Day One: Afternoon

[Paragus]

It had only been noon for a few short moments and already Para’s squad came across an intense battle. The downtown area had been formed into a impromptu war zone at the drop of a shotgun shell. Warako was still a fresh face in the mind of the saiyan warrior, seeing as he was a strong ally during the battle against the construct. The veil of smoke left behind from the grenade was finally started to fade. The saiyan sweated in anticipation. Para smirked when the curtains rose revealing that Warako was no longer there.

“Crafty fucker.” Para mumbled under his breath.

Talys poked his head out from behind the cover of the stairs. “Well, looks like we have ourselves a namekian Houdini!”

Para laughed as he stared up at the vacant clearing that the namekian left behind. The fear in Warako’s eyes was still etched in Para’s memory banks. Though it wasn’t fear of death, no this fear was different. No this trepidation was from witnessing how far any man would go to win. Former allies would trade away there moral values in order to hunt down the rest of the opposition. Para couldn’t blame him, for in the beginning he felt the same way.

The saiyan couldn’t help but wonder if he subconsciously held back against the frightened namekian. It was three on one and the jade skinned peace keeper was doing his best to avoid confrontation. Para clenched his fingers into a ham like fist. A cool wind blew a few leaves past his emotionless stare.

The dirt path that Para stood on lead straight into the building shrouded downtown. There seemed to be more vacant structures to explore and possibly raid for supplies. The set up made for a perfect camp site.

“Nightfall isn’t to far away. Maybe we should check things out around here and get ready to set up camp.” Para suggested to the rest of his team.

Talys, who was leaned up against a tree with his gaming device in hand, gave a nod of approval. Uno slowly trotted up to the rest of the group with his rodent companion hopping a few feet behind him. The shotgun hung from his hand right hand. The trio regained composure and headed into the center of the downtown area. Images of Warako limping away in pain raced through the saiyans head.

“Next time Warako. Next time.”

The next time Warako encountered Paragus he wouldn’t walk away, neither would anybody else.

[Retane]

The emerald fiend threw himself upon the ground at the foot of a tree. His lungs heaved in and out as sweat ushered from his pores so soak and cool his body. Staring off into space, with his one good eye, the war-torn warrior scrimmaged through his bag with one hand as he hunted for one of the few canteens he had captured in the last forty-eight hours, while holding his other, the left hand, close to himself. It had been injured by the source that he was fleeing from, the behemoth of power that had called himself, 'Eightzu'.

The rogue retrieved a canteen, and removed the top as quickly as he could, pulling the container to his lips and tilting his head back as the cool fluid drifted down his throat until the flask had been emptied. Taking one last swallow, the renegade dropped the empty canteen down and gasped for air as he had halted his breathing while he drank his fill. His body mechanics slowly began to adjust themselves as Retane closed his eye and rested himself, as he let his mind wonder.

Had the Abyss actually made a reproduction of it's self and given it the form of a humanoid? How else could such a creature of such raw and unnatural power have come forth to be spawned? One simple attack had done his body so much damage, and probably would have decimated him had it not been the vest he now wore. Ironic how the Abyss had pit him against such a monstrosity and yet he had been given the item that allowed him to survive.

Was it actually, in reality, nothing more then a game, of killing and survival?

No... Retane believed it was something more. It was as if the Abyss was of some divinity, with a craving of an abundance of chaos for it's own entertainment. Why else would the Abyss have caused him so much suffering thus far? It couldn't have been by coincidence, should it? No The namek was sure of himself. It all fell together.

Retane's eye cracked, and opened as he rose to his knee's. With his fully functional, hand the renegade, grabbed a handful of dirt and forced the minerals into a few of the cuts and gashes he had received, packing them as he gritted his teeth, as a meaning to halt the bleeding, and insult the Abyss. It was his first step of telling the Abyss that he couldn't be beaten or toyed with.

Finishing his personal savagery of survival first aid, the jaded one took to his feet. He glanced down, ignoring the tears and scorch marks upon what use to be camouflaged battle dress, and focused upon the injured wrist. He had faced injuries before, to his limbs, but regeneration was impossible for him at the moment, so removing the injured arm, wouldn't be the answer today. An injured arm, is better then no arm, he figured and with his right hand, began to tap into the darkness, summoning forth the dead, and concentrating it into his crimson glowing hand.

He was the master of survival, and the Abyss had underestimated him. He now understood, that the Abyss got it's rocks off by toying with him, forcing him to feel emotions he had never felt before, and pitting him in highly dangerous situations. Retane was a master of toying with his victims, but couldn't allow himself to be toyed with. It was, disgraceful. And he was tired of being disgraced.

Retane’s lip curled back, trying to hold a straight face, as he balled the injured hand into a fist and summoned forth the claws. The crimson ignited appendage grabbed a hold of the injury and squeezed tightly, causing the jade warrior to buckle in pain, yet hold out, as he looked on into the face of the Abyss. As calmly as he could the warrior slowly discharged the Rigamortis technique, concentrating it into the wrist.

His cerebrum engulfed itself in anger, as hatred of the untouchable foe, enveloped him fully. His body began to shake as he dropped to one knee, near his sack. His vision phased in and out for a moment, as he tried to gain control of himself. The Abyss was taking its toll on him he knew, but he had to fight it and remain calm. Blind anger, like the anger that was overcoming him was not the key. Not here, not now. Retane closed his eye as his subconsiousness brought forth the ringing of Karl Jax's voice allowing it to echo throughout his head.


"High noon, everybody, hope you all have some form of comfort! Get out your maps and get ready to cross some names off, because we've lost... Number Thirteen, Raspberry... Number Seventeen, Tapion... Number Thirty, Jack Sparrow...

Now, for the danger zones ..."


The voice drowned away as the rogue opened his eye.

"Names", he whispered to himself, rising to his feet.

"NAMES!!!!!" He roared out to the Abyss. "IS THAT ALL THEY REALLY ARE TO YOU!?!? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO THEY ARE? WHO THEY WERE!?!? DO YOU!?!?"

His chest heaved in outrage as he waited, actually expecting an answer. He knew he was beginning to loose it, yet struggled to hang on. He had to hang on, for his own sake.

"Tapion", his voice calmed as he visualized the face on the Konat. "Would I be in this mess, if you were still here? I wonder..."

"And Raspberry...", The gator-jins face faded into view with his comrade, "First it was our fault, now another has claimed your innocence... Did you give them a fight again?"

Retane let out a sigh as the images faded.

Names. They weren't just names. They were Horsemen, proud warriors that fought for what they wanted. And he was a Horsemen too. Now it was on his shoulders to represent them and take on the Abyss head on.

Retane threw his pack across his shoulder and extended a single claw from his glove, bringing it up to his face. Pressing the blade beneath the swollen eye, he drew a horizontal slash, releasing the pressure upon his eye. He lowered his arm and put one foot in front of the other, allowing his blood to shed the tears for the fallen, as he readied himself for the Abyss' next victim.

[Android-18]

“Where are we going?” the question was pointless, in truth. It didn’t matter where one went to in Dante’s Abyss, hunters were everywhere. She pulled on one of the straps of her pack causing it to tighten and become snugger to her contours.

“We’re headed toward paradise. It will be a utopia of utopia and a nirvana on earth.” Raditzu replied with one finger in the air.

“Can I have what you’re on?” the girl asked, staring at him as if he was insane.

“Fresh out, babe, but I can give you something else.” He winked playfully and she shook her head at him. “Ah, well, was worth a shot. We’re really not headed anywhere special, hopefully we’ll find something interesting but not too dangerous along the way.” He kicked a small pebble for good measure.

“Along the way? You just said we weren’t headed anywhere.” She held out a hand to insinuate her confusion.

“Exactly, a course to no where, don’t you love it?” he beamed a grin at her, and she could not help but laugh.

“You know, I really do love you. I don’t have memories to call my own, but from what time we’ve had that I do recall, I love you, you stupid Saiya-Jin.” She swatted his arm like a kitten at play, and he reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulder as they walked.

A hill dotted with rough yellow grass stood in their path. They transcended it and looked upon the land they were venturing. No words needed to be spoken; they moved as one down the rough ground and continued on. She felt exhausted, and slightly hungry. Their exertion earlier had proven more tiring than she would have thought. She had known that her lover could fuse, but had they been reckless in doing so here? She didn’t feel strong, Eighteen was afraid that if someone got the jump on them, she would be finished. Her companion smiled at her as he picked up a snake and valiantly threw it away, so it could fly unnaturally. “You didn’t have to do that,” she broke her thoughts to speak.

“I didn’t want it to bite you, although sucking the ven-” he was cut off as she took off ahead of him. Her golden hair waved this way and that with each movement, and the afternoon sunlight played prettily against her fair skin.

“Let’s camp here for a little while, I feel sore,” she pointed to a cluster of poor trees. They leaned on each other as if for support. Their bark looked withered and coarse, however, luscious green leaves still hung full of life on their stems. “It looks spooky, but safe.” She trotted downward without waiting for reply and took in the small area. It would certainly do for resting, although one dare not stay in one place for long on this cursed Island. She slid her pack to the soil and stretched to the sky. A rest was definitely in order.

[Violet]

The nail gun plinked to the floor, a relieved sigh trembling from her parched lips. She’d come so close to losing him, through no fault of another, but to his own misstep. As soon as that second wall fell over him, sweeping him out of sight beneath its deadly weight, her heart plummeted to her toes, feeling as if someone had come along and jerked it straight from her chest and dropped it to her feet. She was still a little pissed at him for his brashness earlier, but that was just him being Bardock. He was a dick, through and through, and she couldn’t stay incensed about it just because he knew no better.

“Are you alright?” she asked, choking back a sob. It was a rare thing indeed, to wrench such things from her, but somehow, Bardock just had that way that coaxed it right out of her. Her face fell as she struggled to keep the tears that threatened to spill from the corners of her eyes. It could have ended so quickly, for both of them. It suddenly dawned on her that even though she would stick with him until the end, however that ended for them, she just couldn’t watch him die. Even if it were faux, she wouldn’t be able to watch as he drew his last breaths.

“I’m fine,” he said flatly, ignoring what he saw in her expressive eyes. He couldn’t allow distractions, and caving into her ever changing moods wasn’t going to help either of their causes. “If we’re in this together, then we have to move. Now.”

Without another word, he took her hand and led them through the city, knowing that this area was far too dangerous to them. They were out there; the superpowers were hiding, waiting for them. She could feel the tepid humidity of their chi as the wind moved over her body. He felt their eyes burning holes into his back as they made their exodus.

Her fingers were raw and bleeding from hauling the massive boulders from his body, burning unmercifully as his hand grasped hers firmly. Even though her injured shoulder took most of the onslaught, throbbing unmercifully as a fresh stream of blood gushed from its seared mouth, she didn’t care. He was safe, alive, and here with her. Right now, that’s all that mattered.

The scouter flicked to life once they reached the outskirts of the city, several small blips raced across its screen, so close, so close. Not now! Eyes darted wildly around her, searching for the owners of the many dots on her display. Right now was NOT a good time to be jumped, not until they made it out of the openness of the city and into the cover in the distance.

If things did get crazy, she hoped to her god, in all that was good and bountiful, that she could hold things down for the both of them. “Over here!” the surprisingly agile Saiyan called over his shoulder. “I felt them, too. Move faster!”

It was nearly an hour and a half of all out running, something the human wasn’t used to after so many years out of training. When they stopped, the sun was beginning its slow decent over the island. Open fields of grassy meadow spread before them, the golden rays kissing their bobbing heads as they danced and swayed in the gentle wind. Birds of dozens of indefinable species sung their mournful songs as they nestled deep into the heavy-leafed maples around them.

Her knees shook as she took a seat on an enormous fallen tree. “This shit isn’t cool, man. This isn’t cool at all.” She moaned as her muscles began to spasm painfully.

Bardock cracked the barest hint of teeth towards the woman. He didn’t expect her to last long on their mad dash through acres upon acres of thick vegetation and rock. It wasn’t so much surprise as just another anomaly about her, she’d done many things that he didn’t expect such creatures to recover from, but she had.

Dropping his bag against the massive trunk, Bardock rifled through it with a dirt covered hand and fished out a bottle of water. As he chugged its contents, he watched the female rub down her bare calves. Why she wasn’t wearing her armor was beyond him, but the heavy material of her suit would have weighed her down more than helped.

“I’ve got to give it to ya, you’re good at running;” he managed between gulps. Tossing the empty bottle behind him, Bar leaned his aching form against the large feature, wiping the residue of the water away with the back of his palm. The movement only served to smear more dirt and sweat across his face, eliciting a teasing chuckle from his companion.

“Maybe we should go clean up a little bit while it’s safe. There’s a stream nearby, saw it earlier.”

“Oh, come on. Blood, sweat and dirt add to the effect.” He boasted, taking a deep, hissing breath and exhaling loudly.

“If the stink doesn’t do it first, shithead.” She tossed her own empty bottle at him, pinging him square in the forehead. “I’ll go first if it makes you nervous.”

[Celipa]

Celipa poked playfully at Aero while they walked.

"C'mon. You know you had fun running from those boars."

The blue haired man snorted derisively and turned his head away from the saiyan. Humans were weird. How could someone not have fun running from a pack of boars? It was beyond Celipa's comprehension. She could, however, understand it in Zangya's case. After all, she was pregnant. Whether or not this, or her head injury was the cause of the slight amount of labor each of her steps seemed to take, Cel was unsure. Either way, the saiyan was being forced to constantly push her worry to the back of her mind.

Worrying never paid off in Dante's Abyss. She had learned that from traveling with Bujin last year.

"How about you, Zan?" she asked, trying to sound apathetic, so not to clue anyone in on her actual concern. "How are you faring?"

"I'm fine," the Ader-jin lied. It was obvious her split-open head had to be hurting. "How's your jaw?"

Celipa lied in response, but, slurred her answer: "Fiwn -" she tried to save herself, "Err, fine."

Inwardly, she was seething over the cracked jaw. What an awful foot to start the competition on - ambushed by Seventeen, someone she had viewed as a friend. If he strayed their way again, she would thrash him violently with a pillowcase full of rocks. That much, she was certain of.

Her pride wouldn't let such a deed go unpunished.

---

The scenery around them remained the same for quite awhile, until eventually Aero pulled them to a stop once more. And then, once more, they made an attempt at building a campsite.

And once more, Celipa was told to go off hunting.

The saiyaness prowled through the jungle, hopping from branch to branch with vivacity and tenacity. Then, she came to an abrupt halt.

Down below, she saw it. White fur, like a beacon of light in the perpetual darkness of hunger. It was a huge hare, the likes of which Celipa had never seen before. Saliva oozed freely from her injured mouth, which didn't even come close to deterring her unfathomable hunger.

"Come to Celly!" she exclaimed.

The saiyan hunter dropped down from her branch and grasped the hare firmly with both hands. The creature squirmed to get free, but Cel's grip only got tighter and tighter. One of her hands released it, slipped into a pocket on her armor, and pulled out the fork. Her assigned weapon. Whilst not the most effective tool for killing super-powered warriors, it was more than enough to off this rabbit.

She plunged the four-pronged eating apparatus into the hare's spine, and it let out a scream. Funny. Cel hadn't known that rabbits could scream.

She transported her kill back to the campsite. Once there, she was told to hollow out a large rock into the shape of a pot, which she did with her ki. It was crude, but it was good enough. The large pot was suspended above their campfire by a tough branch, which was set atop two similiar, but forked branches. The rabbit was made into a stew, with water found nearby.

It was absolutely barbaric.

But to Celipa, it was delicious.

Maybe not so much to Zangya's baby, though.

[Aero]

The three sat around the open fire, eating their stew. It was coarse, and left a salty, dissatisfying taste in Aero’s mouth. He winced as the meat slithered down his esophagus and into his stomach. He would much rather had that bread and water that his bag contained. He recalled the mini refrigerator that was left in the hotel; there could have been food stored inside of it. And now he was left eating some repulsive stew. He hadn’t eaten all competition, however, so he forced the gravy rabbit bits down—he was going to need the vigor that it would provide him.

“So,” Celipa started, still shoving rabbit stew into her mouth, gravy secreting from the corners of her lips. “We staying here for a while?”

“Iunno,” Aero replied. He played around with his food, reconsidering taking another gulp of it. “I’m sure you two fine ladies are tired of being moved around so much.” He laughed. His words were true though. The threesome had been migrating around more than a pack of nomads. They’d have to take a break from it—eventually.

“Oh God,” Zangya muttered, slapping her forehead with the heel of her palm. “There goes Aero and his seduction tactics!” She revealed a smile, and almost a laugh. Celipa shared the same expression.

“Hey, gotta break the tension somehow,” he said as he finally took that swallow of rabbit (he opted to simply tilt the hand-crafted bowl up to his face and consume the rest of the stew with one revolting mouthful); he regretted it. That dissatisfying taste greeted his taste buds again, with a spurred stomp, it felt like. He felt himself almost displaying how much stew he had actually eaten, but quickly brought a cupped hand over his mouth, pinky stuck out like a man toasting wine. He managed to force it back down. “Besides, you know you two li—“

A shadow jetted passed them. Though it wasn't nighttime yet, the difference between the light that the forest allowed to seep through—from the sun—and the light provided by the fire left a faint shade; enough for a faint silhouette. Celipa noticed it and wiggled the rest of the food of her fork and prepared it for attack. “We’re not alone,” she murmured, cautiously. The pain in her jaw was still present, but she still forced out the words: “Get ready.”

“Woah. People. Not cool.” The silhouette remarked as it stood still, giving everyone the visualization of a robust male. “At least it ain’t three sasquatches.”

Aero balled a fist and readied himself to pounce at any time. Was the thrill he sought after finally upon him? The thought of such a thing sent a tingling sensation running up his spine. Unlike the stew, this he enjoyed. “Who are you, joe?” he asked the shadow. If an answer did not arrive soon he would simply kill the being.

“Actually, it’s Jack. Good guess though.”