Day Three: Evening

[Burter]

Day Three
6 PM - Midnight

"Hello again everybody! I'm sure you're all wondering how many are left and just who long till the big final fight! Well, there are only a mere nine fighters left, and I'm happy to report that the finale is...

Soon! But not yet! Ha!

Here is the fallen:

#01 Zangya
#12 Raditzu
#26 Talys

I wish all of you luck! This game is not over yet, keep hunting! The more people die, the better your chances in the final battle!"

[Orion]

Finally, something got through. As soon as Hellfighter 17 saw the streaming memory of his merciless, tactile murder of Retane via an exploding Molotov cocktail thanks to Orion, something immediately changed with him. The saiyan’s altered appearance dissolved off him and wafted upwards in thin lines of smoke, so that he looked like his own mind-self. Seventeen kept his eyes to the floor as everything else dissipated like a hazy illusion, leaving the human and saiyan suspended in darkness for only a moment. Soon after, Orion was forcefully ejected from Seventeen’s mind, his consciousness removed from the black abyss of the raven haired warrior’s realisation.

Due to the abrupt nature of the removal from Seventeen’s mind, Orion rose to his feet and stumbled backwards as if he just ran full strength into a brick wall. His inertia caused him to nearly lose his footing, but balancing on one leg and rotating his arms in comical circles helped to stabilise himself. Upon composing himself, a throbbing ache seared into his mind, most obviously a result of the impolite rejection of his mind-self into his own body again. Such techniques were never meant to be trifled with, and it was quite fortunate that Orion was not in some form of vegetation. Melding minds, and especially returning the mind to the original body, was never a simple, no-risk experiment. Thankfully, luck had been on the veteran fighter’s side.

He watched Seventeen, who was still temporarily hypnotised by the technique, sleeping on his feet. Rocking ever slightly from toe to heel, the raven haired human looked totally at peace with the outside world. Orion wondered if he looked as foolish and weak as this human did right then.

Time passed, but still the saiyan fighter was the only one conscious of the two. Apart from becoming impatient, Orion knew that they had to keep moving. The homosexual host informed them at the strike of six at night that the finale was not far off. That meant that there were only a handful of warriors left, and at this stage in the game, he wanted both himself and his companion to be completely alert and prepared to wage war till victory or death. Hopefully, Hellfighter was reconciling himself with his warrior counterpart in his dream state.

Suddenly, Seventeen came to. Without saying a word, he began walking away from Orion. To begin with the one eyed saiyan was relieved; if the human was untalkative and in action, there was a good chance that the seasoned warrior side of him was in control.

Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed when he noticed Seventeen grab his wrist and start tearing the skin against the rough bark of a nearby tree. Orion tried to call out, but his utter confusion coupled with the successive fainting of the human at the sight of his own blood caused him to drift out of consciousness before the battle hardened cyclops could interject.

"Argh," Orion moaned in annoyance. "I hope you're worth the trouble, kid."

He walked over to the fallen human and got to his knees. Grasping a piece of Seventeen's ludicrous pants, he tore a section out to bandage the human's self inflicted wound. He lifted the wrist up to bandage it, blood and sparks flowing free-

Sparks?

Orion brought his eye closer to the opening. Unbelievably, he wasn't mistaken. Flesh meshed with circuitry. His mind boggled. How could this be? Seventeen, the human, was an ... android? A cyborg?

Tieing the piece of cloth around the wound to stop the blood, Orion's thoughts wandered. The idea of an android was amazing; indeed, some of the saiyan's own deep held secrets related to their creation. Yet, something was troubling him about it. It was as if this revelation had pried free a pebble that held back an unstoppable avalanche, but it wasn't apparent when it was going to rain down.

One last concise pull and the makeshift bandage was bound tightly around Seventeen's wrist. Orion sat down by the unconscious android, trying not to think about the mental flood that seemed to be just out of reach, yet instinctively desiring it to drown him. If anything, he focused upon the down and out android, willing him to awaken.

But it was too late.

His vision blurred. Mental images assaulted him. Images of cold, sterile rooms, of needles and scaples, dried blood and bandages. Orion grasped his head, clenching his teeth. Other dreadful memories surfaced; being knocked to the floor, a brooding, growling monstrocity baring its yellow fangs at him, an endless rotation of demons battling him. Suddenly, the images congealed into one, a video clip of the past playing before his eye;

------

A door slammed nearby.

Much of recent history was shrouded in blackness and silence. Times of consciousness were plagued with intense agony, icy conditions and blindness. Both eyes felt like they were sewn shut, incapable of being opened. Movement was restricted also; binds were firmly placed over his forearms, biceps, thighs, shins and two over his stomach and chest. Any attempt to struggle against the restraints were in vain.

Footsteps, however faint, were audible. They grew louder each time, indicating the closeness of the one who entered.

"Hmmm," a male voice could be heard. "How are we feeling today, Tollash?"

Orion tried to speak, but only a weak whimper came out.

"Mmmhmmm," came the answer. The sound of a pen scratching on paper was heard. "Still pretty pathetic, eh? Well, I guess we can't expect more from a traitor. Still, there might be hope for you, old boy."

Pain surged through the left side of Orion's face as the attendant patted the bandaged area. Orion wanted to scream, but his voice wouldn't cooperate.

The attendant laughed coldly. "Don't worry. We'll be sticking you into a rejuvenation chamber tomorrow. Once you're all ready, we'll see just how much you're worth to us."

-----

"AHHHH!"

Orion broke out of his thoughts, bewildered at how real they were. Sweat rolled down his forehead. Those memories ... he would never want to relive them. And yet, they still haunted him. He looked at Seventeen. What kind of torment had he been through?

"Wake up," Orion said, gently pushing the android. "We've got a tournament to win."

[Aero]

Aero searched around Talys’ corpse for the one thing they needed, that bag—the one every competitor in Dante’s Abyss was assigned. He hoped that all of the food and water hadn’t been digested already. For Christ’s sake, they needed it, and if it wasn’t there then the confrontation with Talys was in vain. He saw a tone of blue underneath a thin blanket of sand. He swatted the sand off with a hand, uncovering more fot he blue. It was the backpack.

Kirano gawked at the dead body of Talys. He still carried the look of malicious intent across his visage, the fork still tightly grasped in his hand, blood dripping from its prongs, staining grains of sand with crimson. Aero looked over at his comrade and saw the madness that he carried. He could see the zeal for killing in his comrade’s eyes, and a stature for the desire. Kirano looked over at him, eye-widened with excitement (if Kirano would have been baring his teeth with a grin, Aero would have sworn he was looking at Jack Nicholson in The Shining—“HEEERE’S JOHNNY!”) It disturbed him; almost brought terror to his eyes, but he looked away, concentrating on the bag.

He opened each of the compartments individually, shoving a hand in there and waving it from side to side. He pulled out the map and compass, tossing them into the sand, replacing them with his own. In the front compartment he felt a quadrilateral object. He glanced at it, smiled, and then closed the compartment back up. He found the food and water in the largest compartment, and pulled it out.

“Hey, Kirano, look what I got!” he said, trying his best to ignore the madness of his comrade.

Kirano snapped out of his trance and look at Aero’s full hands. In the left he held up a skin hide full of liquid, and in the right he held up a bag of dinner rolls. He smiled. “Great,” he replied subtly.

Aero opened the bag of rolls and underhanded one to him, remembering to take one for himself before reapplying the TwistTie.

He shoved the roll into his mouth, chewing it up and swallowing it before he could savor the taste. Then he washed it down with a few large gulps of water from the hide, water flooding from the ends of his lips and running down his chin—he savored that, letting out a quenching breath as he put the food and water back into the bag.

Kirano tucked the fork into his pocket and took small bites out of the roll.

“Man, we’re fuckin jetset now, dude!” Aero got up off the ground, favoring his injured leg as he put on the backpack, tightening the straps. “That makes killing that guy all worth it.” He grabbed his shotgun and leaned it against his shoulder as he walked over to Kirano.

“All right,” he replied, turning back to look at the corpse of Talys, taking one final glance before departing. Revenge is sweet, isn’t it? He took his final bites, consuming the rest of the dinner roll.

[Violet]

Their eyes followed the struggling form of the Saiyan boy as he stumbled from the bushes, using his three-pronged pitchfork as a crutch. His breathing was labored as he hobbled into the camp, soon stopping to catch his balance. They were careful to keep their distance, because this was, afterall, Dante’s Abyss, and everybody was a threat, no matter how injured. She’d learned the hard way years ago not to trust even the most seemingly harmless beings that prowled across its scarred lands.

Nailgun and axe trained on the boy, the pair eyed the interloper as he moved into their camp. He didn’t say a word as he sat beside the fire, laying his weapon nearby, and reaching for the leftovers of their dinner. He ate ravenously, downing massive quantities of fish and what remained of their water supply. Well, at least there was more nearby, so she didn’t sweat it that much. What bothered her was his utter rudeness as he quickly laid waste to what was supposed to be a private meal without even asking.

Her arm cramped from holding the nailgun in the same position for too long, so she lowered her arm, allowing the lactic acid to do its miraculous work in easing the dull ache. As the Saiyan finished his share, she edged over and kicked his weapon away, then lept back to her place beside Bardock. “Finished?” she asked, once more raising her weapon to his head.

Nodding tersely, the manboy she’d come to learn as Reijin laid back against the remnants of a tree, picking bits of fish from his teeth. If he was bothered by the weapon, he didn’t show it. “I swear, they never put enough rations into the bag. It just gets smaller and smaller every year.”

Shooting a confused look towards the boxer-clad Bardock, she shrugged. ”What do we do? she ‘pathed. Although he couldn’t respond in the same manner, he did open his mind enough for her to hear his response through his thoughts.

”He’s wounded. There isn’t much he can do on that leg of his.” he made his thoughts as clear as possible, and one glance towards Violet confirmed she’d heard, loud and clear. Her slanted eyes lowered to the injured appendage, noting how terribly swollen and nasty looking it appeared to be. Definitely infected, and if they weren’t going to just pop back to life good as new after the game, she knew that it would have had to be amputated. Her skills were limited, and she didn’t want to risk killing the kid off if she could help it.

”If I am able to bandage it up, perhaps he could be some use to us.” Damn it, she needed to prod him into studying under Akira when they arrived on Kajin Rala again. It was mentally exhausting to try to extract someone else’s thoughts, and even now, she was only catching bits and pieces. His mind was far stronger than hers, albeit for different reasons.

He seemed to consider the possibility of bringing their duo into a trio. It didn’t please him that she thought that they couldn’t handle their own, and the risks multiplied when someone else, who previously had no qualms about killing them, was brought into their midst. It was risky, but with six others out there, perhaps far more dangerous ones, would it be such a bad idea?

Clearing his throat, Bardock approached the younger Saiyan. He knew of Reijin from previous encounters beyond the Abyss, and his unpredictability didn’t help assuage the nervous tendril of energy that crept up his back. “Where’d you come from?”

Rei lifted his head from the rock, a satisfied smile on his face. He’d gotten a halfway decent supper for the first time in days, and his stomach was doing somersaults in glee as the fish made its way through his belly. “Did you miss the part where I came out of the bushes?”

“Smart ass.”

Reijin quirked a cynical smile as he reached for his weapon. Violet was there, her nailgun pointed directly at his skull. “If you so much as wink at that damned thing, I’ll do far worse than cripple your arm, Monkey Boy.” The threat sparked flames of anticipation deep within her body; for the first time since their arrival, a guaranteed kill had practically landed in their lap. However, she had other uses for the crippled boy than a simple notch to add to Bardock’s axe.

Reijin retracted his arm, remembering the damage the same weapon had done to him in their first encounter. He was lucky to have escaped with what he did, and he sure as hell didn’t want to risk it again. With the ever-looming threat of her weapon, he resumed his position on the other side of the fire.

“Good choice.” Bardock chuckled, watching the apprehension dance across the other’s features. In a game of death, you couldn’t trust just anybody, and this intruder was definitely someone who would be difficult to trust. The question that laid between them was, was it worth the threat to let him into their small group, or just kill him now and be rid of another formidable opponent?

[Android-18]

The air smelt as if rain had fallen not long before she had arrived. Grey clouds separated to let the havens forth, letting sunlight scorch the island with its presence. She traversed the open land with head held high and eyes open for movement. Not much was out here with her, only insects and birds. She walked for hours, drinking only when necessary, and sometimes talking to herself in a slight mumble. It was hard being on her own, but she slowly grew used to it. The wind was her companion, whilst it whistled against blades of grass. She sometimes stood with arms out at her sides, letting it push against her, and she nearly fell once. Eighteen could feel it in her blood; this competition was getting close to the end. She had to keep going, and fight for victory.

Lightening reflexes caused the girl to spring to action, her hand gun aimed toward the target that had moved ever so slightly. She stood frozen, recognition setting into her mind. The butterfly fluttered as if nothing in the world could go wrong, drifting beautifully up and down and gliding toward her. It landed on the end of the gun, and its patterned wings moved up and down slowly. A tear rolled down the androids cheek, she had almost blasted the poor creature to bits. Now it sat so innocently on her gun. She drew the gun close, and it remained, looking at her with its tiny eyes. The girl blew at it softly, and it took to flight. Another gust of wind pushed upon it as the breeze helped it flutter away towards a patch of meadow flowers. Eighteen wiped the wetness from her face and turned, she had to keep going, there was no time for rest.

The day waned, and night was fast approaching. She could see a forest along the distance ahead, and the humidity was thick around her. Would rain come? She could tell that it rained here often, the plant life was lush and the land smelt so strong like earth. She hopped down a slope of large boulders, aged and untouched. Moss grew upon the solid surfaces like carpet. She reached the ground, and looked toward the sky. Small insignificant stars were coming alive, and she remembered the night she and her lover had enjoyed their display together. She didn’t know much about stars, what mattered was that it indicated that darkness would be upon her. The grumpy clouds were beginning to close off the patches that had been opened for her to gaze upon, if rain did come, it would be a chilly drizzle.

She ventured further ahead, while the forest was much further away, she noticed small clusters of growth at various distances. She needed to find shelter; she did not want to get soaked if rain decided to join her on her journey. The blonde roamed from tree to tree, and finally stumbled upon a larger thicket than the others. It comprised a handful of old large trees, and was surrounded by various bushes and meadow flowers. It was actually pretty well sheltered. One of the larger trees closest to the center of the patch had a large knot that was all chewed out. It held a few cobwebs within, and dried leaves. It was small, but if she tried she knew she could squeeze in. Regardless, the large leaves above would catch most of the droplets if she were to be so unlucky. It was all she could do but to wait and see. Night was best for rest, anyway.

Android Eighteen rested her pack into the hole and stretched. Her back was sweaty from carrying the loaded bag. She took thanked the privacy she had here and took off her shirt; she flicked her hands and shook the article of clothing. A shower would be most welcome; she considered the options of a rain shower. She was beginning to smell, and she knew that rain would be most refreshing. The girl laughed to herself, if only Raditzu were here. She knew he wouldn’t be able to resist watching a nude android play in the rain. She sighed, both happy and sad. Upon cooling down she slipped her shirt back on and slowly took a seat against the tree. She would likely not sleep; she had to be aware of intruders. She also did not enjoy the soft rumble that emanated from the sky, at a distance, but easily noted. She pulled the sniper riffle into her lap and held up, if someone did happen upon her, she would not let them take her without a fight.

[Bardock]

“Listen, kid,” Bardock began. “As much as I respect you, you know as well as me that this is a game. We had a good arrangement last year, but you’re on the wrong side of the deal this time. What are your terms?”

Reijin grinned. “You have a true saiyan to fight with,” the young boy worded carefully.

The older man chuckled, realizing the full implications of the sentence, both good and bad. There was an unspoken kinship between the two: both warriors sharing equal blood in the brotherhood of the saiya-jin. Bardock studied the wounded fighter in contemplation, keeping a smile on his face. Reijin was a much younger generation of saiyan, smarter, using his head as well as his knuckles. This was just business as usual for the both of them. Their previous battle had been a testament to that, and what a fight it had been. They had shed one another’s blood, as well as the blood of a common enemy. Speaking of which…

“You wouldn’t happen to be able to spare a few of those medical supplies, would you?” Reijin asked blatantly.

“You should have taken it from me when you had the chance,” Bardock answered. The raven-haired youth nodded, easily interpreting it for a solid ‘no.’

Their conversation was interrupted by the colorful voice of their chipper host. As he rattled off the names of the fallen, Bardock’s eyes narrowed when he heard that Raditzu was among them. Reijin couldn’t help but snort.

“He always was too impulsive for his own good,” the youth smirked.

Bardock turned to face their uninvited guest, and asked point blank, “Did you kill him?”

Reijin’s smile never faltered, and answered smoothly, “No, but if given the chance…”

“Do you know him?” Violet asked, keeping her nail gun fixed firmly on the intruder.

“He’s my son,” Bardock replied emotionlessly.

She blinked for a moment, taking in these latest details. The human knew very little about Raditzu aside from their brief stint during training (where he was simply referred to as “The Fuz”) and what details were publically available about his universal adventures. Thinking back, it made a little sense now. However, she couldn’t tell if the father was bothered about the death of his son or not…

“You take it as expected,” Reijin observed, as if pulling the page from her thoughts.

Bardock shrugged. “It’s just a game.”

Although, it was interesting that this was the first year since Bardock had entered that he hadn’t been there to see Raditzu at the end, whoever’s demise it wound up being. Not that it mattered much. His eldest always bounced back with incredible resilience. The roughneck walked over to Reijin, and held out his good arm.

“For now,” he said.

The two clapped hands and grinned, a gesture of a rather loose accord. Bardock had seen Reijin’s capabilities as a fighter, and they proved beneficial, even if as a double-edged sword. Both men recognized the other as a potential threat, yet were able to meet on neutral terms, as the older had said, for now…

The saiya-jin turned around and went to gather his clothes, taking them to an area where he could dress himself without looking like a fool with his bad hand. Violet watched him go, staying put to make sure Reijin kept his hands to himself. They shared a quick glance as Bardock walked by before he turned his head away. The notion on his face was clear enough: the fun was over. This latest surprise to fall into their laps served as a terse reminder of their deadly surroundings. Bar had allowed himself to get side-tracked before, but he could afford to no longer. Dante’s Abyss never allowed its inhabitants that luxury forever. Sooner or later, things were bound to come to an end.

With some difficulty, he managed to slip on his pants, boots, shirt, and armor, the material protecting his previously exposed skin from the chill of nightfall. Another day in the Abyss had expired. Another day was yet to dawn. The bronze bruiser returned to camp, and gathered up their supplies, setting them in an easily viewable and easily guardable area. Reijin had thus far made no move of aggression, which was likely the smarter decision, as his wound prevented him from using any advantageous sort of agility.

Bardock simply sat quietly along the fire, axe a hand’s length away, and Violet sat beside him.

[Violet]

Cool air infiltrated the small camp as the trio hovered near the campfire. They were all in various states of injury, with Violet the only one without any broken limbs. The burns across her body had healed over into nice, crusty patches along her flesh, but she was still quite mobile, which was more than she could say about her two companions. The injuries seemed to not make much difference to them, because they were Saiyan, she spat inside her head. The younger man had taunted it like a silent insult at her for being less than he, as if she were nothing more than fodder for the reaping.

And Bardock, he’d respected the youth. Seething at the very thought that he could give something that she’d been working for for months away so freely, Violet bolted to her feet, a decidedly unpleasant frown weighing down on her plush lips. Her hands tightened into fists as she glanced at one man, and then the other. She grunted softly at the expression crossing her friend’s face, knowing she shouldn’t be angry over simple words, but they still pierced her heart as if he jabbed his fist straight through her chest. It had started out such a pleasant day, until this stranger came prancing in to ruin their fun.

Feh. If he didn’t die from his injuries, then surely in the next encounter, he’d definitely be a goner. They could ramble on all night about their heritage if they wanted, but she, for one, wasn’t going to sit around patiently as Bardock talked shop with the other Saiyan. “I’ll leave you two be for a while;” she murmured, trying to mask the disappointment in her voice. It almost worked.

She didn’t wait for his response, instead, she turned and headed back towards the beach, a transparent purple aura wrapping around her slim form. She felt the beast deep within her body trying to fight its way back to the surface, her flesh bubbling as it fought off the darker personality.

Diving headfirst into the moonlit waters, she paddled across its width towards the rocky shelf Bardock had perched himself upon earlier that day, and lifted herself up. Head tilting back, her gaze inched upwards along the stony wall he had ascended, memories of being flung across his shoulder as he carried her effortlessly up to the top assailing her. They’d enjoyed the late afternoon in their own way, dangerously.

Her fingertips sank into the rock, morphing into the sharp talons her ascension was known for. She’d tried to fight it, but her flickering emotions had gotten too far carried away for her to control it. Scaling the vertical wall, she hoisted her body over the side several hundred feet over the falling water, and flung herself on her back. Staring up at the deep void of a sky, peppered with tiny stars, she lost herself to the expansive darkness blanketing the island.

The tiny white lights blinked down at her as her eyes scanned them one by one. Just like every other human in the world, she was yet another star, insignificant in her commonness. What would it take to make her shine above all the others? What would make her rare in his eyes? She sighed in frustration, trying to sort through her mangled thoughts.

It was infuriating that something she worked so hard for was given away like candy to someone who simply shared the same blood. Would she be the same if she were in his shoes? Could she?

Maybe there was more to the story than she knew of, and she was wrong for her feelings, in all aspects. No, that wasn’t right. What she felt for Bardock was real, there was no denying that. Was she jealous? It wasn’t too far from the truth.

Rising to her feet, Violet lifted her gaze back to the sea of tiny stars. Her aura roared suddenly engulfing her form. She would be more than just a mediocre star. She’d be a meteor blazing across the heavens, commanding the respect of every other sentient being in the universe. The shift happened suddenly, like the flipping of a switch. One moment, she’d been just a normal human female soaking in the solitude of evening, and the next, she was a beast, her scaled tail flipping rampantly behind her while her wings expanded to their fullest, catching the breeze as it slid over her body.

“It will be mine, no matter what I have to do to earn it. I may be just a simple human to them, but damn it, I’ll make it my strength. I’ll own this weakness. I won’t give up on him. I refuse.” She swore to the heavens. Her answer was the subtle blink of a dull star, but she took it as the response it was. Her oath had been heard, and written for the entire universe to witness.

She let the beast fall back into herself, the rush of the transformation rode through her veins like a drug, intoxicating in its power. Her skin glowed like that of a newborn moon, and she stood on the precipice of rock, a beacon in the night. She refused to think that her time was coming, that this fantasy would come crashing down around her like the walls of an ancient tomb. She would earn his respect in one way or another before this tournament was over, and they both would respect her as a warrior, not just another bag of flesh and bone to be ignored.

Yes. It all sounded so perfect. A slow smile spread across her sparkling features, knowing that the end was closing in, and she would be there to greet it with open arms.