07-12-2018, 01:57 PM
For the better part of the last half hour Kuzuru had been chattering incessantly. Like a kid at Disney World the demon was filled with excitement and wonder. His companion, however, was none too enthused with the demon’s nonstop gibbering. Had he ears he would’ve ripped them off. Were it not for the fact that they were bedridden and covered in wounds the lich would’ve simply left, but as it stood they were both stuck in the infirmary. As Kuzuru launched into his grand retelling of how he fought Amber one-on-one in his makeshift Thunderdome Skeletor groaned.
“You blithering buffoon, will you be quiet!” the overlord commanded.
Kuzuru paused for a moment and craned his neck to look at his partner, “well, jeeze, if you wanted me to stop you could’ve just asked.”
Skeletor opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted as the door opened. Both warriors looked towards the dark-skinned Syntech employee. Kuzuru cringed as his nose was bombarded by the man’s overpowering scent. A grin flashed across the employee’s mouth and he tossed them both a small green bean.
“Eat up mine bruddas,” the man spoke, “you’ve got a busy day ahead.”
Without another word the employee left them to their devices. Kuzuru pinched the senzu bean between his fingers and raised an eyebrow. WIth a shrug the demon popped the bean into his mouth and swallowed. Warmth rushed through his body and all the accumulated aches and pains disappeared. Bruises evaporated and lacerations stitched themselves back together. For a moment the demon was sure he even felt a vertebra shift back into place.
“Pro-tip skele-bro,” Kuzuru said as he crawled out of bed, “don’t get clotheslined while on horseback, s’not good for the spine, at any rate imma go see if I can’t get some souvenirs.”
--
Even behind the curtain Syntech took pride in its attention to detail. While not lavish by any means the backstage had all the amenities required for some leisure time in between rounds. Naturally everything had a price, but the hotshot primes of DA had omnilium to spare. Kuzuru had blown a good chunk of change on several commemorative trinkets. Bobbleheads of every contestant, posters of the various battlefields, novelty mugs, and a smattering other doodads. While he had to pay extra to have them shipped to the Steppes it was a worthwhile investment.
Donning a shirt emblazoned with the words “Enter the Abyss” across the chest and the names of every contestant across the back Kuzuru began to wander the facility. As he entered the main room his heart skipped a beat. Sitting at the small airport-style bar was none other than the legend herself. He had seen her on the scoreboard, but he had never dreamed he’d actually get to meet her outside of a battlefield.
“Oh my God,” Kuzuru whispered and brought a clenched fist to his mouth. For a moment he paced back and forth before heading over. Taking a second to compose himself he sat down next to her. There was a half moment of silence before the floodgates broke.
“Oh my God, it actually is you, I’m a huge fan of your work, I loved your run in the Colosseum, especially when you fucken took Gildart’s arm that was just badass,” he paused and pulled out his phone. After a few swipes he pulled up a picture of an action figure made in Bandit’s likeness, “see, look, it’s limited edition and the arm even comes off; pretty neat yeah?”
"Yooo!" she shouted, "That's sick! I had no idea they did this! I was just looking back through some of the old DA stuff and I saw they did figures for... what was it, 6? But I had no idea they did them for the Colosseum run!"
Kuzuru chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, “yeah, I’m kind of a nerd for this stuff you don’t wanna know how much I paid to get that off a collector, hey, so this is kinda awkward, but can I take a picture with you?”
She nodded emphatically. "Hell yeah! But only if I can get one with you too, dude. I don't think I've ever had like, a 'fan' before. Gotta commemorate!"
They spent the next few minutes taking a series of pictures which Kuzuru promptly uploaded to the dataverse. As they snapped the final one Kuzuru leaned forward in his seat and asked, “so, you ever think about killing people for money? You certainly have the skillset for it.”
She laughed heartily, "Yeah, I've given it some thought. When I was a secondary I used to kill people for like, FOOD, so it's not outside of my understanding. I'd limit myself to primes nowadays though."
“Well if you’re ever looking for work hit me up,” Kuzuru said and passed her a blood-red business card, “I run a mercenary group based out of the Steppes, though we do double as heroes, I don’t mean to brag or anything but we single-handedly saved the verse from Nebula a while back.”
She took the card and turned it in her hands a few times. "Awesome! Thanks for the info my dude. What's your name, by the way?"
"Kuzuru," he paused and glanced up at the scoreboard mounted above the bar, "and it looks like we get to clobber the fuck outta each other next round."
She glanced up and cackled gleefully.
"Hot damn, it looks like it!" She held up her glass in a cheers. "To friends murdering friends for fun and profit!"
“Cheers,” Kuzuru answered and, lacking a glass of his own, simply flicked the rim of her glass with his finger. She shrugged and downed her drink. The demon smiled and stood up. “Well, I suppose I should go talk shop with my companion before this whole thing starts, oh, one more thing what do I call you?”
She struggled to remember for a moment before snapping. "Ass Kicker. I put down Ass Kicker this time."
The demon chuckled as he walked away, “alright Ass Kicker, just a fair warning just cause I’m your fan doesn’t mean I’ll pull any punches so you shouldn’t either, I’m going to be a bit pissed off if you turn out to be trash.”
--
“Blade man!” Skeletor shouted.
Kuzuru, who had been wandering around the Syntech facility froze in place. He turned to face his companion and raised an eyebrow. Something was off. The demon’s nose crinkled as he sniffed the air. Sure there was that familiar scent of foul magic and dried bones that Kuzuru had learned to associated with Skeleter, but there was something else present. A fleshy scent that the demon had only caught a whiff of on Amber. The turned and opened his mouth to say something, but a blue-tinged fist crashed into his jaw and sent him to his knees.
“Behold my awesome might,” Skeletor said and cackled.
Rubbing his jaw the demon glanced up at his friend and said, “what the hell has gotten into you?”
“I’ve harnessed the power of Malefactor and with it I will crush our enemies beneath my boot,” he shouted.
“Neat,” Kuzuru answered and stood up, “mind if I give it a whirl?”
“No! You shall not touch it, the Malefactor belongs to Skeletor and Skeletor alone!”
The demon chuckled and threw his hands up in mock surrender. He said, “alright, alright, at any rate we’re going to need every edge we can get next fight, our opponents are some tough customers.”
“With this power they’ll have no chance,” Skeletor answered.
“Still, you could use more power couldn’t you?”
Skeletor laughed and responded, “of course!”
Kuzuru bit the pad of his thumb and pressed the bloody digit against Skeletor’s forehead. The lich moved to pull the demon’s arm away, but the sudden surge of energy froze him in place. Hundreds of thousands of memories flooded his mind, each of them from the perspective of various warriors in various battles throughout time. This intense surge of thought lasted for only a few seconds before fading into the background. Clarity washed over Skeletor as his mind raced with an eternity of martial arts knowledge.
“Now you’re unstoppable,” Kuzuru chuckled and smacked a shoulder on his companion’s shoulder.
“You blithering buffoon, will you be quiet!” the overlord commanded.
Kuzuru paused for a moment and craned his neck to look at his partner, “well, jeeze, if you wanted me to stop you could’ve just asked.”
Skeletor opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted as the door opened. Both warriors looked towards the dark-skinned Syntech employee. Kuzuru cringed as his nose was bombarded by the man’s overpowering scent. A grin flashed across the employee’s mouth and he tossed them both a small green bean.
“Eat up mine bruddas,” the man spoke, “you’ve got a busy day ahead.”
Without another word the employee left them to their devices. Kuzuru pinched the senzu bean between his fingers and raised an eyebrow. WIth a shrug the demon popped the bean into his mouth and swallowed. Warmth rushed through his body and all the accumulated aches and pains disappeared. Bruises evaporated and lacerations stitched themselves back together. For a moment the demon was sure he even felt a vertebra shift back into place.
“Pro-tip skele-bro,” Kuzuru said as he crawled out of bed, “don’t get clotheslined while on horseback, s’not good for the spine, at any rate imma go see if I can’t get some souvenirs.”
--
Even behind the curtain Syntech took pride in its attention to detail. While not lavish by any means the backstage had all the amenities required for some leisure time in between rounds. Naturally everything had a price, but the hotshot primes of DA had omnilium to spare. Kuzuru had blown a good chunk of change on several commemorative trinkets. Bobbleheads of every contestant, posters of the various battlefields, novelty mugs, and a smattering other doodads. While he had to pay extra to have them shipped to the Steppes it was a worthwhile investment.
Donning a shirt emblazoned with the words “Enter the Abyss” across the chest and the names of every contestant across the back Kuzuru began to wander the facility. As he entered the main room his heart skipped a beat. Sitting at the small airport-style bar was none other than the legend herself. He had seen her on the scoreboard, but he had never dreamed he’d actually get to meet her outside of a battlefield.
“Oh my God,” Kuzuru whispered and brought a clenched fist to his mouth. For a moment he paced back and forth before heading over. Taking a second to compose himself he sat down next to her. There was a half moment of silence before the floodgates broke.
“Oh my God, it actually is you, I’m a huge fan of your work, I loved your run in the Colosseum, especially when you fucken took Gildart’s arm that was just badass,” he paused and pulled out his phone. After a few swipes he pulled up a picture of an action figure made in Bandit’s likeness, “see, look, it’s limited edition and the arm even comes off; pretty neat yeah?”
"Yooo!" she shouted, "That's sick! I had no idea they did this! I was just looking back through some of the old DA stuff and I saw they did figures for... what was it, 6? But I had no idea they did them for the Colosseum run!"
Kuzuru chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, “yeah, I’m kind of a nerd for this stuff you don’t wanna know how much I paid to get that off a collector, hey, so this is kinda awkward, but can I take a picture with you?”
She nodded emphatically. "Hell yeah! But only if I can get one with you too, dude. I don't think I've ever had like, a 'fan' before. Gotta commemorate!"
They spent the next few minutes taking a series of pictures which Kuzuru promptly uploaded to the dataverse. As they snapped the final one Kuzuru leaned forward in his seat and asked, “so, you ever think about killing people for money? You certainly have the skillset for it.”
She laughed heartily, "Yeah, I've given it some thought. When I was a secondary I used to kill people for like, FOOD, so it's not outside of my understanding. I'd limit myself to primes nowadays though."
“Well if you’re ever looking for work hit me up,” Kuzuru said and passed her a blood-red business card, “I run a mercenary group based out of the Steppes, though we do double as heroes, I don’t mean to brag or anything but we single-handedly saved the verse from Nebula a while back.”
She took the card and turned it in her hands a few times. "Awesome! Thanks for the info my dude. What's your name, by the way?"
"Kuzuru," he paused and glanced up at the scoreboard mounted above the bar, "and it looks like we get to clobber the fuck outta each other next round."
She glanced up and cackled gleefully.
"Hot damn, it looks like it!" She held up her glass in a cheers. "To friends murdering friends for fun and profit!"
“Cheers,” Kuzuru answered and, lacking a glass of his own, simply flicked the rim of her glass with his finger. She shrugged and downed her drink. The demon smiled and stood up. “Well, I suppose I should go talk shop with my companion before this whole thing starts, oh, one more thing what do I call you?”
She struggled to remember for a moment before snapping. "Ass Kicker. I put down Ass Kicker this time."
The demon chuckled as he walked away, “alright Ass Kicker, just a fair warning just cause I’m your fan doesn’t mean I’ll pull any punches so you shouldn’t either, I’m going to be a bit pissed off if you turn out to be trash.”
--
“Blade man!” Skeletor shouted.
Kuzuru, who had been wandering around the Syntech facility froze in place. He turned to face his companion and raised an eyebrow. Something was off. The demon’s nose crinkled as he sniffed the air. Sure there was that familiar scent of foul magic and dried bones that Kuzuru had learned to associated with Skeleter, but there was something else present. A fleshy scent that the demon had only caught a whiff of on Amber. The turned and opened his mouth to say something, but a blue-tinged fist crashed into his jaw and sent him to his knees.
“Behold my awesome might,” Skeletor said and cackled.
Rubbing his jaw the demon glanced up at his friend and said, “what the hell has gotten into you?”
“I’ve harnessed the power of Malefactor and with it I will crush our enemies beneath my boot,” he shouted.
“Neat,” Kuzuru answered and stood up, “mind if I give it a whirl?”
“No! You shall not touch it, the Malefactor belongs to Skeletor and Skeletor alone!”
The demon chuckled and threw his hands up in mock surrender. He said, “alright, alright, at any rate we’re going to need every edge we can get next fight, our opponents are some tough customers.”
“With this power they’ll have no chance,” Skeletor answered.
“Still, you could use more power couldn’t you?”
Skeletor laughed and responded, “of course!”
Kuzuru bit the pad of his thumb and pressed the bloody digit against Skeletor’s forehead. The lich moved to pull the demon’s arm away, but the sudden surge of energy froze him in place. Hundreds of thousands of memories flooded his mind, each of them from the perspective of various warriors in various battles throughout time. This intense surge of thought lasted for only a few seconds before fading into the background. Clarity washed over Skeletor as his mind raced with an eternity of martial arts knowledge.
“Now you’re unstoppable,” Kuzuru chuckled and smacked a shoulder on his companion’s shoulder.
![[Image: ZzG0TJ9.png]](http://i.imgur.com/ZzG0TJ9.png)
![[Image: AshenBladeBadge.png]](http://www.cytokineindustries.com/chevereto/images/2017/07/13/AshenBladeBadge.png)