I stand at one end of the training area while Team Ocuro stands at the opposite. They all stare at me with unwavering glares of contempt as I start stretching out my arms and legs.
Hmm, seems that they weren't kidding about taking this seriously. It obviously wouldn't help them at all, but they were already higher up on my good graces list than Nappa.
Just thinking about the cocky smirk that son of a bitch had on his face back then makes me wanna smack the tail off someone...
"Why are you doing this, Zyleth? You know that they don't stand a chance against you." My father asks as he looked towards Team Ocuro.
"You don't know that. Maybe they'll surprise you." I replied, putting my arms down before I started jumping from side to side.
"I know for a fact that you don't even believe that." He said as he turned to me with a blank stare.
"Not at all." I nodded.
"Then what's the point? Why are you humoring this?" He asked.
I stopped jumping and looked up at him, shrugging my shoulders with a bored expression before replying, "I don't know, because I felt like it? Besides, I'm more curious as to why they're here."
I pointed behind me, towards the group of people behind standing behind us.
"What? We wanted to watch." Tora defended, with all of the members of Team Bardock and Team Black nodding their heads in agreement.
"No, not you." I waved them off before pointing towards the King and Queen who were standing near the back, "Them."
"Do you have issue with our presence?" The King asked with his usual no-nonsense tone and that serious expression he always had on his face.
"No." I said before walking towards the middle of the training area, "Just seems a little... beneath you."
"Nonsense. I am a man of the people." He says.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. And it wasn't just me. Team Black, Team Bardock, Team Ocuro, even his own wife were looking at him like he had just sprouted a second tail.
"What?" He asked, wondering why were all looking at him the way we were.
"Nothing." I said with a bit of sarcasm that I didn't really intend before continuing on my way.
---
[General POV]
King Vegeta's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as Zyleth turned away.
Not because of how comfortable he seemed to be getting when addressing him, he had expected as much as Zyleth continued to grow, but because he was right. He hadn't come to oversee the match because he wanted to show some sign of support, but because he wanted to gauge just how powerful Zyleth is.
Zyleth's battle against Nappa was a wake up call, and the more that the King thought about the battle it, the more he wanted to know exactly how strong Zyleth was compared to himself.
He couldn't help it. He had been at the top for so long that he couldn't comprehend someone outclassing him so quickly, even though it was exactly what he wanted ever since he first laid eyes upon Zyleth.
He wanted a Frieza killer, and he got it the moment Zyleth was born, he just didn't think about how monstrous someone of that caliber would be until it humiliated one of his Elite warriors with just three blows.
And while Nappa was nowhere near his level, he couldn't help but wonder just how much Zyleth was holding back.
---
[Zyleth's POV]
"Alright then, come at me." I told Team Ocuro as I moved my head side to side, cracking my neck.
The members of Team Ocuro looked at each other with confusion, apparently not understanding what I had meant.
"Which one of us?" Matoto asked.
I raise an eyebrow at his question before replying, "All of you."
That did not please any of them in the slightest, as their all their faces shifted towards immediately hostility.
"You want to face off against all of us at the same time?!" Rhuba yelled out, obviously angered by my words.
"Can you be outraged later? I'm too tired to do the whole back and forth thing again." I said with an uncaring gaze that manages to piss off all five of them even more.
"You're gonna regret that decision. I'll make sure of it." Ocuro seethed before he got into his fighting stance, "Formation four!"
The five all of a sudden spread out across the training room, entrapping me within a circle.
I raise an eyebrow them, but I don't do anything else but cross my arms as a response, "Go ahead."
Even though I gave them permission to go ahead with the first attack, the group didn't move a muscle, focusing on me as if waiting for me to initiate the battle instead.
Guess they really are taking me seriously...
"Alright then, if you won't start it off..."
I vanish from their sight and their eyes immediately go wide as they frantically search around the room for me.
"Where did he--"
"Orko, behind you!"
Hearing his brother yell out, Orko turned and felt his face being grabbed.
"One."
I slammed his head down into the ground, putting a massive dent in the floor.
"Orko!" One of the Saiyan males yelled out before rushing towards me.
"Matoto, wait!" Rhuba shouted at her teammate.
It was too late, as Matoto had already been blown back into the wall of the training area. The other guy, Chiva, I think his name was, ran towards Matoto to assist, but stopped when he saw that he was knocked out cold.
"Two." I counted, holding up two fingers up near my eyebrow with a smirk as I faced the remaining three, "Still think challenging me was a good idea?"
"You bastard..." Rhuba seethed, gritting her teeth in anger as she glared at me.
I chuckle a bit which seemed to piss her off even more. She growled and clenched her fists, obviously wanting to wipe the smirk off my face, but her leader called out to her before she could do anything rash.
"Calm down, Rhuba. He's trying to get under your skin." Ocuro said as he looked at me with a guarded expression.
I bring up my hand, holding out two fingers in the shape of a gun, "You should really learn to stop talking."
I fire off a shot, to which he actually managed to dodge. I smile at this before firing off even more shots. The three seemed to just be barely able to dodge them, and it didn't take me long to figure out what they were trying to do.
Since I was only using one hand, the other guy, Chiva, was taking advantage of the fact that I could only fire off so many blasts at three people at once to slowly make his way towards me.
Which would have worked if I hadn't started to use my other hand.
"We can't even get close!" Chiva yelled out.
"Just keep dodging! He'll run out of energy at some point!" Rhuba shouted back at him.
Not likely.
Unknown to me at the time, a deranged smile had appeared on my face as I was firing at the three Saiyans.
here was something satisfying about seeing them struggle so hard...
It was... fun...
And even though it was only for a moment, my father managed to catch it, which in turn caused him to look at me with a serious gaze.
"Zyleth, quit messing around!" He shouted.
I let out a groan before letting my hands fall to my side, stopping my blasts altogether.
"Now!" Ocuro yelled.
The three Saiyans immediately charged at me with the intentions of an all-out assault. Admirable, but reckless.
But seeing their desperation, I decided to humor them.
I hold out a single one of my hands and block all of their attacks as if they were nothing.
The three's attacks were surprisingly solid. They coordinated well and they seemed to have a strong foundation of teamwork, but good teamwork won't bridge the gap we have in power, not when they're this weak.
Done with the game, I grab Chiva by the wrist and swing them into the other two, knocking them back a ways.
Before they could catch their bearings, I throw the one I had in my hand towards the female, Rhuba.
Chiva collided with Rhuba and they hit the wall with a lot of force. Chiva pushed himself away from Rhuba, seeing that she was out cold, but before he could fully push away from the wall, my foot planted itself into his back, knocking him out of the fight.
"And then there was one." I said as I turned towards Ocuro.
The last Saiyan left standing looked at me with a mixture of shock, anger, and what I assume to be fear before his eyes suddenly shifted.
"You... You... YOU BASTARD!" He yelled in a rage, having completely lost it.
Ocuro lost it and put his hands together, charging up for just a second before he shot me with Ki blast after Ki blast.
"AAAAAAHHH!" Ocuro yelled out in anger, refusing to relent.
As I'm being shot by the Ki blasts, black smoke starts to cover my immediate area, blocking me from view.
After a few moments, Ocuro finally put his arms down, completely out of breath. He looked towards the smoke and a smile grew on his face, thinking that he won.
"It's... over..." He panted, completely assured in his victory.
"Yes, I suppose it is." The King said with a nod before he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, "I have to say, Ocuro, I'm quite impressed."
"Th-Thank you, Your Majesty..." Ocuro replied with a hint of pride.
"...that you managed to last this long." King Vegeta finished.
Ocuro looked at the King with confusion before his eyes suddenly widened in realization. He quickly turned to look back at the smoke and watched as it dissipated, revealing that I was still standing, largely unharmed.
"You owe me a new set of armor." I told him as brushed the battle dust off my shoulder, looked down at my now half-destroyed body armor.
"How... How are you still standing?!" Ocuro yelled out in disbelief, "How are you so strong?!"
I look back up at him with disinterest, seeing the look that he had on his face.
"Do you wanna know why there's such a difference between us?" I asked him, "And no, it's not because I was born with a higher power level. Power levels are bullshit."
"Power levels are... bullshit?" He muttered before shaking his head, "Then how?! How are you so much stronger than me?!"
"Selfishness." I told him simply.
"Se-Selfishness?" He repeated, confused as to why I had said it. "Wha--"
I instantly close the gab between us and bury my fist right into his gut, causing his pupils to disappear and his eyes to go white.
"If you want to be at the top, stop giving a shit about things that don't matter. Low class, High class, Elite class, they all don't mean a thing. Forget about them. Let it all go. Focus on yourself. Focus on your own strength, your own goals. Aim higher. Train harder. Go farther than anyone else is willing to go. Be selfish. That's the only way to be the strongest, the only way that you'll win."
Ocuro falls to the ground unconscious and I stare at him for a few seconds before turning around to leave.
"Then again, it's not like you'll ever get that chance."
[Word Count: 1,943.]