light beams zipped across the arena. The earth itself began to rumble, and soon, even the sky trembled with sounds akin to trumpets.
COULD IT… YES, THAT'S RIGHT! THROUGH RAW POWER, THE TWO STUDENTS HAVE REACHED LIGHTSPEED! AT THIS POINT, WHO KNOWS HOW MANY ATTACKS HAVE FLOWN BETWEEN THESE WARRING UPSTARTS!?
Finally, via a sledgehammer to the back, Kazikum reappeared, a panting Archi hovering above as he prepared energy in his hands. Catching his bearings, Kazikum dodged explosions as he eyed the russet-clad man, breaking out into a sprint towards him before lunging toward the spectator field and bounding off it toward Archi, who narrowly evaded the attempted tackle.
"(What a guy, he's forcing me to dodge his attacks… wait…)"
Archi dodged another lunge, and another, and another, countering with small waves all the while.
"(Why isn't he flying after me?)"
Gears began to turn for the first time since the match began.
"(He can't… hell, I don't think he can use ki at all!)"
Archi prepared to dive in after Kazikum to even the playing field, only for a stray tile to disintegrate on-contact with his face.
It made Kora's punches feel like kisses in comparison.
"GAA…"
Another flew into his abdomen, and between his fits of clouded mind, he had to believe they weren't just tiles.
His vision gradually began to darken. Sobering and adapting to the new pain, he shook his head and stood back upright.
… no, he hadn't sobered up yet. If anything, he was falling down.
That would be the only explanation as to why he was seeing the floor coming toward him.
"(Gotta… get back up-)"
The stage floor crashed into Archi.
Not the other way around.
UH… I… ST-STUDENT KAZIKUM HAS JUST THROWN HALF OF THE ARENA AT HIS FELLOW STUDENT! I… I DIDN'T THINK I'D EVER HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING OF THE LIKE WHEN I DONNED THE SUIT, BUT… TO KEEP IT FAMILIAR, LET'S SAY THE BATTLEFIELD IS BEING USED TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT! Trunks yelled in-between coughing fits. A dust storm had enveloped the entire tournament space.
Kora stared in awe.
"FUCK-CKING-WICKED!"
Next to her, Dina was borderline fangirling.
"ENTIRE SODDIN' ARENA, ON 'IS HEAD!? HOW THE- HOW THE BLOODY HELL DOES ONE EVEN BEAT THAT!?"
"You DO realize you're fighting THAT if he wins, correct?"
"-HAHA, oh."
Kazikum's subsequent scream cleared the thick cloud, and soon after, wet droplets began to trickle down. Rain transpired.
Archi shivered. No metaphor was needed to describe how he felt. Completely numb all over, he descended to the bit of arena still left. From each shaky cough, blood spewed, until he took a knee.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Uncontrollable (Instrumental) (0:56-1:50) ]
"(This… this is insa… ne…)"
He looked at his hands and saw how badly he shook.
"(He hasn't done anything but slug me… he can't even use ki, this is just his bare strength…)"
Archi couldn't help it. He started shaking more.
Kazikum gave his neutral-angry stare, and dashed at him with intent to, at best, leave bed-ridden.
"(This is…)"
Archi's eyes widened.
And so did his grin.
"(THIS IS THE FIGHT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!)"
Archi's shoulder collided with Kazikum's.
"(THERE'S NO BULLSHIT MARTIAL ARTS!)"
After letting out a guttural roar, Archi slugged Kazikum with all his heart, and the latter reciprocated.
"(NEITHER OF US NEED ANY SLEAZY TACTICS TO GET AN EDGE!)"
Archi dug in his leading heel, headbutting Kazikum before following up with an elbow.
"(THERE'S NO WEAPONS, OR TALKING, OR RIGS, OR ANY'A THAT CRAP TO INTERRUPT!)"
Kazium threw himself back around with a claw-like strike, digging into Archi's forearm before attempting a swing at him. Archi grabbed the other flying hand, flipping it around as he gripped into Kazikum's other forearm, initiating a struggle of strength. Debris began flying in their midst, as the air crackled and thunder mewed around them; compared to their own tremor-inducing growls, the sound was laughable.
"(ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS FIGHT! JUST LIKE…)"
The image of his dark teal-haired role model brawling freely, proudly, honestly, in what otherwise would be a zoo, beamed in his mind.
"(JUST LIKE YOU COULD!)"
Archi began moving forward, the yellow-red eyes of his opponent trying and failing to burrow holes into his resolute, igneous orbs.
"HAA~!"
With a burst of aura, Archi pushed Kazikum back, and proceeded to lay into him. The dead-tailed man was able to punch and kick back, unstaggering, yet Archi's onslaught prevailed, ultimately taking a punch head-on before delivering a fierce hook right into Kazikum's center mass, sending him spiraling away.
"Haa~..."
A bit punch-drunk, but rapidly overcoming it, Archi looked over to see the result of his counter. He noticed how his foe struggled to get up, first of all. At first, he reveled in its effect, but quickly, his respect for the strong guy won over, and he approached.
"Yo. Need a hand?"
He lent one toward his foe from the front, unable to see his obscured face.
"(Sure, he's more likely to bite my hand off, but I wouldn't count that as cheap by a long-shot. Honestly, the one thing I'm not prepared for is you taking the help!)"
Suddenly, Kazikum seemed to give up on moving, going limp over the ground.
"(Huh? What's he plotting n-)"
In one motion, his leg moved in a crescent across the floor toward his head. He shifted his upper body down into the floor at an angle, disorienting Archi for a brief moment, and his right fist shot into the air.
In the next, he shot off the knee, his upper body jerked up, his raised fist morphed into a hook as it swung down, and…
A deafening crash, complemented by a sickening crunch, followed.
The wind-up was far outside of his expectations, and broke through his guard.
Archi rose off his feet. His world went into a violently-shaking white and black. What was soft contorted and tore, what was brittle fractured and broke.
Behind him, a massive, dark-gray cumulonimbus cloud had a giant hole straight through it.
As he stumbled back once his feet hit the ground again, Kazikum readjusted himself, before rushing Archi down with a berserk flurry nearing the edge of the stage's remains.
"(... I'm… I'm LOSING IT…!)"
He tried to intercept an oncoming fist, only for another to gob him in the brains, Archi then slipping under the follow-up and axe-handling the back of Kazikum's head. The latter circled back around, gripping Archi's shoulders and bashing his head into the russet-clad saiyan's, followed by a few punches and an overhead throw over the ring. Archi caught himself with energy, having gotten over his injuries thanks to saiyan-grade adrenaline, only getting genuinely angrier at the two attempts at a ring out.
"(T-tch! What the hell!?)" he shouted, gathering ki and dashing into Kazikum.
"After all this, you're gonna try to ring me out!?" he shouted, rising up with a dual-knee before throwing a hammerfist into Kazikum's trapezius, finally winding back for a diving punch.
"Trying to end the fight on technicality? Where the hell's your pride as a Saiyan!?"
The fist landed.
It was a solid hit, one that would've sent his opponent reeling under any natural circumstance.
There was one problem, however.
[ BGM: Tetsuya Shibata ‒ Vergil Battle 1 ]
"... what did you just call me?"
It was revealed as Kazikum stood, rooting himself to the ground, a gash across his neck as a result.
Archi tried to pull back, only for teeth to sink into his hand.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" he shouted, muffled as his mini-daggers ripped it in two.
"GAAA-" Archi's scream was cut short by Kazikum's claws digging into the side of his face, slamming him repeatedly into the stage remnants by the head.
"I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU, OR ANY ONE OF YOU SNIVELING, WORTHLESS, BACKSTABBING FUCKING TAILED PISSANTS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT."
"What the hell are you-" Archi was promptly smashed into the scraps one last time, then slid across them.
Kazikum stood up, gripping the spot over his heart, as if preparing to tear it out.
"I'M A DEMON. THROUGH AND THROUGH."
Archi slowly got back up. "'Demon? Don't get cocky now, you-" the pain in his hand cut him off. "Damn it, that's a problem…"
"If you're that hell-bent on staying in this arena, fine."
The dead-tailed "saiyan" slowly approached.
"I'LL JUST MAUL YOU UNTIL YOU'RE CLINGING ON BY A FUCKING HAIR."
"(He can't emit an aura… so why…)"
Bloodlust pooled around Kazikum, his demented smile sending chills down his spine.
"(WHY DOES HE SUDDENLY HAVE ONE!?)"
Kazikum was suddenly in Archi's face, and his fist followed. Staggering back, he put up a stance and went on the offensive.
It was only then that he realized just how much harder Kazikum was now hitting. Saiyans got stronger as they fought, yes. However, they needed opportunities to recuperate for that to take place. Damage anything bad enough, for enough time, and they'll start to break. And Archi was far more damaged; hell, if anything, Kazikum seemed less hurt than he did earlier in the fight. And in that scuffle, the difference was exemplified.
Kazikum was brutalizing Archi, to put things bluntly. The latter could no longer get in hits between the relentless onslaught of attacks the former dished out. Kazikum's enraged grunts slowly morphed into corrupted cackles, punishing the putrid saiyan before him for his arrogance.
Archi couldn't blame him. If he were able to fit into the shoes of a spectator right then, he'd laud at how closely Kazikum resembled his mentor. If his mentor was a nutcase.
"C'MON! YOU'RE THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS COCKSUCKER GOING ON ABOUT SAIYAN PRIDE RIGHT? WHERE THE FUCK IS IT NOW, HUH!? C'MON! SHOW ME! SHOW ME YOU FUCKING COWARD!"
"HAA!" Archi yelled, fighting through the pain and finally getting in a pun-
"SHOW ME!" Kazikum yelled, laying into him again.
Every will-empowered attack Archi summoned from the depth of his soul, Kazikum willed through in-turn and retorted with an even heavier attack, tailored alongside the same phrase. The guy had very blatantly lost it, and the hits wouldn't stop coming, wearing down his body's fortitude very thoroughly.
Yet on one end, they suddenly halted.
Archi looked up, and his eyes widened in horror.
"(Wha...)"
He had Kazikum's arm in a hold.
One that he recognized.
"This is as far as brute strength will take you."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Archi yelled, struggling in the grip. After the third tug, something audibly broke.
Tenshinhan slowly released, leveraging the boy's weight and throwing him to the side. "Is there a reason you're so adamant on defeating me?" He dodged a kick before blocking Archi's punches at the joints. "I hear Krillin's having a problem with some 'big oaf,' and you seem to fit the bill."
"A human wouldn't get it! This is about pride!"
"You seem to be the only saiyan so wound up about something so specific! If anything, most enjoy learning new techniques!" the three-eyed martial artist replied, ducking under a back-handed swing and spin-kicking Archi's chin, sending him into a tizzy before trappin him with a joint lock that slowly sent him to the ground.
"In any case, I'm getting tired of this charade! Either lose this grudge of yours, or lose your arm!"
Archi strained, pressure compiling atop his arm. And once again, the image that'd assailed him countless times played out in his mind:
His mentor ‒ his first love ‒ falling to the ground after a single hit, in a battle she was about to win.
"DAMN… DAMN YOU!" he roared, summoning a kiai that Tenshinhan dodged in the nick of time, only to be confronted by Archi's fists once more. "BASTARDS LIKE YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU'RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN REAL WARRIORS, YET ALL YOU DO IS USE CHEAP SHIT AND TARGET WEAK POINTS!" He dove in for a tackle. "YOU'RE JUST A BUNCH OF COWARDS!"
"TCH!" Tenshinhan's own pride as a martial artist had been stoked.
As such, he used Archi's weight against him, going lower and grabbing him by the arm and throat, before throwing him into the ground behind himself with all his strength. The result cracked the grassy, sanctuary-esque area for a few hundred meters.
"Calm yourself with a nap," Tenshinhan hissed. "And watch your tone of voice when speaking to a senior."
His upper body submerged beneath rubble, his hand crawled into a fist, clawing up marble in the process.
Despite everything that had just transpired, this was the first time Archi had shown fear.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Uncontrollable ]
He immediately let go, and Kazikum quickly thanked him with a passionate bite on his shoulder, then slamming him to the ground. On top and after tossing aside the chunk of flesh, he began laying into him, slowly boring a crater into the arena remains. While his tail managed to grab hold of one of Kazikum's fists, he continued to pound him with the fist that Archi now lacked the required amount of focus to time himself and catch. Yet, on a seemingly-subconscious level, he began to bridge ‒ the same thing done to him as he fought a martial artist with a smoking problem. Kazikum fell to the side, and now Archi was on top; however, the self-proclaimed demon responded to the first two punches with his own, seemingly immune to blunt force. Archi fell onto his back and rolled to his feet.
"(DAMN IT, WHAT AM I DOING!? THAT'S HOW A SAIYAN SHOULD FIGHT, NOT LIKE THIS!)"
Kazikum rushed back up, with his usual barrage of attacks.
"(But this bastard's NOT a saiyan! He's a 'Demon' or some shit! HE WON'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE HIMSELF!)"
Only now, as Archi attacked back, he seemed to be attacking his joints instead of exchanging attacks.
"(STOP IT!)" His body finally obeyed, and as such, Archi was battered back. After a roar like that of a dying lion, he attempted another contest of strength, only this time, Kazikum won single-handedly.
To his disgust, Archi immediately led Kazikum's strength, guiding his forward movement.
"(WHY!?)"
Archi looked down at his hands. "(THERE'S NOTHING FOR ME TO USE, BESIDES DIRT IN THE EYES… BUT WHY IS THAT WORSE THAN WHAT I'M DOING NOW!?)"
His late master Jakima's smile flashed through his mind.
"(WHY AM I USING THE SAME PRIDELESS, HONORLESS DOGSHIT THAT KILLED HER!?)"
But, another woman appeared in his conscience. This one, not much younger than he was.
"(... this son of a bitch… he's strong enough to make to the finals, isn't he?)"
Kazikum sent him staggering back with another punch.
"(Not just her dream's caput if he makes it past here, but once he makes it to her…)"
He butt heads with his enemy, something cracking within him.
"(D-DAMMIT! IS SHE REALLY THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU!? ARE YOU REALLY GONNA THROW YOUR PRIDE AWAY OVER HER!? SHE BARELY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT YOU AS-IS! WHY IS SHE MORE IMPOR…)"
Another playback. The first day they'd met.
How hard she fought his new mentor, like a woman possessed, all in constant pursuit of Super Saiyan. How she sometimes spent days, nights studying over what it did and how time's heroes unlocked the form. The way she agonized over it. And how, even now with a new goal in mind, she somehow managed to work harder.
"(WH… WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?)"
That was what made him love her.
Hell, at this point, he wanted to see her pull it off, too.
And as long as he was here, her dream would die.
"(D…)"
Archi read Kazikum's punch ‒ of all the millions of attacks he'd dished out, he'd thrown this one breed of punch 15 times ‒ he initiated a joint hold.
"DAMN I~T!"
With all his strength, he sent his fist careening across Kazikum's chin. It was a miracle that his head didn't go flying off, and for the first time, Kazikum staggered back.
"(... Jakima…)"
His old crush's proud smile, right before the match, echoed through his mind.
"(You went out there, and you fought, and you bled, and you died, following what you believed in, all the way through. That's what made you my mentor.)"
The berserk demon-saiyan roared, charging in once again.
"(So please, wherever you are right now… forgive me!)"
Archi read it.
He lowered himself.
He was able to grab a wrist, ducking his head before the other hand could snag him.
He grabbed the throat, trapping both arms to the right of his body.
Taking the weight already there, he added his own, forward still, and into the ground.
Only this time, he added a kiai.
"ORAAAAA!"
The arena's surrounding land shattered. A plume erupted into the air, the sound reverberated across the force field. An immense shockwave proceeded the technique.
Back in Conton, the broadcasted tournament caught someone's attention.
"Locking both arms of the opponent into one position, neutralizing any potential counterattack…"
Despite his formerly-furrowed brow, Tenshinhan broke into a cackle.
"That brat… he didn't have an ounce of training, and yet he improved the hold!"
Once the dust settled, Archi was revealed. Beneath him, his opponent.
2% vs 0.9%. The battle only needed a count.
10! 9!
"You were… strong…"
8! 7!
Archi's pride in himself had vanished with the hold. However, his pride as a Saiyan had been upheld.
6!
"(Maybe… maybe I'll learn more about this crap.)"
…
"(I mean, Kakarot seems to like it. He's no dirty fighter, at all.)"
…
"(... Hm? Why'd he stop?)"
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Kekkai ᐸ Toushitsu30 ᐳ (2:09)]
Archi would sometimes accompany Kora's beyond late-night deep dives into Super Saiyan mythology, biology, psychology, etc. A mixture of hormone-infused hope and genuine curiosity.
To become a Super Saiyan, the most common triggers are the pain of loss. Loss of loved one, loss of pride, loss of self, it didn't matter. Place enough worth on something, and it can become a trigger.
Next, energy must be concentrated into a spot. Core, back, heart or chest; hell, the mind was usually the most common area. One-in-a-trillion "star children" could get off with just this method alone, but it's so rare that it's commonly written off.
Power level didn't matter, but high figures eased the burden. Someone with, say, 250, would go through hell on earth transforming for the first time, and they'd likely lose their minds straight after. Still, this could be negated.
The common link between all of this was anger.
Burning, intense, otherworldly anger.
At someone. At oneself. At the world itself. All three.
This was the ultimate catalyst. Why halfbreeds, filled to the brim with potential emotion, were so good with it.
But there's a race with such a deep potential for rage, any other would give out, feeling it for a moment. And it wasn't mortal.
Archi turned around.
Kazikum was rising, purely off leg strength.
The print around his throat, from his prior slam, was burning. Archi could see that it was burning.
Kazikum was concentrating on it. His eyes were just black. He wasn't awake. He shouldn't be been moving.
250Gs? 300? 4? Why was the arena getting heavier?
Why was everything shaking? Was his body finally giving out?
His hair was flashing.
His hair was flashing yellow.
His hair was flashing yellow.
His hair was flashing yellow.
"... no."
That was the last word Archi spoke.
"G̸̪͒̓̓͆̅͂̃̈́͗̂͌Ṙ̶̢͚̮̖͖̭̜̮̠̕Ä̶̡̨̼̻͇͈͉̝͍̹͚̝́̈́ͅͅA̴̧̢̨̛͚̝̣̦̻̳͇̳̲̞͈̙͐̐̋̿̏͊̔Ã̸̡̹̝̭̜̹̩̯̙̟̳͚͇̀̐́̔́̅̀͌̿̾̓̚ͅA̸̘̘͈̰͐̄̏̽̀̿͌́͗̚͝A̵̬̞̝̬͂̋͊̍̚͝A̶̡̤̗͖͙͙͚̬͙̗͕̖͇̜̓̔̅͒̿͋̌̔̈́͂͑́͂͝͝A̸̧̢̡͓̲̙͔̰̩̗͉̜̞̰̭͂̎̑͊̊̄Ä̷̜̰̭͉̹͕͔͔̹̜̼́̾̓̿̄̂͆͋́̂̓͛A̸̡̤̬͖͚̰̯͑̾́̃͆̋̊̒͛́͘͝ͅA̸͙̼̗͎̦̯͎̤̞͈͍͈͕̾̓̐̔A̸̧̡͚̳̲̦̗͔͙̭̎͆̄̌̽̎!̵̡̆̉̌̓̀͗͂͌̌͜͝͠!̴̡̻͎͎͖̟͕̹̟̼͗͌̌͒̌́͗̋̏͒̉͠"
.
The arena surrounding them shot into the sky.
The rain amplified, yet avoided the tournament arena entirely, as if it knew.
The seas became apocalyptic, countless waves of sizes rivaling mountains crashing into each other.
Debris ‒ from beneath the waves, from the island itself ‒ flooded the sky, rendering it pitch-black.
Archi was going deaf.
The sheer pressure from the thing before him was stripping him of sanity. All he could do was stare in place.
The only light, across the entirety of the dimension, emanated from one being.
Anointed by two twisted, golden horns, possessing unholy strength beyond mortality, only one name could describe what it had become.
Asura.
"... run."
Kora shot up.
"ARCHI, RUN-"
The Super Saiyan's fist shot into Archi's skull, breaking it on impact.
He shot into the stage field, splattering off it like a rag doll.
He prepared to eviscerate the saiyan, there in an instant with another fist.
But before it could fly again, it paused. In fact, it wouldn't budge.
"I said…"
The announcer's voice had lost any and all joviality.
Trunks eyed down the asura.
"Match… over."
Not recognizing them, the thing that called itself his father disappeared again. He slowly returned from the barren wasteland of Planet Vegeta.
And the war god responsible for its devastation vanished.
Kazikum gradually returned to what little sense he had. He stared at the announcer, then at the mangled corpse of the rodent that was in his way.
"... huh."
He began to walk away, only for his arm to still be ensnared.
"You've won the match without being disqualified. But if there's any incident like this again, no matter the context…"
Trunks's eyes sharpened.
"I WILL have to kill you."
Kazikum stared back.
Then he grinned.
"Good luck," he said, successfully yanking himself away.
Trunks held onto his arm as he made off, unmoved.
Far past the exit of the stage, as Kazikum let the vicinity, he held onto his arm.
"(... I screwed up.)"
Trunks dropped the arm, preparing to vomit.
Kazikum moved on to the quarterfinals.
Kora made her way toward the door.
Just behind it, a pro-medic worked extensively on the one who'd lost.
She didn't plan on hanging around for long. Just enough time to pick up on something helpful.
To her surprise, the door opened.
"Capt-"
"Hello, Kora."
Tarubei spoke softly.
"... how is he?"
"With many thanks to the steadfast care he's received, his physical injuries are healing soundly."
"And when you say 'physical'..."
Tarubei slowly nodded.
"Comatose. Several weeks, a semester perchance to recover. N-nay, the opposite is true."
Kora had no words, initially. Then she noticed her war-vet mentor shiver a bit.
"Honestly, even Archi's not that lazy. Half a year?" Kora shrugged, smugly grinning. "He'll be up by Tuesday, moaning about how hungry he is!"
Tarubei looked unconvinced, yet appreciative of the effort.
"... yes, surely. Fare well in your match, Kora."
"Mh."
Kora stayed behind, turning back to the door.
"You…"
As she softly rested her head upon it, her hand glided down its surface.
"You ass… now I can't afford to lose."
It was the first time she'd seen a transformation of that magnitude. If she were in Archi's shoes, she'd've died. That's if she could've pushed Kazikum as far as Archi did.
"... is that even up to me anymore?"
A Super Saiyan awaited her in the finals. She now knew that for certain.
Despite the fact that circumstances would no-doubt be dire, Kora lightly giggled.
"... you're so cool, Archi. I'll make it there for you."
Whether or not it was her, it would be the fight of her life. And she had to see it through.
"I swear it."
[ ED: Pay Money to My Pain ‒ Weight of My Pride ]
POST-FIGHT COVERAGE! A WORD FROM OUR COMMENTATORS!
"Trunky-wunky is currently out right now,"
Trunks sobbed loudly under a showerhead.
"so WE, the virtuous commentators, are picking up his slack and hosting it ourselves!"
Ace and Goku stared suspiciously from the corner of the screen.
"First up, we'll start with our most valuable time patroller!"
Ace opened his mout-
"You can't even talk, stupid!" Puddin cheered.
Goku opened-
"The fight had a strong starting, middle, and endpoint, with fantastic performances on each student's end! There's nothing I respect more than someone that doesn't go down easily, and both fighters showed that tenacity in spades! Kazikum's performance was especially endearing! It was so much fun seeing him contort himself to land a stronger hit, a common tactic for demons and something my dad used to do all the time! Speaking of nostalgia, mentally breaking opponents with sheer presence is a fun feat that I rarely see nowadays..."
Puddin wiped off an adorable single tear. "And it takes me back to my first year as a Time Patroller!" she squeaked, choking up.
"The final punch really took everything home! And his adorable prank with Trunks after the match was the icing on the cupcake!"
"IT'S JUST A TOURNAME~E-HENT!" Trunks sobbed louder.
"I'll give it a 9/10! It's not perfect, but nothing is!"
Ace and Goku went wide-eyed.
"Barring the obvious!"
Ace and Goku returned to neutral.
"Do you wanna add something, Ace?"
Ace put up both hands' index fingers, then balled his fists and pumped his arm muscles with a smile. He then pointed to Puddin, his hand opening and closing like a mouth, before lowering and-then raising his head, then wiping off imaginary blood from the corner of his mouth. He then beat his heart, going into a thumbs-up. He mocked Archi's shoulder pads using ki constructs, before making himself bigger and outstretching his arms; he then placed his open right hand in front of himself on a vertical plane, his left off to... well, the left, now placing his open palm on a horizontal plane cranking it in a so-so manner, then flipped the left hand vertically and moved it down his imaginary liner to the center; there, he gave a thumbs-down, shaking his head dejectedly.
However ‒ he implied that with an extended, lingering index finger ‒ he then made a mock-martial arts stance, and then gave a thumbs up with a smile. Placing his hand over his heart, now as if there were strain there, he then shrugged, as if he were lost; he proceeded to recreate his line, moving it from the far right back to the left side; he ended it with a peace-peace sign, dejectedly shaking his head as-if in regret. He then mocked Kazikum's droopy bangs, before a scary, fang-bearing face as he chomped down. He waved his hand back and forth in a "no thanks" gesture, and while he flexed his bicep and pumped it up-and-down twice, he also made loops with his finger over around his temple. He then placed a hand beneath his face and lifted; seamlessly, he transformed into a Super Saiyan, Ace then making a surprised face; with another "wait" finger-raise, he moved his fingers erratically around his head, as if losing it. Coming down off the state, he then screwed in an imaginary bolt on his head, before giving two thumbs up.
Puddin waited, to make sure he was done.
"... Holy shit dude- write it down, you fucking... you! Jeez!"
Frowning, Ace made a pen and paper.
"Goku, say something. With your mouth, this time."
Goku did his ditzy Goku-laugh that no one else could ever replicate.
"Uh... sure. Yeah, I'm with Ace here; Archi's method of brute-forcing his way through someone like Kazikum, an opponent of equal if-not greater strength, was iffy from the start; trying to keep it up well-into the fight, as injured as he became, was flat-out stupid. On the other hand, Kazikum seems to be made up of way tougher stuff despite the two not being far-off in power."
His tone became a bit more sympathetic. "There were clear methods and approaches that Archi could've used to seal a win, and he failed to capitalize on them; and the worst part is, I understand it completely. He wanted to keep the fight fair, and beat his opponent on their terms; it's exhilarating for a saiyan, and he wanted to stick to that. Just seeing the way he suddenly pulled martial arts out of thin air near the climax, it's obvious that he's even got potential in that field. Learning to conquer one's pride is a trial that every saiyan has to overcome during their lives and, despite the cost still being pretty steep, I'm glad Archi could come to terms with that side of himself without having to pay with his life. On to Kazikum, his style of fighting, if you could even call it that, is something that I could see a berserk Majin using; I was getting flashbacks to my own fight with Buu's kiddie form during the match! He's taken brute force and made it into something versatile and deadly-effective, and that'd take an unbelievable amount of time in combat! And then he went Super Saiyan! Really, it's a shame he's so unhinged... he's got heaps of potential in his own rights, too. Still, it's like the two from the match before last match; he loses his marbles too easily, and that's dangerous for the Patrol. Unless I see otherwise, I'm not comfortable with someone like that joining the patrol."
Goku scratched his chin.
"Actually... why don't we just split ratings? Not really fair for one guy's showing to bring down the other, even though this is a bigger case than usual!"
"Hey, that's a great idea! Ace, what do you think?"
Ace raised his thumb as he wrote out his essay.
"Awesome! What's your score, Goku?"
"7 for Arch, 4 for Kaz."
Ace raised a panel.
"... I'm not reading that."
Ace then pointed at Puddin's eyes with a horizontal V in his hand. Then he pointed back at himself.
"Oh my- what now, Ace?"
Ace raised his V, in a backwards peace sign.
He then slowly lowered his index finger.
"..."
He raised the back of his panel to the camera; it gave an 8 for Archi and a 5 for Kazikum.
"... Ace, let's go on an adventure together! On the other side of the planet, just you and me!"
In a flash, the two made off, leaving Goku with the viewers at home.
"Uh... hey folks, don't go away!"
The sky above him aggressively shattered by the existential seams, causing a quick grunt and duck from the Earth-raised saiyan.
"... We'll be right back!"
And now back to our show!
Yo! OP Here!
Happy New Years n shit, Betty White has fallen so shit ain't lookin' too good.
Yeah, here's the closest thing to a double-upload I can give you guys, before like, May or something. Glad I was able to pull this off.
So this chapter is one of those ‒ the first, in fact ‒ that has been in the mental works for more than a year. (Especially the Super Saiyan transformation.) The next two will be the last that are really seat-of-pants (Ex: wanna give LITTA-MAN a more aqua-centric skillset to balance out the absurd amounts of flame shit in this fic), and from there, it's all according to keikaku. It's also a small taste of what the quarter-final fights will be like, on that note.
Here's a bit more on Archi, now that I've finally put respect on the guy who jobbed to BoS Mei (h-he was off guard tho): he's based off Juan Can Yun from Thunderbolt Fantasy, Lancer Cu from Fate Stay/Night, and ‒ at least frame, backstory, and design-wise ‒ Agito from Kengan Asura. They're both pretty close to Archi's design, actually. Whatever, in short, he's honestly got the same real-life origin as Kora; someone I intended as a wee lad to job to the MCs, only for me to grow up and realize "wow, jobbers suck." Thanks to Kora's FUCKING HIEI-TIER GLOW UP IN PROMINANCE, I'm now planning for them to have their own team. That'll be fun to balance out, I bet. But hey, that's what happens when you don't think shit out. Toriyama made it look pretty fun, so whatever.
Yeah, so remember waaaaaaay back, when I said that someone would prove Archi wrong about his stance on martial arts? Yeah if you do... for some reason, if you really did remember you're a pretty cool gai... then yeah, it was always gonna be Archi. If he used martial arts from the jump, he would've won, just saying; Kazikum was stronger, but he can't use ki, and that limits his options a lot (not that it would matter for most of the roster.) Once he learns how to use it, though...
Anyway, yes, Kaz is half-demon. Not Majin genie demon, but like, Dragon Quest or DB Heroes lookin-ass demon. I'm hoping there's a way to put in some of the cool backstory stuff I've concocted later on, but yeah, just a touch-up on that.
Next Match: Very angery saiya lady VS saiya dude that may or may not be armed, I still have no idea, I don't care about him that much. Ft. O MY PRIDE. From there it's smug bitch vs sentai mc, break, and then (hopefully) Neo and Mei kick shit off.
But uh, yeah. That's about it. See ya.