Oy, OP here. Bonus Fact from the Future (05/2023): I reread this chapter, noticed the repetition of a certain word, and got curious.
This chapter is a brutal fight between two of the most curse-heavy characters in this story, at their as-of-now angriest.
That said, the F-word is said 88 TIMES. 88. I CTRL-F'd THAT SHIZZ.
So yeah. Warning: This chapter contains the most explicit of explicit language.
"(... I lost. As expected.)"
"(He could've killed me with that hit.)"
"(Definitely. Who knows how much he held back.)"
"(... He knows restraint, now, so that's pleasant. Yes. I'm fine with this turnout. It was only natural, after all. The weaker fighter, the weaker Super Saiyan, lost. Kora still gets her fight with one, regardless... who am I kidding? She doesn't stand much of a chance against something like this, no matter what she concocts. At least the final match will be a spectacle. Besides, I used Super Saiyan. I went back on my word, so I lost before I even lost... if nothing else, I keep learning just how vast a gap there is between every other hyper-talented bloke here, and this walking fluke. Even Neo's hyper-fluent in martial arts, copyin' stuff out of the blue. I'm just a mediocre Earth girl that happens to have "(SHUT YOUR FUCKING YAP.)"
[ BGM: Hiroaki Tsutsumi – The Words That Came From Deep Inside My Gut (0:18) ]
Her hand twitched as blood spilled from the back of her head.
"(I DON'T CARE HOW LITTLE I'VE 'EARNED.')"
The event of six seconds past recycled itself.
"(AFTER EVERYTHING, THIS IS HOW IT ENDS!? EVERY VOW, EVERY PROMISE, ALL MY PROGRESS, I'VE EVEN 'DIED' TWICE NOW, AND THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SHOW FOR IT!?)"
The event of six seconds past recycled itself.
"(I'M JUST THROWN TO THE WAYSIDE LIKE THAT!? I DON'T EVEN GET A FUCKING PUNCH!?)"
She sprang upward, digging her teeth into Kazikum's neck and attempting to drag him down before being elbowed straight in the sternum, tumbling across the terrain.
"(... It's like a bad joke, y'know. I get dragged here because I'm somehow ahead of the curb, with stupid shit potential and lo, I TURN OUT TO BE WORTH JACK-SHIT IN THE GRAND SCHEME!)"
She slowly began chuckling across the ground. "(AND THEN WHAT!? THE ONE THING THAT GIVES ME A BIT OF ADVANTAGE, I LOCK AWAY!? AS IF THAT MAKES ANYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED BETTER!? AS IF I'LL SOMEHOW ATONE BY GETTING MY SHIT PUSHED IN AT EVERY INTERVAL!?)"
Kazikum looked in her direction, violently angry with something she could've sworn was desperation.
"(YES, THAT'S RIGHT! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A LESSER PIECE OF SOMEONE ELSE'S STORY! I'M THE PATHETIC LITTLE BITCH WHO ANNOYS THE PROTAGONIST! I'M THE RIVAL THAT THE HERO WORKS TO BEAT IN THE FIRST QUARTER AND GETS LEFT BEHIND SOON AFTER! THAT'S WHY I NEVER FUCKING CHANGE!)"
She slowly descended into enraged hysterics. "(THERE'S MY BEAST, BY THE WAY! THERE'S MY DESTRUCTIVE INNER MONSTER KEPT BEHIND LOCK AND KEY! HOW'S THAT FOR SUBVERSION!)" Tears streamed down her face as she slowly lost her mind.
"(WHAT... POINT WAS THERE TO HOLD BACK IF THIS WAS ALL THERE WAS WAITING FOR ME!? TO PROVE SOMETHING TO SOMEONE!? TO FUCKING WHO!? I'M A JOKE! TO KEEP ME FROM HURTING SOMEONE!? YOU ARROGANT BITCH, I'M THE WEAKEST HERE! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH I THRASH, I'LL STILL BE TOO WEAK TO CHANGE WHAT MATTERS! EVERYONE WILL STAY IN THE EXACT SAME SPOT, AS I CLAMBER ONTO NOTHING! I GAIN NOTHING! I KNOW NOTHING! I'M WORTH NOTHING! I AM NOTHING!)"
.
.
"(so why not use everything?)"
She paused. She considered it.
The proposition intrigued her.
A violent, tearing aura, with thermobaric levels of heat, erupted from the ground like a golden eruption stemming from the core of the planet.
"(Yeah. That's right. Screw this. I quit.)
.
.
"...!?"
Dina disappeared.
And then Kazikum's skull chipped.
She let loose a war cry akin to the roar of a rabid Oozaru as her opponent was flung across the horizon, before noticing the feeling in her bruised fist, trembling with a blunt pain.
"(That was everything.)"
Her grin stretched ear to ear, canines on full display as unstable giggles leaked from her like a gas pipeline moments before sending a city block in flames, a red light serving as its only prelude.
"Keh… hk-hh-hh-hh-hh, hi-he-he-he-he-ha-hA-HA…"
It exploded.
"KI-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, HAAAA—HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
[ Self-Contained OP: jon-YAKITORY ft. Ado – Rasen ]
SCREW YOU, SAVE YOU! Two Kids Cursed with a Scornful Superpower!
Kazikum shakily caught his bearings through a fuzzy mind.
"MOTHERFU-"
[ BGM: Disturbed/RandomMusicRedux‒ Façade (Custom Instrumental) ]
Dina rammed into him head-first, this time placing his sternum under fire. He hacked blood, slowing himself down through kilometers of trench before spearing the girl with a knee to the gut. Sparks of red glinted in her spittle, yet under his notice, her visage of pain contorted into one of twisted delight. She snapped her head skyward, sending the back of it into Kazikum's jaw.
"HOLY SHIT, WHAT A PAIN!" she cackled in ecstasy, leading into a vicious beatdown that broke through the rock and only traveled deeper. The half-spawn quickly followed suit the moment he gained a semblance of footing, yet her attacks only grew faster as his grew stronger — the young man's ferocity was being outmatched as the hollowed abyss around them grew larger and larger with every successful hit, compromising the structure of the surface world above. The hybrid devil dodged a bloodlusted blow before winding back to a degree that'd break most vertebrates, firing a mighty fist that stuck the young woman and tunneled through the planet with its force, with such depth and width that the greatest of asteroids would burn up with envy.
After gasping in an uncertain feeling, she laughed it off — practically drooling red, she yanked Kazikum toward her and herself up his arm with a twirl, snatching his neck. Her tight grip wasn't strong enough to strangle him,
"Don't die, now ~ღ"
But that wasn't the point.
An unrestrained torrent of pure violence in energy form barreled through the upper crust, blue-gold light swallowing the world.
Pan embarrassingly screamed; in the same manner that an adult would shriek at a two-foot house spider suddenly appearing on their wall. In power, it couldn't hold a candle to the friends and foes she'd witnessed, fought, and bested, let alone herself.
That said, it was the largest, loudest blast she'd ever beheld. It shot past the emulated sun, leaving the celestial giant's shape distorted like a croissant.
After not a moment of delay, a Kazikum shrouded in burning smoke and clad in singed wounds lunged out of the beam, roaring in the way only a demon could.
Rushing through Dina was a breed of excitement she'd only felt once before, very recently. Back then, it terrified her, unwilling to confront its implications.
Now, she fully understood it, embracing it wholeheartedly as she roared right back in a countercharge.
"OH MY GOD, YOU'RE AMAZING!" she howled as the two thrashed each other in a storm of fists, elbows, and knees. "YOU DON'T BREAK, YOU PUT OUT, AND YOU'RE STILL KEEPIN' IT UP AFTER ALL THIS!" She caught a flying fist with a sudden burst of speed, then bit into its twin as it tried retaliating. "YOOR EVERYTHIN' 'VE DREAM'D 'F!"
"YOU'VE LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND!" Kazikum yelled back, yanking his twain hand out of the beast's razor-sharp maw, balling it through sheer demon physiology, and reeling back another punch. It shattered once again across Dina's charging forehead.
"AAA—ND!? YOUR FUCKING POINT!?" Dina inched closer and closer, fighting back Kazikum's strength with just her neck muscles as crimson life essence dripped onto and down her face, her smile slowly weltering. "You're not scared, are you? We can't stop here just 'cause I'm a bit mad." Her fingers slowly spread across the young man's shoulders. "C'mon. Let's enjoy ourselves a bit more. You, and,"
They then dug into them.
"IIII—!" Dina threw him with enough force to dislocate her own arms.
Kazikum hit the ground. The asteroid from earlier would find no envy in the following collision. Only fear, and the gratitude that it would never cause something so awful. The only reason there was still a field, a planet to stand on, was due to the arena's regeneration being pushed to its utmost limit.
Dina landed amongst the flowing debris, fire and brimstone, relocating her arm. A surge of pain shot through her, the saiyan hybrid groaning, then chuckling, then cackling at full volume.
"THIS IS IT! I'VE FOUND MY CALLING! NO NEED TO PULL BACK FOR WEAK PISSANTS OR SHITE PRIDE AND MORALS, NO MORONIC LAWS OR REGULATIONS TO ABIDE, NO FRAIL PRUNES TO RULE MY ACTIONS! I CAN JUST FIGHT, DAMMIT!"
Her aura exploded, so violent that it mimicked a hydrogen warhead's heat and destructive capacity.
"I'M ON CLOUD FUCKING NINE!" she roared, pulling out even more raw power from the reserves she'd let stay dormant for years.
Everyone was silent, too shocked to speak.
"YAAAS, QUEEN! SLAAAAY AAAAAAH!"
Everyone except Devine was silent, too shocked to speak.
"(... It's the ideal.)"
Kora looked at the screen in subtle wonderment and horror. "(That's… that's the warrior of legend you'd see in Planet Vegeta's myths. The one my family probably imagined. Not a peaceful warrior awakened by rage, but… an unchained monster. Something far worse than an Oozaru.)"
She looked down. "(And it's... from someone who's never set foot off of Earth, until now...)" Kora took a shaky breath. "(I can't believe it. It's borderline unfair.)"
The maddened echoes traveled underground, where Kazikum had somehow managed to find himself on a throne of rubble.
"Fuck a duck, she's off her goddamn normal pills." He buried his face into his palm in fatigue. "Getting sick of this shit. Fuck… and why is this sticking itself into my fucking head?"
War cries.
Death throes.
His own roars.
Vague images of destruction.
Anything remotely willing to stand in his way without moving. Except for that one ti-
Kazikum bled a bit from his nose. "Fucking shit." He listened to Dina's unhinged cackling amidst the sound of the world crumbling. "Did I ever do anything like that? Is that what they saw, heard?"
He heard faint counting up-top. "Of course you get to work when I'm the one you get to fuck over, cunt."
He knelt down and ate a handful of rocks. It was a shoddy patch job, but biomass rippled over his screwed-up skin.
With that, he crouched just a bit lower, bulging his leg muscles. Soon after, he exploded out of his hole, through thousands of kilometers of rock, straight into the air.
"(Fuck. Too far.)"
After a wait, in bullet-drop form, he landed back on the ground.
HOLD IT! STUDENT KAZIKUM HAS NOT DISINTEGRATED!
"Great, you have fucking eyes, moron. Now go play with something sharp."
As the announcer growled, Dina sneered. "Rude as always. You almost stand me up, and first thing you go 'n do once you pop in is insult the ref."
Her voice seemed off. It sounded richer, deeper, more refined with a small rasp. She looked completely relaxed, but the subtle unhinged air around her was that of a hungry predator in wait, analyzing anything with a pulse for the slightest invitation to lunge and execute with a bite to the jugular; at that point, it wasn't a figure of speech. Her crimson, cat-like eyes didn't help, like vats to the bottomless pit of primal aggression finally allowed to spill to the surface after years of suppression. He'd learned a word for such a look and attitude after being around Wabi for so long.
"(God, she's so fucking edgy now.)"
Kazikum looked around. "So, what the fuck is all this about? Be honest. Not enough attention?"
Dina laxed her palm skyward. "Just trying something new, is all. What, don't like what you see?"
Kazikum snorted. "You were hotter when you weren't pulling this rabies bullshit. Now you're just acting like a stupid fucking dog."
Dina chuckled deeply. "Oh, wow, that's coming from YOU! Ahh~..." She shut her eyes, head to the ground. No one but Wabi had ever been so off-guard around him, but he saw through it — if he advanced on her, she'd maul him just as badly. Like a false limp. "Oh, but you DID warn me about this not-too long ago, didn't you? So sorry to disappoint, it appears I've gone and lose all concept of control. Though I can't say I'm not let down, myself. Honestly, I expected much better from you."
"What?"
She lifted the three dagger-like bangs over her left eye. "Don't play coy. Where's that monster I saw fighting Archi? I want that. If I'm going to lose, anyway, I want to fight it."
"Khh. You know you're gonna lose, yet you're still fucking here? Do you even hear yourself right now, you fucking ret-"
Dina's laughter cut him off. "I hear myself FINE. It's all pointless, anyways. I'll burn out in no time and take my leave, leaving you to… oh, what the bloody hell is it again? Kill your dad? Who's been dead for fucking millennia at this point? And now you talk to ME about pointless?" Her laughter grew a bit more unhinged. "And for the record, yes, I AM trying to piss you off. So STOP WASTING MY TIME, YOU TWIT. YOUR PRATTLE IS BORING ME."
Kazikum proceeded to surprise himself.
"... well, fuck. You're right, there. It IS pointless. But I don't give a fuck."
Dina frowned.
"I already tried giving up on that fucker once, and when he found out, he just took more from me. So I don't give a shit anymore about what it changes. I just want to kill him, just once. I want to see him suffer for what he is, tear the fucking answers out of his fucking throat, just fucking once. Call it useless all you want. If nothing else, it'll give me some sort of peace. Yet here all you stupid fucks are, screaming your heads off and fighting just to fight, making up random bullshit to justify it. At least I know what I fucking want."
[ BGM: Jamie Christopherson/Sly Shinobi ‒ A Stranger I Remain ]
He stared upward. "I look around, and all I see are nutcases that scream and cry about their fucking honor, their fucking dream, pointless shitstains with nothing better to do. I feel like I'm a fucking crazy house every hour of every day, looking at you pricks do the same fucking thing, over and over again, trying to convince yourselves that it'll amount to jack shit. Some of you bastards have even made it endearing." He dragged his head back down. "Do you know why I'm telling you this shit?"
Dina stared.
"So you get the fuck out of my way. Give it up, so I have some slippery chance in hell to pull this shit off, before I lose my fucking mind and do something to you that I'll regret."
The terrain, for the briefest flash, changed to one of a shattered, Earthen town square.
"... Gh…"
Dina's aura exploded. "YOU FUCKING COWARD!"
And back to a torn Sadala.
"(Oh, for-)"
"WHAT PATHETIC SHITHEAD BEGS FOR VICTORY!? AH!? ARE YOU THAT PISS-SCARED THAT YOU'RE ASKING NICELY FOR ME TO FORFEIT!? I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Kazikum transformed again. "Fuck, you are see-through."
"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, JUST FUCKING FIGHT YOU FUCKING FUCKFACE!"
He chuckled a bit. Dina proceeded to briefly appear in two places at once.
Kazikum's forewarning about her dwindling power wasn't entirely a bluff.
The following impact, however, did nothing to support his case. Neither did the blast on the edge of her fist. He spiraled away with a sizzling crater in his center, before Dina practically juggled him across the planet with an onslaught of fists and knees, before Kazikum caught one and, using the momentum he already had, chucked her cross- continent.
"GRRRH..." In motion, Dina shot a goliath ball of ki at the half-spawn, one that suddenly exploded on its own and into a wave of violent, heat-seeking hail. It functioned like a world-ending meteor shower, battering him endlessly and burying him underground.
"HrrrHHHGH-"
Kazikum gripped at the ever-sinking earth and strained himself for all he was worth. Not long after, an island's worth of land rose above the surface, the indiscriminate hail-fire blowing chunk after chunk apart. Dina's crimson eyes darted around the area, before locking on to a piece resembling a mountain.
"THERE!" She exclaimed, the landmass hurtling toward her at blistering speeds. She held out a palm and stopped it telekinetically, only for Kazikum to shoot through as if the eruption, explosively drop-kicking her in the sternum, causing her to wheeze into a cackle. "NICE MOVE, SHITHEAD...!"
"PEOPLE TEND TO GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP WHEN THEY GET HIT THERE, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"
"I'M NOT QUITE FUCKING 'PEOPLE' THEN, AM I!?" Dina moved back through the air, watching Kazikum plummet for a moment before lunging after him. Kazikum clashed against every attack, knocking him back and forth as the bolts of Dina came at him from every angle, ultimately predicting one and stopping the-
"CON-FUCKING-GRATS, YOU CAN READ!" the half-breed howled, a foot snapping into his skull the instant he grabbed the fist. "ALL THE MORE FUN FOR ME!" He skid through rock at enough speed to turn it molten, the area turning increasingly hellish with every passing second at he crashed into the middle of a mammoth glacier before Dina crashed through its top, sending the entire biome into a mess of lava.
"IF YOU'RE GONNA BE THIS MUCH OF A FUCKING STICK, THEN HOW 'BOUT YOU GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The half-breed roared, her palm supercharging. Before it could incinerate him, Kazikum grabbed her wrist and directed it away from him, sending a solid beam straight through the surface.
He yanked it closer, the two coming face-to-face in free-fall. "YOU DON'T WANT SHIT FROM THIS! YOU CAN GET YOUR FUCKING ROCKS OFF ANYWHERE AND YOU CHOOSE HERE!? WITH ME!? JUST FIGHT THE WARS YOU CAN FUCKING WIN!"
"AS IF THERE'D BE ANY FUCKING POINT! YOU DON'T LOSE ANYTHING FROM THIS, YOU STUPID SHIT! STOP BITCHING AND KNOCK ME THE FUCK OUT ALREADY, 'CUS I'M NOT STOPPIN' TILL I CAN'T LIFT A FINGER! YOU'LL GET WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT, REGARDLESS, YEAH!?"
"WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I HAVE TO!? WHY THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME TO BATTER YOU, YOU STUPID FUCK!?"
Dina grimaced. "DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF!?" She yanked herself away and rushed him. "YOU'RE WHINING BECAUSE I WON'T CLING TO YOUR SHITE SENTIMENT AND GIVE BABY WHAT HE WANTS FOR FREE!? YOU'RE A FUCKING SAIYAN, YOU TWAT! ACT LIKE IT AND FIGHT FOR THE FUCK OF IT!"
She axe-handled Kazikum to the nonexistent ground; the barrier of the world had been reached, as for all the distance the devil-saiyan had covered in his incessant search-rampage, he'd never thought to tunnel so deep.
"BECAUSE GUESS WHAT!?"
Dina landed on top of him, causing Kazikum to hack red.
"I'M NOT GIVING YOU SHIT!" she laugh-cried in a lack of breath, grabbing his head.
"I'M FUCKING WORTHLESS TO YOU, AND YOU KNOW IT!" she further screamed, trying her very best to cave in his skull with fist after fist.
"I'M NOT LETTING GO OF THIS FEELING FOR ANYTHING, YOU ESPECIALLY! SO GO ON! GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, DAMN YOU! SINCE YOU'RE SO FUCKING COMMITTED! SHOW ME JUST HOW FUCKING SPECIAL YOU ARE, YOU MAN ON A MISSION! EVERY LAST FUCKING DROP BEFORE WE'RE THROUGH! DO IT!" The psychopathic half-saiyan demanded, ending with a yanking of his throat and back into the abyss.
Dina no longer seemed like Dina.
"SHOW ME!"
For the demidevil, this went two-fold.
"FUCKING SHOW ME!"
Demand for more of what he was already giving. Hands around his throat.
"(No…!)"
Against his own will, Kazikum gradually stopped being "there."
"PUTRID… FAILURE…!"
He was slammed again.
"(NOT HERE… NOT WITH HER…!)"
"IS KILLING EVERY LAST SAIYAN SO TALL A TASK!? AFTER EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE NOW, YOU HAVE THE GALL TO DISMISS THE MAN BEHIND IT ALL!? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT A SAIYAN IS!?"
"FIGHT BACK YOU SHIT!"
"HOW COULD HER DEATH NOT SUFFICE, YOU LITTLE BRAT!? SHE WAS EVERYTHING TO YOU! YET EVEN NOW, YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THE CRETINS RESPONSIBLE!? HOW MUCH MORE MUST I TAKE FROM YOU!?"
He was slam
med down again.
"IT'S MADE YOU SO COMPLACENT, AS IF I WON'T SLAUGHTER EVERY CHANCE AT JOY YOU MAY HAVE, AS LONG AS I LIVE… IT'S THAT SENTIMENTALITY, CHILD. THAT IS WHAT MAKES YOU SO-"
Dina suddenly found herself unable to move her battering arm.
"I'LL… SHOW YOU…"
Kazikum's pupils had disappeared as he stood with leg strength alone. The half-breed looked on in amazement before-
"SHOW YOU FUCKING WEAK!" he roared, full force reversing the slam and breaking the continental mass around-which they fought, with Dina as his warhead. The girl staggered in unreal pain before it was overwhelmed by sheer adrenaline.
"THERE IT IS!" she roared, stopping her fall into the lower crust before leaping back at the opposing berserker.
"G̸̪͒̓̓͆̅͂̃̈́͗̂͌Ṙ̶̢͚̮̖͖̭̜̮̠̕Ä̶̡̨̼̻͇͈͉̝͍̹͚̝́̈́ͅͅA̴̧̢̨̛͚̝̣̦̻̳͇̳̲̞͈̙͐̐̋̿̏͊̔Ã̸̡̹̝̭̜̹̩̯̙̟̳͚͇̀̐́̔́̅̀͌̿̾̓̚ͅA̸̘̘͈̰͐̄̏̽̀̿͌́͗̚͝A̵̬̞̝̬͂̋͊̍̚͝A̶̡̤̗͖͙͙͚̬͙̗͕̖͇̜̓̔̅͒̿͋̌̔̈́͂͑́͂͝͝A̸̧̢̡͓̲̙͔̰̩̗͉̜̞̰̭͂̎̑͊̊̄Ä̷̜̰̭͉̹͕͔͔̹̜̼́̾̓̿̄̂͆͋́̂̓͛A̸̡̤̬͖͚̰̯͑̾́̃͆̋̊̒͛́͘͝ͅA̸͙̼̗͎̦̯͎̤̞͈͍͈͕̾̓̐̔A̸̧̡͚̳̲̦̗͔͙̭̎͆̄̌̽̎!̵̡̆̉̌̓̀͗͂͌̌͜͝͠!̴̡̻͎͎͖̟͕̹̟̼͗͌̌͒̌́͗̋̏͒̉͠"
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅▅!"
DO… THESE TWO… EVER STOP!?
In the ensuing Sadala-shattering conflict, Kazikum began to take the advantage, overpowering her maelstrom before blindly lunging at his father. Despite that fact, the girl's sado-masochistic grin never wavered — doing nothing to relieve the superimposition happening in Kazikum's breaking mind. She threw herself back onto her feet in a manic cartwheel, enjoying the intoxicating aftershock of such a blow and relishing her ability to still function and fight after one so strong.
"(AND THIS MUST BE MY REAL LIMIT…)" she smugly chuckled. "(NO BOTHER, I'M GETTING 'FULL' ANYWAYS! I'LL DUMP EVERYTHING OUT FOR THE REST OF THIS PARTY, AND IF I DO SURVIVE THE END, LET'S KEEP SHOOTING FOR THE STARS! I'LL BE THE STRONGEST WEAKLING IN HISTORY, HOW 'BOUT IT!?)"
She blasted forward, landing a hit that sent red ripples across her fist and dented Kazikum's stomach. The retaliatory blow shook blood out of her throat.
Blinded by his own past, the half-spawn continued to lash out violently.
"(FUCKING BASTARD…! FUCKING BASTARD!)"
Flashes back to the present assaulted his sight every few seconds, steadily snapping him out of it as the two mauled each other.
"(GHH… JUST… KEEP GOING…! GET HER OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!)"
He threw his hands back to one side, unnaturally twisting his upper body.
"(YOU KNOW WHY THE FUCK YOU'RE SEEING THIS SHIT! YOU KNOW WHY THE FUCK YOU'RE FIGHTING!)"
Using both arms and fists as a jackhammer, he swung with all his power, right into Dina's side. Half the planet shot out into space, Dina crashing through a dozen tectonic plates and circling the planet before crashing across the surface, blacked out before adrenaline snapped her back onto a knee.
"Fu… kin… wick-" she began before exhaling a gob of blood, as her opponent landed near her.
"(If she's THAT fucking insistent on getting in my fucking way after all this…)"
He walked up to her and grabbed her by the neck.
"(Then I'll just…)"
The flashbangs of reminiscence began to hurt. "(Khh…!)"
Of his mother. Of his father. The way they glowed around each other. He remembered the warmth present when they were around each other, when he was around them.
He squeezed tighter, anxious to get things over with. He was so close to winning, ever closer to finding the bastard, wringing out an answer as to why he took it all away.
———and then he heard her gurgles. For another moment, his sight returned to the present, only to travel back once again.
"(...?)"
Now he only saw her.
The annoying way she insisted on being around him. How she'd blush a bit every time he'd look at her without a strong frown. Her unnatural amounts of audacity when talking to him, whereas everyone else kept their distance. Even giggling at his attempts to scare her off, or better yet, biting back with just as much ferocity. How fun it was to tease her every now-and-then, goading a somehow-unique reaction every time.
"(WHY… THE FUCK… AM I…)"
Everything seemed to clash and chop together in a turbulent internal whirlpool, clawing against his rapidly breaking mental, until finally…
"(ㅤ.ㅤ.ㅤ.ㅤ)"
His vision returned. Sadala had reformed. His home was back.
And there he was. But not on the floor, watching helplessly.
He was in a different, all-too familiar spot.
And so was she.
There was a deafening silence in his head. For the first time in years, anger was absent.
His grip lost all strength, and the girl dropped, bewildered. He stepped back slowly, gripping his head for any sort of counter to the statement currently flooding it. But he only found confirmation.
Two Oozaru smashed into each other, the oral ki cannon from one lashing out in vain, obliterating another of its weaker ilk. Dozens of others converged on one spot, their maws smoking. They'd somehow been convinced that working together wasn't a method of stealing the other's prize, but a means of survival. Without synchronization, they fired, cascading the terrain in debris and plasmatic destruction, sending their comrades' thousands of bodies flying to the wind or in ashes.
And yet, a golden light, and a demonic roar overshadowing that of the surviving behemoths, erupted from the ground zero, splintering the energy and sending the surrounding environment up to the heavens in fear. The Oozaru let out screeches of terror and impotent, disbelieving anger.
That same small flame shot into one, burning through an aggressor. It sailed a distance before doing a 180, careening into an Oozaru's skull with more-than enough force to kill, decapitating it entirely.
It went back and forth, cutting through the other would-be world destroyers. Their own world shook with the thuds of lifeless great apes being flung for leagues at a time, each one missing just a bit more as the flame grew brighter, louder.
Until it stopped. The lesser beasts had once again stopped feeding it.
"Hhh—... Hhh—..."
It had fought for thirteen days and nights, its enemies charging him in a last-ditch effort to reclaim their planet. They'd come close to wearing him out, but the numbers of the Saiyan race couldn't sustain such a war.
Finally left to its own devices, it began to scrounge for traces of him. It took the golden demon not an hour before a noise caught its attention. It threw itself onto a pile of debris, clawing away at it, making its way to the center.
What it found was not him.
It found two others. One, a boy. The other, a woman, injured. The former's eyes darted from his caretaker to the demon above them, the fear in his eyes overshadowed by rage and resolve as he growled.
He'd stared for what seemed like ages.
Through the countless bodies littering the landscape, this was the sight that most horrified it.
Within two Saiyans, it saw a reflection.
———he awoke for the first time in a decade. His hair fell, having greyed after the years of relentless bodily stress.
He quickly fled from the two.
... and then returned to them with a large dead creature in tow.
He repeated the gesture ‒ ensuring the boy was fed and the woman would recover ‒ for months on end. It reaffirmed to him that the thought he'd felt surface that day was wrong.
And though the planet would not heal, the two would slowly, surely push him onto a different path. He began losing his drive to kill his father, instead choosing to see to it that another child, much like himself, would never experience such a pain.
"You, there!"
He looked over from his rocky perch to see the once-injured girl in a tough, blatantly limping stance.
"Monster that's gone around destroying everything!" She pointed to herself. "Come down here and fight me! I'll show you a REAL Saiyan warrior, now that I'm healed up!"
Kazikum spent a few seconds giving her a lazy look, then stared off again. The gesture riled up the young woman.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" she yelled, before lobbing a ki blast at his perch and sending it up in smoke. With a sneer, she watched him now approach her in a fast stroll. "Hah! Don't regret letting me live after I'm through with you, bub! I'm gonna take you out and show everyone just what-"
She was grabbed by the face and pushed ‒ not thrown, not slammed, not even shoved, but pushed ‒ into the ground beneath her. Kazikum then walked off.
"HEY GET BACK HERE, MONSTER! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!"
That cycle continued day after day, ending in the exact same gesture. It served as a sort of remediation for the saiyan, as evidenced by her improving posture and rising power with each '"loss." Kazikum even began entertaining her by throwing lazy blows back, though the full-blood could never tell. At times, even the boy would jump into the fray. He'd get the same treatment.
Kazikum grew endeared to the woman, her tireless, bone-headed tenacity. But above all else, her lack of any permanent anger toward him mystified him. Amidst a crescent moon one night, they shared a tiringly intimate moment.
"What's your name?"
"... I don't have a name. Neither of us do."
"Your brother?"
"I don't have a brother. I just found him one day and decided to keep him." She looked to the crescent moon. "Names are rare. They're earned through doing great things. That means your parents must've expected great things to name you at birth, Kazikum."
"... but all I've done is destroy. Why don't you hate me for it?"
"Saiyans are a warrior race. When we see a warrior as strong and fierce as you, we're drawn to them. We make them legends or see them as the goal to strive, hate them or not. Like the Super Saiyan God, or the Legendary Super Saiyan." She raised her hand to the moon. "If I could defeat someone so strong, somehow, then maybe I'll earn a name."
"You think you can?"
"No."
"... then I'll think of a name for you. Some day."
"... that sounds nice."
He'd stopped caring about his father. An easier way to live had begun to show itself, one that presented to him hope of inner peace.
———and with a downpour of lightless energy, his father corrected that.
[ BGM: Kaoru Wada ‒ In Your Belief ~Prologue~ (3:04) ]
"... Ah...!"
He was using someone dear to him, right then and there. He was extinguishing someone dear to him, right then and there.
Those cherished two. One, a means to an end, the other, an obstacle to be destroyed. Both so willing, so accepting of those roles. He, so willing to allow himself, despite the bond they'd shared with him.
"A… A-A… AH…!"
He wanted his father dead because he was a bastard, a monster, one that willingly destroyed those who'd loved him for his own ends.
And he had become his father's son.
▂̷̨̻̰̭͓̺̗̲͈͉͖͉̯̤͜͝ͅ▂̸̡̺̣̙̙͚̬͚͓̩̠͓̽̅͐́̽̉̐̂̊͜▃̷̢͓͎̭̲̠̦̼̌̿̑̆̅̈́̍͗͗̌͐̏͒▄̵̨̳͇͎̋̉̄͒̆͝ͅ▄̸̧̱̜̞̳̼̥̭͈̖̲̼̭̥̲̽̐͒͛̓͆͊̊͑͝▂̶̹̝̭̜̦̜̗̰̯̭͈̦̬̖̲͖̗̔̒͝▃̵̛̭̣́̓̂̀̏͆̊͊͊͑̑̂̿̚̚̚▃̶̢̢̧̲̖̺̳̰̪̗̜̟̺̰͖̏̏͆̆͜ͅ▄̵̨̳͇͎̋̉̄͒̆͝ͅ▄̸̧̱̜̞̳̼̥̭͈̖̲̼̭̥̲̽̐͒͛̓͆͊̊͑͝▅̸̨͎̳̖̱̳̙͓̠̲͍̥̿͆̀͐̅̏̉̈́̅͌͋͋̓̿͘͜͠͝ͅ▅̵͍̟͎̂̈́̈́̐▂̴̡̨̡͎̖̭̭̮̠͙̣͈͓͖͐̋̓̂̾̾̿͆̀̚ͅ▂̴͍̀̽̃▃̸̬͓̫͈̗͎̣̩͇̤̆▃̶̦̺̮̝̣̦͇̫̮̟͕̍̓͗▄̸̧̟͙̙̹͙̉▄̷̪̙̳̉̅͋̀̈͛̒͐̎͌̉▅̷̝̞̟͓̬̟̘̉̉͛̕▅̴̛̯̪̣̫̦̥̪̿̽͑̊̌̅̈́̈́̅͒̈̔▂̶̨̛̮̼̙͉̲̙̖͎͙͙͐̍̔͋͊͆͛̂̽͘▃̸̛̟̝̜̘̰̺̇̇̓̊̉▃̵̢̘̜̞̒▄̶̨̨̜͈̝̘̰̯̙̈́̏͂͋̀̚ͅ▄̷̡̧̬̬̻͎͈̙̻͍̖̼͚̘͖͇̏̏̔̆̄̄͘͝͠▅̵̤̣̞̾̓▃̸̛̟̝̜̘̰̺̇̇̓̊̉▃̵̢̘̜̞̒▄̶̨̨̜͈̝̘̰̯̙̈́̏͂͋̀̚ͅ▄̷̡̧̬̬̻͎͈̙̻͍̖̼͚̘͖͇̏̏̔̆̄̄͘͝͠▅̵̤̣̞̾̓▅̶̼̜͓͙̯̣̪̖̭̬̰͒͑̅̆́̈́͘ͅ▂̵̙̥̤̌͌̒̄̅͊͗̓̀̎͘͘▂̵̢̛̣̱̮̱̝͇̗͙̙̻̪̙̬̣̭͓̔̊͑͒͐̉▃̸͉̜̂́̒̆͘͝͠▃̸̭̝̝̈́͊▄̶̧̢̱̞͙̯͍̱̠̮̹̉̀̔̓̐̒́̿̎͜͠ͅ▄̷̠͛͑̾▅̶̢̢̨̧͇͖̤̝͇̪͇͍̲͈͇̺̀̄̾͒͗̎̽̇̅̽́̈́̕͝ͅ▅̶̧͔̲́̍̈́͐̇̀̿͑͊̃̚̚͜͝▂̷̙̣̱̮̖̬̱̗͔̳͓̤̱̼̠̅̑̑̌̄̇̇́͌̀̋̇̃̚▂̴̢̧͔̱̭̤̟͍̘̯̺͙͈̩͔̀̋͌̇̾͛͐́̏͗̓͘̕͝ͅ▃̴̨̫͈̮̟̇̔̓̌̿̽̔̀̈̂͝▃̸̧̡̞͍̤̠͙̝̹͓̞͍͍͓̱͔̈́́͒͆̎͜▄̸̙̤̟͖̣͂▄̸̛̮̗̜͉̣͕͚̌̌͂̂̉̑́̚̕▅̴̲̭̭͐́͌̒̾͑̏͘̕͠▅̶̧̢̼̳͖̼͚̲͇͎͖͚͕́̿͑͝!̷̢̡̟̺̰̩͓̮̦̗͙̜͇̩̤̔̈́̓͆!̸͍͇͉̑!̴̢͚̫̣̠̗̬͍͙͍̘̘̩͗͒͗̒́̅̏͂̇͒͗͗̌̌̎!̶̨̩̟̼̗̤̯̦̼͎̙͈̙̆̿̈̒̽͂̅̅͒͂̑͐̑̕
The demon screamed. Its golden crown was thrown to the wayside in exchange for black thorns, as he fled from his mortal half.
Its skin hardened, as did his lengthening hair. Red and black flames of demonic ki erupted around him, his soul no longer in conflict between Sadala and Naraka. Two growths tore from his back, forming spiked arms that clawed at the heavens for damning him to karma's torturous wheel.
His crimson pupils enveloped his irises in full, the yellows of his Saiyan heritage extinguished.
The thoughts he shared, love, hatred, and all feelings and pains in between, were burned as offering. He abandoned his attachments. No matter what he did, the cycle would never end.
He'd rather become a mindless creature than confront something so horrible.
And yet, clear tears fell without stop, the final remnant of his mortality.
———It was weaker. Without doubt. It could even serve as a new, terrifyingly potent base for Super Saiyan.
But such a thing was a curse from his father. Nothing mattered, so long as he could separate from that horrible blood.
Amidst the pained, monstrous howling, Dina's bloodthirsty look began to waver.
"(... oh my god.)"
The gold in her hair slowly returned. Even the red in her eyes dissipated within a watering teal.
"(I've… I've done it again.)"
The announcer balled her fists. "(DAMMIT!)" She advanced toward the monstrosity. "(It's awful, but I can't let this-)"
A different history suddenly surrounded her.
A fourteen-year-old girl dropped from hundreds of meters in the air, more annoyed than anything.
"(Grown men shaking in their boots over robbers, honestly...)" Dina sucked her teeth. "(Now what the shit could be so important that it pulls me from my FIVE exam-)"
She shut herself up. Dina had apparently dropped into a warzone.
"What..."
She hit the ground running, dashing up the steps of the central market and nearly tearing the stupid door off its hinges, but a large, dark object crashed the door open for her. In a brief moment of shock, Dina absorbed everything in slow motion.
That was a grown man being thrown like a brick.
She whirred around to see who it was. "I-INSPECTOR BRANK!?"
A bloodied man in a black, shattered bulletproof vest gave an extreme effort just to prop themselves up. "You sure took your sweet time, brat..." he croaked, before hacking up something red.
"Sure, just take your nap already, y'old git," Dina managed to joke thanks to the assurance that the old "friend" was alive. She snapped back 'round to find out just what outside of a troll could toss the fridge of gruff scrutiny that she knew and loathed. The source, as it turned out, came to her with a sneer.
"You're kiddin' right?"
"(A foreigner!?)"
A wrapped man half the inspector's mass strolled up to her. "They sent a child? THAT'S their 'weapon of mass destruction' he thought he could sicc on us?" The bandit laughed.
Dina followed suit. "Of course, it's some jerk face from Whocaresville that pulls me from school. Lemme guess, you read a chapter of Groundbreaking Science for a month an' all a sudden, you're hot shit, right?" Dina cracked her knuckles. "Well sucks to be you, mate, but this is MY jungle, and I don't take kindly to half-baked intruders like you rummaging around, disturbing the peace!"
The bandit sneered. He then appeared instantly in front of Dina. It took her all the time to register it and grow startled that he needed to stick her with a knee.
"Nh!?" she staggered before the bandit took his time pummeling her around with a deadly, elegant hard-fist martial art, enjoying the teen's frugal attempts to intercept, and the way she stumbled around with every "successful" block.
"Don't get a big head just cause...!" She was too pissed to finish, rushing him with intent to lob his head off with a good cross, to no avail; the bandit seemed to dance around her less-than place effort into any dodges.
Dina managed to catch one leg before it could fully strike out and make its mark.
"Got you... now...!" she growled, swinging him to the ground. However, the man suddenly weighed nothing as he hit the ground, both palms breaking his fall. He proceeded to prop himself up in a handstand, throwing the young sergeant over toward the door. Suddenly, she was caught.
"...?"
She briefly studied the inside of the market. There were a fair many people ‒ some in uniform, many not ‒ lying in various crumpled positions. Before she could answer the big question for herself, she was carried back outside.
"You're wasting everyone's time with this game you're playing."
"Aaaaah, lemme enjoy Yarg a bit more, you big jerk! The cuisine here sucks ass, anyway, I can at least sample its warriors!"
Dina immediately started struggling. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST PISS OFF NOW BEFORE I GET PROPER FUCKING MAD, DICKHEADS!" she shouted, hoping her swear words would make her be taken seriously.
Her eyes suddenly widened, a surge of pain crashing through.
The one holding her head started squeezing. Her angry cursing became screams of pain as she thrashed harder, starting to move the big one's arm.
"Hey, stupid, I wasn't done playing with her yet! There's still some pressure points I wanna try."
"You can do that with actual worthy opponents. Not... runts... like this..." he grit, upping his grip as Dina started wailing.
The inspector further off grew unnerved, hearing the chief's daughter cry out defenselessly for the first time. "They're doing that to a child..." He struggled for his radio.
"Now who's draggin' their feet, you dirtbag..." the smaller bandit groaned. The larger one was getting angry with the girl's agonizingly gradual, rising resilience to his strength. In fact, her screaming was beginning to lose its shrill defenselessness.
It was sounding less like a scared girl seconds from calling out for their parents, and more like a cornered wild animal.
"... you little..."
"Yo, brother, you need a hand with that kid?" the small wrapped one taunted. He suddenly dropped his cocky attitude when his comrade's arm snapped.
"HUH!?"
[ BGM: Yuki Kajiura ‒ Tragedy and Fate ]
"WHY YOU-" he started, before a fist pierced his gut, destroying most of everything within. He hacked something weird before Dina one-arm threw him through a building.
"Hah... hah... hihi..." The girl hiccupped, wiping her face before turning to the small one. "I'm gonna MAKE SURE I kill YOU."
"... h-hey, Boss? BOSS!? LITTLE HELP HERE!? PLEASE!?" His pleas were cut short when Dina caved his spine in with a knee, sending him into a howling fit. Dina panted from sheer emotion, her power beginning to spiral out of control as she eyed the man with worlds of hostile intent. A presence above her drew her lightening, crimson eyes, and she jumped out the way of a new challenger.
"I was told Yarg was home to sorcerers on high and easy pickings down low. You're a little wrench in that plan, aren't you?" The tall, lean bandit leader shot off his aura.
Dina felt it and grew scared.
And angry.
And... happy.
It was a bizarre manticore of emotion she'd never experienced beforehand, but it began swallowing her whole regardless. For the first time, she was being pushed to apply herself beyond what she was normally capable of.
"(He's the strongest.)"
A macabre grin set upon her face. She began unveiling her own aura, and started ‒ and didn't stop ‒ powering up. The leader's small, assured smirk slowly fell from the corner of his mouth.
"What is this...?"
Her hair began flashing yellow. "Hihihihihihihi... Hi... hiihihihiHIHIHIHIHIHI...!"
It wasn't enough to beat someone like this, when she'd seen once before what she could do, when she'd seen the arrogance of those before her.
She had to dwarf them. All of them.
Dina could no longer hear the additional sirens behind her, or the calls for her to stop. She didn't care for the ki that the bandit leader was currently charging in split-second retaliation.
To best such opponents, she needed... she wanted... all of her power. Every last drop, to make them despair as she had, to let EVERYONE know how much stronger she was than the upstarts that'd come out of nowhere. So,
"RAAAAAAAAA‒"
She got exactly that.
The leader immediately fired a ray of light, illuminating the surrounding area in neon green.
Dina reciprocated with her own, without a second thought. As ill-equipped as she was, in dealing with such a concept, the two beams clashed.
And a light consumed everything.
"HAHAHA, Ha... ha..."
After a dozen blinks and a rub of the eyes, the bad guy gone from view, she looked around to gloat to her favorite inspector, boast about how she definitely didn't cry during the rocky beginning. So long as all was well, and everyone was accounted for.
She snapped out of her maddened haze and beheld a flattened stretch of city blocks.
... Dina saw shadows. It took her long enough to figure out what they were.
"... oh... o-oh-no..."
She held her head, crumpling down into a ball. By the time rescue team had found Ground Zero of the disaster, out of the entire radius, she was the only survivor.
And all along, she'd slowly been sinking into her own pit of realization. There was a point where she could have stopped, where she was strong enough to defeat them handedly.
But she had to prove a point. And now enemies, allies, people were dead.
Finding her huddled body in the debris, her father sat with her as she sobbed.
"(... you stupid bastard. You can't go one moment all-out without ruining someone's life, can you?)"
Dina's eyes darkened.
"(Don't you think there was a reason I kept this curse away?)"
The world had slowed to a crawl. What was once Kazikum was motionless. Pan was moving just fine, getting ready to put him out of commission.
"(Well, there you have it, you twit. You'll always be a destructive moron.)"
It was a fantastic new ability of hers, that'd sprouted up recently — to think at blistering speeds when it didn't matter. Let her soak things in.
But she really... really... eyed the man she'd once taken a mere surface-level interest in. Listened to his agonized yowls.
"(... which begs the question.)"
A flash of lightning.
"(WHY DO YOU CHOOSE NOW TO HOLD BACK!?)"
"(... a market?)" she inquired, noticing the shattered sign amongst the rubble around her, buildings missing most of their floors, miscellaneous parts and foods littering the crumpled, chapped streets, and cars having been flipped onto their hoods if-not reduced to scrap. A thin layer of smog polluted the local area, as the sun barely managed to shine through the ominous clouds above even the smog.
The young announcer wouldn't pry further. The bloodbath she'd allowed had resulted in a full-on demon saiyan, and from there, no more theatrics would fly. She put herself between the devil and the injured student, as the former blindly charged toward her. She pulled back — one blast with effort would put it out of its misery, assuredly.
"(I'VE MADE MY MISTAKES. FINE, I ADMIT IT. I'M A MORON THAT CAN'T CONTROL HER POWER OR EMOTIONS, NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY!)"
Said golden moron then blindsided her, blocking her path of fire.
"(BUT RIGHT NOW, IF YOU RETREAT INTO YOURSELF LIKE THE SELF-DEFEATING SORRY-FOR-SELF COWARD YOU THINK YOU ARE, AND DON'T LATCH ON TO THAT INCESSANT IDIOCY AND LACK OF RESTRAINT, IF YOU LOSE REIN OF THIS GOLDEN CURSE OF YOURS THAT WILL ACTUALLY GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO SET THINGS RIGHT WITH, THEN HE, IS GOING, TO DIE!)"
[ BGM: skankfunk ‒ Chain (Magnificentral Mix) ]
"(SO GET OUT OF MY HEAD, AND BLOODY-WELL FIX IT!)"
"WHAT ARE-"
The impact cut her off, Dina blocking the demon's swipe with crossed forearms.
"GAH-! GRRRGH…!" Dina swung it away, throwing herself off-balance in the process. She stopped herself with the thrust of a palm, hissing in pain before narrowly avoiding a ground-splintering stomp.
"HEY!" the referee barked. "THAT'S ENOUGH! I DON'T NEED SAVING, ESPECIALLY NOT FROM SOMEONE IN YOUR CONDITION!"
"I'M NOT SAVING YOU!" Dina snarled back, before refocusing.
"KH… ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I WAS JOKING EARLIER, BUT THIS IS TOO FAR! THIS IS A REAL THREAT, AND YOU CAN'T BRING HIM BACK THROUGH LOVE OR ANYTHING!"
Pan's words didn't stop Dina from desperately dueling the beast all the while, her punches doing less-than nothing against his advance. She retreated before his bizarre upper arms – having transformed into blades – could cleave her in two. In spite of the sudden, startling development, Dina had said not a word; a new, frantic calm had enveloped her.
"(This next hit has to suffice.)" A gold spark crackled in front of her eyes, It soon became an arc, as she smoothly exhaled.
"(Sync into it. I can think more after I land this. His life depends on it.)"
The demon charged once more. Dina charged back, saying something between her teeth right as she punched.
"KUARK!"
A golden flash surpassing any and all natural volts. For a few seconds, he was immobilized.
The ref looked on in shock. "That's…!"
"My bet." Dina smirked — before that same nature-surpassing voltage ran through her, bringing her to her knees. "GHH…!"
Her "bet" began falling apart before her, reflected by the referee's expression. "Like hell!"
Hearing Pan get so close to ending things, the other half-blood's mind went into overdrive.
Something as simple as shocks running through corpses came to mind, and that same frantic calm swallowed her. A small, static-like storm of lightning razed her up-and-down, proccing her to stand. "J-JUST HOLD ON!" she stammered, before coughing a light smoke. "I… I can handle a bit of pain, dammit… but ending it here means he gets put down as a monster, right!?"
"He… he's lost all control. There's no way to render him unconscious. It's horrible, but for him, there's no other option."
"... what about 'shutting him down'?"
Pan looked at Dina. She was crazy, and her expression fit.
"Lightning isn't trauma, after all. If I send enough volts through him, if nothing else, I can force his body to shut down."
"(I don't think I'm entirely lying. But in truth, I DO want to find a way to get through to him. I still have no bloody idea how GENUINE magics work... — only vague ideas of electricity's effect on biology. I'm going off bare-minimums and a silver tongue that I need to exist. Even if it's wrong, I still HAVE to try... anything's better than losing Kaz forever.)"
In any case, the asura had regained control of his body. She needed to land another successful hit if she wanted to persuade her.
"(Don't let them get close…!)"
She used both. A small storm to push past limitations, and a seamless bolt to stun.
It still hurt. Her skin felt like popping. But that time, her muscles spasmed less. As if ready. As if adapting.
No…
Magic was invocation of an outer force.
"(I can feel it… even by just a little bit…!)"
The stun would hopefully last just as long, even if ever-so slightly proportionate to her own progress.
"Dina, you're going too far!
"I've ALREADY gone too far…! This is me… fixing my MISTAKE!" She whispered the invocation in her head, localizing a pulse of static electricity in her knees with an angry smack, sending them into a straight jolt upright. "What? You let Neo keep fighting in HIS condition, you let Zinco fight a fucking DEMON GOD, yet I'm caught in the middle and somehow THAT'S where you draw the line? Don't tell me things are different because I'm a girl!" she sneered rebelliously, with a tinge of desperation. "After all, I've got one HELL of a reason to keep fighting, now!" She turned to the asura she knew. "If I had a zeni for each time I've turned those l love into monsters because of my own lack of control, I'd have two zeni too many!" She reared into an orthodox stance, pure gold flames radiating off her like solar winds across a star, individual sparks of mystic plasma abound.
"So please. Let me right this wrong. I'll prove you made the right call, letting me see that 'beast' of mine firsthand."
.
.
The ref recalled Kazikum's earlier talk.
For someone like that, peace wouldn't be an easy matter. They might even be a threat, in a different manner than she'd first thought.
—But it was possible enough to try.
"I don't want either of you to die. Please. Save him."
Dina nodded, with a warm smile. Experience gap aside, she seemed more like a kindred spirit by the minute.
Pan pushed up her sunglasses.
Begin.
Dina turned to Kazikum, who'd been rapidly regaining control of his body, and sighed. A very unpleasant idea for an amp was about to be deployed.
"This is gonna hurt me a lot more than it will you, love."
"Kuark, Storm."
[ BGM: Breaking Benjamin ‒ I Will Not Bow ]
"GHH-H-H-H-H-HH-HHH-!-!-!-!-!-!"
STUPID IDEA
ㅤㅤㅤFUCK
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤSTOP IT
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤI WANT TO DIE
ㅤㅤㅤㅤTHIS WON'T WORK ANYWAYㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤNO NO NO
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤQUIT FOR THE LOVE OF
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤMAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤNOT WORTH IT, NOT WORT-
SHUT UP!
It was a pseudo aura within her own ki-laden one, tailored to continuously tear her body apart at just enough of a rate that her saiyan-human biology would kick in, constantly raising her power the longer it remained activated through virtue of intense emotion and keeping her body at a constant max-performance. At least she hoped it'd work like that.
Its limit was the fact that pain did, indeed, hurt. Especially this breed. The physical and mental cost was steep, and her body would shut down in time, no longer able to tolerate this death-by-a-thousand-shocks "technique." All the same, it was her sole compromise.
The thought of losing that jackass who could actually tease her to the point of flustering made her sick, especially to something he quite literally couldn't control. She focused everything on denying that potential reality. She had to win, to complete the task before her, in order to bring him back.
She recited a one-worded mantra, one that demanded every ounce of her being to one purpose, no matter how difficult.
"(... Therefore.)"
Blessing and curse, the lightning aura bolstered her reaction speed. She saw him regain himself and charge.
"(He's weaker. But so am I. Super Saiyan is still 50-fold of myself, approximately. Meaning I lose this state for even a moment and I can die. And there are far too many people counting on that to not happen!)"
She vaulted over a swipe and hooked Kazikum directly in the chin. "(Vitals. Weak areas, I'm not a martial arts star-child, but that's irrelevant! Strike whatever MAY grant an advantage!)"
Spined spheres of violent demonic ki tore themselves into existence around Kazikum.
"(Hh…!?)"
She backed off as fast as she could, but the mine-like orbs exploded regardless. Dina's manufactured aura, enhanced by a honed ki, converted the demonic energy into lightning — an unexpected boon, at the cost of ungodly currents surging throughout her body. She briefly foamed at the mouth as she fell into a miles-deep ravine, only to reinstate in-mind that same ruined block and thus, the arena, bringing herself back from the brink.
"(If you want to get mad, then GET MAD! ANYTHING IT TAKES TO DRAW OUT MORE POWER!)"
Dina screamed. For any and all reasons in which she feasibly could in such a situation, she screamed. Ki and magic, either of which she was by-no stretch of the imagination top-class within, combined and supercharged each other. As if responding, bits of the arena beginning to rain and crack,
"(WAIT… IS…!)"
Kazikum screamed back — each agonized roar shaking the arena.
"(EVERYTHING IS LIGHTNING, EVERYTHING IS SPARKING!)" Dina threw herself toward Kazikum, her every strike, every lash, every kick and knee and elbow going for his nerves and deeper muscles. Any shot at liver and chin she took, discombobulating the rampaging asura in a fit of hyper-focused rage and hope. She even broke through his retaliatory barrage, her cheek sliced through by his weaponized extra limbs, grabbing hold of his head and letting everything out.
"WAKE UP, YOU BIG LUG!" She screamed through her own mind beginning to break. "WAKE UP SO WE CAN CUSS EACH OTHER OUT FOR BEING COCKHEADS! PLEASE!"
His mouth slowly inched open, as if struggling to speak. But a flare of red-black light spewed from the devil's maw, eating her whole as her aura ravaged her every cell, the volume breaking through Dina's makeshift defense and tearing into her spirit with demon ki. In its entirety, the attack was like constant vats of battery acid being released onto each patch of skin. She had, by no stretch, died for a moment.
But her heart kickstarted with a defib-esque jolt, like a faulty engine revved up with a hand crank. She sobbed quickly and openly, unashamed of the reason, before shutting her eyes and releasing the most bestial, guttural roar imaginable, so strained, quick, scratchy, ferocious that it sounded less like an Oozaru and more like a big cat's. The charging Kazikum was suddenly head-butted full force, actually staggering the demon for a moment from raw strength alone and arcs sending his mind on the fritz as it once-more killed Dina. Another shock jump started her brain and heart, and she caught herself mid-fall on a palm, still falling forward as Kazikum's two appendages morphed into spear-like pincers. Suddenly, she tightened her core and straightened her leg.
"YIN-"
Her heel suddenly crashed into Kazikum's face, full tilt.
"YANG-"
She stomped back onto her feet, throwing herself up into a lunge forward. She made a fist…
"DRIVE!"
… and sent it careening into the asura's face, roaring as every faucet of her being shot through him, sending him across the block into a van, ending in a lightning-imbued explosion; said lightning branched off in arcs, shooting up buildings and sending dozens of vehicles up in flames.
"Gah… gh… gh…"
After the flash, Dina looked down at her hand, noting something off.
"... shit."
The glow, the burning, the tense feeling, were fading.
Her amplified magic did not fade in a poof. It lingered for five seconds too long.
"GYAAAAAAA—!"
Her lightning aura tore her apart. Deep-black singes dug into her skin and clothes as she disappeared in golden static.
.
.
—My heart started. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't return the favor and wake up.
Apparently, this is it. The pain threshold of human and saiyan alike. My body won't start again. It's just my heart, and my fading mind. I simply cannot return from something this heavy.
Something's fried. It smells off, like strong pork.
… huh. That's me. I've cooked myself.
It confirms the irrefutable truth to me. I'm dead.
[ BGM: KATE ‒ Ever-Present Feeling ]
… it's crude, but I begin thinking about food.
Like the kind I'd eat with Devine after a tough spar. Sitting beneath those umbrella seats, enjoying the weather. I try to think of a favorite, in the moment, but I can't. I think… EVERY food's my fave when I'm eating with friends. It jogs my failing memory, and it gives me a fun feeling, knowing that even now, I can remember such things.
Like talking about meaningless things with Neo. I doubt I can remember even a single topic, or story, or dumb phrase we'd throw back and forth. Usually, we'd just ramble, with how tired we'd be. Out-weirding him was the best, with that stupid little pause he does when he's confused.
Like check-ins with Ms. Ayeva before the day gets busy for us both. She's just pleasant to talk to. I'd even started to understand some of the bigger concepts she'd go on tangents about. Plus, I dunno. Ever since she started leavin' out weird junk on purpose… something... tinker-y awakened in me. Wonder what she'd leave out tomorrow.
…
Ice cream.
Video games.
The rush in my arms after a solid rep.
The breeze post-workout.
Sunsets.
Sunrises.
That pretty period around 10 in the morning that I don't know the name of. Conton just has… the prettiest skies.
Figuring something out after like thirty minutes and having it stick, the next time you do it again.
Fighting.
My own voice.
Yep. I'm still a narci. Even now. After everything I know. After everything I'm guilty of.
… Kaz.
Seeing him become a better guy. It's been amazing. The big jerk.
… hm.
I… I actually quite like living, now that I think about it.
… fine. I'll do it. Keep it up, heart.
With my finely roasted body, I try standing.
.
.
It takes about a year, I think. Like walking across a sector paved with needles in the dark as the howling winds carried razors, all while I've caught fever. I stammered and fell at points, adding more and more years.
But I opened my eyes. Vision came to me like a smartphone camera slowly gains focus, complete with that annoying random flicker it does.
Apparently, I'd only managed to rise onto a knee. Sort of underwhelming. But the rest of the way went faster. Maybe because I could see.
I was in the hallway Luna killed me in. It fits; I really want to stop that from happening again. Honestly, how rude someone would need to be to make something like this.
... Kaz is still there. I can't quite call him possessed, as he IS the demon, but Christ.
His two appendages were gone. His eyes were back to that pretty black-yellow-red you'd see on select poisonous snakes, and he'd lost the excess bulk he gained from his transformation. That tough bio-armor-sorta-stuff had broken off most of his face. His hair was shorter, even flowy again.
Not gonna lie, he looked right wicked. In a good way. Much less wicked-wicked than he did previously.
In any case, he was still a bit crazy. Or maybe he wasn't. In any case, it was a hobble, but he could still move. I cannot.
… honestly, what a unit. After everything he's endured, he's still moving forward, closing in for the kill.
What's that make me?
… Wow. I hadn't thought about that. Yeah. I'm contesting THAT. I'm not too shabby myself, ordinary as I am.
Yeah. A regular Extraordinary Ordinaire.
Well, contesting is quite the stretch, isn't it? Me moving more than a good meter would kill what I have left. Not much I can do, stationary.
… Neoru. Devine. Ms. Ayeva.
That's right. I'd completely forgotten.
[ BGM: Yoshihisa Hirano ‒ The Finisher ]
I DO have something for that. This situation practically BEGS for it.
The superweapon I'd made to finish Kora. If she sees it, then it's pretty much compromised. It's almost impossible to make her drop her guard when she knows something's waiting for her.
But if I lose here, I won't fight her, regardless. Not in this grand fashion, in front of everyone. After all, I said it myself. Why not use everything?
—so I'll use it here. I have just enough of everything to do this. Just watch.
The stance.
"Ka…"
Indicative of the Kamehameha. It differs in that all weight is applied to the back foot. Specifically, the heel. Its odd stance isn't made for early or mid match, neither can it be used in instances where an enemy has excess room to think — thinking cautiously, my opponent could easily just blast me or use whatever long-range tek they may have from a safe distance. Regardless, Kaz doesn't have that option anymore. I can feel it. The appeal of this stance is that it's also chock-full of openings. In desperation, it's an easy bet that my enemy will charge in. It's a much frailer stance than it looks, and that's aided by my current condition.
"Me…"
This one's recent.
"Ku… Kuark."
It's a hushed phrase that I hide between my teeth, and at this point, it's like pulling out one just to say. Selaine never told me about anything like that. I'm thankful.
The lightning is red. It's weak, but still painful. It sends my mind on the fritz and makes me jumpy. Therefore, it works.
I can no longer visualize something like a compressed storm outline. I can hardly think at all, over this new pain. It's hot nails — a fair upgrade from earlier, but I'm not quite immune to pain yet.
I return to pleasant things, to keep my mind off pain. Ms. Ayeva came to mind first. I remembered a fun word of endearment. It's embarrassing to admit, even inside my own head, but it makes me feel fuzzy n' stuff. I like the feeling and focus everything into that sole phrase.
I project a tiger.
A shoddy outline around me, size of a mediocre garage. Not very detailed. It'll work.
As long as it stays a decent distance from my body, at least for now, it works. When I need it, it'll boost my reaction speed, and let my hands work faster than my mind. I seal the directive into my body.
"Ha…"
I reel back. A concentration of ki finally forms in my hands. They're more clawed than cupped. I'll fix that next I ever use it, if I ever get to use it again. I won't fire this attack at my opponent. This particular stance is made to receive.
Kaz picks up speed. He's silent as he advances. I can see it now.
He's sane again. He's just trying to win.
Is it for his revenge? Or Wabi, now? I'm not sure. My breath is caught in my throat. The last "Meh" isn't delivered, and I admittedly panic a small bit.
My mind clears. Useless thought gets shoved aside. That frantic calm from before is now mine.
"(All is Lightning. All is Sparking.)"
This close to the edge, victory and defeat, life and death, against a foe like this.
I smile. My aura flares for a split moment. Not in any consequential way, mind. Made the magic around me growl, a bit. Wasn't a bad feeling.
I feel alive as I die. The feeling's incredible.
Kaz lunges at me with conviction. I face him down.
—what happens next is a blur.
The shock caused a nosebleed.
My arms felt horrible jutting out their sockets.
My hands formed fists, a blast shooting me what should've been backwards, returning all of my own power to my body and strike on the round trip.
I felt something break all across my body. There's a loud crash, like hundreds of lockers slamming at once.
And…
Dina came to, standing not by choice, but by virtue of pure leg strength.
Her ki was emptied. The bare-minimum spiritual life force held by all living beings was currently draining, just keeping her alive.
"Keep standing," Kora said to herself.
Simply not passing out was a painful endeavor.
Her "connection" to the outer world was severed, hard.
"(Just hold out,)" Neoru silently pleased. "(Just a bit longer.)"
Her arms were spaghetti noodles. Her body felt further cooked, if not charred.
She had only a vague idea in her failing mind what had occurred.
.
.
.
Wabi closed his eyes and walked away.
… Kazikum's limp body was in a crater below the school bulletin.
AND THE WINNER IS... DINA SPAURK!
It worked.
She had done the impossible.
"(I can't ever atone for the past.)"
She allowed her knees to buckle. Tears flowed freely. Her lips quivered, slowly splitting apart as quiet stammers streamed from the girl. And then,
"HRAAAAA—!"
"HRAAAAA—!"
"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
A primal roar of victory won through sacrifice, shot toward the sky. The rite of two warrior races, a sound indistinguishable from either.
"(But I can move forward, now. Just a bit further.)"
Dina's heart, relieved of its burden, stopped.
"ALL WE'RE DOING IS KEEPING THEM STABLE!" The pointy-eared mage cycled back and forth between the two. "It's like the second we mend one crack, it causes another to break off!"
"THIS IS HOPELESS!" The majin doctor smashed his head in. "They're BOTH corpses at this rate? What, are we supposed to keep this up until old age gets 'em!? Face it, we're just prolonging the inevitable!"
"I know what you're suggesting..." A saiyan let go of a trash can's sides and turned back to the bedsides, dripping sweat and wiping vomit off the corner of her mouth, "And I'm telling you now, it's OFF the table! We're not letting ANYONE die!"
"... the demon boy's vitals keep steady for much longer than the girl's after mending." The elven doctor grabbed their temple, struggling for a better solution and coming up with blanks. "If we focus exclusively on him, we can save him. I can't say the same for her. Should we consider her a lost cause?"
"...we-"
"We don't have a CHOICE! It's one or none!" The majin whirred over to the saiyan. "Make up your mind, Bajikka!"
She shut her eyes for a moment. "You're ri-"
Bajikka jumped when the door slammed open. The majin doctor took the offensive on the intruder. "GET THE HELL OUT, THIS IS A-"
Wabi held out a Combat Medic ID as he advanced.
"MOVE!"
Like a dragon had bellowed an order. Wabi immediately commanded the room with presence alone, grabbing hold of both hybrids. A mystic green embezzled the pair as Wabi grit his pointed teeth.
"Neither..."
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ BLUE DRAGON strings ver. (1:55) ]
Wabi suddenly lost his cool.
"NEITHER OF YOU MORONS GET TO DIE YET! SUCK IT THE JSERR UP, YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELVES! YOU HEAR ME!?"
Each monitor began stabilizing, to each medic's awe.
"YOU GAVE UP CHOOSING ONCE YOU DECIDED NOT TO DROP DEAD OUTSIDE! NOW YOU THINK IT'S JUST OK TO CAUSE TROUBLE FOR OTHERS BY CLINGING ONTO LIFE, ONLY TO FALL, NOW!? INSENSITIVE JERKS!"
The procedure was an inch, a millimeter, a sharp last breath away from reviving the dead. With only miniscule embers of each's spirit to work with, dead cells returned to life. Even their clothing had returned.
"YOU'RE NOT RUNNING FROM THIS! YOU'RE GONNA KEEP GOING THROUGH PAIN AND FAILURE, JUST LIKE THE REST OF US IN THE LIVING WORLD! SO... YOU'D BETTER FIND SOMETHING THAT MAKES IT WORTH IT FOR A WHILE! BECAUSE YOU'RE STUCK HERE FOR A LONG ONE!"
In half a minute, they had not a single mortal wound.
"There. I said it." His glare snapped to Kazikum. "Are you happy now, jerk? How dare you try to run away. I won't forgive you."
Wabi's smile looked evil. In truth, he couldn't choose between joy and anger. With the way his eyes watered, pain was also a factor. Two kinds ‒ the light draft in the room was starting to hurt after such a close procedure.
"You're keeping those scars, idiots. I hope they never stop reminding you of today."
He turned to the staff. "Please let them rest. Injuries on this level leave nasty phantom pains when healed this quickly." He paid the two an endeared glare before, as if he'd stopped by to hammer in a weird nail, taking his leave.
The three doctors looked around.
"... what?"
Wabi turned to the left. He gave a peace sign.
Amidst the sound of relieved sighs, a sweating Neo gave one back.
"Thanks, Magic Man." He thwacked away a teeny tiny speck of wetness, as Mashii blushed at the Orojia angrily. "H-hey! I was tipsy when I said that!"
The patroller smiled. "I only did my job."
"Is your job miracles?"
Wabi frowned, in confusion. He'd never thought of it like that, before.
"You gave Dina back her life, man. There was no way that dense motherfucker was gonna come back from that unscathed. I'm not gonna forget. And I'll be able to kick her ass over and over, if she ever starts to." The human boy approached to pat him on the shoulder, but Wabi backed off immediately.
"S-sorry. I get really sensitive after healing others. Just walking feels like a trial, right now."
"... got it."
Wabi began to make off.
"I've let down my share of people, y'know. And there's a difference between screwing someone over and giving someone another chance to choose how they'll screw up." Wabi didn't stop moving forward. Neo didn't mind.
"One's a part of life. Something you can't change once it's done."
Wabi kept trudging forward.
"The other's a wish! Get it? You're granting wishes, man! So hold your damn head up!" the boy yelled after him.
Wabi's grit teeth continued to stifle his sob, his tears no longer containable.
"Enough'a that shitty face I know you're cryin' behind! You're somethin' else, doc!"
Spurred on by a serpent at its summit, the carp continued to climb the Dragon Wall. Allowing others to do the same.
Kora stared at her balled fist.
"(I... I have to fight that now.)"
It shook without end. She visualized the Super Saiyan of Legend cackling in a battle-lusted madness, and the manic human without regard for her own life roaring in an insane determination.
"(I...)"
She smiled ear-to-ear, face saturated with a blush. "(I'm actually terrified.)" She heard a dumb, hushed squeak, and looked up to see Devine, desperately pointing off to an exit. Her Saiyan blood had reached its flash point.
Kora's smiled slowly withered, as she followed.
"(I think my dream might be dead.)"
[ Self-Contained ED: winnie ‒ Starlike Stereo ]
EXTRA_STEP: Stupid Revengeance Reference #3
Kaz "Patriarch of Patricide" Ikum landed inside a ditch.
"I was wondering if you'd come..." Dina turned seductively. "Kaz the Ripper."
"No one calls me that. Literally no one."
"(Until now!)"
"(Not anyFUCKINGmore.)"
Dina pouted.
"Now where's my BITCH dad?"
The half-breed tsk'd. "I can show you a better time than THAT crusty old bear."
"You're in charge, here?"
Dina looked over to Pan.
"D-dude, even Kengan announcers rate higher than me at this point, I only do my job when it's convenient."
Dina shrugged.
"(I take that as a yes...)"
"Your reputation proceeds you. Saiyan, but with hair white as snow. A natural-born killer, even as a child..."
Kaz "Bombs Away on Father's Day" Ikum looked off, wistfully. "That was a long time ago..."
"I was born on Earth, myself. I'm only half-saiyan."
"Wait- you ARE!?"
Dina stared. "W-what?"
"No one fucking tells me anything. That's actual news to me."
"You didn't... like... you couldn't take context clues and... y'know..."
"Assuming makes an ass out of (yo)u and me."
"... you know what, I will take that. Good on you."
She cleared her throat. "We had our own civil war in the 790s. So you see? Cut from the same cloth, you and I."
"You don't know me."
"I lost my whole family, every-"
"You're not God."
Dina glared.
Kazikum held an uncannily neutral face.
"... but I butchered those fu-"
Kazikum made a wavy "WUH" sound. He then imitated a horse.
"By the fucking gods, what is this?"
"You're not God."
Dina pressed her lips. "Yeah that leads to my next point, I'm a killer, too. And a good one at that. I slaughtered dozens in... uh..."
She looked at her fingers before remembering that it was literally just that one time, in that one area, and she didn't even mean to. "... places..."
"same lol." Kazikum sprouted a fucking sword arm on some Prototype shit. "Proud of that, are you?"
Dina somehow shrugged it off. "What happened, happened. To be honest, I found it quite dull."
"UAAAA-HAHA, I'M SORRYYY‒HIHI! AH-HAH, AH HAAAA-"
Pan pointed at Dina. "You ain't no shooter, you can't do that shit without no molly."
Dina anime-gasped. "SHUT UP, I'M A BONA FIDE TOMBOY TRAPSTAR QUEEN!"
"saiya please."
Dina pouted yet again, doffing her coat. "My enemies fell like domino, one after another."
"good I fucking hate dominos-"
"Not once did I feel threatened. I was adrift, without challenge... without purpose-"
"SHE STOLE OUR THEME, MEI!" Neo screamed.
"ALL THOSE BASTARDS DO IS TAKE, DAMN IT!" Mei screamed.
"YEAH- wait, the Saiyans or the Bri-I mean Yarg?"
"DᾹNGRÁN!"
"At times, I even envied my prey. At least they had a cause to die for."
"We must acquire vast stacks with expeditious haste, my good chum," one bandit expounded to another.
"Ohh, indubitably."
"Do you have something you want to say to me, you prick?"
...
"YES. YOU."
O-oh, fuck, what's happening?
"Every soddin' time I say something, there's some smart-ass flashback or cut-out or what have you, it's starting to piss me off!"
my bad g, keep sayin your peace.
"... you do remember you made just me a sergeant, right?"
Two different things, dumbass. But if you insist, then Rah, Sar'.
Dina silently fumed before turning back.
"And then... I met him."
A rock somehow flew at Kaz "When I Grow Up I Wanna Be Fatherless" Ikum, and he punched it to atoms. "WHO?"
Dina looked dead at him, blushed, and looked away. "And I knew what I'd been missing." She cuddled a floating camera. "His ideals gave my life meaning."
Mei tore out her hair as Neo bashed his head on something blunt.
"IT'S THE OVERARCHING THEME OF THE STORY AS A WHOLE, CRY ABOUT IT!" Dina countered, screaming at said camera. "On that point, Ideals, Kaz. What are yours?"
"... I, protect the weak."
Wabi smiled. "Aww~..."
"Until I get to murderize the shit out of my dad until he dies to death."
Wabi frowned. "Aww..."
Dina frowned.
"Still..." She slowly tore the camera apart, sending up in electric zips and triggering a look from Pan. "So... NAIVE..."
"GIRU, NOOO!"
Both looked over.
Pan coughed, teary-eyed. "S-sorry."
She dropped the camera and smashed it with a stomp. "It seems we have less in common than I thought."
Kaz "Ambush on the Milk Aisle" Ikum sneered. "I'll take that as a compliment."
A magical spark surged upward. "If you would kill for your ideals, then SURELY, you are willing to DIE for them."
Dina then erupted in lightning.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Kazikum stared.
"OH GOD, OH GOD, I DERIVE NO SADO-MASOCHISTIC PLEASURE FROM THIS SHITE AT ALL! THIS WAS NOT HOW THIS WAS GONNA GO DOWN IN MY HEAD!" Dina continued screaming her head off. "SOMEONE SHUT IT DOWN, SHUT IT THE FUCK DOWN! AAAAAAAA-"
Everyone slowly stared to the right.
"I did NOT tell her to use it like THAT," Selaine responded, shaking her head vehemently.
"C-come," Dina said in a sorry attempt to seem cool. "M-mo-mon... gars? Is that how you say it?"
Cleo stuck her thumb up.
"T-thank y-y-you...!" She turned back.
Kaz "Call Me Daddy In Bed, I Promise You I'll See Red" Ikum, the designated Raiden guy who literally, naturally had his voice, now had double the arms.
She, the Mistral one, was now coated in lightning.
"... well one of us is gonna have to change."
"What, you can't do this shit?"
"..."
"Sounds like a FUCKING skill issue."
Dina proceeded to lightning slap the devil out of him.
6/4/2023 Patch Notes: Adjusted Dinas flashback to include the failed beam struggle referenced earlier in the story. Decreased level of destruction to a few city blocks. Changed "Quark" to "Kuark" in order to keep consistent and because Quark is ofc an actual word.
Yo! OP Here!
You remember when I said that if I could, Neo, Zinco, and Mei would be the only main characters?
Well, I still stand by that.
THIS IS NOT SIDE CHARACTER ACTIVITY. DINA WOULD GET HER OWN. Somehow. IDK, it's actually not that likely when I think about it. I dunno, I could make it work with relationships or whatever. Maybe make THIS the way she's introduced proper into that hypothetical revamp.
So fun fact, I used to conceptualize fights in this series, back when I was 15 and shizz, while listening to $uicideboy$. Weren't good times, but I'll say that stuff like that helped me get through. Also gave everything a sort of flow. I returned to that for fight scenes in here. In fact, I can still clearly remember the one I used for this one way back when: Memoirs of a Gorilla.
A lot of components from the early ideas I had for this fight went into Archi vs Kazikum, actually. Mostly because those early ideas only worked in the situation where Kazikum hasn't fought anyone seriously yet.
Speaking of, my indifference toward the boy is gone. I like Kazikum again. So let's get into the stuff he did today.
I feel comfortable in saying the reason behind Kazikum's abnormal strength is both his demon and saiyan physiology meshing together. Not only would he just naturally be stronger than the average saiyan by virtue of that, the fact that he transformed once and was SO VIOLENTLY FUCKING ANGRY THAT HE HELD THE STATE FOR 10 YEARS means that his muscles were in a constant state of strain, wear and repair. Combining all those factors makes him ridiculous, even without ki.
The reason behind how he can't use ki? Just conflict between mortal and demon ki within him. That leads me to Kaz's path to power: I want him to start softening up to his mortal nature over the series, while learning more about his demon heritage and balancing out the two to create something incredible as he's further convinced to live for himself. Will he hold onto his desire to kill his dad? Most likely. But I wanna deconstruct revenge throughout this fanfic using him, seeing as how it's MUCH more hyper-focused than Mei and how letting go, for him, meant losing things that he'd found and started to cherish.
The Asura state, uh huh? Yeah, I no-bullshit got teary-eyed when I wrote for it. It's a transformation that isn't scary, empowering, or hopeful, but tragic. The only reason he was able to unlock it was due to throwing away his mortality in a mental breakdown, and the worst part is that, untrained, it's a 10x multiplier that gives him demon ki. If not for Dina's damn-near Emiya-tier psychopathy, he would've been locked inside of it. Thanks to her, he can continue discovering the form's potential.
Bringing me to two other points. One, the other minor aspect Dina's gonna train herself in: Maaaagic. Yep. I'm doing that. Her arc is combining humanity's weird shit with saiyankind's weird shit to make something unique to herself —Jack of All Trades-ing it. I chose lightning magic because Spaurk. No deeper meaning. It just happened to work out well. Dina's particular magecraft can imbue her intense emotions into lightning, as well, which is why it was able to bring Kaz back and gets so much more potent with additions of Ki and SSJ. Will she somehow turn Magic BS into a form? I hope not. If anything, this'll remain an enhancer that she'll steadily learn to master and channel into pre-existing forms. Like 2. Or Beast.
Mystic Beast. Maybe. In like 50 fuckin years. Nah, I doubt it.
Anyway, you likely noticed my use of the Em dash this chapter — the long dash that'd followed up by extra information pertaining to the text before it. Yeah, it's because I noticed both Riordan and Nasu spam the shit out of it in their own ways. I started invoking it in the way that I did because this entire fucking chapter is a borderline homage to Fate. Yep, I'm very proud of how far this fight has come from its upbringing. It used to be a blatant Ohma vs Raian clone, but now I'm pleased to find that, over the years, after constant tweaking and watching my idea for it evolve as I grew older, it has finally become a subtle Ohma vs Raian clone followed by a blatant Shirou vs Heracles clone. I just love how Stay/Night is written, especially during harrowing moments.
Oh, that thing about my favorite Monster character. If you guessed Kenzo Tenma then congrats, you hit the nail on the head! I could talk more on him, but I reeeally wanna finish this chapter up sooner than later. Just know that he's like 5x more noble than your favorite hero.
Not much Adventure in this fic, is there? Yeah, I'm gonna alter the genre a bit. Supernatural Drama fits it like a glove.
The last thing I wanna talk about:
That technique first appeared in Chapter 30. That fucking counter has spent 51 chapters on that damned wall, and finally, FINALLY, Dina can grab it and shoot it off. Like holy shit, what a feeling it was to finally get that thing to do something.
WAIT, NO, JUST REMEMBERED.
DINA'S NAME.
I REALIZED THIS YEAR THAT I'VE GIVEN IT A CONSISTENT PUN WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT.
"Dina Spaurk, Legendary Saiyan Extraordinaire!"
THE FUCKING PIECES WERE THERE ALL ALONG, THAT WAS CHAPTER 12! I'M THE STUPIDEST GENIUS ON THE PLANET!
But um, yeah. Next chapter: Amazon archetype vs Feminine Dickhead archetype. Tags: Gunkata, Guntaka, Memes, Gunkata, Gunkata, Mindbreak (Both), Gunkata, Niko Style-tier Aikido Magic, and also Gunkata.
That's about it. See ya next match.