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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Nov 17, 2019 11:31:51 GMT -8
What was Bryce supposed to do? Wander the desert for all eternity before even getting the tiniest hint as to what he should be doing?
''Brother Bryce?''
Brother. Now there was something he hadn't heard in a while. In fact, he didn't even remember ever being called that before.. maybe before the accident? Maybe he was more of a monk than a martial artist. Would explain the temple..
He turned around to see the person belonging to the voice though and it turned out to be exactly how one expected a monk to be; long white beard, bald head, yellow and red robes covering.. almost everything but a single shoulder and the head of the guy. But as Bryce's eye told him, this was quite the old person, so an experienced monk?
Wait, why was a monk here and not near a temple? Bryce hadn't seen a temple around, and if he really was a monk wouldn't even the slightest sign of one jog his memory back up to speed?
''It's been a long time.'' The monk said, stepping forward with a bow to Bryce, which he hesitantly returned. He didn't know this guy, but somewhere in his mind he knew that he should, and therefore he would take the time for him to finish his story before just bidding his farewell. ''We were afraid you had died. No trip to the city should take this long.'' Wait, so he was with this guy?
Bryce looked around him for traces of others before turning back to the monk before him. ''I'm afraid have the wrong person.'' He said, even though he regretted those words almost instantly. He knew about his training and also that he hadn't finished it, so why tell this man Bryce wasn't who he thought he was? ''Or the right.'' He wondered out loud, thinking that the very statement would draw some insight from the monk, who instead just stared at him with as smile while waiting for him to stop talking. ''I seem to have lost parts of my memory.. I know I was once with a temple, and a monk, but I also know I never finished my training and ended up leaving.''
Looking at him, the monk stopped smiling but somehow didn't lose the joy he was radiating, the calm behind him that hit Bryce with every spoken word. ''We will just have to work on getting your memory back then.'' He said with a returned smile as he stepped closer to Bryce, putting both hands on his shoulders and looking into his eyes. ''But first, you should tell me how you are.''
And then, as the hands were withdrawn from the shoulders the monk sat down on the sand, in Padmasana, as they called it. With folded legs and one crossed over the other. Hands resting at the lower abdomen as he watched Bryce intently, almost urging him to sit down with the man he did not remember.
Wait. Why did he know Padmasana? He had never used it before or even heard of it, how could he know that was what the monk was doing? As he got down to sit on the sand in the same manner the monk was he began to open his mouth. ''You seem so sure I am who you say I am. Why?'' He asked, and he swore that those words didn't even reach the monk before him as he just kept smiling through it all. Though this wasn't the same smile as One had, this one seemed to calm even the bugs climbing him to the point of them just calmly staying in place.
''Because you bear the same tattoo as him, and I don't think anyone else has the word god written on their chest like you have, Bryce.'' The man answered and forced Bryce to look down, admitting in silent defeat that this was indeed a dead giveaway and he was stupid for not realizing so. ''And I remember the pupil of my own pupil.''
Bryce's eyes widened. He'd known that he had a mentor, but nothing told him of his mentor having a mentor, not even the giant tattoo on his chest. Always had he been told that his mentor had been trained by god, not another mentor. To Bryce this made sense, but the relationship between those two must have been bad if even the mandroid had never been told of it. Unless..
''Are you a god?'' He asked the old monk in front of him, who was quite openly stifling a yawn as he smacked his own chest.
''Why do you ask this, Bryce?'' The monk replied.
Hesitation struck Bryce for a split second due to the tone in the reply, but he would then quickly shrug as he intently watched the monk, waiting to see if he could find any sort of tell of a lie. ''I don't remember my mentor having a mentor.'' He said, still looking at the wrinkly old man in front of him, and as he did so he wondered just how much of that was true, he remembered monks being quite spry in their later years, and he assumed this man to be around seventy years old, which was almost the end of the human lifespan. ''I..'' He chuckled as he took some time wondering what his own life span was now, and he took his hand through the sand he was sitting on, watching it slide from his hand back to where it belonged. Would he do the same? Or would he rust away?
There was a very minor instance of an existential crisis as Bryce was brought back to his words, though not through the help of the man before him who was patiently waiting with a smile and had not moved an inch. Meanwhile the mandroid had moved all around and left quite a few marks in the sand. ''He always told he he was taught by god.'' He mused. ''Did he see you as a god?''
The man before him finally laughed and smiled at Bryce, opening a part of his robe to reveal a mark of the same kind, though a bit smaller on his chest. ''We're all taught by a god.'' He said as he closed his robe again, moving his finger to make a mark in the ground; the same symbol he and Bryce wore. Though something about this old man felt sadder than before now, and Bryce picked up on the finger of the man pausing for a bit in the sand, as if in thought before moving on.
''Then why did he not have one?'' Bryce asked. ''And why is yours so much smaller?''
''Your mentor, Garyo, did not have one because the day he would have gotten one, he passed away.'' The man said. ''And mine is so small because you must honor the small things before you move on to greater heights.'' Which was something that kind of made sense in the whole mindset of being a monk, yet here he was himself with one that spanned half of his body. This had him wondering if they would hate him for that.
''You were the great thing Garyo was working on. Sadly he passed before his work was done.''
Bryce felt a smile come on, as it answered the question he had about his tattoo. But one thing about what the old man said irked him. ''Then why didn't you teach me?'' He asked. ''I don't remember much, but I know I wasn't yet done learning. Why didn't you finish what Garyo started?'' Somehow, that name felt a whole lot heavier now that Bryce had used it himself.
''I could not within the realm of logic take on the student of my student.''
''Why not?'' Bryce asked.
''Because when you teach someone the right way, you see your own teachings in them.'' The man said as he slowly got up from his sitting position. ''I do not see myself in you. You do not bear any of my teachings.''
Bryce jumped up, way faster and quite a bit messier than the man in front of him. ''Did he teach me so different that you would not even attempt teach me then?'' He asked, eyes on the still unnamed man in front of him.
''Yes.'' He answered honestly. ''He altered my teachings. I loved him as a son, but like any son he rebelled against his tutor. I recognize my flaws, and he was one of them. So, by extension, you are flawed.'' The tone shifted to accusatory. ''Which you acknowledge by not knowing what happened, by leaving without a trace and other things.''
Bryce looked at the man and was silent for a moment, and in that moment he felt all kinds of emotions, the fact he had been changed into something else falling into the background for a while as he was basically told he was broken. Then, something snapped, though not in the bad way. ''I'm not flawed anymore.'' He said. ''Assuming I was in the past.''
The monk shook his head, stroking his long white beard for a moment before speaking. ''You cannot fix what is broken.'' He said, almost turning a simple sentence into something cryptic due to his old lulling voice as he then fell silent, leaving an opening for Bryce.
''I am fixed. Trust me.''
The man shook his head, with a smile, and closed his eyes in slight disdain. ''You mean getting new parts shoved inside you?'' He asked, and made Bryce widen his eyes in surprise. How did he know this? ''They didn't fix anything, they ruined what was supposed to never break.'' He turned and showed Bryce something on his neck right after though, and as he looked closely by stepping forward a bit, though still surprised, he would widen he eyes once more at a simple and small tattoo right on the tip of his spine that was the number two.
''They ruined you the same way they did me.'' He said, turning to face Bryce, who instantly stepped back and fell in a defensive stance. To which Two laughed. ''No, don't worry, I'm not one to attack anyone.'' He told Bryce as he motioned softly for the mandroid to lower his hands. ''Not anymore.'' He assured.
Bryce tilted his head to this claim and smirked. ''You expect me to believe that, Two?'' He mentioned, naming the man before him finally and not seeing a monk anymore but someone.. who was like him. Like One and Ten. ''The ones like me that I've met all wanted to fight me in some form, and most of them got the best of me. Why am I supposed to think you're different?'' Bryce asked, even though he was wondering about something entirely different right now.
''If you're like me-'' Bryce paused and swallowed. ''-or I'm like you, how come you can remember your life at the temple when I can't?'' He had been wondering that for a bit now, as the very act of not being able to remember irked him. All he had were those little snippets here and there. In fact, he had been suppressing it but it made him quite mad. He was supposed to be this calm and quiet monk, he knew this and had been trying to be that version of himself in more than one situation, but in reality he didn't even know if that was the way he should be.. As mentioned before by Two he had not finished his training, and wasn't trained right.
Two smirked and put his hand on the shoulder of Bryce. ''I didn't die. I volunteered for this.'' He said, confusing Bryce even more, because if he said it ruined him, then why did he do it? ''I was dying.'' Two explained. ''I didn't want to, so I asked them to make me live longer. And then.. they did this to me.''
The mandroid stared at him for a moment before brushing the hand from his shoulder and stepping back a bit. ''You volunteered.. just to stop yourself from dying?'' He repeated as he thought he heard just that. ''A monk?'' Bryce chuckled a bit, turning to the side to stop himself before looking back to Two again. ''Who are one with nature, afraid of death? And you say I was trained wrong?''
''It wasn't my training that was flawed.'' Two explained. ''It was my thought process. I wasn't ready to go yet.'''He told Bryce. ''But one thing I forgot was the simple nature of life, something I excluded myself from. I stopped aging when everyone around me kept doing it. Do you have any idea what it's like to see the people you love grow older and die, eventually leaving you with nothing?''
Smiling now, Bryce folded his arms over his chest. ''You think playing the sad card is going to distract me from the fact you did this to yourself?'' He asked. ''You're not allowed to be sad, you asked for this!'' A huff was heard as Bryce had now lowered his arms and was pointing right at Two while stepping closer. ''I never asked for this! They just did this to me in order to get me to do their bidding!'' He was almost yelling at this point, which to Two was a prime example of not being trained right, he didn't keep his cool when in an angering situation. Yet he kept calm himself and just let himself be yelled at. ''And no, I don't know what it's like to lose the people I love, because I don't remember any!''
''And here you are.'' Two interrupted Bryce. ''Trying to remember what it's like to lose people, to remember those who you will lose.'' His eyes were set on the mandroid. ''You have been given a second chance.'' Bryce knew that he would have gotten a knife to the back here if it weren't for the fact Two used to be a monk. But hey, even Vandross was perfectly clear this was a chance to straighten out his faulty training. ''Do not mess that up by remembering the past, and instead focus on the future.'' Which was something that Two said that raised some eyebrows once more, weren't monks only stronger through remembering where they went wrong, what exactly happened in their past?
''You need to move forward, because looking behind you is just standing still.'' Two explained, though this conversation was starting to be really murky to Bryce. ''I could keep looking at my past, but instead I moved forward. I made it so that I can't do anything else but move forward.''
''Yeah, and you say you hate it.'' Bryce intervened, pointing out the error in the spoken words.
Two paused for a moment and looked at Bryce as serious as possible, before that look faded from his face. ''Almost as much as doing this stupid monk bit.'' He said with a held back chuckle. ''Man, we were shortsighted. No wonder you went out in the world. Shit is way better here!''
Bryce looked at Two and while he wanted to say something he found that he could not get anything out of his mouth. This whole thing was nothing more than a 'bit' to him? That irked Bryce even without knowing all that much about monks. The only thing he knew about them was that he was one and it was supposed to be a way of life, not something you could discard just like that! Now he could clearly feel himself getting mad, but there was one question stopping him. Why was he mad and who was he mad at?
He could very well be mad at Two for seeing the whole lifestyle as a joke, but then he would be a hypocrite seeing as he pretty much did the same thing by stepping out. And while not intended as a way to step out of the whole life and rather experience another way of life, it was him basically saying it was all something easily replaced by something else.
''Why are you silent?'' Two asked, almost mocking in tone now. ''You know I'm right. Trained right or not, that place sucked! Those other guys have it figured out with this life, not having to care for others and just living eternally yourself. That's the life man!''
The mention of 'those others' caught the interest of Bryce, even despite getting angry. ''What.. others?'' He asked as Two was obviously trying to fill up the silence.
''The other androids!'' Two replied. ''Or cyborgs, whatever you wanna call them! There are ten of us.. well, eleven now, I suppose.'' He said, pointing at Bryce and nodding in agreement with himself. ''Speaking of, have you figured out what to do with your second chance yet?'' He continued as if nothing had changed in their conversation at all, while Bryce was still trying to wrap his head around this new situation.
Two was aware of the others, and was not a monk. The whole first half of this conversation seemed like it could be forgotten, except for one thing; ''How did you know about my past when there was no one to tell you?'' Bryce asked.
''Well that's simple.'' Two replied rather happily. ''I read your file!'' He explained. ''Yeah, yeah, they have almost everything about your history in there. How you got here, why you were a monk, how you started as a monk, and even the training bits. And uh.. how do you think I got the name of your master?'' He was getting giddy as he told Bryce all of that, that his life was basically just a binder of leaflets. Now, normally that wouldn't be an issue, but for Bryce this was quite a deal since he was now posed with a simple question; did he really want to know what went on in his past, or like Two had said before, focus on what was ahead?
''Why.. are you here anyway?'' Bryce suddenly asked. ''You just.. saw me and figured to topple all of my life over?''
''No, nothing like that.'' Two replied. ''Though it is fun to see someone I remember from my previous life, you know? Share a bit of my knowledge..'' He told Bryce, who was staring at Two as if he had a stroke.
''Sharing knowledge my ass!'' Bryce retorted before Two could even finish his own thoughts. ''You told me my training was wrong and that you'd never be able to see me as your own student, granted you'd still be taking on new ones.'' He huffed as he turned sideways a bit so as to not have to look at the man he used to look up to. He assumed so, anyway. His arms crossed over his chest as he inhaled deeply for a moment. ''Sharing knowledge.. hah!''
Two looked at him, his smile fading a bit and his gaze lowering to his feet. ''Suppose I have been a bit of a dick, sure.'' He replied. ''But that was the old me speaking, in a way. I'm older now. More-''
''-rusty?'' Bryce interrupted as he turned back.
Two looked up again and gave the mandroid a look of 'seriously?' before opening his mouth again. ''-sure, rusty. If it makes you feel better.'' He then paused to produce a piece of crumpled up paper from his robes, before trying to hand it over to Bryce. He stepped closer a bit and snatched the paper from the hand that held it out, ripping the top of it slightly as he then unfolded the entire thing and was met with a picture of a man with some bandages wrapped around his hand, wearing a gi for battle and a wooden beam right below him.
''I was invited to help with this.'' Two said finally as Bryce read over the entire thing. ''Some kids trying to learn martial arts.. and I'm sure there are some adults there.''
''Teacher.. martial arts.. basics..'' Bryce seemed to skim over the thing before crumpling it up again, tossing it to the ground in the direction of the monk he was talking to, who was then forced to pick it up. ''So you're going to do just that?'' He asked cynically. ''Teach some kids martial arts when just falling down the stairs can end you?''
Bending down to pick up the crumpled piece of paper, as a laugh left him. Looking up at Bryce he then put the note back in his robe. ''I suppose that was very much the case before I had this metal skeleton, yes.'' He said. ''But right now, I can do whatever I want, including teaching little children what I know.''
''So random kids are fair game.'' Bryce began noting what was wrong with this, even though he would only mention the bit that was specifically about himself. ''But I'm not because of some lame monk bullshit you don't even use anymore?'' Surprised at himself for calling the lessons he (allegedly) had as a kid bullshit when he got so defensive before over someone else doing the same. ''The hell is up with that?'' He continued after a moment of silence.
''Well..'' Two began to mention, producing something else from his robes that almost looked like a wallet. And upon closer inspection, Bryce would find that it was a wallet! ''You never offered me money to train you!''
Bryce, listening for valid reasoning here, felt his jaw drop and had half a mind to just turn around and move in the opposite direction. Although.. the idea of money had him hooked a tiny bit. Which was odd, considering he had been raised not to care about things like that. ''You're getting paid to teach people our ways?'' He said, now moving closer to Two instead. ''There's so much wrong with selling out like that..''
As he said that though, a smirk appeared on his face. ''The first thing is not asking me for help.'' Bryce offered. ''And the other things.. I forgot, really.''
''Oof.'' Two said, wiping his brow, and simultaneously stepping back a bit. ''I'm not sure if they need the help..'' He said, obviously trying to weasel his way out of it, which amused Bryce a bit.
Holding back a laugh, he decided to scan Two with the sensor embedded in his eye to figure out who was the stronger one here. Now, Bryce had already figured that out some time ago, but to make a point he would do so again, especially since Two was like him also and would likely know about the scanning of energy, even robotic energy when it belonged to a cyborg more than to a full robot. ''You know I’m stronger than you, right?'' He said, knowing well that even with old age monks could be as spry as ever, so it would be a bad decision to underestimate one, but a young monk was always better than an old one, especially when the young monk was one to have fought in multiple fights without monks.
''Even if they don't need my help, I'm sure that you do.'' Bryce said, trying to convince Two to let the mandroid go with him to.. wherever the guy was headed. It was mainly the martial arts part that made him want to go at this point. Kids, not so much. Adults, sure, he wouldn't have to be so careful with those.
And Two seemed to have caught on to that train of thought. ''You can't just let go when you're there.'' He said with an accusatory finger wagging at Bryce. Speaking of flashbacks to old times. ''Remember that your fists are metal, and humans are just.. humans, flesh and bone. Maybe there are some others wanting to be taught martial arts like beastmen, those demon things or even namekians, but not everyone is as resilient as we are!''
''What if.. others like us join?'' Bryce asked, thinking it over before continuing. It was very likely that there were others like them that did not belong to their highly dysfunctional group. ''Not belonging to us.. I'm sure there are a few out there, if not loads of them since we, you know, look like humans.'' He continued. Because while they were all trying to kill each other in their own group consisting of 11 bots, there could very well be other lines belonging to other scientists , lines that didn't end up blowing themselves up. Or weren't bent on being the only droid alive in that line, like a few in Bryce's own line were. ''Maybe they know things we don't!'' He said hopefully when he remembered that thing being said about the others of his own line thinking it was a dream state they were in.
Two smirked before turning his gaze on the ground for a second, gathering his thoughts before looking up at the mandroid once more. ''The dream we're in?'' He asked with a straight face that reminded Bryce of a past he had forgotten. ''I know it's not a dream, but with what we can do as changed people.. it very well might be.'' He said as he suddenly hopped straight up several feet, landing with a hand to the ground that rippled through the sand like a supersonic shockwave. Looking up at Bryce there was a slight smile to be seen. ''Logically speaking..'' He said as he got up to his feet, brushing the sand from his beard. ''-when others can do the same as you, which they can, this whole world is nothing but a dream. If everything is the same, then nothing is.''
''Nightmare maybe.. but not a dream.'' He said, looking at the horizon behind him. Bryce helped him look, but could not for the life of him figure out why he was looking out into the distance like this. Turning back to Bryce, Two felt he needed to explain a bit more on the notion of it being a nightmare rather than a dream. ''I've been around for a few years.. I've seen the bad things that have happened, how our world changed.'' There was a hint of sadness, but Bryce decided not to ask about it and just accept that Two was fully aware of the state he was in.
He wondered though.. ''Can you teach me how not to get lost?'' Bryce asked, not wanting to lose himself in this world, remaining his own person. Yet he knew this was difficult.. because.. was he really a person?
Two caught on yet again and smiled, seemingly having forgot his earlier statement about the things he had seen, or simply honoring the fact that Bryce didn't want to know. ''Teach you.'' He repeated, slightly bewildered at the very question as if he had not considered it in the past. ''I.. wouldn't know how.'' Two's eyes widened a bit as he finally was asked a question he didn't know the answer to. ''I have no idea how I did it, so I don't think I can tell you how to do the same.'' He continued then, his eyes now no more as big as dishes as he turned to move away from Bryce. Fleeing the conversation?
Bryce was quickly made known that it was in fact just Two starting to move in the direction of the people he was supposed to help, when Two motioned for the mandroid to follow him. ''If others like us join,'' He answered a previous question Bryce had posed about other androids joining the ranks of the wannabe martial artists. ''I suppose you don't have to hold back. Same with people who join who know how to fight. They'll try to fight you at their fullest..''
''Hold on, why would there be people who know how to fight if the entire purpose of it is to teach them the basics of fighting?'' Bryce asked, because he felt like Two was skipping a few things in his explanation.
Two smiled, halted his movement for a bit and looked at Bryce. ''Best way to learn is in an actual fight, right?'' And when he got a nod telling him Bryce was at least following him, he went on speaking; ''I got to choose the venue. And there happens to be a tournament happening a while from here.'' He said, pointing in the area that the mandroid assumed was the direction they'd have to go in to get there. ''And at first I wasn't sure, I'll admit that much, but now that you're here you can help quite a bit.''
''Help?'' Bryce replied incredulously. ''How?''
''By joining, of course!'' Two answered. ''An old man like me joining a fighting tournament would seem odd, but you, you're young. Young enough to make it seem like you're the one teaching by trial.''
Bryce laughed and shook his head. Not because he wasn't going to do it, but because the prize part of the gig wasn't yet agreed upon. ''If I am to do that we should talk money first, old man. I'm not about to throw away the past I barely know just to humor some old man I barely know for free, you know?''
''Fine, fine...'' Two finally said. ''I was offered 25,000 zeni to help these people. I suppose.. you can have 12,500 if you help.'' He continued, and quickly after seeing Bryce look with a scrunched up face, quickly added ''When you win, assuming there's no one else to challenge you or you don't get sloppy, you can have the prize money too. I'm not going to need it anyway and I'm pretty sure the others joining us don't have need for it either, considering they're the ones paying me the money I'm sharing with you.''
''Must be some rich people then.. I always thought they were more fragile than people who had to work for their money.'' The mandroid said, although he was more than ready to accept since he didn't really know how much 12,500 zeni was in the sense of what it could buy exactly. There was no memory of money, but all in all this would make for a nice start, and if he needed more he could just b̷̰̃ĕ̵̢ā̸̭t̶̘̊ ̸̣͂s̷̡͠o̶͓̓m̵͎̑ë̸̠́ ̸̼̐ṗ̵͕e̶̲͠ó̷̺p̸̜̒l̵͓̀ę̸͑ for it.
Wait, that wasn't right. He was taken aback by his own thoughts for a moment and shook his head. ''I could always compete in more tournaments for money.'' He reassured himself.
''Yes you can, but winning this one should get you quite the start.'' Two said as he wondered what Bryce had been thinking to get him to speak to himself. ''Besides, we monks have quite some skills that can be hired. Remember the first thing I did?'' He asked.
Bryce shook his head again and tried to speak normally, clearing his head from.. whatever that thought was. And Two took it to mean Bryce couldn't remember. ''Padmasana.'' He said. ''You didn't know you knew it, I guess, but you still did it. It's an easy skill, granted, but if all it takes is seeing it then you have quite the path ahead of you. Not to learn, but to relearn.''
Then, turning away as he commenced with his walk, he motioned for Bryce to follow. ''Maybe figuring out your own past is a good path to take, hm?'' He said, looking at the mandroid from the corner of his eye.
''Maybe..'' Bryce said with a healthy amount of hesitation. ''I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do anymore.. I mean, you mentioned some bad stuff happening.'' He continued with a frown as he looked at Two while walking. ''I don't know if that can happen again and if it will be that bad if it does, but.. I'm not sure I can trust it not to.''
There was a moment of shared silence between the two as the path they had been making in the sand was suddenly starting to turn into a paved road, and almost as if they were in need of being told it was a road for cars, one zoomed right by Bryce, who jumped out of the way just in time and almost bumped into Two. ''I'm sure it is only a matter of time.'' Two said, catching Bryce with a single hand around his neck and guiding him to the other side of him, away from the road while still right next to Two. ''Peace like this never lasts long, I've seen my share of sinister events.''
Catching his footing, Bryce looked sideways at Two as his head formed all kinds of questions. ''You act like you're very old.'' The mandroid said. ''How long have you been alive, exactly?''
''Right, right..'' Two replied as he began stroking his long flowing beard. ''You don't remember me in any way other than this, I almost forgot that.'' He said, and then, as he looked at Bryce he would stop stroking his beard, the hand now finding the shoulder of the mandroid. ''I've been gone from the temple for 15 years now, which is probably why you don't remember me, but I know enough about you to remember you.'' He tried to make it sound like it wasn't just because of the tattoo, but he did a lousy job in covering up that it was the only reason he recognized anything about Vandross. ''I've been this pile of gears for the better part of 3 years now, so most of what I have seen was as a flesh and blood human. Lots of fighting..'' Two raised his other fists and began counting the.. fights? ''I've kicked some butt despite my age, or maybe the evil part of this world knows to respect the elderly, but either way I survived every encounter.'' His count stopped at 4, and while it might have seemed little, Bryce was impressed. Though also confused, it giving rise to yet another question.
''If you've been near those events.. why didn't I know anything about them?'' He asked, looking at Two once more, though quickly realizing he was filled with enough questions to make them miss this tournament. And if Two kept answering.. luckily he seemed to have the same idea as Bryce and pointed at something ahead of them. Though if this was to change the subject, avoid answering or really just attending the mandroid to something he would never know, as when he looked he noted a giant round building surrounded by all sorts of shops, offices and more. He instantly forgot he ever asked the question when he found that with the giant sphere in the middle came a gigantic patch of land, big enough to host a tournament, he supposed.
''That's where the tournament is supposed to be?'' Bryce said again, overwriting his previous question with a rhetorical one. There were people in training gear around the giant sphere, anyway, so there was something to be said for Bryce being right here. As they both drew closer he could see a good amount of people, and while he didn't know who was who, or how he was even supposed to know who needed training and who didn't given the fact they all had a different idea of what was training gear, he did know, by something known as cheating, that he was just about the strongest there. Didn't seem like any other androids had the idea of joining. But in turn that meant that if there was anyone else there that knew how to sense energy they would know exactly who to flock towards, or who to ignore.
Two just nodded as they stepped onto the grounds that the sphere was built on. ''Anyone for the training?'' He bellowed, startling Bryce quite a bit as it not only turned the heads of the people who were signed up for the training but also of the ones who were there for the actual tournament. ''I'm here to teach basic martial arts! Everyone who signed up, gather around me!'' And then, as Bryce was attempting to walk away his shoulder was grabbed by Two, forcing him in place. ''You want to help, you stay.'' He whispered to the mandroid even as the people who had signed up joined their vicinity. There were quite a few people and none of them really stood out from the rest in terms of energy Bryce could sense. And to top that all off, everyone who had signed up was human, or at least looked like one. But then.. Bryce had heard of saiyans and didn't think they'd need any form of training.
Lots of humans to k̵̳͠ȉ̵̜l̴̖̂l̶̞̒ - train. Man, something was happening to Bryce, and while he was able to keep it from everyone so far it wasn't fun to think like that. He looked around at all the people joining around and reporting for the training Two was about to give.
''My name is Matt Draeger, but you can all call me Master, or Matt.'' He joked obviously, and most of the people around him seemed to know that, and even as they listened and Two - Matt, spoke, the people in the back who didn't belong to this training were paying attention. And in turn, Bryce was paying more attention to them than the people he was supposed to train. Though he wasn't supposed to go out of the circle, he could sense well enough to know that there was one among them who held quite the energy level. Maybe he'd try rigging the matches so that he could f̸̯̿i̸̟̿g̶̝̀h̴̪́t̴̪̕ ̷̧̆a̷̡̓n̷̨̑d̷͕͑ ̷̝́m̶̧̍ṷ̷̉r̷̠͂d̶̰̂ȇ̷̡r̵͈̃ this dude.
Slapping himself across the face right then to get that thought out of his mind, he turned back to Matt, who was explaining how it was all going down as if he was the one organizing this tournament. ''-the matches. Now, the opponent you'll get is random, but I pulled some strings and most of you are fighting each other so that I can see what you can do.'' He then looked at Bryce for a moment before putting a hand on his shoulder. ''This here is Bryce. He will be helping me and participating in the tournament as well. Fight hard and you might get to fight him!'' Looking up, Bryce wondered how exactly that was going to work, though he did keep to himself so as to not deter any of the participants.
But as he saw it, even with the matches being.. rigged by Two, there was only so far they could go. Not to mention the ones who would drop out at their first match. How was that going to work?
''-no audience, this is because it is a small tournament. There is some big hosting behind it, but the ultimate reason for this particular one is unknown to me. Just know that.. it's a great way for me to see what everyone got!''
He then released Bryce and began walking around, motioning for the people to step closer as he jotted down their names on a piece of paper. But as soon as some of them were done with giving their name, they looked over at the mandroid. The same as one of the men in the corner with the actual contestants. Bryce didn't trust it.
Then a sudden voice rang out, grabbing everyone's attention. ''Welcome fighters! Welcome to the weekly 'quest for talent' tournament!'' A man holding a microphone got out, and as he stopped speaking he would wave everyone over. ''Right this way people! The jury is waiting inside!''
Jury? Bryce wondered as he walked inside the building, looking over his shoulder at Two as well as the man who kept staring at him for some reason. But when he turned his head back he found that there were only a handful of people who were seated at some bleachers overlooking a small area with enough room to make for a decent fighting arena. Next to it were soft mats, that if you fell off you wouldn't fall down hard. So that meant it was a ring out styled tournament..
The mandroid got on to the mat in the center and as everyone else was gathering around, he noticed Two talking to the announcer, both of them nodding as Two then walked away to sit on the bleachers, though keeping quite some distance between the jurors and himself. The participants who were supposed to train with him gathered around as he told all of them to sit down and just take note, though with a smile.
Dropping the microphone to the ground after turning it off, it became clear that the announcer had a loud enough voice to be heard even over the chatter of the participants. ''It seems we're diving right into it, with Bryce, the beast from the east, versus Titus-'' He was cut short as a short man ran up to him and began whispering something in his ear. The announcer coughed shortly after as the short man got onto the mat opposite from Bryce. ''-the.. best of us.'' It rhymed, but that was about it. The technoman winced at the mention, and even the announcer had some trouble saying it. Almost as if he knew something was up here.. maybe he could.. sense energy? But no, that wouldn't explain it because he wouldn't be able to sense anything about Bryce.
''So how are we going to do this?'' Bryce was asked by the short man known as Titus. ''Are we just gonna.. dance a bit and then you let me ring you out or..?''
A hand slapped his chin as the mandroid looked on in confusion, was this guy real? ''If you want to dance, sure, go for it.'' He looked over at the bleachers and at Two as he got into a fighting stance himself. ''I'm not here to do anything but fight t̸̜́h̷̢͘ȩ̵̀ ̴̛̰w̷̟͝e̸̥̕a̵̱͝k̸̹͗ ̶̥̿ḛ̸̇x̷͎͗c̵̖̋ú̶̙s̶̨͌é̴͍ ̶̫͝f̶̙̀ȍ̶̖ŗ̸̈́ ̵͔̀ä̷̧́ ̸̧́ḩ̶̏u̴̡̽m̷̡͛a̸͓̓ṇ̴̏ ̸̲͑ẗ̷͎́h̴̦̀a̵̮̓t̷̥̓ ̵̡̓y̶̩͛ò̷̰ü̴̝ ̶̹̽a̷͉̐r̶̦͛ẻ̶̼.'' He quickly caught himself saying it though, and when Titus was about to speak back he would open his own mouth and say ''what?'' in unison with this guy. Luckily they were also far enough from the bleachers so that no one but the announcer and Titus could hear him. The announcer dirtied some words on it, but Bryce dismissed it as it being a sigh of him being tired.
The announcer, accepting the fact he wasn't being paid enough for this, decided to drop it and wave the words away, allowing the dancing match to continue even as the short man who was supposed to be the opponent of Bryce dropped into something of a fighting stance. It just looked to Bryce as if this guy had watched too much television, but at least there was a basis in that. A basis focused on a master of a martial art, which this guy was clearly not, but so far the stance seemed to be okay enough.
''Come at me with what you think is going to win us over!'' Bryce said as he dropped into a fighting stance of his own that was equally balanced for offense and defense, just like he had been taught. Maybe. He decided not to use anymore words though as he started moving around Titus, who seemed to be able to keep up okay as he moved with the mandroid while holding his stance. Shuffling forward a bit then he would try to punch Bryce with a straightened arm, something he was easily able t dodge as he just swayed to the side, watching the fist go by his face before taking hold of it, pulling the young man closer and flicking him on his forehead twice before letting him go and allowing him to stumble back a bit.
There was a silent sigh from the mandroid as he regained his stance, his hands aimed back at Titus. ''So.. teacher,'' The young man began. ''any words of wisdom for me?'' To which Bryce did nothing but laugh as he watched his alleged opponent drop into the same flawed stance as before, causing Bryce to drop out of his own while he appeared to study Titus from head to toe, walking closer to study the stance he had. And Titus, he didn't do anything as he was being studied, just held the stance as best he could though there were some shakes of his legs here and there, and it also seemed that the weight distribution was all wrong. Bryce decided to make an example out of that, though not by saying anything but by placing one of his feet next to those of his opponent and giving him a slight shoulder push to watch him fall down like a bag of bricks.
''For someone who calls this dancing you sure lack grace.'' Bryce said as he had turned around and was now pacing back and forth as he taunted his young adversary. ''You should stop treating it as a dance, but still try to move like you're in one.'' He cryptically added, after which Titus was looking nothing but confused, which was to be expected. And Bryce took note of this, and as he turned around he would rephrase. ''Like swimming.'' He said. ''Act like you're wading through water to get through me, but instead of you being pulled with the current, you direct the current.'' The mandroid dropped into a stance of hgis own and did a few moves that did nothing but move him forward, though there was a certain grace to it.
''You try that.'' Bryce said, watching Titus nod, drop into a stance and attempting to move like the cyborg had just shown him. He was drawing closer, sure, but there was still a lot of ground to cover it seemed. ''Now, try to hit me as if you're trying to slap a trout.'' It felt odd to say, and he wasn't even sure if it would hold up, but the swimming analogies were running out. But, eventually Titus did reach him and was able to deliver a slap that was much faster than the punch from before. Sadly, Bryce was still able to sidestep it before having to dodge another slap aimed at him, which came at him with the same speed as the first. However speedy it was, the mandroid was still able to sway to the side, seeing the fist pass his face once more and grab hold of it in the same manner as before. This time though, Bryce only flicked his forehead once, though did not release his arm.
''Can you give me your final move now?'' Bryce said as he pushed Titus to the other side of the mat, while rubbing his forehead a bit. And as he did so, the mandroid would drop his stance and widen his arms. ''No dodging, no blocking. If you can ring me out with this, do it. Because this is as far as this preview goes.''
That wouldn't have to be said twice as Titus began a sprint towards Bryce, though with a yell and footwork indicating he was going to go for a jumping kick. Vandross sighed mentally and prepared himself to the best of his abilities, only to end up not having to do anything at all. As the short, young man was charging forward there was a hitch in his footwork, and his jumping kick never got the status of 'jumping kick' as he just flopped to the ground, at which Bryce shook his head.
Moving to Titus to pick him up from the ground, he then led him to the edge of the ring before helping him step down. Crouching then, Bryce took him by the shoulder. ''You will get your money's worth!'' He assured the young man before he walked back to the bleachers.
''And that concludes round one folks!'' The announcer suddenly blurted out, making himself known again. ''Stay put for the rest of the rounds!'' ================================= WC: 8037
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