ROAR!
The full moon bathed the desolate wilderness in an eerie silver light, illuminating a scene of pure, primordial violence. Two colossal, furred titans traded earth-shaking roars, a symphony of savagery far removed from any concept of civilization.
BANG!
Once again, Great Ape Rhode's calculated strike sent Great Ape Aira tumbling backwards, her massive form crashing into the earth with a force that registered on seismographs.
"AIRA! WAKE UP!"
Rhode's voice, magnified and distorted by his bestial vocal cords, boomed across the shattered landscape like thunder. He stood over the crater, watching her closely.
Hmm?
For a fleeting second, the dazed beast seemed to hesitate. The crimson fury in her eyes flickered, as if a distant part of her heard the command. But it was just a moment. The primal rage surged back, smothering the spark of consciousness. She remained a prisoner of her own power.
Seeing the failed attempt, Rhode acted. He descended from his vantage point, his shadow swallowing her. As she began to struggle to her feet, he planted a massive foot squarely on her back, driving her deeper into the planet's crust.
BOOM!
The ground buckled and surrendered. Under his immense, focused pressure, Aira was pressed more than ten meters down, her Oozaru form creating a perfect, ape-shaped mold in the bedrock. Pinned by the earth and Rhode's weight, she was utterly immobilized, her furious roars muffled by stone and soil.
"AIRA! SNAP OUT OF IT!" he roared again, directly into the pit.
But it was useless. Trapped and enraged, her crimson eyes blazed with nothing but mindless hostility. The brief stun was gone. Words alone were not the key.
So be it.
Rhode lifted his foot, releasing the pressure.
ROAR!
Freed, Aira exploded from the pit in a shower of rubble, her focus instantly—and predictably—locking onto her tormentor.
Heh.
Rhode's Great Ape lips pulled back in something akin to a smile. He met her charge not with evasion, but with a devastating, straight punch that connected with her midsection.
WHUMP!
The impact launched her through the air like a grotesque, furry comet. She flattened a line of low hills before skidding to a ruinous stop.
BANG! THUD! CRUNCH!
Before she could even rise, Rhode was upon her. What followed was not a fight, but a systematic, brutal dismantling. He moved with a terrifying blend of raw power and conscious control, his punches and kicks measured not to kill, but to exhaust. Each blow was a lesson in overwhelming force, delivered with surgical precision to drain the rampant energy fueling her rage.
After a relentless quarter-hour, the rampaging ceased. Great Ape Aira lay in a broken landscape, not unconscious, but utterly spent. Her massive chest heaved, her limbs trembled with fatigue, and the mindless fury in her eyes was now undercut by sheer, debilitating exhaustion. She could do nothing but lie there and glare, a beast too weary to move.
Aira, this is all the help I can give you.
Rhode believed this state—powerless, drained, yet still aware—was the perfect catalyst for the conscious mind to reassert control. With the immediate threat of her rampage neutralized, he turned inward.
Still in his Oozaru form, Rhode closed his eyes, ignoring the ruined world around him. He focused on the tsunami of power within—the tenfold surge that felt both familiar and alien. His mind began the meticulous work of mapping it, containing it, seeking to master this amplified state as perfectly as he had his base form.
Time flowed. Above, the full moon began its descent, its transformative Blutz Waves gradually weakening. As their intensity faded below the critical threshold, the massive forms of the two Saiyans began to shrink, fur receding, bones reshaping with audible cracks and pops.
Whoosh!
The moment his transformation fully released, Rhode blinked back to his normal size and appeared instantly at Aira's side. She lay amidst the devastation, breathing heavily, her eyes closed, the mindless crimson glow gone. He knelt beside her, a hand on her shoulder, his own expression unreadable as he assessed her condition—both physical and mental. The night's violent tuition was over. The real test of her will began now.
Looking down, he found Aira lying flat on her back amidst the rubble, her eyes not filled with rage, but with a simmering, profound disappointment. When she sensed his presence, she flicked her gaze toward him, a clear flash of annoyance in the glance. The memory of the one-sided pummeling was vividly intact.
But that was all she could manage. Exhausted to the point of collapse in her Oozaru form, the aftermath had left her nearly paralyzed. At this moment, she couldn't even muster the strength to speak.
"Don't worry."
A flicker of awkwardness crossed Rhode's face at her pitiful state. Without ceremony, he produced a Senzu Bean, crushed it between his fingers, and mixed it with water from his canteen, tipping the mixture carefully into her mouth.
"You... jerk!" The moment the bean's essence hit her system, vitality surged back. Aira sprang to her feet, glaring daggers at him.
Rhode held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I was helping! An uncontrolled Oozaru rampage would have leveled continents. Earth wouldn't have survived."
Aira opened her mouth to retort, but the logic was irrefutable. After a tense silence, she finally muttered, coldly, "Fine. You're right. We'll do it like this from now on."
Though she'd failed to maintain consciousness today, the fleeting moment of recognition—that split-second stun—was a breakthrough. She was convinced that with more attempts, she would master it.
"Huh?" Rhode was taken aback by her pragmatic, if grudging, acceptance. Deciding further conversation was pointless, he simply walked a short distance away, sat cross-legged on a relatively flat rock, and closed his eyes to meditate. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Hmph!" Aira snorted at his retreating back. She took a moment to assess her own power and felt a pang of disappointment. The Senzu Bean had healed her exhaustion but granted no measurable increase in strength. Of course, she reasoned, it was just fatigue, not a near-death experience.
Her eyes then fell on Rhode, who sat there pristine and composed, and then at her own dust-covered, disheveled state. Irritation flared anew. Seeing him deep in meditation, utterly withdrawn, she scoffed. She had no desire to stay in this blasted wasteland. Without a word, she kicked off the ground and shot into the sky, a streak of light heading back toward the lights of West City and the promise of a hot shower and a proper bed.
Aira's departure went unnoticed by the meditating Rhode. Time lost meaning in the silent wilderness. Eventually, his eyes snapped open, a sharp, decisive light gleaming within them. He tilted his head back, his gaze piercing the pre-dawn darkness, fixing on the waning full moon still visible in the lightening sky.
Ideas, theories, and fragments of Saiyan lore collided and realigned in his mind. A single, coherent path forward began to crystallize from the chaos.
Dawn broke, the sun's first rays beginning to chase the moon from the sky. Rhode, who had stood motionless for hours, suddenly stirred. His ki erupted from him—not violently, but with intense focus. Under his will, the energy around him began to shift and transform, growing impossibly bright, radiating a light as harsh and blinding as the noonday sun.
"No. This isn't it."
The sensation was all wrong. He wasn't replicating a phenomenon; he was just becoming a beacon. He immediately dispersed the brilliant energy, the harsh light winking out. Frowning in thought, he reassessed.
He raised his hand again. This time, he focused inward, drawing his ki not to shine, but to simulate. A sphere of energy condensed above his palm. But instead of his usual blue-white aura, it glowed with a soft, steady, pearlescent light—a pale, moon-like luminescence that held a subtle, transformative frequency. He stared at the orb, his expression one of intense concentration and dawning possibility.