[1] Hunted in the Abandoned Town

[Friend or Foe]

Kazuya
Kokukashin
Ashe
Xena
Dimitri
Rose


Beaten up. Abused. Tied together and handcuffed. Blinded by a bag. The six people locked under the giant statue of an angel in the abandoned town had no idea what to expect. They had been kidnapped, locked up and now in the middle of nowhere.

There were guards everything. Two people were standing front in center. A female voice came out of nowhere. "Let them see," the woman said.

"I rather like them being covered, Rose," a man said with a rather feminine accent, "Most of them are rather ugly, all things considered. I don't want to have to see them."

"You'll be alright, Sebastian," the woman called Rose said.

The six faces all looked up from their bonds to see the two figures. A tall lanky figure with a pink bandana, along with a beautiful woman with red hair and a long crimson scarf going down as far as her long mane. "Hello contestants," the woman said. "My name is Ms. Rose. Welcome to our little game."

Nobody said anything.

"Good, glad to see you're listening," she said. "Here's how it'll happen. There is another group of six people here on this island. Kill them, and you'll all, invidiously, get 100,000 zeni. It's that simple. Do this, make a good TV show, and you get a lot of money. Good? Simple? Great." She turned to Sebastian and nodded. "Let's go."

Sebastian and grinned, his eyes twinkling as he looked at the six prisoners. "Your cuffs will unlock as we leave," he said. "Good luck, kiddies."

With that, he left the six there. Everyone piled into the jeep and drove off, leaving the six to figure out what they were doing.

"What do you think?" Sebastian asked Rose.

The woman shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We did our part. We'll leave them to the islands. Kai has set up plenty of traps. By the time they figure out it's all a lie...it'll be too late. We'll be getting ratings out the roof."

"Ratings, shmatings," the gay warrior shrugged, "As long as I get to kill something."




(Just roleplay whatever you want in the abandoned town. If you want to split up or go solo, you can. Group changes will be official after this round. Right now, it's you six, all with one bag each with minimal supplies.)

[Super Buu]

I can’t believe this shit! thought Rose, glaring as hard as she could at the woman parading around in front of her. First they beat the crap out of me, then they tie me up, and now they’re using my fucking name?! She would have been screaming her thoughts if they hadn’t gotten tired of it and gagged her. As it was, all she could do was silently fume.

Somewhere at the back of her head, a voice kept trying to say something like “Maybe if you’d listened to Master Dog and stayed at the dojo, you wouldn’t be in this situation.” But another voice was saying “I’M GOING TO KILL ALL THESE FUCKS,” and that voice was much louder and clearer.

Besides, she’d been locked away in the Illumis dimension for the first seventeen years of her life, dreaming about the outside world, about learning to fly. Her only glimpses of Earth had been in seeing-orbs and dreams. Stay in the dojo? Dog was fucking tripping.

But it had backfired. The sucker-punching assholes had come out of nowhere, and after beating her down they’d injected her with something. And when she came to, she was here. Arms handcuffed behind her, tied up against a statue – that of an angel, Rose noted bitterly. Maybe her mind was still foggy from the drug, but she could have sworn they’d said this was a reality TV show. If that was the case, if they’d actually, seriously done this to her for the sake of some basement-dwelling fat guy’s entertainment, then they were going to regret it.

“Your cuffs will unlock as you leave,” the high-voiced man was saying now. “Good luck, kiddies.”

As the jeep drove away from them, Rose heard a click. Shaking the handcuffs off, she reached her arms in front of her and pulled the gag out of her mouth. “You’re going to regret this, asshikes!” she bellowed. “Fucking cowards!”

She hastily pulled at the knots around her and after a lot of wriggling, managed to get loose. Her wrists were burning from the handcuffs, her body was aching from the beating, and her mind was still foggy after waking, but none of those mattered in the face of her rage. “I’ll get yooouuuu!” she roared, and a pink aura flared into life around her. “FLIGHT POWERS … ACTIVATE!”

With that, she kicked off the ground and rose into the air, arms stretched out in front of her. The girl’s eyes locked on the disappearing jeep in the distance, and then she shot forward.

Rose grinned as the air rushed past her. It had taken weeks, but under Master Dog’s training she’d finally achieved flight. Of course, there will still a few minor aspects she had yet to fully master. Such as, controlling speed, altitude, or direction.

Swerving erratically and trying distractedly to manage all three of those aspects at once, the girl smashed through a nearby shop window, tumbling into the shelves and knocking over the counters. For a moment she lay on the floor of the store, on the broken shelves, glass, and out-of-date food. Then she muttered, “God dammit.”

[Kokukashin]

Kokukashin's hand cuffs automatically released, as the man said they would. His wrists both instantly began to have a feeling of euphoria after being released, as the handcuffs had been so tight that Kokukashin was surprised he did not die of cut off circulation. He took his mouth gag out, and struggled to release his body from the rope he was tangled up in. His brain was still trying to understand why he was here, and what would happen.

Then, it all came rushing back to his mind. He had been running through the streets of South City when men dressed in black, SWAT team-like suits began to unload rounds of bullets on him. If those rounds were actually bullets, it would be much more likely that he would be dead now, so he assumed they were tranquilizing devices.

He watched as a girl with bubblegum-pink hair went crashing through a rustic shop window nearby. Once he finally pried the last rope off of his body, he got up from under the angel statue, and dashed towards the building to help the girl out.

As he was sprinting towards the dilapidated shoppe, the words of the women named Rose echoed through his head. 100,000 Zeni? That sounded a little too good to be true. He considered abandoning this odd scene...but that was near impossible. The ocean could be seen nearby, making it obvious that they were on an island. If Kokukashin started to fly, and he got tired in the middle of the ocean, the results could be devastating.

Once he arrived at the front door of the shop, he jiggled the door knob, only to find the door locked. He chambered his leg back before kicking in the flimsy, wooden door.

"Are you Okay?" He asked the girl, while reaching his hand out to help her.

[Celena]

Hours earlier

Zena headed up the last flight of stairs, which took her to her landing. Knowing Sage, she was probably wondering where she went and when she would be coming back. Zena opened her room door, but did not meet her sister there. Her black brows rose with curiosity. Something was not right. That was when she glanced under her sister’s bed to receive a big surprise. What her eyes found was a slender figure dressed in a black combat outfit with a black balaclava over their face. Before she had a chance to react with harsh words, from behind, an arm wrapped around her throat and then she heard the tap of a foot against her door, followed by a slam as the door closed. The unidentified person then quickly emerged from underneath the bed and pulled out a needle from one of their front pockets. A yellow liquid substance occupied the syringe. In Zena’s current predicament, it was not the right time to be guessing what the substance was. She was certain however, that it could not have been harmless.

Displaying her impressive athleticism, she grabbed onto the person behind hers biceps, which felt large and firm, and then she lifted her legs into the air, her right foot kicking the syringe out of the slender figure’s hands. From the curves and hump from within the chest area of her combat jacket, she had to be a female. A sharp elbow to the stomach delivered by Zena caused the man to break his chokehold. She dived forward, spearing the female, the force, driving the two onto Sage’s bed. There was a pop sound, indicating a broken spring on the mattress, due to the combined body weight of the forces landing onto it. The bed then sunk inwards as Zena wrapped her hands around the female’s neck. Where was Sage? Had someone…no, they could not have...

“Where’s my sister!” the empress roared, but ironically, the girl who wanted an answer, still had her hands wrapped around the female’s neck. The unidentified person, pushed her black, gloved hands against Zena’s face, trying to get the powerful saiyan princess off her, but the hybrid was relentless on her assault. Just then, Zena saw a flash of something white before it was pressed against her nose. She recognized the odour. It was definitely chloroform. She had even used it on someone before. Knowing the effects of this substance was even more reason to get the contaminated cloth away from her nose, but it was too late. Already weakened, the female was able to break free from Zena’s clutches, while the male continued to press the white cloth against her nose, while using his other hand to pin her against him. As the hybrid lifted her right arm in one last attempt to fight, it dropped back to her side like dead weight, and then she blacked out.

-------------

It had all led to this moment, cuffed, bag stuffed over their faces, and tied together like dead chickens in a butchers shop. Fuck this; she was not any piece of meat. She was more valuable than the brave fuckers who had the audacity to do this to her realised. A man and woman stood in front of the group. Were they the two who had kidnapped her? What did it matter? They had succeeded anyway. They wanted her to play a game by their rules, kill a group of six others and they would then receive 100,000 zeni each. As great as the money would be, it was the principle that concerned Zena. By firstly drugging her and then treating her in this animalistic manner, they had disrespected her more than anyone had ever done in her entire twenty years of existence. For that, somehow, after she figured out a way to free herself, the duo, the guards, the people who orchestrated this TV show, they would pay. Her saiyan pride would not allow her to accept the fat zeni prize. Rather, she would kill them all, none to spare.

Fucking cowards, she thought. They planned to leave with Zena still cuffed and only release them all once they were far from harms way. She did not want it to be that way. She was not the type to start a fight, but this was an exception. They had crossed the line. “FIGHT ME!” the young woman bellowed to them all, but they all ignored her and continued their leave. Tears of anger formed in the corners of her eyes, as she had to painfully, watch them escape in their vehicle. Her body began to tremble as she struggled to suppress her wrath, then finally, with a click, the cuffs fell off her hands and then she quickly removed herself from the others. After rising to her feet, she turned her body sideways and then slid her right foot forward across the concrete. She then extended her right arm towards the path the jeep had travelled. A bright light formed from within her palm and simultaneously, a pink haired girl went airborne. Zena only had one shot and missing her target would be unforgivable, however the bubble gum haired girl was an obstacle between her and her target.

“Get out of the way!” Zena roared. The girl turned her head back in mid air, gasping at the sight of shimmering ki. The raven-haired woman could not wait any longer. At this point, she could not care less if the girl was caught in the blast, as long as her beam met its intended target. With a mighty roar, she released the energy wave. Rose swerved to the side with a high-pitched yelp as it sailed past her. Unfortunately, the teenager could no longer control herself in the air and swayed about until she crashed into a shop window nearby, while Zena watched an explosion from afar. She crossed her arms with a grunt, unsatisfied, not convinced she had hit her target. It was entirely the pink haired girl’s fault for getting in the way. A man frowned at the empress as he ran past her, heading towards the girl who had crash-landed. With a softer grunt, Zena’s eyes returned to the smoke, which hoisted from the explosion.

Thank God you’re at home safe, Sage. As for me, I’ll be home soon.

[Kazuya]

The cuffs were like those kinds that criminals get when they’re under house arrest, complete with the obtrusive metal box that contained the chips and all that jazz that made it do its magic. Technology was an amazing thing, and she wondered where in the hell some of these people got their inspiration. Back in her day, you didn’t just bound and gag a prisoner, you simply killed them and got on with your day. Why then, had they been spared?

After the two strangers gave their parting instructions and left, Kazuya looked around at the other five that was bound with her, taking mental note of all their distinguishable features, the back of her mind processing it all the way down to race, personality and other small nuances. While some struggled against their bonds, the homely woman simply sat and waited. Five hundred years would teach a great deal about patience, and she simply shook her head at these young ones who fought so rabidly against their constraints.

Finally, hers clicked and fell away, and the seasoned warrior rose to her feet. Barefoot and wearing only her plain brown gi she wore to bed, she was reminded again of the dream, and all the warning signs she’d missed that would have perhaps kept her out of this mess. Why didn’t she wake up? Why didn’t she save herself?

Her eyes dropped to her chest, and heaved a long sigh. She hadn’t taken the bindings off her breasts, so they were still pressed flat against her body beneath the material of her garment. Her hand dipped into the inner pocket and removed a strap of fabric, pulling her hair back into a simple queue. Perhaps it was just habit now that made her do it, or instinct, but that lesson she’d learned so long ago was hardwired into her brain that made her automatically dissolve into her male alter-ego and protect herself from the ravages of the world. Perhaps it simply empowered her to be stronger than her sexual status gave her. Or maybe it was just that she wanted to hide her shame, hide the fact that someone had gotten the best of Kazuya Uzumaki.

Lifting her head to observe the rest of her group, she noticed with a frown that one or two had slipped away, leaving her with the remainder. She didn’t know names, and although she would have preferred being solo, she wasn’t too stupid to realize maybe having a few extra bodies piled up around her wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.

Crooking a half-smile, she straightened her back and looked each one over. “The name’s Uzumaki,” she introduced calmly. No first names, as is tradition with her Japanese heritage, family names were used with strangers, and only first names with friends and family. “And I don’t play games. If we’re going to survive, we’re going to have to keep our heads straight, which is why I’m electing myself as leader of this group. Stick with me, and I can guarantee we’ll live. Go off alone…well, you’ll just have to find out.”

“What makes you so sure you can keep us alive?” someone piped in, making no effort to disguise their disbelief.

“She said there’s another group of six out there we have to go hunt down and kill, right?”

“Right,” the collective nods murmured.

“If we stick together, our odds of coming out alive are a hell of a lot better than going it alone. I don’t even care about the $100 grand, I just want to make sure that my time on this planet isn’t cut short because one of you bakas decided to wander off.” Kazuya explained. A cool silence fell over the group, and she waited for them to respond.

[Kokukashin]

The small shop was pretty close to the angel statue, so Kokukashin wasn't too surprised when he heard his fellow prisoners wandering about. He decided the pink-haired girl wasn't hurt too bad, so he went to go and talk with the others.

As he was leaving the shop, he noticed a small, glass bulb above the door, which had a camera inside. The camera had the words "Kai Inc." inscribed onto it. If such a small, unimportant shop was being taped by the people who organized this sick survival game, then Kokukashin had no doubt that every inch of this town was covered with cameras. He was tempted to destroy the camera, which gazed at him like a curious animal, however, he didn't want to get on the bad side of whoever was running this show.

He left the shop to see the women who had shot the ki blast at the two who had supposedly captured everyone who was tied to the angel statue. Another figure was now present, and she was preaching to the group.

“If we stick together, our odds of coming out alive are a hell of a lot better than going it alone. I don’t even care about the $100 grand, I just want to make sure that my time on this planet isn’t cut short because one of you bakas decided to wander off.” the masculine women explained.

"I agree. We have no idea how powerful the other group is. If we break up, it will be too easy for them to take us out one-by-one." Kokukashin responded.

Although he had planned on continuing to argue about the politics of the group of prisoners, he noticed a paper had been pinned to the statue of the angel. As he approached the paper, he noticed a large "x" on it. It was obvious at this point that this must have been some sort of map.

As the masculine women continued to explain why she should be the leader, Kokukashin tore the paper of the statue.

"Look at this...." He said in a devious tone "It appears as though our friends from earlier have left us something to work with."

[Ashe]

Her head was throbbing as she tried to make sense of what was going on outside of the dark bag over her head. She heard a group of people talking about some event, and what scared her the most, these people sounded as if this event was some kind of fight to the death. It didn’t take long until she was suddenly hoisted from the vehicle and thrown to the ground. She grunted, and almost immediately after was blinded by the sun as someone ripped the bag from her head. “Ugh!” she exhaled, turning her head quickly to the side while closing her eyes, trying to adjust to the light.

“I rather like them being covered, Rose. Most of them are rather ugly, all things considered. I don’t want to have to see them,” one of them said. Ashe looked back and glared at him, not at all happy with her situation.

“You’ll be alright, Sebastian.” This came from a woman, who Ashe assumed was the lady Rose. Right after that, she confirmed this thought. “Welcome to our little game,” she said, smiling maliciously.

Ashe didn’t like the way either of these two looked. She looked at the ground, deciding that defiance was going to do nothing more than get her killed.

“Good, glad to see you’re listening.”

The woman went over in detail what the group of captives were expected to do. They had been captured for some form of snuff film game show, according to her, and the winner would receive 100,000 zeni. Ashe didn’t believe a word of it, and her heart froze over when she heard them say that she was going to have to kill someone.

“No no no…” she mouthed to herself, shaking from the thought. This wasn’t just some show for entertainment that they had been placed on. Somehow, she had been mixed up in some deadly game of assassins versus killers. She tried to cry out, to tell them that there had been a mistake, but it was useless. Her voice was lost somewhere in the vicinity of her windpipe, and nothing was said as her captors informed her that her cuffs would release her when they left.

Ashe spun around and glanced at the others in the group, hoping one of them would speak out against the team leaving. Maybe one of them was compassionate enough to not kill her the moment they were released. She felt as if they were eyeing her like some kind of free winnings, but to her surprise, they were focused entirely on the retreating vehicle.

The moment her cuffs snapped, another girl with short pink hair leapt up, throwing the cuffs to the ground. “You’re going to regret this, asshikes! Fucking cowards!” she screamed at their way. Directly behind her, another darker haired girl screamed “Fight me!” in unison.

Yep. She had been stranded on some island where even the other girls were psychotic killers itching to injure someone.

What surprised her the most, however, was the girl with pink hair like her own. She immediately screamed out something regarding flight powers, and suddenly blossomed into a fiery air of burning crimson, throwing the dirt around her in every direction. “What the…” Ashe managed, before the girl leapt into the air with a burst of energy, followed by immediately jetting in the direction of the jeep. Before flailing randomly into a window like a plane with only one wing.

Another man rushed towards the building she had gone into, and Ashe could only hope that he wasn’t hoping to capitalize on an easy kill while the girl was injured. Interestingly, the darker haired girl was holding out an arm and growling angrily as she too was burning with a fiery aura. Ashe didn’t know what to think of the situation.

Her grandfather had warned her of people with this kind of great power, but she had always assumed that it was limited to the people like himself that had trained for their entire lives in the mystic ways. These people seemed to be close to her own age, even. Was this the kind of power that he was hoping to teach her to harness?

A fifth among the group walked forward, looking in the direction of the others that had left. She seemed to be the most openly dangerous of them all. Whereas the others had portrayed some form of quick anger and emotional outburst, this woman currently seemed very composed, as if this form of massacre situation was commonplace.

“The name’s Uzumaki,” she announced to the remaining crowd. “And I don’t play games. If we’re going to survive, we’re going to have to keep our heads straight, which is why I’m electing myself as leader of this group. Stick with me, and I can guarantee we’ll live.” Screw that, Ashe thought. There was no way she was going to run around on this island with five cutthroat murderers surrounding her and using her as bait once they realized that she was just some kid. She would be better off slipping out when no one was looking and trying to hide until her grandfather could rescue her or someone realized a mistake had been made. “Go off alone…well, you’ll just have to find out.”

Crap.

“What makes you so sure you can keep us alive?” she asked without thinking, very doubtful of the situation.

The woman walked directly up to her and smirked. “She said there’s another group of six out there we have to hunt down and kill, right?” Ashe nodded quietly. “If we stick together, our odds of coming out alive are a hell of a lot better than going it alone. I don’t even care about the $100 grand, I just want to make sure that my time on this planet isn’t cut short because one of you bakas decided to wander off.” She stood back and crossed her arms, staring the remaining group down in a challenge.

Ashe looked down to the ground and pushed herself to her feet, avoiding the woman Uzumaki’s darkened gaze. Reaching her hand up, she touched her lip and realized that it was bleeding from her captors treating her poorly. She grimaced from the pain and walked past the woman without meeting her eyes. Her eyes barely registered the first man had returned and was speaking up into the woman’s conversation. She didn’t want to be around if he decided to call her authority into question.

Her feet trudged step for step forward in the town, leaving the remaining crowd in the back to discuss whatever it was assassins discussed. Perhaps they would decide on targets, she didn’t know. Turning her back to them was not the smartest thing, but she would have to blend in with the crowd for now and not look like some form of carrot on a stick. She didn’t know exactly what she’d need to do, and she knew that she was screwed if any of these people tried to use their magic powers on her, but she wasn’t entirely weak either. Her grandfather had taught her a bit on how to defend herself and had always told her that she had a great potential inside of her.

Of course, that was probably just his way of trying to guilt her into choosing a good college.

She heard a crash of noise inside of the building that her similarly haired group member had plummeted into. Had the dark haired man killed her before he returned to the group? Reaching the door, she slowed down and quietly walked inside to assess the situation. “Hello?” she called out softly, gathering her courage as she stepped carefully over fallen bricks. “Is anyone in here?”

[Sullivan]

Dimitri had been sleeping like a baby in his hotel room when the sound of cracking wood jolted him awake. Splinters rained down on his carpet like violent wooden hail, while a man stepped through his door. He was holding a gun with a strange syringe inserted into it.

"What's...eh?" Dimitri rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up in bed.

The man stared at him, holding up a photograph in his unarmed hand and scrutinizing. "...yeah, you're him. You're the kid from the incident downtown earlier."

He took aim with his gun, right at Dimitri's head, and fired off a round. The saiyan tumbled blindly out of the way and hit the floor from his elevated position. His weight threw him into a roll when he hit the floor, and it felt like he had hit his elbow at a strange angle. It was difficult to move. Still, he pushed himself up like a resilient soldier and made a bull rush for his attacker.

The man moved to side-step but was caught off guard by Dimitri's speed. The young saiyan got a grip on his collar while they struggled, and tugged at him. The man with the gun kicked at Dimitri's stomach fiercely, then bellowed out and fired another round.

A strange sensation filled Dimitri's body as a tranquilizing syringe sank into his neck. The feeling was warm...it started at his neck, cutting off feeling to his head, then trickled down like water droplets to the rest of his tingling body. His legs began to feel weak and powerless when the serum crashed through them, so his knees buckled. The saiyan fell to the ground in a helpless heap. His eyes drank in his assailant's shoes as they moved closer to his limp form.

"Fuckin' little twit," the man cursed in a rage.

He kicked Dimitri hard in the stomach, but the tranquilizer had numbed him. He was already falling asleep as he was scooped up and thrown hazardously over the man's shoulder.

---

When the saiyan came to, everything was dark. Sounds were all around him, particularly the sounds of people wriggling and two distinct sets of footsteps approaching.

"Let them see," said a voice that was decidedly female.

"I rather like them being covered, Rose," a man stated. His voice was thrown to a more feminine pitch. "Most of them are rather ugly, all things considered. I don't want to have to see them."

"You'll be alright, Sebastian," Rose said.

The bags were yanked suddenly from the prisoner's heads, and Dimitri looked around groggily. Sleep still plagued him...or perhaps the serum he had been drugged with. Or as a third option, maybe it was both. His head jerked drearily. Everyone around him seemed focused on the speakers, however, so Dimitri followed the herd and gave his attention to them.

The woman with red hair and a scarf spoke for awhile about a money offering for killing another group of people on the island. Dimitri barely registered the speech because of his drugs, up until the point of money coming into play. At that mention, he perked up and began evaluating those around him. Particularly the more dangerous looking ones.

"...It's that simple. Do this, make a good TV show, and you get a lot of money. Good? Simple? Great." Rose finished up, turned to Sebastion, and nodded. "Let's go."

As they departed in a jeep, a series of clicks sounded in unison. All of a sudden the handcuffs they were bound with fell to the ground and almost simultaneously, the prisoners began moving about like restless horses. Most of their attention was drawn as a pink haired girl surged forward in a display of aura and flying prowess - or what looked like prowess to start with. As she gained an altitude above a foot, the girl began to dip, bob, and weave dangerously until jolting suddenly to the side and crashing through a store window. One member of the group ran after her in concern, while the others gawked.

Then, what was apparently a woman, though indistinctly dressed, began to address them. Dimitri was off-put by the fact that, when he went to stare at her chest, she had no eye-candy to speak of. No prizes for him to seek. As unabashed as he was, such a thing threw Dimitri off his game. While she talked, he mulled this feature over in his mind, speculating why he was now sitting here and playing this game, and what he would do next.

A male voice drew Dimi's attention again. "I agree. We have no idea how powerful the other group is. If we break up, it will be too easy for them to take us out one-by-one."

"Stick together in a group?" Dimitri's response was worded as though he had been listening the whole time. "I'm game."

The others nervously looked at one another, while another pink haired girl moved away from the group entirely, towards the shop the other woman had crashed through. Something reeled backwards in Dimitri's mind and he suddenly could think exclusively of the flying pink haired woman's face.

First, he pictured it in a magazine. Nothing clicked. Then another image of her jumping through a shattered window at an ice cream shop popped into his head and he remembered. She was the girl from the skirmish with Marius and that annoying half-saiyan! She had been the jackass calling them out!

Dimitri clasped his heads behind his head, stretched, and looked at the others collectively before addressing them broadly. "What should we do now, then? Go after the other group or stay here? I bet we could rig this whole area before they get to us! They would step into our traps and wouldn't know what hit them! It would be awesome, and we could make ourselves some dough."

He grinned, while his eyes flashed deviously. The saiyan in him wanted blood and battle and didn't care if he was being used.

[Super Buu]

At least it’s not as bad as that time in South City … Rose thought. Her body hurt all over. But she was still conscious, and nothing seemed to be broken. She guessed she had her father’s blood to thank for that, in part. And luckily she wasn’t that fast a flyer yet.

“Hello?” came a soft voice from the doorway of the abandoned store. “Is anyone in here?”

The young woman tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak cough. She heard the sound of footsteps and crunching glass, and looked up; another girl was approaching. She had a similar shade of pink hair – though Rose suspected it was dyed, unlike her own – and seemed to be about the same age.

“Are you alright?” came the concerned voice of the other woman. “Here.”

Rose took the other girl’s outstretched hand with gratitude, climbing to her feet with a pained grunt. Shaking off the broken glass, she muttered, “Thanks.”

“That was a nasty … um … crash,” said the other woman, who seemed even more overwhelmed than Rose by the situation. “You don’t look so good.”

She didn’t feel so good either. The adrenaline rush was starting to wear off, and now her brain was screaming for her to pay attention to her injuries. She ran a hand through her messed-up hair and winced as her fingers touched a nasty bump. The elbows of her orange hoody and the knees on her jeans had been ripped open, leaving grazed and bloody skin underneath. And all over, she could feel bruises starting to swell up. But still ….

“That was so awesome! Did you see that? Man!” Rose laughed.

“Um, yeah.” The other girl laughed nervously. “To be honest, I was a little taken aback. My grandfather told me things like that were possible, but … knowing it exists and actually seeing it are two different things, you know?”

Rose nodded. “No, I getcha.” She doubted the girl would believe her if she said that, just a few weeks ago, she’d never seen a ki blast in her life. “It’s crazy. My teacher Dog-Sensei says everyone has ki, you just don’t know it’s there until you learn to feel it.”

Ashe glanced back at the doorway. “That other girl was using it too.”

“Oh yeah!” Rose gasped suddenly as she recalled it. “That crazy bitch! She nearly shot me down!”

Noticing that the other woman had taken a step back, Rose relaxed. The last thing she wanted to do was make the girl scared of her. So far on Earth, Rose had met aliens, psychopathic murderers, and a martial arts dog – but truth be told, she just wanted to meet some people her age. Normal teenagers, the kind she’d dreamed about meeting when she was back in the Illumis dimension. To that end, perhaps constantly flaunting her new powers was a bad idea.

“Uh … I’m Rose!” she blurted out. “Nice to meet you! Though I suppose it’s not the nicest place to meet,” she added awkwardly.

“Ashe.” She paused. “Maybe we should get back to the group.”

“Right.” Rose nodded. She stopped for a moment to look around at the room and survey the destruction she’d caused, and then followed the other girl out into the street, where the rest of the ‘competitors’ had been tied up. Aside from the two teenage girls, there were three men, who escaped her attention at the moment, and the woman who’d thrown the ki blast.

As they strode over to the group, Rose shouted. “Hey! What were trying to do back there, kill me?!”

The raven-haired woman turned and shot a glare back. “I could have taken then down if you’d have stayed out of the way. Thanks to you, they escaped.”

“It’s not my fault!” retorted the younger woman. “You threw me off balance! And some kind of weird gravity field kicked in when I went too far!”

“Oh right.” The older woman rolled her eyes. “What amateur excuses. Next time, just stay out of the way, otherwise you’ll have much more than grazed elbows.” She glanced contemptuously down at the pink-haired girl’s tattered appearance.

“That’s enough arguing!” barked one of the group, a black-haired man who was dressed like a samurai warrior, with his hair tied back in a queue. “We need to search these buildings and see if there’s anything of use to defend ourselves against the other group.”

Rose narrowed her eyes. “Why should we listen to the orders of some cosplaying geek?”

The warrior growled. “Because your plans obviously aren’t working,” he said, pointing to the broken window of the abandoned store.

“That wasn’t my fault!” The girl threw her arms up in exasperation. Glancing to the last two members of the group and wondering if the selection could get any worse, she saw something which made her gasp – the same kid she’d seen a while back, the one who’d been helping that psycho in South City. What the hell had happened that day? One minute, she was fighting the freak, the next minute, she’d woken up in a hospital. It was all a blur, and it had reminded her that fighting before having done any training was probably a bad idea. Things’ll be different this time … she thought to herself.

The town they were in looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. It was strange. Why would so many people just up and … leave? Everything was still here, except for the people. The blackened, moldy remains of bread in storefronts, rusted machinery, baubles and trinkets. Why didn’t they take anything with them?

The man who looked like a scientist was speaking now. “I found some bags,” he was saying. “Next to the map.”

Rose approached eagerly with the others, snatching up one of the satchels and pulling it open. There was a compass, another map, and a stick of bread. The last of these she made to stuff into her mouth whole, before it was plucked out of her hands by the samurai cosplayer. “Hey!” she protested. “I’m hungry!”

“You don’t know how long we’re going to be spending here. I’d ration it if I were you.”

The young woman grumbled and wrapped the bread back up in its plastic film. No food? That was one more thing they were going to pay for.

[Ashe]

She hadn’t actually wanted to return to the group. The thought had just escaped her lips when she was getting an odd itch that something was wrong in the group. Lately, she had been getting these feelings that things were right…

Her mind couldn’t help but wander back to the attack from that robot when she was was just trying to get that package. She still hadn’t figured out how she’d tripped the alarm, but even still, when did that warehouse get a robot to watch the place and when did they set phasers to kill?

Suddenly she realized that she was the only left in the room.

“Hey! What were you trying to do back there, kill me?!” the girl known as Rose asked the darker haired girl as Ashe caught back up to her. Ashe froze for a moment, remembering that the woman that had captured them had also gone by the name of Rose. She’d have to make sure to ask this girl about it. Could it have been her mom? Is that why she was part of this group?

What kind of people would have a mother attempt to kill their own daughter?

Unless this girl was a spy of some kind. Ashe didn’t like either option.

The other darker haired girl that she would soon learn was named Zena was yelling back at Rose just as fiercely as the other pink haired girl. After a moment, the woman from earlier interrupted the group and attempted to take charge once more. Rose quickly snapped at the woman. “Why should we listen to the orders of some cosplaying geek?”

Ashe covered her mouth quickly to hide her laugh. Rose was going to get her killed, one way or another, it seemed. At least her feeling danger had passed.

“Because your plans obviously aren’t working!”

“That wasn’t my fault!” Rose exclaimed, throwing her arms out in frustration.

Ashe sighed and decided to let them fight it out. So far, none of them had really seemed to care about her presence, so she picked up her bag and trudged around the corner of the nearest building to try to find some peace. Her left hand gingerly found its way into the pocket of her hooded jacket and her eyes darkened as she realized her phone wasn’t with her now.

She hadn’t really expected it to be, its just that it was her way of dealing with things sometimes.

Her stomach growled and she swung her bag around in front of her and looked down into it. “Oh bull!” she grimaced, realizing that the bag was practically empty. Her hand rummaged around in the dark recesses of the pack to find nothing more than a couple of location finding items and some stale looking bread. She started to close the bag up when her stomach knotted up again. Her eyes squeezed tight from the hunger pains for a moment before she threw a piece of bread into her mouth without looking.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that bad. It was a lot lighter than she had assumed and seemed to hold a fresh texture that was oddly soothing to her stomach. Of course, one further growl made her rethink that opinion. Even still, she’d need to save some of it. She took a deep breath and swallowed her other bite before excruciatingly dropping the bread back into the bag.

What was she even doing here?

The thought kept crossing her mind, and she still hadn’t had any answers yet. Her actual abduction was completely jumbled up in her mind and her attempt to hold a discussion with Rose had proven the girl too impulsive to really be able to talk much with.

Thankfully, the sun was still high in the sky so she assumed the odds of someone sneaking up on them were a lot lower. She couldn’t help but think back to what their captors had said.

Was someone really trying to kill them? And worse… Were they really supposed to kill the other group?

[Celena]

Zena gazed at the angel statue near the small shop, which had had its window destroyed by a clumsy teenage girl. She could have sworn the last time she looked at the statue, which had bound the six together, that it was in immaculate condition. Now, she noticed a long slit under the angel’s left eye. It was as if the spiritual statue had shed a tear. A Cold feeling suddenly entered the young woman’s frame, managing to give her goosebumps. There was only one thing that could drive the feeling of fear into her and that was her sister’s welfare. This was definitely a bad omen, she could feel it in her bones now. Yet, she painfully shook her head in denial while closing her eyes. She struggled to believe that her twin could be in danger, not when she was not around to protect her.

Sage’s safe at home, she convinced herself once more. Zena had to be strong, not only for her self, but also for her sister. After the dreadful past her sibling had experienced, only good things were in store for her, like for instance, Sage’s career as a nurse. She would continue to have good fortune; Zena would make sure of it.

Someone who the adolescent had not paid any attention to opened his mouth for the first time, introducing himself. “My name’s Uzumaki,” he spoke, in a young tone, which suggested he was a teenager, although he looked much older. The calm individual, who was dressed in an unfashionable brown gi only fit for wearing to bed, was not finished. “And I don’t play games.” A sassy one, thought Zena, who nevertheless allowed him to continue. “If we’re going to survive, we’re going to have to keep our heads straight, which is why I’m electing myself as leader of this group. Stick with me, and I can guarantee we’ll live. Go off alone…well, you’ll just have to find out.”

“HehahahahaHAHA!” Zena laughed while gazing at the broken window from the shop ahead. It was her first dose of amusement since the beginning of the ordeal. A jet-black haired pretty boy had the cheek to appoint himself the leader of the group.

“What’s funny?” wondered Uzumaki.

“What makes you think you can keep us alive?” another girl spoke for the first time, before Zena had a chance to reply the young man. This girl was full of youth and she was beautiful, not as beautiful as Zena, but more curvaceous. She also sported pink hair. It made the princess wonder what was so special about dying your hair pink. Pink was too much of a cliché for girls and she hated clichés.

Zena was just as anxious as the others in the group to hear Uzumaki’s reply, which was, “she said there’s another group of six out there we have to hunt down and kill, right? If we stick together, our odds of coming out alive are a hell of a lot better than going it alone. I don’t even care about the $100 grand, I just want to make sure that my time on this planet isn’t cut short because one of you bakas decided to wander off.” He gazed at Zena especially once he had finished, as if he had predicted that she would be the one to rebel against his idea.

If one thing was certain, it was the fact that Uzumaki’s words had not cut it in her opinion. She was about to challenge him, when again another interruption occurred, a familiar voice booming at her from behind. “Hey! What were trying to do back there, kill me?!”

The dark haired woman could not help but glare at her. “I could have taken them down if you’d have stayed out of the way. However, thanks to dear you, they escaped.” Rose felt the need to justify her case, but to Zena, they were nothing but excuses.

“That’s enough arguing!” barked Uzumaki “We need to search these buildings and see if there’s anything of use to defend ourselves against the other group.”

“Listen Uzumaki,” said Zena, with her index finger aimed towards him. “A woman of my stature does not take orders from the likes of you.”

“Does that mean you’re set to wonder off on your own?”

“Neither am I a fool. I am a seasoned warrior with a lot of battle experience.” Although Xena was not, Zasha was, so it was a half-true statement. “I’ve defeated warriors strong enough to snap you like a twig. Even if I wanted to take orders from you, I couldn’t. I’m a descendant of a royal bloodline. Where I come from, I give orders and take none.”

“What royal bloodline?” another youth asked. The boy’s dark, spiky bushy hair was typical of a saiyan’s. She took note of an older male with dark hair, whose features resembled that of a full-blooded saiyan. Therefore, at least Zena was not the only one of her kind amongst the group. It made her feel at home. In a way, they were part of her family, since it was common for those on planet vegeta, who call themselves brothers and sisters, even though they were not blood related.

“The saiya-jin bloodline, as I’m sure some of you here are familiar with.”

“You’re a princess?”

“Yes my brother,” Zena sighed. The word ‘princess’ sounded feeble, but nevertheless, that was her rightful title.

“So you think you’re better than everyone?” asked Rose.

“That’s beside the point right now hon,” replied the young monarch, purposely avoiding the question, which she already knew the answer to. She turned her attention to the dark haired man, who had his hair tied back in a ponytail. “I do not feel comfortable with the six of us going out in the open to confront the other group. It’s too upfront. As the leader of this group, I propose we form two teams of three each. A main team and a backup team with the purpose of concealing themselves and be ready to ambush the other group, once the main team encounters them. We saiyan's will form the main team. Since we're the strongest warriors the universe, in the worst case scenario we can hold off the other six, even destroy them before you Uzumaki, and the pink haired girls show up to suprise them. Is there any questions?"

[Kazuya]

Already, the centuries old woman could tell there was going to be some kind ego clash. She despised how the girl pointed out her position, and even worse, was arrogant enough to supersede her direct command. Such petty titles held no water for her, outside those of her own government she’d come to know over the years.

“… As the leader of this group, I propose we form two teams of three each. A main team and a backup team with the purpose of concealing themselves and be ready to ambush the other group, once the main team encounters them. We saiyans will form the main team.” She flourished her long, slender arms around to the few other alien creatures, encompassing them in a virtual embrace. “Since we're the strongest warriors in the universe, in the worst case scenario we can hold off the other six, even destroy them before you, Uzumaki, and the pink haired girls show up to suprise them. Is there any questions?"

Kazuya crooked a contemptuous brow at the child-woman, her eyes glaring like two heated coals deep in her face while her arms folded over her chest. Her fingers thrummed over her arm at a blazing pace, all the while her mind spun with the oh, so many things she wanted to say.

“That’s rather arrogant of you,” she balked, her gaze never leaving the Saiyan girl. “Strongest in the universe?”

Zena looked up as if she’d been given the deepest insult, but Kazuya didn’t care. “I’ve seen your kind, a bunch of smelly, arrogant beasts, unfit for society. And strength? You severely underestimate me, little girl. Don’t let my tiny frame fool you, there’s a lot to me that you don’t know.”

“Address me by my proper title, Uzumaki;” Zena fumed, her body stiffening in anger. The others that had been gathered in a loose circle around the two began to back up, but the hunger in a few of their eyes couldn’t be hidden, lapping at their dark irises like starving dogs. “I have no care to know you, you are beneath me.”

She couldn’t stop herself: Kazuya simply snapped. Suddenly, a small dagger made its way into her hands and thrust against the pale line of the young Saiyan’s neck, while her body was locked against her back, the other arm pinning Zena’s arm at the small of her waist. “Your titles are basically shit to me, you hear? Shit. I have seen more moons than you will ever see in your lifetime, or your children’s, or theirs. Your kind may be strong, but they are stupid little pissants-“ She accentuated with a slight jab of the dagger against her flesh, a satisfied smirk irking at the corners of her mouth at the girl’s surprised intake of air. Kaz leaned in closer to her ear, voice dropping a few octaves. Her eyes took in the slight orange glow against the girl’s cheek, and knew exactly what was happening. “I could kill you now, make you an example. Then perhaps I can rend your flesh from those tiny, scrumptious little bones; maybe I should just keep you alive for that part.”

“Sick!” Zena hissed, inching her neck away from the sharp, pointed blade that pressed ever closer to vital arteries. “Sick man!”

Chuckling deep within her throat, Kazuya thrust her body against the back of the Saiyan, laughing as she struggled against the front of her body. “Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what I think is wrong with that plan. Let’s start with you.” Withdrawing the blade just a little from her neck, Kazuya’s body relaxed against the back of the young woman, just enough to gather the other four within her line of sight a little more comfortably. “Leading is not for children, in society, it is reserved for the more seasoned, disciplined members. That would be none other than yours truly, Zena.” She said her name as if it had a tartness to it, face squinching just at the sides sourly.

It took a few minutes, but Zena regained her composure. She was a Saiyan princess, after all, and shouldn’t show fear. Not entirely becoming of her station. She was made of stronger shit than this. “I’ll take my Saiyans, and you take the rest,” she stated once more; Kazuya didn’t have to point it out, but she heard it in the tone, still so arrogant.

“I’ll take one Saiyan, I’ll even let them choose, and then I’ll take whatever’s left. We’ll be prepared for whatever comes our way a little better. You see the logic, yet, Zena?”

“Why you gotta pick on the girl like that for, is that necessary?” an unnamed contestant spoke up, but didn’t bother to step forward and actually do something.

Kazuya eyed the interloper for a few moments, his face filling her vision, branding itself into her memory before flinging the Saiyan away from her body, then sheathing her small weapon in a hidden strap within her gi. “Then it’s agreed, I’ll take half, and you’ll take half, we scout the area, then meet back here with reports of our findings. Let’s try not to stay out too much after dawn, as daylight will most assuredly only make us bigger targets. Are we clear?”

[Kokukashin]

Kokukashin's ears perked up a little bit whenever he overheard Zena conversing.

“The saiya-jin bloodline, as I’m sure some of you here are familiar with.” she muttered to the younger saiyan in the group.

“You’re a princess?” the boyish Saiyan asked.

“Yes my brother..."

The group continued to chat after this point, but Kokukashin would have no part in it. The pieces of the puzzle had clicked in his head. 30 years ago, when the he had still resided on Vegeta, he had heard about Princess Zena.

Despite the evidence, Kokukashin desperately tried to deny that this woman could actually be a Saiyan Princess. He let his eyes roll over her body until he spotted her brown, bushy tail.

The aged Saiyan's ears tuned back into the conversation due to somebody cursing. The dike had latched herself to Princess Zena, and had brought a small blade to her throat.

"Your titles are basically shit to me, you hear? Shit. I have seen more moons than you will ever see in your lifetime, or your children’s, or theirs. Your kind may be strong, but they are stupid little pissants-"

Kokukashin was tempted to help the young empress, but he was afraid that Uzumaki would release her wrath if he did so. Despite his growing rage towards Uzumaki and her slanders, he gradually edged back, showing that he had no interest in elevating the fight, at least for now.

“Leading is not for children, in society, it is reserved for the more seasoned, disciplined members. That would be none other than yours truly, Zena.”

A bead of sweat slid down the scientist's pale cheek, due to either the blazing heat of the sun, or the growing tension of the situation. He continued to filter out the conversation, hearing only what he wanted to hear.

“Then it’s agreed, I’ll take half, and you’ll take half, we scout the area, then meet back here with reports of our findings. Let’s try not to stay out too much after dawn, as daylight will most assuredly only make us bigger targets. Are we clear?” Uzumaki explained, still holding the knife to Zena's throat.

At the moment, the Saiyan exile had decided he had had enough. He ripped his black-blade katana sword from it's sheathe. The blade was almost five feet tall, which was only a foot shorter than Kokukashin himself. Despite this, he tore the blade through the air, until the tip was touching the side of Uzumaki's head. The masculine woman had almost no defense, as her arms were still rapped around Zena.

"Listen here bitch" Kokukashin hissed "If you insult Princess Zena, you insult all Saiyans. To me, you are just like our six enemies. I would watch my back if I were you."

He subconsciously pushed the blade closer to her, yet he did not penetrate her skull. Princess Zena gave him a slight nod, signaling that he needed to put his weapon up. With that, he slid his sword back into it's resting place, pivoting his head towards the rest of the group.

"For all we know, the other six could already be approaching this town. We don't have anymore time to waste with pointless quarrels..."

[Sullivan]

"You guys just carry knives and shit around with you all the time?" Dimitri asked, looking at the tense captives with a raised brow.

There was an awkward silence filled with glares and murmurings for awhile afterward. The six members of the group all remained in the same general area as one another but there was an obvious division, with those of saiyan heritage standing nearer to one another, while the two pink haired girls and Uzumaki stood apart from their saiyan opposites. The tension was palpable and to say the least, unpleasant for most of the half-dozen. Dimitri however remained largely unaffected and tossed a pebble up and down to himself from a sitting position on the dirty ground, near Zena and Kokukashin. Both of them watched him idly.

"Princess Zena," Kokukashin addressed his princess by name from what seemed to be memory of lore native to Vegeta. "That one could pose a problem. That Uzumaki. Who does she think she is, anyway? She's no better than our race...and she'll soon learn her place - at our feet."

Zena shrugged with an air of subtle narcissism at the new found loyalties. Speaking with even more confidence before, she said to him, "We need not worry about him for now. We can handle ourselves. All three of us," she looked Dimitri who was gazing dreamily into the sky but snapped back to reality at the sudden change of voice tone.

"Right!" Dimi replied. "But something here doesn't add up to me. If there's another group about our size...and we're split in two...doesn't that mean they've got an advantage over us? I mean, I'm no good at math or anything, but six is bigger than three...and I probably only count as like two. Whatever that equals out to be, there's still more enemies here than there our friends, I think."

"Well, we've got an uphill battle, then," said Zena. "We've just got to play to our advantages. Our heritage gives us an obvious upperhand in combat, and as long as you've got me to lead you, we've got tactics on our side too. You two can follow orders, I'm sure?"

Dimitri shrugged. "What kind of orders? Like food orders? 'Cause I can't cook."

Silence.

"Are you serious?" the other saiyan asked.

Dimi shrugged him off and continued tossing his pebble up to himself. But in the meantime, the other group seemed to be getting antsy for some closure on what they had planned. Ashe, who seemed unsure about the entire scenario she had been thrown unceremoniously into, was evaluating those around her with a subtle mistrust. It was like she was scouring their eyes for the slightest deviant gleam.

Rose, on the other hand, was perhaps as uninterested in power struggles as Dimitri was. She, like him, seemed to want nothing more than to take action and was visibly jittery from the lack of headway they were experiencing.

And then there was Uzumaki, the picture of dignity, standing with his head held high and looking over the others with a condescending air. Dimitri was reminded of his comment about seeing many more moons pass than any of them, and wondered to himself what made the man so sure of himself when he was no better off here than the rest of them. After all, they had been given little to go off of at best and none of them could do better than speculate about whether or not they had been lied to.

And even if they hadn't been lied to...

What now?

It seemed some of the six wanted to hunt while others still wanted to fall back into a sneaky defense. Then there was Ashe who seemed to want nothing to do with anything going on at all! And even if action were to be taken soon, Dimitri was doubtful that the group was going to hold up. Even he could see that a rift was happening. He felt closest to Zena and the strange man who waved his sword around at Uzumaki earlier from kinship but was unsure of how strong a tie that would be when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

While these things plagued him, the others were just as introverted.

It was, of course, to be expected. Strange territory this was, for all of them, and adapting would take a little while. And still, all the captives had yet to decide who they could trust...who was on their side...or what that side even was.

[Celena]

When you have two opinionated people who share different believes, and place them in the same discussion, they are bound to clash. Both Uzumaki and Zena were two people who could not co-exist with one another. The raven-haired girl knew that, which was the main reason she had suggested they form two groups. Inaccurately judging the hybrid was something she dismissed often, but it was another thing when you insulted her race. That was something she had refused to let go, especially since it had come out of the fowl mouth of a human commoner. One thing the group had learned to discover was that Uzumaki’s cool demeanour was all a front. It had only taken a mild dose of verbal abuse to set him off, literally threatening the saiyan princess with a knife. While some had watched in horror, others had watched in delight. The joy on his face while he had had his blade pressed against the royal hybrid, took even her by surprise. It revealed that there was more to the man than meets the eye. They say that there is a level of insanity in everyone. Uzumaki had not been shy to expose his.

Zena moaned as the weight of the slim man pressed against her back, while her face rested against the concrete of the abandoned town. He was making a big mistake treating her in this manner. He was too foolish to realise that. “Now that I have your attention,” he said. “Let me tell you what I think is wrong with that plan. Let’s start with you.” It was after that sentence that Zena felt the man’s blade withdraw from against her neck. She grunted but he took no notice. “Leading is not for children, in society, it is reserved for the more seasoned, disciplined members. That would be none other than yours truly, Zena.”

The royal saiyaness was fuming on the inside, impressively maintaining her composure, while she remarkably reasoned with Uzumaki regarding the plans for the group. Once they had sorted it out, the small man wiped a dab of blood off the tip of his blade, which had emerged while she had pressed it against the girl’s neck. He then sheathed his weapon back into a strap on his brown gi. Next, he tossed the young woman like a rag doll. She rolled across the floor, a couple of meters away from him. Despite that happening, she was in good condition. Without uttering a word, she picked herself off the ground, on one knee while she dusted herself off.

Zena’s head rose up, almost as quickly as a viper’s strike, after hearing the unmistakable sound of a sword unsheathing. Her mouth fell open in awe at the sight of an impressive weapon, so shiny, almost as tall as its owner. She had never seen a sword as large before. The male saiyan shot a glare at Uzumaki and edged his weapon towards her. "Listen here bitch, if you insult Princess Zena, you insult all Saiyans. To me, you are just like our six enemies. I would watch my back if I were you," said the saiyan to the smaller man.

“I admire your devotion, but please, withdraw your weapon,” she said to him. Never had Zena come across as humble as this before. The fact that a fellow warrior from her home territory was willing to fight for her, made her feel even more like a princess. It made her remember how proud she was of herself and her people. The male saiyan known as Kokukashin obeyed her command and put his weapon back into its container. For a moment, she developed a rare feeling, warmth, but the tender feeling soon vanished as she fixed her brown eyes on Uzumaki. “You should have killed me when you had the chance, you gutless man. I will not make the same mistake.” A ferocious look appeared on her face. “I’m not angry that you raised a weapon to me. I’m pissed off because you didn’t kill me!” she finished, walking quickly towards him.

“Allow me to rectify me mistake,” said the man, his hand advancing towards his strap, where his sharp weapon was, but before he got the chance to, the princess disappeared from sight, startling everyone. She reappeared in front of the man with her fist buried deep in his gut. Veins appeared in his eyes as they bulged out of their socket. A squeal of agony, along with saliva, escaped his mouth. Payback was a bitch and Uzumaki soon realised that as Zena threw her fist upwards, connecting to his chin with a click, sending him back first to the ground.

“You pathetic excuse for a man,” said the female hybrid, rubbing her shoe against his pretty face, staining it with dirt from the bottom of soul. She almost gasped, as his hands clutched her ankle aggressively, with the intention of vengeance. She forcefully yanked it free and then hopped backwards a little. “I’d prefer if you withdrew your weapon,” she said, as the man rolled onto his front with a moan. “It’ll give you more of a chance,” she laughed. “I don’t need a weapon. I’ll use my bare hands to send you into the afterlife.”

[Ashe]

It had somehow turned into a deadly game of Saiyan versus non-Saiyan. Ashe had her back to a wall as she watched Uzamaki and Zena quarrel, followed by another Saiyan who’s name she couldn’t remember intervening. Shortly after that, Zena stepped between them and the two were fighting once more. The third Saiyan, Dimitri, had tried to calm the struggle but it hadn’t seemed to work.

Ashe leaned to the side and caught herself scanning Rose’s backside for any sign of the Saiyan trait of a tail. She was getting the feeling that all Saiyans were nothing more than blood thirsty beserkers and she had already seen the impulsiveness of the other pink haired girl. “Ahem?” she heard, bringing her eyes up to see Rose staring directly at her.

Ashe turned a bit red and then coughed. “I’m not checking you out or anything, if that’s what you are thinking,” she rambled. Rose’s eyes widened as if she didn’t know whether to be insulted or comforted, so Ashe followed in quickly. “I was seeing if you had a tail. You aren’t a… Saiyan, are you?” she asked, cutting to the chase.

The other girl gave a laugh and glanced back at the quarreling foursome. “Not exactly. Why do you ask?”

She didn’t really have an answer regarding it, so she just shrugged. “Was curious is all.” She finally looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was slowly hiding behind the clouds. “There are six others on this planet that are out to kill us, and here we are trying to kill each other ourselves, it would seem. And the others haven’t even been seen yet.” She pointed at the sky and then covered her eyes to stare into the clouds a bit. “I haven’t felt anything other than a sense of danger from this statue,” she grumbled, glancing back towards it.

“So?”

“Do you think there’s a camera inside of that statue? Or worse, what if there’s something else in that statue, like alive or something. I don’t know, maybe I’m just being paranoid, but something is bothering me. Could be a bomb or even a giant robot for all I know at this point.”

“I hope so. That would be awesome! I’d kill for some fun right now.”

Ashe laughed, surprisingly. “I don’t really know if I’m up for killing for fun, but nice wording there. As unintentional as it was. But yeah, I don’t get it. Are we sure that they weren’t just jerking us around so that we’d end up killing each other? Those guys are about as out for blood as I’ve seen, and I haven’t seen anyone else even approach this town. I’m pretty sure the place is abandoned anyways.”

[Friend or Foe]

Everybody in this group advances to Round 2. However, nobody in this group received a bonus. Congratulations.