Dragon Ball Sagas IC

[Absolon-7]

Theo, the Lightning God
The world was a hazy spinning mess as Theo collapsed on the floor. The gravel and loose dirt from the battle stung his burned chest as he attempted and failed to raise his head. This was it. He gave it his all but from the sounds of it it didn't look like his attack hit. As he could faintly hear Elery, Mei, and Cedric in some sort of confrontation. He laid there slack-jawed with all the life drained out of him for who knows how long but inch by inch he raised his head and to his complete shock that some red haired and dark skinned looking dude was wiping the floor with the Saiyan. Who the hell is he? Theo slowly and excruciatingly got his feet yet again and limped towards them. Theo could only watch as the following series of events which included the Saiyan using her dying breath proclaiming how there were two more Saiyan coming even more powerful then her? Theo's expression changed to one of complete dismay at such a horrifying thought. When he finally limped towards the growing group of surviving fighters he caught wind of how the demon looking man he expected them all to train. How could we possibly train enough to catch up to beings far more powerful then the one who wiped the floor with them in just a year!? Theo wiped the mix of blood and sweat on his face away as Evan wanted their contact information. Theo ripped a part of his shirt and burned his phone number onto it before handing it to Evan.

"Well if you're planning on helping us feel free to have my number," gasped Theo.

The young man stood there blank eyed still processing that he was apparently an alien or something. There's no way he was just gonna sit on his ass and do nothing while more of these Saiyan were going to come. Hopefully his uncle would understand and teach him the Raishin's style's ultimate techniques. He took a step or rather limped a step while holding his burnt chest. He gulped down nonexistent saliva from his dry mouth as he stared down Elery's killer.

"Train? How do we train enough to catch up to these invading Saiyans. I'm not saying we shouldn't but one year isn't anywhere near enough time to catch up," exclaimed Theo who winced for a second as he clutched his possibly broken ribcage, "Mr. Keizo, I'll join you in fighting these Saiyans in a year's time. I just...I just don't know if we could be a match. Even as a group."

[Sterkistan]

Majin Occus - PL: 170
Tenkaichi Budokai

---

Occus wasn't able to convince Colrab to throw her, she could barely lift herself to her feet. But it didn't matter, everything flew by so fast it was almost a blur. And by the end, a new contender had killed Elery. Occus was still mad, but the death of the assailant had made her calm down slightly.
Elery's final words, indicating that there would be more Saiyans coming in a year's time pumped Occus up. She needed to be strong enough to kill these other invaders.

Steam shot from her ports as she looked down at Elery, despite her death Occus couldn't bring herself to calm down. She'd never felt like this before.

[Finland SSR]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Born from a mistake. Dying from a mistake. Lives because of sheer luck. That's how Cedric would have edited Elery's final quote. The Saiyan was struggling to breathe, he was already expecting a ki blast or a punch to smash through his torso while everyone else stood there, unable to lay a punch, if not just leaving him to die as revenge for dooming them all...

Only for a mysterious martial artist to suddenly show up out of nowhere and take Elery down in a sudden, swift and quick battle, finishing her off with a blow to the chest and leaving her dying on the floor. Cedric slowly pulled himself off the floor, resting on his elbows, glaring towards the man, who introduced himself as Keizo. Obviously, a feeling of relief rushed across him - had it not been for the man's intervention, he would certainly be a corpse on the floor at this point. And yet, the Saiyan winced in frustration. This man... this man could have stopped Elery, so easily, without a problem, and yet he only arrived after one of their allies has already died, after hundreds of civilians perished in the blaze, after the entire arena has been left mostly destroyed, after everyone lost all hope... He didn't even seem like he was in a rush! Sure, he arrived at blinding speeds, but he also, for some reason, found the time to start commenting on his sister's fighting style...

Why couldn't the bastard pop down when he was about to fire the Ryukiha! When she was held down and weakened... at least he wouldn't have needed to appear like a complete idiot and drop his guard in order to talk to a sister which was clearly uninterested in any sort of repenting.

Cedric was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that, after speaking to Mei and explaining that the training of their lives awaits, Keizo turned towards him, the martial artist's eyes fixated upon him for longer than normal. And not even his face, either - instead, Keizo seemed interested in the badge of the Dragon Mansion attached to his chest, before finally offering a hand to Cedric to help him stand up.

Just in time for a voice to call out from behind them, both.

"I thought you were clear when you said that you would never step near the tournament grounds again."

It was Master Ramen, who had spent the battle trying to evacuate as many people as possible from the battleground, and now, seeing that the battle was already over, stopped in front of the group. After a brief standoff with Keizo, master and former student assessing each other, Ramen offered a brief polite nod as a greeting.

"Found another soul to misguide?" Keizo, after shifting his eyes from Ramen to Cedric and back, bluntly stated. The Master of the Dragon Style did not react immediately, but soon replied:

"We've been over this, Keizo."

Cedric, meanwhile, walked towards the reast of the team of misfits while rubbing his sore neck. Much like him, they seemed to be in misbelief, though each one of them was taking the news differently. Mei did not believe that they had a chance in defeating whatever reinforcements Elery had called, Theo echoed her concerns, while Evan seemed more optimistic. First of all, there was something the Saiyan had to clear out:

"I'm... sorry. I know that this probably doesn't make up for nearly dooming us all... but, I'm sorry for ordering you to let her go, Mei. I just... thought that there was a chance for my sister to change, you know?"

Cedric turned towards the rest of the group. "That doesn't mean that we should start signing off our funeral papers, though. We... still nearly managed to beat Elery, right? And both her and Keizo show that the limit on how far we can achieve is still far off - as long as we put our heart and mind to it. And... remember..."

The Saiyan turned his eyes towards the blue sky. One year, huh? One year to train as hard as possible and save this planet from demise... "Remember that now, we're not just training and improving just for the sake of it. We're doing it so others would be safe."

[The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune]

Akane

Asphodel

The ash that littered the infernal plane worked it's way into her lungs yet again, causing her cough like she was about to vomit up her own lung. Yet she continued to push on. She was already right, what was pain to her. The ash wasn't trying to steal her soul like some of the monsters she had encountered down here. The Imp Hordes were definetly the worst of the threats she had encountered on her long run towards the giant mountain range at the edge of the Abbyss. Though other landmarks stood out amongst the skyline now, she didn't see any point in heading towards them more than the mountains. Plus, the mountains almost seem to touch the glittering roof of Hell that mimicked the night sky. She began to hear the clattering and banging of the imp rig coming up behind her. Pushing herself even harder, she continued across the grey sea of dunes.

The Imps were a slimy disgusting race of sadistic flesh eaters. Their entire existence rested on the devouring the new souls in the pit, and they made many terrible inventions to harvest them. At least thats what the Oni leading them had told her. The imps themselves just looked like deformed toddlers, with black scaly skin and cold blue eyes. The Oni on the other hand... Akane had no idea what he looked like. He wore a terrible suit of armor made of pure hellfire. His soul was made of a metal Akane couldn't recognize, and his face was covered by a mask shaped like a monster out of a nightmare. The massive machine that carried the Abbyssal warlord had come roaring up behind her while she caught a breather after what seemed like days of running. Luckily, the imps didn't seem prepared for someone of actual power, because it was trivial to bust out of the cage. Still, the rig had started to give chase and locked Akane into what seemed like weeks of chase.

It seemed like the ground was starting to get steeper and steeper up hill. It was definetly getting harder to run as she pushed onwards. She could feel the rig coming closer and closer. She could feel the terrible fumes from it's engine on her back. Suddenly she heard a loud bang and was launched forward on a bubble of heat. Turning around, she saw a tall figure standing in the ruins of the rig, holding the Oni up by his armor. Throwing him far off into the distance, the figure turned and smiled. He was... clearly human. Handsome even. Akane prepared for some other trick. The figure laughed and held out his hand. "I have to say, I'm impressed. Very few people survive Asphodel, and even fewer are brave enough to charge the Mountains of the Fallen themselves. Names Sui. You probably want to come with me."

[The Republic of Atria]

Evan waited patiently for the second recovery crew to show up so he could head back to his workshop and get to work on new armor designs. As he waited, Theo was the first to offer his information. Which was really all he needed to keep in contact with the others since he'd likely be training with them and the large man as well. "Thank you Theo." Evan nodded. Plus, if he really needed to, hunting them down couldn't possibly be that difficult. "I won't be training with you all, at least not directly. Mere human after all, but I will be observing." He explained. "You are all some of the most powerful beings on the planet, and I'd like to see if I can replicate that."

Everything seemed fine, tempers had cooled and everyone was probably about to go off and start their training. Himself included. Cedric apologizing to Mei for not taking the shot when he had the chance. Under any other circumstance, he'd also reprimand Cedric for being stupid. He decided against it, the swordsman clearly regretted it and Evan bringing up wouldn't change anything. Besides, they all needed to be on the same side, more or less, for when the next pair of Saiyans showed up.

As another hovership flew by and landed, Cedric brought up a rather odd non-sequitur about not training solely for improvement, but to keep others safe. "Altruism is all fine and dandy. Keeping people safe includes keeping ourselves safe. After all, some people are..." He not so discretely motioned over to Akane's corpse. "-stupid. Tough idiots are still idiots. Worse, they're arrogant and stupid. A rather obnoxious combination. Thinking oneself invincible when... Well, it's simply not true." He spoke as half a dozen men brought over a floating forklift and moved the bulk, heavily damaged, suit of armor which now resembled scrap in the vague shape of a human. "But we do still have to protect them. Even if that means saving our own skins before a few of them. After all, if we die, who's going to protect them?"

"But I don't believe your motives to be purely altruistic." He spoke, looking directly at Cedric. "I doubt there's anyone in the universe like that. After all, you were the one who mentioned that there's probably more to my test than purely scientific interest. And you'd be right." He started to end his speech and followed his crew into the vessel. "I will be there when they arrive. And I'm going to ensure that they regret every single choice that led them to this moment. I hope to see you all soon." He finished as the back of his craft close and began to take off.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Mei Lin-Earthling-PL 6,500-Six Months Later

The days pass by quickly when you are training day in and out. I had come up with a routine fairly quickly when I had started my regimen six months ago. I wake up before sunrise every day and start by preparing a light meal and take precisely a half hour to eat. I then take a full hour for morning stretches and light exorcises. Breathing, concentration and so forth. Then, I move on to the first period of training for the day where I focus on strengthening and perfecting techniques I already know as well as my physical strength, power and my Power Pole techniques. Once that is done I have lunch for a half hour and then two hours of meditation. In the afternoons my training moves away from the physical which I have been practicing most of my life to learning ki control.

Ever since I had seen such techniques back at the Tenkaichi Budokai I knew that I needed to add such skills to my own. I will not be able to defeat my next opponents from physical strength alone. It did not take me long however to learn that the strength of one's ki depended on the physical strength of the user. So, a weak body and mind would be unable to perform strong ki skills. My practice in harnesssing ki and perfecting new techniques with it started slow. But after three months the first major steps of progress materialized as it seemed that I no longer required the Nimbus to fly. It was not long after I began experimenting with various new moves. This training would last until sundown and I would have me a small supper and then put myself to rest. Each week, I took one day for rest. And only trained lightly. As I would only harm my own progress if I pushed myself to complete exhaustion.

I did this training alone. Or rather, mostly alone. I could not train alongside Keizo. I had....tried. But ultimately I had left his group of fighters and found a solitary place nearby for my own use. It was more than just the history between him and my father. For the fate of the world I could overlook such things. But it was his very way of looking at life and martial arts place within it. The skills he had honed and were teaching the others were designed to kill. Every move. Individually. And he saw nothing wrong with this. Said that it was the way of nature. And that even the Saiyan enemies seemed to live by a similar style. Exterminating the weak to make way for the strong. He claimed that the way they did so was without honor though, and that is what separated himself from they. That while he would not shy away from killing and in fact sought it. He saught to test his might against warriors, not the sick, children or old men. The fact that Saiyans used such power on those so obviously beneath them well, we had seen what he had done to Elery.

However, I am not naive. I know that we will most likely have to end up killing these new Saiyans. But to seek death out. To live by it. And to use martial arts only to deal it. Well...I couldn't embrace that. I train as I do in order to make myself the best that I can be. To defeat my own expectations, not to end the lives of others. Of course, if they come seeking a battle. I am not one to stand down from it either. despite my refusal to learn Keizo's techniques I had grown considerably stronger. And was helped by Cedric and Theo who stop by when they can to spar with me. Give me a live and thinking opponent to test my skills against.

With the sweat beading down my forehead and the afternoon sun peaked in the sky I shifted my feet in the dirt beneath me. The hot sand gringding along the bottoms of my shoes as I concentrated and prepared to test my newest technique.

My opponent, a stone formation ahead of me which climbed several meters into the sky without a single sign of fear from my oncoming strike. My legs placed apart I faced the stones directly. With both of my open palms gathering a ki energy of a bright blue auara in each hand. They seemed feint at first but in about half a minute they grew to encompass both hands entirely and in a swift motion I thrust both hands forward and combined the two separate auras into a single larger blast.

"Blossoming Blast!" The name of the attacked echoed as it bounced off the rocks of the wasteland. The stone formation ahead of me was incinerated as was a large swath of rock behind it. Exhaling I gave a smile of satisfaction at my progress. The move was admittedly a inspiration from Cedric's own signature move. But for some reason I found it difficult to gather energy in both hands together. And that it charged faster for me when I focused them separately and simply combined the two potential separate attacks into a larger focused blast.

With that I decided to take a break and fly myself up to a higher rock formation and sit down as I watched the horizon for a bit. Keeping an eye out to see if any of my training partners were going to be stopping by to visit today.

[The Republic of Atria]

6 Months of tinkering, building and coffee

Work didn't stop from the moment Evan stepped back into his workshop. While the alien was prepped for dissection, he focused his efforts on the device that she wore around her head. It didn't take long to figure out that it was some sort of scanner and long range communicator. It detected ki, and the strength of it within the target being scanned. Though apparently whoever designed it didn't expect numbers to go very high and it had a laughably low integer limit as a result. In fact, it seemed to stress the device to read higher and higher numbers.

He was baffled as to how could make a scanner with such a low limit on how much it could conceivably scan before quite literally exploding. A device exploding on ones head was dangerous for obvious reasons. Never the less, it wasn't too hard to design one that could read much higher numbers without exploding. One thing that intrigued him however, was the "history" function on the device. The most recent numbers were of the warriors that Elery fought, as well as her own, which was about 1,500. Which was the only number he had to go off of when it came to measuring how much stronger the upcoming aliens were. She said that they were much stronger than her. Too vague, so Evan decided to estimate and go with a minimum of the upcoming warriors being ten times stronger than her.

A nice even number for him to work with. Of course he wouldn't limit himself to merely having a suit of armor that was ten times stronger. Going above and beyond what was necessary was something of a hobby. Even now since if he failed, everyone was going to die. He immediately though about the others. Sure, they were probably going to give it their all, but relying on them wasn't something he wanted to do. He needed to be absolutely sure that he could take care of the invasion by himself if it came down to it.

Not that the others weren't useful. Thanks to the scouter and later, the new scanner he built, finding them training out in the middle of nowhere was simple trip out. While he never partook in the violence, he did have many, many cameras and scanners set up to analyse the sparring between the warriors. Data that would be invaluable to the creation of a newer, deadlier suit of armor. With data collected, all he actually had to do now was build it. He'd already made sure that all the resources he would need would be in the same building.

To further his project, information on the Saiyan had begun to pour in. Interestingly, despite being extraterrestrials, they seemed to be almost identical to humans. Physically at least. Mentally and genetically they were clearly built for fighting. Hyper dense muscle tissues and growth that greatly surpassed human limits. Which gave him some ideas on how to mimic their resilience and greatly streamline the armor designs.

And finally, after about a month of R&D, construction had finally began. Evan taking all the information he'd learned over that period and using it to create his new armor. A much, much sleeker and more advanced version than the thing he'd slapped together for testing. Rather than use hydraulics for the limbs he opted for synthetic muscle fibers that closely mimicked that of a Saiyan, though compared where the inspiration came from, they were considerably superior. It also allowed for much easier use and finer control over appendages, as not to accidentally shatter delicate things when gripping them.

The armor itself was powered by an extremely powerful, but very small, plasma core. Similar to the ones used to power cities, but able to fit on a single person with relative ease. The helmet was build with a scanner akin to the one the Saiyan brought with her, though without the risk of it exploding when it hit it's low integer limit, which was also raised considerably. Anything well into the tens of billions could easily be read without the device crashing. It was able of long range, hypersonic flight, and was capable of reaching those speeds nigh instantly.

Lastly, at roughly the six month mark, he decided that some weapons and backup plans would obviously need to be designed for that extra edge. The plasma core output a truly absurd amount of energy, it could easily withstand the extra strain, in fact, it could most likely output far more than the armor was actually capable of safely operating. A marvel of engineering or not, it still had it's limitations. At least until he could design a more efficient method of transferring energy. He bemoaned the lack of time that he had, but put it on the list of things to look into after they dealt with the invasion. Alongside a more useful on board combat AI, general upgrades, streamlining, and finally getting around to figuring out how the Saiyan's space pod moved without a visible propulsion system. his men had recovered the pod some time ago, but he was too focused to give it any more than a few look overs before focusing back on his armor.

Six months passed when they felt like weeks at the most. Evan still had a tremendous amount of work to do, but the suit was cleared for live fire testing. On top of that, the more combat experience he got, the better. Saiyans were great fighters, and that was the one thing he would admit that he couldn't make better. Yet.

The Mark II descended upon the wasteland where the other warriors usually trained. The thrusters cutting off as he neared the ground and the heavy suit landing with an audible crunching of stone beneath the metal feet. "Did I come during a rest day or am I just early?" He asked the closest warrior, Mei.

[Turmenista]

Leon Church
__________________________________

So... six months. Or was it five? Regardless, it was a bit of a while for Leon to learn more about Paprika's magic tomes, to learn more about himself, and to generally relax. After all, he seemed to have taken a bit of a heavy blow back there during the tournament and subsequent alien attack, practically knocked out for much of it. Of course, Leon recovered and quickly was brought back up to speed, alerted of the impending arrival of alien bogeys that would inevitably happen. It didn't take long for him to get back into the game. Given the properties of Magic, one really didn't have to train their body as much as they had to just memorize shit—meaning he got to go to magic shows and stand up comedy events while everyone else was dabbling around with heavy weights out in the middle of a wasteland.

I mean, sure, I visited them a couple of times, but I was just doing my own thing, mostly. Leon couldn't really follow his own thoughts as he got up in the morning one day, stretching before getting himself dressed. Those six months sure had passed, but Leon had taken all the time in the world in perfecting his magical abilities...which meant very little, actually. The thing about Paprika was that he just left him with these texts, meaning there was still a sleuth of magical esoteric secrets and spells he'd never had the time to come across, or just simply wouldn't bother learning.

But I do have something I have been getting better at... Leon chuckled as he remembered the Mobility Book, summoning the tome in question and holding it in his hand, the pages magically turning as the room was briefly surrounded in violet magical energy. In an instant, the apartment suddenly swapped with the blinding light of a wasteland in the middle of nowhere, causing him to cover his eyes from the light initially. The teleportation spell always worked like a charm, making him wonder why he didn't use it more against Theo in his fight with him. Oh well.. He placed a hand in his pockets and began walking across the wasteland, towards a dim figure that was currently blasting away at some rocks. Mei. Leon also watched an armored man fly in, making him wonder how such an absolute unit of metal was able to fly in the first place. Apparently, he was Evan, some rich guy who had built some armor just for participating in that tournament.

The tome continued floating by him as he leaped forwards off a mesa he was standing on, gracefully gliding over to the two and landing with as much grace as a cat jumping from a sofa. The tome was put away back into whatever magical "hammerspace" it came from, disappearing into glowing violet embers with a snap of Leon's fingers. The magician gave a slight wave and even more awkward smile, realizing that the both of them knew this was the so-called "magician" who had seemingly held his own against Theo, but had been KO'd for half of the fight with the aliens. Or, maybe, just knocked out.

"Hi guys." Leon gave a most awkward greeting, plopping his hands to his side. "Sorry I'm, uh, late, or whatever. Well, actually, I just got up like ten minutes ago... but..." his voice trailed off as he looked away. "Yeah. On the bright side, I've gotten better at this teleportation spell. It's pretty cool, huh?"

[Finland SSR]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Six months ago

Seeing Cedric suddenly speak up and try to rouse up the morale among his peers, speak of hope that, because they almost managed to defeat Elery all by themselves, they should be able to defeat the other two Saiyans as well, got Keizo to shift his eyes towards Master Ramen.

"Where did you find this kid?"

Despite the threat looming over everyone's heads, and the destruction of life which happened around them, Ramen seemed surprisingly calm. If he had a scoop of ice cream somewhere, he would certainly be eating it right now instead of worrying. Faced with the question, the master of the Dragon Style turned towards his former pupil and replied:

"Swift Industries, Keizo."

Keizo did not offer an answer at first, but soon continued. "The woman said that kid's an alien like her, and two of his friends too. That doesn't leave you worried?"

"If you remember the moment before you arrived, Keizo... he did the one thing which his sister couldn't have done in a million years. I'm not worried on him ending up anything like her. Only greater." Ramen replied, then turned his head towards his former pupil. "I'm sure it's as foreign to you as it was to her, but if you were to train him, you'd see exactly what I mean."

Keizo offered no response.

The team was slowly starting to disperse. With the goal on getting as strong as possible by the end of the year all set, everyone started going their own ways on how they were going to accomplish it. Cedric offered a faint sneer towards Evan when he addressed his desire to help others, stating that, much like with the Earthling scientist, that couldn't be his only motivation - though, even if Evan was right, this wasn't something he wanted to get into a squabble over. Instead, the young Saiyan turned towards his master, glaring for a few seconds before speaking:

"You knew everything, didn't you?"

"You mean..."

"That I'm a some sort of Saiyan, from a different world, sent here to eliminate all life. Right?"

Ramen stopped for a few seconds, then continued. "No, I wasn't aware that you're an alien. I could tell that you... weren't human, though. It explained a lot of things about you."

"Like?"

"Like... I have to go."

Ramen stepped away, leaving his pupil alone, and instead of him stood Keizo, looking down upon his new pupil without saying a single word - though awaiting if anyone else in the group was willing to tag along with him for the training of their life.

---

Today

Through the treetops and canopies of a dense oak forest, two figures were zooming fast, both of them moving massively faster than the eye could even register, and only occassionally clashing with the force to send shockwaves ripping apart everything around them. It was almost intimidating how, in such a relatively short amount of time, Cedric's power managed to rise so astronomically - to the point where not only his past self felt like an ant in comparison, but also the Saiyans which were set to arrive to Earth in a year's time did not feel as utterly intimidating as they once had been. A lot of it was thanks to Keizo's training - and during the last six months, Cedric managed to glean a lot about who he was even if the man was far from someone talkative.

Unlike Ramen, whose training was focused a lot more on building the user's mental state and willpower to its strongest, Keizo focused a lot more on physical training and techniques - but, ironically, what Cedric had learned from his master ended up saving his ass more often than not against Keizo. After the clashing flight across the forest, the two warriors soon landed on the mossy floor, blowing past leaves and dust with each punch thrown at each other - Cedric was on the offense for most of the confrontation, but that didn't mean Keizo was fully on the back foot, and with each heavy forward blow which the Saiyan sent, he opened with several more from multiple sides. Until finally, right before elbowing his pupil straight in the gut, the martial artist stopped, leapt back and landed on the ground several meters away, speaking:

"That's enough for today, Cedric."

"What?!" the Saiyan exclaimed. "But we've only just begun!"

"It's been five hours since we started. Rest is needed."

"Well, first of all, rest is kinda secondary when we'll have a planet to save six months down the line - and second of all, I'm still fresh, you know!"

Cedric started stretching his muscles while Keizo simply sighed and sat down. "If you're still fresh, then go find someone else. You're not the only person I have to look after, either."

---

The "other person" which Cedric chose to reach out to was, either surprisingly or not so much so, Mei. During the past six months, this unofficial team of theirs started using this peculiar wasteland as a private training ground. Far from civilization, it was the perfect place for letting oneself go and use your power to its absolute maximum in preparation for the battles up ahead. It didn't take Cedric long after landing on the dusty, rocky surface of the battleground to stumble across the person he had been searching for. In the form of a loud scream of a technique name rolling across the wasteland and a powerful explosion rocketing the landscape in the horizon. Judging from the voice... That's definitely Mei.

Cedric ran forward, accelerating across a small flatland, and then leapt to the air. Less than a minute later, he was already descending down on the ground a few meters away from Evan - who had decided to show up today as well, just in a new suit of armor.

"...Nice suit." the Saiyan commented briefly. "Thinking of finding someone to break this one, too? And..."

Cedric's eyes turned towards an another Earthling besides Mei and Evan, who appeared in the wasteland at the same time as him, and though his face looked a bit familiar, he couldn't put a finger on exactly who he was looking at. Even though the man addressed them as if they were old buddies. Did he forget someone? Could have been... it has been an intense six months, after all.

"Do I... know you?" Cedric asked. ""I-I mean... sorry if this offends you or something... I just don't think I saw you in the fight against Elery or anything."

[The Republic of Atria]

Evan

Before he could continue, the scanner in his helmet beeped, alerting him to another arrival: Cedric. The warrior having grown considerably stronger since they last spoke. He opened with a quip about how he brought a new suit of armor to break. Evan snickered a bit and nodded. "The proper term is a stress test, but yes I would actually like to see if you're actually capable of that. I can run all the simulations I want, but you can only get the best results with some good old fashion live testing. And this time, I made sure to put on a few weapons. I'm not getting caught with my pants down a second time. That, and well, we're not fighting in a tournament. We're working to fend off an alien invasion. No need to worry about fighting fair. Of course I've much more stuff in work works, but they're not ready for live testing yet. I'd rather not blow a chunk out of the planet if they misfire."

"But thanks to the scanner device the alien left behind upon her death, I can tell that you've all been training rather rigorously. Your numbers used to be in the low hundreds..." The visor to his armor had various symbols and such blink, but now you're in the mid-high thousands, which is roughly where I'd place my current design. It's got some things that I need to test and the sooner, the better." Primarily the combat AI and shielding. His other armor had some basic kinetic dampening, but it was minimal. "I'd like to spar with either of you. On top of needing to make sure my armor is working properly, I do think that I should at least have some combat experience."

[Absolon-7]

Theo, the Lightning God
Well the past six months had gone by in a flash. He had gone off with Keizo to train along with several other of the fighters who had met that fateful day when Elery attacked. He still hadn't gotten the fact that he was an alien. It made sense as that woman had the exact same tail as him but he couldn't just throw away his past twenty years of life as an Earthling like that could he? He sat below a tree, a rare sight in the wasteland they were training in, basking in its shade in a moment of respite. The training seemed to have been working as he felt much much stronger then he had ever felt in his life as well as his ki reservoir being gargantuan in comparison. He had been gazing at the sky from the shade for a while and cloud watching had gotten boring so he decided to go see if Mei was free. They had struck a form of camaraderie as he often went to spar with her the past few months.

He began to search for her in the usual spots and was surprised to see a small crowd forming. Besides Mei and Cedric there was also Evan in some brand spanking new suit of armor and Leo! The hell was he doing here?He collected electricity at his feet and shot himself forward using the heated air to arrive swiftly next to them. He swung one arm around Cedric and pointed his other hand like a gun at Leon.

"That there's Leon. He's the guy I fought back in the tournament. Also good day, guys," cheerfully greeted Theo with a tip of his hat. It looked like Evan wanted to spar with someone and Theo couldn't help but feel he arrived at the right time. He let go of Cedric and took a step towards Evan, "I'm up for a match if you think you're up for it. Let's see if that new toy of yours can handle getting shocked."

[Finland SSR]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Before Cedric could offer a response to Evan, his senses alarmed him of a strong fellow martial artist approaching from behind, moments before Theo's arm suddenly wrapped around his neck. "Hey, hey!" the Saiyan called out, cracking a smile, trying to stay upright while the shorter younger Saiyan was dragging him down. The two of them were one of Keizo's top students and got to know each other fairly well during the six month period, even if most of their free time had to be taken up by training. Theo confirmed that the Earthling who was with them was named Leon - and while that didn't say anything all on its own, it did tell Cedric that maybe he saw that face in the tournament somewhere...

When Theo stated that he wanted to try Evan's armor against his own knuckles, however, Cedric immediately stepped forward, saying:

"Hey, hey, hey, I found him first!" the Saiyan stopped between Theo and Evan. "Plus, I was supposed to fight him in the tournament! Come ooon, Theo, give me this round, you've got Mei and Leon all for yourself!"

Grinning under his breath, Cedric offered Theo a faint thumbs-up before turning around and facing Evan directly. Much like the Saiyan, the armored engineer was itching for a fight, in order to give his suit a test ride in real battle, while also confirming that, according to his scanner, he and the suit were at equal strength. The statement immediately reminded Cedric of how his sister used to look at the device on her ear and blurt out random trivia how none of them are above four hundred. Not exactly the best memory.

"Well, aside for you, there is only one person I've ever known who relied on those numbers - and we both know where that went." the Saiyan stated, reaching to his back and pulling out his signature greatsword. "Well, since we're not on tournament grounds, I suppose we're going no holds barred, then?"

The tip of the greatsword slammed down to the ground, the sheer mass of the weapon whipping up a shockwave which rolled across the battlefield. "Have at you, then."

[The Republic of Atria]

It seemed like pretty much everyone had the idea to congregate in the area. Theo, the man with the lightning powers had arrived next. Evan was happy to see that he did keep up his training, even seeming to be slightly ahead of Cedric in terms of pure battle power. Though he did make a quip about Evans armor and electricity. "Theo, I wouldn't have made it this far in my life building things if I didn't know how to ground electricity. Don't let the movies fool you, fixing that is pretty simple." He mused. "But it's good to see you both again."

Theo started by trying to get Evan to fight him, but Cedric insisted that he get to fight him instead. After all, they were slated to fight in the tournament that was rudely interrupted. "As much as I'd like to spar, Theo, Cedric did technically ask first. Tell you what, after we've felt that we've gotten a good amount of practice in, we can go next." Assuming his armor was still intact by that point, but he had more than enough confidence in his engineering abilities.

Cedric wasted no time in moving to an area, drawing his sword and sticking into the ground firmly. Evan initialized the combat systems of his armor, and while it certainly wasn't as impressive to see, with the only visible and audible changes being the thrusters beginning to whir to life while the HUD blinked inside the helmet while Cedric gave him the go ahead to make the first move as well as the fact that there really wasn't any reason to hold back. "Agreed. I doubt our potential invaders will give us that courtesy". The HUD informed him that everything was good to go.

The second it did, small jets of blue energy shot from his back and feet as he launched himself at the Saiyan swordsman, scorching the ground in the process. The thrusters stopped for a split second, only for one of them fire at maximum output to deliver a powerful kick aimed at the left side of Cedric's head.

[The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune]

Akane

Time was funny in the abyss. It barely seemed to pass and at the same time it seemed like every moment was an eternity. Sui had explained that the entire realm was poisonous, torturous for mortal souls. That would make sense. There was nothing Akane hated more than sitting still and it seemed that here all the realm wanted to do was get you to sit still forever. Akane punched the stone in front of her even harder. Every moment longer she spent in hell was infuriating. The mountain she was hitting cracked in front of her, and rocks began to fall down it's side. Shaking out her fist, Akane turned around and began to do squats, sweat rolling down her head. On one hand, she didn't need to eat, sleep, or drink down here. On the other, her training hardly seemed to do anything. She was stronger than when the head demon had banished her down here, but she was hardly gaining strength at the rate that she used to.

Sui approached her from a nearby ravine. The friendly being who had begun to hang around her was not quite human from what Akane gathered. His being wasn't attacked by his presence in hell the way Akane's was. He also lacked the halo that Akane had noticed she had. It was strange, she had a halo regardless of being in hell. Perhaps the demon god who sent her here had a sense of humor. Perhaps she was just taking this way to personally. Still though, she had a level of trust for Sui, and if he seemed impressed with Akane's ability to survive Hell for this long... whatever surviving Hell meant... than she was going to run on the assumption that she was doing something special.

Sui sat down and pulled the leg of a large creature from his his haversack that he carried with him. Glowing blue juices ran down his chin as he watched Akane continue her workout. Pointing the leg at her, Sui said "I don't know why you continue your workout. You're already stronger than anything you are likely to encounter down here, unless you plan on going further into the mountains. Either way, it just kind of seems pointless to me."

Akane wiped her brow and paused for a second. Taking in a breath, she moved on to pushups and said "Well, I do it for two reasons. For whatever purpose, being in hell seems to want to rip apart my mind and... soul? I think this is my soul... whatever it is, being down here makes it want to disintegrate. The only way to combat that that I have found is to keep focused, and the easiest way to do that for me is to work out. Plus, I'm sure whatever guards the way out of here is probably the strongest thing down here, so I'll have to be able to beat it."

Sui cackled. "What makes you so sure that there is a way out of here. If it were that easy, surely someone has done it before, and then the rest of the world would follow."

Akane grunted for a moment and then said "You know, I have tried, and mostly succeeded in forgetting the actual educational stuff they taught me in school. The fighting was always more important. But I remember when I was a kid, and this older teacher would read us old folk tales of his homeland. Back when there were other countries on the planet, his homeland was ruled by a constantly rising and falling empire controlled by a caste of magicians and ki users constantly struggling for power. As technology took over the planet, this caste slowly lost it's grip on the empire and eventually faded into the background of history. But there are still stories of their accomplishments. One of them, Salhaeja Agma, the Black Dragon, was slain in a great duel trying to seize the imperial throne for himself. He was an evil man, and was sent to their version of hell for his actions on Earth. Well, Salhaeja was clever, and he was powerful. The only reason he had lost the duel that killed him was that his enemy, the Bladed Emperor, had dishonorably poisoned his weapons for fear of Salhaeja's wrath. So Salhaeja plotted in the Abyss, and when the time was right, found the demon's gateway to Earth and fought his way through it. He stole from his opponents the powers of Hellfire and Ki Draining, and began a bloody warpath straight to the Imperial Throne, slaying the Bladed Emperor and becoming the Oni Emperor in the process."

Sui gave that same cackle and said, through his guffaws this time, "So you're hedging your entire purpose at the moment on some fairy tale you got told at an orphanage?"

Akane finished that set of pushups and move onto crunchs, her face deadpan compared to the humor on Sui's. Through her teeth, she explained "I've been training with a lot of monks and a lot of hermits. They all have their own myths and traditions, and yeah, 90% of the time all they are are fairy tales, little parables meant to inspire hope or something. But there's the other 10%, which are actual stories that have been warped by time. In the Western Mountains for example, the Longxing monks claim to be disciples of a now extinct order of Dragonlords who ruled the world with iron and fire. Well, there never were any Dragonlords, but when I explored the mountains on my own, I found an old ruined palace infested by Wyverns and decorated with similar architecture to the monks. So at some point I think some of those monks rode Wyverns or at least domesticated them, and as the centuries rolled on that became a story of a globe spanning empire. I don't know if Salhaeja was real or not, but if he was, and the part about him escaping hell is true, well then I can escape from here as well. I don't really like being dead, and I don't plan on staying that way either. Why are you so content with it?"

Sui looked Akane in the eye, suddenly very serious, and asked "What makes you so sure I am dead."

Akane paused in her workout to think about it. It was true, she had no evidence that Sui had... well died. He didn't have a halo, and as human like as he appeared, there were things that were off about him. His movements were almost a little too lithe, his proportions just a little off. Not enough to make it obviously wrong, but just enough to cause one's instincts to fire off about him, almost in dread. Deciding that potentially making the most powerful being she had encountered in Hell angry was not a risk really worth taking, Akane shrugged and went back to her excersize. Looking over Sui, she then asked "My turn for some questions then. How do you get stronger? You're easily the most powerful person I've ever met, yet all I've ever seen you do is sit and eat."

Sui finished off another large bite of the leg he was holding, and with more juice running down his face answered "A long time ago I trained hard like you. Then I realized that I wasn't particularly training for any reason and the power I had bored me. So, I do enough fighting to get myself food and maintain my strength, but I dedicate myself to hobbies that entertain me more. Like origami."

Akane cocked her head after finishing a form and said "You like origami?" Sui opened his sack again and removed a small paper tiger from it, throwing it to Akane. The craft was impeccable on it. Throwing it back to Sui, she responded "I suppose you have plenty of time for it down here."

Sui smiled again for the first time since the dead comment. "That's the only thing we have plenty of down here. Well, that and lesser demons but I don't travel around Asphodel that much anyways so they don't factor into my life that much. Crafts are interesting and give me new ways to apply my mind to things. You know, being down here tears at me as well, I'm just better at coping with it."

Akane decided not to think about the apparent contradiction of Sui. He apparently wasn't dead, but at the same time suffered the same way that she did while occupying the abyss. Finishing her routine, she stood up straight, turned to Sui, and said "Teach me."

Sui looked Akane up and down as he slowly chewed another bite. "You mean Origami or-"

"I mean how to get stronger. If you're more powerful than pretty much everything down here, teach me how to get stronger. I'll prove myself worthy anyway that you want."

Sui took another huge bite and long chew before shrugging and said "Sure, I'll teach you. You aren't gong to like it, but why not. I haven't tried being a master before, should be interesting. You keep doing your workout thing, let me get some shuteye, and then tomorrow we start. Should be interesting."

Akane cocked her head again "Do you mind if I ask why?"

Sui grinned as he leaned back and started to fall asleep "Because I got this strong as a sort of... well penance. The strength gain was unintentional, I was really just trying to torture myself."

Akane watched Sui drift off to sleep, before returning to her regiment. This would be interesting to experience... hopefully not enough to do whatever the soul equivalent of dying was though...

[Finland SSR]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Evan did not waste even a moment in waiting for the battle to start and roared forward with a burst of energy from his back and feet. It had been six months since Cedric had witnessed the Earthling inventor fight, but he was sure that all the experience from before would be useless regardless, seeing how much his suit has gotten improved - as such, the Saiyan played it safe. He lifted his weapon, gripping onto the tip of the blade and thus using it as a makeshift shield against Evan's sudden and powerful blow.

The sheer force of the attack sent Cedric sliding across the ground for several meters, but he remained standing on both of his feet regardless. Evan wasn't bluffing - that kind of blow certainly puts his armor in Cedric's range, and it got the Saiyan to form a smirk.

"Good start." he spoke before charging forward, getting into close quarters range and sending several slashes Evan's way.

[The Republic of Atria]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Evan did not waste even a moment in waiting for the battle to start and roared forward with a burst of energy from his back and feet. It had been six months since Cedric had witnessed the Earthling inventor fight, but he was sure that all the experience from before would be useless regardless, seeing how much his suit has gotten improved - as such, the Saiyan played it safe. He lifted his weapon, gripping onto the tip of the blade and thus using it as a makeshift shield against Evan's sudden and powerful blow.

The sheer force of the attack sent Cedric sliding across the ground for several meters, but he remained standing on both of his feet regardless. Evan wasn't bluffing - that kind of blow certainly puts his armor in Cedric's range, and it got the Saiyan to form a smirk.

"Good start." he spoke before charging forward, getting into close quarters range and sending several slashes Evan's way.

"I aim to please. And win." Evan replied, bracing as Cedric prepared to retaliate. Already the combat Ai he'd been working on, proved it's theoretical weight in gold as it forced the suit to move on it's own to avoid the sword. It was going to take some getting used to those sudden movements. As it stood, choosing to resist the armor's automatic movements would lead to some nasty bruises, but it was still uncomfortable even if he didn't. He noted that he should work on stretch a bit in the future.

The armor seemed to have a better idea on how to dodge the sword swipes at least until an overhead strike, in which case it opted to block rather than dodge. Pulling up both his arms to build his face. He felt the blade impact and cut just a bit into the armor. The kinetic dampeners were working as intended. After all, he still had his arms attached to the rest of him.

To counter, Evan rolled with the word, letting it slide off to the right and helping it along with his right arm, while the left charged up an energy blast in the palm and fired it at the Saiyan.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Mei Lin-Earthling-PL 6,500-Six Months Later

The training grounds started quickly became a something resembling a Tournament reunion with everyone from Evan to Cedric and Theo and even Leo showing up one after the other. Things progressed rapidly from there with Evan and Cedric quickly getting into a sparring match which left myself, Theo and Leo to the sidelines. "Well, since there are three of us...how about a free for all? We each try and force the others to concede. Last one standing wins. This would be a excellent test of one's situational awareness as well as good training." My eyes then caught sight of Cedric and Evan going at each other at nearly their full strength and I sighed lightly at just how eager they were to possibly endanger their safety and hence training. After all, if any of us are hurt too badly simply sparring then we end up spending too much time resting and recovering than actually training. So I then followed up with my own improvised training partners.

"Obviously try to win, but let's not be like those try hards over there." I said as I pointed at the ongoing fight before resting my hands on my hips. "Use whatever skills you can but let's not risk serious injury. We should all be around a comparable level of power so I am not too worried about it but no over doing it. Let's not lose sight of why we are doing this after all." It was with that announcement that I took a few steps back and considered my options for only the briefest moment before I let loose with a blast of ki from both of my hands directly into the ground to thrust me upwards into the sky. I didn't wait for either Theo or Leo to accept the challenge as I didn't see the need to. I knew they would.

As my form sailed ever upwards into the air I scanned the environment for the many high rise rock formations which lay scattered around. Charging a ki blast I obliterated one of the rock pillars into hundreds of various pieces as it's debris rained over the training field. I intended to give my opponents more to focus on than simply me. The fact that these falling stones would likely grab Cedric's and Evan's attention as well didn't matter. After all distractions would likely happen in real battle anyways. I finally landed on my feet and right next to my power pole as I fixated my sight on both Leo and Theo in the distance and wondered which of the two I should attack first. Theo is supposed to be one of the aliens like the ones who are invading six months from now but Leo has a set of skills which I honestly find intimidating in that I know little about how his magic works or what he is capable of.

So...why not both?

I aimed my left outstretched hand towards Theo and charged a blast of ki energy as I held the Power Pole in Leo's direction with the order. "Power Pole Extend!" I let loose both attacks at the same time, as both the blast of ki and the power pole strike raced towards their respective targets.

[Finland SSR]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Evan dodged all the sword slashes except for one gracefully and professionally, not a single scratch laid anywhere on his body. That certainly wasn't his own doing - he struck Cedric as a tinkerer rather than a warrior with such refined instinct. Not that leaving the ins and outs of combat to an AI was a bad decision by any means - and if there was one person whom he'd rely on to create a combat suit AI able to keep up with top notch martial artists, it'd probably be Evan. Or his family, but he wasn't sure if Swift Industries even concentrated much in artificial intelligence design.

After successfully blocking an overhead blow with both of his arms, Evan pushed the blade of the massive weapon to the side and unloaded a powerful energy blast straight into his face. Cedric opted to stand his ground and grit his teeth, taking the brunt of the attack head-on - the battlefield was lit ablaze by a powerful explosion.

The attack ripped up Cedric's clothing, left quite a few noticeable burns across his body, and sent him sliding a few meters back - however, the Saiyan's smirking expression betrayed that he didn't care a single bit for the damage. The pain was sharp and paralyzing and the burns hard to bear, but it only motivated him to keep on and try harder.

This time by aiming to grapple Evan's firing arm and pull the armored Earthling over his shoulder, in an attempt to slam him back-first into the ground.

[Absolon-7]

Theo, The Lightning God
A sarcastic frowned on Theo's face at his offer for a spar being turned down by Cedric and Evan who had a agreed to fight each other beforehand. Fair enough, he could just ask later. Cedric did have a point in that Evan and him where supposed to fight and he'd feel bad if Cedric didn't get an honorary match to make up for it. The returned Cedric's thumb's up and just like that his upbeat attitude returned. This left Theo, Mei, and Leon all by themselves and Mei to his surprise offered a free for all between the trio. The idea was a spectacular one really and her added rules are sensible enough.

"Sounds good to me, Mei. Would really suck if by the Saiyans come half of us are cripples and the other are missing limbs," said Theo.

He would receive no confirmation, however, as Mei would back up and blow up a rock pillar for a cover of sorts. Theo charged ki into his hands to coat them in lightning and one by one he swatted away the incoming rocks but this left him open to her ki attack that struck him dead on and the following explosion sent him flying back wincing in pain. He tumbled on the floor before he spun back on his feet and his eyes narrowed back on Mei and Leon. He already knew Theo's bag of tricks and it wasn't a good one so he had to go first. He collected ki both palms into baseball shaped spheres and he lunged back each time he threw the curveballs at Leon which would hit him in two diffrent directions. The first Sunfire would go for his head and the second at his back which ensured he'd be caught in two Sunfires at once.

Now for Mei. He started to run and circled around Mei and Leon and once he was at a right angle to Mei he surged ki to his feet to propel him skyward towards Mei. His swift leaping kick would aim right for her temple.

[The Republic of Atria]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

Evan widened his eyes a bit as Cedric seemed to withstand the blast without so much as flinching. He knew the Saiyan biology was quite robust, but he thought he had the blast on high enough to cause damage. Sure, there was some, what looked to be some burns, but Cedric had either trained so hard that it didn't bother him or it just didn't do anything. Definitely going to have to be something he works on in the future.

His arm being grappled by Cedric pulled him back into reality. The combat AI frantically tried to figure out the best way to counter it, but in the fraction of a second that it had wasn't enough to come up with a good counter before he hit the ground, shattering it and causing the HUD inside his suit to flicker a bit from the impact. A brief diagnostic window popped up, showing minor, but inconsequential damage to the armor. Though Evan himself groaned a bit from the pain in his back.

Evan fired up the thrusters to his suit, their output on maximum. The armor slid along the ground for a second before becoming airborne. A little dust and a few scratches never hurt. Once he was in the air, he turned up the power on his blasters a bit and shot a rain of blasts down at Cedric to draw him into the sky.

[Finland SSR]

Cedric Swift, warrior of the Dragon Style!

---

Evan clearly could not react to Cedric's offensive in time and got slammed back-first to the ground - however, that was also far from enough to take the armored Earthling down in of itself. The Saiyan was about to continue pummeling him while he was down, only to witness his opponent suddenly flying off and taking to the air, from where he let out a barrage of energy blasts.

Not a bad strategy, using the high ground as an advantage. And, while Evan almost certainly didn't know that, the air was never Cedric's specialty when it came to fighting, the stability provided by staying on the ground was too important for his tenacity-focused fighting style. As such, instead of flying forward, the Saiyan crossed his arms while everything around him was lit ablaze by the powerful barrage - until, in the midst of it, he suddenly threw his weapon forward as a boomerang. The massive blade sliced through several blasts in its way before speeding straight towards the armored Earthling.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Mei Lin-Earthling-PL 6,500-Six Months Later

Theo was quick to react to the rain of rocks from above and Leo didn't seem to jump in as quickly. I watched as Theo blasted away the falling stones one after another as it successfully took his eyes off of me. Allowing my ki blast to score a direct hit which had driven him backwards until he regained his footing. Despite me hitting him he first turned his attention on Leo, who now faced a strike from each of us. If he didn't counter in some way soon he would be eliminated rather quickly. Theo sent two blasts toward him in a baseball like throw. Before turning his attention towards me. Racing towards me in a blitz of speed he threw himself at me in a high speed leaping ki powered kick. If he was counting on a single direct melee attack taking me down he will be disappointed. But his attack was fast enough to where dodging was unlikely and I was forced to block instead. Lifting both of my arms into the path of his kick I absorbed the hit with a verbal grunt as I was knocked backwards some distance before stopping myself. Then, positioning my hands behind me and unleashing a powerful ki wave I used the blast to propel myself forward with great force as I launched my own charged kick at him hoping that the burst of power between the momentum that carried me from the blast and the kick itself aimed at his chest would convince him to yield.

[The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune]

Akane,
Daemon City

She strode down the city street, feeling absolutely ridicoulous as she did so. While Sui has used some form of technique to change his appearance, he had refused to teach her the skill. Instead he had procured for her some golden facepaint, a headband with some horns on it, and a rather stupid looking tophat to hide her halo. Despite Sui's insistence that it was typical demon fashion and the various examples around her, Akane felt absolutely stupid with the costume on. In addition, she was in the rather annoying proccess of continually forcing her ki to focus in her eyes to give them a glowing effect. She looked like a Daemon, but did that really matter when she felt this stupid.

Looking around, Akane was still blown away by the scale of Daemon city. She had only been to the outskirts of the human capitol city, but it was clear that Daemon blew it away in every category. The city itself was too enourmous to put into words, and it's many buildings were... well fuzzy would be the way to describe it. The further they climbed from the ground, the less distinct and more abstract they became, seemingly warping reality around them and bending the fabric of the... afterworld. Sui had explained to her earlier that was because the Higher Daemons who lived up there were not necessarily... on this plane. They experienced reality in a different way than mortals and lesser Daemons and thus their structures weren't understandable by anything lesser. Daemons were funny things. They were undoubtedly, the ruling species of hell. After all her time in the Abyss she had been unfourtunate to encounter most of the species who had the pleasure of calling themselves "infernal". Most were beastly things like the imps who had barely more mind than an animal and often pursued singleminded and futile goals. Some like the Oni were clever and cruel, but didn't see much beyond their immidiate want. The Daemons on the other hand had subjugated the rest of hell and made a place for themselves in the heavens with the various Kais and Angels. They were a strong race, gifted not only in strength and ki, but in magical pursuits and general intelligence as well. Their only limit was the fact that they were constrained to the limited reachs of the Infernal Plane, and that they fed upon the magics contained within.

Akane grimaced each time one of them walked past her. Each Daemon was unique in their coloring, horn style, and general mood. Some were jovial beings who skipped down the streets of the city, while others were dark and twisted things that hid their shadowy intellect by crawling on all fours like a common beast. Akane did her best to keep her eyes straight ahead, intent on following Sui. The man who had agreed to train her suddenly took a right turn into a dark alley. Following her would be mentor, Akane saw before them a Daemon sitting cross legged on a mat made from the hide of some monstrosity that resided down below. His skin was the color of raw iron, and his eyes glowed like molten gold. His horns curled back behind his head in a way that if he leaned his shoulders back too far he would surely impale them on his own tips. Judging by the scars on his shoulders, it was clearly a mistake that he had made before. Smiling, he nodded at Sui and said "Always nice to see a friend."

Sui made a peculiar gesture with his hand and said "Nicer to have a fight."

Grinning, the Daemon suddenly rocked his head forward and back, piercing his shoulders allowing two rivulets of blood to spill from his shoulders and on to the mat underneath him. The mat gave a groan, and slid to the side, revealing a set of stairs that the Daemon began to float over. Sui proceeded down the steps, with Akane skeptically following suit. Arriving in a small hall with two doors, Sui dropped his disguise and pointed at one of them, saying plainly "There is a washroom in there. You shall have no further need for your disguise now that we are here."

Akane quickly ripped off her disguise and washed off, redonning her gi and meeting Sui in the hall. Grinning the strange man opened the other door to reveal a large and loud room, which had apparently been muffled by some form of demonic magic. Akane stepped inside to find her path blocked by a large Oni. He was fat, a typical trait for the slimey demons of conquest. Seeing Sui, he laughed and slapped his gut "Well then Daemonslayer. You've brought us some fresh meat. What's your name fodder?"

Akane spat on the ground, saying simply "Akane."

The Oni grinned a wolf's smile, and then said "Spicy meat indeed. We'll see how you fair."

[Absolon-7]

Mei Lin-Earthling-PL 6,500-Six Months Later

Theo, The Lightning God
Theo grinned as he felt his kick collide with Mei but much to his disappointment it was blocked by both her arms. The fellow martial artist was sent some distance away. Theo raised one arm in front of himself and turned the other one back in preparation to charge a lightning bolt javelin but the sight of Mei rocketing towards him after a powered up kick made him reconsider. He thought about dodging but there wouldn't be enough time. No time to think. No time to move. Perhaps there'd be time to maneuver her out of the way? Yes, that would be the way to go. Straight up blocking it would be futile. As the kick collided with his chest, Theo allowed himself to fall back a few seconds before impact. This resulted in a good deal of the attack not being delivered but the glancing blow that did struck him made him crash to the floor harder then he'd liked. He winced in pain before he rolled on the floor to get behind Mei and then leap up to deliver a right hook at the back of her head.

[The Republic of Atria]

Cedric

So far it seemed that he was doing quite well. His opponent was a skilled and strong warrior. There hardly could have been a better opponent to test his new armor. So far some damaged had been inflicted on both sides, though Evan was of the opinion that he was in the lead so far.

But that quickly change when Cedric threw his sword. It wasn't in Evan's peripheral until it was too late, and the armor neglected to warn him about the incoming projectile. The sword impacting the chest portion of his armor. Cutting through it a bit and getting stuck. Evan was knocked out of whack, but the armor quickly stabilized itself mid air. Evan pulled the side of the sword that had embedded itself into the armor out, and grabbed it with his left hand. The weapon was heavier than it looked. Meanwhile the armor had a visible gash across it. The damage would become dangerous if there were repeated strikes to that area, but he was right to make the chest the most armored region.

"Good throw, but you probably shouldn't throw your main weapon." Evan remarked. "Unless you've got a ranged one. Like so." He pointed his right arm at the Saiyan, but instead of his hand being flat like it was earlier, it was a fist. The wrost of the armor had a small device open up and fire a thin, bright red beam at the Saiyan.