Great Dojo

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

"Olé olé!!"

This time, it weren't the bull's... but the matador's eyes that saw red. As the man fell back, Vega did not stop his assault. He dashed, punched, punched, punched and punched - pummelling straight into the man's flesh with all his pent up emotions. All his madness.

The blows kept raining. Even stone gives out against an endless stream. As blood splattered all around, even the dome began to give.

That man, weak or not, was an impediment that still dared to threaten his reign. And none would impede his ascent to his eternal throne. That ultimate climax wouldn't be Mira's, it wouldn't be Elizabeth's, it wouldn't be anyone else's. Not now. Not ever. He would burn this whole world to the ground to make sure of that.

And it started with this dog.

"INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIL!! INÚTIIIIIIL!! URYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

That final punch smashed the man straight out of the stone dome - cracking it open like an egg. It was a pose struck to the heavens and an unearthly cry that declared his victory, and the orange glow of the sunset's rays pierced through the dark stone. A spotlight that illuminated the beautiful shade. With a powerful slam of his foot, he prepared to counter whatever that man threw! He was ready! Victorious!

You're finished. I've won. I-

And only then did his eyes widened and his fist stopped, as he stared as his falling opponent's expression... and the emptiness in his eyes. The sudden crash that rung the victory bell wasn't the sound of fist against flesh.

"Hmph. Los luchadores guapos nunca pierden una battalla."

He looked away,  and for a moment he shuddered. The blood splashing all across the dojo, the broken remains of a fighter full of hope. Part of him understood that this was what he found missing to this place, the beauty he enraptured himself in so much. But another part of him rejected that wish, and almost shifted his expression into one of...

Regret.

"I wish you gave me your name." Was the first and last thing he said to that man in earnestness. Dog or not, he was its butcher - and so he looked at him in the eye one last time before turning his back on him for good. His expression was unrecognizable, but the last thing he did... perhaps out of a whim... or to torment Mira more perhaps...

It didn't matter. The rose tossed by the warrior's corpse was enough. And so, the Matador bids his prey farewell, and leaves the hunting grounds.

[yinsukin]

The Dojo of Sethrol the Calm

A cool breeze flowed through the field that was known to be Sethrol's dojo.  The sun's rays poked through the clouds, allowing a warm blanket of heat to pass through the lush grass.  Sethrol's old skin had grown so senstive to the changing temperature, so when the clouds opened, he could feel the gentle blanket of the sun's heat envelop his body.  Sethrol took a deep breath, standing on top of the downed tree that he destroyed when demonstrating to Nanako, holding a mug of tea. 

In the end, Mira won the tournament.  Things would be different around here.  That girl could start her own dojo now if she wanted to, and unlike many others, it could easily rise to match the influence of the four great dojos, especially if she actually put time into it.  Maybe she would ask him for advice.  Sethrol smiled at the thought.

Walking through the field, he paused as he suddenly smelled the familiar stench of a corpse.  Sethrol looked down, only to see the desecrated body of his student, lying in a pool of his own blood.  It was Jonathan, a new student that spent his whole life casting a shadow on Mira.  One day, that girl grew so large that he became engulfed in her shadow.  He had always hoped the boy would eventually find his own path, but it ended here.  Was he happy in his final moments?  No....

A hand was placed on what remained of his forehead.  "You at least died an honorable death, defending this dojo...  Strange...  I feel so sad all the sudden, despite your warriors death."

Because you didn't die happy.


Dojo of Greed

It wasn't much.  Territory about the size of a city block.  That is how much the weaker dojo's could expect if they were lucky.  Most actually got maybe two buildings worth.  On the corner of a block sandwiched between two restaurants was the dojo of greed. It was an old traditional Japanese dojo, except the walls were deliberately poked with holes. Around a dozen men stood outside the building, their gees being all white, aside from the demonic eye emblem painted on their breast.

A man with a bulky frame but ordinary features stood in a circle of the men.  "What is our goal?"

"TO FIND OUR MASTER!" the yelled.

A man ran up to them.  "Guys guys!  He... he is in Halloween town!"

Everyone froze.  For a moment, they were silent.  Then the man in the middle spoke.  "Send someone over there!  We have work to do boys!  We celebrate the arrival of our master!"

[YOLF]

The Dojo of Sethrol the Calm

Zhang Liu's steps were neither loud nor quiet on the natural textures of his mentor's domain. He blended into the sound of the wind and faded lusterless under the rays of the sun as a garden statue of short years in a lush estate, neither belonging nor unsuitable to its preened beauty. The joyless serenity of the man remained unswaying when his feet reached the edge of the pool of blood and when he drew his hands together for a prayer.

"He remained true to his path to the end. Pity would be unwelcome," he said.

[yinsukin]

Dojo of Sethrol the Calm

Sethrol let out a weak laugh.  "And what is wrong with pity?  Why must we always be so stoic towards one another?  Is that respect?" Sethrol asked out loud.  His face turned cold, a frown deepening the more he spoke.  The eyes he had were filled with so much passion, even as his cheeks began to look worn.  He turned to Zhang's prayer and scoffed.  "You tell me not to pity yet you pray for his soul.  If you truly believe him to be on the right path, why must he rely on your prayers?"

Sethrol took a deep breath and that frown faded into something more neutral. "When did showing strong emotion for one another become considered weak?  Why would anyone believe such nonesense?"

The old man's eyes widened.  "Right....  Let your emotions pass with a breath and fade into the void.  Allow only concentration as you connect with the cruel reality of nature.  I suppose those were my words weren't they Zhang?"

[YOLF]

Dojo of Sethrol the Calm

Zhang Liu unclasped his hands to frown at Sethrol. His hands curled into fists at his sides as spoke. "I have never mistaken what you taught us for the only stone on the great path. And if you measure my success by detachment, then truly, I have failed as your disciple. But long have I been willing to act the hand of discipline to the great Dojo, so that those that immerse themselves in the lessons first may never lose heart over the scoundrels who would shame them, or their source."

His shoulders turned until he was facing the Dojo Master fully, and he brought a fist into an open palm at the height of his heart.

"This prayer is solely my conceit. But Jonathan would not have wished for pity. That is all the answer you should need," Zhang declared, bowing in the way Sethrol could see a thousand times in their shared memories. Then he rose, and their eyes met. "Besides, master, you are well aware this solemn face of mine is permanent."

[yinsukin]

Dojo of Setherol the Calm

Sethrol sighed and said, "Yes it is true.  I am sorry to be so insensitive."

The old man walked over to a fallen tank and peeled open the metal with his bare hands.  Pulling out a tea cup and another mug, he poured a glass of herbal tea.  There was no steam because it was cold.  "Here Zhang.  Take this as both my apology and a gesture that communicates my desire to see you smile once more.  We both know that in this city, everything is malleable."

Sethrol glanced at Jonathan's corpse and pulled out another cup.  "His job was to take care of my dojo while I was out.  I think we should both celebrate that achievement.  Will you help me bury him?"

[YOLF]

Dojo of Setherol the Calm

The Source-Melting Hand stared at the offered drink as though it was a particularly mangy cat. A second passed, which it took for him to tame the sullen curve of his eyebrows, but he nodded and carefully took the mug.

"We will see if I have reasons to smile," he said. Before continuing, he took a sip. It was dreadfully cold, but somehow that was just the relief he needed. "I will help, of course."

[yinsukin]

Sethrol

After handing Zhang the tea cup, he placed his own on the tank.  Then, he placed two feet on the ground behind Jonathan's body, took a deep breath and let out a yell.  A fist shot forward ripping apart the land beneath him.  A hole opened up.

"You know, I didn't expect to see you at the tournament.  Why did you go there?"

[YOLF]

Zhang Liu

Zhang Liu looked up from his cup as Sethrol rose, and followed him with his gaze. Realizing the old master was already getting to work, the Great Dojo's executioner took a large sip and set down the drink with a clack.

"You weren't as subtle as you hoped," he said, hastening to his feet. He walked some distance away, to a hidden cabinet he knew lay behind a curtain of vines, and when he returned, began to clean Johnatan's body of blood and rearrange his clothes to clear the grisly spectacle.

"I went there because you did. And... Lashi, I suppose."

[yinsukin]

Sethrol

The old man laughed and said, "I suppose in my old age i'm losing my touch."  Then he paused, placing a finger to his chin.  "No thats not right.  I was always terrible at being subtle!"

In the time during which Zhang left, Sethrol squatted down and stared at Jonathan's corpse.  It was mutilated by an interesting weapon, a whip.  A weapons master could have done this, but it also brought to mind the masked matador who had been building a name for himself recently.  That one was at the tournament too.

"I went there because you did. And... Lashi, I suppose."

Sethrol smiled.  "That makes me happy.  Although I am sorry that you had to see something so embarrassing.  Watching an old man experience something so associated with youth must have appeared so unbecoming."  Even as he spoke those words, his smile only grew wider.  Indeed, the old man had to stifle a chuckle from the thought.  "Still, there were many more matches than my own, some stunning, others short and decisively cruel.  To think that it was merely an Elizabeth tornament, one dominated by her succubi.  Imagine all the wonder's this city still holds."

[YOLF]

Zhang Liu

"It was a mockery from start to end," he scoffed, glancing at Sethrol. His face carved from stone seemed to grow deeper lines with the aggravation behind the sentiment, but a crack or something else opened through it. "I hear Mira won, despite that."

[yinsukin]

Sethrol

"It was an absolute embarrassment," he said.  Despite his words, the old man couldn't stop smiling.  "And she did, the failure of this dojo succeeded where even two of its masters failed.  Although, is that why you consider it an embarrassment?  Shame for oneself and shame on behalf of someone else is two different things isn't it?  I suppose that is a sort of empathy.  You were always so much kinder than I was."

[YOLF]

Zhang Liu

His eyebrows twitched uneasily, and he paused in the middle of wiping the blood from the fallen fighter's most grisly wounds.

"More than half of that tournament walked in with no regard for the sanctity of combat, and two masters validated this nonsense with their presence, only to lose dubiously." Zhang Liu answered, inhaling sharply. "I am the Source-Melting Hand. Even to those whose dignity I defend, I am the epitome of cruelty."

[Panda]

Nanako

The next morning...

It was morning again, and with the first good night's sleep she'd had in almost a week, Nanako was off to the dojo district again. After what had happened during the tourney, it was clear to the squirrel girl that she owed Yang a visit, but she'd quickly gotten side-tracked when someone challenged here out of nowhere. On one hand, it made sense, she couldn't expect her fight with Yang to make up for interrupting their bloodsport from last time. On the other hand, she had better things to do.

To his credit, her challenger was easy on the eyes. Well built, with an intense, focused look in his eyes that spoke volumes of how he intended to break the squirrel girl down and force her to submit in front of anyone who cared to watch. Unfortunately, he was far too slow.

With that out of the way, Nanako went looking around through some shops in the area, figuring she might as well get something for the visit as she zipped from one store to the next.

[SINIB]

Nanako

The next morning...

It was morning again, and with the first good night's sleep she'd had in almost a week, Nanako was off to the dojo district again. After what had happened during the tourney, it was clear to the squirrel girl that she owed Yang a visit, but she'd quickly gotten side-tracked when someone challenged here out of nowhere. On one hand, it made sense, she couldn't expect her fight with Yang to make up for interrupting their bloodsport from last time. On the other hand, she had better things to do.

To his credit, her challenger was easy on the eyes. Well built, with an intense, focused look in his eyes that spoke volumes of how he intended to break the squirrel girl down and force her to submit in front of anyone who cared to watch. Unfortunately, he was far too slow.

With that out of the way, Nanako went looking around through some shops in the area, figuring she might as well get something for the visit as she zipped from one store to the next.

Thorra

As Nanako zipped around from shop to shop, her squirrel senses suddenly veered her focus towards a woman who seemed to be browsing at the magazine rack. She stood there, intently staring at something, flipping through the pages but always flipping right back to one page which Nanako couldn't see from where she stood.  She towered over everybody else in the store at over seven feet tall, and her outfit was barebones enough to make Nanako's look positively prudish. It covered just barely enough skin to hide her nether regions from public view, and she seemed to be wearing some sort of iron pasties upon her nipples. Her skin was perfect and smooth to a statuesque degree, and most interestingly, she held an immense hammer loosely to her side, the haft almost as thick as her arm with a shining iron head to match.