The Heaven and Hell Tournament Round 1: Articho and Helix

Helix grinned awkwardly as the crowd roared in his favor. They had no idea what to call their new champion, but He appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

To be honest, Helix had really no idea what he was doing here. He knew it was a tournament, and that he was brought here because he was mistaken for Xylo. Helix quickly shuffled over to a short blue ogre with a clipboard and headset and shortly explained the details of the situation, and introduced himself under his real name.

Nodding his head as affirmation, the ogre began to quickly mumble into the headset as Helix stepped forwards towards the square stone platform, slightly elevated above the grass floor, which would serve as his battleground.

The prophet momentarily hesitated, shared an obtuse laugh with himself at the ridiculousness of the situation, and then ambled up the stairs with the gait of someone who was absolutely embarrassed of themselves.

Helix squinted as he looked across the ring towards his designated opponent, a tall and impeccably built young man with shaggy black hair. The man's blue orbs were locked onto the sky with determination.

With every passing moment, Helix found new motivation to fight in what he originally considered to be a meaningless tournament. He would use victory to speak with King Kai, and obtain invaluable information on the state of planet namek, and more importantly, learn of a way he could return to lead his people.

King Kai's booming announcement shook the arena, and crowds on all sides boiled over with excitement. Helix decided upon a formal composure and paced towards the center of the ring, sticking his hand out for his opponent to shake.

[Heavy Weights]

Helix couldn't help but grin at his opponent's showmanship. Though generally a pacifist, he couldn't help but get excited at his fighting spirit.

The two clasped hands: the half saiyan had a firm determined grip. Helix's eyes lit up when the young man mentioned the earth lookout.

"Yes! I came there to speak to the guardian… Were you there when the dragon balls restored Namek to its former splendor?" Helix was ecstatic when talking about his time on earth. However brief his interaction with Bing was, it was an exciting and enlightening experience. To be honest, the namekian was surprised he didn't remember the man standing before him; He was almost certain that all of the faces of that day would be etched in his mind permanently.

"Yes, I'm Helix Crust," He replied, rather used to mispronunciation, "What did you say your name was?"

When his opponent asked if he was certain he wanted to fight, Helix chuckled awkwardly. "To be honest, I'm generally a pacifist, but there's nothing wrong with a little blood sport in the afterlife… No harm in fighting ghosts!" It didn't even occur to Helix that the man was questioning his fighting skills, not his desire to battle.

It was at that moment where Helix decided to tap into the soul of the young man and see how powerful he was.

It took every fiber of Helix's being to not sprint back to the audience he emerged from. His eyes bulged comically and his hand, still clasped with articho's, became immediately soaked with sweat. "Y-Yeah… T-This will be fine…"

Helix grinned as the half breed introduced himself fully, and the namekian vowed to remember the name. The young man continued his endearing gestures of confidence, and so Helix took on a stance of his own. There was no way he could win a battle like this with brute strength.

"All right then…" The prophet gasped out, "Let me show you the power of dragon clan magic!" Although he was severely outmatched, Helix couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement in the face of the odds stacked against him. Never before in his life had he felt such a feeling… Perhaps it was a result of his fusion with Xirula?

The namekian locked eyes with his opponent and flashed a sharp toothed grin as he threw his arms out in a v shape, palms open downwards, glowing with white hot energy. He slammed his hands onto the stone tile below, and the entire floor of the battleground became shrouded in white light. In one final motion, the Namekian tore the ground beneath him upwards, sending flat shards of glowing rock spiraling into the air. With one final flash, the suspended slabs of light formed into silhouettes.

What was formerly the geometric rock floor of the battle platform was now pebbles and dirt, and 12 humbly garbed stone namekian warriors now hovered slightly above the ground, completely still.

"Let's see what you've got!" Shouted Helix, unable to suppress his playful excitement as he leapt into battle with his new namekian gargoyles.

Four of the stone warriors attacked from the front, then two on each flank, with two more situated diagonally in the air, and the final pair remaining at Helix's side. The troops moved out with surprising speed, and in a single instant Articho would find himself surrounded by the sentinels!

[Helix has used dragon clan magic to create temporary aids, their power level is effectively zero and hold weight only in flavor.]

Helix was caught up in the rush of battle as he locked eyes with his cocky opponent, or at least, Helix locked his eyes onto his opponent's sunglasses. His staff became alight with green ki, performing a theatrical spin and slamming it down, blasting the prophet's stone apparitions into rubble immediately.

Helix clenched his teeth and buckled down into the best fighting stance he could muster as the hybrid briefly praised him and then playfully advised him against telegraphing his attacks. "Let's see what I can take.." He whispered to himself as the young halfbreed moved into his own offensive.

Helix was completely off guard as his opponent hurled his staff skywards and then vanished, reappearing in mass as an overwhelming force of clones. The namekian staggered backwards in shock as the young hybrid prattled off a final taunt. Helix conjured his own staff out of thin air, but it was too late.

In a single instant, the primary Articho reeled back a punch and then blasted forwards.

Helix's gargoyle leapt forwards, being immediately shattered by the blow without reducing any of the attack's momentum. The final stone attendant darted in front of Helix, but similarly crumbled as the punch plowed through him effortlessly.

The prophet's pupils dilated in the split second period between the launch and delivery of the attack; Before he could think to move, the strike of his opponent had slammed him in the chest. Helix was hurled backwards, shifting his body in mid air to plant his feet on the ground to push back against the momentum of the punch. 

The blow had certainly scathed him, a small indent in his stretchy flesh was oozing green slightly, and his left arm was half numb. "N-Not bad," Helix grinned. Although he felt the incredible force of the blow was only a taste of his foe's power, he was still excited to test how well dragon clan magic could fare against a powerful warrior.

Helix stood up straight, picking up his staff from the rubble. "How about this for predictability?" The prophet inhaled a deep lungful of air and lifted up his rod. A giant flash overcame the arena. 

The glaring white light took form as a massive cube in the center of the arena, which faded to reveal a levitating cube of water, in which Helix and Articho completely immersed. Swimming into the center of the arena, the guru drifted to the floor, and seemingly in slow motion, settled in a "bring it on" stance, letting a few bubbles escape from his lips.

If his opponent were to over exert himself on the offense, Helix would have the oxygen advantage... Or at least, that was the plan.

Helix snapped his finger in agitation as he watched his opponent take a breath: his tactic had failed. The namekian had taken a larger breath, probably, but who knew what the lung capacity of a half saiyan was like?

The two fighters made eye contact as Helix's heavy robes were inundated with the water. Through the bubbly barrier the surprised cheers and boos of the audience could be heard. Low murmurs echoed through the cube of liquid.

Only slightly slower than usual, which was still pretty damn fast, Articho honed in on Helix, bubbles flowing out as he sifted effortlessly through the liquid. Helix of course, was just as helpless in the water as out of it.

The namekian had no time to react as his opponent grabbed him by the neck and straddled him, and his eyes widened with fear as a tiny burst of flame emerged from his hand, but instantly turned to bubbles. The water all around the two began to ebb, sectioning off into small bubbles which quickly formed into larger ones. Soon, the cube was a small mound of water, which quickly drained into the air as the flame finished the job.

The hybrid pushed his head out from the surface of the water and Helix gasped for air himself. Still straddling him, Helix's opponent prodded him on once more, but this time the magician was running out of tricks. It was going to be hard to keep pulling rabbits out this hat.

Focusing some of his residual magical energy, Helix's turned his body a bright florescent green, and beame completely intangible. The hand that was formerly on the namekian's neck phased right through, and the green energy that was Helix blipped out of existence as he teleported to the other side of the arena.

Helix reappeared right next to his staff and picked it up, aiming it at his foe unceremoniously. "T-There's more where that came from..!" Helix managed to continue to front combat adeptcy. While a fight of this length would be no problem for a seasoned fighter, it was taking a toll on Helix. He only had so much energy to work with.

Visibly panting, Helix was lucky he was in the afterlife, as it gave him the advantage of extra stamina. Conjuring up another attack, the dragon clan ran forwards on foot before leaping into the air and raising his staff above his head, bringing it down in a sharp blow towards Articho's right shoulder. Hopefully, the switch from magical attacks to a physical assault would take his opponent off guard and let him get a hit in.

Helix managed to keep a lighthearted demeanor even though he was clearly outgunned and outmatched. His opponent obviously wasn't taking him seriously, and to be frank, Helix wasn't really taking himself seriously either.

But there was still that nagging voice inside of the prophet that wanted to test his magic and his abilities as a namekian. Helix thought back to his combat training with Lusca and his staff fighting exercises. How had he changed so much since then? Was it the afterlife, or was it his fusion? Either way… He supposed he was now one half of a whole namekian.

The attack Helix threw at Articho was nothing like any of the prime techniques taught to him by Lusca. But he at least expected a dodge… or a reaction at all.

Helix's eyes widened with fear as his wooden tool bounced right off his opponent's shoulder, splintering in two from the rebounding momentum. The namekian could utter no response as the hybrid taunted him, and turned to run as his opponent cracked his knuckles.

But it was too late, in an instant, articho had sneered one last retort as he reeled back a punch before launching it right into Helix's jaw.

His head snapped 360 degrees around, which probably wasn't a good sign. But instead of the snapping of bone, there was simply a stretching of flesh. in fact, Helix's head didn't stop spinning. His jaw was dislocated off the hinge and green ooze was pouring out from his mouth, but his head kept spinning at blinding rates. It continued on stretching and corkscrewing for a few solid awkward seconds before it reached its limit and, luckily, stayed planted on his neck.

The namekian's head began to spin backwards to its original position as his elastic neck unraveled it's new coil. Helix dropped to his knees, and then forwards, blood splattering a bit as his broken jaw was flailed about. He wasn't able to make any noises besides a low gurgle, and although he was in a ridiculous amount of pain, he would be perfectly fine. This was the afterlife, after all.

Helix was curled up in a fetus position when head finally sprung back to its original position, his neck newly creased with scars and mouth hanging wide open due to his completely shattered jaw.

Well. That's what he got for pushing his luck.