Jun 27, 2022 15:35:13 GMT -5
Post by Quash on Jun 27, 2022 15:35:13 GMT -5
6:00 AM
Quash was marching through the jungle of Mount Paozu, having woken up bright and early for yet another session of training. The Sun had just begun to rise, so it wasn't too bright outside. Like usual, he was wearing his standard issue saiyan armor and his training weights. He was currently trying to find any dinosaurs to fight, as this was his main way of finding sparring partners. He barely knew anyone on Earth at the moment, and he didn’t know how to find the few people did know. Unfortunately, that meant he still had to resort to fighting carnivorous beasts.
Still, he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make for a good workout. They came in all different shapes, sizes, and numbers. Because of that, Quash had to sharpen his improvisation skills. He was thrown into various situations and, as a result, his senses and reflexes were sharper, he became more agile, stronger, faster, and just an overall more effective fighter. At this point, Mount Paozu was beginning to feel more and more like his space to hangout and clear his mind.
Except today, apparently. The jungle was unusually quiet.. While one may have thought it was because some of them might have still been sleeping, this was a very different kind of quiet. Not only couldn’t he see any nearby wildlife, couldn’t hear any insects, birds, fish, or anything either. The ominous atmosphere it created weirded him out. Quash had his guard up and was on alert as he continued his journey through the jungle, wondering if something was going on that he didn’t know about.
Quash stumbled upon a rather large river, and figured this was as good a time as any to have some water. He knelt down in front of him and entered his cupped hands into the stream. He brought the water to his lips and took a big sip. Feeling a little more refreshed, he leaned back until he laid flat on the grass and stared up at the sky. He figured he’d just wait for something to happen. Who knows, maybe excitement would find him.
His thoughts began to wander for a bit, eventually landing on the situation he was currently in. He couldn’t be in the open, as Earth was not exactly welcoming to Saiyans at the moment. Cities, until he could figure something out, were off limits for the time being. Mount Paozu, however, was a pretty good place to start until he found something better. It was away from civilization so there wasn’t a big chance he’d run into someone he’d rather not and there were plenty of creatures to spar with too. Yeah, this’ll do for now.
It was hard to not think about what happened in Orange City not too long ago. Not only was he beaten by Athren once already, he was tricked into smearing the Saiyan name and putting his world and Earth into conflict. His pride had taken a critical hit, and yet what plagued his mind wasn’t thoughts of low morale, or depression. It was vengeance and determination. He wouldn’t allow himself to let this go unpunished.
He thought about the power Athren had unleashed in their first encounter. Surely he had to be able to access a power like that, right? The power was within him somewhere, he just had to pull it out. While Quash craved a better method of training, this would have to do for now. It didn’t change much. With his newfound resolve, he’d use it to push his body to the very limits! Get ready Athren! You have a target on your back!
Still, there were other issues he had to think about. Going back to the conflict that would likely happen between the USD and Planet Vegeta, things could get very nasty. The USD were already stationed on Vegeta, so they had immediate access to the people. They would no doubt begin to look for answers. He could tell that things were going to get bad, real soon. He had to be prepared for anything.
As if on cue, Quash sat up fast as he heard something snap behind him. He hopped to his feet and turned around. While he didn’t see anything, it was clear the sound came from the crowd of bushes and trees behind him. It sounded like a snap of a twig or a branch, which meant something was on the move. Focusing on his ki sense, he could detect not just one, but three energies hidden within the vegetation in front of him.
Bracing himself for a fight, he got into a stance. He didn’t know what he was about to face, but he had no fear. There was a low growl, and then a brief moment of silence before…a giant fish leaped out of the water behind him?! Quash turned around, shocked at the sudden appearance. He’d been so focused on what was in front of him he wasn’t paying attention to anything else. The fish actually lept out of the water towards him to take a bite out of his face. He wasn’t sure if it was on a kamikaze mission or whether it was just stupid, but either way he had to defend himself.
He activated his Ki Sword, shoving the energy blade directly into the forehead of the fish. Blood splattered over his armor and his face as he landed the lethal blow. While he won out against his attacker, the victory was short lived. Before he knew it, a huge weight would suddenly be upon his back and teeth would sink themselves into his right shoulder. Quash cried out in pain as the attack would send both him and whatever hit him into the river. The strong current would have them both flowing down the river.
Quash could feel his lungs begging for air as he tried to get whatever was on him off of him. The thing that attacked him was still biting and scratching at his back. Blood would flow out for his wounds and create a sort of “mist” around the two as the struggle continued. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he knew it was time to stop playing around and get serious. Using his flight underwater, he did a powerful spin to shake off the assailant. Now freed, he could see what the identity was of what had struck him: A wolf. To be honest, this was the first wolf that Quash had seen since he entered Mount Paozu. He had honestly figured it was just dinosaurs. What other kind of animals-
Now was not the time to think about that. He still had to get out of this jam. Quash went to fly out of the river, his head popping out from the river, but the wolf had managed to bite his leg in the process. Luckily, Quash managed to take a breath before being pulled back into the water. Upon focusing on the wolf again, he could tell it was trying to take a breath of its own. He wouldn’t let that happen. He managed to get a hold of the wolf’s head and dragged it across the river floor. After a force like that, he figured it wasn’t going to come back up.
He sensed the other two energies from before. Had they been following them this whole time? It was likely other wolves. He was going to have to be careful. He flew out of the water and into the air a few meters above land, waiting to see the other two energies show themselves. Like he thought, the other two wolves came out of hiding and were barking violently at him. They clearly wanted a piece of him. Quash winced in pain before smirking arrogantly. His shoulder ached and stung, and he could feel how deep the cuts were on his back.
Right now, it was payback time. Quash created two spheres of ki in his hand and took aim at the wolves. It was time to prove who it was that really ruled the jungle around here. He went to launched his attack towards when out of nowhere-
WHAM!
The saiyan was speared by a giant pterodactyl moving at breakneck speeds. The force took him by surprise, knocking him out of the sky. Why did it seem like everything was after him today? He knew that these monsters were dangerous, but it was like they all had something against him. Maybe he really did train here too often, though he didn’t think he came enough times to really have that impression. Plus, wouldn’t this mean that the animals would want to stay away from him?
There was a loud crash as Quash’s body hit the ground. He knew it was only a matter of time before the wolves were on him, so he braced himself for impact. Before he could even sit up, they both jumped at him. He managed to slide in a powerful kick, launching one of them away from him. The other went for his throat, but he grabbed each end of the canine’s jaw, preventing them closing. He threw it off of him, jumping back to his feet. The wolf jumped at him again, but Quash did a powerful sidekick with his left leg, knocking the wolf into a tree trunk.
Quickly finishing it off with a ki blast before it could get back up again, Quash sensed the last wolf that he had kicked away coming back for round two. This time, however, it brought some back up. It brought four other wolves with it. He looked up at the sky above, seeing it through the spaces between the trees that were around them. He could still make out the pterodactyls swarming him overhead. Well, that was just perfect wasn’t it?
Just when he thought he had seen everything they had, he felt the ground beneath him shake. Something particularly large was coming towards him from behind. He turned around, only to see a wall of mass in front of him. As he looked up, he realized what he was staring at was a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex! It let out an extremely loud battle cry, and Quash took a deep breath. It was at this moment that it clicked for him. He didn’t exactly why or how it happened, but it was clear that at this point that he was being targeted.
For normal, everyday people, they would take this as a sign to leave. They’d think that there were too many dangerous monsters trying to have them killed and it was better to leave and maybe figure it out from a distance. However, that’s not how Quash did things. He was a warrior, and he wasn’t about to run away from this. He was going to fight his way to the root of the problem and cut it out. Whatever it took, he swore to himself that he’d do it.
Quash readied his Ki Sword, prepared to take action. Much to his surprise, no one moved. It was then that he felt another source of energy approaching him from behind the giant tyrannosaurus rex in front of him. The man walked out from behind the monster and right up to Quash’s face. He was large, about six foot six, very muscular, and had the head of a tyrannosaurus rex. He had hard, green scaly skin. Additionally, he had a long, lizard-like tail and sharp teeth.
The Captain raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t help but feel like he was being punked. He didn’t recall anyone like this being from Earth. You had the occasional man-dog or something like that, but a straight up dinosaur-man? That has got to be the one of the weirdest things he had ever seen. Anyway, Quash figured that he might as well figure out what was going on with him, as he appeared to be the boss. Was he the one behind all of this? Did it matter? Oh well, They were probably going to end up fighting anyway.
“So, who are you?” Quash asked.
“I am Dino Man! The ruler of Mount Paozu!”
Quash was already confused. Ruler? As far as he could tell, Mount Paozu wasn’t a kingdom. It was just a random place where dinosaurs could roam in their natural habitat. There were no citizens, no structure, nothing.
“Yeah, I somehow doubt that. Where are your people?”
“Pfft, foolish monkey. Look around, these are people. I command all the creatures of Mount Paozu. I’ve been here for a long time, way before the likes of you showed up.”
“Yeah, sure pal. I’ve been coming here for a while now and I’ve never seen a single hint that someone might be in control of this land.”
“That’s merely because I normally don’t have a problem with visitors. We keep to ourselves for the most part, so I simply allowed you to roam around of your own free will. But then, you started mindlessly slaughtering my people by the doesn’t. You saiyan always show up where you don’t belong, fighting whoever you please without a care in the world for who it might harm in the process. I’ve tried sending soldiers after you, but it wasn’t enough.
I thought about just telling my people to just simply avoid you, but I’ve heard what people like you have done in Orange City. I will not let you destroy our home as well. You’ll find that we’re not as weak as Earth’s pitiful forces.”
Quash was visibly surprised at hearing Dino Man talk about Orange City. He knew?
“Wait, how do you know about the attack on the USD?”
“Tales of your destruction have already begun to spread around the world. Eventually a bird or two heard a few things and reported back to me. I have eyes and ears even beyond Paozu’s borders. Don’t you see? No one can hide from me.”
Quash smirked, getting into his fighting stance.
“Who’s hiding? Ready when you are, lizard man.”
Dino Man waved away his creatures, wanting a one on one.
“Very well, I’ll tear you apart myself!”
Dino Man rushed towards Quash, throwing a strong right hook at his face. The Captain’s battle hardened instincts kicked in, ducking beneath the blow. He immediately went on the offensive, bringing his fist back and standing up with a strong uppercut aimed at his opponent’s chin. As his knuckles made contact with it, he winced in pain. This guy’s skin, it wasn’t just for show. It felt like hitting some kind of unbreakable metal.
Dino Man’s head moved from the hit, but his body went nowhere. He was tough, there was no doubt about that. Quash continued his combination, launching three punches at his exposed abdomen. His fists made a dull “thud” noise as he made contact, like he had struck sand. That wasn’t a good sign. What was this guy made out of?
It looked like his opponent could read the expression on Quash’s face, because he was smiling mischievously the whole time. He launched his knee up, digging his kneecap into the Captain’s gut. Breath left the saiyan’s lips, causing him to fall over onto the ground. He couldn’t help but feel like he was feeling a very familiar sensation from his fight with Athren. His gut ached just from thinking about it. Before he knew it, a flash of a foot was suddenly in his face as he was kicked away. The momentum had sent him through a tree and onto the ground.
Quash gritted his teeth in pain as he forced himself up. When he looked back at his enemy, he saw a Dino Man charging towards him like a raging bull. Knowing he had to think fast, he looked down at the fallen tree trunks besides him. He quickly grabbed it as its base, and spun his entire body around in a complete circle into his opponent’s body. That seemed to do the trick, DIno Man was knocked off his feet and into the trees beside them. Quash congratulated himself on his small victory, but he couldn’t say he was surprised that his foe got up with practically no sign of slowing down.
Dino Man charged Quash again, but this time the Captain unsheathed his Savoy Sword. If punching him wasn’t going to do the trick, maybe he’d have a better chance of piercing his rough skin. With his other hand, he pointed at his chest and fired his Lima Laser, hitting right in the middle of his sternum. The beam was struggling to pierce his body, but Quash was banking on softening up the area for his Ki blade.
“Is that all you’ve got Saiyan?!”
“You’re about to see all I’ve got!”
Dino Man used his legs to propel himself forward, throwing himself towards Quash. The Saiyan dashed forward, thrusting his energy sword towards the weakened area. To his surprise, it didn’t manage to pierce his skin. It made a dent, but that wasn’t good enough. Dino Man kept up his momentum, overpowering his thrust and barreling right into him. Quash’s body went spiraling to the side, landing with another thud on the ground.
‘Gotta say… that hurt.”
“Heheh, that’s the idea monkey boy. I’m just getting started.”
The surface of Dino Man’s hands roughened and sharpened. His knuckles extended out a little in the form of tiny little knives. He gave Quash a toothy grin, flexing his sharp teeth. He rubbed his knife-knuckles against each other, causing sparks to fly out as he tested their sharpness.
“Hehe, ready for two?”
Quash grunted and stood up again, staring down Dino Man. He got into his fighting stance.
“Sure, I was just getting warmed up.”
Dino Man chuckled before yelling back a response as he charged forward once again.
“I will enjoy tearing you apart!”
Quash waited until the last minute to make his move. He jumped over his head and fired a Lima Laser from behind, aiming for the back of his knee. He figured it’d be less armored than the front portion, and he was right. The laser pierced the back of the knee, digging into flesh and skin, but couldn’t go all the way through. Dino Man stumbled over, crashing into the floor and now lying on his back. Quash used his flight to dash towards him, his Savoy Sword still in hand. This was his chance, he was going to finish the job! Or at least, that’s what he thought.
Now right on top of Dino Man, he went to aim for the same weak spot from earlier. Finally, looks like he won the battle!
Or so he thought.
Dino Man took a huge, powerful right swing at Quash’s gut. His sharpened fist dug into the Captain’s stomach, ripping out a concerning chunk as he was sent flying once more. As his body hit yet another tree trunk and fell to the ground, he felt a sharp pain go up his gut. He sat himself up on the tree trunk and looked to see butchered skin and torn muscle. He was bleeding out pretty bad, and if this fight lasted too long, he might lose too much blood.
He slowly got up to his feet, seeing that Dino Man was struggling to get up too. At least Quash was managing to do some kind of damage. Still, this was not good at all. He needed to find a way to get a real advantage and fast. He had created a vulnerable spot already, he just needed to think of a way to strike it. In fact, maybe it was time he’d take a page out of Athren’s playbook and get a little creative. That retired saiyan had simple tricks, but those simple tricks proved to be annoying as all hell. He figured it’d have the same effect on the person he was facing now.
However, there was a problem. Quash was able to catch onto his antics frighteningly quick, and he knew it wouldn’t take long for Dino Man to catch on either. If he was going to do this, his next couple of attacks were going to have to go for the kill or else the fight was going to become that much harder.
“Argh, you brat!” Dino Man exclaimed, now limping towards Quash.
“Looks like you won’t be running anywhere anymore. I hope you can fly.” He replied.
“Tch, I don’t need that to beat you.”
“Wait, you seriously can’t fly? Don’t your own “people” fly? Surely you have to have an idea of how useful it can be, especially during a time like this. Aren’t you supposed to be some super powerful ruler or something?”
His opponent, visibly annoyed at this point yelled at Quash as he fired a mouth blast at him.
“ENOUGH!”
Quash propelled himself upward, narrowly avoiding the blast.
Got him. He thought, firing off a Lima Laser towards his forward at an angle. It wouldn’t pierce Dino Man’s tough skull, but the force of the laser would knock his head to the side as it made a “ding!” off the side of his head. Quash, fighting through the pain in his injury at this point, flew towards the ruler of Mount Paozu, firing a ki blast at the ground right in front of his feet. While he was now thrown off balance, Captain Quash readied his Savoy Sword, throwing a powerful thrust into the weakened area of his chest one more time.
“Sorry, but this ends right here!”
The sword went straight into the Dino Man’s sternum and came out the other end. Blood splattered from his mouth and onto the Saiyan’s face. Quash smirked as he felt his own energy pierce skin, flesh, and bone. He hadn’t taken the life of an adversary since his last invasion. He forgot how rewarding it was to be able to land the decisive blow.
As he dissolved his energy blade, Quash stood over a now kneeling Dino Man, who was losing more and more blood by the second. He wouldn’t last much longer.
“It looks like I won, lizard breath.” Quash said triumphantly, though his wound reminded himself of its presence, sending out a pain bad enough to make the saiyan fall on his knees himself. He grunted in pain, not even wanting to touch his wound. It was a good thing he managed to get him down early, or else he might’ve been in trouble. He was a strong foe, and he respected his power.
It looked like the Ruler of Mount Paozu had some words for Quash, because he just started to ramble.
“You…You won’t win in the end.”
“Huh?” Quash was confused, where was this coming from?
“Your crimes in Orange City, to the people of this planet. Eventually it’s going to catch up to you, and you’ll pay the price for all those lives you took.”
The Captain couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Something funny?”
“Yeah, actually. It’s amusing to me that you’ve lost so badly that you’re now resorting to this. Orange City wasn’t my fault, I was tricked into taking those lives.”
“You expect me to believe that Saiyans, who are known for invading countless worlds and assaulting them without a care in the world, would need to be tricked into taking down a group of people?”
“Whether you believe me or not, is not my concern. I mean, you’re the one dying over here.”
“Is your conscience really that clear? Even if I do believe you, which I don’t, that doesn’t make you innocent. You’ve pillaged civilizations, slaughtered men, women, and the children too! How can you live with yourself!”
“The strong survive, it’s that simple. I didn’t make the rules, I just followed them. Besides, that’s how it always is anyway. Sure, I might help someone I like to get stronger, but it’s not like I’m under some obligation to get the weaklings to “catch up”. I help those, and respect those, who are already helping themselves. If I see the desire for power within someone, I want to help them bring it out. Not only does it make things more interesting, I get to have a cool fight out of it! I like watching them set their mind on something and accomplish it! It’s pretty cool to see, to be honest.
However, these other races, they just sit on their asses and hope for the best. Look at the Namekians. No matter what happened, they never changed their ways. Now look at them, the PTO has them in the palm of their hands, and I don’t see that going away any time soon. I hate the PTO as much as everybody else, but I’m nobody’s servant. I’m not going to go out of my way to bail the Namekians out just because they aren’t strong enough to. They got themselves in this mess, they can get their way out. Besides, I have other things to worry about. ”
“Pfft, like what?” Dino Man said, coughing roughly. His time was ending soon.
Quash thought for a moment before replying. This guy was dying anyway, so he figured he’d spill the beans. It wouldn’t hurt.
“Alright, fine, I’ll tell you. Things aren’t going well on Planet Vegeta. We’re getting weaker, and I need to go back and get things back to the way they used to be.”
“Why do you even care? Wasn’t this something that you said you didn’t care about?”
“There are a lot of us who want to restore honor to the Saiyan name. As someone with Saiyan blood, it pains me to see our race fall so low from what we once were. We’ve grown too comfortable, too lazy. We used to push ourselves until our bones broke, fight until our knuckles bled, and fight until we had won the battle or died trying. If you saw our civilization now, we’re a shadow of our former selves. Our identity has been stolen, tampered with by the USD. They claim to be champions of justice and peace, but our culture and way of life was completely changed by them. A lot of us think it’s time to take our home back.”
“Just sounds like…a lot of… hooplah… to me…”
“Oh please, what do you know? You’re a- Huh? Oh.”
Quash stopped himself, realizing that Dino Man was dead. He took a deep breath, forcing himself onto his feet. He better get something to cover this wound before he passes out. That’d uh.. That’d be bad.
WC: 4432
Superheavy Weights (75%)
Quash was marching through the jungle of Mount Paozu, having woken up bright and early for yet another session of training. The Sun had just begun to rise, so it wasn't too bright outside. Like usual, he was wearing his standard issue saiyan armor and his training weights. He was currently trying to find any dinosaurs to fight, as this was his main way of finding sparring partners. He barely knew anyone on Earth at the moment, and he didn’t know how to find the few people did know. Unfortunately, that meant he still had to resort to fighting carnivorous beasts.
Still, he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make for a good workout. They came in all different shapes, sizes, and numbers. Because of that, Quash had to sharpen his improvisation skills. He was thrown into various situations and, as a result, his senses and reflexes were sharper, he became more agile, stronger, faster, and just an overall more effective fighter. At this point, Mount Paozu was beginning to feel more and more like his space to hangout and clear his mind.
Except today, apparently. The jungle was unusually quiet.. While one may have thought it was because some of them might have still been sleeping, this was a very different kind of quiet. Not only couldn’t he see any nearby wildlife, couldn’t hear any insects, birds, fish, or anything either. The ominous atmosphere it created weirded him out. Quash had his guard up and was on alert as he continued his journey through the jungle, wondering if something was going on that he didn’t know about.
Quash stumbled upon a rather large river, and figured this was as good a time as any to have some water. He knelt down in front of him and entered his cupped hands into the stream. He brought the water to his lips and took a big sip. Feeling a little more refreshed, he leaned back until he laid flat on the grass and stared up at the sky. He figured he’d just wait for something to happen. Who knows, maybe excitement would find him.
His thoughts began to wander for a bit, eventually landing on the situation he was currently in. He couldn’t be in the open, as Earth was not exactly welcoming to Saiyans at the moment. Cities, until he could figure something out, were off limits for the time being. Mount Paozu, however, was a pretty good place to start until he found something better. It was away from civilization so there wasn’t a big chance he’d run into someone he’d rather not and there were plenty of creatures to spar with too. Yeah, this’ll do for now.
It was hard to not think about what happened in Orange City not too long ago. Not only was he beaten by Athren once already, he was tricked into smearing the Saiyan name and putting his world and Earth into conflict. His pride had taken a critical hit, and yet what plagued his mind wasn’t thoughts of low morale, or depression. It was vengeance and determination. He wouldn’t allow himself to let this go unpunished.
He thought about the power Athren had unleashed in their first encounter. Surely he had to be able to access a power like that, right? The power was within him somewhere, he just had to pull it out. While Quash craved a better method of training, this would have to do for now. It didn’t change much. With his newfound resolve, he’d use it to push his body to the very limits! Get ready Athren! You have a target on your back!
Still, there were other issues he had to think about. Going back to the conflict that would likely happen between the USD and Planet Vegeta, things could get very nasty. The USD were already stationed on Vegeta, so they had immediate access to the people. They would no doubt begin to look for answers. He could tell that things were going to get bad, real soon. He had to be prepared for anything.
As if on cue, Quash sat up fast as he heard something snap behind him. He hopped to his feet and turned around. While he didn’t see anything, it was clear the sound came from the crowd of bushes and trees behind him. It sounded like a snap of a twig or a branch, which meant something was on the move. Focusing on his ki sense, he could detect not just one, but three energies hidden within the vegetation in front of him.
Bracing himself for a fight, he got into a stance. He didn’t know what he was about to face, but he had no fear. There was a low growl, and then a brief moment of silence before…a giant fish leaped out of the water behind him?! Quash turned around, shocked at the sudden appearance. He’d been so focused on what was in front of him he wasn’t paying attention to anything else. The fish actually lept out of the water towards him to take a bite out of his face. He wasn’t sure if it was on a kamikaze mission or whether it was just stupid, but either way he had to defend himself.
He activated his Ki Sword, shoving the energy blade directly into the forehead of the fish. Blood splattered over his armor and his face as he landed the lethal blow. While he won out against his attacker, the victory was short lived. Before he knew it, a huge weight would suddenly be upon his back and teeth would sink themselves into his right shoulder. Quash cried out in pain as the attack would send both him and whatever hit him into the river. The strong current would have them both flowing down the river.
Quash could feel his lungs begging for air as he tried to get whatever was on him off of him. The thing that attacked him was still biting and scratching at his back. Blood would flow out for his wounds and create a sort of “mist” around the two as the struggle continued. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he knew it was time to stop playing around and get serious. Using his flight underwater, he did a powerful spin to shake off the assailant. Now freed, he could see what the identity was of what had struck him: A wolf. To be honest, this was the first wolf that Quash had seen since he entered Mount Paozu. He had honestly figured it was just dinosaurs. What other kind of animals-
Now was not the time to think about that. He still had to get out of this jam. Quash went to fly out of the river, his head popping out from the river, but the wolf had managed to bite his leg in the process. Luckily, Quash managed to take a breath before being pulled back into the water. Upon focusing on the wolf again, he could tell it was trying to take a breath of its own. He wouldn’t let that happen. He managed to get a hold of the wolf’s head and dragged it across the river floor. After a force like that, he figured it wasn’t going to come back up.
He sensed the other two energies from before. Had they been following them this whole time? It was likely other wolves. He was going to have to be careful. He flew out of the water and into the air a few meters above land, waiting to see the other two energies show themselves. Like he thought, the other two wolves came out of hiding and were barking violently at him. They clearly wanted a piece of him. Quash winced in pain before smirking arrogantly. His shoulder ached and stung, and he could feel how deep the cuts were on his back.
Right now, it was payback time. Quash created two spheres of ki in his hand and took aim at the wolves. It was time to prove who it was that really ruled the jungle around here. He went to launched his attack towards when out of nowhere-
WHAM!
The saiyan was speared by a giant pterodactyl moving at breakneck speeds. The force took him by surprise, knocking him out of the sky. Why did it seem like everything was after him today? He knew that these monsters were dangerous, but it was like they all had something against him. Maybe he really did train here too often, though he didn’t think he came enough times to really have that impression. Plus, wouldn’t this mean that the animals would want to stay away from him?
There was a loud crash as Quash’s body hit the ground. He knew it was only a matter of time before the wolves were on him, so he braced himself for impact. Before he could even sit up, they both jumped at him. He managed to slide in a powerful kick, launching one of them away from him. The other went for his throat, but he grabbed each end of the canine’s jaw, preventing them closing. He threw it off of him, jumping back to his feet. The wolf jumped at him again, but Quash did a powerful sidekick with his left leg, knocking the wolf into a tree trunk.
Quickly finishing it off with a ki blast before it could get back up again, Quash sensed the last wolf that he had kicked away coming back for round two. This time, however, it brought some back up. It brought four other wolves with it. He looked up at the sky above, seeing it through the spaces between the trees that were around them. He could still make out the pterodactyls swarming him overhead. Well, that was just perfect wasn’t it?
Just when he thought he had seen everything they had, he felt the ground beneath him shake. Something particularly large was coming towards him from behind. He turned around, only to see a wall of mass in front of him. As he looked up, he realized what he was staring at was a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex! It let out an extremely loud battle cry, and Quash took a deep breath. It was at this moment that it clicked for him. He didn’t exactly why or how it happened, but it was clear that at this point that he was being targeted.
For normal, everyday people, they would take this as a sign to leave. They’d think that there were too many dangerous monsters trying to have them killed and it was better to leave and maybe figure it out from a distance. However, that’s not how Quash did things. He was a warrior, and he wasn’t about to run away from this. He was going to fight his way to the root of the problem and cut it out. Whatever it took, he swore to himself that he’d do it.
Quash readied his Ki Sword, prepared to take action. Much to his surprise, no one moved. It was then that he felt another source of energy approaching him from behind the giant tyrannosaurus rex in front of him. The man walked out from behind the monster and right up to Quash’s face. He was large, about six foot six, very muscular, and had the head of a tyrannosaurus rex. He had hard, green scaly skin. Additionally, he had a long, lizard-like tail and sharp teeth.
The Captain raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t help but feel like he was being punked. He didn’t recall anyone like this being from Earth. You had the occasional man-dog or something like that, but a straight up dinosaur-man? That has got to be the one of the weirdest things he had ever seen. Anyway, Quash figured that he might as well figure out what was going on with him, as he appeared to be the boss. Was he the one behind all of this? Did it matter? Oh well, They were probably going to end up fighting anyway.
“So, who are you?” Quash asked.
“I am Dino Man! The ruler of Mount Paozu!”
Quash was already confused. Ruler? As far as he could tell, Mount Paozu wasn’t a kingdom. It was just a random place where dinosaurs could roam in their natural habitat. There were no citizens, no structure, nothing.
“Yeah, I somehow doubt that. Where are your people?”
“Pfft, foolish monkey. Look around, these are people. I command all the creatures of Mount Paozu. I’ve been here for a long time, way before the likes of you showed up.”
“Yeah, sure pal. I’ve been coming here for a while now and I’ve never seen a single hint that someone might be in control of this land.”
“That’s merely because I normally don’t have a problem with visitors. We keep to ourselves for the most part, so I simply allowed you to roam around of your own free will. But then, you started mindlessly slaughtering my people by the doesn’t. You saiyan always show up where you don’t belong, fighting whoever you please without a care in the world for who it might harm in the process. I’ve tried sending soldiers after you, but it wasn’t enough.
I thought about just telling my people to just simply avoid you, but I’ve heard what people like you have done in Orange City. I will not let you destroy our home as well. You’ll find that we’re not as weak as Earth’s pitiful forces.”
Quash was visibly surprised at hearing Dino Man talk about Orange City. He knew?
“Wait, how do you know about the attack on the USD?”
“Tales of your destruction have already begun to spread around the world. Eventually a bird or two heard a few things and reported back to me. I have eyes and ears even beyond Paozu’s borders. Don’t you see? No one can hide from me.”
Quash smirked, getting into his fighting stance.
“Who’s hiding? Ready when you are, lizard man.”
Dino Man waved away his creatures, wanting a one on one.
“Very well, I’ll tear you apart myself!”
Dino Man rushed towards Quash, throwing a strong right hook at his face. The Captain’s battle hardened instincts kicked in, ducking beneath the blow. He immediately went on the offensive, bringing his fist back and standing up with a strong uppercut aimed at his opponent’s chin. As his knuckles made contact with it, he winced in pain. This guy’s skin, it wasn’t just for show. It felt like hitting some kind of unbreakable metal.
Dino Man’s head moved from the hit, but his body went nowhere. He was tough, there was no doubt about that. Quash continued his combination, launching three punches at his exposed abdomen. His fists made a dull “thud” noise as he made contact, like he had struck sand. That wasn’t a good sign. What was this guy made out of?
It looked like his opponent could read the expression on Quash’s face, because he was smiling mischievously the whole time. He launched his knee up, digging his kneecap into the Captain’s gut. Breath left the saiyan’s lips, causing him to fall over onto the ground. He couldn’t help but feel like he was feeling a very familiar sensation from his fight with Athren. His gut ached just from thinking about it. Before he knew it, a flash of a foot was suddenly in his face as he was kicked away. The momentum had sent him through a tree and onto the ground.
Quash gritted his teeth in pain as he forced himself up. When he looked back at his enemy, he saw a Dino Man charging towards him like a raging bull. Knowing he had to think fast, he looked down at the fallen tree trunks besides him. He quickly grabbed it as its base, and spun his entire body around in a complete circle into his opponent’s body. That seemed to do the trick, DIno Man was knocked off his feet and into the trees beside them. Quash congratulated himself on his small victory, but he couldn’t say he was surprised that his foe got up with practically no sign of slowing down.
Dino Man charged Quash again, but this time the Captain unsheathed his Savoy Sword. If punching him wasn’t going to do the trick, maybe he’d have a better chance of piercing his rough skin. With his other hand, he pointed at his chest and fired his Lima Laser, hitting right in the middle of his sternum. The beam was struggling to pierce his body, but Quash was banking on softening up the area for his Ki blade.
“Is that all you’ve got Saiyan?!”
“You’re about to see all I’ve got!”
Dino Man used his legs to propel himself forward, throwing himself towards Quash. The Saiyan dashed forward, thrusting his energy sword towards the weakened area. To his surprise, it didn’t manage to pierce his skin. It made a dent, but that wasn’t good enough. Dino Man kept up his momentum, overpowering his thrust and barreling right into him. Quash’s body went spiraling to the side, landing with another thud on the ground.
‘Gotta say… that hurt.”
“Heheh, that’s the idea monkey boy. I’m just getting started.”
The surface of Dino Man’s hands roughened and sharpened. His knuckles extended out a little in the form of tiny little knives. He gave Quash a toothy grin, flexing his sharp teeth. He rubbed his knife-knuckles against each other, causing sparks to fly out as he tested their sharpness.
“Hehe, ready for two?”
Quash grunted and stood up again, staring down Dino Man. He got into his fighting stance.
“Sure, I was just getting warmed up.”
Dino Man chuckled before yelling back a response as he charged forward once again.
“I will enjoy tearing you apart!”
Quash waited until the last minute to make his move. He jumped over his head and fired a Lima Laser from behind, aiming for the back of his knee. He figured it’d be less armored than the front portion, and he was right. The laser pierced the back of the knee, digging into flesh and skin, but couldn’t go all the way through. Dino Man stumbled over, crashing into the floor and now lying on his back. Quash used his flight to dash towards him, his Savoy Sword still in hand. This was his chance, he was going to finish the job! Or at least, that’s what he thought.
Now right on top of Dino Man, he went to aim for the same weak spot from earlier. Finally, looks like he won the battle!
Or so he thought.
Dino Man took a huge, powerful right swing at Quash’s gut. His sharpened fist dug into the Captain’s stomach, ripping out a concerning chunk as he was sent flying once more. As his body hit yet another tree trunk and fell to the ground, he felt a sharp pain go up his gut. He sat himself up on the tree trunk and looked to see butchered skin and torn muscle. He was bleeding out pretty bad, and if this fight lasted too long, he might lose too much blood.
He slowly got up to his feet, seeing that Dino Man was struggling to get up too. At least Quash was managing to do some kind of damage. Still, this was not good at all. He needed to find a way to get a real advantage and fast. He had created a vulnerable spot already, he just needed to think of a way to strike it. In fact, maybe it was time he’d take a page out of Athren’s playbook and get a little creative. That retired saiyan had simple tricks, but those simple tricks proved to be annoying as all hell. He figured it’d have the same effect on the person he was facing now.
However, there was a problem. Quash was able to catch onto his antics frighteningly quick, and he knew it wouldn’t take long for Dino Man to catch on either. If he was going to do this, his next couple of attacks were going to have to go for the kill or else the fight was going to become that much harder.
“Argh, you brat!” Dino Man exclaimed, now limping towards Quash.
“Looks like you won’t be running anywhere anymore. I hope you can fly.” He replied.
“Tch, I don’t need that to beat you.”
“Wait, you seriously can’t fly? Don’t your own “people” fly? Surely you have to have an idea of how useful it can be, especially during a time like this. Aren’t you supposed to be some super powerful ruler or something?”
His opponent, visibly annoyed at this point yelled at Quash as he fired a mouth blast at him.
“ENOUGH!”
Quash propelled himself upward, narrowly avoiding the blast.
Got him. He thought, firing off a Lima Laser towards his forward at an angle. It wouldn’t pierce Dino Man’s tough skull, but the force of the laser would knock his head to the side as it made a “ding!” off the side of his head. Quash, fighting through the pain in his injury at this point, flew towards the ruler of Mount Paozu, firing a ki blast at the ground right in front of his feet. While he was now thrown off balance, Captain Quash readied his Savoy Sword, throwing a powerful thrust into the weakened area of his chest one more time.
“Sorry, but this ends right here!”
The sword went straight into the Dino Man’s sternum and came out the other end. Blood splattered from his mouth and onto the Saiyan’s face. Quash smirked as he felt his own energy pierce skin, flesh, and bone. He hadn’t taken the life of an adversary since his last invasion. He forgot how rewarding it was to be able to land the decisive blow.
As he dissolved his energy blade, Quash stood over a now kneeling Dino Man, who was losing more and more blood by the second. He wouldn’t last much longer.
“It looks like I won, lizard breath.” Quash said triumphantly, though his wound reminded himself of its presence, sending out a pain bad enough to make the saiyan fall on his knees himself. He grunted in pain, not even wanting to touch his wound. It was a good thing he managed to get him down early, or else he might’ve been in trouble. He was a strong foe, and he respected his power.
It looked like the Ruler of Mount Paozu had some words for Quash, because he just started to ramble.
“You…You won’t win in the end.”
“Huh?” Quash was confused, where was this coming from?
“Your crimes in Orange City, to the people of this planet. Eventually it’s going to catch up to you, and you’ll pay the price for all those lives you took.”
The Captain couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Something funny?”
“Yeah, actually. It’s amusing to me that you’ve lost so badly that you’re now resorting to this. Orange City wasn’t my fault, I was tricked into taking those lives.”
“You expect me to believe that Saiyans, who are known for invading countless worlds and assaulting them without a care in the world, would need to be tricked into taking down a group of people?”
“Whether you believe me or not, is not my concern. I mean, you’re the one dying over here.”
“Is your conscience really that clear? Even if I do believe you, which I don’t, that doesn’t make you innocent. You’ve pillaged civilizations, slaughtered men, women, and the children too! How can you live with yourself!”
“The strong survive, it’s that simple. I didn’t make the rules, I just followed them. Besides, that’s how it always is anyway. Sure, I might help someone I like to get stronger, but it’s not like I’m under some obligation to get the weaklings to “catch up”. I help those, and respect those, who are already helping themselves. If I see the desire for power within someone, I want to help them bring it out. Not only does it make things more interesting, I get to have a cool fight out of it! I like watching them set their mind on something and accomplish it! It’s pretty cool to see, to be honest.
However, these other races, they just sit on their asses and hope for the best. Look at the Namekians. No matter what happened, they never changed their ways. Now look at them, the PTO has them in the palm of their hands, and I don’t see that going away any time soon. I hate the PTO as much as everybody else, but I’m nobody’s servant. I’m not going to go out of my way to bail the Namekians out just because they aren’t strong enough to. They got themselves in this mess, they can get their way out. Besides, I have other things to worry about. ”
“Pfft, like what?” Dino Man said, coughing roughly. His time was ending soon.
Quash thought for a moment before replying. This guy was dying anyway, so he figured he’d spill the beans. It wouldn’t hurt.
“Alright, fine, I’ll tell you. Things aren’t going well on Planet Vegeta. We’re getting weaker, and I need to go back and get things back to the way they used to be.”
“Why do you even care? Wasn’t this something that you said you didn’t care about?”
“There are a lot of us who want to restore honor to the Saiyan name. As someone with Saiyan blood, it pains me to see our race fall so low from what we once were. We’ve grown too comfortable, too lazy. We used to push ourselves until our bones broke, fight until our knuckles bled, and fight until we had won the battle or died trying. If you saw our civilization now, we’re a shadow of our former selves. Our identity has been stolen, tampered with by the USD. They claim to be champions of justice and peace, but our culture and way of life was completely changed by them. A lot of us think it’s time to take our home back.”
“Just sounds like…a lot of… hooplah… to me…”
“Oh please, what do you know? You’re a- Huh? Oh.”
Quash stopped himself, realizing that Dino Man was dead. He took a deep breath, forcing himself onto his feet. He better get something to cover this wound before he passes out. That’d uh.. That’d be bad.
WC: 4432
Superheavy Weights (75%)
