Maximum Desperation, part 3 [150x]

Previously...

He never stood a chance.

Arwort's body was no more. All that was left of him was the faint smell of burnt ashes.

It was an alternate future for Scobia. Primitive and advanced buildings alike sprawled across the landscape of the planet, mostly unharmed due to the efforts of the relieving Arcosian forces.

Wyntre watched on as smoke came out from Kocha's eyes. That attack, the Pride of the Galaxy, had spent a lot of time charging. It used up a lot of her ki, so much so that she could barely maintain her flight.

Never mind that, she couldn't manage even that. She put everything into that attack, all of the ki she had available, everything she had. The problem was, though, that by expending all of her ki, she had no more ki to expend.

She fell as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Empress Wyntre of the Arcosian Empire, the Royal-form Royal and (presumably) the most powerful Arcosian to have ever lived, was quick to fly over and catch the falling Superhero who had been forced out of her transformative state.

"Your efforts were commendable. Through strategy and teamwork, we have managed to defeat a foe that was stronger than us. Are you all right?"

She was alive, that much was obvious. Conscious, too, by the looks of it, but whether or not she could stand— yet alone fight— was another question entirely.

"… Yeah." She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired. Give me a moment…"

Empress Wyntre looked over to the horizons. Scobia, the city, was so vast that, even from her elevated point, she could not see its ends. It had quantity, yes, but its quality was another matter entirely. Most of it wasn't constructed with the sort of enlightened architecture that most Arcosians Imperials held in high regard. It was constructed out of cheap and readily-available resources with medieval construction technology. On the other hand, however, it was authentically produced and crafted with great care. It carried the Scobian culture with it and, in its own special sort of way, looked pretty.

But, on the other hand, there was the Senate House. Or, perhaps more accurately, the Senate Really-Big-Tower. It wasn't actually big at all, at least by Arcose's standards, but it was made to seem as if it was because of the one-level abodes below.

The Senate House was a hallmark of Scobian culture: situated in the middle of Scobia (the city, as opposed to Scobia the landmass, Scobia the planet or Scobia the planetary system), the planet's leaders would congregate there to discuss important issues and to administrate. Only recently, however, as a sign of Arcosian goodwill, a group of architects and builders were sent to construct a new Senate House after the last one was destroyed by the Mazoku. However, symbolically, it was constructed in a fusion of the Arcosian and Scobian styles and incorporated imagery of certain aspects of Scobian mythology (such as Gymnoti the great electric eel whose electricity breathed life into the coral, rocks and sand, thus spawning the great and terrible Elsewhere Beasts, whose monstrous descendants would threaten Scobians for millennia. The Elsewhere Beasts had nothing to eat, however, and attacked Gymnoti, who could not bare to fight back. The Elsewhere Beasts which ate the flesh of the electric eel gained much power and became god-like evil spirits without form who were said to haunt Scobians from the shadows. Gymnoti fled to the surface [how the surface came about being is another story altogether], bleeding but still alive, where the Beasts could not follow. In its last moments and with its last flick of electricity, it gave life to its own blood, which spawned the Gymnotidawen [literally, 'Tribe of the blood of Gymnoti], the first Scobians. The Gymnotidawen were hungry, however, and could not eat as the Elsewhere Beasts were in the water and because the lands did not yet have life on it. Distraught and confused, a group of the Scobians decided that cannibalism was the way to go and decided to live in the part of the Scobian ocean where even the Elsewhere Beasts would not swim, the Turana [literally, 'the place that is opposite of the centre'], the deepest part of the ocean and at the opposite point of the Senate Building. The magical pressure of Turana and the taint of their cannibalism morphed them into the Turanadaw [literally, 'tribe of Turana'], seductive and Scobian-like creatures who acted much like the sirens of Earth mythology. The Gymnotidawen, however, refusing to eat others of their number, were forced to eat the recently-deceased body of their maker, Gymnoti. But, their dead deity was only large enough to feed 16 of them: its flesh was divided among twelve of them and its organs were divided among four of them. From this, these sixteen Scobians had been given the power of Gymnoti: the twelve became the first Hermits and the four became the first Sages. The bleeding figure of Gymnoti can be seen, in sculpture, climbing up the Senate Building to pay respects to the Scobian mythology and to Gymnoti's sacrifice.)

The Hermits were as follows: the Rat Hermit, the Ox Hermit, the Tiger Hermit, the Rabbit Hermit, the Dragon Hermit, the Snake Hermit, the Horse Hermit, the Goat Hermit, the Monkey Hermit, the Rooster Hermit, the Dog Hermit and the Pig Hermit. They each were the masters of their respective fighting styles and had extensive amounts of skill in martial arts. The position was passed down from the teacher to their best student at death. Kocha, like her mother before her, had been a student of the Dragon School… before, that is, the Mazoku invasion.

Sages, on the other hand, did not concern themselves with martial arts, as they were wise magic-users. The position was hereditary and was inherited in accordance with primogeniture, the lineage having had started, as the legends say, by the original four sages. They were the Fire Sage, the Water Sage, the Air Sage and the Earth Sage who gained their mystical power and wisdom from eating Gymnoti's brain, stomach, lungs and heart respectively. Each of them wore a sacred circlet, the centre of which held one of the four never-rotting eyes of Gymnoti (as it had, in accordance with legend, four eyes).

So, therefore, the planet had sixteen powerful entities on it to defend Scobia from the Elsewhere Beasts, their descendants and, potentially, threats from the stars. The thing was, however, that the most powerful among them was the Rabbit Hermit, whose quick, jump-based and tricky martial arts style benefitted from her immense strength of 5,000PL.

Oh? All of the Hermits had Power Levels in the thousands, and the sages had magical abilities so great that they were able to defeat similarly-powered foes. Even the most powerful among them, a god among the citizens, was but a speck when compared with Kocha or, as the simulation would have it, the Empress. How did they, then, fend off a Saiyan invasion force? Wyntre briefly wondered on this thought.

"I've been reading about your culture as of late; the myths, the structure and the way of life, they all interest me. It is because of this research, especially into the seats of the senate and those who hold them, that I know that most Scobians, growing up, are expected to train under one of the twelve Hermits. Now, as I am sure that you are aware, your father wrote a book about the planet, its inhabitants and their culture. In chapter 15, when discussing the martial arts training of Scobian children, he proudly stated that his own child was the most skilled student of the Dragon School and the probable next Dragon Hermit upon the current one's death."

Wyntre wanted Kocha to reflect on that. She was still very much so conscious: the Empress could see her facial expressions change during her speech. "But, alas, the Mazoku Dominion came along and sought to use Scobia's then-independence to annex it without hurting its reputation with the Arcosian Empire. One thing led to another, however, and your consciousness was placed in Ribonu as a last-ditch effort to save your planet and yourselves. You never went back to the Dragon School, did you?"

Kocha sighed. She didn't particularly worry about her surroundings: the Saiyans were demoralized and afraid, now that their most powerful warrior and their only Super Saiyan was dead. The Hermits and the Sages, she believed, would be able to defeat the rest of the Solar Saiyan forces. Besides, it's only a simulation.

"Well, what am I supposed to say? No, I never went back." She looked to the floor below, as if looking for something. Aha! There it was, her home. It had been repaired so that it looked just as it did before the invasion. "You know, I tried really hard to learn the Dragon style. I wanted to be the next Dragon Hermit, too. If I could do that… if I did that, I'd have proven that I am as much a Scobian as any of my peers."

She tried to move, to grasp some independence and, perhaps, to fly, but her entire body ached.

Wyntre, still focusing on Kocha, pointed to the sky above them. Or, more specifically, she pointed at the Solar Saiyan vessels as her telekinetic abilities took hold.

Her hand closed.
Fireworks.

Kocha looked on, not entirely awake, as the pretty explosions in the sky glittered. She also watched on as, with a small movement of Empress Wyntre's hand, what was left of them was telekinetically pushed so that they would not fall down to the planet, but rather to its star.

"So, why are you not a student of the Dragon Hermit now?"

Kocha almost began talking, but stopped to reconsider her wording. "Well… other than the fact that I'm thought of as dead by everyone except my father, it's because I'm here, with you, aiming to make the galaxy a better place. I never did complete my training, though…"

Wyntre slowly flew directly down to the surface, Kocha in her arms. Perhaps one might have expected to see people rushing and scrambling about, but instead there was an utter silence. People were either fighting elsewhere, hiding inside or hiding in one of the bunkers. Softly and with great care, Kocha was laid on the road.

"Would you like to?" Kocha recognized, even in her current state, that Wyntre had a plan.

"What do you mean?"

Empress Wyntre looked down warmly at her newest 'minion'. "What do you think I mean? I recommend that you return to Scobia, announce your identity as Kocha Kinoko and finish your training. Given my understanding of how the position is passed on, I believe that, if you indeed are the best student, it will be passed on to you even if you aren't on the planet, yes?"

Kocha had to think that through. She then thought it through again, just to make sure. "Well… yes, in theory. I mean, yeah, I could do that, but what's the point? I won't get any more powerful by being the Dragon Hermit, and the responsibility will only weigh me down." Kocha tried to get up, but ended up in the same position and with a sore back.

"You don't have to become the heir, you don't have to try to become the Dragon Hermit. I only recommend you complete your training in that style, perhaps you could even learn another."

Kocha tried to stand up again but had to find support in the form of Wyntre's hand to stay upright. "Look, doing either of those things might take a while. Can you bare to be without me for extended periods of time?" she asked, in a friendly yet mocking tone. With one more push, she was standing on her own feet, unassisted.

"I've managed myself pretty well without you, don't you think? I'll be fine, I always am. Don't worry about me, though, you should be more concerned with your continued martial arts education. Going back to Scobia, where there are twelve martial arts ready to be learned, would be the best for you."

Kocha was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Even when they were open, all that she could see was blurry. "Aren't you going to teach me the Arcosian Serpent Style, though?"

"Yes, certainly, I shall. But, alas, it can wait. Computer, give Kocha something comfortable to lie on." And then it appeared as if it were always there: an Empress-sized bed, much like Wyntre's, with velvety sheets and an abundance of pillows.

Wyntre telekinetically levitated Kocha onto the bed, who really didn't mind at that point. "… OK, I suppose. I tentatively agree. But how am I going to get there?" Kocha barely moved as she was consumed in a sea of pillows. The Computer, having the sense of humor that it did, decided to throw in some plushy-versions of Wyntre, Zexama, Kocha and Brisk.

"The Valiance has pods. You will take one to Scobia at 6AM tomorrow. See Doctor Blange for details: he knows to expect you."

That didn't bode well for Kocha, her eyes now open fully. This meant that Wyntre had already decided that Kocha would go to Scobia and that she was only being told about it now. This meant that Wyntre didn't discuss such a matter with her first… Kocha didn't feel betrayed, no, but she did feel… she didn't know exactly how she felt about that, or at least she didn't know how to describe it, but it most certainly wasn't pleasant. "… OK."

Wyntre smiled, still warmly. "Brilliant. Computer, end the simulation but retain the bed."

And it was made so: the buildings, the floor, the sky, the Senate Building nearby… it all disappeared, revealing the Gravity Chamber, its hard greys juxtaposing with the colorful bed. "… I think I preferred being on Scobia…"

That brought some amusement to the no-longer-Empress. "Computer, bring it back, but only for Kocha. I have some business to attend to."

And then, just like that, Scobia returned.

Wyntre turned to the exit before coming to a realization. "Oh, before I leave, since you haven't realized it yet… you're in 150x right now. Computer, 1x."

And, suddenly, a great strain was lifted from Kocha. She had believed it to be the exhaustion, but it became increasingly apparent that it was her own weight (and that of the pillows/blanket) multiplied 150-fold.

"But," she began, this news being a shock to her, "I'm not even in my new form! 'Super Synthesis', I believe you called it."

"Yes, you've gotten used to it quite quickly, and for that I am proud of you. Farewell, Captain Arcose."

Wyntre disappeared from the simulation, as she was not in it and had just left the room.

"Thanks for helping!" said Kocha, but it was already too late. That left the good 'Captain' alone, with only her thoughts, a bed, a Scobian street and some plushies to keep her company.

"… 'Super Synthesis'…"

A Wyntre plushie fell on her face.

"… I think I like the sound of that."

---

Kocha met with Doctor Blange at 6AM the very next day, but still had a sour taste in her mouth about Wyntre arranging the trip without her consent. She had a short, civil discussion with the good doctor about the usual matters and then get on her way. One day later…

Scobia. Home.

She said she wouldn't return until she made the Galaxy a better place and wasn't particularly keen on making herself a liar in that regard.

But, alas, Wyntre had a point, the point being that she hadn't completed her training in the Dragon Style. All in all, she didn't know even one martial art in its entirety. She would finish her training under the Dragon Hermit, make sure that she isn't the heir and, if time permits, perhaps even learn another style.

She exited the spaceport, recently constructed, and looked over the cityscape. There was something else that Doctor Blange went through, though, something he claimed Wyntre was adamant of.

She sighed.

With a click on a button on her scouter, a figure appeared.

"Ah, Captain Arcose, you've made it home." There Wyntre was, appearing to the superhero through her scouter. She wasn't actually on Scobia, even if she looked like she was; she was on Earth, on the Valiance, in her ship. But, through the wonders of technology, the scouter made it seem as if she were actually there.

"I have."

Wyntre, contrarily, was in a simulation. What was simulated was based off of what was interpreted from the data Kocha's scouter and satellite imaging provided, making the simulation indistinguishable from the actual planet. In short, from their shared perspective, Wyntre was on Scobia, right next to Kocha.

"You seem nervous." That wasn't a question; Kocha most certainly did seem nervous, and for good reason, too: it was because she was nervous. "You don't have to worry about anything. From what I've read of the Dragon Hermit, he'd understand."

Kocha was already receiving strange looks. The Scobians generally didn't kindly to those of a species not known to be friendly with the Arcosians, although the Mazoku were an exception in that the Scobians would always hate the Mazoku regardless of their relationship with the Arcosians. Kocha— or, rather— Ribonu, didn't look like any one species. Perhaps one might have confused her for a Brenchian, if not for the wings, and the almost claw-like nails, and the horns, and the gills, and the tail. She was new, much like the Saiyans and the Mazoku had been before their subsequent invasions. "Well, yeah," she began quietly, trying and failing to not draw much attention to herself, "he would, Chengzi's a great guy and a great teacher and all that, but it's more that. I'm just hesitant about making myself known, OK?"

Chengzi was the name of the Dragon Hermit, of course. Becoming a Hermit didn't involve changing one's name— as a result, all of the hermits had actual names, names they were called when not in formal situations. The Sages, on the other hand, lost their names to become Sages.

Wyntre looked over the city, admiring the city she had only ever seen in pictures. "I understand. I know what you mean." And she did: she herself really wasn't sure if she should announce her existence to the galaxy. "Come on," she said, putting her hand to Kocha's shoulder for a few moments, "let's get you to the Dragon School."

The Dragon School, being one of the Hermit Schools, formed a regular dodecagon alongside the other schools with the Senate Building at its centre. The Dragon School mostly taught the manipulation of ki in strikes and blasts, but also the wise elegance of deflecting or dodging attacks so that one's ki might be better used directly. Other schools had different styles, of course, but some of them seemed to contradict each other irreconcilably.

They took flight, greatly surprising some passing Scobians. They knew about flying, they had seen it from the 'aliens' from above and from the wise and powerful Air Sage, but seeing it was still a shock.

The Dragon School looked much like a dojo from Earth, but was massively-laden with draconic imagery. At the top of the dojo was perched an opal dragon statue whose arms pointed to the Rabbit School (lead by Rabbit Hermit Tuziagi) and the Snake School (lead by Snake Hermit Hebishe), the schools closest to it in its dodecagon, while its face pointed towards both the Senate House and the Dog School (lead by Dog Hermit Inugou), since the Dog and the Dragon were on opposing sides with the Senate House representing the unity and intermediary between opposing forces.

And, in only a few moments of flight, they were at its door. Although, perhaps 'door' didn't do it justice. This was to a door as a door was to a mouse-hole. This was no more a 'door' than a 'set of two large rotating walls'. All around them were glass dragons, perfectly constructed to seem as if they could come to life at any instant.

"'The Dragon Gate of Scobia'… it's a tourist location now, if you didn't know already."

There was no mechanism put in place to open or close the door; its movement only came about when it was pushed. Pushing it open, in fact, was the final trial in the training of a student in the Dragon Style. However, considering that both Wyntre and Kocha could push it with ease at 1% power (even if Wyntre wasn't even technically there) and that they didn't want to bring attention to themselves (or, rather, to Kocha), they decided to enter through one of the smaller doors at either side. The left door, they decided nonverbally.

First lesson of Dragon School: don't use any more energy than is needed.

The inside was even more striking than its outside.

Dragons were everywhere. Painted dragons flew across the walls, the roof and the floor, dragons formed the hand railings, the light source (a large bioluminescent pearl) was held by a particularly large dragon, the Hermit's throne (or, more properly, the 'Seat of the Dragon') involved the Hermit sitting on another dragon (with his arms rested on its arms, to boot), there were dragons hung from the ceiling as if flying, dragon statues, draconic imagery, dragons, dragons, dragons…

"Ignore all of that. They really like their dragons."

Kocha attracted a few more stray glances, as talking to yourself generally wasn't normal Scobian behavior (for, from their perspectives, she was talking to herself as there was no Wyntre in sight). Those who looked at her were some of the students of the Dragon Hermit. Such students were all around the dojo, hitting things and charging ki, the only real thing connecting them all appearance-wise, other than their species-wide traits, being a red sash with a dragon crest on it that everyone had seemed to wear differently.

"Try not to speak to me, it might confuse Chengzi and harm your chances. Besides, it's best if you don't have to explain why we know each other." Chengzi, of course, was the name of the Dragon Hermit.

Kocha seemed annoyed by the idea that Wyntre was free to talk to her but not the other way around.

Chengzi was already interested in the 'newcomer' to his abode. He, with his sharp sense of hearing, picked up on what Kocha had said and figured out that she must have been talking to someone. He, on his dragon throne, politely beckoned for the 'stranger' to come closer with a quick motion of the finger.

"You there!" he began, enjoying the sight of what was presumed to be a visitor, "I can tell by your costume and by your…" he continued, not being able to find a suitable substitute for 'alien-ness', "… prettiness that you're with the Arcosians. Am I right? Please, come, tell me what I can do for you. I'm the Dragon Hermit, but most people around here just call me Chengzi."

Wyntre looked between Kocha and Chengzi as she tried to call upon her limited knowledge of Scobian courtship rituals. "I am 90% sure he isn't flirting with you."

Kocha gave Wyntre the meanest death glare she could manage. Chengzi, naturally, noticed. But, alas, in only a second, she was back to what she was like before.

"A pleasure, truly. My name is…" she said before suddenly realising that she shouldn't announce who she truly was in front of so many people, "… Captose." Ah, yes, 'Captose': what you get when you merge 'Captain' with 'Arcose'.

"Well, then, 'Captose', what can I do for you?"

The Dragon Hermit probably would have looked like any other Scobian of his colour, age and gender if not for his attire. He was of medium build and had muscles, strong muscles, but strong muscles that somehow made it look as if having them was the most normal thing in the world. Despite the impression his dojo might have given, he was no more draconic than any other Scobian gent. His armor (although perhaps it would be better described, at least partially, as a gi), on the other hand, gave an impression so strong that a member of a culture without the concept of dragons could glance at it and tell exactly what it represented. It, was for the most part, a warm orange gi, but over that was armor, armor that seemed as if it were made from the scales of an actual dragon (and, indeed, it was). His helmet was the skull of a conveniently-sized dragon and his head was firmly seated in its skeletal mouth. Wyntre had the sneaking suspicion that it was all for show and that he'd drop all of the spiky cool-looking dragon plate the moment an actual fight got out.

"If you don't mind…" she began, looking around the rest of the dojo oh-so-suspiciously, "… could we have a little chat in private?"

This was all quite intriguing for the Arcosian who in the room (but, at the same time, wasn't actually in the room). Although Kocha couldn't do it much for fear of suspicion, Wyntre was free to look around the vast room and have a gander at the architecture, at the people and at the training.

"Oh." Chengzi seemed to have been enjoying this conversation in subtext. "Certainly." He wasn't an idiot, and he could sense ki; he knew that if this stranger meant violence against him, there wouldn't have been much of him left to be violent to. He looked to the side, at the entrance to his living quarters. "If you'd follow me."

He walked over and into his living quarters, Kocha and Wyntre following shortly behind. It was a humble abode with only a small bed, a cupboard, a pile of poorly-stacked clothes in the corner and a knee-high table with some tea-related equipment on it. The only dragon imagery that either could see in the room came in the form of carvings along the table's leg, but even that was subtle.

"So," he began, almost playfully, "what can I help you two with?"

That came as a shock. "'Y-you two'?"

"Ah." He seemed pleased with that. "So I was right!" He gave a casual point to her scouter. "You've looked at one spot as if someone were there, when there really was no one there. I can see it in your scouter: a white and purple figure, presumable Arcosian. Would you like to acquaint us?"

Much like Chengzi himself, Wyntre was highly amused by this development. "Make it so."

This only annoyed Kocha further. But, tentatively, she clicked a few buttons on her scouter as it shot out a hologram, slightly actualizing Kocha's vision of Wyntre by allowing others the ability to see her as if she truly were there. It was not a crude hologram like those found elsewhere; it was not tinted by a particular shade and neither was it laden with graphical glitches. Rather, it appeared as if Wyntre truly were there.

The Arcosian, having had noticed that the hologram began, started. "Dragon Hermit Chengzi, it's a pleasure. I am Lady Wyntre Cold, ex-Empress of the Arcosian Empire."

He dropped to his knees as soon as he saw her properly. "Empress, it's a pleasure. But, if I so may ask, why do you appear before me?"

Kocha decided that she could answer that. "Don't call her Empress; that's what she was and will be again, but not what she, at current, is. I'll explain why we're here, but, first, can you tell me... can you tell me what you know of Kocha Kinoko?"

His eyes widened. "'Kocha Kinoko', you say?" You could have almost seen memories flash across his mourning eyes. "Take a seat, ladies, and help yourself to tea." It was clear that 'Kocha Kinoko' was a subject he didn't particularly want to hear about. Even her mention had him completely disregard the ex-Empress.

Either way, both Wyntre and Kocha took seats at the modest table as Chengzi walked around his small room.

"Kocha was a nice girl, with determination in her eyes. She wasn't entirely Scobian, she was half bird alien, and tried very hard to prove that she was as much a Scobian as her neighbors, and her neighbors' neighbors, and so on. I remember the day she first walked in… she said to me, with the first words I ever heard her speak, 'I want to join the Dragon School, like my mother had'. We tried her out, and, naturally, she excelled. She was my top student, too. I was planning on making her the heir to the Dragon Hermit position, especially after the leadership she presented during the Saiyan Invasion, but she was killed during the Mazoku Invasion. I heard she died valiantly, sacrificing herself to save her father, Feuskry. Why… are you— are you crying?"

Yes, Chengzi, 'Captose' was beginning to cry. Her tears were clear, saline and very much so like the tears of many other humanoid species, but they flowed quickly and there were many of them. "No! No, I—!" By bringing ki to her cheeks, they heated up. With the sort of ki available to her, it was easy to boil the tears right off of her skin. "I'm fine, truly. How about you, err, continue with the story?"

At this point, Chengzi was just too suspicious of the visitors to even consider continuing the story. "'I'm fine, truly'… Kocha used to say that. You seem to be saddened by her departure, too. What do Wyntre Cold and her minion want with information about what to them would be an insignificant alien girl? Did you know her?"

Like you wouldn't believe. "Yes, I knew her." I knew her, know her and will most likely continue to know her. "But Captose here knew her inside and out. Everything that one knew the other knew, too. Captose, my non-minion, do you have something to say to this fine accomplished gentleman?"

Kocha threw herself in Chengzi's arms. Rather, she threw herself at him and he was lucky enough to be prepared. She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed… but, by now, he was beginning to figure out what was happening. "It's all right, it's all right. Just be calm. Real calm. Hang in there, you're all right." Chengzi was good with comforting the upset; he was often forced to comfort the students who didn't reach a certain threshold in time, or who lost an important spar. "Wyntre Cold, with respect, what is going on?"

Wyntre had expected this to happen. Being reminded about her past made Kocha sad, which was much unlike what it did to Wyntre: not very much at all. "Kocha did not die during the Mazoku Invasion, neither in body or in mind. Her body is in Feuskry's laboratory, inhabited by the genetically-designed mind of Ribonu which, as it was taught to through its genes, is keeping the body fresh and alive by breathing and such as all good minds should. However, if Ribonu's placeholder mind is in the body of Kocha, should that not imply that Kocha's mind is now in Ribonu?"

The Dragon Hermit looked up at Wyntre, but then down at 'Captose'. "Ribonu, yes, I've heard of that: Feuskry planned to give the city a superhero, and I heard it worked what with reports of its supposed appearances. You're telling me that Kocha is, what, a superhero now?"

He's so close. Wyntre smiled, for she knew that this last clue would be the last. "Yes, Kocha has been a superhero for a while now. But, with the Elsewhere Beasts easily vanquishable by the Hermits and with such a low crime rate, what's the point? No, planet-wide justice was already present, and it wouldn't have been enough anyway. She sought galaxy-wide justice. But, how could she do such a thing? The Saiyans and the Mazoku were powerful and way too abundant, she couldn't have defeated them on her own. No, she required assistance, so she turned to her idol. So she turned to me."

He looked up at Wyntre again, but looked down at the woman crying in his arms yet again only moments later. Gently moving her face with a finger under her chin, he looked directly into those big yellow eyes and saw things he had never seen before. He recognized the sound of that crying, he recognized that look. He recognized Kocha wiping away her tears in an effort to pretend that she was OK, and he remembered all of the times he'd seen it before.

Chengzi took hold of Kocha much more urgently than Kocha had to Chengzi. "Kocha Kinoko, it has been too long."

That reveal took longer than it should have.

Seconds pass. More seconds. Then, a good ten more followed by, perhaps feeling left out.

"… Anyway, Kocha isn't only here for tearful reunions."

That alarmed the Hermit. "Is Scobia in danger?"

Wyntre poured herself a cup of tea. She was used to heating tea up with her own ki, as were practitioners of the Dragon School, so kettles were quite unnecessary. "Yes, Scobia is in danger, but to an extent not greater than any other planet's. No, Scobia is in danger because the galaxy is in danger. The galaxy is in danger because of the Solar Saiyan Empire and because of the Mazoku Dominion. Kocha wants to help me, she wants a widespread, peaceful and prosperous Arcosian Empire, and he has the sort of power one might need to influence such things, but she doesn't even know one complete martial art style. I've got business to attend to so I won't be long, but I want you to complete her training. What do you think?"

This was all quite too much for the Hermit. He was used to defending Scobia from planetary threats and from the Elsewhere Beasts, but this was on a whole other scale. This could make an impact on galactic politics, he realized. He didn't want to be so important, he didn't want to have such a large influence, but he reminded himself that if he did this it would not be for the galaxy, but rather for Kocha.

"I think…" Ah, but how exactly was he going to word this? He was having second doubts about a decision he hadn't even made yet. "I think I'll be able to make her the most skilled practitioner of the style to have ever existed." Whew, that was almost hard to say. Now that he said it, he was entirely obligated to make it so; it was his duty to complete her training. It was his duty to have her excel.

Kocha released her grasp on the Dragon Hermit and let gravity comfort her instead. She'd be embarrassed by this moment for a long time to come and Wyntre's scouter was catching all of it.

"Wonderful. Farewell, Dragon Hermit Chengzi. Farewell, Captain Kinoko. I hope that you both succeed in your tasks."

Wyntre disconnected the connection, ending the simulation on her end but making what appeared to be Wyntre disappear on the actual Scobia.

After a few moments of thought, Chengzi shot Kocha a determined look. "Come on, student, we can't have you train looking like that! Here," he said, grabbing a (presumably washed) orange ki from the floor and passing it over to her with a toss, "one of my spare gi. You can have it, if you'd like. Change into this— it should fit you— while I go get you a dragon sash."

Chengzi, respectful of a woman's privacy, didn't look back when he left the room. His absence gave Kocha the freedom to change (although it was completely unnecessary given that she wore well-covering garments under her battle armor) into the gi. When Chengzi entered the room once again— and, ever the gentleman, he only did so once he was sure that she was 'decent'— he had a red sash in his hand with a single dragon symbol on it.

Some martial arts institutions across the galaxy, including on Earth, have a colored belt system in which the color of one's belt indicated one's skill in a certain martial art. What colors were used changed a lot depending on what culture it came from, this stemming from inherent 'meanings' because certain colors and what dyes were cheaper to get your hands on. On Scobia, each of the twelve hermits had a color unofficially tied to then, making it just about impossible to make a proper tiering system of colors without grade colors being associated with Hermit colors, this only being made worse due to the Dragon-Tiger rivalry which, as legends say, started when one Hermit stole the color (orange) of the other. They have since decided to use different shades of orange.

No, Scobians have a better system; each of them had an identical band (or close to identical, given the considerable size differences in Scobians) with a single symbol representing the style they trained under. For those who had only just started their training, however, they had no symbol. One level up from that, they were given a symbol with a small dot, then a medium dot, then a large dot. The dots represented a novice and the fact that a dragon dot wouldn't look any different from a rat dot represented that all that was being taught to them were the basics, basics which wouldn't change depending on which Hermit you chose. After that, they were given a simple small emblem. As the martial artist got stronger and better, their sash symbol got bigger and more intricately designed. The early dragon symbol, for example, was a simple and small dragon-head silhouette, only with later developments to add size, eye sockets, eyes in those eye sockets, nostrils, a mouth, well-designed teeth and increasingly cool-looking horns. Chengzi, as a Hermit, did not wear a sash because his gi served as the ultimate 'sash' and because his draconic bone armor served as the ultimate 'badge'.

The sash Chengzi had chosen out for Kocha was identical to the one— pehaps it was the one— she used to wear, back in the old days. It had a large emblem with a roaring dragon head. It seemed to be preparing to breath fire. It had really big pointy horns and long, sharp teeth and four eyes. The level of intricacy put into it must have been phenomenal. It was at the point where it could not get any bigger without breaking out the sash and could not get any more detail without either using other colors (as the two colors used were the hermit color and black/ white depending on the lightness of the hermit color) or adding stupid details like nose-hairs or eye-veins. No, the level above Kocha's was the best you could possibly have gotten, only excluding the not-actually-a-badge that came with the Hermit position. This best non-Hermit sash was an orange gi, much like Chengzi's, with a simple '竜' badge at the front and at the back instead of the whole armor thing.

He tossed the sash over to her, his heart warmed by the sight of Kocha in a gi. Sure, she looked different now, but it was still Kocha! "Don't get cocky: just because you have a dragon gi on doesn't mean that you've completed your training just yet." Very few people 'graduated' from these schools, most people just learnt in one until they knew enough to defend themselves. "Come on, I found some good trading grounds, away from curious eyes. Are you able to manipulate your ki so that your effective ki is less than your actual ki?"

Ah, yes, that. She had picked up that skill from her time training with Wyntre. She began to lower her Power Level…

219,750PL.
43,950PL.
8,790PL.
1,758PL.

Oops, no, not enough.

3,516PL.

Perfect. Now their Power Levels were just about equal, allowing them to effectively train together. You didn't need the power to blow up a planet to learn a martial art.

"How is that for you?"

It was great, or at least it was for Chengzi. The whole day was pretty great for Chengzi, really, with Kocha returning and only really changing physically. "That'd do just fine. Come on, I'll show you the spot."

---

Wyntre Cold was on Earth. More specifically, she was on her ship, the Valiance. Even more specifically, she was in her Gravity Chamber.

She hadn't been in there for long. Rather, she had only just entered the room, and already she had Kocha on her mind.

"Computer, 150x." And it was made so. She was used to such levels of gravity; from the perspective of someone who didn't know that she influenced the artificial gravity, nothing in her posture changed to indicate any gravitational change. "Bring me to Kocha, on Scobia. You know what to do." And, indeed, it did. It did what it did before: Wyntre would appear to Kocha through her scouter and what Kocha's scouter saw of the surrounding Scobia would be fed into the Gravity Chamber simulator.

Wyntre's first thought, upon seeing her simulated surroundings, was that a mistake has been made. Perhaps the computer misinterpreted her. Her next thought was more worrying: perhaps a malevolent artificial intelligence had breached the simulator and was trying to kill her, a situation Wyntre has simulated before. But, as she saw more of her immediate surroundings, she saw that there had been no mistake and that nothing was wrong.

It was dark and damp.
It was dark because it was night.
It was damp because they were only just barely above the ocean.

The waves were tall and furious. The surrounding darkness was well-suited by the sound of storm. Overhead were malicious dark clouds and large flashes of lightning, so constant that one could not assign the lightning to its respective bang of thunder.

This is most certainly not what I was expecting.

She looked around her for Kocha, but couldn't see her. But, before she could even ask her scouter for an exact location…

"I suppose, then, that this is what an 'Elsewhere Beast' looks like." She couldn't make it out in fully detail, but it was certainly frightening. It was sort of like an eel, sort of like an octopus, sort of like a hammerhead shark and sort of like death itself, all wrapped up and presented this neat package, except it wasn't actually in any way neat.

34,810PL.

That wasn't a particularly large Power Level, or at least Wyntre didn't think so. Rather, two average Arcosian babies trumped it in terms of true power. No, this thing was still alive, even though full-power Kocha would have been able to vanquish such a foe with little more than a flick. Therefore, as a result, it was abundantly clear that Kocha was doing this not for the purposes of killing a monster, but for the purposes of training by suppressing one's power to its level. Good.

Within only a few short moments she caught sight of the bio-android without the assistance of her scouter. She was flying, punching the beasts's tentacle-things in some sort of what was presumably a test of endurance through an induced war of attrition.

"Kocha!" she said loudly in an effort to defeat the noise of the storm and the sea, "Activate your hologram projector or put your scouter on fully. I'm here." Of course, otherwise, Wyntre wasn't actually there from anyone's perspective but her own.

Kocha had a wide range of genetic sources within her, sources which were optimized and chosen by a particularly powerful and clever computer. This clever computer accounted for many situations— for example, it had gills— and knew of the importance of good hearing. As such, it picked the Konatsian genes for well-shaped ears and Namekian genes for in-ear efficiency. Made short, she could hear very well. It was this that allowed her to have understood what Wyntre had said past all of the interference. And, as a result of this understanding…

Bip!

A hologram of Wyntre appeared, allowing her to be seen. Immediately, a tentacle tried to swat her out of the sky as if she were a fly, but it phased straight through her.

"Not the best time to check up on me, is it?"

With a ki-infused strike, a tentacle was punched off.

"Au contraire, Captain Arcose, this is as good a time as any. I can see you in what I can only assume to be your final trials."

Another tentacle swiped in suddenly in an attempt to get the bio-android, but she cut it off with a quick red eye laser attack. Those were much like Death Beams, as Wyntre had noticed, the biggest difference being from where such an attack was sent. The Elsewhere Beast uttered a guttural cry… it had never been in this much pain before.

"It's distracting! You're distracting! And, since you can't help me, could you please stop talking?"

Oh, Kocha, we all know that that's too much to ask for.

Being in no danger herself, Wyntre decided to take a closer look at the Beast, but also the skies. From the creature she saw that A) it really needed a dentist and that B) the entire sum of all money ever was not enough to pay a dentist to even get close to such a monstrosity. From the skies, however, and by judging from how little she could see of the mainland, she was able to deduce her position. "This is active Elsewhere Beast territory. You aren't defending the city against an attack, you're hunting what should otherwise be the planet's greatest predator. It hardly seems as if this is teaching you anything so I deem it likely that Chengzi sent you to here to make sure the threat ends. He's a smart lad."

Kocha continued to shoot her quick linear bursts of red ki from her eyes at the Beast whenever it attempted to attack her. "It's something like that. All I need to do is kill enough if them and I'd have finished my training. I'd get a sweet new gi, too."

Kocha wasn't operating at anything close to full power, using not much more than 1.5%. It was supposed to be a challenge, of course, even if a dead Elsewhere Beast is as good as it always is, regardless of the power of the individual who slew it. "At the current rate I don't think it would take long to cleanse the area. But, after that, what would you do? You still have plenty of time to spare and you won't be expected back for at least a week. I suggest, as I had before, that you pick up another martial art. With a mature and experienced individual like yourself who already has comprehensive skills in the basics and in another martial art altogether, a week would be enough."

Kocha struggled against a tentacle that was wider than she was tall. Upon throwing it to the side, she shot a series of eye laser beams at the thing's head, which seemed to finish it off. As it began sinking to the bottom of the ocean (where it would presumably be eaten by the turanadaw) another Elsewhere Beast attempted to stealth strike Kocha out of the air. Fortunately, being a giant eldritch monstrosity, stealth was not on its side. "I'm in the middle of something here!"

This other Elsewhere Beast was similar to the first in that they both had the usual accessories: tentacles, really big teeth and eyes on weird stalk things. They were different in that this one was larger: at least twice as high. Another difference was in color, as this one's carapace was black but reflected light in a strange way that was vaguely reminiscent of opal, but prettier.

"Deepest apologies, the decision to stay or return is entirely your decision. However, I have just one suggestion: when you kill this one, bring its corpse to a skinner. It would make great armor, or jewelry. Perhaps you could fashion something out of it." The Beast's carapace was ten centimeters thick and plated. While an earthling skinner might struggle removing such a material, Scobian skinners excelled at it; nowadays, they were skinners in name only, as so few of what came through their doors actually had skin, as opposed to scales or solid armor.

Kocha's power rose to 5%.

She propelled herself at the beast and made a mighty KA-BOOM sound as her fists smashed into the unprotected joint areas (having tentacles, there are a lot of those). Kocha was concentrating too hard to acknowledge her suggestion, but she probably heard it.

"Well, as much as I'd love to watch you in action, flying around isn't suitably time-efficient training regardless of the gravity. Although, why leave? Why leave, when I can bring my simulation here? Computer,—"

"This is my trial, not your training. I'd like to do this alone and without interruption." It was said with a great deal of determination, too.

"Certainly. Computer, end simulation."

Kocha faded. The storm faded. The ocean, the rain, the sky, the entirety of Scobia faded in the blink of an eye. All that was left was a woman in a grey room.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." She didn't say it to anyone in particular. She didn't need to, either.

---

Kocha did take the Elsewhere Beast's corpse to the skinner, its size surprising many. From it there was enough food to feed the city for a day (or an individual for a lifetime) and enough of the pretty carapace to allow even a humbly-payed family to reasonably afford jewelry.

Going to the skinner wasn't the only thing she did, though. She went back to the Dragon School and announced her success to a Chengzi who was in equal measures amazed by Kocha's power and relieved that one of the most powerful Elsewhere Beasts was gone.

They both knew that introducing such a strange 'alien' to the students would only cause confusion, perhaps even outrage. No, they both individually decided, she would have to graduate in a private ceremony.

Chengzi invited his greatest friend Hutora, the Tiger Hermit, over. Or, at least, that was what he said… rather, the tiger and dragon schools were diametrically opposed (except not literally, as the dragon's literal diametric 'opposite' was the dog according to the city's dodecagon layout), locked in a constant semi-friendly rivalry. This rivalry was either caused or grown by events such as an ancient dragon hermit 'stealing' the colour orange as theirs when the tiger hermit already used it and that one time a past tiger hermit claimed the dragon hermit position. Hutora was not there for the purposes of being friendly, he wasn't even there for the purposes of supplying an eye-witness account if anyone questioned the legitimacy of her graduation (even if that was what Chengzi claimed), he was there for the sole purpose of having the dragon taunt the tiger. Kocha was an absurdly powerful god-like individual from their perspectives, one that joined the Dragon School and not the Tiger one.

Hutora knew exactly why Chengzi invited him; news of an ex-Empress and her powerful alien 'minion' spread quickly… Hutora figured out the connection just as fast. But, even knowing this, he came anyway. Why? Because curiosity killed the cat. Or, rather, the tiger.

"Get it over with, Chengzi, it's only a private ceremony."

Hutora knew Chengzi well, and the other way around as well. This came as little surprise, however, to those who knew that they were brothers. Neither were particularly proud of it, or at least they claimed, and relations seemed questionable at best. No one knew which one was older— when pressed, they both claimed that their brother was younger. Their father, who used to be the Dragon Hermit, claimed that Chengzi was older. Their mother, who used to be the Tiger Hermit, claimed that Hutora was older. Their parents trained their children well in their respective styles from birth in an attempt to have the dragon and the tiger hunt together but not each other. Their parents' bond of love was able to overpower the seemingly inherent eremitic distaste. While they'd both give their life for the other in times of danger, they both seemed to enjoy keeping up the facade of being unrelated people who don't like each other.

Hutora, being Chengzi's brother, looked just like him. They were of similar size, they had a similar colour and even their faces looked quite alike. However, going by what they were wearing, they were very different: while Chengzi wore armor reminiscent of a dragon, Hutora wore clothing reminiscent of a tiger. It wasn't armor, nor was it quite a gi; it was made of orange clothe with the stripe patterns that you'd expect from a Tiger Hermit. All in all, it quite closely resembled a certain piece of earthling fashion: the changshan.

"It's not just a private ceremony, Hutora, but I never expected you to understand. It's the rest of a life. It's the completion of a Scobian martial art by what is to us a god. Have you sensed her Power Level? I marvel at the thought of my dear student Kocha kicking some Saiyan behinds, and you should, too."

Hutora did not marvel at this thought. He was more annoyed that Kocha was his brother's student and not his own. "Whatever."

Kocha was used to their interpersonal dynamic. She had seen Hutora on many occasions, usually because of their rivalry. Once upon a time not a day went by in which the Schools were not forced to fight each other or compete against each other in some way. Ms. Kinoko tried not to think about that— this was her moment. This was a long time coming, after all. She didn't want the bickering rivalry of brothers getting in the way of it, nor anything else. "Anyway." Chengzi's attention— and body— turned back to the least qualified yet most powerful individual in the room. "I'm not entirely sure as to how this is supposed to work." Chengzi's eyes moved again, this time to the Hermit Font. "You can back out of this at any time."

There was only one Hermit Font. Legend has it that it was constructed by the four original Sages— and with the divine guiding of Yufae, Gymnoti's godly father— out of the immortal electrocytes of Gymnoti's body.

"No. No, I need to do this."

It looked sort of like a bath. A big bath, certainly— Yufae must have predicted that some large Scobians would use it— but a bath nevertheless. It glowed an eery light, a light Kocha told herself not to be afraid of.

"Can you fit in there? I mean, with your wings, and tail, and horns…"

She was aware of such an issue. But, since her fight with Wyntre only a few days prior, she had become aware of uses of certain genetic components within her. She put her mind to the task of shapeshifting: the body could shapeshift with ease, the issue came with the mind telling the body how it was to do so.

"Not an issue." Her wings and tail began shaking. Then, they began shrinking. In only a few passing moments, Kocha was tailless and wingless. She kept her horns (as they weren't large enough to be an issue) as well as her gills (for what should be obvious reasons).

"… You're full of surprises, do you know that? Anyway, well, after you." By which he meant, 'you go on, I'll just watch'. Of course, all of the Hermits had done this ceremony years ago.

Well, this was the moment that she was afraid of. To get in the big scary welcoming life pool of death. The Hermit Font.

There was a psychic network on Scobia. It connected the plants, the sea creatures, the land creatures, the mosses and every Scobian. Even the Elsewhere Beasts and the Turanadaw were connected. Despite the different biology, Kocha's mind still had this connection. But, some individuals had an increased connection, an increased power, an increased authority… at such a level, these people could communicate with each other mentally. It was thought that the Turanadaw and the Elsewhere Beasts communicated with each other and didn't hunt each other because of the connection the two had. Sages were automatically connected to the network upon gaining the position (usually upon the death of their father) and those who had completed their training in a style were connected the hard way.

She levitated herself above the Font and, more afraid than she probably should have been, slowly lowered herself into the water. She became submerged fully. She forced herself not to rise with the use of her ki despite every sense telling her to jump out of there. This was a reward for learning a martial art in its entirety, sure, but it was also the final test. Finally, she began to lower her Power Level from the hundreds of thousands to something more appropriate.

Earthling biologists had noticed certain traits in some of their earthling animals, an event which was echoed by many species on many planets about many animals. They noticed how some creatures used bursts of electricity to attack and even paralyze threats. But, it was more than that: certain species were also noted as having communications based in electric pulses. The network was like this, only instead of having water as a medium, they had the psychic plane.

1,000PL.

She felt a tingling all across her body. This sensation was caused by the electricity generated by what was, in accordance with legend, the electrocytes of Gymnoti, made immortal by the magical hands of the Sages being controlled by Gymnoti's mourning father.

BZZNG.

The brothers did not hear that sound as, for them, there was no sound to hear. That sound was merely what one heard when all of the muscle's in one's ears were forcefully activated by a ludicrous voltage.

The muscles of most species are controlled by electrical pulses. Ribonu was created to have a very efficient nerve system, a system that was very good at protecting her against electric stuns. But, at this Power Level? All of her nerves were sending all that they could send. It hurt, it really hurt… her skin seemed to burn and freeze and melt. She moved, yet she didn't feel it. Her nerves seemed to start exploding, and she could feel all of their pain, but it also somehow just felt so numb…

"She isn't handling it well, her body wasn't built for this. Get her out of there."

Rutora usually didn't show concern for students of other hermits, but he had his reasons. Kocha Kinoko was originally a Scobian as he had been told, making her (since she had not broken any of the Immutable Laws like the Turanadaw retroactively did) just as much a Scobian as any of them. It was the job of a hermit to protect all of Scobia and therefore all Scobians, even if they were stupid enough to choose the wrong animal. Other than that, although he didn't show it, Hutora had a general respect for people and didn't want people to die unless they really deserved it. Besides, he thought she was kinda cute.

"You don't know Kocha like I do. She'll handle it!"

Kocha was only barely managing to 'handle it'. The tingling sensation was in her mind now, making it hurt, numb and mildly uncomfortable all at the same time. She couldn't feel it, but her body was dangling around with seemingly random and powerful muscle movements.

"Whatever, she's your student. I just don't want to be involved when the Arcosian Empire lady comes around and holds us responsible for her soldier's death."

Chengzi still had hope that she'd be fine. The muscle pain would likely continue for the rest of the day, perhaps longer, but it would only be a shadow of what she was experiencing in the Font. That meant that most of the pain was already behind her.

Movement.

Movement.

Movement.

Stillness.

… Stillness.

"… Stillness?"

Movement.

Kocha opened her eyes with a flash. Had she done it? Was she a part of the network? She didn't know how she could tell.

She looked deep within herself. She looked for things that were different. She looked for that which changed. But, despite this looking, she found out that it worked another way. She looked to Chengzi and felt all of the sympathy flowing off of him. Sympathy that was, she checked, directed at her. Sympathy, and relief.

Her neck stung when she tried to move it, her entire body ached with the memory of Gymnoti's touch, but she no longer cared about such meaningless inconveniences. She got up, regardless of how much much it hurt. She forced herself up, regardless of how much her legs threatened to give in.

And, with her newfound psychic link, she sent a message to the two hermits before her: Guess who.

She collapsed.
Her legs weren't bluffing.

---

"What is your decision?" Wyntre had only appeared to Kocha in the past few minutes and already she was asking the big questions.

Kocha was lying on a soft bench in the infirmary. She was lucky enough to not have any straps put on her to keep her in place— no, all the healing she'd need to do came in fixing burnt out connections— but it was still annoying, being confined to a room. It almost felt like a punishment… to punish her failure to fully withstand the electricity's effects on her body. It was an embarrassment, for her. An embarrassment to be seen in such a sorry state.

"What decision?" When Wyntre appeared before her, she did not seem surprised that Kocha was where she was. No, it was almost as if she expected it. Was her failure to stand after such an experience so predictable? It was, and such predictions were correct. This annoyed her more than it should have.

"The decision about when you're going to come back."

Kocha gave it some thought. She looked at the dents in the hygienic hospital roof and imagined that they were stars, flinging about in an empty yet everlasting expanse. But, then, she looked out the window. To Scobia. To Home.

But, dammit, she made a promise. Where did promises get her, though? She vowed not to return to Scobia until she had helped Wyntre make the galaxy a better, and look where she was now. No, no… no, she could not give up. Helping Scobia wasn't enough, the entire galaxy had scourges it needed terminated. But…

She looked outside.

…

She made her decision.

"I don't know when I'll be returning, Wyntre, not precisely. I do know that I will be returning, though, and I can tell you that I will return as soon as I do one thing…"

… Oh?

"I will return as soon as I master all twelve of the Scobian martial arts."

---

She had already mastered the Scobian dragon style, but that was mostly because of her advantage, having had been extensively taught it for much of her life. That meant that there were eleven more martial arts to learn.

Which one would have been best for her to learn first? It hardly mattered, but she made a decision anyway:

Tuziagi, the Rabbit Hermit.

The Rabbit style was not overly concerned with damaging the opponent: its main concern was with the opponent not damaging user. It focuses on high speed, rare but effective quick jabs when needed and mastering the highly potent martial art skill of jumping. It was effective at dodging just about any type of attack at just about any range. It must have worked, at least a bit, given that Tuziagi was the most powerful Scobian on the planet. The most powerful full-blooded Scobian, rather.

That was why she went to the Rabbit School building. Although she had already seen it plenty of times, it still surprised her: the building was built with a big set of rabbit ears sticking out of it, made out of the same substance as the main building (wood). The outside of the building— and, indeed, this also applied to its inside— was much less showy than the dragon and tiger ones. Yes, the only reason the dragon and tiger experiors were so flashy and cool-looking was because of a decoration arms race the two have been having… still, she was used to it.

Two humanoid rabbit statues in full-plate armor protected the entrance. But, as she neared, as if autonomous, they moved their shields to cover entirely the small entrance. She took one step back, causing the statues to bring their shields away from the door. But, as she took one step forwards, they covered it once again.

A test, then.

She took ten paces back. Then, she took twenty paces forwards… only she wasn't pacing, she was sprinting. At full-power. The statues knew her, now: they would open for her.

That lead her to the inside. The chamber was quite large, as was to be expected of a Hermit's main chamber, but it was still considerably smaller than Chengzi's. It had a huge cute bunny face painted over the entire floor and similar cutesy rabbit imagery scattered about. But, then, on the far side of the room, she saw Tuziagi on her throne. Hermit Chair. Whatever.

The Rabbit Hermit Chair was a cartoonish rabbit head with its ears flopping in such a way that allowed her to use them as a seat. The left ear formed the part where one sits, the right ear formed the part where one's back rested.

But— oh? What's this? As Kocha walked closer and closer, gathering quite a lot of attention (she decided to not wear her dragon gi as it would have gathered attention/might have offended, but her alien appearance was freaky enough anyway), one thing became apparent: that was not Tuziagi. No, it was just a puffy pillow with what could only have been presumed to be Tuziagi's clothing on it (including her infamous 'helmet') and a cartoonish rabbit smiley face drawn where the face might have been if pillows tended to have faces.

This wasn't a very clever substitute. Or a normal clever substitute. It barely even counted as any sort of substitute at all, but it did bring up the question: where was the real Tuziagi?

Despite all of the eremitic animalistic fashion choices, the Hermits themselves were still Scobians. Still, as some might say, fish people. If she had put her hermit clothes on the pillow, leaving herself with the normal rabbit gi, she could have been any of the females in the room.

Kocha might have asked her scouter, but the Scobian martial artists put a lot of importance on hiding one's ki. So, instead of looking like an idiot by asking every female in the room if they were the Hermit, she rather decided to check the Hermit's chambers.

The door was open. Taking this as an invitation, she entered.

"Who let you in?" asked a muffled voice. It seemed to have come from the bottom of a pile of pillows, mostly rabbit-themed.

"The door was open." And, indeed, it was.

"Was it now?" Yes. It was.

"Yes, it was." Precisely.

"… Oh. What do you want?" One of her eyes looked through a crack in between pillows, allowing her to see Kocha in full and allowing Kocha to see an eyeball surrounded by fluffy rabbit memorabilia.

"Tuziagi, I'd like to speak with you." She spoke bluntly and to the point.

"Tuziagi? Me? No, you got it all wrong. Tuziagi's on the throne. I mean, Hermit Seat. Yeah, she's there." She sniffed the air much like a rabbit would for no discernible reason.

"There's a pillow on the throne."

"Oi!" she began, erupting out of her volcano of pillows accusatively, "She prefers the term 'rabbit'!"

"You've got rabbit ears on." She did. They were pink and fluffy— not the kind she wore as a part of her hermit gear (the type the pillow wore), but more comfortable ones that weren't attached to a 'helmet'.

"Ahh! No! It's just a rabbit-themed pillow I happen to have on my head!" A pillow with velcro and floppy ears. Sure.

"… They fit you perfectly, though." And they weren't even adjustable.

"Huh?" She snatched off her rabbit ears and threw them someplace behind her. "What fits me perfectly? You must be deluded."

"You're wearing rabbit-themed slippers. They're fastened to your feet." Ah, yes, her infamous rabbit pyjamas. Damage them at your own peril.

"Oh, where did they come from?" She was either very good at acting or she legitimately didn't know how those got there. She had the tendency to have rabbit-themed fashion parades when sleepwalking.

…

"Who are you, then?" It was as good a question as any.

"Well, I was a napping individual, but you made sure to change that, haven't you?" That rhetoric answered the question just as well as you'd expect from rhetoric that didn't answer the question.

"Is that so? Because your pyjama pants are labelled 'Tuziagi'." Except the 'i's were drawn as carrots and the 'a' was given a bunny face.

Tuziagi picked up a pillow to put in front of the label on her pants. "They could be anybody's."

"They're labelled 'Tuziagi' and you're wearing them."

…

…

…

"FINE! I admit it! I was just having a nap, get out of my room!"

Kocha took a single step backwards. That was outside of the room.

"And I'll get changed, too. Close the door!"

Kocha closed the door.

A series of comical sound effects followed, most of which were presumably caused by Tuziagi struggling to get the appropriate articles of clothing on in as short a time as possible.

And then…
Voila!

She slammed the door open and proclaimed her glory as the most powerful Hermit with her stance alone.

"Your gi is inside out." That was the first thing she noticed. "Also backwards." That was the second.

"… Gimme a moment."

She took a step back and slammed the door behind her.

The sound effects continued. It sounded as if bricks were being thrown across the room, Kocha was pretty sure she even heard a cat shriek in there somewhere.

And then…
Voila!
Again!

She slammed the door open, just as she had before. She gave a victorious pose, just as she had before. However, unlike before, she was wearing her 'costume' correctly. Mostly.

Scobian rabbits were predominantly white-furred. As a result, the color of the Rabbit School was white, which was why much of the room was colored such. It also perfectly explained the theming in color that Tuziagi had chosen for her costume.

She did not wear a gi. It was very clearly not a gi, but she insisted that it was. She was so adamant and so annoying to those who failed to call it as such that people just went with it. Her 'gi' was actually, at a fundamental level, a white qipao. But, alas, describing it as such wouldn't have done it justice; it had bits of white fur at her cuffs and around her collar, representing the fur of the rabbit. She also seemed to wear slim-fitting pants, something you wouldn't have really expected to be paired with a qipao. But, still, it was understandable: she didn't seem to have been held back by it at all as it allowed her to move freely and, perhaps more importantly, given how her fighting style involved a lot of jumping, it prevented anybody from (even accidentally) looking up her skirt. But even this was not the extent of her 'fashion': her gloves were (as one would have come to expect by now) furry white but with pink bits where you'd find them on a rabbit and had a small hidden blade mechanism under each of her fingers, a mechanism that Kocha heard had allowed Tuziagi to effectively bring out or retract ten poisoned needles at will (if Kocha had not heard of these stories, she would not have checked to see if they were there. If she had not checked, she never would have noticed them, as they were very well concealed.) Tuziagi did not bother with shoes, as she found that it was easier to jump without them.

Her 'helmet', much like her 'gi', was not very much of a helmet at all. Rather, they were just bunny ears. One flopped over adorably, because of course it did.

"Well, then, let's have a look at you." Tuziagi dropped to the floor and closely analyzed Kocha's shoes. She then began sniffing. "Hmm? What's this? It smells of spaceship." Tuziagi then analyzed her knees, then her legs in general, then her hips, her torso, her arms and, finally her face. She seemed to have ignored Kocha's wings and tail. "I know your foot-size, your shirt size, your cup size and your Three Measurements, tee em." And, Tuziagi being Tuziagi, she would never forget any of them. What unnerved Kocha the most (well, besides the cup size/Three Measurement bit, of course) was that Tuziagi seemed to believe that the term was trademarked, hence the 'tee em'. "What I don't know about you, though… actually, there's a few things." Tuziagi grabbed Kocha by the cheek and moved it around. She flicked Kocha's lips to see how they'd move. She even gave a tug on Kocha's long ears, just to see if they were real or not.

"Well, if you'd give me some space, I might be able to answer some of them."

Tuziagi took a step back, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Right. Well, anyway… my name is Kocha Kinoko. I work for Wyntre Cold, ex-Empress of the Arcosian Empire. I'd like to learn the Rabbit Style."

Tuziagi, shocked, analyzed Kocha's stance, just to be sure. "What? Why? You already know the Dragon Style!"

"Ah, yes, well—" Wait just one second… "Pardon? How do you know I know the Dragon Style?"

Tuziagi thought that that was a silly question. "All life on Scobia is linked by a network. You should already know all of this, you feel as if you've been in the Hermit Font. Through this, I can tell some things about a person, like how they fight. But, uh, the bigger question is…" she got closer in a failed attempt to appear intimidating, "… how were you allowed in the Font? Oh, wait, no, silly question. You must've graduated. Why do you want to learn another martial art under your belt, anyway? That belt thing was a metaphor, by the way."

Very few in the history of Scobia had learnt more than one martial art style. No one had learnt multiple styles without good reason and only one individual had ever learnt all of them. The only one known to have ever done so was a monarch from the planet's history many millennia ago, a figure whose life was, by now, more myth than history. King Zodia was the only monarch in the history of Scobia— at least, the only Scobian one, some Turanadaw clan leaders were known to call themselves impressive-sounding titles (e.g., king, emperor, overking, overemperor, king of kings, godly ruler, hyper-mega-god-king-emperor and so on, plus all of their distaff counterparts) in some absurd arms race of titles— and his reign was recounted upon in glee. According to legend, Yufae the creator deity came up to the senate and asked for a lady from which his child would be born. Throme, the Hen Hermit, volunteered. The very next day, as the legends would have it, she was already heavily pregnant. Zodia was born on that day. Although perhaps this myth should not be trusted; earlier renditions of the myth don't say the pregnancy was any faster than it should have been. Renditions from before that say that Throme became pregnant through her husband and that the child was influenced by Yufae. Renditions from before even that say that Throme was already heavily pregnant when the child of blessed. Either way, Yufae's involvement in any of this was questionable.

"I wish to learn every Scobian martial arts style so that I may competently protect the universe." She'd also try to avoid people claiming that she was doing so to substantiate her claim to be the Queen of Scobia. She really, really did not want to be monarch.

Strangely, though, she did have a claim to the throne (a throne that doesn't exist and otherwise has only been used once) through her mother, Gesivii. The only reason she gave Feuskry a chance was because her parents told her not to. She chose the dragon to train under because the dragon and the dog were diametrically opposed (her mother being the then-Dog Hermit). Gesivii's mother, the Dog Hermit, came from a long line of Dog Hermits (only impeded upon by the occasional unrelated yet more worthy student) which began with Culgica, the eventual first and only wife of Zodia.

Zodia, unlike Kocha, wanted to be monarch. This was an unheard-of concept at the time, presumably one Zodia had heard of from its early interstellar trading partner before it became more isolationist. The aliens who made contact with Scobia strangely fitted the description of Konatsians, a race known for its monarchism. Zodia learnt under his mother and subsequently (if the legends are to be believed) became the youngest Scobian to ever learn one of the styles. But, after that, he just didn't stop. He had learnt all twelve styles before even hitting puberty. He then proved himself by beating up a bunch of Elsewhere Beasts and, with almost total support, proclaimed himself as the King of Scobia. He married Culgica, the Dog Hermit, and had many children. Then he died/ascended to a higher plane of existence to join with Yufae, leaving an empty throne with no one worthy enough to sit in it. That throne had since been destroyed, but twelve gems were collected and given out to the hermits so that they may put it in/on their thrones. Hermit Chairs. Whatever.

"Every one? All twelve? Sounds suspicious. Sounds evil. I mean, really, what's the point learning other styles when the rabbit style is the only one you need?"

Kocha did not grace the question with any response other than a visible narrowing of her eyes.

"Well, yeah, whatever, I guess. So what makes you think I'll train you?" The other ear flopped over adorably.

Kocha stopped suppressing her energy, giving anybody and everybody the ability to sense her Power Level of about 225 thousand.

Meanwhile, Tuziagi, the second most powerful known individual on the planet…
5,456PL.

"I have a lot of power, I'm sure you're aware of that. But, well… the enemies that I will be facing— the enemies that justice has been facing— are more powerful than me in even my massively more power transformed state. If I am to have any chance of defeating them, any chance to help bring peace to the galaxy, it would be because I have the skills necessary to do so. Being able to destroy a planet is all well and good, but I must be able to defeat opponents who can do so much more." Pause for dramatic effect. "Tuziagi, you are the Rabbit Hermit. You specialize in a martial art mainly focused on not being hit. I'd need that, out there. Can you help me?"

Tuziagi seemed to have been moved to tears. She became invested in what Kocha was saying and was already imagining what training to do. "I'll go ahead and, uh, get your sash…" That was code for 'I'll go cry into a pillow for a while about how awesome I thought that speech was and then go get you a sash'.

Tuziagi pounced back inside and slammed the door behind her.

"Oh, Kocha, you moved a girl to tears. What a monster." Of course, Wyntre had been watching the entire encounter. It had brought her quite a lot of amusement. She knew why Tuziagi cried (because crying was a thing that she was prone to do) and Kocha knew Wyntre knew, too.

"How long have you been watching?" Kocha had the suspicion that it might have been for a while.

"For a while." Called it. "Anyway, you're practically done already. Once you've learnt the rabbit style you'd have completed a sixth of all of the styles you said you'd learn."

But, before Kocha could reply, Tuziagi was back. She couldn't see Wyntre as Wyntre only appeared to Kocha through her scouter. However, as her big rabbit ears were good for something, she heard Kocha's side of the conversation but couldn't make out the words. Tuziagi, ever the optimist, assumed that she was just chatting with her BFF over the scouter.

"Your sash." Tuziagi politely handed over the sash in an overly formal manner. "You've already learnt the dragon style, haven't you? The draconic philosophy to only use as much energy as is required works well with the leporine philosophy to not be hit. They're kinda compatible, I suppose, so this will go easier than it might have done if you didn't know any of the styles… especially considering the fact that you would have went through the basics." The idea that learning one style would help in learning another was just about always true, but in Tuziagi's most humblest-er-est opinion, this was the least true for those who knew the rooster style. This had more to do with the fact that the rabbit and the rooster were diametrically opposed and less to do with any actual differences in how one fought.

The sash was white, as white was the color of the rabbit. On it was a simple silhouette design of two rabbit ears. It was the simplest badge that had such a design, but at least it wasn't a dot. But, alas, Kocha didn't much mind, as she was expecting herself to fly through the ranks.

"Thank you. I look forward to our training."

---

The first thing Tuziagi told Kocha to do as part of their training was a simple game called 'Catch the Rabbit'. The rules were as follows:
1. Tuziagi is the rabbit.
2. Your Power Level must be no larger than the rabbit's.
2. Catch the rabbit.

Such endeavor had started out simply enough; Kocha had ran at the rabbit, only to have her dodge her attacks with ease, often with controlled and calculated jumps. The Bio-Android recognized that grabbing Tuziagi by her ears would have been a very effective manner in which to catch her, assuming that she wasn't able to remove the ears from her hood.

But, as it turned out, nothing that she tried worked. Tuziagi was very quick, despite them having the same Power Level, and Kocha knew that she'd have to get just as fast. She understood that, she truly did, but she was still more focused on the goal at hand:

Catch the damn Rabbit.

They spent what felt like an hour doing this. They did not stop because she caught the rabbit, as Kocha had hoped would happen, they stopped because Tuziagi got bored and had to go get ice-cream.

And, already, her hopes about how easy and quick this was going to be were ruined.

After that, they played the game again, but with some edited rules:
1. Kocha is the rabbit.
2. Your Power Level must be no larger than the rabbit's.
2. Catch the rabbit.

Now, with that failure of a first game, Kocha was expecting similar results, but she surprised herself. I mean, yes, she caught almost immediately on the first round, but as they played more and more rounds, she lasted longer in each until Tuziagi got bored (again) and got ice-cream (again).

"Right, I'm back!" proclaimed the Hermit. "I wanna help by showing you a few things." She had jumped in out of nowhere, but Kocha was expecting that.

"You had chocolate ice-cream, didn't you?" She did. Theobromine, the main chemical of chocolate, was supposed to be toxic to rabbits. That brought up the question of how closely hermits were supposed to represent their animals.

"Huh!? Well, yeah, how'd you know?" Tuziagi had the bad feeling that this was going to remind her of that time she claimed to not be the Rabbit Hermit. "Are you magic or something?"

"No, no, no magic," although she did plan on asking Wyntre to teach her some of her techniques, some of which were magic-based (or at least they seemed as if they were), she did not know any magic, "I can tell because you've got chocolate all around your mouth. I suppose the spoon was trying to dodge that, yes?" Kocha thought that that was funny.

Tuziagi did not appreciate those comments. "Or maybe I just like to eat my ice-cream as finger-food, huh, have you thought about that?" ...Huh? "Do you want me to train you or not? Because, at the moment, you seem to be leaning towards the 'not'."

"… Sorry?" Kocha wasn't sure if that was the appropriate response. Kocha wasn't sure if there was an appropriate response. "I want you to train me." She wondered if this was necessary. "Please."

"Hmmph." When Tuziagi said that, she didn't merely make the sort of sound you'd expect to be denoted by 'hmmph'. She said it, phonetically and concisely, as if it were an actual word. "Fine: we can continue, I guess. As I was saying earlier," she began, licking away her ice-cream-induced fake-beard, "dodging normally is all well and good, but sometimes it just isn't enough. You need to be able to put some spring in your step… or, in this case, ki."

Kocha did not know if that meant that she needed to 'put some ki in her step' or that she needed to 'put some spring in her ki'. She was assuming that it was the former, as she believed that it made more sense.

"The concept is simple enough, you've probably come across it in your travels: using your ki to increase the strength of the muscles that are getting you the HFIL out of Dodge." Tuziagi didn't know why the 'd' in 'dodge' was capitalized, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with just how important dodging was. "And yeah, sure, what a concept. But, I mean, I'm the Rabbit Hermit! Dodging's my shtick!" To be more specific, 'dodging by moving quickly' was more her shtick. The Rat Hermit, Shuratto, had the shtick of 'dodging by running away' and the Rooster Hermit, Ondorigon, had the shtick of being able to fly, something which was mostly used to dodge. And, yes, Scobian Roosters were actually able to fly but Scobians Hens were not, hence Rooster Hermit instead of Fowl Hermit. Or, as Tuziagi would have put it, Ondorigon is really sexist. Ondorigon was actually a lady, which sort of flew in the face of that, but mere logic has never stopped an adorable rabbit fish alien from blaming everything on a 'rooster' fish alien, so why would it start now? "My shtick!" Whatever the angry bunny lady says. "So, you know, I'm quite good at dodging things: attacks, questions, responsibilities, all that good stuff. And, uh, I picked up a few things. A few really big techniques, see?" That was a figure of speech. The only thing there was to see was an adorable fish alien in a bunny suit. Except, not the sexy type, or the containment type that apparently exists, but the type you'd get when you want to wear a fancy white qipao, assassin gloves, a furry white onesie and bunny ears all at once. "Well, not 'big', perse. Just really awesome, you know?"

Kocha still didn't know what this technique was. All she knew about it was that it was awesome, that it wasn't big and that it had something to do with dodging. So, all in all, with what she knew of it, she might as well have called it the unbig awesome dodging technique.

"I call it…" she said as Tuziagi hit the ground to create what very clearly wasn't but what was very clearly intended to be a drumroll, "… Rapid Rabbit™! And, when you do it so quickly that you leave an after-image, it's called Leporine Left-Overs™! And, when you're really desperate to avoid an attack, the powered-up version is called Cunicular Crash™!" Thankfully, these trademarks weren't audible like they were before.

"… It sort of sounds like you thought up three pun-based technique names and couldn't decide which one to use, so you just used all of them." Of course, these comments weren't serious, they were just all good fun. But, to Tuziagi, 'all good fun' was only 'all good fun' when it was directed at someone else… like Ondorigon. Feckin' Ondorigon.

"Well, yeah, that's exactly what happened. Why? Do you not like one of them? Do you not like any of them?" Her speech started out cordial, but the end of it reeked of potential malice.

"No, they're all…" … stupid sounding… "… creative. I think 'Rapid Rabbit' sounds better than others, can't the others just be 'Rapid Rabbit' as well? They're all effectively the same anyway, aren't they?"

Tuziagi looked insulted.

"… Sorry."

Pleased with her bloodless victory, Tuziagi entered a fighting stance. Or, to be more specific, she entered the Scobian rabbit stance, which involved getting close to the floor in a position that allowed her to jump in just about any direction at a moment's notice. Kocha, who didn't know any other martial art styles, entered the Scobian dragon stance.

"The dragon school teaches its students how to make ki attack, how to make openings so that these attacks may be effective and how to not be defeated before you get the opportunity. However… ki attacks are kinda easy to dodge, or at least they will be when you're as good at it as yours truly. So, here's what we'll be doing… you fight in what little rabbit style you know and I'll try to fight in the dragon style." The thing was, Tuziagi didn't know any styles other than her own. She once tried to learn the Earthling Serpent Style after finding herself attached to the protagonist of Serpent Master: EX who used that very style, but the closest thing to that Tuziagi could actually learn was the Scobian snake style. The Snake Hermit, Hebishe, refused to indulge Tuziagi's crush on a video game character and denied her training in the style.

The two traded stances. For Kocha, she had to concentrate on not using any ki attacks (at least, offensive ones) and to hold the stance. Tuziagi had to put more effort into it as she had used the rabbit style for her entire life. She had to focus on being aggressive and deflecting instead of dodging, sure, but she had to change her mindset for a while as well.

"Rapid Rabbit isn't just putting ki into your muscles to make them evade faster. If that were the case, it wouldn't work when flying… and, I'm about 70% sure that this would work when flying. I suppose it's hard to explain: however, essentially, you pull yourself in a direction using your ki. I really can't properly find the words to describe the intracacies— I'm not entirely sure if there are any intricacies— but you use the ki to pull, not push, yourself towards where you want to go." She opened herself up mentally, through the Scobian network, knowing that understanding what to do what would come more easily when her own knowledge was beginning to float outwards in the network.

Tuziagi jumped forwards aggressively, to which Kocha jumped to the side. When Tuziagi began ferociously swiping, Kocha was focused on ducking and weaving to avoid those attacks. But, when Tuziagi made a strike that Kocha merely couldn't move a meter to avoid, she jumped backwards, with the assistance of her wings.

"You're doing well. When this sort of fighting becomes natural, you'd be just about done."

Tuziagi threw herself at Kocha with a series of ki-enhanced strikes, one Kocha Matrix Dodged™ with ease. But, when white ki gathered in Tuziagi's arms, Kocha jumped a good twenty meters away.

"Jumping out of the way just won't cut it this time; the technique I'm charging has been imbued with the spirit of all rabbits!" No, it hasn't. It was just a standard ki attack. Well, it would have been standard, if not for… "This technique is not just any technique, however! It will follow you to the end of your days and will never relent until you die… or until you use this technique. Do you understand?" Kocha didn't have any time to respond. "Great!"

The ki Tuziagi was gathering was white in complexion. It skirted and danced around Tuziagi's joined hands as if it were not ki, but an bunch of really small bunnies trying to not suffocate.

"But— why would a Rabbit Hermit even know ki attacks?" Kocha wasn't sure why it took her this long to question this. Ki attacks were the domain of the dragon, or at least it was believed that they should have been. Rabbits, as tradition held, were nimble creatures who failed to be hit and only struck when the opportunity presented itself.

"I'm the most powerful hermit on Scobia, as I'm sure you're aware. Don't you think there's a reason for that?" While it was certainly true that Tuziagi has only ever used the Rabbit Style, it didn't mean that she didn't experiment within its bounds. Her early experimentation allowed her to easily put ki into the muscles that were propelling her elsewhere. Further experimentation led to the Rapid Rabbit™ and its variants. But, with a keen understanding of the concepts at work and only a bit more experimentation, she was able to move that ki from inside her body to the outside. Soon, she learned how to propel her attacks, effectively inventing ranged ki attacks uniquely by herself. By adding the Pulling Ki Thingamajig™ from Rapid Rabbit™ to this offensive technique, she was able to influence its curve so heavily that it became homing as long Tuziagi saw where she wanted it to go. "Anyway, here goes nothing… prepare yourself! For, I, the most eremitic hermit, and the most powerful power, and the most rabbity rabbit, will soon unleash my attack!"

A few seconds passed.

"… Give me a moment!"

A few more seconds passed.

"Got it! Behold, Kocha! Behold my rabbitness! Behold:" Pause for dramatic effect. "CUNICULAR CANNONBALL™! OR LEPORINE LASER™! OR BUNNY BALL™! I HAVEN'T DECIDED ON A NAME YET!" She said that just about loudly as she could. For a rabbit fish girl, it was actually quite loud.

She brought the ball of white into her hands and seemed to press into a rounder shape. But, then, unexpectedly, she jumped directly upwards, obscuring the view of Scobia's star (named Scobia, of course) from Kocha's view. And then, in mid-air, Tuziagi dropped the ball of ki and kicked it at impressive speeds directly at Kocha.

Merely dodging just wouldn't be enough.

So, she picked up on the subconscious hints that were emanating from Kocha through the network. She felt her ki inside and surrounding her. All she'd need to do is have it pull her, somehow. But, how was one to go about that goal? What could she possibly do to make ki act in such a way? Ask nicely?

Kocha asked nicely.
The ki pulled Kocha to the side, out of the way of the Bunny Ball™ (as that was what Kocha believed was the best name out of the three options). It tried to swerve to the left but found (or, more accurately, Tuziagi found) that it simply could not turn that quickly.

BOOM.

The attack hit a boulder in its path. But, after that, there was no attack… and there was no boulder.

"Woo!" cheered the cheering Tuziagi, cheerfully, "You did it! Now, there's only one thing for you to do…" —please don't be something stupid, please don't be something stupid, please don't be— "… and that is to catch me with a Power Level no higher than my own. Got it? Begin!"

Tuziagi jumped back a massive distance in a series of jumps. Kocha, who was only vaguely aware of her surroundings because she was recovering from the strange experience of having her ki pull her, was late to the chase already.

But, still, she had an advantage. She had a scouter and the ability to fly—

"Oh, and no flying!" she somehow heard. That'll make things harder.

Kocha took flight, figuratively. With a series of long jumps much like the one Tuziagi used, she made her first moves as the hunter of the most evasive game, the fabled Rabbit Hermit.

---

Needless to say, Kocha caught Tuziagi eventually. After that was one final exercise (or, as Tuziagi called it, 'the final part of the final task') which involved the same 'game' but their positions were reversed, with Tuziagi trying not to get caught. But, there was a big difference… they did it inside the Rabbit School and neither were allowed to leave until Kocha succeeded. She needed to go untouched for an entire minute and Tuziagi was legitimately putting a lot of effort in. It took a while but, eventually, she passed.

The graduation ceremony was quite amusing. Tuziagi insisted on knighting her but used a carrot instead of a sword and, by the end of it, her end-stage 'badge' was a pair of fake rabbit ears. They were dyed the same blue as her hair and seemed to magically stay in place, which was more impressive when one realized that they weren't attached to anything. She thanked everyone and left.

At first, she wasn't sure as to what hermit to train under next. She learnt ki control under the dragon and evasive maneuvers under the rabbit… but what if she wanted to face an enemy more directly? She'd have to have powerful strikes, which wasn't an immediate concern, and she'd need to take powerful hits.

It was clear: she'd need to train under Niushi, the Ox Hermit.

And, so, she went to the Ox School and noticed a few themes. Again, it was less grandiose than the dragon and tiger schools, but so were all of the other schools. This one, however, while certainly not boasting or grandiose in any real sort of way, was still very quite big. It was made out of rough and darkened metal and might have looked as if it were a bad guy's evil lair if not for the complete lack of any evil imagery. Well, there were horns around. The horns of oxen, of course. The entire school had a pyramidal shape with large horns on top of it. Even the door to the inside had ox horns (metal, of course) acting as a handle. The door, while made out of a dark metal, was quite tall and quite wide… but Kocha had the suspicion that this wasn't for show. The biggest Scobians were almost always sent to the Ox School.

She tried to pull the door open but was surprised to feel that that the horn was quite hot. They showed no signs of being hot but the sheer temperature that it conveyed was too much for her suppressed state. This was the test of the Ox School, she realized. Before one could even enter, one needed to prove their resistance. Or, perhaps more likely, their willpower to not let go until the door was open… a metaphor, if you will.

Kocha had figured out that the handle wasn't actually hot at all. Not actually hot, that is; but it was hot to her. It was the mind being tricked, dishonest additions of sensory input. She didn't know how it worked— probably through the Scobian network— but she did know that it would work, regardless of how much or how little of her power she suppressed.

She forced her hands onto the horns and, with a sudden yank, she tamed the metaphorical bull. With hands feeling the shadows of pain, she made her way forwards. The doors closed themselves behind her— they knew her now, they trusted her, they'd open for her.

The Ox School's inside was much like its outside in that a mysterious dark metal seemed to be just about everywhere. The students in there didn't pay attention to the strange new alien, as their attentions were already occupied, not with training, but with the spar that was unfolding before their very eyes.

Two figures circled around each other, neither daring to make a move. The thing about those who trained under the ox was that they knew exactly what other practitioners of the same style were thinking about doing. Both combatants knew about this. In a way, both combatants were counting on this to win.

Both opponents were large for Scobians, with the tallest among them standing at a good seven and a half feet tall and with the other one not much behind. The tallest of them was clearly Niushi, the Ox Hermit, who wore a full set of armor made out of the same dark metal. Atop her helmeted head were horns, crafted in the same style as the other horn imagery, except very clearly sharpened. One might have mistaken her for a robot, if her motions weren't so organic. The person she was fighting against was shorter than she was, yes, and it wasn't just because of the extra height granted to Niushi by her boots and helmet. That didn't make him short, though, he was still very quite big, both vertically and horizontally. He held a front-heavy hammer that he was managing to carry as if it were as light as a twig. He wore mail armor over a thick gambeson, but it looked more like paper in comparison with what Niushi had on.

The challenger made a strike to Niushi's armored knee with its full force behind it, but the Hermit didn't even flinch. With a further swing of his axe, directed at her armored face, not even her ox-styled helmet was damaged. When he tried again, she caught his hammer and forcefully tossed it out of his hands and to the side.

It was at that moment that Kocha realized something: the challenger's hammer was attached to his metal glove through a thin yet very durable chain. He used the momentum Niushi gave the hammer when she tossed it to the side to do a full rotation, grab the hammer at the last moment and strike again.

Niushi took a few steps back, staggered. The challenger, seeking to maximize his victory, continued with another series of strikes which put Niushi off-balance. Then, with one last strike, she began to fall over… so, naturally, she grabbed his arm, smashed him into the metal ground and had his fleshy body break the fall of herself and her heavy armor. As she was getting back up again, she picked up her opponent's hammer and threw it out the door with such force that the air hardly had any time to get out of the way. The challenger, the poor lad, was unable to put his glove off in time. He watched as the chain reacted with the axe being thrown outside and made an audible gulp when the movement of the chain reached him. In no time at all, he was propelled outside, the doors magically closing themselves after him.

Niushi and her students, all quite burly, were looking at the door. That is to say, they were looking in Kocha's general direction. It was only natural that, eventually, they'd notice her.

"Who are you?"

Kocha could almost feel the pressure of their gaze. She looked back to the doors behind her and wondered if she should would have been able to come back at another time and if it was would have been worth it if she did.

She weighed her options and decided to stay. She looked at Niushi right in the eye… she only wished she didn't have to look up so much while doing so. "I am Kocha Kinoko." Why not go for some theatrics? "I have learnt the Dragon Style. I have learnt the Rabbit Style. Now, for the betterment of the galaxy, I want to learn the Ox Style! Will you aid me?"

Some members of the dojo laughed at… a notion. Perhaps they were laughing at the notion that someone was learning multiple of the styles. Perhaps they were laughing at the notion that the Ox Hermit would want to train her. Kocha, even though she was the shortest person in the room, was quite tough so there was no reason to deny her based off of that. Her mind was half-Scobian and Ribonu had a considerable amount of Scobian genetic material, so that could potentially dispel the idea that she wouldn't be taught because she's an alien (she even wore Scobian clothes to try to prevent people from associating her with alienness so strongly). There was, of course, the idea that Niushi could deny her because she might have believed that the only reason a dodgy alien character would try to learn every eremitic style (as she presumed Kocha was trying to do) was to gain a claim to become the monarch of Scobia for whatever interstellar conglomeration Niushi believed Kocha worked for.

"I will not aid you." That most certainly was not what she was hoping to hear.

Niushi turned around to go yo her private chambers, presumably to get into clothes that weren't twice as heavy as she was. Kocha followed, hoping to explain herself, but some of the ox students got in the way.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Currently, she didn't think she was going anywhere, since she had just been stopped. "I need to speak with Niushi." To the point and brevitous? How un-Wyntre-like.

"Well, alien, that just won't do. She refused you, you can't change her mind! She won't let your grab for power work."

"Oh, is that they think you're doing?" asked the newly-manifested Arcosian, "I know I shouldn't come to expect intelligence from a group of people who idolize cows, but this is just getting ridiculous."

Of course, acting through the scouter, Wyntre was only visible/audible to Kocha. The ox students didn't hear or see anything like that.

"I'll make this quick." Ah, splendid. "I'm not here to succeed Zodia, I'm not here to become the Queen of Scobia." Wyntre had, admittedly, ran a few simulations in which just that happened so as to analyze what precursors would make Kocha be able to/ make Kocha want to become the Queen of Scobia as well. The concept was also integrated into Wyntre's 'ideal situation' simulation, in which Kocha ruled Scobia as a vassal under the glorious Arcosian Empire. "I'm not even here on behalf of anybody other than myself." Kocha made sure Wyntre heard that. "I'm here to become skillful in my planet's martial arts so that I may protect the galaxy from such threats as the Saiyans and the Mazoku. And, if you won't let me pass…"

234,617PL.

"… Then I'm afraid I might have to make you."

None of them had ever sensed a Power Level so large. The power emanating from her… it was unquestionably beyond the scope of their understanding. Some of them came to the conclusion that she was a sun goddess (by having wings that allowed her to fly across the sky like the sun was thought to, eyes the color of the sun, hair the color of the sky and skin the color of the sunset). The thing was, though, that at that point, she may as well have been one. Either way, they all allowed her to pass.

"Thank you." With only five seconds or so of walking, Kocha found herself at the door to Niushi's private chambers. The problem was, though, that she didn't know how to best ask for training after being declined already.

She didn't know much about Niushi from her days back before the invasion attempts. She did overhear one of Chengzi's rambling sessions about how annoyed he was when Hutora boasted that he was engaged with Niushi, who had only recently become the Ox Hermit. The Ox and the Tiger had presumably wed since then, but using this information to convince her probably wouldn't work. Besides, letting her know that Kocha knew that could have been seen as creepy.

"What do you want?" She seemed vaguely disinterested. Or, at least, that was how she was trying to sound.

"Training. I wish to train, and I wish to learn the Ox Style."

Wyntre watched on, amused. "Perhaps the ox wasn't the best decision as to who to train under after the rabbit. But, you've made this decision, so I will leave you to the potential repercussions."

Harrumph.

Niushi had opened the door and looked at the scrawny little alien standing before her. "I cannot train you. I can hardly stand you."

Kocha was taken aback by that. Her stance was casual still, but became more aggressive. "Oh? And why, precisely, is that?" Sassy.

Niushi looked down on Kocha and neither dared to look away first.

"You know why."

Niushi closed the door in what could have almost been considered a slam.

This was all the entertainment Wyntre needed and more. "You've been denied, Kocha. What are you going to do about that?"

Kocha was distraught. She found a wall to lean against as she stared at her knees in thought. "'You know why', 'you know why'… what's that even supposed to mean? I mean, she must have a reason to refuse me, a reason to dislike me. Why?"

Wyntre knew exactly why. "You were there when the Saiyans invaded, weren't you?" That was a rhetorical question; Wyntre knew exactly what Kocha was doing during the invasion. "You were minding your own business, being happy, but then the aliens ripped their way through the sky to attack you. And then, later, the Mazoku attacked. But, it didn't really matter that they were 'Mazoku', only that they were 'aliens', 'outsiders', 'enemies'. To Niushi, you're just another alien. Just another invader."

Kocha hadn't really ever thought of it that way. When the Saiyans invaded— and when she subsequently helped drive them off— she never really thought of them as anything other than as 'Saiyans' (it helped that there weren't actually any non-Saiyans in the SSE invading force) . Similarly, when the Mazoku invaded, even though there were also aliens, she had no problem differentiating them from the Saiyans. This also extended to the Arcosians, as her opinion was not marred by her opinion of the other prevalent alien empires. But… well, she understood. She understood how easy it would have been.

"… You're the clever one. What do I do?"

Wyntre had been forced to get used to being the cleverest person in the room from a young age. It was still a rare occurrence, however, to have someone ask her to use her wit.

"Niushi is the Ox Hermit. To the Scobians, oxen are defensive, territorial, tough and stubborn. If you were to enter her room and simply refuse to move until she decided to train you, you'd be demonstrating your power (if she attempted to move you with force) and your supposed ox-like qualities."

Kocha wasn't entirely sure as to if such a risk would pay off. I mean, wouldn't it be illegal? Scobia's legal system was usually presented poetically, so as to allow children to memorize it as part of their education, and Kocha was pretty darn sure she remembered the verse about needing an invitation before entering someone's abode… although, now that she had time to think about it, that might have been a clever innuendo about the legal role of consent in sex. Either way, it rhymed well.

"Well…" She really was not sure about this. "I'll give it a go."

Nod, nod. "Brilliant. Well, then, you most certainly do not need my assistance in this endeavor, so I'll leave you to your task." And, just as quickly as those words were uttered, she disappeared. But even though she did not physically appear to be present, Kocha knew just as well as Wyntre that she was there, watching through her scouter.

"… Right."

As stubborn as a bull.
As implacable as a mountain.
As confident as a predator.
That was what she needed to be, but she felt so nervous.

Just…

Think of Mother.

She opened the door.

"I told you to go away." This wasn't entirely true; if Niushi told Kocha this, it was through subtext alone.

Kocha, regardless, stood there… and stayed. "Interesting, but irrelevant." She let her ki flare a bit. "I am going to stay here until you train me."

Niushi took that as a threat. "Oh?" She picked up her horned hammer from its pedestal. "I suppose I'll just have to force you out."

That was the name of the game.
Figuratively.

She pointed the hammer at the 'alien'. "This is your last warning. Get lost, or there'd be nothing left of you to find."

Kocha tried and succeeded in pulling an unimpressed face. "Creative. Anyway, you're not very good at sensing ki, are you? You have no reason to warn me, unless you merely want to delay the event of a child beating y—"

SMACK!

Niushi had sent that hammer at Kocha's head with full force. But, her her surprise, Kocha wasn't impacted in any sense of the word. —ou. I am powerful enough to blow planets up, Niushi, your training won't give me any considerable amount of power. I merely ask to learn under the ox, so that I may better protect the galaxy." She had been saying that last bit a lot.

Niushi, who was by no means convinced, was furiously attempting to smash Kocha's face with the hammer. It didn't so much as mess with her hair.

Now this is just getting ridiculous.

Kocha caught the hammer with imperceptible speed. "My name is Kocha Gesiviinu Feuskrynu Zodian Kinoko. I was, am and will continue to be your husband's brother's best student. I was born to Gesivii Zodian and Feuskry." 'Zodian' wasn't so much a surname as a title for those descended from King Zodia. "I was born on the day of the dragon, in the month of the dragon, in the year of the dragon." Much of the Scobian culture was based off of the number 12: there were twelve seconds in a minute, twelve minutes in an hour, twelve hours in a day, twelve days in a month, twelve months in a year and twelve years in a 'decade', then 'century', 'millennium' and so on. These dodecal cycles were classically paired with the hermits, so as to make telling someone the time sound really cool. "I am a Scobian. Even though I have hair, even if my skin is red, even with wings, and a tail, and, just, all of this," she said, pointing to her 'alien' body, "I am a Scobian!"

But, even still, Niushi was not convinced. "Feuskry was an alien. That makes you alien." Yes, in a way, that was true. Feuskry was a Kondorian, sent by the Empire to uplift and improve relations with the native populace for the purposes of a diplomatic annexation later on. That much had already happened.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that. My mind and my body both have aspects of them that are not of this world, but so what? Do you determine a Scobian by the patterns in their scales, or by the wisdoms in their heart? By their swimming ability, or by how well they belong? I was raised here, Niushi. You've heard me say this, and you'll probably hear me say it again, but I am a Scobian! Because it isn't just a species, that's what you've gotten wrong. It's a mindset. It's a truth. And here's one more truth I'll tell you, Niushi, just for you: I will not leave this room until you agree to train me."

She was left shocked. Bewildered. Perhaps even mesmerized.

"Tomorrow evening, in the courtyard. Don't be late, or you'll never be anything ever again."

...

It worked?

It worked.

And, as Niushi left to attend to her students, Kocha wasn't anything but shocked. 

---

"Congratulations, Kocha. After you've graduation here, you're a quarter there." She said this, still in her Gravity Chamber, still in her ship, still on Earth. Still to the side. Still... waiting. Still watching. Still alone.

...

"... Computer, disconnect me. I need to... to think a few things through."