out of the frying pan; into the fryer

“ If I were a mage I’d be doing a lot more than sniffing people out. I’d drop the price on liquor and make it rain gummy worms and bring forth a new era of prosperity but that’s besides the point. “ He’d say before giving her a bit of a smile, tapping his nose. “ I just so happen to have one hell of a sniffer here, and it’s helped me out a lot of times. Although it’s been picking up the weirdest of things in this city. That trace of whatever’s on you being one of them. “ 

“ Huu.. sounds like a real tough guy. Love to have a drink with him. Still, he any good of a ruler that is? Just cause you’re scary and just cause you’re tough doesn’t mean you can’t be all that great. I mean, it takes a lot to rule a place, you know? “ 

“Toriko. Noted.” She nodded at the newly learned name, and took a smaller sip this time. 

“ You’ve never had a pretzel, seriously?! “ Suddenly turning o his seat as he looked at her in shock, his face getting a bit red from the alcohol as he made a few vague arm gestures. 

“ Well like, first there’s the big ones that’re all big and bready and chewey and super soft and awesome that you eat with a ton of mustard. Sometimes if you got some sausage toss that with it also and some saeurkraut if you got it and boom, instant dinner right there! “ 

“Is that so? Hmm…” He began to think, contemplating his options. He could rule some things out, like asking this stranger if he wanted to take the dog in… though maybe that would be an option if he used his words right. Eventually, he sighed, looking a little crestfallen. “That’s too bad. I guess this dog’s a stray at best and disowned at worst… Perhaps their owner was released from the city at some point.”

“ Well, we can probably find a home for him I guess. I know someone who runs an animal shelter so she’ll probably take him in if you want to. I mean unless you got a hankering for a pet, I already got a pretty trustworthy one at my side so I don’t really need another. “ A damn shame. Little guy was pretty energetic so he’d probably go to a great home if possible.

     “Nah, he’s a human now, or else I wouldn’t be existin’ right now, right?”

     NOW think about it… he’s not sure yet how did his father turned into human by that process…     

“ So he can just.. change whenever he wants? That’s kinda handy I suppose, but it still doesn’t make a lot of sense I suppose. I guess you’re just kinda special in your own way then, huh? “ He’d say with a grin, patting his back a bit. Watch the strength there, though.

      “Well, mine… is more or less on a larger scale.” Frowning, he recalls the irrational challenge the scientists had asked of him. “To sum it up, all restaurants in the city are closed, and the task of cooking for everyone is only in my hands. This isn’t the biggest responsibility I had, but certainly the most tedious.” Even fighting a God wasn’t this complicated.

Pulling out his own envelope with a challenge listed inside, he’d hold it up to him where he’d point to the note about it being ‘animal crackers.’ It was kind of a ludicrous thing to try and ‘cook’ but something about it was.. curious. “ It just says animal crackers but.. crackers can really be anything, huh? So it’d be kind of a weird thing cuisine wise to come up with a bunch of cracker inspired dishes.. “ 

“ But I guess our first issue is to actually find these things. Apparently it’s a stampede we’ll just have to keep her eyes out. Or our noses but I’m not--Wait.. Wait.. “ ... It was faint and far but it was something. Raising his head high up into the air would he look around frantically. 

“ I had this old friend a hell of a long time ago. Real nice lady but I always thought something was kinda.. off about her. Not her personality or anything, I just knew off the bat she wasn’t necessarily human. Her name was Caster and--trust me, it’s different but it’s still something. “ Scratching his chin a bit, he’d shake his head. 

❝ Che schifo. ❞ There’s not a second thought crossing his mind before he bends the cards in his hand, throwing the female beside him a bitter look before he lets them fall to the ground. Had it been a man the one trying to fool him, consequences would have taken a more physical turn, but the only response he can add to his act is merely walking away from her and towards the bigger man.

As his apparent ability was complimented, Toriko simply shook his head as he tapped his nose. “ One hell of a nose here. I can tell a lot of things just by smelling them. Kind of like how you had Insalata Caprese last night with three table spoons of truffle oil, two chiffon-ed basil leaves for garnish with some pretty good smelling bread there. “ Kind of impressed at his own ability he’d give the other a bit of a cheeky grin. 

拳 - Those words wouldn’t go ignored in the long run. While still in the transition of learning, concepts such as appreciate that stemmed outside the bounds of delicacies and into the realm of people was a steady work in progress. Naturally did the expression Toriko received was indifferent on the matter altogether. Deep down however, those words carved their starting niche as the words stewed into the pot of consideration. That said! Spiky teeth bared themselves momentarily as duo aimed to back up there words.

‘Wait.. Did he say Goku of all people was– Damn it. Last thing to be thinking about! C’mon back to that crazy degree of focus..’ Etched within his cells was the perilous stay to the merciless environment known as the gourmet world. As a deviant gleam shone with Beel’s eyes, excitedly did they close so he could tune to the newly tapped synch ratio alongside his contractor. Underneath the span of a second were the results broken through.

Demonic energy tuned with the edge of finesse bloomed in waves that aimed to shake the foundation of the area itself. A unique factor would the lack of malice, what remained was anything but. Only the pure dark wavelength of the energy altogether reigned free as an ivory aura erupted in the same fashion as a natural disaster. Human inhibitions were no longer allowed to second guess or trip up the flow, instead they were perfectly aligned!

“That ENBU business, lemme show ya what I can apply it too.” For most, time itself would come to a screeching halt for the actions that were about to ensue. Right now did the trio of adventurers enter a world where a second could very well translate to hours on end. With this renewed degree of focus fully grasped, even the destructive result of high speed movements were nowhere to be found. The delinquent’s approach shifted to what looked like a harmless bounce on the ground at a rate that put lightning timers to shame.

Distance held no meeting as their speed allowed them to snap into striking distance. Instantly was the flow to the starting move to the next was transitioned, keeping a palm and fingers flattened, the blow arrived in the form of a phantasmal blur as the target was the chest area of the Bishoukuya! With their learned art, they took it back to the basics and refined their known skill set!

Shingetsu Style Revision!: Nadeshiko

Uniting the strength of their combined 120 trillion cells, the devastation intended behind this armor breaking technique elevated to be a country shattering. The best part?

The hell scent that Toriko could pick up now had gone all the way into being able to detect traces of DNA down to the historical records, diet, allergies and other thousands of factors that made up one individual human being, as well as being able to discern just whom they were in a crowd of thousands of others. In addition to that, being able to literally smell one’s power level came in handy as he could give himself some kind of expectancy for what was to come. 

In the case of Oga and Beel, on a molecular level were they almost now considered one person. Their breathing, movements and even the way their eyes shifted and the amount of sweat that each one built up from the strain of adjusting individual powers to match was almost etched into their system now. The kind of nonsense Oga had gone through, for lack of a better term, made him smell like ‘hell.’

Originally just a scent that differentiated himself from others, the scent more felt like a lingering substance that could be washed away with enough scrubbing or removing the source or exposure of it. But now, it was practically ingrained into his being and had become a part of his molecular structure.  The scent of ‘hell’ and ultimately the powers that had come with it seemed to have seep into his body as a full force of immersion took over. Naturally speaking, the results were incredibly favorable for the two of them to have reached such a state of perfection in being a unified being, that their unbridled powers were enough to take on the world. 

The Human World at least. 

As he grit his teeth in excitement, how a predatory creature would do so out of enjoyment would he take stance as he watched them approach him in no less than one one-millionth of a second. Before the fist could make impact with his chest, he would return the blow with something that might have been new to Oga’s sight. 

He had seen it before. The ghastly image of an Oni that overtook Toriko’s very body in times of danger where he had to show who was the top hunter in the food chain. However, this was no illusion or assumed to have been sight. His entire left arm seemed to have been taken over by the creature itself. And--almost like being face first into the roaring jet of an engine could Oga feel something akin to an odd sensation against his face, almost like a razor bladed wind force itself against his skin.

Before his fist could make impact with his chest, slamming down as hard as he could against his own would be Toriko’s expanded and red toned arm, flexed out to at least double the mass of his original weight in muscle in his arm. It wouldn’t have full impact due to the clash of billions of individual cells fighting against what could be trillions of demonic like cells in his body, but he could most definitely feel a rattling in his arm. 

This man was obviously drunk, which eased her suspicions a bit. “Hm. It certainly is a better alcohol. Thank you for this.” She raised her glass back and took a swig with him. The burning at the back of her throat helped ease her a bit, but at the same time, it did remind her of when she was a frequent to this stuff.

“ Good meeting you, Samus. Name’s Toriko. “ He’d offer back in a friendly tone of voice. As he poured himself another, he’d lean back in his seat a bit as he gave the drink a bit of a waft, glancing over at her as he took an idle sip. 

     “In term of races, I’d say I’m kinda of a human I guess.” BEST conclusion it’d be in this case, wasn’t it to be? “Just that my soul are partly human, partly inherited the ghost reaper side from my father I guess.”

“ Well, what does treating you like a normal human even involve? “ He had understood that Ichigo stepped in as a substitute god of death which naturally looked great on any resume. It just came off as a curiosity as to just.. what he was in all of his entirety. 

Their time within the tourneys of past and hints of the present were nothing sort of Hell, a home away from home for their likes. No doubt they were being pit against beings who held no qualms of crushing entire planets or at least, held the very force to do so a hundred times over. Excitement pulsed through the delinquent’s being at the sheer thought of variety that surfaced. Time to cue up their findings.

All in all, Oga realized there’s one too many damn ways to die out there. Always would it begin with the eyes that vowed to either protect or destroy. “No beating around the bush?”

“We’re not all that different in the endgame. Whether we’re fighting to raise some hell or to stop it. And that I find reassuring.” Those who held the art of reaping destruction had the same shot of reaching the top. At one point the reasons burn into spiritual fuel that allows for those shackles maintained by their ways to promptly shatter. Fighting for fight’s sake; didn’t the Gourmet World have context for that?

A Wild Bout?

“ I guess I understand that part. Still, you gotta appreciate all whom you fought against for one reason or another. After all, it’s not every day you get to experience something like that. Besides, you know that Goku guy? He did some crazy stuff even I couldn’t see coming. “ Then again all he learned from that was he was a damn great guy to have lunch with. 

Although supposedly hearing Oga’s retort about a surprise in store for him that he had learned from dealing with them, that seemed to get Toriko’s blood roaring just a bit. Giving him a grin and standing up, he’d look at his watch, giving Oga a smug grin. 

    But she had learned now to move forward, or she attempted to at least. It always weighed her down deep inside, never apologizing for the burden it was putting on her, but because of it she was able to grow stronger each day by overcoming it.

    There was a soft laughter, mostly to appreciate his positive point of view from all of this. “Yes… I should be grateful for that. Humans, regardless of how anyone deems of them- are stronger than they tend to believe they are. Surpassing another year full of laughter and tears and many more emotions is certainly an overwhelming feat to encounter, but they are capable of doing that.”

    Dunking her head back to finish her glass, she put it to the side and let her hair brush through slender digits, watching the lion and pup-sized company huddle together after finishing their meals.

    “We do. Even if it may not seem as though we are- we always do hear them in the end. Therefore, do not fret over it.” With a pause added afterwards, thinking to herself for a second, she resumed.

Then again he was implying that gods existed or came into existence in a way that differed from humans. From what he knew of Bishamon, she might have gone through something like appearing out of faith as a means from human prayer.. so she had to experience her ‘time’ as having been made and being who she was now. Kind of odd to think about it for too long.

“ You forgot the part where we survive like no one’s business. “ Giving a bit of a cocky grin, how many things had Toriko fought that tried to devour him or others whole? Just the fact that humans could go on for this long against the wild was something else to appreciate. 

“ Well.. “ Looking down at his glass, Toriko sighed to himself a bit. “ Can one really fail here though is the thing. For someone like me, I’ve been through my share of the dirt and gravel to become who I am. If things just get fixed up, then it’s kinda hard to grow and see all this as a challenge? I’m not saying it’s right what’s going on, but..

“Wouldn’t it be convenient if it was…” he mumbled, then sighed. He’d been looking for the owner for around a half hour now, or rather he’d been watching the dog as it lead him around and circled him. With no leads, he had nowhere to go, and he didn’t want to waste too much time.

Although he’d catch himself short as he stopped for a moment, curious as he picked one of his nostrils a bit, looking down at the boy with an almost concerned expression. 

Samus cocked an eyebrow at him before slowly taking the drink.

She needed one anyways, and if it was as fine as he said then it was a worthy drink. “If I find out you did anything you shouldn’t have to this drink then don’t except to walk upright ever again.”

“ Cognac, but this is some pretty good stuff here! Apparently the bottlers have their own private reserves off who knows where to get in all the flavors they need to. A lot of hard work was put into this so folk like you and I could enjoy it, that was for sure! “ Giving the woman a smile and raising his glass at her would he take another hearty swig. 

“ Well for starters. “ Toriko would hold up a hand and with a rather gentle poking gesture, would fire off a single pronged, miniature flying fork right for the woman’s bag. In a clean slice would it open up and out of it would spill several credit cards of various colors and sorts. 

“ Wasn’t aware your date had a name for every day of the week. Alexander, Sam, Claire.. ho boy, she’s basically got a whole graduation’s class worth! “ One more sniff to double check everything and he’d let out one more laugh.