Zukki had arrived much earlier than when Negi arrived for her usual routine. Before she would humor the boy 456 and even an hour or so before she would normally arrive to knock around Zukki.
The young girl's return had been unceremonious, although not quiet. Her brawl with one of the boys her age had left him crumpled on the ground.
She had spoken aloud and spat some reactionary curses, but the girl wasn't angry. After thinking about it for just a second Zukki's lips were curling into a smile.
"That was actually kind of fun, don't know what he wanted to fight me so badly." She mutters the second part before stepping away from the boy.
She turned on her heel and began following the building's perimeter. Most of the sunlight was casting shadows at this hour and the morning returned to its calm. Pods ripping through the sky along with the many flyers getting around.
With the coast clear and her body hugging the prison wall, Zukki started practicing her fire control. Igniting the heat along her hand into a flame that lit up the darkened area she walked. A painless process now, failure in ignition was rare if it ever happened.
She never truly struggled with turning it on, just keeping it calm and alive.
("With this I could have ended the fight right away, even he would have thought twice about fighting me") She ponders the idea of using her fire in such an unimportant way.
Keeping her use of fire outside of home modest, was something that her parents stressed after all. In spite of that, her father's senior students, the ones she affectionately referred to as aunts and uncles, had told her daily practice was the way they learned how to get stronger.
She shut the fire on one hand. It slowly petered out as her hand closed. Dust particles in the air burnt into smoke that wafted off her hand and a wrist. Zukki then lit a flame in her opposite hand.
Closing it to feel the success of the process wash over her. Zukki had the absolute basic control of fire down and it felt good to a point. After half a dozen more ignitions she was starting to feel hungry–remembering where she was turned that emotion into dread.
***
The slug lady starts her long nine hour shift at the prison. Pretending as if she has more power than deciding whether or not there are enough cups of water to serve; today there were. The shift starts an hour or so after the sun rises. Mornings weren't the most popular hour for consuming slop, but there are a few weary souls.
Such as one girl with sharp locks of dark hair slowly approaching the counter. Another is the woman with a mischievous looking bobcut that covers her eyes.
The latter was sitting by herself on a table. With a tray of half eaten slop In front of her. It didn't stop her from getting in line being Zukki.
"Hey 454" the woman strolled up behind Zukki.
There were a few more in line, in front of the girl so they had a brief second to get acquainted.
The girl whipped her head around the moment she realized she was being referred to by that number again.
"That's not my name" Zukki responds curtly.
"Oh wow..you got a name" the woman seems surprised, like she shit the conversational jackpot.
"Everyone has a name.." the girl states it like it was obvious, although she remembers two boys who didn't have names.
"No, here at the prison, you have a number, but I don't want to explain the rules around here. That ain't my job. You should go around asking others their names though" the woman didn't care to explain how things were and instead just nudged the new girl to interact with her surroundings with ignorance. Like she knew exactly where asking people what their names were, would go.
Zukki felt off about the way the new woman suggested going and doing something so plainly. It still sounded like exactly what she should do and made a mental note of walking up to someone asking them their name as a conversation starter.
"I will…" she accepts with a longer doubt, a gut feeling she barely acknowledged. "so, do you have a name?"
The conclusion seemed logical, but the woman froze up briefly.
"99" she answers as the two of them move down the line.
"My name is Zukki" the girl beams, remembering exactly who gave her that name, and introducing herself properly. There was a light reflecting off this girl that is just too powerful for the prison base's residents.
99 had to look away from a smile that just felt gross to see. She was stunned and unable to find the right insult.
Splat!
The tray in front of Zukki was served the heaping pile of slop that drained the bright energy reflecting off the radiant child. In just one second, a turn of the head and the room's atmosphere returned to the color of the slop today–grey.
The sight sparked an acceptance that they were kindred spirits; they hated the food, even though for a significant portion of them they have only ever eaten it.
***
A lot of time went by just answering all of the woman's questions.
"Where did you go?" "Home"
"How did you leave..?" "My father came for me"
She sounded like a kid in daycare being interviewed and 99 just went on with unseen twitches of the eyebrow.
"Who is your father?" "Oh.. Kappa!"
("Kappa..noted i guess") The woman was curled up in her stool, a natural on the awkward chair.
They went on pointlessly and it was number 99 who thanked the girl. A rare bit of gratitude due to the random sheer volume of new things she learned. What to do with that info she had no clue.
When Zukki was finished quite literally spilling her guts to number 99, anything but actually eating the slop In front of her she thought about where to go. Glancing down at her food that she barely touched like an unlearned lesson and walked away.
While she wandered off, a long long moment later her food was consumed by someone. It was the way of the prison and even though it was gross, none ever went to waste.
***
Zukki never cared to explore this place. As her eyes trail the dusty, grimy hallway she begins making eye contact with people. The first must have been an npc or her aura was too much because they looked away first.
The second made a fighting stance the moment her eyes met his. His armor was scratched a very distinct 151. An adult or the closest to it that was nearly double her size, rocking a haircut that equates to bed head with two prominent tufts on the front top right and back left.
"You looked into my eyes, let's battle!" He looked and sounded like a brute with a high voice. One wonders what he was years prior, but as Zukki is simply stunned and on the back foot the prisoner numbered 151 repeats himself. "Let's battle"
"I'll go first!" He announced and swung his arm painfully fast. It was accurately aimed at too. Low and his fist, though skinny, are getting as solid as number 25.
(Number 25 is the brutish Saiyan known for being kinda mindless and letting two gremlins orbit him)
The speed in which 151 swung his arm could be clearly seen by Zukki. With her mind on guard she reacted by blocking. Lifting her corresponding arm and shoulder.
Crack!
The sound of the man's own bones cracking against the girl filled the small portion of the hallway.
Thump!
And then she was sent the grimey metal wall. With great reflexes she protected herself by lifting her shoulder while slamming into the wall. Her feet hit the wall and a chuckle could be heard before…
Wham!
Zukki slammed her fist into number 151's cheek. Flipping over and onto the floor to regain her composure. She shows the man a smirk and laughs in response to his sudden attack.
"O K, I'll battle you" she agrees and the man shares the same wild expression. Zukki may have chirped and sprung up to her feet, but she's feeling all the times she's been struck so far.
She loses the initiative again and lifts her arms up to block.
151 launched a swift left kick that he immediately, albeit clumsily, stepped in from to attempt to connect a left punch. It lacked any technique or precision, but it held the weight of his body behind it.
The toe of 151 knocked her guard up as it whipped at her elbows. The follow up slammed into her arms anyways due to the man's lack of aim.
"Heeyarr ha!" He let out an odd sounding grunt as his hits landed on her guard.
"Hmph" Zukki gets pushed back as the man's weight is behind his strike. Boots sliding on the ground as he's continuing to lean into her arms.
What followed was an awkward test of strength between two very differently sized individuals. A fist leaning into two arms pushed together tight in a guard.
"Nnnnhgg" Zukki puts all her effort into pushing back.
She ends up too stuck on this, too stubborn to dodge now, when it could be the perfect opportunity to counter.
151 regains his balance. Putting more strength in his arm to use his fist to successfully shove Zukki back.
"Nice try 454, but my number is bigger." He proudly declares after getting one over on her. "That means I've been here longer and I'm stronger"
Zukki skids back and looks up at the man with a puzzled expression.
"Huh?" She quarks an eyebrow, releasing her guard and taking her mind ever so slightly off the fight. Noticing the man starting to barrel forward like he didn't make some dumb statement.
His clumsy charge is dodged by a wide margin, as if a matador was playing it extremely safe. He charged forward with his wide and obvious swing. She dove into a roll out of the way.
The hallway width was about double the wing span of 151's arms. He had enough room to make a small turn, not an actual stop and start, but curving around and chasing the girl he missed.
"Hrrrrrg" he growls at her in his sights once again.
"Come on, aren't we battling!?" She calls out to him to create a playful banter.
He isn't angry, but his response is aggression. Using that wide arc swing again like trying to strike at the air of space she occupied rather than the girl herself.
Zukki dodged inside to the left only to catch a leg to her. Finding her guard down she finds the limb briefly carrying her body off the ground. She got sent tumbling backwards at the peak arc of the kick.
The pain, although it couldn't compare to Vegeta or Negi, was real. It wasn't fully recognizable, but this had to be her most satisfying confrontation thus far.
It was quick how fast she rose back to her feet.
"Haha!" The man's laugh filled the hallways as he finally parted his lips to banter. "Kicking is pretty advanced for someone of your number"
"Huh?" Zukki felt stunned again. She didn't expect his little spout of condescension–no, no, it just went right over her head.
"I said, expert battlers need to kick more" and to punctuate his point he kicked the air. Like miming someone knocking down a door.
"Ooo, you're trying to teach me something" she finally gets it. Shakes her head right after. "No thanks, I got those already"
"Teach you, no, I was just telling you how much of a bad battler you are" he corrects
"Oh..mm what's a battler again?" She asks in spite of this being the first time wondering.
"Me!"
"Right..and you are? No wait, can we just keep fighting?" Zukki was ready to continue this charade until remembering there was a fight ongoing.
"I'm 151 and we are battling.." he demands, like the situation now requires proper understanding.
Wham!
Zukki leapt up and twisted her waist mid air from the moment she carries from the ground. It was a quick snap of her foot, the top of her boot colliding with the man's jawline. Landing safely on three limbs after the fact.
Caught more off guard by the sudden attack, 151 stumbled back. A red welt started to form on the side of his face as he grumbled.
"You wanted me to kick, right?" She says and shows a mischievous smirk that keeps her actual understanding vague.
151 is a bit angry and his response is aggression.
The very first kick that followed, Zukki dodged like she felt two red dots burning into her jaw. Ducking down while feeling the draft whip her hair to the side.
The attack, not finding a target, frustrated the man so he didn't stop. It was just that his follow up could hardly be called an attack that Zukki ever expected.
151 let his momentum twist his body and then he fell into her with his elbow pointed downward. Her head was to the side, but he could absolutely crush her pointedly.
When Zukki looked up to react to the next attack it's start up was so slow it caught her off guard. It looked as though his whole plan was to use gravity in order to drive his elbow into her. At worst it was going to hit her shoulder, but she was already half a step back when he forced all his weight downward.
He went from falling to crashing down into her right away.
Thump!
The elbow dug into her shoulder, but his whole arm landed on her body. If it were beefy like a wrestler or something, she might have been crushed by sheer mass and weight.
"Gah!" She cries out while really feeling his elbow jab a muscle in her shoulder.
Zukki's hands immediately pushed on his arm to get him off her. She felt his arm move easier than expected because he was rolling to his side so he could rise to his feet once more.
151 could see the realization in her eye that he was going to stomp on her next.
She thought to roll out of the way, missing the fact the wall was right next to her. Zukki collided with it and received her stomp to the side.
Thump!
"Gah!" She gasps out, feeling the pain of his boot slamming into her ribs.
"Just stay down, it's my win. I'm the best battler out there" he declared while going for another stomp, seeing as she kept moving.
This time Zukki put her arm in the way of the stomp. That only made him pick his foot up again and slam it back down.
Instead of her arm catching the stomp, her hand met its decent. He felt lackluster about the attack, but paid it no mind as he went for another.
His rapid stomps were getting blocked by Zukki's hands until he chose a lower target out of frustration.
"Just lose!" He demands of her before intending to snap her legs like twigs.
Clap!
His foot hit flush with the ground creating a satisfying sound, albeit not a satisfying result.
At the last second Zukki curled her legs up and did a double kick to his ankle, briefly crippling it. She was doing it to escape, to push herself away, but the effort led to something a bit more fruitful.
The man fell to one knee and then as his right hand touched the ground to catch himself he couldn't sustain his weight with the pain. On a closer look his whole first was black and blue, his right fist was made of glass with how harsh he has used it.
Thump!
His face bumped against the floor as Zukki was getting to her feet again. The roll to get back made her twist her body in a way that made her acutely aware of the pain in her ribs. Her first few breaths were somewhat ragged.
Despite getting tossed into another fight, she was grinning from ear to ear.
Zukki didn't attack him on the floor, it didn't seem like a fun thing to do. So she let him get back up, since he was doing so right after falling anyway.
When his gaze had risen to see where his opponent was, surprised he hadn't already received a blow on the floor and lost, 151's eyes met someone behind her.
The only woman, no, the only person with an armor piece that looks like a shark took a bite out of the corner, approached from the direction behind Zukki. Her glare and aloof demeanor really said it all; "leave me the F*ck alone" So like everyone this early who sees her, 151 moves to the side.
Zukki, however, just wondered why the fun wasn't going to continue. Turning around she meets the slightly cracked drying skin on some thighs that look rather pathetic compared to her aunt Jetto's.
She couldn't even look up in time before she caught the slight blur of a white like that struck her midsection.
Wham!
The sound that followed against the wall was excruciatingly painful to hear. Zukki was momentarily stuck to the wall with her limbs spread out before sliding to the ground.
The woman continued on her way. It was just a surprise that they weren't interrupted sooner. The fight seemed to end anticlimactically to the dismay of even 151. His expression showed that his enjoyment was coming to an end.
"Errr…" Zukki groans from the floor. Holding the back of her head as it hit the wall, holding her gut which hurt from being hit by a stiff kick.
Her moving was enough for 151 to let out a soft inaudible gasp. Something like defeat went through his mind then and there, but his body didn't move to change it. The battle wasn't over, yet he didn't march over and start stomping on her.
Zukki felt a gasp of air struggling to leave her airways. Soon after as she pushed up to her feet, she slowly opened her eyes to meet the man before him.
"Ooouch, who was that.. what was that for!?" She demands an answer post wince.
"Oh..that was 69. We don't battle her" she says in a somewhat disbelief. a slow dopey tone that only furthers the awkwardness of the interruption.
"We..oh, I'm gonna battle her…" she looks to the side to think about what she just said. "I'm going to fight with her, I mean."
A few seconds of silence go by.
"So are you getting up or what?" She barks her question not wanting to attack him now that their fight was interrupted. Attacking him now was a boring idea to her.
With her family at home, they took breaks and didn't attack each other on the floor, however nearly every other fight she's been in rarely included such reprieve.
When 151 heard her, he didn't laugh, or feel shocked. His emotions were somewhat indifferent; an idle respect being born between them in this short moment. As he stood again, on the strength of his left arm and intact left fist, he peered down at the girl.
"I'm ending this battle" he declares seriously, but it comes off as corny.
"Sure you are" she retorts right away.
Zukki clenched her first at her side, not using any fire literally, but building that heat up. Letting it cover up the growing pain across her body. If someone were inspecting the power levels in this area, which they rarely do, they would notice one slowly and incrementally rising by one every other few seconds or so. The girl was already really hungry and the pain had started to assault her stamina. Her breathing should be a bit ragged, instead it's controlled, in and out. The girl doesn't take the initiative.
151 moved in with a kick to start.
A forward kick that was easily dodged.
A fist lunged straight down and also easily dodged. This follow up is already losing out to Zukki's momentum.
"Ha!" She follows up her dodge by spamming herself into his back. Once she lands on the ground it's followed up by a kick to the ankle that she struck earlier.
The man stumbled a step, only to fall forward on the pain of his ankle being struck. It wasn't just a fail, no he was rolling back up, and now facing her with an awkward sprint moments later.
Zukki would continue to egg him on to chase her, dodging all the while. Essentially going in for the one poke strategy after evading. It works way too many times.
At least four checks to the back and low kicks before 151 begins wildly swinging his arms. Something reminiscent of Jagger, but much more aware and dangerous.
"Come on accept my hits and let's end this battle" he yells at her while increasingly getting frustrated by her consistent dodging of his sloppy yet dangerous hooks.
With her back against the wall Zukki dodged at the perfect timing so that his attack struck the wall instead.
Thud! Crunch!
With that and a roaring yell his other hand was out of commission.
Zukki wanted to respond with something, but the man was fully focused on the main now and lost it on her entirely for much too long in a fight like this.
"Hey where are you lookin!?" She calls out.
Wham!
Zukki leaps in and rocks his chin from the side. Seeing that he's still standing but dazed, she nearly leaps into his head like a rocket from below using her own head, thinking twice as she reaches her fist up for a glorious first uppercut.
Wham! Thump!
Zukki launched past him and hit the ceiling before crashing to the floor after.
151 was knocked flat on his back and out cold as Zukki eventually rose to her feet again.
"Puahh.. guess i won the battle–fight!" She gasps out while working to regain her breathing.
Zukki looked over at him and noticed the injuries. A flash of Hikari's beaten bloodied form kept her from fully celebrating her second victory. She let out a sigh and regretted not eating the slop when she had the chance.
Gripping the man by his hair at first she began to pull him along, when a tuft ripped out she changed her mind.
"Whoops.." she didn't think he would notice the bald spot later anyway.
Zukki carried her exhausted body while dragging his dead weight to her new destination the infirmary.