-Space, The Final Frontier-

In the emptiness of space, nobody can hear you scream. There is nobody there to save you in the vast expanse of nothingness, and your voice cannot travel throughout it. However, on this day, in one expanse of space, in a ship that looked like it belonged in a junkyard, a lone Saiyan would test that theory.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?"

The man is currently in a frenzy of movement, dashing all about the small room that made up the cockpit of his vessel, chasing after a small bug-like creature. Its spindly legs are a blur of motion, always remaining just out of the reach of their would-be killer. It would even pause whenever the man took a moment to stop and catch his breath, as though it was taunting him.

Raising his right arm, the Saiyan known as Etohn would gaze at the spot where the being had stung him earlier. His gaze would go straight through his arm, a large opening going all the way through it, a green acid bubbling at the edges of it. However, no blood would seep from the wound, or anything at all really.

"Well, guess I have to get this prostheses replaced...Man, and I just got this one." With his left arm, he'd reach up to the opposite shoulder and fiddle with it a bit, eventually causing his prosthetic limb to fall to the ground, only a nub left in its place.

"Okay, so now what to do about you..." Etohn points to the bug creature with his remaining limb, pondering how he'd catch them without getting stung again while also not destroying his ship. It'd take no effort to reduce the ship, and in turn the bug, to space dust, but he'd also have no ship to breath in then. How troublesome.

Before he could think it over much, the deafening sound of metal being torn apart rang through the air. Flipping his gaze around, Etohn would look through the windshield. It seemed as though the ship was on a head-on collision with some white, probably some snow on a planet, which means he was gonna hit the ground, and with how quickly it seemed to be approaching, it seemed like this would hurt. A lot. And there were bits of his ship falling ahead of them. So that also meant that his ship's probably in no position to stop this from happening.

"Well shi-"

BOOM!

The sound of the vessel crashing down rang out miles in every direction. A huge crater was formed immediately by the impact, the land itself curving downwards from the force that the ship. Flaming slag slams down all around it, scouring the land in the wake of this event.

The flaming husk of the old ship sat in the middle of the crater, almost surely devoid of survivors. However, from the hull, a large, green spike would stab out from it, leaving a large hole in its wake, and leaping from it would come a multi-legged, chitinous creature.



Words: 509

Netto White

The Saiyan's eyes flutter open, quickly taking in the rocky surroundings. There was a fire, quietly crackling away, and a hole above it, seemingly funneling it away. He attempts to rub his eyes to shake off his grogginess, though quickly realized he was missing a limb to do that with. Where was his prosthetic, actually? Didn't he just have it on earlier? Also, why were his clothes all charred?

"Oh yeah, that bug thing distracted me. Wonder if the ship's okay." Pushing himself up from the ground, he mindlessly walks towards the entrance of the cave and pokes his head straight through the foliage blocking the entrance and gazes around, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening outside.

---

Hunger. Food. Kill. Eat. Grow.

These were the thoughts of the abomination that escaped the flaming vessel, seeking ways to further evolve its body. Just a few minutes ago, it was hardly larger than the common house spider. After being put into that life-threatening situation from the explosion, however, its body forcefully metamorphisized, allowing it to survive at the cost of its stamina. For now, it needed to regain its strength. Then, it could feast on the false-armed man. He was full of energy. He would be the fuel for their next evolution.

Exhausted beyond belief, it could only bury itself in the snow cover and wait for the prey to come to it. Only the occasional snow hare or fox would be foolish enough to get close enough to the alien to be fed upon, though this hardly fulfilled its desire for food. It was patient, though. It could wait for more, and keep waiting until it could hunt again. Yes, it would wait, for now, and prepare for its next meal.

---

"Hmm, nothin'. Ahh well, I can go look for that stuff. But first..." The sound of his stomach grumbling resonated throughout the cave, prompting a quick giggle from the Saiyan. Turning to face the other person here whom he'd ignored thus far, he'd give them a quick wave with his left hand.

"Yo. I'm guessing you're the guy who brought me here. The name's Etohn. Ya seen a fake arm around here, or perhaps an old looking ship? I guess I lost them or something." Laughing at his misfortune, he waits for the stranger to introduce themselves and shed some light on the situation.

Words: 397 (906 Total)
Netto White

Etohn catches his arm as it's tossed towards him, though it was immediately evident that it probably wouldn't function any longer. A large, darkened hole going straight through its center mass ensured that all of its inner workings were ruined. That isn't even mentioning all of the shrapnel protruding out of its sides and the fact that the fake skin mesh was completely melted off. He lets go of it, and as it clatters to the ground, it immediately breaks apart into a handful of pieces.

"Man, and I just got that one..." Etohn laments his loss briefly before looking back to the other person here. From the looks of it, they seemed like a Human, and they felt relatively powerful, as well, making that claim that an avalanche nearly killed them seem more like a joke.

"So you're a Demon Hunter? Didn't even know that was a thing. Sounds pretty cool, heheheh." Etohn clasps their hand and shakes it. With their introductions over and with food being their main concern, Netto got to work on hunting, leaving the Half-Saiyan to just sit against the wall, hungrily awaiting their meal.

---

Bones gnashing. Flesh tearing. Corpses bleeding.

For hours, the creature slowly began to work its way up the food chain, consuming more and more animals to grow less and less tired. Soon, it could go after the one-armed one. His scent was still fresh on the wind. They weren't alone now, either. Some other prey had joined up with them. Good. That meant more fresh meat. More energy. With the two of them, it can grow more. Yes, then it could feast on as much as it wanted to. Nothing could stop it. Soon.

---

With their meal now roasting over the fire, and with little else to do, Netto decided to follow up on his question he had before, on what was in the ship with Etohn. He answers, "Ahh, so that's what you were wondering about. Well there isn't a whole lot I can tell ya, so sorry in advance. On my ship, I was pretty much just carrying some extra food and clothes I got, since I just recently finished a yearlong trip I was on. The thing that caused me to crash, though, was some small alien bug thing. I got stung by it while I was resting and, well, that huge hole in the old arm over there was due to that." Etohn points to the remains of his prosthesis.

"It's probably what you sensed, as well. The thing was just unnaturally fast for a bug, and all I remember after crashing was seeing it spew that acid everywhere and growing bigger. Speaking of that..."

The Half-Saiyan rises up from the ground and immediately turns to entrance of the cave. Without warning, a spray of green fluids splattered all over the plant-life obscuring the opening, immediately eating away at it all. From around the edge, a chitinous limb would reach around it, and another after that. Slowly, the huge body of what could only be described as an abomination would reveal itself. Its body was covered in sharp, thorn-like growths, and from its abdomen leaked some of its acid.

"Looks like our lunch got interrupted. Alright Netto, don't let any of that green stuff get on you. Ya don't wanna end up like me, missing a limb. Now, I'm going to try and create an opening. Don't go for killing it, just go for hitting it out of the cave. If we're back outside, then we can maneuver around freely. Here I go!"

Since waiting would only give the creature more time to approach the pair, Etohn decided that attacking suddenly would, at the very least, catch it off guard. Vanishing from the spot he was standing at a moment ago, he'd appear immediately behind the bug, swinging a kick at one of its rear legs. It was severed immediately, slamming into the far wall. Before Etohn could even turn around to follow up on this, the bugs other back leg was already raised up above him. It smashed into his chest, the sound of ribs breaking immediately ringing out as he's embedded into the ground.

Words: 700 (1607 total)
Netto White

Blood flows from Etohn's lips as the pressure continues building on his chest. Based on the blinding pain in his right lung, it probably got punctured a good number of times, and he couldn't even tell how many of his ribs were broken. Everything just hurt. How nostalgic.

He was in the middle of steeling his nerves for escaping from his predicament when the bug would suddenly relinquish its pressure on him and charge at Netto. With his one good hand, Etohn pulls himself from the rubble that had crumbled around him. It was just in time, too, as the bug bolted it past him, cloaked in flames. Netto drops to Etohn's side soon after to check on him, prompting the Half-Saiyan to wave dismissively towards them.

"No need to worry about me. I've taken worse and kept going before, so this is nothing." While the statement wasn't false, Etohn was aware of how he didn't have much time left to finish this up. Every breath he took felt like he was swallowing razor blades, and his vision was already growing hazy.

Standing up fully now, Etohn steps out of the cave, noticing the bug rising from a burrow it had created in the ground. So it was smart enough to know that it could just smother the flames, then. It was smarter than it looked, and obviously had the brawn to back up their brains.

"Netto, I've got it from here. Just stay here. I don't want to be rude, but you'd only get in my way. After I kill it and inevitably collapse, take me to the nearest town with medical machines on them. It injured my lung, so I need them to cure the internal wounds."

As he spoke, one would notice Etohn's power level rapidly dropping, as though his wounds were getting to him, all the way until he had no signature. A few moments pass, the wounded bug slowly stalking towards the powerless man, assured in its ability to kill this prey now. They would leap forward, a mere blur of speed as they close in on Etohn. Then, there was a blinding flash of yellow light. Even if your eyes were closed, it seem like you're staring straight at the sun. It was so grandiose that one could catch a golden glimmer from space.

Then, it would vanish, just as suddenly as it came. The alien bug was nowhere in sight, and Etohn was face down in the snow, clutching his chest with an anguished look on his face.

Words: 425
Netto White