GambolMuse

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

There's a revised Bestiary for you guys! From now on entries will be written as though they're journal entries from Cedric, so the wording is a bit more colorful than before. :P

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

"Even if its an alpha they'll be fine! Kensen and Gage know what they're doing even if your little friends don't!" They had known full well prior to going out what was out there even if they hadn't told Ethan or Nymira, as if they would blindly send anyone into battle. Even if the Rökorm was an alpha variety it was nothing her people couldn't handle. More important than any of the girl's hysterics though was the blatant fact that somehow she knew something was happening. There was raw intuition and then there was something more altogether and Amuné appeared to fall in the latter half. But could the little Ydran girl really possess such an ability? The overbearing look of guilt on the girl's face said yes even when she uttered a meek no, and Taliya was unable to hold back the laughter that followed.

"Relax squirt, I don't give a shit if you've got Sight or not! That ability is hardly useful most of the time anyways!" the woman laughed, getting up from her seat and moving towards a bookshelf, "Don't you know how your own ability works? It's things that might happen, not things that are happening. Of course they might somehow die, but hell, you can die on the shitter! Stop being so hysterical and pretend like you have some faith in the people around you. To me it sounds like you doubt they can do anything." Sifting through the few books on the shelves she found a worn, leather bound journal, its pages frayed on the ends and several sticking out. Setting it on the table nearby she flipped through the pages until she found the entry she was searching for, waving Amuné over and pointing to the page.

"This is what your friends are probably fighting right now, they're known as Rökorm. They're crafty bastards that manipulate air pressure and currents but its nothing too serious, killing them is easy enough," Taliya explained, pushing the book closer for Amuné to see. The written text was scrawled and hastily recorded and a mediocre albeit accurate illustration of the beast accompanied the entry that filled an entire page in of itself. "Cedric made a journal of beasts he encountered, to get us all up to speed when we fought. There's an awful lot of shit out there in the world you've probably never heard of, lots of shit way worse than a Rökorm. If you're so worried about a damn snake then you're not cut out for this girl."

How was she ever supposed to know that air magic could be so troublesome? Without Ethan distracting the Rökorm it was easily able to snuff out her flames before they ever got close enough to harm it and even then she couldn't muster up another high heat blast like before. How long could Ethan keep up his chase until he grew tired or the Rökorm lost interest? They needed another way to fight this beast before it had a chance to strike back. The Vazra around them didn't do anything to help the situation either. There had to be something she hadn't considered, some way to cripple the beast and make killing it easier. Kensen and Gage were not going to help them and she accepted that, it was left wholly to her and Ethan to figure this out.

Crap. Crap. Crap. How long did Nymira plan for him to keep this up?! Ethan liked to think she had a plan in mind but so far all he'd done was run in circles with a giant serpent monster at his heels. The Vazra showing up too meant he was cutting corners hard to avoid not only the Rökorm's attacks but them as well and he was quickly running out of energy. Kensen and Gage were helping a bit by taking some of the pressure off of them but the big concern was still the Rökorm and the fact they had no way of killing it. Sliding on his heels as a Vazra nearly ran into him Ethan had to drop to his knees and slid right under it, scrambling and diving again to the side when the Rökorm threw a gust of wind at him. "Nymira, now would be an awesome time to kill it!" Ethan shouted frantically, back on his feet and running again. "Seriously, do something, please!"

"What do you think I'm doing? Just keep moving!" There had to be some way to kill the Rökorm, a way to cripple it. Yes its attacks were troublesome but the real issue was just reaching it, with how it moved and flew about they were at a terrible disadvantage on foot. Scanning the environment for any kind of aid they might use Nymira saw a handful of trees still standing in the aftermath and promptly came up with a plan of action. What if they could pin it beneath a fallen tree? If even for a second it might give them the window they needed, like luring a hunt target into a trap. "Ethan, take it back towards the trees!" the Dimuran shouted, racing towards them herself. Behind her a Vazra howled and was hot on her heels and she'd have turned to fight it had Gage not skewered its hind leg with his harpoon gun and dragged it off of her, nodding gratefully before continuing on her way. If this didn't work she'd be officially out of ideas.

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Go on and try it Shu! You're going to like it, trust me!" Sasha urged as she bit into her own fruit, wiping away juice from her chin with the back of her hand. Stifling a laugh when Shu's face lit up after sampling his snack she took another bite, lifting her shoulders in a shrug to his question. "I don't know, I suppose they just mix things together and see how they taste! I've never really cooked before so I haven't a clue how people figure it out." It was something to ponder though, just how did people figure out what you could and couldn't eat? No doubt someone had eaten some fairly bad things along the line and gotten sick or worse and she was grateful it wasn't her playing test dummy. "Come on, let's get back and see how the match is going! We don't want to miss all the excitement do we?" The distant cheers of the crowd spurred Sasha back to the arena just in time to see the announcer declaring one of the fighters the victor, the other being helped off stage by a medic. So they'd missed the end of the fight in favor of getting their snacks, oh well. Smiling as the stage was tidied up for the next match she glanced at Shu and playfully nudged his arm with her elbow, winking as she took another bite of her treat. "If they're still open after the tournament how about we get another? I don't think I'm happy with just one."

"Well then ladies and gentlemen that brings us to our second to last match of the first round! I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves so far because things will only get even better from here on out!" Basking in the cheers of the audience the announcer played it up, beaming as he waved everyone on before ushering them to quiet down. "For our next match will Takeshi and Jura please enter the arena? I repeat, will Takeshi and Jura please enter the ring?"

Finally, he had a chance to kick some ass! Standing around watching everyone else was so boring after a while, even more interesting fights like Shu's. Beaming as he raced to the stage he nearly jumped the entire length of the stairs and walked to the center, folding his hands behind his head as he looked at his opponent. Naturally he was feeling smug, they were much more well trained and probably leagues stronger than any of the competitors here. Stretching himself out as the other competitor entered the arena he grinned broadly at them. He'd refrain from using Ki just to make it a fair fight and he'd go easy on the guy, it wouldn't be much fun if it was over in a second. Waiting for the announcer to begin the match he squat down and stretched himself out further, jumping to his feet and bouncing on the ball of them. "Let's try and make this look convincing alright?" Takeshi asked with a wink, grinning as he rolled his shoulders, "I'll take it easy on ya."

-----

"I don't want you to die! No dying Viral, you're not allowed to!" Yumi chastised, vaguely slurring her words as she pointed sternly at the Beastman, "You're not allowed to die, got it? Not ever, never ever. I'm not going to let you!" He was too strong to die, and moreover much too important to her to die. She didn't know what she would ever do if Viral were to be killed. Rolling onto her front awkwardly she tucked her injured arm to the side and exhaled into her pillow, squirming a bit to get comfortable before turning her head. "You saved everyone and the planet, that's what you say! I mean they were bad guys, like... REALLY bad guys, you did the right thing. Vegeta and Aito are idiots if they think you were wrong," she answered as she huffed, rolling back onto her side and smiling at Viral, "We'd be dead if you didn't save us. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Anyone who was here is going to say you're a hero and thats what you are. I'll kick anyone who tries to tell you otherwise. I don't care if its Korian, or Aito, or Vegeta, I'll kick them all and make them apologize!"

"They were going to kill us... They were going to kill me, you're the only reason they didn't," Yumi said somberly, closing her eyes and exhaling before rubbing at her face, "The whole no killing thing is dumb anyways... I don't like to do it and I don't think I could, but you have to sometimes..." Frowning as she looked across at Viral she felt her eyelids growing heavy as she tried to fight off the sedatives given to her, grumbling and rubbing at her face again. "Seriously... Thank you Viral, so much. I thought I was dead until you saved me. I don't know how I'll ever thank you..."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"At least you get it. We do enough fighting outside of this tournament so we need to have some fun when we can. Those idiots would take drinking glasses of water as a challenge if you let them." Aito could probably explain why they acted the way they did seeing as he was the real bookworm among them but Sasha didn't know if she much cared enough to learn. Knowing why her brother and Takeshi needed to make a competition out of everything wasn't going to help her any, it'd just annoy her more. Had Shu ever seen a tournament before? For a kid who always seemed to be dazzled by the most basic of things he looked almost at home here. And his answer explained why, so he had fought in something similar before. Considering Takeshi's attitude Sasha couldn't imagine their first meeting was exactly nice especially not if Shu had been the winner of it.

"We can get whatever we want. They have a lot of stalls nearby where we can get anything we want," Sasha explained, turning then to her brother an Takeshi who had surprisingly stopped arguing to watch the match. "Hey, we're going to get some snacks, you two want anything?"

"Snacks? We're in the middle of a tournament Sasha, now isn't the time for snacks..." Ricken replied stiffly, frowning as one of the combatants tripped over his own feet and nearly lost because of it. "Be careful you fool! Watch where you're going!"

"Nah, I'm saving room for the big dinner after the tournament!" Takeshi answered with a grin, "Going to work up an appetite kicking some asses and eat later!"

Well at the very least they weren't at each other's throats now which was nice. "Looks like its just us Shu, come on!" The stalls were through the crowd of other fighters and back by the entrance to the arena, and after weaving through plenty of people they finally made their way there. If Shu wanted sweet then she had just the thing in mind for them, some caramelized fruits on a stick! Sasha had never seen them anywhere before until Uuonoe but she'd fallen in love and it was a rare treat that she'd be able to get any. In line it wasn't Shu that was bouncing excitedly for a change but her, though she tried to contain it as she bounced on the heels of her feet. When they had finally gotten their turn she quickly bought two pupoto fruits covered in caramel, stepping aside and handing Shu his with a wide grin. "The stuff on the outside is sweet and gooey, and the fruit is a little tart. Go on, give it a try!"

-----

"Even still there's protocol. I can't let someone who was in our care go out and fight or work right away, they may end up agitating their wounds. I appreciate what you're trying to do but they won't be allowed to work, not for at least a day or two. And for you and Yumi quite a bit longer." Unless Viral's healing continued to accelerate then he may end up healthy even sooner than those with minor wounds. Yumi was hard to say given her concussion, though fortunately for her it had been minor. With Yumi finally reasonably restrained and sedated they could leave the two to continue their recovery and see to other patients in the ward.

"So you're asking me to lie to them? That's... Highly unethical," the doctor muttered with a disconcerted look, frowning as he tapped his clipboard with a pen, "Let's see how your recovery goes. If you are in good health quickly then I suppose I could say you recovered quickly from your wounds, it could suggest the same thing. No promises, I'd rather not upset anyone there by lying." Would the rebels be angry with Viral if he'd been injured? It seemed odd that he might be chastised or punished for being injured in battle... When he was sent out to battle. The doctor never would understand their type. "Until then do your best to rest and relax, if you continue healing at the rate you are we can discharge you soon," he added with a slight smile, "I'll see you two tomorrow morning unless anything comes up."

Yumi wanted to be out of bed and with Viral right now and she would be if her body would cooperate. The pain medication she had just been given was a might powerful sedative and every time she tried to climb out of her bed her arms simply wouldn't work. Frustrated by her inability to move much she let out an audible huff when the doctor and nurse left, rolling onto her side and smiling at Viral. "Hey handsome... Come here often?" she joked, laughing as she reached out and grabbed a glass of water off her nightstand, "I wanna go somewhere and do something... Can we go into the city? I want to see whats there...!" Who was going to carry them though? She could barely move and Viral was so bandaged up he resembled a mummy! Sipping at her water she let out a sigh, staring back at the television to watch the match continue on. "Where'd the nurse go? She can take us! Make her come back Viral!"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"If you're worried then its okay, you don't have to do it. I just think he needs a good kick to the butt is all," Sasha added with a smile, "So does your brother. I know you love your brother Shu and I love mine but they really need to learn to relax. Its not always about winning every little thing you do." Victory was important particularly in their line of work when loss meant death often but this wasn't work, it was a game. Both Ricken and Takeshi could do well to learn to relax and enjoy themselves without treating everything so seriously. The crowd around them broke into cheers again and she turned back to the stage to watch the two participants exchange a series of blocks, blows and dodges, really impressive all things considered. Both men were clearly smiling and having fun with their match which was all the more proof that this tournament wasn't meant to be serious. "Have you ever been in a tournament before Shu? Do you know how they work?" Sasha prodded curiously as she pointed towards the standings on a distant wall, "We've got a bit of time until our next match, what do you say about letting our brothers argue and getting a snack? My treat."

-----

"That is certainly... Good. If the internal hemorrhaging has stopped then you're out of the worst of it, now its just soreness and broken bones that need to mend. And... We'll do our best to sedate her," the doctor added with a meek look at the still fidgeting Yumi, "She shouldn't be moving at all with her concussion and her arm broken, but it seems the dosage we gave her wasn't enough. Easily fixed." Odd given the fact they had administered the regular amount of medication, perhaps Yumi just wasn't as susceptible to their medicine? They were an unusual pair to treat these two and most conventional medicine they had seemed to either be ineffective or pointless. Every medical personnel in the building was clueless as to how Viral was healing as fast as he was, but if he was recovering then just as well, they'd monitor him all the same.

"The others? If you mean the Saiyan boys and Leto then they'll be discharged soon. Compared to you and Ms. Yumi here their injuries were relatively minor. Actually the two of you had some of the worse injuries of the patients we've had here," the doctor spoke before growing silent as his mouth pulled into a frown, "Those that returned alive at least. But back to your point, they will be free to leave soon though I don't know where they'll go exactly with the city in its current state. The hospital may be a better stay." While not all of the city was ruined much of what was still intact was being used as emergency hospitals, places where one could actually go then were extremely limited. And in anticipation of another attack troops were still on high alert and within the city meaning even residents would have a hard time traveling about.

Yumi's fussing had finally subsided as she was given additional pain medication and the nurse had managed to settle her into her bed at last. Giving Viral's charts one last look over the doctor gave him a smile and walked over to her bed, going through the paces of covering her condition as well. Behind him the sound of the television caught his eye and he turned to see a pair of fighters on screen wrestling, his lips pursing in distaste as he shook his head. They had just gone through a battle and this was what these people were watching? Maniacs, every last one of them. But as doctors it was their job to patch them up along with the soldiers, even if their injuries were of their own doing. "You two should be just fine, we'll be back in about an hour just to follow up on your charts and some blood work," the doctor explained while moving for the door, "If you need anything use the call buttons on your beds and a nurse will be right in. Any questions before we go?"

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Running an operation as large as theirs was a headache, one Taliya never would have taken on if it hadn't been on Cedric's behalf. So many whiny bastards came to her asking for this, that and the other thing and they all expected her to help in some way. It wasn't a matter of if she could help that was the issue but more they expected someone to do their work for them. Some didn't, there were plenty that were within their ranks who took on work that fit their skills and no more, no less, those people she liked. The few idiots however who bit off more than they could handle and came crawling back for help she had no use for. But as Kensen had reminded her repeatedly she couldn't be kicking out people left and right or they would have no one left, she had to practice 'patience'. Because that was something a woman like her was so renown for. If one more person came through that door she was liable to throw them out of the room, she had enough shit to do today without someone else adding work to her list.

Ethan had noticed the Vazra arriving and it was all the more reason to keep up his dashing about. If they were going to finish this fight this way it had to be soon as his magic was steadily running dry, and reserves were already minuscule at best. Things were changing though with the arrival of the Vazra and the serpent didn't seem as nearly inclined to chase after him. In fact it had utterly turned away and ignored him now in favor of going after Nymira instead, leaving him to contend with two Vazra on his own. He had a little bit of magic and a sword he scarcely knew how to use and was effectively on his own. Swallowing nervously he watched one of the beasts take a leap at him and dashed aside to avoid being tackled by it, aiming at the same creature to blast it away. A snarl nearly in his ear reminded him he wasn't only fighting one and he rolled to avoid the second, blasting that one instead and managing to make it tumble away though little else. It was prompt to get to its feet again and shake off the disorientation, his spell had done little more than annoy it.

This was not ideal, not ideal at all. The one benefit to Ethan now was he was able to lure away the Vazra that had arrived but that still left Nymira to fight the Rökorm on her own. Its movement had been slowed thanks to searing off one of its fins and yet so had her own, her ankle wound becoming agitated from moving about so quickly before. Favoring her left leg as she leaned on it she spun a dagger in her hand and waited for the Rökorm to inevitably come after her, throwing it at the beast's head and watching, predictably, as it turned to mist to avoid the weapon. It had to materialize again though and as soon as it did she prepared a small fire ball and let loose, managing to hit it dead on and quickly diving away as it barreled past her, writhing and howling in pain. A satisfying if brief victory as the Rökorm was far from finished, and though its eyes had been partly blinded by Nymira's blast it still trained them on her with ferocious precision, its body vibrating as it released a gale attack at her. Out in the open ground and with nothing to hold onto she braced as best she could only to be lifted off of her feet, tumbling aimlessly through the air before awkwardly landing on her feet and nearly collapsing from her bad ankle.

"Much as I'd like ta I'm not gonna!" As if Gage had the luxury of shooting Kensen right now, they needed him to get through this mess alive. Hastily reloading the harpoon gun again he trained its sights on a Vazra charging headlong for him and grinned, firing the round at its chest and watching as it drove deep into the cavity, causing molten liquid to spill on the ground below. Grabbing hold of the line he then gave it a harsh pull and swung his body and the weapon, pulling the Vazra off of its feet and swinging it around right into another before releasing the harpoon and sending both tumbling. Another was upon him in a heartbeat and had jumped up perhaps in an effort to tear out his throat, teeth gnashing furiously as it went for its mark. Lifting an arm he caught the beasts jaws on his forearm and held it up as it thrashed about, a taunting grin plastered on its face when it noticed there was no blood nor screams of pain from him. As the skin melted away from its jaws there was a faint shimmer of metal beneath, revealing an artificial limb disguised to look real. Momentarily confused by the turn of events the Vazra howled and finally released its prey when a knife found its home deep within its throat, and with a tear the blade nearly decapitated it, falling to the ground and squirming fitfully before passing on. Like hell he'd kill Kensen, this was much more entertaining.

Had she not JUST gotten through saying she'd toss out the next person to barge into her room like that? Taliya stayed her hand if only because that person happened to be Amuné and she'd catch far too much shit if people found out she'd thrown out a child. Whatever was bothering her had her in all sorts of distress and for all she knew someone had died given how frantic the Ydran was. When she finally did muster her voice and explain the situation Taliya addressed her first with a blank stare, wondering if perhaps the girl was insane for proposing such a thing. Then she laughed, not a taunting laugh but one of amusement, as though Amuné had just suggested the most absurd thing in the world.

"You're shitting me right? THAT is why you're here?" Taliya asked through her laughter, beaming as she looked down at the Ydran girl. Pulling her hand from her shirt she shook her head, reclining back in her chair to retrieve her flask from her coat. "Kensen is there kiddo, so is Gage. Whatever is there they can handle it, so relax. We know whats out there and it ain't nothing they can't handle." If things had gotten really bad they would retreat, Kensen and Gage knew to do as much. If the situation deteriorated then they were to save themselves and the brats over completing their job and no one had seen them yet, so it was under control. "Besides... What are you basing this off of, huh? Just a gut feeling?" Taliya pressed as she leaned forward, arching an eyebrow, "Or did you 'see' something, huh? Is our little kiddie here a special snowflake?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"You did really well Shu! Thal is a well known fighter on Uuonoe and a lot of people probably expected him to go all the way to the finals. But you beat him in the first round, that's why everyone was so surprised," Sasha explained, "That's the spirit! There's no real prize to all of this anyways really, nothing huge anyways. We're just doing this for fun and to blow off a little steam, relax a bit. So as long as you're having fun you're doing it right." Then you had Takeshi, and really Ricken too, both of whom were only focused on winning an essentially meaningless tournament. She would say it was a product of men being men if Shu wasn't an exception to that, as were nearly every other competitor here. Even Thal himself who seemed befuddled by his loss was already laughing it off and moving on, clearly no one was taking this seriously. No one aside from Takeshi and Ricken. Smiling wryly as an idea struck her Sasha stepped closer to Shu and leaned down, cupping a hand around her mouth to whisper into his ear. "Hey... Do me a favor? If you get matched against Ricken try to kick him in the butt okay? And tell him its from his sister, he'll get so annoyed!" she said with a giggle, "Don't worry, if he gets mad I'll handle it."

It was fascinating to see how Shu managed through his match and of great relief that he had little trouble. It had been a quick match though and his opponent was clearly outmatched, how he'd fare against an equal opponent was still a mystery. Aito ignored June's request to withdraw Shu from the tournament even after she continued to insist, and though doubtless he'd be given an earful for it later he'd watch Shu continue to compete. Or to be more precise he'd watch the Uuonians and rebels compete as the young Saiyan's match was likely a ways off. Seeing people of other races and worlds fighting was highly interesting, their styles and approach to their duels so different. To some battle was like a dance and their movements fluid and loose, others attempted to latch onto their opponent and use their lanky frames to fight them into a submission hold, and more still used surprising speed to try and overwhelm. Evidently the use of Ki and other abilities was forbidden as no one practiced anything outside of standard martial arts, and perhaps just as well. If Ki usage was allowed then those with the ability would have a massive advantage, and those who were capable like the rebels even more so.

-----

"Oooooh, don't do that," Yumi muttered with a click of her tongue as she peeled herself from the bed. A ridiculous smile played on her face as she let out a giggle, finally releasing Viral's paw to scratch her head. "If you did that then Vegeta would be in my face! He'd be all 'Yumi, what did you do? Now we're going to need the Dragon Balls again!'" she joked, lowering her voice as she put a finger in Viral's face, "And then he'd probably be all 'Why didn't you stop him? What do you mean you were asleep!?' See, because this medicine is making me sleeeepy... So I'd be asleep! And you don't want me to fall asleep do you? So no killing yourself!" She reinforced her command with a prod to Viral's nose, trying to come across as stern as she could though she broke into a smile rather quickly. On the other side of the room the door was opened and a nurse and Viral's doctor entered, both of which gave Yumi a concerned look.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed..." the doctor spoke with a frown.

"Viral needed company so I'm giving him company!" Yumi answered, beaming as she again leaned in and tried to hug Viral. The nurse had mercifully stepped over and grabbed her beneath the arms to halt her, and in her drugged state she could do little other than squirm fitfully to try and escape. "Let me goooo! I want to sit with Viral!"

"M-Miss, you're supposed to be recovering! So please stop fighting me!" the nurse stammered, shrieking when Yumi began to float up towards the ceiling with use of her Ki. The doctor had to help pull her down and lead Yumi back to her bed, making sure she was down for good before leaving her in the care of the startled nurse. Perhaps they had given her a little too much pain medication, he'd make a mental note to reduce her dosage.

Standing at the foot of Viral's bed he took a chart and examined the details upon it studiously. They were recordings of Viral's vitals and his body since he'd been put in bed and medicine had been administered. Better already though there would be some time yet until he was back to full health. "Any improvements since you arrived Viral? Are the medications helping with the pain at all?" the doctor asked, walking around to the bedside and adjusting his glasses before leaning in and brandishing a small torch from his coat pocket. "What is hurting the most in particular?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Go easy on you? Where's the fun in that!" Takeshi teased, beaming as he rubbed his hands together in excitement, "We've gotta show all of these people how real fighters do things, you know?" Feeling the annoyed stare of Ricken on his back he turned to face the other boy with a smirk, folding his arms and cocking his eyebrow. "Unless one of you two are going to beat us, huh? I'd pay to see that happen, even though it won't."

"You don't know how badly I'd like to drive that smug face of yours into the dirt," Ricken growled before letting out a sigh, "But this isn't about just winning, its a show for the people to enjoy. We'll do our best to win but we're not treating it like a real battle, if we lose then we lose. If I do get to level your sorry hide in the process though then I'm fine with that."

If Takeshi and Ricken wanted to go at each other before a match even began then fine, Sasha wasn't going to waste her time keeping two children apart. Rolling her eyes as the two resumed bickering between themselves the announcer gracefully drowned them out with the announcement of the next match, one which none of them would participate in. Two rebels whose names she couldn't remember were going to be taking part in this one and it should be a decent match, their uniforms suggested they were both of decent rank. The crowd around them had seemingly already forgotten about Shu's match and his triumph over Thal as the announcer worked them up into another frenzy over the impending brawl. Seeing the match of little importance Sasha instead chose to talk to Shu and bring up something that was eating at her.

"How are you feeling? You doing okay? Not scared or stressed are you?" Aito had warned against fighting so early and Sasha understood Shu's hesitation plenty well but at the same time facing your fears could be therapeutic. Whether they continued in the tournament with Shu all depended on how he himself felt going into things. "You did a really good job in your match, I don't think anyone expected you to win so easily," Sasha added with a smile, folding her arms as she turned towards the stage to watch the match, "Did you notice how quiet things went? I think everyone was shocked you made it look so easy, Thal is a pretty big name around this city. So you winning like that probably got a lot of people's attention, other contestants too. I hope you're ready because we're going to only get tougher opponents as this goes on," she said before winking at Shu, "But I imagine you'll do just fine."

-----

"We are on Uuonoe though! See? Right outside is the city..." Oh wait a minute, outside the window was a large open lawn with scarcely any other buildings nearby. They were on Lioma still weren't they? Realizing her folly with a sheepish smile Yumi let out a laugh and shrugged, laying her head down on her arm as she rested on the edge of Viral's bed. "You're crazy if you think that. You beat the crap out of the Elites, and you're stronger than anyone else I know. You'd win if you competed, that's a fact!" It would be fun to watch too and even better if Viral got to smack Takeshi's fresh mouth once or twice. The only down side to that though was he would probably end up fighting Shu as well and she didn't want that in the least.

"Hey... You'd kick Takeshi's butt if you fought him right? I'd like to see that, he deserves a good butt kicking," Yumi continued, inching closer to Viral's bedside as she slid her chair forward. "I totally think you'd win! Then you could rub it in his face instead! And then Vegeta wouldn't have any reason to be such a big baby about everything." Thank goodness Vegeta or Aito weren't here right now or they'd be having a heart attack over how hurt Viral was. Though he'd long since become stable and should be recovering in no time thanks to his special healing powers. Yumi wouldn't mind those the way her arm and head were aching, though the medications she'd been put on certainly helped. There was a minor side effect to them however...

"Maybe we can be in the one on Earth sometime. I think that'd be fun, don't you?" Yumi posed as she grabbed Viral's paw, "Plus we could win that money and we could go on a trip somewhere, or we could... Oh..." Viral's paw was awfully soft in her hands, or perhaps she was just imagining things. Either way she lifted his paw higher and appeared to examine it studiously for a moment, turning it before smiling and ultimately pressing it to her cheek which she nuzzled against the limb. "That's soft... I like it," she giggled, falling forward onto Viral's bed and inadvertently onto his arm, "Oops... I fell down Viral..."

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

"Yeah well... There's a difference between that and how living people die. When a machine dies its battery dies, but you can replace it and its good as new. If a person's heart dies then you can't replace that. The heart is like our battery and you only get one, thats the difference, see?" Any more complicated than that and it would probably fly over Amuné's head entirely. Come to think of it why was he even trying to explain such a concept to a child in the first place? With an exasperated smile he moved as if to begin dismantling Cecil only to be stopped by Amuné's sharp demands of washing his hands. Letting out a laugh Norman conceded with a nod and found himself a sink, washing up before returning and showing off his now cleaned hands. "There we are nurse, ready to operate!"

They would need a handful of materials to properly repair Cecil, most of which was likely in the shop though some would need to be fetched from Mutebo's stores. Norman had scarcely finished the list before Amuné was out the door and heading goodness knows where, leaving several perplexed faces staring after her. Shaking his head he turned to one of the nearest engineers and sent them after her, assuming Amuné wouldn't even know where to begin looking for any of what he'd asked for. Once the aide was gone Norman got to work, meticulously dismantling the pieces he'd have to work on to get a closer look. Frayed wires aplenty which would need to be cut and then new wire would need to be soldered on and bound to retain the energy flow. Wires aside the internal integrity of Cecil was intact and the majority of the work would be cosmetic, repairing damaged shell and body structures to make him look whole again. Easy if not tedious, especially if they wanted to repaint and restore Cecil to pre-damage conditions.

Amuné's return had been awfully quick given all they needed to retrieve and it appeared he had the local engineer to thank for that. The pride in which the girl took for such a simple task was adorable and Norman couldn't help but smile as she presented him with the small cast of iron. "Well done Amuné, we should be okay to begin now. There's going to be a lot of heat and some molten metal, so if you're going to watch stand back. This shouldn't take me very long at all." Having already fetched himself a pair of smith's gloves and a face guard Norman went ahead and brought the iron to a small furnace in the shop, igniting the coals and setting the iron in a melting pot to reduce it to molten ore. Once that was prepared and melting away he returned to Cecil and lost the protection as wiring would be much more delicate work. First he used a pair of wire cutters to snip away at the damaged lengths and then he found a soldering gun, making sure to measure out the wire down to the millimeter for the repairs. Since the parts of Cecil being repaired did not have a shell it meant he could operate and put everything back all at once, only moving it wasn't ideal until there was something to hold it all in place.

---

"I was proving a point Kensen, don't you be giving me any lip now," Gage warned, spitting aside and turning briefly to watch Ethan and Nymira blast the serpent again to little effect, "They shouldn't need help killing this thing even if its a bit bigger than we thought. Done it before without you fancy spellcasters helping us, it should be a joke for them. Fact they ain't killed it yet doesn't exactly build confidence." How he hated Kensen sometimes, the little brat had been in their group perhaps less than any of Taliya's regular men and yet he got her ear, even over a long time member like Gage himself. Kid strutted around like a damned bird showing himself off and giving orders and he'd tear the Dimuran down a peg if he thought he wouldn't have Taliya on his ass in a heartbeat. Sighing to himself he reached into his coat pocket and took out a canteen, taking the cap off and chasing down his boredom with a healthy helping of the whiskey within. They were going to be here for a while weren't they?

"Stop just pushing it away! I can't hit it if you do that!" After watching the Rökorm be knocked off course by Ethan's wind yet again Nymira's patience was wearing thin. Wind did little more than to disrupt the beast and they needed her fire to actually harm it. Trying to make up for the mistake she took aim and unleashed another quick fireball only to curse when it missed and ignited a fallen tree instead.

"I can't do anything else, I'm just trying to help!" Ethan shouted back defensively, watching as the Rökorm easily evaded Nymira's magic. How in the world were they supposed to hit something so quick? Even if they got close it just turned to smoke, so what gives? Again it turned on them and its fins began to vibrate violently, a telltale sign by now for them to take cover. Both dove to the side as another compressed blast of air ripped through the area, throwing limbs and stone around violently in its wake. "Have any ideas?! Unless we just hit it til it dies!"

There was a solution to their problem and it was her magic. Ethan could only use gusts and that was obviously ineffective, they needed her flame to even injure it. Yet any time she attempted to strike it down it either dodged her attack of snuffed it out, they somehow had to catch it off guard. An idea finally occurred to her then and there may just be a way for Ethan to be of some use here. This was all dependent on just how much energy he had left and for how long he could maintain a spell but if it worked she had a good chance of causing some serious damage to the beast.

"Ethan! Distract it for me, use your speed magic!" Nymira demanded as she began to gather her magic into her palm. Swirling flames formed an orb and began to compress, the heat of the flame rising and taking on a white glow as before. "Don't let it near me!"

"R-Right! You got it!" So he was playing bait? Ethan didn't love the idea but he couldn't say it didn't sound like it might work. Smiling nervously he knocked his heels into the dirt and channeled his magic to his legs, making his body lighter and hovering just a few centimeters off the ground. To get the Rökorm's attention he picked up a rock and simply threw it at the beast's head, turning and wagging his rear at it tauntingly. With an infuriated howl the beast began to chase him down then, its body swelling to unleash another blast of air. With his speed magic Ethan was easily able to dodge the attack and dashed to the side, making sure the Rökorm was still giving chase before cutting back and teasing it again. If Nymira had something in mind he hoped it worked, otherwise this creature was going to kill him for this!

Ethan was quite effective as bait as it turned out but all of it would mean nothing if her attack didn't work. Eyes trained on the Rökorm she followed it as it darted about, her magic swelling until she finally cut off the flow. In her hand was a white ember whose heat alone could turn a many things into ash, potent enough to melt metal on the touch. Waiting for the perfect moment she watched as Ethan darted to the right and the Rökorm had to stop temporarily to pivot itself, and there was her chance. Cocking back her arm like she was to throw a ball Nymira launched her attack and guided it to the beast, letting it explode as it made contact and engulfing the creature in a white flame. There was a monstrous howl and before the flames had even faded there was visible purple blood seeping into the ground, the spell had clearly done some damage.

The Rökorm had been utterly blindsided by the spell and had sustained quite a bit of damage as a result. Not fatal much to the chagrin of those present but certainly crippled. In addition to having its side severely burned one of the fins on the back had been nearly torn off entirely, a bloody, quivering stub left in its wake. The damage had been done and the Rökorm went as far as to settle on the ground even, its body writhing furiously as it let out repeated screeches. There was hope that the beast might be permanently crippled, though any hopes were dashed when it slowly rose back into the air. Whats more it began to emit another howl now only this one was deeper and more guttural, wholly unlike anything it had made before. Just what was it doing?

"Ey kids... You've got company!" Gage shouted as he gestured to the wood line. Seemingly out of nowhere a pack of Vazra had burst forth from the woodwork, racing towards where the Rökorm was hovering. Their target? The two young Magi currently opposing it as nearly two dozen blood red eyes were trained on them, a chorus of infuriated howls signaling their approach. Readying his weapon Gage looked to Kensen once and slapped the Dimuran's arm before taking aim and firing his weapon. The link cut off two of the Vazra and caused them to trip and stumble. "Let the brats handle the snake while we get the mutts. Get yer ass in gear kid!"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Thal was confident that his speed was enough to connect this time, there was no way that Shu would be able to dodge. When his axe kick met only the floor of then he was stunned and barely able to follow the Saiyan child as he dashed to his side. He was so quick! The Uuonian had barely taken his heel from the stone when Shu was already countering with a kick that easily connected with his side, sending an already off-balance Thal tumbling yet again towards the edge of the arena. Trying to catch himself upright and stop his momentum Thal had just barely saved it and looked up to see where Shu was, his face dropping seeing the Saiyan boy racing in for yet another attack. Not able to dodge he threw up his arms and tried to block the kick, feeling the full force of the blow on his forearms as he was easily lifted off of his feet and thrown out of the ring as he collided with a barricade set up on the edge, collapsing into a few of the closer bystanders. Cheering all but died down when Thal was ejected in such a fashion and no one was sure what to make of it until Takeshi began to cheer above the silence, and Sasha quickly followed suit. A second later and the arena had erupted into cheers again, this time solely for Shu however.

"And that concludes our match folks! Your winner is Shu!" the announcer declared, beaming as he rejoined the young Saiyan on stage, "Well done Shu, go ahead and take a rest until round 2, you've earned it! We'll get the ring fixed up and start the next match shortly!"

Takeshi had a wild grin all over his face when Shu rejoined them in the waiting space and he nearly tackled his brother in excitement. Instead he rushed over and ruffled the younger boy's hair, laughing as he then patted his brother's back. "See? I knew you'd kick his ass, the guy never even touched ya!" he cheered proudly, looking over at Thal as he was helped up by a few ringside doctors, clearly in a daze as he stumbled about. Putting an arm around Shu's shoulders he walked with his brother back to Sasha and Ricken, looking mighty proud as he pointed to his sibling at his side. "How was that guys? The Uuonian didn't even stand a chance!"

"Gee, its almost like he was stuck fighting Saiyan royalty," Ricken replied sarcastically with a roll of the eyes, "No wonder he didn't stand a chance, no one with a brain expected Thal to win." Getting an elbow to the side he growled and shot Sasha a glare as he nursed the spot.

"Thal is still a very good fighter, you made it look easy beating him Shu. Nice job!" Sasha added in with a thumbs up, "But its only going to get harder as we go on, so don't get too comfortable. You might have to fight one of us in the later rounds still," she added, tossing Shu a playful wink, "And we're not going to be that easy to beat."

Back in the hospital plenty of people were tuning into the tournament as well, Yumi and Viral included. Not that there was much else to be doing anyways in such a stuffy place. Knowing their friends were taking part in it made viewing the whole ordeal a little more exciting. As Shu's match came to a rather quick and satisfying conclusion Yumi was out of her seat and clapping, an act which must have looked rather idiotic to Viral who was the only other person present. "It really reminds me a lot of those tournaments back on Earth, doesn't it?" she asked, beaming as she posed her question to Viral, "What do you think... Want to try and sneak down there? We could probably get out without one of the nurses noticing if you'd want to."