Dragon Ball: Enlisted

Beyond the clouds, unseeable by any of the recruits, a lone figure stood in the open air. Her silver hair swayed with the wind, catching the faint glimmers of starlight that peeked through the shifting sky.

It was the princess of the galaxy—Irelia Ginga. 

She stood as still as a statue, her gaze unwavering as she watched the two figures far below.

Her emerald eyes pierced through the dense layers of clouds as if they weren't even there. To anyone else, Jyn and Wraak might've been little more than dots on the ground, their forms blurred by distance.

But Irelia's eyes saw everything with perfect clarity. It was her eyes that were the main reason her father chose her, after all.

But it was not the material world that she was focused on, but something that others could only feel.

She saw through what was physical and pierced the veil into something far more.

Jyn's energy was a rampaging flame, flaring erratically, an untamed force thrashing against its own limitations. It was as if his energy were alive, frantically searching for cracks in its confines, struggling to break free.

It surged and wavered, brilliant but unstable. If tamed, it would become a roaring flame, burning away all opposition.

Wraak's energy, by contrast, flowed like a deep and steady river. There was urgency in it, but it was measured, working at the same speed in harmony to achieve a greater goal.

It was patient, relentless—qualities that could erode even the strongest barriers over time.

"They couldn't be more different," Irelia murmured, her voice barely audible over the wind.

Her gaze narrowed. To most, their training might've seemed mundane. Jyn, seated cross-legged, his brow furrowed in concentration as his energy ebbed and flowed. Wraak, towering and motionless, channeling his energy into tiny motes of light within his palm. But to Irelia, their energies told a far more compelling story.

"Foolish," she muttered under her breath.

There was only one person she could be talking about, and it was undoubtedly Jyn. No matter how much she tried, her eyes could not perceive the depths of his brilliance. It was locked even to her, as if his 'flame' would someday sputter out into ash.

She didn't understand how he threw himself into training with that stupid smile on his face, as if his growth was guaranteed.

Even on days where he would wake up on the wrong side of the bed, she caught him staring at the open air before throwing himself into training with enthusiasm.

That honest resolve—it was his greatest strength and his greatest weakness.

And at the moment? He was making another mistake.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She could read his energy just fine, but everything else about Jyn eluded her. His progress was startlingly fast, almost reckless. It likely instilled a sense of confidence in him that made him feel untouchable.

But as far as she could tell, Wraak was far more of a genius.

Unlike Jyn, she saw his potential for what it was. It was quite possibly the highest of anyone in the program, including the instructors. He would absorb whatever techniques Jyn knew for energy control, and perfect them with his own methodical precision.

Jyn, on the other hand, would lose his only advantage while gaining something he could've learned on his own.

She sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Does he even realize?" she wondered aloud. "He's happily handing over the chance to take Wraak's spot from him."

But the problem wasn't just Jyn's ignorance—it was what Wraak's success would mean for the batch of recruits as a whole.

Wraak's temperament was common in the universe, so she understood his thought process. He was the type to hoard all knowledge he came across, doling out just enough to keep his subordinates strong but not stronger than himself.

He was a tyrant through and through. Luckily, he wasn't malicious, just self-serving.

His calm, measured strength would make him an immovable giant, an untouchable figure among the recruits. Competition would die, and so too would their growth.

Her gaze turned cold. She couldn't allow that.

The facade she wore was that of a stoic yet talented warrior. She made sure to limit herself to using fundamentals that all of them knew—so that her prowess would seem attainable yet just out of reach.

An emotionless centerpiece that frustratingly kept moving forward. If one stopped growing, they would fall behind.

Unlike her own standing, which inspired others to strive for more, Wraak's dominance would breed complacency. The recruits needed shared knowledge, an equal footing where talent and hard work could determine their futures—not just one man's control.

Truth be told, she could've simply accepted this and moved on. Wraak's personality didn't seem bad, and so she was likely going to pick him out of everyone, but the others still needed a chance.

While his potential was great, she had seen far greater fall from grace. His success wasn't guaranteed.

It was still possible to depend on Jyn, to entrust that he would surpass Wraak and take his spot as second place, planting the idea that he climbed to the top from the very bottom. That the other recruits could accomplish that as well if they just worked hard.

But she couldn't rely on that. Jyn had told her himself he didn't care about the rankings, after all.

Her mind worked quickly, a plan forming as she looked back at the training ground. Wraak and Jyn had chosen a secluded spot for their session, but there was no hiding from her eyes.

If others were to 'accidentally' stumble across them...

Her lips curled into a faint smile. She raised her hand, focusing her energy. A subtle ripple of light formed in the sky above the clearing, soft enough not to alarm, but interesting enough to catch the attention of anyone nearby.

It shimmered faintly, like the last glow of a dying star.

From her vantage point, she could already see heads turning below as the light show began to draw attention.

Satisfied, she let the light linger and stepped back into the shadows of the clouds, her presence completely erased.

It was only a matter of time before someone ventured toward the glow—and straight into Jyn and Wraak's 'secret' training.

"Curiosity is a powerful thing," she murmured. "They'll be sure to insist theirs be rectified."

[+]

The wind whipped past my face as I skidded across the rocky battlefield, my feet barely managing to keep me upright. Across the cratered expanse, Irelia stood, her silver hair glinting like a blade under the crimson-tinted sky.

She smirked, raising a hand as if beckoning me to try again.

"You're finished, Jyn," she said, her voice dripping with mockery. "Is this really all you're capable of?"

I clenched my fists, the faint hum of ki crackling around me. My breathing was ragged, my energy reserves already dwindling. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Finished? Who the hell do you think I am?!" I shouted, forcing my energy to flare. I rushed her, ki-enhanced fists flying, but she dodged effortlessly, her movements smooth and deliberate.

I threw a right hook, aiming for her temple, but she vanished in a blur of speed. Before I could even register her disappearance, a crushing force slammed into my back, sending me sprawling face-first into the dirt.

"Too slow," she said casually, standing a few feet away as if she hadn't moved at all.

I groaned, pushing myself up. "Damn it…"

"You'll need more than that to beat me," Irelia continued, her tone shifting from amused to... gleeful?

Her aura began to shift, a golden glow surrounding her like sunlight condensed into energy. My eyes widened as her hair flickered, turning gold in an instant.

"What—?"

I barely managed to roll out of the way as she charged, her speed now impossibly fast. I threw up my arms to block, but the impact sent shockwaves through my entire body.

"This is just the start, Jyn!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing unnaturally.

Her energy spiked again, the golden glow intensifying until her body radiated like a miniature sun. Her hair lengthened, crackling with power and shimmering hue with faint streaks of red.

"Super Saiyan 3... Kaioken x100!" she declared dramatically, her voice shaking the very ground beneath us.

"What?!" I yelped, scrambling backward. "No, that's impossible!"

Her grin widened, impossibly confident. "Call it what you want, Jyn, but this is where you fall!"

She lunged at me, her speed shattering the ground she flew above, her fist cracking the air as it raced toward me.

"Damn it!" I shouted, throwing up my arms in a desperate attempt to block.

The impact sent shockwaves through the ground, cratering the battlefield around us. My feet slid back, leaving trails in the dirt, but somehow, I managed to stay upright.

Her eyes widened. "How are you still standing? You shouldn't be this—"

I gritted my teeth. "This what?! You really must not understand who you're fighting here!"

A surge of determination flared in my chest, and without thinking, I thrust my hands forward. The air around me began to swirl, spiraling into a vortex of energy that made my ki roar like a dragon.

The energy condensed, spinning faster and faster until it formed a massive, glowing drill that hovered above my hands. The sheer size of it was ridiculous, dwarfing even the towering mountains in the distance.

"I. AM. JYN!" I bellowed, my voice echoing across the battlefield. "Like a drill, I will never stop! I will keep moving forward little by little with each turn!"

Her smirk faltered, replaced by wide-eyed disbelief. "What?!"

I charged forward, the enormous drill rotating at impossible speeds. The ground beneath me cracked and shattered with every step, the raw energy tearing through the atmosphere like a blade through paper.

Irelia crossed her arms, bracing herself as her aura flared to its peak. "You think that'll stop me?!"

The drill slammed into her barrier of energy, the impact shaking the world itself. For a moment, it seemed like she might actually hold it off. 

I refused that reality.

"Of course it will!" I decreed. "For this is the technique that will pierce the heavens!"

Crack.

"From the very bottom, it ascends until there is no more!"

Her barrier fractured, and the drill pierced through with a deafening roar.

"No!" she shouted, her voice distorted as the drill pushed her back, tearing through her impossible forms as if they were nothing. Super Saiyan? Kaioken? They were nothing in the face of—

"My final, strongest…"

I screamed, pouring every ounce of energy I had into the attack.

"GIGA. DRILL. BREA—"

The world shattered.

The roar of energy, the blinding light of my attack, and the absurd battlefield—all of it vanished in an instant. My body jolted forward, heart racing as my eyes snapped open.

I was no longer on a battlefield. I was sitting cross-legged on the rocky ground of the secluded training spot that Wraak chose.

…And a certain crocodilian guy was looming over me with an unblinking gaze.

"You fell asleep," Wraak said bluntly, his deep voice breaking the silence.

I blinked, staring at him. Neither of us moved, the silence stretching between us like a game of who would flinch first.

Then I groaned, slumping back against the ground as Wraak's low, rumbling chuckle filled the air.

'This is gonna take a while, isn't it?'

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A/N: I'm ngl, I stopped writing because I just got addicted to Marvel Rivals. I'm back now though. 

On the plus side, I hit Diamond playing mostly Hela and Peni! ...Nobody cares? Okay, my bad.