Super Curry at the Saiyan Nouveau (Invite)

Onnio beamed at Ise. She worked for the NSFW! That was the New Space... Field... W- anyways, Onnio couldn't remember the whole term for them, but it meant the Frost Demons. His grandfather had always said, "Boy, when you start working for the Frost Demons, that's when you know you made it." So Ise must have made it already! 

She had a flashy scouter that put his own visor to shame, and Onnio realized cannily, that she didn't seem to be looking straight at him when she talked, like most people did. Maybe her scouter comes with a Bendy View feature. Onnio thought gamely. Yeah, I think I've heard of that. Onnio convinced himself. Real fancy, reaaaal expensive, Bendy View. She must be loaded. Armor like that, Bendy View scouter like that, NSFW contracts... she might be making hundreds, perhaps even thousands of Zeni per contract.

Trying to keep his excitement bottled tight and not quite succeeding, Onnio told Empress Ise , "Don't you worry about paying!" and zipped to the counter when it was there turn. "Hey, idiot!" Onnio said, before leaning in to whisper to the startled employee, "Sorry, just play along and I'll pay you later, okay?"

"Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to youuu," Onnio growled, thumbing over his shoulder. "This is a very important off-worlder. I'm talking. N-S-W-F important. Got that?" Onnio smiled slyly. "She's so important, she doesn't need to pay."

Everybody else in line groaned. Some of them gave him dirty looks. Turning, Onnio wagged a chastising finger at the outraged customers. "Now, now," He began. "Might makes right, remember?" Turning his back on them, Onnio ordered a double-trouble Saiba burger, and some wild ape fries. "Whatcha want?" He asked Ise, pointedly ignoring a huge Saiyan patron right behind him, cracking his knuckles.

If they were lucky, they'd get free food and a fight. Besides, the owner owed Onnio! Hadn't he killed the saibarats in the basement? And hadn't the owner promised to pay him, but then gave him expired coupons instead of cash? This was the ancient battle rights of the Saiyan warrior!

"Yeah, back off!" Onnio growled to the hulking menace after retrieving his tray of burger and fries. 

Smiling to Ise, Onnio went to the tables after her food was ready, and pulled her a chair. Onnio knew all about treating nobles and ladies nice, and Ise was a lady noble, he decided. She had to be! ...my Father's ship... Only rich people could afford more than Pods! Visions of high-credit contracts swimming in his head, Onnio's smile became a big ear to ear grin by the time he was stuffing his juicy double trouble burger into it.

"You know, I could use one of those Bendy Vision scouters like you have," Onnio mentioned after swiveling a bulge of burger into one cheek, guzzling it down with a tall glass of foamy deathroot beer. "Do you think the Arcosians could have use for somebody like me?" He asked, trying to hide the hope in his voice.

Onnio quickly explained some of his credentials while gobbling down half of his basket of Wild Ape Fries, savoring the spicy banana cheese sauce. He'd once beaten a saibaman with one arm tied behind his back. He'd tied for second in the Great Bun Eating Championship. He could fix his own arm cannon. He had a can-do attitude and didn't mind planetary mop-up jobs, even when the aliens were slimy or giant sentient cockroaches or something really weird like that. It wasn't entirely true, he still had nightmares about the giant sentient cockroach planet he'd busted, but he didn't go into that.

While peppering his Wild Ape Fries, Onnio also peppered Empress Ise with more questions. What was it like to work with the Arcosians? Were they friendly? Were they good fighters? Did they have good ice cream? 

While going on and on, his mouth full the entire time he talked, a growing crowd of outraged patrons was assembling behind him, glaring down.

Onnio nodded as he listened to the Lady Ise. When she asked for his name, he grinned sheepishly and gave it, "Oh yeah," He said, still chewing noisily around his mouthful of succulent saiba burger, "Sorry, I usually give my name right off!" Grinning wide, he gulped down the burger, chasing it with a cheery yellow cup filled to the brim with saiba-slime flavored cola.

Burping, he followed it with, "I'm Onnio, with the Buster Corps... We're a band of fighters based out of a mercenary outpost, deep in the Saiba Wastes. You might have seen it from orbit? It's hard to miss, really. A big, dead, gray place. Except, it's not really dead. There are things that live out in the Wastes that'd make your skin crawl! Before they ate you. But anyway, we're out there, in the Wastes. We mostly do mop up jobs, and operate on an independent contract basis. So if you'd want to hire me, you'd have to go through my boss, Captain Calcot. And he'd quote you, depending on the work. If it's just that you want me on ringer, he usually gets less money for that. So he doesn't like loaning me out for long. But times are a little tough lately, with the war off, so he might be more interested in -" Pausing, Onnio's eyes widened. "OH! Do you mean like, your dad, Mister Terrible, might want to employ me, permanent?"

Onnio's mouth had gotten ahead of his thoughts, as it often did. Onnio's mind absorbed Lady Ise's suggestion. Hibernal the Terrible. It sounds pretty great to Onnio. He was sure that with the riches and splendor of an Arcosian above him, he'd be able to blaze a trail of glory through the stars. Wouldn't he? And why not? Captain Calcot had been his employer ever since he was old enough to hold an arm cannon, true. But he was also a lazy lout, a washed up slob, someone who gave Onnio less and less respect, even as Onnio did more and more for him. Onnio would miss the Buster Corps, but they died so much that he was mostly familiar with the ones already in Hell.

Then, there was Vocado to consider. He was a wild card. Onnio had a great admiration for the Captain of the Shredder Corps. He had all of Captain Calcot's good parts, with few of the bad. And Vennel, He thought. Vennel is important. So was Zuqetta, he grudgingly admitted to himself. They all were, in a sense, a new family, one that he hadn't really ever had. Sure, there his grandma was still around. But she'd moved long ago to Planet Flowruda.

After chewing on all of this by chewing on the last morsels of his double trouble burger, Onnio said, "I think that sounds like a great idea," He smiled. "But I think I want to ask my friends. You know, we Saiyans like to stick together. And they might be interested in earning some money too, working for Hibernal. At least, I think they might."

Onnio keyed his helmet, turning on his scouter.

\MAIN SWITCH ON\
\SYSTEM CHECK\, \STAND-BY\

"I'm going to open their contact info, in case you want to find them, too. They're all stronger than me," He admitted.

\COMM SYSTEM TRANSFER OPEN\

Before Onnio flipped his scouter back into passive mode, an alert startled him.

\LOCK\, \BATTLE POWER\ > [24,480], \WARN\

"Whoa!" Onnio gasped. "You're strong!" In fact, the Lady Ise was the strongest Saiyan Onnio had ever encountered.  Onnio asked her if everyone on Arcose was so strong.

At this point, the rest of the patrons had gathered in a broad circle around him. 

"Hey, you," The biggest one said, glowering as he grabbed Onnio by the shoulder, turning him around. "I'm strong too," The big man said, grinning. "And I think your Elite friend here better be worried. If she thinks she's better than us, that she deserves free food and we don't, you're both about to have some major problems."

Frowning thoughtfully, Onnio tagged the big patron with his scouter.

\ENEMY\, \BATTLE POWER\ > [1,200]

Another Low Class Soldier. Onnio thought. Like me. But was that true, any longer? Onnio had gained much since his zenkai.

Onnio could have tried to talk the guy out of it. He could have mentioned how pathetic his battle point was in comparison. But that wasn't want Onnio wanted.

He relished a good fight.

Raising the cheery paper cup of his slime-flavored soda and putting the straw between his lips, Onnio noisily guzzled, blowing bubbles into the ice. The man squinted in anger and confusion. Just then, with his free hand, Onnio slammed the man with a gut punch. 

Hulking frame doubled over his fist, his eyes goggling in shock, the man gasped. "W-what?"

Onnio heaved his fist forward, feeling tremendous satisfaction as the armor cracked. The man fell to his knees, and Onnio sent him a way with a quick open-handed kiai. He didn't want to kill anybody. But it was good to teach people a lesson. "You Sadala City types have spent too long relying on money, and not your strength!" Onnio yelled, facing off against the mob. The service staff ducked behind the countertop. 

\REAC\

The alert flashed in front of his visor in just enough time, as Onnio ducked a haymaker aimed at his head. Flash-starting his arm cannon, its electric whine filling the air, Onnio slashed at his new attacker with an arcing kick, barely taking in the gruff face, the stoic features, before they were replaced by the white arc of his boot and a spray of blood. 

Now Onnio found himself in the center of a melee. Judging from the crashing behind him, it sounded like the Empress Ise was also being attacked, but Onnio didn't have the time to look back and check. All of his attentions were on the denizens of Saiyan Noveau, those semi-Nerdist money-grubbers who thought that the old ways didn't matter. They attacked him en masse, and it was all he could do to avoid getting clobbered.

Could Onnio have destroyed them all with a well-placed ki detonation? Sure. But it'd take the building out too, and where else would he practice with his sword?

So Onnio fought with fists and feet, flowing through the crowd as he blocked and countered, turned and retaliated. Some of the fighters were better than others, breaking his defense here and there, giving him new bruises and new cracks in his armor. But Onnio was stronger and tougher than most Saiyans. And where their punches drew winces from him, his punches drew screams of pain and the snap of broken bones.

"I never go to finish my Wild Ape Fries!" Onnio yelled angrily, kicking one customer in the balls and sending him up through the ceiling, head first.

Onnio was going to agree with Ise's suggestion, but he'd been crowded too fast. Hands gripped at his arms, his neck, around his middle, while other hands made fists and started to collide with his face.

It wasn't the best spot to be in!

Gathering his energy, Onnio let loose a shouting kiai that scattered his attackers wide. 

"For sure!" Onnio said, grabbing his fries to-go before sliding across the table and bursting out the window. Turning in midair while the shards still floated, Onnio aimed his arm cannon at the nearest attacker and blasted him.

The ki blast hit so hard it knocked the man's shoes off, and sent him crashing through the far wall. Onnio blurted a childish laugh at the sight. Knocking someone's shoes off never got old!

Rising from the ground, Onnio would beckon Empress Ise into the air. "Want to get out of town, too? I doubt they can fly half as fast as us."

Without waiting to see what Lady Ise would do, Onnio shot off into the sky at a rapid clip, his arc making a new tail in a low cloud as he made a thundercrack across the sky, breaking the sound barrier.

Onnio turned in midflight, his jaw dropping as he saw Ise speeding up on a flying bike of some kind. He'd never seen anything like it! And before... it had... come out of some kind of magic bean.

Boggling at the sight, Onnio slapped his hands on his helmet. "Did that bike just popped out of a bean?!" He gawked, spinning slowly in stupefaction. 

He'd been stunned so long, that one of the angry patrons was able to knock him with a ki wave. Flinching, Onnio covered himself up before more waves crashed into him, bubbling smoke. Angered, Onnio summoned his aura and returned the favor, though he decided not to put any killing ki into it. Better to leave the guy wounded, and maybe feeling dumb for attacking him. That way, he can spread my name around to his buddies later.

Swooping down to shield Empress Ise, Onnio extended and arm and doused the incoming crowd with a huge wave of ki, enough to thunder into the street below and split it in half. Fire roared from the cleave, and Onnio winced. "I might have put a bit too much sauce on that one," Onnio said, before rejoining Ise on the way out of town.

Onnio's attack was more than enough to disperse the rowdy crowd, but Lady Ise might have wanted to follow up on her own. There were a lot of them, after all.

He had to admit, he was a little jealous of her fancy Jet Squirrel! Is this what like being rich is like? He wondered, imagining himself flying on his very own Jet Squirrel, this one a fancy red, perhaps, gleaming like the chrome in Sadala City. It was a bit of an embarrassing thought -- Onnio was raised to scoff at things that glittered -- but he wanted one nonetheless.

"You know," Onnio said as he flew alongside Lady Ise. "I'm something of a flying teacher," He mentioned, demonstrating with flapping arms, still not realising that Empress Ise was blind. "I mean, I've taught one student! And he can fly, now, I think... sort of. Well, he probably hasn't died at least! From falling, I mean."

Patching into the contact list on his helmet, Onnio made sure to link his comm system with her own. "I'm going to go catch some shut eye," He explained to his new friend. "But I hope we meet again, soon!" With a wave and salute, Onnio would speed on outward, away from Sadala City and the raucous crowd.

EXIT