[@LeeRoy]

He'd had already jogged halfway out of the courtyard by the time the Jade Emperor introduced Shin. Their words, their faces, their food. Gonad saw but he didn't see. He'd been on autopilot, going through the motions, traveling, training, with only his eight wives emotionally anchoring him to this world. These days everything seemed to pass by him in a bland haze of noise and light, behind which wafted fond memories of grand battles past. He'd heard something just then, however, that cut through the disconcerting fog of boredom he'd been living in.

>"A perfect match for you... The Man who will kill you!"<

Dusty gears began turning. He turned around, eyes big, wide, and brimming with innocent hope. He ignored the Jade Emperor, focusing only on Shin at that moment.

[color=9e0b0f]"I am Shin Zhou, born of China to the late Ming Dynasty. It is a pleasure to fight in the company of my people's Gods, and a pleasure to meet you despite your unfortunate circumstance."
[/color]

Mirth radiated from Gonad's infectious grin, a giddy chortle escaping him and his single eye rolling up with joy. There was a swagger to his step as he made his way back into the courtyard, sending tables skidding recklessly out of the way with his feet to make room. He'd stop four meters from Shin, looking the little fella up and down, unable and unwilling to hide his delight. He glanced over at the Jade King beyond Shin, apparently 'seeing' him for the first time.

"Hrah... The Gods...?"

Gonad slowly turned a full circle, studying the setting in earnest. By the Sky Yak, he really was in the company of gods. They all shone with beauty and color, and they also stared at Gonad as if he were a goat with an extra head on its ass. Gonad's eyes shot open even wider.

"BWAH! Gonad has found a divine place, and the gods themselves grant Gonad the desire of Gonad's heart! Gonad has no choice but to accept this challenge! Gonad sees Shin Man. Gonad be Gonad Yaksplitter, from Village of Gonad! If this be duel honored by the gods, then Gonad will fight with the purity of birth, and no other way."

Every single last article of clothing and equipment fell to the floor in turn, and was kicked unceremoniously to the sidelines. The eyepatch, a necklace of animal teeth, large steel bracers, tassets, loincloth, big-ass boots... In less than a minute Gonad would proudly stand before Shin, before the palace, before the gods, buck naked and armed with nothing he hadn't emerged from the womb with. Before Gonad might have been likened to a bull, armed with hooves and horns and sheer mass. Now, however, he seemed to almost appear as a god himself, unburdened by the world and free to let his presence expand. He hid behind nothing, had nothing to hide, ready to leave the mortal world in the same way he'd entered. With simple nudity he'd become a singularity, complete within itself. Practical sense had nothing to do with it, and neither did divinity. The gods themselves might flinch before the spirit of a mortal.