Moment of Calm (Onnio, Zuqetta, Invite)

As instructed, Zuqetta remained outside, away from whatever dangers this market would have posed. Though it hardly made sense to make such a trip themselves, apparently Vennel had no guards to speak of to do the shopping for her. Still, in spite of Zuqetta's initial griping, she had secretly been excited to actually come to such an area herself. Aside from wandering wastes and slums, she hadn't ever the chance to explore the actual city. She had been completely shut off from the rest of the world when she lived with her father, so this was an incredible change of pace that nearly left her in awe. Though, she was still a bit jealous about not getting to go inside the market.

In spite of her previous struggles, she now had a place to live and could cross 'street urchin' off as one of her titles. She was sore all over from training, but finally cleaned up proper; ever her clothes had been properly washed. Though Vennel had initially protested, Zuqetta had insisted on wearing her now, sparkling white sweater for the trip. Even if the usual whole of Saiyan society wore battle armor at nearly all times, it made no sense to wear such stiff attire when not in any kind of battle. Of course, even Zuqetta could secretly admit that she found it incredibly comfortable; but she didn't considering Vennel's old gear fashionable in the least! She'd definitely need to make her way back to her old manor at some point to retrieve her personal battle armor.

As Zuqetta awaited Vennels return, she took this moment to simply take in the sights around her. The people, the towering buildings; it was so bright, and a far cry from the ruined city she'd visited once before. Though she she slowly spun about, gazing upwards without a care; she found herself accidentally bumping into a rather plump individual.

"Oof, sorr-"

"EH!? Watch where yer goin'! Stupid brat!!" The plump man quickly interjected, cutting Zuqetta off mid sentence.

With a twitch of her eye, Zuqetta's tail was quickly brought up around the plump mans neck; forcing him to the ground as she glared at him with the intent to kill. "The hell was that you low class cur!?" She growled, baring her fangs as her tail tightened it's grip, "The only reason I don't end your pathetic life here and now is because my 'sister' believes people like you are worth more DYING ON THE BATTLEFIELD than dying a meaningless death out here on the streets!" As Zuqetta ranted, the mans face had steadily begun to change colors; thought luckily, Zuqetta had made the choice to release him before anything more serious could occur, "Begone with you plebeian! Before I change my mind..." She finished with an icy glare; causing the man to scramble back in fear as he caught his breath.

"Ahh- AHHH, YER CRAZY!! INSANE!!!" He yelled, alongside derogatory terms before scrambling off as ordered.

A mere moment later, Zuqetta's ears would perk up upon hearing her benefactors voice call out to her. While a smile and proud demeanor, Zuqetta would greet he woman proper, while her tail swayed playfully upon the ground. "Yep! Err-a, nope! No trouble, just like ya told me!" She stated cheerfully, as though the previous encounter hadn't happened...

Vennel would have to have been deaf to have not heard the cries of the man as he shouted profanities. This of course drew the elder saiyan's attention as she looked at him, then followed his eye line towards Zuqetta. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at her half-pint companion. And again, not that it surprised Vennel at this point, but the girl had scrambled for a semblance of a response to her, half tripping over her words as she fathomed some half cocked lie. "Well at least no one was hurt," she sighed. She really didn't have the sort of zeni to cover a fine. 

However today wasn't going to be some routine trip to the market, it seemed. As another odd fellow had approached them. This one was wearing armor as one might expect of their kind, but he also held a blaster arm attachment, that was wired to one of the old models of scanner, back during that weird decade where they thought this was the "scanner design of the future!" But then everyone got over helmets as a thing, and just settled on the more ubiquitous scouter design. Based on his antique gear, she had to guess this runt of a kid was a low class warrior. He approached them with a casual familiarity that took her aback with just how up front it had been.

He wanted to arm wrestle her for one of her meats, one that she spent so much time and effort to get. She looked down at the packed meat, then to the boy, then to Zuqetta, and she narrowed her eyes at her again. "This is you, isn't it? You told one of your little street rat friends about me, didn't you?! What'd I tell you about that!" She rose a fist up threateningly, as though she were going to hit the girl over the head for this before she clenched her fist tighter and took a deep breath, exhaling heavily through her nostrils. "And what would we gain in return? If we win that is. What are you offering?" She asked, indulging the question. A part of her wanted to know, and besides this could turn to their benefit. Maybe if this kid wasn't that bright he might put something nice up for wager, something worth taking advantage of his perceived naivety.

Her hand fell to her hip, as she stood waiting for a response.

"Heyyy," Onnio started, his temper flaring as he narrowed his eyes at Vennel. "Who you callin a rat?" Tail bristling, he clutched his fists together. People in Sadala Capital were so rude. It was because everything revolved around money and not combat prowess.

He nodded in agreement as Zuqetta went on about the accolades of the Buster Corps. Was any of it true? At one time, perhaps, a hundred years ago, but not any more. Onnio wasn't going to stop her, though. This was the kind of thing he lived for -- finally being recognized as a true Saiyan warrior. Puffed up and vaguely embarrassed, Onnio didn't notice that he was floating half a centimeter from the ground.  So this is what it's like to be a Super Elite!

"That's right," Onnio agreed after she finished. "I can fight! Ask anybody in the mercenary outpost, and they might-very-well-probably know my name! I'll train with you," He agreed instantly. "And I never back down from a challenge!"

Surging forward, Onnio would try to clap his gloved hand around Zuqetta's, starting to arm wrestle in the middle of the street! 

"I'll bet my pod for your food that I'll beat Zuqetta in a Feat of Strength!" Onnio growled defiantly (and unthinkingly, he needed his pod for work) at Vennel, while his heels dug into the stone and pavement. 

Should Zuqetta accept the grappling hand, Onnio would square off against her, and start the tug of wills in earnest.

Onnio has attempted to engage with Zuqetta in a battle of pure arm power!

Her hang suddenly grabbed, Zuqetta would have an expression of equal part surprise and confusion at first. Her initial intention had been for both her and Onnio to team up against Vennel, but now he was challenge her instead? Her expression would immediately give way to a one of prideful arrogance as she tightened her own grip on Onnio's in response. "Oho? Ya think YOU can beat ME!?" She exclaimed, turning about to face him properly before slamming her foot into the ground, cracking the pavement on impact, "I've gone against MUCH bigger threats!" She continued, fully aware Onnio was present for one of those very threats, "Heh heh, not only will I beat you, I'll take YOUR food too!" She finished, beating her tail against the ground several times in excited anticipation.

She hadn't even paid attention to the terms Vennel had presented, to distracted by this sudden contest of strength. She did however listen to the instruction given, but still wasn't exactly sure how to apply it, especially in a contest such as arm wrestling. If their was one major thing Onnio held over Zuqetta in spades, it would be his years of proper training. His overall power matched hers, but he held experience to back up that power and wasn't spoiled by the same lavish upbringing Zuqetta had.

Regardless, she didn't care, she simply wanted to fight! She would dig her claw-like grip into Onnio's glove, all the while displaying an overeager grin as she awaited the cue to begin the struggle. Her body tensed and stiffened as she attempted to become immovable, with her toes digging further into the pavement, increasing the minor property damage.

It was all coming together- the first chance she'd get to see how Zuqetta was responding to her training. Granted, her training of the girl thus far amounted to what was more so a cryptic life lesson and a gentle beating. Like a caged beast, Zuqetta was getting fired up and ready to let loose, even if it was just an arm wrestling contest. She was after the boy's food as well and, while not part of the bargain, if she did well she'd reward her in some manner if need be. But at this point, the spotlight was on the protege.

Speaking of which, the girl had stamped her foot with excitement and cracked the very pavement below her. "Careful," Vennel barked, "Remember: know your assets." They could scarcely afford to pay any fines like that if they caused city damage. And even if the young girl couldn't respect the value of zeni, she could respect the power of the elites that enforced those fines. "If Vennel was scared of them, then perhaps there was truth in her words," she hoped was the line of thinking the girl might adopt, at the very least. 

Meanwhile Zuqetta's grip was distracting her opponent. Vennel grinned, as while the boy seemed to wince in pain, he was far from deterred. She suspected they'd be roughly evenly matched, given their relatively similar appearing ages. But the two of them were continuing the property damage, and this was drawing a crowd, curious about what was making all the noise.

Vennel frantically glanced around and as a few other onlookers tried getting closer to break the kids up, he was no official. So she interceded, grabbing the onlooker's wrist and tightening her grip around it. "Leave them be. If it gets out of hand, I'll handle it." The force with which she gripped the man's wrist was enough to make him recoil and back off, yanking back his arm as he rubbed it soothingly.

Turning her attention back towards the pair of youths duking it out, she caught Onnio trying to distract Zuqetta. It was a dirty move, but in the heat of battle anything goes, so while it wasn't the most honorable, Vennel could still respect the play. With that, her scouter chirped at her informing her that he was exerting some heavy pressure. "Three-thousand five hundred?! What are they feeding these kids these days? Zuqetta's done for." She'd not actually scanned her disciple's power yet, having never felt the need to, so to her the young girl was not even that powerful, and would surely crumple under the pressure exerted on her.

Onnio didn't know how to channel his inner Oozaru or whatever the hell Zuqetta was doing to get so much power so quickly. So he could only look on in shock as he lost the arm wrestling match and was promptly flung into the concrete, making an Onnio-shaped dent.

"No fair!" Onnio said, shaking a fist before rolling away and scrambling to his feet, dusting himself off. "No one said anything about transformations! What if I went Oozaru, what then?"

Hanging his head in shame, stomach rumbling in hunger, he said, "I'm going to get fired if I lose my space pod. And it's hardly worth a slab of steak!"

Putting his hands on his hips, he raised his chin. "But I guess a deal's a deal. Fine. I'll give you my space pod. Just so you know, it can barely fly. It's a real piece of garbage!"

Taking a deep breath, Onnio tried to calm himself down. It wasn't just about the space pod. It was that he lost! Again! Was he becoming cursed? He glanced sidelong at Vennel, wondering what she would make of it all.


Onnio is overwhelmed by the 100% damage, and has lost the arm wrestling!


In a grander display than Zuqetta had intended, Onnio had successfully been beaten! Smashing him into the pavement, Zuqetta's battle aura and Raging Spirit would vanish as she released her vice-like grip on his hand. Her heart raced with excitement, her breathing labored as she stood back up. "Ha! You couldn't go Oozaru!" She began, "I'd have stopped ya from trying!" She continued arrogantly in response to Onnio's statement, crossing her arms as she gazed upon him smugly; Vennel however, didn't seem to have the same outlook. As Vennel approached, Zuqetta had expected congratulations; instead she was presented with criticism.

Zuqetta recoiled slightly, dropping her arrogant stance and uncrossing her arms as Vennel chastised her. She had wanted to argue against her elder; after all, she had been close enough to Onnio to stop him from forming a power ball in necessary. Without outside assistance, she thought it would have been impossible for him to transform... but that didn't seem to be all there was to Vennels point. "R-right... understood." Zuqetta could only drop her head, averting her gaze shamefully as her tail wrapped itself around her waist defensively. Vennel was right after all; even if she was thinking of how to stop Onnio now, she wouldn't have thought about it in the moment. She was too enamored in the fight, and should he have attempted transforming, she most certainly could have only made the situation worse to continue the fight.

Her bout of depression wouldn't last long however; with the sudden placement of a hand upon her head, Zuqetta's expression would brighten as a toothy grin returned to her face. "Hehe, understood!" She answered to Vennels praise, her tail unwrapping to sway about freely once more. Though, she was unsure how to feel about receiving her very own attack ball as a prize, especially after...

Zuqetta would then immediately turn her attention back to Onnio, choosing to forcibly ignore the thought that had just tried to pass her mind. Nothing happened, I don't know a thing, I wasn't there. She thought to herself firmly, before taking notice of Vennels apparent recruitment of Onnio. "Ah! But he-!" Zuqetta had wanted to protest, but instead withheld herself. She didn't want Onnio joining the Shredder Corps, though had no good reason to stop him. She simply didn't want him leaving the Buster Corps, after all, she wanted to be a part of such a division...

What Onnio did was his business however, Zuqetta hadn't even asked him about the Buster Corps yet so she had no reason to protest. From what she recalled, Onnio was already aware of the Shredder Corps and seemed to be a fan if he knew so much about Vocado. Unlike Zuqetta, Onnio was an actual soldier; she had no clue what his feelings were on the Buster Corps, but doubted he was only a part of it due to the cool armor and name. If he had a chance to move up in the world, Zuqetta would unfortunately have no choice but to face the fact that he might, and that her chance of joining the Buster Corps herself would easily be lost.