Restoration (Conquest)

”Correct. Megis!”

Bing’s register of combat beginning was slow on the uptake. By the time Ramen had avoided the attack, he had finally heard the aftershock of the Majin’s strike. His brow furrowed; was he really that out of his depth?

Pooling his Ki, Bing began to shudder. He needed to put everything he had into every single strike, for doing any less would mean his body would still have power left to give.

With a harsh exhale, he thrust his hand up above his head. A practiced motion, but behind it a force beyond his years. Emerald green Ki hovered above his outstretched palm, bouncing between his palm and fingers like a playful spirit eager to be seen.

”Hrah!”

No clever name nor sharp quip escaped him. Only the force of his body. With an exerted effort, he tossed the ball out. Though only the size of a fist, the energy ball packed solid power into it.

Surely Megis would evade, or perhaps it was an attack so beneath his notice he would simply allow it to hit him. A fools choice, but one the Majin might make. Death by a thousand cuts was surely in the cards.

---

Ramen had no way of escaping this next blow. She thought for a moment that she might have been able to keep some semblance of pace with the Majin, but the attack came slamming down on her with enough force to have broken her bones if it hit clean. But, she couldn't let that happen.

At the last moment, she twisted around and thrust both hands upwards, firing off a powerful kiai--this one directly at the Majin's spiking arms. She had intended to use her Kiai Keshi, but the strike hit her before she could summon up her energy. The result was that she was slammed hard into the ground, tiles cracking beneath her as she wound up near-embedded in the Lookout.

Something else might have broken too, but adrenaline helped to hide it... for what good that did her now. She grabbed onto her staff and forced herself up, on unsteady feet. She coughed, and she was sure she could see blood hit the rubble beneath her, from beyond the edges of her crimson aura.

"You're going to win this fight, but that's all it will be: one fight. If you don't back down, I'll take advantage of the very Lookout we stand on."

She rattled her staff against the ground.

"If you have any sense, you'll leave here with your head held high, and your reputation intact. If not, your plans will fall to ruin. You'll satisfy this violent outburst, but everything else you're after will be lost to you."

---

Bing cursed himself as the Majin twirled around, wrapping him up in gummy-flesh. The species was so very strange, and worse yet, that strangeness was starting to get him killed.

Pummeled over and over, the young man lost sense of time and self. Before he knew it, he was suddenly tumbling end-over-end, his body indented on the side of a tree across the clearing.

Ramen had saved him, somehow. A sigh of relief shakily escaped, which was cut short by a sharp grunt of pain. His Gi was already torn in places, and a cut danced blood down the side of his head.

”You don’t have to kill us, Megis. You can still stop this.“

Turning to Ramen, he was surprised that her prowess extended to the art of telepathy as well. Not a legendary art by any means, but still incredibly hard to master. If she could really reach everyone on the planet, then…

Well, it might seal their fate.

Bing watched with bated breath and uneven stance, waiting and watching. Tired as he was, his soul was still brimming with Ki. Surely he could do something to harm the creature in a lasting way. Somehow.

Adopting his battle stance yet again, Bing steeled himself.

---

The Majin refused to give up. Ramen had been expecting as much: given how quickly he had abandoned his ploy to wait them out, she could tell patience wasn't his strong suit. He clearly wanted to stop her from sharing the details of his actions here, but he wasn't willing to change course to do it-- instead, he launched himself towards her.

He was fast, faster than she was -- and she knew she couldn't get away from him. She channeled her ki into the edge of her hand in a snap decision, and swung for him as he launched his headbutt. She managed to get in-front of him for it, but the technique couldn't dispel the energy in someone's head. All it did was slow his momentum enough to keep her from being completely defeated.

The impact still managed to throw her back several feet, and she crashed off of the roof of the Lookout chamber and into the stone tiles below. Every bone in her body told her to stay down, but she forced herself to rise. Her head stung, her back ached, and she was certain something in her hand had broken from even trying to contest that attack.

But, they had passed the point of no return.

She lidded her eyes, returning to telepathy--but this time, directed at Bing, rather than across the skies. She had to get a message to him specifically. There was no way the Majin would back down, and if she knew anything about their kind, he would want to steal all the power he could from this place--and them.

Bing. We can't hold him off any longer. On the count of five, we're both going to run. It isn't something that feels right, I know that--but we've done all we can here. There's no way he'll change his mind. He's set on power, and we don't have enough of it to stop him. You fly in one direction--I'll fly in the other. He'll chase me. You need to live to fight another day. Do not debate me on this. 

She could feel her power beginning to wane, but she would still need to do something if she were to even make an escape possible. She knew that the Majin would probably stop her, but at the least she could make it more difficult for him to stop both of them. It was more important that Bing make it out in one piece.

"If you don't want people to know your actions, you should think about changing them. It's easier to convince people you're here to protect them when you act like you're here to protect them. I hope you learn that one day. This world could use better protectors than those that have failed it time and time again."

She led her words hang for barely more than a moment before launching herself backwards. For once, she let out a cry to accompany her kiai, abandoning the wordless form it had taken before. She blasted tiles and debris, dust and dirt, everything in an attempt to kick up as much of a storm towards Megis as she could. Then, as she turned to dart around in the opposite direction from Bing, she fired blasts of ki in every direction. They hurdled across the skies like decoys, aiming to fool Megis' senses just long enough to effect an escape... or, more to the point, the younger fighter's escape.

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