Hearts Lit Ablaze! The Ballad of 2 Budding Warriors!
"Who… is that?" asked Dina, face struck in awe as the blood-streaked boy cast the barbell from between his teeth with a strained flick of his neck.
The fellow watching the spectacle beside her shrugged. "The freakshow just waltzed his day in, made himself at home and started tearing himself apart. All I know is that he's been occupying this space foR HOURS NOW!" he shouted toward the feral beast. He returned the gesture with a frenzied death glare.
"You sure talk a lot, eh you Saiyan piece of shit?" he growled between a razor-sharp grin, intensely panting and arms hanging lifeless beside him. "Would you keep singing if I choked you to death with that tail of yours?"
From the looks of it, if not for that buzzing collar around his neck, he would've hopped to it instead of making a threat.
"I'm shaking." If only looks could kill.
The odd, self-species-loathing Saiyan grimaced, limped over to an even heavier weight, bit down on the handle, gave his all, and promptly dropped to the floor. For a moment, his rage-driven expression melted, a look of exhaustion peering through; before anything could come of the fatigue, his eyes began to widen in a fit of berserk. He bit down harder and, in a state of pure fury and will, shot to his feet and raised the firmly-bitten barbell.
He promptly dropped to the floor. Again.
The spectating fellow's tail loosely hung in embarrassment as he buried his face into his palm. "Heart of a lion, head of a lemming. Swear, not a species in the multiverse more bone-headed than my own. Speaking of, you wouldn't happen to be from Yarg, would yo-"
Dina was no longer beside him.
She was no longer amongst the crowd, either.
"Oi! Yoo-hoo! Screwy Saiyan-Person? Not dead yet, are you?" she chirped to the crowd's subtle panic, whistling and snapping in beyond-dangerous proximity.
He heard "Saiyan" and instantly shifted from struggling-to-stay-conscious to what-the-fuck-did-you-just-fucking-say-about-me. Frankly, the only notable difference Dina noticed was that his eyes were much wider now.
"That's one wild work ethic you've got there, friend."
Upon not seeing a tail from behind her rear, he scoffed.
"Got a name, Bloody Gary?"
"Set me by the door."
"Ooh-Lah-Lah~ quite the extravagant name there, mate. Don't mind if I just call you 'Setme' for short, do you?"
"I can't patch myself up if I don't eat. Just put me by the fucking door."
"Sorry, but me dad taught me not to do odd stuff with strangers. That's to say, nameless Johnny Doe's with enough canines to turn a boogeyman green with envy. Unless you DO have a name." Dina coyly tapped her chin with a finger. "Now THAT would change things…"
The boy growled.
Dina continued to grin.
The growling turned into a small chuckle as his frown curled into a smirk.
"Kazikum. That's what I remember."
"Kazikum? Huuah~! Wait, I know you! Come on then, old pal, let's get you to that door!"
With that, Dina took hold of Kazikum's shoulders and gave him a tug. She suddenly found herself attempting to pick up a mountain. No amount of grunting, repositioned tugs, and under-breath swearing helped either.
"Weak bitch, put your back into it."
"…!"
Judging by how fast he hit the door, that did the trick.
"Hmph! Disrespectful twit! Bad enough my clothes look like some 3rd Year's art project now after helping your broken rump! I mean… wow… this is an awful lot of…"
Before any thoughts could come to mind, Kazikum's chuckles filled the air once more. She rolled her eyes.
"Good to see you've still got a sense of humor."
"Don't get me wrong; nothing you say is funny. I'm just thinkin' of what's happening once this shitty collar's off."
"Oh, do go on."
"ONCE THIS IS GONE… I'M GONNA RIP YOU APART. LIMB FROM LIMB."
"Threaten me with a good time, why don't you?"
Kazikum was not threatening Dina with a good time.
The numerous slabs of roasted meat he was casually eviscerating could attest.
Dina gulped. If she could compare the ghastly sight to anything, it'd be a starving velociraptor at a daycare. With every gulp, his wounds vanished; he'd already regained use of his arms after the first chomp. It was unbelievably grotesque, sure – watching bones re-snap into place, tendons mend together, and skin retaking wiggling flesh was something straight out of a rewinding body-horror flick – yet she found herself unable to look away.
"Myer nom meeded amymore. Muck off," Kazikum mumbled between chews.
"Why?" Dina thought aloud, oblivious to what'd just been said. Kazikum swallowed.
"You're annoying, pathetic, and you smell weird."
"Wha-NO YOU DOLT! AND WHADDO YOU MEAN I-sodding train of thought… I mean… why are you putting yourself through such a thing?"
Not a second passed.
"Power."
The sudden assertion in his voice startled her a bit.
"Power…?"
"There's a certain someone I… meed'da ma'e 'uffer."
With that, he finished his meal and made a B-line for the workhouse.
"Wait, you're going back ALREADY?"
"It's been 5 minutes."
"IT'S BEEN 5 MINUTES, YES. Not nearly enough downtime has passed for anyone to go about tearing themselves apart again, much less to the degree YOU are!"
Kazikum heaved. "You know for a bitch, you sure bitch a lot. Worry about yourself."
Dina puffed her cheeks. "Excuse me for showing a hint of concern, jerk!"
He brushed her off and maintained course.
"Kaa-Zi-Kuum… A bizarre bloke, that one is. All that to get stronger?"
But before Dina could finish that thought, another cut her off.
"Put yourself through Hell all you want, just know I've been there first. Do you have the resolve to take what I can?"
She'd sworn she'd make that bitch RUE the day. Problem was, said bitch had put herself through Hell first, if she were to be believed, and her strength didn't lie.
So simply put, she needed a bigger Hell; nothing like an athlete's regiment was gonna cut it. And she needed a resolve to match.
"OH GODS HE'S GOING FOR THE 700! SOMEONE STOP HIM!"
"GET OFF ME! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
Something exactly like that.
Her fist shook.
"Nuts. He's nuts. He's an absolute madman."
"…"
She stormed off to look for Ayeva, practically her temporary chaperone.
"And I'm CLEARLY NOT NUTS ENOUGH."
Both her fists began shaking, fear and a newfound blazing within her fighting for control; and the fire was winning.
"I want power, too, dammit."
She grinned.
"THEREFORE."
After a spell of searching, inquiries, and telling nosy elites that it was none of their damn business why she wasn't in school, she tracked down her target outside the ER.
"-29285929309962757Tw-"
"Oi! Ms. Ayeva!"
Ayeva's head snapped toward Dina.
"HUH?"
That day, Dina set out to discover what she was truly made of.
Unbeknownst to her, a certain vagabond acquired the will to find out himself, only a few hours later.
Nerou gazed into the sky, the sun's glow dimming into the purple gradient of a void.
"Nice…" he whispered to himself as he smiled. He and his brother used to climb to the highest point available stare off into sunfalls like that. Yeah, that'd kill the edge. Something pretty and a dose of nostalgia.
He made his way toward the nearest height.
Zinco had about the same idea, as he scampered up the plateau's side like he'd done it a thousand times before. For about half his life, he'd been deprived of such sights – smog tends to do that – and he liked to soak them up whoever available.
"Kaay~" he grunted as he threw himself onto the surface. A bizarre number of items were placed up top: a cot, neatly-folded clothing, books in complex letters each containing at least a dozen strokes, supplies for the Academy, and empty wooden bowls.
There was also a drawing of a man in ink, surrounded by incense, a plate of food, and a tall note propping it upward.
He found a vacant area, plopped down criss-cross, cupped his hands together, took a lingering breath, and meditated.
Instead of nothingness, however, he meditated on his past mistakes. A method he picked up from his childhood master, helped him improve and reflect. For example...
If he hadn't let her take on that burden, or maybe if he'd just told her to move those balls instead of holding them up, less people would've been hurt.
Maybe if he'd been just a bit smarter, he could've said something to help cheer him up.
If he'd just stayed in the mountains, he wouldn't've caused such a panic in that metal jungle and made them all so angry.
If he'd just punched a little softer…
No, if he'd just denied a spar in the first place…
She wouldn't've…
His eyes began feeling funny. Zinco took another lingering breath, and jumped upward. He moved on to the next exercise: shadow boxing.
He made it a point to picture the most dangerous adversary possible, and then to battle them without a single aggressive attack on his part for as long as his body would allow. Just like that, a very long-haired girl donning a thin, pitch-black-and-indigo shozoku lunged from the darkness.
A gentle flick of his forearm sent the vision's lunging strike off-course, and his positioning enabled him to knock back several more blows aimed at points that would've surely put him out of commission if irritated. Her shadow bounced back before clapping its hands together, revealing a glinting cat's cradle which proceeded to extend into whip-like extensions. From there, he played a life-and-death variation of limbo and hopscotch, Zinco steadily closing the gap.
One split-second jump later, he landed behind the specter and directly near the cliff. Right on cue, it spun around and lunged at Zinco, the latter preparing to meet the attack.
And then an intense pain slammed into his side.
"Gah…!"
The blonde fell to the ground in a heap, his concentration broken instantly. He felt like he'd been shot, yet the wound didn't bleed. He slowly staggered to his feet - only able to reach a kneel - to identify the one behind the assault.
Resentful amber eyes set upon the boy.
"All they do is take…"
Zinco frantically looked back; the materials he'd spotted before were sprawled out in a mess, including the illustration and things around it.
"Shoot… I forgot!?"
Shào Mei approached, one trance-like step at a time. "That is all they have ever done…"
Rage and bloodlust practically poured from her, and Zinco was receiving the full brunt of it.
"What more will you take, Hou Gui? What more will you take from me?" she hissed. Now that she was closer, he could see how welled her eyes were. She was on the verge of tears.
"I will make you suffer for this."
Zinco began to rise. Despite the immense pain he found himself in, he managed to refoot himself. His head hanged low, obscuring his expression.
Suddenly, he dropped to the ground.
"I'M SORRY!" he shouted with conviction.
"The hell?" Neo muttered.
Mei stopped in her tracks.
"I'M SORRY! I WANTED TO SEE THE SKY CLOSER BECAUSE IT WAS PRETTY, BUT THEN I WANTED TO TRAIN, SO I STARTED FIGHTING MYSELF AND THEN I RUINED EVERYTHING AND I'M SORRY! BUT I'LL MAKE SURE TO CLEAN THIS ALL UP MYSELF, SO YOU WON'T BE SAD ANYMORE!"
"… Coward."
Zinco began to realize that he'd only made things worse.
"You think 'sorry' makes good? To ME, to the EMPRESS, to my MASTER, my FRIENDS, the INNOCENT? All your people do is take. Now, you take my stay."
Her speared hand glinted all over. It hovered over Zinco's head.
"You pay with head, like all scum should."
Like the blade of an executioner, she brought down her hand and-
But of course, like most moments I build to, this comes to a screeching halt.
[ BGM: Nathan Johnson – Speed of Light ]
A jagged whirlwind interrupted Sháo Mei's private execution and deflected her blow forcing her away from Zinco. It slowed and stopped in front of the two.
After a brief fit of stumbling, there stood Neoru.
"Didn't know we were killin' kids now."
Mei quickly regained her bearings. "This is no 'kid,' this is Saiyan. Do you know what it can do? What it has done?"
Neoru looked over the aforementioned "it."
"Are you fuckin' retarded? Guy would have a stroke if he so-much-as fell on an anthill." Zinco proceeded to jump a good three meters into the air.
"See?"
Mei snapped her head to the side. "It matters not what it wants or feels now. All that matters is what it can do! You have no idea what evils its people have done. It deserves to-"
Mei clutched her throat again.
"ALL deserve death for what they have done."
Neoru heard her out, did a think and let a dry chuckle escape.
"I get it. So, a few 'saiyans' roll through your world, do a couple unspeakables to you and friends, 'n all of a sudden every last one you see is guilty."
He slowly unsheathed his weapon from his backpack.
"If that's all it takes for a whole damn species to get the death penalty… then playin' by your rules, I've got one hell of a right to kill you right about now."
The air around both began to super-heat.
Each ignited an aura.
"You would give your life for a monster?"
"He's a kid, you bastard. I still ain't that comfortable with dying just yet, but I'm not just gonna let some psycho do whatever they damn-well please!"
"Then you choose death. I WILL kill all Saiyans, and you will not stop me."
Neo chuckled uneasily. "High hopes for someone who can't even reach the top shelf."
"Niúbī!" Mei shouted before vanishing, going for the throat with a sudden spear-handed lunge forth. In the brief millisecond-long time frame, he leapt back with enough force to set up a counter, the two traveling through the air at an equal velocity.
A reverse roundhouse to his neck removed any prospect of an offensive response, however, as once more he was forced into evasion. With a cartwheel matching the angle of the kick, the scruffy swordsman found himself on the tail end of a vicious assault; like suddenly being met with a flurry of poison-coated arrows. Sidestepping and deflecting with his sword what he could, he soon entered Mei's circle. The two engaged each other in a flurry of movement, both becoming desperate to find some type of read on their opponent, some chink in one's defense or a brief slip in motion. Skill and experience clashed violently, Neoru's erratic pivots foiling Mei's lightning-fast juts aimed at any and every weaker area around him she could find, Mei's controlled, nigh-hypnotic rhythm foiling any spontaneous attack Neo threw her way. This wasn't a Saiyan; this was only a squishy, feeble human, just as she was.
One attack, even one landed hit would probably end Neo, and he knew that well. Mei seemed to be getting faster, too, like she was learning more about him as the fight dragged on. Even worse…
"(Damn it…! Why'm I even trying against this bitch? I still can't even touch her, and she could'a killed me just like that yesterday! If that were a real fight, I'd already be dead!)"
He caught about a quarter of a second's quarter and gained distance to breath. 2 sharp breaths before the scarlet-haired "shinobi" brought him back into the fray by force.
"Do you really fight for the Saiyan, boy? Or is it for you?"
"FUCK UP!" he retorted, dodging a bullet kick with a flip onto his back and lashing out in a leg-laced cyclone before jumping forth and giving a brief machine gun's worth of punches.
"Faster…" Mei noted, a small smirk taking form as the battle continued.
"(If she beat me, fair-and-fucking square, then WHY DO I STILL GIVE A RAT'S ASS?)" he demanded himself as he punched faster.
He began to remember that face she made as he slipped into unconsciousness that day. Staring at him like he wasn't worth anything.
"…DAMN IT!" he roared. His void-like purple eyes intensified as he began to move not only faster, but more predictably.
"I see now…" his opponent cooed as she landed a knife's-edge straight kick into his centre mass. His aggressive forward movements worked to her advantage as Mei's foot dug into him, paralyzing him as he fell to the ground like a rock.
"I train to kill monsters," she dryly stated as she turned her back. "Not boys."
"Why?"
"Why do I even bother? Always ends the same."
"This IS Hell. And I'm just reminding myself 'a how fucking worthless I am."
Getting clocked instantly in that damn game.
His first defeat by Mei.
Trunks manhandling him like he was a child.
"I SAID GO!"
Pushing himself as far as possible, unlocking power that let him own the skies and level a building with one hand. Only to find out the monster that took away just about everyone he cared about could care less.
The only half-decent thing he'd ever done was throw his stubborn better off that cliff, and take that god-awful pain himself. Hell, that was probably useless, too.
"Yeah, that's right. It's just natural. The strongest guys stay strong. The weak get eaten. That's just life. Now I've gotta live that out 'till the end of time."
He chuckled a bit. "Can't say I don't deserve it." A tear went down his face.
"I hate this so much."
"How did he…!" Mei gasped as she turned to find Neoru chuckling to himself, knee on the ground. He'd gotten up without knowing.
"I hate this so much."
"Tch…! Fine with me." She lunged forward. "Make certain you stay down for good!"
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – BLAZE_Final_Version (1:58) ]
"No!" Zinco flung himself forward, leaving the pain behind and appearing before Neo, to his shock.
"You stupid brat… get back…!" he shouted behind frozen lips.
As if the situation couldn't get any worse; because he was too weak, someone else – someone with something to go on for, no matter how stupid – was gonna stick their necks out for him and die.
Again.
And again.
And again.
And AGAIN.
"For fuck's sake."
A light began to form within his eyes.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU."
He felt something unbearable – that annoying, shitty force within him, that always told him to keep surviving for FUCK'D IF HE KNEW – welling and surging from within.
"Just let me die on my own already..."
To hell with it. To hell with Hell. To hell with This.
"YOU FUCKING
[MORO~N!"]
He burst forth, battering both Mei and Zinco with a violent kick to each.
His scream became a roar, as his soul ignited, surrounded him, and took on a feathered serpent's form as his eyes became overtaken with light.
A massive, violet inferno of energy erupted from the plateau, attracting the attention of any and all residents of Conton City.
Like an explosion, it was gone as quickly as it came. The blonde was absolutely out of it, as was the redhead. As for the brunette at the center of it all…
"Stronger."
He was literally smoking, burning up from the inside-out.
"I wanna... Stronger…"
He fell over, eyes – ever-gleaming – still wide-open and mouth agape.
"I can't take this anymore… I just wanna be stronger… than this…"
It would be a cold day in HFIL before Neo would receive a self-induced good night's sleep. And Conton City maintains a comfy room temperature.
Regardless, he awoke from his home in the ER to find that he couldn't move a muscle.
He also felt a fever coming on. Weird, considering how strong he felt all a sudden.
"So the hell was that and where has it been my whole life?"
If he could hold his head, he would.
"Screw it. Yeah, take that, Hell. Teach you ta mess with me."
He giggled a bit.
"Okay… first thing once I get outta here."
"I'm gonna get strong enough to have my own back. Then I'll find whatever I'm looking for…"
He smiled. Almost like a child's.
"Yeah. That'll be nice…"
[ED: 14? Ft. Substantial – When the Luster Fades]
Yo! OP here.
( 6/3/2022 PATCH NOTES: Changed "nigh hypnotic controlled dance" to "controlled, unwavering rhythm" to keep coherence for later segments. And also because that sounded like aaaaAAAAss. Fixed issue with portion of OP Talks where text wasn't showing. )
3 weeks. Mh. Mh-mh.
Stuff's been happening, nothing that'll excuse the wait in my eyes, but yeah. In all that time, though, I've been working on this specific chapter for a bit. It's QUIIITE important, considering I'm finally setting into gear Neoru and Dina's motivations for training, as well as the introduction of "Edgelord Maximus" Kazikum (I went with Capiscum as his pun. Yes, I am proud.), more of Shao "I Swear The Broken English Isn't Me Being Insensitive" Mei (can't wait to actually flesh out and make her likeable, not like she hasn't got major reasons but still) and Zinco, and most importantly...
Neoru's transformation, and the connection it's got with his will/heart and soul.
He isn't Mei, and he ain't an alien. Basically, this state I'm giving him has been in conception since after his, think a bit more than 2 years or so. It's big enough to be fleshed out as the story goes on, and Neo's gonna become WAY too stubborn to start leaning on it in order to win fights, so no worries about it turning into a get-outta-jail-free card for EVERY losing scenario. On the occasions it does appear, It'll leave behind a bit of its power, due to it being Neoru unlocking more and more of himself. I'll leave it at this; his roots and self-loathing plays a hefty part, and this ain't no sealed beast (suck it, Luffy Kurosaki); this is Neoru. Just a more... bㅤeㅤaㅤsㅤtㅤfㅤuㅤl part of Neoru.
I've been watching Sengoku Basara. Expect this to get a lot more hot-blooded in the future.
But yeah, now that the squad have their motivations laid out (Voshyo never needed one outside of his timeline, honestly,) I can have a bit more freedom with the story. Next up: details about Neo and Di's regiments/mentors in order to set things in stone for sure, a small gag-short poking fun at some of DBSTEP's minor mistakes, and even a small Trunks Gaiden showing how he's been holding Conton City down.
Until then, be safe, do what you gotta, and have some fun while you do it. Fight on!
That's about it. See ya.
oh yeah I almost changed neoru's name to nerou wouldn't that've been crazy-