[BGM: Granrodeo – Remember Your Passion]
Peace Within a Greater Martial Way! All Scum of the Universe, Only Hell Awaits You!
Many things could happen in a day's time.
So much so, amongst the new, cloudy sunrise, her mind yet again tried convincing herself that it was a bad dream.
Her pretty hand now served as an anchor-to-reality of sorts. If nothing else, it did that.
She looked at her sharp, well-conditioned, "good" hand. In 3 seconds, she formed 19 different forms, stopping on one resembling a bent, two-finger nukite.
"(I can still fight.)"
"..."
If the pain began and ended at humiliation at the hands of a Hòuguī, she'd be able to bear it.
"(But…)"
She gave the cold, lonely feeling in her heart no resistance as it pierced and devoured it.
"(No. For one like myself... this is how things should be.)"
The catalysts for both yesterday's events and those of a year pre-arrival began swirling in her heart, and the cold feeling grew a thousand times more frigid.
"(So I must continue improving. Enough to wipe out every last one without fail.)"
She bounded to her feet.
And felt a tug on the back of her head.
"Ah-!?"
Deep in thought, she'd failed to take notice of the balding old man snuggling her long locks with a strangle hold.
Said old man continued his log-like slumber, despite the jerk he'd felt.
"Mmh, 5 more minutes, mama…Wha?"
The sleeveless and white/teal-qipao'd senior, with a light grey, thin, and finally-combed mustache, took definite notice of the subsequent stinging-like-a-mother lacerations he received.
The first thing he saw after retouching the ground post-furious fits of howling were the long, soft and silky-smooth hair's owner stabbing into him with dagger eyes.
[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – Ore最叫!?]
"Now then, young lady, I know this seems indecent to the untrained eye, but…"
After a second over too-long of constructing an explanation that wouldn't dig him deeper, he gave up.
"But tell me, what shampoo do you use? AH-"
Mei, who'd been forming her mudra ever since he'd opened his mouth, lunged.
"TRASHY OLD MAN, STAND STILL!"
"But one cannot avoid the danger which lies ahead if they are sti-OH-" he narrowly dodged a pen-point kick to his temple, and began scurrying across the hill, that kick leading into Mei closing distance.
For his age, the stranger could dodge, even at such a close range. In fact, it was as if he were multiplying himself as he weaved.
A hook fist jut forth with such speed and serenity, Mei failed to notice how it'd halted the movements of one of her hands until she tried moving it, the two-finger grab constraining her wrist.
"N-now, now, I'm just an old man! There's no reason to take such hostility against one with such little time left!"
"You are right... Death eyes you!" Mei hissed, her newer hand being cut and burned into by sharp, golden spirit silk before shooting forth in a two-finger form.
"!? That is…"
The old man, in contrast to his prior graceful movements, burst to the side and narrowly avoided the attack, and then again, and then again. Mei's eyes slowly strained in anger, before targeting the hand that'd clawed onto her right. As expected, the old man released, and Mei's hand instantly altered course for his exposed limb's points in the brief opening that
Did not exist. A dual-fingered strike ‒ one which used the knuckles instead of razor-sharp fingers ‒ shot into her wrist at a speed she failed to notice, parrying the blow completely.
"Phew! That gave this old heart a jump!" he lightheartedly jested. Mei grit her teeth; she'd lost it. Another strike targeting a much more lethal pressure point came for the geezer, who once more responded with a quick strike to a weaker joint.
"Now that was just reckless! My heart really would've frozen!"
"SHUT UP!"
Another came, and then another, and then another, all at accelerating speeds which the old man somehow kept track of, as if she were a wooden dummy. Beneath the darting hands, Mei used her footwork and quick kicks to trip him up; yet he kept perfect pace. All the while, her master's words rang within her head, relentlessly telling her to bay her boiling emotions, only to further invoke and agitate them as the guilt of defying those words ate at her. 9 more steps, 9 more strikes, and both her hands and legs had been blocked.
The old man prepared another plea, but stopped himself as tears streamed down the ‒ physically and mentally, not-so much chronologically ‒ younger fighter's face.
"Really, dear, sincerest apologies for messing with your hair."
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
The two straight ponytails sprung from the back of her head, startling the geezer as they shot toward him like extra appendages; before they could pierce him, the sharpened ends were cut in mid air after he formed a quick swathing motion. Paying it no mind, Mei sank down in a flash, then shot back toward him like an arrow, nearly throwing the stranger's balance off.
"HOW MUCH MORE...!"
She lashed out in a reverse roundhouse, sending forth a careening golden thread that threatened to ensnare him.
"MUST MY ART…!"
Weaving the thread until 50 surrounded him and began closing in an interval in the lowest of milliseconds, she dashed toward him with a final blow prepared.
"BE MOCKED…!?" she screamed.
"(... so I was right… of all places, I'd find the mythic assassination fist in such a realm…)"
Suddenly, his arm fell limp. So limp, it seemed as if it lacked bone. It weaved through the air, like there wasn't a single spec of matter between it.
"(And its age most-certainly shows.)"
And his hand began to glow.
"(Mantis Sect Sacred Art…)"
His hand, in just as pristine and smooth a condition as Mei's new limb, was bathed in a golden aura much the same as her's… only not in the form of threads. Faint, sharp, and translucent, it was also rigid, like a mantis's claw.
And just as suddenly, the arm stiffened, as if snapping back into place.
"(Space Bisection!)"
For the briefest of moments, it cut through the space between his arm and Mei's oncoming, all-piercing blow.
The black and indigo hanfu-donning girl's attack had its course diverted as space mended itself. The threads threatening his life slowly fell, a cutlass through cobwebs.
Mei stood in place, unable to explain what had just happened.
The old man backstepped, before letting out a light chuckle. "Oh, you hold quite an array of techniques, for one of your age! But if you'd so kindly humor an old man…"
His expression hardened.
"Was that Zhīzhū Yǐng-Quán?"
Mei's eyes widened.
"... how do you know that name?"
Her expression gave the balding-yet-long-haired geezer a small chuckle.
"Let's exchange names first, young lady. I go by Chahan."
"... Xiāo Mèi."
"I see…" he took into account her old style of dress, her name, and her martial art. He asked one more question.
"By chance, who was Baozi's emperor in your era?"
Instead of answering "Do you mean Paozu?" or "What's Baozi?" she simply answered:
"Of which state?"
Chahan slowly erupted into laughter, to Mei's confusion.
"Such a relic of old, in this maddeningly-advanced city! I was right, this IS Heaven! Complete with all the luscious locks I could ask for!"
"..."
The man calling himself Chahan was an eccentric, for certain. But as she brought one of her cut ponytails before her, Mei found herself enamored.
"(He cut through my threads so easily… no, through the air itself…)"
Thoughts of the Kienzan technique resurfaced. The similarity between that and the art she'd witnessed sealed her conviction regarding what came next.
Mei sunk to her knees, fist within palm.
"Fūzǐ, train me."
"Wait, what?"
"I AM NOW YOUR DISCIPLE," the amber-eyed girl repeated assertively.
Chahan stood there, thinking.
"I've never taught anyone anything, besides how to line hair-"
"I DO NOT MIND!"
The sheer resolve in her voice shook him.
"WEH-ELL, you're certainly willing to take whatever I throw at you… but…"
"(The Spider Shadow Fist… a progenitor of an untold many martial and assassination arts… and she's practiced it from an incredibly young age, from the way she fights… If she learned the way of the Mantis Sect, or any modern form of fighting for that matter, with the potential she holds…)"
He stroked the hair at the back of his head. "(But that's exactly it. A deadly amount of potential. Maybe too much so...)"
The qipao-donning old man finally broke the silence.
"Why do you want to learn this art?"
Mei's eyes deadened.
"I want the ability…"
The image of the old Saiyans from her timeline who'd taken so much, of the ones who'd humiliated her here, infested her mind.
"... to slaughter evil."
"And that 'evil' would be…"
Bloodlust seeped from her. Mei's eyes twitched like mad.
"... It does not concern you."
Slowly coming to understand the situation ‒ more importantly, how far this one was from her rocker ‒ he made his decision.
"No, I can't afford to teach you."
[ BGM: 王穀雨 – Xuanwu Tragedy ]
Mei's head bolted up. "What?"
Chahan shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't stomach the thought of the Mantis Sect's teachings being used for anything less than virtuous. With you especially, I could very well create a monster."
Insulted, Mei rose to her feet. "My cause IS virtuous! What do you know!?"
"Your bloodlust speaks for you."
"No it does not! I need this! More than you!"
The desperation in her voice made the choice a smidgen tougher.
A sigh escaped the old man. "Even if I changed my mind, my way has no place for such a violent, uncertain swirl of emotion." He turned. "I'll miss that gorgeous hair of yours, but many more await me. Preferably, those atop calmer heads."
As he walked away, Mei glared a hole through him.
"You know NOTHING. Not of evil, of virtue. Not of me."
"I'm very aware of my naivete. You, however, are not aware of your own. And that is far more dangerous. Farewell, Xiāo Mèi."
He hopped off the hill.
Mei gawked at his audacity, then grimaced uncontrollably. The shitty old fart had humiliated her art and insulted her person, in one swoop, and then disappeared.
"... BASTARD…"
She had to go somewhere, wash her hair off to remove the man's stench from her memory. At least that.
"(They know nothing…)"
Mei stumbled through an inactive crossroads, alone with herself.
"(I am surrounded by the 'virtuous,' so sure of right and wrong, yet they have no idea of what those monsters have done…)"
Her hands were clenched, enough to draw glints of blood. Festering inside her head were images of the shitty old man, of the boy who'd exploded that day, of the black-coated man, of Kaza...
"(All they know are the rosy-cheeked tricksters who play innocent… they're all nothing but idio...)"
She slowly came to a stop. Kaza once more surfaced.
"(... how could I call her such a thing?)"
The boy's gruesome gesture of peace accompanied it. What good she'd seen in him, it was blatant that day. No, it wasn't even the first time.
Alone, she began shivering.
"(... why then… If such Saiyans can exist, then why?)"
Slowly, the howls of the 3 tailed demons who'd haunted her every night bubbled to mind; 2 deranged brutes, and an even more-so twisted mother. All of which pillaged her world, took the two she'd loved as parents, and made sport of her before growing bored and snuffing her out.
"(why were those whom I first met… so awful…)"
A stone to support her head, Mei softly broke down.
"(Why us... why them... why me?)"
It continued for a while; she'd never confronted that side of her hatred.
Once it cleared, however, she made sure to kill it off. The side of the stone she'd laid her head upon was dug into by sharpened fingers, as she pushed herself off.
"(TO HELL WITH IT.)"
On her feet, she regained her motive:
"GROW FURTHER. I DO NOT NEED THE TONGUE OF FOOLS TO SLOW ME."
If a stronger hate was what she needed, then she'd have it.
Mei prepared to move on from the desolate lot.
"Yeah, right here."
A foreign voice broke the silence.
Turning her head, she beheld a Saiyan around her age being tossed onto the ground.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ 5in4 ]
"You sure talked fat game for a punk who can't even fight, huh?" A wriggly-horned mook in Frieza Force-standard armor toted with glee.
"I already… apologi-" Fenerel began before taking a boot to the face.
"Shoot, that's about another 10k zeni out of pocket. You're working up a tab like no one's business, homeboy."
"You're the ones who are gonna pay! Whether I tell someone or not... someone's gonna find out!"
"Hah? You think we're gonna wet ourselves over you girl scouts like our chicken-shit 'emperor'? We joined that shitty corps ready to die, an' we planned to enjoy ourselves before then! Now be a good monkey, and hand me what's in those pockets."
Despite the boy's dire straits, Mei merely paid him a glare.
"(Pathetic.)"
To see a Saiyan be reduced to such a state just pissed her off; if not her doing, she didn't care. As such, she began walking away.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM, STOP IT!"
Fenerel's eyes shot open. "Luka!?"
Before she could make it to his side, a Frieza Force goon grabbed her.
"WOAH, THERE, who just ran her way into my life?" the fish-faced soldier cooed, ogling her before she broke free.
"-OFF ME, CREEP!" She yelled, knocking the wind out of him with an elbow before running over to the bloodied young man. "If we work together, we can beat these jerks!"
Fenerel got to his feet in an explosive burst of speed, putting himself between the out-of-line fiends and his friend who happened to be a girl. "We can't. You have to get out of here, now!"
Luka's face screamed a wordless "What the hell are you talking about?" amidst more ex-soldier laughter.
"Oh no, I… I feel a tear coming on!" one of them exaggerated, sinking to the ground with a hovering finger beneath their eye. "Hero's standin' up for his fair maiden's honor! Shit's enough to make a grown man cry!"
The wriggly-horned ringleader gave his home world's ghastly version of a cat call. "Look at that, you lucky dog, your new principal fee just ran on in! Tell you what, you leave your girl here, we cut your debt in half, and I show her how a REAL man treats a woman. Sound fair?"
Fenerel turned to the plaid-clad girl one last time. "PLEASE, JUST GET OUT OF HERE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PART OF THIS!"
"... I'll get help!" Luka swore as she answered his plea, running off. "J-just hang on!"
The head degenerate sighed. "Oh no, she's getting away. Someone stop her," he lulled as 5 ex-soldiers gave chase, only to be stopped by Fenerel.
"SCREW YOU!" he roared, after punching one square in the face. After a brief scuffle, he was on the ground, the daylights getting knocked out of him.
"Nice try, you worthless MONKEY!" Soft-Horns gleefully hissed as he lodged a foot into a kidney, forcing a scream from Fenerel.
Not too long ago, someone had stopped moving.
"(He is a Saiyan… just move on. The bastard needs no help.)"
"..."
"(You've failed to bay emotion twice now. A third humiliation, and Róu Jiǎ Mó rolls in his grave.)"
"..."
From where she stood, they were silent screams of pain, coupled with the mockery of those responsible. In order to truly remind herself why she need not care, she had to turn around, gaze upon the tail that'd so wronged her in the past.
So she did.
But before her laid a weak person, desperately hanging on.
Around them, those who were stronger.
"Mama, this one's still alive!"
"Come on, 'Saiyan!' Fight back! I'm almost gettin' bored!"
"This one's interesting, isn't she? Do what you'd like, but don't kill her."
"Could've been so easy, kiddo! Now I'm broke, pissed, AND blue-balled!"
"I'll kill you all… I won't die until I kill you all…!"
"You're all just… a bunch of… cowards…!"
As beings of varied nature committed nigh-identical acts, for no other reason than to make sport of the weak, hatred for those she'd called "Hoúguǐ" began to alter its shape.
"... Yāoguài..."
Her heart pounded upon her chest, as a new, greater, assured hatred arose within it. One she'd possessed since she was a child.
"Disgusting, cowardly, merciless, unforgivable…"
In a heartbeat, she was no longer away from the fight.
"H-Hey… what the…"
Now her qi-threaded hand was lodged within a thug's palm, mid-smack.
By sheer force of anger, her body had moved on its own.
Nightmare or not, a Xiao Mei was still a Xiao Mei.
"YĀOGUÀI!"
[ BGM: Wang Shun Bu ‒ Shadow Assassin ]
She ripped it out and reverse roundhouse'd him in one rotation. Soon after, the ex-soldier's forearm tore itself from the inside-out, and his jaw he'd been kicked in followed.
"WHA...YOU LITTLE BITCH! KILL HER!"
The rogues charged the young woman at once, and she charged them back. One was assaulted with a quick razor-sharp blow mid-punch, then the next who tried to flank her, badly incapacitating both grunts and the third who made a go at her side. A fourth's kick hit air, as she sank to the ground on a split and turned his grounded leg into an immobile stump of haywire qi and flesh, before she used them as a surface to kick herself off, sliding across the ground and quickly under the 5th before launching herself airborne and over him, enveloping his arms in threads and landing in front of the taller figure, temporarily turning the tall thug into a pain-pulled puppet to do away with 3 others with wide swings of their massive arms and a head-crushing finish on a fourth. With the few nerves he had that weren't wracked with agony, he tried kneeing the small threat, only for Mei to jump upward and onto it. From there, she stabbed into his neck with a kick, doing the same to another fiend who mistook it for an opening. Grabbing both the 3-seconds-to-dead men by the wrists, she sank down and double leg-struck another approaching devil in the center of the throat, then kicking away the clinging-to-life scoundrels with a quick inverted split to their respective temples. Now supporting herself upright with her hands, she pushed herself back up into a somersault before a soccer-ball kick could get her, touching down and immediately back step-swerving through an entourage of opponents as she caught footing and vaulting over a final attempt to tackle; all attackers involved promptly erupted in small bodily explosions afterward. A larger rogue had gone airborne to catch her unawares, only for an illusion kick, and then another, and then another, to pierce his core, striking multiple pressure points. A final jumping kick into their side wrapped them in a thin line of spiritual silk as Mei guided their weight with her legs and tossed them toward a group of oncoming attackers, knocking a fair few out. She retouched the ground with a stance, sweat dripping, her body strained, and her right hand begging her to rip it off again.
"Hah… hah… Khh!"
"Mei, it's important that you always bay your emotions…"
With more circling her, she smacked her hands onto the ground. Amidst oncoming assailants closing into a meter's distance, her pupils briefly shrank before dilating 2x their size, a vast web alighting the space.
"... once you've decided to throw a strike."
As she shot to her feet, Mei weaved outside the reach of a great many blows ‒ some managing to cut into her as she desperately blitzed past ‒ before leaping atop a fist, her hair came undone from its massive twin ponytails, turning herself into a mass of barbs as she spun into the air, flaying multiple lowlifes and reducing them into screeching, rolling messes, bodies no longer following orders.
The tall, long-haired and pretty-faced man took another drag on the leaf he was smoking. "Emotions are quite important, you know. They're a key component for finding a ruler you'd like to watch over."
She darted into the torso of a heathen and rapidly pierced through their armor with one-handed strikes like gunfire through paper. A vibration closed in behind her, and she pivoted, her finger where her attacker's eye once was. With the pull of a thread, the one-eyed fool's blind and furious punch fractured his partner's disproportionate skull, and using his left-over momentum, she leapt atop him, pierced both ridges between neck and shoulders with the pointed ends of her shoes, slammed palms against the dirt, and threw him into another friendly with her legs. As if time were dilating, the few remaining thugs watched her hair reform into two body-length, overlapped "limbs" atop one bum, before one struck out and yanked him by the weak point of his wrist, his insides diced from within by a violent forward palm strike. The last handful of grunts tried to throw in the towel and start a new life; as evidenced by the strands of sharpened hair now sticking out from the backs of their throats, a decision made a few minutes too late.
"We mimic The Spider, but only because The Spider once mimic'd the Human." He patted her head, much to her dissatisfaction. "Don't forget that, Xiǎo Méi."
"Xiāo! Xiāo Mèi!"
"Call yourself whatever you'd like, you little plum."
One fast, heavy vibration honed in, just as the strain kicked in. "MISSED A SPOT!" The ringleader yelled, Mei dodging it by a small margin. Three sharp, retaliatory strikes pierced his temple, sternum, and throat; instead of even a reaction, however, the soft-horned fiend lashed out once again. Mei was on the defensive, her strikes only serving to cause minor stabbing pains as each successful dodge seared her flesh, flayed her mind, and pushed both muscle and tendon to the absolute limit.
"WHAT'S WRONG? YOUR FANCY EARTH BOOGIE DON'T WORK AGAINST A RACE WITHOUT PRESSURE POINTS?" he laughed. Soon, her web faded, and a direct strike hit her in the side, sending a sickening crack from her left arm and a stream of blood from her gullet into the air.
"KHH- KA-HAH...!"
Mei limply tumbled across the ground, her human body too soft to so much as part it. Her foe cackled in triumph.
"WELL GET THE FUCK UP, THEN!" he yelled, his yellow blood pouring from puncture wounds. "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU, PRINCESS!"
Through the dust, a right hand, bleeding from those futile attempts to encase it in sharp qi, slowly curled, carving itself into the hard dirt below.
"... Zhīzhū Yǐng-Quán… has over a thousand years of history…"
Mei, despite her quivering body's demands, tears falling in response to constant agony stacking atop more constant agonies, stood with a fist to her adversary.
"ITS LAST SPIDER WON'T YIELD… TO SCUM LIKE YOU."
"NOT BAD FOR AN OBITUARY, YOU BACKWATER NOBODY!"
"NO!" Fenerel yelled, lunging at Mei to push her out of the way.
A small brush of a backhand stopped his advance, one final pressure point that she knew like the back of her hand.
"(No...)"
Mei smiled.
"(This battle is mine... I shall bear this on my own.)"
…
A pipa's strings were suddenly cut.
"...?"
"...?"
"...? …ah...!?"
The tendons of the pack leader's arm had been cut clean.
"Xiāo Mèi, watch closely."
Chahan's swaying arms glowed gold.
"This is your first lesson!"
"YOU… OLD PIECE OF-"
The old master jabbed the thug away.
"The Mantis Sect's way is one of fluid motion that instantly snaps into rigidness, with such contrast that it cuts the air, and with mastery, the very space around you!"
He parried the sloppy, oncoming attempts at attacks starting at the weakest joints of the body, occasionally launching rapid-fire strikes focused at one area in specific.
"This technique requires an unyielding spirit, a knowing of self, serenity in the face of death, and a dao solely fixated on the very concept of cutting!"
Two fingers suddenly locked onto the one working wrist the evildoer had left. His free arm gracefully rose and violently fell in a perfectly-straight vector, like the stroke of an impassioned artist's brush; over and over, for each attempted punch or kick by the burly bozo, this method of reception-and-attack was repeated, each unique cut growing deeper as he played a lethal game of catch and release with his test dummy.
"But this art would be incomplete without its basic principles! Use their force, instigate and anticipate their movements, lock their joints to ensnare the foe, and ensure without fail that the cutting strike will decide the battle!"
The lacerated-to-Hell Soft Horns was sent staggering away with a punch launched an inch away from his center of gravity.
"Now, take these words to heart, and put them to use, sole successor of the Spider Shadow Fist!"
With her right, burning-but-soft right hand, she summoned her will with a kiai shout. Every ounce of her rage, her agony and sorrow, she directed at the one she would strike.
"CUT!"
A perfect, thread-like line sliced through the darkness in her mind.
"CUT!"
As she advanced, more and more lines sliced through, until all that occupied her mind were those very strands.
With a hateless raise of the right arm, her hand drifted through the air.
"CUT."
And with malice toward that which was evil, toward that which would prey upon the weak, she brought down a blade.
There was a final splash of yellow blood.
And the battle was over.
Mei's dark-red hair loosened again.
Everything hurt.
But at the same time, she'd never felt so pleasant.
"(It took so long for me to remember your words… thank you, Teacher Leaf Sucker.)"
"Well done, my new pupil," Chahan said, back turned. "For a novice, of course, but splendid nonetheless. I can't say I was wrong about you, but it's apparent that the 'you' in question is no longer with us. Once more, though. Tell me why you wish to study under me."
Mei's eyes slowly opened. With a soft, yet convicted face, she answered.
"To slaughter evil."
The stout old man nodded. Then he turned.
"I'M OVERJOYED YOU DIDN'T BREAK MY HEART, OH VOLUPTUOUS-HEADED MEI!" Chahan wailed, to the bewilderment of the other present.
"Now, meet me upon your hill once you've recovered. We will begin immediately," the eccentric old buffoon stoically stated, before hopping across the terrain with a giddy pep in his step.
She took it to heart, though. Before her body gave out, she turned to the Saiyan that'd been victimized, and was now trying to understand what he just saw. She slowly approached him; to say she looked like a wraith in her current state would be an understatement.
"... uh… thanks."
"Why are you so weak?" Mei asked. Despite the question's callous nature, only curiosity accompanied her soft voice.
The absence of malice, however, wounded Fenerel even more. But he was tired of feeling the need to justify himself.
"I just don't like fighting."
"Oh?"
"I know time needs to be protected, and all, but I wanted to help in my own way. I know it's a stupid dream for a saiyan, but I wanted to go in the Calculations Division, because I love working with big numbers, and seeing how strong something or someone can get. But… but I'm tired of letting Luka down. If I have to get stronger, then-"
"You don't."
[ BGM: Kenji Kawai – Nirvana ]
A soft hand slowly glided across his cheek and lifted his face, as the girl smiled at him, kneeling.
"That is a good dream. You have the right to follow it, with all your heart."
Fenerel went red.
"I shall make certain those like you, who wish for peace... can walk such a path without fear."
"o-oh, okay…" the saiyan squeaked. In that moment, he received a reminder that he really liked pretty girls who could fight.
Mei's smile slowly weltered, black descended over her sight, and she fell over, caught in haste by the chassis over polo shirt-donning saiyan.
It appeared romantic.
Too romantic for Luka's tastes.
"L-LUKA!" Fenerel sputtered, slowly setting down the other girl he'd been holding. "G-GOOD NEWS!"
Speaking of, she'd arrived, a more-mature saiyan patroller beside her.
Said patroller had such experience, she could feel the sheer volume of concealed rage that the teenager was letting off.
"... Oh, wow, looks like the issue solved itself… just gonna go..."
"It's good that you're willing to learn more styles, considering the grievous flaw in your own."
"Flaw?" Mei asked, a dollop of offense decorating her tone. Chahan nodded in response.
"As you stated, it had been passed down for more than a millennium, if not two. That said, in certain aspects, it's changed very little, if at all. What's more, it's an art of assassination, not particularly martial arts; it focuses exclusively on offensive techniques. In terms of defending, it relies solely on the user's ability to escape and evade, in order to strike again. In a battle of martial arts, a mere assassin would need iron lungs to keep pace with a warrior of similar skill; and should that warrior be remotely as nimble, the art falls quickly."
The truth behind his observations were bitter power pills for the young woman to swallow.
"My late master knew much the same. He worked tirelessly to ensure the survival of the art and correct such flaws, and on occasion, he would make a breakthrough. If he only had more time, he could have..." Mei shook her head. "What would you suggest?"
"Borrowing from other styles, finding inspiration within the world around you; much like how I created my own variant of the Mantis Sect's teachings with the help of others. Patience, time, and ingenuity are key to developing an effective martial art."
Mei frowned. "(why do all geezers treat the obvious as profound?)"
The old man shared a glare with her, but pursued the path of the better man and looked away. "While I don't possess all the answers, even after 150 years, I still have techniques to guide your way toward them."
He spread out, taking a calm stance.
"Watch closely."
Chahan gracefully moved in place, his silhouette draped across the falling sun. Mei watched intently as he swayed, his hands and legs calmly and gracefully moving in and out of motion.
"These movements are known as-"
"Lǎorén chén wǔ."
"WHA… WHAT DID YOU JUST-"
"LĂORÉN CHÉN WǓ!" Mei reinstated, to Chahan's anger.
"NO IT IS NOT, YOU DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE GIRL!"
"I AM YOUR SENIOR! YOU MUST SHOW ME RESPECT!"
"I'LL SHOW YOU A SENIOR IF YOU KEEP THAT TONE, YOU TECHNICALITY-BENDING LITTLE PUNK!"
Mei sat back down in an impatient huff. "Baozi geezers danced like that to stretch."
"Then they were wise beyond their era, clearly! Though it's lacking in battle, Mantis Sway is fundamental for clearing the mind, readying the body, and both easing and fortifying the spirit. Using this, Qi flows throughout the body with an ease ten-fold that of one who hasn't practiced such a technique; most importantly, it prepares one for the fluid motion required for the Mantis Sect's Bisection art. Not to mention, it's a highly-efficient method of meditation."
His new pupil meekly nodded. "Apologies for insulting it."
"Honestly, I understand you're still young, but I expected an ancient assassin of Zhīzhū Yǐng-Quán to have a bit more patience!"
"I am not an assassin."
"Huh?"
"The few who practiced this style undertake the mantle of the Spider, like the one of legend. That which descended down upon the killer in the night, and who saved the life of the noblewoman who had spared its own; she who observed its movements, and created this art. It is a fist of assassination, but never for it."
"Is… that so?"
A somber feeling overtook Mei. "As its time has long passed, it helps no one to keep its workings secret any longer… but those of 'The Spider' would choose a ruler to guard over from the shadows, ensuring the prosperity of their land. My era was a turbulent one even before the saiyans fell from the sky, so its tale was valued more than ever."
"... Were you able to find one?"
"... yes. An empress of the west. Cold in disposition, but her ambitions were pure, and she was beautiful in both face and character... and she held such an intellect, she was able to discover me by pure wit, even as I hid my presence."
She darted her head toward Chahan. "BY NO FAULT OF MY OWN!"
"I never said such!"
Mei nodded her head, before returning to a history lesson that was gradually morphing into something more. "She held many enemies, from both the other 3 kingdoms and our own. By the time I was of teenage years, I had slain close to one hundred of those who wanted her life… and yet when she found me, she would almost treat me like a daughter…"
"That's quite something, Xiāo Mèi, but the day only holds so much time."
Chahan's words ripped the young woman from her trance. "OH, YES. APOLOGIES."
"Now then, incorporate the Mantis Sway's movements into your training. For the Mantis Sect's strikes, we will spar every day, all throughout the day. As for its sacred art…"
The image of the old man's Space Bisection technique, of the Kienzan and the potential path to acquiring something so potent, spun around in Mei's mind, firing her up.
"Yes!"
"You'll need precision, control, and an unwavering resolve to perform this training. Only by its end, will you know the absolute essence of cutting."
"YES!"
"That training being…"
Mei held scissors.
Behind her, within the Plaza District, stood a small shop, the words "BARBER" splayed across its wood.
Her eyes were dead as ever.
"Shāle wǒ…"
[ED: Pay Money To My Pain – Weight of My Pride]
extra/The Martial Artist Hunter
Chahan had a good day.
He'd found a disciple predating Age, watched them grow in the span of an hour, ate some really good food, and got to appreciate the countless different hairstyles present. He even managed a few pats, though his nose paid for them in the instance of acutely-perceptive patrollers.
Still feeling spritely in the late hours, he decided to take a stroll down a bamboo road.
"... hm."
He stopped.
"What brings you here, young man?"
The red and white armor-clad figure behind him stopped as well.
"The bamboo here's quite marvelous, no? Though it's a tad too good to be true, compared to the Paozu foliage I was once used to."
"Martial artists can sense intent, right?"
"I certainly can't speak for the majority, but I'm no slouch. Why?"
"Just take your dumb stance already."
"Children in this city have no respect for the elderly, do they? What a back pain…"
Despite the quip, the old man leapt into the air, flipped his position, and upon landing, sank to the ground for a low stance.
"Mantis Sect, Chahan."
The figure tightened his tail around his waist, and cracked his knuckles.
"Archi."
"I fell down some stairs."
Kora gave him a look.
"Archi, literally how."
"They were really... sharp… stairs."
"... sure."
For the first time since Tenshinhan entered a fight with a patroller in-training,
And the second since Krillin battled someone of similar rank,
This Wednesday,
Not an orthodox martial artist, but Archi had ended up in the ER.
Yo! OP here!
"When Hokuto is in disarray, Nanto appears. Or some shit. IDK I haven't watched Jojo." Feel free to kill me for that.
Yeah, if it wasn't... painfully... apparent via BS pressure points and whatnot, Hokuto Shinken was a big influence for the Spider Shadow Fist. (Alongside some real shizz like the White Crane Style and various others.) As such, I based the Mantis Sect off of Nanto, the Mantis Style of course, and Wing Chun. Why? Because they're cool.
Speaking of, Mei's cool. I like her a lot now. It'll feel weird going back to other characters after the time I've spent writing stuff for her. IDK, I just had fun making this oriental-orientated stuff, and her "Bottleneck Moment" (Think Neoru's Soul Exploding, Dina Vs Devine/Waking Up, Zinco vs Voshyo) is my favorite in the story.
Sadly, I made her character when I knew less-than jack shit about Chinese, other than the fact that it wasn't Japanese. If I could go back, I'd make sure she spoke Cantonese. I just think it fits Mei more as a character.
Did you know that hanfu are getting trendy with youth over in certain areas of China again? That's pretty neat.
New name puns:
Chahan: Like Tenshinhan, it's just a Chinese dish with a Japanese name.
Rou Jia Mo: Spelling of the word for Chinese Burgers, with vowel accents of each word changed so it says "Flexible/Fake/Demon."
(Edit: Future OP here. Some stuff regarding stupid made-up fanfic lore.
Paozu is to Baozi what Pompei is to Ancient Greece, here. I got the whole idea from everyone around the mountains in OG Dragon Ball running around in qipaos and stuff. Even Sky Dragon from that filler arc had on some real old 3 Kingdoms Period-esque armor. Hell, in-universe, Mei's language is just a really old Universal Language variant. So yeah, doesn't really change EvErYtHiNg YoU kNoW aBoUt DrAgOn BaLl or anything, I feel like it slides right in without much issue.)
Side note, IP Man made me cry. Like, 3 times. Not ugly-cry or anything, but definite stoic tears.
I watched all of it throughout this chapter's creation, and it's probably evident just by reading it. I wound up using Donnie Yen's portrayal as a basis for Chahan somewhat, and the same might go for Mei moving forward and one of my new favorite cinematic characters, Cheung Tin-chi i.e. Kung Fu Dad of the Century.
Now for important shit.
You see that Archi end-of-credits thing right there? That's his chapter. Right there. Anything else will just be a flashback.
One more chapter. And it's literally just Neoru and Dina's progression; in both themselves and their bond (bond, not relationship) while they're still given time in which they're able to be kids. Just a fun chapter with their reflections over that 6-month course. Once it ends, 6 months will have passed.
AFTER THAT, WE ARE GOLDEN.
Edit: YO I DEADASS FINISHED THIS BEFORE THE BARBER UPDATE ON XV2 YOOOO ENTER PROPHETUSERNAME
Edit 2: YOOOOO KENJI KAWAI DID IP MAN AND MOB PSYCHO 100'S SOUNDTRACKS! HOW MANY MASTERPIECES OF SUPERHUMAN MEN WITH OH-SO HUMAN STRUGGLES DOES ONE NEED!? ABSOLUTE LEGEND
Yeah. That's about it.
See ya.