Chương 10: Chapter Ten
The cat lady and the bunny girl rush you with claws and fists ready to go. Like savage animals they bear their fangs and unleash a combined barrage of attacks. Dodging and weaving between Hops elongated claws and Sorrels fists you call out for Hyssop.
"A little help here?!"
"HOP! SORREL! STOP! HE'S NOT AN ENEMY!"
But his words are lost upon them. The two girls continue their assault, showering you with melee attacks. Gritting your teeth you focus your mind on dodging their attacks to the best of your abilities. While running for your life you get to really take a closer look at them. Their bodies are frankly in a horrid condition, covered in dirt and clearly emaciated. "Not good!" You curse.
You've seen such behavior before. Once. When you caught and cornered a rat back on Earth. Those blood red eyes gleaming with ferocity are the exact same. They are weakened and exhausted, with seemingly no way out they lash out primal aggression at anything that stands in their path, as they see no other way to get out of this. You'd almost pity them were it not for the fact that they turned that aggression against you.
As Hops claws extend and you receive a cut to your cheek you grit your teeth and block one of Sorrels punches. The force of her attacks flings you back against a wall, causing the rocks behind you to crumble. You need to deal with them... but how?!
Jerking your head to the side in order to dodge another attack you finally resigned yourself to fighting back. Opening your closed fist you assume the stance Hit taught you and when Hop tries to claw your eyes out again you catch her hand under your armpit and prepare to counter attack. Aiming downward you strike her abdominal region with your psychically reinforced hand and watch as the shock spreads through her body.
You let go of her as she reaches for her stomach and starts groaning and wincing in pain. "HOP!" The rabbit calls out for her friend and checks up on her. "Are you alright?!"
"Y-Yeah... But my guts feel like they were struck by a hammer. I can't describe it exactly... it doesn't feel like I'm injured, only in pain."
"How can he react to us? Does he not detect movement by energy?"
"Looks like it..." Hop groans before straightening her back and assuming her stance once more. "But in that case we don't have to focus on hiding it!"
With that said the cats purple energy erupts from her body and becomes visible to you. Shortly after that Sorrel also follows suit and unleashes her own yellow ki. They give you a menacing look and both of them begin exerting themselves in order to raise their own power level. As their ki surges you get to observe the process of increasing ones energy. By turning their focus inward, to the center of their bodies they are capable of drawing out the latent life energy in their bodies and weaponize it.
Yes, Vados did teach you how ki functions and how to sense it but it's not like you had a good example of it up until now. The gods are on a completely different dimension and the Saiyans are so far beyond your capabilities that even comprehending the magnitude of their powers is impossible for you. But these girls? While they ARE stronger than you they are nothing compared to those you typically hang around.
You smile as they shoot out by propelling themselves with the ki shunted from their bodies.
Rather than waiting for them to attack, you try something. Clenching your fists you start screaming at the top of your throat which causes the two girls to stop out of fear. They watch in confusion as you are exerting yourself with seemingly no results. However just as they are about to speak up and ask what are you doing, you stop and relax.
Letting out a cocky little smile you shout.
"HA!" All of a sudden the energy hidden within the depths of your body are unleashed in a violent burst before settling down. Unlike their auras however yours is almost form fitting as your life force courses around your body. But this really does feel amazing, hopping around from one leg to another you feel light as a feather, your senses sharpened and your muscles are brimming with power. Satisfied with the results you stop exerting yourself and the power settles back down. "That's a good start. But I guess mine is just not as big as yours... yet."
Cracking your neck you extend your hand you invite them to come at you. The two overcome their confusion as to why you lowered your energy after increasing it and attack you once more. Sorrel throws a ball of energy straight at you while Hop channels her energy into her nails, causing them to extend in your direction. Easily sidestepping the ki blast you raise your forearm and at the last moment before colliding with the deadly blades channel your ki around it.
Your compound armor of ki and psychic energies is incredibly potent. As the two reinforce each other they easily overpower Hops attack, causing it to bounce off of your arm with only minimal damage sustained. The cat girl stares at you with eyes wide open as you charge her. Driving your palm into the upper arm of the catgirl you see her shriek in pain as her arm goes numb.
At the same time you feel the energy of Sorrels ki blast... turning around?
You look back and see that the ball of energy ricochets off the cave walls and bounces around wildly. As it finally turns gets around to hitting you again, you simply slap the thing with the back of your hand, causing it to explode. Returning to Hop who's currently breathless from your display you attempt to strike her on the forehead but miss as she raises her still functioning arm to block.
With both her arms temporarily out of commission Hop attempts to throw a spin-kick at you. As your energies clash you feel a slight sting and feel yourself being pushed back as the girl is somersaulting away from you. Panting she looks at her arms.
"Damn it!"
"What's wrong?"
"H-He's been playing us! He was holding back a good portion of his power! S-Sorrel... I need you to buy me some time. Until I can move my arms."
"Got it! Haaaaaaa!" The bunny girl spreads her arms and from her palms several orbs of energy fly it and start floating around her.
Once there are two dozen or so orbs floating around her she extends her arms towards you. "BURROW BLASTER!"
Most of the attacks aren't aimed at you, seemingly because the girl has a very poor aim. But perhaps that's the reason why they work the way they do. The blasts that missed start bouncing around, creating a chaotic zone of death around you. Thinking about the attack you realize that either you stay here and weather whatever she throws at you or take the risk and dive through it in the hopes of escaping her trap.
Cladding yourself in ki you throw caution to the wind and charge into the storm of flying energy blasts with an honest to god smile on your face. Some of the little bombs explode in your face naturally, doing some damage. But it's still a lot less than what you'd have taken if you stayed inside. Making your way to the duo you focus the minimal aura flowing around your body and concentrate it into a ball which you thrust in Hops face.
Sorrel lets out a gasp as her friend gets knocked out by your ki blast. "HOP!" She looks back at you. "YOU BASTARD!" She charges up another blast.
With a deep sigh you power down in front of the girl and speak up. "As fun as this was I think it's time to stop before someone gets hurt." You then look down at the walking iceberg that was left speechless by your display. "HEY HYSSOP! MIND GETTING OFF YOUR ASS AND HELP ME?"
"H-Huh? Oh of course! Listen Sorrel! This man isn't an enemy!"
"THE HELL HE ISN'T! HE HURT HOP!"
"Actually I didn't. I just knocked her out.
In truth I went to great care not to hurt you."
Touching your cheek you wipe the blood off of it. "Even though you didn't."
"W-Wha?"
"Listen, he's here to help! Come down and let me explain!"
After a brief summary of the events that transpired prior to your encounter Sorrel more or less knows what's up with you. "So... you work for a God of Destruction?"
"Yes but not yours. And even though he didn't order me to do this I still came. Because if you encountered the guy he did hire... you may not have this conversation. Listen... I know you've been through a lot and that you really don't want to go back but... Let's just ignore that for now. We can talk through all that later, for now I'm more concerned about your health. If you stay here you'll either starve to death or die from exposure." You stand up and motion towards the caves entrance.
"There is a ship not far from here. It's warm inside and we have some food as well...
Oh... right! I almost forgot!"
Reaching into your pocket you hand her one of your wrapped burgers. "W-What's this?"
"Food. It might've gotten a bit squished but it'll do. You look like you haven't had a decent meal in a while."
Cautiously she unwraps it and starts intently sniffing it. But in an instant her hesitation disappears and she finds herself unconsciously taking a quick bite out of the meaty bun. In mere seconds she completely devours it and once it's gone she falls to her knees. Tears start forming under her eyes as she uncontrollably cries out of joy. "Ith's... Ith's shooo ghoood! Why??? Why is this so good?"
"A-Are you actually crying?"
Hyssop nods. "Where we come from we don't have much food. It's either reprocessed or heavily contaminated. If you aren't careful you could die from eating something sickening..."
You clench your fists in anger. "Okay. Grab the cat and come with me! NOW!"
After getting back in the cube ship you showed them the little pile of burgers you brought with you. They stare at it with starry eyes and ask you if it's really okay for them to eat it. "Of course. Just make sure to leave for the others." The two swallow nervously.
"What?"
Hyssop awkwardly scratches his back as he responds. "I don't... I don't know how to say this but... We split up from the others due to some disagreements."
"Let me guess... Unlike you they weren't opposed to hurting the locals."
"T-That is accurate. I'm ashamed to say this but they... they aren't good people. We... didn't want to hurt anybody. We've seen enough pain in our universe. Didn't want to cause more in others. However Rozel, Oregano, Chappil and Comfrey had no problem with getting what they want through violence. They set up a camp underground and they started extorting the locals. And the Trio of Danger are even worse. They want to steal a ship and become space pirates..."
"Seriously, what's up with your names? Is my planet the only one where we don't have pun names?"
"Are you LISTENING to what I'm saying?"
"I am. But that trio of yours is as good as dead. And the rest will soon follow so don't worry about that." Reaching for a burger you hand it to the gentle giant. "Here. Eat. You need to recover your health."
Not putting up much of a resistance Hyssop does as you order him to and so does Sorrel. They even manage to awaken Hop with just the smell of semi fresh food.
"Thank you so much!" Sorrel speaks up once her maddening hunger has been satiated.
"Don't thank me yet. Sadly this is still far from over."
"You mean the others?"
"That too..."
"What will you do about them?"
"I'll handle them."
"A-Alone?"
"I came after you on my own, didn't I? And look how well that turned out!" You smile and squeeze Sorrels cheek who doesn't know how to respond to that. "But if you could tell me anything about them I'd appreciate it."
Blushing Sorrel pulls her hat over her eyes and starts muttering. "W-W-W-Well-"
"She's completely lost it..." Hyssop sighs.
"R-Rozel is this bat guy who can fly around... though that's irrelevant outside the Tournament... But he can let out super sonic screams that could really hurt you. Oregano can shoot string out his arms... and that's about it."
"The ones you should worry about are Comfrey and Chappil. Comfrey is an impressive fighter, one of the strongest of our universe. Chappil is just as strong if not stronger but on top of that his skin is also made of iron so dealing any damage to him might be a bit difficult." Hyssop adds to Sorrels info.
"Got it." You start walking towards the wall of the ship but stop just before exiting. "By the way... I hope you aren't planning on running away with this ship..."
"You are the first one to have shown mercy to us stranger. I wouldn't dare to betray that kindness." Hyssop answers.
"And neither will I!" So does Sorrel.
Naturally you don't trust them blindly so you try to get a read on their thoughts to see what they are thinking. Your telepathic abilities are still not perfect so you can only feel vague emotions. But you almost instantly feel overwhelmed by what you feel. They feel a profound mixture of confusion and happiness that you can't even begin to comprehend.
As you cut yourself off their minds you break out in a cold sweat, not because of what they felt but what sort of a life they had up until now that such simple gestures of kindness could evoke such a reaction.
"A-Are you okay?" Hop asks you.
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Anyway, take care while I'm gone. And please don't leave..."
Taking a step outside you start focusing on locating the four little rapscallions and finally finishing this mission. Sending out a pulse of psychic energy you pay close attention to the echoes returning in order to determine their location. First you notice Hits signature clearly battling against something, better steer clear of that for now. "There!" You speak up as you find a large collection of power a couple kilometers away.
Taking off with utmost haste you soar through the sky and as you break through the sound barrier you can't help but contain your childish excitement. Landing near the place you previously found you send out another psychic pulse and map out the cave system leading underground. After carefully sneaking your way in and making sure your power is properly under control you stumble upon an Arcosian settlement.
You don't know where your targets precisely are but they are definitely in there somewhere. And by the looks of it they asserted themselves as the new governing body or put differently: They enslaved them. There appears to be a large banquette going on as the native Arcosian lizard people are bringing vast quantities of food to their new overlords.
You stop and think for a moment about how to resolve this. Fighting two people was a bit foolhardy but it could be called brave. Fighting four on one is what you'd call nearly suicidal.
You ponder on how to deal with this conundrum.
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