Age of Legends
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Yes.
Age of Legends
You take a deep breath, seething with internal conflict for a moment, and tip up your chin. "No, you really shouldn't have."
He bows his head. "Right. Of course. I am so sorry. I'll go back to my House now-"
"I accept."
"-and not come-" He blinks. His head snaps up. "...what?"
You fold your arms, feeling bold. "I accept."
Shocked whispers chase each other around the ring. Everybody, it seems, was expecting you to reject this.
Going by the look on his face, Tabe least of all. "I- but- you-" He shakes himself. "I asked you...in front of literally everybody...just out of the blue...and...you're saying yes? Why? I screwed this up!"
You nod. "Uh-huh. Sure did."
He gapes. "...why? I would've kicked me back into the stands if I were you!"
You hold up a pair of fingers. "Two things. First of all, I'm not agreeing to anything with this. I'm not stupid; I know what it means. But for now, it's just a fight. Nothing more."
He nods. "Well, yeah, obviously. I- I mean-"
You laugh, high and happy. "I know what you mean! Don't worry so much." You smirk. "Still, might as well have some fun with the day. Second thing." You nod at him where he kneels, still in supplication. "Stand up, Tabe. You're not a Vegetan. That's the wrong protocol for this situation."
He flushes crimson and shoots to his feet.
You step over to him and poke him in the chest. "You know you messed up. You owned it. You said you're sorry. You're not trying anything."
He blinks in incomprehension.
Then he goes white. "I- no, I- I swear-"
Poke, poke. "Still talking. I said I know you're not doing anything stupid. Calm down. You just did something dumb and you're wishing the floor would swallow you."
He gulps. "...little bit?"
You nod, stepping back. "Yeah, well I've been there. Think next time. But this time, I think I can forgive the mistake." You take a few steps back. "Although, you do know that this is going to last, like, less than a second, right? I can't even really do full power without breaking the wards." You blink and then cock your head. "Actually, come to think, maybe golden oozaru is a lot more powerful than we thought. We've never been able to test the upper bounds, we kinda just assumed..."
And for that, you have Oddball to thank.
Tabe blinks, quite off his balance. "Oh...right...um. I didn't think about that, really, I just..."
"Just super saiyan's fine with you?" you ask, smirking.
He flushes, looking away. "Okay, yes," he mutters. "You made your point."
You laugh and decide to stop teasing him. You turn and step over towards the edge of the arena, glancing up at Miss Fren's box with a meaningful look as you go.
She blinks, apparently stunned, and says, "...ladies and gentlemen, it seems that we're about to see one final exhibition match before we go!" Her voice quickly gains enthusiasm and energy as she goes, and by the end she's back to her usual bombastic pattern of speech. And slowly, as the audience catches up to what's happening, cheers begin to ring out.
You turn once you hit the end of the stage and flare up your aura. "Ready?" you ask.
Tabe shakes himself and hops back to his side, flaring his own. "Ready," he says.
"I hope you're not too disappointed," you say, your smile showing a hint of teeth as you settle back into your stance.
"I was going to say that," he says, a hesitant smirk on his own face.
You raise an eyebrow. "Oh?" With a flash, you transform, painting the arena gold.
"Of course," he says, still standing up straight. "I'm not here to waste everybody's time. I had an idea for how to keep up, you know."
His smile turns more confident.
He raises his arms overhead. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
As his arms come down, his aura unbinds from the typical, flaming pattern, and flares and flares, spreading out in a burst of white light. You squint against the shine.
Tabe is barely visible in the center of the storm, the wisps of power flaring off of him blurring his outline. He looks less like he's surrounded by an aura, and more like he's bleeding light and power into the world around him.
You taste that power, and your eyes widen. It's...fifteen million, yes, but-
His eyes open, and you swear that they glint onyx in a way that eyes simply don't.
He kicks off and blurs across the divide, kicking you up into the sky.
You catch yourself swiftly, shooting off to the side. "What!?"
Tabe grunts, slamming to a halt in mid-air, and pivots. "Told you I had an idea." He takes off again, blurring after you.
You slide back as he approaches, dodging his first punch and then blocking his follow-up. He should not be hitting this hard. "What...on Earth...are you doing?" you grunt, straining to hold the unexpected pressure of the strike at bay.
He disengages with a shout and then kicks you in the stomach. You absorb it with a quiet snarl and blast him away for his troubles.
He turns with the momentum and then returns again, his ki pouring out behind him like rocket exhaust.
This time, you aren't caught off guard. You zip up over his head and kick down, repeating his own trick against Taro Amaya. You spin with the momentum, cupping your arms by your hips. "Ka...me...HA...ME...HAAAAAAAAAA!"
Tabe takes the blast square on his shoulders, where it bursts. Your hair and clothes ripple in the shockwave, and you reach out with your senses.
You feel him coming before the explosion has finished rippling.
By the time he rockets out of the smoke cloud, your hand is in place to catch his first blow, and as he goes on the offensive, you manage to block every one of his strikes in turn.
He's striking unbelievably hard. His power level is at fifteen million, yes, but he is not striking at fifteen million. This is like a wilder, less restrained version of Jaffur's trick, but more. Tabe is...
Ice settles in the pit of your stomach. He's hitting as hard as a super saiyan who just transformed for the first time. Did he...?
Tabe kicks out, and you get your arms up in time. He kicks away, flipping back, and comes out with his hands framing his sternum.
Remembering what Cynthia did to Tabe, you own hand comes up to your forehead.
You can faintly see his lips move through the haze. "LIGHT GRENADE!"
vip
You come out above him, watching the blast slam into the ring and burst. The blast vaporizes the stones in a heartbeat, barely contained by the wards the sorcerers have been throwing up in preparation for this spar and whiting out the world.
When the light clears, your hands frame Tabe in your sight, held in a triangle.
You see him spin, turning to face you.
You grit your teeth at the feeling of your life force tearing and shriek, "KIKOHO!"
BANG
Your power races out like a block of stone in ki form, hammering Tabe into the ground. His aura winks out and the landing casts up a cloud of dust that obscures everything.
You catch your breath with a strangled hiss, fingers scrabbling at your sternum, and cast out your senses.
You can sense Tabe, still awake and getting up. You focus in on what his ki feels like. How much does he have in there?
And...
Ki Sense: Pass
...your eyes narrow.
You can feel Tabe's ki boiling back up, but it feels thin and stretched. Whatever he's doing sure doesn't boost his endurance. He feels like he's on his last legs. And yet...
With a howl of effort, Tabe's aura blasts out once more, tearing away the cloud of dust and leaving the lanes between the two of you clear.
He looks up, and you stare back for just a moment.
His foot shifts in the dirt, and you brace.
With the thunderous crack of stone yards underground shattering, Tabe kicks off of the ground and hurls himself at you, fist drawn back. You tense, looking to see where he'll land-
There.
You shift just slightly to the side as his arm comes around, watching it whistle past, and...
fizz
His aura winks out. His eyes widen and flick over to you.
You nod to yourself. "Hm."
tsew-
WHAM
Phasing into place above him, you punt him down into the ground, raising a new cloud of dust and definitively ending the fight.
Once more, the crowd cheers. Once more, Miss Fren calls something about the victory.
This time, you don't hear it. With a hard pulse, you flare your aura and blast the dust cloud away. The world slows in your perception.
Tabe is up on his elbows, groaning from your strike. Still, he's looking up at you with an expression of awe. It's...gratifying, honestly, although you aren't poking at that emotion just now.
Dad is slowly standing, his eyes fixed on Tabe.
And in the stands, you see Head Stauber, her face white as she looks between you, your father, and her son.
You look back down at Tabe.
You look at the saiyan who just displayed enough power to match a newly-transformed super saiyan.
And even as the crowd begins to cry out in shock at your sudden display of power, you wonder what in the world you're supposed to do about this.
Tabe...you idiot. Did you not think? Why did you have to do this in public? What have you done?
Well. This is legally very troublesome. What do?
I can't remember if I previously announced this and don't really want to check -- all I know is that if I announced it, I forgot to update the Rules Screen. I just fixed that. We are now on approval voting. Pick as many options as you like, even if they are mutually contradictory. Basically, simply vote for any options you don't mind winning. The single option with the most votes wins, as was previously the case.
[ ] Arrest him for treason. You can figure out what else to do later, but for now you need need need to make a statement.
[ ] Ask him to tell you what that was. Best to find out what's happening here before you jump to any conclusions.
[ ] Enthusiastically congratulate him on a good match and a cool trick and help him to his feet. Everybody look at the cheerful bubbly Scion. No need to think about what that trick was. Yes. You will lead him out of sight and ask what the fuck that was in private. This is not the place. If any people haven't realized the implications of this yet, you're not helping them do it.
[ ] Write-in.
TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM. THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
Reputation Gained! Age of Legends: First Scion Jaffur drew whispers and attention -- a warrior of legendary gifts and ability. Then Scion Kakara -- the Gold, the Mighty, the first to ascend in battle in centuries and the inventor of the golden oozaru. Yet Scions are Scions, and exceptional already. Now, with Tabe Stauber's incredible display in the final exhibition match of Lord Berra's Tournament, many begin to whisper that these children are the first of a new age for Garenhuld, a new age for the Exiles, and a new age for the universe itself. An age of advancement, and of progress. An age of heroes. An age of legends. Those in Exile society not personally familiar with you will begin to view you with something of a mythic air.
I have been waiting for this scene for a very long time.
Hope you all enjoyed, folks! Have fun chatting it over!
Also, as a general note, your emergency ki manipulation training ticked over. You're now at Exceptional.
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