Sparring Practice (Vocado)

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Things were always strange with the Bonewood Boys. Ever since they were young, something or other was always going wrong. Be it their parents skipping town, their clan being disgraced or even just their food going bad, they hadn’t been able to catch many breaks over the years.

That being said, the last few days had been far from wrong. Their renown as the leaders of the Shredder Corp was growing, if only a little. They may have been considered expendable now, but give it a few more months? They’d be the talk of the town! Maybe they’d actually get some good food for once when that happened.

It was lucky that Vocado was already warming up when Pitt tossed the boulder. Had he been lazing around, he might’ve become smashed into the dirt. Instead, he twisted his body to face the boulder, and leaned forward to throw out a fierce punch. The fist made contact, and shattered the rock into pebbles. He smirked, proud of his work, before turning to Pitt.

”Things are gonna be tougher than they were when we were kids. With the king dead, lots of slimeballs are gonna be looking to take that crown.” He dipped low into his own stance. Basic defensive styling, but little else. ”Think we should go for it? It’d certainly be one way to get our family’s honor back.”

Before Pitt responded, Vocado lunged forward, aiming a trio of kicks at the behemoth Saiyan’s chest. Should the strikes land, the younger Saiyan would surely feel the sting.

---

Simple as the stakes were for this bout, Vocado always found it exciting to spar with Pitt. His overwhelming force meant the elder Bonewood needed to keep on his toes. Trying the same tactic twice on a powerhouse like his brother would probably earn him a broken nose, or worse.

"Heh. They'd bicker over which color to paint the damn walls if you gave them enough time. We should head over there with a couple of paint cans and see which royal blows a gasket first."

Pitt took his turn, sending an energy bullet across the plateau. Vocado brought his hand out, and swatted the orb away, allowing it to careen harmlessly into the skies above. The next strike, though, would be much harder to simply ignore. Crossing his arms in front of him, Vocado was able to block mere moments before the fist slammed into him. The force pushed him back a bit, kicking dirt up from the strain.

"Even if we don't take the throne ourselves, we need to make sure we're strong enough to kick the new King's ass if he turns out to be a chump!"

Dipping low, Vocado clenched his fists tight. Lurching forward, he let loose a barrage of punches. The rapid-fire assault would pepper the brute's chest with blows. Ending with an open-palm strike, Vocado leaped back, waiting to see what his younger brother responded with.

---

"I'm thinkin' if they don't pick soon we might as well pick for 'em." He flicked his nose with his thumb, watching Pitt's movements as they chatted. "I'm serious. Keep your eyes open for candidates. We're gonna need to find someone who we care about fighting for. If some peace=loving putz sneaks the crown away we might as well go join the Tuffy's!"

Pitt's next attack came as some surprise. His brother was strong, sure, but (and this wasn't necessarily an insult), the guy wasn't much for combat strategy. This energy barrage was quite inventive, though. He could tell from the way Pitt had prepared it. The uniform line of energy bullets made it hard to withstand if someone were to be hit by it. Bracing himself, the elder Bonewood grinned.

"It's a nice technique," Vocado admitted as the bullets rained down on him. "But I can see one flaw already!"

Reeling his fist back, Vocado poured his Ki into it, before loosing a massive wave of energy from his knuckles! The beam soared through the air, vaporizing the incoming barrage, and barreling straight toward Pitt! It'd lost some steam due to the clash, but it had plenty of power left to wipe the floor with the brute.

---

As the dust settled, Vocado was both relieved and surprised that his brother had defended himself so well. That little barrier he'd cooked up was something Pitt had cooked up when they were still runts, and still to this day it saved him. Something about the barrier was different, though. It seemed to empower the brute in some way. He'd need to be careful.

"We need to spend as much time preparing for the war as we can. These bookworms don't know what a terrible play this was. Getting a Saiyan impatient is like asking for death!"

Pitt approached, a telegraphed uppercut reeled back. Vocado smirked, and readied himself to dodge, only to realize it was a fake-out! Stunned, he was unable to praise his brother, as soon after he was peppered with blows to the chest.

Vocado took two in the gut, stepping back and bringing his forearm up to deflect the third. They traded blows back and forth like this for a bit, each of them slipping in a quick strike here or there as their fists collided. To say they were evenly matched would be a lie, but Vocado felt he was catching up to Pitt faster than he'd expected. Good for him, or bad for his brother?

Noticing an opening, Vocado rolled to the right, passing Pitt's left side before leaping skyward. He tossed out a trio of energy blasts. Small and weak, but enough to keep the guy occupied.

"You're gonna need to be able to beat me if you wanna wear that crown! C'mon, spice it up a litte!"

---

As Vocado had requested, it seemed Pitt was raring to go when it came to picking up the pace. The Bonewood Brute launched through the air, meeting the elder brother above the bluffs. Try as he might to impede the mountain of muscle, Vocado was caught flat-footed, and felt a surge of pain as he was forced to the ground. He deepened the crater left by Pitt's launch, groaning as the rubble parted beneath him.

Eyes widening, the Saiyan leaped out of the way with as much force as he could muster, evading the second slam by mere seconds. Splintered rocks spread across the sky, splattering the ground as the bluff shuddered.

"The old ways? Hell yeah! We need to get back to our roots in a big way. No political angle; just raw force to get us to the end of the war, and quick."

Standing up, he quickly rushed for Pitt's back, hoping to grasp him from behind. Should he catch a grip, he'd pull him backward, struggling to yank himself and his brother off the edge of the cliff and down into the deep valley below them.

"Whoever shows up to the palace will have both of us to contend with! They'll have to be one hell of a Saiyan to take the crown!"

---

The duo plummeted at a breakneck speed. What seemed a mighty valley started to feel like little more than a short hop with how quickly the ground approached. It was almost silly how well the two brothers bonded. Despite literally careening toward the dirt at lethal velocity, they somehow kept up a cordial conversation.

With sheer force, Pitt forced his brother off of him. The strength his brother exuded was truly overwhelming. "Wha-- Damn!"

His sibling's assault was intense. Surging his Ki, Pitt released a ridiculous amount of energy from his fist, smashing into Vocado's gut with reckless abandon. The Shredder Corp Captain groaned, blood spewing from his mouth as the pressure pushed him downward. Try as he might to right himself, it was too late.

The ground cratered below him; the second time in this bout that'd occurred. One of the massive steam vents was shattered from the impact, making their new battleground foggy and humid all at once. Shaking his head, the elder Bonewood freed a pile of rubble from his hair.

Struggling, Vocado stumbled to his feet. His body ached, but he couldn't back down now. They'd taken sparring sessions further than this before, and he wasn't about to stop just because of one measly punch!

"If there's any one thing I'm glad about, it's that I'll at least gain a power boost from this cracked rib."

Was it just one rib? Maybe it was seven. He couldn't quite tell. All he knew was that his brother wasn't going to one-up him without a few drops of blood spilt on both ends.

Vocado took a low stance, his arms shuddering as a bright red aura engulfed him. This was the final moments of their bout, so he had to make sure to be as flashy as possible.

---

”Alright. You want my best, little guy? I’ll give you everything I’ve got and MORE!”

Vocado’s aura exploded around him, stance still low and uneven. Powerful as Pitt’s attack was, it almost felt like the effects lingered somehow. His head was a little fuzzy, and it was hard to catch his breath. One would probably call that a concussion.

Still, though, he wouldn’t give in now. With a roar, he launched forward, aiming a flying kick for Pitt’s chest! Should the strike land, he’d use the brute’s chest as a starting point for his next blow, which was a flip kick with the opposite leg, which’d end with him landing on the ground and, with any luck, Pitt would be sent flying across the valley.

”Here goes!”

He brought both hands up above his head, groaning as a massive ball of Ki expanded between his hands. Pulsing and unstable, the energy was ready to burst before he’d even moved. It was one of his riskier techniques. Hopefully it’d be enough to seal the deal on this fight.

”Fierce... WARHEAD!”

The orb launched from his hands, careening through the air with reckless abandon. It aimed to slam straight into Pitt and explode on impact. Regardless of what it hit, the explosion would rock the foundation of this land to its very core.

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