"Hey, assholes!"
Those in the dark held silent.
"HEY, ASSHOLES!"
One sighed.
More dirt pattered down the hole-laden ceiling before a bag of scavenged supplies and, soon after, a bare-chested man – his upper body coated in a hasty camouflage of dirt, dried grass, and mushroom bits – descended with a combat roll. "I leave for a few hours, an' suddenly you bastards can't even cough up a response?"
A manatee-faced man in broken RIT armor bit off a mushroom's top, his face crinkling with every bite. "Why bother? We're just waiting to die at this point."
"The hell'd you say!?"
"Didn't you hear, slow one? Frieza's dead. A bunch of saiyans and some jerkoff from his own race attacked the base. Everyone that stayed behind went to Hell with him." Manatee Face glanced over to the corner — another man in tattered armor presented a dead-eyed soldier with a mushroom, to no avail. "And I don't wanna know what happened to the sorry bozos outside."
The survivalist scrunched in ever-growing anger, before yanking Manatee Face forward. "LISTEN TO YOURSELF, PANSY! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE HELL HAPPENS, WE'RE STILL THE GREATEST FIGHTING FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE! AIN'T THAT WHY YOU ALL ENLISTED, YOU SORRY SACKS'A CRAP!?"
"I…"
One croc-faced young man with a blaster and a badly-cauterized arm spoke up. "I only joined b… because there wasn't any other option… it's no excuse, but… I just didn't wanna starve."
Another in the corner with two jaws – one broken – chuffed. "Nice sob story. Frieza raided my sorry-ass dustbowl planet. My family was gutted after I tried standing up and refusing conscription. Then I went around doing the exact same shit to Hell-Knows how many. Tell me, snaggletooth, how many skeletons do YOU have packed in your closet? Enough for a full tummy, right?"
Snaggletooth made a desperate bellow-hiss, like he was verging on a breakdown. The other dozen remnants averted their glum gazes, barring the dead-eyed husk.
"WHAT THE HELL HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU!?"
Everyone suddenly locked it up.
"IT'S NOT REGISTERIN' TO ME HOW THE HELL I'M SURROUNDED BY WHAT'S LEFT OF A LEGION OF WARRIORS, YET ALL I HEAR IS BITCHING AND WHINING! YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT AMONGST YOURSELVES WHILE WE'RE KNEE DEEP IN THE ENEMY'S SHIT!? WAKE UP! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHY THE HELL YOU'RE HERE RIGHT NOW, WHO BROUGHT YOU TO FRIEZA'S DOORSTEP OR WHATEVER! WE'RE ALL THAT'S LEFT! I DON'T LIKE IT ANY MORE THAN YOU BOZOS, BELIEVE ME, BUT I'LL BE DAMNED IF I SIT ON MY ASS AND CRY MYSELF TO SLEEP OVER IT! I'M NOT DYING YET, AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF I LET MY EFFORTS TO KEEP YOU BASTARDS UP-AND-RUNNING GO TO WASTE!" The survivalist picked up a bottle and guzzled water, before beginning to climb his way out.
"... Kh! Wait!"
"WHAT!?"
Manatee-Face glared the survivalist down. "... I'm going, too."
They faced off for a spell. "Heh! Where'd the change of heart crawl out?"
The bigger insurgent shrugged. "I guess I'm dead anyway. What's the harm in going down swinging?"
Snaggletooth soon heaved out a weary drift. "... I'll go, too. I can't just sit here while you guys go off and die. I won't have anything, then."
"S-screw it, I'm in."
"Hey, don't count me out just yet!"
"I'll go!"
"If he's in, I'm double-in!"
Even Tri-Jaw sucked in two sets of teeth. "Friggin' A. Better sooner than later."
The survivalist shoved down his smile as more fists raised by the moment. Soon, only one was absent in the air.
"Alright, then. Bring it in, ladies." He whipped over his knapsack and snagged out a shoddy map riddled with messy notes, Xs and Os, written in marker on the back of a towel. "This here's closest, just-enough traffic to keep us sated without going over our heads and gettin' 'em blown off. We strike at dusk, so gloss up with camo while we're out. If there ain't dirt in your ass cracks, ya ain't doing it right! GOT IT!?"
"YES SIR!" everyone replied, motivated. Again, all except one.
"... come on, man." The hollowed man's former underling pat his shoulder, while he stay slumped on the wall like a doll. "We need you."
"Like hell."
"... you're a goner if you don't at least try. Please."
The former soldier shrugged.
"... damn it, man…!" The underling shot up, before leaving with the rest.
The hollowed, scarred shell was left on his own.
"Fools."
After a time spent waiting, he found there was enough left in him to see his comrades one last time.
The sun had sunken below the clouds, dragging with it most of the oranges and reds that once dominated the skies, giving way to purples and blues carried in clouds.
Traipsing down a small path, connecting the bushy, lush-green outskirts of the main city with the golden sands and dead foliage of Mushroom Forest's beginning, went the broken one.
Pretty soon, he saw them.
Punches and kicks were enough to shatter their vertebrae and leave their organs inoperable. Not to mention small blasts erasing them.
He watched his former subordinate have his skull tattered by a fist, letting off a gurgled cry as his allies dropped like flies. An obvious outcome anyone could've seen coming. Not one undeserved.
He simply waited. For an eternity spent in frozen time, he silently hoped beyond hope that he would be noticed.
Watching his underling get back up, staggered but still able to throw out a vulgarity with a vague hope of making it out, he lunged for the fallen croc-faced kid's blaster, only to be cut off by a blur and a kick that shattered him.
He took solace in the fact that he wouldn't've been able to make a difference. He was the only one that could take such a thing.
"Wait, look out! There's one more!"
"Be careful, guys! He isn't hurt at all!"
Finally.
"Heh! You've shown off enough, Gishun! This one's mine!"
He zealously awaited what meager level of pain would come before the end.
BAM!
"Huh!?"
"MMH…! Huuu—..."
That blissful end was taken from him.
"You… what do you think you're doing!?"
Someone new stood in his way.
"I'm not all that sure, honestly."
The kid's energy felt off; its "wind" was missing, and all that remained was the heat.
And he was weaker than the ones in front of him. Yet…
"Guess I just saw somethin' that pissed me off. I dunno. But see, uh, I'm kinda in a hurry so… can I just tell you guys ta fuck off and leave it at that?"
He smirked.
[ OP: Hironobu Kageyama ‒ Fight, Oh Fighting Road ]
A Prelude…! Now!?
[ BGM: Kevin Canham – Second Son ]
Name's Neoru. Orojia. Found the last bit out a few months back.
Anyway, I died. Least, I may's well have died. See, right as my "story ended" in my timeline, I got chosen by some weird shit called the Dragon Balls to get plopped down here, Conton City. It'd be weird to say I won the lottery, but I didn't exactly get done in by a falling bullet, either. Mixed bag.
Landed here with two other jerks, got my ass kicked, and then got let loose into the city. From there, I walked into the guy who'd become my mentor. He'd teach me a shit ton about martial arts – life energy, toughenin' my body, and the how-to's of it all – way more than I already knew, but before he really take me to school, he actually took me to school.
What I learn there? That the world is fucking HUGE.
Chicks that could move like the wind one moment, and amp themselves with jewelry and break you in half the next. Guys that could turn their own aura into a current and choke you out with it. Weirdos with really long names that start with X or some shit, I dunno. So many different kinds of aliens that the word lost all meaning; everyone was a spaceman, including me.
Two of these assholes stuck out more than most, though. I mean besides the two I just mentioned, we're pretty tight now but- yeah, yeah. Funny enough, both'a these next guys were from my own home planet.
One. Shao Mei, or however the hell you say it. A little psychopath that could kill you by touching you in the wrong spot. Hell, that doesn't even do it justice, there are like a thousand different things she could do to you by touching you. That chick? She'd made it her life goal to kill off a certain kinda people.
Two, Zinco. Apparently he's got two names, but I can't pronounce that one, either. Also, one'a those 'kinda people'. A dumbass stronger than who-knows-what but held himself back 'cus of his own dream: makin' the world a better place by being stronger than violence, however the hell you make sense'a that.
Both of 'em had some screws loose, and it wasn't helped by A CERTAIN ASSHOLE, but let's just say I came to find that I was missing a few parts myself. I started doing shit I'd've never seen myself doing, taking risks I'd've never taken, saying shit I'd've shut myself up before saying. I wanted to get stronger, I wanted to fight on my own, I wanted to actually stand for something. Anything.
And then… it happened.
That led me down a road. A road to find a point for myself. Maybe it was to give a reason for all the killing, all the dying, all the turmoil from the past. Or maybe I was just bored, point is, I WANTED what EVERYONE ELSE had. So I pushed myself, fought harder, learned more about bits'a everything, overcame myself HOW MANY times. Even got ta say goodbye to some old friends and family along the way.
But across all that, leadin' up to now, I had an… dammit, what's the word? Euuuu… phoria? Euthanization? E…mu? Okay, okay brain, shit, it isn't euphoria, shut the hell up, SCREW IT. AFTER ENTERING THIS DUMBASS TOURNAMENT, PUSHING MYSELF WAY TOO FAR AND PUTTIN' MY SOUL ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE, AFTER FIGHTING MEI TO A STANDSTILL AND LOSING EVERY BIT OF POWER I'D WORKED FOR UP UNTIL THEN IN THE PROCESS, I GOT MY ANSWER.
That maybe "points" aren't for me. I think I like bein' pointless.
But I know better than anyone; a sword without a point can still slash. Bludgeon. Swing. Just ask my brother, when you see him.
Not really sure what's next for me once this all blows over. I just wanna swing this sword'a mine one last time. Here and now.
Am I ready? Probably not.
That's fine by me.
"... 'Ammit!"
Neoru checked his 6, then his 9, then his 3. He even went off the clock and looked up.
Once he was doubly-certain the coast was clear, even feeling the ground and listening for any weird air currents, he breathed a sigh of relief in-between the other ragged breaths. "(Don't know what the hell got into her. How 'bout you go blow smoke up one'a the saiyans' asses, if you're so dead-set on Zinco losing. Prick.)"
He strolled through the fungilands, glints of fading light bouncing off him. "(Now, who up ahead's gettin' the tar knocked outta them?)"
The drifting stench of iron sailed through the air, just enough for his sense of smell to pick up. Then the distant grunts came through. After enough strolling in that direction, he finally caught eyes on the source: the remaining Frieza Force grunts getting cleaned up by what he could tell were students. Two of them looked older than he was, funny enough. "(Heh. They're actually wearin' uniforms. Nice ta see my 6th Sense is still there, too. Goin' off that, the guys they're fighting are all on their last legs, even before they take a punch... Huh?)"
In front of the beatdown, one grunt stood there, paralyzed by something. With some heavy concentrating, he could see and feel it; the aura he exuded felt like one from a dead person's fading presence. As if he ran on obligatory life force, without any of the standard wills and emotions that accompanied and empowered it.
"(That guy…)"
He reminded the boy of a certain someone. "(Wonder how much shit he's seen n' done to get like that…)"
"Alright! We did it!"
"Heh! Looks like I got most of the action this time, huh Gishun?"
"Ugh! Grow up, Unagi!"
"He-he-he!"
"Wait, look out! There's one more!"
"Be careful, guys! That one isn't hurt at all!"
Neo rolled his eyes. "(Uoooh oh no, not the asshole who's not even gonna fight back!)"
One of them, the short-black haired human classman wearing a "狼"-emblazoned badge, stepped up. "Heh! You've shown off enough, Gishun! This one's mine!"
"(... he's actually gonna stand there and let himself die.)"
Neo sighed, spiting himself.
BAM!
"...!?"
He bit down on his lip, as not to burst out hissing. His shin was doubtlessly chipped, but he literally pulled himself together with grit.
"You…!" Kanji-Badge pulled back, scowling.. "What do you think you're doing!?"
"(Good question. Meh. Too late ta bow out, now.) I'm not all that sure, honestly." Neoru shook out his leg. "Guess I just saw somethin' that pissed me off. I dunno. But see, uh, I'm kinda in a hurry so… can I just tell you guys ta fuck off and leave it at that?"
"You're kidding…! He's responsible for dozens of innocent people's deaths!"
Neo looked back at the man, his void eyes, his borderline amount of ki and absent will, before going back to the student. "Well he sure's hell not killing anyone else, not like that."
"Yeah? Well I'm going to make sure of it! Get out of my way!"
"... nah. I barely sleep as-is. I wouldn't get a wink tonight, lettin' you kill someone that won't fight back. So like, yeah, good job cleaning up the streets. You're fine now. Go home."
"No matter what, I won't let a single minion of Frieza get away!" Kanji-Badge lowered himself into a clawed stance. "If you won't back down…"
"Be careful, Unagi!" his female cohort cried out. "Don't get cocky!"
"Don't worry," he looked back with a reassuring wink. "Not like this guy's gonna bring me down! I'm not gonna let them get away with what they've done. Count on me, Mitsuan!"
Neoru looked back, one more time, to the person he'd decided to go through something for. He focused ahead. "Life could be a friggin' dream…"
The hero in training dashed forward.
"(He's pretty strong…!)"
"(Man, this guy's weak.)"
"But"...
[ BGM: Mitsuhara Fukuyama ‒ Affected Fight ]
"(I'M STILL STROㅤNㅤㅤGㅤㅤㅤᴱㅤㅤㅤᴿㅤ-
Neoru's knee lodged into his blind spot: the liver.
"(I'm just that much weaker now.)"
After a brief lurch forward, Unagi brought in his arm to ensnare the nuisance, but Neoru ducked, and his enemy shifted behind him, facing his back. Before he could follow up, the violet-eyed boy lashed a jumping back kick that was cross-arm blocked, and the shorter-haired boy sent him bounding away with a kiai. Neoru caught his balance with three movements across the sandy earth, but Unagi was already in his face with a clawed fist that connected to his face,
"Wolf Gale Fang Fist!"
And let into a barrage that shook Neoru with every attack, sending him into a mushroom stem. There was a brief lull in the onslaught as Unagi reared back both "jaws" for a finishing attack.
"THIS IS IT!" he yelled ceremoniously, launching the attack at the boy who'd just thrown himself at it.
"(WHA-)"
Yanking himself off an oncoming arm, he took the black-haired boy's head in-between his legs with a scissor kick like a snake's jaws snapping open, transitioning with a coiling roll across his body into a mid-air triangle choke.
"THAT'S… DIRTY…!"
"CRY ABOUT IT!"
Very soon, he'd hit Neo with a kiai or something along the lines, but a complete choke knock-out didn't matter to him.
"GET… OFF!"
As expected, Neo was pried off by a burst of energy, moving in slow motion and legs split apart as his enemy raised a fist and slammed it down upon him. Briefly, he saw stars.
But they exploded, his eyes flared, and a foot smacked across Unagi's chin.
Neoru spun off the sand, bashed in his foe's shin and balance with a low kick, popped him in the head with a-
"eRU-SHAAH!"
-Martelo no Chao, checked his foe's temple with a roundhouse, flipped behind Unagi before leaping off a stem and sending him stumbling with a 540 kick, and lunged into him with an elbow before kicking Unagi's feet out from under him and slamming him to the ground.
With raspy, almost angry breathing, he took a few steps back and watched him woozily get back up, Neoru literally shaking as a violet-white smoke began steaming off him.
"Is that… dark energy!?" Unagi began, before Neo raised his leg intently. Unagi's hands rose to guard his head before he lurched once more, a hammer fist having smacked his liver. Neo raised his other fist, and Unagi guarded his lower body before a push kick smacked his knee joint.
"You're… using demonic power, aren-"
"-tHE FUCK UP!" Neoru drop-kicked him in the face, sending him staggering back before the dragon-eyed boy rolled back to his feet and sprinted toward him, giving every tell of a roundhouse to the gut.
"(I… won't let you…)"
Unagi's own fighting spirit began to swell. Neo began moving in slow motion as his own black hair began to rise.
"(I'll… never again… let anything like that…)"
His eyes flared.
"(HURT MY FRIENDS!)"
His forearm steeled, and slammed into air.
Neoru's own shin…
Was now face-level.
A question mark slammed into his head, in more ways than one, and knocked him flat.
He pulled himself back before coming down a bit too hard. "... FFMMM–N…!" Neo sank to the floor, bashing the sands.
"UNAGI!"
"U... Nagi...!"
One of the students stuttered and growled. The accompanying rise of ki signaled something bad. He groaned and preemptively accepted it, looking behind for the mook he'd done it for, before a saiyan his age careened into his abdomen with a fist.
Saliva flew from his mouth like he'd been saving it. Pretty soon, he was picked up by his collar.
"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY…!"
"No, Gishun! Don't!"
"But Mitsuan…!"
"You can't become a monster!" the majin girl pleaded. "That isn't what 'they'd' want… please…!"
"... Get out of here. I never wanna see you again." Gishun threw him to the ground and accompanied Mitsuan as they carried Unagi away.
Some time after sloppily retrieving the pieces of his tattered consciousness, Neoru slowly picked himself up. "... Hh… heh… looks like they forgot all 'bout you, huh?" he hissed over to the one hiding behind a stump.
— he shot out from behind his cover, and had taken a stance. The light in his eyes was now present.
"... what? W'zup, buttercup?" Neo staggered to his feet, swaying. "You wanna fight, too? Ah?" The heat around him suddenly shot out, and he almost hit the ground.
The last thing he heard were stifled sobs.
"Huh?"
He shot up.
"Woo- hey now! Don't make yourself too dizzy, hon!"
"... Um… d'you heal me?"
"Mhm! It's Faa'ji, by the way!"
Neo rubbed his head. "Gee, thanks, Faa'ji. Wait… did a guy in Frieza Force armor bring me here?"
"Mh? Owh, sure did! He was tryin' his darndest not to break down, too! Weird for such a big man!"
"... s'at right?" Neoru stood up; they were around a stone-paved area, not far from the mushroom forest. "Any idea where he went?"
Faa'ji pointed to the giant, divinely-crafted staircase in the distance.
"(So you're gonna carry it, then?)" He smiled. "(That's my good deed for the day.)"
"That'll be 10,000 zeni, dear!"
He unsmiled.
[ BGM: Ruel – Painkiller ]
Neo eyeballed his empty wallet.
"Fckn… Pissa…" he hissed, aggressively shoving it into his pocket. He sighed.
"I'm going to sleep."
He began to redo his screwed-up ponytail all the while.
Shops either shut off their lights or set them on, turning the city into a neon light show.
He noticed a waitress arguing with her manager outside a café before throwing down her stained apron in a rage and walking out. He chuckled a bit and moved on.
He walked past that one saiyan he landed in Conton with, battered. He contemplated saying something before vetoing the idea, carrying on as the big guy disappeared into a PQ time machine.
He walked past a sulking guy with tentacles over his eyes. Neo had reached the point where people like that wouldn't even warrant a double-take.
He moseyed by a flaring, blaring club, as well. He could faintly make out a name or two being spelled, but it was too loud, too time-consuming to be sure.
He passed Mashii and Katlij, too, yucking it up with that Euu girl at the vendor she now owned. He kept his distance, however— besides avoiding his current stalker, there were two more faces from the past: a glasses-donning saiyan with a white coat over saiyan armor, and a tailed saiyan in a plaid shirt.
There'd no doubt be an awkward conversation if he was spotted.
That said, he silently ate his past words with a nice dash of pleasant surprise, and kept on his way.
He made it to his apartment.
"(Yessss…)" He smiled, and opened the door.
He ate. It was always the exact same selection in the fridge, due to him not having money often and preferring not to use it on more food.
"(Wasn't two years ago when I had to scavenge for shit…)" He looked at his turkey sandwich and corn bowl in boredom. "(Didn't think it was possible to get sick of food. But shit. Here we are.)" The water was still heavenly, though. He wasn't sick of it just yet.
He showered, brushed, and dragged himself over to his couch before throwing himself onto it.
"(I should… probably… grab those glasses but… nah. Nah.)"
BNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNK!
Literally right after he fell down, he heard knocks at the door.
"(no fuck off)" he thought simply, returning to his attempt at-
BNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNK!
Neo pounded the couch and stormed toward the door.
"Whaaa-"
.
.
Mei began to spe-
SLAM!
"... FUCK," He hissed. He rubbed his eyes. "(Aaand she found me. Awesome. W-whatever, just keep your doors locked.)" He turned around and turned right back around and out the door before Mei could get anything out of her mouth.
He gripped his face, staring at the sky as if asking the resident god why this shit was happening today. "(So I'm definitely gonna hafta crash at someone's home tonight. But who-)"
Mei's hand suddenly pounded the door behind him, trapping him like she was a bully in a teenage romcom flick. He had to stop his soul from slithering off.
Neo's eyes bounced back and forth between her and the door handle before he managed a string of tight acrobatics and managed to get behind the door again, locking Mei out and trapping him in the same room as Mei.
"HOW ARE YOU-" Neo bit his tongue, running in and out and back and forth before finally slamming the door behind him, Neoru eyeing his flank the entire time as to completely eradicate the chance of her sneaking behind him for the seven trillionth time, and dashing behind the opposite side of the couch.
Checking his every blind spot, he slowly, steadily broke down into fits of celebratory laughter.
He saw a line of slowly-descending, maroon-shaded hair, and his laughter devolved into despair-ridden sobbing.
"Shut up!"
"Snf- SCREW YOU, this is MY HOUSE! Snf! I do what I WANNA here!"
Mei rolled her eyes, flipping onto her feet. "(I lost to this baby…) Of all the time elapsed, for not one second have you sought further training! It is pathetic!"
Neo got over himself and groaned. "And? I've got less than a WEEK, an' THAT was supposed to be a DAY! I'm not closin' the gap between me and… and fucking ZINCO in that deadline. Have you SEEN the shit he can do?" He walked toward the door. "I'm losin' no matter what I do so, what the hell's the point? Exactly, there ain't one."
"Tch…! Is that your excuse? So what of that idiot?" Mei pointed at him. "You are throwing yourself away as a warrior after besting ME in combat!? How can I meet my master in the afterlife, knowing that I lost to a boy of such low fortitude?"
Neo gave the most belligerent shrug humanly possible, pried open the door, and guided Mei's gaze toward it with a gesture.
If looks could kill, Neoru would've been dead a fair few times from arriving in Conton up to that point. The anti-assassin's soul-piercing glare simply passed through him without effect.
Mei proceeded to make what could only be described as a death throe. She turned on a dime and threw herself onto the back of the couch, arms folded tight, averting her eyes from the boy as if he were a decaying corpse.
"..."
"..."
"Ah my- get out."
"No."
Neo ushered a silent prayer. "Ok. Ok. Look."
"No."
"You got your FU-... You got your happy ending with Kaza, yeah? Yeah? You're not failing anyone, your friend's doing peachy without bein' dragged around, she's makin' her own choices and Zinco's pretty much her plaything." Neo palm-slammed his chest. "I? Am not worth JACK. To you anymore. Ok?"
"No."
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN- Mmmmmh nonononono I'm not doing this shit on the ass end'a my day… Okok, this is about you 'losing' to me, right?"
Mei didn't answer.
"Well I saw a clip, m'kay, I saw this one clip of you FLAYING A DAMN MAJIN an' usin' some shit that lets you-" Neo snapped – "LIKE THAT, JUST INSTA-REACT TO SHIT. THAT MEANS, that YOU, losin' to ME, was a-" Neo swung the door back and forth – "FUCK-KING-FLUKE! So for the LAST... FUCKING TIME, get out of my FUCKING HOME, and LEAVE ME, the FUCK, ALONE!"
Mei stared over at him, scowling.
"Make me."
Neo's eyes blanked.
He shot at Mei in a rage-possessed charge, as the latter closed her eyes.
Neo kissed the ceiling. The sharpness from her high kick set in alongside the iron that devoured all his smell and taste, before another heavy blow to his side sent him across the living room and into the kitchen counter.
Before black swallowed his sight, he saw Mei's approach, and then her dejected grimace, before she walked away.
He woke up the next morning, early enough to still be a bit dark out. He rubbed his wounded chin, and inspected the side of his abdomen that still seared.
"Ffffffriday, great." He picked himself up off the ground, noting the closed door. "(I'm not even leaving at this point, I'll just hit cali, focus on mobility an' try image training until the fight. Screw this, I'm not dealing with her cryptic bullshit anymore. HATE being around her.)"
The violet-eyed boy walked through his morning routine, from there.
"(Shit, I AM missin' a tooth.)"
"(That scar was NOT there yesterday.)"
"(Yeeeah. Yeah I could grow that out.)"
"(... Oh shit, I gotta start eating more.)"
As he made his ponytail and headed to the fridge, pulling out ground space pheasant to accompany his unseasoned rice, he felt a yawn coming on.
"Hnm… Haaa—u..."
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ"Huaaa—..."
Neo's head snapped over to the couch. Once the heartbreakingly-obvious was made clear, he bit down on his lip to keep from screaming.
To spite the menace that'd invaded his home, he cooked his food as if no one was there.
Two radio antennae reappropriated as chopsticks then dove into his bowl, and then into Mei's mouth.
"Mh. Bland. Of all the side dishes now available to you, you choose rice." She picked a grain off the corner of her lip and flicked it onto the boy's shoulder. "You lack the wherewithal to so much as salt it. You are a horrid cook."
Neo stared through the bowl and the table supporting it. Mei got closer to his profile.
"And that hair on your lip is repulsive." Mei nicked at it as she critiqued. "Shave it. Quickly." She went and hopped back onto the couch. "Your etiquette around women is abysmal. You will never find a lover at this rate."
Neo let out a slow, quiet sigh. He downed the rest of his food, drank his water, and began warming himself up. Mei watched him, all the while.
"You call THOSE stretches?" she stated bluntly. "The dead would be more limber."
"Huu—..."
Neo slowly rose up, and threw the empty bowl at her.
[ BGM: Force of Nature ‒ Sneak Chamber ]
Mei caught it, all five fingers entrapping the rim, as Neo dove down beneath the couch. The moment after, it flipped into the air.
From on high, as the couch tilted upside-down, the ex shadow-bodyguard grinned sharply at the glowering ex-bandit — the former sat comfortably as if she wasn't upside-down.
The couch hit the ceiling, and Mei bullet-dove toward her current prey. She landed behind him, throwing the bowl into the air, and he struck out with an elbow; Mei extended it into a strained arm with a phalanx jab to his funny bone instantly followed by an ensnaring of his wrist, locking his limb out and following with a straight into his side and a kick to the back of his leg, sending him to a knee and high-kicking at an 85-degree angle to catch the falling bowl before slamming it down onto Neo's head, and ending with a full-power side kick to the side of his dome, releasing him as he staggered in a tizzy other side of the room, disorientated from the clattering of the bowl as he threw it off.
Hunched over, Neo's blurred vision caught Mei standing to neutral in one moment, and gone in the next, before a light force pushed back his forehead.
Mei then sent his head back in full with a thwack of her index finger, sending leftover rice everywhere. Neo caught bearing, quickly stepped to her with a clenched fist, and suddenly sent his torso to the floor for a scorpion kick; Mei swatted it to the side, knocking him off balance; however, he swung himself back 'round and went into a hip-level sweep kick that Mei ducked under, Neo suddenly uprighting himself as he leapt at her with a raised elbow. Mei spun around it and bashed the back of his neck with a hard chop, coming back around with a fist that he, to her concealed delight, read and weaved away from, reciprocating with a reverse roundhouse. Mei paid him back in kind by weaving outside it before knocking him off his single grounded leg; but he seemed to roll with it instantaneously as if knowing it'd happen, spun his palm, and briefly roleplayed as a floor sweeper, Mei's legs being his target. The girl saw it as more of a hop-scotch game, if anything.
"Ha-ha-ha~!" the ancient anti-assassin cooed as a leg like the sway of a pendulum suddenly sailed gracefully by her face. Her target immediately transitioned into a hard, chambered kick, intent on shattering a shin.
As it shot out like a bullet, she simply up-and-over'd herself onto it, as if she were weightless. "Impressive. But…" She leaned into his ear. "You are far too slow now for any of it to matter."
She bounded over him in a seamless aerial flip, and Neo gained distance in a somersault-esque variant. His back soon bumped the kitchen counter as he backed up.
"It was not a fluke, you defeating me. No stretch of luck could have closed our gap in power."
Neoru seemed less interested in her spiel than he did the knife to his side.
"I wanted to best you in pure martial skill. That was all." She noticed his wandering eye and placed both hands behind the small of her back. "If I wanted purely to win, as I once thought I did, I simply would have cast a Strike Prison and slain you with a finger. Prideful as I was, if I were simply better than you, I would have won. Do you think it is because I was weaker, as a woman?"
He subtly shimmied over to them while she talked, as if Mei couldn't see the slight shakes of his purple irises, much less the shaking of his foot's ball.
He suddenly flung a knife at her.
Mei struck him in the forehead with its handle as if there were no distance between them at all, before grabbing another from the counter and smacking Neo on both sides of his neck with the blunt sides. She flipped them, gripping the cutting edges as if they were padded, and bludgeoned Neo with the handles as if using butterfly knives, discarded before one-inch punching him into a stagger, pivoting to his side to wind back three paces, and ramming into him with a tieshankao.
"(There are no three-eyed baldies or hair-munching geezers here to tell me I did that wrong…) I did not break anything, did I?" she asked in snide.
Neo rose to his feet and slowly stumbled toward her. The second he came adjacent to the hallway, however, he entered a sprint toward a room on the far end.
"Ah…!?" Mei ran down in pursuit, only to find it had been locked.
"Mrm…!" She could cut it, but she had no idea what that'd lead to.
"PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WAIT ME OUT IN YOUR ROOM! DO YOU PLAN ON BEING A CHILD FOREVER!?"
After a drawn-out silence, Mei slumped a bit.
"(Don't do this to yourself…)"
The door slowly creaked open.
"...?"
And an ultraviolet blur rocketed out.
"HH-!?"
Something VERY, VERY, VERY hard careened into Mei's guard, VERY, VERY fast, sending her tripping over a table.
"GAAH…!?"
Whatever it was, she was NOT prepared for it. Because next she knew, she'd slammed into the plexi-glass door of his balcony.
Very quickly, the torrent of violet bolted toward her again, and she hastily raised her arms.
The door beside her opened, and-
"TOODLES, FUCKLO!"
Neo quite literally kicked her out.
"Ha… ha… yeah… yeah, serves you right…" He looked down at his hand — more importantly, what now laid in it.
"... thanks, bro." He held up his weapon. Its silver was still worn from-
Bnk! Bnk! Bnk!
Neo glared at the door. "Ok, there is no way you think I'm that-"
Mei flying kick'd him from behind. His face slammed into the door as his weapon went spinning into the air, right into Mei's hand as she turned. She held up his weapon.
— Its silver coat was worn after years of use. At one point, it must've gleamed; now, a faint shade of red too dark to be rust permeated its sheen. Swirling engravings of obsidian ran throughout its base, and small serrates like teeth ran down the sides. At its summit was a point like a pyramid. Every sharp edge had the same faint red tint as the silver base. Most of all, however, was the base; completely maroon cloth, like her hair. Just holding it felt melancholic, as if it'd absorbed the resentment, the lament of the user over years.
"PUT IT… DOWN…!"
A desperate hissing from behind her. She faced him and saw someone ready to kill and die in a heartbeat.
[ BGM: Ghost in the Machine ‒ Faint ]
"YOU WON'T TAKE-" Neoru fell from his concussion, but soldiered on, teeth grit and steaming violet-white. "YOU'RE NOT TAKING THAT!"
Mei took a step back. She'd never seen such an intense, crazed expression without staring into her reflection.
"This weapon… no, its meaning… it is special to you, then." With a look of remorse, she began to gently place it onto the ground.
And then she paused.
"... and yet all you can do is… is make THREATS?" She raised it, pointing it toward a scowling, frantic Neo. "What would you do if I decided to strike you down with this!? Flail!? Scream!? You would be POWERLESS to stop me from killing you and taking this away for myself!"
"SO!? You're not my... FUCKING problem, an' I SURE AS HELL, AIN'T YOURS! So just, SHUT, UP AND-"
"NO, YOU SHUT UP!" Mei briefly brought a clawed hand to her throat, but eyed Neoru and got angrier. "I HAVE SEEN IT OVER AND OVER! YOU ARE STRONG! YET YOU ARE SO IIH… INSISTENT ON PRETENDING TO BE FINE WITH BEING WEAK!"
Neo's anger dulled the physical pain. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? 'STRONG'? ARE YOU TRYIN'A STRING ME ALONG, DUMBASS!? YOU JUST MADE ME LOOK STUPID ALL MORNING AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, I'M STRONG!?"
"AND YOU KEPT GETTING UP! AND YOU KEPT FIGHTING BACK! EVEN PRIOR TO THIS POINT, YOU STOOD UP FOR STRANGERS, YOU FOUGHT WITHOUT ANY GREATER MEANING, YOU BORE AGONIES, JUST TO FACE THEM AGAIN! SO WHY IS IT THAT THIS IS WHERE YOU LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS!? WHY!?"
"'CUS I GO ANY FURTHER THAN THIS AND THAT'S IT! I'M GONE! NOT DEAD, GONE! I CAN'T JUST DO THAT WHEN THERE'S PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ME, NOW! WHAT THE HELL DON'T YOU GET ABOUT THAT!? IT'S A MIRACLE I'M EVEN BREATHIN' AS-IS! OK, SMARTASS!?" He stormed up to her as he ranted, grabbing the handle as the blade shined furiously. "I'M FUCKIN' STUCK LIKE THIS! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!? YOU GOT YOUR GET-BACK AND YOUR POINT FELL FLAT ON ITS ASS! I'M FUCKIN' STUCK LIKE THIS!"
"...!"
Mei gripped the blade even tighter, blood drying on the corner of her lip. Soon, a faint light emanated from it.
"... what did it matter to you, back then… whether I lived or died?"
Neo's brow went airborne, before slowly settling. "... oh come on…"
"I was no longer your problem. You were no longer mine. Yet the mere notion riled you. It scared you."
"I keep saying, this is different-"
" 'It ain' the end of me.' What that meant, I still know not. Tell me what it meant."
Neoru gripped his head. "I don't fuckin' know? Shit!"
"Did it mean I could still grow? In what?"
"Mei, why the HELL are you even-"
She stepped to him. "Why is it out of line when I care about something meaningless? Why can I not desperately mutter nonsense to you!?"
Neo looked like he wanted to scream something at her, but didn't know what. Mei looked like she wanted to scream something at him, but held herself back.
"I…" He went sullen. "What the hell'm I supposed to do, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"What else?" He held his temple. "How'm I gonna get stronger like this?"
"... you are stronger than when I first encountered you, you should know."
His attention was visibly snagged. "Huh!?"
"So… perhaps… begin with the basics. Again. Maybe."
"... that took me a year, y'know."
"... then try. You do that… and I will leave you be."
The weapon calmed itself.
"... fine."
"FINE."
"..."
Despite that, neither released the weapon.
"I am not letting go. And neither should you."
"..." Neo awkwardly snickered. "O-ok Bakesphere but I need this, c'mon."
Mei… um… unhanded – yeah that works – the wartool with a silent, notional "hmph."
"And Neo…"
Neo froze like a rock on Neptune. "(SHE SAID MY…)"
"If you had not convinced me to see Kaza's match…" Mei shook her head. "Thank you."
"Uh… uh-huh…" he muttered, not watching his step. He soon tripped and fell off his balcony, complete with the screaming, pained hissing, and mixed profanity typical of the boy.
She sighed, dragging down her faint smile. "Shǎ xiǎozi…"
"(Back to basics, huh?)"
Neoru flipped a gate capsule into the air and flicked its button before it could reach the ground. Standing before him then was the path to Kaset.
"(... there's no way I'm giddy after that shit.)" He facepalmed his small smirk away. "(C'mon, you're not a kid anymore.)"
Neoru stepped forward.
On the other end was a forest ablaze.
[ BGM: Long Distance Calling – Apparitions (8:06) ]
Neo rubbed his tear-swollen eyes, awoken from the earth-shaking boom and smell of smoke.
He remembered saying horrible things to Socai before struggling to fall asleep, but he didn't mean any of them. He knew his big bro gave it everything he had to find him. If he could just apologize then-
Neo's brief search was cut short by the sky.
A massive black plume now suffocated the sun.
"... bro?"
"... no…"
Neoru slowly staggered forward.
"WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG!?"
"I-I'm sorry, I… I swear, I got not a lick of sleep just searching for you-"
"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
If he could just tell his bro he didn't mean it, everything would be better. He could still make it right.
He felt it as he ran faster; that lingering warmth that Socai left behind, one that went past the skin, was growing.
"SOCAI!" Neo yelled happily. He broke into a sprint.
"Hey! HEY, KASET!" Neoru barked. He broke into a sprint.
"... brother, I…"
"Just go away…! JUST GO AWAY FOREVER! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
He could see it now: throwing that burden off his shoulders. Then maybe they'd fish or spar. Maybe Socai would take him into the sky today. All he had to do was make it to him.
But then he felt its lingering presence.
"SOCAI?"
Neo ran faster.
"KASET!?"
Neoru ran faster.
He couldn't fly or clear a path through the forest. All he could do was feel the falling trace of his ki.
"No, no, no-KASET! SAY SOMETHING!"
"SOCAI!?"
He began hitting things on his way to him, as his desperation grew higher and higher. He even tripped on a stump, chipping something within as he let out a shrill scream. But he'd now been through worse.
Neo threw himself back up, hurriedly wiping the influx of tears blinding him. By sheer force of will, he'd even begun sailing through the air, just to get a bit closer, a bit sooner.
Maybe if he apologized now, he'd stop this game he was playing.
"SOCAI!? I'M SORRY! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!"
Nothing about it seemed like something Socai would pull, even as a joke.
But it was a game. It just was.
All he could do was run faster. He didn't feel what he was doing to his legs, to his lungs. His mentor took all precedence.
"KASET!?" Neoru screamed, barreling through a dagger-like brush. A vine snagged his ankle, but he hastily flipped through the stumble. Anything to keep moving forward.
No, that wasn't it. He'd killed the Howling. Socai was the strongest after all!
He would be the first to greet him. He'd help him back home, because the fight must've been hard!
He ran faster and flew further, beginning to sputter from the lack of air, brain growing fuzzy from overheating, legs on the verge of collapse, hips beginning to pop out, core sore as all get-out.
Neo was nearing a clearing. Finally.
"H-HA!"
If he could just go faster, if he just was faster, he'd've reached him already.
The tight feeling in his chest threatened to cave in his ribs. It wouldn't leave unless he could find his first friend.
And then Neoru saw a clearing.
"No…!"
He ran faster, and faster, and then…
…
He saw it.
"... socai?"
Kuole had already reached him. She was crying. The Howling was nowhere to be seen.
He neared his bro.
— Eyes still open.
No, that wasn't his bro. Socai didn't look like that. He was stronger. He had to be.
Kuole noticed him. She broke into a sob and ran his way, shielding him from the mangled cadaver.
She kept apologizing. It didn't make sense. He was the one that was going to apologize.
Neo could still see through a gap in her arms, what was once his bro.
Not for a second could he even understand what he looked at.
Neoru found Kaset.
His body was smolderi-
"NO!"
It didn't matter. He was still there. So close to death it was-
No, it didn't matter.
Neo grabbed him, threw out his hoi-poi, and hauled him through the gate.
It wasn't going to happen again.
Violet-white light blurred his vision.
He remembered demanding people move out his way.
For some stupid, piece of shit fucking reason, this was the one time a healer wasn't just conveniently moseying along. He wouldn't wait for one.
He saw the hospital. He didn't know how long it took to get there, but he made it in. Everything after that was a haze.
Apparently, he'd gone under, as well. Only for an hour, or so, to unscrew his legs, fix up his burned skin, and heal his lungs. But…
"He was on Death's door. His heart, it… it was collapsing in on itself, never mind what was happening to his bones and other muscles, thanks to that egregious push of the Kaioken." The doctor sighed. "That man… he's really lost it, this time. If you were even a few seconds too late in bringing him here, he'd be gone. The oaf's already died once."
"Snf-..."
The doctor looked back up.
[ BGM: GioSystem ‒ Unknown Piano Song ]
Neo was hiding his face with a collar.
"He'll heal up, though, right?"
"Yes. Perhaps a day's time. You've done a splendid job, young man."
"Uh huh." He walked out and closed the door, wallowing through the empty hall.
"... kf…"
Neo stopped. His fist bopped the wall weakly, and his forearm followed. " 'Amn it…"
He suddenly wound back, pounding the side of the hospital manically amid frenzied grunts. "DAMMIT!" The wall had been bloodied without even a crater. He brought the useless limb to eye-level and stifled himself, falling to a knee. "Fu-uck…!"
He clenched his wet, shaking face. "(I WAS strong enough… now I can barely help my SELF…!)"
He'd dismissed it as a placeholder, once. Something to keep him going on the way to finding a real meaning.
But now, he couldn't lie to himself. That WAS a reason to fight. Only then did he see how truly important it was.
"Neoru, right?"
He fixed himself in a panic, standing back up. "YEAH, yeah, what?"
Ayeva paid him a glum look. "Thanks."
Neoru gave a pessimistic snicker, wiping his face. "I didn't do anything."
"You saved my idiot…" She sighed, wondering what they were, now. A 16 year-old boy wasn't about to know the nitty-gritty of their relationship. "Your idiot mentor."
"Someone told me to do something, an' I did it 'cus they wouldn't buzz off. That's it." He shoved his hands into his pockets and stomped away, his breathing heavy and sporadic.
Ayeva glumly saw him off. She turned back to Kaset's direction, let off an angry sigh, and moved on.
Neo rubbed his eyes.
"(I can't do it. I can't put up with livin' like this.)"
He lowered his hand.
"(Stronger.)"
His eyes burned ultraviolet.
"(So that I'm never just standin' there. Ever again.)"
"YO, NEORU-CHAN!"
Neoru stared.
"... I'm drawin' a blank."
"... My daughter literally talked about me in your match…"
"Dude I remember like two things from that shit, everything else either got repressed or concussed out. Plus I don't remember seein' any kids out there, 'specially none young enough to be YOUR daughter."
Now sighing was a woman in a long sleeve collared button-up that hung off her, and shorts held by a gold-lined black belt, with spiky long hair wrapped into a bubble ponytail. "Yeah, it's… complicated, look, the name's Videl."
"Oh. OH-OOOOOOH, oh shit I think I remember now, you got your shit pushed in by that one bald guy."
"There are a lot of those in the martial-arts scene," Videl retorted in coy, grinning sharply as if proud of the statement. "You'll have to be a bit more specific."
Neo sniggered. "Alright but, whadda ya want with me?"
"Welp, I didn't get dolled up in my dan belt for nothing!" Videl snapped her fingers into a pistol aimed at the boy. "I'm gonna make you my protégé!"
"Hell no."
Darkness fell upon Videl.
"Hold on! What, you can't even give me a shot!?"
"Not happening. I'm fine with kickin' my own ass until Kaset hurries on up with the healing crap. I doubt you've got what I need in a mentor, anyway."
Videl's mood shifted. "... and why's that?"
"Ain't it obvious?"
— the one stigma outside of her control. One she was born with, and couldn't dissuade.
"You're just a combat athlete, right?"
The emotion of anger slammed into him like a tide. Her aura threatened to crush him completely. The difference between the two, in ferocity and sheer raw strength, dwarfed one like Mei's without room for debate.
But that was the obvious outcome. Defeating him didn't prove anything; that you were bare-minimum, maybe. He held a soft glare over the duration of her focused wrath, nothing more.
It was only when blood free-fell from his nose that Videl snapped back to her senses. "Oh, dammit! Sorry, it's just-"
"No, no. It's fine. That was outta line." Neo took a step back and fell onto a knee. "Buh… but like I said, you're… just not what I'm lookin' for."
Videl helped him to his feet. "Everyone seems to think that just because my dad's a prizefighter, and I didn't learn martial arts in the mountains or from some monk or hermit, or as a means of survival, that I've got nothing to share. Is that what you're thinking?"
Neo looked to the side. "Can't say you're wrong."
"... then let me prove you wrong."
"I really don't have time to-" He cut himself off. "I mean… it's not martial arts I'm struggling with."
"I got that from your match. Again, I can help. I'm not a novice when it comes to ki. I'm actually sort of a prodigy, I'm told."
"That's neat but, everyone seems to be a prodigy these days. How come you're gunning for me so hard?"
"To tell the truth…" Her head began to fall. "I haven't been able to get off the ground, being a mentor. It's not like I'm completely underqualified, I mean, I've trained under practically EVERY martial artist in this city. It was awesome, just... being able to revive that love for it. But then, every student I've had has been a talent in a regard outside of fighting, just looking for the sort of training you'd get out of a big-city dojo because of that conception of me, and they all quit when they found out how I really trained. All the genuine martial artists looked elsewhere, even to my husband, who seems more interested in the way Conton works than fighting. Hell…"
She remembered seeing Ayeva and Kaset walk right past her, 6 months back.
"I'm hardly even considered a martial artist by patrollers, never mind a mentor. But then I saw you fight against an opponent that outclassed you by miles, and WIN, and… I don't know, my passion for this took over. Maybe if I train you, and you're able to beat that GOD you're up against, then word'll get out about me."
"... I wanna go back to basics. The simplest shit about ki that you could teach someone off the street. Can you do that?"
"Of course!"
Neoru blew the apprehension out his system. "Fine. Let's do this, master."
"... h-heh…!"
Videl shook Neo's hand. "Yeah! I'll get you even stronger, pupil!"
She then let go and stepped back.
"Just, um…"
She stepped back again.
"Let me… grab someone…"
She vanished.
"... huh."
Now present was a tall, three-eyed man in a blue-and-white gi adorned by a long, pale cape draping off his shoulder. He looked like he'd been pulled from his own training, going off the sweat and several light cuts across his body.
"Videl, you're closing in on my level at this point. I doubt you need any further-"
"Y-YEAH, I GET IT, BUT…!" Videl looked like she'd gone swimming. Judging off her frenzied eyes, it was in sub-zero waters. "IT CAN'T H-HELP TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE COACHING! (SORTA FORGOT TO MENTION I'M A TERRIBLE TEACHER, AND I NEEDED A STUDENT RESILIENT ENOUGH TO PUT UP WITH IT AS I FIGURE STUFF OUT!)"
A balding old man just a bit above Roshi's height, with a splendid thin mustache and in a blue, frog button-up denim fit over a white shirt, tagged along.
"Ho-ho! I'm not adverse to the idea of following along! After all, should you miss something in your own teachings, Tenshinhan of Crane School, I'll be there to set things right!"
"(How'd he change clothes so quickly?) Well, if Chahan of Mantis Sect is willing to accompany me, then I'll be able to tend to this, as well. After all, my students are disciplined enough to instruct their juniors and follow their seniors." He glanced at Chahan, as if preparing to discuss a hidden WMD. "Right?"
"I keep telling you guys, I don't want your life force!"
"LIES AND DECEIT!" screamed someone hiding on the roof. "You there! Virgin boy!" their pointed finger suddenly beamed down. "Pee on him, and quickly!"
The one lanky guy in the weird, white and orange alien-clad shirt frowned. "Master Chaozu, can we ban her already?"
"She's old or something, so Ten thinks she's valuable. Just leave her up there for today..."
Chahan shrugged. "It comes and goes like the wind."
"Right… well, I'll support you for as long as you need."
Videl cleared her throat, and bowed. "Thank you. (I'm saaa~ved…)"
"HOLD IT!"
Neo groaned. "Oh my gooOOO-"
Those present were drawn to the sounds of high-speed building-bounding. A silhouette shot through the air, flipping through as the rays of the sun glimmered overhead. The figure skid across the ground before Neoru, and stood tall with flowing black hair, a scarred glare, and a beige, orange-highlighted cheongsam held by a black belt and emblazoned on the back with the kanji "狼."
Tenshinhan recognized him immediately. "Yamcha…?"
Videl raised a brow. "(The jerk that gave up on me after a week...!) Why're you here?"
Yamcha pointed at the purple-eyed boy. "I've gotten word from one of my students that this kid's using something like Towa's dark magic to boost his strength, and with the same sort of corrupting effect, too. If you guys didn't notice, then I guess he's pretty good at hiding it until he's actually faced with a challenge!"
The fact that such a thing had happened so many times across the tournament's duration lent the accusation credence. Tenshinhan even shot a wary eye at the boy. "Now that it's said aloud… that would explain a fair bit…"
Neoru rolled his eyes. "Ah my… believe whatever the hell you want, this is all startin' to piss me off."
"Is that right?" Yamcha stared him down. "Then you won't have any objections if I take you in? There's no way I'm gonna let some demon realm-flirting cheat walk the streets!"
Neoru's eyes strained.
"... WHO THE FUCK'RE YOU CALLIN' A CHEAT?"
"Admit it! The way you could walk without working bones, all those weird sounds… your aura turns purple, for crying out! Things would be different if it were outside your control, but you're apparently weaponizing it, too! That's just disgraceful!"
The violet-eyed boy's hair began to flow. "YOU PIECE'A…!" He marched toward Yamcha like he owed him money. "KEEP STANDING THERE! I'M GONNA SHOW YOU DISGRACEFUL, YOU TWAT!"
Tenshinhan's eyes widened, as did Videl's. "Hold on!" yelled the bubble-ponytailed mentor, the difference in power between the two like heaven and earth. "We don't even have solid proof, just assumptions! Wait, you two!"
Before the boy could challenge the seasoned martial artist, however, he came to a shaky stop.
Yamcha's brow furrowed. "So you noticed the 'gap' between us. At least you've got that going for you."
"THAT… AIN'T ME, STUP…" He suddenly bounded back in a sequence of stylish flips, backing up to the shaded wall of the hospital, where the faint outline of violet and white was visible.
"... I knew it! You ARE POSSESSED!" The Wolf-Fang master bared his teeth. But he was given no time to further confirm.
"Still picking fights you know you cannot win, you stupid boy?"
The boy looked up with a dejected frown. Staring down, standing tall on the hospital's sign as amber rays shined through her maroon hair, was Mei.
"What a horrible curse," she smiled, "To be cared for when you are weak."
"Yeah, yeah, dickhead, I got your stupid fucking message, shit."
Mei giggled. "You get vulgar when you are flustered." She hopped off the sign, hoisting Neo into the air. "That boy has outdone me, without the need of excess strength; no, he denied it outright. Sheer strength of will and martial prowess left him victorious." She glared at Yamcha, almost psychotically. "To sully his achievement is to sully me as an adversary. I care not the size of the wolf before me. If you wish to trample upon the pride of this spider, its venom will leave you writhing."
Yamcha looked over to Chahan.
"She's a product of her time."
"Alright," the once-desert bandit snarled. "Something I've learned is that pride gets you nowhere in martial arts, especially when something's at stake."
Videl looked away with a shaking fist, as Yamcha went on.
"You're gonna get hurt if you go down this road."
She steepled karana mudra. "Lectures are boorish. A dog should stick to barking."
"WHAT WAS THAT!?"
Tenshinhan sighed. "Xiāomèi, what's come over you? Apologize after this fight!"
Yamcha gawked over at his fellow Dragon Teammate. "AFTER THE FIGHT!?"
"Well, it'd be rude to bow out of a challenge after it's given."
The long-haired ex-bandit groaned. "This is stupid."
"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK, JACKASS, THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" the other long-haired ex-bandit yelled from the sign.
"I'LL GET TO YOU LATER!"
During his annoyed tirade, Mei had transitioned from two interwoven karana mudra, to an ushas mudra. She smiled deviously.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ From Either Way (0:00‒ 2:17) ]
This Plane Is Formed From Fabrics,
Interwoven With Threads of Desires And Passions.
As I Cut Away At Those Strands Unworthy,
I Will Weave A Beautiful Silk For The Frail and Cherished.
"Zhizhu Yin Quan:"
The air around Mei glinted like a web in sunlight. Her eyes dilated, to the degree that her whites were given only corners to persist within.
"Clandestine Fate Severing."
She split her woven fingers, took an exaggerated stance, and charged. She raised her right hand in a manner similar to the Mantis Sect's arts, as her left solidified into the Spider Fist's sword finger.
"(Crazy speed for a human, but compared to what I've seen, this isn't anything spe-)"
Mei swung down and stabbed forward at half-range.
"-GUAH!"
Mei was no longer half-range.
He looked down in pained shock, to see his Dan Tian attacked directly. Mei's smug smile greeted him.
All four present broke out into a gasp.
She jumped back, and Yamcha lunged at her.
"(Damn it! I'm losing Ki!) Wolf Fang Gale: Moonlit Hunting Pack!" His steps took on the rhythm of multiple sprinting predators. He came into contact with Mei faster than she could properly react, his feet breaking into shuffles across the ground, biting at her balance. She grimaced as a quick foot sent her off her own, and at the same time, Yamcha readied a palm like the jaw of a canine. "THIS IS THE-DA!?"
Mei's foot landed square-into the side of Yamcha's jaw. Her hair swayed through the air before performing a swath of its own, sending Mei away before another slash from her sent her fingers through another pressure point. The ex-bandit's left arm was rendered useless, his movement proccing Mei's back ponytails to sway and slash.
"(I can see it now… it's something that screws with the space around her, with insane reflexes to boot! But it's too linear!)" She rushed him, raising another swaying mantis claw.
"(Here it comes! She'll aim for my right side, this time!)"
And then her hair slashed down.
"(Hh…!)"
His right tendons were suddenly cut. Mei skid across the ground, right side entering a state of constant sway as her left refined itself into a point. What followed was a pressure point-laden disassembly.
"A… AUGH…!" Yamcha crashed onto his knees, as Mei ultimately ground to a halt.
"Ha… ha… will you… credit that marvel… to the demon realm, as well?"
"(Holy shit…)" Neoru stared from his stupid ki-thread bind. "(She could do stuff like THAT the whole time? Why the hell didn't she use that in the tou-)"
Mei crashed to her knees.
She started heaving as if every inhale gave diminishing returns, shaking all over.
"I still… h-have long to… g-go…" she smiled as she broke into sweats, "B-but it seems… I can surpass even masters with-" A dry wretch put her hands over her mouth as she further keeled over.
Chahan facepalmed. He disappeared with a "You little fool!" and returned with an ice pack and water. He thwacked her upside the head with the ice. "Using such a technique so carelessly…!"
"He insulted me…" Mei pouted as she sipped.
"That's incredible…!" Videl noted, Tenshinhan wordlessly agreeing.
"A technique worth hundreds of years spent refining, synthesized in what Chahan says were months… it's no wonder reaching this level places such a strain!"
"Khh… krrRH…!"
Both turned around.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Heavenly Supreme Absolute Spears ]
The once-amber threads around him had begun to blaze violet.
"HRAH!" Neoru broke free, transforming the foreign ki and literally willing it off himself. He hit the ground with raspy, almost hiss-like breathing, as streams of burning purple flame seared off him.
"That's…" Yamcha looked back up, shock overpowering his pain. "That's pure… spirit energy…"
Without another word, he took a capsule into his clenched fist and threw it past Mei. The gate that sprung from it drew even more eyes from the already-invested public.
"IN THERE. WE'RE TRAINING IN THERE. YOU CAN KILL ME DEAD FOR ALL I CARE, IT'S BETTER THAN THIS SHIT!" He marched toward it, not caring who followed. Before he could enter, he paid Mei one final indirect glance.
"... that was DUMB. THANKS!" he yelled to the side, before running inside.
The master of Satan Dojo giggled lightly. "I can't explain it, but…" Her giggling became uncontrollable. "Something about that kid makes me feel like a kid again!" She pumped her fist. "ALRIGHT! THIS'LL BE SATAN DOJO'S SUCCESS STORY!" Videl declared, before sprinting after her new student.
The man of Neo Crane School followed with a good-natured head shake, but not before a last-minute stop. "Don't think this is permanent." He turned to Chahan and Mei. "I have every intention of fostering martial potential wherever I see it. If I have to split it down the middle every day, I will. In that time, can I count on you to manage things in my absence?"
The man of Mantis Sect sighed. "It's a tall task to run an entire school by oneself, especially without your modern knowledge, Tenshinhan. But thinking too much about each step will leave me with a single leg, won't it? Very well, at least I have Mei to lend me aid."
Mei stared at the ground.
"(His spirit… it's stronger than when we last fought. And back then, it was stronger than our final bout in the tournament. Then maybe...)"
"... Mei?"
The Shadow Spider successor suddenly ran off, leaving Chahan scratching his mustache.
"... hm. I guess everyone succumbs to pressure."
Tenshinhan smiled. "Perhaps. Well, I'd better help Videl off her mentor-training wheels."
"Um… guys?"
Tien stared at Yamcha. "... oh."
Yamcha riled up. "Hey!"
The crane master chuckled. "I'm kidding. Um… Chahan, a hair?"
"GET YOUR OWN, BALDY!"
"(Desperately clinging onto what strands are left, huh?)"
"It's fine, Ten." Yamcha assured, "Just take one of mine. I've got plenty."
He plucked one from the wolf master, and ki-enhanced it into a needle. "Um… I'm sorry for what comes next."
"It's just a pressure point, dude. I've had way wor-"
Manic howling echoed throughout Conton.
Tenshinhan smirked in coy. "The Dantian's a bit more complicated than most, old friend." He helped a rattled Yamcha to his feet, undoing the pressure point that'd deadened his left arm in the process.
"Give the kid an apology for me." He tended to his lame right arm with his left. "This bonehead of mine jumped to a conclusion, and so did I. Hell, I got so excited to jump into the role, I even pulled out the old sensei getup."
"It wouldn't be just a getup if only you'd devote yourself to martial arts. This divide between 'the path' and mere sports can't serve you well; you're losing to adolescents, at this point."
The wolf artist chuckled. "Baseball's a bit more than 'mere' to me. I can have other passions, man."
Tenshinhan crossed his arms staunchly. "Yamcha, you've taken students under your tutelage. Can you really call yourself a mentor with that mindset?"
"No way. That's why I don't. I've been left behind for a while in the fighting department, after all; there's someone new everyday that's stronger than me. If I really gave my all to it, I'd be crushed." Yamcha raised a thumb. "So I just coach! I give others pointers and share what I've learned, and they go from there. And I'm the best all-around baseball player in Conton City! Not a chance I'd throw that away for a world I'm third-rate in!"
"... hmph. Is that so...?"
"... Hey, Ten?"
He made sure he had the crane master's attention. "Y'know, that guy... I can see myself in those eyes, back when I was young."
"Funny," Tenshinhan quipped. "There are a pair beside him, that I see my own reflection in. It's how we know we've grown old, huh?"
Chahan scoffed to the side. "A full set of dark hair, a few wrinkles here and there, and suddenly they think they're grizzled!" The old man stomped off. "The nerve...!"
The two old boys shared a laugh. "... Even if only through them, I would've loved to share a rematch."
Yamcha smiled, beginning to set on his way. "Just grab a mitt and meet me on the diamond. I'll be there."
"I'd rather the square."
"I know."
"OK, so, first lesson, um… we'll learn how to reinforce your body with ki!"
"Yeah, that one takes me back to better days. How the hell do I relearn that, anyway?"
Videl remembered how she'd passively done so for years.
"Um… uh… er…"
Videl charged at Neo.
"HEY!"
"S-SORRY, IT'S JUST SOMETHING YOU LEARN ON THE FLY! I'M GOING EASY ON YOU, IF THAT HELPS!" she yelled as the two exchanged blows.
"SO YA GOTTA GO EASY ON ME, AH!?" Neo dove under a swing, and Videl narrowly dodged an aerial spin kick to the face, before going into a knee on instinct; off the same instinct, Neo transitioned into a K-like kick once his palms hit the ground, parrying her charge as she weaved by a cartwheel; Videl's straight punch and Neoru's back-hand wind collided.
"(Wait… there's little power, but the skill this kid has...!)"
"(She's put herself around my level, but… is this really the kinda level that someone going for points fights at…?)"
Neoru's subsequent jab was undercut by one of Videl's own, and they entered a blurry jab exchange, one that Videl ended with a weave-into-tug-into push kick.
Tenshinhan watched on. "It's good to spar, Videl, but you should be verbally mentoring him on ki control while you fight!"
"I-I'm getting to that! Don't worry!" she assured, before a fist flew at her. "J-just need to p-put my words together!" On reflex, her shoulder slammed into Neo's hand, veering it off-course before a spin kick sent him bouncing off the ground.
She covered her mouth. "(Shoot! I used too much power on that one!) L-let's cut, for now!"
The branch above him seemed to catch an attitude. "Ugh…"
Neo's eyes flashed open, recognizing that snide, vaguely-exotic tone anywhere. "For the love'a…" He hoisted himself back up with a kip, holding his pained head to stare up at the girl looking down at him from a branch.
"... eh?"
"Qi stems from an awakened strong resolve, which is how I learned to harness it. But obviously, as you are now, that will not suffice. You must focus on channeling from the core of yₒᵤᵣ ᵦₑᵢₙ𝓰, ₐₙ𝒹 ₜₒ ₘₐᵢₙₜₐᵢₙ ᵧₒᵤᵣ 𝒸ᵤₗₜᵢᵥₐₜᵢₒₙ, ᵧₒᵤ..."
She'd ditched her ancient clothing for a light, black T-shirt, with three buttons on the rounded neck and emboldened on the back in a pink and black-outlined "陰蛛," tucked neatly into her indigo cargo pants, and high-top sneakers.
It looked alright. Really, really alright. He was starting to hate how he cared about her change.
"-force and why are you looking at me like that?"
He didn't even feel flustered; if he did, he'd risk looking weak in front of... a predator eyeing prey, yeah, that. Nevertheless, he couldn't find it in him to make eye contact with her. "Just, you're… you're dressing weird, now. It looks dumb."
Mei scoffed. "As if I dress to appease your sensibilities. Heaven forbid I not wear the same garb for all time." She lifted one of her absurdly-long ponytails. "What, shall I sever my hair too should you so will it, O Dragon Emperor?"
"GH- STOP MAKIN' IT WEIRD, ASSHOLE! YOU'VE JUST… NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE, THAT'S ALL!"
"Alright, you two," said Videl with a quelled, nostalgic snicker, "Break it up! Honestly, I'm bummed that I couldn't think of that myself but, she's right. It's a fundamental that's easy to forget once you get the hang of things, but you should focus on a light sensation in your core and find a solid breathing rhythm, first and foremost. Once you get that, um, 'airy' feeling, work on carrying it across your entire body. That'll induce your flow of ki better than anything!"
"Come'na think of it, ki's always come pretty easy to me, even as a kid…" Neoru tried it out. As he did, Mei, after holding an inquisitive stare into the sky, suddenly up-and ran into the brush.
"Huh? Oh well. In any case, Neo, we'll have to work on making this sequence a constant; in training, during sparring, the works."
"Huuu—... sounds good." Neoru raised his fists to his eyes, opening and closing them with a small smirk. "That ain't feel half bad, y'know. I could get somewhere with this!"
Tenshinhan held his chin in the distance. "(You caught on quickly! Now just think of a plan that suits his level!)"
"WE'LL START WITH FIVE-THOUSAND AIR CRUNCHES OFF THAT CLIFFSIDE!"
"(That didn't take long…)"
Neoru stared.
"... that's it?"
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ BLAZE (ZERO-TWO VER.) ]
He shrugged off his vest, threw off his shirt, and slid toward the edge with a running start.
Neoru smacked the trunk of a tree. "Yeah. This one'll do. Sorry in advance, man." He proceeded to kick the shit out of it. He did it again, and again, and again, incorporating punches on every edge of his fist in the process.
"Neat, I didn't even need to tell you how important conditioning is! Alright, once you've thrown in 1000 punches and 2000 kicks, then we'll-"
He then swiped the tree with an elbow.
"OH, SHOOT! I FORGOT TO MENTION THOSE! ACTUALLY. YOU SEEM LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! JIST TELL ME WHEN YOU'RE DONE AND I'LL... hopefully... work something out."
Bark shrapnel began to fly from the trunk, as he maintained his assault. His skin started breaking, but his bones were operating just fine outside of minor fractures. Videl watched the shrapnel, swatted one away, and got inspired.
The tree fell, and Neoru gripped it over and under. "About two tons… Can it still lift that?" With a strain, he slowly, continuously slung it around himself. "THIS'LL DO…! THIS'LL DEFINITELY DO!"
He tossed it after his hundredth rep, sinking to a knee as he heaved, sweat glistening off him.
"Is that all?"
Neo looked up with a devilish grin. "Hey, asshoooo… wha?"
"Do not even begin to entertain the thought," said Mei atop the diagonally-fallen trunk, brushing aside one of her two thin, pointed, once chest-length sideburns that now drooped to her chin. "I merely did this to bring myself lower to your level. It is not a long wait for it to grow back, and once it does, I will have grown in skill as well. I only reminded myself."
Chahan landed next to Tenshinhan. "Sorry to intrude, but one of your students can't quite grasp the Sky Dance and- HOAAAAAAUGH!"
Mei had short hair.
A neat bob, to be specific. She looked like a different person.
Though Mei's master seemed to be having a stroke over it with he screamed "WHAT HAVE YOU DOOONE!?" Neo was too tired to care all that much. "Aw, ya shouldn't have... But I'm in the middle'a something… so-"
She seemingly teleported before him, leaning just above his face. "Can you not make time? Worry not. I need no greater arts for a weakling like you. Humor me."
Neoru lowered his head, a manic grin forming. "I can't fuckin' stand you…"
Mei dodged an explosive kick to the sky, and weaved past the second leg's lashing out. Gaining distance, she took a stance and beckoned him forward.
"(I can feel it.)"
With a pugnacious battle cry, he charged at her, knowing full-well it wouldn't end well and yet, pushing himself to see how much further he possibly could until collapse.
"(His spirit… it's stronger than when we last fought. And back then, it was stronger than our final bout in the tournament.)"
She entertained his flurry with her own.
"(And this heat…)"
Mei grinned to herself.
"(It's as if… perhaps…)"
She struck him hard enough to send him flying back. But despite his labored breathing which struggled for rhythm, he looked down at his hand, saw that he could still make a fist, and looked back up with a smirk.
"(He is forging his soul anew.)"
He leapt back in.
.
.
Videl looked at Mei's new appearance from a distance, reflex-building lights in-hand.
"... Aw~."
[ ED: Bop Alloy ‒ Step Into the Cypher ]
10/1/2023 PATCH NOTES: Gave Yamcha and Tenshinhan a scene. OP left Yamcha with too little.
2/12/2024 PATH NOTES: Added Chaozu sequence because Tenshinhan likes him, therefore I tolerate him. OP's agenda added.
Yo! OP Here!
Nope, FUCK THIS, no OP Talks this time, this took too fucking long.
NO, NO, I gotta talk about SOMETHING. OK, uh...
I have no fucking idea why Mei and Neo have so much tension with each other. It's downright perverted at this point, no other characters do this shit. Kaset and Ayeva have canonically did the dingle dangle and it's nowhere NEAR as bad with them. Shit gives me a headache.
The outfits in the last portion. Videl's wearing a light homage to Mr. Miyagi from the OG Karate Kid. Chahan's wearing a homage to Mr. Han from the remake of Karate Kid. Tien (I will NOT make up my mind between Tenshinhan and Tien) is wearing his Buu fit, Yamcha's wearing a modified version of his Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle fit, and the outfit Mei rocks is an altered, ironically "modern" version of the Lee Kung Man fit that you can see on Jackie Chan in Drunken Master, Donnie Yen's disciples in Ip Man 2, and Bruce Lee... fucking everywhere. It. was. a. BITCH. to find the name of that fit. I laughed when I finally found it.
Yamcha's role. I fucking HATE it when people make Yamcha a punching bag... in bad will. Because Yamcha has been a jobber since his FIRST FUCKING APPEARANCE, I don't know what people are saying when they say "OH BUT YAMUCHA-SAMA WUZ KEWL IN OG-" BITCH YOU DIDN'T WATCH IT. SHUT UP. HIS GAG WAS THAT HE NEVER FUCKING MADE IT PAST THE QUARTER FINALS. BRO THOUGHT HE COULD ESCAPE THAT FATE HERE, NAH BITCH, YOU GOT BODIED BY SOMEONE WHO LOST THEIR QF MATCH. HIS FIGHT WITH TENSHINHAN WAS MOSTLY FILLER. GOOD FILLER, THE DB ANIME IS SUPERB IN THE FILLER DEPO, BUT FILLER. That said, LET ME FIND OUT YOU MADE YAMCHA A WOMANIZER, OR TRY TO MAKE HIM HIT ON YOUR TRICK-ASS OC, BECAUSE THAT FUCKING PURPLE-HAIRED MISTAKE (that I love deeply, make no mistake) PASSED BULMA'S LIES TO GOKU'S STUPID FUCKING FACE. OOOOOH I SWEAR BRO. IF YOU DISS YAMCHA LIKE THAT YOU ARE MAH ENEMEH. HE IS A LOVABLE JOBBER, COMPLACENT AS HE IS, AND HE DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE BULLIED BY THIS GODLESS FANDOM.
CHAOZU HAS NEVER DONE SHIT. HIM BEING A WEAK PATHETIC SHITTER IS INTEGRAL TO TIEN'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. THAT'S IT. BULLY HIM. WORTHLESS BASTARD.
Mmh. I am not happy right now, Weird. Yeah I sound real arrogant when I type shit like that. Don't worry, I know that I don't know jack shit about Dragon Ball either. This is all just my interpretation. Dragon Ball is wonderfully abstract like that.
The point. Yeah, I want Yamcha to play a role in training Neo and Mei. Primarily Mei, funny enough, and mainly in the physical aspect. How I'm gonna do this, IDK. It'll probably be restricted to nods.
The Zero Law Suite. Kaset ain't doing it. Not after this. Yeah I had a change of heart after realizing that, yes, Ayeva would definitely find out if Neoru had to carry his ass through town all the way to the ER. They'd have words. Kaset's drive came from being stronger so that Ayeva wouldn't need to worry for him. Easily remedied. Will be remedied next chapter. It's the Dina and Kora chapter. Neither Dina nor Kora star in it.
So I watched Trigun Stampede this week. Leave went through so I went back to Detroit, and I had time. I held back on watching it for a while because I watched Trigun and I didn't want to be upset while watching Stampede but, yo, this prequel reboot is some gas. I like it a lot.
Mei got the poem she deserves. Sick.
Don't ask why I gave Neo an InFAMOUS cutscene. I just really wanted to.
Gonna just say that I fucking hated this chapter. Mostly because near the end, I constantly got stuck on how to progress or end the damn thing. Really... really annoying. But I really liked Neoru vs Students and I really liked Mei vs Neoru. That sequence with Mei in Neo's apartment has been in my head for like three, four years now. I am unwell.
That's about it. See ya.