In What Lies a Shadow (Flax)

Earth had many odd little places to it, though just when Flax began to feel like she'd seen the most unique of it, something new would be around to corner to blindside her. She had been several miles away from a nearby forest when, out of the blue, the hairs on her skin prickled as a tremendous amount of power poured out of the sky like a wave, washing over her entire being. The shadows inside of her stirred in excitement, urging her with all their being to seek out this strength, though Flax was uncertain. This power was far beyond anything she'd felt before, or anything she was capable of. What could it possibly be?

Well, curiosity may have killed the cat, as they say, but satisfaction brought it back. She just had to see what all that strength was about. This led to her swiftly making her way through the forest, bounding from tree to tree at lightning pace, until, finally, she reached a small clearing with a tower in its center. And there, she realized, the power she felt was quite literally coming from the sky.

"Hm," she placed her hands on her hips and craned her neck back to look up the tower. It was tall enough that she couldn't see its top once it pierced through the clouds, but nothing she couldn't still climb. Getting back down would be as simple as jumping off, so she saw no reason not to brave it.

It didn't take too long to climb, though once she reached the top and climbed into the little room at its peak, she expected to surely find the source of all that power - only to find an empty room, with the power she could sense still far up above her. However, her long and pointed ears twitched as she heard the sounds of explosive, thundering blasts over her head, distant, but not overly so. She was getting close.

Flax carefully climbed up to the rooftop of the tower and craned her neck upwards once again, where, in the very far distance, she saw flashes of light occasionally bursting out of a small dot, straight overhead. Was that.. A floating island? How very curious. How the heck was she going to get up there, though? Flax looked around for anything to climb, but found naught but air separated the tower from the island. And she couldn't fly. Though... She could jump. Jump that high, though? She'd never tried, but... Only one way to find out.

Flax bent down on her haunches, placed her palms onto the smooth surface of the tower's roof, and then, with all four limbs at once, forcefully shoved herself off and into the air, with enough power that the entire tower trembled. She found herself hurtling up, up, up through the air at speeds she didn't even know she could travel at. And, before she knew it, Flax was there. She twisted her body in just such a way that she barely grasped onto the edge of the floating island, and hoisted herself up. A satisfied sigh left her dark lips as she got to her feet and briefly admired the view from up so high - but it became immediately clear that she had bigger fish to fry, here.

A few dozen meters away stood a golden warrior, whose hair glowed with a sheen as bright as the sun itself, and whose power cascaded like a thousand waterfalls over everything around them. Who was this? Flax briefly wondered if she'd just accidentally stumbled upon some literal divine being, but, no... This was a Saiyan man, wasn't it? "Well, hello, there," she called out to him from where she stood. "Do you live here? Sorry to intrude, I just couldn't help but notice all that... Power."

Flax frowned as the golden figure finally addressed her in a far more casual manner of speaking than she had anticipated. One did not find a figure who may well have been God and expect them to greet their arrival with a "Yo," after all. Once the man expressed his apologies for forgetting to lower his power, his golden sheen suddenly vanished, and his hair became a blue not unlike Flax's own hair color, if not a tad more vibrant.

"Hm," Flax mumbled to herself in consideration. This situation became more curious by the moment. Who was this? Why were they here? ...And where was here? As far as Flax knew, nothing like this was on Konats - and Konats was host to some weird stuff. She supposed she may as well see if she could get some answers from this oddly mellow divine being. He did seem amicable and open to conversation. 

"...Sure," she somewhat hesitantly replied to the man's offer of a drink. She cautiously approached and took the small cup that had been procured from thin air, and when she sipped from it, found it to be surprisingly refreshing. It was real water. Just magically conjured water. "Thanks." Flax allowed for a beat to pass before she began asking her questions. "Who are you? And what was that golden form you had?" She briefly halted and looked around, as well.

The flying island was fairly unremarkable, mostly consisting of square tiles that formed the large circle that was the island, broken up by some shrubbery and a large building on one end of it. "And, what is this place? I've never seen anything like it before."

For as blatantly otherworldly as the man had seemed upon her first impression of him, he sure seemed surprisingly lax and down to Konats. His name, apparently, was Russ, and he was a Saiyan from Earth. And that golden form was called Super Saiyan? Not the most creative of names, but it seemed accurate enough to its raw power. Apparently, only six - or ten - people across the universe had achieved such a power, too. Well, lucky Flax, running into such a rare creature. To be fair, he had essentially been mass broadcasting his presence with that raw, unfiltered power level. 

And, apparently, this floating island was the 'Lookout,' which seemed an apt name for it - one could look around for untold miles from this height. Someone named Kami, and her 'guardians,' used this base to watch over and protect the planet from any threats. How... Divine. So, Flax had apparently found herself in the very heart of, essentially, the defenders of Earth. And this man here was surely their strongest warrior. The very idea of sucking him dry of all that energy made the shadows within Flax stir in anticipation, though she forced them into silence for now.

Much as Russ looked like a potent snack - or rather, a full three-course meal, there was simply no way Flax could hope to match that level of power. He'd obliterate her in an instant if she so much as attempted to strike.

"Ah," she replied once Russ finally asked her what her business up here was. "I didn't come for any particular reason. I took notice of your power from some nearby town and couldn't sate my curiosity, is all." It wasn't a lie. Still, had anyone else she'd attacked on Earth alerted its team of defenders about her? She couldn't be sure how closely the various warriors of the planet communicated with one another. And if this Russ suspected anything, she was in no position to escape him...

But she did still have questions. Just out of her own, personal curiosity. "Are you the strongest of these... 'Guardians of Earth,' then?" she asked. "Or are there others even more powerful than you are?"

So, he was the most powerful defender of Earth. Supposedly, there existed more powerful fighters out there that Russ was quick to ramble off the name of, though none sparked any familiarity in Flax's mind. But if he was 'small potatoes' compared to those folks, Flax couldn't say she particularly wanted to meet any of them. Russ alone could likely vaporize her and all the shadows within her in just a flick of his finger, so those other behemoths were likely to be able to do as much by merely blinking in her direction.

Flax herself blinked when Russ mentioned her own strength was decent, and... 'Unique.' Uh oh. Did he suspect something about her? Surely a heroic defender of Earth wouldn't just assault her outright for merely possessing dark magicks within her, but one could never be too sure how others reacted to finding out you were essentially a walking suitcase for Eldritch horrors beyond comprehension.

He did also seem to think that 'further training' could allow Flax to 'reach unimaginable power,' though she wasn't sure if she wanted the darkness she wielded to become all too much more potent. No guarantees she could keep it on a leash if it got too strong, after all.

"Mm," Flax mumbled at first, uncertain of how she ought to respond to Russ' questions. Telling him she had an unfathomable amount of dark magic inside of her that needed to consume mortal souls or it would erupt wasn't an option. "My... Parents. One of them was Konatsian, and the other a Demon," she lied, "It gives my ki a distinct feel." Hopefully that was enough of an explanation for him. 

As for the sparring request... She supposed? It'd give her a chance to get a better glimpse at what these 'Defenders of Earth' could do. He had lowered his power level down to hers, so it wasn't seeming like he'd be going all out, but it'd be a taste. And so long as she kept her techniques basic, she wouldn't need to use her powers of darkness in any noticeable way. "And... Sure. Are you sure this is a proper place for it, though? This place seems a bit... Sacred."

Okay, good. He bought the Demon parent thing. If he somehow was able to tell that was a lie, Flax wasn't sure what else she could have done to convince him there was nothing nefarious at play with her, admittedly. She'd probably have just had to bail. She still wasn't quite so sure about the whole sparring thing, though. Most of her attacks with any real 'oomph' to them relied entirely on her use of the shadows, since they'd more or less taken over every bit of ki in her body. So, how suspicious would Russ still find it if she attacked him with a bunch of black, forbidden magic...?

Well, only one way to find out. She could probably just hand wave it as her bloodline inheriting demonic ki from her demon side or something of the sort. And she let out a snort as well, as the Saiyan stepped back and insisted on 'ladies first' for this fight. "Never considered myself all that much of a proper 'lady,'" Flax replied, "But if you insist."

The Saiyan had entered some kind of battle posture - it made sense, given his race - while Flax entered a decidedly less honed posture of her own, though one proper enough that it betrayed the fact that she'd been in her fair share of scraps, if Russ had a discerning enough eye. "Who's Jackie, by the way?" Flax asked with a sly smirk just before things got started. "He your boyfriend or something?"

Before Russ could respond - and hopefully while he was still a bit distracted trying to answer the question - Flax rushed in. Electing not to use any of her attacks that relied on blatant shadow creatures or life-sucking energies, she conjured a blade of condensed shadow into her hand and took a quick but decisively powerful swipe at Russ with it over his chest, just to test how quick those reflexes of his really were, even in his powered-down state!

Flax attacks Russ with a [Light] Umbral Slash, sending an attack of 29,819 (40%) PL at him!

HP: 0/250
KP: 6/6 > 4/6
MP: 0/6 > 2/6

Flax snickered slightly to herself as Russ had clearly been flustered about her line of inquiry about this 'Jackie' person - who was apparently a woman, and not a man, despite her name. Oh, well - just went to show you could never make assumptions. Unfortunately, Russ hadn't quite been flustered enough by her remark, and still managed to vanish out of the way of Flax's strike in just the nick of time. Phooey. 

He reappeared a short ways away, and Flax instinctively turned to strike him again immediately to keep the flow of battle moving in her favor, but Russ was quick to strike back with a pair of jabs and a kick. Flax managed to parry away the punches with the side of her blade, though the kick came down with enough force that it sent her skidding across the Lookout a ways, her blade dissipating from her hand.

Russ also explained the significance of this 'Jackie' person. They owned the title of Kami - which, in Earth language, apparently meant God. Flax raised a brow. "You're telling me you've got a thing for your God?" she asked in a mix of surprise and amusement. Konatsian worship was somewhat different, and Flax held no real belief that such figured held inherently greater worth than any other being... But Jackie was clearly important to the people of this planet if they would call her their God.

And as for Flax's particular set of skills... "Konatsian military reserves," she replied. "I underwent basic training. The blade's a personal touch of mine, though." No need to get any more specific than that, for now. As Russ closed in on her yet again, Flax grit her teeth and raised her arm to block the blow, though he managed to outmaneuver her, his fist slamming into her cheek with enough force to knock her over onto the floor and roll a few times before she quickly scrambled to her feet.

Ugh, fighting without her shadow magic was actually proving to be quite challenging. She needed to keep him off of her while she thought of a battle plan, or something. Flax quickly drew her military-issue pistol from beneath her coat and pointed it up at Russ. "Also a holdover from the Konatsian military," she explained before she took aim and fired off a clip of blaster bolts towards the Saiyan. That ought to keep him occupied for a minute or so...

Flax takes the full hit from Russ' attack and suffers 20% damage!
She then fires her Arm Blaster item at Russ for a 14,910 (20%) PL attack!

HP: 0/250 > 20/250
KP: 4/6 > 6/6
MP: 2/6 > 4/6

Single as a beetle? Were beetles notorious for their lack of partners? Flax couldn't say she had ever seen a beetle alongside another beetle of the same variety, now that she had thought about it, but it still seemed a weird comparison to make, in her opinion. Perhaps they were just more prevalent of a species, here on Earth...? 

Admittedly, she had more important things to be worrying about. Namely, the flurry of blows that the Saiyan was throwing at her. Flax grit her teeth and held up her arms to defend herself, but without making use of the shadows to assist, she was rather outclassed by a natural-born fighter like Russ. Konatsians just weren't built for fighting with their hands - even the strongest among them still relied heavily on their weapons to close the gap between them and other races in contests of strength!

She blocked his first punch well enough, but that second strike with his elbow clocked her in the jaw with ease, and then his sweep at her legs quickly sent her on her ass. "Gah!" she grunted in disapproval, her teeth grit and various parts of her body now varying degrees of soreness. So what if she'd pulled a gun on him? He was still kicking her ass!

"Alright, alright," she grumbled, "No more guns. Yeesh..." Flax holstered her pistol back inside of her oversized coat, though as she pulled her hand back out, Russ would find a powerful black bolt of dark magic erupt from her palm, poised to strike him in the face and send him flying back. Flax, through a mischievous sneer, stated, "Can still shoot stuff from my hands, though, of course. Appreciate that you aren't one of those types that'd go easy on me 'cause I'm a woman." Flax got to her feet and dusted herself off. Russ didn't seem too suspicious whenever she used her darkness in small burst attacks, as if it were just weird ki, so if she kept this up, maybe she stood a proper chance...

Flax strikes Russ with a [Medium] Spectral Bolt, sending 44,729 (60%) damage his way!

HP: 20/250
KP: 6/6 > 3/6
MP: 4/6 > 6/6