They Aren't Real, But The Pain Is. [PL]

[Jaxine Caulie]

Dr. Walters opened the door to Zeke's room and walked right in as the man slept. He was a short, slightly chubby man, grey curly hair and small round glasses and a bushy mustache. He hadn't been seen outside the Pub's basement for what seemed to be days now. He walked over to the opposite side of the bed and suddenly gave Zeke a shove clean off of it.

Zeke hit the ground, quickly jumping up and drawing his sword against Dr. Walters, who didn't even flinch. How he managed to acquire his blade from across the room at such speed was still a mystery. Before Zeke could speak any outrage, Walters snapped the window open and let in the blinding light from the outside. Zeke threw his hands up to block the light.

"Good morning, boy. I require your assistance at once." He stated, walking closer and pulling out a small device. Again, before Zeke could say anything, the man hit a button and the two suddenly fazed into a black void for a split second before re-appearing in the basement... witch had been completely re-modeled into a full scale lab!?

"Hmm, yes. So the teleporter does work on multiple persons, but its battery life is still fully consumed upon a single use. Not good." He said, making notes in a book and disregarding Zeke for a moment, who stood both amazed and confused, along with annoyed. And still in his black PJ pants. (Yes black. Why would it be any other color?)

"Ok, how-" He started, Walters cut him off.

"The Instantaneous full bodied transmission of a person, persons or things can be targeted within the radius of the telesensor and calculated to the designated location via the quantum-phyomeater and then reroutsthepersonsbeingthroughavoidblahblahblahblah--" The doctor went on explaining the exact science behind the device, Zeke's expression just slowly finding its way to a glare with each word.

"No. Walters, I don't care about the damn Teleporter. Though that is still... never again. I mean the Lab. Where the hell did you get the money to build all this?" He asked.

Walters shrugged. "Numerous off-planet accounts, some outside sources, a little from your own earnings to pay for the simulator I built... witch is way better than anyone else's, obviously I built it after all."

Zeke's eyes widened. "Wait, MY money!?"

"Yes! And now i'll use it to perfect you, Zeke. I must, so that I can say I was the greatest of all the Doctors. Better than Dr. Bactria and his damn medicine crap. But he's dead! Better than Dr. Bracket and his experiments for putting peoples minds in robots. And better than Dr. Kenshin and Dr. Ivan, with their damn androids that they think are so amaz-"

Zeke grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and hauled him to eye level. "You took my money for a damn video game!? and how would using it on me make you so great?" He asked, interrogating the man.

Walters smiled. "Y-yes. I may not of mentioned... the reason I sought you out, Ezekiel... The reason I built all this... I was one of the scientists responsible for your creation. The head guy, actually." He smiled an awkward smile as Zeke took it in.


There was a pause. Then, Zeke drew his arm back and heaved the man into a wall. "Created!? What the hell!? WHAT AM I!?" Zeke was getting angry, and would soon get violent. This was it. He had given up his search for the answers, but they had been here under his nose the whole damn time!?

Walters picked himself up and turned around rubbing his head. "Yes, yes. It is perfectly understandable that you would be angry and possibly considering evisceration of the old man before you, but i would like you to refrain, if you please. Leave my well-being alone in every way, and I will explain everything."

Zeke gritted his teeth, almost about to transform and trash the place. But he took a deep breath and sat down on a nearby chair. Walters walked over to the calk board and put his hands behind his back.

"It was thirty years ago now. Me and my team were contracted by the last Royal family. The Radishion Royal Family. The king was consumed by an old legend... this legend about some Saiyan coming to be with power beyond imagination. They called it... the Legendary Saiyan. This thing was supposedly to have uncontrollable power and would destroy everything it came into contact with.

The plan was simple. We had to create a being that could contest a Legendary Saiyan. We called it the Ultima Saiyan. Though we tried, we could not enhance a normal, full bread Saiyan by any means. So, we began splicing. Human and Saiyan had been done many times with no real extra power. So we tried other races. Many failed... but we found one that worked wonders! Where most beings can maximize their power from what we refer to 'Base' to the point of 'Max' by one-hundred percent, you were capable of one-hundred and fifty percent. That is a significant increase!

We called this state Overdrive. As you know, it's full extent is unstable and can lead to mental deterioration. It seems to erupt a bloodlust that you can not control. This makes us afraid... if you can never control the power, then you may never be able to defeat the Legendarry Saiyan when he arises. All efforts over the years of trying to perfect your genes have strangely failed. We never knew why.

Then one day your mother found out that your father had been still allowing the experiments. She was your Saiyan half... and she was incredibly powerful. Tesa was her real name. She fled the moon after Tsuyo Hattori overthrew the King Radishion, afraid that he would see her own power as a threat. This power however was unleashed to destroy our facility and free you from it.

She disappeared soon after. Rumored that it was your fathers doing... nobody knows what happened to her. As for you, your father used you for years until just a month or so ago..."

Zeke nodded. "Yes, I know the rest." He paused. "This is all too much to take in at once. What took you so long to explain this to me!?"

Walters turned with a smile, adjusting his glasses. "Yes, well, I am a genius, but I can be... slightly... forgetful? especially when I have a current pursuit. But after the Lab and Simulator where done, then I remembered to tell you!"

Back to a glare. "I could murder you right now and nobody would know. I should..." Zeke drew his sword and brought it back as the doctor yelped. He knew Zeke was serious. Well, he thought he might be. But then, the door opened and Twenty-One came down the stairs and into the basement to notice the scene.

"Master Zeke, what is it that you are doing to Dr. Walters?" she inquired in her usual tone.

Zeke didn't look at her. "Well, I was going to kill him for keeping information from me that I really needed." Zeke said, honest.

Walters gulped. He was serious.

Twenty one lowered her head. "That is unfortunate. Should the doctor die, then there would be nobody to do regular maintenance and upgrades on my hardware and software, and provide any other technological or medical assistance when needed. I also calculate that if I were to be able to feel emotion, I would have a high chance of displaying outrage at this moment and would have a very high chance of showing deep sadness from his death. I would like to ask that you refrain-"

Zeke lunged suddenly forward, the end of his blade tearing out through the wall behind Walters. The scientist had his eyes closed, then opened one. The blade had come a hair away from his neck.

"The amount of fear you just felt makes up for the amount of anger I felt from your incompetent deception, Doctor. We're even." He said, Ripping his blade free with a metallic sound and sheathing it. He walked towards his new simulator. A black smoke covered him briefly before clearing and revealing that he had clothed himself in his usual gear including his weights.

"One of you, get this thing going. Lets see what kind of training programs it has."

----------------------------------------------

Zeke stood in the empty light grey training chamber. The 'simulator' turned out to be nothing more than a device that had a ball like lens and a small computer on it. It could easily be stored and placed in any training room, or even outside on the ground! Zeke was slightly impressed, though he hoped three-thousand Zeni would get him more than a glass softball.

With the telekinetic click of the red button, the crystal lit up and created a huge shielded dome with a grid across it. The floor matched as well as the device processed and loaded up an area. It turned into a bridge on some kind of ship or space station, covered in glass with a view of a planet and some stars. Ships flew by, Zeke looked around in amazement. It looked so real!

Then there was footsteps. A man approached from across the bridge with a black Katana with a red handle. He was bald and dark skinned with a third eye on his forehead? The hell? What was worse was his green and black Saiyan Armor looking outfit with white and yellow gloves and boots. His armor had the full hip protectors but not the shoulders.

"And you would be..." Zeke asked.

Big mistake. The guy swung his sword out to the side with one hand and closed a fist in front of him.

"I, my friend, am Magnum Crusher Dynammo! Elite First Class Mercenary of the Black Rain Clan! You are trespassing within our headquarters and must be eliminated at once! Prepare yourself, troublemaker, for your inevitable defeat!" The man threw his fist to the side and lashed his sword forward to point at Zeke.

He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Nice title. A little much though. Would you like to hear mine?" He asked the simulated man known as Dynammo.

The ground shook as Zeke's hair turned pitch black. His smokey aura flared up violently as the black wings shot out of his back. He opened his all white glowing eyes and smiled a sinister grin.

"They call me... the Angel of Death."

He blasted off forward at the man, who had no idea what to make of the sudden attack. He went to block, but Zeke's blade hit true. There was a gruesome slashing sound as the man was slung into a wall, hit with a crunch, and fell to the ground.

Dead.

Zeke looked down on the guy. "That... was far too easy."

"Would you like me to increase the difficulty, Master?" he heard Twenty-One's voice echo. Zeke looked around, unaware she was even present.

"Twen? You control the Simulator?" he asked.

"Yes, master. I am capable of doing so remotely and while still carrying on with other tasks. Such as sleeping with Kazu." She explained.

Zeke paused for a couple moments. "Kazu told you to say that last part."

Twenty-One responded. "Yes, master. He calculated that it would create humor."

Zeke closed his glowing white eyes and rubbed between them. ""He calculated that it would create agitation and possibly some kind of twisted jealousy. Neither are the case. And Twen, call me Zeke, please. Not master. Your not a slave.

"Yes, sir. I shall refer to you as either Zeke or sir from here on. Please select a difficulty." she instructed.

Zeke smiled. "Maximum difficulty."

There was a pause. "Are you absolutely sure, sir? This could prove to be your death if we can not shut the simulation down in time." Twenty-One warned Zeke.

Zeke nodded. "It's Walters. I'm sure the hardest difficulty is just enough to chalenge me to my limit. Go ahead." He told her.

"Affirmative. Commencing maximum single opponent difficulty." She said, followed by a couple beeps. There was a slight lag in the system before alarms on the bridge began to go off and a door opened. Guards went running out.

"It's him! I can't believe it, we're all gonna be ki-" There was a series of red flashes of light as beams tore through the guards and dropped them all dead on the spot. Zeke drew his blade and looked into the dark hallway...

Out came an Acrosian. That was bad. Worse, he was in his fourth form! he had pale skin with dark purple, almost black domes and blood red eyes. Stories were told of an Acrosian called Frieza, but this was not him. He wore violet and black armor with a crimson cape, the armor appearing very advanced in comparison to Saiyan armor, having the hip and shoulder armor included along with extra for his lower legs and forearms.

Each step seemed to almost shake the ground, making a loud crushing metal sound with each step. Zeke looked at the creature with determination. Then, it spoke.

"I am Lord Toketsuki Yakedo. This Space Colony belongs to me now. If you wish to foolishly throw your life away in its defense... be my guest." The words were said with authority with a venomous spin on them. Zeke readied his balde and charged the man.

"Crescent Slash!" He yelled, releasing the bright white arc of energy off his blade. It tore apart the ground between them and closed in on the man. It hit... directly. After the flash of light, Zeke's eyes widened. Toketsuki stood there completely unharmed.

Zeke hit him with his full power right off the bat and hit directly... and it did nothing! Before he could even think again, the Overlord dashed forward and slammed his fist into Zeke's diaphragm. He lost his air and was launched clean across the bridge and into the section of metal above the adjacent doorway. He went clean through and landed in a new room. He lie there for a moment, hearing the footsteps come closer.

He looked up to see the Acrosian. The man threw his hand out and telekineticly grabbed Zeke by the throat, drawing him almost instantly to him, eye to eye.

"Do not be cocky, Saiyan. You will need to ascend first before you can even hope to match even a fraction of my power. This is not even my maximum."

He dropped Zeke and turned his back as he walked away. "If I were to have followed the Android's command of Maximum Difficulty... you would be dead. Until next time, fool."

With that, he disintegrated into data and disappeared. Zeke was weakened. He then realized he hadn't taken his weights off. But he knew it would not have mattered. That guy was not to be messed with ever again.

Zeke could still stand and was still conscious. He was ready for a fair fight. "I got cocky, Twen. I'm going to need an opponent I can battle in my weekend state and with my weights on. I can't use my Overdrive or I'll run out of energy. But still... I want a challenge. Just... don't try to kill me this time." He said as he looked into the air.

There were a couple beeps. "A new challenger will arrive soon for a fair fight. To be a challenge in your weakened state, they have been chosen based on a power level of twenty-five thousand. They will not transform."

Zeke nodded. This guy would be stronger than Zeke now. That Touketsuki guy nearly KO'ed Zeke in a single blow, and that wasn't even all he had! He was pretty sure some of his ribs were fractured. Then out of the same dark hall came another person.

He was a rough looking guy who looked to be in a heavy metal band or something. Ripped jeans, t-shirt, long black coat with no sleeves and had a top hat on as a joke with his long brown hair spilling out from under it. He had a goatee and a couple scars on his face. Crossing his arms, he smiled.

"So, it's your ass that needs kicked, is it? They call me the 'Hellbringer'. Don't worry, you're gonna find out why pretty soon!" The man roared a battle cry as he charged Zeke. An Axe appeared in his hands and was swung at Zeke, who blocked it. The clash was fierce and shoved Zeke back a ways. Zeke brought a knee up, striking the mans ribs and twisted his body to throw him away. Zeke's own hair and eyes and returned at this point, but Zeke still had that smile. So did his target.

Zeke dashed in with a fury of slashes, all being blocked or parried by his target, who tried to return the blows with the axe. Zeke had a time trying to evade and block his strikes as well. Zeke pushed harder until he missed a downward slash and took the but of Hellbringer's axe to his back. Zeke hit the ground only to be kicked away and fired at with a Ki blast. Zeke hit a door and took the blast, hitting the ground. He took a second to get up to see the man charging up energy...

Zeke had the perfect chance to try out the Aegis. The Aegis, (pronounced E-jis) was a powerful shield Technique his mother created. Unlike the bubble shield, it could only protect a single direction. But it could take a bigger hit instead. Zeke put out a hand and squeezed his upright fist as hard as he could as he gathered energy. The Aegis would be stronger and larger with the more energy he used to create it.

Could the Aegis block the attack? Zeke hoped so, because Muramasa was whispering thoughts into his brain again. It was how he found the Crescent Slash... there was something else to learn? A new sword move could be useful. Zeke felt that all he would need to do is focus and draw...

Hellbringer's energy expanded as Zeke pulled more white energy into his hand. Please... be enough... Zeke watched as Hellbringer released his energy wave attack. The ground beneath it tore up as the ground shook. Zeke sheathed his blade and held out his left hand. He turned his hand and opened it, a thick Ki shield made up of hexagons spawned.

"Aegis Three!" he shouted, adding the level of charge to the name. The beam slammed into it. Zeke held firm, the outer edges of the shield allowing the beam to wash over. Eventually the metal below Zeke was gone and he was floating over energy! but none hit him. After a second, the blast ended and the Hellbringer's jaw dropped. Zeke then dropped the shield and grabbed his sheathed blade.

"Now, try this!" Zeke yelled, drawing his blade in a slashing motion, making ten swipes so fast that Hellbringer couldn't see them. Each swipe left a translucent cut floating around him in the air. Zeke then stood straight and placed the weapon back part way in the sheathe while holding it in hand. He smiled at the confused simulation before letting the blade drop into the sheathe fully, triggering the trap. All the floating cuts flashed and became real attacks, half of witch hit the man and knocked him down. Zeke watched the simulation disintegrate, the background following.

Zeke looked down at the Japanese insignia for Muramasa on the sheathe below the hilt. The weapon spoke to him... he had called it "The Master" in the past. It had been so long since he had heard it speak. He let out a satisfied "Hmm." before he collapsed from his lack of energy. Would these new skills prove useful?

The same could be asked of the Simulator that he unwillingly bought.

[PL please. Heavy Weights and Simulator in effect.]

Attempting to learn:

Aegis Shield: A powerful shield that can defend at a greater rate than a normal bubble shield. It can only protect a single direction unless charged up to 5 for maximum coverage. Defense also increases with charge.

Yamato Slash: The user prepares to draw a sheathed blade. They draw, releasing a fury of ten slashes so fast that the lines of energy from each slash are visible in the very air. They are translucent and harmless at first. Once the blade has been fully re-sheathed, the energy lines turn razor sharp and cut anything within their path. This takes only moments; the target must avoid the translucent lines before the weapon is sheathed to fully dodge. (Pre-approved)

[Lord Zasham]

Techniques accepted.

[graderr]

PL Awarded: 3011