After as few minutes of walking, AREU stopped. His ear units could pick up the faint sound something rustling in the bushes. Something large, from the sound of it. Almost immediately, a man dressed in a yellow and green outfit leaped out from behind the bushes. He stood about six foot seven, and had a very lean, muscled build. He wore an insignia just above his heart with the Japanese kanji for “Crane” on it.

“Halt, green person. I am… Mercenary White! And I am here to dispose of you!” Announced the man in green and gold.

The android just stared at the man, a blank expression on his face. “Why?”

“…. Uh… Because! It will be glorious! And courageous! And we shall fight honorably until YOUR end!” The man said with a wide grin, before finally frowning and looking down at his feet. “Fiiine.. I’m poor and need some cash.” Suddenly, he leaped back up to the usual standing position. “So I’m mugging you! Prepare yourself, strange and ugly man! HIYAH!” The fighter leaped forward, bringing his fist up and slamming it into AREU’s forehead. The android did not budge, however. Simply standing there with a vaguely confused expression on his face. There was a slight pause, before the man in green and gold reared back, holding his punching arm at the wrist. His knuckles comically throbbing in a bright red color. “MY HAND!” He yelled, tears rolling down his eyes. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!?”

The green man in a lab suit just stared at his would-be assailant. Not entirely sure whether to be angry, or to pity the poor fool. In the end, he only responded in a calm, basic voice. “I did not do anything. Your hand collided with my face, and harmed itself.”

“AHA!” The mugger yelled, swinging his foot in a high jump kick. But upon colliding with AREU’s head, once again, there was silence. Mercenary white reared back, hopping on one foot and cradling his kicking leg with his uninjured hand. “Ow ow ow ow!” He whined, gently nuzzling his newly damaged foot, his body contorting in a way that didn’t look stable. Once he was done mourning his newly damaged leg, the mercenary straitened himself up, trying to appear dignified with both hands behind his back. “Right… Well. Your defensive stance is truly impeccable. I can see you must have studied on a great master. Like Master Shen, my former master. He is the greatest martial artist to ever li- SECRET HIDDEN TROUSER GUN NO JUTSU!” And without warning, the martial artist pulled out a hand gun from the back of his pants, and with speed beyond even the android’s perception shot off a bullet.

It was all over. The bullet had made contact. And there was blood everywhere.

……

….. Human blood.

The grinning warrior stood there, holding the gun at AREU’s chest with a look of victory about him. But for some, strange reason he felt this odd stinging sensation in his left leg. Looking down, Mercenary White’s eyes widened with horror, seeing his red blood gushing form a bullet wound in his upper thigh. There was a pause, as the mercenary seemed to blankly stare at the rather bad wound, before… “…. MY LEG! YOU SHOT IT!” He screamed, falling down on his back and tightly gripping the bloodied leg. “WHY!? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?”

The green skinned android just stood there, staring down out is newly defeated opponent with the same emotionless face he always had. “I did not do anything to you. Your shot bounded off my chest.” The android replied, his eyes focused on the insignia on the man’s outfit. “You mentioned a martial arts master. If you tell me where he is, I will not harm you.”

“F-fine! He’s near a mountain not far from here! There’s a giant pond surrounded by cranes oh god don’t kill meee!” The man groveled, tears running down his eyes as he brought both hands in a praying position.

The android studied the man for a moment, the crosshair target’s he had for pupils fixed readily on the whining man. “Very well.” He replied in a monotone voice, before leaning down and gripping hold of the sniveling coward’s insignia. With a quick tug, AREU ripped the patch right off the shirt, and flew off.

After a few hours, the researcher android touched down in the center of a wide, green field at the base of a grey mountain. There was a decently large house near what appeared to be a very large pond, and a large area of tall wooden pillars coming up from the water’s surface. White cranes scattered the area, seemingly the only creature present. Seeing the sign above the house door read “Crane School of Martial Arts”, AREU knew this was the right place and approached the door.

He knocked gently on the door, waiting for a response. Soon, he would receive training under a great master of martial arts. He expected someone tall, and powerful. Someone built more like a muscled demon than a normal man. And yet, when the door opened wide, he saw only a frail, short old man with a silly crane hat. “What do you want?” Snapped the old man, clearly annoyed by the unexpected visit.

“I have come to receive training under the great Master Shen.” The android responded with a slight bow of respect, as he had observed was a custom among humans.

The old man looked AREU over, noting his frail figure and nerd-like attire. “I see… And what do you have that might prove to me your worth as a student?”

AREU reached into his pants pocket, producing the torn and blood stained insignia of the Crane School. The old man’s eyes widened as he examined the clothing. Had this man really defeated one of his students? And yet, to have acquired this insignia, there would be no other way than to have beaten and killed one. After a long, hard moment of thought, Shen grinned wickedly. A man so strong as to defeat members of the Crane School. And heartless enough to take a life just to prove his worth. This was exactly what he needed, a secret weapon to unleash upon the Turtle School. “Very well, I’ll take you on as a student. Come in, and we will discuss your future training.” The old man chuckled to himself, stepping aside to let the android in.

As AREU entered the house, the door closed shut behind him. And his training in the ways of martial arts was about to begin.

words: 1275

Added (03.04.2010, 7:20 Am)
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AREU stood up strait, both arms outstretched to either side. His eyes were covered by a strap of black cloth, a blind fold, letting him focus on the task at hand completely. The winds at this height were rather strong, constantly attempting to defeat the stationary android. What was his task? What complicated and dangerous training had Master Shen given him? In reality, the task was a rather simple one, yet still ridiculously difficult. The Crane Hermit had outfitted the android with four foot long stilts, making even the simple task of walking difficult. Of course, this training was better suited for human practitioners. When the Master learned AREU was in fact a machine, he had to outfit him with silts that could support his massive weight. Not an easy task. And so, every waking moment AREU had to spend his days walking around on the strange silts, supposedly to improve his natural balance, as well as to strengthen the leg muscles. On top of this, AREU had been forbidden to fly. It was made apparent that this skill was in fact developed by the Crane School, and that most who came to learn did not already know the technique. Thus, the ability to fly made the stilt training useless. As the levitation ability could be used to keep the user up right, as oppose to developing balance like the training was designed to. For this same reason, AREU had turned that ability off. After all, he wanted to get the full effect of the training. Not cheat his way to higher power.

As of this exact moment, AREU was not only standing on stilts, but in fact had progressed to a higher level of training. One that required him to be in the position he was in now. Up on top of his high stilts, AREU stood on only one leg. And that one leg stood on top of the stilt, which was supported by a large, thin pillar that jetted out from a wide pond. One of many pillars, in fact. It was the android’s duty to walk across the wide array of thin pillars, while blindfolded, on stilts. And without using his flight ability. Although this task may not seem like a challenge for an android, this was perhaps the most difficult thing he had done yet. As an observational android, he was designed with the concept of perception in mind. His eyes were a very important aspect of his physical model, and were his primary means of observing obstacles. And yet now, he was not able to use them. He could not see where the pillars were to take each step. He had to be able to sense them in some other way. Currently, AREU was relying on his sense of touch, slowly shifting the stilts around until they tapped into the pillars. Once he made contact, he knew where he had to step. But he had to be careful. The wild cranes that lived in the pond below constantly flew around, most of them being very uncaring about his situation. Shen had strained them to not fear humans, so they took no measures to avoid them during the training. And to accidentally bump into a crane resulted in toilet cleaning duties for the entire week. AREU may have been an android, but he found that chore the most disagreeable of them all.

Slowly, he raised his left leg, using the stilt to feel around in front of him. Within the infinite blackness AREU felt a wooden structure come into contact with the stilt. He tapped it a few more times, using the sound and sensation of the vibrations caused to get a general feel for the item. Noting it was, indeed, a pillar AREU shifted his weight forward, placing the bottom of the stilt on the flat surface of the wooden pillar, and stepping forward. Seemingly without warning, the entire pillar began to shake just as AREU took his step. His balance was quickly thrown off, causing the android to sway back and forth, his arms desperately flailing in hopes of regaining his balance. He had no choice, without warning AREU bent his knee and kicked off, propelling himself backwards several feet through the air, and landing shakily on a pillar, doing a back step to move back one more pillar, further stabilizing his fall. Swaying just slightly, AREU seemed to freeze his body, letting the balance be regained. With an inner sigh of relief, he stood stationary. It was lucky that he had such an advanced mind. The android had been running geometric calculations through his head the entire step of the way, plotting out each pillars location in his head in case he had a need to go back. He knew the exact distance and placement of each pillar he had already moved over. Just another advantage the green skinned android had over human beings.

Again, AREU took a step forward. This time to a pillar he already knew was secure. Mildly hesitant all the same, he leaned forward and placed the end of his stilt on top of the pillar, and shifted forward to take the full step. Once he stabilized, he leaned forward again to take yet another step, only to have the pillar shake once more. This was not right, something was obviously causing the pillars to shake this way. Thinking quickly, AREU shifted his weight and took another step forward, landing safely on a pillar to the front of the one that had nearly collapsed. Yet just as soon as he had settled into his new position, a crane seemed to fly by, on a collision course with the green skinned android. Reacting quickly, AREU fell back, reaching out with one hand to grab hold of a nearby pillar to stop himself from falling into the pond. Now balanced on one hand and one stilt, the android pushes upward, using just enough force to lightly send him back into a standing position.

Even with that impressive display of acrobatics, AREU was not done yet. He still had to get to the other side of the pond. And… He wasn’t sure where that was anymore. With all the jumping and dodging, he had lost his place. He didn’t know which direction he was facing, or even less which pillar he was now on. This was problematic… Running through a few quick calculations, AREU was able to run countless different geometrical assessments of where he had gone all in but a moment of time. Almost immediately, he turned his attention to a specific direction and began to walk forward, this time more rushed as he was trying to escape the area before another random shake happened. As he began to jump from pillar to pillar, just barely managing to keep his balance. Estimating the placement of each pillar behind him based on the pattern of the various pillars he had already passed. One by one, every pillar he attempted to step on began to shake and wobble, as if this odd tremor were chasing the mechanical man. With one final leap, AREU made his way to the largest of the many pillars. Noting this one felt to be double the width of the others, he knew he had come to the right place.

The android reached up and removed his blindfold, only to see his master standing in front of him. The old man examined his student, a wide grin on his face before speaking. “Ah, very good. You have passed the final test of the Crane School of Martial Arts. You are not worthy of learning our most powerful of techniques.”

The android nodded, his face blank, yet deep down he was truly excited. “I understand. What is the technique, Master Shen?”

The old man grinned wickedly, suddenly spinning around and charging the tip of his index finger with an orange light, before firing it off at the base of the mountain. “DODONPA!” He cried out, a beam of blazing orange and red shooting off and striking the mountain wall, seeming to superheat the stone and slowly bore a hole into it. Molten rock began to drip out of the newly formed opening once the beam stopped, steam rising up from where it hit.

AREU stared at the technique being performed. It was truly more powerful than any energy attack the android had scene thus far. While the other energy attacks were simply blunt force that pounded it’s way through enemy targets, this technique was more refined. It seemed to simply burn it’s way through the target, not unlike AREU’s own O.R.B. attack system. However, this was far more devastating, and seemed to have a considerably stronger effect.

Master Shen watched his student’s reaction to the attack with interest. He always enjoyed showing off this move to them. Regaining his usual stance with both arms clasped behind his back, the old man began to explain the move in more detail. “Dodonpa is a single, condensed beam of energy that has been compressed to such an extent that it actually generates heat. So when its fired the attack will almost always burn through whoever happens to be the target. Essentially, it’s a one shot killing blow. And the beauty of it all is, the dodonpa requires next to no time to charge it. You can easily fire it off within seconds of charging the energy. Sure, it takes more aim and precision to use, but overall it is probably the greatest technique known on Earth. Certainly better than the Kameha wave used by that ridiculous Master Roshi.”

The android nodded in understanding. “I see. So it is simply a focused energy beam shot from the index and middle fingers rather than the palm, correct?”

“Heh, not quite that simple.” The old man said with a slight smirk. “You see, the technique was developed by my brother and myself. We worked hard at it, and finally came up with this perfect technique. You see, its not as basic as charging an energy attack at the finger. That would just result in a basic energy shot, only smaller. This move requires the user to focus and concentrate on streaming the energy into a continuous, and uninterrupted shot. And you aren’t firing just any normal beam. it’s a much larger attack that has been condensed into a superheated form of energy. So, if you think you can manage to do all that, go at it! It should only take you some hundred years to master!” The old man finished, cackling to himself. There was no way the android would be able to master the technique for a very long time. After all, this was the strongest move the Crane School had to offer.

AREU lifted his middle and index finger, pointing off towards the mountain wall. With a gentle, calm voice, he uttered, “Dodonpa”. Immediately, a beam of orange and red shot from the android’s fingers, easily three times as thick as the beam shot by master Shen, and at double the velocity. As the blast connected with the mountain wall, much of the rock shattered and fell to the ground, steam rising off of the various chunks. But the beam did not end there. Just as with Shen’s beam, this dodonpa continued to penetrate the mountain side. Molten rock came pouring out of the opening, melting the grass and ground below. As the beam faded, all that was left was a thin tunnel in the mountain side.

Shen was speechless. He had never seen the dodonpa performed so amazingly well. This was staggering. To think that even a super powered android would be able to master the beam with such speed, and such ease. And then out perform the very man who helped invent it!? It took a while, but the old man finally managed to regain his composure. “That… That was amazing, Nine Nine Nine Six.. You have now, officially graduated the Crane School of Martial Arts! Just.. Remember to make sure everyone knows where you learned that move!”

AREU bowed down to his teacher in respect. “I will, Master Shen. I thank you for the chance to train under you, and to learn all that this school has taught me.” He then stood up to an erect stance. “But now I must go to continue learning everything I can.”

“Ah, right. Your little obsession with learning… Tell you what. As a parting gift, I’ll let you in on a secret. Far east of here lies a place called the Secret Land of Korin. There is a tribe of people there, but no one really cares about them. In the center of a forest in that region, there is a large tower. If you climb the tower, you will meet a deity who can give you tremendous powers beyond your wildest dreams!” said the old man, hoping his student will now go climb the tower, and become truly powerful.

“I have no interest in power. I only need what is required to survive.” AREU replied simple. “Though… I will still seek this place out. I am skeptical as to whether or not such a rumor is true. Thank you for everything, Master Shen.”

With another bow of respect, the android kicked off, flying up into the air.

words: 2225

Learned Dodonpa