Hell On Earth

”Will somebody grab ahold of that slippery little punk, already!”

A gruff voice bellowed above the clamouring of separate voices and the sound of complete destruction. Glass shattering, wooden structures being dismantled and screeches of both anger and fear melded together to form a sort of orchestra echoing throughout the confines of a small dive bar in the jungle known as Earth’s South City. Spectators watched in excitement, while others did their best in making a jet for the door. The onlookers watched as a single man, extremely small in stature took on an entire horde of angry drunken bikers. While the bikers looked like they were tough enough to frighten the creepiest of creatures, the scrawny, long-haired young man made them look like timid kittens to a lion.

Seventeen was having the time of his not so natural born life, smacking the daylights out of those who chose who to oppose him. While the circumstances that brought them to brawling were technically his own doing, it was them who attempted to deal the first blow. However, they had still yet to land even one of their attacks. Their struggle was amusing, to say the least. Seventeen hopped around the room, leaping from bar to stool, and onto to tables. He dodged the grasp of his assailants, kicking and punching them one by one on the way. “Hahaha! Catch me if you can!”

He stopped for a moment, one foot halting onto a table before the other foot followed in tune and lightly flattened onto the table. His abrupt stop was prompted by the sudden pause in the chasing. Had they given up already? It was just starting to get to the fun part. Seventeen hadn’t even gotten to knock any of them out, yet. He’d only been toying with them, smacking them around. A couple bruises. Holding back his power now came easy, as he’d been practicing controlling his programming rather than letting his programming control him. If he’d really wanted to, he could level the place in a matter of seconds. Though, what would be the fun in that?

Standing atop the table in a firm stance with his arms at his sides, he cocked his head back over his shoulder a bit. He could hear the heavy breathing coming from the worn down biker gang, while some of them were heard groaning in corners and mangled in the bar’s massive piles of debris. The amount of paying they would have to do in order to get this dump renovated was definitely insurmountable at this point. It almost made the android feel.. bad. Almost.

Scanning each of the men with his internal scouter, his readings could tell they were beginning to fade out. Not that he needed the scouter to tell him that or that it was ever needed in the first place. He only felt it was probably a good idea to keep it in use as it was a good way to keep it from collecting proverbial dust. He looked at the disgruntled fighters and couldn’t help his inability to contain his laughter. “You can’t be serious. This is what humans have to offer?”

His disappointment stemmed from his programming. According to his database, he was built to believe that the Earth was filled with great fighters. There was plenty of information on most of them, however he has ran into none thus far. Have they all died, or are they in hiding? If the current level of competition has dwindled this far below his standards, the Red Ribbon army must have completely overshot Seventeen’s design. It almost made him feel as though he were a God. Had he not been in his right mind, he might have even considered taking the Earth for himself. However, turning it into a personal playground would work just as well. Refocusing his gaze upon the gang, he made a full one-eighty turn facing back towards the group. He saw no reason to continue the charade of pretending to have a challenge among them. The android lifted both hands from his sides and extended them straight out in front of him with open palms. “Pitiful...”

He hands had begun to glow bright shades of blue and a hollow whistling sound could be heard coming from them, also. Just as he was about to put these deadbeat dogs down, behind him and out of the corner of the room he heard a slow applauding. The sound came from a presence he somehow had not picked up on before. This was odd. It had to be the first time that he could recall his scouter missing someone. Never before had someone gotten this close to Seventeen without being noticed. Where the hell did he come from?

”Bravo.. very impressive.”

A solid, low toned voice praised Seventeen’s antics. Seventeen’s eyes narrowed and his ears perked up, waiting to hear what the fool had to say. Did he really so desperately crave a beating in a similar fashion to the ones handed out before his eyes a moment ago? The man behind him stood from his leaning in the corner and folded his arms. He held an eager smirk across his face which was mostly cloaked in the shadows of the corner. ”No, please. Don’t let me interrupt, continue as you were.”

Seventeen held down his hands for a moment, keeping the energy stored in them intact. While still facing the group, not allowing them to escape, he gave the man a somewhat reluctant response. “What can I do for you?”

The machine man held his ground and didn’t let any part of his guard down, whatsoever. While he couldn’t pick up on the newcomer’s actual essence or power level, his presence wasn’t out of Seventeen’s range of sensing. The man stepped out from the shadowy corner and under one of the swinging ceiling lights which was barely hanging on. As he pulled out from the shadows, his eyes glowed a bright violet color in the darkness and reverted to their normal state in the light. He donned a dark blue vest with no shirt underneath and pants to match, somewhat ragged looking. His hands and feet were bother bandage wrapped, giving him the appearance of an at least somewhat seasoned fighter. His face was quite chiseled and along with the rest of his body. Well toned muscles with a few battle scars throughout his figure. To top off his look was his rough looking haircut and goatee.

”My name is Fayzr.” Immediately, the name rung a bell in Seventeen’s registry. His thoughts scanned through fighters in his memory, catching onto the files on the one named Fayzr. He was once a champion of the Tenkaichi Budokai for six consecutive years before taking to the underground out of boredom with the deteriorating level of competition and his restrictions from ending any lives helped in driving him away. Thus he created, “The Crimson Fists..”

Seventeen cut off the introduction, turning his back on the gang and setting his sights upon Fayzr. “You started the group as a sort of underground fight club, and it became notoriously known for it’s drug distribution and brutal no holds barred match making.”, he continued. His face remained stern, completely ignoring the fact that his would-be prisoners were making a run for it. “I know who you are. What is it you want with me?”

While Seventeen had already presumed where the conversation would lead, he knew it could not have hurt to ask. Hell, if it was a fight he wanted, this was as close as it got to divine intervention on Seventeen’s behalf. He’d been itching for a challenge and his prayers may have actually been answered in the form of one of the Earth’s former greatest warriors.

Fayzr looked a bit shocked at the boy’s knowledge of him. ”You are really are quite impressive. You seem to have done your homework, kid.”

Fayzr began pacing his way closer to Seventeen, with his arms still folded. He kept caution as neither of them had known each other from any other stranger and neither would let their guard down for the other to strike. Fayzr’s deep violet gaze met with the empty, cold and calculating eyes of Android Seventeen. The tension was extraordinary, as it was overly apparent each of them wanted to test the other in battle. However, they each stood down. ”Knowing so much, I suppose you already have an idea as to why I’m here, so why don’t I just cut to the chase.

Fayzr reached into his pocket slowly, as to not alarm the android. However, Seventeen stood completely unfazed as it was, and saw no threat in the mysterious Fayzr just yet. The enigmatic character pulled his hand back out from his loose pocket and held in it a vibrantly decorated flyer. He extended his hand to a hesitant Seventeen who looked it over for a couple of seconds before reaching out to grab it. The advertisement was covered in a collage of photos of several fighters, some of them familiar while others were completely unknown to him. Some of them appeared powerful, while others looked to be complete bums. However, looks were proven to be quite deceiving, most definitely in Seventeen’s own case.

”As you mentioned earlier, I do run the events known as the Crimson Fist ’Jigoku no chikyū Budokai’ (Hell on Earth Martial Arts Tournament). Judging by what my scouts have been seeing over the past few weeks and your excellent performance I’ve had the honor of bearing witness to today, I can tell you hold the thirst for true heightened combat. Consider this your formal invitation.”

Scouts? There had been scouts watching him the entire time? Hardly believable. Hardly believable that this man managed to slip under his radar today, let alone that several have been pulling it off for weeks and maybe even longer. However, their ability to do so absolutely caught Seventeen’s attention and intrigued him in the worst way. While the invitation already felt a bit fishy, his interest was peaked. It was almost irresistible in a way. However, he would give of the appearance of skepticism for a while longer. “Prizes.. what are they?”

Fayzr seemed a bit shocked at such a response. According to the studies he’s racked up on this one, he was sure there would be little to no interest in the material winnings of the tournaments. However, he had no problem with sharing his wealth with those who managed to earn their winnings in the tournaments. He calmly gave a brief explanation. “Plenty of zeni and plenty of enhancing pharmaceuticals. All will come to your hands as you prove yourself in the arena.”

Seventeen grinned while still looking over the flyer before tucking it into his back pocket and refocusing his eyes back into those of Fayzr.

“I have no use for drugs.” If this guy had really done studies as in depth as he claimed, one would think that he would have caught on to the fact that Seventeen is not a completely synthetic being. “I will give it some consideration. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Fayzr gave a sort of respectful bow, before turning away and heading out towards the bar’s exit swinging doors which had been completely ripped off their hinges. “Hope to see you there... Seventeen.”

Seventeen watched the man walk out, and could sense the gang of biker’s attempting to follow him out. Their desperate whimpers meshed together as the crawled over each other heading towards the doors. “And where do you all think you’re going?”

Seventeen spoke in his usual calm and sinister sounding tone, lifting his still charged at the ready hands back at them. Each man in the group froze in their place, some of them begging to be let go while others appeared to be saying their final prayers and swallowing the lumps in their throats. Without another thought to the matter, Seventeen let off two high velocity energy blasts in their direction and completely wiped them from the face of the Earth. The explosion blew out the back walls of the bar causing it to immediately begin to collapse as the blasts carried on through the next over buildings for a couple blocks. With that, Seventeen in a flash was on the outside of the demolished bar and watched as it crumbled.

As he watched the debri fly into the midday air, he could faintly hear the screams of terror around him just below the sound of his own thoughts. The mind weighed heavily with the back and forth pacing between going to the event or blowing it off. While his decision was ultimately already made, the synthesized being still pondered over the several possible outcomes. Perhaps, to clear his mind he would head out to another establishment and terrorize its inhabitants.

TWC: 2,184

Three days later; 9:29 P.M.

Seventeen stood outside of the less than homely shack he’d claimed as his own soon after his awakening. The cabin was held up in the snow capped mountains just near North Capital. It was also near the lab where he’d been birthed. It was the perfect location for one such as Seventeen, as it was secluded, peaceful and cold. The cold would help preserve his mechanical parts from the summer’s heat that carried throughout the Earth in these times and prevent him from possibly overheating. That was at least until he could find someone and force them into keeping maintenance on him. While he may not have been as fragile as he’d make himself out to be, he would not run any sort of risks. There was much to be done in his lifetime.

Having had the time to mull over his decision to head out to the Crimson Fist event, he’d mentally prepared himself to head out. This was his chance to test his own abilities while meeting with those who held themselves in high regard as fighters. Along the way, he may even gain the opportunity to carry out some of the duties appointed to him by his programming. While he held no intentions of fully following his designs, each time he completed a mission he was programmed for, it lifted a great burden. Seventeen couldn’t explain the feeling if asked, but knew it well himself.

After grounding his feet into the snow covered land, he launched himself into the air and began heading to the location designated on the flyer. Of course it had to be some far out desolate area offshore. The travel time would take him about two hours moving at his top speed. As he sped through the air, he could feel his body begging for the action. Every inch of him beckoned to lay hands upon a worthy opponent and felt as though none stood his equal.

After his two hour flight give or take a few minutes, he was able to see in the distance an island with bright flashing lights and fireworks being let off. For an underground event, they sure had a way with making their practices public knowledge. They must have evolved over the years and have come out of their elaborate hiding. The island was home to a mountain range known as Yunzabito Heights, cold much like the environment where Seventeen was currently held up at. As he got closer, he could see the building the event would be held in. Wasn’t hard to point out, being the only building still standing on the island. The others that remained all looked beaten down and burnt out.

After coming into a landing in front of the building, Seventeen had noticed three separate lines leading up to the entrance. According to the signs above each of the line’s heads, there was one for spectators, competitors and another for V.I.P. guests. Seventeen let out a deep sigh and wasted no time roughly making his way through the crowd and to the front of the competitors line. Each of the fighters glared at him, some growling and shouting profanity at him for his blatant line-skipping. He completely ignored them. With his scouter reading most of their power levels, he was already hardly impressed.

”To the back, like everyone else, bub!” the bouncer who kept order stood at least seven feet tall, looking down at the significantly smaller Seventeen and ordered him to the back. “I don’t think so..”

The obviously disgruntled behemoth’s eyes widened in rage as he prepared to strike down Seventeen. ”What was the that..?!”

Reading his scouter, he could see that this man’s power level was something of some manner of note but nothing to be afraid of. He prepared himself to counter the attack, when the two were interrupted by an interjection from the host himself, Fayzr. ”That’s quite enough..! he began, stopping the fist of the bouncer in its tracks and glaring back into the eyes of the bouncer. The look appeared to strike fear into the man’s heart and immediately made him stand down. ”He is honored guest and will be seen inside without harm. Please, follow me, Seventeen."

With that, he motioned for Seventeen to follow behind him and headed back inside the club. Seventeen followed behind, leaving the bouncer with one more scoff on his way inside. The man growled before turning back to his duties of checking the entrants.

As the two made their way inside, Seventeen wasted no time in surveying his surroundings and picking up various readings on his scouter. Some of them were far higher than he had expected, while others lingered at lower levels. They came in all different shapes and sizes, some of them looking just downright creepy. One appeared to be from out of this world, in the form of a sort combination of a man, bear and a pig. Odd combination. It was a wonder where they found that monster.

Soon, Fayzr came to a stop and held out his right hand presenting to Seventeen the ring. It was much like the Tenkaichi ring, however it was black and had torches burning at each corner. By the looks of it, the first competitors were set to begin. "I'm sure you've looked over the rules."

Fayzr smirked, as he looked on at the contestants who took off towards each other. That most definitely had to be some sort of trick question. The flyer clearly stated there were no rules at all, and in comparison with Seventeen’s information on the group, there was no difference. The fighters would be poised to take their opponents life. Definitely would make things interesting. Seventeen watched on as the first victory was won in a flash by a large dark skinned warrior who appeared to be tattooed from head to toe. The fight was over as soon as the two met, as the tattooed fighter quickly decapitated the other with a swift chop to the neck which clearly took of the head of his opponent. However, the fighters power still read fairly low on his scouter in comparison with his own.

A few matches passed, giving way for Seventeen’s turn in the ring. His opponent would be the creature he’d seen on his way. The grotesque beast who resembled a mutated combination of a man, a bear and a pig. Unoriginally enough, he was announced with the name ‘ManBearPig’. Though, the lack of creativity was not at all his biggest concern. It would be the content of the battle, which Seventeen hoped would be satisfying. Stepping into the ring, he fell back into his fighting stance look onward at the glowing, piercing red eyes of his opponent. The snout on its face huffed out torrents of steam, and low growls bellowed from within. The bell was soon rung, and the creature lunged itself into the air with a moments notice and opened its massively gaping maw. As the jaws parted, it was obvious the beast had been preparing the attack long before the bell was rung as the beam immediately shot out from its mouth and bolted down towards Seventeen. Seventeen was able to react immediately by tucking and rolling out of harms way, not taking to the to look back as the corner he was once in was completely smashed to rubble. Not bad..

Seventeen paused a moment, waiting for the monster to hit the ground and when it did, the ring quaked for a second. It was apparent speed and agility would be on Seventeen’s side for this confrontation. The android sped at the creature, throwing a kick at the legs in an attempt to sweep, but the monster was quick to spread his legs. Seventeen slid under him and leaped onto his feet with both their backs to each other. He soon followed up with a spinning kick aimed for the head which landed and continued the combo with a right hook, nearly knocking ManBearPig off its feet. It stumbled back a bit before regaining it’s footing and opening its maw for yet another blast.

Having not enough time to dodge this one, Seventeen had no choice other than to either take it head on or return the favor with a blast of his own. Wanting to save himself long enough to make it through the next rounds and onto into the final, he found it in his best interest to return the blast with interest. With that, he expelled an attack of his own on a whim and put his all into it. With the advantage of virtually endless amounts of energy, he would no doubt win this power struggle. The beams collided, with the monster holding up for a good while before finally beginning to wear down. Both the two beams began shifting towards ManBearPig, shoving the monster towards the edge of the ring and nearly out.

Finally, the swine was unable to hold out any longer and took the full brunt of both blasts before being launched into one of the club’s walls, creating a massive crater in the concrete. The impact had apparently cracked the creature’s skull. As it slid down the wall and out of the crater, a blood stain could be seen trailing for the back of it’s head and down towards the floor. Seventeen looked on for a moment, feeling quite satisfied after all before bringing himself back to form. The drowning of the crowd’s raucous cheers that his mind had done all it’s own was soon ended and their roars could be heard once again. They were frenzied at the sight of blood and even more so by the little man who completed such a feet as defeating the famed ManBearPig.

Seventeen made his exit of the ring in order to make way for the next bout, ignoring the astonished looks and gasps from the spectators. After exiting, he took his place back outside of the ring among the spectators stands and looked on, awaiting his next turn up. Fayzr had seen the match and didn’t miss a beat. He was eager to see all of what Seventeen had to offer.

Matches passed, as did Seventeen’s own. He defeated each of his opponents, some with more ease than others and had made his way to the final round. After his final match, his clothes were torn nearly to shreds and he’d had a few scuffs on his body, though he was no worse for ware. This was what he had been craving for the longest. However, there was one thing he’d somehow overlooked. He was completely unaware as to who his final opponent would be. The Champion. Stepping into the ring for the final time, he was beginning to feel just a bit of fatigue for the first time since his conception. It was is if he was almost starting to feel a trait possessed by that of a human. As the crowd raged on, he was beginning to embrace their cheers. They helped him to capture the desire to mangle all those who are put before him. Be that as it may, what came next was hardly expected, but somehow was not much of a surprise.

Stepping into the ring was Fayzr, himself. He was glowing in a violet aura, and looked extremely amped. By Seventeen’s better judgement, it would appear that Fayzr had administered some of his own drugs on himself. The power radiating from Fayzr was unlike any Seventeen had seen before. Fayzr’s crazed gaze laid upon the android and a toothy grin met with the slightly concerned look on Seventeen’s face.

”You’ve done well, but this is the end of the line. I host these tournaments so that I may collect the finalists essence of power and combine them into my pharmaceuticals. This is how I make my ends meat, Seventeen. By collecting different powers from the Earth’s most powerful fighters, I am able to combine them all into the perfect drug. I can play God and have been creating the Earth’s Super Soldiers with some of the best scientists at my leisure. When I’m done with you, I’ll have your essence absorbed, as well. You’ll be just another additive. Consider it an honor.”

Seventeen listened on in apparent disbelief. “You don’t say?” he began, dropping his facade of surprise to the supposed new intel. “Well, since we’re being honest now, I suppose I have something to share, as well. I am an Android.”

Fayzr’s eyes widened as his power continued to rise. He was poised to attack out of rage and confusion. There was nothing he could do with a synthetic being. A hunk of bolts held no true essence and would prove completely useless to the cause. “What?! You’re lying..!” he shouted, preparing to advance. “I guess I’ll just have to rip you open to find out the truth”

“Now, now.. you didn’t let me finish. I was designed by Dr. Gero of the Red Ribbon Army. I’m sure those names sound familiar. I was programmed to destroy you and take all of your data on your SS-92x project you have going or as you call it, the ‘Super Soldier’ drug. While I could have dealt with you back when you first approached me days ago, I needed you to lead me to your headquarters and place of development. The good sporting battles were a plus. I really must thank you for helping me lift yet another Red Ribbon burden from shoulders. Now, feel free to begin whenever you’d like.”

Fayzr clenched his fists so tight, to the point of bleeding and staining his wrappings around them. He was filled with uncontrollable animosity and was ready to unleash it. He began rampaging towards Seventeen, letting off several ki blasts as he dashed towards him. “No matter! At this point, no one can rival my power!”

Seventeen managed to deflect four the blasts, while taking two to the chest. Fayzr came in a sort of flash, smashing into the chest of the android with a headbutt and sending him flying back a bit. He wasted no time continuing his onslaught by rushing forward while engulfed in his now darkly purple hued aura and began unleashing a torrent of strikes. Seventeen took the majority of them before finally countering with a spinning back fist sending Fayzr flying back down toward the arena before. He crashed into it, creating a crater among many and was immediately assaulted with a barrage of blasts by Seventeen. The blasts created a gigantic cloud of debris, causing the crowd to take cover and watch from a distance.

Seventeen held himself in the air looking down at what he’d done to the ring and waited for the cloud to clear out. After about a minute passed, most would have and did assume the battle was over, but not Seventeen. He knew it wasn’t the end, and was proven right once the unhinged Fayzr came shooting out from the debris and smashed the android in the face glowing right hook. The blow nearly took Seventeen’s head off his shoulders and sent him flying into one of the walls.

The two both seemed to have virtually unlimited pools of energy, though for two entirely different reasons. Fayzr’s drugs appeared to do as they were designed and were doing him great justice. He laughed triumphantly as he looked forward at an apparently beaten Seventeen. The android ripped his way from the concrete crater and looked toward his opponent who was still having his laugh. ”Did you really think you’d be able to defeat me and my elixir? I am the the definition of omnipotence, none stand my equal!”

Seventeen froze a moment, remembering back just a few days when he’d felt the exact same way. He literally felt as though he was God without any to rival his ability. However, he was proven wrong here this evening. There was one, albeit it was by the use of enhancements. Seventeen now felt that it was impossible for one to be entirely omnipotent. There would always be some way to bring an opponent down. In this case, it may end up destroying Seventeen’s body. Unfortunately, he did not see much of any other way of this going down. “This is where you fall.”

Fayzr watched on as energy began to form around Seventeen and grow in circumference around him. He continued laughing, though it began to die down as the energy he felt was starting to feel more and more menacing. He growled, before bellowing out his taunt. “Give it up, you’ve been beaten! I can not be defeated!”

The energy continued to grow, beginning to impact the walls around them and shaking the entirety of the building. Had this actually been any risk to the information needed at the end of this all, Seventeen may not have pulled such a reckless stunt. Fortunately, the labs were kept underground beneath the facility. The quaking and enormity of the ki radiating cause many of the onlookers to begin evacuation, heading for the exit.

As his power was beginning to reach it’s climax, Seventeen gave one final pulse to push out the blast. The explosion was ear shattering, completely leveling the building. As the blast smashed into Fayzr, it immediately began to erode at his flesh and incinerate his entire body. Anyone caught in the blast suffered the same fate, though many made it out alive.

After Seventeen fell to the rubble below, and became buried beneath it. He’d just barely managed to survive, but there was definitely no telling for how long. There, he’d lay for just about twenty five minutes before the cloud of debris managed to clear up a bit and a scientist caught a glimpse of the android. Making his way through the rubble, he began heaving to lift up chunks and toss it off of Seventeen. By the looks of it, he was going to lend a hand to the nearly dead Seventeen.

”Congrats.. new champion..”


....To be Continued..?

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WC: 3,080
TWC: 5,264