Bounty Hunter Brawl

A blue-skinned, scrawny Acrosian desperately clutched to the back of one of the jungle's thick trees without so much as a whisper. Not that it mattered much: the psycho that had been hunting him down could pinpoint their location to the centimeter and could track him down from outer space. A part of him wanted to believe that their captor hated forests enough to forgo pursuit, or had somehow lost trail but the acrosian knew better. They just wanted to have a little bit of fun with their prey—

BOOM!

Ten feet away from their hiding spot, a bright-green projectile whizzed through the air like a bullet and exploded like dynamite, reducing some unfortunate foliage to ash. In spite of everything the Acrosian yelped, so close to the initial attack that he could practically lick the flames. Realizing their mistake, they closed their mouth hard enough to cut their tongue...only to be met by a chuckle. A cold, cruel, robot chuckle.

"I can see why you didn't pay those dues," the voice rasped from above. "I was expecting a dedicated bunker; at least, a well-defended house. And all I get is a rat scurrying into the jungle..."

BOOM! Another blast in the opposite direction of the first, five feet away. The neon sparks crackled against the Acrosian as their life started to flash by their eyes.

"Who forgets I can burn the forest with him." Beep beep! A timer seemed to have gone off, causing the fighter to sigh and start charging up one final attack. "The boss wants me to hurry up. Gotta follow the rules...maybe your next life will figure that out." It was all over now—he could hear the projectile being fired—at least it wouldn't be painful—


"What the hell is—huh?"


The Acrosian didn't dare to open his eyes at first; he'd heard the sound, prepared for the death, and then...nothing? Surely he was dead, drifting to the desk of Yenma now—but he heard the assassin speak! Out of sheer curiosity, they stepped out of the tree's shade to look at what was happening and...

---

"I heard everything, bounty hunter...would you like some advice? Do your job quickly next time."

For as much as he regretted spending his twenties as a pirate, it came with the occasional benefit or two: the biggest one was foreknowledge of Acrose's criminal underbelly. Bounty hunters were a predictable lot; with just a little bit of insider knowledge, outspeeding and defeating potential hunters was trivial.

"Interesting uniform," the Mothera mused with a chuckle in front of a gobsmacked criminal. Cocoona's was a distinctly deep, androgenous voice, one where every word had an otherworldly echo to it (or at least, whenever Cocoona wanted them to). "You're dressed like a Saiyan footsoldier, and your mask has a scouter. I suppose you're a reject from the Saiyan Kingdom? If you're still relying on a machine to detect life-force...the answer's probably yes." They spoke slowly, washing every word over with a mix of humor and disgust.

They chuckled again before clearing their throat. "How about this, criminal? You leave this man alone forever, and I offer you your unmurdered life." 

Cocoona's adversary stared at them like they were a slug, so angry that even beneath the mask, the Mothera knew they couldn't have been more offended. All things being equal, the bounty hunter seemed like he would attack the Acrosian out of sheer pride, but Cocoona remained unbothered. The bounty hunter was an honorlaess, spineless morsel; 'pride' was about as important as 'the law'. They knew that from experience. So it was no surprise to Cocoona when the bounty hunter turned around, swore like a sailor in front of the Mothera, and flew away as fast as they could manage.

Half a minute passed in silence, Cocoona using his ki sensing to make damn sure the criminal had left. The Acrosian, meanwhile, could not express in words how utterly thankful they were; getting to their knees, crying their eyes out, promising to giving Cocoona any reward they wanted—

"Slow down, friend." Cocoona's voice shifted into a calmer, more natural tone, using one of his wings to pat the Acrosian's head. "For one, I barely deserve that money more than he does. For two, you'll need that money to survive. And three..."

"We're not finished yet."

"B-b-but how?" They asked incredulously. "That guy—"

"Was a weakling. He was trying to kill you before someone stronger than him decided to have a go. You've a large bounty, my frostling friend...but I'm strong enough to defend it."
"You are?"
"Ohohoho," Cocoona chuckled, "watch me."