The Trial of Peace Preliminaries - Chomei VS Erbia

Chomei breathed in and out, eyes closed as he sat on a strange bulbous chair that the Namekians had provided him. Two years… It’d been nearly two years since the last tournament he’d joined. He faintly recalled the nervous excitement he’d felt, the beating in his chest as he walked onto the white marble platform. The anticipation and desire to win… to prove himself. All of that was gone now, replaced with a calm, peaceful reflection. He knew his chances of victory were non-existent. He didn't need the faint tugging of his Dragon Sense to realize most of the people gathered here eclipsed him.

When he’d asked Jackie to bring him here instead of Earth, he’d known he wouldn't win. He just didn't care. Breaking through his “block” had lifted an insurmountable weight off of his shoulders. His problems weren't nearly resolved, but he’d taken a tangible step forward, proven that he could do so… and for now that was enough. He was here for one reason—To see how far he’d come and how much farther he’d need to go.

Yes… he was calm now… Right up until his name was called for the very first match. A preliminary. He paused, eyes opening and staring darkly into the blue grass. No… not again, he thought grimly, keeping a calm exterior facade as he slowly stood and made his way towards the stage. Immediately, he threw all feelings of proving himself and having light fun aside. He would not… Absolutely NOT! lose another tournament in the preliminaries. If he was going to lose, it’d be in an actual godsdamn match, damnit!

Stepping onto the platform, he quickly calmed himself. Despite the grim stakes involved (having his newfound pride obliterated by another loss in the frickin’ warmup matches nobody cared for), He knew better than to let some dumb desperation take hold of him. After a moment, he looked over at and studied his opponent, a blue-skinned man, which his primal instinct told him was a good bit tougher than he as is. Erbia’s initial statement struck a chord with Chomei—He’d lost his first preliminary by ring-out after all—And so he softly replied.

“Yeah, I completely agree,”

The Heran then offered Chomei his hand. He walked forward slowly, careful and hesitant before slowly gripping it in his. “Let’s,” He said simply, a slight smile on his face as an incredibly faint, smoky aura began to wisp around. Dragon Force coursed through him until he was roughly at power parity with the Heran, though, he did have his weights on…

He'd probably have to shrug them off at some point, if the blue man had any power to spare like most fighters did… but for now, he waited, hand in hand. Waited for the Heran to make his move.

He watched Erbia walk back to his side of the ring, relieved. With a title like “Scourge of the Seven Stars”, Chomei had approached with a wary eye—Careful to avoid any potential sucker punches or cheap shots. The fight was ongoing, after all… and if he’d lost, he didn't want it to be because he was caught unawares. He grinned when Erbia spoke. "I don't plan to," he said simply. You're goin' down, bucko, he answered mentally.

His eyes followed the Heran until he reached the other side. He stretched for a moment, preparing himself. Chomei in turn lowered his body, and widened his stance into that of the traditional Dragon Style. He waited quietly, envisioning the possible starts to this brawl in his mind. Within the span of a blink, The Heran suddenly blurred towards him, his hands alight with a violent burgundy glow. Chomei breathed out and rushed forward to meet him. He felt muscle memory take over as the distance between them diminished.

He met the fist, face-first… and then faded into thin air as Erbia burst through Chomei’s remnant afterimage. Chomei himself had exploded to the side just a second prior, narrowly avoiding the pulsing velvet fists of the Heran warrior. He stood a few meters away, now barreling towards his opponent, a soft steam rolling off of his shoulders as he raged onward.

His clawed hands reached for Erbia. Chomei could feel his blood pumping faster and faster as the Dragon Force flowed through him, channeling it into a flurry of quick, powerful palm strikes as he attempted to push Erbia into the center of the ring.

Chomeis flurry of blows connected, thankfully. His mix of knee, elbow, and palm strikes struck true, slowly pushing the pair into the center of the ring. Erbia seemed to take it in stride, finding the time to quip about his ability to breathe flames. Chomei smirked slightly. If only you knew…

That aside, his opponent's relaxed demeanor did bother him slightly. Even if his onslaught was pretty mild, strength-wise, Erbia had easily brushed him off. He thought he’d landed a few good blows in there too… Though, he supposed that only really hinted at the difference between them. He flexed his hands, staring intently over at his blue foe. He’d been just about to charge back in when Erbia yelled something and blitzed forward. His head rocked backward, body slightly lifting into the air as Erbias fist smashed under his chin. Shit!

His head launched back, and he panickedly braced himself for the kick he’d barely noticed was already on its way. His body bounced into the white stone beneath, crushing it under the weight of Erbia’s blow. His body tumbled off a few more meters under the attack's momentum, but eventually, he flipped himself midair and slid to a stop just a little short of the ring's end.

He spared a quick glance at the blue grass of to the side, grimacing, before turning his attention back to the Heran. He slowly wiped a trickle of blood on his chin, staring at it. Without a word, he crashed his foot into the marble stone below, launching a massive piece of it into the wind before him. With a bellowing roar, he struck the boulder-sized stone and launched it at Erbia, following close behind it, before attempting to blindside the Heran with a powerful swipe.

Chomei’s blow landed solidly on his opponent's cheek, and he watched silently as Erbia slid away, recoiling from his sudden “sucker slap”. His opponent gave him an excited grin as he recovered—Chomei understood how he felt. Despite the close call earlier, he was beginning to enjoy himself a fair bit. It was an even fight so far, though, Chomei’s primal instinct told him that this Erbia feller’ wasn't giving his all just yet. He’d change that. The Heran dashed forth, and Chomei responded with his own charge. Defend by attacking, a core tenant of the Dragon Style, his master had once told him.

The two were nearly upon one another when the Heran suddenly dropped to the tiles, knocking him off his feet. He stumbled, soaring through the air momentarily before crashing back into the stage. Surprised, he quickly launched himself back onto his feet, twisting wildly from his awkward prone position. His back faced the blue warrior, but even still, Chomei rocketed himself towards him, shattering the ground where he’d once stood. Almost unnaturally, his body twisted mid-flight to face the Heran, and he entered his signature wide stance. He felt his blood pumping, raging through his veins. His skin reddened visibly as he reached Erbia, a faint steam rolling out of the sides of his mouth.

“HAAAAAAAAH!!!” With an almighty roar, he let loose a vicious whirlwind of blows, aiming to absolutely obliterate the Herans defenses—Attacks of every form, kicking up a mighty gale all around them.

Every stomp, an earthquake… And every swing, a hurricane

The Dragon Rush!

Blow after blow, Chomei blasted through the Herans defenses and laid into him with all his best. The wind whipped all around them, and the stones cracked beneath. He began to let a smile form on his face, partly from the thrill of the fight… and partly because he was beginning to think that maybe this was all Erbia had—

His senses raged back to the forefront, sounding alarm bells throughout his mind. Instinctually he tried to pull back, but Erbia's hands shot out and firmly gripped his own. In a fiery explosion, the Herans' “danger levels” shot through the roof. I should've figured, he thought, panicked, as he tried to pull away from the red-headed warrior. Noticing Erbias's movement, he grit his teeth as the man's skull bashed into his own. He thought he heard a crack as an overwhelming pain spread through his head. Hopefully, he was just imagining things.

He grimaced fiercely, pulling hard and ripping his arms away from Erbia as the warrior let loose a storm of wild and chaotic blows. Chomei’s movements were sluggish now compared to him. He tried to parry blows with his own, but he seemingly lacked the strength to do so. He was bashed across the stage helplessly, a growing trickle of blood trailing wherever they went.

He let out a primal growl, his eyes flashing as a roar ripped out of his throat. The weighted bands and shirt which he wore were blown off of his skin, ripping away in all directions. His muscles gleamed a vibrant red, glistening with sweat and blood as he tried to call on as much Dragon Force as he could muster. Even as he did this, Erbia continued to lay into him… though withstanding the assault did get slightly easier the more strength he mustered.

Eventually, he’d had enough. His chest bulged as a faint white glow surrounded him. A torrent of flames poured from his mouth, surrounding him in a growing ball of hellish flames as he tried to push Erbia away.

His throat felt increasingly sore the longer the flames erupted out of it. He hadn't quite figured out how to stop the flames, once he’d summoned them. This whole ‘Dragon Force’ schtick was all too new to him. Regardless, the flames hadn't impeded his opponent in the slightest. Erbia easily glided into and out of his dancing aura of red and orange, landing hearty blows as he did so. He was angry for some reason… Chomei wasn't particularly studied on galactic cultures, but given what he was screaming—He figured that Erbia was the type to fight for the sake of fighting. Maybe all Herans were like that… Maybe the fact that Chomei wasn't proving to be a worthy opponent bothered him. Trust me pal, I’m a whole lot madder about it than you…

Not knowing how to shut the flames off, Chomei simply grit his teeth and settled back into a fighting stance. He wouldn't have the time to try and figure it out right now. The Heran rushed forward, and Chomei sent a powerful swipe at his incoming punch in an attempt to deflect it. A second later, the flames were no longer an issue. He was lifted off of the ground slightly, the breath knocked out of him by Erbia's killer blow. His eyes widened, and his entire body nearly went slack as he fell back, off of the man’s fist, and stumbled away from him. He struggled for breath, fighting with his lungs for control and fell to one knee. He grimaced fiercely, eyes twitching as he looked up at the Heran. That was one hit? He wondered, surprised and angry. He forced himself to stand, despite lack of breath and fading vision. That was about as much rest as he could afford. He’d felt himself fading for a moment… He’d nearly lost just then from one blow. It was only then that he noticed Erbia's power was still climbing. Well shit, He thought sourly.

Erbia had been yelling at him this whole time, Chomei realized. Something about his limits and whatnot—Pretty annoying stuff given the extraordinary amount of pain he was in. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly settled into his familiar stance. “The… way… of the dragon… Huff… has… no… limits,” He growled from the arena's edge. He’d been through this whole “limits” talk a hundred times and was sick and tired of it. He’d no clue why he couldn't draw on more Dragon Force now… but he knew that it was there. In all it’s endless glory. It would be his to control one day... and with it, he would be Dragon. With that, he launched forward and attempted to slam his palm into Erbia’s stomach.