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Post by Kiryu on Sept 17, 2019 13:32:58 GMT -8
The thrill of battle. Lesser men falling before your might. The crunch of breaking bones and the thrill of combat. Blood.
Kiryu woke with a start, sitting bolt upright and drawing in a shuddering gasp. For a moment, he could not remember where he was, and he looked around, wild-eyed. After a moment, Kiryu registered the familiar trappings of his room at his parent’s home. Kiryu realized that he was nearly hyperventilating. Concentrating, he mastered himself, forcing slow, deep breaths. The young man forced himself to breathe.
Kiryu glanced out the window in his room, noting the brightness outside. It wasn't long before dawn, and Kiryu knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon. He pulled on his robes and quietly made his way outside. Thankfully, the weather was more than pleasant. Though there was not yet any sunlight, the darkness was merely cool, not bitingly cold. Kiryu stretched, readying his body. It would be some time before his mother rose with the dawn, and Kiryu decided that he may as well make use of that time. He started out with basic push ups, simply to warm up his upper body. Kiryu then switched to crunches and leg lifts, working out both his upper and lower abdomen. After he'd done enough of the exercises to actually start to feel the burn, Kiryu rose. He began to work through his forms, starting with the most basic kata that this parents had taught him. By the time he began the third basic form, Kiryu was lost in the flow of movement. He was well into the advanced forms by the time the sun started to climb over the horizon.
"Still having trouble sleeping?" Kiryu' surprise at the sudden question nearly made him miss the next move of his current kata. Kiryu made the move, then paused. Any voice Kiryu had been expecting would have been that of his mother’s, but this was a masculine voice. Deep, soothing… and on the few occasions it had had cause to discipline Kiryu, more than a little scary.
”Father! I didn’t know you had come back… and yes. Ever since I came back from the Southern Desert.”
Kiryu had shared what he had experienced fighting the Desert Demons with his mother, both his triumphs in rescuing his friends, and his worries in the savage joy he had felt in defeating his foes.
"Well, Natsume told me you were having trouble. I’m not quite done with mopping up the bandits in the east, but I felt as though I had been gone for too long. I missed your mother, and I’m glad I got to see you, too. So why don’t you tell me, son. How do you feel about what happened?” Kiryu grunted noncommittally, then continued his kata. He spoke as he did so. "It’s… I don’t exactly know. I don’t think that what I did was wrong, exactly. I save Laguto and Rance. I broke up a group of bandits, terrible men that would kill and rob in pursuit of power. I even made a new ally, strange as Zero is. But… I felt joy in some of the things I did. I liked fighting them… and honestly, I didn’t care that Zero killed some of the bandits that I had merely knocked out. So what does that make me?”
Kiryu’s father, Gozen, approached him. The stout man was of a height with Kiryu. He kept a shaved head, but bore a long, pointed beard. As Kiryu moved through his kata, Gozen stroked his beard, thinking carefully before speaking.
”I can’t say that there’s an easy answer, son. All I can say is… we all follow a Path. The Path that those men followed? All their choices, all the people they hurt, well, it led them there, to that end. If you decide that your Path is to save even those that harm others, no matter what, then so be it. But you need not make that choice. Remember, the Path of Joy is not meant to be a moral guidepost. It’s not here to tell you what is absolutely right and what is absolutely wrong. It’s meant to help you along your journey. You have to decide these things for yourself. I can tell you, though… if it were me? I wouldn’t be losing any sleep over it. But when I was your age, son, I struggled with these things too. You’ll figure out the balance. I know you will.”
Kiryu could not keep a sardonic smile off of his face.
”What was that phrase you seem to be so fond of? Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.""
His father shrugged, smiling. ”It’s worked out so far. And, really, no matter our training or special abilities or philosophy… that’s the best any of us can hope for.”
The rest of the morning was filled with filial bliss. Kiryu finished his forms, then sparred a bit with his father. Gozen was far more proficient than Kiryu, having a lifetime of experience to draw on, and he had not diminished at all with age. Kiryu had, however, become more skilled after his recent adventures (which was entirely the point), and he was able to keep up for a time.
After their bout was finished, Gozen offered Kiryu some pointers to put into practice. The two then shared a hearty breakfast, prepared by Natsume, and for that one idyllic morning, all was well in Kiryu’s world.
As the hours passed, though, doubt started to creep into Kiryu’s mind. The questions that his family’s presence had held at bay began to return. Was he doing the right thing? What would happen in the future?
To shake up the formula a bit, Kiryu decided to force his mind out of it’s loop. There was a tournament being organized by some of the local villages. A couple of good, honest fights would certainly get his blood pumping, so he set out of the site of the tournament.
Utilizing his newly acquired motorcycle, the journey did not take Kiryu long. A large ring that seemed to be composed of square white tiles was set up in the center of the village that he arrived in. Thirty one other fighters were gathered, and seeing this setup, Kiryu knew how it would work. They would fight in the massive ring until sixteen people had been knocked out, had submitted, or had been forced out of the ring. At that point, the officials would call a halt to the contest. They would pair the remaining sixteen fighters up, resulting in eight matches The eight winners would then be paired off again, then the four winners, until finally, only two remained in the final match
Kiryu stretched, readying himself for the coming conflict. He didn’t recognize any of the fighters; Kiryu had met several in the local villages during his years of training, but this crop seemed entirely new. That wasn’t really a problem; this meant that there were no friends that he would feel about about knocking out of the competition.
After a while, the contest began. Kiryu didn’t take much note of the people that went to strive with him. At this point, it didn’t matter. Male, female, young, old, tall, short, fat, thin, there were so many people that currently, they were all just numbers.
Kiryu was a blur of motion, hands moving in wide circles to defend himself from incoming attacks. He flowed from one opponent to the next. Kiryu was a versatile fighter; when he needed to be a mountain, or a tiger, he could be those things. Now, however, what was needed was to crash when he needed to crash, and flow when he needed to flow. What Kiryu needed was to be water…
And so he was.
Kiryu could not have rightly told you how many people he eliminated. Such purposeful thoughts were lost to him as Kiryu fell into an almost zen like state, simply feeling the area around him and reacting, his body moving of it’s own accord as he fell into the rhythm of combat.
After a time (Kiryu had no idea how long), a shrill whistle blew, signaling an end to the mass melee. Kiryu and fifteen other people stood triumphant. Some of them breathed heavily, and others looked as though barely a hair had been forced out of place. Kiryu felt himself retreating from his meditative state, his mind focusing on the task that still lay ahead of him.
Before long, the remaining combatants had been organized and sorted into brackets. Kiryu’s first opponent was a beastman call Vree. Once they climbed into the ring together, Kiryu could see that Vree had the head and wings of a great eagle, yet possessed the (feathered) body of a man. As their fight began, Vree proved a mobile combatant, able to use his wings to fly. Kiryu, however, was able to bring his energy blasts to bear, keeping Vree from being able to move too freely. Eventually, the two came together, though not in as aggressive a swoop as Vree would have liked, and Kiryu was able to strike several pressure points, hampering Vree’s ability to fly. After that, it was only a matter of time, and before long, Kiryu had cut off enough chakra points and struck enough nerve clusters that Vree was unable to continue. After the battle, Kiryu gave a brief bow to the crowd, then waited until he next had to fight.
Kiryu didn’t bother watching the other fights. If he actually cared about winning, or a prize, he may have had a much keener interest, observing his potential opponents for any discernible weakness. That, however, was not what Kiryu was here for. No, he was here to challenge himself, to lose himself in battle that would end without bloodshed, to enjoy pure martial contests without questions of morality.
For now, Kiryu was getting what he wanted.
His next opponent was a grungy man with long, dirty hair. Kiryu was more than a little surprised when, during an exchange of blows, the hair animated and lashed out at him. Thankfully, Kiryu was somewhat familiar with a similar technique, one he used when covering himself with ki armor, and he was able to guess how the hair would move. Kiryu ducked and swayed away, tumbling through the air and protecting himself from the deceptive attacks. Once he had gotten the timing, Kiryu pulled off an incredible maneuver, feinting with a crescent kick that was actually designed to catch his opponent. A quick alteration of his leg’s motion and swift downward acceleration caught Kiryu’s foe off guard, and Kiryu was able to use his kick to trap his opponent’s hair on the ground. The man’s instinctive reaction was to pull back, but he yelped with pain as he did so and couldn’t help but jerk forward. Kiryu chose that moment to dash forward and deliver one crushing punch, right to his foe’s solar plexus. The powerful strike had Kiryu’s entire mass and momentum behind it, and it landed true. Kiryu’s opponent grabbed at their stomach, then crumpled, unable to stay upright and continue the fight.
Once more, Kiryu bowed, then left the ring to wait.
Now among the final four, Kiryu went back to the ring when it was his time. Now, he faced… at first it seemed like another man, but in truth, Kiryu could feel that what was in front of him was... something else. No sooner had Kiryu realized it than the man in front of him began to change. His skin rippled and altered as the man transformed and grew, standing at least eight feet tall and looking completely different. What now confronted Kiryu was a green skinned individual, with sharply pointed teeth and antennae. Cruel lips curved into a cold smile, and large wings sprouted from the back of a muscular torso. A mutant Namekian!
Kiryu’s mouth hung agape. There hadn’t been one of those present here in… Kiryu had no idea how long. He had no time to ponder it, for his opponent did not wait for the announcer to begin the match. No, it simply moved, blurring towards Kiryu, and just like that, the battle was joined. Kiryu had no time for fear, no time for thought. He allowed his body to react. The Namekian’s first attack was a dashing elbow, and Kiryu blocked with his forearm.
BOOM
Their clash erupted into a nearly deafening thunderclap, and for a second, they strained against each other, neither of them giving an inch. Kiryu was far more powerful than he had ever been, but it seemed his opponent was no slouch. They met each other, strength on strength, the Namekian’s face a snarl and Kiryu’s, a resolute mask.
Kiryu decided to take a more cunning tack, and with his free arm, used his ki to shoot a powerful wave of pressure at his foe. It landed and the Namekian careened backwards, but it used it’s wings to stabilize. Kiryu charged forward, attacking, but his foe defended well. Eventually Kiryu went for a low kick, and the Namekian grinned. It had been waiting for that. Now that it’s top half was finally not being actively threatened, the monster vaulted over Kiryu’s attack, firing a quick blast of energy towards Kiryu to distract him and flipping back high into the air. It levitated there, intent on taking a moment to plan an attack, but as soon as it stabilized, it saw a large, powerful ball of ki sailing towards it. The distraction clearly had not worked; Kiryu had swiftly dodged and countered. The Namekian summoned it’s power with a roar. A verdant aura erupted around it, and it struck the ball as it neared, swatting it away. The ki blast sailed off into the distance, causing a large explosion that momentarily bather the area in golden light.
Kiryu frowned. It seemed like he wasn’t getting anywhere… and then the Namekian spoke, it’s voice like gravel cracking during and earthquake. ”Oh, yes. Wearing that disgusting meat suit was worth it. My master will be quite pleased when I bring him your head!” Truth be told, Kiryu wasn’t paying much attention. Instead, he was planning his next move. Kiryu began to gather his ki, powering up an attack above his now outstretched right hand. He shaped a large, powerful ki blast, then had it move towards the Namekian, but at a fraction of the speed that he normally employed.
After that, Kiryu wasted no time, but moved, calling upon his power to lend him every possible bit of speed.
The Namekian saw the attack, and saw Kiryu rocketing towards it with far more speed than she it anticipated. As Kiryu neared, it spun, launching a hook kick. Kiryu made no move to block... And it’s passed through the afterimage that Kiryu had created.
The mutant’s eyes widened, and it sensed rather than saw a threat from behind. It turned, readying an attack. Once it’s eyes fell on Kiryu, who was dashing towards her, the Namekian made a large slashing motion with it’s right arm, sending out a line of razor sharp ki with the intention of bisecting the young man.
The attack seemed as though it would hit home… and the second afterimage faded out of existence.
The Namekian felt a surge of power to the right. When it turned to look, Kiryu was off to the side, silver aura raging around him. His left arm was holding his right at the wrist, with his right palm pointed towards his foe. Kiryu had already gathered enough ki for his attack, and wasted no more time.
“This is the end!”, Kiryu shouted.
The attack shot forward with more speed than the Namekian would have thought possible. It realized that it would not be able to dodge in time, so instead, the mutant thrust it’s hands forward, readying it’s ki to block the beam. The attack exploded as the Namekian blocked it, obscuring Kiryu's sight of her for a moment. A quick glance to the left, however, let him know that his plan was about to reach fruition. Not waiting for the smoke to clear, Kiryu flew towards the spot he'd last seen his foe, at top speed. Once Kiryu was close enough, he sent another blast of force ahead, clearing the smoke. The Namekian had been unharmed, just as Kiryu had expected. It’s eyes locked onto the young warrior as he approached. Kiryu raised his fist and screamed, and his foe fell into a defensive posture. It waited, and at the last possible moment, right before he reached melee range, Kiryu jumped up, ascending sharply. The Namekian gaped for a moment, clearly confused.
Then the massive ki blast that it had completely forgotten about slammed into it’s back.
Kiryu watched as the attack exploded against the Namekian, and it was sent careening through the air. It would make him sick afterward, but Kiryu couldn't keep a cruel smile off of his face as he saw the monster hit the ground with enough force to form a crater. Suddenly, for no reason he could fathom, Kiryu was filled with a savage joy. When his foe did not immediately rise out of the crater, Kiryu made his way over to it. As he got closer, he could see the Namekian struggling to stand. It was covered in small cuts and bruises, and one of it’s arms was bent at an impossible angle. A broken arm mean that Kiryu' victory was all but certain, and the young fighter allowed himself a brief feeling of satisfaction.
The Namekian through a punch with it’s good left arm, but Kiryu easily blocked. He simultaneously threw a chop at his injured foe’s neck, and it was far too injured to react. The Namekian fell to the ground, the force of the attack rendering it unconscious.
Kiryu picked up his foe’s unconscious form and made his way out of the crater. When the crowd saw him carrying the defeated Namekian, a ragged cheer erupted from them. Kiryu gave a small wave… and was surprised to see a pretty young woman in the front of the crowd staring at him with frank appraisal. She wore a long black robe; it wasn’t particularly revealing, but it did look comfortable. She had long, flowing purple hair, and wore a slight smile. Kiryu realized with a start that she had been in the final four, and had won her match.
She was to be Kiryu’s next opponent.
[WC=3,176]
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Post by Bass on Sept 18, 2019 11:03:00 GMT -8
The Southern Lands! Why didn't he move to Central City and instead South City? That was a question he would never be able to properly answer at the moment. The Southern Lands were a world of opportunity around every corner. Daring adventures practically asked to be undertaken at even the slightest attempt to go out of your way in these parts. From stopping tyrannical monsters to going after legendary stories told across the land. This was where the world really turned the fasted. This is what adventure was about. The rolling green went on as far as the eye could see, not as hot as the Southern Islands and far more temperate than the frigid cold up North. The Southern Lands was the perfect region.
Taking in a deep breath of air he considered the things he'd already done here on one hand's fingers. Raising one finger he recalled his run-in with Shell and Zam. Raising another he remembered he just got here so the adventure never stopped and if he ended this vacation without all fingers raised he might as well neck himself when he started working again. Letting out a hrm, he wondered just where to go and what to accomplish. His overall goal was to find the Tree of Might, but his information wasn't exactly incredibly precise. It was just that it was in the Southern Lands... Which... Left a massive amount of interpretation. Sure they added that locals might have more information and it was easy to use common sense that if this thing was easy to get it'd be in the hands of someone already. So it goes without saying that you needed to be strong to fetch this thing. It was somewhere dangerous in some capacity, more dangerous than any normal person could handle.
Wherever it was though, he'd better start looking now instead of wasting time where it need not be wasted. Walking across fields and stopping at little ponds and lakes to refill his bottle of water, in no time at all he'd come across a settlement of some kind. He wasn't really intimidating to behold, normally village destroyers had smug grins and floated fifteen feet in the air with their arms crossed. That was pretty standard technique for average settlement trashers. For goon-level settlement trashers they just looked the part. With big bulky wings and clunky movements as well as a purely chaotic desire to tear the place up completely. So despite being blue with black eyes, most people gave him just a second look as opposed to pure panic. Especially good since this place immediately showed signs of something going down today. Lots of people were gathering for a spectacle, there was a few flyers posted around talking about some kind of tournament. If there's one way to become known in a place it's to win this thing, right? Couldn't help to be a known figure so people really know who they're talking with. Might encourage them to share a little more information than they would otherwise. Or come to him with information they might know as opposed to just sitting on it.
Though this tournament was just about to get underway, literally in five minutes. So with suddenly widening eyes the Demon Clan Namekian hauled proverbial butt. Darting down streets and skidding across walkways he'd make it to the registry stand with not two minutes to spare. Hastily giving his name, 'Bass', he'd fill out his name at the bottom of the list.
The thirty-first combatant, the final one to sign up.
Though the running didn't stop there. He'd have to rush into the prep room and get into his kai robes and martial gear to look really abnormal compared to how he already looked. After all, dress shirt and slacks wasn't the normal wear for these particular part. That just screamed city people. Getting on his proper equipment he'd walk out towards the arena stage. Thirty other combatants had found themselves in the space and without further hesitation he'd jump up onto the edge and take his place among the rest of them. Looking over the crowd there was an assortment of faces. Some woman with a pointed hat, a guy that stood six feet and two inches tall with blackish hair and green eyes. That guy happened to be Kiryu, but at the moment Bass saw him no different than the other twenty nine combatants apart from them. Then there was some guy with greasy hair and what looked like to actually be another Demon Clan Namekian? Interesting, if this guy isn't just some stupid goon maybe he'd have to talk to that particular one after this all comes to a close. Who knows, maybe he might benefit from knowing about the Tree of Might as well.
Though, before he could think anymore a gong rang to commence the match.
Chaos erupted as fighters started to engage with each other in a thirty one way free for all. Bass on the other hand just stood there for a moment to get a bead on things. So much was happening to process all at once, he'd take this in stride. After all he just needed to get into the sixteen person bracket. If he failed to do even that he'd really start losing his ego fast. Doubting how strong he was, but luckily he wouldn't have too. Some aligator-monster type thing stomped up to him and shouted. "LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE UP AGAINST THE LATER GATOR! SUCKS TO BE YOU KID!" Walking up in several more stomping thuds, the creature clearly intended to grab Bass and slam him into the ground.
With an eye twitch, Bass looked at what reminded him of Gobble. Not in physique but just cheekiness. Later Gator? That was his name. The Namek's nostrils flared and his closest fist to the creature clenched. As it came in for an attack while looking forward, turned away from the monster the Namek's hand came up like a lightning bolt of a windshield wiper. Connecting with the poor thing it quite literally started cartwheeling out of the ring and into the distance. Almost in sync they both said and shouted.
"Later Gator."
"LAAAAAATER GAAAAAAATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!"
"Why? Why steal the one pun I could've used? You-" Frustrated, Bass pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh and squinted.
So this would be that easy then. At least if the rest of them were at that tier. Really he expected this to be some local competition, so that's basically what he expected. After all he wasn't here for the thrills of combat, but rather just to get his name and capabilities out and around town. That's why he was being so showy with his moves. It was hard to really ignore the massive monster cartwheeling off into the distance. The announcer blinked and shouted, "Woah! Later Gator!" Guffaw's later the show moved on.
With all the scuffling about twenty three fighters still stood. The ones that were still standing could be considered a tier higher in Bass's eyes. One of those people being Kiryu. Tilting his head he'd note the other Demon Clan Namek aaaaand... The pointy hat chick. And greasy hair. Additionally there was some guy with a giant bushy moustache of some kind. Looked like he could suffocate a giant with that thing. Didn't help that he was wearing what looked like a tribal get-up and apparently was allowed to carry a club on his back, even if he couldn't use it. Just... What? Though some other faces would become more known while faces like the Earthling that just tried to walk up behind him while he was thinking wouldn't, unfortunate seeing a similar fate to Later Gator even if the means to the end were different. An arm that reached back and gripped the guys arm only to hurl him across and over the arena.
Narrowing his eyes, most people decided not to challenge him from that point and as the count struck sixteen on remaining fighters a shrill whistle blew, signalling an end to the mass melee. He just wished they used a gong, that pitch kind of hurt. At any rate the remaining sixteen fighters would be put into brackets. Eight fights in round one, four in round two, two in round three and a finals match. So he just had to win four fights against this group. How hard could that be? Sure he saw some interesting things from a few of the people. That black hair and green eyed guy seemed to just have been plowing through people. He really seemed to be enjoying himself or something to go that intensely at the common folk. Well, common+ as Bass would call them. The normal people just at the infancy of trying to enter the world of martial arts and adventure.
Standing off to the side, Bass took a long drink of water to replenish himself. Twisting the cap back on he'd drop it to where his stuff was. Looking at the bracket it looked like now there was names for these people. Kiryu and whatever Greasy Guy was. Ominously named definitely-not-Baba woman versus some other shmuck. His fight in particular was against some jacked guy with a talisman over his face? It would become known to be a Jiang Shi. As to who was controlling it, he didn't really know. Nor did he even actually know what it was. Their name was apparently Abe Toostrongtolose according to their signup sheet and respectively the name listed on the board. Squinting, he wished he'd signed up with Big Smacko instead of his actual name. Oh well, opportunity long since missed.
As some time passed eventually their match would begin. Placed on two sides of the arena before the gong went off Bass spoke up. "I'd suggest conceding if you want to walk tonight buddy." He stated, punching one open palm with the other fist. His body beginning to form a subtle glow as he powered up. His mass increased somehow, he was already incredibly physically impressive. Looking towards 'Abe Toostrongtolose', he was disappointed when he got absolutely no response. Just complete dead silence. Well, that's boring. Pacing a little he'd take his position and the gong would ring. The fight was on.
Immediately the Jiang Shi charged forward with actually surprising power. Like, it's feet didn't touch the ground from start to finish from a burst-like jump kind of power. Going to collide into Bass, the Namekian stepped out of the way only for the creature to sail on passed and towards the edge of the staged. Too powerful in that it would quite literally go flying off of the stage and into the crowd. Bass extended an arm with his Namekian Physiology, grabbing the creatures wrist to keep it from going out of bounds. He pulled it back up. Whether he did that for the crowds sake or because he wanted to spend more time with this fighter was difficult to really tell. He spoke to clear things up though. "Don't think you're getting off that easy, punk." Then in a quick motion the Namekian burst forward in an amazing speed and drifted across the stone, kicking up rocks as his foot dug in to alter his course. Coming in quick he sent a single massive punch towards the Jiang Shi's gut. It impacted with enough force to shake the arena, and the thing went flying straight into the air as intended.
As it flew down with a whistling sound from the sky above, Bass carried through with his attacks. As it fell passed him his fist followed through and punched it square in the face against the stone arena. The whole thing shook again and a large three meter wide crater formed at the place of impact. Though to his surprise, the thing just started to move underneath his fist. Still not apparently taken down by the force he just showed. One eye narrowed in questioning, that wasn't right. Was it some kind of drug? Was the talisman some kind of actual magic? The guys skin was grey, did that mean something? Wriggling, eventually both of the Jiang Shi's arms reached up and grabbed Bass's arm. Surprised the Namekian tore his arm back and in doing so exerted a hundred percent of his power. Flung with so much force holding onto his arm, the Jiang Shi lost grip and literally sailed... And sailed... Into the sky. Just shy of the comical twinkle before falling off who knows where.
"Uuuuh... Folks, ladies and gentlemen we have a winner by ring out!" The same shrill whistle went off but this time Bass was prepared, cleverly using his fingers to plug his ears as the sound happened. Letting out a sigh of relief as it was over he went off to the side of the ring. That was done, and Bass couldn't be happier. That thing was really weirding him out towards the end there with taking one of his punches square to the face. There was a distressed murmur in the crowd, and someone left.
Whatever. He recalled some of the previous matches, that Kiryu guy was still pushing forward in the tournament, so he was actually really capable. What a weird way to take a guy out though, precise attacks to what looked like weak points? Just do it the easy way, hit them so hard the force disperses enough over their entire body to shut those points anyways. The precision fighting just... Felt dirty to Bass, making him shudder a bit. Though on the flipside exploiting the ability to fly in a battle where everyone else couldn't fly was particularly dirty too. So maybe it was safe to call it even? As the first round came to a close... Eight contestants remained. Kiryu, Hat lady, the Demon Clan Namekian, The Grubby Goon that would end up unveiling his hair fighting techniques and several other mystery people. Hat Lady, Demon Clan Namekian and He would all have those 'mystery' people. In this case it was an Earthling in martial robes with lightly spiked hair. In truth while they looked like a Saiyan it was just a Human using a ton of grease to try and look the part while also keeping a cool composure. Another one was a massive wall of meat, another Gobble-type contestant. A monster to be precise, with big fat wings and an even fatter body. Stubbed but massive wads of meat for arms and hands and stompy feet. This thing could probably fly decently. The last one didn't matter, because he wasn't fighting them. The first one didn't either but still; he'd of course be fighting the giant thing. Though he encouraged challenges.
To be frank though, this Giran-type was a little apprehensive even getting into the ring with the Namek. Nervous beads of sweat dripped down the side of it's face while it smiled nervously. It had to hype itself up to come up even in terms of anxiety coming into the fight. The name of this thing was Mumbo, fitting for these types of things. The last one he fought on more serious terms was Gobble, though that was an incredibly easy fight. Abe Toostrongtolose could take two of his hits, so this thing had to be stronger to get into the next round right? What was this guys trick, they either sucked or they had some kind of trick.
Yep, there it is. As the gong rung, the tubby thing could actually use it's wings not just to stood itself around, but literally fly in heavy wing beats that blew wind against Bass and the crowd. In fact, that wind was quickly becoming so forceful that the crowd was holding onto their seats and if not for those being really secured to the ground they might've been blown away. Bass however stood his ground and spread his feet, digging into the concrete. Though the gale winds were only getting stronger as Mumbo increased his force output. He shouted. "YOU LIKE THAT?! MUMBO'S SPECIAL ATTACK, WINDY WIND." It said with a grin and a laugh afterwards. Bass just responded with a shout in turn. "Windy Wind?! Is that really the best you could come up with?! What about Hurricane Aura?!" Mumbo paused and waited for a moment, the beating stopping. It spoke, almost sad.
"Bummer. That's actually a better name, damn."
"Too bad, mine now." Bass said as he brought both arms out from his sides. They extended out to the sides of the arena before growing to giant size; just the hands. Coming together one fist hit another massive palm and the collision sent out a kinetic shockwave that sent Mumbo tumbling through the air and the crowd literally almost flying out of their seats. A parent had to catch their child by the hand to keep them from flying off into the wind but otherwise all was fine.
As Mumbo started to stabilize he was incredibly dizzy, sight spinning and eyes attempting to focus on the world around him. What was up and what was down, just keep flapping your wings Mumbo; he thought. Flying sideways and swaying in the air he hit a building before putting himself upright. Just as he was about to begin recovering the Namekian repeated the motion, his hand coming together with the other for another massive burst of kinetic force that shook the entire arena. Mumbo smacked into the building again and left a crater in the wall, before slowly whizzing to the ground too confused and disoriented to fly right. He fell in a corkscrew, crashing into a heap of confused disorientation with his tongue stuck out.
"Better luck next time Mumbo."
NO! HE FORGOT THIS TIME! The shrill whistle went off and he rushed to jam his fingers in his ears, but by the time he reached them it was over. His eyes narrowed and a hand went to his forehead to calm the coming headache. Hopping out of the arena, he considered some of the victors fights up until now. That was a neat trick from Mumbo, just the raw force wasn't there. Who had won? Kiryu was up against Grubby Goon, thankfully taking him out with an ironically dirty move considering how nasty his opponent was. Stepping on his hair and delivering a crushing blow. Though it was kind of warranted based on the fact that the greasy guy was literally using his hair as weapons. That was just super weird and made Bass's skin crawl. Good riddance. The pointed hat lady had literally just dodged her opponent for almost the entire round and they just gave up from exhaustion like most of her fights so far. The other Namek was up against that wannabe Saiyan and clapped him real good. He was starting to like the guy, maybe they really could chat after this. Especially if they fought each other in the finals.
That is why what came next was just so unexpected. His next opponent would be the Hat Lady. He didn't really recognize the name in any capacity that she was announced as, but apparently she wasn't hit a single time in the entire tournament. Their match would start in five minutes.
Getting prepared and standing at the edge of the ring, the much more soothing gong went off with a surrounding reverberation. This person had made absolutely no attempt to attack, not even once during this whole thing. Her specialty seemed to be avoiding anything that came her way to tire out her opponents. So in light of that he'd do something she couldn't avoid with what he'd seen so far. Looking at the ground he raised up a fist high, it grew in size and started to fly down towards the stone arena to start a miniature quake across the stone platform. Though just as the fist was about to connect there was a voice just next to him.
"Relax." Huh? He stopped his punch and looked up, the hat lady was right next to him. She spoke more.
"You've shown enough to prove you're a... Capable fighter. You see, I have a proposition for you." She started. Bass just confused glanced at the crowd that sat in silence waiting for something to happen. Though to be fair, they were used to the Hat Lady's fights being as boring as a fight could possibly be. Baba continued.
"I know quite a few things about you, Bass. I'll tell you this much. I know where the Tree of Might is and if you help me, you'll help yourself." Immediately catching Bass's attention he looked towards her. "Suuure?"
Nodding, she continued.
"So first off, I'll need you to forfeit this match so I can talk with the other one that has proven to be strong enough for the task. I once had guardians at my... Home, yes. And a ritual to keep them there went quite wrong, and needless to say I need you and this other contestant to fight them. Yes? Defeat them of course. If you do that, the Tree of Might will be in your hands seconds after. If you want guarantee that I'm not lying, well... You left South City eating a burrito, walked through a tropical forest, fought a monster named Gobble and made a raft to travel to the Southern Lands beach. I have... An affinity with scrying the world around me." She said with a chuckle.
That was more than Bass needed to hear. "Sooooounds like a plan." With that, he turned and hopped from the arena onto the ground. Extremely confused the announcer shouted in almost a stammer. "U-uh ring knock out...!? Winner is Hat Lady!"
And with that, Bass folded his arm to wait for this... Other combatant. Which looked to be Kiryu. Who knows what the future held.
[WC: 3656] [TWC: 3656] [QUEST WC: 5804]
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Post by Kiryu on Sept 19, 2019 19:36:20 GMT -8
That had not gone the way Kiryu had been expecting.
Kiryu had been surprised enough to see a second, albeit blue and seemingly not mutated, Namekian in the tournament. Kiryu could sense that this azure alien was powerful; indeed, Kiryu suspected that his own strength was not up to par against the Namekian, though he firmly believed that his skill would more than make up that gap. Still, it was hard to get a read on him… since his opponent didn’t seem to be worried about actually fighting.
The Namekian seemed powerful, and was clearly able to alter his physiology in ways that it would be impossible for any normal Earthling to imitate. However, once he careened across the ring towards the purple hair woman, he abandoned the large, powerful punch he had been about to throw as the woman said something. Though Kiryu saw her mouth move, she spoke softly and they were too far away for Atreus to hear what was said.
The crowd was getting anxious as the action lulled. The Namekian and the young woman didn’t exchange words for long, however, before the Namekian did something that took everyone by surprise; he voluntarily hopped out of the ring.
The confused announcers called the match, and then, since there were no attacks for the woman to recover from, it was on to the finals.
Given how her semi final match had panned out, the crowd’s response to the woman was tepid. They were far more in the corner of Kiryu, who they had seen handily outclass his opponents. Kiryu himself, however, was no fool. It was simple for him to tell that there was far more going on than met the eye.
The announcer called the beginning of the final match, but Kiryu did not adopt a fighting pose. Much to the chagrin of the crowd, he simply walked forward. He had a hunch this would be interesting.
As before, she did not rush out to attack. She had a soft smile on her face that was… Kiryu did not know. Nostalgic? Wistful? Melancholy? It seemed like it was all of those, and more. As he approached, Kiryu took in all of the woman’s features. She was pretty; average height with sharp features. Purple hair that seemed like it couldn’t possibly be real. Blue eyes stood out from high, angular cheekbones and lent her heart shaped face some intensity.
Curious, Kiryu stopped about five feet away from her, crossed his arms, and waited.
”Oh? You’re not going to attack?” she said, her left eyebrow raising in query.
”Nah,” said Kiryu, shrugging as he did so. ”If you’re able to talk down that Namekian, I bet you’ve got something interesting to say. In my experience, they’re not really the type to pass up on an opportunity to fight. So I figured I may as well see what the deal is before making myself look silly.”
”Prudence. Good. That will take you far… especially with him.” The purple haired woman glanced at the cyan Namekian, waiting outside the ring. ”He is on the cusp, Kiryu. Much like you yourself are. You both stand at crossroads. You both may inherit great, terrible responsibilities. Your influence could do much to sway one another… but who knows which one will be swayed?”
Kiryu drew in a sharp breath, and suddenly, in his mind, he was elsewhere.
He walked away from his life. It had, after all, only been a dream. A facade. A thin, mundane veneer that protected those to weak to see what truly was, too afraid to grab the reins of their destiny. And ravens circled overhead, and they told him secrets, terrible truths that broke and remade him with every step, and all the while there was a deep voice crawling through his innards and filling him with one driving purpose.
COME AND SEE.
And he continued through the forest that he found himself in until he found a grove of ash trees, and before the greatest one, he placed his hand on the trunk. But his eyes were deceived and the bark was like sharpened glass and his hand was cut, and as he bled and the ash drank, he saw the longhouses appear, and in the middle of them was a deep well, and next to the well was an ash tree that towered so high that he could not see the top.
And two wolves, the size of horses, sat by the well and stared at him, into him, and he knew only that he knew nothing, that he was too weak, too stupid, too craven, and before he knew what he was doing he was in font of the well.
And it spoke to him and revealed the basest truth, that real knowledge and power could never come without sacrifice, and thereupon he saw the dagger, and he held it before his left eye, and…
With a shuddering gasp, Kiryu came back to himself. He staggered back a step, struggling to keep his balance. ”Wh… what happened? Where was I? What the hell was that?!”
The woman stared at him, then answered, voice flat. ”You were someone else. You needed to see. To know. In a way that’s where the story begins. In ages past, with someone sacrificing themselves for power. He did it for the greater good and he learned secrets hidden by the gods, learned magic in all of it’s forms and he had power. And he did not guard it jealously, but he taught what he knew, so that we, all of humanity, could always have a chance.”
Kiryu blinked, and once again, he was somewhere else.
He could not see the sky at night, because the stars were hidden behind Dahak’s veil, and the moon was shattered, and the well was dry. This was the time their prophecies had foretold when the feats of men and their gods were lessened by the others. By the void walkers, by the fetid children of Those That Walk Behind, by the protean descendants of personified chaos and malevolence.
This was the time that the children of the Earth would fade and become diminished, but for a few, and those few could preserve their legacy until the day would come when-
Kiryu shuddered, snapping out of whatever he was experiencing once again.
She shook her head, a mournful expression crossing her face. ’This world has had many stories, many legends, but all of them were in danger of being snuffed out. Who could have known how mighty were our foes?”
The woman’s eyes had changed, shited. They had become dark and opaque, the piercing blue replaced by an inky blackness that stretched into eternity in ways that Kiryu could not comprehend.
”We could scorch mountains. We could step on clouds, walk between rain drops. We had power over life and death and wishes could come true. The power to lay waste to cities and the promise of life eternal was before us and never did we think to face the fell wrath of foreign gods who could burn worlds and darken suns.
But the world was wider than we ever dreamed. And we survived, but never again can we risk losing all we hold dear.
To me was given many powers of old. To divine the future, to see the now, to wreak miracles and help others on their Path. To allow those I chose to return from the land of the Dead, for one day. And now my gift has manifested for myself and I stand before you because you, and he, and all the others must walk this path.
For they are returning.”
Her eyes changed again, and returned to their normal hue. She seemed to sag, just a bit. Kiryu’s jaw was hanging down and he gaped openly.
”I… I don’t… who are you? Who is returning?”
The purple haired woman shook her head, lips tightening. ”No, Kiryu. I have already said far too much. It was the risk I ran, falling into the trance. I’ve unmoored myself a bit too much from time and-”
”Unmoored yourself? From time? What in the actual f-”
”Enough questions,” she snapped. ”There are things I can’t tell you, but you have to trust me when I say I’m here to help you and the world. And in turn, I need your help. I need you to set something right.
Throughout history there have been items of great power. A great many of them have found their way to Earth, where some lie forgotten, some are jealously guarded, and some are protected and waiting for the right time.
The time is now.”
She motioned to the Namekian, standing outside the ring.
”He seeks strength. He tells himself that he is cruel and wishes to rule. Perhaps he does. But there exists much within him that could be turned to good. Just like you. You desire to protect, to help, but you doubt your own righteousness and that doubt is the seed that can lead you to despair.
A perfect match for what I need.
You will follow me, you and he. I will take you to what was my place of power. There you will help end the spell that went wrong. You will defeat my companions and free them from this cursed existence.
And then you will have items of great power, to do with as you will. And I will be at rest and I will hope that between the two of you there might be someone here that others can rally to, that you may stand against the darkness together.”
Kiryu was speechless. What could you say to that?
Instead of replying, he shrugged, walked over to the edge of the ring, and jumped out to stand in front of the Namekian. Kiryu took him (it?) in, looking the alien up and down. It was rare for Kiryu to be towered over, but that was a feat that the Namekian easily achieved. Staring at him one on one left Kiryu a little uncomfortable; he had never had much contact with non-humans, and the most notable Namekians in history were famous for nearly bringing about the end of humanity.
Kiryu let none of that show on his face. He nodded towards the being in front of him, then nodded over to where his motorcycle was stowed. Kiryu began to move over there, waiting for the purple haired woman and the Namekian to follow him. Once they did, Kiryu began to see about preparing his vehicle. It was brand new and in incredible condition, so the vehicle did not truly need the attention. It did, however, give Kiryu something to do to mask his apprehension.
Kiryu decided that he would be the one to break the ice, so after a moment, he reached into his bag and pulled out the six-pack of beer he had picked up before the fight. He offered one to the Namekian, and took one for himself, popping the tab and having a sip. It was a little warm, but still, after his exertions, the drink was refreshing.
”So. I guess you and I have a job to do. My name’s Kiryu. What exactly do you call yourself, there, big blue?”
[WC=1,899] [TWC=5,075]
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Post by Bass on Sept 19, 2019 20:42:53 GMT -8
Walking off a stage like that wasn't necessarily easy. It took a level of commitment and faith in a random person despite all the evidence that they weren't spouting complete crap. The more he sat off among the crowd preparing to watch the final fight, the more he questioned if it was really the right choice. If this all chalked up to be some kind of fluke it wasn't the ladies fault that he'd wasted his time, it was his for believing her. Who knows what; if she was deceiving him, she actually wanted. Nevertheless among that crowd he sat for a different reason. While an abundance of people anxiously sat by hoping for an actual climactic finish to a tournament that had some cool looking earlier fights, he knew this one would be almost the same as his own, at least in some capacity.
Lo and behold when the fight started nothing really happened. If anything the two just got within chatting range. Maybe this guy was more perceptive than Bass normally gave him credit for, or at least he actively applied logical thinking to more things than he himself did. Often he found that thinking about things are irrelevant. It just leads to stress, you're going to come across obstacles regardless, just always be ready to blow through those with raw power. In this case it was more of mental raw power to take a leap of faith. Though the ideology stands true in just about any circumstance. As the two chatted, he could only imagine what was being shared. It was a lot longer than he was up there for, I guess he wasn't a hard person to persuade if you gave him what he was after. He was very results oriented, a machine that moved forward by constantly using fuel to reach more, richer fuel. His power when he got it would be used for whatever he really wanted to be truthful. It didn't matter what he was entrusted in using it for. If he happened to listen that wasn't because he heeded some kind of advice, he decided it on his own accord.
He'd tell himself, squinting.
From some of the reactions Kiryu was giving, it must've been some pretty dramatic persuasion. If he wasn't swayed so easily by the promise of shinies to further a solid personal agenda, the ladies plan two must've been incredibly intense to work the kid over like that. Yet for the second time it would become apparent that her suggestions worked in the finals even. To be fair, these were the only two fights that people stepped out. Most that dealt with her just passed out from exhaustion as she was unable to be hit from quick movements and well... being ethereal. Secondly from accidentally going off the ring after a well timed dodge on her behalf, or maybe it was just them raising the white flag when they felt themselves at their wits end in terms of frustrations. People came into these competitions with incredibly different opinions on how serious this was. Some just wanted it for a cheap hype while others were seriously here to give themselves a benchmark on their progress.
As Kiryu stepped down, the announcer had literally just about had enough. Just as the fight started relatively speaking, the same thing in the finals happened that happened in the semi-finals; at least on one side of the equation. He seemed to be fuming, steam figuratively poured out of his ears as he contemplated how to take this in stride. Though like a professional announcer it was like he was doused with water, calming down yet still giving an overly bored and solemn overview of what just happened. "Ladies and gentlemen... In another amazing turn of events our victor has been chosen not by martial progress but instead by forfeit of the opposing side... Who knows what tricks they're using... Maybe she has more Zeni than we're offering... Oh right, lady you're entitled to the reward for winning. Come by the registry desk in like five minutes if you want to collect it..."
While the announcer gave this drab final set of words, people were dispersing in various states of distress. For all intensive purposes this local tournament was an upset with just how ridiculous the supposed to be climactic final two rounds were. People came to these things to get out of the mull of daily life and they just got to see that. It was understandably upsetting for a lot of folk, but life always finds a way to move on. This was about the moment Kiryu was approaching the Namekian, who was quickly becoming an isolated still figure in a dispersing crescendo of movement. People flocked to the exit gates and he just remained sitting their, gaze fixated on Kiryu and the woman.
When they got closer he'd stand up and move forward to meet them. He was always bold in tense meetings, yet he had a way with blowing etiquette out of the water. He would've offered his hand for Kiryu to shake if he was so inclined before simply allowing his actions to speak for themselves for a moment until he was offered a can of beer? Damn, that was the least likely thing he expected when dealing with this guy. At a martial art tournament he was packing a six pack? Wow. Taking the can he popped the lid off with literally the perfect movement. The shot of the lid flying into the sky and twinkling was almost beautiful added with the tiny plop of beer that popped out with the lid. Shifting the can slightly he caught the spillage before it went over the side. He's done this a million times, classic of a salaryman to just drink with the lads at a local bar. Maybe the drinks should be on him some time. No, no. Greg can pay for the fiftieth time at this point.
"Wow, you don't expect a kid to be packing beer like that." He started, taking a drink from it. "Can't say I need to drink this, but it's a good start to any journey as they say." Taking another drink from it, he gulped, gulped, and gulped before the can was completely empty. And as per that classic temptation to crush the can, he'd give into it. His large hand crushed the can into something about the size of a cracker, pocketing the tiny little bit of garbage. "Can't go littering good farmland." He said, giving a thumbs up.
"Oh, right. You're the second person to call me Big Blue now. Though I suppose that's better than being called Big Green." He said, thinking back to Shell's nickname that Majin Zam gave to him. "Yeaaaaah... definitely better than Big Green. Rolls off the tongue better. Anyways, I guess you can call me Bass. Though just about anything in the book is possible, just with different results." He said, looking towards the bike and moving over at this point. "I take it you're going to be driving that? Unfortunately haven't been able to get my hands on a capsule-car. Too expensive for my previous salary, just got promoted to Branch Manager back in South City though, so that should change by next year maybe. Hopefully." He said, letting out a sigh before turning back to this figure.
"Soooo... Where does this put us exactly from here? I couldn't even imagine how pissed I'd be if you said because you won there's nothing else to say and walked off. Though still being here is proof enough that you're serious. If that was a lie they'd be long gone by now. Been there and done that." He'd say with an exasperated sigh. He then turned back to Kiryu.
"So apparently you're the kid helping me. Not that I need any help of course, but if you were asked I'm not going to say no to the person who gave me a tip. I'm going to need to know what you do. I saw a little bit during the fights, but you're going to have to give me a little bit more than that to go off of if you expect me to act with accommodation to your skillset. I don't want to be stepping on each others toes, especially with how destructive I can be when I get going."
He said, before gesturing lightly to... Well, if Kiryu caught sight of it, where he flung not one but two people in the first round. Then to the spot where he cratered one of the fighters using his other hand to do so. "Yep. So before you answer though, I'll go through the whole act of trust thing. I don't think you need to be a genius to figure out my approach to fighting. At the end of the day you can utilize your power however you want, but that's exactly all you have, power. When used for fancy techniques you hone it and trim off any excess to make it work. My philosophy is to waste no speck of energy and to give every hit everything my body can afford. Even a little bit more, I reckon I'd have killed myself if not for being Namekian." He'd state, folding his arms across his chest. Though before he did so he'd quite rudely reach to take another can of beer. He didn't even bother to ask, if he wasn't stopped he'd just dust it off like the one before.
"If you're using the bike, I'll have to keep up in foot. Can't make any promises, but I can probably figure something out. There's an interesting little tactic I thought of that could do the trick. It's not like I made it up, either. Just takes a single tree." He'd say, lid of the can popping off and flying through the air. Maybe that was representative of said tree. That could be a suitable vessel to surf through the clouds for a little bit. Chugging it back he'd use his tie to wipe his face a bit. The dark color helped mask any stain if there was actually anything of note. Pretty clever if you have absolutely zero other options.
"Unless you seriously think that bike can fit the three of us, who're you going with lady? The kid or me? You're probably best off with him, the current going that fast and the risk of falling a kilometer from the sky might be a little risky. As much as I would like some more information as we travel to wherever we're going, I'm not willing to put the person leading us there in danger. After all, if the people with the answers all disappear, it'd be a really bad world to rule." He mentioned. Damn, that was incredibly blunt. The way he said it wasn't even like a punchline, it was just another flowing sentence from the talkative Demon Clan Namekian.
The lady already knew those intentions and while Kiryu had sort of a preview based on the wisdom he was shared, he had just heard it from Bass's mouth personally. Almost catching himself after the fact, he raised a brow inquisitively the kids way to gauge how severe his reaction might be. He was familiar with people acting a little overzealous for something so straight forward. Then again that might just be the intention in baiting people to try and stop him. After all, anyone that did was welcome to do as they please. A strong person needs to guide those below them to form a shield, for no one man can be literally everywhere at once. Maybe close, but never truly so.
[WC: 1960] [TWC: 5616] [QUEST WC: 7764]
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Post by Kiryu on Sept 20, 2019 11:28:51 GMT -8
Well. That was actually a lot better than I was expecting.
It was true. Kiryu had expected far more brevity and brusqueness from the person that he would now call Bass. Instead he got… a conversational salary man? Who could pound people into pace?
Kiryu’s world was becoming increasingly strange with every passing day.
Bass began to… well, sort of ramble, a little bit? Kiryu couldn’t really blame him. Kiryu himself was living a life not bound to normal societal strictures. He had no idea how he would have reacted if he had been forced to work an office job… and he idly thought about how impossible it would have been for him to get as strong as Bass if he were working forty plus hours a week.
Namekians were frighteningly strong.
At Bass’s comment, Kiryu shrugged. ”Eh. I grew up in the wilderness in a sect of spiritual martial artists. It’s the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t a whole lot to do other than train, learn, and then blow off some steam. There were other kids my age, so this became a pastime. I usually only have one in celebration after a fight, but I figured hey, special occasion.”
It was curious to Kiryu that Bass showed such care for the environment, but it certainly was not something that Kiryu disliked. He nodded, finishing his own can and crushing it, then putting it into his bag to be properly disposed of later.
As Bass continued to speak, Kiryu raised an eyebrow, chewing on Bass’s words. He smirked a bit. ”See, Big Green… that’s just lazy. I mean, Jolly Green is right there. How is that not the most obvious one to go with? I gotta say, I grew up on comic books and saturday morning cartoons and I find the lack of quality banter in modern martial artists to be upsetting on a personal level.”
When Bass addressed the purple haired woman, she shrugged, then answered. ’I was never much of a fighter. My powers run in other directions. A martial arts tournament holds no personal interest for me, nor have they ever. No, instead I wanted to see if you two were wise and humble and curious enough to take this chance. I was not disappointed.”
Bass continued to speak, offering quite a bit for Kiryu to think on. He revealed his fighting philosophy. It was fairly straightforward, but Kiryu couldn’t deny it’s effectiveness.
Well. One good turn deserves another.
”Hmmm. I guess if you want to know how I fight, I would have to say that my style is pretty much the opposite of yours. My prowess relies on esoteric physical and spiritual techniques. I tend to be defensive and counterattack, targeting vulnerable areas to disrupt ki flow in my opponents. If I can activate enough of those chakras, I can then strike them in a sequence that does massive internal damage.
That’s just the physical, though. I use ki for a lot more than just explosions. I have a pretty versatile control of it. I can summon energy armor and conjure useful items. That, in fact, is probably going to come in very handy, very shortly. I usually use ki attacks instead of physical ones. I’m certainly not incapable of hand to hand combat, I just feel I can better moderate the force of my ki techniques so as to avoid injuring someone else… if, of course, I actually want to avoid injuring them. It sounds to me like our skills might be complimentary. I’m elusive and rely on pinpoint accuracy; you seem to be stout and steadfast and hard to stop once you build up a head of steam.”
When Bass started discussing transportation, Kiryu couldn’t keep a mischievous grin off of his face. Before he could speak, the purple haired woman snapped her fingers. From out of nowhere, a broom appeared, hovering in the air three feet off the ground.
”I will be more than capable of keeping up with you,” she said easily.
Kiryu’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Kiryu himself was capable of such feats, of course, but it was quite rare to find other humans that had practiced using ki in such a manner.
”Well, that kind of takes the wind out of my sails a bit, but… I did have an idea.”
Since Bass took another beer, Kiryu decided he would do so as well. He wasn’t offended… he had offered, and if he was about to go traipsing off into who knew what with Bass as his companion, some bonds of trust and friendship would not go awry. Kiryu’s beer was Bass’s beer, he decided.
As Kiryu popped the tab and took a swig, he concentrated, channeling his ki. After a moment, something appeared in much the same way it had when the purple haired woman has conjured her broom. There was no spell, no incantation, no large external gathering of ki. It simply happened, and suddenly, attached to the left of Kiryu’s motorcycle was a large, luxurious looking sidecar with leather cushions.
Kiryu grinned at Bass. ”Get in, man. We’re on an adventure.”
The purple haired witch led the way. True to her word, she had no problem keeping pace with Kiryu’s powerful, experimental motorcycle. She was taking them south by southwest, into the desert. The journey was long, and they had been traveling all day when the sun slipped below the horizon.
”We should halt for the night,” she said. ”When we arrive, you will not be safe. It would not to have you unrested. Fatigue makes you sloppy and vulnerable, and my guardians are not weak. Once, they would have been no match for your prowess, but over the years they have had nothing to do but slowly grow more powerful.”
Kiryu nodded, then found an open, flat area to set up camp in. He quickly set to work; his motorcycle had a large trunk, where he kept his camping gear. Kiryu was no stranger to the process, so the setup did not take long. A large tent would provide them shelter for the night, and Kiryu set about getting a fire going. He had some food, mostly dried fruits and meat. It wasn’t the most incredible meal ever, but it did the job. He offered some to Bass, as well as the purple haired witch, who declined.
The stars began to twinkle overhead as the light died. Kiryu passed the night making small talk, attempting to come to know these relative strangers a bit better. The purple haired woman was not extremely forthcoming, but did at least share her name; Baba.
Kiryu himself spoke freely about his own past and history. He spoke of growing up that way he did, which, upon examination, could have been quite bad if the followers of the Path of Joy hadn’t been good people. It wasn’t quite a cult, but it wasn’t quite not, when he thought on it, and such organizations were usually ripe for exploitation of their members. Thankfully such was not the case with his sect, at least as far as he knew.
So Kiryu spoke of the wonder and happiness he had felt the first time he successfully manipulated his ki. About the rigorous training his parents had guided him through, about the hopes of the followers of the Path of Joy. He likely rambled on a bit.
What Kiryu did not speak of was the difficulties that he faced. He did not talk about how hard it was to follow the Path. It was, after all, a modern world. Though he had grown up in partial isolation, his family and other adherents did not eschew modern technology or societal conventions. They drank, married, got divorced, indulged in earthly pleasures and learned and did whatever they wished. That was one of the problems, one of the questions that Kiryu wrestled with. Maybe it was all internal, but it was still hard for him to reconcile the idea that the Path was somehow more spiritually pure when he could engage in all sorts of activities.
It struck Kiryu, then, as he spoke, that that was probably the point. That with the option, the freedom to do all those things… to still choose to do good was laudable.
And that did bring him some measure of peace, and when they finally turned in for the night, Kiryu slept well for the first time since he had fought Blaster.
The next morning, they set out again after having a bit of breakfast and striking camp. After a few more hours, Baba led them away from the road that they had been traveling. After traveling through a swath of desert for a little over an hour, they spied a large canyon out in the distance. Baba headed that way and navigated downwards, taking a series of switchbacks at the rim of the canyon all the way to the bottom. The switchbacks were too steep and the canyon too rough to take the motorcycle down, so Kiryu parked the vehicle, then covered it with a tarp. He then followed Baba down into the canyon, leaping lightly from level to level to speed up the process.
At the bottom, Baba went left, and Kiryu followed. After perhaps fifteen minutes of travel, Baba stopped. At first, Kiryu could not tell why. The walls of the canyon were the same as they had been, as far as Kiryu could see, but Baba had stopped in front of a section of the rock and had her right hand resting on it. She closed her eyes, then muttered ”Pla wen lo”. Kiryu had not been expecting anything, but in sections all over the wall, arcane runes were revealed, glowing with a vibrant green light. After a moment, the light faded, and that section of the wall slid up, opening to reveal a hidden entrance. Stairs extended downward into some sort of structure. A bit of light filtered in, but not nearly enough to illuminate the descent entirely. Baba held out her hand, and an orb that glowed like the sun appeared, hovering above her open palm.
She nodded towards Kiryu and Bass, then stepped in. There was nothing to do but follow her.
After perhaps a minute of walking downwards, ever deeper into the bowels of the Earth, the trio came to the end of the stairs. It opened up into a chamber that had only one distinct feature; the opposite wall was dominated by an imposing door. It was carved out of the very stone, it seemed, and eldritch script, probably a spell of some type, was scrawled all around it. The door itself was intricately worked, featuring depictions of men and women doing battle among the clouds.
Baba went to reach out towards the door, then paused, turning back to look at Kiryu and Bass.
”This was my home, once. This place sits atop a ley line, a place where the energy of the Earth collects. My plants always grew, and my magic was always at it’s most potent here. There was simply… more life. I thought the place blessed by the gods. It seemed a natural place to conduct the ritual. I should have known that such a spell would have had unintended consequences.”
Beyond this door waits your challenge, and your reward. The items are bound to this sacred site and locked behind my protective spell; no one will be able to approach. The spell was inadvertently tied to the life force of my companions, which has corrupted and cursed them to this life of madness. By destroying them you will free their essences, and end the spell.
If you have any preparations to make, make them now, for you will have little time once this chamber has been opened. They are almost mindless, and will be immediately hostile. They will be difficult foes for you. Are you ready?”[/b]
[WC=2,012] [TWC=7,087]
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Post by Bass on Sept 20, 2019 17:15:47 GMT -8
Naturally there was a lot to take in, but he'd have a long time to mull some of it over. Though first he stood in front of Kiryu with folded arms as he listened to his response. He had a lot to say and seemed to skip some simple points to touch upon when first meeting someone. Though he just kept going and in turn allowed Kiryu to respond. He'd bring it up once they'd reached their destination. Apparently this kid was raised in some kind of pasture, well, 'wilderness'. He supposed he could only relate to that point with one of his own. Though for now he would keep quiet and just let him consider the various other things that had been spoken towards him without interruption.
Kiryu then reflected on the nick name Big Green. He smile in turn and offered a shrug, "To be fair, the nickname was given by a Majin. They're not exactly known for being culturally sophisticated." That one probably stung, apparently this guy talked with a Majin. For however nice he seemed he clearly had some stains on his record. Many do, really. Especially diamonds in the rough. He raised a brow at the mention of comic books and the Saturday cartoons. "Oh, yeah. I get the paper every day back in South City. I think I know what you mean, can't say I take the time to read the thing. Mostly just look at the headlines. Usually stupid things that aren't that much of a deal. It's rare for the actual threats to get on the news, people have a way with... Limiting their perspectives and looking at where they walk, not what's around them." He said, a touch of intelligence sparking from the Namekian.
"I really don't like the term Martial Artists, because we're all just Humans at the end of the day; right?" He said, giving finger guns. "Bazinga, gotcha. I'm not Human, hahahaha. Though you get the point, what is worth gaining if you have to lose something to do so. I'm not afraid to admit I'm a greedy man. I want it all, and I don't want to let anything slip through my fingers on the way. Memories, friends, family. If I ever have the privilege of holding such things no matter where my journey takes me I won't allow myself to distance from them. The strictness and philosophy surrounding most people that practice martial arts typically involves sacrificing normalcy to 'pursue' their dreams. That just makes it easier, it wasn't impossible to do it before." Bass said, crushing that second can into another tiny disc that he added to his pocket along with the first.
Then his attention turned back to the lady that was speaking now. He figured it was something like that at this point, it must be serious for her to have gone to such lengths to get help. Not to mention just how strong of fighter's she'd have needed. Them? For most worldly problems that was overkill, yet this lady had an otherworldly property to her. The circumstances of her situation must've been dire. He'd find out over the night and the next morning that that was absolutely true. Giving a nod, he looked back towards Kiryu as he got into the meat of his response.
"I don't know what esoteric means, and I don't know what ki flows are. I don't know what chakras are, and I don't see how hitting weak spots can lead to massive internal damage unless you have the physical might to rupture internal organs, and even then the ideal fight isn't intended to murder. It's intended to determine a victor. If I killed everyone I fought, how would they come to fight for me some day as some of my strongest warriors? They simply wouldn't. Potential should be nurtured, that's why if anything I make sure I'm not killing people with the strikes I put out. Since well... You'll see in due time if you didn't catch it at the tournament how strong my hits can be. As for our skills being complimentary, I suppose if you consider me the bulldozer and you the shovel worker on the side that scoops up the spilled dirt; yeah, we compliment each other." He said, giving a thumbs up and a turd-eating grin.
Looking as Baba conjured a broom he just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he didn't have that luxury at this point in his life, maybe he'd relent and decide to learn some fancy technique, but for now he was more than content with his very physical and powerful approach. He just took the womans word on keeping up. Then Kiryu spoke indicating he had some kind of idea, going silent for a moment or two as he also got a second beer. He watched as a luxurious leather sidecar formed alongside the motorcycle and as Kiryu spoke up he could only utter out one half-impressed half-entertained response.
"You cheeky bastard."
Getting into the bike, Bass let his arm drape over the side and took it easy for once. Normally he was training, and frankly he was actually excited to use his tree-throwing technique to get him there. Though wisdom would prevail as a much more convenient and precise method of travel was dropped right in front of him. Driving down the dirt road into the desert, as Bass shielded his eyes occasionally from roaming dustclouds but otherwise just enjoyed the view. He naturally helped himself to more beer over the trip, it was quite a while after all. Though just as the sun had set the lady spoke up to tell them they should settle down for the night. Raising a brow, he just gave a shrug and a short response. "Sure, that makes sense."
Finding himself being bystander to a campground being set up, he found himself appreciative of Kiryu's little wilderness history making him do this. His kid years were spent terrorizing villages knowing no better from the commanding words of King Piccolo himself. Watching it be hoisted up, he watched Kiryu efficiently start preparing a fire and cooking. All of that just from harvesting from the wild. Well, he supposed that was complimentary to Bass's acclimation to city life. So in that point the kid's earlier point was more than accurate. Sitting down next to the fire Bass reached out a hand to take the food. Though in this case he took a large chunk of meat and just took his time eating it. Though he made sure Kiryu knew he had no reason to be eating this other than it tasted good; "Just so you know, Namekian's don't actually need to eat. We just need to stay hydrated." Makes sense when you think about it, though it's easy to forget that another solid, walking talking sentient creature doesn't actually need to eat despite possessing some sharp teeth to do so.
Taking a drink of water, he just sort of ended up sprawled out over a log with a hand on his belly full on food that he didn't actually have to eat. It wasn't completely wasted of course, on top of the fact that it tasted good his body would make extreme use out of every bit of moisture contained in that food. It had water as part of it's consistency after all. He joined the small talk if not as more of a third quieter wheel compared to the ominous lady and Kiryu. Though impressively enough he managed to get Baba's name, making him actually aware of it now. This was about as good a time as any to ask the question that he thought wasn't answered right off the bat, but thinking back Kiryu actually introduced himself first. Damn.
That night and many nights, Bass wouldn't exactly fall asleep with others. He was a bit of a lone wolf unless fate pulled people together in his path. Sitting against the back of one of those logs, with a raised leg giving his arm a resting point he just gazed at the tent zipper that was closed in front of him. Illuminating dying out as Kiryu went to sleep and the lady did or didn't, he wasn't sure how she worked particularly. In the coming forty or so minutes the Namekian would pass out in just about that exact position just with his head tilted downwards. There was just about nobody better to be between you and danger, maybe it wasn't the reason but if it came up, Bass would beat the hell out of some bandits before he let them get the jump on his travelling companion.
Being woken up by Baba shouting in his ear he let out a groan before coming to his senses. Kiryu was already awake and cooking and he'd enjoy a smaller portion of the meal this time. Given how quickly they ate, it was back into the bike with him. Resting in that seat wasn't necessarily the worst thing in the world, it reminded him of a better office life. Maybe he could buy himself a luxury chair back there too. Frankly, the confidence to make waves was building within him and perhaps he'd make a radical branch change with his next move. Checkmate corporate into getting unlimited leeway with their new financial reports. Though before he really got to get too lost in thought and bore to death against the steady wins contrasting the bikes speed, they came to a stop just short of a canyon of some kind. Yikes. Going on foot, he fixed up his tie and started to follow the two down, being the final one to go wherever the conga-line went.
He stood there only to watch Baba start to utter some incantations of some kind in front of the wall. Squinting as it opened, perhaps his idea of what was magically possible was widened a bit more, just there weren't many people that practiced it. Well, at least in such a manner other than throwing around shapes of death and charging up massive attacks. He might be guilty of that some day, but he'd need to come up with some sort of energy attack that made use of his unending potential. Watching the rock grind upwards and then stop with a thud, he followed the two of them in and admired the grand architecture and chambers that they were walking through. "This almost looks like an ancient crypt, no offence intended." He said, after all. Offending someone made them angry, and angry people were more focused on being angry at you than helping the world progress.
Then she went on to speak and finally he got some enlightenment on the whole situation. Nodding along to what she had to say, he pondered on the idea of ley lines. Places where magic was more potent? He couldn't really imagine why, like currents in the ocean? It was just a thing of nature, or was there a reason these lines were in particular places as opposed to others? He just looked confused at Baba as she explained, but despite his potential confusion he nodded anyways perhaps purely for the idea of acknowledging that he heard her. She spoke of some ritual, but gone right or wrong rituals just didn't sound right to him. Though he didn't really come here to ask about the why, he'd come here to get his hands on the Tree of Might. Maybe he'd do right by this lady and go the extra mile to make sure her place was nice and at rest before doing so. Though that was only because while the living still had a purpose, the broken had done their dues and deserved a gentle sleep for having paid their dues to life.
Looking upon the imposing door as Baba said some last words he'd fold his arms across his chest. If these people really were driven to madness, it was on them to put a stop to it. Plus, he would apparently actually have a challenge. A solid blow for blow war of clashing fists that could shake this structure to it's core. He was actually so excited for that he honestly felt guilty. He'd speak up, looking over towards Kiryu.
"I'm ready when you are kid. Get all your fancy crap ready, from the sounds of it we're about to get into a slugfest that could take us through the rest of the day." He'd say, cracking a smile. "Looking forward to it, I've been looking to seriously test out my new power."
[WC: 2105] [TWC: 7721] [QUEST WC: 9869]
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Post by Kiryu on Sept 23, 2019 11:15:09 GMT -8
Bass voiced his doubts regarding Kiryu’s skills. Well, less his skills than how what he did actually worked. When Bass talked about him being the bulldozer and Kiryu being the shoveler, Kiryu rolled his eyes a bit and snorted. ’Hey, if you had ever seen Mystery Men, you would know that The Shoveler is a badass superhero who beats up the bad guys with the power of his mighty shovel… that is in fact just a normal shovel. He’s still cool, though. Anyway, it takes a lot of practice and study to fight this way. I probably could rupture someone’s organs if I wanted to. I’m not the powerhouse that you are, but I’m not exactly a slouch, either. This is a way to deal with foes by impeding them so much that they can’t fight, without hitting them so hard that they end up crippled for the rest of their natural life. Or, at least, that’s the theory.”
Later that night, and all throughout their journey, Kiryu made it a point to file away everything Bass related to him about Namekians. The fact that they didn’t need to ingest matter to sustain their physical bodies was fascinating to him. Growing up as part of the Path of Joy was, in essence, the same as being home schooled. However, rather than follow a linear path of education, Kiryu’s parents had simply taught him how to think, how to learn. It was a skill that was, surprisingly, not really the same as education, at least as education was thought of by most public school systems.
It had allowed Kiryu to explore what he wished, to pursue whatever caught his interest, which had given the young man an insatiable curiosity and a joy for learning. One of the points of interest that he had had, growing up as a young man in a world where aliens were a known quantity, had been biology. There hadn’t been a lot of information about Namekians, at least not physiologically. They were obviously quite different from Earthlings, but there weren’t a large number of them that interacted with humanity on a regular basis, and they tended to be a little tight lipped about how their own bodies worked. At least, that was Kiryu’s impression from the information he had been able to find over the years. So anything that Bass decided to share, Kiryu listened to intently, filing the information away for later analysis. Nothing about it was sinister; Kiryu wasn’t looking for an advantage, for some magic glowing weak spot that he could press to disable Namekians. He just wanted to know.
Kiryu was a little surprised to find how easy it was to settle into a friendly rhythm with Bass. He talked about having strong warriors fight for his amusement when he ruled, but… something was off about that. Bass just didn’t seem like the kind of guy who was going for world domination, at least, not the way you would normally think about it.
Bass seemed like…
Suddenly, it clicked. The shirt and tie. The slacks. The talk about promotions, being branch manager all of that. It wasn’t just an outlier. That was Bass. He did not want to rule the world because he was a tyrant (at least, Kiryu did not think he was), but because of how he saw it. To him, Kiryu mused, the world was one big corporation. Your bosses are incompetent; you could run the whole thing better if only you had the opportunity. Why not climb all the way up? Leave the Branch Manager position in the dust and run the whole show, instituting positive changes at every possible level.
You just had to be strong enough to force everyone else on the planet in line.
Kiryu didn’t think that was what Bass was after. Not really, not the sort of slaughter you would have to perpetrate, how hard and cruel you would need to be for that. But he could see how the fantasy was appealing.
When Bass mentioned the place looking like a crypt, Kiryu nodded in agreement. Baba answered. ”It is a crypt,” she explained. ”The bones of the greatest practitioners of our arts are buried here. Through the ages, those of us that kept our secret histories kept record of those of us who were most accomplished, and when they passed from this world, they were brought here, in the hopes that perhaps one day one of us would truly unlock the secrets of life and death. I never did, but that wasn’t my avenue of study. All things, in their time, pass to the next world.”
Well, that’s morbid, thought Kiryu. Still, he could imagine that Baba spoke from experience. He had never even met someone that could do the things she alluded to. She sounded like a sorceress of some type, and he could scarcely dream of the things that someone like that could accomplish.
Bass mentioned that he didn’t need to do much in the way of set up. Kiryu focused for a few moments, gathering his ki and shaping his power. A lithe set of armor appeared over him, shimmering with a silver light. He also summoned a flexible spear, similar to the wax wood ones he had favored in his training. He then drew in power, replacing the ki he’d spent. Kiryu nodded towards Bass.
”All right. I should be good to go. Let’s do this!”
”Be wary of exuberant overconfidence,” Baba warned. ”You both are strong, beyond the ken of most mortals. But there exists in this room things that should never have been, legends of a forgotten world.
Science, today, tells us that the snaking and movement of the Earth is the result of tectonic collisions. And from this we have orogeny, earthquakes and volcanoes.
Yet in the past that is not what men knew. No, what they knew was that deep, deep in the bowels of the world, there was a trickster, and a serpent. You see, the trickster had been an ally of Those Who Sit Above, but he also served his own ends, and his endless lies and deceits led to the demise of the most beloved of Those Who Sit Above, and his death sealed the pact; they would come to their twilight, and end, and most would die.
And so Those Who Sit Above punished the trickster. They took his two sons, and one they turned into a wolf, and he slew his brother, ripping out his entrails. Those Who Sit Above took these, and took the trickster to a cave, and they spoke words of radiance and brought their terrible art forth, and the trickster was bound in the entrails of his son. A great serpent lived in that cafe, and it coiled itself around a root that stuck through the ceiling of the cave. Potent venom dripped from it’s fangs, onto the trickster.
Even someone so vile as the trickster was not without those who loved him. His faithful wife sat at his side, holding a bowl, that he would not be pained. But betimes, the bowl would fill and she would have to empty it. And the trickster would feel the venom, burning through him, and he would thrash and shake violently.
And all men knew, it was for this reason that the Earth shook.
I tell you this so that you will know you are facing something old. Something other. Do not think to parley or conduct psychological warfare. They will not avail you. Stick to your courage and remember your valour, for they are your only shields. Now. It is time.”
Baba nodded, then held up her hand and intoned an arcane phrase in a sonorous, resonant voice. ”THAIM THOLACH THECHEMBAOR THEAGON PENTATHESCHI BOTI, SAUAMBOCH MERA CHEOZAPH OSSALA BYMBEL POUO TOUTHO OIREREI ARNOCH.”
At the end of her invocation, the doors opened inward. Stepping forward, Kiryu found that the door opened up into a large, well lit cavern. The lighting came from large wall fixtures that had the appearance of crystal. Each of them seemed to have a fire burning in it, which Kiryu found wondrous. How could it possibly been burning for as long as this place had been abandoned?
Kiryu did not have long to think about the implications of such matters. His eyes were drawn to the rest of the cavern. It had been hewn, that much he was certain of. The ceiling was tall, taller than his eyes could make out. The walls were too smooth, the chamber too precise for it to be natural. The walls were covered with dust, but underneath, splashes of color shined in the illumination. The walls were clearly covered with lacquered engravings. All around the humongous cavern, Kiryu could see the signs of what had been an extraordinary life; a weapon rack, full of armaments that practically hummed with power. A cauldron, large enough to fit several fully grown men, it’s rim blackened from use under the dust of ages. A large circle, inscribed with arcane runes and sigils, in the center of which lay a small stone altar.
And, of course, the center of the room, which even a blind man could not miss.
In the center of the room shone a large, translucent green shield. It seemed to rotate a bit, making looking at it straight on quite difficult, but in the middle, Kiryu could see some things of note. Stretching it’s branches upward was a mighty tree with a thick trunk, and at it’s base rested a large crystal sphere. Kiryu started forward…
And that was when he heard them.
It started off as a whisper of movement. A ragged, hungry breath drawn in. Cloth that was mostly disintegrated by age rasping against ravening bodies.
And then they were upon them.
Kiryu turned to face his opponents. If they had once been human, they certainly were not any longer. Facing him was an entity with skin the color of a decaying corpse stretched taut over muscle, bone and sinew. The creature was so painfully emaciated that the skin was clearly just a wrapping, something that had to be there to keep everything in. Blue hair hung lank and matted, falling about a horrifically thin face. Sharp fangs protruded over lips that were broken and chapped and had clearly had nothing pass them in centuries.Remnants of green cloth covered it’s lower body, and scraps of what may have once been purple gloves stuck out from beneath six inch long jagged fingernails.
Kiryu’s other opponent was as thick as a barn door and swathed head to toe in bandages… except for it’s face, with dessicated skin displayed in a mockery of life.
That was all that Kiryu had time to notice before battle was joined.
They moved, and they did not move like trained, cunning fighters. They moved like wolves, attacking savagely, trying to flank and surround him. It was like fighting animals powered by a malevolent will. Kiryu exploded into a blur of motion, whipping his spear about and maneuvering to make himself as hard a target as possible. The reach of his spear gave him some advantage; even if it was difficult to get in a counter attack, he was at least able to keep one of them completely at bay and only have to actively dodge the other.
Kiryu spared a glance over at Bass. It appeared that a large, winged monster was in the room as well. It’s face was disturbingly human, and it seemed to have a body much like a human’s as well. There was also another presence that Kiryu could sense, but he could not see it, nor did he really have time to investigate.
A moment of carelessness opened up a hole in Kiryu’s defenses, and the blue skinned creature lunged forward, it’s fangs coming straight towards Kiryu’s neck. Reacting without thought, Kiryu fell backward, tucking in his legs and kicking as he did so. He didn’t connect with enough force to injure his assailant, but the desperate maneuver did add some force and velocity, enough to turn the lunge into an improvised throw from Kiryu. He kipped up, knowing he had to maintain mobility, but the bandage swathed monster was faster than he had imagined. It sent forth a powerful punch, aimed at Kiryu’s ribs. Kiryu managed to align his guard properly just in time, bringing his arm in tight to absorb the blow. That, and his conjured armor, prevented him from any major injury, but it still hurt. That thing was strong. Kiryu went sailing through the air, careening towards a wall. Kiryu focused, regaining control of his body. He flipped around in the air so that his feet were aimed at the wall he was about to impact. He hit, bending his knees to absorb the shock. The stone cracked loudly as he did so, the whole cavern shuddering with the force of the combat. Kiryu used the impact to bounce off of the wall, pinballing back to his foes as he leaped from wall to wall. He shot some ki blasts towards his foes as they did so; both were quick enough to dodge.
Kiryu would have to be a little more creative to end this fight. He hoped Bass was doing well.
[WC=2,256] [TWC=9,343]
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Post by Bass on Sept 23, 2019 16:17:15 GMT -8
As Kiryu got himself ready, Bass found himself just waiting. He squinted while considering the in depth explanation given by Baba. He got the point already, don't get overconfident. Despite all of his behaviour, in an actual fight he made an important note to judge an individual by what they're doing rather than what he assumes they're capable of. To always be reassessing them when they display new tricks. He knew these opponents would be anything but easy and for him that was absolutely exhilarating. It was truly unfortunate that these fantastic faces of the past had been horrifically disfigured in such a careless thing such as a ritual.
Fangs the Vampire, See-Through the Invisible Man, Bandages the Mummy and Spike the Devil-Man. While Bass didn't know these names, he was sure at one point they were much more... Aware individuals. Some of them even were things that defied the wears of time. Fangs shouldn't have looked a day different from the day he was sealed, Bandages should look just like he was and See-Through couldn't even be seen. Given Spike was a Devil-Man of some kind, who knows in his case. The ritual was some twisted idea at something ridiculous, and Bass was more than a little frustrated at the one who caused such a thing to happen. Who knows what techniques and capabilities these fighters within could've offered to the world if they weren't sucked of everything that made them relatable beings.
And then she began to chant and Bass sat up from the little rock he'd found to rest in the chamber just before the grand entrance. The door began to creak open and the dusty crypt wound up exposed to fresh air for the first time in who knows how many centuries. A old and dusty air rolled out from the room, causing Bass to lift his tie to cover his face for a couple moments. Then it was their turn in the ball park. Looking towards Kiryu, he gave a simple few bit of talk before entering alongside him.
"Good luck kid, though prove to me you don't need it." And with that they were in. He noticed Kiryu's attention immediately drawing to some sort of shield after several moments and then some rod with a ball on it. He could only assume it was some artifact of old, perhaps his newfound ally knew more about it than he. What he would be curious about was actually the Tree of Might, or at least a seed of it. It wasn't really something that could easily be moved from A to B if it was fully grown. If it was grown here Momentum Financial might have a new office. Smiling to himself at the thought, he focused on the task at hand and it was a good thing he did. Almost immediately after their initial entrance were threats upon them.
On Kiryu's end he had his hands full with Bandages the Mummy and Fangs the Vampire. An agile fighter paired with a power fighter. On his end he was paired with Spike and one who's presence he didn't register unlike Kiryu; at least yet. He didn't particularly have any time to either. The flying Devil-Man looked down and adjoining both of his hands together shouted at the top of his lungs. "DEVILMITE BEAM!"
An attack that was either die or live if it hit, this attack was one of few that defied all other standards in terms of techniques. It went by rules outside of conventional understanding. There were attacks that hit hard, then there were things like this. If you fit the parameters of a target you just died, there was nothing one could do to avoid their fate if they had but a single negative thought in the case of the Devilmite Beam. To someone like Bass? It'd be difficult to say he had no negative thoughts, and this beam wouldn't be a way to discern that considering he used the much more reasonable method of evasion. Darting to the left the beam sizzled the floor and Spike lowered to the floor.
Just as he was about to take a step forward, looking at his target the product of his lack of sensory capability struck him where it hurt. A massive blow smashed the Namekian in the side and sent him hurtling towards the old stone wall. Slamming into it at breakneck speeds, a crater formed a couple meters into it and rubble fell down in front of the hole itself to seal Bass within. For all intensive purposes that blow would've killed a normal human a hundred times over by breaking every single bone in their body and rupturing every single organ. There was quiet from the crater that Bass had created with the sheer impact of his body. From the air itself there was a laugh, not a wicked one but almost one of unhinged joy.
A rock crumbled down from the pile in front of the hole, rolling over the floor as Kiryu struggled to fight his two assailants. At the rate things were going it was looking as if it was going to become four. As both Spike and See-Through looked towards Kiryu, the odds were about to get even more stacked. Just as they both turned fully towards Kiryu and were about to charge forward, there was another rumbling blow from the crater. The rocks sputtered forward and kicked up, a number of them being boulder sized and forced to roll forward and come to a stop. Both heads turned towards the hole and Spike's eyes widened in unhinged madness. Some sort of reflection of shock that the Namekian still lived. Quickly turning their attention back to Bass, as they approached the hole there would be several more rumbling earthshaking strikes from within as rock puked out from the deep crater.
Eventually as they got close, a final head-sized rock was whipped out and turned to dust by the force at which it struck the opposing wall. Stepping through was Bass in his dusty and stained business clothes particularly noticeable on the slacks. His eyes trained on Spike, but his ears trained on something else entirely. The room got tense on Bass's end as his power level began to rise, a faint energy began to ripple around his body from the amount of Ki he was venting. His muscles grew to a point at which his already torn up dress shirt basically ripped right off his body. Tearing his tie from around his neck, he threw it aside. He looked livid, and he was ready for an absolute slugfest.
Suddenly they were moving. The other side across from Kiryu in the chamber lit up with action. Bass's movements tore up the stone flooring and Spike's beams and devil fork thrusts sent kinetic force rippling across the room. The entire chamber was at risk if this kept up for a couple minutes. As a devilmite beam sailed right by Bass's left side, he streaked forward in a burst of powerful speed. Getting closer to Spike he'd leap up in the air and- be grabbed by the ankle and slammed into the ground. Crashing down both hands extended outwards and both arms literally plowed through pure stone, making two holes that went a good two-four feet down. That was fine, not all too painful until See-Through tore Bass to the side. There was a loud crack as both of the Namekian's arms snapped just after a moment of plowing through pure stone, followed by a roar of pain and anger. Twisting his legs and kicking he felt his boot hit something solid. A silence filled the air for a second until a confirming crash into the back wall of the chamber signified that he had hit See-Through and gotten the guy off of him. Getting up to his feet he growled in anger. It looked like all was lost in Bass once more, his eyes narrowed in a fiery determination.
Who knows where it comes from. He doesn't know, and nobody he has met yet has made their thoughts known about it to him. The source of some unimaginable willpower that Bass used for the most trivial things. Though at times such as this when the odds were stacked against him, a boiling rage... An insurmountable will to not be less than the people he was fighting... A desire to be the strongest on Earth drove him to absurd ends to make that happen. There was absolutely no way he could continue this fight as he was. It didn't take him even a moments thought to do something most people never even dream of themselves doing; because most aren't Namekian.
Turning his head towards his best arm; his right, his teeth clamped down hard into the flesh. Digging in deeper and deeper he yanked back and after a stiffled roar of agony his entire arm tore from it's socket, a spray of purple blood coating the floor to his side. With the arm in his mouth, he bit down fully and chomped entirely through his own limb to cause a burst of blood across the room. It was disgusting without being in the moment, but it was done for a purpose. In his crater, purple blood dotted See-Through. The bastard had been exposed. As Spike shouted his attack again, the Namekian performed a rapid leap back and ground to a halt with such force that the tiles were ripped up in the process. Focusing, imagining what he wanted his body to do. Fuelling his Namekian Physiology with a mighty roar a replacement burst from the socket and looked brand new. A splatter of blood shot out and a trickle not that it had been filled in drained down his arm but otherwise it was back, a single arm.
A single arm would be enough for now with the anger he felt. The hatred and the absolute bloodthirsty desire to beat these maggots into the very stone that they've loitered for way too long. Bursting from the ground and causing a pop as sound came to a fever high for a fraction of a second there was a gust of force and wind as he sailed through the air. Flying right towards the creature, the Devilmite beams from Spike weren't able to keep up with him. Slamming right into the crater there was a scream of agony as See-Through got a fist right to the stomach. Though that was only the beginning.
Coming to a halt for the briefest second as the stunned fighter remained in his hole, Bass did the same thing with his left arm. Chomping down and tearing it off with willpower that was horrifying out of context. The mindset to do anything necessary to achieve the ultimate victory. The mindset necessary to move forward in life and to see tomorrow. The mindset necessary to nurture a future he could approve of and the pure... Raw might needed to pull it all together. Atlas.
Blood poured over See-Through coating him purple, and with another mighty roar as his right fist came down, a new left arm split from the limb and twisted with contortions into proper form. In a split second and with mighty rage the Demon Clan Namekian began to destroy See-Through. It wasn't just about a punch and another punch, it was a statement to never try to stand up to him again as an enemy, as a true enemy. A blur of fists and a violent rumbling of the chamber caused cracks to rise up and around the wall that See-Through had been ground into like cheese through a grater. Each fist that crashed reset and threw the room into a whole new rumble. When Spike summoned forth another Devilmite beam while Bass's back was exposed, when it started to fly the blur skinned alien turned and held forward See-Through's recovering self. He could end See-Through right now if he wouldn't wiggle out at the last second.
Though he wouldn't. This filth didn't deserve that right now, this filth deserved to suffer for a whole lot longer. He wasn't strong enough to keep his head together all these years. Bass would tell himself he could spend a thousand eternities and still hold his ambition. His drive, he'd never stop and always keep trying. He'd always rip and tear his way into the future even if it wasn't one that wanted him. So no, 'Spike' wasn't going to kill 'See-Through', he was going to put this bastard to rest as he saw fit. Hopping to the side with no longer invisible man in hand he whipped him towards Spike in a blur that caused both Devil-Man and Invisible Man to crash into the wall together. With a seismic slam both crumpled to the ground beaten but far from dead, especially Spike who'd been mostly untouched.
Walking across the room Bass spoke in a ragged and purely barbaric manner. It was the words of willpower, not one of reason. It didn't matter what the immediate goal was, it could be washing dishes and Bass if necessary would invoke this same tone. Something from beneath, something that defied reason because at it's very nature having excessive willpower isn't having realistic expectations. It's expecting greater of yourself when greater is well beyond the standard in a particular case. With heavy steps his voice resounded. "You had hundreds of years... Hundreds... To get stronger... Yet you haven't worked hard enough..." He said, another step pounding into the ground. "You wasted a day... You figured a five minute break was well earned, you figured I've gone far enough..." He'd say, another step slamming forward and he neared them. Spike had gotten up and was beginning to fly again while See-Through was struggling to get up onto his feet.
"Yet every minute you waste, every break or thought of 'good enough' is just a lie. You're lying to yourself, you're all lying to yourself. If you actually want to be something, crush your competition by a infinity. Don't even let them comprehend competition. Yet here you are, and we're trading blow for blow... I alive for twenty three years and you... Hundreds. You're both pathetic." He said, stepping towards them for what would turn into an intense round two of the fight between Spike and See-Through against Bass.
[WC: 2406] [TWC: 10127] [QUEST WC: 12275]
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Post by Kiryu on Sept 23, 2019 20:52:32 GMT -8
Kiryu caught flashes of Bass’s contest with his pair of enemies. The Namekian was having a difficult time with his foes; one of them seemed to possess an odd beam attack, and the other… Kiryu couldn’t even see it. Still, it was all Kiryu could do to fight his own foes. They were merciless, the blue skinned creature attacking with the speed and ferocity of a ravenous wild animal, and the bandage swaddled mammoth had the strength of a bulldozer. Between the two, Kiryu found little time to practice his skills. Luckily, he was evasive enough to avoid the brunt of their assault.
As he moved erratically, dodging and weaving, Kiryu began to work in some counter attacks. From time to time, he would remove one of his hands from the haft of his conjured spear, form his hand into a pistol like shape, and fire his newly learned Ki Gun technique. The first time he did so, it caught the mummy by surprise. The ki bullet thudded into it’s chest, and it smoldered there, but before long the mummy was able to douse the fire on itself. Some of the bandages had been burned away, and the flesh underneath had clearly been damaged, but the monster still seemed fully functional.
Sudden grunts of pain and loud crashes erupted from Bass’s side of the arena. Kiryu looked over and could no longer see the Namekian; instead, the foe he had been facing, the large demonic being turned towards Kiryu and began to make it’s way over. Kiryu ground his teeth… he was doing fine with the two, but four? Kiryu did not know if he would be able to survive against that many at the same time. Still, he tensed his body, readying himself to speed up and fight more defensively…
And then, he felt it.
A shaking of the Earth… a rumble of protest a great power would not let itself be put down so easily.
Bass erupted from the ground, and the devil man turned back to deal with him. Kiryu took that moment to press his attack. All of the rubble in the area from the collateral damage to the landscape gave Kiryu some more tactical options. With an effort of will, he took hold of many small pieces of gravel. WIth a mental command, he sent them spinning about as if they were driven by a hurricane. Small objects moving at such speed would slice any encroaching flesh to ribbons.
It wouldn’t last long. It was supremely mentally taxing for Kiryu to keep up such complex telekinesis for long. What it would do, however, would give him time to think. Kiryu could stop, analyze the process, and…
DID BASS JUST RIP HIS OWN FUCKING ARM OFF??!!
Kiryu’s mouth fell open, hanging agape at the sudden gruesome display. The copious spray of blood outlined a humanoid shape… that must have been the presence that Kiryu had felt. Somehow, the being was able to bend light, making itself invisible. That was obviously not foolproof, since now that it was covered in Bass’s viscera, one was able to make out the general shape of the being.
Kiryu thought for a moment. Even though the creature was outlined, it was still difficult to see. In many ways this was a poort fight for Bass; with the devil being utilizing a strange beam attack, and the invisible person sneakily attacking Bass’s vulnerable areas, they were slowly picking him apart. Conversely, Kiryu’s own foes were all raw strength and power. Perhaps…
Kiryu smiled to himself, and he remembered chess.
Kiryu ended the maelstrom of gravel he had rotating around his body and exploded back into motion. He spun his staff, parrying incoming attacks as he dodged and acrobatically avoided much damage.
”Bass!” Kiryu cried out. ”I hope you’re familiar with chess!”
As Kiryu spoke, he maneuvered closer to Bass. Kiryu tightened up his defense, decreasing the range of his motions. It made him easier to track and predict, and it wouldn’t be long until a blow found a way through his defenses.
The thought made him grin.
”I doubt these bastards ever learned castling!”
At his last word, he feigned a gap in his defenses that the Mummy capitalized on. It reared back, and some energy encircle it’s fist. Rather than leave himself completely open, Kiryu quickly pulled his guard back, utilizing his conjured spear and armor to block. The blow echoed like a thunderclap, and it launched Kiryu back like a rocket.
”SWITCH!” Kiryu shouted, and as he was propelled through the air, he reoriented himself. He was very nearly on a collision course with the devil man, who was floating in the air. It was close that, with a quick maneuver, Kiryu spun himself about in the air, whipping his flexible staff around with precise timing and incredible speed. With a satisfying crunch, it set the devil man flying off into the distance. He only stopped when he slammed into the wall, cracking the stone all around him and partially burying the monster in rubble.
Before Kiryu could press the advantage, the invisible man attacked Kiryu. This one’s main talent, however, seemed to be it’s translucence. It clearly lagged behind the others in terms of skill and power. Kiryu could, of course, still not take him lightly, but he had earned himself a respite.
As the devil man struggled back to his feet, Kiryu performed a spinning block that transformed into a looping hook kick. It connected solidly, and the gore covered entity was sent spinning away. Kiryu moved to follow up, but at that point, a beam shot forth, fired by the devil man, who had managed to extract himself from the demolished stone. Kiryu flipped in the air, moving laterally and avoiding the beam. He returned fire with a pair of ki blasts, which the devil man dodged in turn. The invisible man came back into the fray, now covered in dirt from where he had fallen as well as Bass’s blood. Kiryu pressed his attack;’ he just hoped he hadn’t taken Bass too by surprise with the opponent shift, and that his strategy would pay off.
[WC=1,046] [TWC=10,089]
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Post by Bass on Sept 23, 2019 21:32:48 GMT -8
As the voice called to Switch and everything was supposed to smoothly transition, the Namekian failed to respond immediately. So wrapped up in cataloguing the massive pain he was feeling from his freshly regenerated arms, the bruises from before and the throbbing of his knuckles. Seething with rage, when the voice came his way it was almost like a passing thought. It was only with that same extraordinary will that he forced himself to snap out of it. To lift his head from the intent to destroy his enemy that had dared try to oppose his power. To dare make a fool out of him. To dare use tricks. Though just as quickly as the fight had come to this point it looked like they were switching sides. He needed to mentally reset, and he needed to acknowledge verbally to Kiryu so they were on the same page.
In a tired but firm voice he'd speak. "Got it, kid." As the lumbering mummy and ravenous little vampire chased after Kiryu, Bass was the wall that stood in their way. The spark needed to ignite his indomitable will and the moment to regain his senses came together into a powerful force. He looked like he was radiating ki, his body surrounding in shimmers of power. Yet it wasn't a sparking excitable aura, it was one of slow shifts... Of constant fluctuation and quiet seething rage. The Mummy brought a fist back to slam forward and crash into the Namekian that'd charged in the way and would be met with a much more terrifying reality than it's fight with Kiryu. Bass had gotten an eye for the kid at this point. A train blew through all his power and wore him out much too fast. This Mummy was the train, so it was wise of Kiryu to switch when he did. Maybe Bass couldn't handled his opponents; he sure forced himself to believe he could. Though these two were such a better match-up.
The fist of the Mummy flew forward and slammed into that wall, a left palm held out in front of Bass. Catching the fist there was a blast of pure force throughout the room that knocked over some clay ornaments that came to a tragic shatter. Though with Bass being back to his senses, there was a reason he'd chosen to utilize his left hand. Seeing the Vampire cut around the Mummy and lunge towards him he'd quite literally lift his arm in the way of the claws and teeth. As fangs bit down into his forearm, the trap had been set and all it took now was going through with it. Holding back the constant surge of the Mummy's might with his left hand, Bass started to lower the bloodsucking vampire latched to his right towards the ground. Using what the vampire thought was a nice snack to instead be the press that splits his skull open right above the jaw.
Bass moved slowly but with purpose. A balance between proving his power against the surging powerhouse of a Mummy and the bloodcrazed vampire. Getting to a single knee and making the force being applied to his left palm even greater, he began to pin the Vampire underneath his right forearm. At least, that's what he had intended to do. The right fist of the Mummy came flying forward and slammed into Bass's head. Immediately his head contorted to the side and there was a spatter of purple blood from his mouth that splashed across the floor. That wasn't nearly enough to stop Bass, though it turned what would be a slow crush into something much more wild. Taking the Vampire, he threw his force forward to send the mummy stumbling back before slamming the Vampire into the stone steps. Once, twice, three times. At first there was no unexpected sounds, but then the creatures body began to give way to the power of each slam. A crack, two cracks. A sound of distressed pain. Just like handling a shark, he slammed his fingers towards the latched Vampire's eyes which caused it to immediately pull off and crumple to the floor to cope with a good number of broken bones. Struggling to stand one leg dragged behind it and one hand was just completely dysfunctional.
Before Bass could finish him off though, the hunk of meat slammed into him from the side and carried him across the room in a long charge until slamming into the wall of the chamber. Blowing through a wall which led into a smaller room, the two figures disappeared with Bass's back being used as a battering ram to plow through the old stone wall. There was a roar in anger as the Namekian pushed on and kept struggling to stay alive. Now out of sight for the most part except for specific angles, the next easy thing to see would be after a huge number of fist impacts and blowing winds from the room; Bandages the Mummy sent flying out like a bullet only to slam into the other wall and shake the room to it's core. Stepping through the rubble of the wall and ducking, Bass pulled himself through to see the Mummy limp in the crater but not down. It was slowly picking itself up; and while it did Bass had some unfinished business to attend too.
Turning towards the shambling Vampire, it was defenceless in the current state it's body was in. Broken, it might be fast but it can't utilize that speed if it can't use the limbs to do so. If this were any other fight the Namekian might've called it there, but this wasn't necessarily about winning. It was according to Baba, about putting these tortured souls to rest. Walking towards Fangs the Vampire, with great sadness in seeing potential be snuffed out from such recklessness Bass would grab the creature by the head and ram his knee into it's stomach. A massive crack could be heard followed by it's lower body going slack. Dropping it to the floor, Bass finished the creature off with a humane chop to the back of the neck to sever any sort of life still in the undead body.
Though once again Bandages had gotten himself bandaged up and back in action. Charging Bass they collided head on. A fight that would play out very differently played out one specific ways when their methods were so similar. It was a brutal blow for blow slugfest. Each punch looked like it was enough to shatter a person, to destroy their entire body and push the soul from their form. Each blow shook the room from both ends, and each strike sent out windy shockwaves that blew around debris in the room. Though a shift in the exchange was occurring.
What started as blow for blow was becoming Bass hitting twice for each of Bandages strikes. It quickly evolved into three for Bass and one for Bandages. Slowly but surely Bass was gaining ground in this display of pure might. Sure; either of them could play this smarter, but this was almost a conjoined subconscious duel of raw power. Fists crashed into the Mummy as if it was a piston engine warming up. At first slow and now rapid only getting faster, Bass's fists started to blur and that's really when the Mummy started to be torn apart by the sheer force of the hits. First it was massive bruises, then it was being sent back into a wall but when Bass followed through and began to slam Bandages with so many supercharged fists that the crater dug into the wall for ten meters at least it became evident that the Mummy was quite literally being shredded as if put through a woodchipper. Torn apart by sheer force, when that point happened the only reassurance was that it thankfully happened in an instant. One single moment after the force became too much for Bandage's body to sustain and poof. Torn to shreds and turned to the dust in which he lived among. Immediately after in the deep recesses of this hole, Bass fell to a knee and planted his right fist against the ground. Glancing behind him, he only now started to worry about Kiryu's situation.
He hoped for the best.
[WC: 1389] [TWC: 11516] [QUEST WC: 13664]
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Post by Kiryu on Sept 23, 2019 22:32:09 GMT -8
At last, the tide had begun to shift in their favor. Though it seemed that Bass had been a bit slow to react, at least in terms of optimal timing, the Namekian was still quick enough on the uptake. That level of teamwork was probably the best they could hope for given the constraints, and thought it was a tad rudimentary, it was effective. Out of the corner of his eye, Kiryu could see that Bass was gaining ground against his opponents.
Well, thought Kiryu, I wouldn’t want to lag behind, now, would I?
The invisible (well, more like semi visible) man dashed forward and attacked Kiryu, throwing a series of attacks at Kiryu. The skilled warrior was able to avoid the attacks. As the combat wore on, more and more grime covered the ‘invisible’ man, and his skills were not up to par. Kiryu was easily picking up his movements. Kiryu deftly barred an incoming punch from a muck covered arm and, with a deft twist, broke the arm at the elbow. The crack echoed throughout the cavern, as did a mad howl of pain. Kiryu wasted no time in following up, flipping the spear to his other hand, reversing his grip, and thrusting back. The head of the spear parted flesh, and a ghastly image appeared for a moment; a spear, the parts it in the invisible man’s neck not visible, swiftly causing the entirety of the invisible man to become visible as a crimson fountain spurted forth from it’s severed arteries.
Kiryu would never have even thought to use so lethal an attack if he were fighting mortal opponents. These however, were not that, as their otherworldly powers and physiques attested.
No, this was not a battle. This was an exorcism.
The devil man swept in close to Kiryu, and launched another beam at him while Kiryu was finishing off the invisible man. Unable to dodge, Kiryu took the beam head on. It did… interesting things. It made his insides churn a bit, and slowed his movements as some of his more questionable choices came to life. But overall, the beam did not much except slow the kind hearted young warrior.
Even still, it was enough to put Kiryu on the defensive for the moment. He spun away, a couple of glancing blows turned away my his armor. Kiryu flipped back with a burst of speed and fired a couple of ki blasts. They did not have much behind him, but served to slow the devil man just enough. Kiryu watched it’s dodging pattern closely, then readied his attack. He held and shaped ki in his right, ready to fire a ki gun attack. He held it, then threw his conjured spear at his foe. It dodged, exactly where Kiryu had expected him to. The ki bullet smashed into the devil man, center mass, and the monster fell to the ground to move no more.
A quick glance around the arena revealed the defeated foes of Kiryu and Bass begin to apparently age at a super accelerated rate. Their bodies, some of them already decayed, quickly became completely desiccated as they crumbled to ash. It was grotesque, but at the same time, Kiryu sudden felt as though he could breathe easier. It was as though a great pressure had been lifted from his shoulders. Suddenly Kiryu felt that he could breathe easier, that some lingering malaise had been swept away from this once sacred place.
Kiryu looked over and saw, now that guardians had been defeated, the shimmering green shield began to dissolve. It didn’t simply fade away, but instead seem to unweave itself in a dazzling pattern of streaming light. At the end, it became so bright that Kiryu had to shut his eyes against the miniature sun that had been born in the cavern. It faded after a minute, and when Kiryu opened his eyes, Baba was before them.
She stood next a a sapling already as thick as Bass himself, and hovering over her palm was the crystal ball Kiryu had seen before.
Baba inclined her head to Bass.
”Well done. I believe this is what you were searching for. You can keep it here, if you wish, but it will survive transplant. It might not be wise for you to stay here… this place is known to some dark, powerful entities. They would not want to know that there were those drawing on it’s power once more.
So what will you do, Bass?”
[WC=765] [TWC=10,854]
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Post by Bass on Sept 24, 2019 11:25:00 GMT -8
Quietly gazing across the room, Bass couldn't help but take in the damage done to the place in general. He expected such a thing, but their combined expenditure of power really messed the room up. Of course, not to the point of collapse... Yet even so. Though what his eyes were drawn to next was a sight that not many people see in their lifetime, but for a Namekian it's a legitimate option if they're desperate enough to use it. Looking at them on the ground, his old left and right arms just laid there lifeless, having bled basically dry since their removal.
Crawling out from the hole he'd made from Bandages finally, he'd wind up shielding his eyes as a bright glow of light nearly blinded him from the unravelling shield-like object. Before in quite a lot of pain and sore all over, he grunted from the increased distress of such a blinding light. Though as it faded in it's place was Baba with what he could assume was the Tree of Might and some kind of Crystal Ball. Bass just found himself a still intact portion of the wall to lean against, eyes closing as his body slowly was regenerating. Cuts and bruises healing over, the few fractured bones he did have mending themselves; such and so forth.
Then Baba spoke towards him. It was apparently what he was looking for. Yet as per usual her words carried ominous warnings. What genuinely caught him off guard was the final question. 'What will you do now?'.
Straightening his back and standing off of the wall, he'd speak the best answer he could formulate in such a short amount of time. "Well, I uh... I had expected it to be a seed. This should still be fine. As for your question I'm unsure of how to put it. My goal remains the same as it did when this entire thing started, long term anyways. I expect in the shorter term an obstacle that will become increasingly relevant the more powerful I get is King Piccolo himself. It is a strange concept to go against your father, but he desires a world enshrouded by chaos to rule. People are not productive if they're sad, stricken by tragedy and depressed. Fearing for their lives, even. A proper ruler needs to make sure his people are happy, needs to make sure he enables them as best as possible to be as productive as they can be. I can't let him jeopardize that future, even if that means I have to fight my father some day."
Bass said, stepping forward with exhaustion but no longer physical pain as his body miraculously just kept on regenerating. "If I was to be honest, my future is one even I am not certain in. You can always account for the plan, but you can never properly consider the path that fate will put you on to achieve that plan." Taking a careful hold of the Sapling, he recognized just how awkward it was going to be to get this thing all the way to South City. "Maybe I can discretely just have this shipped... Not really something that would fair well to being hauled manually across the land and sea to get back to South City. Needless to say right now I have to figure out how to get this safely to where it needs to be."
With that he shifted more and looked towards Kiryu. He'd speak. "Kid, I can't say I am a fan of your fighting style, but I won't deny that it's effective and goes by a whole different database of understanding than my own techniques do. In the future many enemies will show themselves, the more you shine means the more that will see you as a threat to their own power. When that time comes and people who want to destroy the world start to rise, I'll need every niche fighter I can get. Some enemies just won't be good match-ups. Just like today. I expect you to get stronger every day. Never falter in your training and harden your beliefs. A fighter is someone who fights. To me, a true fighter is somebody who fights for something greater than themselves. Be a true fighter kid. Anyways, I think this will be where we go our separate ways. Don't worry about giving me a ride, I have a plenty decent method of my own for travel. Just about as fast too." With that he'd begin to walk towards the exit. Able to hear and responses and briefly react before leaving. He'd say one last thing.
"Stay safe kid, and I expect to see significant progress by the next time we meet."
Then he was off, a sapling that would become the Tree of Might slung over his shoulder. An amazing journey that was something new for Bass. Something more than every single day.
Something unforgettable.
[WC: 824] [TWC: 12340] [QUEST WC: 14488]
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Post by Kiryu on Sept 24, 2019 21:22:40 GMT -8
Kiryu listened to Bass, processing the Namekian's words. He referred to his father, Piccolo Daimao, and Kiryu fought down a wave of revulsion at the thought of that monster. Even the notion of such a being as any type of parental figure filled Kiryu with absolute dread. He also wondered just how many 'children' that old monster had. He'd been alive for hundreds of years... who knew what offshoots were kicking around the globe? And he certainly couldn't count on them being as level headed as Bass. Kiryu could only hope, for himself and the rest of the world, that on the whole, they were not nearly as strong.
Kiryu smiled when Bass started talking about fighting for a greater purpose. As Kiryu listened, he loosened his hold on his techniques. The spear that he had thrown at the devil man faded away into nothingness, as did the energy armor that had surrounded Kiryu. He relaxed a bit, breathing out and stretching his body, which had begun to ache in protest from the violent contortions and jarring impacts he had subjected it to. When Bass paused, Kiryu jumped in, offering his own thoughts on the matter.
"Everyone I meet seems to be a little confused by my desire to use my skills not to harm, but to help, and the purpose of the Path of Joy. It's because they don't understand that the Path is it's own answer. It's not about where it takes me; it's about how I walk it. And my answer for how I walk it is to fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. To preserve life whenever I can, to shield those that need it from harm. My mother and father instilled this in me, ever since I was a child. It started with nine words, words that I would hear every day when training. At first, they didn't mean anything today. As I grew older, I hated them. I heard them time and again, and my father would ask me what I thought they meant. I didn't know, and to me they became more nonsensical with each passing months. But now, after the past few weeks of utter insanity, with a world that's seeming to grow more violent, when it's more difficult to simply be a good person, I think I finally understand what they mean.
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination."
As Kiryu spoke the last word of the nine, he felt a rush of energy suffuse him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He felt like his muscles had electricity running through them. He felt full of... life. Kiryu did not know what had just happened... but he felt like something had just changed inside of him. Saying those words in this place, at this time, with these people... it meant something. Kiryu did not know what, exactly, but he was certain that something significant had just occurred.
Shaking his head a bit to clear it of the sudden euphoria, Kiryu glanced back at Bass. "You don't have to worry about me fighting for the right reasons. And you sure as hell don't have to worry about my desire to get stronger. You have my promise; some day soon, you and I are going to meet in a tournament. We're going to reminisce about this absolutely insane adventure, catch up on what we've been doing. And then we're going to see if my skill has grown to the point where it can overcome the gap in our strength, or if you are simply too tough for me to take down."
Kiryu's smile turned fierce, but it was still openly friendly. He was clearly elated at the prospect. "And then we're going to go grab a beer to nurse our wounds and make sure you stay good and hydrated."
That was more or less the end of Bass and Kiryu's interactions. They exchanged some final pleasantries, and then the Namekian took the sapling and made his exit. Kiryu watched him go... he had a good impression of Bass, and didn't think the Namekian would assault him when he was completely unawares. But a sneak attack right now, just to make sure Kiryu was paying attention? That, he would not put past Bass for a second.
After Bass left, Kiryu was alone with Baba. He turned to her and she wore a small smile, somehow tinged with both contentment and sorrow and... something else at the same time. "That was marvelously done," she said. "Hell's bells, if this were a few hundred years ago, and I had a pulse, I might let you take me out to a nice dinner." Kiryu blinked. She was... flirting with him? That was a new one. Without waiting for a response, Baba continued. "You know, though, don't you? You felt it. This is just the beginning."
Kiryu did not want to agree. He did not want to admit what he could feel inside him. Some foresight was upon him. It was clouded, to be sure, but Kiryu could feel the dark presences, swirling around in the back of his mind. What they had done here... "It's our fault. We... we woke something up, didn't we?"
Baba nodded, then shrugged. "Do not hold yourself accountable for whatever evil will come. You have hastened the action of some dark powers, yes, but they would have taken action soon enough, regardless of what you did or did not do. And it may be that by forcing them to reveal themselves earlier than intended, they will not be able to marshal their full strength, or lay their plans perfectly. By stirring them to action, you may, in the long run, do much good."
That did little to cure Kiryu of the foul mood he suddenly found himself in, but still, he nodded. Baba looked him up and down, then stared at the crystal ball hovering above her open palm. After a moment of Baba appearing to weigh a thought, the ball gently floated over to Kiryu. Kiryu looked over at Baba, raising an eyebrow in confusion. She spoke, answering his implied question.
"This was a powerful item, one that some of the greatest practitioners of our art have used over the years. It will assist you in your endeavors. Simply open your mind, relax... and feel."
Kiryu reached out to touch the ball, and the moment his flesh touched the smooth surface, Kiryu experienced a sudden vision. More accurately, it was a sequence of visions, all jumbled together. It was too much for Kiryu to be able to parse out. He received no real information; merely flashes here and there. A green skinned giant, facing down a spiky haired warrior. An old man, thin, wearing sunglasses and nursing an injury that would not heal, passing on his techniques to his students. A boy who was a prince, and his protector, recipients of the news that their entire world had been burned to ash. A green humanoid, in fine robes, peering over his lookout, gazing upon the horizon. All these and more flashed through Kiryu's mind, far faster than he could possibly comprehend. He staggered under the sudden intrusion, the menagerie of alien images actually causing the unsuspecting warrior physical pain. Thankfully, after a moment or two, it passed. He looked up...
And saw he was alone.
The purple haired woman had vanished.
I was never really here to begin with, a voice whispered softly into Kiryu's mind. This was just the last gasp of something that should have been without breath long ago.
And if we are very, very lucky, the birth of something new.
As Kiryu left, he paused at the entrance to the cavern. Filled with knowledge from some unknown source, he pressed his hand against the wall and uttered arcane words, losing the memory of them even as they passed his lips. The arcane sigils glowed green once more, and the cavern wall slid shut. The stone looked smooth and natural, put in place as if by...
Magic.
Kiryu shook his head and made his way back to his motorcycle, trekking up the switchbacks. He had planned on forgetting his troubles in a fight, and he had found so much more. Kiryu felt a sense of calm, of purpose, wash over him. He might not be perfect, but Kiryu was the best he could be. These events had proved that it was necessary for him to follow his Path, wherever it would lead.
Kiryu took the crystal ball, trusting that he now had it for a reason. Placing it securely among his possessions, Kiryu felt a tug at his awareness. Something was pulling at him, making Kiryu want to go to Central City. It might have been a gut feeling, intuition... but Kiryu was not so foolish as to believe that.
He kicked his motorcycle into gear, feeling the wind as it rushed by his face. Kiryu didn't know what was next, but he knew that whatever it was, he was ready to face it.
[WC=1,513] [TWC=12,367]
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