Piercing The Heavens (Ryouji + Broly)

Piercing the Heavens

Medium Quest

Requirements: Must have completed Above the Clouds.

Reward: 2,000 Zeni

You aren’t the only one to set your eyes on the heavenly cloud. And who wouldn’t? Even if its properties are unknown by most mortals, it was created by the gods. Some other worldly creatures are already there, creating some kind of machine to process the giant cloud. Stop them.

The purple haired boy slowly descended from the sky, hopefully followed by Broly. He wasn’t sure just how stable the tiles were, but with both feet on a tile it would seem as they were definitely able to support his weight. That was his weight, Broly was another case all together.

The feeling of the tile beneath his feet seemed somewhat squishy and was not in a solid state as he had previously thought. The boy bent his knees to squat and reached down to touch it. The feeling of the tile was awkward, very similar to those rubber floors in gymnasiums. Upon closer inspection, Ryouji could see that the tile was not a separate piece of flooring, but part of the cloud itself. What strange creation is this place?

That’s when he noticed it; the hundreds of creatures staring at him, staring at them both. What strange land is this and why didn’t he sense the tension in the air? He looked around about to all the creatures, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He couldn’t sense anything because there was no tension and they had no resounding energy. For some reason these creatures, these strange misshapen creatures, had no energy. That meant they could not be alive, but their silent movements proved otherwise.

Silent movements? Another weird thing about these creatures is that no matter how much the move or walk, they did not make a single sound. That could be why Ryouji and his comrade would grab the attention of all these creatures. What kind of person or thing created the beings in the sky? What little imagination it must have took to create this beasts? With no sound of their own, no form to call theirs, no life to live; whoever created these things should be punished for such an atrocity.

Ryouji swung his arm out to his right side as he called out, “Broly,” he needn’t bother to look behind him for the giant as he could sense the man near. “These creatures aren’t at all what they appear. Neither alive nor dead, these creations need only be destroyed and their creator punished.”

A violet magic circle appeared around his right wrist. It started to spin as a purple energy ball formed just outside his palm.

“Let’s show them the true form of reality!”

(WC: 393)

Broly could hear the sound of piercing silence, rising just above that of their hearts beating in their chests. He could hear each slow, pulsating beat, as if something about this situation were sending him into over drive. But, what was it? What about these varying creatures made him feel so uneasy? Was it the feeling of the floor, soft and flexible like a rippling ocean of flesh beneath his feet? Or was it the feeling of complete isolation, as if he were alone for miles excluding the boy beside him? It had to be the latter, a feeling which normally would bring comfort. However, with something as lively swimming before his eyes, he could hardly feel at ease. His back was tense, and his energy was still dissipating in the air.

Ryouji's voice suddenly rose above all of the white noise inside the warrior's head, ringing out loud and clear. He could feel energy radiating from his ally, a word that felt strange inside. This was all to aid him? How strange. He hadn't ever felt such a feeling before, even when they were climbing up through the mighty cloud to reach this platform-like space. Perhaps it was because they would now be illustrating their combined powers in battle? As Broly's black eyes lingered upon the boy's energized frame, he realized the lack of importance that the thoughts carried. They were to be more focused upon the fray at hand, not such trivial a thing as personal investment. It was time to destroy.

"I doubt they know the difference, boy!, came Broly's shout, as energy erupted around his body in response to Ryouji. He could feel it rising and flowing, dancing as his blood flared up in order to access that which was within him. He only wished that these small beings could feel, as to feel the pain that he would be inflicting upon them. Without that anguish, the feeling of complete defeat that followed the man's crushing blows; where was the satisfaction? These creatures were a waste of both of their times, and meant to be destroyed in order to regain the dignity they were costing. Only fools spent their time destroying apparitions and phantoms, and neither man atop the cloud belonged to said Category.

The emerald fire shifted into a sphere of swiftly expanding energy, that illuminated Broly's skin and turned his moist flesh from tan to a dry pale, as his hand raised ominously by his side. His fingertips curled slightly, tensing to send signals to the energy that was possessing him, forcing tendrils of green light to circulate power to his palm. Slowly, an orb of power began to fill it, growing until it's size just barely surpassed his finger tips. He could feel it twitching, struggling to explode outward and destroy the aforementioned targets, but he was still in control of himself. He concentrated the energy together, constantly reducing the size of the orb, which would only ever expand outward to once again meet his finger tips.

He was waiting for the ball to grow dense, so packed with energy that even the slightest deviation from Broly's power would cause it to explode. Grinning subtly as he felt the energy meld to the shape of his hand, Broly whipped the energy forward and at an angle, so that it would hit the cloud's squishy floor several hundred feet away, where it exploded into a mass light and heat, evaporating the cloud floor beneath it as it expanded into a shock wave. The Blaster Shell ripped it's way across the clouds, undoubtedly releasing a booming roar of thunder beneath them as it expanded to fit an area almost half a mile in diameter. Thankfully, it did not touch the area where the two were standing, though it did evaporate the top and medial levels of cloud before them.

As his blast wrought havoc, Broly cocked his other back, seemingly charging another as he waited for Ryouji to try his hand. Briefly, he wondered what the boy held in store, in terms of raw destructive power. Was he to release controlled bursts at the mockery citizens of this cloud haven, or would he go the more unconventional route of utter destruction to match Broly's display? For although Broly's show had been more impressing than most, it had only been so for lack of direction. He was unable to alter the blast's path once released, and unable to better direct it. So while he had destroyed a solid portion of the area before them, had he been able to curve the blast properly, they'd have had a far lower threat level in the area immediately around them.

Not that Broly cared. He lived for the thrill, the feeling of excitement and danger that came to him when he was in the middle of a life or death situation...but he doubted these things honestly knew how to fight back. They had no known energy signature, and they seemed weak enough to slaughter helplessly, if they were even truly alive. If they weren't, well then he would have to settle for destroying them without such pleasantries to think of. After all, it wasn't as though Broly of all beings, would ever be opposed to rampant havoc and swaths of destruction atop the clouds.

"Now, show me what you can do, boy!"

WC: 900

Ryouji watched in awe as the behemoth of a warrior exploded in powerful green aura right beside him. The very force of his energy blew the boy’s hair sideways and nearly tore the clothes of his back.

’What power is this?’

The strength of the aura amazed even Ryouji. He had not been even near this powerful when they had first met. Broly tossed the orb forward, an emerald haze lit up the clouds as it traveled into the horizon. The orb came crashing down to the ground with an enormous amount of power, taking out a half mile of cloud with it.
"Now, show me what you can do, boy!" Broly compelled him.

With a smirk on his face, Ryouji brought his arm forward and aimed for the growing mob. The creatures made their way closer as they circled around the scorched cloud where the smoke from the previous attack had yet to subside.

With the immense display of power, Broly had revealed a bit of his power which shook the heavens. If Ryouji wanted to hold the respect of the destruction obsessed warrior he had to show his power. Not so much in destruction, for he could never match up with the raw power that this man was born with, but he would show him his power in efficiency. Broly may have been born with strength, but Ryouji was born with the mind of a tactical genius. He would never waste a scrap of energy and that is partially why Ryouji was so interested in the warrior. If he were to be more efficient, he would be an unrivaled force and strongest in the universe. And so he had to show him the strength of his convictions; the strength of a genius.

Ryouji grabbed his arm with his other hand just below the wrist. The magic circle tripled in size and spun at an alarming rate. The magic ring was now nearly as large as he was and the orb doubled its size. This was the moment he showed the warrior his strength.

Ryouji raised his arm higher into the sky and then with several volleys of concussive blasts he released a hundred orbs of purple energy into the air. Each shot sent a blast of hot air backward, nearly blowing the glasses clear off the boy’s face.

The balls of magical energy flew into the air, curving upward until all of the orbs were soaring straight into the sky. All of the purple spheres ascended along the same axis almost as if they were being strung along by some unknown force.

After the last of the orbs was fired, the magic circle, instead of dissolving like it normally did, reversed its spin. This caused the spheres to come back hurtling toward the cloud-like ground. Once each orb reached a point, its split off from the ones above it and flew toward separate targets. The creatures had no idea of what awaited them from above. Like a powerful medley composed by the gods themselves, each blast exploded one after another, lighting up the sky in a display of both visual and audio wonderment.

Once the smoke cleared, the bodies of the creatures lay lifeless in the city. Most of the building had crumbled beneath the power of Broly’s first attack and most of the creatures had already been wiped out from their assault. The only thing left to do was find the one who dare to create such a worthless excuse of a world and destroy him and whatever it was keeping the place afloat.

“Let’s go Broly,” Ryouji stated calmly as he lowered his arm. The power behind that attack had stung his hand. He had never tried anything that powerful before and he surely won’t be doing it again anytime soon. “It’s time we found the person behind this atrocity."

(WC: 644+393=1037)
(TWC: 1037+900=1937)

Broly watched as his ally's blasts came down like a rainstorm of energy, slamming into each being with a solid force. Had there been a solid plot of earth beneath them, he would have been able to feel his teeth shaking. He was impressed by the boy's control; it meant that he wouldn't have to discard his body with the rest of the creatures here. He was continuing to prove his use for now, meaning he would have to continually impress the legendary warrior to avoid his wrath. However, with the level of skill he was currently displaying, Broly had to grudgingly admit that Ryouji was still capable of fending him off, if not capable of escaping outright. Broly's ki, though fierce, was nowhere near as well directed.

Glancing to the boy's smug face as the creations were destroyed in the storm of purple power, Broly couldn't resist smirking himself. Putting both arms across his exposed chest, he waited for the boy's words. He always had something to say, directive or not. Perhaps that was another upside of working with this child; he was an easy force of direction for the fighter's might. Broly was the muscle, as he should have been, and Ryouji was the intellect that directed it. Though he was nowhere near as intelligent as his counterpart, Broly was well aware of this. For some reason, it didn't bother him...and that may have been because he was thriving on the fear bred into others.

Fear was what made him feel complete. It made him feel as though he were even more powerful; something that should have been hard to accomplish by any means. That brought up another reason the boy was useful; he didn't appear afraid. He didn't show the customary fear that had brought about the end of so many unready lives. Smirk still standing when the boy brought up that they needed to move onward, Broly replied with a ready nod and words of his own, worded with about the same consideration as usual. Unfortunately for the boy, that wasn't very much.

"That's a delicate line you're riding boy. Killing his toys and calling them an atrocity. I've been long called the same, and look at how my enemies end up."

What he was hinting at, was that whoever was capable of creating all of this was likely monstrously powerful. Not only could he give life, but he could hide it's energy so well that it was nonexistent. Everything here was the work of a master creator, one who was long used to molding his ki into different shapes and forms. Naturally, he would have to have the energy to supply such a thing, and keep it going and moving along. By the way it was barreling through the sky, Broly doubted it was even slightly difficult for the man. Yet, it seemed as though it must have taken a large strain to run. Something felt as though it would have been wr-

"Do you feel that, child? In your mind?", Broly was speaking of whatever it was that made him NOT want to tear this place to shreds. He was always in favor of doing such a thing, of ripping into a world as if it were a new meat to be tasted. Something about the flavor of this place felt rank, as though it would be a sin to rid the world of it...and yet, it was somehow not alluring to the warrior. Sin was something Broly was a specialist in. He happened to be wanted in more than 50% of the Milky Way Galaxy for doing sinful deeds. Murder, manslaughter, widespread destruction, wreaking planetary havoc. Hell, he'd made species extinct. Why would he suddenly feel guilt?

Closing his eyes, Broly set himself to the task of finding the source. His mind's eye was suddenly blinded, and his black eyelids flash banged by some unknown source of light. Placing a firm hand on Ryouji's shoulder, he received a mental image. It was of a man, older, and yet mysteriously youthful in some way. Was it the expression, half asleep and yet with eyes so vibrant? Or was it the way his body language screamed, "get the fuck away from me"? He couldn't tell. All he knew, was that the man clearly thought he was some type of god. And that, returned him to his rapidly rising anger. There was no god, here. Not on Earth, or that he knew of.

This asshole's impersonation of power just pissed him off even more. He didn't know real power. He was just dressed in fancy golden armor, scaled to better protect himself. Powerful men didn't need armor to be powerful. They didn't need that kind of defense, if they had the natural ability to protect themselves. This man was a wannabe, and he now needed to be destroyed as swiftly as possible. Nothing in the world pissed Broly off than those who acted as though they had power. Nothing in the world pissed him off as much as those who thought they could contend with his strength, his raw physical ability to destroy. This man was merely insulting him with these creations, trying to ward him off in a pitiful attempt to save this place.

He had clearly never met a destroyer of worlds that matched Broly's caliber. He could see the man now, with the brief glimpse he'd been given. His face and features were stuck in his mind's eye, burned into his retinas as they flung open. Breathing deeply, he looked down at Ryouji with eyes that may as well have been nothing but flames.

"Take me to him, so that I may fucking destroy him.", and with that, Broly raised his other hand into the air. It pointed off into the distance, toward a spectral shape on the horizon. It was clearly on the other end of the cloud entirely, but even from there one could tell it's make up. Pure gold and atop a darker concentration, clearly meant to keep it afloat. He was sure that the boy had received the mental image already, as his mental strength was even more powerful than the Legendary Warrior's. He knew that Ryouji had already felt the rumbles of power that sent the lightning cascading down through the clouds, the thunder booming across the skies as if they were gigantic cymbals crashing together.

He knew Ryouji would be able to set him up to topple the false deity that ruled over this cloud kingdom.

WC: 1,102
Broly's TWC: 2,002