PL: 9,445

And like a moth to a flame, the power Kombu had flared was more than enough to get the Majin's attention! Liari had been doing what she ALWAYS does, trying to find some way to stave off her boredom, and for once, it seemed like the answer would come to her instead! It was a powerful signal too, overt, like someone lighting a fire to send a smoke-signal, hard to miss when someone was actually looking for it!

"GOOD!" Liari exclaimed, doing a complete 180-flip and ZIPPING back in its direction! "I NO MISS THIS ONE!" 

...She almost did... once or twice. Maybe it was the excitement of someone actually WANTING a fight or maybe it was just because the majin was already visualizing herself winning for once, but she had ZIPPED past Kombu's location at least twice in both directions, the sayain likely able to see her botched approaches in the sky if he squinted! She just couldn't help it! The little blue girl had felt so WEAK since she had come here and it didn't much help that a pair of lizard-men knocked her around like a tetherball whenever they got to scrapping! Now that she felt THIS energy, WAY stronger than normal but still weaker than she, why WOULDN'T she take this opportunity!? It was a chance to even the score!

...And besides... this person might be nice about it!

After the third pass, Liari would come CRASHING down like a rocket on a mesa just ahead of Kombu's, the little blue majin SLAMMING into the earthy, rocky ground feet-first with enough power to SHAKE the immediate area! Her rock nearly crumbled underneath her, so deep did the spiderweb of cracks travel down, but either by luck, skill or maybe just because the majin wasn't strong enough, she managed to secure her landing without a hitch!

The little 4'6'' majin stood before Kombu with the eagerist-beaver smile arching across her face, her aura blazing a hot, fiery pink with intense... intensity! Her silver eyes glared with intent at the young sayain, flicking about to his defining features just to get a better idea of who she was dealing with! 

"You hair look funny!" 

Ah, yes. Liari's first words to a potential friend. Sometimes it surprised herself the way with words she had. 

"It all pointy!" She continued with a giggle, her attention drawn to the man's... impressive build! "AND YOU BIG TOO! You fun! I wanna play game with you!" 

WC: 413

Kombu fully expected there to be at least one person to accept his challenge among the Gizard Wastelands openly. And why wouldn't they? This very battleground was rumored to host many brilliant bouts since man harnessed the power of fire. What he did not expect, however, was there was not only one being of a respectable power coming to answer the call. There were two.

Even more astonishing to Kombu was the fact that one of the challengers was a Saiyan like him. Well, at least the woman appeared to be a Saiyan. Musclebound with spikey dark hair? Oh yes. She had the body of a warrior, alright. The notable difference was in the Hybrid's eyes. Rather than dark irises, there was a blue that rivaled a clear day's sky.

The Saiyan eyed both challengers with a friendly grin wrinkling his cheeks. Both seemed amiable. He found the blue Majin to be odd, but in an endearing way. Her demeanor seemed friendly and innocent enough. On the other hand, his immediate impression of the Hybrid was one of uncertainty. The inside joke soared high over his head, higher than any B-29 Bomber making a run above the clouds. Maybe she wasn't serious about beating the snot out of kids? If anything, Saiyans were brutal by nature. So, for now, Kombu decided not to let it sway his initial judgments.

"Oh, I'm up for games," he replied as his teeth flashed with a grin. "Nice to meet you both. My name is Kombu. And, you're correct. This is an open invitation. I'm looking to see what this world's warriors have to offer. To get a glimpse of how far I must push myself, you know?"

The man looked to Liari and chuckled. "Yeah, my hair does look kinda funny. I don't even have to use any kind of hair gel to keep it like this. All Saiyans have spikey hair, for some reason or another. And they stay like that for their entire lives unless we cut it, of course. Though I haven't heard of many Saiyans who choose to do that. Once it's gone, it's gone."

Kombu's eyes drifted over the Majin's features. "Forgive me for asking, but I'm not even sure I can tell what race you're a part of, Liari." Then he looked to Zerori. "As for you...Would I be guessing right if I thought you were also a Saiyan like I am?"

The man lightly popped his neck as he stretched it to one side. "In any case. How do we want to do this, then? Are we good to do a free-for-all? Or two versus one?"

---

PL: 3,400
WC: 441
Total WC: 735

Well, Zerori had to hand it to him; he wasn’t an unpleasant man by any means and she merely nodded back in response to his introduction, “Zerori. Well met, and all that,” She turned back to Liari as she seemed to finally recognize her, eliciting a smug little smirk from the mercenary, “I thought it might take you a moment to remember me, heheh! Still, good to see you again too, kid!” Zerori didn’t hold anything about their previous meeting against the Majin, mature enough to know that she wasn’t reacting out of any personal vendetta back at the snowy mountains.

Turning back to Kombu at his curiosity of her species, Zerori would give a nonchalant shrug, “I definitely have Saiyan blood, among other things. I could tell you more, but then that’d be telling and I rather like to put a price on things,” She winked, “-including information.” All teasing aside, however, the suggestion of a free for all and Liari’s excitement that followed right after was more than enough reason for Zerori to agree. “Yeah, sure! Sounds like a plan!” Given what she was sensing between the two of them, it made more sense than double teaming one of the other.

Once they were all on board with what they were going to do, Zerori rolled her shoulder and gave her neck a nice stretch, the audible crack echoing like a warning sign to the both of them. “Well, then, if we’re all decided-” With a harsh laugh, Zerori decided to immediately go for the strongest and launched herself at Liari. She pulled her arm back as she rushed at the blue child before throwing it toward her cheek in an attempt to get the first blood. “Let’s GO THEN!” While it might have been frowned upon in a numerous amount of cultures to attack a child first, Saiyan culture dictated that it was how the weak became strong and the second reason being that she didn’t really give a shit about the morality of it!

“You hit pretty hard last time so let’s see how fast you are, yeah?!” Zerori taunted Liari, her focus completely lost on Kombu for the moment as she went after what she would politely consider the ‘bigger fish’. Her first attack would be followed up with one more swing aimed at Liari’s other cheek

It wasn’t for no - MMMMM! Zerori thought with only brief frustration before she quickly dismissed the accusation in her mind. She wasn’t here to cause more issues and, as far as she was concerned, they’d managed to get along swimmingly. She wasn’t about to rock THAT boat so soon. Besides, this kid was smart and Zerori liked smart kids; she knew where the mercenaries’ heart lay and they’d only met one time! “Right you are. Everything comes with a price, though. How much or how little depends on who likes you!” Zerori laughed, attempting to impart some of her own wisdom before Liari and her had engaged in their fight.

And damn, she certainly hadn’t gotten any weaker! When her warm-up swings were met with nearly equal strength in spite of Zerori feeling a difference in their strength, it didn’t take a genius to know that this kid was a prodigy in the works. The depths of Majin power was still greatly unknown to her but the unknown was hardly a deterrent. As the ground cracked from the sheer force of the collisions of their fists, Zerori’s own chuckles would seep between clenched and bared teeth as she grinned down at Liari, “Good! Because there’s PLENTY where that came from!”

With a grunt, Zerori had made to try and force their little stalemate only to stumble forward at the most inopportune time and flail about to keep from falling flat on her face along the ground. She knelt along the ground with one hand, taking to a knee briefly before swinging her head around to search for the ornery kid, Well, that answers that fucking question! Zerori thought, impressed despite realizing that this might actually clown on her.

To no one’s surprise, Liari’s smaller and much faster body was easily able to catch Zerori by her side and gave a comical ‘OOF!’ when she was at the mercy of the Majin’s attack. It was only by the grace of her physical strength that the Saiyan woman was able to take whatever Liari dished out before giving a groan and holding her smarting side, “Damn, n-... not bad! Still - you got to see me with two big arms, yeah? Well, what if I told you I could make-” She paused for a moment, grunting in concentration as she summoned a twin pair of floating vectors that were still her Shadow Claws but instead of forcing them along her own arms like last time in the form of big ass claw paws - they would arc over her back menacingly.

Sweat poured from her brow as Zerori finished breathlessly, “-MORE arms?! Cool, right?” She stranded to laugh, unable to help but try and show off a little.

Zerori knew she was draining herself dry by showing off, but in the presence of a kid that seemed to just want to see cool shit, fight people and have a good time - it was times like this that she really couldn’t resist. Watching Liari’s reactions, as well, was well worth the effort she put in to try and impress her. “Heh,” Zerori smirked, “-knew you’d like it.” While Zerori wasn’t really mom material (her words, only) there was just something that felt nice about the innocent way they reacted and were like… a blank canvas to the world. In spite of having to grow up quickly, mature and make something of herself in the face of adversity, a part of Zerori wanted to protect other kids from losing that ability to just see the world in a way she couldn’t anymore.

In a way she desperately wanted to try and see again.

The brief reverie Zerori had found herself in was thankfully shaken as Liari’s excitement seemed to trigger her own bout of wiggles and remind her that she ALSO had something to bring to show and tell. Clenching all four of her fists in preparation, Zerori watched as Liari’s arms pulled back… and back and back and now Zerori’s eyes were as wide as saucers when she couldn’t even see the arms anymore they’d been thrown back so far! Oh… no. No, I cannot. Zerori thought, enthralled by what she was seeing and struggling to comprehend.

Then, all comprehension went out the window when the arms suddenly recoiled back and the hybrid had less than seconds to react! Using both sets of her arms, the hybrid woman tried valiantly to avoid what hits she could with the stamina she had. For a moment, it seemed like the blurs of motions that were Liari’s hundreds of fists were being dodged deftly by Zerori’s unorthodox on-all-fours approach that involved side-stepping, rolling, flipped and mis-directing the attacks were working-

Yet a moment was about as long as it lasted, having already pushed her limits with creating the arms in the first place. One hit that threw her shoulder back turned into five, turned into fifty until the woman was on the ground, grunting and groaning with each hit as the dirt and dust obscured her body from view. Pain bloomed through her body as she was forced deeper and deeper into the dirt before until whatever point Liari would be finished. As the dust settled, the gradually moving woman would pick herself up off the ground before shaking her head, various cuts, bruises and some blood littering her body.

“Wow! Shit,” Zerori laughed, her blood boiling hotter than before as she cracked her neck after tanking such an attack. “Never would have expected that!” She turned her head, spitting out a wad of blood before lowering herself into a stance, “I think it’s time to get a little serious!” She rushed forward in a dead sprint, the force of her boots cracking the ground below her as she approached with terrifying speed. She pulled her right, fleshy, arm back, “Tell me if you REMEMBER THIS!?” Before throwing it forward just as it crackled with red energy into her face. She wouldn't stop there, however, and swung another fist into opposite cheek that had combusted into red sparks of dark energy until finally attempting to end it with a double-fisted hammer strike to let Liari get a little taste of the ground she got to enjoy.

She would laugh a moment later, her blood singing and her fists throbbing from the dull pain of her own attacks, "I hope you're still having fun, because I SURE AS HELL AM!"

With every swing that connected, throwing Liari’s head to the side, Zerori would worry if she was (perhaps) going just a bit too far. Every hit seemed to hurt just a little bit more, though she wasn’t sure if that was because of just how resistant Liari was or if she was facing recoil of her own attacks. All the mattered, in the end, was that when she’d finished her little combo Zerori’s reaction to Liari’s interrupted mouth blast would scar her for much of her life. The sheer amount of distortion that Zerori witnessed as Liari’s mouth blast seemed to explode from within her body was disturbing and - by the look of the hybrid’s cringed expression… it was clear she was regretting her last attack.

As the dust began to settle from the explosion, the mild burns upon Zerori's hands hardly a bother to her as she watched Liari's form gradually reveal that she was looking worse for wear. And if the visibly damaged look of the Majin weren't indication enough that Zerori might have gone a BIT too far, the steamed rage that was bubbling to the surface with every word that was spoken was all the clarity Zerori needed. Well, fuck- In spite of literally beating Liari’s face in, Zerori hoped that the anger was fleeting. She brought her hand forward, claws and palm extended upward before she gestured for Liari to make her stand next.

“Sorry, kid - that, uh… that definitely looked like it hurt. Shoot your shot at me,” She regained her stance, “-and don’t hold back, either! I like our little fight but something tells me that if we go at it too long, you might forget that this was for fun!” It was a bit of a piss poor attempt at trying to keep things light-hearted, especially since she was the one that had gone too far to begin with.

All through out their fight, Zerori hadn’t even realized until just then that her other opponent wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He’d basically called them here but when she cautiously looked around, she couldn’t find him or sense him. Did he dip because we were stronger? While it wasn’t exactly what she expected, Zerori wasn’t going to be a poor sport about someone she’d barely met. She focused her attention on Liari, ready for whatever else she was going to dish out at her!

For a long moment, Zerori was worried that Liari wasn’t going to go for the free hit - maybe out of pride or… something similar to it. She wouldn’t have blamed the girl for thinking Zerori was trying to mock her but she genuinely felt bad! Then, just when Zerori was about to try and make the next move (with a LOT more conscious effort this time!) Liari took her offer and launched at her. Relief lasted only a fraction of a second before Zerori tensed her body in preparation to take a pretty sizable hit-... only for her body to be wrapped in the arms and legs of the little Majin. “H-Huh?!” Completely caught off guard, Zerori would blink in confusion before she gradually realized that she was being hugged.

It brought memories back from their time in the snow when they first met and, similarly to that time, Zerori would just give a scoff of laughter before she gave a gentle pad on Liari’s back - a fondness in her expression that was starting to feel more natural as time went on. When she pulled back to deliver a sentiment that had Zerori’s eyes widen and her mouth hang open a bit in surprise, it took an embarrassing amount of time for the hybrid to reclaim her composure and give a half smile in return.

“I haven’t been described as ‘nice’ in a long time… but thanks. I’m holding you to that!” Zerori grinned, giving Liari a moment to either get back into position for her attack before finishing, “Now, show me your best shot!” Her stance changed, lowering into a defensive one she’d actually tried to learn from Callion back on the island she’d met him on. Instead of the ‘clawed’ posture her hands would usually take above her head and below near her knee, Zerori placed her left hand physically on the ground and her right arm would linger in front of her - as if she were holding a shield at the ready.

It was… new and not at all what she was used to, but she was trying to learn different styles beyond what felt the easiest to inflict the most pain.

Waiting on Liari’s attack, however, Zerori would wonder just how Liari managed to crawl into the broken cracks of her heart. Ever since feeling the rejection of her last ‘love interest’ as romance novels put it - Zerori just didn’t feel like attachments were worth it. Yet with Liari it felt like she could throw that line out there and feel… a little bit of what it was like to be an older sister. Being an only child with both of your parents gone because of one circumstance or the next still made it hard to accept. She was trying, however.