Homesick: Rough Landing [Jackie]

Russ would've paused and reflected on whether or not he struck her too hard, Jackie can more than handle a blow like that but he couldn't help and wonder if he should've restrained himself judging how sore the edge of his knuckles feel. If there are any existing thoughts about his actions, they are shoved aside in a short amount of time, as the Guardian sprung up from the soiled surface and tried to kick the young man in the torso.

The happy-go-lucky Saiyan clenched his teeth together and cross his arms up to block the blow, the kinetic force from her leg caused Russ to involuntarily slide backward and bear with an unpleasant tingling feeling on the arms, luckily nothing serious impede his ability to fight. "Really? In that case, I'll never stop improving and reach new heights!" and that's good, warriors are supposed to better themselves for a sustainable and satisfying future in their career.

The "Jackie's glimmering light saga" continues as Jackie does a majestic stance of some sort and created a sphere of light and flame. It was very different from the flickering light created from her teleporting and the fire is unlike anything he's ever seen compared to her signature flame punch, it was akin to looking at the sun for the first time without straining the eyes, and it's beautiful.

Russ is drawn to this glamourous display of power in a trance-like state as Jackie is right in the center and completely in control of this circular wall of fire. Indeed it singed the tip of grass, the smell invaded the boy's nostrils but it wasn't enough to snap him out of a silent state of awestruck. Jackie's proposal to break her defenses with a solid punch finally got his attention, he could rack up enough power to take it down with Salary Cut but the technique is costly and he just gathered up his strength, can he do this?

"Pretty hard, with enough concentration I can punch through that barrier of yours, let's find out" what's scary about this technique is that it's almost indistinguishable from a super explosive wave ready to go off, either Jackie tricked him into triggering it or its genuinely safe as a part of his training, he prayed Kami it's the latter.

Russ raised his right arm horizontally and looks as if he's creating another Zeni-inspired energy sward, however, a blade isn't actually formed, instead a crackling electric aura empower around his forearm as he balled a fist. The half earthling then charged across the field towards Jackie and collided his newly enhanced fist against her fiery protection attempting to do what she instructed.

Succeeded or not Russ has a story to tell about this strange technique he created and he felt they are starting to get to know each other as they fight. "You want to hear a story of why my energy blade is shaped the way it is? I promise I won't bore you with the details" he asked his coach before going on a tangent of exposition.

Russ is pleased to know he made good on his promise to make her intimidating barrier a mundane obstacle to overcome, well he didn't actually promise anything, more so it made his statement have some truth and validity through his actions. He's glad she's willing to hear his explanation for his creative weapon because he is almost burnt out on energy and needs to rest up again. Jackie mentioned she has one last thing in the works to show him, hopefully, the information Russ is about to say wouldn't take too long.

The half-human figured she developed an arsenal of abilities from a single flame and he has questions for everything he saw so far, no doubt they all have names, let's start with something basic. "Uhhh, the fire fisty move you always do" he replied with a half-joke, have given her flame fist a nickname. "Before you start sharing I'll go first" he dispersed his energy aura and found a rock to sit on, green eyes focused on his trainer as he began his story.

"It all goes back to my life as a kid, throughout my school years I was bullied for my hair color, kids would always pick on me and call me names because it look unnatural to them. Teachers thought I was a troublemaker who thinks I dyed my hair to get attention. It continued until I went to middle school at age ten, I don't know what happened to those kids as I hardly remember their faces, because of them I didn't have a lot of friends growing up". He didn't like to bring up dreadful memories like that but it was necessary to explain the direction he took for ki manipulation.

"I thought the bullying would stop, thinking I will start a new chapter in my life by going to a different school, but life has a funny way of showing I was a naive boy. A new student at the time named Pretzull picked me for a punching bag all throughout middle school. Like many others he teased me about my hair and the reason for his behavior is due to my hair color pissing him off and I rub him the wrong way, unlike other kids he would wait until after school to beat me up until I was a bruised-up stain on the floor almost every day. To get him to stop I sometimes had to pay him money to not harass me for the day or I avoid him by taking a different route to class."

"Reluctantly, I told my parents what's happened to me at school when they were alive at the time and they sent me to a martial arts school to learn how to defend myself. Every day after school I would go there and practice many forms of art and do physical exercises to prepare myself to deal with my problem. During that time I had to endure more pummelings from Preztull and pretend to be helpless so he wouldn't suspect what's coming to him."

"In two years I knew how to fight and mastered the ability to forge a weapon out of Ki, I was so angry at Pretzull for what he did to me, all I can think about is losing my money to the guy and the amount of hell he's put me through. It gave me an idea on how to get my revenge on him, I created my weapon based on currency to give him exactly what he demanded from me, a way to punish him for his greed. I call it Salary Cut" revealing the name of the ki sword.

"I know what you're thinking, did I actually use the weapon on him? No, I didn't I was taught much better than that. In my final year of middle school, Pretzull confronted me to satisfy his craving to beat me up and what he didn't count on is me fighting back to defend myself. I won the fight without hurting him too much and he and other students never picked on me again" a hint of triumph can be heard from his voice.

"I didn't use the weapon I created until I lost my parents and I started to help people who can't defend themselves, I've decided to use it as a tool for justice instead of petty revenge" he finished his story as he got up from the rock and stand in front of Jackie.

Good, she understood what his weapon represented, most people would believe he has an unhealthy addiction to cash if they saw it at first glance. Russ stayed quiet and watched her demonstrate her form as it's her turn to tell him the origin of her technique, Blazing Strike. He understood it was a creation from her masters at her school or perhaps she invented it herself and her masters gave it a name, nonetheless, it's a standard form of art a novice can learn for themselves. People have to start from somewhere right?

Russ's mind is of quarry on how she's able to manipulate flames without burning herself and now he knew why. It's not just about learning to control fire, the user must do it without turning their skin into ash, its very important to withstand your own power to begin a journey to acquire knowledge of anything else. Her technique is also very malleable, he watched her use a couple of variations including its defensive capabilities. Interestingly he never saw her use Blazing Strike as a flamethrower technique, either she simply chose to not use it and prefer to build her style on close-quarters combat or she can't do it afraid of accidentally starting a fire.

"Huh, no wonder you didn't catch on fire by now, I thought you are wearing some super extravagant fire-resistant ointment or something" failing to cease the witty banter and also let his guard down, which almost instantaneously flared up again as he watched Jackie turned her flames into a scorching force akin to a sun, her signature move at full power and the woman commanded the blue monkey to defend himself.

"Whoa.." his eyes grew so large they almost slipped out of their eye sockets, if he thought her spherical barrier was impressive, apparently he hasn't seen the best of what she has to offer. Russ pondered back to his Counterfeit technique as the only way to stop her assault or at least slow it down. Like before he surrounded himself in a green protective aura and braced himself for impact, he can absorb this move for himself and return to sender, except there is no cocky smile this time. He sensed the magnitude of Jackie's strength and it left him uncertain his barrier would be around long enough to shield him from harm, but he has to try.

Russ crossed his arms to block as her fist connected, teeth clenched tightly and a guttural sound from his throat emphasized the intensity of his situation "Grrrr!" he gave it his all to plant his feet on the ground and hold the fort but it wasn't enough. "UGH!!" a defeated yelp echoed the air as the move shattered his defense and knocked aside his arms and connected on his chest. The young Saiyan was sent off the ground about ten feet into the air, he landed back down on the ground and on his back. "Too..strong.." he acknowledge her strength, and was flabbergasted he found himself looking up at the sky directly once more. Russ sat up on the ground but he didn't stand up, he was rubbing his forearms to make sure nothing was broken.

He is a bloody mess but his spirits are as high as ever "My god you hit like a truck" sitting on the ground.

Now that surge of adrenaline has come and gone, the blood, sweat, and fatigue plaguing his body have finally caught up to him. "I don't know about champ but what's holding me together is sheer luck and my lame sense of humor, Hahahaha-Ow!" he winced and closed one eye and held his upper torso. It hurts too much to laugh, chest pain, and possibly fractured bones are begging Russ to cease this fight and take it easy for the rest of the day. He couldn't explain this..exhilarating feeling he's experiencing now and why it happens but his Saiyan biology multiplied his strength as if his body is yearning to keep going. His heart wouldn't allow it as a warrior knows when to fold and fight another day if the injuries are too great.

Russ's wrath form dissipated and Jackie would see him return to his old self, he was tapped out of energy on all accounts and he should be grateful he can hold a conversation and isn't on the ground unconscious. "Hell yeah, you better believe I'm still doing this Guardian thing, I've had a great time today Red, I've given my all in this fight and you beat me fair and square, I knew you were holding back the whole time and you didn't look down on me because I was weaker, thank you" expressing gratitude and trying to pick himself off the ground, a painful groan left his windpipe while standing up but not before stumbling a bit until he stood up straight.

The hybrid reached a hand for Jackie and would help her off the ground if she choose to let him "Don't think I'm throwing in the towel, I'm gonna go lick my wounds and train at my limits until I pass out, when I come back to take on your next assignment, I"ll be much stronger and I'll have new techniques to improve myself, until we meet again I'm heading home" Russ began walking away to a general direction leading to East City until he stops and looks behind his shoulder."By the way, I notice you never used any cool flamethrower range attacks against me, you should consider it, anyway I'll see you soon Red, ciao!" a flight aura surround his body and the boy took off into the air and soared in the clouds until he is out of sight.