Battle of the Brains (Toshio)

Peacefully Ral Zarek at at his table tipping a large cup of espresso. He looked out the window of the cafe' and watched the world go by him. The birds were chirping, the kids were laughing, the sky was blue, and everything was just so... un-stimulating. He tapped his left leg anxiously as he awaited the arrival of his guest. There'd been a Genin in the village who'd apparently had quiet the thirst for knowledge as of late. If there was one thing that Ral simply adored it was those into expanding their own minds. Besides after the unfortunate death of Twitch he was in need of a new lab assistant.

A waitress came by and asked if he needed anything else. "Another one of these please." He announced lifting up his cup.

"Sure thing." The be-freckled serving wench announced taking the heavy cup. "What did you have."

"Esspresso." He announced turning his head back to the window.

"You had... in this big of a cup?" She almost gasped.

"That was my second one." He scoffed waving her away.

With her out of the way Ral set his head in his hand and watched the streets bored out of his mind. While he sat in a nearly comotose state waiting for the arrival of is college his mind was hard at working creating a thousand different prototypes for his experiments. He couldn't be sure but he thought that lights that came on when you clap would be an amazing invention. He'd probably forget about it by the time this meeting was over, but that was probably for the best. He'd have a invention a thousand times better thought up to replace that one. Much like life his thought process was an infinite loop of creation and destruction where only the most worthy managed to move onto the next round.

Ral stood at a height of six feet two, though at the moment he was hunched over his desk. His skin was not yet wrinkled or blemished with the passing of time. Though his feathery brown hair did indeed have three short streaks of grey in them. Up both his arms were long sleeves of tattoos, shaped like the length of a serpent, or a dragon without wings. His fingers were stained by oil, and dirt. They tapped rapidly in time with his boots hitting the ground. Suet, coal, and other such dust was distributed along the length of his body as well as his clothing. His clothing was different shades of blue and red. They were loose silk tunics, and baggy pants. He wore custom made leather boots, and had a sash running diagonally up his body. Coming off of the sash were six long flowing streamers of fabric and danced in the wind. Her face was angular with a strong jaw, and noticeable cheek bones. His eyes were brown but when he got serious they seemed to glow with a bright blue white light.

"Where is this guy? I've been waiting an hour. Imagine keeping me waiting!" Ral Grunted to his reflection who looked equally irked. He craned his head, checking the clock on the wall. Oh dear it looks like his own time peace was an hour early! Well that would explain the lad's tardiness. His watch must have sped up during that last time traveling experiment! Oh the life of a scientist was one big adventure.

Toshio, no, Urza, no, wait a minute. It was a little infuriating that no matter how much he tried, he had trouble keeping his two identities straight, the one every one else saw, which was Toshio Nara, a rather curious (in every way) boy who liked to learn new things, and the other identity, that of a millenials old being whose knowledge likely surpassed that of any others in this plane. However, this other ego, the original article, could only come out in private, and had not the resources, nor the bodily strength to attempt tasks that previously would have been minor after thoughts in his previous existence. Of course, he could not complain too much, he was lucky to be alive after all, after all the destruction he had caused… the irreversible, tragic mistakes he had made pursuing the greater good, or the fulfillment of his own thirst for knowledge. In some ways his weakness was a boon indeed, for nobody would consider or believe that one of the multi-verse’s most powerful beings was trapped in the body of a weakling. It also meant that he could pursue his endless quest for knowledge, with very little chance of harming others uintentionally. Though he might potentially learn some matter of manipulation of space and time again, and then he would have to be careful. For now though, he was supposed to meet with a relatively eminent scientist, a fellow quester in the hunt for new knowledge, one unbeknownst to him another planeswalker, another who he could formerly have called his brethren.

Pre-occupied with his thoughts, he did not see the post in his way until he was lying on the ground staring up at it, and past it, the sky. Nope, nobody would have any reason what so ever to believe that Urza was reborn if he was supposed to have died on the Weatherlight.

Standing, and then dusting himself off, he began running at a rather pitiful speed, though this was the best he could manage for the moment. The café was just around the corner…

He burst in the door, after running through a group of kids playing “tag” or some other juevenile game that proved alarmingly simple in strategy and execution, boring in other words. Some of the patrons looked up, startled, at a disheveled genin who looked just as late and in a rush as he thought he was. A brief glance at the clock though, showed he was actually doing just fine, he was right on time, if he could only figure out who he was supposed to meet. This fellow he was supposed to meet was a bit of a rarity in this plane, hopefully not one who had the ability to ascertain one’s previous existences.

After surveying the crowd, he singled out a fellow who sat at a table on his lonesome, looking rather… eclectic perhaps, definitely eccentric actually. This other guy while sitting was nearly as tall as the short dork surveying him and certainly dressed far differently. The stains on his fingers Urza / Toshio recognized from his own late nights, sometimes spent under the covers in his earlier years, tinkering away before his body’s biological parents learned to check up on him.

All this observation took an instant or two and then Urza was clumsily scrambling towards this weirdly dressed fellow. It seemed that the time spent firstly as just a head, later as a mere soul without physical form, and then later in an entirely new body, had not helped his co-ordination any. Stumbling to a stop in front of this other fellow, Urza said a little awkwardly “Umm, hi, I’m - .”

He caught himself before he said his true name, the pause instead making him sound like he was socially awkward instead of hiding something, something certainly believable considering his disheveled appearance and his mad scramble through the café, barely dodging waiters and waitresses. He continued talking suddenly. “I’m Toshio Nara, are you the scientist who requested to meet me? If not, I apologize for the inconvenience.” He tried to avoid speaking in a quiet mumble in the noisy café, the other patrons having returned to ignoring him now that the one man show had ended for the time being; he mostly succeeded.

(ttl wc: 716)

The academy must be scarping the bottom of the barrel with this guy. Ral saw him come in, then again who didn't. He had all the style and grace of a rhino. Ral sighed and sipped from his large coffee cup. His mind wandering to better times when he had an entire team of handsome and capable lads and lasses to serve as his research team. Of course all of that was before he'd got them all sucked into a singularity with him being the only survivor. He considered the sacrifice well worth it, but did lament that he was still suffering the consequences. He did loose a great deal of his own money in that little adventure of his. So until he once more had more money than god he'd have to deal with grad students working for credit hours.

“Umm, hi, I’m - .” The boy paused before saying his name. Ral wasn't sure if he was nervous or if he'd simply forgotten it. Sending the ingenious Ral Zarek a clutz was one thing, but a simpleton was another thing completely. Although he was drawing up some rather titillating plans for a cranial capacity enhancer. Guaranteed to double a creatures IQ points in a single use! As he awaited the boy to say his name finally, Ral Stroked his chin. He wondered if he'd be willing to have the holes drilled into his skull to test the device. He'd make sure to add that to the Job Application Forum.

“I’m Toshio Nara, are you the scientist who requested to meet me? If not, I apologize for the inconvenience.” Ral new he was to fly into a rage at that introduction. He just didn't know which part of it. He looked at the boy for a brief moment as he considered his options. Of course he was stroking his chin, and had a cocky grin on his face as he did.

He knew his name, that was a good sign.

Ral was indeed a scientist, but could you call the kind of thing Ral Did science? He supposed one could. One could call it science. Or one could call it 'Man staring God straight in the eye and saying 'I see what you did there buddy, however you forgot to carry the one.'' He supposed you could call it that as well. Though he couldn't blame the boy for lack of vision. That was something Ral would have to show him.

No Ral decided to be upset about the boy's lack of confidence. He'd been personally invited by the worlds foremost mind in the field of... Well Ral had many interests and you can rest assured in the knowledge that Mr. Zarek was Number one in all of them.

The point was that this boy had the chance to be the lab assistant of the greatest mind EVER! He should have the confidence to walk around the city naked. Ral would have to work on that now!

He stood to his feet with a loud clammer. His chair made a 'screeeeeeeeeeee' as it scrapped along the ground. "You're sorry?" He scoffed. "Science doesn't say 'sorry'! Science doesn't apologize for disproving gods! Science doesn't feel sorry for creating weapons of mass destruction! And science most certainly doesn't feel bad for annoying a few witless caffeine addicts in a knockoff star bucks! I am indeed the Scientist you seek! Ral Zarek! A legend in his own time!" He slung the boy over his shoulder and began to walk out of the cafe'. "Come boy I need to introduce vision and perspective into your brain!" He paused and threw a hand towards the waiter! "Serving wench I left you no money, but rest assured you were paid in full. I left a formula for a non toxic paste you can apply to your teeth to remove plaque and tarter. I call it... Teeth cleaning gunk. Feel free to sell the patent."

With that Ral Zarek exited the cafe with his new lab assistant slung over his shoulder.

He began walking towards his destination which would remain unknown to the boy for the time being. "So tell me a little about yourself Toshly. Make it interesting, lie if you have to. If you stay as dull as you are right now I'll only use you to test my boring and dangerous experiments. However if I find you titilating. You might get to test my very cool and dangerous ones."

Urza had a bit of a dilemma. The first act of which was that while he had jumped when the other shoved his own chair back, he had been stunned by the other’s outburst, his mental state choosing now of all times to be stunned, perhaps due to the youth of the brain within. Before he knew it his small and skinny frame had been seized and he found himself suddenly over the other’s shoulder.

His expression was something along the lines of: O_O

It took a few seconds for the new reality to sink in. Yes, this fellow was Ral Zarek, the one he was looking for. And yes, he was rather passionate about science. And boy, did he have a ton of energy. He tuned in again, just in time to hear the other start to ask the one whom he knew as Toshio, to describe himself, to explain about himself, that he, Ral Zarek, wanted to be interested in Toshio for he had experiments Toshio was apparently able to help with in one form or another. He chewed this over for a brief moment, the dilemma presenting itself. Ral Zarek might find him more if he learned about Urza’s former existence. On the other hand, he might not believe Toshio or might believe him but want some nasty things done. Too risky at the moment to just not say anything, but better to not mention his past until he better understood the other, or until he himself had a stronger body.

A few seconds after the other spoke, Urza / Toshio said “I have not had much opportunity to conduct any experiments yet, so most likely the majority of things you are studying would be interesting to me, if not all of them.”

He paused for a moment, before continuing. “If your experiments are dangerous, then you are attempting to manipulate great power. The life of a ninja would be dangerous too, but you could consider “dangerous” to merely mean that the end of one’s life span is drawn near prematurely. But in the end, does that not mean life itself is inherently dangerous, no matter what we do? If everything is dangerous then at least your “dangerous” experiments would be with a greater goal in mind – the pursuit of knowledge.”

The two of them rounded a corner, bringing the irate waitress who had been attempting to pursue them out of sight. As they turned, Toshio considered what kind of man this fellow was, and decided that this man, loud as he was, was probably relatively open about his thoughts and likely more trustworthy. Still, there were secrets he was not likely to give up yet, but to tell a tale that the other might find believable but interesting, relatively speaking anyway. It sounded like this fellow was up to some interesting stuff himself.

“My life itself has been nothing particularly interesting.” Actually that was quite the lie depending on how you looked at things. “I do quite like to make things, or learn how they work, or to try to improve their construction and abilities. Most of the time I have had to make the stuff myself, though, and this has limited me a little.”

Oops. Urza knew just as well as Ral Zarek that the technology on this world was paltry, ingisnificant, useless, considered to be nothing where he came from. Of course, he did not know that Ral Zarek did not know this. Urza decided he would take a risk, in order to try to wheedle out some of this man’s secrets, he would drop a verbal bomb of sorts, but he would not mention his actual identity. “The thing is, I am fairly certain I am of another world, and I don’t mean a distance that can be truly measured. I have faint memories of mysterious machines that rumbled onwards, towards unknown purposes. I remember very little though, so I wonder sometimes if I just have a few screws loose.” Ok, the majority of that was true. Now to see if Ral Zarek took the bait.

(716+683=1399)