Ryo has been training for days, relentlessly pushing himself like a starved beast. His feet and legs feel lighter, like feathers compared to before. It has been years since Ryo has ever been threatened like this, the hunger to grow stronger out of fear hasn't been this strong since his master died, he gained immense power in those following months but seemed to grow stagnant as he once again stood at the pinnacle of east city, destroying and defeating all local martial artists. HIs training has been hellish.
Thousands of pushups, sit-ups, hours of shadow fighting and sparring with local trees. HIs home has become a wasteland as he pushed himself beyond his limits, his muscles bulge and glisten with a new found power and confidence. The absolute perfection of Snake King fist grows closer, his technique becoming stronger and more precise
"SNAKE KING FIST!" Steam rushes from his whole body as he surges his punch forwards, a massive surge of wind shoots from where his fist impacts the air, the nearby trees and shrubs bend from the pressure of the gusts. He smirks and clenches his fist back.
"Yes! I'm doing it! Stronger by the day."
Nearby a shrub brushes, Ryo fails to notice the person on his perimeter.
A muscle bound bald man with a light green Gi that fails to cover his body crouches low, he smiles wryly at the scene of complete training chaos.
"Heh, this is the guy then? I sensed his power from far away, he's much weaker than me but his potential is crazy, he's grown in strength just in a few days, he could be a threat in a few years if he continues at this rate, but I'm training too, he couldn't possibly outpace me."
Tien sits down, crossing his legs and meditating lightly.
"Got to keep my power level suppressed, this will be a fun battle to watch." He closes his eyes while smiling lightly. "I hope you win. You have potential."
Ryo gulps water down from a comically large wooden barrel, belching like a lion when he finally tosses it aside.
"Hy-ahhhhh!" His scream echoes through the forest as his power surges, a light swirling aura surrounding his body. "More!" He grits his teeth, consolidating the small amount of ki he has learned to use- despite not truly knowing what it is.
The aura calms down, sweat rolls down Ryo's forehead as he continues jabbing and kicking the air with fury. Destruction of land continues with haste, his kicks shattering more and more ground, slams and stomps, jabs and hooks all combining together beautifully. He drops down into pushups, then suddenly back into punches, combining the exercises with ease.
Powering up and powering down over and over- controlling the heightened emotional state as his low amount of ki flares out of control- a boiling rage that consumes him when reaching peak power.
Tien stares in almost awe.
"A normal human, not trained by a supernatural being, its incredible- his growth. If Master Shen had trained him.. He would be stronger than me damnit." Tien clenches his fist in a subtle anger at the remembrance of his fallen mentor. Tien stands as he can sense the two androids getting close.
"Well young warrior, here they come, don't fail me now."
Ryo, also sensing the androids stops his training immediately, his body tenses at their presence, they are strong- stronger than he had ever anticipated. One of them- monstrously strong.
They reveal themselves swiftly, flying down onto the training ground, slamming with enough authority to make a large crater in their respective landing spots.
"Holy crap they can fly!" Ryo yells out, stammering almost.
The androids chuckle as the dust clears.
"Its a basic skill puny human."
The first to speak, a small woman with pixie cut orange hair, besides her is a large musclebound android that has crew cut red hair. He seems to have no emotion at all behind his eyes.
"92 kill him!" She points forwards at Ryo, the giant android charges forward, this one with its fist raised unlike the last android. The clash begins.
Ryo dodges and ducks the slow android quite easily.
"I got excited for nothing!" Ryo returns in kind with a guttural strike the chest of the android, impacting it so hard its metal frame dents inward, blue fluid spurts from the androids mouth.
"Power miscalculated, combat op- failed, reassessing-"
Before it can finish Ryo's foot plants itself in its head, nearly sheering it off completely.
"Weak! Too weak, I trained for nothing!"
From the forest Tien grits his teeth.
"He's not the problem she is! That girl is powerful."
He stands, stopping himself from gathering any power, revealing himself.
Android 107 sighs.
"Damn faulty unit, I knew he wouldn't be any help."
A dark purple aura gathers around her, her eyes glowing as ki swirls.
She rushes forward, disappearing in a flash, appearing behind Ryo and sending him flying with a side kick.
Ryo impacts a tree, snapping it in half, he coughs weakly before trembling his legs back up.
"She's strong" A wild smile appears on his face at the combat he is about to endure.
White steam fumes around him. A mighty scream rushes out of his mouth, his muscles contract and pulse, turning a light red as ki rushes through him.
His steps quicken as he closes in on the android who is now slinging small ki blasts at him to stop the advance but he easily slaps them away.
"How!" The urgency in her voice is quite evident as Ryo begins striking with quick precision, piecing her up with ease. Ryo cant hold the ki rage for long, his energy will deplete soon so he needs to finish his opponent quick.
"Off of me!"
Android 107 pushes back with all her might and energy, blocking the most powerful blows while tanking the light jabs with noticeable pain.
"Away from me you foul freak!" The purple around her body spikes with a raging surge.
"This is my absolute desire: To kill you!"
She holds her hands together charging something big.
Ryo gnashes bis bloody teeth
"Go ahead shoot some more laser beams at me you damned robot I don't care!"
His rage fuels him as he pushes through the massive amount of energy being charged.
"ABSOLUTION GUN!"
Her orange hair flares up as a beam of continuous energy shoots from the palms of her hands, Ryo holds his own hand out to block it, but its too much, his skin burns and cries out for reprieve but there is none.
"I WILL WIN!"
Ryo doesn't stop pushing but its not enough, his body overcomes his will and falls to its knees.
"NO!" His remaining ki flares up, barely making a noticeable pulse in his forearms which have been burnt red and raw.
"Haah. Dirty human." The purple flash dies down, the android, still teeming with enough remaining energy to stand steady grins at her defeated opponent, though she breathes heavily from the exertion
Ryo grits at his defeat, beaten bloody and burned to a crisp, he cant feel his legs. HIs defeat has come.
"I cant believe this."
Android 107 brushes her hair aside and covers her hand in ki, shaping it like a blade, she raises it like a fell executioner.
"Now our main target. You were a nice side though."
She smirks as her hand comes down like a scimitar.
"DODON RAYYY!"
A massive yellow blast comes from afar, shooting into the android, the blast of ki disintegrates her to ash almost instantly, the only thing remaining is some scraps of the polo she was wearing.
Ryo's eyes widen in utter shock at the massive energy, so hot it burns his skin even from a few yards away.
Tien reveals his power, letting it flow with an eased release.
Ryo feels almost suffocated from the energy of the mysterious man, its enough to make him pass out- partly from already being completely depleted.
"It was clear those androids didn't have good intentions.. Young warrior, you have too much potential to die here."
Tien squats down and wrastles Ryo onto his shoulders before lifting his feet off the ground, slowly floating before taking off flying, the wind flapping the remains of Ryo's burnt Gi.
The remains of the androids lay strewn about, neither of them were able to send a report or a distress signal, destroyed before they had the chance. A failed mission.
After some time Tien arrives at his training area, a large waterfall and a small camp with a simple lean-to tent and a campfire, the fire pops and crackles as night arrives, Tien watches the slowly breathing Ryo, his body propped up against a large rock.
"Wake up soon. Your real training will begin."
Ryo's body is beaten and bloody, defeated. He overcame powerful opponent after powerful opponent only to be greeted by an inevitable gap between human and machine. Despite being the weakest type of android, some mass produced scraps from the corrupted mind of Dr. Gero they still proved stronger than any normal human could ever imagine. Tien is the key to advancing to the next stage of humanities peak, a warrior unmatched in his time.
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Relevant Character Power Levels
Ryo Current Power Level: 15; Rage Ryo: 18
Android 92: 12
Android 107: 16; Android 107 Absolution: 20
Hanzo Pai: 26
Tien: 170