Looking around, now that his pieces had finally recovered from whatever the hell had just occurred, Dumdum gradually came to the realization.

"I lost… huh."

He blinked twice.

"DAMN III~T!" Dumdum screamed, at the top of his lungs. The planet violently shook, and everyone was immediately put on guard as he continued screeching in rage, and then-

"Well that sucks. Man, I'm famished."

Trunks, dumdumbfounded, saw off the overall-donning Majin.

"Wha… why even… What?"

[ BGM: Granrodeo ‒ Remember Your Passion ]

Zinco VS Konus! A Dreamless Fist, a Dream Without Fists!

[SIX MONTHS PRIOR]

Chahan attempted to attend to his own rest. But the marvel in front of him continuously drew his focus.

Every day, she would cut something, hair or otherwise. So at night...

This was now her idea of sleeping.

Meditation within a web of threads.

All she could feel, for 8 hours nonstop, was the sensation of cutting.

Light enough to kiss the skin, deep enough to slice into the flesh, slow, quick, inside and out, across her entire body.

Every laceration was quickly cauterized as soon as it was created. It stopped her from bleeding out, and gave more pain.

Which was part of the plan. The concept needed to be thoroughly understood, from every angle conceivable. It was now all she dreamed of, and the process further engraved the feeling, the word itself, into her mind, body, and soul.

A void of "cut."

Chahan's eyes wandered to her majestic floating locks and considering a quick pat. He slyly outstretched his hand, only to reel it back in with a dozen new cuts.

"(Such lengths of cultivation… but to what end?)" he wisely inquired, sucking his hand.

Many of Conton's residents would find out in spades, less than a year later.

[PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME]

She was still getting along with her new splitting headache (at this point, it was here to stay), but Mei now strutted with a conceited air about her. Knowing that every trial throughout her life had led to such a thing, it gave her one hell of an ego boost. She'd even gotten weary looks from other participants.

And she loved it.

She wasn't even going anywhere, Mei was just doing a victory lap.

"HAVE TO SURPRISE HIM… BEFORE HIS…"

Familiar footsteps from a familiar voice neared the corner, and she began hugging the wall as a result.

Kaza, with about 5 chocolate bars, still nearly barged into her. Unfortunately, she stopped herself beforehand.

"..."

"..."

"... ah-ex-"

They both sidestepped at the same time.

"Mh-"

"S-sorr-"

And again.

And again.

Instead of doing anything superhuman about it, they stopped.

"... Mei."

"..."

"I saw your fight... you d-"

She failed to maintain her guard, a fatal mistake that Mei made certain to capitalize on.

Mei quickly darted past the tall girl, kicked off a wall, and dashed down the hall to a place that wasn't there.

"NO WAIT, I…" Losing sight of her, Kaza's head and shoulders sank.

"Dang it."

She stood there for ten seconds. Whether to go back after her, or give him her sentiment before the match.

"... Zinco. I have to catch Zinco."

With that, she ran forward.

"Ooow! Why do you have to hit so hard, you stupid peehead!" A young, black-haired boy in a fur-trimmed dobok hissed, amidst the mountain's gentle snowfall.

Cheeky giggles sprouted from another child in the same garb, with a head coated with lemon-yellow, soft moppy hair topped off with a long diagonal spike near the front.

"I'm getting a lot stronger than you, huh?"

"Nuh-uh, you just got lucky!"

"Hey, I'm gonna eat both you guys's steepberry pie if you stay out there any longer!" A girl's voice shouted from the large, creaked steel doors of a temple.

"But Merooonaaaa, I'm not done spar-" the hot-headed boy began, before the blonde hightailed it.

"E-HEY, I… HA HA, ZINCO RAN AWAY, I WIN!"

Zinco fell flat. The girl at the gate threw on a scowl.

"That was dirty, Samanko!"

"But he DID run away!"

Zinco unburied his face and re-encountered Samanko with a confident jog.

"We can fight as much as you want! I don't mind!"

"MRRRRH- YOU'RE GONNA GET IT, THIS TIME!" the black-haired boy shouted before whiffing a punch and immediately getting sent flying across the snow.

All the while…

"AH- MERONA'S EATING ALL THE PIE!"

"I told you I was gonna, stupids!"

As other men in robes rigorously practiced form outside, a seasoned old man gathered three separate bowls of ingredients. Outstretching his hands, energy slowly bubbled from within, the assorted bowls slowly rising until light cascaded them. Once it vanished, in each place were pies.

"THANK YOU, MASTER MONBAN!" Zinco enthusiastically squealed, Samanko crassly snatching the other away and dashing outside with it.

"TEN FORMS FOR EVERY BITE!"

The old man in decorated robes nodded. "I see the reason behind my bullheaded granddaughter's tactic, yes, but you're both growing boys. It's no wonder your appetites are sprouting alongside your drive to compete."

Merona turned her nose and hmph'd, unsatisfied. Zinco nodded along as he tore apart his treat.

"Hn-hn. If you need anything further, I'll be ensuring Samanko doesn't pull something out of place."

With the door opening before Monban like the automated works of the lower cities, his grandchild was alone with the sound of an eight year-old glutton shoving what were becoming fistfuls of pie down his dumb little maw. Though the latter began to notice Merona's lingering gaze and, quickly straightening himself out with a napkin, got back to his elaborate spork-ish utensil.

"... Zinco?"

"Hm?"

"How come you don't fight with me anymore?"

Another napkin sweep covered his rosy cheeks. "I dunno…"

"It's not because I'm beneath you, is it?"

"… I don't... think so."

Merona grew agitated, her shifting finger's nail scratching the table's surface ever-so slightly.

"Then why not? We always used to, and now I'm even stronger than some of the adults. But you just stopped for some reason. Why?"

"But that's different, I…"

He didn't get it, either.

"Is it because I'm 'weaker' than you, or not!? If it is, then don't hide it from me! That's bad!"

"But I really… don't…"

An antsy silence overtook the table.

It fed Merona's insecurities toward her stagnation at the hands of someone two years her junior, to the point where she couldn't take much.

"Fine, you don't need to say it." She wiped away pooling tears and sniffled, donning a wounded scowl as she left him.

At that moment, he felt like he had to say something.

"W-WE CAN FIGHT!" Zinco blurted out, halting Merona. "If you really… want… to."

"... and you won't go easy on me?"

"Ok-"

"SWEAR! PLEASE!"

"I swear."

Merona pivoted back around.

Light had shot into her eyes, and her frown capsized.

"Then what are you still waiting for?"

It was supposed to be a private battle, but watching grandmaster Sancho Monban's prestigious daughter and the baby who waddled through a blizzard from out of nowhere, walking out into the court side-by-side, naturally drew eyes.

Merona confidently stomped out both feet, shoulder width apart as a power began steaming off her.

Zinco spread out, as well.

"AE-KU!"

She darted forward, a kick springing from thin air and breaking toward Zinco.

It shattered the sound barrier, a textbook kick performed with falling snow's grace, yet Zinco was able to parry it. Gasps, barely-but-just audible enough, emanate from the creaked temple door.

Merona split from him, and the fight continued. Her dance-like style, each arm waving in a circular and fluid, mesmerizing motion, was complemented by each passionate kick; low, high, front, back, everything in between, it didn't matter. The water-esque motions she showed ‒ as if stepping upon an ever-moving triangle that followed her position ‒ coupled with the ever-growing speed and ferocity of her attacks as she entered and exited the air was down-right demotivating for many of the silent spectators.

Yet Zinco was keeping pace. His movements were just as fluid, following the same form of triangle; it was starting to look like he had more legs, and his ever-stabilizing tail wasn't helping.

A kick from him was suddenly taken by Merona, and Zinco to the ground, but through more work with his tail, he caught himself and tossed Merona to the other side of the court as a result.

Merona let out a small wince in pain, but was having too much fun to notice the funny feelings in her limbs and abdomen.

Both charged back in, their velocity rising as Zinco dodged a flying scissor kick and Merona narrowly bounded over his first genuine attack. Engaging in a brief palm-ridden exchange before a shared grapple knocked the two away, they threw down in a beautiful battle of assorted kicks and mutual parries.

In the ensuing clashes, Zinco had forgotten his gripes about fighting Merona. His fist had even balled in all his excitement. He was fighting a strong opponent, and that was all that mattered.

"HAAAH!"

"KAAAA!"

Right then, he could unleash everything he-

"..."

Merona got up from the palm strike Zinco'd made at the last second, the latter looking over in concern.

"Ow-ow-ow! Ok, I think I'm gonna stop here!"

Upon seeing her good health, Zinco bashfully scratched his head.

"Sorry…" he held out his hand. "I'm glad you're ok, Merona."

The black-haired girl in the decorated dobok laughed and took it. "You got way too strong, Peehead!"

"That's mean!" he replied, and they both shared a laugh.

"Hey, Zinco?"

"Yeah?"

"We had a lot of fun, huh?" Merona stated, giant gaping hole in her chest.

Zinco kept laughing.

Merona smiled. "Yeah."

She faded in the snow.

Partially coated in dark red, Zinco's laughter began to change.

Like steam from a train, Zinco's breath was exorcised from his body. His long, jagged-tipped bang blew a bit off his nose, as a result.

"(I changed it…)"

Pushing his tail into the earth, Zinco put himself onto his feet.

"(Not all of it, but…)"

He scratched his head. "(Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)"

He took one more long inhale before a much more forceful exhale left him, throwing his forearms out toward his sides.

"(I don't know. And I'm okay with that.)"

He prepared to exit the room, only for the door to slam open.

"KA-"

"GOOLUKKINATOURNAMET!" Kaza blurted, glad she was able to catch him before he'd left.

"..."

He looked at the mound of chocolate in her hand and, wanting to be considerate, took one.

"Thank you, but sweets aren't good for concentrating."

A hundred mirror houses broke in the Majin's mind.

"...oh, yeah. Of course, silly me."

"Again, thanks!" Zinco cheerfully shouted as Kaza sulked away with her stupid, meaningless, failed pun bars. The announcer began his shouting, and he walked forward to meet his adversary.

WITH THE INCREDIBLE AFTERSHOCKS OF LAST MATCH FINALLY MENDED, LET THE NEXT TWO STUDENTS STEP TO THE PLATE!

The drab-robed namekian antennae sloped behind his ears, stepped beneath the extravagant entrance flair as if they were the clouds of an overcast day.

KONUS! VERSUS! ZINCO!

From the opposite entrance walked the bright lime-eyed blonde boy in the white long-sleeve shirt and forest-green sleeveless jacket decorated with silver cloud-like doodles, vaguely like a dobok with his black outer highlights, as his golden-brown tail fluttered through the air.

And then, suddenly...

UH… STUDENT ZINCO APPEARS TO HAVE GONE MOTIONLESS, ALMOST LITERALLY AT THE FOOT OF THE DOOR! COULD THIS BE FEAR WE'RE WITNESSING, OR…

Zinco's suddenly-widened eyes slowly gravitated toward the Kroukai bar in his hand. After a lengthy pause, his face went red.

WAIT, ZINCO HAS… STUDENT ZINCO HAS FLED FROM THE RING. I DON'T…

"(Yeah, that was really stupid of me. I mean, it's candy… right before his match.)"

Despite the attempt at rationale, she still found herself in a slump near the way to the stands.

"(I can't seem to get things right with either of them.)"

"K-KAZA! KAZA!"

[ BGM: Norihito Sumitomo ‒ Like That Cloud ]

Her stupor corroded, just a tad. She looked up and saw Zinco dashing through the halls like a bat through a labyrinth.

"Z… Zinco!? What are you-"

He immediately perked up, and his eyes flared with relief before bolting over to her.

"I… I REMEMBER WHY THIS IS SO… THE CANDY'S FROM WHEN WE-"

"Breathe."

Zinco's cheeks became flushed by the request, but obeyed nonetheless.

"Zinco, isn't your match-"

"The Kroukai. It's from when I first met you. That's why you had so many… I'm not wrong, am I?" Zinco bashfully asked.

An incredibly-stupid smile formed across Kaza's face, as she picked herself up.

"Of course you aren't, dummy."

An incredibly-stupid smile formed across Zinco's face, as he bowed.

"Thank you!"

"Thank you, too, but… Zinco, you have a match!"

The hybrid whirred around on the ball of his foot and sprinted for the exit once more. "I KNOW, I JUST NEEDED TO DO THAT!"

Just watching him run off was enough to raise her spirits for the rest of the day. She turned the stands' entrance and made just as much haste as Zinco.

2!

1-

A blur suddenly skid across the platform.

"Ko~h…"

Trunks cut off the count and heaved.

WELL, AFTER TAKING A BIZARRE LEAVE OF ABSENCE, STUDENT ZINCO IS BACK IN THE FIGHT, WITH NOT A SECOND TO SPARE!

Konus could care less, from the look of it. His hands swam through the air, before joining into that of a false prayer, innermost palms separate as opposed to his united fingers and thumbs.

Zinco proceeded to beat his opponent to what he thought would be a bow. Like an idiot, his eyes were closed as he faced the ground.

SO THEN, WITH BOTH FIGHTERS WILLING AND ABLE…

Trunks brought down his raised hand like a sword.

SHOWDOWN!

Zinco almost brought himself up.

Like a bolt of light, Konus launched toward him.

The flying trail of debris froze, as if a static backdrop. All color faded from the surroundings. Even the tailed boy's movement slowed to nothing, appearing as if stuck in time.

The dreary fighter paid an apathetic glance, before bringing down his palm.

And then he realized something.

Zinco's eyes were still sifting around. Taking in information. At a pace which exceeded Konus's own.

By his own will, he was standing perfectly still.

Konus concluded his attack. And in an instant, a palm, rising from a circular motion, slammed into Konus's strike.

"...?"

It was much more than a clash; the force itself had been extinguished, a light ripple echoing through the arena.

Konus pushed off and launched a kick; Zinco completed his circular arm motion, leading into a potent one of his own. Once more, the destructive force was eroded.

"Curious."

[ BGM: Shiro Sagisu ‒ Enfin Apparu ]

The namekian indulged the hybrid's "game," his aggressive, domineering palm strikes colliding with Zinco's softer variants, apathy and determination clashing with each other all the way. A kick suddenly shot out from the pale figure's robes, only to be counteracted by Zinco's. Each and every motion from the lemon-haired boy flowed from the last, each with a beautiful, convicted speed and accuracy as his power rose to match his opposition.

THIS IS LOOKING TO BE A BIT MORE THAN SIMPLY NECK-AND-NECK, FOLKS! STUDENT ZINCO HASN'T BLOCKED OR DODGED A SINGLE ATTACK… IN FACT, HE'S MET EVERY LAST BLOW WITH HIS OWN, AND TO ODDLY-QUIET RESULTS!

As Zinco continuously intercepted, from the stands, two other patrollers shared a derogatory discussion.

"What's that idiot doing?" a boy with curled hair hissed. "He's just dicking around! Why's he so scared of throwing a punch!?"

"He's clearly feeling him out," a scaled, skull-headed figure replied. "Even though it's useless, considering this is far from what Konus can do… he's only wasting his time, as it stands."

"Ha~h…"

Both turned.

Behind them was Kaza, head supported by both her inverted palms as she stared in a dreamy trance.

"What's her deal?"

"Hmph. Girls will fall for any pretty boy who shows off."

In that moment, she was so enamored by Zinco's movements, the insult and everything else around her was blocked out.

"(He's trained so hard to reach this point. And now, in front of all these people, it's finally paying off…)"

Thanks to a front-kick feint on his end, Konus saw through an oncoming kick and attempted to intercept and crush it, only for the careening leg to instantly snap back into a chamber, centimeters before the grab could be initiated.

"Physical battle is pointless, then…" he murmured, before careening his hand upward. Zinco felt a powerful ki being summoned from the ground and, kick still chambered and ready to fire, threw his leg almost over his shoulder before-

"AE-KEH!"

Slamming his foot into the platform, geysers of energy erupting all around him.

"(Frivolous.)"

Like arrows, the narrow beams shot toward him from all sides. Somehow undaunted, Zinco broke into a series of high maneuvers, wildly traversing the arena before settling down in the middle. From there, he set down a small circle-esque pattern for himself; with each step, another ray of ki weaved through, and it ultimately appeared as if the boy had left the match entirely, leaving only his translucent afterimages as the shots passed right through them, constantly looping back around to catch their target; in his face, however, an orb jumped at him from literal thin air, scoping out his life force from the rest and sending him into the sky at mach speeds; grabbing a hold of it and yet not resisting, Zinco was along for the ride. The other blasts in hot pursuit, their master had reappeared high above, pooling energy from all around into one miniature orb.

"Decrepit Effigy: Final Dawn Preluding Collapse."

He sent forth the ball of turbulent spirit, it falling into deeper and deeper chaos before superheating and becoming a massive vat of rippling, tearing energy, rapidly speeding toward Zinco.

However, Zinco's composure didn't falter. Instead, he drew breath. The next moment, he lifted his lower body, firmly crouched onto the speeding smaller orb. Only a few meters from the two,

"TA~!"

He leapt, scissor-kicking both clear from him as his aura surged. The smaller gradually dissipated, fading right before it could hit the arena.

The larger one made an eclipse upon detonation, far into the upper atmosphere.

"(An odd new ferocity, compared to his earlier techniques. And he shouldn't have been able to...)"

An orb appeared underneath Konus, detonating and sending him hurtling toward Zinco, spinning like a tornado with a devastating kick in mind.

Formerly in freefall, Zinco followed suit, forming isolated pressure in his palm before letting it erupt and propelling himself at Konus.

"HrrM-"

"HeuP-"

The resulting clash…

Hardly disturbed the wind.

Though a faint "BIIIN," like a heavenly bell being struck from within, sounded off through the stadium. A translucent, sky-blue wave raced across the surroundings before dissipating as quickly as it arrived.

Green eyes stared into red, both fighters' shins crossed against each other without resistance as they sailed back down to the earth before Konus knocked back Zinco with a small kiai. Both touched down, the pale namekian's robes flowing upward before slowly fluttering back to rest.

"What do you hope to gain from this, boy?"

Zinco stood back up.

"I wanna win."

"No. No, you don't." Konus's vacant eyes stared into Zinco's soul.

"You're… stalling… for something. Or perhaps you're mocking me or testing my current capability, tell me… what purpose have you fabricated for this act?"

Zinco scratched his cheek. "I dunno how to fabricate. But I definitely wanna win. No, I'm going to."

"How, might I ask? Enforcing a time limit, deception into a ring-out, maybe clinging to the hope that I forfeit in a rage?"

"No." Zinco pulled his scratching finger into his fist, outstretching it.

"I have to prove it. That I'm stronger. I need to take every hit, and meet every hit, and stop it, without ever hurting anything. Nothing else will do it."

[ BGM: Takafumi Wada ‒ Lu Zhen Jie ]

An influx of light entered Konus's eyes. "And that would be… your purpose of strength."

Zinco nodded furiously. "Exactly!"

"Hm."

Konus disappeared.

His palm reappeared in a flash that indented Zinco's abdomen.

"GU-GH!"

"Curious."

Zinco shot back, bouncing off a handstand and catching himself on the arena's edge before another downward open-hand strike threatened to knock him off. Against the immense pressure, he countered with his own, left hand vs right, yet the force wasn't nulled; using Konus's, Zinco pivoted himself around and skidded away from the edge. Centimeters from the grass touching his face, Konus's stoic visage remained as he redirected himself using qi, before disappearing once more, leaving a burst of wind. The immense pressure above Zinco quickly alarmed him of his opponent's next move, as a spiritual and palm-shaped offensive aura around Konus prepared to flatten him, only to be countered by Zinco's own barrier of ki, swaths of energy rippling and tearing across the terrain.

"It's useless, yet the prospect of giving strength meaning…"

Zinco's energy was beginning to give way to Konus's.

"I'm envious."

Breaking through, the drab-robed namekian's strike finally met its mark. Though Zinco was able to null the strike, he was still sent skidding across the arena.

"Though, can you not see it?"

Konus re-approached without hesitation, raising a hand and thrusting it down. Zinco immediately thrust out a palm…

Only to narrowly avoid hitting Konus's face. The dreary fighter had thrown back his own arms, and placed himself defenselessly in Zinco's crossfire.

"Gh!?"

"The pillars of purpose, which so many build strength atop..."

Aggressive black sparks following it, a double-palm strike crashed into Zinco.

"Are brittle."

The area behind Zinco was obliterated, violently shooting ripples throughout the barrier, and a deafening smash cascaded the island after the initial flash of light settled.

"But I am strong. And that is all."

Zinco staggered back from the sheer power behind the blow. And then, its effect settled in.

"Decrepit Effigy: Shattered Origin."

"Gh… g-ga...a..."

Sinking onto his knees as his eyes began to slowly lose color, an antarctic chill brushing over him as his aura struggled to bubble up, mouth agape, just lifting his hands became Herculean. The stands broke into fits of whispering; both of concern and shock of the namekian's power.

Kaza held her mouth, welling up.

"I've never seen this before…"

Eyes widening, she directed attention down to the other two, likely teammates of Zinco's current enemy.

"That's because you've never pushed him this far."

"Tch… no need to be a jerk about it. How'd he do it, anyway?"

"The same reason he's the way he is: a fusion of skills."

"Huh?"

"It was apparently some time before Age 261's storm. A region of the planet was being ravaged by a Dragon clan sorcerer, one who sought immortality and specialized in dark arts that attacked the soul while enhancing his own. A seasoned martial artist of a distant Warrior clan eventually stood up to the evil, and after a hard-fought battle… that hero saw only one route to victory."

"... no way."

The deinonychus-skulled fellow nodded. "It's the reason why both parties need to consent to a fusion in the first place. If they don't…"

Konus's vacant eyes remained unmoved as Zinco struggled.

"Both entities disappear in the ensuing struggle, leaving a lost, unpredictable, and powerful individual."

"Tell me, are you satisfied with your 'purpose,' now that it's led you here?"

The hybrid didn't respond, still sputtering.

"Hn. Of course not." He raised a hand into the air, creating a small, spasming orb.

"People aren't the enemy."

A cold terrain.

"People hurt, and people kill… because they're scared, because they're confused. Because they're angry."

A smog-choked steel jungle.

"Because they're too excited… and stop thinking."

A city in ruin.

"You can't talk it down."

A crater, and a resulting flash of light.

"So there's only one way to get rid of those feelings."

A hill at dusk.

"No matter what…"

And a cold terrain.

"I have to hit them."

Zinco's soul, to be blunt, was not just his soul.

It was a product of the soul before it, and the soul before it, and so on.

Thousands of years, from a clan's endless ambition to ascend to divinity, allowed for something nigh-unbreakable. Alongside his own resolve, that minimized the damage done to his spirit.

"...YES."

However, THIS strength belonged solely to Zinco.

"Wha-"

With this power, he suddenly bolted forward and, with a straight punch and a kiai, let it loose.

The resulting blow sent out a vortex-like shockwave that violently crashed into the stands' barrier.

Konus was unharmed.

Yet Zinco was the one maintaining composure.

"Cloudwalking Fist:"

Because Zinco, too, now knew how to attack a soul.

[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ thunderBOLTfantasy ]

"CIRRUS!"

The aimless fusion stumbled back, befuddled; he'd been hit by an asteroid that disappeared before it could flatten him.

"(This is…)"

Something had taken damage, yet he had no idea what.

"More obnoxious stalling…!"

He blinked from view, appearing from his former static posture to just abov"DAE-YA!"

Zinco read his position and, pivoting before his right leg thrashed skyward as his tail gave balance, thwacked Konus in the side of the head at a speed that bent the air around him.

Absolutely disoriented by the foreign sensation, unmoved by a kick that stomped all over inertia, the confusion that should've strangled him was outweighed by something else.

Calm. An unshakeable calm.

And it terrified him.

In a sudden burst of rage, he flipped onto his feet.

"(I am strong! Nothing more!)" he seethed, turning back around to contest Zinco, only for the attack to immediately be sidestepped, and a spin kick "struck" his head. Konus dug in his back foot and lashed out with a vicious fusion of magic and ki that split the ground beneath it; but in the time he'd taken to unleash the split-second attack, Zinco vaulted over Konus's wrist palm-first and responded with 3 kicks across his skull before landing on the opposing side.

"(I... AM…) STRONG...! NOTHING MORE!" Breaking out the stagger he'd found himself in, he blotted out the divisive thoughts invading his mind and gradually nulling his fists, summoning a dozen spheres of entropic ki like enraged will-'o-wisps that ripped and tore at the ground beneath them, shooting toward Zinco with genuine contempt.

"If you can talk, and walk, and think just like anyone else, then you can be more than strong!"

But preparing a 3-step triangle below himself, Zinco readied his fists and, going haywire, gave strike after strike that seamlessly dispelled the attacks, as if exorcising spirits.

"DAMN YOU…" Konus smacked together his hands, chanting something in Namek's native tongue before the skies began to darken. Everyone's heads ‒ everyone besides Kaza's ‒ shot toward the gathering of a ki that didn't belong in a graduation tournament.

"DECREPIT EFFIGY: FALLEN LIGHT OF VACANT HEAVEN!"

A colossal pillar-like beam, cascaded in familiar black and unstable specks of magic, suddenly appeared above him, giving off a genuinely-unnatural feel as it shot down; but in that moment, Zinco only knew that it was there. His eyes glowing fiercely, he released a kiai and fired a kick straight up, his lower body as vertically straight as the beam that he'd split apart and reduced to nothing before it could hit the ground. His baggy pants ripped at the knee, revealing a thick, rigorously-conditioned lower leg that shot down behind him, Zinco bringing down his palm to deflect the oncoming blow with a divine mixture of ferocity and gentleness.

From then on, Konus's ethereal, heavy hands were no longer being contested. They were being countered, and hard. Gracefully-devastating palms and fists, alongside sharp lashes of the leg from every angle ‒ at times, barrages even from the air ‒ egregiously outplayed Konus while simultaneously defying all logic by leaving not a scratch. What was more, it constantly brought him back to that same haunting place of reflection.

Zinco finished a string of hits and ended with a C-shaped dual punch that Konus stumbled away from. The pale namekian's composure had absolutely broken, a despair-ridden glance staring back at the golden boy's resolute and sweat-glazed face.

"I AM… I…"

He'd begun calling his reason into question. He was strong, so he had to use it; he had to fight. But clearly, the one in front of him was stronger, without question. The first he'd ever faced, in fact.

More importantly, his fighting spirit had been beaten down. All but the smallest residual fragments remained. Even his attacks were dulling.

All because someone with purpose had confronted him.

"NO~!" he screamed, unleashing every vat of power he had into a ball of discord that dimmed the entire area and destroyed every bit of ground behind him with its mere existence.

"DECREPIT EFFIGY:"

Trunks felt compelled to interfere; something like that could tear right through someone's aura and do gods-knew what to their very soul.

Yet Zinco simply anchored himself to the ground, both legs shoulder-width. With a slow inhale, filling to capacity, the pit of his stomach began expanding like a barrel.

"FADING LIGHT'S REQUIEM!"

The attack was cast forth.

Zinco stared.

And stared.

And…

"KAAAH!"

He unleashed a kiai; a roar that could send all manners of beast scampering for the brush.

The attack quite literally bent before fading, unleashing a light and shadow-bearing monsoon upon its release back into the world. The sheer power behind Konus's attack resulted in the great wind hitting back at him with full force.

Yet before that could even happen...

"N-NO… IT CAN'T… I WON'T…"

"I…"

"WHAT AM…"

His will to fight and wound had been annihilated.

Debris scattered all around, as the intense spectacle finally simmered down. Revealed was half a stage.

"Shhh..."

And in its center, ki lingering off him with vacant white sockets, a bristled tail, and teeth leaking smoke,

"Huuu~..."

Zinco.

His emerald irises slowly reappeared.

"(It works... I can really pull it off-) !?"

Zinco had reached 70% health.

His opponent, 95%.

… THE BATTLE'S DECIDED! BY ORDER OF RING-OUT, THE WINNER IS- HEY, HEY, HEY!

By sheer stupid luck, Zinco stepped across the few un-disintegrated chunks of leftover stage to reach Konus.

"ARE YOU OKAY!? S-SORRY, I SHOULD'VE TRIED SOMETHING DIFFERENT BACK THEN, I…"

Slowly reawakening from the tremendous typhoon that'd smacked into him, the first thing Konus witnessed was the one who'd utterly beaten him, and yet he was the one donning a terrified and guilt-panged expression.

"I… I am lost."

"Huh? Oh, you mean 'I lost.' I do that too, sometimes, it's ok."

Konus's eyes gave emotion for the first time in his life. "What meaning do I possess… outside this accursed strength?"

Zinco looked down, thinking cap clearly on.

He then looked up, as if coming to a conclusion.

"I'unnuh."

"... oh."

Zinco helped Konus stand, as he walked off the-

WINNERSZINCO! WINNER IS ZINCO!

Walked off the bits of arena.

"But you're a person. You can always try other things."

"Yet… strength was the role I was born into. I've only known this role for all my days…"

"You could be a libaryman, or a fireoutputter, or a foodmaker-that's called a chef by the way-or OOH, YOU COULD MAKE MANGAS! You kinda seem like someone who does that!"

The emotionally-dead and eternally-depressed warrior stared on, befuddled. "I'm well enough to walk on my own."

"Oh, sorry."

Zinco promptly unhanded him, backing up into a bow. "You are a very strong person, and you would have kicked my butt if I weren't careful," he said respectfully, before walking on ahead.

"Wait!"

The boy heeded.

"What purpose drives you onward?"

His stupid proud smile faded. He really, REALLY started thinking.

"(How do I say it without sounding stupid…)" he mentally stressed. "(No… no… uh… wait, that's… YEAH!)"

Piecing together something that genuinely put his dream to words, he took a deep breath.

"I wanna take over the world!"

He blinked twice.

"Wait…"

His soul briefly cramped at what he'd just said, before giving in and accepting it with a sigh.

"It sounds strange, but… yeah. I wanna take over and make something else. A place where no one needs to be scared of each other, or hate each other, or ever have to fight. But I'll never be good at talking… even if I were, it wouldn't do any good... and I won't hurt other people for it. I just have to be the strongest, so I can change everything from the top."

Any other time, Konus would've called him a moron. And even now, he'd still be right.

But he'd experienced what Zinco had envisioned, firsthand.

"(To grant one's fists such an ambition…)"

Zinco blushed, feeling he looked like an idiot based on how Konus stared at him.

"Yeah, you're strong. Have a good day!" he said, before strolling away.

Yet Konus beheld a greater entity, clopping off with a single great horn and a mane of clouds.

"(Could something of that caliber… await me?)"

The stands were still in applause at the spectacle. All the while, Konus's two comrades were still in shock.

"I've never even touched Konus in our spars…" Curls sulked. "Yet that blonde beat him… in the exact same way… heh... heh..."

Deino-skull shared a similar disbelief. "That kid… what IS he?"

"THAT is Zinco!"

The two were almost knocked over by Kaza's excitement, the abnormal Majin shooting onto her feet as she proudly announced the identity of the winner.

"A guy who's so strong that he can't hurt anybody!"

Trunks slowly pushed back up his shades.

"An endlessly-burning soul, a soul that cuts through anything, and a soul that attacks the fighting spirit itself… and in just the first 3 matches..."

He grinned maniacally.

"Just what the hell IS this graduating class?"

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

POST-FIGHT COVERAGE! A WORD FROM OUR COMMENTATORS!

Ace looked about ready to burst. The first emote he made was a dual thumbs-up, before making assorted martial arts gestures and then pulling his best depressed face as he wiggled his fingers as if casting a spell, then clapping his hands, proceeded by confused shaking of the head. He then started pounding on the spot over his heart, rapidly and aggressively. His fists balled and shook, before exploding into the air in a "Peace Peace."

Trunks giggled a bit. "It looks like this last fight struck quite the chord in Ace's soul! Both students displayed their own fantastic breed of unique martial arts; Konus with his seamless fusion of Namek's Forbidden Arts and a palm strike-orientated style, versus the technique Zinco uses to both negate force as a whole, and attack one's desire to fight! The icing on the cake, however, was the heart demonstrated during the battle; both styles reflected the will of each student as they went all in, and it ended without a DROP of blood despite the intensity!"

Ace shot up a 10/10, though he'd placed a 1 over the first 10's zero.

"... ah, what the hell," Trunks shrugged. "This one's an 11!"

Puddin smiled brightly.

"My eyes feel violated!"

"wh... wha?"

She held up a 0. "I never wanna see such an atrocious affront to Me ever again!"

"Would you at least care to-"

"Nope! On to you, Goku!"

The aforementioned warrior cleared his throat.

"Sure, hehe. But honestly, there's not much I noticed throughout the fight that felt off, in any way. Both fighters gave it everything they had, with high levels of martial arts and expertise in their fields, coupled with a dead-set focus that never wavered until the bitter end; and even more, the power they showed off was on a different scale compared to the last two matches! Konus DID lose his nerve near the finish, and though it was clear there wasn't a ton else he could do to win, if he'd fallen back on his roots, I don't doubt there was a string he coulda pulled with his weirder techniques. Heck... since I'm talkin' about it, that finish really took me back a few decades! Funny how time flies... But taking into account the serious junk, I'll give this a 9!"

"That balances out to a 20, folks! Soaring highs and a... weirdly... deep low. And yet, were hardly getting started!"

Yo! OP Here!

I hated this chapter for a while. Like, seriously. Most of it was trying to get ground-level understanding of Taekkyon (it's pretty cool but I generally hate research,) so it was real slow-paced. Wasn't fun for a while. Not to mention, things started going downhill IRL for a minute, needed to attend to all that while as I worked on this, so I'm doing the same stupid shit Broly does when he associates Goku's screeching with being shanked.

I shan't kneel, I can't squeal, I declare my headcanon real.

But yeah, I gave Zinco a style based on Korean styles (Taekkyon, ITF TKD, Sunmudo even though it's more than a style,) due to Zinco being based off Manwha. Yeah, IDK if I've ever said that but besides the non-stop Thunderbolt Fantasy influence, I've been going that angle for him ever since that dodgeball game. Bar Akaki and the other one, this'll hopefully be the last time I hyperfocus on Martial Arts in the Q-Finals, I just wanna go through it.

TKD and Karate are pretty close in some areas, I've found. That's neat.

More on Zinco, I'm glad I finally got to actually write a bit of his backstory instead of the stupid fucking cryptic bullshit I've been doing. "OoOoOh So ArTsY" fuck off, me. Pretentious cunt, I'll kill you. But on the topic of me being pretentious, has anyone ever done a character like Zinco? 'Cus damn, I think I'm the only one.

Abrupt end today, I'm gonna take my week break and prep for Sophmore Year now. Next fight: Tall Emotional Wreck VS Lil' Sociopath.

That's about it. See ya next match.