trans_9 | In Which Zetta is Proud [Closed]

Crap, she totally predicted this.

Still, Hit Girl wasn't one for putting off her training, and with all the practice she'd been putting into magic, breaking some stuff sounded perfect to her. She also wanted to make sure Ruffnut wasn't moping anymore, because if she was Hit girl was totally kicking her ass.

She made it there, stretching first, and showing up in something different: she now had on the barrier jacket Rein had made for her.

Ruffnut did NOT want to be here.

Her plans for the day had consisted of gathering up a supply of ale and food, and stashing herself in a small corner of the ship to wallow in self loathing and try to drown out the constant nagging voice of her disembodied brother. It couldn't be helped though. If she refused to come to training then Zetta and Hit Girl would come looking for her and drag her kicking and screaming into talking about her feelings...which was about the most unvikinglike thing she'd done lately.

So here she was. The minute she stepped into the Senoriums her brother materialized. It wasn't even a active thought anymore it just happened. At least he was keeping his trap shut for the time being.

The Overlord had been about to congratulate them for a job well done and all, but even he couldn't manage to be oblivious to the way they looked.

He regarded them for a second in growing ~~concern~~ bafflement, eyebrow slowly going up.

"...you guys look like someone kicked your puppy."

"Whatever," Hit Girl said, trying to look casual for Ruffnut. "I'm fine, Overlord. Just anxious to do whatever you have planned. Why are you taking so long already, come on! Let's...get...fighting."

Her voice trailed off when another viking appeared. "Who the fuck are you?"

The other viking regarded her with a sneer and tried to loom over her "I'm Tuffnut, the tougher twin. And don't think just because I'm not actually here I can't kick your-"

Whatever Tuffnut, or the figment claiming to be Tuffnut was planning to kick however would never be known because lightning surged through his Sensorium only body and he fell to the ground with a dopey grin and smoke coming off his limbs.

Ruffnut's fist was still crackling. "Even as a memory he's a pain in the neck." She muttered and gave him a solid kick for good measure.

"So what are we doing?" She returned her attention to Zetta with a faint edge to her voice.

"He's hurt, he is badly hurt," Zetta muttered, having learned this line.

Then he drew himself up to regard his two disciples, who were at least getting marginally feistier. "Hey! We're not gonna just jump straight into the training, I got some crap to say to you first."

He regarded them both quite seriously for a moment, then grinned again. "You guys kicked ass. Seriously. That thing against Bowser was freakin' sweet. Not I doubted you, but I saw his stats. Even just the two of you together shouldn't have been able to beat him. Not that I doubted you! You guys are just that good.

"So... I got something for both of ya."

Hit Girl gazed at Tuffnut a moment before shaking her head and returning her gaze to Ruffnut. She wasn't going to ignore the look on her face, but she was going to concentrate on whatever they had to do next. She knew Ruffnut would try to do the sane.

And the praise from the Overlord was hard to ignore. Hit Girl knew all too well how strong Bowser was, and no one was more astonished than she they had won the fight. Here she had to exchange an excited look with Ruff before turning her attention back to the Overlord, saying nothing just yet.

Had Ruffnut been in a better mood bragging would have occurred, perhaps even a smile.

So oddly enough Tuffnut did it for her springing to his feet again shaking off a layer of Ash. "Like you'd expect any less from a Hairy Hooligan of Birk!"

That earned him a dismissive thwack with the back of her hand as she remained focused on Zetta, but at least her hardened glare softened about an inch.

Two minions stepped forward, one for each girl.

To Hit Girl, the minion presented a cape. What material it was made out of was anyone's guess, since Zetta had bought it from one of his own merchants; probably some Netherworld material, light and flexible and tough as hell. Zetta had no idea if she ever had a logo, so he'd just made one up -- an H up top, a G down below, and a pair of crossed guns in between.

To Ruffnut, the minion presented a helm -- a horned helm, as she favored. On the one hand, this was a helm of more normal, conventional material; on the other, this was Daja's work, with all the quality and magnificence that implied.

Hit Girl was definitely speechless. There weren't people that went around giving her stuff, so this actually meant a lot. Only dad her ever done anything like this.

She attached the cape to her red and black barrier jacket (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/elpedrososama/b37f16f5cd6aae34ce006b539c8851a81227854637_full.jpg) and grinned. "Thanks, Overlord Zetta."

Ruffnut's eyes went wide and suddenly she felt a fist squeezing in her gut. She didn't deserve gifts. She deserved a severe ass kicking. Still she couldn't very well refuse.

...especially because Tuffnut was taking the lead. "WOW!" he exclaimed snatching the helmet and giving it a once over. "This is sweet!"

Ruffnut snatched it back possessively and shoved her own helmet into Tuff's hands before trying on Zetta's gift. It fit perfectly and didn't even wobble on her head when she turned. "It's awesome." She declared and managed even to force a smile. The guilt was still there like she'd swallowed a rock...and she knew what that felt like because once she actually had.

"Now. Don't let this get to your heads," Zetta said, as he watched them try on their stuff. "You guys did make some mistakes during that fight. You're not anywhere near Overlord-level badass yet. But even after you made the mistakes you kept fighting on just as damn hard. That's why you won. And that sort of thing is why you're my disciples."

To think there's more than one meaning to that message is to give Zetta far more credit than anyone, himself included, has ever thought he deserved.

"So, I'm throwing this open to you guys. That was the best damn fight I've gotten for you yet. Now that you've done it, what do you want to do?"

Is the Overlord... actually giving them a measure of respect?

Hit Girl grimaced. It would have helped to be told what those were mistakes were, not just that they made them, but she guessed that would come in time. He should have also guessed that the way these two girls were, they were their own worse critics. It was why Ruffnut was still beating herself up about Hiccup (she could tell, she wasn't stupid) and why SHE was beating herself up after that thrashing she got a few days ago.

The respect was good, but Hit Girl wanted to feel like she earned it, that every bit of it belonged to her and Ruff. So she thought a moment.

"Why don't you show us how to see those status screens or whatever...unless Ruff has a better idea?"

Ruff shook her head, "Back home all we ever did to train was fight dragons, so unless either of you guys knows what an Ohm looks like?"

"Haven't a clue," the book said, frankly. "Ugly insects is all I've heard."

He considered the pair of them for a second, thinking, and considering the power they now had.

"Status screens may be something you'd need to wish for in the Sacred Tome. It's pretty natural for demons and inhabitants of the Netherworld. Or we could keep raising your mana power, and seeing what powers you develop from that. It might be one of them. Or, we could do some really rough training. Might be one of those 'develop awesome powers in adversity' things I hear about."

Ugly insects? Really?

"I've seen 'em, but there are several different kinds, and it was only a simulation. All I fought against were the grunts, with those kick ass weapoons those new guys on the ship gave us."

Hit Girl listened intently. So all they had to do was be more bad ass than usual huh? She could do that.

"How rough are we talkin'? Like, stronger than that bowser guy?"

"Or like when we were fighting against the tower?" Ruffnut supplied. That had taken what felt like hours.

Another thought and then she spoke again.

"Is there anyway we can train against being possessed?"

"Strong as you want."

Ah ha. Now he's starting to get a hold on what's bother Ruffnut. Uh, sort of. Maybe. Um.

"Well, there are a couple of tricks to that. On the one hand, there's mental power and training. You figure out a way to ground yourself hard, so you're always yourself, and it's a lot harder to get into your head. On the other, you can do sort of the same thing just by gaining mana power. It's hard to affect someone with a lot of mana power, because they just overwhelm you. Hyaaa ha ha ha ha! Look at me as your example! No one could possess the great Lord Zetta!"

Who would want to?

Train yourself through mental power. She could do that: she remembered that night when she went after Frank D'Amico after he took dad. She remembered that feeling she got right before she went after them: that certainty that she had to take them all out quickly, that either they died or she went down fighting. She closed her eyes a moment and remembered that rush.

But gaining Mana sounded interesting too.

She looked at Ruffnut a moment now, seeing what she was talking about. She knew, quietly, that she would find a way to beat that sort of enemy, and not let it get Ruffnut if it came around. That was just how it had to be.

She was her friend, after all, and she thought she was pretty cool.

"Alright, I want to be that strong." She stated plainly. "I ain't letting stuff like that demonwhateveritwas use me like it did all those others." She cracked her knuckles and did some stretches getting warmed up. "Whatever it takes. Make it happen."

"Good a choice as anyway. So -- what'll it be? Mana training, strength training, mental training, desperation training?"

He... really hoped they didn't pick mental training, because he had no freakin' idea how to do that.

Hit Girl thought a minute. They had already done some strength training right? And likely they'd be getting into some Mana training too, so they left only one other kind of training.

"Why don't we try this desperation training you mentioned. What do we have to do?"

"Desperate sounds about right~" Tuffnut remarked from his new place on the sidelines. He had a bench and what appeared to be an entire roast turkey that he was working on.

Ruffnut shot him a dirty look to tell him to shut up before turning back to Zetta. "What she said." Was her choice in the matter.

"Okay." Not surprising, this was sort of a hero thing. "Okay, you know how when you fought Bowser, you kept going, and did some amazing crap because even though he was stronger, you were determined to win? This is kinda like that. You fight someone really strong, who you have no chance of beating. Most people would just fold if that happened, but not you guys. The idea is, when you get overwhelmed, you perform better. You think up new tricks or respond better or whatever. If you're fighting against someone really strong, your own strength comes out. You get it?"

"Yeah, I get it all right," Hit Girl said. Granted, the last time that happened Frank D'Amico actually had her beat, but that was before she came here. NOW she had a few more tricks up her sleeve, she had magic and she had this barrier jacket with a kick ass cape. She wasn't about to let anything take her down anymore...unless it was going to help her get stronger, after all.

"How strong are we talking?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject