[5] The Final Ten

[Celena]

As much as Zena had tried to deny the fact that Sage had been on the island, her instincts knew she had been on it all along. The only reason she had refused to accept it was because of the bad omen she had seen earlier on, while they were still at the abandoned town. It was the fear of her sister being in grave danger, which had denied her to believe Sage was here. She knew that if her sister was in trouble, she would not be around to protect her and the thought of that was unbearable, but despite Sage’s condition, she was here now and Zena was not going to let anyone inflict pain on her anymore.

Balrog was the man responsible for harming her sister. How could Zena not remember his hideous face? He was the same man who had tried to kill her with a rocket launcher. Dimitri had sacrificed himself to save her from this monster, but the death of the saiyan had not been enough for Balrog. It had not been enough to satisfy his hunger for destruction. Of all the people to target, he had picked her sister. He had beaten her to a bloody pulp and as a result of his heinous actions, he had crossed the line. Nothing would stop her from destroying Balrog now, not even the dozens of soldiers who had shown up to join the fight.

Bullets seemed to be flying into every direction, but despite that, Zena only seemed to focus on her sister. A battlefield was not a place for the cerulean haired girl, but that did not seem to matter to a bully like Balrog. Sage was trembling. Zena’s eyes caught sight of the gun, still gripped tightly in her hands. She could not believe it, but was sure Sage had been the one who had shot Balrog, while he had had her in his powerful grasp. “No!” the older twin suddenly snapped at the realisation of this. Sage could not protect her. She was not capable of doing so. Maybe around 7½ years back she could have, but certainly not now. Sage had to be safe, away from harm’s way; that was the only way Zena’s mind would free from fear.

The pink haired girl known as Ashe, staggered towards Sage. Despite her wounded facial features, the concern on her face could still be visualized. “Take her and run as far away from here as possible,” the blonde haired girl said to the student.

“No,” replied Sage as Ashe struggled to pick her off the ground. “I won’t leave you, Zena, not when-”

“Shut up!” Zena snapped, a silver aura, which Sage had not seen for a long time, erupt to life around the heir, just as viciously as the tone in her speech. The level of intensity that came with the blonde haired girl was unlike anything Sage had ever witnessed. She had never seen Zena this angry for many years. The ferocity in her eyes was frightening. It got to the point where Zena was boiling with rage, right fist clenched, unable to find the will to control her body from trembling. The more she continued to gaze at Sage’s helpless condition, the more power from within caused her body to pulsate uncontrollably. “I don’t want you seeing me like this,” she growled to her blue haired sibling. She had promised herself that nobody would hurt Sage again, not after what their trustworthy bodyguard did to her, but now it had happened again and yet again, Zena had not been around to prevent her sister from harm. Even worse, the elder sister had failed to keep her promise, but that did not seem to bother her; it was the fact that she had to witness her sister in this bloody, bruised and broken state.

Balrog. The thought of his name alone was enough to cause her to snarl as aggressively as a pissed of Pit Bull Terrier. Saliva literally foamed around her teeth. It was 7 years back, which was the last time Sage had seen Zena overflow with this amount of rage. She knew what Zena was capable of doing in this state; how could she forget? Remembering caused Sage to shiver. She was more worried about her sister now than for herself and Ashe’s own well being. To make matters worse, there was nothing Sage could do to tame her sibling. It was too late. Her small body froze in fear and all she could do was utter a soft yelp as Zena’s blonde hair flickered upwards, her fringes forming thick spikes as well as her ponytail. The spine chilling part came next as her sisters irises faded and her eyes turned completely white.

“Take my sister and get away from here, NOW!” Zena barked. Ashe did not need to be told twice. With a nervous whimper from gazing the unnatural appearance of Zena, she grabbed a hold of friends arm and took off.

Zena’s silver aura turned into a yellow one, causing a yellow hue to overlap her tanned skin, and her muscles tightened. She did not even realise the change her body was taking, only knew that her power continued to grow. Quickly turning her eyes towards her far left, she caught sight of a group of soldiers who had their weapons locked towards the two girls who had taken off. With a roar, Zena sent an energy wave towards them. A chorus of pathetic screams ejected from their mouths as the golden energy wave embraced them with its lethalness, and then vaporized them and destroyed the building they had been near.

Her attention once again at last returned to the source of her rage. “BALROOOG!” she screamed from the top of her lungs, bracing into a fighting stance, cracks crawling along the ground. The man raised his hand and batted Piper out of his path and then gazed shockingly at Zena’s altered appearance.

“What do we have here?” he asked with a smirk, intrigued also. Despite her horrendous looking white eyes, he was not the least bit intimidated. Besides, even though her power was increasing, it was not growing to a threatening level. His eyes shifted past her for a moment, watching the two girls struggle to get themselves away. “Who said those girls could escape?” he muttered. “Looks like they need more punishing.”

“NOOO!” Zena screamed as the yellow aura surrounding her flared even more violently, simultaneously, chunks of concrete broke off from the ground, breaking into smaller pieces as they hovered into the air. The light grey sky transformed into a darker shade of grey. “I won’t let you,” she growled, as a bolt of lightning tore down from the sky and into the ground, creating a hole between the path of Balrog and Zena. It caused the former world champion boxer to take a couple of steps backwards, a look of worry suddenly appearing on his dark face. “Hurt her anymooore!” she snapped, as more bolts of lightning rained down from the sky like shooting stars, causing the ground to rattle while it continued to tear apart. Teal irises emerged within her eyes while her blonde hair and eyebrows darkened to golden, as well as her aura. Mixed expressions swept across the battlefield. Balrog’s mouth went agape in shock. Even Jackson, who had seen great potential in the saiyan princess, had not anticipated she was capable of achieving the legendary status of the saiyan race at her tender age. Her new appearance placed a feeling in him, which resembled the colour of Zena’s transformed eyes.

It was from hearing the constant gushing sound of her aura, that caused the girl’s rage to suppress as she took time to gaze downwards, suddenly amazed at the sight of the golden aura, which enveloped her in an upwards motion. “I’m a…” she said softly, struggling to come to terms with her new transformed state. Suddenly, a cheap shot connected with the left jaw, causing her head to shift a little to the right.

“What?!” he exclaimed with disbelief. The punch he had landed would have lifted anyone else out of their boots but not her.

“I hope that isn’t the best you can do,” she grinned.

“Why you…!” he uttered, thinking of an appropriate word to describe her.

“Shut it,” she replied, giving him a haymaker, which caused him to stagger backwards holding his face. “Come on Balrog, I didn’t even hit you that hard,” she bluffed, hoping nobody would see her red knuckles. “If you want, I can back off right now and let the others fight you. I can understand being too much for you to handle.”

The realisation that she had reached a level of legendary status had caused her ego to inflate to a level higher than anyone who knew Zena would have ever thought it could, and now the new Super Saiyan was overflowing with extreme arrogance. She planned on killing him, but having fun while slowly bringing him to his demise.

[James]

Artificial lead rain collaborated with their voltage-birthed kin though midair collisions in a dance savored by any onlooker adorning their ears with the many rhythms of any classical piece. If there had been a art medium for massacres, the war ravaged path wrought by the Saiyans could be considered a masterpiece worth that of cultural significant for years to come. The dual hybrid team had torn through ranks of men on route to what was surmised a headquarters here in this dingy burg, along the way tossing mangled bodies left and right- leaving a bloody mess in their aftermath. Somewhere through their pursuits of the chaos they had lost Juno and Sophia, again, leaving only the pair to filter the charging soldiers with the greatest of ease.

Gunshots wailed like a chorus of sirens in the sweltering mid-morning heat, candy-coating the blood, sweat and insanity into a potent perfume that filled the nostrils of all combatants. Hardly off their first wind the pair rounded a final corner into what would have been considered a plaza to a large building overlooking the multitude of streets intersecting before it. This is it, Ares assured himself unquestionably as he took in its obvious tactical advantages.

From nearby a scream of pure agony cleaved the distant roars of anarchy, penetrating deep into Zena who stopped dead in her tracks unprepared for the string of thoughts aligning themselves to her deductions. It had to be her- and the confirming sight of a giant showering the girl with such unrestrained force was reason enough to break the blond.

A cry of passionate rage unlocked her from the mental confines bounding her to the authoritarian attitude she had maintained thus far, her body flaring awake in liberated fury. Her body moved with an impressive speed, launched at her sister's assailant without any more thought than how she would rip this man apart for what he had done to the girl.

Ares watched half amused with no more concern over what would become of the woman than that of her target. The situation had changed drastically over the course of the last few hours where the hunters had become the hunted, taking on the role of mere sheep bleating in search of equally-minded herd mates to fend for themselves with. A disgusting display of inefficiency...

Buckling his knees the Saiyan lifted, kicking from his vantage point and up onto the rooftops that ran the full length of the streets till meeting the rising floors of the hotel several yards in the distance. Out of the way and inconspicuous of the battles carrying on below, he strolled surveying the battlefield the way a commander would his forces upon a map.

A group had formed below; the two missing components to his own party, Juno and Sophia along with the unmistakable Kaden and Piper who were in company of Zena, a white-haired man and a two other unknown females, one of which shared resemblance to the Saiyan princess. They matched and exchanged in fierce competition with the Goliath of a man presumably the one referred to as Balrog who kept the rag-tag group of miscreants on their toes to the very last.

"Do you know what this is?" he stopped, focusing on the ebb and flow of combat going on below. "A defiant act, down to the last thought in your empty head." his fist swung connecting full brunt against the reddened skin cheek of the boy throwing him aside to his knees. "You’re hardly worth a moment of my time. We should have sent a grunt like you away at birth, at least then you could have died honorably instead of demeaning what worth you have for us here. On your fucking feet."

Wearily the child returned to his stance fighting back the swelling liquid behind his eyes, it would only serve to infuriate the man further.

"You follow orders- you kill who we tell you when we tell you. You live and breath for us and your pride for your race. Emotions only work to dissuade you from your goals, their influence should be trained against and overcame as such." barring down on the boy he delivered another shot, whipping his heel across the youth's face as he spun about from his pacing.

The small body toppled several feet before regaining itself, blood trickling from a broken lip quivering in rage and fear. "Y-yes sir." the voice was quite, almost inaudible.

Turning a cold glare at the child the soldier looked on in contempt it seemed for his very existence, sufficing this hatred in a last strike to the boy's gut, doubling him over with his hands clutched to stomach. From there the man left, leaving the young soldier to tend to his wounded pride in isolation.

Below the battle had kicked into high gear as Balrog's forces piled out into the street, guns already blaring away with an unchained intensity into the group who fought off the forces tooth and nail.

Without a doubt the soldiers below were employed by Kai possibly as insurance under the premise that if the situation turned sour he would have a way to deal with it. It would seem things swayed quite violently in that direction despite the disadvantages faced to begin with, even the designated Hunters had fallen to their sympathy for those they hunted. It was only to be assumed that the Saiyan Orion that had been with him in the beginning had been lost in combat during the duration of their separation; a substantial loss indeed.

Suddenly Ares' attention was redirected as a gust of wind quaked the structure beneath his feet, out on the battlefield a vibrant and bright image had eclipsed where the egotistic princess once stood.

"What??" the hybrid exclaimed in disbelief at the sheer magnitude of his foul luck, the visage of a Super Saiyan had ascended and now stood before Balrog a beacon of hope for the rebelling members of the game show. It was clear what would need to be done to keep things going as planned...

“If you want, I can back off right now and let the others fight you. I can understand being too much for you to handle.” she boasted, chipping away at once was an impenetrable wall of confidence that was the behemoth's grasp over the fight at hand. Planting his feet firm Balrog intended on keeping this fight between the two of them.

The Super Saiyan cackled, "No? Well, if you insist." Her aura flared once again a brilliant display of pearl and golden hues, firing forth against the man with amazing speed readied with a fist drawn back to crack across his skull at the right moment. Preparing for the strike, Balrog's heels dug themselves in with a fist raring for contact to divert the lethal attack when his eyes caught sight of a red figure moving skillfully out before him.

Before the super powered female could make contact she was intercepted by a foot heavily planting itself on her chest, her eyes rising to make contact with Ares' determined glare just as he kicked off her into a back flip, using the force to send her off course. Quick to respond, Zena rushed forward at the interference with a flurry of punches the offending Saiyan could only keep at bay for so long, his forearms amplified with energy in order to stifle off as much of the physical abuse as possible.

Almost as if thunder itself clapped at the connections being made she finally disengaged the weakened warrior who bore his teeth reluctant to kneel if but to get a moment to recover from the Super Saiyan's abuse. He knew she was merely playing with him.

"Get out of the way, insect." irritated at the amount of ground the boy had been able to defend she readjusted her form, allowing energy to ripple across her body.

Behind the warring pair the large man had been obviously very confused at the turn of events, taking heed of one of his soldier's previous words he shouted at the crimson adorned halfling. "Friend or foe?"

Despite the thoughts raging through his mind to keep him from moving, the mercenary defiantly stood, tilting a head back with a weak smirk across his lips. "... Friend."

[Super Buu]

She could hear them on her tail.

It was far-off at first – a distant, steady clank, clank, clank, but as Rose crossed the sandtrap, the sound drew closer and louder. Even in all this wide flat space, it somehow made her feel claustrophobic. It didn’t help that in the blowing wind and blazing heat, she couldn’t see far in any direction. Things in the distance were at best blotches, rough meaningless shapes of shade and colour. But she knew they could almost certainly see her.

She’d heard gunshots earlier, and her first reaction had been to head in the opposite direction. But then, wouldn’t that be exactly what they would expect her to do? The girl had bit her lip, and then begun walking towards the gunfire. Time would tell on whether she’d made the right choice.

Right now, Rose had a more pressing choice to make. She had an inkling that the things following her weren’t coming to sing happy birthday. But to fight them off would be to give Kai exactly what he wanted – ratings. Rose grimaced. It seemed like there was going to be a confrontation either way. But she wasn’t ready to face it. Not yet.

The girl willed her aching legs to start running, and with a little encouragement from the CLANK CLANK CLANK now getting louder from behind, they obeyed. Every slip, every trip, she wanted to give up and lie down, but she urged her body onwards. Ahead of her, the desert sloped upwards, and through the airborne sand she saw pillars, ruins the same dull colour as the desert.

Rose risked a glance behind, and despite the desert heat she felt a cold shiver run up her spine. In the whirlwind of sand, she could just make out three dark silhouettes. One was far to her right, whilst the others trailed behind. The path to her left led deeper into the sandtrap. Were they trying to drive her deeper into the desert, to her death? Rose growled. Not if I have anything to do with it, she thought.

Heart racing, she finally reached the base of the sand embankment. At the top lay the ruins. If she could just get up there … maybe she could lose them. Get ahead. In the meantime, she was a sitting duck.

The CLANK, CLANK of her pursuers grew ever louder. Rose spat. They’re not even trying to be subtle. Well, I won’t go for the bait. She looked upwards at the steep slope ahead of her, and cursed inwardly. There’s no time left. I’ll have to use my powers … but only to get away from these guys.

Rose crouched down, and began to focus. This time, the familiar tingle of ki rose quicker – either it was the urgency of the situation, or she was starting to get the hang of it. Energy began to build up in her legs, like a spring being compressed, causing particles of sand to rise up in a faint spiral.

The real chase starts now, thought Rose.

She released the energy, and her rubbery legs shot outwards, catapulting the girl up into the air. Less accurate than flying … but more fun, she had time to decide, before hitting the top of the embankment and rolling thankfully forward. The girl looked up to see broken pillars looming above her, casting a shadow across her person. Already behind her, Rose could hear the authoritative buzz of robotic voices, but she paid them no heed. Stumbling to her feet, she darted outwards, charging energy into her legs before taking another leap. Her powers had got her into this, and they would have to get her out. But confusion still clouded the girl’s mind. Did they intend to kill her, or not?

BZZZZT!

The hybrid had time to spin mid air and see the energy blast, just before it collided with her. It hit her crossed arms and exploded; the next thing she knew, Rose was bouncing across the sand. Now I know what it feels like to be hit by one of my attacks, she thought groggily. Looking up, she saw what had hit her; a thin, spindly android made of some dull metal, clad in a silver jet pack and wielding a ki rifle that was easily half its size. Its barrel was aimed straight at Rose.

The girl rolled just as the energy bolt hit the sand where she’d lain, exploding in a shower of plasmic dust. Crouching down, she kicked off into the air again, landing with uncharacteristic grace on top of a broken pillar. Her moment of pride was ruined as another energy blast crashed into the already-worn object. Rose, who had managed to wrap her arms around a slab of shattered stone, was sent flying.

Plus side, thought Rose, as she sailed through the sky, He just put a load of distance between us. Down side … The piece of pillar she’d latched onto hit the ground, sending its passenger sprawling onto the dusty ruins.

When she picked herself up, Rose couldn’t help but do a double-take at her surroundings. It looked like she was finally reaching the end of the sandtrap! She grinned, but the whine of the android’s jet pack reminded the girl that now wasn’t the time to be celebrating. Hopping to her feet, she threw an arm out like a grappling hook around the branch of a nearby tree, and swung forward, landing on top of what seemed to be a broken temple. Ahead of her, the ruins were much taller, with many structures largely intact, albeit with many a collapsed wall here and there.

Rose grinned. She would lose them here.

[Juno]

With the battle constantly raging around him, Juno couldn’t understand anything going on in the chaos, so as Sage and Ashe rushed to safety, he opted to do the same. He backed up against the wall, feeling the rotted wood creak beneath his fingers. Peace was not quickly upon him, however, as the images of the battle melted away.

~

Eyes glazed over, face grown pale, the soothsayer fell from the world of what was to the world of what was soon to come. This place, conversely, seemed to be quite different than anything he had ever experienced at any point in time. Here, the tailed boy found that he wasn’t seeing any defined future, but rather, what was to come in an abstract form.

From the astral plane surrounding him an orchard rose, crawling over with vines, white-picket fences, and cobblestone pathways. The environment around the oracle appeared serene and picturesque, but somehow, the black-haired lad could feel the falsity in this masque. He stepped forward, and the path that lay before him seemed real enough—so he continued.

The orchard walls were high, and looked hard to climb, so almost instantly, the idea of escape from this fairy-tale realm was pushed out of his thought process. He would have to wait for what was about to be handed to him, what tidbit of the future this vision had to offer. However, a consistent fear held out—how much time did he have?

Without announcement, Kaden stepped forth from a nearby collection of vines. The courier eyed the fortuneteller with a purpose; but the seer couldn’t see what that purpose was until it was realized. The blonde-haired man charged forth, pulling a dagger from his pocket. The hybrid caught the delivery boy’s wrist just before he reached his target.

Yanking the weapon from the hand of his assailant, Juno felt an abrupt urge to clutch the dagger vehemently and thrust it into Kaden’s chest; his battle against the urge was succinct, and within seconds, he had made the fateful decision to stab the formerly-humble man. Kaden doubled over as the blade pierced his torso, blood seeping forth from the fresh wound.

Letting go of the switchblade hastily, Juno gazed down to his own palm, stained with Kaden’s blood. Strangely, he did not suffer any regret for ending the man’s piteous life as the courier slumped down to the soil, the crimson life liquor pouring out of his chest in larger loads. The supernatural quirked an eyebrow—it felt bizarrely pleasing to kill.

Kaden’s dead form lied crumpled on the cobblestone path, motionless. The dream seemed to fade in and out, but it was not over—Juno would not let it. The clairvoyant convinced himself that he had to figure out what was going on. He searched farther and farther, begging for something else to rise from the woodwork—when Sage came into view.

As beautiful as he’d remembered her, she came forth, her azure hair falling behind her shoulders, her eyes gazing up at him. He eventually came to the realization that she was looking at him with a gentle longing in her eye, and he felt another impulse; to hold her. He couldn’t control his muscles, couldn’t keep them from reaching out and pulling her close.

He felt attached to her, as if there was some type of commitment that he had to keeping her out of harm’s way; he knew that he had promised never to let anything hurt the coral-eyed girl, but this felt like a different kind of attachment. To be honest, it felt almost romantic—and Juno knew that there was no chance of that. Not with Sage.

This thought was quickly dashed away, however. The gentle woman raised her head to his, and before the supernatural could react, she had kissed him. Her lips traced his, and without hesitation, he kissed her back. A sort of euphoria fell over him, and his heart fluttered with joy and passion. This was everything he had ever wanted.

Everything he had ever wanted or dreamed of? It was a farfetched idea to think that all of this awaited him in the future. As he continued to kiss the woman of his dreams, he considered the fact that this all might be false, that this might be a lure and he was the fish, and that by continuing to give in to such a temptation, he was falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

After what seemed to be forever—but, for Juno, not quite long enough—the lips of the two lovers parted, and another figure came into view just behind Sage: the meek priestess, Sophia. The blonde saint stepped vivaciously towards the pair and took Juno and kissed him, as well. Juno’s eyes averted to see Sage’s reaction, but there was nothing.

She continued to smile in a seductive manner like he knew the blue-topped girl never would. When Sophia had released him from her embrace, they drifted away, both of them beckoning him to follow—a provocative and tempting appeal, to be sure, but the clairvoyant found himself finally knowing what this realm was about.

“You don’t know what I want,” he chuckled, stepping back and sitting on a marble bench that had recently risen from the surface. “You don’t know what I want because I don’t know what I want!” Laughing at the utter hilarity of the situation, Juno realized what was going on: this realm was meant to provide him with pure deception.

Whomever was invading his mind, planting these thoughts into his head, was giving him a ‘vision’ of what was to come, but was deceiving him by letting him see what he wanted to happen. Cunning trickery, to be sure, but their plan had hit a roadblock when it had come to the point of Juno’s current romantic interest.

He had never loved being indecisive so much. Though he was constantly being tortured trying to decide whether he loved Sage or Sophia more, he found this indecision to be quite helpful now that it had revealed this deceit to him. “It’s over, whoever you are,” he taunted, “I have won.” He declared this with the utmost certainty, and the plane broke, and he fell.

~

Juno awoke back on the battleground, welcomed with a good slap in the face by Sophia. “What the heck is wrong with you?” the priestess scolded, pulling Juno to his feet. Juno shook his head, and then smiled, looking from Sophia to the battleground. Balrog was in a heated battle with one of the other warriors, and Juno knew that he had to do his part.

He had won the battle. Now, to win the war.

[Kappa]

Amidst the chaos, amidst the undeniable insanity of it all, a single soul had prevailed. He had the lives of a cat, despite being quite the opposite. He had spent half of Friend or Foe accompanying the group through thick and thin, avoiding every hurdle that Hell had sent their way, and yet he remained in tact, fully functionally, and significantly more healthy than the rest of their rag-tag group. His name was Champ, the quintessential quadruped … but he should have been named ‘Lucky’.

The dog shuffled through the firefight, animated with glee, and sought out the man who now lay deep in a crater under a layer of dirt; buried by the shower of debris coming from the ongoing combat. He wasn’t dead, nor was he even unconscious, just reeling from the shock of the fist-to-jaw dialogue that Balrog had offered him. Spitting up blood, he brushed a few pounds of Earth from his naked chest, and sat up.

He opened his eyes and was overwhelmed by the maelstrom that was taking place in Olde Town’s main drag. Only a minute had past since his fall but so much had happened already. A woman had transformed, guards had been felled, and Balrog still stood tall—mighty as ever. Not to mention the boy that was going through a rather unexpected revelation, and in moments would be reborn from the ashes of treachery.

Despite the multiple fronts of action or inaction, the dog carried on like a soldier in the war. It approached the Wizard and dropped something by his side. It licked the face of the man and grabbed his attention. “Ugh, whaddya wan—oh …” It seemed the dog had carried the scorpion appendage all the way from the water-processing plant. “Good boy.”

---

A few dozen feet away from the fighting pit, a giant of a man stood with his arms-crossed. He was observing the dog, his dog, tend to the man that had defeated him: Oliver Nash. Jackson Pride was a man of honor and combat. And yet, he chose inaction here. Why? Was he reconsidering his choice to fight alongside them, to assist the Wizard so that he’d get the opportunity to confront Kai Demolic himself? Maybe, maybe not. What he did know was that this fight was not his; and the emotions flying about didn’t help that.

Or could it be, that he was unprepared… unprepared to fight for something, someone besides himself? Now that sounded closer to the truth.
“Balrog…,” he muttered around, eyes locked on the Lieutenant, “…you too, are but a pawn in his game.”

---

The fight had been driven to levels unimaginable by the Super Saiyaness and the ebonic titan. Somehow, the girl had drawn upon some hidden strength and was now almost matching the beast, or at least that’s how it looked. While a few stared on in awe at the situation unfolding before them, including the girl’s transformation, not everyone understood quite what they were witnessing. Kaden was one of these individuals.

Piper and Kaden had been putting their combat companionship to work on half a dozen armed guards when the blonde courier caught the roaring aura of Zena in his peripherals (let alone his senses).When it hit him he wasn’t as much surprised at her power as he was by her bluff. Sure, he had heard the mythology of the SSJ, but had never seen it face-to-face… and was really expecting something else. Much grandeur surrounded this legend, after all. Though her power had doubled, it was something he had seen before, and so; he decided to give her a hand before she got herself killed. Even though she had invested a lot of emotion in this fight—a fact that she projected in bold letters—this was no time to try out a solo career.

“Hey, think you can handle these guys for a minute?” he asked of his comrade.

Piper raised an eyebrow, as she slammed an elbow into the face of a ki-totting villain, “is that a trick question?”

Kicking off from the gravel, he darted into the fray to lend a hand, or a boost—wherever it was needed…

---

The former detective leapt to his feet, recollecting himself before he analyzed the situation. After he stored the weapon in his waistband again, his eyes danced around what had now become a battlefield, until they fell upon Balrog and the saiyan assassin. ‘God damnit, which episode of the Twilight Zone are we on now?’ he queried, after sighting the golden glow emanating from the girl. It was like she was on fire, but instead of scorching her flesh it empowered her, as if it were the torch of her soul. He took a pace forward to join the scene, when he heard a subtle crack! It wasn’t bones, nor was it the dog. No, it sounded more like … glass?

His eyes went wide. The seeds!

Jackson had given him a brief explanation on their trip over. “Living weapons,” he had said of the Saibaman, “and ugly too.” Surely enough…

“Keeeeeeehhhh!” squealed the plant-based creature as it literally manifested itself from the Earth. The Wizard was taken in by the design; so much so that he lost whatever attention he had for the ongoing engagement. Green arms poked out of an apple-shaped blob, which soon produced a head and legs. It stared at him with demonic red eyes and razor-sharp fangs, “Gigigigigigi.”

“Ugh,” Oliver spat, staring at the newborn, “Disgusting.”

The dog barked at the creature, but the deafening explosion of an R.P.G. completely drowned out the noise. It hit the old man—boom!—right in the chest and sent him spinning horizontally into the grown. A guard had managed to catch him off guard, but quickly silenced by the furious kick of one Ashe Branford. There were attacks coming from all angles, after all, and from both sides.

She and the crystalline-haired girl were battling away guards. Emerald bursts from the gun pegged one thug heading to strike Zena from behind, square in the back. It made a mockery of his bulletproof armor, and came out the other side. Immediately, the girl was overcome by the sight; quite literally shaking in her boots. The death—it wasn’t stopping … it was everywhere. The body fell to the ground and the heat left it, leaving a cold corpse. ‘Cold.’ Sage thought, eyes wide and bloodshot. ‘So… cold.’

Oliver could hear the voice; it had been projected outward, and was familiar to him. ‘Sage?’ he asked, in the confines of his mind. One eye was shut—metal shrapnel sticking out of the thick of his eyebrow—but he managed to climb back to his knees, gazing across the battered canvas of Earth that separated him and the girl.

And then, quite suddenly … in the town square, in spite of the desert heat, there was snow.

---

Few noticed at first, the oddity that was the falling snow. Too many were engaged in heavy combat, their lives on the line and their hearts on their sleeves, to notice such a thing. But Jackson Pride did; and he was starting to realize something. There was something unorthodox about each and every one of these contestants; something amazingly unique. Kai had chosen them all for a reason. He had analyzed their faults, their advantages, their abilities, and their personalities; to set them up in ways that would draw the most phenomenal contrast in the history of televised characters. It was all playing out according to plan, and it was all just that: a game. How had his friend fallen so far? What had driven him to the extent of starting all of this?

“Damnit, Kai…” he spoke aloud, still only observing from the sideline, “was that what the war was to you too? Just another game?” He wondered to himself how far his friend would go to quell his needs to play a game. And that’s when it hit him: as if he had been facing on oncoming train and was only now feeling the impact. The detective was much smarter than he, which was why he was so shocked by his own discovery. How had Oliver missed it, or had he? Regardless, the possibility now troubled the giant more than anything else could…

Kai loved games; and loved to play games. Was it possible, that Kai had designed this all… to be a contestant? And if so, who—or what—was running his game?

More questions. Even less answers. He would have to continue with this group to get th—suddenly, his thoughts were cut off, as he heard a distinctive yelp from his four-legged sidekick. “Champ!” he roared, a name that was almost comedic to hear yelled with such ferocity. A guard had kicked the animal out of the way. And before the man could even gulp, a blast of energy ripped him in half. Jackson jumped into the battle, arms cocked and ready to unload.

That, of all things, had provoked him to join.

---

Sophia and Juno had joined Piper in fighting away guards, despite her preference to team with Kaden. The Aryan was busy, adding force to Zena’s blasts, while throwing in a trip or a bow of his own—when it felt appropriate. Balrog just wasn’t going down, though. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t feeling the wear and tear of the fight, though; and like a broken bag of milk, he was leaking blood slowly from all over. This golden goddess had presented an unexpected threat, and Kaden was a nuisance. He would have to bring himself up to full power to end this.

A crimson energy embraced him like a second skin, signifying his ascension to full power. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good for the pair. He looked angrily to Kaden, and threw him down with a sharp bolt of energy. Kaden grabbed his abdomen with a grunt of pain. “That stung,” he quipped at the approaching beast.

“I will crush you like an ant,” growled the ebonic plague of a man, whom had already killed one of their comrades.

Zena had meant to jump in. Unfortunately though, her dialogue with Balrog was cut off by an odd intervention from Ares, their own personal Judas. The whole situation was just getting more and more convoluted. Someone must have had some serious bowel problems to keep up this continual feed of shit that was hitting the fan. Piper, instead, left the group of people disarming and hammering the guards, to help her friend in need. Just in time too, as her ki-infused toe collided with the super-sized knee heading for Kaden’s sternum.

Balrog roared in annoyance as he threw a beam toward Piper, of which she dodged (luckily). He soon learned that this wasn’t a good team to mess with. Every fist he landed on Kaden earned him the sword-like penetration of Piper’s kick, while every choke hold on Piper left him with a smoking mark from a cerulean blast. They were too good, too synchronized. As if rehearsed.

Another show of his intelligence emerged with a, “WHY WON’T YOU JUST SIT AND DIE, YOU BITCH?!” But all that did was encourage them. Unfortunately, their taunt came to an abrupt halt as he exhaled a cone of energy that slammed into both fighters; sending them back at least twenty feet. Kaden flew fair, but Piper… she had been launched with such force that when she hit a guard, the mercenary collapsed: dead.

---

Oliver was only just catching wind of the betraying saiyan, whom betrayed not just Zena, but the other warriors assaulting Balrog. “Friend,” he had said to their collective enemy. This earned him the old man’s attention, taking it away from the occupied behemoth.

If Nash hated anything, it was a coward. And to backstab allies like this… well, that took the cake. Maybe he didn’t know the boy, but it was clear he had earned his party’s trust. Now, all he had was an imaginary bullseye, painted right on his forehead. Marking his target, he bent over and whispered commands into the ear of the grass-colored minion. He also told the creature a codeword, upon which it would act. The spawn giggled maniacally. It was an imp in the devil’s candy shop; and Oliver was giving him exactly what he wanted: pure entropy.

“Someone has to deliver judgement in this damned place…. SOMEONE has to make people like you answer for their crimes. And Hell, I ain’t saying I’m some Holyman, I’m far from that…”

There was a pause. Oliver Nash, the Wizard, licked his lips.

“But I’m all they’ve got.”

He started walking toward the young man, Ares, who was occupied with upsetting the balance of the Balrog Battle. Oliver drew from his waistband, the spiked limb of a beast long-dead. While his pace was slow, the same could not be said of his subject. The Saibaman’s legs were like that of the road-runner, and he zipped toward the long-haired traitor.

“Kekekeee!” chimed the bright green abomination as it threw a claw across the face of the miniature God of War. Ares cursed the creature, as blood trickled from his minor flesh wound. Angrily, he blasted the significantly weaker creature to the ground. He glared at the creature with a furrowed brow. It looked dead to him. And then, a pair of crimson orbs on its head snapped open. It jumped again, like some dire monkey... persistently presenting itself as the ultimate annoyance.
In this time, Oliver had turned his walk into a run. Heavy footsteps smashed the soil beneath his feat as he moved in an arc behind the Balrog-aligned mercenary, dragging the stinger behind him in the wind. Due to the scene’s chaotic nature, this went relatively unnoticed, but one saw it.

Piper had only just awoken from the impact of her unintentional collision. Kaden, having checked her pulse and saw her alright, was about to wake her up, when Balrog—the man beast—threw him a fresh knuckle to the jaw. Thankfully the sleeping warrioress hadn’t gotten his attention, as he was so focused on destroying the irritating courier. “Come ‘ere, pretty boy, I’ve worked up an appetite.” Balrog had taunted, practicing his best skill besides fighting: fear mongering.

When Piper came to, her first sight was not Kaden, but the white-haired man. He was moving, and fast, toward the boy who had betrayed them. In his hand … a weapon. “No.” She thought out loud, a show of conscious. Enough had bled today; too many left for dead in the streets of Olde Town. Killing the boy wouldn’t solve anything. She had to stop this Wizard, before it was too late. With unimaginable strength, the vaulted her lithe frame toward the bulky senior, arms out to tackle to him the ground. And she would have too, but instead she walked—smack!—into a wall. A wall? Where in the hell had a wall come from?

The answer presented itself, as she took a pace backwards to re-adjust herself. Out from the Wizard’s back, a wall of many (too many to count) flat, two-dimensional, white barriers presented itself. They had manifested within a second, unconsciously, and unnoticed by their source of energy: Oliver Nash.

Meanwhile, the Saiba-… thing had taken to green orbs of ki now, throwing them at the boy like a rapidfire machinegun. Ares, wanting to finish off the peon creature, lunged for him, but this time the imp wouldn’t be taken out so easily. It jumped, using the incoming arm as leverage to throw itself into the face of its opponent. Arms and legs out, it wrapped around the upper torso of the mercenary,

Frustrated, Piper charged this wall with ki-infused fists, but was pushed back again, by this miraculous defense; and this time, it was too late. He was already at his destination.

Oliver, eyes dead set on the guilty, swept up behind the occupied (and equally annoyed) humanoid. Saiba-wrapped and completely distracted, he was unprepared for what came next. A flash of rust colored something cut out across the distance between them, as the barb of the scorpion’s tail was driven hard into Ares’s lower back.

Hoping the poison from the stinger was now coursing through Ares’s bloodstream, he leaned forward to whisper in the coward’s ear the code word.

“…justice…”

Abruptly, the green warrior that was clamped to the saiyan, exploded in his face. Oliver was blown back, landing far away, as Olde Town filled with the smoke of fire once more.

Would Justice be done?

That would be left to the fates.

[Friend or Foe]

Ares could see Wizard. After the blast from the Saibaman, both he and his white-haired opponent had been thrown from the battlefield, smashing into one of the fiery buildings nearby. It was crumbling, but still a long way from actually caving in on itself. The saiyan in him caused him to stir, to try and stand again and fight this old weakling known as Oliver Nash. But the explosion had taken too much out of him. All he could do was growl.

Nash was practically passed out. He thought he had been hallucinating when he saw a familiar pink-haired girl walking by the burning house. He couldn't call out to her, but it turned out it wasn't necessary. She saw the two men laying on the floor, separated by about ten feet of burned plywood floors. She stepped in the doorway, but didn't say anything, just trying to get the situation.

She recognized Oliver Nash immediately, but not the other man. Both were too abused to say anything, but Wizard did his best to raise an arm to her.

Deciding against helping them, Rose suddenly turned around to walk out. Upon stepping her foot outside of the building again, a flash of blue light flew across the front of the store, catching her with it. It was like she had been carried off out of sight, leaving only her shoes remaining in place where she stood.

"What..." Nash mumbled, starting to get his energy back. "What the...?"

More footsteps. Another woman walked into the smoking structure that once was a saloon. She set down a large blue cannon and walked over to Ares without missing a beat. The beautiful, busty female knelt down and stuffed a bean inbetween his lips. "Chew," she demanded. "Swallow."

Following instruction, Ares took in the senzu bean. Within a couple moments, he sat up, still dirty from his battles, but for the most part, completely scratchless. He stood up and nodded to his savior, then looked over at Oliver Nash.

"Leave him," the woman demanded. "He lives. We arn't done with him."

Ares looked at the girl. He recognized the description of her body to be one Trisha Demolic. It was a good thing he had heard the stories from Kaden and Piper, even if they were in passing and not very detailed. All he knew was they fought him, and they won. Supposedly.

Ignoring her orders, Ares walked over to Nash as he stumbled to his knees, trying to get up. An ankle collided with his ribs, the toe of the show smashing into the elder's chest, causing him to recoil and smash backwards into the bar of the pub. "Asshole," Ares spat.

With that, he turned and walked out with his savior, leaving Oliver Nash to burn alive inside the smoldering ruins known as the Olde Town Saloon.


















(Rose is eliminated, teleported far away. Wizard wins a Battle Charger)