[00] Hotel

[DA 2009]

A luxurious five-star hotel, complete with swimming pool, spa, casino, and bar. A diverse and enthusiastic escort service is also on hand.

[Kaden]

Even though he knew it was coming, Kaden couldn’t help but wince as he dropped his head onto the counter in front of him. The resounding thud would have normally been rather sickening to the courier, but he was plenty sick as it was. He really should have seen it coming. After all, why the hell would something good just randomly happen to him. He had been giving the universe far too much credit.

Unbeknownst to Kaden, loud thuds seemed to be signals for the bartender. The man grabbed the empty glass that the courier had almost knocked over, refilled it, and set it down next to the boy’s head. Kaden mumbled a thanks, but the bartender gave no sign of having heard it. Pulling his head back up, Kaden grabbed the glass and took a sip. As he did, he couldn’t help but glare at the piece of paper spread out in front of him.

The paper was actually a map that one of the guards had given the courier in exchange for showing them his invitation and identification chip. Initially, he had been confused when the guard sniggered at his invitation, but didn’t think too much of it. It wasn’t until he was past them and staring at the elaborate vestibule that he heard it.

“Welcome to Dante’s Abyss! Until the tournament begins…”

Everything after that was white noise to the courier. His mind struggled to process what the recording had just said. There was no way. No possible way. This was supposed to be a place to relax. A place to enjoy himself. A place to not have his life threatened at every god damned turn. Kaden stood in place, not moving an inch until the recording replayed itself. He had to be sure he hadn’t misheard it.

“There’s been a mistake,” the courier said as he made his way back to the guards. “I’m not here for some tournament.”

“You are now,” replied the biggest guard. He was probably the one in charge.

“Fuck that! I’m not getting dragged into another bullshit competition. I’m leaving.”

“Can’t let you do that,” the same guard replied.

“Funny, I don’t remember asking for your permission.”

As Kaden leaned back into a fake fighting stance, he felt energy beginning to flow through his body. He felt fairly confident that he could take out a couple guards and make it to the teleporters before anything really bad went down. Unfortunately, that was when the courier became distinctly aware of the soft hummm coming from the ki rifles in each guard’s hands.

With a long sigh, Kaden stood up straight and dropped his hands to his side. The hum of the ki rifles died down and all the guards seemed to ease up a bit. Shaking his head, Kaden turned to leave. Before actually getting too far away from the guard, though, he turned back.

“Which way to the bar?” the courier asked.

With a morbid grin, the guard pointed Kaden in the right direction. That, of course, brought Kaden to dropping his head onto the bar with a loud thud. As he looked at the glass in his hand, the one the bartender had refilled, he shook his head and sighed for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. He wanted to just forget where he was, but it was only his third.

[Orion]

What an invigorating sensation. When that heavenly aura of light fell upon him in the eastern fields of Heaven, an indescribable metamorphosis occurred. Renewed life seeped in through his skin and plunged into his body, revitalising every muscle, bone and blood cell. His senses gained vividness for one glorious moment as the power of the gods coursed through him and rejuvenated his deceased form.

He, however, made one request before reentering the universe of the living, one that King Yemma was happy, if not bewildered, to oblige.

A blinding supernova engulfed Orion. The lava drenched earth of Heaven shimmered away. Anitan and Ares flared with brilliant, cornea searing light until it burned so bright it exhausted itself. Orion squinted against the unnatural luminescence, but even the back of his eyelids were lit.

As abruptly as it began, it was over. White fogginess clouded his iris, but it soon diminished as he took in his surroundings. Before he reacted, a thought crossed his mind. The mental wish he made to King Yemma ... did he grant it?

Orion brought a hand to his left eye. He smirked almost unnoticeably as he caressed his old leather eye patch. Vision was reduced again, but somehow it was natural to him. As strange as it seemed to even him, one eye was better than two.

Processing of the elder warrior's application was already completed. He was teleported straight into a lavish bar, much to his approval. He soaked in the luxurious decorations, thickly carpeted floors and well dressed waiters. There was nothing like this in any of the bars he knew of on Vegeta-sei. It was a fantastic welcome to life again, even if his halo still hovered over his head.

The desire for a strong ale sunk into his mind. He felt his tongue anticipating the taste, reviving a sense memory of saiyan style beer washing down his throat. He hadn't come across any ambrosia in the afterlife so far, so to finally have a second chance to drink was exciting.

In love with life more than ever, Orion strolled over to the bar and slipped onto a surprisingly padded stool. His eyes wide with enjoyment, he summoned the bartender with a sturdy fist to the bar. Without a word, the barkeep revealed a clean, crystal mug and filled it heartily with foaming beer. Orion licked his lips as he brought the amber liquor to his lips.

A sigh, for some unknown reason, penetrated his one track mind. Delaying his first heady sip, he turned to see the back of a blonde haired man with his head nestled into his arms on the bar. A map of what he presumed to be the Dante's Abyss tournament grounds was imprinted on a pocket sized sheet of paper next to his folded arms.

Orion suddenly felt like he should know this person. Blonde hair, red jacket, black jeans, scrawny frame ... where did he know this person? He wasn't a saiyan. But who ...

The elder saiyan scoffed. It didn't matter who he was. All that mattered was the upcoming tournament, and his sweet glass of beer. He reached for the handle, pulling the mug closer, but his curiosity got the better of him. Who the hell was that?

"Hey," Orion said rudely, blaming the unknown man for ruining his enjoyment for a long absent drink. "Who are you?"

The man turned his head, revealing his crimson eyes. "What? I'm not doing anything."

Orion cocked an eyebrow. His mind scurried for a name to match the face. "Ca-ko ... uh, Kid-o, uh ..."

[Jesper]

Welcome to Dante’s Abyss…

The female voice droned over the several speakers, waving over the masses as Sophia began walking from the portal. The healer shivered—there was something oddly familiar about all of this. If it was something famous, she likely would not have heard about it while she was holed up in her temple. Still, everything was set up in such an elaborate fashion that she felt a little special just being invited. Of course, she naturally had doubts about the entire thing. Who would want to invite her to a party? If this Dukes person really saw her actions during Friend or Foe, that meant that he was watching the program avidly, and she had little-to-no faith in the morality of those viewers.

Besides, Dante’s Abyss was a horrible name for a party.

Of course, all of that meant very little to her as she pranced down the walkway. It was good to feel alive. It was good to be alive, literally, though she supposed that being dead had its perks. She reached up to touch her face. She was real, alright. She gave the skin of her cheek a little tug, and sure enough, the sting was real. Giggling giddily, she clapped her hands in delight and continued to explore the area. Everything was so polished and organized; it was a big change from the places she had been to. She could even see her reflection in the floor. She tilted her head as she kneeled down to examine her image—a bright, golden halo floated above her head. She reached up to touch it. It wasn’t solid, but she could feel the warmth it emitted on her fingertips.

Splendid, she thought. I always wanted a halo.

Laughing, she stood up straight again and skipped through another entrance, completely oblivious of the rest of the announcement that the woman had given.

She found that there were so many places to choose from, which was a big change for her. Her temple, for instance, only had so many rooms that she could even enter, let alone spend extended amounts of time in. King Kai’s planet was smaller than even that, so a massive complex such as this was overwhelming to say the least. Shrugging, she picked the nearest door to her and marched through.

Sophia had landed herself in a luxurious hotel. The sheer sight of it made her eyes large and bright—she had only seen an actual swimming pool once, and she found the idea of it very exciting after years of wading through the murky ponds that she grew up around. Another sign pointed to a “spa,” though Sophia had no idea what that even was. Judging just by the names of the different things to do, it seemed to pale in comparison. Whipping her head around again to continue her inspection, she found herself staring straight into a casino.

“This is a familiar sight,” the healer chuckled, talking to herself. “If only Sage were here.”

She sighed happily—she could be standing in the volcano that she had died in, and she still would have been thankful to be alive…not that drowning in a sea of lava was something that she wanted to experience again.

She glanced around, making sure she had taken in all of the sights and smells of the area. She hadn’t even considered going to the bar—she wasn’t exactly religious anymore, but the thought of alcohol still made her uncomfortable. There, she spotted somebody, turned to his side as he looked at the burly man standing next to him. That blonde hair, those glowing blue eyes, that tattered jacket…there was no doubt about it. She hesitated, making sure that she wasn’t interrupting his conversation with the burly one-eyed man standing next to him.

“Oh…oh my God!” she had no idea what to say once she started talking. “Kaden!”

[Kaden]

“It’s Kaden.”

In all honesty, the courier would have simply preferred to be left alone. He was still mentally struggling with the idea of being tricked into another… thing. He didn’t even actually know what Dante’s Abyss was, but given the name and the fact that it was a “tournament” he didn’t think it would be anything he would like. With a failed attempt to push the negativity out of his mind, Kaden turned his head to the man addressing him.

“Right,” the one-eyed man nodded. “Kaden. I would have gotten it eventually.”

“Riiiiight.”

Having cleared up the man’s pronunciation problems, Kaden was about to turn away when he noticed the tail wrapped around his waist. Great. Another Saiyan. Normally, the courier would have made some kind of attempt to hide his increasingly racist thoughts, but he couldn’t exactly bring himself to care. As his mind slowly put together the eye patch and the tail, though, it clicked.

“Orion!” he suddenly exclaimed.

With the slightest jerk of his head, Orion recoiled from Kaden’s voice. The courier had spoken a bit louder than necessary, but he had still been right. A smile formed at the corner of the saiyan’s mouth as he stood and, with mug in hand, walk close to Kaden.

“What the hell? I didn’t think you made it out of Friend or Foe in one piece,” Kaden said as Orion drew closer.

“Funny story, actua--,” the saiyan began.

“No...” Kaden cut him off.

“Ok… maybe not ha-ha funny, but…”

That time, Orion had cut himself off. It was clear that Kaden hadn’t been paying attention, so the saiyan followed the courier’s eyes to see what had. Standing at the entrance to the bar was a woman in a white blouse sporting a halo identical to Orion’s. Kaden locked eyes with her for only a moment before almost violently turning his attention back to the saiyan at his side.

“Oh… oh my God! Kaden!”

The courier’s eyes widened as he turned his head back towards Sophia. She gave a small wave as she approached, but it definitely didn’t help calm the courier’s nerves. Kaden tried to take in a deep breath, but that was when he was unfortunate enough to catch sight of the girl’s halo. He knew she had died, yet she was walking towards him like nothing had ever happened.

Nervously, the courier reached for his recently refilled beer, but made the unfortunate mistake of turning towards Orion as he did. He had intended to ask the saiyan whether he was insane or if there was a girl with a halo walking towards them. That was when the courier noticed Orion’s halo. That was the tipping point.

Kaden wasn’t sure whether he had forgotten he had wrapped his legs around the bar stool he was sitting in, or if he had simply forgotten to walk altogether. Trying to jump away from Orion as he realized he was about to be surrounded by dead people, though, didn’t work out too well for the courier. With a yelp of surprise, Kaden tumbled to the ground, bar stool and mug in all.

“Yeah…” Kaden sighed. “Figures.”

[Jesper]

In retrospect, Kaden’s reaction to her being there was pretty hilarious. At that exact moment, however, Sophia’s feelings were a bit hurt. After all, how many ways could a regularly emotional woman react to one of her best friends gasp and fall out of his seat at the mere sight of her? As the blonde haired man looked up at her with complete shock, Sophia pouted and put a hand on her hip. Maybe they weren’t as close as she thought they had been.

…of course, she probably would have been a little creeped out at seeing someone with a halo floating ominously over their head when she was still alive. And, looking at the other man, who merely stood watching the situation with amusement, Sophia sighed and chuckled—of course he would be surprised. She fell into a volcano, after all. Still, though, she wanted to have a little fun while she still could.

“Yeah…” Kaden breathed. “Figures.”

“What, are you not happy to see me?” Sophia glared, doing her best “I’m so hurt” impression. “I thought I knew you better than that, Kaden.”

Kaden sighed and shook his head, standing to his feet. The healer could only imagine what was going through his head at that point, and every thought she imagined made her laugh. The courier slowly took a seat again—which was good, as it looked like his knees were about to give out on him, anyway. Taking a few moments to collect himself, he cleared his throat. “Sorry. I just thought I would never see you again.”

“Yeah,” Sophia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I bet you were happy about that, too.”

“It’s not that, I just…”

“No, no, it’s fine. I get it,” the healer turned and waved her hand, acting like she was about to walk out. “Nice to see you too, jerk. Hope you have a nice time.”

She took a few steps towards the door and glanced back to see how Kaden had responded. The man had turned around towards the bar again, swirling the fluid in his glass around. Joke turned to reality when the blood rushed to Sophia’s face, compelling her to whirl around and stomp towards the courier. Frowning, she tapped him on the shoulder and sat down on the stool next to him.

“What the heck, man? I wasn’t serious, but the least you could have done was gone after me?” she protested.

“I thought you had stormed off. I know enough to not follow a woman in that situation,” Kaden said, taking a sip from his glass.

“But that’s exactly what I wanted you to do!” the healer pouted again, this time for real. “Come on, I’ve been dead for…however long it’s been since I died. Surely you have something to say to me.”

“So you are dead,” the mercenary spat; the healer had to lean to the side in order to see him from behind Kaden’s head. “Thought so by the halo. I’ve never seen you in Heaven before, though.”

“Well, Heaven’s a big place,” Sophia frowned, replying succinctly though she was annoyed by his sudden interruption. “Besides, I was training on King Kai’s planet.”

“Never heard of ‘im,” he shrugged, tapping on the counter to order a shot.

Sophia blinked, but shook her head furiously as she poked the courier in the arm. “Hey, you’re not off the hook yet.”

“I really am happy to see you,” Kaden sighed. “I’m…just frustrated, that’s all. I’m tired of being tricked into joining these things.”

“Joining what things?” Sophia raised an eyebrow. “Parties?”

“I think you’ve been massively misinformed, missy,” the one-eyed man said. “Did you even read your card?”

“I did,” Sophia lowered her head. “It said ‘get-together.’ Why, what is this place really?”

“A tournament,” the courier replied. “Dante’s Abyss. You didn’t hear the lady at the entrance?”

“I…” the healer gulped. “I was so excited about being alive that I didn’t listen to a lot of what she said…”

The mercenary laughed. “Two of my competition don’t even know why they’re here. Just great.”

Tears sparkled in her eyes, even though Sophia fought vigorously to hold them back. Turning towards the bar on her stool, she laid her head down. “Well…that ruined my day.”

[Sage]

Deal with it.

Yeah... totally. Sage did her best to ignore the announcer blather on about a tournament she knew all about and didn’t want to participate in, and looked at her options. A hotel in one direction, a library in another, a gym in the third, and a restaurant in the last one. Well, she could go back and pick a fight with the bouncer, too.

The library seemed tempting. The things a company with this kind of money might have on file... Sage decided quickly. She would go to the hotel so she could shower; she had been traipsing around in a desert, after all, and then she would go to the library. Maybe get a bite to eat in between. Anything to distract her from what she was about to do.

Not that any amount of distraction could chase the thought that she was competing in a series of fights to the death for the chance to extract revenge from a man who had harmed her a long time ago. The whole thing seemed so stupid, but there was no turning back. And... and that pervasive need to get back at Sol... it just refused to go away.

With a sigh, the girl entered the hotel lobby. Glancing to the casino at her right, she couldn’t help but feel a vague sense of familiarity toward the place. To her left, of course, was a bar. What better for a bunch of ignorant brawlers to do then to get smashed?

Wait...

The azure haired girl poked into the bar. No, it couldn’t have be-

Her coral eyes widened. That’s... that’s not possible.

Sage stepped into the bar and headed toward a trio immersed in some conversation. But what they were saying didn’t matter; it wasn’t important. She knew she was being rude, but she had to see who they were-

“S-” she began, halting the conversation. No, it couldn’t be. But then the two men looked up at her. Orion, the saiyan, and... Kaden, Sophia’s friend. The priestess turned to see what had caught the courier’s eye, and as Sage saw her face, she knew it was her. “But... but you’re dead!”

The blonde chuckled, despite the weight of what Kaden had just revealed. “Nice to see you too.”

“N-No... how? I... saw you fall into the volcano,” Sage replied, very obviously lost in her own confusion. Sophia nearly smiled at the familiar sight.

“Well, it looks like they brought me back to take part in this... thing,” the healer sighed.

“Oh... that’s... wonderful, I... I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Sage declared with a smile. Her eyes fixed on the halo above Sophia’s head. “...Oh,” her voice had fallen significantly. “I see.”

“See what?” Kaden interjected, a look of concern on his face.

“Oh... Dante’s Abyss. They sometimes bring people back from the dead... to... fight in the contest. Sophia... I- I’m sorry.”

“...What?” the priestess seemed confused. “Why are you sorry?”

“When...” Sage turned away from the blonde, her eyes roving back and forth on the floor before her. She paced, and nervously scratched her arm. “When we were fighting Kai... I... I could have done more. I could have fought harder, and-”

“Sage!” Sophia cut her off. “It’s not your fault, alright? We did what we could. I don’t... blame you for what happened,” she stated somberly. “You did what you could.”

“No, I didn’t!” the smaller woman protested. “I could have done more, and I didn’t! I... I chose not to-”

“Doesn’t matter now, anyway,” Orion added. “She’s dead either way.” The priestess shot the man a cold glare. As if the medic wasn’t upset enough.

“Wait... uh, Sage... you know about Dante’s Abyss?” Kaden inquired, because he had picked up on what she had said about Sophia being dead, but also to try to change the subject.

“Yes...” came the weak reply. Suddenly, she felt very small.

“...So... what do you know?”

“Oh... sorry. It’s, um, this... tournament. People are brought in from... all over the place and they fight... until someone dies. The deaths aren’t real... nobody is supposed to actually die during the game. ...The winner at the end gets a whole bunch of money. My parents competed a few times, and, uh-”

“Your parents?” the courier demanded incredulously. Apparently the apple fell off a cliff and left the tree a hell of a long way behind.

“If you knew all this, why did you join? This doesn’t sound like something you would want to do, Sage,” Sophia inquired.

“I... it’s... complicated,” the girl replied.

“So, tell me. I’ll listen,” Sophia replied, shocking even herself at how compassionate she was being, given the fact she had come back for the dead, and it was only for a visit. Sage wondered if she should instead be bitter and enraged.

“I... can’t, it’s... personal. I have to win this tournament, so I can find someone,” the young doctor explained.

“You?” the saiyan replied with a snort. “You’re going to win the tournament?” Sage kept her eyes on the floor, trying to wait out the criticism that yet another saiyan would rain down upon her. Saiyans like Sol. “Good luck.”

At that, Sage lashed out. It made no sense; he hadn’t made an insult. Yet, without a word, or movement, sharp spears of ice materialized from the floor, bursting upward and outward, as a frigid chill enveloped the room. Orion found himself staring at spikes pointed at him, just inches away, from six different angles. In fact, the spears extended from ice which had grown like gnarled tree trunks, twisting and turning up from the floor around Sage’s feet. “Y-You don’t understand. I have to win the tournament.”

Despite his predicament, the saiyan seemed calm. “You shouldn’t tip your hand like that. Now I know what you can do if we get into a real fight.”

The girl merely looked away. The ice retracted into the floor and vanished, and the temperature rapidly became tolerable again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have...” she looked at the other two. Then, specifically, at Sophia. “I’m sorry.”

The girl turned around and began to make her way out of the bar, but Sophia called after her. Dammit, she couldn’t help but think. “Come on, Sage,” she said. “Stay a while. We’re all... having trouble taking the news of what’s going on.”

Sage owed Sophia at least that much. The priestess had given her life for them. Not that she’d have had to if Sage had fought harder. Kaden motioned to the bar stool next to him, and Sage hopped atop of it. All three of them were miserable. And then there was Orion; he was more difficult to read.

Withdrawing her bottle of little blues, she tapped a Valium onto the counter, before putting the bottle away. Kaden gave her a curious look, but she ignored it, and popped her pill. At the very least she’d be able to round off the edges for a little while.

Sage’s gaze fell onto Kaden, and then Sophia. For a moment, she considered offering them each a pill as well, but then decided that it was her vice. She couldn’t, in good conscience, just hand out prescription drugs like that. Although she violated her principles as a doctor by misappropriating it for herself, anyway. But that was different.

She was being consumed, though. She could feel it. The obsessive drive to get at Sol, the irrational sense of urgency was cutting through who she was, and if what she had just done to Orion was any indication, it was turning her into a monster. It was part of why she had sworn off her elemental powers when she was thirteen.

“Well...” Kaden broke the silence, to Sage’s relief. “Some party, huh?”

[Orion]

Orion's enthusiasm was dampening. What a bust. So far he'd run into three people, strangely enough all familiar in their own undefinable way, who didn't even want to fight. The will to enter the fray with the toughest opponents the universe can birth was half of the exciting anticipation that the one eyed saiyan reveled in before a tournament; but if this trio of depressed fools was setting the standard of opponents he would face, things were looking grim indeed for a good fight.

However, he knew Kaden was well versed in ki manipulation. As he drew himself upon the bar stool next to Sophia, memories of the blonde man streaming his own energy into Orion as they were hunted by abnormally huge scorpions played in his mind. Someone with knowledge like that was dangerous, no matter how little he cared for the thrill of combat.

Sage, in her short outburst moments ago, proved her formidableness. Piercing spears forged from ice jutted out of the floor in mere seconds, totally fencing the outspoken saiyan in. Her volatile composure meant her threat level skyrocketed in diminutive spaces of time, but that also created opportunities for manipulation should they meet on the island of Dante.

Orion eyed Sophia next to him as he downed the dregs of his beer mug. She knew someone called King Kai in the afterlife, which sounded like another god like Anitan that he hadn't met yet. There were still three temples to go yet. Like the others, her reaction to the discovery of the battle royale was disheartening.

The veteran soldier banged the empty glass on the counter. These three weren't any fun to be around. He pushed away from the bar and hopped off the stool. "Cheer up guys. Mope like that on the island and you won't last two seconds."

"Orion?" the squeamish voice of Sage spoke up. The departing fighter stopped. "I'm ... sorry. For before. I didn't mean ..."

He waved his hand. "Forget about it." She was a sweet kid. Stupid, naive and weak, but sweet.

The short haired brawler came upon a directional sign at the entrance of the bar, detailing each area of the swanky resort provided for free by the Syntex Corporation. The suffocating vibe of the three pacifists seemed to hang in the air around Orion. He ran his finger along the sign until it grazed the gym. Smirking, he knew his next destination.

"Time to prepare," he said to himself, cracking the bones in his neck. Even if the competition was lacking, Orion planned to win this.

[Belle Hibiki]

Belle, for once, had few things to complain about. Sure, the place was a little bit fancier than he generally liked, and sure, the television woman's eyes unnervingly seemed to follow him wherever he went, but on the whole, he couldn't imagine a better place to warm up before a tournament.

He'd been at the staging area for a little over three hours, and he was still having trouble processing everything he had seen in the gym. If only he had those machines on the Maiden's Dream, he reflected, he wouldn't ever have to complain about training equipment ever again. They had had everything he could have wanted, and even a few things that he would have never thought of.

Belle shifted as his stomach let out a low, burly growl. The "gravity simulator" on display in the gym had more than piqued his interest, but his hunger would just have to be sated first.

Striding into the nearby restaurant, Belle cast his eyes around and noticed with a jolt that there were some women scattered around the nearby tables. Ordering his food to go, Belle beat a hasty retreat, a paper bag that positively reeked of frying oil and the promise of high calories in hand.

Not a big fan of books, Belle bypassed the library and headed towards the hotel. This turned out to be a bad decision. Women were here, too; and not just any women. [i}Scarlet[/i] women. One of them eyed him as he came through the door. He guessed that she was pretty. Bronzed skin; long, lustrous dark hair to her shoulderblades; and wearing a kind of diaphonous clothing that was obviously not suited to keeping her warm.

Women for money. Hangars, he thought they were called.

He felt his bile rise at the thought, though that might have just been the smell of the food. Changing direction in mid-step, he practically ran towards a softer lit chamber off to the side.

Well, this is different, Belle thought. Instead of the brightly lit, white-washed walls that he had seen nearly everywhere else, the bar of the hotel was warmly furnished with dark, polished wood and navy upholstery so dark as to almost be black. A row of partitioned booths ran along one side of the room, and a wide array of bottles glimmered faintly on several shelf racks that had been arrayed above and behind the bar counter.

Women here, too, though they at least seemed to be gathered in one pack. He'd have to be careful; they were more dangerous in numbers. Like hyenas.

He was just starting to turn towards an empty booth when he stopped. His ear twitched. It couldn't be...

Taking a long arc around the gathered people in the bar, Belle stopped and took a hesitant step inward. Squinted. "... Hey! Hey, Kaden!"

The courier that had been slumped at the bar seemed to stiffen in his seat and then slowly, very slowly, turn his head. Both girls were looking in Belle's direction, too, but he was trying to ignore that. "Belle?" Kaden asked, sounding unsure.

"I thought it was you! Long time no see, huh?"

Kaden grimaced. "I don't think it's even been a week."

"You know him?" one of the girls - the short haired blonde - asked.

"Uh. Kind of," Kaden said slowly, looking as if he was unsure whether he wanted to talk about it or not. He took a deep breath. "I helped him out in Central City about a week ago."

Belle opened his mouth to object and say that they'd helped each other out, but then remembered that he had been really the only one that had gotten anything out of it in the end. Two Dragonballs... Just five more to go... "Er. Yeah. Yeah, he did." He stepped closer. Then, eying the two women closely, he leaned closer to Kaden and whispered, bringing his hand up to mask his lips. "Uh. Kaden?"

"Yeah?"

"You know these - " his eyes flickered to Sage and Sophia " - are girls, right?"

" ... Yeah?" Kaden sighed softly. "And?"

Belle stared at him. Didn't he realize the kind of danger he was in? "Aren't they... kind of close?"

"Close for what?" Sage suddenly spoke from behind him.

"YEAGH?!"

Belle jumped back so fast that he lost his balance and fell, toppling over and right into the woman behind him. Sage let out a soft squeak as the two of them went down in a tangle of limbs, and the edge of something hard - maybe a tabletop - beaned Belle's temple before he hit ground.. His bag slipped from his fingers and skipped across the ground, spilling warm fries out the open top and all over the carpet.

Ears ringing, wondering why it was so dark, Belle realized that he'd landed face first into the floor. Funny, he thought; the floor was awful warm. And soft.

Bringing up his hands, Belle gripped the suddenly surprisingly pliable floor in his calloused fingers and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. Blurs swam in front of his eyes. He closed them and shook his head, and when he opened them again, his vision was clear. And that's when he stopped dead, paralyzed with shock at what he saw.

Sage was looking up at him with an expression of sheer terror plastered on her face. It wasn't surprising, with where Belle's hands had ended up. "UH-!" Belle started. He couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? He wanted to let go, but he couldn't. His body refused to move and just trembled on the spot. His hands weren't supposed to be on those things! "UHM-!" He finally managed to get his hands off her chest. He waved them in front of him, feeling his cheeks burn hot as a stovetop. "IT'S NOT - !"

The slap was so fast that Belle didn't even have a chance to react before he was suddenly flipping along the floor like a tossed doll, coming to a stop only when he finally slammed into a set of tables and chairs. There was a deafening crash as the whole mess collapsed top of him, then silence.

"Yeah, that's Belle," Kaden groaned and knocked for a refill of his drink - intentionally, this time.

[Kaden]

When Orion had left, though it brought conversation to something of a lull, Kaden found himself glad that the dead-to-living ratio had been set right once again. Being around the... well -- ghosts didn't seem like the right term, but it was close enough for Kaden's purposes -- ghosts of people he had known didn't exactly squelch his desire to drink. Unfortunately, the courier's glass was empty.

The next order of business would have been to call over the bartender, but an unexpected guest interrupted things. Kaden was more than a little surprised to see another person he knew, though it seemed that suspending his disbelief for the course of "Dante's Abyss" would be necessary if the courier hoped to retain any of his sanity.

After quick introductions, Kaden watched Belle recoil in terror from his bar mates and stumble into an unfortunately positioned Sage. As the courier watched Belle attempt to grope his way back to his feet, he couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of jealousy. Not because it was Sage, but simply because Kaden was understandably stressed and an outlet for that stress -- any kind of outlet -- would be more than welcome. So he ordered another drink.

Picking up his food, Belle walked around the bar to sit on Kaden's right. Sage was on the courier's left, and Sophia was to her left. For several moments, the only sound was Belle chomping down on his food. The legendary Saiyan appetite seemed to be alive and well. Finally Sophia spoke up.

"Woo... it's cold in here," the priestess said with a slight shiver.

"Yeah, I can tell," Kaden was the first to reply. As he spoke, he pointed with his glass meaningfully at the priestess.

There was a glimmer of confusion on the priestess' face that stretched on almost longer than the courier could bare. In an instant, the confusion was replaced with an emotion somewhere between anger and confusion as Sophia turned away from her companions and snapped her head down. Kaden couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke.

"I'm just kidding," Kaden said as Sophia turned back to them.

"I don't get it," Belle said as he swallowed a mouthful of fries.

"It's ok," Kaden reassured him. "You don't want to. Seriously, though, you can use my jacket if you're cold."

"... I'm fine," Sophia replied with a hint of glare.

"Ok, well, standing offer," Kaden shrugged.

After a moment of contemplation, Belle nodded and simply took the courier's word for it. "Wait," he suddenly said. "What are you doing here, anyway? This doesn't really seem like your kind of... thing."

Kaden couldn't help but laugh. With each sip he came a little closer to rounding the corner from depression to resigned amusement. Not real amusement, but that bitter kind of "sucks to be me, might as well laugh about it" kind of amusement. Not Kaden's first choice, admittedly, but he tried to roll with the punches.

"Here," Kaden reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved the invitation that had been sent to him. With a flick of his wrist, he slid it across the bar to Belle. "That's why I'm here."

Belle stared down at the piece of paper in front of him with widened eyes, not bothering to pick it up. As Kaden watched him, his mind flashed back to a moment in Central City where Belle had tried to read something off the PDA they had taken from one of their opponents. With a sigh, the courier snatched the invitation back and held it in front of his face.

"I'll just read it. I'm sure Sophia and Sage could use a good laugh." With a dramatic clearing of his throat, Kaden read the invitation with lavish sweeps of his arms and a deep over-exaggerated announcer-like voice. "So basically," he concluded. "I thought it was a vacation, or something."

"Ha! This is a pretty shitty place for a vacation," Belle said.

"Yeah... yeah it is."

"I thought it was a party," Sophia said, trying to make eye-contact with Belle. "Sage knew what was going on, though she was in the minority for a while there."

"Sage is our official source for Dante's Abyss information." Kaden raised his hand to clap the girl on the shoulder, but stopped when she all but recoiled. She had remained quite since Belle's... arrival. "Isn't that right, Sage?"

"I... guess so," was Sage's meek reply.

"Have you ever seen one of these tournaments?" Sophia asked. "From what you were saying earlier, it sounds pretty brutal."

"Just... highlight reels... and stuff like that."

"Highlight reels?" Kaden said with a hint of disdain in his voice. "Does that mean we'll be on TV?"

"It's been on TV in... the past."

"Wonderful. Just wonderful." Setting down his now-empty glass, Kaden rapped his knuckles on the bar. "My good man, can I get a refill por favor?" After adding a bit of ethnic flair to his request, Kaden winced when he saw the bar tender's name tag: Jose. Fortunately, Jose hadn't quite heard him.

"Que¿"

[Vad]

Crack!

A cheap dollar store alarm clock smashed against the door leading into a small hotel bedroom. The door swung open and the locking mechanism fell to the floor twisted and broken. A lone female grasped the blankets on the only bed in the room and ripped them off.

"I told you twenty minutes ago. It's time to get up!" Said the redheaded woman in a stern voice. She was obviously annoyed.

Sunlight was peering through the holes in the damaged shades that had been pulled over the windows the previous evening. For a suite the hotel room Vad and his wife were staying in was complete garbage. The full-blood sat up beneath the remaining sheets on the king sized bed. Lifting his arms above his head he yawned and cracked his upper back.

Trixie stared intently at her husband's naked form. In the middle of sex one didn't have the time to examine bodily imperfections, but her husband was covered in them. Intricate patterns of scar tissue covered almost every inch of his skin. Some were more readily visible than others, and some were just faint lines in the skin. The mistress found herself wondering what each injury was from; she felt herself long to know the story behind some of the older ones. Trixie had only been told a handful of stories from what Vad could remember of his doings before she met her. Even to Vad, his childhood was so foggy he didn't bother to remember; she hadn't dared to ask either. It was a very touchy subject.

"Stop staring, babe." He said flatly. "Now tell me again why I need to join this tournament."

Mistress Zulenka smirked. Moving over to the shoddy sofa in a corner of the bedroom near the window she picked up a pair of clothes. Tossing them to her husband she covered his head with assorted clothing items.

"Because I think an extended combat tour without me involved would do your mental psyche some real good."

"Sex does that as well." He rebutted rather quickly.

Trixie closed her eyes and smiled clearly annoyed with her husband's logic, but she couldn't deny the amount of fun they had together. As if to avoid making a comment on her husbands statement, she adjusted her pants and gathered the blankets from the bed into her arms.

"Just get dressed for me. I want to see my sexy man in those new clothes." She cooed.

Vad laughed and rolled out of bed grabbing the pair of boxers on his way to the floor.

"Oh, by the way. A gift from your mother to us both. They finally got delivered." Beatrix added.

As Zulenka was slipping into the pair of grey boxers his wife tossed him a ring. Upon contact with his skin black writing lit up across the light silver band only to begin seeping thick black energy that would dissipate shortly after exiting. Grinning he slid it onto his right ring finger and it bound itself in place.

It was their true wedding rings. His was forged from the blood and energy of his beautiful wife and hers was forged from the same material only hers was made from his blood and energy. Eyeing Trixie's ring Vad saw that it was black with red text and that it was also seeping the same energy only the color was maroon.

Twisting the ring on his finger he read the inscription aloud.

"Forever in love. Forever in combat. Forever in Passion." He paused for a moment in awe.

Looking at Trixie, he smiled. She winked and continued to push the bed coverings into a corner. Zipping the fly up on his black combat pants, Vad slid the form fitting t-shirt over his torso and stretched his shoulders. As he walked to pick up the small white case resting on the opposite bedside table metal boots began to seep and form around his feet. The metal hardened and formed knee high plate boots.

"So where are you going to be while I'm fighting in Dante's Abyss?" The Saiyan asked while placing his scouter contact lens in his right eye. It switched on and began running a systems check.

Grabbing hold of her bra, Trixie shifted it to the right.

"I'll never understand why women wear these damn things, let alone wear them in combat. There's a reason they make skin tight jump suits." She said in frustration while looking at her chest.

Vad cleared his throat.

"I heard you, babe. On my way to Frost I made some female friends. They offered to show me around their home planet if I ever happened to be in the neighborhood. While you're fighting and enjoying yourself, I'll be enjoying myself as well." She explained.

Vad nodded and gave her the thumbs up. It was time to go.

***

Having exchanged temporary goodbyes and shared a kiss the married couple separated. Emerging from the teleport area on Planet Dante, Vad smirked and removed a pack of cigarettes from his pants Trixie had given him. Forming a dot of liquid metal on his thumb he heated it enough to light the tobacco product while taking a deep drag off of it.

A sign for a hotel caught Vad's eye. What really caught his interest was the prospect of a bar and something to drink; possibly something stiff. Letting the cigarette hang from his mouth slightly the Saiyan made his way onto a bus that was labeled to take participants to said hotel.


~~~~~

Vad walked through the sliding doors into the hotel lobby, his cigarette in his mouth. Smoking really was a bad habit for a soldier; his wife was rubbing off on him after all. Like an assassin would the Saiyan quickly surveyed the people around him. Nothing caught his attention. Not that he really cared at the moment. He was thirsty, tired, and in need of something to eat. The longest stint without food the warrior had ever managed was nearly three weeks. Flicking his cigarette into a nearby potted plant the Saiyan exhaled the smoke from his lungs and moved toward the bar, his metal boots clanking against the tile floor.

[Sage]

All she did was ask a question.

The red-headed man recoiled, smashing into her. There was a loud crash and bang, and she hit the floor, hard. It was hard to breathe, which suddenly became understandable; the nervous man was lying on top of her.

And then he groped her. Her eyes went wide with shock and fear, and she felt herself suddenly paralyzed. He looked at her, and she looked at him, and she found not sinister intent on her assailant’s face, but... terror?

“Uh-! Uhm-!” he stammered, his eyes dancing about in fright. Sage didn’t know how to react to the situation, but she desperately wanted him off. Finally, mercifully, he let go of her, and began waving his hands rapidly, as if he had burned them. He seemed overcome by some kind of unfathomable scare, and had turned red as a beet. So had Sage, now that her own fear began to subside, and embarrassment took its place. “It’s not-!”

There was a sharp skin-on-skin crack, and the fiery haired man was sent sprawling. A horrible crash ensued, and then an awkward quiet fell on the confusion of what had just happened. Sage looked up to see Sophia waving her hand in pain; she must have slapped him hard.

“Yeah,” the courier broke the silence. “That’s Belle.”

The priestess helped Sage to her feet, and she was directed to sit between her and Kaden. Still confused by the whole ordeal, she did as she was told, and sat quietly, while Belle took his seat opposite the blonde ki-weaver. He stared stone-straight at the various liquor bottles in front of him, terrified to turn his head to the left. Sage couldn’t help but smile; he was just so hopeless. Her smile faded, however, when she suddenly realized that how she viewed him now must have been how everyone viewed her.

With that sudden revelation, she fell silent for a while. She wondered if she should brood with the help of alcohol, like Kaden was doing, but decided against it. She didn’t know any good drinks anyway, and they all tasted like burning. It seemed like such a stupid pastime to her.

Once again, she couldn’t help but feel just a little amused at the hypocrisy of her decision, especially now that her heavy dose of diazepam was starting to kick in. She could feel the first ripple of what would become a gentle tide of apathy and mild euphoria.

Chasing the euphoria had become harder and harder to do, though. She already took the drug in amounts beyond the highest acceptable daily dosage – in one sitting. Her solution so far had been just to up the dosage, but she was having to go higher and higher; eventually the Valium would do nothing for her and she would become even more depressed. And then what would she move onto next to help ease the pain? Morphine? She considered that; the benefits were obvious, but it scared her, somehow. She knew she could get morphine pills but it was somewhat difficult, even for a doctor, which left only needles. Maybe the stigma around intravenous drugs turned her off. As if taking it in pill form somehow made it seem classier.

“...and that’s why I figured, maybe we should team up,” Kaden finished. Sage must have tuned out most of the conversation.

“That sounds like a good idea, I guess,” Sophia replied. The courier looked over to Belle, who simply cleared his throat and nodded, but kept his eyes on a bottle of some yellowish liquid with a foreign-sounding name.

“What about you, Sage?”

“Um...” the girl nodded, and then looked up for a moment. “But we’ll have to be careful; the rules said we would have to fight each other eventually, when the collars activate. If we’re in the same area, we might be made to fight.”

“...Collars?” Kaden raised an eyebrow.

“They’ll... make us wear these... collars, basically,” the blue haired girl explained. “It’s to help them... control us, I guess. It’s more useful for stronger people, I think.”

“Stronger, how do you mean?” this time it was the priestess who spoke up.

“Um... well, uh, I just mean... there are some very strong people out there. They might be here, too,” Sage tried to explain. “I’ve... seen people... burn up mountains before.”

“You’re saying there might be people in Dante’s Abyss who could set an entire mountain on fire?” Kaden inquired, seeming very incredulous. Sage shrank in her seat.

“N-No... I mean... there might be people who can... destroy the whole mountain... in one stroke,” the girl’s fuzzy rose eyes locked with Kaden’s alcohol-soaked reds. “Without any effort.”

“So, basically,” Sophia explained, trying to ignore the idea of fighting someone powerful enough to change geography with the flick of his or her wrist. “You’re saying if we’re together when the collars turn on-”

“During a combat day,” Sage interjected.

“...Right. Then we might have to fight each other?” the blonde finished. Sage nodded.

“How do you know all this?”

“...I read the rules before I came here,” the shorter woman replied. “They’re all over the place. You didn’t read them?”

[Ashe]

It started off like a bad joke taking place on this place called Dante. You see, a pink haired girl walks into a bar and spots a courier, a doctor, and a couple of dead people. The bartender walks up and says "Isn't it a bit late to call the doctor?" or something equally lame.

Backing up a bit further, however, Ashe stumbles down the hallway while clutching her bag to her chest tightly, looking around at all the different people passing by her. It was a bit overwhelming being surrounded by all these people that just seemed to be surrounded by power and fortitude, and it reminded her eerily of the previous event she'd unwillingly attended.

Thankfully for her, the first corner she turned contained a bar. It took her something like two seconds to clear her way from the door, through the crowd, and be leaning over the bar with her underage hands stretched out to barely fall short of the beer fountain. At some point during these two seconds, a frozen mug had appeared within her outstretched hand as well.

"Hey!" the bartender yelled, swatting her arm with a towel.

She jumped back and growled at him. "Hey, watch it! I just really need something to drink right now!"

The man shrugged at her and took the cup from her. "Yeah, everyone here needs one. That's what this place does to your nerves I guess. Anyway, here ya' go. If you need anything else, just ask. Open bar and all that."

She grinned and guzzled down the foul tasting liquid before slamming it down and wiping her mouth. "Thanks, uh-" she began, glancing down at his name tag. "Jose" she finished, pronouncing it like he was in a female rock group.

"Its Jose!" he corrected her with an exasperated look on his face.

Ashe shook her head with her eyebrow raised. "Dude, no way. That name totally begins with a J, not a H." Talking over his protests, she thrust the cup back into his hand. "Can I get something with a coffee taste to it? Alcohol I mean."

He sighed and nodded, turning away from her to continue making other drinks as well. She smiled and looked around at the bar, nearly falling backwards when she realized who was at the other end of it. "Hey, can you also send a plum wine to that woman in with the blue hair? If she asks, its totally apple juice!" she informed him, laughing a bit. It was for old time's sake, she decided, walking down to the end of the bar just in time to interrupt the conversation.

"Sage!" she roared loudly, wrapping her arms suddenly around the girl from behind.

As planned, Sage fell off the barstool in a panic, whirling around and freaking out from not knowing what was going on. "Ashe?" she asked, the thoughts taking a moment to come together. "What are you-" she began before remembering. She looked down a moment as Ashe exchanged greetings with everyone else in the area. "I'm sorry you got brought into this," she said somberly, looking away a bit.

Ashe slid a chair up between her and Kaden and sat down, giving her a strange look. "What did I get brought into anyway?" she asked, watching everyone darken a bit in preparation of explaining it to her. "And what's with the big rings on your head, Soph and, uh, guy I've never met? Is it something related to your church?"

"Here's some apple juice," the bartender interrupted, setting the glass down for Sage.

"Ashe!"