"SHOW ME!" Kazikum snarled, battering Archi.
All the while, Dina watched.
"SHOW ME!" Kazikum howled as another grisly smack rang out.
All the while, Dina watched.
"SHOW ME!" Kazikum roared, dominating his opponent in a ceaseless, breathless maelstrom.
Over and over, he overpowered the weaker boy with what eventually mutated into a shark-toothed smile.
"..."
The half-blood stood up, and left the stands. Kora seemed too preoccupied to notice.
Sick flushed down the toilet.
Dina shook, the ice-cold water crashing against her face. Her freezing hands momentarily served as a shield from the outside world. In front of the mirror, she reflected.
"(I-I just watched…)"
The blood-soaked violence of the match ran amok within her mind.
"(Dear God, I just sat there and watched him lose his mind…)"
Along with it, the half-spawn's figure, dark red glistening off him. He was unrecognizable from the adorably-fierce boy she thought she knew.
"(Couldn't even scream out for 'im to stop, I just…)"
Her hands slowly lowered. First to show were her red eyes, puffy from the anxiety-ridden fit she'd just experienced. The hands hesitated before going any further down, as if scared to see the rest, but reluctantly obeyed her conscience, as if guilt-ridden children showing a fuming parent what had just broken.
Dina beheld a smile.
"(God… oh God, oh…)"
Her tremors increased, Dina's back hitting a wall.
"(I'm sick… I'm sick…)"
Her hands crawled up her face again, assessing the excess warmth present across it until the reality of her own blush set in. Her breathing grew erratic.
"(No, nonononono, stop, this isn't right, this…)"
For a sudden, blissful moment, the quaking of the entire isle caught her attention, and she rushed outside to investigate. In her shock, there he was.
"OH MY GOD…!"
A fucking Super Saiyan.
"(STOP HIM. STOP HIM YOU FUCKING MORON, RUN OUT THERE, SCREAM, FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK JUST DO SOMETHI-)"
And not a second later, with one motion, he'd caved in the other's skull in a brilliant flash.
"(...)"
To her horror, her face grew hotter.
Stumbling backward, she threw herself back into the women's restroom and slammed the door. Prying itself off the handle, her quivering hand was the most repulsive thing present.
"(WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME!?)"
[ OP: Granrodeo – Remember Your Passion ]
Battle Eight: LITTA-MAN vs Akaki! Who Says The Antagonist Can't Save The Day!?
An hour after the fact, Dina leaned against the side of Right Exit's tunnel, having found the time to jump out of her self-disgust and keep her would-be rival on her feet.
"Least I'm a helpful sadist…" she moaned to herself, throwing herself off the wall. "Seems Kora wrapped up whatever deep-seated trauma's been bugging her, nicely enough. I'd love to ask what the bleeding shit the True-Story horror flick crud in the middle was, but that'd be another long, blistering mental rabbit hole. Fuuu—ck, I feel like one'a those freaks who get off to pretty-faced serial killers. Still, I doubt even they'd get all hot n' bothered seein' one in the act, much unlike meself…"
She got pissed for a moment, gritting her teeth with tightened fists. "Oooh, if that arrogant prick hadn't goated him on, that would've never happened! Instigatin' little cuntface couldn't put up his pride stiffie for a minute, now I'M stuck with this bleedin' baggage well after its end! CHOKE ON SHIT, ARCHI!"
Dina shook in a huff, before thinking about what she was doing. A slow palm to the face soon followed.
"... Yeah, way to shift blame, you utter degenerate… besides, we may both be cunts, but that's not the underlying issue, is it?" She held her chin. "Why did Kazikum go off like that in the first place? Enough to go Super Saiyan, even? Was it pressure? Something compiling? Was he reminded of something, or what? And can he do that at will? I mean, I sure's hell can't, even after Roshi's regiments."
She began unconsciously pacing, gaining speed.
"Shit, am I gonna have to fight that? Aren't I fucked if I have to fight that? Will he even be allowed to fight after that stunt he pulled? Is that good or bad? Fuck, what does that say about me if I think that's good? Hell, if I think that's BAD? WHY THE BLOODY HELL AM I FLINGING THIS BACK TO ME AGAIN?"
She started clawing at her strained brain. "OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I'M VERGING ON AN ANEURYSM!"
Dina paused, noted her own pacing back-and-forth in an empty hallway – screaming, all the while – and sighed.
"I'm mad. I am mad. I need a snack, or I'll lose what's left up there."
She got herself out of the hall, walked past a short girlish-looking guy in a tryhard visor and high neck-collar jacket who most likely heard everything, and stopped again.
"oh god what did you hear."
[ BGM: skankfunk – Blind 2 See ]
"Hm? Oh, nothing," Akaki responded.
"That's rubbish, I'm a walking foghorn."
Akaki chuckled. "Come on, don't sell yourself short."
Dina dryly laughed. "You admit it then, yeah?"
"OH- well shoot, you caught me red-handed!"
"Alright then you snidey little twit, how hard do I hafta beat you to guarantee your silence?"
"I mean, if I am going to tell anyone anything, wouldn't it be that a Dina Spaurk assaulted me in the middle of a hall, and not someone's alleged fetishes?"
Dina blew air. "Drat. Well, if you're looking for anythin' out of me, then sorry, but unless you're 182-plus, and/or a bloodthirsty psychopath, lewd stuff's off the table. I have standards."
"Yikes, talk about jumping the gun!" Akaki laughed, slowly luring one from Dina.
"Yeah, head's been thoroughly stuck in the gutter as of late, sorry."
"No but, I'm ridiculously cheap. My hush fund is 150 zeni, nothing more or less."
"Hm? Oh, a pop before your match then? That's fair." Dina whipped out the two coins and tossed them. Akaki snatched them from mid-air, between his fingers.
"And just like that, we've retconned every last word up to now!"
"'Retcon'? What are ya, some comic nerd?" Dina giggled, now at ease.
"I mean, it takes one to know one, right?"
"... drat, I've been had!"
"Bu~ut no worries, because for just another meager fee of 150 zeni-"
"Oh as if, you slimy little cockhead!"
They shared a laugh. Sufficiently cooled off, Dina gave a light sigh. "Let's talk favorites after ya match, yeah?" she asked, walking off. "Ciao!"
Akaki gave a flirtatious wave, causing a last, coy giggle from the half-blood before she rounded a corner.
"(Now…)"
He visited a vending machine. Choosing a cranberry SPARKING! Water, he held the 100-zeni coin in his left hand and the 50 in his right.
The tsufruian flipped both into the air. His long sleeves slid down.
DRUT-DRUT!
Gunfire was the last noise she thought she'd ever hear again. Low, and a deep hum implied automatic fire, but she couldn't attribute it to anything else but bullets piercing the air.
Dina sprinted back, only to see Akaki drinking a bottle of flavored water. He looked back, visibly concerned.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"... did you… hear anythin' just now?"
Though his tone didn't show it, Akaki looked at her as if she were crazy.
"No. Why?"
"... hm. Nevermind."
Behind the small young man were four more bottles of the same drink.
"(They're better than I expected…)"
He whipped back out the two coins; his hand leaned a bit over on the side of the 100-yen coin, while the 50 seemed to almost float.
"(Yep, you have outdone yourself this time.)"
Zinco sprawled out onto a leather bench in the hallway, his gaze fixated on the ceiling.
"IT'S WRONG! ALL OF THIS IS WRONG!"
"TELL ME IT'S WRONG!"
An ugly moment in time that he found similar to the fourth match's events slowly bubbled to the surface.
"THAT'S RIGHT! ONE OF THE VERY SAME SPECIES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HORRIFIC LOSS OF LIFE OVER 200 YEARS BACK, IN ALL ITS 10-STORY HORROR, HAS BEEN SLAIN!"
"BEFORE WE SEND THIS APE BACK TO HELL, AS A TESTAMENT TO THE SHEER METTLE AND BREATHTAKING PROGRESS OF THE VALOROUS RED PANTS BRANCH AND THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY, WE NOW PRESENT TO YOU ALL, WITHOUT A HINT OF RISK TO ONLOOKERS, A LIVE 'OOZARU'!"
"(If people act… and get angry, and hurt themselves, and hurt others… because of me…)'
"... what the hell?"
"That's a child…!"
"Oh my god, he looks awful!"
"What's the meaning of this!?"
"R-REST ASSURED, THE SAIYAN ABILITY TO ALTER ITS SHAPE, ONLY FURTHER ENDS TO THE THREAT THAT IT POSES TO OUR-"
"He's not even restrained… he could've gotten away, yet he's still there? Why!?"
"(That makes me responsible.)"
"You sick bastards!"
"You're supposed to be keeping us safe, not torturing kids!"
"THERE'S BEEN A GRIEVOUS MISUNDERSTANDING, I ASK YOU ALL TO DISPERSE IN AN ORDERLY- DO NOT ATTACK YOUR SOLDIERS! YOU'RE ALL TO REMAIN CALM, OR YOU'LL BE FORCING OUR HAND!"
The sound of hurled objects plonking onto the ground in growing frequency, followed by the popping of plasma, followed by screaming, tore through his ears as if he were still there.
"(How do I stop that? How I stop that from happening?)"
He flipped onto his side.
"(... What if everyone hated me enough to let me handle things myself?)"
He thought about it.
"(How many people would need to be hurt to make that happen? By the end of it all, everyone would still be full of fear, and anger. And I'd be all al-…)"
Zinco growled at himself. "(Why should that part even matter!? I'm gonna be weak forever if I keep acting like this…!)"
He stood.
"(I need help.)"
With that, he sought someone out.
"(I haven't seen him since his match… Maybe he just ate something bad?)"
Before he could pass a corner…
"How's Neo?"
He leaned against the wall. Behind it, three people held a discussion.
"-had another spazz-out a few minutes ago. There was that same LOUD screeching again, like, stuff that doesn't come out of a human. His lips have been sealed this whole time, so it's like he's possessed by the vengeful spirit of a strobe light in there."
"Mh. Must mean his will's beginning to lash through his soul…"
"What? How does that even happen?"
"It's a byproduct of pushing Tlatla too hard. You could say, uh, his soul's like a bucket, and his will, water. It carried more than it could, and now, the water within is beginning to pour out from the cracks that are now present."
"And that's bad, yes? That's very bad, yes?"
"... W-well, yes. Yes, very, very bad. He overshot his limit, and now, his soul's starting to… break. 'The dragon' is eating him alive."
"... so basically, he's dying over a stupid fucking tournament, why didn't you TELL him any of this before you decided to kick his ass?"
"Se acalme, senhora. He's the dummy who decided to push himself this far even AFTER I told him the risks, so don't pin this on me, ah?"
"If the three of you are going to scream at each other, please do it somewhere else." A doctor's stern voice rumbled from behind the door, casting a blanket of silence over the three.
"... see, it's not over yet. Neo can still take back control… just… it'll take time. And worlds of effort from him."
"So all he needs to do is… keep being an ass?" The feminine voice uneasy chuckled. "You should've just led with that!"
"Here's hoping that it IS that easy for him…"
"Tell you two what? I'll feign some liability and make up for it with some drinks. How 'bout it?"
"... you're a jerk, but fine. I'm game."
As the hera, brench-jin, and human walked past him, Zinco checked up on the patient.
There through a small window laid Neoru, closed eyes twitching and with a small, still frown. His room looked like something ran through it, and the resident doctor seemed not to mind; she just sat on a pile of misplaced clutter and watched his vitals. Behind the glass, all he could do was…
He stumbled back from the door.
"(... this is all I've done. Since I got here, all I've done is watch.)"
Just as he'd done with Kaza.
It hit him like a truck.
He'd stopped one person. Hardly.
And he'd watched six more brutalize each other. One followed his example and suffered for it.
"(... I haven't done anything... but watch...!)"
"...? Is there something wrong, citizen?"
Zinco's head swayed in the voice's direction. He noticed how disheveled his face had become within the bubble-like visor of the new person.
"... yes."
[ BGM: Yasunori Iwasaki – Onjou ]
A blue bottle suddenly hung in front of him.
"No need to worry! This should brighten your day!"
Zinco eyed it. "What's this?"
"LIITA-FUEL! With a hearty swig of LIITA-FUEL, even the sullen-est of spirits can shoot through the roof!" The tall man in the high-tech exoskeleton gave a thumbs-up.
He eyed it again. Despite everything, he drank the strange liquid the strange man had given him. His eyes lit up a bit after a few gulps.
"... it's good."
"All in a day's work for LIITA-MAN!" LIITA-MAN began to stroll off, until he noticed Zinco's eyes glinting.
"...! Wait, have the effects of LIITA-FUEL failed!?"
The half-breed shook his head.
"Then, uh…"
"Can I ask you something?"
"If there's a problem, then I'm dutified to solve it. Ask away!"
"If you wanted to make the world better… but all you ever did was make things worse… what would you do?"
LIITA-MAN held the bottom of his helm, reminded of the countless riddles which vile villains had thrown his way. "That seems almost like a paradox… well, if all I did was make things worse, there's no way I could make an entire planet better! I'd just… wind up destroying everything, somehow!" LIITA-MAN laughed, proud of his solved answer.
"... oh."
LIITA-MAN had an epiphany.
"Wait… you never said to rock it by the foundations, did you? If THAT'S the case, then… even if it took an eternity, all I'd need is to improve something."
"...?"
"All I'd need is to point a direction to someone in need, or place good used material into a recycling bin, or study and write a manual for something… even if I gave a gift to a trillion people, and 999,999,999,999 turned me down, I'm certain I'd find one that would accept that kindness with a smile!"
LIITA MAN slammed a fist into a palm. "That's it! If I only made things worse in my pursuit to make the world better, then I'd just continue finding ways that I could nudge in the right direction, no matter how small!"
"... Thanks."
Zinco's frown had gone neutral. His dire tone had faded.
LIITA-MAN gave a salute-like wave. "Once again, all in a day's work for LIITA-MAN! Be well, citizen!"
The blonde-tailed boy saw him off. Looking back to his bottle of gourmet energy drink, he finished it.
Into a blue bin it went.
"... hm."
A crescent moon reflected across the tournament stage; via meddling, it could output 15 million zenos, ensuring no surprise daikaiju battle royales. Lights shot into the sky from the corners of the stage, and the dim glow of the stands had become visible.
Mh-mm… Mm… Mm-M—MH-
"CAN IT AND ANNOUNCE, ANNOUNCER!"
YOU CAN IT, PUNK!
Despite the figure's appearance as the host of the 21st, 2nd, 3rd, and nearly every Budokai Tenkaichi onward, his voice was jarring levels of raspy.
I mean, er, WELCOME TO THE FINAL ROUND OF THE CLOSING PRELIMINARIES! AIN'T IT FITTIN' HOW THE LAST MATCH IS AT NIGHT!? POETRY IN THE MAKING, I TELL YA! His voice had become an exact replica of the past host, at least from an audible perspective.
The dragons of the left roared, illuminating the sky in fireworks.
ROUND 8! CONTEST-STUDENT LIITA-MAN! VS! STUDENT AKAKI!
[ BGM: Norihito Sumitoro – Trunks the Savior ]
Dashing up to the stands at breakneck speed was a tall and built figure, decked out in sleek, bright power armor. Across their suit, deep blue plates gave off a faint light, and two antennae jutted from the top of his dark, face-veiling helmet like the crest of a samurai.
He shot out a fist, causing a boom.
"WALKING SANCTUARY FOR THE WEAK! HOPELESSNESS, YOUR TIME HAS COME! KNIGHT OF THE LIITA-LIGHT AND ENVOY OF THE SEAS, I WON'T BACK DOWN FROM ANYONE!" he declared, making furiously-energetic gestures with every other word. The lights across his suit erupted in brilliant azure, before an explosion erupted behind his back.
"LIITA-MAN! ON THE JOB!"
"(what is this guy, a cartoon character?)" The "announcer" cringed as he covered his ears.
Clapping approached from the right side, seemingly angering the dragons as they burned the air.
"(Nice opening act! I've gotta say, his energy's already rubbing off on me!)"
Emerging was a man in a navy-blue, yellow-tinted futuristic jacket, with sleeves were obnoxiously wide – like XXL pants had been seamlessly sewn onto the sleeves of an M jacket – and a droopy collar going up to his chin.
"Hey, has Akaki grown since he showed up at school?" asked a student in the stands. "Or is he wearing soles or something?"
"I dunno. I've never seen him up close before."
"... Hey, Chimaima?"
"Hm?"
"Where'd our teacher go?"
Stepping up to the plate, Akaki and LIITA-MAN soon stood a few meters from each other.
"(So why not? Let's keep up the pre-fight spectacle. Besides, the crowd's diminishing by the second.)" He scanned the stands. Many of the spectators were confusedly searching; most patrollers had either vanished or were walking out, leaving a viewer base of students and workers in other fields.
"(We're losing our audience…)"
WELL, TO THOSE OF YOU REMAINING, I'M SURE YOU'RE IN FOR ONE HELL OF A FIGHT! "(Those cheap scumbags! They're really gonna walk off durin' my debut!? I'm worth more than this, dammit!)"
LIITA-MAN folded his arms and nodded. "Hm, hm. I'm fine with that. After all, we ALL have obligations! This is just a tournament, after all!"
Akaki mocked him. "Hm, hm. There's no arguing that. So, that said…"
WHAT'S THIS!? STUDENT AKAKI'S WHIPPING OUT TWO COINS!? THAT AMOUNT'S EQUAL TO 150 ZENI! "(What the hell's this brat doing?)"
"Wanna see a magic trick?"
INTO THE AIR, THEY GO!
The two sailed upward at the same speed, reached their peak, and dropped back down again.
A meter from the tsufruian's position…
HOLY COW! THE TWO COINS HAVE SLOWED TO A CRAWL IN MID-AIR! SURELY, THIS MUST BE THE WORK OF SMOKE AND MIRRORS! "(How stupid does this little jerk think these people are?)"
By the end of the play-by-play, both coins went from falling in slow motion to plummeting in a blink.
WAIT, ONE'S FALLEN STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARENA! EVEN MORE, IT WAS THE 50-ZENI! COULD THIS BE MAGIC!? "(Great, now I'm bored AND confused.)"
The other hadn't made more than a dink! onto the floor. It even spun across the tile before toppling over.
"..."
"... hn-hn…"
Akaki threw his hands up with an innocent giggle. "Alright, you got me! Guess I was hoping you didn't understand ki control! Say, how about another? This one'll be good."
He pulled out two capsules. Popping and tossing one, he revealed a dumbbell.
"(... oh that's it, I'm gonna strangle this-)" WHAT'S THIS!? STUDENT AKAKI HAS DEPLOYED A DUMBBELL!? BUT… DO MY EYES DECEIVE ME!? WHY, THAT'S THE LEGENDARY 500KG DUMBBELL, FIRST LIFTED BY MARK SATAN HIMSELF! LEGENDS SAY THAT HIS BODY HAD TENSED TO SUCH A DEGREE DURING THAT MONUMENTAL LIFT, THAT HE SWEAT EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH HIS EYES FOR 4 DAYS AND NIGHTS RIGHT AFTER! COULD STUDENT AKAKI BE USING THIS TO INTIMIDATE HIS OPPONENT WITH A STAGGERING SHOWING OF STRENGTH!?
Despite the announcer's attempt at hyping it up, Akaki gave it three small, strained tugs before giving up. A bead of sweat dropping from his forehead, he shrugged and shook his head.
NO, I STAND CORRECTED! THAT UNFATHOMABLE WEIGHT IS OUTSIDE STUDENT AKAKI'S CAPABILITIES! "(You stupid twerp, even Yamcha could lift that crap! Whaddid ya hope to get with that, pity!?)"
Akaki popped the second capsule.
AND ANOTHER ONE SAILS INTO THE SKY! COULD THIS BE A MORE SUITABLE PROP FROM OUR FOUR-EYED FIGHTE-
A pillar of heaven. Nothing more could describe what he'd just deployed. Stretching for several miles above the clouds, the massive structure looked like a giant circle to the audience below, nearly the radius of the tournament stage as it began to fall.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" LIITA-MAN yelled, throwing up his hands in a gesture, energy gathering to his hands.
"Ho~old it, big guy. The 'prop' is just part of the performance, after all." Akaki began stacking several crates, before leaping atop them.
"(Now, any proper magician needs a fun phrase to cast his spell…)"
I-IT'S GETTING REEEEEALLY CLOSE TO THE ARENA, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!? C-COULD THIS BE SOME SPECIAL HOLOGRAM? AN ILLUSION THAT ONLY WE FEW INSIDE THE COMBAT ZONE CAN WITNESS!?
"Oh, no, that's very real. (Anyway, let's see… Papparapa~? Mmh… how about Alakazam?)"
IT'S GETTIN' PRETTY WINDY OUT HERE HEHE… THIS GUY'S STUNT IS SURE TO BLOW THE CROWD AWAY IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT, BUT UH…
"(Kamehameha? Hocus Pocus? Nnnh… how about Tletl?)"
ALRIGHT, STUDENT AKAKI HAS MADE HIS POINT LOUD N' CLEAR, HE CAN CUT THE ACT NOW...!
"(Masenkoooo… Sim Sala Biiiim… Wooo Qieeeee… hahaha, humans are fun. They make fun names.)"
OH CRAP I'M GONNA DIE HERE- Before the announcer could be blown skyward, he was clutched by a giant hand, and carried back down to the ground's "safety."
"THAT'S ENOUGH! WE'VE HAD IT WITH YOUR TRICKS, AKAKI!"
"(OOOH, it's settled! That one's got flair to it!)"
He raised his hands and cleared his throat.
"KHAOoo—S… AMPLECTOOO—R!"
Bright-blue muzzle flash flew from beneath his sleeve amidst a mechanical droning, toward the pillar that was now a few hundred meters away from the arena.
"(A gun…!)"
The longer the flashes maintained, the slower their target fell, and the weaker the winds beneath it became.
"(And for my next trick…)"
The pillar was now several meters from Akaki. From there, he let one hand fall from his arm and into a pocket. The other stood tall.
H-HE CAUGHT IT!? LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE SAME SHRIMP THAT COULDN'T EVEN LIFT HALF A TON IS NOW COMFORTABLY TOUTING A ROD THAT PUTS MOST MOUNTAINS TO SHAME! VIEWERS AT HOME, WE COULDN'T MAKE THIS UP IF WE TRIED!
With effort, he pushed the pillar up and off himself. In a massive pink cloud, it disappeared, and the tsufruian hopped off his carts, kicking them off the stage.
"(Not a bad stunt. Still, that did a number on your arm. Don't strain yourself too hard, m'kay?)"
Akaki chuckled to himself, before turning to his opponent.
"So you… You're a weapons user!"
"Well, I prefer 'magician,' but you're free to call me whatever you'd like. Besides, I'm far too weak to manage without one."
NOW THAT INTRODUCTIONS ARE OUT OF THE WAY, WE CAN FINALLY COMMENCE THE MATCH!
The announcer raised his hand.
… BEGI- GAH!
The announcer slammed his hand into the arena in a bootleg karate chop, his raspy voice springing out again. LIITA-MAN's focus snapped toward him.
"...! Are you Oka-"
A barrel kissed his temple.
He was immediately sent flying away, smoke leaving the barrel of Akaki's glowing gauntlet. LIITA-MAN smacked the ground, bounding back onto his feet before charging back toward the tsufruian.
"Are you OK?"
To Akaki's surprise, he returned to the edge of the stage where the announcer had begun rolling across the grassy floor beneath.
YEAH I'M OK, JACKASS, I'M A GROWN MAN! The announcer barked, teary-eyed. JUST FIGHT ALREADY!
"Mrm...! Well, if you say s-" he went, before another shot flew at the back of his head.
It hit water.
"(Huh?)"
Akaki limbo-ducked under a back kick, going into a backflip before the armorclad hero shot toward him. Bare punches and kicks flew in his direction, and in a similar manner to the first match's winner, he dodged in their path, like moving as an effect of the attacks without suffering the force and pain of the cause.
"(They're heavy. Heavier than you can take head-on. Stay on your toes, find his 'pattern'.)"
"(My attacks… they're slowing down, just before the moment of impact!)"
LIITA-MAN pulled back, only to accelerate far faster than he was ready for, throwing him for a loop and off balance. Plasmatic gunfire lit up the night sky, riddling the superhero as Akaki charged in. The impacts gradually became splashes during the charge, as LIITA-MAN recovered.
"(As we know, normal water shouldn't be able to stop those rounds…)"
"LIITA—AAA..!"
"Tch..!"
"RAIII—N!"
A horizontal torrent of droplets, more like a liquid wind tunnel than a storm, shot toward Akaki, drenching him enough to hinder his visor and push him back, alongside a good few tiles that'd been ripped out of the ground.
"(They're annoying, but offensively, they're nothing… it's a distraction.)"
A flash of light crossing his visor and turning the lingering droplets to vapor, Akaki's wrists lit up with a ring of holographic plates, and he blasted away the assault with an invisible force, only to find LIITA-MAN absent from his position. A reflection in the glistening floor revealed his new location, his opponent coming down with a bus-sized sledgehammer.
"(Here's your first test in live combat, 'Multiplier Rounds.')"
"LIITA—AAA..! HAMMA—AA!"
Amidst the helmeted warrior's cries, Akaki crossed his index and middle finger in an X. Immediately afterward, LIITA-MAN felt a several-ton weight attach to his back mid-sledgehammer, abruptly speeding his fall.
"(Now, you're up-to-date on Suju-po, right?)"
Nodding to himself, Akaki raised a hand and, clasping the edge of his opponent's giant hands, sent them to the sky in a fluid crescent motion, LIITA-MAN crashing into the ground back-first with a thunderous thud that broke off most of the stage's right corner. All that had moved on Akaki was his arm.
"Oh, did you slip? That's unfortunate."
He looked down at his opponent, before pressing together his index and middle fingers, pointing them horizontally. A few droplets began to float off LIITA-MAN's suit, and he levitated a bit. Akaki threw back his leg, ready to get rid of him.
Akaki kicked a mountain.
"What?"
LIITA-MAN's mask glowed brilliantly, before suddenly touching back onto his feet thanks to a giant bubble that blasted the visored tsufruian back.
"(Did my GMGs malfunction? No, that's impossible…)"
"GRAVITY!"
At the word, Akaki's head rose to attention. LIITA-MAN pointed triumphantly as he prepped a speech.
"THAT'S THE SECRET BEHIND THOSE GUNS! THEIR ROUNDS LET YOU ALTER THEIR TARGET'S GRAVITY! THAT EXPLAINS YOUR FIELD, TOO, DOESN'T IT!?"
"... Congratulations, you've figured out the 'trick'. (Well… half of it, anyway.)"
"HOWEVER, UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, I HAVE THE ULTIMATE COUNTER! BY USING THE LIITA-LIGHT-"
"You can alter your mass and volume."
LIITA-MAN gave an audible gasp.
"It explains the growth in your hands, and why you became heavier when your weight should've been negligible via my weapons. But judging by the liquid you're using, and by your name… your hydrokinesis is a separate ability entirely, isn't it?"
"THAT'S RIGHT! THE LIITA-LIGHT ALSO MULTIPLIES WATER MOLECULES IN THE AIR! USING THIS TECHNOLOGY, THE LATE PROFESSOR N. D. BRANCH SAVED NAMEK FROM THE DROUGHT ERA! At least where I'm from…"
"... huh. So was everything until now a warmup?"
"I'M ALWAYS WARMED UP!" The blue lights across LIITA MAN grew brighter and brighter. "Until now, I've been conserving LIITA-FUEL so I don't run out of steam. But for tricky types like you, I'll need every DROP if I want to close the curtain on your act for good!"
LIITA-MAN struck a pose with a war cry, and blue flashes dotted the arena. From there, every tile began to grow several sizes, negating the lost space caused by the earlier attack.
"Hm-hm-hm. So I'm a trickster, eh? Does that make me a villain, LIITA-MAN?" Akaki asked, hands in his pockets as the tile beneath him expanded to the size of a house.
"Of course not! Even if I don't agree with it, not everyone is strong enough to fight without tricks!" LIITA-MAN responded, pointing as the tile beneath him grew to a building's volume. "That's why I'll need to go ALL OUT IF I'M GONNA SUPPORT MY OWN WAY!"
[ BGM: Yasunori Iwasaki – Kisei ]
The tile that the suited fighter stood upon broke, an azure outline now zooming toward Akaki, who bounded onto another before he could be hit.
"(He's given away his reliance on an energy source, the idiot.)" Akaki opened fire, yet LIITA-MAN barreled through it, jumping at Akaki with an attack that was promptly redirected.
"(Figuring out his 'pattern' didn't take long at all, to boot.)"
LIITA-MAN's attempts to strike Akaki were met every time with a slight dodge from the latter and slight loss of balance from the former. He even sailed over the gunman a fair few times, before catching his bearings and charging in again with blind persistence.
"Come on, LIITA-MAN, don't slip up on me now!" Akaki chuckled, periodically striking the armorclad hero's unguarded areas with a striking power that mirrored the latter's own.
"(D-DARN IT! THERE'S NO WAY I COULD BE THIS CLUMSY?)"
Suddenly and unwillingly flipping over Akaki, he landed on his feet and, the tricky gunman's grasp still firmly on his palm, sunk toward the ground.
"(I'M BEING FORCED ONTO MY KNEES… BUT THERE'S NO GRAVITY AT PLAY…!)"
"Is this all you have, LIITA-Loser? I've battled fiercer sea cucumbers!"
With another flash from LIITA-MAN's helmet, he shrank to the size and weight of a cucumber, slipping from Akaki's grasp and to the ground, bounding behind his foe and leaping up to full size in immediate retaliation.
"LIITA KICK!" he yelled, lashing out with a gigantic spinning roundhouse. But with the slightest movement from Akaki, he found himself spinning thousands of feet in the air. Plasmatic fire followed his ascent, battering him, chipping away at his health bar and dramatically slowing his descent, to the point of reversing it entirely.
"(Go on, up your mass. If you don't, you'll be taking 'out of bounds' to another level.)"
"(Things are getting heavy…)" LIITA-MAN reflected to himself, floating far above the tournament. "(I'll definitely get eliminated if I stay up here for too long… and with the announcer at risk, I can't use the LIITA-LIGHT at its fullest, but expanding my size and mass at all gives my foe the advantage. Wait… I've gotta think LIITA!)"
He smashed a fist into his palm. "(THAT'S IT! THAT'S HOW I'LL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS!)"
Like a meteor, LIITA-MAN reapproached the stadium, dive-bombing at the size and weight of a skyscraper.
"(Haaa~, he's huge! Still, if he thinks that'll work…)"
LIITA-MAN adjusted himself into a kick. Akaki smiled, and readied his hand, which briefly glowed.
"LIITA—AA...!"
Akaki's hands made contact with the mammoth boot, and with motions akin to a falling wave, he began to guide its path. But then it turned into more of an "elephant boot." Then a "hippo boot." Then a man's, into a dog's, and finally, into a mouse's.
"(Huh!?)"
The visored gunman dropped his technique and raised a palm in a panic. By then, LIITA-MAN had already coiled himself up.
"SCALE KI—ICK!"
The suited warrior sprang into base size with a leaping reverse kick, his heel careening into Akaki's face and sending him flying.
"NICE TRY, BUT ALL THAT'S GETTING VEERED UNDER MY WATCH ARE YOUR SHOTS AT VICTORY!" he shouted in earnest, one exaggerated movement for every two words. Meanwhile, Akaki – bleeding from his head and with a broken visor – slowly snapped back to reality.
"(Guess not every pun can be a winner. Anyway, he's a fast learner. You should be able to see just fine thanks to the contacts, but your kinetic readings won't be nearly as good as they used to be, so CQC is a Dead End. Speaking of, let's get a read on our 'HP' a—and…)"
84.25% to 16%.
"(That did a number… Try an amp.)"
After dropping his aura, green rings raised up Akaki's figure to the sound of a gear shifting and flesh splitting underneath his right arm. His eyes briefly rolled into the back of his head, and his teeth grit. All the while, his HP climbed back up to the 70s. He tried moving his right arm, to no avail.
"(Shoot, seems like that side-effect isn't going anywhere. Hopefully, it doesn't last the whole day this time, right?)"
He pushed himself off the crumbled tile and onto his feet.
"So you've finally figured me out, LIITA-MAN!" Akaki laughed back.
"(What the hell is going through my head, right now?)" he internally cringed. Chuckling to himself, a palm covered his sharded visor.
"(... c'mon, who didn't have a 'sentai phase' as a kid?) All the same, 'honest' hero… for one so against it, you relied on a hint of trickery during that last maneuver, didn't you!?"
LIITA-MAN gasped dramatically. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?"
"Really? Don't get me wrong, I LOVED your trick back there, especially the way it caught me unawares! In fact, there's SO MUCH MORE you could do with that 'LIITA-LIGHT' of yours! Smoke screens, suffocation by drowning, shrinking the limbs of your foes… the possibilities are endless!"
"CAN IT! I SWORE TO DR. BRANCH THAT I'D NEVER USE THIS POWER ON ORGANIC LIFE, NOR WILL I USE IT FOR EVIL!"
Akaki responded with a hearty evil laugh. "Is that so? In that case, let's put your convictions to the test! You'll witness the true extent of my 'dark tech' from here on!" A gauntlet slid open, and small robotic arms attached to and lifted the weapon atop it, granting the gunman a high-tech, handheld pistol emanating smoke with a fierce whirring.
"Now that I'd cast aside close-quarters, you'll have no choice but to lose yourself to the murky depths within your heart!"
[ BGM: CHAMY. Ishi, et al – Motochika Chousokabe's Theme ]
To his surprise, vast streams of water began to orbit LIITA-MAN's arms in shapes like jagged comets. "THERE'S NO WAY I'LL LET THAT HAPPEN, AKAKI! LIITA-LIGHT, FULL FORCE!"
"(This is the most fun I've ever had in… anything, by the way.)"
With that, the patch of land LIITA-MAN stood upon shot upward, blasting the armored hero toward Akaki's platform. With a single smack of his new crystalline armament, the tsufruian's structure disintegrated, its rider scampering higher up on levitating debris with his now-alight sneakers and opening fire in LIITA-MAN's direction. After split dodges and trying his own form of redirection via actual water (to no avail), he stuck out his hand like an arrow, aiming at his target.
"(WHATEVER HE'S SHOOTING, IT'S HITTING WAY HARDER NOW! STILL, IF YOU THINK I CAN'T FIRE BACK, YOU'RE WAY OFF TARGET!) LIITA—AA…! SHOO—T!" he yelled, firing a volley of rain-like beams that each varied in size, Akaki narrowly avoiding all that he could as he returned fire. Amidst the dogfight, the announcer – who'd suddenly taken the appearance of a rocket – closed in and gave commentary.
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, AS I RISK LIFE AND LIMB TO FOLLOW EACH AND EVERY DETAIL OF THIS MATCH, THERE'S NOTHING SHORT OF A HIGH-SPEED GUNFIGHT HAPPENING JUST-BENEATH THE CLOUDS! THE TWO STUDENTS ARE USING EVERY LAST BIT'A SCRAP AS COVER IN THIS LETHAL WATERWORKS SHOW, BUT THE ONLY THING THAT'S TEARIN' UP IS THE AIR ITSELF UNDER EACH AND EVERY SHOCKWAV- GAAH!
LIITA-MAN soon noticed the growing lights closing in from beneath him.
"(My arm's regaining sensation, but it's slow. Stall for time until then, m'kay?)"
A bus-sized tile smacked into LIITA-MAN, casting him even higher as Akaki gracefully hitched a ride on the many other moonlight-reflecting platforms ascending above the arena. Throwing himself back up, the shelled super-soldier soon stared his foe down the opposite end of a barrel, before sharply increasing the mass of the one he stood upon, dodging the gunfire above before decreasing mass, rising up again with a leap, and coming down on Akaki.
"LIITA-AA…! FIST!"
Leaping off the tile as it and the three beneath it shattered, the two again entered a brief, vertical game of cat-and-mouse as they scaled the floating structures, accelerated matter clashing with heavy droplets moving far-beyond lightning. Suddenly grabbing onto a soaring ledge above, increasing his size while dropping his mass, LIITA-MAN chucked himself upward; a fist the size of a city block soon loomed overhead.
"(... huh.)"
"LIITA FIST…! ULTRA—AAA!"
Akaki's eyes shot toward the announcer and a convenient piece of debris floating just above him. A shot then buzzed past LIITA-MAN, and a shrill screech diverted his attention.
"...!? LOOK OUT!" LIITA-MAN's hand shot out over the cowering rocket, carrying the tremendously-weighted debris; by the time his focus switched back to Akaki, he was already behind him, holographic plates gathering around both his gauntlets as they pressed against LIITA-MAN's back. A great, low POW! shot through the area, and the suited hero shot into the ground, chipping off more of his helmet.
"(That was close. Any higher, and he'd've been in the clouds. Who knows what he could've done with that much-)"
A light gathered below, and Akaki swiftly evaded the ensuing ray.
"That was new."
He looked around, noting his higher elevation post-blast. He was only a dozen meters from the clouds.
"(... he wasn't aiming for you.)"
The sound of tons, upon tons, upon tons of water gathering above him caught his attention.
"(... holy shit.)"
He raised a gauntlet with one hand as a pistol in the other split open, preparing to launch himself to the ground, only for LIITA-MAN to slam into him with a shoulder. After Akaki's resulting few seconds spent unconscious, he awoke drenched and airborne. A hundred meters of water sealed him from returning to the earth that was now beneath an ocean in the sky.
"ULTIMATE LIITA-MOVE: LIITA-PRISON! NOW, I DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT HARMING CITIZENS!"
Akaki smirked, sweat falling from his forehead. "(This is the portion where the Hero unveils a technique that the Villain has no answer to and wins, right?)"
"(Should really drop the stupid cartoon villain act, right about now…)"
"(... meh, why not ride out this wave before it dies?)"
Just as he said it, a dozen different constructs shot from the water all around, sending him on the run with LIITA-MAN hovering above all the while.
"LIITA-SHOOT ULTRA!"
Darting through the air, pillars of condensed water began to branch off into separate streams, cutting his turns off and driving him into another massive liquid beam. Darting below just as the masses collided, he then weaved through massive droplets thundering down at speeds dwarfing lightning, only to find himself falling into an enclosing of bubbles the size of a city.
"LIITA-BOMBA—AA!"
Bolting toward one as they closed in, he bounded off it and through a tight opening between them before they could explode, the force of which blew him back uncontrollably across their new battlefield.
"(Your right should be all patched up by now.)"
He confirmed by making a fist. Just as another water pillar flew toward him, he guided its trajectory around and back to LIITA-MAN, who-
"LIITA-CUTTER!"
-split it down the middle and jumped toward Akaki, cutting off his path with a crystal-like water fist, only to take a shot in the face, sending him across the seascape. Lowering his gun, Akaki's breathing grew haggard.
"(We've been at this for far too long, I'm getting spent. I need new options. Now that you mention it… It's not like I could do so in any offensive manner, but I could use all this water, as well…)"
Leaping into the air, Akaki shot the water beneath him, making his "minus" hand gesture as the entire battlefield began to shift, its peaks rising to heights that dwarfed tsunamis.
"...!? He can use water, too?"
Redirecting the flow of water in tandem with his "X" hand gesture, the titanic tidal crashed into the sky-ocean, turning it into a valley of waves. With that, he lost sight of Akaki.
"I see you're finally using your abilities to their full potential, LIITA-MAN! Especially your cunning use of sneak attacks!"
"What!?"
After a tide passed him, he suddenly took a shot to the back of the head, causing a stagger.
"Oh yes, that tackle of yours was most certainly a devious trick worthy of even myself!"
"Why you…! Show yourself!"
With a number of crashing waves, LIITA-MAN took repeated fire. One got him in the visor, leaving a window for his eyes and bits of his green skin.
"Don't feign surprise this late into the game! Why, I'd go as far to say you've been using tricks all along! A 'Hero' truly after my own wicked heart! MUWAHAHAHA—!"
[ BGM: Kazuo Nobuta – Ransen (1:02) ]
"(Using the LIITA-PRISON against one foe weaker than myself… maybe I HAVE gone to the darkness…! Still, this guy… he's willing to endanger citizens in order to win… I… might have to go back on my word to Dr. Branch…!)"
"I'M ENDING THIS!" LIITA-MAN suddenly leapt into the air and, balling up, began to grow larger.
"(Thank goodness… I'm nearing the end of my rope! These things take a toll after a while.)"
And then, an oddity: Akaki became attracted to LIITA-MAN.
"(... oh, so that's what he's up to.)"
Everything became attracted to LIITA-MAN. In a sparking glow that bathed the land, he was approaching levels of size akin to a mountain, with many more times the mass; in that department, he was closing in on the moon.
"(His own gravitational pull… That's just ridiculous…!)"
Mass growing ever-larger, LIITA-MAN began to shrink in volume, slowly returning to his original height. He then thrust out both his hands, returning the water of the clouds back to their floating state; however, something in his hands came into view.
"(That's…)"
It had an unearthly glow that brightened the night sky more than the moon could hope to. Around it, three small, swirling masses in their own orbits. Its nucleus was composed of six stationary orbs; three red, three blue.
"I can't allow the LIITA-LIGHT to lose to someone so dastardly, even if it means sinking into the darkness for a moment. SO I'LL USE EVERY LAST ATOM IN THIS LAST ATTACK!"
LIITA-MAN was holding an atom the size of a cat. Many more began to crop up around him, as a thick, sky-blue light isolated the massive particles.
"(Of course my shields can take a nuclear blast, that's effectively bare-minimum, but… how much more energy could so many of THAT size release?)"
He held his chin, starting to chuckle to himself. "(In tandem with the ki he's adding, that's enough yield to pop a planet if left unchecked… All things considered, that WOULD test the limits of my skin barrier, therefore win-or-lose, I'd still have all the specs I need to focus on upgrades. Plus, I had my fun, so I suppose I'm content with this ending here. And so, the Hero confronts his darkness and overcomes the Villain, and kids tune off with the important moral that-)"
IT SEEMS THAT OUR COMIC FIGHTER HAS WHIPPED OUT SOME KINDA ULTRA-MOVE! HOW WILL THE GUN-BLAZING MAGIC MAN RESPOND!?
Akaki hurriedly looked over his shoulder. The announcer looked back.
What?
"... WAIT, LI-"
"LIITA—AAA…!" A swirling stream of pressurized water cleaved through an atom, its neutrons triggering a massive chain reaction that LIITA-MAN condensed and shot as a…
"BE—EEEAM!"
He whirred around to the announcer.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – The Brave ]
"Scum of the cosmos, you naked ape!" he snarled, before darting toward the giant beam coming toward him.
"(WELL, THERE GOES MY FUN LITTLE DIVERSION! IF THAT MORON GETS CAUGHT IN THIS, THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH ASH LEFT TO SPOIL A DRINK! DAMMIT, IS SHIFTING SOMETHING THIS LARGE EVEN POSSIBLE!?)"
Approaching closer, he began to understand just how hot the beam was.
"(Great galaxies, I can feel that from here! You'd burn to a crisp if you tried touching it without focusing on shields, and if THAT happened, BOOM! The hell's someone named 'LIITA-MAN' even DOING with an attack like that!? Why can't sentient life just leave nuclear reactions alone!? Is it THAT hard to stick to your damn ki blasts!? ENOUGH! THINK, DAMMIT!)"
Gears shifted. Figuratively and literally, as he unequipped his pistol.
"(My gauntlets toy with gravity, and with a gravitational field strong enough, you could redirect just by rushing past it. But the best I can do is raise and lower a preexisting grav force's effect on a target, not create one out of thin air! And I can't repel something of this magnitude, so… So that means…! AKAKI YOU STUPID ASSHOLE, YOU DIDN'T PREPARE FOR THIS!)"
His boots blasting him off via anti-gravity, he himself boosting via his gauntlets' repulsive gravity, he approached the side of the blast.
"(Too large to repel, huh?)"
"What brings you to me, young man?"
"... I wanna be strong."
"... then you've come to the wrong dojo. I can't create strength, at least none rivaling the Saiyans."
The boy had heard enough, rising to storm out.
"However…"
The old man smirked.
"I CAN show you how to use 'preexisting strength.' How's that for a compromise?"
"(One fluid motion. Complete control of the flow of power. One shot, or he'll die.)"
In close proximity to the beam's range, the visored villain stopped abruptly.
As he did, LIITA-MAN finally heard the shrill screaming of the announcer.
"WAIT… THAT'S AN INNOCENT DOWN THERE!" The hole in his helmet revealed an eye wrought with despair. "DARN IT, I CAN'T STOP THE ATTACK!"
"(Full Raise. Can't move while the shield output's at maximum, so pick the moment to act.)"
The blast's star heat had no effect, for a moment.
"(Remember; if you start giving out over the unrelenting agony of being microwaved, just remember this is all that space hick's fault.)"
Finally, the blast began to pass him.
"(NOW!)"
The shield's efficiency dropped, allowing Akaki to move while burning like no tomorrow.
"(DON'T LOSE FOCUS…! CALM RIVER…! WE FUCK THIS UP, AND SOMEONE DIES…!)"
"Ho—OOOH!"
Like light around a black hole, Akaki diverted the beam's flow completely, all the way back around to LIITA-MAN himself.
"GH…!"
And the beam consumed him.
"HE SAVED THEM…!"
After a while of the beam traveling, Akaki slowly turned himself around, smoking all the way. His coonskin-esque ponytail having fallen into a long mass indistinguishable from a woman's hairstyle, he managed a half-assed Ginyu Force pose.
"Evil Prevails, I guess."
An explosion that dwarfed the moon, visible from space and casting a black shadow across Akaki, ensued.
"(Please use that last amp… before you fff—fucking die…)"
HP replenishing from 0.4% to 30, Akaki descended over to the stammering announcer, grabbing his hand before he could fall from the deteriorating floor of hard water.
"Huh... so you're swine. Of course you're swine."
Further up, LIITA-MAN weakly unguarded himself. The beam absorbed and nullified radiation by default, but the heat and sheer might of a countless many warheads still slammed him, enough to show bits of his broken, zapping circuits. He noticed the announcer – who'd turned into a pig somehow – being carried down by the same man painting himself as a villain.
"The LIITA-LIGHT loses this one… but not to evil."
He began to fall; Akaki shot him a few times, both sealing his victory and ensuring the hero would have a feathery fall.
"(If nothing else, that was a decent field test. Had to risk far too much once the tech let me down, however. Get back, markups will be made, and we'll test them in the next exhibition.)"
A half-smirk tried its best to break through Akaki's stern frown.
"(... heh. Y'know, it didn't feel half-bad. To be the 'Hero' for a moment.)"
[ ED: Pay Money to My Pain – Weight of My Pride ]
ST-STUDENT AKAKI MOVES ONTO THE QUARTER-FINALS! WITH THAT, THE FINAL PRELIMS ARE WRAPPED UP! Oolong yelled, clinging onto Akaki's arm for dear life.
"Would you save it for the ground, you undercooked ham roast?"
"Attention, Time Patrol."
Kaset and Ayeva bounded up the stairs.
"Moments ago, we lost three of five Z-Rank patrollers."
Stroga awaited them on the top, and the trio made their way into the time nest.
"On top of that, Towa has resurfaced after years and is now running rampant, in tandem with the countless other active criminals and ongoing anomalies across spacetime."
Arriving through the portal, they found at least fifty patrollers in the same boat. A good dozen were completely spent, one clamoring onto another dark-smoking time scroll as purple blood seeped from their biomask.
"At this time, all patrollers are to remain on high alert. Things are about to become more hectic than they've been in a while, and as such, your strength is needed more than ever."
Kaset pried the scroll out of their hands after a small struggle, giving it to Ayeva and helping the wounded patroller onto his shoulder and to the door.
"We're entering an era where limits are going to be pushed to the brink. At this time, we, as a patrol, need to break past them. If we can restabilize history, find Towa, and stop her once and for all, then it'll be worth it in spades."
Returning, the three held the scroll.
"That'll be all."
With a flash of light, they were gone.
Trunks crashed into the seat behind him.
"Coming at us will be at least ten-fold the amount of crap the patrol has had to deal with since Mechikabura's sealing."
"So as a leader, do you think we're prepared for what's to come?"
"... at this rate, only time will tell."
Vegeta opened the door, hand still stained in magenta.
"Then unless you're content with waiting, commander, up with your sorry hide. There are battles to win."
Trunks steeled himself. With a nod, he accompanied the Saiyan prince.
"Right. Let's move."
YO! OP Here!
February and March were some trips for me, I tell ya h'wat. For one, I'm gonna do some reserve shizz with the USMC in order to fill myself out, so if I disappear for 3 months, that's just boot camp.
I've also learned a lot more about my own flaws as a writer. From both my Creative Writing course and just reading back through my own story. I read some of it and just end up confused at points, as in, "yo wtf did they mean by that", or "they did what?" as well as noticing out-of-place words (actual editing mistakes) and really, REALLY over-complex sentences that just smack me with a headache. Also, it's obvious that the first chapter's le cringe (I was 16), but damn. Ew. It's alright to spot inspiration from things I like, but I gotta focus on Dragon Balling. Or something like that. Whatever, I'll go back and address that in time.
Anyway, yorokobe, shounen-fanfic consumer. A double upload cometh upon ye. Won't lie, both of these chapters are favorites of mine (I SPENT HOURS RESEARCHING SPARSE PHYSICS SHIT FOR THIS ONE AND DB ONLINE/HEROES SHIT FOR THE NEXT, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT DAMMIT), so I'm glad I made them when I started having my flaws pointed out to me.
Again, thanks for all those that've stuck with me through this journey. Means a lot that people see something in this beautiful mess, and I wanna finish this at my best, no matter how much I stumble.
Now that the sappy stuff is outta the way, I almost like Akaki now. A gun wielder is a neat addition, and screwing with gravity + Aikido is something fun to work with. That was reeeally basic, but yeah. Based Gaslighter Akaki, ending the post-prelims. On his opponent, yup, LIITA-MAN is a Namekian cyborg, arguably less broken than Gero's models. Arguably, you see what he can do. Anyway, that Doctor N. D. Branch guy is a Nudibranch pun, and the LIITA-LIGHT is pretty much my nod to the Getter. Or GETTA rays. Yeah, again, this chapter was a bitch to research, but the final product was a blast. Yup, one last pun.
Ranking of Kings is really good, lol. So's Fantasy Knockout. Just wanted to say that. I got to read Vol 2 of 20th Century Boy at WSU's library, too, that shit's ill.
So, next up? not sure, but I've set up some groundwork, so I'll work with the characters before the quarterfinals pop off and Neo and Mei commit attempted murder.
Shoutout to Ukraine and Russian bros. Don't give in to this shit.
Alright, that's about it. See ya next match.