A Meeting ~ Mercenary Turned Possible Ally?

---

With the rise of the odd man standing above the crowd, sword in hand as intimidating as the sheer power and aura he exuded out into the crowd of people around Kim, many of whom had picked the same paper she had involving the Mazoku clan's request. Some reared back in fear, while others stood firm in either dumb confidence or outright stupidity despite a clear power difference. Kim stood there firmly as she felt the difference between the two, his raw capacity was something about double what she was at her weakest state, but assuming he was not using any form of power boosting or hiding power, she had to simply judge what she could and prove herself if she was wanting to get a chance to potentially make some of the promised cash. She liked the sound of large sums of wealth, especially when she lived as frugally as she did, despite Kaal trying to get her to break her habits.

"Alright Otama, my name is Kimono" Kim would say as she stepped forward, her human body differing greatly from the usual rag-tag set up of aliens across the space station's forum. Her appearance was very Earthling, her normal white skirt and black blazer covering a white dress shirt, the only thing that could even remotely give off a vague level of power was her glowing pink hair going loose down her back, her sharp glowing pink eyes, and the two translucent lavender colored legs below her knee. The magical aura coming from her body was vile, something obviously of the demon realm, but her own magical and ki signatures were obviously human. She did not make it very easy for those who felt her power to know precisely what she was. "You can call me Kim. I accept your challenge. Throw whatever it is at me, let me show you why I am the one you want to talk to out of these miscreants." As Kimono would make this statement, she'd take two simple deep breaths. Each heavy heave of her chest would expel more Hutong Mist into the immediate area, its toxic vapors filling the main room with nauseating, gasoline-like auras while its own magical power coated the room. Her mind's eye opened, getting a strong, magical view of the area and all angles of the room everyone inside, the mist becoming one with the woman as she prepared for whatever fight this alien was prepared to give.

While the Hutong Mist become more and more thick in the room, the light glow of her magical aura would begin to warm, sweltering heat becoming one with the Mist as it made the room like a sauna. Kim had no intentions of letting any kind of fight involving the two here to get more than a little violent, her own tendency to destroy objects like this space station when absorbed into the fight was far too great, and she would not be able to hold back if it held on too long. Having set up her combat arena, she would use the mist to start pushing back the onlookers, giving herself room to take a fighting stance, wanting to physically assert her reason for being someone Otama can rely on, even if she wasn't the most powerful person in the room. Even her aura would give off the vibes she wanted, the feeling of wanting combat obvious in the air.

"Alright, Otama, show me what you've got, and I'll do the same."

---

Hearing the being accept her challenge, though from what Kim thought was definitely a mental level of superiority, it was clear from that point that the alien was quite obviously hiding something about their power. She needed to play it cautious, at least enough to survive the potential coming onslaught and prove herself enough for whatever missions lay ahead. "Ha, bring it on" She'd say confidently, waiting for the attack to start. Thankfully, she was fully aware when it did.

The moment the energy blades formed at the floor level, her instincts triggered themselves by the Hutong Mist floating around the room, warning her of the forming daggers and their coming strength. Kimono was impressed, a decent enough attack that would normally be more than enough on any of the other beings in the room witnessing the fight. Thankfully, Kim was used to this after all of the injuries and beatings.

Milliseconds seemed to be all she needed as her hand flew to her side, the large purple colored magical summoning circle formed in the air to her right. Her hand tracing a large looping symbol before grabbing hold of the thick layers of mist and retrieving what appeared to be a small, compact sub-machine gun. The firearm rising to the woman's shoulder, her pinpoint accuracy would show as she aimed and squeezed off small bursts of gunfire in the hall directed at the energy daggers flying in her direction, the magical bullets tearing the would-be attack to shreds. As the deflection would finish, the spent shell casings from the automatic gunfire would litter the floor before turning back into Hutong Mist that rejoined the cloud covering the ground, Kim would smirk a thin veil of confidence for herself. "That was decent, I'm sure that'd work on most people here, but after surviving against people like Lottus and his tantrums, Chervii, and that damned Vale, I've picked up a few methods to stop attacks like that." Kim would state aloud, checking the magazine on her weapon before returning the stock to her shoulder, pointing the weapon at Otama, ready to give him a taste of her own strength. Without warning, Kimono would empty the rest of the magazine's worth into Otama from the medium distance between them, a large hail of magically charged bullets flooding towards the alien.

She knew her attack was likely pointless, he would either overpower the return fire or absorb whatever the hit would total for like it was nothing, but she was here to show her skill, not fight for her life. As the offensive ended, the bolt on the gun would lock back from the last spent round ejecting, before the entire weapon would turn back into Hutong Mist in her very hands. Kim would stand back in a defensive stand, looking towards Otama to check and see if anything had made contact, and what precisely he may have planned as a result.

"Not bad, aye?"

---

The masterful deflection of her magically infused rounds was commendable, Kimono had to give credit where credit was due. This man was definitely a skilled swordsman and warrior in his own account. What she wasn't expecting was the coming wave of destructive energy coming from the being's sword as he directed a new, powerful attack towards her. This wave of power was intense, her senses triggered by the Hutong Mist nearby as she felt the coming power. All she could hope to do was overcome the majority of the damage in her slightly exhausted state, as the mist in and around her was thinning from her use of it.

Moving her defensive stance to that of an offense stance, she would channel her Hutong Mist she had left into a simple yet effective redirection strike. The Hutong Wyrm crawled from inside the skin of the woman, it's mist-form graduating from fog into a physical draconic figure as it took shape into a lightning rod directed away from her, preparing herself for the incoming damage. Allowing the wave of power to crash down onto her, Kim's magically entuned body allowed the energy to course through her, and then back out of her body through the Hutong wyrm away from her. She felt the pain and immediate damage from the hit pretty much immediately as all of the energy cycled through her organs as if like lightning through water. The intensity was obvious, but as she gritted her teeth through the anguish, her footing was never lost once during the blow.

Taking deeper, further breathes to produce more Hutong Mist for her to use, Kimono would clap a couple times. She was heavily impressed by the being's return of the momentum of the strike, something you'd expect from someone with the experience to back up their power. "Hah, that didn't do nearly as much as I hoped. Alright, yeah, I'll definitely have to throw something a little more painful next time... Let's think" She'd retort, already knowing her next move. She just needed to trap the man in close range, and if possible she'd be able to show him exactly what she was capable of.

Rushing the man as fast as she could, Kim would attempt to throw a feign right hook towards his chest, skipping her translucent pink foot at the last second and channeling her magic, as she moved, her thin teleportation to the man's left side with intent to jam her foot as deep into his left side she could with her own physical might. As she moved, she would answer his first question, heavy breathing between speech. "I met Lottus twice in combat, once indirectly as I faced off against another Saiyan in a bid to keep the Super Saiyan from destroying Hatchi City during one of his tantrums, and the other time was on Earth when he threw a car through my therapist's office window." Kim would explain her encounters with the prior mad Saiyan. "I was never capable of taking him on, I saw first hand what he was capable of doing going up against so many other Super Saiyans and equally powered beings and he seemed so unstoppable. My only ability to insure my own survival was to learn to combat attacks and evade him. It makes for great practice pissing off opponents" She'd finish, sticking her tongue out at the last remark to Otama.

---

Unable to feel the man's grip on her leg, Kim did not notice immediately that she was withheld back by his strength. Trying to rip her leg away from him, the futility of the matter showed her how she was, at least for the moment, trapped. She had options, but honestly at this rate, she was wanting to see and hear him out. "Oh don't worry, you're not my type. I've got a man back home already." She'd say coy, smirking as she continued her deep breathing, though to the surprise of herself she did not see any more lavender colored mist from her lungs. "...Huh."

It was when the being spoke about her encounters with Lottus that she did become curious, but also rather annoyed. Either this creature faced the mad saiyan himself in direct combat or was just in the same situation as her. Either way, she knew he was likely going to continue to talk down to her regardless.

"You're right, I didn't take him on personally. I'd be a bit stupid of me to try and take him on directly when I saw him bitch slap two other Super Saiyans around like they were meat dummies. He is insanely powerful and had to be overpowered by numerous people around that multiple million levels of power just to put him into a vegetative state that, if the rumors are right, didn't even work." Kim would admit, shrugging her shoulders as she finally made her move to escape the alien's grasp. Her leg would disappear, the mist appendage turning back into a thin fog as the woman's body started to fall to the ground, caught only by two mist-made arms that she would use to spider-crawl away from the alien being. "You say join your clan... I take it you're looking to recruit new members to the Mazoku directly hm?" She would question, stopping as she allowed the mist to slowly return to her knee joint, the hardening of the cloud-like substance forming another leg so she could stand once more.

"Let's say I take you up on that offer to join this Mazoku clan thing. You plan on 'honing' my skills. I'm not surprised if you have magically inclined individuals but there's more to it than those weird Ki freaks that rely so much on chi and all that." She would admit, flowing the mist around her body allowing the Hutong Wyrm to crawl out of her skin as it formed around her arm again, the light hiss of the demonic creature echoing as he made it's trill. "If you've got any sages or whatever on Namek I might be more inclined to come see what it's all about. I'm sure you guys wouldn't take too long figuring something out to help me develop the Hutong... But before we get to that, how about we get to the finale of this fight, hm?"

As Kimono would make this last statement, she would begin to open her magical seal in front of her, making certain markings and motions in front of her as she prepared everything necessary to use a stronger attack. "How about we go all out and show each other what we've got and maybe you can decide if I'm worth honing hm?"

---

So the man in front of her knew some magic? That was a pretty neat discovery for the soldier. She felt the energy course around and through her as she channeled her power, trying to decide if she would even take them up on the offer right now. It was a long shot on if they could provide anything of substance for her, but it was better than nothing she supposed. Even with the help of Kaal, there's only so much she could learn on Earth... Ah, she'd have to figure it out eventually.

"Alright, here goes... The last time I used this I nearly killed the man I was fighting with. Brace yourself." She'd anticipate, her entire body beginning to glow a deep and vibrant lavender color as her body recoiled from the intensity. The Hutong wyrms around her stretched out far from her body, the whips made of their long tendril-like bodies suddenly and violently raised and lashed down towards Otama with righteous and violent fury. As each strike came down from this eldritch abomination of an assault, fragments of the scales breaking off of the wyrms would fly off in every direction detonating like small bombs in the surrounding area sending bystanders flying off in every direction. Kim had to hold back as to not destroy the space station, but let every inch of her power be felt by the being in front of her. Her wrath was mighty, though as draining as this made her. "Hutong hear me now, show me your capacity. Listen and obey, send me an Apocalypse Now." her voice would echo as if mirrored by an entity beyond her, the brightness of her eyes and hair unbearably bright as she was held aloft in the air, the only visible appendages not connected to her body were the spiritual weaponry collapsing down on Otama's body.

Each attack would be menacing, each attempt by the tentacles that made up the whips to grab at his body and throw him about, whatever success they found was brutal and unforgiving, intent showing that they would not hold back their limits to the test. If Otama was not careful, he could find himself unconscious or worse at the hands of this mystical gas.

By the time she was finished her barrage of swipes and slashes with the magical whips, she would drop to the floor in a pool of her own sweat, her body heaving from exhaustion as she begged internally for another dosage of Hutong to exhale from her lungs. She was unlucky, she used the last of it getting that final blow out, but with that came the success of whatever damage she was capable of doing. She had that going for her, at least. She would look up, waiting to see what the man would say or how he thought of the attack. This was essentially her trial run before she could even begin to gain what was offered.

"S-So... What... What did you think..." She'd say between labored breaths, her fingers gripping the metal flooring while the rest of her body laid mostly limp on the floor, too tired to move. "I... I did what I could..."

---

It seemed like her attack was working at first, but just as the smoke and debris kicked up and tossed around the arena, that was when Kim's mist alerted her to something... Or rather, the lack of something. Otama went from being physically in the room to suddenly disappearing in the cloud coverage, as if he was never there at all. Then, as if on cue, the man's body... no, visage, clambered through her attacks as if he was a ghost. The tentacles of her strikes going right through his body as they crashed down into the space station's flooring and walls, each spiked whip piercing through the floor below him rather than hit him themselves. It was only when her attack had expended the last of it's energy and her tired, exhausted body hit the floor that he brought himself back to the material realm.

His attack to her stomach, one made to display exactly what he was capable of achieving, caused the woman to spit up small flecks of blood onto the floor beside her, her body twisting and tightening from the intensity of the surprise hit as she was down. This guy meant business, and clearly did not care about instances of weakness in a fight. That was something she expected from a professional, the type who work for the kill. Something she was all too familiar with herself from her own kills before. Maybe this guy was more in line with what she needed in the long run. It was after the strike was complete that she felt the sharp tightness of her stomach, something she was familiar with from her battles before. Something inside of her was punctured, most likely a rib had dislodged or broke and pierced an organ. The internal bleeding evident as she felt the reverb of crimson copper-tasting liquid in her stomach and throat, coughing up some of the ichor onto her own chest and the floor. It was thin, uncoagulated and evident it would only prove a minor problem. If this fight was over, she could manage it herself later.

"C-Clearly" She'd state about her not being good enough, at least not yet. It was obvious she was still behind heavily even when the Hutong went on the offensive and disregarded her bodily limits. Something about it was not complete, and only through time and work could she hope to compete with people of similar powers to Otama or Lottus. People like this were on a whole other level to her, something she needed to be comparable. "I'll accept... At least for now. Clearly I've got a thing or two I could learn from you and the other Mazoku if they can match up with someone of your caliber."

"For the record, I'm not really sure the exacts of it myself. The Hutong... this mist, according to legend is related to a demon or something. It's a curse that runs in my family, everyone is damned to be a conduit of the Hutong." She would remark, remembering her info she had looked into of it, before waving it off to the side as she agreed with Otama. They could discuss it further over training later. Having decided, and hoping he didn't surprise attack her again, the woman would reach into her blazer inside pocket and retrieve a capsule, pressing the button to pop out a compact wheelchair from the container. Using what little mist she could left, two purple arms would come from her shoulder blades, grabbing onto the ground and helping her into her chair so she could actually sit up and see the man eye to eye without being on the floor again, her mouth still dripping light levels of blood on her white shirt. "I have to return to Earth first to get something settled. Is there somewhere specific I should go to meet with your clan, or do you just want to get my scouter information so you can contact me in case something happens? I'm usually a hired gun, I'm not familiar with the process here."