Kvelertak (Caius vs. Tsurei)

[Caius]

He whipped through the air, his body caught in Tsurei's powerful grasp, struggling against the giant monkey's strong grip. Caius gritted his teeth as they collided again with the ground, the shockwave that traveled up through Tsurei's rippling flesh shaking his skull, and he understood how one's brain could rattle inside one's head, for a split second. He looked up at the Saiyan's face, and gave him his best shit-eating grin. His power in his ascended state matched the monkey's but the monkey was much, much larger. This kind of showmanship was probably self-destructive, but had Caius ever been anything but? His life up to this point had been a series of willfully made bad decisions. A few more antemortem wouldn't hurt.

"Why don't you just eat me and get it over with, you big fucking monkey?" He laughed in Tsurei's face, hoping to needle the growing rage in his chest. Caius began to channel ki into his body, forming a protective barrier around his skin, expanding it to a sphere by force of will, opening the monkey's closed fist. Tsurei now held him as if he were a hamster in a ball. As fast as he'd dodged the boulder before, Caius used this opportunity to Zanzoken out from between the saiyan's fingers and skittered away, landing on the ground, bracing himself against his knees. "Cause you're too slow!" His Makaioken flared in insult and display. He didn't show it as outwardly as the out-of-control Oozaru, but inside, Caius was full of anger.

And deeper inside? What Caius didn't know, was that a deeper power lurked. As if a snake lurked underneath his skin, as if someone had ret-conned the Makaioshin race when he wasn't looking.

And this snake waited, in its retroactive continuity, to strike out, lash at the monkey's Achilles' heel.

[Deleted]

The beast felt his paw open as the devil inside pressed outward with full force and somehow managed to escape his terrible grasp, a thing that would have certainly shoved that creature of hell into the vile maw should he have pondered his predicament a moment longer. The breath still smelled of flesh and entrails, the lips were still caked with red, and the eyes still glinted with hatred unbound. Tsurei Hiruen had been something akin to what a Saiyan should and could be, once, but all that had been left behind by Aburaca was a creature of death and destruction. The crimson pools traced the tiny being as it acrobatically retreated, vomiting what a rage weakened mind considered pure and utter idiocy.

Perhaps thousands of years ago, a race of weaklings that had withstood a lazy Saiyan assault had spread the ignorant myth that their truest form was cumbersome~ The traitor of the Hiruen clan would prove this little upstart so terribly wrong as head tilted sideways and canines flashed at his pitiful display. The ape had chosen to employ his powerful energies in an entirely different method, but not before it answered with the retort of a snarling animal.

“Raagh'llow me to sh'row you, raaar'rogant FUCK! ! !” Tsurei warned, the last word of his reply accompanied by a burst of energy from between jaws that spread wide to allow the titanic beam to erupt forth. Such was his strength that he would require little to pulverize this sniveling maggot that had probably retreated from hell, unable to cope with the terrors within. Thus, as the wave shuddered from between gargantuan daggers, the Hirozaru bound forward with surprising quickness for all the weight within the massive frame, a thing accomplished due to the relative mediocrity of the presented blast and the fact that despite size, most of this monster was comprised of muscle and sinew. With the leap, a titanic fist slammed down in hopes of crushing the axe-twirling weakling this very moment.

After all, Tsurei Hiruen was what hell had aborted like unwanted offspring!

[/font][/size]

[Caius]

Looking into Tsurei's eyes, the vestige of his rational thinking process, he saw was fettered, shackled to his rage like a hostage to his captor. Held slave to his anger, within this maelstrom of negative energy he found true destructive strength. What had previously been a hedonistic young individual was replaced by a beast that saw only red, and what speech or thoughtful action he was capable of was put to the effect of pure destruction. He'd succumbed to the struggle between mind and body by allowing his body to take over, his animal will the captain of his very soul. Such a battle was some many fought, and one that Caius himself still fought today. The personality that had emerged in the demon since his rebirth had strived to move past his violent origins and be a better person. From his betrayal of Suki to save the Earth, to his choice today to defend the people of Namek, he was trying to repent for his sins, pay back each drop of blood with an equal measure preserved. A noble sentiment for something born out of chaos and made for destruction.

But he could not deny his own bloodlust. Was he really any better than the monkey, then? Was he just lying, and was Tsurei the one being honest to himself, and his nature? Was he no more than the product of his desires and his drives?

The giant energy blast erupted from Tsurei's mouth, and Caius moved into action, dashing forward, towards him. It wasn't the real threat, he could easily have weathered the strike, but when the Oozaru had twitched, the thick muscle in the legs had cocked like the firing mechanism of a gun, he knew he'd have to meet the monkey head on. There was no cowardly backing down. And, perhaps, to meet the beast, he'd have to acknowledge the one inside him. Or he himself would end up another meal between his teeth. He ran, the blast going over his head and exploding against the ground behind him, and the monkey soared through the air, blocking the sun and casting Caius in shadow for a split second, before bringing his fist down like a hammer blow. The reek of sweat and animal metabolism swept in a wave over him, and he gritted his teeth. Caius quickly turned on his heel and sidestepped, dashing before sliding along the ground out of the way of the fist, its heavy weight slamming into the ground and creating a shockwave that sent him flying. Rocks and sand skittered, scratching his skin as he was launched backwards.

"Bastard! Is that the best you can do?" Caius caught himself in mid-air using bukujutsu, and began to channel another concentration of energy in his body. This time, he'd try to get the monkey out of his comfort zone. They could hammer each other with beams, but Tsurei had a slightly greater ki reserve than Caius did, and could resist his damage much better. The Oozaru was notably resilient, as was the Saiyan’s birthright. He flew directly at Tsurei's chest, letting the energy surround him in a pulsing bubble that threatened to erupt; on impact with the monkey's chest the energy would release itself in an explosion at the point of impact. Tsurei’s arms moved to grab him out of the air, but Caius used his agility to maneuver just out of the way of his grimy, grasping pillars of digits. Weaving a path through Tsurei’s defenses, he collided with the monkey’s chest, his ki erupting in a titanic explosion and singing Tsurei’s fur. The monkey toppled backwards for a split second, catching himself and glaring down at Caius. Caius reached his hands out and clapped them together over his head, launching another turquoise spear of ki directly up at his face.

“HGGGRRAAAHHH!”

Enraged now, Tsurei swept his arms across his chest, trying inffectively to swat the demon away as if he was some kind of annoying insect; which, Caius must have quite looked the part to the titanic predator. Caius dashed backwards, getting out of the melee, but getting swiped by a stray paw in the process. Caius was tossed many meters away, somehow managing to land on his feet, but sliding away and losing his balance. He fell, and rolled away, catching himself before colliding with a rock sticking out of the grassy landscape. He had grass stains all over his robes, cuts on his face, and murder in his eyes.

Inside the demon, a lacuna of power that had existed from his birth began to grow. It pulsed outwards, as a water droplet against a serene surface, sending out ripples. Caius obviously couldn’t see what was happening, but his Makaioken took on a more brilliant glow, as some unforeseen changes were going on inside him. Were he knowledgeable of his true potential, he’d have allowed the surface of his soul to be disturbed, to transform fully; but his amnesia, the only gift he’d gotten from his banishment from his home realm, left the transformation to await another stressor. Instead, Caius growled, turning towards Tsurei. “Enough of this monkey business.” He channeled his energy, and twelve brilliant spheres of ki gathered in a circle about his body. He clasped his hands together about his chest, and they began to grow. “Let’s see how you like this.” Releasing his grip, they began to vibrate, and he punched towards Tsurei, every small energy blast flying in their own little parabolic arcs. A few hit, but the monkey was surprising quick on his feet, and was able to dodge through most of them, rushing Caius again.

Caius ran towards Tsurei, moving to meet his assault head on. He swung one arm, launching another Hell Spike at the oncoming monkey’s chest, where his previous assault had landed. Even though the attack hit bare skin and drew blood, it appeared that he didn’t even notice. With a grunt, Caius let his legs out from under him, sliding along the ground between Tsurei’s legs, and out of the way of the descending fist. He jumped up to his feet behind him, and shot a barrage of energy blasts at his back. Before they reached him, Tsurei had already turned around, and bellowed, swiping out with his hand and deflecting most of them.
Caius’s only experience fighting against an Oozaru before had been Serori, who had been notable weaker than him at the time, and he’d still needed to go all out even to simply incapacitate her. What would this fight require, when he was slightly outmatched by the Saiyan? Surely the monkey would tire eventually, but would Caius wear out first was the question. His attacks weren’t missing their mark, not out of any skill, but from Tsurei’s sheer size, and his lack of necessity in dodging them. They hurt, but all he needed to do was keep rushing Caius until he made a mistake. One solid blow and Caius would be out of commission.

All these thoughts and others shot through his mind as another heavy fist shot down towards him, from above, like lightning. As if the supreme Makaio was falling from Other World, banished as he had been so many eons ago, at the beginning of time. Caius’s eyes dilated, and he Zanzoken’d out of the shadow of the blow. It wasn’t quite enough though. He practically flew through the air, but Tsurei followed him with his eyes, and the other fist came down as the first one came up. Thus began a grotesque game of whack-a-mole, where the prize was death. It didn’t help that the Zanzoken was an exhausting technique to use over and over again, but were he to stop using it, he’d lose his life. He felt his ki reserves draining, and his vision began to tunnel until all he perceived were the fists descending. He dashed backwards as far as he could go, and stood, maybe fifty feet from Tsurei, as the monkey’s red eyes looked up at him, the dark, rank maw opened, and launched a fireball of furious energy at him.
This was it, this would be the end.

~

And the rock fell into the pool of water, the ripples increased in intensity, reflecting off the walls of his being, the Doppler effect increasing and decreasing their power until the design was as abstract as the demon’s own thought process. The Makaioken died down, and Caius descended to his base power level, feeling the sweat on his brow and his body evaporate under the head of the oncoming attack. Death would not take him on this day, however. Something inside snapped, and Caius truly, transformed. His hair flew out as the energy shot through him, as if inflating a deflated balloon. His body reached a state it had never been in before. His nails lengthened into claws, and his canine teeth grew slightly. His aura flared out, and as he reached his full potential, Tsurei’s attack was blunted, the energy scattering outwards in a supernova. The explosion’s heat never reached Caius’s skin, however, as Caius launched his own energy blast right back; a menacing, red ball, outlined in eerie blue, its center a glowing, evil dark black. The attack, unexpected as it was, hit Tsurei in the chest, but its power, by now, was far beyond anything that the monkey could muster in defense. This explosion ripped through flesh and tossed him backwards. Caius Zanzokened again, this time over to Tsurei’s falling body, and landed on his chest, sending him down on his back with a double kick to the monkey’s bleeding bloody breast.

A true demon had been awakened on this day.

Caius reached both his hands over his head, and grasped an invisible line of energy, the same technique he’d used earlier, but this time its power much improved. He grabbed it in his hand, and brought the thick, condensed energy down, holding it tight, and with a scream, shatter it between his hands and fired off the final blow of the battle. The glass shaft of ki broke into many small pieces and each dug into Tsurei’s flesh before exploding, destroying the very ground below Caius, and taking the doomed Saiyan with it.

When it was all done, Caius landed in the crated he’d created, the smell of blood and dead monkey polluting the air. He examined his fingernails first from the back, then turned his palm towards him and curled them in.

And he grinned.

((OOC, fight over, Rensou gave me the go-ahead to RP all of this. Saga, fight bonuses, and transformation trigger blah blah blah. PL please.))

[Rensou Hiruen]

6,800 PL awarded. Shiroi attained. Saga bonus applied.