RIP to the man, the myth, the mangaka Akira Toriyama. I'll always be grateful for his creations.
They landed in daylight, at the edge of what looked like a training facility. Hit stepped away from Vados and scanned his surroundings. There were a few small buildings, probably barracks and the like, as well as tracks filled with varied terrain, demarcated patches of bare earth used for sparring, and a wide lake.
All in all, Hit wasn't impressed. He assumed, given the prestige and power of the Pride Troopers, they'd have something better than a summer camp. Then again, it wasn't like their best got their absurd strength by swimming laps or climbing rocks.
Where was Dyspo? Hit hadn't announced he was coming, so it wasn't like he expected the rabbit to be waiting. It would have been convenient if Dyspo had been somewhere on the training grounds, but if there was one thing Hit was good at it, it was finding people. And then killing them. Though that later skill probably wouldn't see use today. Probably.
Hit had just begun to concentrate when two small spikes of energy caught his attention. They definitely weren't Dyspo, but they were practically within spitting distance. Even better, they were moving closer.
"Here comes the welcome wagon," Hit said, indicating one of the buildings. As though on cue, a door opened and two figures stepped out.
The "welcome wagon" consisted of a short, blue creature and a woman with long, dark pink hair. They were dressed in standard Pride Trooper uniforms. Neither of them seemed to realize they had visitors, as they had towels slung over their shoulders and were headed towards the lake.
"It is a perfect day for a swim," Vados noted.
Beside her, she felt Hit's aura darken. "Nobody is going swimming."
"Did you forget to pack your bathing suit?" Vados joked. "I can create one for you if you'd like. Which pattern do you prefer: surfboards or tropical fish?"
Instead of replying, the assassin tossed his travel bag to the ground and then stalked towards the oblivious duo. Whether it was his rising energy or the sheer burn of his murderous intent they sensed, something made the two Pride Troopers forget about their beach day. Both of them turned away from the inviting lake.
"Hey, who's that?" Cocotte asked. She shielded her eyes from the sun and squinted. "Whoever they are, they're…"
Her words froze in her throat.
"What, who is it? I can't see through this glare!" her companion complained.
"I think it's Hit," Cocotte whispered.
Hit heard his name shouted in pure panic. Wasn't the first time, wouldn't be the last time. Though he usually preferred to operate without causing any unnecessary fear or distress, a little dose of both would come in handy here.
The Pride Troopers had a hushed, rushed argument that involved both of them pointing at the approaching assassin, some fierce head-shaking, and finally Cocotte taking to the sky. Hit considered going after her but there wasn't much of a point. He didn't need them both and he'd much rather deal with the gremlin.
They had history.
"K'nsi," Hit said. He kept his tone neutral and his hands in his pockets. He did allow a slight twitch of the right hand, however, as though it was itching for the chance to plant itself in K'nsi's chest.
"What are you doing here, uh, villain? If you've come to kill me, or any of my fellow Pride Troopers, you'll find-"
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have seen me coming," Hit replied.
"Hey! I think I could-"
"No," Hit said simply. "You couldn't."
"We were pretty evenly matched in the Tournament!" K'nsi protested.
And there it was. The stupidest thing he could have said.
Hit had been staying back several meters out of caution for K'nsi's explosive traps, but he crossed the distance before the Pride Trooper could blink. In one fluid motion Hit grabbed the front of K'nsi's uniform and hauled him up. Hit held him so they were eye to eye.
"What was that?" Hit asked. "Repeat it."
K'nsi backpedaled so fast even Dyspo would have been impressed with his speed. "What I meant to say was, it was an honor to be eliminated by you!"
Hit also would have appreciated a groveling apology for the Pride Trooper butting into a fight Hit had already won and pulling Dyspo back into the arena, but there was no reason to beat a dead horse. The assassin had other matters he needed settled.
"Where's Dyspo?"
"So that's who you're here to kill? I'll never put my comrades in danger!" K'nsi shouted, suddenly picking up and dusting off his courage.
Hit wasn't sure if the majority of Universe 11 was exceptionally obtuse, or if it was reserved for the Pride Troopers. Either way, it was beginning to get insulting. When Hit targeted someone, he didn't need to shake down their underlings. If it was Dyspo's life he was after, K'nsi wouldn't have known until the funeral.
"I'm not here to kill him," Hit said.
"I'm not convinced," K'nsi replied.
All of this could have been avoided if Dyspo had just told his friends that he'd been sniffing around other universes. The fact that he hadn't made Hit equally annoyed and curious. Had the rabbit just not gotten around to it, or was he worried the other Pride Troopers would take issue with him contacting an assassin?
"Would the testimony of an Angel be enough?" Hit asked. "Because you either accept that, or I find other, less pleasant means."
K'nsi thought about it and decided that insulting an Angel by impugning their honor would be an even worse idea than insulting Hit. He nodded in agreement.
"Vados, a moment of your time?" Hit requested.
The Angel, who had been idly watching the collapse of inter-universal relations, floated over. Hit dropped the Pride Trooper at her feet.
"Ask her."
K'nsi stood and offered Vados a modest bow. "Is he being truthful? He's really not here to kill anyone?"
Vados nodded. "He's only here because he was extended an invitation."
"An invitation? Who'd invite him?!" K'nsi blurted out.
"Guess," Hit said.
It didn't take K'nsi long to put the pieces together. "So that's why you were asking about Dyspo. Alright, fine, I'll tell you. He said he was going to spend the morning running around the ocean and maybe check out the volcanic island he saw forming a few weeks ago."
All Hit had really needed to know was if Dyspo was local—in a cosmological sense—or if he was on a mission to the distant corners of the galaxy. If Dyspo was off serving his universe and punishing evildoers or whatever the Pride Troopers called it, Hit hadn't planned to wait around. Since the rabbit was on-planet and playing tourist, it wouldn't be difficult for Hit to ring his proverbial doorbell.
As an assassin, Hit could cloak his energy to the point even the most ki-sensitive target would be oblivious to his presence until the very end. Invisibility was his default state. On the rare occasion he wanted to be noticed, however, Hit could put on one hell of a show.
Hit allowed his energy first to kindle and then to blaze. Wind began to swirl around him, buffeting his coat and raising dust devils in the nearby training fields. Vados produced a barrier to protect herself and her perfect hairstyle from the growing gusts.
"I'm pretty sure Dyspo's got the message by now," K'nsi muttered. He surreptitiously ducked behind Vados and used her as a windbreak.
As though in confirmation, Hit sensed a burst of energy coming from the west and moving like a bullet. He pivoted to face the approaching warrior. He'd hardly finished planting his feet when a streak of purple lightning came skidding to a halt only meters away.
"What in the hell?!" Dyspo shouted without preamble.
"I'd like to ask you the same thing," Hit replied.
"Why are you here?"
"Vados, please play the invitation-"
"No, don't play that! I mean, why did you just show up?"
Hit shrugged. "My schedule was empty."
Dyspo grabbed his ears and yanked them. "I should have asked those three weird dogs, why did I ask the assassin, even that creepy shrimp would have been better!"
"I have a question," K'nsi announced from behind his angelic barrier. "I have no idea what's going on."
Dyspo released his abused ears. "I screwed up, that's what's going on. I've been inviting fighters from other universes to come here and train with me. I didn't share that because nobody accepted until now."
"Oof."
"You're not helping!" Dyspo snapped at his fellow Pride Trooper. "And it's not like most of them outright rejected me, they were just busy! Apparently I wasn't the only one to have this idea."
"Did you try Universe 2?" K'nsi asked.
"Of course. So did everybody else."
Hit couldn't say magical transformations and the power of love were exactly his style, but he wasn't oblivious to the sway Universe 2 could exert. Ribrianne and her maidens were no-doubt in the highest demand.
"I did get on the waiting list at least," Dyspo added.
K'nsi pumped his fist. "Awesome."
Seeing his teammate's enthusiasm took a little of the tension out of Dyspo. K'nsi definitely wasn't thrilled with the whole situation, but at least it didn't look like he hated Dyspo's guts. "Sorry about flying off the handle like that. To both of you."
"No problem," K'nsi said. "Though I'm going to be honest, a little warning would have been nice. When this guy showed up, I think my life flashed before my eyes."
"I'll take it as a compliment," Hit said.
"Guess I have to apologize for ruining Cocotte's day too," Dyspo said. "Where is she, anyway? I thought you two were going to check on the lake monster today."
"She...oh, crap!" K'nsi exclaimed.
What little tension Dyspo had managed to dispel shot back into his body and brought reinforcements. "Spit it out already!"
"When we saw Hit, I told her to run and I'd hold him off. She said she'd try and get a message to Top once she was safe."
Dyspo grabbed a hold of Hit's arm. "You've got to go! I'm pretty sure you were dead by this point in the Tournament, so you didn't see it, but Top-"
"Became a God of Destruction. Vados was happy to fill in the details once the erased universes were restored," Hit said. He pried the rabbit's hand off his arm but was kind enough to return the hand undamaged.
"If you know all that, why do you sound so laid-back? This may surprise you, but Top has this little hang-up about people who kill for money."
"It must not bother you as much."
Dyspo growled, which might have been scarier if not for his buck front teeth. "You know what, fine. Stay here and get yourself killed. Your people got any special burial practices you want me to know about?"
"Even if I wanted to, there's no point in running," Hit said. He looked to Vados. "We couldn't escape unseen at this point, could we?"
Vados glanced to the sky and then shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm sure my sister and her newest pupil know we're here. Our quickest exit back to Universe 6 would take us directly into their path."
Dyspo had seen Vados look skyward and figured there was something up there he needed to see. He tried to emulate where she had looked and, even with the fierce sun competing for his eyes' attention, immediately picked up something traveling across the pale sky. It was burning white-hot, a catalyst comet aimed directly at the planet.
"How long before they land?" Hit asked.
"If Marcarita maintains that speed all the way to the ground, eight seconds," Vados replied. "Though she should slow down unless Top doesn't mind a turbulent landing."
As a man used to dealing in fractions of a second, Hit hardly knew what to do with a whole eight of them. Then he recalled what Dyspo had asked him: did his species have any special burial rituals? A morbid, albeit practical, question for someone facing death. Hit decided to have some fun with it.
"In the event I die, return my body to my home planet," Hit said.
Dyspo's ears twitched. He looked away from the sky and focused on Hit. "You got it. Where's your home planet?"
"I don't remember. I haven't been there in nine hundred years."
Ignoring Dyspo's desperate sputtering, Hit stepped forward and assumed his trademark narrow stance. He allowed a momentary flicker of a smile at Dyspo's expense then banished it.
One second to go.
Just in case it isn't already clear, I'm using the anime timeline for the Tournament of Power and other events.
Thanks for reading!