Aggression [2/2]

In the depths of Hell where she called home, Zerori was doing the gargantuan chore of cleaning her room. She had to after the fiasco on Konats that had her nearly losing her entire haul from the random crashed ship. The bitch of it was that she really really didn’t have any place to put it. Typically, when that became an issue she’d just throw it into the nearest lava lake and have some ol’ fashioned s’mores with her mom as they burned slowly and sank beneath the surface. She was… relatively speaking, a lot smarter now. She could get some good trades with the mortal technology she’d managed to score!

So, her mind made up, Zerori had materialized a nice little pull-wagon and situated everything in just such a way that the literal mountain of junk wouldn’t topple over easily. From there, she was teleporting her way from the Chakkapak to the commerce aisles of the black market that Zerori frequented often. Within a few hours, she wasn’t carrying a wagon full of junk anymore and instead had a few new trinkets to play with that were (understandably) dangerous to those who didn’t understand them. It would give her and her mother something to do later when they were alone. Until then, however…

Zerori eyed the familiar location of the Devil’s Highway’s infamous cage matches and recalled her bout with Usumidori with no small amount of excitement. It had been so long since she’d been back here that she wondered if anyone would even recognize her anymore. Mmmm, one way to find OUT! Zerori thought excitedly before making her way over to the entrance, catching the looks of other Oni that seemed to scrutinize her for a moment before hurrying to follow along. Yeah, that’s a bit like how I remember it, She thought wryly before passing by some of the bouncers. One really heavy set Oni with red skin was the first to stop her.

”Name?” He asked, as if she ever needed an invitation before to just jump in.

She gave him a look, her good eye narrowed at him, “New rules or what? It’s Zero- Oh. Fuck, that’s right,” Zerori recalled suddenly, bringing a hand to her face to pull it down in annoyance. At herSELF. What kind of stage name was Red Zero G, anyway?! With a groan, Zerori just went along with it. “Red Zero G. It’s, uh…” She smirked. “-been a while.”

The bouncer gave her a once over, either because he did or didn’t recognize her before throwing thumb towards the back. ”Get back there. We’ll call you when we have an opponent for you.” And with a shrug, Zerori was sauntering her way toward the waiting area, giving a soft ‘Ohh, they have FOOD now!’ once she’s gotten inside. While she waited to be called, Zerori would take the sword from her back and shuck it into the floor, earning a look from the other Oni in the area. She didn’t give a shit, though - this was her home turf and right now all she cared about? - was the food that was for the fighters waiting!

Something halfway between a chuckle and a snarl escaped Imugi at the cripple comment. The whipping tail, wild hair and voracious appetite spinning the image before them brought to mind some distant knowledge of a particular species. Saiyan. Though they found it no surprise to find one in Hell, his state of dress was most peculiar. Imitation of the heavenly kinds’ garb, or did the gods really see fit to bother with this manner of mortal now? To answer his question though, Imugi just shook their head. “Nothing that hasn’t already been said, I’m sure.”

The passive aggressive tone Imugi took might have been humorous, given their diminutive frame and strength compared to the Saiyan even as he lounged. They didn’t need the ability to feel energy to tell as much either, an outsider being waited on in a den like this? He might not need to raise more than one hand to swat the demon down. Well, that would only be fair. An impish grin curled at the corner of their mouth, a response to their inner monologue and the warrior’s inquiry.

Before they could so much as begin a response, their oh-so charming demeanour faltered as something crossed through their blind spot. The cloak over their amputation bristled, moved by something unseen that had also begun to pull their sword from its scabbard. Fortunately, the also-one-eyed woman’s casual attitude disarmed them somewhat immediately. Rude, but nothing worth getting kicked out over. Yet. Regardless, the new stranger’s interruption had left Imugi with no cutting response for the other.

At having their degrading treatment pointed out, Imugi scoffed at the understanding tone. “Yes, I can tell as much. It won’t happen again,” They told her, lonely left eye looking up to meet a solitary right. When she offered to share the morsel with Imugi, the smaller demon gave a look of amusement and swiftly bit it out from between Zerori’s fingers, quite like a snake might have. Delicious by comparison to how they usually dined these days, but they suppressed a look of genuine appreciation in favour of being condescending. “Zerori. You’re strange. You seem demon, yet you look an awful lot like him,” Imugi jerked their head at Lottus to punctuate. “That’s rather curious, I think I’d like to hear the story.”

---

While Zerori wasn’t exactly obvious about her request for their names she didn’t find it just a bit rude. Then again, turnabout being fair play, she did just enter what could flexibly be called a ‘restricted’ area and eat this champion’s food right off on their tray. Letting it go, Zerori would instead give a nod at the fellow demon accepting her offer before their intrigue in how she looked came up. She cast a look toward the Saiyan and immediately caught onto the question with a cocked eyebrow and a sigh a moment later. At least she could answer this one rather easily, “Not much of a story to tell. I was born Half Saiyan. My Father. Mom’s a Demon and I like to think I take more after her than the old bastard.” She hoped Imugi was fine with the explanation because if she had to give anymore there would actually be some rough backstory involved and she had a feeling the Saiyan across the table from her would use that to his advantage.

Surprise surprise, she was right to keep her business to herself.

Zerori’s eye snapped back to Lottus as he stood from the chair, the vibe of the moment seemingly turning rather quickly as she followed his gaze to the sword at her side. Quickly, as he made it clear where he knew the sword was from, she put the pieces together and was finally able to put a name to a face. This man was Lottus, the one whom had fought Rhapsody and taken the sword she’d created for her more than a year ago. He was the reason Rhapsody abandoned the sword - soaked it in the blood of countless lives. Having read the sword’s memories - an ability she’d gained since she’d made it from her own magic - Zerori knew exactly with who she was speaking to and even more precisely who HE was talking about. Passively, Zerori’s eye stared at Lottus for a few tense seconds before she gave a harsh bark of laughter.

“Yeah. I figured as much. The woman you speak of is a friend. A friend you clearly traumatized to the point of abandoning this sword,” She took a step back, angling herself in such a way as to make the sword the focus as she placed her hand on the hilt. “Had to call it back to me since she couldn’t bear to be with it anymore and abandoned it. I wasn’t sure what bastard was responsible but damn ain’t you kind enough to jog my memory,” Just as quickly as the air in the room had turned tense, Zerori’s expression sharpened with a sardonic grin as she couldn’t help but rub some salt in the wound.

“So, now that we’ve established ownership of this sword…” Her eyes pointedly glanced at the halo that floated above Lottus’ head. “Who had the fucking pleasure of ending your sorry ass? Wish I was there to piss on your body for what you did to her. Hell, maybe I’ll get the chance to do so later. Seeing as I can leave and you- Well.” She took a step forward, bearing her fangs up at him scathingly, “You get to enjoy some discount charcuterie in Hell.”

Sitting idly by as witness to an argument hadn’t been Imugi’s intention, but it was proving amusing if nothing else. Whoever this friend of Zerori had been, the smaller demon felt inclined to agree with Lottus. A sword, by its very nature, was a killing tool. She had to have been hopelessly immature to think otherwise… Not that Imugi would voice as much to the young woman with her own very sharp implements. The Saiyan man’s bold claim that he’d escape Hell yet caught their interest as well, unlikely as it seemed. One needed to be canny for that task, a trait they wouldn’t personally assign him.. Yet here he was, having Hell’s denizens bend over backwards for his whim. Maybe they’d be surprised.

Imugi smiled as Lottus expressed his liking for the challenge they’d accidentally made on Zerori’s behalf. Failing to anticipate just how eager he was though, the not even hundred-pound demon was flung with the shattered pieces of the Boss Box across the room as his aura exploded outward. Sitting up in a daze with their snack interrupted and the air knocked from their lungs, Imugi looked for their bearings as others focused on the confrontation. Locating their sword amongst the wreckage, they took hold just as a hand lifted them from their hair bun.

“What in Yemma’s name did you do?!” The same grizzled Oni from before shouted at them as he hauled the demon up. Hissing in anger, they staunchly refused to suffer any more obscene beration. Drawing their sword in one moment, the blue fellow was in pieces the next as Imugi found their footing. Few seemed to even register the murder as the crowd’s focus seemed fixed on the latest bout. Snaking through the many spectators and giving a few some painful prods, Imugi eventually found themself at the front as strikes began to fly.

“That’s the spirit! Show him how a demon fights, won’t you?” Imugi called from the sidelines, grinning with excitement. They wanted to see themself how well she represented the Demon Realm. And perhaps see if Lottus was a fighter of substance. He seemed to have grown, as if Imugi couldn’t have felt any punier, and was giving off a powerful and ominous aura. Almost demonic in his own right, hm?

---

Why are you STILL talking?! Came the first thought to Zerori as she reveled in her frenzied state, even as Lottus had accepted AND made a move against her with some ball of black and red energy that looked frighteningly close to her own. WAS he a Demon? Had time in hell begun to change him in some way or was he something like her? At the moment, even if these were questions Zerori would have fought to find answers to, Zerori didn’t give a shit. Between the cries of the onlookers (Imugi included, she noted) and the spiked inflection of power that seemed to loom over her own from Lottus, all that was on Zerori’s mind was to make him eat his words.

So, in typical fashion and without much care to learning from her past mistakes, Zerori made it her mission to overpower this man at every step. Starting with the beam attack that threatened to impale her, Zerori’s single red eye glowed as she hyper fixated on the attack before bringing both of her swords up. She roared in his direction just before the sharpness of her Greatsword made contact with the beam, “Surprise Surprise, mother fucker - I’m not RHAPSODY!” Before clashing, grating, cutting against his own seemingly gargantuan energy. At first it appeared as if she would lose and her sword would break against the power that felt so much stronger than her own… until she could feel the force against her sword give way.

That was all she needed to feel to know she had a chance! Fangs bared at Lottus, Zerori immediately swung her other sword in succession, each swing a follow up from the last before she ended her attack with both sword swinging from an ‘X’ shape in front of her in an attempt to gauge straight away into Lottus’ chest.

He wanted her to let go. Give him everything she had, right? She would make certain not to disappoint.