[02] City Sector FIGHT

[Kaden]

The chaos descended upon them from nowhere. And everywhere, it seemed. Explosions rained through the city as Kaden, Ashe, and Sophia brought themselves to a halt. All three of them shared a look that straddled the border between confusion and concern. Sadly, that would be the exchange between them before they were devoured in a wave of dust and debris.

As much a curse as a boon, the courier felt his attacker just before he struck. While it provided time to steel himself against an unknown assault, it instilled a sense of foreboding that Kaden had already had his fill of. The strike came quickly, catching the courier under the chin. Before he could orient himself, let alone retaliate, Kaden saw a flurry of energy erupt from his attacker, streaking towards Ashe and Sophia.

While Kaden called out to his companions in warning, it was unneeded. A familiar whirr emanated from his collar while a dome of dark blue energy spread through the sky, high above. The only thing left of Sophia and Ashe were footprints. Kaden could only assume that they had been transported to their own battles. Torn between feeling relief and concern, the courier wiped those from his mind and settled on annoyance instead.

The black-haired man before Kaden rolled his neck from one to the other, letting the nauseating crack fill the otherwise silent space between them. Whoever his attacker was, Kaden couldn’t help but think he had just come back from a trip to the gym – sweats and a cut-off t-shirt will have that effect. If his muscle tone were any indication, that might have actually been the case. Under normal circumstances, Kaden would probably have avoided getting into a fight with someone like him. Sadly, their circumstances were far removed from normal.

Before Kaden could finish a mental inventory of his opponent, he was attacked again. With a thrust of his hand, the black-haired man fired off a searing blast of energy before vaulting sideways. Kaden intercepted the ki blast with his own easily enough, but the feint had done its job. Slipping past an explosion of cerulean energy, Vincent leapt towards his target.

While such a tactic would be surprising enough to the courier, it was doubly so when his attacker chose to come at him knee-first. Fighting off the panic that threatened over-take his mind, Kaden thrust his hands outwards, allowing a sphere of energy to Flare out from his body. Caught in the courier’s sudden counter-attack, Vincent was thrown backwards.

Instead of rushing back on the attack, Vincent studied his opponent for a minute. It was an understandable response that Kaden was quickly becoming accustomed to. He was not a physically intimidating person, at that was fine with him, but his strengths were not housed in his physical prowess. To most, they went unseen, and that fact had kept Kaden alive on more than one occasion.

Taking in a deep breath, the courier watched as the world around himself faded to a monotone of grays. Light emanated from his eyes as his Sight took center-stage. Ki trickled through everything around him: the ground, the clouds in the sky, even the city’s buildings held minute traces of the world’s energy. These, however, went unnoticed. The courier had seen them before and, despite their beauty, could not tear his attention from the man standing before him.

The flows of ki that moved through Vincent seemed… erratic, almost. There was a sense of randomness to the jagged bursts of energy that coursed from one place to another, but also a sense of purposefulness. Kaden was still unsure what his Sight might be able to tell him about a person, but he liked to think there was some form of reflection in what he saw.

For a moment, as Vincent observed Kaden’s Sight, their eyes met. Kaden could see a glimmer of the frenetic, lustful fire that seemed to burn in the eyes of each Saiyan he had encountered. While upsetting, Kaden tried to push the thought out of his mind. He couldn’t claim an appreciation for Saiyans, and being thrown into battle with one had worrisome implications.

Taking in a quick breath, Kaden took a step forward and extended an arm towards his opponent. A glow surrounded his hand as energy began to gather. Reaching into the depths of his reserves, Kaden allowed the energy to explode outward, barely contained. The Salvo that was released crashed all around Vincent as he leapt backwards. While the blasts were not overly powerful, appearing en masse was cause for concern.

There was the slightest moment of hesitation in Kaden’s next strike. He wanted to tell his opponent that they didn’t have to fight. He wanted to tell him that he had no desire to continue. Unfortunately, neither of those thoughts were entirely true. Damon had displayed his ability to force people into fighting and Kaden couldn’t help but think that going all-out against someone he no connection to might prove… cathartic.

Whether Vincent sensed the hesitation, or had simply grown bored of waiting, he pushed the attack. Just as Kaden took aim, intended to fire a barrage of energy, his target disappeared. Instantly the courier’s brow furrowed. He had seen people move at incredible speeds, that was not what Vincent had done. He had simply vanished. Kaden couldn’t help but think back to Piper’s dizzying feats of acrobatics that involved the use of such teleportation.

While the courier certainly couldn’t follow instantaneous movement, he could feel where Vincent had gone. The Furyan had shot three stories into the air, looking down at his prey from a nearby rooftop. With a flick of his hand, Kaden fired off a cascade of cerulean energy. Thrusting his own hand forward, Vincent fired a blast of crimson ki. When Kaden’s energy crashed through his own attack, Vincent was forced to drastically change his plan of attack. While he had good reason to be confident in his own abilities, the courier hadn’t encountered many people who could match the raw power of his attacks.

As Kaden watched Vincent vanish once again, he realized that the gravity of his situation had lessened greatly. It seemed that every single encounter, be they combative or otherwise, had carried some deeper meaning for the blonde haired youth. There were always reasons for self reflection or overly complicated soul-searching. Not that time. There was just a guy trying to beat the shit out of him. All Kaden needed to do was fight back.

Vincent appeared on the ground only a few yards from Kaden. The courier hopped backwards, but was too slow to keep Vincent out of striking distance. The black-haired Eliminator seemed to glide across the ground as he approached. As Vincent stepped forward, he threw a wide punch. Kaden managed to duck under it, but his brief moment of triumph was undercut when he realized he had ducked almost directly into his opponent’s knee.

Caught square in the sternum, the force of Vincent’s blow actually lifted the courier off of his feet. As Kaden stumbled backwards, he tried desperately to maintain his balance. Vincent, meanwhile hopped back onto the balls of his feet, took aim, and leapt at his opponent. With a quick spin, Vincent threw a kick that looked as though it would take anyone’s head off.

With no other good recourse, Kaden simply let himself fall onto his ass. It didn’t look good, but it kept him conscious as he watched Vincent’s leg sail over him. As soon as he could manage, Kaden erected a barrier of energy between himself and Vincent. The latter tried to step around it, but before he could manage, the courier pulsed a burst of ki through it, forcing Vincent to stumble backwards.

Hopping up to his feet, Kaden dismissed the barrier with a wave of his hand. Stepping forward, the courier let loose with a series of energy blasts, forcing Vincent onto the defensive almost immediately. While the speed at which Kaden managed to turn things around caught his opponent off guard, the courier was unable to do serious damage. As the dust settled from Kaden’s attack, the courier took in a deep breath to settle his nerves. An unexpected calm came over him as he readied himself for his next attack.

All he needed to do was fight back.