Wasteland, 50 miles East of East City 1:48 PM (13:48) Thursday
Shadic rested atop a stone pillar. He sat next to his hammer, keeping watch over the barren wasteland in front of him. 'Any time now.' He thought, growing more anxious and impatient as the seconds passed.
What was he doing? Shadic was waiting for somebody in particular to show up. He hadn't had a real battle in a while and there was only one person he actually wanted to test his strength against. How did Shadic know he would find who he was looking for? To make a long story short; he didn't. In fact, Shadic was not even sure if his target was still alive. It had been months, maybe even years, since the two last saw each other. Plus, because of his training, Shadic's ki was no longer detectable. It was not like he was a beacon of power sitting out in the middle of nowhere.
So how did he know? Shadic had a hunch. If this person was really who Shadic wantes to train against, he would show up sooner or later. And today, Shadic had time to wait.
Around him was a serene wasteland with no life for miles. A deep blue river shimmered below, with sunlight reflecting off. Aside from the river and a few other land formations scattered around, there was nothing to worry about.
A white streak ran across the sky as it headed towards the city. Reku needed a few training supplies in order to get stronger for a certain task he had been working on for a while. He stayed hidden for a while, honing in on his senses and developing new strategies. His training wasn’t necessarily based on improving power, but technique instead. He hadn’t spoke to Big Shot ever since the incident in which his loved one and his son were both killed in the battle, though it seemed he couldn’t have reach out to the rich android if he tried. It seemed as if he disappeared off the face of the earth, fine by him.
However, Reku couldn’t help but think about his best friend, Shadic. It’s been quite a while since they last met and he really wanted to speak with him again. Speaking of which…
The half-saiyan spotted a familiar looking teen male sitting by a very familiar looking hammer. “Son of a gun..” Reku whispered under his breath, and flew down to see if his suspicions were true.
Shadic kept on high alert, waiting and hoping for the person he wanted to show up. For a few minutes he listened to the river below, splashing against some rocks every now and then. Suddenly, a surge of electricity radiated across the metal of the hammer and Shadic knew the moment he was waiting for was upon him. He surveyed the area for a minute before spotting a white streak in the sky. Shadic sighed a breath of relief, knowing his waiting was not in vain.
'Took you long enough; I thought you would have been here hours ago.' Shadic thought to himself as he rose to his feet. His normal blue and orange gi stood out against the wasteland backdrop, confirming any suspicions Reku may have had about the identity of the person. Shadic could not tell what emotions the new arrival was experiencing, not from the distance he was at. He wasn't even sure what emotions he was feeling. Anger? Happiness? Anxiety? It was unclear, especially since he could not remember what happened in their last meeting or when it was.
One thing was certain: it was go time. Shadic levitated himself up to the same altitude as his peer, to the point where they were eye level with each other. The two were separated by 25 feet of air at most.
Down below, his hammer started going haywire, sparking with electricity left and right. It knew this person was a major threat and the hammet was itching for a good swinging. Shadic just stared for a second before breaking the silence with a single word, "Reku."
Reku found himself face to face with his best, at least he hoped he was still his best, friend. He was feeling a mix of happiness and anxiety. He looked passed Shadic and down to his hammer, seeing that it was freaking out. Looking back at his friend, he was kind of shocked that the only thing that he could get out of his mouth after all this time, after everything that happened, “Reku.” It was pretty anti-climactic.
In any case, Reku simply answered back, “Shadic.” He still kept his guard up, the way the hammer was acting told him that Shadic was itching for a fight. Last time he checked, Shadic was more powerful than him. However, power wasn’t everything, it’s how you use that power that matters. Reku didn’t know what else to do, as he could feel the tension between them.
'In hindsight, I thought this would be a lot more action-packed. Thought maybe he'd fly in, be like "Me, you, fight" or just start swinging. But this is, uh, awkward.' Shadic thought as he held his ground. He sort of just floated there awkwardly, keeping a stern demeanor all the while. Even though he knew Reku was going to stop by, he did not know why. He thought it would be for a straight up fight, but clearly that was not the case at all.
Shadic broke the silence with some dialogue that actually had weight to it, "What're you doing here?" He asked. The hammer continued crackling with electricity, but Shadic paid it no mind. It had built up a lot of angst in its time of fighting lowly street criminals and low-powered fighters. It was ready for somebody stronger.
Of course, right now it did not seem like it would be in use; not for a while at least.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Reku replied, keeping a particular eye on that hammer. It seemed like it might just fly by and try to attack on its own because of how it was acting. He didn’t mind the awkwardness, he was used to it at this point. “Seen Big Shot lately? Seems he vanished off the face of the Earth.” He asked, thinking that it was a valid conversation starter. Reku was a little anxious to talk to Shadic again after all this time, but tried to keep it in, he could not have people thinking that he was some sorry excuse for a cheerleader or something similar.
"Touché, got me there." Shadic said in regard to the question that was reflected back at him.
Reku asked about one of their other friends, Big Shot, and that got Shadic thinking. When did he last see the guy? It had been more than a while. He responded the only way he could, "I actually haven't seen Big Shot in a while, or anybody of value for that matter. If I had to guess, I'd say he's probably out building something. Last I saw him he seemed very stressed out physically and mentally. Why do you ask?"
Shadic knew, if he recalled correctly, Reku and Big Shot were not friends. Of course, that seemed like ages ago. Maybe they'd made up since then, or maybe his memory was failing him. Either way, it did not change his answer; Big Shot was a thing of the past for Shadic.
“Just hoping he’s somewhere far away. I hope I never have to see him again.” Reku said, tensing up a little more. Simply talking about him made him angry. He tried to make amends, but Big Shot refused to see reason, being hung up over simple things like fortune and things that, while tragic, were in the past. It wasn’t like he was doing anything about it anyway, all Big Shot would do was sulk around waiting for somebody to fix everything for him. Reku focused on Shadic once again, taking a few deep breaths. “So, how’s it been?” He asked, trying to change the topic.
As Reku explained his situation with Big Shot, Shadic made a mental note of what he was saying, 'So they wereon rocky grounds after all.' He never figured out why the two didn't mesh well, but he sure was not going to ask now. Let the past be the past he figured. Even thinking about the rich android seemed to make Reku physically upset. Shadic was glad to get off that topic and onto another, even if the next one was not too bright either.
Reku asked how 'its' been, which he was obviously referring to life in general since they'd last saw each other. "It's been boring to say the least. The most powerful foe I've fought since was some hotshot who probably could not even transform once and besides that I've just been keeping the streets as clean as one guy can. I keep waiting for something to happen, someone to step up and challenge me like the old days but...nothing so far." Shadic shrugged as he looked over Reku's shoulder at the miles of wasteland around them, "You?"
“Nothing much, just thinking. I won’t say too much of anything, but I have big plans for the future.” Reku replied. No one has been challenging him either. If he had to be honest it was boring for him too. Though what did give the half saiyan an idea was Shadic’s remark about not having a challenge. “So, not getting the opponents you want? Understandable, most of the people on this planet are weaklings anyway. If you want, I’ll be happy to remedy that.” He said with a smirk, itching to fight. He’s been wanting to see if his training worked, and the best way to see that was in field testing.