[ BGM: B'z ‒ Into Free ~Dangan~ ]
Battle Twelve: Kora Vs Akaki!
"... how long have you known that I was a demon?"
"Ever since I met you."
The "saiyan's" eyes widened, before narrowing. "... and I suppose you were just that curious of a devil's 'taste', all along?"
"No."
"... then you were simply seeking a battle?" The demon propped herself to her feet like a ghost, hints of her true form showing through enlarging teeth, hardening muscles, and claws from merging fingertips and nails. "Are you so arrogant that-"
"Stop jumping to conclusions." Tsurai picked himself up from his relaxed, laying posture. "... Before you could sink your teeth into my neck, you hesitated. Why is that?"
"..." The demon bit her tongue, as if too revolted to say.
"Is it because… I've endeared myself to you?"
Purple flushes of shame enveloped her face. "CUR!"
Tsurai smiled along the ground. "Good. You're more beautiful, the less Saiyan you are."
The demon looked down at him as if he were a fresh corpse. "YOU… Why do you say such things now?"
He turned to her. "Forgive my impudence. If I hadn't entertained your ruse, I wouldn't've been able to draw so close to you. That's why I've concealed myself with each dusk, until now. I wanted that hesitation, once I laid with you."
"... you've been trying to TAME me, boy?"
"I've been trying to woo you. As one does with one who captures their fancy."
"... All this time, I allowed myself to be led on by an upstart with an above-average life force…!" Twisting tendril-like lesions reverberated across her body, and her ghastly true form – horned, clawed, fanged, four-armed and musclebound – stormed toward the saiyan that'd begun to stand up. "It's high-time I stopped playing the waiting game and devoured you!" She pinned him to the ground once again, the idea of her bottomless hunger being sated by such a rare mortal compelling feral saliva from her jagged maw.
Tsurai simply stared.
"... well?"
His audacity drew even more anger from the demon, an overwhelming, unworldly aura bursting into the sky as she glared through his soul.
"... here." The saiyan then put a finger down his collar, pulling it aside. Starting from his neck, a quarter of his flesh was exposed. "Consume this portion of me, if I've driven you so mad with hunger."
She shook, her mouth slowly parting as they reciprocated a gaze.
"What's wrong? If you're hungry, eat. I won't fight back."
Her scowl became one of what seemed like desperation. She lunged down at the saiyan, and her mouth landed on his lips.
"Truthfully, I'm a Demon Goddess."
The two stared at each other.
"You harbor no trace of regality. You sound defeated, even though you could very-well tear me apart. You hardly believe it yourself."
Her false bravado corroded the longer he held his glance. "That's just… Demon Realm has… different-"
"You're making things up on the fly and stumbling on every word." Tsurai chuckled gently. "A goddess with no faith in her word…"
"Shut your face, mortal, lest I murde- devour you."
.
.
Tsurai chuckled again. "You can barely make up your mind on threats..." He looked her now-fuming form over. "Tell me. Why did you return to 'this'?"
Her long hair drooped over her eyes. "It's all I can do to reach some form of splendor. Saiyans behold me and view me as a goddess. But in my true form... amongst my kin... I'm just a mediocre fool who can hardly lie to a mortal."
Tsurai licked a wound. "Odd. That form is hideous."
"H-hideous!?" She squealed in nigh-hysteria, grabbing her arm. "Is this not the epitome of beauty, in the eyes of a saiyan?"
"It is. That's why it's hideous."
She slowly understood and turned away, saddening. "... So you find no pleasure in your own species?"
"Not a trace. Its prosperity sickens me. Its idea of joy angers me." His fists balled as his face visibly veined. "I want to see it all crumble. I want the ideals they harbor and tout with 'pride' to be thrown back at them with enough force to shatter their every bone. But I look upon your real form and see something beautiful beyond words. That's why I need you."
She glanced back at him, recoiling. "You think I would join you on some mad crusade against a planet just because I find you… more than tolerable?"
"I've said no such thing."
She aggressively turned. "Then stop speaking in circles and tell me what you want!"
He went up to her, and pulled her into an embrace.
"I want to start a family."
[ BGM: Kuniaki Hashima – Float Flower ]
Their child was born the next day.
"Kazikum."
Tsurai looked up. "That was fast. Don't I get a say?"
"You've already decided his destiny," Shankuha replied with a coy smile. "I will decide his name."
Tsurai turned his head with a small scowl he hoped she wouldn't notice. Shankuha giggled. "How adorable you are when you're mad!" She held out his child. "Hurry. Hold your son!"
He looked down at him, then turned fully. The child didn't cry, only staring at the larger being in front of him. Tsurai, almost timidly, reached out and held the child. Shakuha let go, and he lifted him to the sky. Kazikum made an "aba," and Tsurai immediately brought him to chest level.
"He's perfect…" the saiyan whispered, eyes enamored by the small, fragile form of life. "This is… this is my son."
Kazikum then bit his nose. Day One of birth, and he had fully functional razor-sharp teeth.
"DAAU—GH!"
Shankuha laughed as her husband flailed around, attempting to pry the half-spawn off. "He's OUR boy, dear!"
Tsurai yanked him off and lost a bit of his flesh. Kazikum munched it and swallowed, before gagging. "And to think, I feared his spirit weak!" He laughed. "No, no this will do!"
Years passed. When Tsurai wasn't hunting or fighting his own secret battles against the saiyans to delay the then-inevitable, he was reinforcing his family's bond. Kazikum watched as his dad defeated wandering demons, roving saiyans, and colossal native beasts. Once he came of age, he sparred with his father every day. He'd even seek his own battles with the adversaries of his father.
And every day, from the day he was born, Tsurai would remind his son of the evils of the saiyans. He'd take him out to a safe spot and have him witness the way they lived — their violent, savage, wasteful lives on low, and their egotistical, vain, uncaring lives above. He taught him how degenerate, how horrific, how volatile and self-damning his accursed species was.
"Pops, can we go home now? I'm sleepy."
"B-but you'll miss how the elite scoundrel takes life for granted as he has the lower-class child exe-"
"That's okay. We can see that some other time, can't we?"
"YES, BUT THAT'S PRECISELY THE... oh, climb on my back already."
Kazikum never cared much for it.
"But how?"
"Dear, you've force-fed the boy. He's grown so accustomed to the taste that he's accepted it as a constant." In her true form, she giggled as Tsurai's heart visibly sank. "Must I spell out the answer after all this time?"
His head sank into his hands. "... I've damned him."
"It's not at all your fault. Saiyans are simply bone-headed, battle-mongering creatures, of which complex emotion eludes. It's a trait that fascinates us demons."
"... then what can I do…?"
Shankuha lost her smile.
"... how badly do you want to undo your own species?"
"... more than anything."
"...even your family?"
"What?"
Shankuha looked at him blankly. "You can't have your perfect hero, dear. But you can still create a monster. Simply take from him all that he values and leave him with rage. He only cherishes two on this planet, after all."
His eyes widened in horror. "I… HOW COULD YOU SUGGEST… No! There has to be another way!"
She shook her head. "There isn't. Not anymore, I'm afraid. Unless, of course, you cast aside this silly ambition altogether. You would still have your family, after all."
Tsurai's irises shook violently in his eyes, as if gnats trying desperately to escape their cage.
"That would mean, of course, allowing this all to take its course. I doubt our boy will be strong enough by then to change anything. So, then. What will you do?" She stared at him. Her posture was intrigued, as any demon would be by mortal anguish. Yet all that inhabited her face was sorrow.
"... pops?"
He stared down, as did Shankuha.
"I got something really big today!" He stretched out his arms. "THIIIIS big!"
"... that's…" he slowly sank into a squat, ruffling Kazikum's hair. "... that's wonderful, my son."
"Kazi dear, run along now. Pops and Ma are talking about boring grown-up things."
Kazikum looked dejected, before seeing the sternness in his mother's face; she was just a bit scarier when she had horns. "Okay…"
Shankuha looked back up at her husband. "I've only given a suggestion. After all, you've decided to shape his destiny this far already. What happens next, I accept. I am, after all, an above-average demon realm dweller, with no desires of my own. My life only little value away from you two."
After a long pause…
"Don't say such moronic things…!" Tsurai turned and left.
"Are you done talking about dumb grown-up stuff already? Kazikum asked, his father now walking side-by-side with him.
"... Kazikum," Tsurai asked with a dead expression. "What do you wish to be when you're a grown up?"
"I don't mind. I guess… once I get bigger, I'll fight even bigger stuff. Like you, pops!"
"..."
Tsurai stopped himself from breaking down. "... that's wonderful, my son."
Kazikum smiled. "I don't really care as long as you two are there!"
Tsurai suddenly picked up his pace. Kazikum tried catching up. "HEY, POPS! I CAN'T GO THAT FAST YET!" He picked up speed. "HEY!" But before long, he vanished up a mountainside.
"(I… I'll be nothing different… if I'm to do something so horri-)"
Tsurai stopped himself near a darker crevice, his feet digging into the rock.
"(... that's right. I… a Saiyan.)"
He covered his mouth. "(There's… no… better… option.)"
Standing, he faced the lower world, the destructive bursts of energy from his forever-warring kin visible from the mountaintop, as demons from below slowly crept up from the dark caves.
His expression hardened.
A few days passed.
"... you waited for me."
Shankuha stared back with a smile, in her saiyan form. "Of course."
"It's a foolish question. But have I placed you under that much dread?"
"Demons need no sleep, dear. I simply decided to wait for you to choose. See? I've even taken the form you loathe so much."
"That makes no difference, you fool."
"Kazikum is sleeping in the next room. He should wake soon." She eyed his face, and her sly smile warmed. "Ah. At last, that charming conviction has returned to you. You've made up your mind."
"I have." He approached her.
"Might I be privy to your decision?"
He said nothing.
"... Oh, splendid, a surprise. Well then, I-"
She was suddenly embraced in a kiss.
"—I, a wicked, horrible Saiyan, will now kill you. Simply because I am a Saiyan."
"—Stop talking," she smiled. "You'll look weak in front of our son, should you steal my life as you weep."
Tsurai nodded in her shoulders. Shakuha pushed him away and gave him her neck.
Kazikum woke. For a minute, he only stared up at the wall. Over and over, he tried to recall what'd happened after having revealed to himself how much of an imprint his old man had left on him and losing himself. The only clues he had were select moments of consciousness between that point and now.
He recalled Dina's pleading face, hands on his skull. Then her face turned feral, an enraged fist suddenly flying into his face. He couldn't remember anything after that — only Wabi, and what he'd promised him. It was then washed away by a big red sparkly cat, and from that, here. It felt like he may've missed and punched himself, and the cat was a hallucination or a mental allegory for something.
Looking over, Dina was asleep. For the first time in a while, she looked peaceful. Faint scars lined her arms, like branching arcs of lightning, and her hair had changed — jet black around the top, gradually tapering out into her original golden-brown, with each color interweaving with each other in the middle, in long strands.
He had no idea how she managed to jack himself up so badly, but he knew it was due to his actions. He left the bedside, and approached her, stroking a strand from off her eye. She flinched in her sleep with a pained whimper, and he pulled away immediately. The demidevil scrutinized his hand — noting how abhorrently close it was to his father's, now in more ways than one. His anger had long-since subsided, and he'd been left with lament. His innate longing to kill his father remained, but it had reached a point where the grip around his neck had begun to spread, throttling those around him who he cherished.
"... Stay out of my way, dumbass," he whispered sadly. "I'll stay out of yours." He pulled away his eyes, opened the door, and-
"Hey Softie, how's it goin'?"
.
"Who the fuck are you?"
The tall saiyan in minimal and flashy armor flinched. "H-hey, stop kiddin'! We just had an awesome fight, didn't we?"
.
.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Archi, stupid! Archi!"
.
.
.
"Who the-"
"AAH, JUST FORGET IT!" Archi relented, smacking his face with the side of his fist. It reminded Kazikum of someone.
"Oh. You're the moron I killed."
Archi felt an anvil drop onto his head. "WE-HE-HELL," he recovered, "Turns out I'm a bit harder to kill! See, when I was in that coma you put me into, I got to confront my inner demons, speak with my first mentor, and ultimately achieve a higher level of power thanks to the greater understanding of myself and stronger way of life that I've learned to accept!"
"That sounds fucking retarded."
Dina made another, pained groan. It sounded vaguely enraged.
Kazikum looked back with a hurt glance, before closing the door behind him. "Now what the fuck do you want?"
"What kinda question is that? Rematch!"
"No fuck off"
"AW COME OOON!" Archi howled in despair. "We can't just let something as epic as our fight go unsettled!"
"I'd just kill you again. You can't even change your fucking hair."
"I can now."
"What?"
"Wanna see?"
"NO YOU FUCKHEAD I DON'T!" the demidevil yelled, guarding Dina's door. "I couldn't give less of a shit, anyway. I'm never fighting again." He looked down at his fist. "... any time I crush someone, any time I use someone… it's just him. Still using me to do his bidding, even here. So I'm not dragging anyone down with me on my way to killing him, least of all any more saiyans." He was less opening up and more talking to himself aloud. "And when I do, I sure as fuck won't do it as his saiyan mutt. I have to do it as a demon. I won't use a thing he's given me to do it. Never again."
"... but that's dumb. That sounds really dumb."
Kazikum snapped back up. "Fucking what?"
"It's the first time I've able to say it without fearin' for my life, but… that's just a really, really dumb way to live, man."
Kaz looked intent on fixing that, but held by his vow. "... fuck you."
"Hey, think about it!" Archi planted himself on the wall, arms crossed. "You're modelin' your whole life in a way just to get one over someone you can't stand, instead of… you know, living however. Doesn't that mean that 'him' guy still has control over you, just in reverse? Especially if they're nowhere near ya. I mean, the guy's been dead for, what, how long now?"
"Not the wording I'd use, but yes, I've a vested interest in that answer."
Archi turned. A saiyan with a trident-like bang cluster approached them, clad in ancient armor and with a hand carved clean through in three black spots.
"Hey, you're the guy Kora beat!" Archi exclaimed, earning ire from the new face.
"And you're the fool who had his skull caved in."
"I sure am!"
"... I can respect the spirit, if nothing else." Renchiru refocused on Kazikum, who'd distanced himself almost immediately, guarding Dina's door with a wistful look about him. "Demonkin. In your battle with the one behind that door, the environment changed to that of Planet Sadala's, if that blackened sky is anything to go by. That makes you very, very old, as does it raise several questions. Most important of which, your stake in the war that spelled the beginning of the planet's end."
Kazikum lazily glared in his direction, then back inside the door. "War…?"
"Someone of your ilk would doubtlessly accompany the Wicked Saiyans, yet not only are you HERE, you possess the Super Saiyan state. Factoring in your youth, crushing any idea of you being the first Super Saiyan, that leads me to my next question… who was your father?"
"A fuckface."
"Personal grievances aside, who was he? Really?"
"... Tsurai," he spoke with venom.
Renchiru's eyes widened. "... what kind of man was this 'Tsurai'?"
Kazikum decided to relent. He really wanted to lay it out to himself.
"... fucked if I know. He never shut his yap about how horrible and backwards saiyans are, how someday they'd send the whole planet up in smoke, would always take me to see them do whatever they did and force it down my throat how every little step they took was blighting the fucking soil… but then we'd come home, and he'd flip his switch. He taught me how to hunt and fight, and helped mom with lessons and meals. He ate with us, laughed with us, joked back and forth with mom… they'd spend hours just talking to each other about weird shit I still don't get." Kazikum stared to the ground, as if he'd break down. "... he was happy."
Archi bounced in. "What'd he do to make ya hate his guts, then? 'Cause he kept you away from other saiyans?"
"Because he killed my mother and vanished. There wasn't any rhyme or reason, back then. All he gave me was that saiyans were evil fuckers who did shit like that when they got bored. I didn't give a shit. All that mattered to me was tearing him apart. If any shitbag got in my way, I killed them. A lot of shitbags got in my way. All of them just happened to be saiyans." Kazikum clenched his fists, as his jaw stressed. "I only see now that he was using me as get-back for whatever petty bullshit he had with his own people… the moment I gave up on the fucker and tried starting over, even with the planet left a smoldering pile of fuck, he came back and crushed what little I could scrounge together, insisting I kill him too…"
He caught himself before any further emotion could slip. "I want his life. And I want a good fucking answer from his mouth, not my guesses. I wanna make him answer for what he did to the people who loved him, and I'm gonna do it my fucking self," he bellowed as red and black ki soldered around his body.
"... holy shit, dude. D… D'ya need a hug?"
Kazikum punched Archi in the face before he could get any closer.
"OK got it!"
"This man of such contempt..." Renchiru scowled, as if berating himself for reaching. "Did he ever mention… other saiyans who shared his cause? Five, specifically?"
The half-spawn calmed down, having been reminded of a pleasant memory for once. "... Five's the answer to a 'How Many Saiyans to Start a Fire' joke mom made once. Old man got uppity and went outside after it, looked hurt. Why?"
"... did he… ever mention any names?"
"HAAA!"
Devine's flying kick was side-stepped, leading into the vain saiyan changing course with the ground, briefly erupting into a riptide of blows — and yet, as she noticed, she wasn't getting a single one through her opponent's defensive wall. She bounced back and strafed around her foe.
"I just think it's... SO quirky... how good you are at... not getting decked in the schnoodle, by the by?" Devine exclaimed, her inquisitive tone serving no purpose.
"Schnoodle...?" It took Kora a moment, one in which she fortified her guard in case Devine planned on weaponizing confusion. "You're talking about my defensive way of fighting, right?" Her pride had been audibly stoked. "Of course it's good. I've spent years fighting people stronger than me, so I've had to perfect it. It's unbreakable, the way I am now."
The proclamation got Devi giddy enough to charge back in. "And it's like SO YOU, too! Like, no other saiyan acts this way! It's totally badass!"
Kora, in more ways than one, tensed. "Huh? C-come on, I'm sure there's plenty of other..."
There really weren't. Not on Planet Vegeta.
She narrowly parried a kick and clumsily stumbled away from the subsequent overhead hook, in a fairly un-Kora manner. "I mean I... just had to adapt to different circumstances. That's all!"
"Yaa, but, there's none'a that spunk-tastic tingly look from you when you dive in. I mean, Gepra has it, Suchi has it, Dina's got a TON of it, but you're WAY more chillax. 'Cept when you're mad though, but that kinda poofs away after a-"
"YOU'RE WIDE OPEN!"
Devine bashed the fist aside with an elbow strike. "Um, or maybe not?" she excitedly taunted back with a tinge of anxiety, before barraging Kora with a series of core punches ‒ each one accompanied by an "ATA!" ‒ and ending with a phalanx fist to the face that sent Kora away. Even Devine was shocked, though she didn't harp or question it.
"YAAAAY!" she pumped her fists. "I finally tagged you!"
The Vegeta-native ran a finger across her cheek, finding a thin line of blood inching from where the Earthborne saiyan had struck.
"Not gonna lie, you totes jumbled that one up, girl!" Devine gave her a hand. "We've GOT to run that back, flukes are totally la..."
A face like a black hole, glazed over with vacant eyes of contempt, stared back.
"Uh...!"
Kora caught herself. "Sorry, I spaced out. Sure, let's..."
Kora stepped forward. Devine stepped back.
"... yeah, what the fuck was that?"
"...?"
Devine stepped back once again, more on-guard than usual — usual being, never.
"A... gain, I just spaced out, it's not a problem. You hit me in the head, remember?"
"Not hard enough for that." Devine glared. "Only crazy people get that mad over one loss."
Kora approached. "It's not that I lost, Devi, I just-"
Devine jumped back. "...Get help," she said almost mournfully before quickly stomping away.
Kora stood alone.
She couldn't bring herself to get mad at the false claim, harsh words, or even ‒ as stated ‒ the loss. She simply felt defeated.
"Hhh—..."
It was due to watching Dina's rampage that the malignant thought had resurfaced. She'd seen the purest display of the Saiyan ideal as a whole, a boundless battle lust unrestrained by attachment and acting on only the strongest, most feral of emotion, the likes of which would incinerate any lesser being from within. Yet it knew no hate, no grudge, no sadness or fear... only the mindless thrill of combat. The saiyan perception of nirvana.
"That feeling..." She recounted its appearance on Devine, a weaker saiyan that almost got off on battle. It had appeared even... no, after what she'd seen, especially on Dina. It was a fascinating constant reflected across all with saiyan blood. She'd known it. She'd felt it. And yet...
—It was stupid. Pathetic, even. A regression from all she'd learned over the past years in Conton, betrayal of her own, strengthened drive. And yet...
"(Why can't... I?)"
She shook her head. "(Because I'm just not 'there' yet. There's nothing wrong with... with needing a different trigger. I'll find it in time.)"
"(I can think of it after I win, once I'm finally a patroller.)"
"HE'S THE SON OF THE LEGENDARY SUPER SAIYAN!?"
"... try... again..."
"HE'S THE SON OF A GUY WHO HUNG OUT WITH THE LEGENDARY SUPER SAIYAN!?"
Renchiru stared. "... That's as close as I'll allow you to come." He turned to Kazikum, who looked spaced out. "I never fought alongside him directly, but Tsurai of Stone was a prominent figurehead in Sadala's Great War, and a member of the Six Righteous Saiyans. I'd say his belief in a peaceful future for the saiyans burned the fiercest of us all, perhaps even more than Yamoshi. At times," Renchiru looked off with a frazzled glance, "Worryingly so... and yes, such a storm of ill-willed bloodshed drenched the planet during that turbulent era that those of demonic origin were drawn to it like honey, residing throughout its darker continents. Some of especially high caliber took interest in our unmatched capacity for violence, and bestowed the worst of us with power to rival the Super Saiyan. Even..." He went somber. "... even legends."
Archi's head lowered. "... so that's how he lost."
"Wah."
Renchiru glared at Kazikum, but it seemed like he'd been verbally making his way toward him, regardless. "In the primary course of time, Tsurai was killed after entering a berserk fit of rage, after Yamoshi's fall. His macabre dying curse upon the saiyan race, in fact, ends many recordings of the war. I fully believe him to be the breed of madman to use demonkind against the very saiyans that won by their hand. And while I've heard of, and seen, demonic saiyan hybrids born of dark experimentation in the past, especially concerning a certain enemy of this patrol..."
[ BGM: Kuniaki Haishima ‒ Than One ]
He analyzed Kazikum's softened posture and face — he lacked the gruesome malformations typical of experiments. Without his anger, he instead carried a devil's effortless, otherworldly physical charm.
"One born of a union between saiyan and devil... that's a first, to be certain. No wonder you were such an effective weapon. Love is an unfathomably potent strength in either being's hands, should their heart ever know of it. Let alone a birthed mixture." Renchiru palmed his cheek. "How he captivated a demon will forever remain a mystery, I fear. You're all the proof there is of that man's feat."
"Feat my ass. I don't want anything to do with him, or his blood, or his memory or even his fucking species. I've already come too close to the shit that motherfucker's stepped in."
Archi groaned. "... so that's why you're gonna hold yourself back for the rest of your life? For a petty reason like that!?"
"Fucking PETTY?"
The bushy-tailed saiyan stepped to his spike-tailed counterpart. "You don't get it! Instead of stepping ahead, you're just lettin' the worst of the past grab you by the balls and hold you in place! You keep blabbin' on about your old man, but at the rate you're goin', he's just gonna wind up plottin' out the rest'a your life!"
Kazikum had prepared a harsher-than-usual Shut The Fuck Up Punch halfway through Archi's prattle, but the last line cut his explosive wiring.
"... then it doesn't make any difference what I do, he's damning me either way. I bring others into this shit, and I'll wind up falling down his road. I cut my ties, and he's still paving my path." He'd cut into his palm without realizing. "If there's nothing I can do, then I'm better off going it alone before I find a way to drag him with me to-"
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – Fist ~From the Worthy Tiger With Love (0:25 – 0:49) ]
Archi wound back.
"YOU DUMBASS!" he roared, clobbering the half-spawn across the hallway. "STOP GIVIN' UP JUST 'CUS IT SOUNDS EASIER!"
"What... tHE..." Kazikum began to charge back, thoroughly pissed off. "... FUCK ARE YOU-"
"YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN, ASSHOLE!" Archi roared again, uppercutting Kazikum into the ceiling.
Renchiru felt an "inexplicable" shiver go down the back of his spine. "(... where have I seen that before…?)"
He watched him hang for a bit, then put his fists to his hips. "Look. If you're too scared of what could go wrong to even try, then of course you're gonna stay miserable. It's not like you can't break the hold your pops has on you, ya know? It'll take time coming to terms with all the junk that's happened to you, and gaining control of stuff like Super Saiyan, but that's a given for anyone." He scratched the corner of his lip. "It's a lot to ask, sure, but it's only after going down THAT path that someone gets real power. Not sticking to your guns when you know it's wrong, or killing everything that made you, you. That's somethin' I picked up from Jakima. And Namekians, Humans, other Saiyans from history. Like, uh... you."
He looked inside the door. "Who says you can't spite your dad by living the way you want, anyway? Learnin' more about what saiyans can be, with a badass saiyan rival, and a smokin' hot saiyan girlfriend. Eatin' tasty food, makin' all the friends you want, startin' fights and getting stronger without anything to hold ya down. Doesn't that sound better than any of the gloomy junk you're throwin' out there?"
Kazikum finally fell from the ceiling, it giving way to his supernatural mass.
"..."
Wabi and Dina came to mind, as they had beforehand. The value they placed on him, and how much of a damn they'd given him about something that wasn't a justified patricide. It was a feeling he hadn't felt since he'd met a bone-headed saiyan without a name.
It felt nice. Nice enough to give him pause.
He slowly picked himself up, as Archi approached him.
"Get on up, rival." He outstretched a hand. "After all, I wanna be the one to beat yourself up."
Kazikum looked up at him.
"... tch."
He took his hand, and then they both slugged each other in the face.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – Fist ~From the Worthy Tiger With Love (1:01) ]
"THOUGHT YOU'D GET AWAY WITH KICKING MY ASS, FUCKFACE!?"
"JOKES ON YOU, I KNEW I WOULDN'T!"
"THEN YOU'RE READY TO FUCKING DIE, THEN!? GOOD, I'LL FIX THAT!"
"GOOD LUCK, DUMBASS!"
Renchiru watched as the two lightly mauled each other.
"(... Battles born in competition, ending in iron bonds...)" He smiled. "(If nothing else, that dream of yours has been realized here, Yamoshi...)"
Akaki walked past them.
/"There's no need to beat yourself up over this."/
"I know."
/"Even if there was an arguable point during that transformation where you could've ground everything to a halt, the fact that everyone made it out stronger, and with a better understanding of themselves, means that you made the right call."/
"I know."
/"I never thought I'd be caught dead saying that, but... it's just a fact. I was thinking differently in the beginning, but no, you turned out to be correct — letting things play out, allowing the students to keep fighting as long as they've got the spirit and the means? Turns out, it's working! You did great, and the exam is meeting its end goal."/
"... I want pay. I don't wanna keep doing this without pay."
/"... alright. That can be done."/
"Good." Pan hung up.
She drenched her face in cold water. Every visceral detail of the prior match was still burned into her head. So she gave up, cleaned her face, and left her apartment.
"YOU...!"
[ BGM: Norihito Sumitomo – Unfair ]
Her head snapped to the source of the oncoming engine. "A-Ayeva-"
"I've seen enough of this sick bloodsport you're calling an examination!" The android sped toward the ref, who'd begun backpedaling on the spot.
"Wait, I-" A guilt-loaded finger aimed for the head. "How could you just stand there and allow a CHILD to MURDER HERSELF as a DEMON ATTACKS HER!? Just what the HELL has gotten into you!? Into ANY OF YOU!?"
Pan cringed, her eyes trying their best to seal themselves shut before finding the traces of resolve to reopen. "They're being trained to become PATROLLERS, Ayeva! We're no longer in a time of peace, so we NEED them to become as strong as possible! Even if... even if we have to allow certain things to transpire, if it allows then to break past their limitations without risking their lives, ANYTHING has to go!"
"They're ALREADY risking their lives! They're killing each other!"
"They're solving their own problems!"
"THEY'RE CHILDREN!"
"AND SO AM I!"
"AND THAT'S HORRIBLE!"
Pan suddenly stopped, as sparks flew from Ayeva.
"You can't justify your suffering just be because it's made you stronger," Ayeva maintained. "That exact same pain robbed you of a childhood. Even now, you're shouldering responsibilities that NO ONE your age should be... why would you want to see that happen to others your age? Over and over, they're brutalized themselves and each other, opening scars that weren't ready to be healed... by Chronoa, Pan, you're using their trauma against them! This is..." Ayeva began overheating, coolant flowing from her eyes. "This is crossing a line we can't come back from...!"
The next words to fall from her mouth twisted her stomach inside-out.
"... but it works..."
A biological automaton was giving a humane, emotional argument, and her response was the epitome of robotic apathy. Pan wanted to vomit.
"That's enough, Ayeva."
A woman in a bubble ponytail and dogi approached from behind, drawing both women's attention.
Pan identified her. "Videl..."
"I get where you're coming from, but you can't pin this all on her."
"That's correct. Even still, nothing stopped her from making calls capable of stopping a match at any time."
"And every time, the fighters chose to keep pressing. It's not as simple as you're trying to let on. And the students aren't as immature, either. It's their fight, and unless they're physically unable, it should be their decision whether or not it ends!"
Ayeva's eyes darkened. "... as long as it's their decision, right? If someone's left irreparable... if they die... if they regret the choice made for the rest of their lives... then it's fine as long as they made the choice, right? You let children throw tantrums that end in mind-numbing physical and mental pain, but as long as the result is stronger, then devil may care?"
"I... I didn't say that..."
"It's what's happening. It's what you're defending. And after what YOU'VE done with it, you're the LAST person I want to hear talk about teenagers making such choices!"
Ayeva's collar was snatched, though she didn't move.
"SAY THAT AGAIN."
"No. You heard me just fine the first time I said it."
"Now you're the one crossing a LINE YOU-"
"STOP IT!"
Pan sprang in-between the two.
"There's no duty for me to watch you two gore each other. Please act your age."
She gave a light push, and both women skid back, marking the concrete.
Pan stood up. "I have to go narrate bloodsport now."
Ayeva held out her hand. "Pan, wait, I... I'm sorry, I just-"
"It was Dina, right? You're right, I should've stopped her." She turned to the human. "Thank you for stepping in."
"Don't mention it. I'm not just gonna stand there and let my daughter get chewed out."
"... you already have a daughter, Videl."
"Is it so greedy to want two?"
"No, but..." Pan gave a dead smile. "You're still here. My mom's been dead for eight years."
Pan eyed the ground of the arena in a thinly-veiled anger.
"(I'm only here to make sure they don't kill each other. But no matter how much pain comes before that point, if they're still willing to fight, and they have the means, then I have to force myself not to intervene… right?)" Her grip around the mic tightened. "(... Who cares if it works, if the cost is seeing other kids tear themselves apart?)"
She reminisced over the moment Dina nearly flatlined after merely activating her fusion of magic and ki, and the numerous times afterward in which she did.
"(Dina's my age, and yet… what's my problem?)"
And then she reminded herself. Dina's surefire, convicted smile, after Pan herself had steeled her spirit to kill the boy who'd irreversibly lost himself.
"(... yeah. That's it. I just wanted things to work out. So I threw caution to the wind, and let her try. Both are alive, because of that. But… if not for that miracle in the medical bay… they'd both be dead right now…)"
She tensed.
"(... I wasn't wrong. I couldn't've been. But all that I have to vindicate myself is chance. If things were just a bit different, if someone was a bit late, I would've killed them both. The right choice was killing one of them. But-)"
"Uh… excusez moi?"
Pan shook herself out of her head. Beside her was one of the next competing students. "Sorry for the scare, I just couldn't help but notice that dour way you hold your head. I mean, sure you've got a job to do and all, but… jeez, you sure've seen a lot in so little time, haven't you?"
"... that's no excuse. I've seen worse."
Truthfully, she wanted to say aloud her own turmoil over possessing the power to stop the more gruesome areas throughout the tournament, and yet, how every time, she'd-
"What? Please, don't undersell it! It's bad enough that you have to witness this stuff up-close without the luxury of being able to look away. But every prior moment in which you've seen worse, you've had some degree of agency, I'm sure?"
…
Pan stared at the ground.
"And here, all you can do is prevent us from killing each other. There's no longer any metric of 'too far.' I mean, we're literally allowing demons to raise hell now! Goodness me, there's really no line we haven't crossed outside of murder at this point, and even then, last match was a hair away. It's a good thing clinical death is reversible, or we would've lost someone."
Pan glared at the ground.
"And yet through all that senseless bloodshed and disregard for life, you're given the expectation to come here, put on a smile, and document each graphic detail with an excited holler. That hardly seems any fair. I mean, how good must the pay be to willingly put up with that?"
Pan burned a hole through the ground. "... I'm not being paid, right now."
Akaki gasped. "That's downright criminal! Maybe it's the love of the work that keeps you going, but… I can't imagine that love is still there, not anymore. The real tragedy is, everyone's getting stronger through these ordeals. Which means despite this torturous show we're all enduring… the method works. Right?"
Pan looked at the ground.
"Say… I think you need a break." Akaki pointed toward the microphone. "After all, I'd never force someone in your state to introduce a fight with enthusiasm. I'll take that burden from you, at least for the opening."
—She could go one stupid match without her stupid intro. None of them ever fit, anyway.
"Go ahead." Pan handed Akaki the microphone.
He gave it a basic test before clearing his throat away from it. He then hummed continuously from notes C1 to G10, and inhaled.
[ BGM Hideki Naganuma – Blind 2 See ]
wwwWWWELCO—ME, ONE AND ALL, TO THE FINAL ROUND OF THE 'RULING IN ETERNAL STRIFE ENSURING TRIUMPH' MARTIAL EXAM TOURNAMENT! IF IT AIN'T BROKE, AMIRITE!?
Akaki ran over to a corner of the arena.
IN THIS CORNER, WEIGHING AT LEAST 2 KILOS, WITH A POWER LEVEL OF ALSO AT LEAST TWO, MAKE SOME NOISE – PREFERABLY SNAPPING THOSE SMALLER APPENDAGES OF VARYING SIZE – FOR THE ANTAGONIST OF THIS STORY'S CHAPTER, AKAKIII—!
Pan folded her arms with a pessimistic smirk. "('Antagonist of the story's chapter', huh… that's fun…)"
"He got taller."
Katlij looked over. "What do you mean? Hasn't he always been that size?"
Neoru shook his head slowly, as if already second-guessing himself. "Nah, he's usually like a head smaller. Unless tsufruians hit growth spurts outta nowhere, something's up with that little dickhead."
Mashii gave Neo a look. "I think you're looking too deep into this."
"WAIT, NEO HAS A POINT! HE WAS SMALLER WHEN HE BEAT HIM UP!"
Neo creaked his head over to the voice.
"... the hell did you get here?"
"Five minutes have passed. You are just an oblivious fool, as always."
Neo creaked his head over. Again.
"Why the hell are EITHER are you even here!?" Neoru barked.
"I wanna get to know how my next after-you opponent fights!" Zinco replied.
"I want to see that pest be ripped apart," Mei answered.
"(shit that's botha my reasons)" He turned around. "Aaand called it."
"I-I was just kind of dragged along!" chirped Kaza, waving her hand back and forth dismissively.
"(you're just here to make sure she doesn't kill him)"
"Apparently, you are not as oblivious as you let on." Mei's eyes narrowed. "The little rodent has sprouted."
Zinco nodded. "He used to be this big," he went as he put a flattened palm to his chest. "But NOW," he insisted as he raised it to his shoulder, "He's THIS big!"
"Uuuuh yeah, what he said."
Mei stared. "(they are right, but if I agree with them, I will sink to their level...)"
Mashii giggled nervously. "Um, ok, can we drop this weird height thing? It's getting kinda uncomfortable..."
Katlij scratched his chin. "Actually, they might have a point."
"YOU, TOO!?"
He sweat. "Yes, it's an odd thing to point out, but I remember specifically because of an exchange I once had with him. He's otherwise an elusive guy, but I remember it clearly..."
"Sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you alright?"
"Heh! Don't worry, I'm used to it! World's just not made for little guys like me!"
"Hey, no need to say such things!" The two shared a laugh.
"Y'know, it's funny. On my home planet, I'm actually freakishly tall!"
"It couldn't've been more than two months past. It's possible that he could've just grown even more, sure, but..."
"OH-ALRIGHT ALREADY! LET'S STOP SCRATCHING HEADS OVER POINTLESS THINGS PEOPLE CAN'T CONTROL!"
"I refuse!"
Mashii pointed at the pouting Mei. "CAN IT, SHORTY!"
"UAA-!"
He did a spin and outstretched his hand toward the saiyaness in the distance.
AND IN THAT CORNER…! WEIGHING IN AT UHHH I'LL SAY 150 KILOS-
"TRY AGAIN!"
WHELP, YOU HEARD HER! WEIGHING IN AT HMMM 83.86KG, WITH A POWER LEVEL OF 8 GAJILLION – POWER LEVELS ARE BULLSHIT ANYWAY –
Ayeva desperately shook a rec drone and made unintelligible noises as Videl and a now-present Tarubei looked on.
SHE'S THE PROTAGONIST OF THIS STORY WHO'LL UNDERGO UNTOLD MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ANGUISH BEFORE ULTIMATELY SMITING THE HEARTLESS VILLAIN WITH (X) POWER UP, E~VERYBODY GIVE YOUR ALL FOR KORA!
Tarubei excitedly shook a crumbling rec drone and made unintelligible noises as Videl and Ayeva looked on.
Archi suddenly burst through the door. "YEEEEEEAH!"
"WHAT THE FU-"
"THE BIG, DUMB ONE!?"
"HOLY SHIT AREN'T YOU DEAD!?"
"I GOT BETTER!"
"I'M YELLING, TOO-"
NOW, WILL THE TALE PLAY OUT AS INTENDED, LEADING TO THE HEROINE OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES BEFORE HER AND OBTAINING A SUPERPOWER BEYOND BELIEF? OR WILL THE MYSTERY-VEILED VILLAIN TURN THE TABLES AND CLOSE THIS EPISODE WITH A TRAGICALLY-UNFORESEEN 'TO BE CONTINUED'!? ALL THESE QUESTIONS AND MORE WILL BE ANSWERED… Akaki cocked his hips and pointed the mic at Pan. NOW!
Pan chuckled, taking it from him. "OK, Mr. Bad Guy, that's enough fun for now."
Akaki winked. "Of course, Ms. Storyteller! This next part is all you!"
Across the arena, Kora glared daggers. "(So that's Akaki. The only student to surpass my score on the written evaluation, and the only one with a 100, to boot.)" She folded her arms. "(I didn't get to see him fight, but from what I saw in the preliminaries, he's good at turning his opponents' moves against them. And also…)"
She watched Akaki laugh alongside the announcer before turning to her. "(The way he talks to people… it's slimy in a way I can't put to words…)"
WITH ALL THINGS SAID, AND WITH AN IMPECCABLE CHARISMA I'LL SAY, ALL I CAN ADD IS… BEGIN!
Kora readied a fierce, defensive stance.
Akaki walked casually. He stopped two meters away, and there was a brief staredown.
"Oooh. That's a shocker, a defensive saiyan."
Kora twitched, just enough to be seen.
[ BGM: Mike Shinoda, Joseph Trapanese – Drug Lab ]
"Wait, I get it, you've seen the way I fight. It's a sound strategy, standing there to counter my breed of martial arts. Honestly, it's not a style suited for a tournament at all. Still, that ultimately begs the question,
"(How the he-)" "How the hell did this shrimp get as far as he has without a valid offense?"
Kora's eyes briefly gaped, just enough to be seen.
"Well, I'm glad you asked. See, tsufruians and saiyans go back a ways, I'm sure you know. And while some of the best of us managed martial arts like my own," he went on, shrugging with his head to the ground, "our main method of attack has always been the good ol-"
He tilted his head outside of a flying fist. "So you figured it out."
"(He was in the middle of talking… and that punch was everything!)" Kora pressed further, only for Akaki to maneuver around her with ease.
"(He's keeping up just fine…!)" It reached a point where the tsufruian was literally walking around, over, and under her strikes.
Akaki threw out his hand during one of her punches, forcing her back. "(His ki isn't nearly high enough to contest me as a KID, never mind NOW!)"
"Yep, that's another thing. See, I can up my own speed, like both of our former human competitors. But because I don't breathe Earth's air, and am therefore not braindead, I established countermeasures to ensure I don't skid across air friction." He tapped his skull. "Workarounds."
"Tch. Thanks for the tip."
"Don't mention it, you looked like you needed one."
Kora grimaced, before preparing a ki blast with his name on it.
"Oh no, my only counter, whatever will I-"
"SHUT IT!" she demanded, shifting her aim from Akaki to the ground beside him. The blast fired, and Akaki leapt away without so much as a scratch.
"(That type of martial arts doesn't work without stable footing!)" Kora affirmed, meeting Akaki halfway with a punch prepared.
"(Is probably what she's thinking, but no worries, Suju-Po is very versatile. Here, try this.)"
Akaki grabbed her flying fist. The soles of his shoes ignited, and after a threefold orbit all around, Kora was thrown, catching herself with a backflip. "(Dammit!)" She blasted him with rapid-fire ki blasts, and Akaki stood perfectly still; one by one, each blast exploded, leaving a cloud of dust. The saiyaness waited in place for a sign of-
"No, it didn't work."
Kora lashed out behind her with a backhand punch, and Akaki sent her away in a spinning mess across the tiles.
"I'm fairly certain Suju-Do is before your time, so I'll give an in-depth demonstration so you learn from your mistakes," Akaki taunted, before Kora's scowl projected a kiai. Akaki stood there before a sky-blue series of nonagons covered his body briefly, he himself unmoved. He let out a breath, before hopping over a grapple attempt that led into a point-blank seiken.
"(Sudden, significant spikes in speed. Scary, certainly.)" He veered to the side, two of his fingers guiding Kora past him and off-balance. He wiped off a cut. "(10tothe10th, huh... This will be a bit more of a confidence exercise than I would've liked. I'll make it up later.)" Kora turned her gaze like a starving beast eyeing prey. "(Uh oooh, she picked up on it.)" Akaki sneered for a moment, then recomposed his ever-present small smile.
"(THAT 'EXPLOSION' WORKS!)" Kora focused, preparing more of the sudden split-second punches as she burst toward her adversary.
He proceeded to dodge each one. Casually. "(What!? Dammit, why!?)" She got behind him and fired another, only for Akaki to grab it and send her heel to the ground in agony. "Where'd this… weight come from…!"
"You."
"GRR…!"
She blasted the arena floor with the ball of her foot, before channeling energy within herself, preparing a destructive wave.
"Oh. Yeah. How I got this far."
"HAAAA-Ah-"
A gun barrel then invaded her mouth.
Akaki opened fire, and Kora sailed. The announcer stared in shock.
… only for Kora to get back up, fine. She hacked up smoke and a tinge of blood, but her "HP" read 99.5%.
He waved his weapon. "Plasma!"
Kora grinned. "And I was scared of THAT? Maybe if I was still a child, that'd work."
Akaki frowned, looking at his weapon. "Mmmyou're right. Maybe I did make this a bit too powerful." "(Oh, hush.)"
Kora's ill-mannered smile disappeared. "Just how much control do you think you have, you overconfident jerk!?"
Akaki shrugged. "I mean, I only need to shoot you 199 more times."
"I'd have to stand there and let you!" Kora fired a beam that Akaki bent and redirected to the sky. His foe immediately descended upon him mid-redirection, only for him to dodge — however, she gave it no further thought, and unleashed everything at once.
What followed was a bright, burning dance between a skilled gymnast and a lion. Akaki began triple-tasking, avoiding bursts and beams of ki across the ground and through the air, redirecting and evading Kora's physical assault in the process, all while alternating between his stasis field, weapons and hands. He soared over and under his foe with a sleek, effortless ease as his hover boots activated and deactivated, hails of gunfire raining all around Kora from every direction. The saiyaness's sense of gravity and direction were being stretched and distorted past their natural limit — her idea of overwhelming the tsufruian had been thrown right back at her. Adding on his idea of finishing touches, Akaki grabbed Kora's hand in her failed attempt at a blast, flipped over her with palm flow-point in hand, used the momentum and her own ki to throw her over his shoulder and – just for fun – 0G-ing her into the air before 400G-ing her into the ground, his weapon hand aiming down.
BANG!
100%.
65%.
Akaki pushed back his dark-blue hair, wiping sweat in the process. "Oh, goodness…" he sighed. "I'm really being put to work." "(It wouldn't be much of a demo if you weren't, would it?)" He watched Kora slowly, surely pull herself back together in a seizing, gasping mess.
"... bastard… your gun can alter gravity…"
Akaki nodded. "It's also why I'm able to 'predict' your attacks. And why my stasis field works wonders. It's all just gravity and antigravity, going back and forth. No promises, of course."
He watched her slowly stand up, ever-so slightly resisting the 400G-shift. "And you're already beginning to adapt. Ever-so slightly, those saiyan cells of yours are rebuilding themselves through trial and error, working to conquer the challenge in front of you. That's what I like about you all."
Kora's face scrunched. "What are you… talking about?"
"Rambling."
The saiyaness fell again, only this time on a fist. "If you're going down 'that' road, then just drop it already. The conflict between the saiyans and the tsufruians was a product of both species' failures." She glared. "If you'd just seen us as equals, we wouldn't've ever thought of conquering you!"
Akaki stared at her and sighed. "That's quite the leap. Is that what you've been taught?"
"It's what… I've STUDIED…"
"Well congrats, it paid off. You're right. Well… in one aspect, anyways." He turned to Pan. "I'm gonna get a bit long-winded, so just try to remember this is all a bit. Is that alright?"
The announcer shrugged. "That was the entire first match, just don't kill anyone."
Akaki thumbs-up'd, before turning back to the still-struggling Kora, smacking his hands together. "Alright, informal lecture time. Since you don't have any note-taking gear on hand, feel free to scribble along the ground. I know saiyans love their stone tablets."
"YOU LITTLE… CREEP…"
He chuckled. "Anyway, I'll have you know the conflict between our two damned civilizations could've had as many slight twists and turns as it wanted. It still would've led to the same outcome — mutual destruction, or a victor. I'll say it right now. In the grand scheme? It's a GREAT thing your people conquered mine."
"... what?"
[ BGM: Takafumi Wada ‒ Xiao Kuang Juan ]
Akaki slowly spun around. "Oh, don't play dumb. Just LOOK AROUND you! All of this was orchestrated in COUNTLESS ways by saiyan perseverance. We're being ADMINISTRATED by saiyans, as we speak! They're the greatest thing to happen to space-time as a whole and, sister, I can NOT say the same for my own. Now, why IS that, exactly? How could one species have such a tumultuous impact on that grand scheme?"
He raised a finger. "It's because you're always changing, and yet, you NEVER change."
Kora could now stand on a knee. "Oh please, do go on," she growled.
"And give you more time to prove my point? Oh, with pleasure, Mademoiselle."
"Fuck you."
"I don't swing that way." Kora veined up as Akaki strolled about. "As I was. It's the same reason why I can't blame what happened to the tsufruians on, really, anyone. Yep, we're ALL exempt from guilt, and you know why? Because we're all just cosmic actors, playing out our cosmic roles in this cosmic theater."
Akaki and Kora eyed each other. Only one laughed. "OO-HOH, oh, oh man, that LOOK-" Akaki's stupid fox laugh forced Kora's foot forward. "Alright, I'll fix my phrasing so I don't sound COMPLETELY like a comic villain, the bit falls apart when it lacks self-awareness. What I mean is… to conquer, to fight, to war, break, crush, and all that. It's a part of you, a part... THE part, of the saiyan. Everything you do, everything you say, it's just a means to satisfy that innate desire, that urge, that LOVE for it. No matter how one paints it, no matter how one tries to bring it justification, things like that are… just an illusion."
Kora grew subtly, ever-so notably irate.
"And that doesn't make you special or inferior, either. EVERY species has their part. For Musai, oh that's a great one. For them, it's isolation. To remain at the top of their own mountain, in one regard or another. Power, wealth, knowledge, it has to be them and them alone with that surplus. For Namekians, it's stasis. Retaining some sort of cycle or routine. Ajisa? Immortality? It's all the same. Even boundless beings like Majin take the role of indulgence once they develop a 'conscience.' If they want a certain feeling to keep flowing within them, then it doesn't matter what it takes, they'll chase after it. Food, affection, all that."
Kora tried playing Akaki. "... and Humans?"
It worked. "Contradiction. Nothing but contradiction. That's all." Akaki shrugged, retaining his teensy smile. "But the fact that you asked for backwater heathens before my own kind tells me you're trying to gain a mental advantage, for some reason. But I'll tell you now, you're not playing to your own strengths. See, to be manipulative, conniving, backstabbing pieces of shit, that hog all of their findings and advancements from space at large… that's the tsufruian's role. Cowardice and exploitation."
"(What the hell...?)"
"When it intertwines with Saiyan barbarism… well, needless to say, it can't. There's no coexisting. Try and try and try as you may, it just isn't possible. Tsufruians will continue to keep secrets, and if they find out Saiyans might be privy to them, then they'll try taking back what's 'theirs' by force. Saiyans will continue to strive for power, and when they notice Tsufruians owning things that could be taken by force, they'll… do just that. We're just living out our parts. Yeah, I think I like that analogy the most. Actors with parts pre-determined by something as simple as a rock being in a certain position, billions of years ago. It's no fair, sure, but once you accept that fact, life gets easier. Nice mine, by the wa-"
As soon as he said it, he went up in an explosion. Kora's initial sneer turned to anger once the result was made clear. "YOU… DAMN… ROACH…"
Akaki slowly moved out of his self-imposed stasis, taking a long exhale as the shield vanished once more. "It's weird that you keep trying to outwit me. You know for a fact that isn't your role, and yet you're weirdly insistent on playing it. You've been insistent for a while, now that I think about it… no. No, that isn't it. Saiyans naturally adapt to changes of circumstance, don't they? This face of the diligent, studious young woman is just that — a means of adapting to and conquering a new environment. But it's pretty obvious from here how easily that veil's lifted."
Kora had begun growling in a seething rage. "SHUT… UP…"
"See? All you need is a little push. For someone as transparent and insecure as YOU, it's as easy as asking a question. For example, why aren't you a Super Saiyan yet?"
Kora's eyes slowly sank in despair.
"... Wasn't quiiite rhetorical, you know. Don't worry. We've got a while."
Akaki waited. "... she's gone internal, hasn't she?"
Pan glared uneasily. "You're starting to push it..."
Akaki gave a reassuring smirk. "Please understand, all great actors push boundaries, especially villains!"
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Luster. (Dream-Luck REMIX) ]
The environment slowly changed. The tsufruian looked around without so much as a raised brow, as if a forecasted shower had finally hit.
"Ahhh... Planet Plant, after the saiyan takeover. Tragically drab and void of decent architecture, as always. Though none of you are architects, are you? Whatever provides shelter until you're ready for the next battle, right? Man, I wonder what's proccing those memories right now."
A young elite laughed. "As if someone of mid-class ilk would ever be able to realize the legend of the Super Saiyan! Hush, you insipid little urchin!"
"Is it… classism?"
"Hearing a woman speak of obtaining such delusions of grandeur is grating." The older instructor folded his arms, inspecting her. "Reconnaissance suits you better."
"Or maybe it's sexism? Oh, oh! How about expectations? Someone else's?"
"Still so weak, after all this time?" Gomubo hissed, checking up on her from on high. "All your talk, and THIS is all you have to give? You've got some nerve, talking of Super Saiyans." He spat, leaving his injured little sister to fend for herself. "I'LL be the one to kill Frieza and shut that damned old man up!"
"Your own? And somehow, some way, you blame yourself?"
"I suppose this sickly wretch is what holds you back?"
"WAIT! I'VE CHANGED MY MIND! I-I'LL JOIN YOU! I'LL JOIN FRIEZA'S SIDE! JUST DON'T KILL HER!"
The tall, elegant right hand of the emperor advanced on the bedside. "Oh, don't say such ridiculous things. Even having her on your mind means you're not truly dedicating all your life to Lord Frieza."
"PLEASE! SHE'S ALL I… SHE'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!"
He smiled. "Exactly. If you're that preoccupied caring for this worthless sow, then I'll simply lift the burden… oh?"
And then, her mother lifted herself from the bed, taking a wobbly battle stance.
"Mom?"
"I agree completely. I'm only weighing her down. And just like the empire whom you kneel toward, I've been on borrowed time from the very beginning. Now come, dog."
He sneered in anger, before lifting his hand like a blade.
"... wait, wAIT, DON'T DO THIS, PLEASE I-"
She wasn't fast enough to stop what came next. The rain poured down, stemming off her eyes alongside tears.
"And somehow... some way... not even THAT was enough to take you to that coveted high? EVEN THOUGH it no-doubt took some Earth-locked girl without a QUARTER of your power, effort, or compounded suffering EVEN LESS to," Akaki stifled a giggle, "'Go Gold'?"
A fire suddenly lit in her eyes. One she'd once strove to replace, if not extinguish.
"RRRUH-HH!"
She rose her head viciously, shoving off the gravitational force with ease. Her aura fizzled and distorted, as her body shook, and pieces of the terrain slowly lifted into the air.
The clouds began to split and crackle, a storm from memory realized.
And finally, her aura exploded.
"NU-RRAAA—!"
All around Akaki, the environment descended into thunderous chaos, ripping winds sending the world tumbling in tatters before the beast before him. His shields withheld his inertia before the mythic gale.
He stared.
And then he smiled.
And then he grinned.
And then he leered.
"Al~righ~t." He spun forth a weapon, extended in full as one palm remained open. "(If either of us has ever had any doubts in this equipment, this'll send them scattering to the wind.)"
Revealed from the explosion was a different Kora. Her aura had become golden, yet her hair and skin had only bronzed. Her eyes had become vacant, as if rage itself had possessed her. What was more, her entire body was continuously quaking, as if an unstable reactor.
"(Since I've spoken all the peace I care to, setting the stage and all that, I'll be giving the 'headspace' to you for now.)" The tsufruian aimed down sights. "(In the meantime, prepare to fight a GRADE-A protagonist!)"
Kora roared, her practically burning aura flaring like ejections from a star's corona. She focused her burning, inconsolable inner fury on the vexation that'd set it ablaze in full, and she shot forward.
[ BGM: Eve ‒ Last Dance ]
Yo! OP Here!
I REEEALLY wanted to get out an AF chapter on April, but the central issue is that I want the Q-Finals to be wrapped up before this happens. Sadly I couldn't get that done, due to time constraints, indecisiveness, general movement in life, stuff like that. TBH, I chose finishing Kora vs Akaki. I don't really regret that choice.
Wanna know something funny? I GENUINELY got disheartened when I was drafting Ayeva's conflict. Like I actually looked at myself and went "holy fuck, what am I writing?" I'm glad I was able to bring up how screwed up the RESET-MET is at its core. It's not like I'm opening the dialogue of "WHO ARE DA WHEEL BAD GAIZU" because the actual "justice" faction might be covered in a whole different story altogether and Towa's gang is amoral as all hell, but it shows that the Time Patrol has no obligation to be a just force 24/7, as long as it can ensure time has strong protectors. Also shows Trunks's slight degradation over 8 years in the time patrol.
Oh yeah, Pan is around Dina's age. I forgot to take that shit into account in earlier chapters. Doesn't really matter, it's just something that I missed. Pan and Dina are prolly gonna be sisses by the semi-finals, IDK.
So let's talk about THIS chapter. I really liked the dialogue aspect of it, especially the beginning with Kaz's parents. Poor dude, Kaz.
And then Akaki. He's still a fuckhead, only now that I've finished Monster in its entirety, I can up that fuckhead factor x10. I'm actually pretty fond of his archetype, as am I with Kora's; both hyperintelligent, one blatantly true to themselves and unable to feel what others can, and the other a host of insincere masks, able to don whatever's necessary to bend others to their will. Fun dichotomy.
Ah, yeah. Here's the way STEP handles False SSJ:
Instead of the 25x multiplier people used to headcanon religiously on DA BATTLE BOAWDS (leddit lingo for the versus debate community), I'm just making it an unstable multiplier. It has a base of 10x as a harken to Ikari and bounces all around that range, sometimes winding up at 70x for seconds, if the user's able to push it hard enough. The aura also burns at the touch, a spiritual fire hazard. The cost is complete loss of self-control and also literally the slightest loss of anger or a semblance of coherent, focused thought shuts it down completely.
Before I cut this out, I wanna expose myself for a sec. This chapter took WAY. Longer than it should have. And you know why?
Well, before I explain, THIS is what I'd written beforehand:
[ "... Is that all funny to you?"
"Oh, don't give me that. It's not YOUR tragic fate, it's the exact same fate before it, and the one before that one, and the one before that one. It starts getting funny when you can map out someone's entire life based solely on the way they act." ]
And THAT was just an unfinished replacement draft. HERE'S the OG:
[ "... I guess you're right."
"... I'm sorry, what? I mean I know I am but-"
"I've been betraying myself. That's why I'm so weak." She lifted herself up, treating the gravity as if it were water. "I'm just a Saiyan. Down to my last drop of blood, as hard as I try denying it, I'm the same breed of evil Saiyan that destroys civilizations and conquers planets. I've been acting like I wasn't, for some reason. It's pathetic. As if I'm above anger, instinct and all that." Her face morphed into a deep, fanged grimace. "And right now, I'm being talked down to by a conniving little weasel from a species that I've already conquered."
Akaki sighed. "Here we go. The Dark Heroine arc."
Her ebony eyes flared. "My entire life… I've been living a lie. That's why I could never transform, why I kept letting everyone down, BECAUSE I'VE REFUSED TO ACCEPT WHAT I AM…!" Her aura fizzled and distorted. "AND ONLY NOW, AFTER IT MATTERS, AM I WAKING UP!" ]
Notice how I just SHOWED you my issue, instead of telling you? Weird. Almost like that works better instead of the DOG SHIT I tried to push out at one point. It's also a BLATANT rip-off of a certain game, but moving on.
I have a real bad habit of getting over-wordy when I'm drafting. Then when I'm done thinking the shit out and typing, I'll look at it and go "wait this is ass" and then do nothing but hate the draft for like 3 days (pretty sure it's because I don't wanna undo all that work and start over, cus I'm bitchmade) before I take action against it. I hate how slow my writing process is.
This really will be the Last Dance tho. Man. I like that song. The lyrics actually fit the quarterfinals, too.
Uhhh ngl, didn't have a lot to say, this chapter. Next chapter: Anger is washed away, memes are cut off, and also "who tf gave johan liebert a gadgetron weapon wheel" vs "who tf gave annabeth chase saiyan biology." That's about it. See ya next match.
Oh. Wait.
You're probably sick of seeing these, so here's one more for the road.
I'll hopefully hold back on them, come next chapter. Sorry!