[OP: Granrodeo ‒ Remember Your Passion]

Wabi's Plight! If You So Need It, I'll Be Your Strength!

"Need healing!"

"It hasn't been 10 seconds!" Wabi screamed back, keeping his head under the copious amounts of city-razing gunfire across the ancient alien civilization.

"HEY, I'M THE ONE RISKING MY LIFE TO NAB THESE TIME-JOYRIDING BASTARDS, WHILE YOU WAIT IN THE BACKSEAT! THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS-"

The bloody and green ‒ experience-wise ‒ patroller was cut off by another explosion, followed by the obnoxious howls of the spacetime-defiant adrenaline junkies in their hovering vehicles.

"-IS HEAL ME, HEAL MAN!" he crassly shouted.

An older patroller, donning lean power armor, hastily soared overhead, stopping abruptly. "We can't afford to waste time like this! If there's a part you need to play, then play it, and fast!" she yelled, before dodging a hail of lasers and retorting with volleys of energy blasts.

"OH FLOCKING CLUPS!" he screamed, extending his arm to, for the high-dozenth time in a 5-minute span, reel in and heal the youngblood.

"Took you long enough! Hey Soo-Sang, check this out!" he scorned, rushing back in to a chorus of "No, wait!" starting a ruckus and taking out 1 or 2 before he was once-more swiss'd. One of the thugs called him something in an alien tongue before sharing a laugh. Sounded like a combo of medicine brands.

"EITO!" the tech-decked human screamed, before another hail of heavy artillery knocked her from her point in the sky. She was able to be pulled toward Wabi, but her stupider companion was too far under pressure to be saved with anything short of teleportation.

The teal Namekian ground his teeth; no one was going to die, but this time, maybe he'd slack off once the mortal injuries became minor burns.

"I don't know how long he'll hold out…" the exoskeleton-donning human tensed after being healed, fear and anger entwined within her words. "I need time to repair this suit, and this field's on its last legs…"

Wabi's mind began to race. Like he said, no one was going to die.

[BGM: Kenji Yamamoto ‒ Heroic Face Off]

And then, in the midst of battle, a stupid thought popped into his head.

"(What would Kazikum do in this situation?)"

He humored it, quickly recalled that he'd just SEEN what Kazikum would do in this situation, and shot it down.

"(... no. He wouldn't just rush in... )"

He looked around, analyzing the surroundings. Amongst the Bronze Age-like scenery, there was a decent amount of organic material in the form of thick greenery… reddery, rather... within the river along the city.

"(He can do what he does, because he KNOWS what he can do and take…)"

"What if I can…"

Like a snake, his hand extended and slithered into the water, pushing through dirt under the cover of sand.

He could heal complex organisms to a point of peak performance, but with plants, the applications of his "gift" expanded a bit. Such made him valuable in ajisa agriculture back at home. It also made the next thought feasible:

"What if I can turn the city into a jungle?"

Once he had a grasp of a plant, he used his "gift" to the absolute extent of its ability. In seconds, the underwater foliage grew a meter. And with a few more, 3. One of the goons tapped their boss's shoulder, eyes wide in disbelief. But it was too late; tubes of red shot from the water, like tentacles of a sea monster, as even the sparse patches of grass and subterranean vegetation began sprouting up in a mass overgrowth.

The human beside him gawked. Wabi did much the same: he felt tired, but he had no idea he could do such a thing. The hostiles before them directed fire to the terrifying influx of now, what was effectively, a small jungle. With that, Wabi took his chance, circling the force field and diving in for the saiyan. A few seconds and a fit of coughing restored the warrior, but Wabi immediately dropped him without so much as a sarcastic "You're Welcome."

"(If I can do something like this…)"

His mind raced back to all the training he'd done with Kazikum.

"(Then… Then I HAVE to be stronger now! I KNOW I AM!)"

He readied a fist. 4 bogeys in all, and each was preoccupied.

It was feasible. He could finish it right now. With his own strength.

Wabi ran toward the first shooter he saw, leapt up onto the vehicle, and with everything he had, threw a punch.

It connected, and the advanced gunman skid back. A tinge of blood flew from his mouth.

And Wabi had lost sensation in his fist.

The gunman caught himself, wound back, and headbutted Wabi in a rage.

His skull fractured on impact, his nose spurted blood, and everything devolved into blobby masses as he fell off to the sand below. Before the gunman could finish him off, the girl from earlier took each violent perp out in an electric flash, ending the standoff before tending to the downed medic.

She called him an idiot for rushing in the way he did, masking the subtle admiration she had for his prior life-saving stunt, as the plants regressed to their prior sizes.

His healing factor, though slowed by the head trauma, took effect. But he didn't get up.

"(... why.)"

Despite time passed, and his best efforts, nothing had changed.

Upon the mission's success, of course, Wabi was granted the least amount of credit; he hadn't taken out anyone. Payout was good, of course, but in terms of actual valor, all he did was ensure this squad's moron stayed alive. No one who knew what they were doing actually needed him.

He wasn't ready for anything higher-stakes than stuff like this; far too weak. So patrols entailing occasional repairs in spacetime, addressing oddities like Deja Vu, assigning tickets to would-be Trunkses, and stopping baddies with time-hopping capabilities were on his to-do list. Day in, day-out. Why?

Besides the fact that it was his job, he wanted a Stagnant Timespace. Enough good deeds or signs of earnestness meant you were worth one, and got a pick. The larger your acts, the larger the ST-S; the exceptionally heroic could get massive, infinite pockets of fractal landscapes.

Wabi would, in time, get one. The size of about 2 city blocks, maybe a small park, with the verticality of a mall. A small field of orange, terrestrial reeds under a red, milky sky would get old, quick.

But he didn't mind. It wasn't for him, after all.

"One more can't hurt…"

Wabi plopped in one more, kiwi-sized Saibaman seed. Well, to call it a "Saibaman" would be like calling a lion a house cat, but still. Same relative species.

He clapped the dirt off his hands. "That's 5!" the lanky young man reaffirmed, before turning to the bulkier boy in the middle of this pseudo-arena.

"I know you asked for the strongest," ‒ "asked" was a nice way of putting it ‒ "But you should still be careful! Don't do anything stupid if this turns out to be too much for you!"

"Don't fucking lecture me, asswipe!" The grey, droopy-haired Saiyan snarled. "Just step back!"

"Fine! Just know you're gonna have to deal with any injuries yourself!"

"GOOD! GREAT! FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC! GET THIS SHITSHOW ON THE DAMN ROAD ALREADY!"

Wabi shrugged, taking a seat on the "world's" edge so as not to be obliterated himself, as the ground began violently shaking. Soon, it split, and the torrents of brick-red soil that weren't sent flying slowly slid down the mammoth creatures, one letting off a hair-raising roar.

"(The Myoumen… I still don't know what the mad scientists who made that thing were thinking, cultivating something like this…)" Wabi gulped, as the spiked and maned freaks of nature ravenously stared down and crowded around the black sclera'd, copper-yellow iris'd morsel before them. Just one of the abominations could tear apart a large planet in a day, if it wasn't agitated; the perfect high-level training fodder.

But on the Namekian's face, a strained, fear-ridden smile slowly formed. "(It's incredible… every cell in my body is telling me to run and hide…)"

In the middle of the colossi, a fanged, face-distorting grin formed across the shirt-abstinent boy's face.

"(... Even though I can't even see him.)"

"ThAnKs FoR tHe MeAl."

[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Kekkai (3:16) ]

Spooked by the outpour of bloodlust, one of the Myoumen let loose a screech, throwing its person-sized claw down toward him with haste.

Kazikum went through it.

"KYA-HAHAHAHAHA!" He howled, barreling into its face with enough speed to knock it across the bite-sized dimension. Mauling it until he hit bone, the berserker only stopped once a Myouman arrived on the scene, both fists in an archaic version of an axe-handle. He turned with ravenous eyes and, without a moment of thought, threw his hands into the air and catching the full brunt of the lesser monster's force, causing his body to plunge into his former victim's skull.

"OH YOU'RE STRONGER THAN THE OTHER BUG!" he screeched, the vacant whites ‒ or in his case, blacks ‒ he now had for eyes curling in excitement like a kid getting a pastry, while his arms bulged as much as possible. "LET'S TAKE OUR TIME!" He reeled back and slammed the Myouman into the ground, repeating ad-nauseam in anticipation for its kin to arrive; once they complied in a mix of instinct-driven rage and fear, he swung the captive behemoth into another with all his might. The force caused not only his own arms to break out in spouts of blood, but the artificial animal's to rip straight off. He couldn't do much with them, however, as a pair of Myoumen finally caught him, and refused to relent in their ensuing savaging.

"KAZIKUM!" Wabi screamed in horror.

However, during the assault, the berserker managed to catch a fleshy claw in his mouth before it could escape him. Bleating in pain at its gored hand, it was given no time to retaliate before the now-regenerating Kazikum jumped on it. What followed could only be described as a starving piranha feeding. The other Myouman's attempt at rescue was cut off by its broodmate's sickly-dark remains and fluids spit into its eyes at waterjet speeds.

"Tastes like shit. Too many chems."

Making sounds unbecoming of a 15-foot beast, it bared its fridge-sized tusks and lunged toward the last position of the grey-haired monster that'd ripped through others of its race like nothing.

Kazikum then beat the scared animal to death. Laughing all the way. His large, frontal bangs flew about erratically, at flashes resembling vertical horns.

By all means, it should've been too gruesome to look at without having to vomit, but Wabi couldn't take his eyes off the scene. In truth, he was no match for a Saibaman, yet there he was, ripping through the peak of one's evolution and having the time of his life while he did it. To the point where they were the ones who had his sympathies.

Kazikum took a lingering, celebratory breath after the carnage had ceased; however, the copper-eyed devil hadn't finished them all off. His neck slowly craned toward one, just barely clinging to life. As he slowly approached it, the Myouman's head cracked open and released a barrage of acid. Seemingly dissolved on contact, Kazikum reappeared before the Myouman with a dissolving arm. The flesh-corroding pain barely noticeable to him, he trudged along, now hovering right over the struggling creature.

His ear-to-ear grin having long faded, the black fluid-coated boy chopped off a chunk of bone to fashion an organic dagger, before instantly ending the beast's life with a piercing of its brain. He confirmed the kill and turned to Wabi.

"I'm gonna rip my jaw off if I don't get this taste out of my mouth," he pouted.

"Why would you even say that!?"

"FEED ME!"

Wabi seethed a bit. "You're going to be stuck with me and that no-good as friends if you keep this up..."

"I don't give a shit," Kazikum wittily retorted as he walked past. "Everyone else can die."

"Wait, let me heal your-"

"You said it yourself. This isn't your problem, so buzz off."

In a blind attempt to leave, Kazikum then walked into the dimension's end. Shanking and punching it did nothing, but Wabi let it continue for a minute to see if he'd stop himself.

He didn't.

"Changed my mind," said the dead-tailed saiyan as he and Wabi navigated Conton's streets after a forced shower, "I'm not hungry. We're training."

The ""prestigious""" medic could feel the stares his cohort was receiving, what with his grotesque, mutilated arm and all.

"I don't care, I won't let you walk around with a weaponized bone and bare tissue for an arm. Besides, you just finished training!"

"And all YOU did was watch, dumbass. How the fuck do you expect to get any stronger?"

Wabi was caught off-guard. With pause, and a half-hearted glare, he replied. "Why do you even care about something like that? You're the one who needs power."

"If you stay the lump of self-pity you are forever after everything you've done since now, I'm gonna explode." At that point, Kazikum grabbed Wabi by the back-collar and hauled him off as if he were a backpack. "Fuck you, everyone needs power!"

"OKAY, OKAY, I GET IT! JEEZ!" the teal Namekian yelled, flailing frantically as more estranged gazes beamed down on the two, eating him alive. Thankfully, Kazikum didn't need much convincing. Wabi wheezed back his breath, as the latter looked back.

"Good. Next time stupid shit like that comes outta your mouth, I'm throwing you." He looked around, shameless as always. "What, you all want a show? Take a fucking hint."

The arc collar that had encased Kazikum's neck was gone now. Wabi felt a bit of pride in knowing that he no longer needed it, and that he could make decisions more freely. The medical prodigy may've been the one who convinced Trunks to permit removal, but Kaz proved he was ready, despite everyone looking at him like a freak.

As for the person who did the removing, however…

They had a different stance on permission.

[2 MONTHS PAST]

The abnormal saiyan had tuckered himself out again. This morning, he slept on his stomach like a log.

Under the cover of the early morning's dancing sun motes, a figure carefully tiptoed in, stopping atop him.

"Now, let's see…" they clasped their hands, focusing intensely. After a while, a force slowly pried them apart.

"Great, that two weeks of study wasn't worthless." With that, they put their hands around Kazikum's neck. A natural electromagnetic field, invoked by incredibly-specified ki manipulation, got to work. They sat in place for the better part of 15 minutes, the charge around his collar ever-so slightly dropping in potency, before hitting a point where it wouldn't drop any further.

"And now…" their shaky hands moved in on the current itself, sweat from both tension and heavy exertion dripping down their face.

"A spirit pulse. Won't be fun."

They dropped their isolated field, took a sharp breath, and pierced the arc with their fingers. A yelp escaped between their teeth, and a resilient grunt sent through the collar a contained EMP. The arc sputtered a last set of crackles in its death throes before disappearing forever.

The figure frantically blew on their fingertips. "Never doing this shit again… sodding hell!" they whisper-screamed. Staring back down at their still-slumbering subject, they held a soft smile.

"Wasn't too bad, was it, big guy? Sleep easy."

They got up to walk away.

And found themselves knocked onto their back.

They reopened their eyes, finding their distressed damsel hovering over them with a less-than thankful expression.

"So it WAS you."

"W-what, is that a problem?" responded Dina with hasty snark.

Kazikum let out a deep chuckle, further pinning her hands to the ground as he bared his fangs.

"You really are a moron, aren't you? Must suck to have such a shit memory..."

She'd never paid them much mind since they were first hurled at her. Now they were coming back around like a boomerang, as her eyes widened in horror.

He was out of the collar. Therefore…

That fun image of Kazikum tearing through that meat so long ago came to mind.

"YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR OWN DEATH WARRANT."

Her eyes almost pleaded with him, her throat too parched to bargain or beg, and her energy borderline-absent from tinkering with natural forces.

And then the absolute insolence of the situation began to sink in.

Her terrified expression morphed into a scowl.

"Unbelievable. All that, and I get EATEN by the ungrateful prick?"

But instead of fighting him off, she raised him without a bluff.

Dina gave him her neck.

"Fine. Dig in," she growled. "I hope you choke on bits of my thick fucking skull."

The move baffled Kazikum.

"You're regretting this, aren't you?"

"Of course not. I don't regret taking that thing off you. If anything, I wish I could've done it sooner. No one deserves that." She turned back to him for a moment, defiant ruby eyes staring into narrowed copper. "And what kind of loser talks to their food, anyway? On with it, before I go bad."

Despite her demand, Kazikum held his gaze. Slowly, his hate and need to retaliate seeped away; he even began feeling a bit of guilt.

He also noticed something about her.

Kazikum let out another chuckle, this one lighter. "I figured it out."

Dina rolled her eyes, only getting angrier. "Oh my- will you stop wasting my time and-"

The grey-haired young man was now in her ear.

"You're cute when you're angry."

C U T E.

"... get off."

"Hm?"

"getoffgetoffgetoFFGETOFFGETAWFGITAWFGITAWFGITGITGITGITGITGIT-" Dina began snarling, flailing wildly in an incoherent mess with a beet-red face. Kazikum happily obliged her, taking an unrestrained hit to the face on the way. He licked off the ensuing blood.

"I-I-YOU-WHY I-" she stammered in a flustered mess. "ABSOLUTE FUCKING TWATHOLE, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!"

Kazikum broke out into childish fits of laughter at the spectacle, further pissing Dina off.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE THIS INSTANT YOU INSUFFERABLE INCUB… AUUUUGH!" she let off the bloodthirsty war cry of both her bloodlines before mercilessly hammering down on the other, hardly-fazed saiyan, screeching profanities all the way.

Unbeknownst to the two, Wabi was just out front with the good news. The noise flipped his mood from excited to terrified.

"YILP ON FROTH, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN HERE!?" he yelled frantically, unsure of who, what, or why.

Then he saw Dina on top of Kazikum. Whatever was happening, the former froze like a deer in headlights and the latter was enjoying it. Too much.

"... Am I interrupting something?" Wabi almost hissed.

The emotional halfbreed let her prey drop, applying an innocent smile. "... a lesson, yes."

"Wait, Kaz, what happened to your collar? I thought I had to take you to the one who applied it to-"

Kazikum pointed toward the now-standing Dina, who maintained her hard grin.

"Little Miss Texpert couldn't wait."

"M-MRRRRRHM!"

Wabi rapidly looked back and forth. "How!?"

"Studied natural forces, learned how to mimic 'em with chi. I'll use it once and never again, but algebra was much the same, so whatever."

"You know you could've gotten him in trouble!"

Dina shrugged. "Better than living with a bloody 6 digit-watt shock collar around you like an animal. Although" ‒ she shifted back ‒ "he VERY WELL IS ONE!"

"Can't take a joke? You're still useful. I can't eat you."

"KAZ, WHAT DID YOU-"

"A JOKE, HE SAYS! A… No, no I don't need this, I actually have a life." Dina stomped past Wabi.

"I'm going to beat this man to death if I stay any longer."

"... okay…" the lanky Namekian replied.

She flung open the door. "But thanks. For helping the hopeless bastard."

"... you, too."

With a nod, and a small smirk, Dina slammed the door.

Wabi turned back to Kazikum, still laughing off the former row as he stood, commenting on how the prior girl resembled a tomato.

"They're both walking calamities…"

[PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME]

Wabi only saw the end of whatever happened that day, but it was enough to keep him on guard around the girl. She'd taken it upon herself to help out their mutual, but still. No good.

Regardless, if Kaz could change for the better despite the world being against him, so could he. He picked himself back up, and set course for his apartment, now leading the way.

"We still have to get you something to eat. Having no muscle tissue is detrimental to muscle growth, I read that somewhere."

"Go fuck yourself," Kazikum pouted, sniffing sarcasm while following behind.

They made their way through a bustling city street, and instead of bashing through the lot, the tall saiyan simply lifted Wabi over his head. He made no effort to avoid bumping into people, but hey, he didn't go out of his way to do so.

The door slid open, and for the first time, Kazikum didn't call the patroller-residence's receptionist any degrading obscenity; they'd only had like 5 encounters since he'd met Wabi, but still. He simply flipped them off haphazardly.

By some divine miracle, Kazikum took the elevator with Wabi. He eyed the escape hull the entire time, but he'd learned enough restraint not to rip it off and climb to his destination.

While exiting, someone bumped into Kazikum. The latter was unmoved, but the smaller catfish-faced fellow fell onto his butt.

"Ow… sorry, I'm pretty tire-"

Looking up to find a scarred, shadowy figure beaming their gaze down at him, he cut himself off, tensed, and prepared for the worst.

Kazikum pointed downward.

"You fell."

He then carried on.

The student looked back at his hands. Somehow, that hurt more than the physical violence he'd expected.

Wabi breathed a sigh of relief. It was a rocky initial road starting a few months back, but it seemed like the feral young man had finally begun to adapt to life around others.

He turned the corner and his day got a bit worse.

Leaning against the wall preceding his apartment door, large bag in hand, there stood Dina.

Kazikum circled Wabi, unaware of the cause of his sudden pause. Ooh, damn. "The hell, why'd you-"

"Yo. Hungry?" She wound back her hand and threw the bag at Kazikum. He caught a whiff of it and immediately caught it with his teeth, before ripping it and its assorted, meatier contents apart. Wabi looked back with disgust, before refocusing to Dina.

"How did you know he'd be here?"

"Didn't. I mean, if he didn't appear, I'd be the one tearing it apart."

"Then why did-"

The halfling raised her finger to Wabi, beckoning him forth. A self-directed pointing confirmed her intent. He looked back one more time at the gruesome display.

" 'll only be a minute, come on!" she whisper-shouted. At that, Wabi conceded, and followed her inside. Once the door closed…

"What's this about?" Wabi asked with suspicion, forcing a glare and "Ow." from the brunette.

"Fine then, I'll make this quick. I'm only asking this to get it off my mind, n' all, POSITIVE the answer's yes, but uh…"

Her expression became dead serious. "You've told him, right?"

Wabi hesitated. His eyes briefly widened, not long but long enough for Dina to notice.

"Told him what?"

There was her answer.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath. In a last-ditch effort to check if he was actually confused by the overly-cryptic question, and not playing stupid, she said it outright.

"That he can't go back to his timeline."

She was really hoping he'd say yes. A bit of begrudging silence pre-answer would've been alright, as well.

Wabi stayed silent.

Long enough to get annoying.

"... why should that even matter?"

Dina's head dipped to the side. "Oh, for fu-"

"No, listen-"

"The bloody hell do you mean, 'No'?"

"All Kaz wants is to kill the one who killed his mother. His timeline doesn't matter to him."

"Great, SPLENDID. Then there'd've been no problem whatsoever with just telling 'im about it, yeah?"

Wabi stumbled on his words for a moment before answering. "We all have better things to do than talk about and listen to stuff that amounts to nothing. I'm not wasting my time like that."

"... You know what? Fair point."

"Alright, good."

"Yes. Good."

Dina turned to walk out. Her hand was suddenly grabbed. She sighed, and turned back to see Wabi's desperate expression.

"What's all this?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Dunno. It's a Saturday, so I've got a bit of time to waste before my training."

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, mate. I'm gonna go waste time doing a useless thing that shouldn't even matter."

"GODS… STOP IT."

"Ya polytheistic bastard, what's the problem?"

"IF… If he finds out… his drive would… he could be crushed."

"And if he doesn't, he could be stuck in his lie. He really WILL be crushed when the time comes, he's decided he's ready, and it turns out he can't. It's a coin flip from here, sure, but meanwhile stop coddling him like a child! He's months away from being a man by now!"

"But… you don't understand, he…"

"No. I don't. But here's the thing, right? I'm not ACTING like I understand."

Wabi stood in place, continuing to clamp down on Dina's hand with all the power he had as he tried to think of anything that'd stop her from killing Kazikum's motivation.

"Look. The only reason I've stood here for's long as I have is because if I marched out that door all devil-may-care-like, it would hurt you a lot more than it would me." She began talking through bared fangs. "But so GOD OR GODS OR WHATEVER HELP ME, WABI, YOU ARE TESTING MY PATIENCE."

"... but…"

But she was right. He was letting his friend fight toward a purpose that didn't exist.

"... go."

Dina clasped his hand between both of hers. "Thank you."

"Please just go." His voice was choked.

She nodded sullenly, let go, and opened the door.

"You fucks sure think loud."

[BGM: Yugo Kanno ‒ Travelers Who Rest]

"DAAUUGHFHIWKLK-" Dina fell back into the room, as Wabi screeched.

There stood Kazikum, picking his teeth with a piece of ribcage.

"Fuck me, you assholes wouldn't shut up. Just went ON AND ON."

Wabi and Dina sputtered incoherently. "WHA… WHAWAWHAT-"

"Blah blah, no timeline, blah blah muh kazi, blah blah fuckin' blah." He took a bite out of the bone. "Mwell mess mwaht? That purple-haired dipshit from before told me a week after I got here, in that cage he locked me in."

"... Huh?"

"... what."

He leaned against the wall, finishing his meal. "Truth is, I could care less about my shitty 'timeline.'"

"Hah!"

"But treating me like your fucking brat? How retarded are you?"

"Hah?"

"I don't care about this time bullshit that everyone keeps bitching about. All I know is that I'll find a way to gut that bastard on my own, and nothing's gonna stop me. So in the meantime, drop all this pussyfooting around me, pronto."

Dina stared.

"... i'm hungry."

She stood up. "I'm hungry."

She passed Kazikum. "i'm hungry."

He and Wabi watched her walk down the hall. "i'm hungry."

The student from before rounded the corner a bit too quick.

"Ah, sorry, I-"

And was slammed face-first against the wall. "i'm hungry."

"... holy wow."

Kazikum catcalled.

Wabi sighed. "Yeah, this was pretty pointless."

He prepared to make his way, but his shoulder was grabbed.

"Say, why do you even care about me givin' a fuck?"

"..."

Wabi slowly looked down. Then he chuckled.

"It's stupid, you won't care."

"Blow my mind."

Just the thought of saying it disgusted him. It told him he was selfish, it was unbearably cartoonish, it was pathetic to the point of comedy, it was laughable in every way.

[BGM: Kenji Fujisawa ‒ Determined]

He made one last, futile escape attempt. Kaz clearly wasn't trying to pin him ‒ it was a hand on a shoulder and nothing more ‒ yet he couldn't so much as move.

"Come on, what are you waitin-"

"I'm weak."

"..."

"I'M WEAK!" he screamed, turning. Kazikum immediately released.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT I DO OR HOW I TRY, I'LL ALWAYS BE WEAK! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY, I'M JUST…" the teal Namekian began shaking, tears streaming as he grit his teeth in futility, exacerbating the issue.

"BUT THEN THERE'S YOU… You don't have that issue. You're able to go on, against your own body breaking, shattering your limits and… and getting so much stronger. I…"

Wabi tried to vanish. "I'm wasting too much of your time-"

"I don't give a flying fuck." Kazikum looked on, stoic expression. Wabi looked at him bitterly, but guilt consumed him; he felt he owed him this.

"... I wanted to be you. I started living through you. I started using you as an esc…"

A sob broke through.

"I just wanted to be stronger. You were that."

Something about that ‒ from what he could piece together, having a role model? ‒ struck something within the dead-tailed saiyan. He called to memory how long he'd seen Wabi tirelessly train, just like he had, only stopping when he was at his brink. Seemed like bullshit that, yeah, he was just about the same level as when they first began.

"... Then whatever." He got off the wall.

"I'll be your strength."

"... what?"

"You're sure-as-hell not gonna live through me, dumbass, but if you ever need some strength, I'll be there." He gave a grin with intent to mock. "Least I can do for a sorry suck-up like you. I was planning on dying somewhere after I give my own bastard what's coming to him, anyway."

Wabi stared. His face gradually scrunched up.

"... you…"

His legs gave way, and he fell to the floor, numerous attempts to stop the ensuing torrent of emotion which ultimately failed.

The droopy-bang young man let him cry.

For about 15 seconds. Then he got sick of it, picked him up by the back collar, opened his door, and placed him inside.

It was weird. Meaning that much to people.

Didn't feel half-bad, though.

Nostalgic, even.

The door of the apartment slid open, and two exited.

"Holy shit," Kazikum groaned, slinging half Wabi's equipment over his shoulder. "That took a year and a half."

"Yeah, sure," Wabi agreed, carrying what he could in capsules. "Like I said, most of it was finding the gear."

"You're shit at lying."

"Tulip clips..."

On their way to that hilltop, they passed the Academy. Kazikum momentarily stopped.

"So this is the frackhole, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It would be a miracle if you were able to graduate after all you've missed, though…"

Kazikum chuffed. "You're the son of a bitch who told me I shattered limits."

"Physical limits. You're still getting there upstairs."

"WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN!?"

"Joking, jeez. Who knows, maybe you can do it. Either way, I'm rooting for you all the way."

"Right…"

He gave it one last, passing glare before moving on.

After all, he began tomorrow.

[ED: Pay Money to My Pain ‒ Weight of My Pride]

.

.

{extra/Legendary Super "Saiyan's" Rebirth}

"GOOD TA SEE," Neoru yelled in between several dodges and a parry.

"YOU'RE FINALLY," Neoru yelled as he gave his own volley of attacks, of which most were blocked and parried themselves.

"TAKIN' THIS SERIOUS-" Neoru yelled before blocking a punch that sent him flying back.

"I'M JUST A BIT MORE AGITATED TODAY, THAT'S ALL!" Dina growled through an angry grin, before charging toward the boy. "DO TRY NOT TO DIE ON ME, THAT'D BE A RIGHT VEX!"

Launch and Roshi looked on as the two violently engaged each other.

"Oh my, it's getting dangerous out there!" the midnight blue-haired ball of sunshine fretted. Roshi peeked out the window, beholding crashing waves, the very archipelago beginning to break, and that which scared him most, a massive dust cloud.

"Have to agree with you there, Launch. At times like these, it's best a delicate flower like you stays insi-"

"I'll try to settle them down!" Launch said in a trench coat before the door closed, to Roshi's abject horror.

"Yoo-hoo!" Hollered Launch amongst the commotion, as Neo and Dina traded a meia lua de compasso and a push kick respectively, viciously dispelling the surrounding dust with a mighty shockwave.

"Could you two please tone it do-"

Launch covered herself almost just in time.

Dina and Neo immediately recovered, delayed reaction to Launch's voice.

"Shit!"

"Oh my- Ms. Launch, are you okay!?"

"AH!"

"AH!"

"A-CHOO!"

Dina prepared to give a customary "bless you," but instead stared in confusion at the blonde woman before the two.

"What the…" Neoru added, as she slowly lifted her head.

"How…"

"Ms... Launch?"

"HOW DO YOU TWO TWERPS KNOW MY DAMN NAME!?" she roared, catching both teens off-guard.

"I-wait-what-I'm confused, you ARE Launch, ri-"

"WHO THE HELL SENT YOU BRATS!? HUH?" She yelled, now in Dina's face. "YOU THE REASON I'M ON THIS DUST BOWL!?"

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT ARE YOU EVEN ON ABOU-"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION, PUNK! OR ELSE, I'M GONNA POUND YA UNTIL YOU DO!"

Neoru looked on with a dead expression.

"... nope, not stupid enough ta stick around," he muttered, before casually fleeing into Roshi's house.

"Now you listen here-"

"NO, YOU LISTEN! I'M ALREADY TIRED'A THAT SNOBBY ACCENT YOU'RE ROCKIN'! NOW TELL ME WHAT I WANNA KNOW, OR ELSE YER GOIN' UP IN GUN SMOKE-"

"OH THAT IS IT!"

Suddenly, there were 2 enraged, freakishly-strong blondes on the field.

"YOU APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE WITH THAT MORONIC HILLBILLY HICK TONE OF VOICE, AND YOU HAVE THE UTTER GALL TO KNOCK MY ACCENT YOU UPPITY PRICK!? I OUGHTA KNOCK YOUR FAT HEAD STRAIGHT OFF YOUR NECK!"

Roshi and Neoru both peeked out the window.

"... sweet merciful Kami, there's two of them."

"HUH!? YOU'VE SOME NERVE TALKIN'NA ME LIKE THAT, SNOT-NOSED BRAT! YOU WANNA DIE!?"

"SNOT NOSED? SNOT NOSED!? YOU INBRED SACK OF SHIT, YOU'RE ON THIN FUCKING ICE AS OF NOW, AND IT'S AT BREAKING POINT!"

"I'M THIS CLOSE TO BREAKIN' THAT PRETTY FACE'A YOURS, YOU BLONDE BITCH! I'VE GOT SHITS OLDER THAN YOU, AND JUST AS WISE!"

"YOU'RE BLONDE, YOU SENILE OLD HAG! HOW STUPID CAN ONE GET, HONESTLY!? JUST PISS RIGHT ON OFF 'FORE I RAZE YOU, YEAH, YOU F~UCKING BOAR!?"

The two subsequently bashed heads, two green-eyed walking cyclones giving death glares. The tension was so thick, a chainsaw would fail to cut it.

So they cut it themselves.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"FUA~HAHAHAHAHA!"

Roshi looked on, eyes bulging out of their sockets. Neoru looked on with a dead expression.

"I didn' know they made 'em like us anymore! And so young, too!" this "other" Launch celebrated.

"As of now, you're OFFICIALLY, my new role model!" Dina harped, still a Super Saiyan.

"Hey… Hey, old-timer! Bring me a cold one! One for the kid, too!"

"She's underage!" Roshi yelled.

Neoru slowly turned his head to the old master. His stare was definitely trying to say something.

"What? Everyone's got morals."

To the chorus of laughter and a behind-back "That's right, nancy, run!" the boy made his way outside.

"I hate it here."

6/4/2023 Patch Notes: Su-Sang is Soo-Sang now. That'll come up further down the line.

Yo! OP here!

Raian Kure was the basis for Kazikum's character. May've not been that apparent in prior chapters, but... ye. Vaguely related, but did you see how mans did Alan Wu in their Kengan Omega fight? Excelente.

Funny enough, I also used this chapter to further develop him as a person. Got plans for a small/significant role in the next actual chapter, involving someone he's met in the past. You know who it is, I won't mess with you.

Next one's already in development, too, but before then, there may be a short gag one in-between, hopefully before Valentine's Day. Will involve me poking fun at the odd-ass "heat" trope in saiyan-centric DBZ fanfics. Woes really want saiyans to be dogs, shit's odd, though I guess it makes sense from an adaptive standpoint; they went out to fight and die every octosecond, so a way of decent population upkeep would be a must... imma make shit weirder than it has to be if i keep on. fun chapter, serious chapter, few more, fun shit begins, that's schedule rn.

College is going alright so far. 2 months until freshman year ends... surreal to think about. I thought there'd be more to this kinda life. Eh, I'll find something I love about it if I keep moving forward. Hope you guys' school/job/whatever is going smoothly, as well. Keep on keeping on.

Ki cultivation being able to tamper with natural forces. I'm more likely to use it again than I am not to. It'll be just as wonky and senseless as it was here, but it'll never be just magic. It's just something I find cool.

I was listening to When the Sun Sleeps by Underoath when I wrote Wabi's scenes. Didn't put it in because reasons and the selected tracks worked fine, but it's a good alternative. Gives the scenes an early-2000s vibe, and that's my favorite kind. Wabi's alright as a character, he helps level Kazikum while not being a love interest.

at least not a blatant one. ooh-woo.

Anything else? Uhhh nah, I think I'm good.

That's about it. See ya.