Competition (Chomei)

Megis seemed eager to learn, maybe overly so. Chomei had begun to suspect that, despite his demeanor, the Majin likely held more 'Martial Artist' in him than he thought. Whether it was because he wanted to improve his own dojos or his own techniques, It didnt really matter to Chomei. That behavior was catching—Chomei was also getting excited, despite the fact that, they weren't really sparring. Not yet anyways...

Breathing in slowly, taking his stance... Chomei now waited. His Dragon Sense told him that Megis had grown considerably. Despite what he'd said earlier, Megis emitted a powerful aura, brimming with danger. Like with most people... Megis was probably holding back, and so Chomei would also. It was an instinctual fighter reaction more than a conscious decision.

Finally, the Majin lunged. With a roar, the pink creature's hands merged into one growing club. He made up the distance between them with ease, raising his arms above his head. Chomeis offhand stretched slowly upward, palm down. With exaggerated motion, Megis brought his arms down like a crushing hammer. A soft, shimmering light covered Chomei's arm. Apart from his offhand, no other part of him moved. Now, just as Megis's attack was set to connect, Chomei struck. His offhand lunged, stopping Megis in midair. His arm recoiled slightly from the Majin's strength, but he held firm, hardly moving from where he'd stood. Their opposing strengths fought one another for a good minute, but eventually, the two relaxed. Chomei took a step back, smiling. He flexed his offhand, opening and closing it quickly. "Pretty good," He said simply.

His smile broadened as he felt the draconic energies deep inside of him coalescing around his strained fist. "Here, take a look," Chomei asked, motioning towards his hurt hand. Megis would notice a bruise of sorts forming along his entire arm; A result of the strain he'd endured. "I could've avoided the damage, hell—I could have defended against it, entirely. I chose instead to actively weaken myself. Normally, I don't get bruised or scratched. I've got very tough skin," He explained. "But If I hadnt... I couldn't show you this..." After a few seconds, the faint purple shimmering from earlier would begin to waver over it. "This, is the Death Dragon Stance..." He whispered, raising his arm before him, hand balled. Remarkably, the bruising began to rapidly fade!

"Well... I wouldn't quite put it that way," Chomei explained. "I'm not really recovering, it's more like my body is forcing me to ignore any pain or damage I feel... Storing it away. It's hard to explain. Basically, from what little I know. When I take enough damage, that my physical prowess isn't enough to protect me... my body starts rationing out the effects to future me. I might wake up one day and have an annoying throb in my left arm, and likely, it's because my arm got too roughed up a few days back,"

"Normally, it isn't an issue, because my body is so built up that most things don't really, truly, hurt me... But I've also never been beaten up that badly, So maybe there's a terrible side-effect I don't know about yet," He shrugged.

Megis spoke on, revealing that he'd been holding back. Not surprising, given that Chomei was also only using a small fraction of his power. Megis seemed to want to test this stance of his, and Chomei was happy to oblige. Not that he had any say in the matter. Megis lept into action almost as soon as he proposed the idea. He assured him that this next attack would be much stronger—Chomei could sense that he was right. Though, if Megis was going to start getting a little bit more serious...

Chomei started to course the Dragon Force through him. A light steam rolled off of his shoulders, and a pink hue developed across his skin. He braced himself against Megis's attack with an X-guard, crossing his arms to block the Majin's fierce blow. Grinning, he pushed the Majin roughly back, brandishing his arms. They were nearly unblemished, save for a discoloration that had been caused by his transformation. "See? lot harder for me to get hurt, normally," He grinned, falling into his signature stance shortly after. "How about we kick things up a notch? I work better under pressure,"

Chomei's arms hovered lightly in front of him as he held his traditional stance—He was maybe getting a bit too into this. Mentally, he reminded himself that he couldn't let this go too far, at least within the Dojo. It'd be truly unfortunate if after all this time, building the place, it suddenly came crashing down. Despite how sturdy the place was, Chomei doubted it'd withstand the might of two super-powered folks. Outside of it too... the villagers worked everywhere, in the fields and forests. He didnt want to risk one of them getting caught up in their bout. Megis took a moment but agreed to take things further. Naturally, he asked for a short while to catch his breath, which Chomei happily obliged.

"Of course," He said promptly. They stood there silently for a moment, Megis breathing in and out peacefully. Soon after, he piped up. He wanted to switch places it seemed—Wanted to see how his forms handled the offense. He smiled. The Dragon Style was made for offense. Strength and power; It ascribed to the philosophy of 'the best defense is a good offense'. Though... thinking about it, going on the attack might not be a good idea. Forms like the Dragon Rush kicked up uncontrollable tremors and whirlwinds, just from the sheer viciousness of its movements. Reluctantly, he responded- "I can't really show you too many of the offensive forms. Only one or two are about grace and precise control. Most of them have destructive side effects—I doubt the villagers would appreciate me trashing the place,"

"...But I can at least show you those," He explained, stretching his dominant hand outward, clawed palm-down. Chomei waited a little longer, before dashing forward. His lower body hardly moved, appearing almost as if he was sliding across the wooden floor toward Megis. As he approached, he whipped his off-hand forward and launched a volley of palm strikes, elbows, and chops. Mainly anything except a solid punch. He used limited movements, appearing almost like a traditional martial artist. He didnt use much strength, but The Dragon Style wasn't known for being weak. Megis would either have to step it up a bit, or Chomei would have to settle down soon, so that he didnt hurt the Majin.

His light barrage appeared to give the Majin warrior a fair amount of trouble. Not that it should've—Chomei could tell that the Majin was holding a fair amount of strength back. Nobody was ever as they appeared these days. He was just willingly holding back, for some reason. Chomei paused his attacks after enough of them had slipped through, and it occurred to him as Megis checked and probed all of his wounds, that the Majin had likely been testing him. A true martial artist, he thought with a smile. "You'd be a good student, y'know? Very attentive," 

Megis started to explain what he was going to do next. A curious little guy, he was. It appeared that a strong attack was coming his way, and Chomei reluctantly obliged the Majin fellow. While he did want to have a decent duel, it occurred to him that his style wasn't very conducive to the 'dojo' environment. Even one he'd specifically built in mind for the Dragon Style. Megis made him see that—Fights like these usually started to escalate and get rather out of control. Even now, he felt the urge... the hunger to use more of the Dragon Force. Whatever the Majin threw his way was likely something he could power up and take without a sweat.

But, he decided against it. Breathing in slowly as the Majin lept into the air, Chomei refined the flow of Dragon Force already pulsing within him. Made it course more quickly, more smoothly through his spirit canals. His raw power became something, almost regal, compared to the chaotic flow before. He didnt particularly know what he was doing, or how, but his power rose as the Majin launched his attack. Entering into the Winding Dragon Stance, he quickly twisted, deflecting one of the legs with movements honed by years of practice... before the other crashed against his head. He recoiled back, a tingling, stinging sensation on the side of his face. Slowly, he recovered, then leaned forward, a sly grin on his face.
"Pretty good stuff man," He smiled, standing upright and crossing his arms. The deflected leg crashed into one of his training dummies, and it shuddered under the weight of the blow—The sound reverberating through the room.

He quickly clapped his hands. "So, whadya think? Was it just," He asked curiously.

Chomei watched quietly as the Majin worked to put himself back together. Seemed pretty useful, being able to regenerate like that...

He smiled as Megis spoke. "That's a mistake most people make, I feel. I was taking you pretty seriously from the get-go. Makes things simpler," He replied promptly. "And yeah, next time we can go and spar out in the mountains... Though, a good chunk of it is covered in ice cream and powdered sugar now... uh, long story..." He sighed quickly.

"But yeah! You did good too, friend," He said briskly, giving the Majin a thumbs up. Powering down, cutting off the Dragon Force from his body, the steam came to an end, and the discoloration of his skin faded. He stood there awkwardly as Megis dusted himself off, when suddenly, with a clap of his hands, a canvas appeared. He listened intently, intrigued by what the Majin said. "A team huh? I remember Derry tried something like that... Though, it seems that nothing every really came out of it. These last few incidents have just been me and other random folk. Not a Planetary Crisis Respone Team guy in sight! It'd be nice if we had people who actually stopped all these attacks," He muttered.

"Also... it's good to be optimistic, but don't be cocky. There's probably a good handful of folks gunning for that spot. You cant underestimate any of em" Chomei spout. "I haven't really heard of many other guys who are running, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Especially now... Since I don't think very many people are all too fond of Derry," Not that it was Derry's fault. He just happened to be President at the worst possible time—Right when all hell broke loose. And, whatever else anyone said... Chomei believed that the man had given it an honest shot. Being President was truly just a thankless job, ninety-nine percent of the time.

Megis seemed convinced that he would be the one to change things, though. He showed him a crude, child-like picture of a group of people on the canvas he'd conjured. Immediately, just as Megis spoke, he recognized himself on there. "Me?" He asked confusedly. "Im not really opposed, but... I mean, I already help out whenever I can. Im not sure if I'm really cut out for that sorta limelight either," Chomei really didnt know how to word this. Again, he wasn't really opposed—He already went out and stopped (or tried to stop) major attacks by himself. But was joining a team necessary? He imagined that this team which would deal with outside threats would be deployed throughout the galaxy. Not just on Earth, which was all he really cared about. "Don't take this the wrong way... but it kinda seems like a hassle. You could always just call me if anything big came up," He said slowly.

Chomei's eyes widened at the Majin's sudden outburst. He raised his hand placatingly, trying to get a word in— "Hang on, that's not what I-" But the Majin simply spoke over him. He stared silently as Megis ranted, steam sprouting out of his head. He decided to just wait until Megis was finished before explaining himself. He didnt get much of a chance though, since, as soon as he finished, the Majin decided to roll off. Literally. He balled himself up and rolled away. Chomei stared after the little pink man, a strange feeling tugging at his heart. Megis had misinterpreted him, but that was mostly due to his own poor choice of words. He couldn't fault the Majin, even though it was a misunderstanding.

Chomei wouldn't sit around if Earth was in danger, no matter what. He used to be a coward... maybe he still was... But things were different now. He'd told himself that many times, but it was true! He was stronger, growing every day due to this mysterious energy he'd unlocked. It wasn't like before when he would just be a burden, trying to butt into the big fights. The hassle he'd referred to was simply being a part of a group. An organization. Chomei liked having the freedom to do whatever he pleased. He was pursuing an important dream of his here, with this new dojo. Joining a team like what Megis offered, would require of him great sacrifices. He'd have to put himself out there, become fully known to all of the Earth... which, he didnt mind. But that kinda spotlight was unnerving. His potential failures on full display...

A spotlight on him, A necessary duty to snuff out the flames of violence before they ever engulfed Earth. Again... not something he opposed, but not something he wanted to do either. He enjoyed his life now—Did he really have to shackle himself with new responsibilities?

...Or did he inherit this responsibility when he unlocked Dragon Force? A duty to protect as many people as possible. Not just those who were easy or convenient to do so. Was it wrong of him to not act? Was it lazy to expect other people to do a job he could do just as easily. Maybe better? He was stronger now.

These were sacrifices he could make... but Chomei didnt know if they were necessary yet. Didnt want them to be necessary. The Earth was near turmoil, yet he still wanted to be selfish. He wanted to say that things would turn out well, eventually, even if he did nothing...

Was he just lying to himself? Or was he being a coward still? Megis's words replayed in his mind. He would never abandon the Earth—Or forgive anyone who hurt her. His mind flashed to the last few years. The moon, battle island, events he'd been in the background of... unable to do anything but watch and save innocents. He was stronger now, a notion he repeated extremely often. The memory and anger he'd felt back then came rushing back. Was it right for him to do this? For him to be selfish?

This whole conversation had given him a lot of questions. He'd never been a political man, but even the apolitical were hard-pressed to ignore the reality of their situations. Whether he liked it or not, every earthling would have to make sacrifices soon... Would Chomei be one of them? Chomei sat for a while, thinking about it.