Getting the Reps In (Chomei)

It was a quiet day. Strange, Chomei thought. It'd been a while since he'd been this relaxed. These past few weeks had been tumultuous, to put it lightly. The stresses of campaigning had been an unwanted intrusion into his daily routine. His throat felt sore—Which in itself was strange, as Chomei's body was unnaturally resilient. So many interviews... At times, he found himself regretting his choice to run. His life had been simple... Training and teaching. That was it. However, at such times he quickly recalled his purpose, and squashed those unnecessary thoughts. Megis was still MIA, leaving Chomei as the sole person able to carry out their plan. Forged in the very spot he sat, weeks prior. He didnt think the Majin cowardly—It became increasingly clear that something had happened of which he was unaware. And yet, he'd been unable to find any leads...

He let an audible sigh escape his lips, standing with some effort and stretching his tired limbs. Chomei was unnaturally tough, to the point that he could go days without sleep. Yet even now, his monstrous body was beginning to reach its limits. He'd foregone any rest to try and get an edge on his opponents. To be truthful, he didnt much fear Yogu... Harsh as that was to say. Steel though... He was charismatic. A crowd pleaser. From what he'd seen, the two of them seemed to share a lot in common, policy-wise. But looks could be deceiving... Chomei didnt want to have to rely on anyone else to protect the planet.

A faint scent snapped him out of his thoughts. He felt a feeling akin to fear, though it was missing any actual aspects of dread. He called it the Dragon Sense, and generally, it was a pretty good gauge of nearby persons and their strength. Which meant there was someone nearby, and from what he could feel... Someone strong.

Chomei strode slowly outside, and was taken slightly aback. "Uh... What happened guy?" He asked, crouching next to the injured man. From the trail in the snow, it seemed that he'd emerged not from the main roads, but the forest? "Hup!" After a moment's reflection, without asking, Chomei hoisted Sen into his arms and strode back into the relative warmness of the Dojo. He ignored the fact that this unknown person was incredibly powerful, and the implications of his current state. He plopped the tuffle down into a corner of the main hall, and rummaged out in the storage for any blankets. He had none... But he did have a pile of unused Gi's, meant for any new trainees. That was probably the best he was going to get...

Joining the tuffle once more, he dropped the clump of uniforms on top of him, taking a measured seat nearby. Chomei couldnt tell if they were concious or not, but he ventured to find out.

"Hey. How are ya' holding up bud?"

Chomei glanced over the collapsed form of Sen, curious as to how one of his stature reached such a state. The collapsed man looked up at him uncertainly, and spoke hesitantly at first. Chomei listened though, tilting his head a little as Sen went on. He'd been jumped? "Yeah... That does suck. Must've been pretty strong thugs," He muttered, arms crossed. "Hasnt happened to me in a long time, But I remember when I was a kid, I had to fight off big groups of bullies a lot," Chomei rambled, closing his eyes as he reminisced. "You seem alright though, yknow... Apart from the whole... All your shit got stolen, part,"

Chomei was acting a little. It was pretty apparent that his story wasn't entirely true... But the pink-haired man didnt particularly mind. Everyone had their reasons. Chomei looked out a blanketed window, frosted over by the chilly air outside, feigning ignorance. "You think you can lead me up the mountain whenever you get better? I cant really tolerate any thieves or bandits around here. I owe the people too much. Maybe I can help find your stuff," He explained, before cutting himself off.

"Oh, you're right. I should've introduced myself first. I'm Om Chomei, nice to meet ya Dan. You're in a village, in my dojo. You might've heard of me on the news," He explained, watching for the man's reaction.

It didnt surprise Chomei that the man had heard his name, somewhere. He'd gotten a fair amount of news coverage, atleast a while ago, what with the election coming and all. The next subject was a bit more sore, for him. But he'd already sorta put his plans on hold, anyways. Atleast until this whole campaigning business resolved itself. He didnt think it'd be very easy to run this place, if he was president also.

"Uh, Yeah. Sucks but, most northern folk are very rural and keep to themselves. Not too many guys are actually interested in Martial Arts up here. Probably should've gone south, to Papaya maybe," He shook his head. "But I decided to do it here, and so here I am. Maybe I'm just bad at recruiting people though? I've had a handful of folks come around... I do have some students, but they're all doing their own thing right now,"

This 'Dan' guy seemed pretty adamant about keeping his strength hidden, though he didnt seem to know how to tune the 'danger-meter' down any. Chomei nodded along as he spoke. "Yup, wise words. It takes a long time to discipline ones self into such readiness," He commented.

He smiled as Martial Arts became the focus of their conversation. He half-forgot about his prior request, not really registering the obvious deception at work. "Really? It was the opposite for me. I abandoned my studies, to dedicate myself to Martial Arts," He explained nonchalantly. He seemed to be doing this a lot, he noticed. Sen asked to see some martial arts—He smiled wryly. "Interested again? I guess that makes sense... After your encounter," He chuckled. He waggled his offhand, a translucent, red ember dancing across his fingers and palm. "Scary, right?" He laughed. Though, while he did laugh, this development had scared him quite a bit, when it first showed up.

" I've thought about whether this is magic or not... But it seems to respond to my 'martial arts'... So I'm going with that, for now," He said slowly, closing his palm around the ember, and extinguishing it. "Ok, that's your sneakpeak! I'll show you more if study under me," He offered, half-jokingly.

His half-joke quickly became an exciting prospect, Chomei decided, as this Dan fellow expressed some amount of interest afterward. Not in the flame, it seemed... Though on second thought, that had been a weird thing to show off. Especially in reference to Martial Arts. Chomei supposed that it was something unconscious within him. Because the fellow was being secretive with him, he was doing the same... He didnt have any good reasons for doing so.

Dan seemed to want to see more, though. Something impressive, he thought. Chomei rubbed his chin, at that. Felt some pink stubble there—He'd been forgetting to shave, lately. He could do a great many things... But he wanted to be creative, he thought. Again, not for any real reason. Just to be coy, since 'Dan' was hiding something from him. It was a little childish, but he thought it was amusing. He hit his palm lightly with his offhand, gasping.

"Oh, I know what to show you!" He said, a little too excitedly. Leaping up deftly, he went into the storage room out back, finding some of his heaviest weights. The ones meant for Chomei, specifically. He'd had them made a while back, after it became clear that he'd vastly outgrown his old ones. He didnt really train with weights often, anymore. But they brought back a nostalgic sort of feeling. A shirt, two long armbands, a headband. He brought these back into the room with 'Dan' and placed them slowly, carefully onto the reinforced floors. So as to not reveal their true nature.

He was being a bit coy, as he pointed down at his weighted shirt. "These are some weighted clothes I use to train. Super heavy, custom-made. Doubt you can pick one up... but, you're free to try. You should... actually. That's why I brought em out," He offered, a benign smile plastered on his lips. "I'll show you some moves with em' on, also," He continued, off-handily. "Though... We gotta head out for that. The Gyms not able to... Contend with my rigorous training. Dont know if you're well enough to be moving around, also..." He grumbled, scratching his chin.

Chomei nodded along, a little sad that Dan was still putting up this facade. Again... It wasn't really his business... But it certainly made him more curious the longer they went on like this. "Eh, sure. Just thought you'd like to see how heavy they were. Show you that I'm the real deal," He said casually, lifting a few of the weights into place. He left the shirt where it lay, wrapping a pair of arm and legbands around him.

He tapped his foot on the wood floor, feeling it creak under him. He winced. Best I get a move on, He thought. He noted the man's deft recovery, a sign that he was holding something back. At least that's how Chomei saw it. People didnt heal that quickly... Not unless they were Chomei himself. He meandered over to the open doorway and awaited his exit. Chomei let the Dragon Force flow through him, drawing from a distant well of mystical energy. Sen didnt seem like the type to notice subtle things like this... He didnt seem to know that most people could tell his strength at a glance, after all.

And so he cheated... Just a little. Fortunate too, because as he took his first steps into the frigid wilderness outside, a sense of danger began to flood over him. His ears, almost animal-like in their keenness, heard something quick, mechanical, from behind. He turned just as a thunderous roar erupted from within. From Sen.

A strange bullet—Strange in its unbelievable power—Blasted towards him. He opened his jaw, feeling the Dragon Force grow with an immense ferocity within. A raging clash of flame flew out from his mouth. He felt his throat become a little sore from the sudden exertion. The Bullet never reached him, so he assumed that he'd overcome it somehow. The rest of his flames, unfortunately, remained. They beat against the frame of his Dojo, burning through, and raced toward the source of the gunshot.

Chomei felt the last of his flames roil out of his mouth, and promptly clamped it shut. He looked at the proud walls of the Dragon School, burnt to ashes. That alone sent a stream of dread shooting through him. It would take so, so long to fix that, he wondered. Dread quickly disappeared, replaced by a bubbling anger. Why the hell did that guy shoot him! And what was that gun...

He peered into the dojo, listened keenly, and heard someone scurrying inside. He balled his hands into fists, striding forward. He'd get some answers, he decided. Whatever privacy Dan had wanted, he'd forfeited just now with this attempt on his life. The man was still exuding an enormous amount of danger, not bothering to hide it. He trudged through the charred rubble of the wall, searching for Sen. His heart dropped as he watched the burnt man scramble for safety in the corner. He'd only responded... He didnt think... Why was he so damaged???

That perplexed the pink-haired man, though not as much as what Sen had said next. "... What? What do you mean?! You attacked me," He explained, utterly confused. "Just now, with that rifle you tossed away! Where'd you even hide that," He mumbled, scratching his chin. Was this some ruse? Was he being duped? He had no clue. He waited for Sen to go on, trying to figure this out for himself, all while keeping his guard up.

Chomei sat there, jaw agape slightly as this madman named 'Dan' began to go a little nuts. Maybe this was one of those comic book type situations, Chomei wondered as Dan began to dance around. There's no way those flames hurt that much. He began to slowly shed his weights, hearing them thump loudly onto the earth. He took a few tentative steps forward, back inside through the charred remains of his old door. No... He'd tried to kill me. For no reason that I know of. Maybe it was political? Best to be safe.

He watched the man rush over to window, pull it open, and then start yelling his name. He sighed, shaking his hand as the final weight came undone. He placed it slowly onto the wooden floor, casting a measured glance at Dan. "Sir, I dont know what you're up too... But I'm not buying it. I've been duped a lot all my life, and this is certainly a poor attempt. Also, The village is about three minutes down the road. Not that it'd matter. I doubt anyone would bother coming—I've helped these folks beyond measure. They'd find your kidnapping story very... Unlikely..." He said slowly.

He stopped a little behind Dan, narrowing his eyes. "Now, truthfully... I don't like to pry into other people's business. But, that shot changes things. Why have you come here? Speak plainly... and no sudden moves neither. You're a lot stronger than you let on, and I ain't risking another shot" He explained, balling his fists.